Back to the Chairs

 I have been spending time in the workshop recaning more chairs.  I've now done chairs #4 and #5.  #4 is the fourth chair of our existing set of seven, and #5 is the $2 chair from the Tale of Four Chairs.  

When I flipped #5 over to knock the old seat out of it I realized that someone had been repairing on it in the distant past.  It had some big ole screws, and worse, glue in the holes.

Oh Crap!

Luckily the glue drilled out without too much trouble.  And in the end, it turned out to be the best caning job I've done yet.  The chairs I've done so far has been functional enough, but from a skilled craftsman's point of view, they all had some errors in them.  The true skill in weaving a cane seat is not in getting the basic weave right - the skill is in locking the cane into the edges in the strongest possible way.  It's in the choice of holes.  If you make the correct choices, you end up with neat little Xs all along the edges.  If you make incorrect choices, you end up with Vs.  Or even worse - Ks!

Chair #4 had too many Vs along the top and bottom.

And Ks along the left side.

Chair 5  Not perfect, but much better

When you are learning, telling the difference between Xs and Vs is like looking at an Escher print and figuring out if the stairs go up or down. 

Midway through chair four I was frustrated enough to set it next to me and start chair five with better choices.  And it turned out right.  A breakthrough!  Can you see the difference?

Upside down Vs

Each strand needs to go one hole over.

Perfect Xs

Again with the Vs

Xs!

And the right side turned out well too.

The left edge is still a little rough, but I'm not sure why.

As it turns out, there are many different shapes of chair seats from square to round and every thing in between.  What I have are "harp shaped" seats and, of course, those are more challenging than others.

Lucky me.

I have one more of our original seven that is beginning to tear.  I should probably go ahead and replace it now.  And that leaves me with one odd chair with a round seat.  I think I will try a different pattern on that.  Maybe stars.  Or daisies and buttons.

The Day Shift

 

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  The warmest Christmas Day in our area since 1982.  When I went out for my morning walk it was 43 degrees.  The sun was out, the squirrels were busy and there were plenty of birds including Blue Birds, Jays, Juncos and two or three kinds of Woodpeckers.  

My husband, always eager to see what the new day will bring, is usually up well before 6 am and out the door before the sun is up (7:43 am as of yesterday).  He commented yesterday morning that it was still so dark and when would the sun start coming up earlier?  I looked it up, and although we are past the winter solstice, the sun will not rise earlier until January 9th.  For the next two weeks, while the sun is setting later each day (4:50 pm yesterday), it is still also rising later each day.  The whole day is shifting.

Ahhh... science.

Merry Christmas

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

 

Here is a YouTube playlist of my first and favorite Christmas record.

A&P Christmas vol 3 1972

Solstice

 My last office when I worked had a wall of windows that faced full south.  My desk faced the windows and over the years I found that the sun dropped below the top of the window on November 12th and rose above it on January 30th.  I even noted it on Facebook.

During those weeks, on a sunny day, I would sometimes have to wear sunglasses in the afternoon whenever the sun hit a gap in the blinds.  Now I notice the sun's trajectory most on the mornings when I walk.  

Not long ago the neighbor and I were discussing the sunrise location through the trees and the effects of the shortened winter daylight on our moods and how we looked forward to the Solstice and the lengthening days when I had an image of my ancient ancestors sitting around a fire on the wide expanse of Salisbury Plain.  

 "Every winter these shortened days get me down more and more.  I wish we could somehow mark the point on the horizon when the days start to get longer so we would know we are on the upswing...

                               ... hey, what if we got a couple really big rocks..."

Photo Source

Happy Solstice!

Digging Horseradish

 The thing about fresh horseradish is that it doesn't stay fresh very long.  In the refrigerator, the prepared radish begins to lose its fire in a matter of days although I will keep it for five or six weeks.  With the holidays upcoming, I want to have some really good radish on hand for making cocktail sauce or as a condiment for beef meals.  Many a Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve has found me out in the snow with a pan of hot water and a fork, thawing the soil and digging in the mud.  While that can be done, I have learned to plan ahead.  The ungrated roots can be kept in the refrigerator for weeks without losing any quality.  I have tried freezing the roots, but they lose texture and heat immediately.

