More things change, the more they stay the same...

Here is a link to a BBC News article about a 2005 archaeological discovery in England. Apart from being facinated by the idea of naalbinding Roman-style socks (note that I do not know how to naalbind, but I'm very keen to learn eventually because it is a Viking Age craft), I am amused by the letter that was found at Vindolanda... Apparently, no matter whether it's 106 CE or 2006 CE, soldiers still write to their mother's asking for socks...

Someone on the list this was posted to thinks that the pattern on the razor handle looks like its immitating heringbone weave fabric... I suppose that's possible... But at the same time, weren't there naalbind-ed socks being produced in Egypt? I can't seem to find the info online right now... but I could have sworn I read that somewhere before. Assuming that I remember correctly, and with Romans being Romans, I don't know why we should assume that all socks made in Italy had to have been cut cloth, just because no extant socks have been found. If some other culture within their empire had the technology to produce naalbind-ed socks, I'm sure they would have made it their own like they did with everything else...

Remember those deadlines?

Still have them, but they aren't seeming as insurmountable today... Even the midterm tomorrow isn't so scary... (That could change when I see the exam tomorrow at 10 am, but right now, it's all good.) Been feeling this way since I got home from school today... So I was just reading my horoscopes for the rest of the week, after having checked something for Lara because she's not feeling so good at the moment about everything she has on her plate... In my experience, my horoscopes tend to be fairly accurate most of the time...

Here's my horoscope for Thursday, the 12th: "Yes, things have been a blur lately -- but since your emotions are finally starting to slow down, your physical self should, too. Relaxation and comfort are more important than speed. Ease off the gas pedal and take the meandering road to your destination. Shortcuts will only frustrate you. Besides, following the scenic route is always more fun. There is no rush, no matter what deadlines you may be facing. You have much more time than you think."

Creepy, isn't it?

John C. Campbell Folk School

OMG! I want to take classes there! This Spring in March (The week *after* my spring break! Argh!), they're doing a blacksmith class, which is open to beginners, about Viking iron forging techniques! Ahh! I want to take that class! Oh, and they same week, they have another class where we'd get to make Viking bone needles and learn how to do naalbinding! Not only would it be super cool to take those classes, but I could actually apply it in academia because it's experimental archaeology in the area that I want to study in grad school! They had better offer those again at a time when I can take it!

Also interested in Mushroom Dyeing, being taught in about 2 weeks. And there are some fused glass classes that I'd like to take... Just reminds me that someday I want my own glass kiln so I can get back to fused glass... It was my favorite part of my Stained Glass classes in high school. Oh and knitting classes and spinning! Not to mention tinsmithing, photography (!!!!), quilting, embroidery, soaping, weaving... I could go on and on... And I think I could live there and never run out of something that I'd really love to do!

Go to http://www.folkschool.org/ to check out what else they have...

Deadlines are approaching...

Deadlines for papers, tests, etc... Not looking forward to them, do not want to dwell... Still procrastinating. Bad me! But still, there are deadlines...

Speaking of which, I have to get started on my holiday knitting very soon. I'm thinking of hats for my sisters. My little sister, Rachel (same name, yeah, spelled slightly differently...) is like obsessed with the tv show "Smallville" (and I kinda am too to be honest) and she just donated most of her hair to Locks of Love and had the rest cut in such a way that it looks kinda like Chloe, a character on the show, has her hair cut. Chloe's the kind of person who looks super-cute in adorable cold weather hats. So I thought, why not? They're short projects and shouldn't take too long to do... So I'm hoping to get at least two done to give to Rachel and Heather, my youngest sister, and maybe also another two for Lara and David. I'm thinking Topi from Knitty because it can be done in Peaches n' Cream, which I have on hand and can get started on right way... Or if I can get my hands on some Rowan Cashsoft DK (very yum!) and some beads, I'll do Odessa from MagKnits for the girls and a Topi for David... Or I'll do all of it if I get really lucky! I love spoiling my siblings during the holidays! They're all such sweethearts, so it's easy to do. I just need the circumference of their heads so I can size Topi properly... I hope they respond to my e-mail about favorite colors soon so I can start getting the projects on needles...

Events at USF Today...

