Confession of an Alaskan in March

I bought $13 worth of green beans last night.

They're shipped from Mexico - thousands of miles away.  They are not organic.  And they were $2.69/lb.
They must represent dozens of gallons of petroleum prducts.
And right now, I'm ok with that.

They look good!  Even in the summer I can rarely find green beans that are not shriveled, or brown-splotched, or tough looking.  And for the majority of the year I avoid buying outlandishly priced non-local vegetables.  But there's something about March, when the negative two degree weather feels that much colder because its started to be light until 8pm, when the piles of snow and hardpack on roads and driveways is depressing because you're beginning to dream of hoes and seeds.  There's something about March that makes me buy 5 pounds of glorious green beans, and plan a meal around them.  Darlin' Man loves green beans.  I'll buy pork chops from Homegrown, and make herbed potatoes.  So two out of three main ingredients in tomorrow's dinner will be local. 

I aspire, and am working towards, a table that bears primarily food I've grown or bought and bartered from other Alaskans.  I admire William Street Farmhouse for taking on the challenge of eating only Alaskan.  Eating local is important to me, it is fun, and tasty and rewarding.  But there are times in March when I'm glad for the big bag of fresh green beans sitting in my refrigerator. 

Salmon Sky Sunrise

March in Fairbanks

Woke up today to eight degrees below zero.

3 and 4 foot snowbanks along the roads. 

And the feed store sign advertised the new seeds they got in.

Snow at Summit Lake

Summit

Sister shawl

This is the long-belated, much awaited, thanks for being my bridesmaid 2 and a half years ago, shawl for my sister.  Its in an eight shaft twill variation I got out of Carol Strickland's 8shaft pattern book.
The threading, for you weavers reading, is 123432123456787654321234321 876567876543212345678765678.  Tromp as writ.

It is made out of Jaggerspun silk/merino 20/2.  Set at 24 epi.  I think its a bit looser set than the first batch of shawls I made, but sleyed at 28 epi was just too much.

Loom in sun.

A couple of weekends ago, my breda and I spent an entire day organizing and setting up - moving into really - the studio.  It had never been fully moved into with the rest of the house, and then bgan to aquire heaps and heaps of fabric, yarn, clothes, costumes, materials, and odds and ends...  eventually all the heaps merged to become one giant mire.

Need I say that it was a monumental task?

But it sure did turn out nice:

And now I feel like it is a welcoming inspiring inviting space.

Some more pictures of the twill:

... I want to surprise her with it being done (when it is) - she knows its coming, but likely thinks it will "never" be done (I dont' blame her!)....  so, I can't post it on facebook.... but as far as I know she doesn't read my blog!

Challenges...

Well, this letter writing challenge may have been a bust from a perspective of the number of peices of mail I sent out.  But I'm ok with that.  Because I habitually write letters anyway.  And I love writing long gossipy thought provoking pondering missives, which sometimes take a few days to compose.

I also don't mind because while I may have only sent out 13 letters instead of 24, and while many of them were sent out ingroups of three and four at a time, rather than one every day; the challenge got me to dig out my valise of paper crafting supplies and make some cards, valentines and otherwise. 

The block prints are cut out of my calendars for the last two years, so are NOT my original artwork.  But the pasting and stitchery and bits of paint are mine.  I made a card for my sister last year out of a knitting block print on hand made paper, with multi-colored stitching and buttons and beads and things.  I keep meaning to make more.  And now I have.  I like the idea of the block prints though, and think that I may just have to learn how to carve prints (I'm sure its easier than I've built it up in my mind to be), so that I can do this style of original cards to sell at market.  The bottom left card is from the inside of a Yogi tea box, and the pink scrap is the wrapping paper that rose soap comes in.  The pressed flowers are from the river bank.

And, I became intimate with my mailbox.  Because I have one.  Not a PO Box, a real mail box!  You know, the metal kind, with the little red flag...  It may be two miles away, but its wonderful.  And I learned that the mailman will pick things up out of it, so I no longer have to remember to stop by a blue drop box in town.

In addition to the previously mentioned letters, I have written to my Grandmother in Texas, and to a(nother) good friend in New York. 

I also recieved the dearest letter from Mary Robinson Kowal, the founder of the month of letters, enclosing a bit of brown ribbon saved from her wedding 10 years ago.  I will have to make something lovely out of it, and pass the love along. 

I'm not sure that a daily challenge, or even a weekly one fits my life or my blog right now, but I did enjoy the oomph the challenge gave me to do some things...  And I'm thinking maybe, a MONTHLY challenge?  Well, that just might be something that would fit in well.... stay tuned!