 The weather has been mild and clear, the recent rain has drained away and the ground is not very frozen.  The weather is supposed to get colder and wetter this week so I figured I had better get out there.  The roots I want are an inch to two inches wide.  The larger roots at the crown are very dry and coarse, and the smaller ones whittle away to nothing when you peel them.  I look for a good sized crown, two or three seasons old, on the edge of the clump that is sending roots outward.

These outward growing roots are the ones that are trying to colonize and spread your clump into areas where you don't want it.  This nice root (above) is headed for the railroad tie retaining wall and will eventually send up sprouts in the walkway on the other side.

I ended up with a lot of bits and pieces that I threw in the compost, but they could all be replanted today to create a larger crop.  I saved out the two roots I wanted, rinsed them at the outdoor spigot, then in the garage utility sink, and finally brought them in the house.  I don't want to put any effort into scrubbing these, I just want them mostly clean to store for later.

I cut off the crowns and cut each root in half to fit into a gallon sized freezer bag.

This goes in the hydrator where it can stay for a month or so.  There is enough here to make about two pints prepared.

Darn Deer

 It would be nice to think that in the winter, when all of the flowers are gone and the shrubs are protected, that we could rest for a few months.  Not so.  Yesterday afternoon, as we were sitting out at the firepit enjoying the mild weather with one last fire, we noticed that two of the mature Linden trees in the backyard had buck scrapes on them.  Bad ones.

I used to protect these with tree tubes, but they have outgrown the tubes I have, even if I use two per tree.  Tree trunks of this size aren't normally targeted.  The bucks we usually have around are more likely to work on the slender fruit trees that are narrow enough to get in between the forks of their modest racks.  This is a BIG buck.  Something that we haven't caught on game cams yet.

Below is a photo from last year.  We usually don't see bucks this big, but now and then one comes into the area. ...and leaves his mark

It was getting towards dusk when we noticed this.  The first thing I did was protect the apple trees.

I already have tubes on the small Gala apple tree and the pear tree.

Even the apple trees require double tubes.

It was a tight fit.  But I patched them together.

The third Linden is untouched.  All I could think of was a pair of tomato ladders.

Today I replaced the tomato ladders with some proper hardware cloth, but I prefer the tree tubes because if he gets to rubbing on the hardware cloth, he can still abrade the tree.

And next year we will have to protect them again.  This should not kill the otherwise healthy trees.  But it will scar them up pretty badly. 

Darn deer.

Wild Forage Wreath

 Today started out beautiful.  It has been gloomy and rainy and we have more rain and mixed precip on its way.  But this morning was warm and sunny and we were tempted outside just to do whatever.  Hose off the car, pull a few weeds. ...Sit and think.  This morning as we were coming home from breakfast I noticed that many of our neighbors had put out some greens and red bows.  Even the neighbors who are never home.  There are not a lot of outdoor decorations or lights because we are on a dead end and there just isn't a lot of traffic to enjoy them.  But I suddenly felt our home was looking kind of Scroogey.  I went as far as to pull out a wreath form and a paddle of floral wire.  Outside we had sat for about 5 minutes when I decided I should get going on my wreath while I could forage in nice weather and while I could keep the mess outside.

I've made many wreaths over the years.  My mother always makes beautiful Blue Spruce wreaths for gifts and my sister brings us one of those for our front door.  All I needed was a basic blob of green to go out front by the road.  So I can use anything I can forage and most of what we have is Hemlock which will drop every last needle before the end.  But its not going in the house and its not going on the door, so it can shed all it wants.  It isn't hard to find a nice variety in your average woodland and you can just trim the low cross branches or anything that smacks you in the head when you mow the lawn.