Well, today is Wednesday, which means that there's a Bull Market (our mascot is a Bull) out on the palm tree lined walk that passes between the Education Building and Cooper Hall (aka Arts & Sciences). It usually has vendors selling trinkets, sunglasses... jewelry... book... religion... There are usually just the religious organization that are on campus there. And they are always civil to one another. The Jewish Student Union aka Hillel can sit right next to the Muslim student group and it's all good. No different today, except that the number of Christian groups that are *not* student run and are *not* on campus has been growing. Today, in addition to the Catholic Student Union and the Christian Challenge (a fundamentalist group) which are usually there, there was also the Mormon student group, a Baptist Student group, two or three other non-student run off campus Christian groups, and a group of old men who have been prostlitizing on campus for at least the last three Wednesdays. (I found it very amusing that this last group was stuck next to the other group of old men who come onto campus every Wednesday and set up a tent and hang up signs - the militant Atheists who have inflammatory signs like "Insidious Christian Fundamentalists!" and "God is Dead!" and "The Bible is Fake!" and "Don't make yourself a slave to religion!" Very amusing they... )

But in addition to all of that there was a new, supposedly student run group at the Bull Market today calling themselves "The Voices for the Unborn." They set up a cardboard mock-graveyard of white crosses in the grass, passed out flyers (I told them they could keep the one they tried to give me), and they held up signs and Bibles... ::rolls eyes:: There were maybe about 10 people in their group: 2 holding up signs, 2 holding up Bibles and about 6 scattered around passing out flyers. The two signs said "We Speak for the Unborn!" and "I regret my abortion!" Uh-huh...

Well, within the hour of them setting up their little Anti-Choice protest, an opposing impromptu Pro-Choice protest was set up about... oh, six feet away or so... Amazingly, both sides did not speak to the other. They just held up their signs. About 6 young women held up a sign that said "You Don't Speak for Us!" and one young woman held up a sign that said, "And I'm just glad I didn't have to use a coat hanger!" How's that grab ya? There were a lot of other people sitting behind them and milling around near their protest, out-numbering the Anti-Choice people by at least 3 to one at any given time. I couldn't get a picture of them because their were just too many and I couldn't get a good angle or a clear shot (only very blurry ones).

But I did get a picture of the Anti-Choice protest. You can see the boys who had their Bibles in the foreground on the right. The girls holding up signs are further to the left, and the field of cardboard crosses (which they better have cleaned up when they were finished! Littering is bad!) can be seen through the middle.

Just to the other side of me, behind me as I took the above picture was, the Pro-Choice protest. Just behind them was another interesting thing going on... a car being smashed... It was not a prank. It's a charity drive. A group of students raising money for a local charity that makes dreams come true for terminally ill children (not Make A Wish) was selling tickets for 1 dollar per hit to hit a car with a sledge hammer or baseball bat. People were having a grand old time, let me tell you!

In the background of the first three photos, you can see the red sign that read "They don't speak for us!" of the counter-protesters.

Meanwhile, Laura, Maria and I were eating lunch on the lawn, pic-nic style, just like pretty much everyday since classes began this semester. We decided we liked it a lot, so we keep doing it everyday. I always bring the blanket. Laura took this with her camera phone, which is way better than mine (Maria is hiding behind Laura... silly Maria!):

Make Your Own PVC Swift!

This nice woman on one of the Spinning lists I'm on just posted a link to her website with instructions on how to make a yarn skein winder out of PVC. Here's the link just in case anyone reading my blog might be interested.

Danny Henshaw on the Derry Brownfield Radio Show

Danny Henshaw, whose home and property was raided by US and Virginia state agents on September 12, 2006, leaving him with 10 days of grief and 79+ slaughtered animals, was interviewed on Derry Brownfield's radio show on September 29th. Hear about his harrowing ordeal and where he and his wife will go from here in his own words, and tell all your friends!

Oh, and I've contacted Cynthia Henshaw and I am completely convinced that this whole story is indeed true. A friend of theirs, Douglas Eugene Davis, who owns a hunt club in Cumberland County, I believe it is, was also raided the same day. They have since learned that they were targeted, but they don't know why, and it was a sting operation which followed no known or published Department of Agriculture protocols. They and this other gentleman have retained lawyers and are currently collecting evidence to take to the courts. Lord, help them in their efforts. Scans of the documents they were given at the time of the raid are available for public viewing at http://www.NoNAIS.org.

