Troll Hunting

I had been lamenting the fact that the art installations of Thomas Dambo's trolls were all too far away for me to visit, but recently, eight were put up at Northwest Trek. Even better, my botany partners invited me on a troll-hunting excursion. We arrived at the wildlife park well before they opened the gates this chilly morning in order to beat the crowds. One of the trolls was only viewable from the tram, so that was the first order of the day. Unfortunately, our driver sped past it and I was only able to get a very blurry photograph, but we walked the trails for several hours after the ride and found the remaining seven, all shown above. My favourite was Taks (center), although I did allow myself to be "captured" in Lilnut's net (shown center left) in which I was able to stand upright (sorry, no photo!) to give you an idea of the scale of the figures. The park seemed somewhat sparse compared to when I last visited it perhaps 10 years ago, with fewer herds of bison and elk in sight of the tram, but the trolls made the day as far as I was concerned.

No "No Vote" Option

One thing has always deeply troubled me about Washington's mail-in ballots, and this year, I find it more disturbing than at any point in the past. I have selected two non-partisan offices on the current ballot to illustrate my point. I fancy myself an informed voter. I read all the text in the voter's pamphlet, not just the candidates' statements and arguments, but also the full text of any initiative or referendum which happens to appear. I study carefully who endorses candidates and issues, and based on what I have read, I decide how to cast my vote, yea or nay. In the case of these two positions, I know absolutely nothing about the candidates. I do not want to idly fill in a box, not knowing where they might stand. Do you see the problem yet? There is no "no vote" option! If I do not want to vote for either candidate, there is no way to indicate that I am withholding my vote. Despite what I know from having worked at the polls years ago, and from what friends who work at the polls currently have told me, I see potential for abuse here. They claim that because there is always more than one person involved at every stage in handling of ballots that the chance of someone changing a ballot is very slim...but it exists, moreso if no candidate has been selected. Let me say, "No, I don't want to vote for either of these people." Don't make me just flip a coin.

There Are No Rules

I have already finished six blocks for the crazy quilt. The original plan was to make 12, but I'm having so much fun with it that I'm going to go for 20 instead. I debated adding embroidery, tried a little on the first block, and decided that it detracted from the overall jumbled effect by blurring the edges (some of the pieces are very small). Instead, each block has one or two "character" fabrics which are outlined with fancy stitchery, creating another version of the Quilt Game. See if you can find them! There are two blocks which have two. The other four only have one. This isn't the final layout. That will be determined after I have all the blocks made. The best part of making a crazy quilt? There are no rules!

Down Home Towels

Nothing says "down home country kitchen" like blue or red gingham towels! This was one of the easiest weaving projects I've done in a long time. To be called "gingham," the weave must be tabby, good ol' over-and-under, not a diagonal twill. If woven as a twill, the fabric steps out of the realm of "gingham" to become "check" instead. That said, it took me longer to get these off the loom than I'd planned, especially since the first four and a half were done in a space of days. Then I got distracted by quilting, and only put an inch or so on every few days. It wasn't a case of getting bored with the monotonous two-treadle sequence; in fact, that was a pleasant break from trying to keep track in overshot. It's just that...well, as I like to put it, I have the attention span of a gerbil, and if I don't have four or five things going all at once, I feel like I'm frittering my life away. But like the gerbil, when I'm on the wheel, I go all out, at least until I start thinking about that toy in the other corner, or my food dish. Such being the case, I forced myself to finish the Down Home Towels two nights ago, and now I'm back at quilting.

And Scrubby, Too!

Backlit by morning sun and through a dirty window too, at least I have documentation that Scrubby showed up at the suet feeder today...not just one Scrubby, but two! California Scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica) has expanded its range in recent years to include my yard, and it's always a thrill to see them. They are slightly larger than my Steller's Jays and somewhat longer in the body, making a very recognizable silhouette when the sun is behind them. And as a bonus this morning, I can now confirm that I have at least five Canada Jays (Perisoreus canadensis), and they appear to belong to the same family unit. I'd better order more suet.

A Grey Day

 

It's a Grey Day today, and I love grey days, even the kind when the sun doesn't show itself. But this is a different kind of Grey Day, with its own particular brand of sunshine in the person of a family of three Grey (Canada) Jays which have been returning to my suet feeder for several years. I am sure that at least one generation has passed, since the life span of the species in the wild averages a mere eight years with the occasional bird making it twice that long, and I know that my original pair had three offspring one season who could possibly be the three currently visiting the yard. They are a family unit for certain, but whether they are siblings from the same year is something at which I can only guess. That they are repeat customers is undeniable, as they have grown more confident of me and the scary black box with the shiny, blinking eye. They were watching from the mountain-ash, anticipating breakfast when I stepped out to provide it.

Quilting Like Crazy

I needed a relaxing hand-held project to use as a break in between stints of sitting at the quilting frame, something I could do without devoting too much thought or energy to it. To that end, I dragged out the bag of fabric scraps labelled "fragments" and the larger tub marked "littles" with the idea that it was a good time to use up those bits and pieces too good to throw away, but too small for anything but a scrap quilt. I can't bring myself to discard those oddly shaped snippets which still have some kind of character on them, like a cat face or a sheep, or a pretty floral. Sometimes the figure isn't quite complete...cat missing its feet or a butterfly with only one wing...good enough for a crazy quilt, but far from the "fussy cuts" I like to put in my geometric quilts. When the bag/bin approaches critical mass, I make a crazy quilt. Sometimes, I machine-stitch them, but in this case, I wanted a handwork project, so I'm appliqueing the pieces together. I haven't decided yet if I'll embroider the seams.