I ended up with Hemlock (from the yard), Spruce (from the dry creek bed), Pine (from the woods)  and Juniper (from the front landscape).  I considered adding some rose hips, but it turned out not to be necessary.  When making a wreath for a door I would usually use a wire coat hanger bent into a circle.  Those are the perfect size for your average door.  But I needed something a little bigger scale so I used a 18" (?) wire wreath form salvaged in past years.  All you do is cut up your branches to shortish tips, make a little bundle, lay it along the form and wrap the paddle wire around it.  You never cut the wire you just wrap it off of the paddle.

It was immediately apparent that I had underestimated the amount of greens I would need,  I wanted a big, full wreath.  But I didn't want to harvest too much unnecessarily, so I made several trips around the wood edge.  I added a bright red bow and wire tied it, top and bottom, to the front fence rail.  

Now it at least looks like we are making an effort!

Rosey Morning

 

It looks warm and rosey but its cold on the nosey

Winter is Here

 It is snowing here in Western NY.  It was pretty slick out this morning, but we are not getting the heavy lake effect snows they were warning us about.  Just about six inches and still snowing lightly.  It was enough to get me in a holiday mood.

Yesterday we got the Christmas decorations down from the attic.  I combined and purged and reduced by four containers.  My stash is getting more manageable every year.  But still, you keep things that you are not really in the mood for so that maybe next year you can enjoy them.  We haven't had a tree since 2019.  I really intended to do one or both last year, but I ran out of steam.

This year I decided to concentrate on the dining room tree first and just put out a few other touches as the mood strikes me.  I had forgotten how much work it can be.  This tree has lights already on it.  A few years ago they conked out and I carefully replaced them.  I had left myself a note that it really needed 50 more lights along the bottom.  Instead, I added a string of 300 little pinpoint LEDs wound into the whole tree which give it a nice sparkle from the inside.  Then I put on some gold and red glass bead garland.  At that point I was whooped.  And I still had to reach behind the pie safe and plug in the extension cord!  We have too much furniture!  I long for a bare, empty wall!  So I can cover it up...

In the past this tree has been much a much creamier tone overall.  But this year I wanted to bring out some warmer tones to go with the drapes I hung last year.  And just the burgundy balls in the glass garland was enough.

The ornaments on this tree lean toward natural materials.  There are bleached pine cones, Swedish straw stars, string snowflakes and blown out poulet eggs.

It has a light, lacey appearance.

This is going to be the bulk of my Christmas decorating.  I always rearrange things on my Hoosier, and will put out a few special items and some candles in the entryway windows.  But for the most part I am done, and pleased with how it turned out.

USDA Zone Update

 Hello Global Warming.  I've moved from a 5b to 6a?  Jeeze this getting old thing makes all the numbers go up!   The USDA has released the 2023 revised Zone Hardiness Map based on the thirty year average of lowest annual winter temperatures.  Historically we have been in zone 5.  If I zoomed in real close on our neighborhood, we were a 5b and some properties on my side of town were in zone 4.  This is probably due to elevation above sea level.  You get cold pockets and warm spots.  

Gardeners know that you have to take this hardiness zone thing with a grain of salt.  Many places in the country have recently experienced winter storms that kill off a lot of established plants.  In your own garden you might find microclimates near buildings or behind wind breaks where plants would do better in a severe winter.  If you are planting perennials or evergreens in containers, it is wise to plant for two zones colder because the roots are more likely to freeze when they are in a container as opposed to in the ground.  When choosing perennials I would compare hardiness zones of the cultivars I was considering and favor those which were hardy to a zone 4 or even 3, especially when planting evergreen or winter blooming plants such as Primrose, Heuchera or Hellebores.

Well the rules of the game have changed again.  Over time, this will certainly shift what sort of plants we are seeing sold in the local garden centers.  Just because the USDA says so, does not mean I will shift my gardening habits just yet.  But it may mean that I will try some plants that I've shied away from in the past.