Cafepress Store Update

I've been so upset today I haven't known what to do with myself. This tragedy (not just for the people involved, but for the entire country really, because who is to know who will be next to have their farm raided and livestock slaughtered?) in Virginia has had me in knots all day. I take things like this hard... harder than personal tragedies sometimes. I can't help it. I had a hard time eating today because I've been nauseated since I read Cynthia Henshaw's letter. And I couldn't even think of going to synagogue. Yom Kippur sermons have a tendency to make me cry when I'm not emotionally distressed, I didn't need to find out what would happen if I went in my current state. I hope I'll be able to attend the Yizkor and Final Shofar service tomorrow afternoon/evening. Fasting probably won't happen (for the first time since I turned 12) because I'm afraid I'll make myself well and truly sick if I do (risking such a thing is prohibited by religious law). This hit me hard, people, very hard. I feel like someone has died... I think it was just my faith that our government and its agencies would never *really* do something like this to US citizens, even if there was a policy in place allowing them to do so. I'm young and naive and apparently not nearly as jaded to such things as I usually think I am.

Well, I posted my thoughts on NoNAIS.org around 6 o'clock, once my brain started working and getting past the shock and horror of it. We need to spring into action and we need someone to take the helm, so to speak, to get us organized, mobilized, and able to properly fight NAIS. NoNAIS is great and all, but there's a lot of information and a lot of outrage and very little organized direction... ::sighs:: More on that another time perhaps...

After posting my thoughts though, I felt better, but was still unsettled. I tried to watch some movies, but it didn't seem to work. Although, the ridiculous levity of "Emma" seems to be bringing me slowly out of my funk so that I might be able to sleep before 3am tonight.

I've also been working on my Cafepress store, something I don't think I should be as embarrassed by as I was last week when I removed the link from this blog. It is up again in the column to the right - "Whimsicality." I've added more merch. Some of it is with my photography and some of it is Political/News oriented. But I've amused myself doing it and I've already made $5 in profit from sales of my "Lou Dobbs is my HERO!" bumpersticker. Woot! So check it out if you want to... http://www.cafepress.com/RaeSofSunshine

US Government Violating Civil Rights

I just got this e-mail a few minutes ago... I'm freaking out. The woman who sent it to the list I'm on has called Danny and his wife and verified that this is in fact true. Please read this and then send a message to CNN asking them to report on it and get these people some help.

*****

My husband and I own 152 acres and he has run a private wild boar hunting club for 16 years. This was very first of its kind in Virginia. Please know that he is not a “fly-by-night” hunter. He was 1 in 10 in the nation at one time for professional archery, he was a producer, as well as hunted for a TV show out West called “Wild and True”. He ran a very decent club, with hunters from the Pentagon and Quantico as frequent guests. They came here to have fun and de-stress. Our place was peaceful and a retreat for many. He did this as a hobby because he loved the sport and the company. We made little, if any, money off of the place once we made the land payment and paid for the feed and fence upkeep. My husband has served as police officer and a state trooper. He worked narcotics and sexual abuse cases. He is what you would call “a good man”.

On September 12, 2006, at 5:00 in the morning, we were roused out of bed to a knock on our door. It was the Game Warden. He was here to arrest Danny on a Class 2 Misdemeanor for “operating a mammalian shooting enclosure without a permit”. Now that whole issue is a story in its own and one best explained by my husband. Long story short, he did everything he was supposed to do 16 years ago and was “grand fathered in”. When he started the preserve there was no other and he went to authorities to make sure of what was required. That was the last he heard until September 12th.

On May 20, 2006 an agent had “harvested” a pig. The same hunter/agent had come back on September 9, 2006 and killed another pig.

As my husband was taken off the property in the wardens car, they could hear over the scanner, “Okay, we can go in now, he’s off the property.” At that point 9 vehicles/SUV’s/4-wheelers came up our driveway, lights glaring. Game wardens were posted and we were told we could not go near the preserve. It was under armed guard; the game wardens being requisitioned by the State Vet to guard them. (From us?)

They had a Quarantine Order and the “special agents” began to immediately kill our pigs.

We were not allowed to have any information. No one would answer our questions. The only thing we were told was that the order called for 10 pigs to be killed and tested, if they turned out okay, they would kill another 10, if they turned out okay they would then kill up to 30. All during this time we were given no news.

We were told that the State Vet was at a “command post” nearby and was due at 7:00 am to pick up samples and it would take a few hours before they knew anything. We waited. Although the killing continued, no one told us ANYTHING. When we tried to ask, the Game Wardens could only say that they were there just as security and knew nothing about it until 4:00 that morning. The USDA agents would not talk to me.

The shooting went on into the night, all night. The guards were on duty 24 hours a day, 3 shifts, even if the agents were not. During this time we saw one of the jeep-type vehicles with a cartoon drawing of a pig with the words “HOG DOWN!” written on the dirty back window. There was also a young blonde female that jumped off the back of the 4-wheeler and “high-fived” another agent after a kill. It was only the beginning.

On Thursday, September 14, my friend and I were in my home. She had come up to be with me. I heard 12 gunshots coming from an entirely different part of our property. As I looked at her, I knew that they had killed our two pets… I had raised these two pigs from 3 days old. I bottle fed them during the winter and kept them inside in a crate. They were sweet and gentle. The local 4-H clubs came to visit them and pet them. They were a local “point of interest” for church groups and family. We loved these guys… They were exactly 5 years 7 months old on the day they were shot. Cupid was over 500 pounds; Valentine was almost as big. (Yes, they were born on Valentine’s Day.) These pigs were in their own pen, on another piece of property altogether, not attached in any way to the preserve that they had quarantined. They were not tested; just killed while I listened. I was given no warning, no head’s up. I just heard the shots. I looked out the window and a few agents were driving up the driveway on 4-wheelers. Other agents were at the site. Our pets were chained and pulled over the grass into our gravel driveway. They left the drag marks and blood behind. I reached my limit and broke down.

This type of activity went on for 11 days. On our property, at our home. 24 hour armed guards to keep us off the preserve. Day and night vehicles came and went. USDA trucks, jeeps, 4-wheelers, State cars, game wardens and requisitioned stock trailers and trucks. The trailers hauled off the killed animals, taking them somewhere to be incinerated. We think it was to either Lynchburg or Roanoke. I did get one agent to tell me that the tests were “probable”.

Now, it is important to know a little about pseudo rabies, which is what the original quarantine paper stated. This disease affects the reproduction of the stock. The sow’s litters will be aborted, still born or mummified. It is transferable form stock to stock by contact or for a short distance, airborne. Our stock is totally fenced in, quite well, I might add. Our stock comes into contact with no other stock. They lived on approximately 70-75 acres of dense wood. I state, unequivocally, OUR PIGS HAD NO SYMPTOMS OF THIS DISEASE. Symptoms include sluggishness, malnourished and coughing. Our stock was healthy, robust and extremely fertile. (What hunter would want a malnourished, sluggish pig?)

On the 11th day, September 22, one USDA agent, one representative from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and one game warden (for safety, remember?), came to our front door. They told us that they wanted to leave, but they could not catch all the pigs and that they were at their wit’s ends. They had shot them, starved them for days, put out corn for them (after the starving), used trapping devices and pens, numbers of “special agents trained for this kind of thing” (quote), and they FINALLY ask my husband (the expert) to help them. They wanted to know if they left corn, would he feed them and once caught, would he kill them FOR THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Amazing. They also left a key to the lock they had placed on the preserve. We never locked it…we closed it with a chain, but it was never locked. They estimated that they had killed 79 pigs.

Now, the irony of it is this:

1) These pigs were so diseased that they were a threat to the state of Virginia. They were so diseased that not only did it take special agents to kill them, the State Vet personnel had to put on white suits and gloves and masks. They left Danny (the criminal) in charge of finishing their job.

2) That these pigs had pseudo rabies, which inhibits their reproduction. The majority of the pigs that they left were babies, piglets. As in, not aborted, stillborn nor mummified! If they had this disease, why so many healthy, agile, quick, smart (at least smarter that the special agents) pigs still running around? Our stock was superior in size, agility, speed and they LOVED their living conditions. These pigs knew the game. They knew that they were well fed, taken care of. Once in a while one was sacrificed for the others. But they were happy (if pigs can be happy.)

We listened to the pigs getting caught in snares, being shot over and over. We watched them be driven down the driveway, dead. We could not do anything or Danny’s bond would be revoked.

That was Friday, this is Sunday evening. We still are having a hard time believing this happened, in our country, on our property, by our officials.