Frost and Fire

 This morning was the hardest frost we've had so far this year.  The weatherman at 6 said that we were at 29F but by the time I got out to the garden at 8:30 the garden thermometer was registering 34.

The lettuce was heavily frosted, but this isn't really cold enough to kill it.

Everything was sugar coated.

The leaves are still hanging on to the Butterfly Bushes.

The day was warm and pretty with a light breeze.  Perfect for sitting out.  When I finished my morning walk I noticed that a nearby neighbor had built himself a little campfire in the backyard.

That seemed like a good idea.

Mesmerizing.

We enjoy getting outside whenever the weather allows.

Harvesting Deer

Today we turned this...

Into this...

 

This year we have harvested two deer, one buck and one doe, from the back woods. Today we are working on a 10# batch of Slim Jim snack sticks.  It is in the dehydrator on the side porch right now.  We have gotten our system pretty well refined, and are well equipped, but the amount of dirty dishes that the process creates is still staggering.   Those daylily and Hosta buds sure do season it nicely.

In honor of our awesome sausage stuffer, we are having Korv for supper.

Puttering About... and Peonies

 This November is nowhere near as mild and lovely as last November was.  There have been a lot fewer days of puttering about outside.  I have gone back to recaning the dining chairs, but there are still garden related activities to be done. This week I have dug and prepared horseradish and made apple butter.  The horseradish was absolute weapons grade HOT radish.  When I first opened up the chopper lid it about blinded me.  I was so impressed that I took it out the garage to share the experience with my husband.  Thankfully when the vinegar was added it tamed it down to regular fresh, home made strength.  I think the chopper may have to be isolated for radish only use from now on so it doesn't taint things like apple butter!

The apple butter (basically apple freezer jam) was made with the last of the Northern Spy apples.  They do not store well and must be used.  We are about pied out, so I made jam instead.  Recipe Link.  It turned out real well, and was very easy in the Crockpot.  I think next time I would used about half the sugar with sweet apples, then add to taste at the end.  These Spies had been sitting around and were getting quite sweet as they aged. 

There is still some green out in the garden.  The peonies are usually last to lose their leaves.  I won't cut them down early when we start clean out, but later in the fall I give them a trim.  This one, an Itoh, is looking pretty windblown and the deer have started nibbling on it.  Since I don't like to encourage that, and provide them incentive, I will either cover or cut anything they are interested in.

You can see all of the pink growth points close to the crown.

My other Itoh puts tips out along the stems pretty high up, so I trim it high.  Depending on the severity of the winter weather, these stems and buds will probably die back.  But if we get a mild winter they will form branches, so I leave them.  The leaves are dropping off the stems anyway, and don't provide any winter protection.

Below is my Sorbet herbaceous peony that I relocated the end of August.  I only saw one new growth point at the time I dug it, and that is still alive.  I expect this to be set back significantly next year because of the move, but it was getting so huge that I don't feel too bad for it.  I hope it adapts to its new location.  Its less than twenty feet from its old spot.

I make sure to monitor other things like the Heuchera.  These here against the chicken coop are still a nice little woodland garden.  I clipped a square of bird netting to the hardware cloth to protect the plants on the ends from munching.  The net is up off the ground in deference to Mr. Toad who lives under the log.

The Heuchera in the whiskey barrels are doing well.  The covers have proven secure through some pretty good winds.  The plants are fine and the soil is moist.

There is still lettuce in the garden.  I consider this "emergency lettuce" as it can be a little bitter at this age.  I buy iceberg at the store whenever they have a nice selection at a reasonable price but if we don't happen to have any good iceberg in the fridge, I can always find enough in the garden to dress a sandwich.

We have plenty of Parsley, both flat and curly in the butterfly bed.  Mr (or Mrs) Frog lives in there.

I have both Rosemary and Sage tucked under a butterfly bush by the apple tree.  Some winters sage or rosemary might actually survive even here in our 5b climate.  But even if they don't they are still usually good until Christmas.