Danny has since taken pictures of the pens, the trash left on our land from their lunches/dinners, boards and used gloves outside the preserve, covered with blood, used toilet paper at various and asundry places accompanied by the reason for such.

This is our home. This place was peaceful. Serene.

Danny and I feel as though our pure land has been raped. We have been degraded. He was arrested and taken in on a Class 2 misdemeanor, like a criminal. I was left here with an army of uniformed officials and no answers. I didn’t know whether to call for help to raise money to get him out or to call an attorney. I was told by one of the game wardens that one of the agents told him I needed to round up my dogs (pets) because the undercover agent saw a dog with my husband on the day of his hunt. They would need to kill him also. I was petrified. I was also told to gather my tax documents. My husband did not return for 3 hours.

I am not exaggerating the facts. I don’t need to. The reality is far worse than my imagination. As of today, we have heard nothing on the test results. We have no way of refuting anything these departments have to say…the evidence has been incinerated.

At this point we cannot believe anything they would have to say. THEY killed our pigs, THEY tested the animals, THEY took them away, THEY have the results, THEY left us to clean up the mess. They never considered our rights. They never respected our feelings. It is a tragedy. Our place is “sad” (I can’t think of a more glamorous description). We are heartbroken, but not broken. This situation has literally brought us to our knees with sorrow, but it is from this very position we will regain our strength. We are country folk, trying to get along. But this does not mean we are either stupid or weak.

We appeal to you as a human being. What would you do if it were your home?

Willis River Hunting
Danny HenshawRoute 2, Box 68G
Gladstone, VA 24553
danny@willisriver.com
(434) 933-8455 Phone

********

Go to http://www.cnn.com/feedback and then to "News Tips" to tell CNN about this story.

Or print this letter out and send it to:

1 Chase Manhattan Plaza
New York City, New York 10005

The public needs to know that this kind of thing is happening to citizens of this country. They need to be aware of how dangerous NAIS is. Go to NoNAIS.org (linked at the right) for more information on this destructive, unconstitutional USDA plan to destroy American livestock owners.

More Pokeberries... & other things...

So I was riding my bike down our street today to see if there was any goldenrod in any of the weedy areas... Didn't see any goldenrod, though I'm sure I will see it once the blossoms start blooming... But I did see a Pokeberry bush. It was pushed over and had some other weeds blocking the sight of it from most angles, but it was covered in berries that are just now ripe. Score! So I picked most of them and will go back for the rest in a few days once they've ripened also. I'm letting them sit in the bag in the garage over night to finish ripening and will put them in the freezer in the morning.

I've also got three marigold plants that started flowering again after they've apparently recovered from the late summer heat. They are in fact going completely nutz with flowering... So I may be able to collect enough for dyeing by the time they stop, whenever that will be.

In the meantime, I will continue to look for goldenrod on waysides, in ditches and fields... I'll probably notice them when people start sneezing... (However, not because people are allergic to goldenrod, because apparently most people are not. I just found out that the majority of hay fever attacks in the Fall are caused by ragweed, which blooms at the same time and in the same places as goldenrod. Isn't that interesting?)

New Photobucket pictures...

This is in no way connected to my persuit of the fiber arts... These are mostly fine art pics and family photos... but it has been updated for those who care...

http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d102/RaeSofSunshine

Yummy...

After working for three hours this afternoon on Latin homework, I've just had a treat, and it was so yummy, I have to write this down for all to see. Run, don't walk, to your nearest good grocery store and get yourself a pint of Stoneyfield Farms Organic Nonfat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt. It is *so* good! It has the texture and taste of frozen custard and it has real vanilla bean specks in it... Oh, and you can taste the real vanilla beans too! ... So yummy... You would never in a million years believe that it's nonfat.

What I've done lately...

Here's the latest thing I've knitted and almost finished (I have to weave in ends):

This is a dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL Yahoo Group. Go there and join for the pattern. We get two dishcloth patterns every month and everybody has the option to knit them at the same time. This is the Mid-September 2006 pattern. I changed it by doing a seed stitch border instead of a garter stitch border... I'm just not that fond of garter stitch borders on dishcloths.

Here's the plain pine root/red cedar dyed yarn sample I did:

The photo might be a bit blurry, but that's the color pretty closely. It's lighter now than it was when it was wet. This is how I did it:

- 4 cups of pine roots

- 4 cups eastern red cedar bark

- 1.5 cups of vinegar (you could add more, I think it does help with the dye absorption)

- add enough water to bring the liquid amount up to about 2 gallons.

Boil the roots and bark for at least an hour, cool and let it sit overnight. The next day, strain out the roots and bark and add enough water to bring the liquid amount back to approximately two gallons and add the wool to the dyebath. Heat to near boiling and hold it for an hour or so. Cool and soak overnight. The next day, heat again as before if the color is not dark enough for you (it wasn't for me... it was a light fawn tan after the first day). You could try adding salt or more vinegar... I haven't experimented with this anymore than what I've just described. I dyed 4 ounces of wool with this amount. I did not use a mordant.

Tannic acid neutralizing...

So Ilana - my new online friend - suggested that maybe there is something that could be added to a dyebath to neutralize the tannins in things like pokeberries, where you don't want the brown color which comes from the tannins but the bright color that comes from the other chemicals in the dyebath to effect whatever it is you're dyeing.

I started by asking my mom, because she was trained as a chemist many, many years ago, if she knew anything about it, but she came up blank.

So I asked my friend Zinzi. Zinzi is a nurse with a 4-year BSN degree, but that's not the end of her career path, just a stepping stone. Nursing is her fall-back plan... She's fabulously ambitious and so smart it's scary. She's getting ready to go to grad school at UCLA or Johns Hopkins so that she can eventually do research into infectious disease or viruses... Her ultimate unlikely (and she knows it) dream is to discover the mythical panacea, the universal medicine, which will cure any ailment known and unknown to humankind. She knows a lot about chemistry...

She said that there *should* be some way to neutralize the tannins in dyebaths, since they are essentially types of acids (though apparently, not all tannins are tannic acid, that's just one type of acid in the family of tannins). Essentially, tannins bond to proteins with no intermediaries (don't need mordants) and this is why henna dyes skin, hair and nails so well (and wood and wool, if you're so inclined to try it). It's also why the bog mummies get so well preserved in swamp muck, which is full of tannins, and why a lot of dyes will eventually wash to a brown that doesn't wash out... The tannins permanently bond to natural fibers. She wasn't sure what would neutralize tannins, just that there should be *something* that will do it.

So I've done some research...

To quote (page 30): "Although the ability to precipitate protein is the defining characteristic of tannins, the detailed chemistry of the interaction is still only partly understood. It is now clear that both the type of interaction and the strength of interaction are dictated by both the chemistry of the tannin and the chemistry of the protein. In addition, the interaction is influenced by the reaction conditions including temperature, pH, solvent, composition, and tannin [to] protein ratio."

This would make sense to anyone who has ever used henna to dye skin. When dyeing skin with henna, it is generally recommended to use sugar, lemon juice and tea or coffee (both of which contain tannins) to produce a better henna paste. Lemon juice is used to make the pH more acidic. Sugar is used to make the henna stick to the skin better without crumbling. And it is generally recommended to wrap the henna pasted skin in cotton and cover with a sock (to raise the temperature) and let it remain over-night while you sleep. But still, the final result of how long and how dark the henna dyes the skin depends on how fresh the henna is and how it reacts to the individual's skin chemistry. This is also why henna paste used in theme parks and similar places does not usually stain skin well. They usually use water mixed with henna powder to make the paste, and it is usually very old and/or poor quality.

So I'm still not completely sure how to neutralize the tannins in a pokeberry dyebath. Zinzi suggests determining the pH of the tannins and neutralizing them with a base. But now that I think on it, perhaps this is where the suggestion that adding soda ash (sodium carbonate) to pokeberry dyebaths will help with the fastness of the dye comes from? Since soda ash is a base... How much soda ash, I don't know... but I've also heard that making a pokeberry dyebath completely neutral or alkaline will ruin its ability to dye... so there must be some acidity maintained. The pH of pure soda ash is 11.4 by itself. Assuming that the tannin in pokeberries is tannic acid, from what I understand, pure tannic acid has a pH of approximately 3.5. Considering that, and that we don't want to end up with a base solution, a weaker base than soda ash might be better for neutralizing the tannic acid.

Okay, I'm not a chemist... and I couldn't even do a titration properly in my high school chemistry class... But I would think that the first thing you'd need to do is neutralize the tannins in pokeberries if you don't want them turning anything brown. If I had some pokeberries to work with right now, this is exactly what I would try. I would use a weak base solution, such as water-diluted soda ash solution with maybe just a little vinegar added to be sure, and pour that over the pokeberries in a dyepot. Smash them. Then let that sit for a while at room temperature, so that the base might have time to neutralize the tannins, if it's able. Then I'd add the vinegar to help extract the dye and bring the pH back down to definitely acidic levels. (To be absolutely sure about all of this, I recommend getting one's hands on pH papers to test what the pH is doing at each stage of the process and record it for future reference.) The rest of the dye process, I would continue as normal. Fermenting a few days, straining the solution off, adding mordanted wool, simmering, cooling overnight, drying, rinsing... Not sure if the washfastness would be improved at all... I would guess that it would not, since most berry-derived dyes are not very washfast.

Result of Pine-root & Cedar-bark Dye

Here are the pictures...

The spotty greenish tones are due to the silly camera phone doing funky things with the light. The skeins are overdyed 1st batch pokeberry yarn and the single string is what I got using only pine root and cedar bark - it's just ever so slightly lighter than the pokeberry dyed stuff. In any case, it is a slightly red/pink-tinted medium brown. I think it will look good with blue...

OMG! You *have* to see this car!

Check out this video! I couldn't believe it! I want this car!

http://www.youtube.com/v/ry6w3mRm-FM

Dye update update...

Well, the pine/cedar dyebath is just short of boiling now with 1 and 1/2 cups vinegar added... the amount was arbitrary on my part. I picked up some of the wool carefully with a wooden spoon and let the liquid run out and it seems significantly darker than it was earlier when I did the same. Whether this is wishful thinking, because of the vinegar, or just the added soaking time in what by now must be a more concentrated solution, I don't know. But it's a nicer color than it was before, so I think we're headed in the right direction.

Dye update

I've let the wool soak overnight in the pine root/red cedar bark dyebath and now, I'm going to boil it again. It seems to be taking on the reddish color slowly... *maybe*... We'll see. The brown color that it is now is not an unpleasant one as browns go (kind of a rootbeer float kind of color when you first pour the rootbeer over the ice cream and the ice cream starts the melt and mix with the rootbeer), I just don't really like brown... Perhaps if I had vinegar or salt, that would help... Time to go shopping! ('cause I'm still out of vinegar.)

I have a theory concerning dyeing with pokeberries and that is that most of the tannins are absorbed in the first use of the dyebath and that the later batches are more lightfast because they have absorbed less tannin than the first. I have not really tested that theory *at all,* but if anyone who might be getting ready to do pokeberry dyeing has extra wool and might want to dye little samples in each dyebath use to set out in sunlight to see how long it takes for and to what extent the samples turn brown and then publishes the results, I would be most interested to hear what they find out.

Now, I have tested the washfastness of alum mordanted wool dyed with pokeberries, and the red-pink dye continues to bleed out of the wool until it fades to almost non-existence, no matter whether the wool was in the 1st dyelot or the 4th. The 1st batch has the most brown color left in it, and the later batches have significantly less (hence the above theory). It washes out faster in hot water than in cold, but even in cold, it *will* bleed and wash out. So if you use pokeberries, try to make something with the wool that won't need to be washed very much or at all to help extend the color... outer garments, like scarves and shawls, etc. might be best.

So here's the problem with pine root...

So I've created my dyebath of equal parts pine root and red cedar and it looks great. The color of the water is a bit like cherry coke... a dark reddish brown color. I've put in half the pokeberry 1st try, alum mordanted wool. I decided to do this because the wool from the first pokeberry dyebath is already turning to a reddish brown and I'm hoping to stabilize it... who knows, it might work. (I may try over-dying the other half of that batch with indigo, once I get it. It's backordered two weeks from EarthGuild.com, so perhaps in a month I'll be able to try that!) I didn't use any vinegar or salt, only water. This is totally experimental. I am not working from any concrete sources on this. I also put in a 10-inch string of white wool to see what the color would have been on plain white wool in case I want to do it again... But somehow, I'm not so sure I will 'cause here's the problem with pine root...

1.) I figure you can only dig up and cut off so much of pine root before you're going to damage the tree...

2.) Now, I have a thick layer of boiled-down pine sap around the water-line on the inside of one of my dye pots. I can only hope that I'll be able to get it off with a mild abrasive because it's enamel and I'm afraid to use anything harsh.

The third reason I might not do this again is that the red cedar seems to not be the main source of the reddish color in the dyebath. The reason is that the cedar bark doesn't look really red at any stage in the game, but the inner layer of the pine root is a dark magenta color. So I think the cedar probably gives a more orange-brown color... which might be nice on its own, but it's not the color I was hoping for...

But even if the red cedar bark doesn't give me the color I wanted, that should by no means discourage others from trying it. It peals off the tree naturally, so there's no struggling to get it off and you won't damage the tree in the slightest bit as long as you take just what's already pealing. It free if you or someone you know has red cedar trees or if they grow wild in your area (Free is always a plus if you ask me!). And the dyebath smelled wonderful, like an old cedar chest. Plus, cedar is a natural moth repellent, which is a bonus for people who have problems with moths getting in their wool.

I'll post pictures when it's all done.

Today... well, yesterday, since it's almost 2 am...

It was a really great day, despite the questionable start.

Went to Ulta with Zinzi to get a Bare Essentuals makeover... Just to see what the "professionals" would do as far as colors on my face... The girl who did mine wasn't a professional though... Didn't say a word beyond the first few minutes and had a look of "what am I going to do with *this!*" on her face like the whole time... She asked when I sat down, "So have you ever used Bare Essentuals before?" I answered yes, I use it all the time. She looked at me sideways and said, "Well then, why are you here?" I was like, "Well, I've never really got into the colored makeup yet and I'm curious about it. I'd like to try it out before I buy it." And she was like "O...kay..." Seemed like every other woman getting theirs done at the same time also already used it and their makeover people weren't giving them a hard time... Whatever... So she proceeded to spackle my face (a major no-no with Bare Essentuals makeup) and it was clear to me that she was very disinterested in what was she was doing. I will not even go into how she applied my lipstick. I ended up looking as pearlescent, pastel and pink as Lana Lang on "Smallville"! With a really bad collagen job because of how she applied the lipliner (which I don't usually wear). Not good... I know pink is a good color on me, but I would rather not look like a sugar-frosted pink Peep, thank you. So I didn't get their recommended colors. I got nothing actually. I decided the best thing to do would be to go back on a less busy day (the store was crawling with people!) and bring the make-up colors I already use (they're all Clinique) and see what Bare Essentuals colors match them best. Because I really like the make-up colors I use now (see photo in my profile to see why), I would just rather use Bare Essentuals eye makeup and lipstick now that I'm running out of my Clinique and I need to either buy more Clinique or switch to something else.

Zinzi looked much cuter than me after her makeover! The guy doing her makeup also wears Bare Essentuals, so he knew what he was doing. When he started, he said something to the effect of, "I just got here, honey, so I'm a little frazzled. I haven't even had time to put on my eyes yet!" His eyes needed no help though! Very thick, dark lashes and gorgeous hazel eyes. He had a great sense of humor, joked around with us, asked questions about what kind of look Zinzi was going for, how she liked her makeup to look, etc and so he did a great job with Zinzi's makeup. He used dark olive green and burgundy eyeshadows, which perfectly complimented both her skintone *and* the shirt she was wearing. And the lipstick was perfect for her skintone too. Very jealous was I 'cause her makeover was *way* better. I looked ridiculous...

After that, we went back to my house, I redid my makeup and then we went to TGI Fridays for dinner. We tried their new appetizers, the fried mac & cheese balls (evil! good, but *evil!*) and the fried green beans. Fried green beans are my new favorite french fries substitute. They were *way* better than the fries!
After dinner we stopped back at my house to get our books and stuff and then headed to Borders to study - Zinzi for the GRE and me for my Latin test on Tuesday. We were there for three hours but it seemed more like a third that time. Our friend, Laura, was working and talking to her gave my brain a rest from studying several times. Zinzi is focused though. I don't think I ever saw her take a break that wasn't instigated by me whining about one thing or another. She tolerated the interruptions well, bless her. I can't ever just sit and study. I have to have some kind of noise and interruption or I get headaches... whether figurative or literal.

Just a bit before closing at 9pm, I got up to go get the few things I was planning to buy - the Fall Interweave Knits magazine because they have got some *cute* patterns in there, including a silk knit spencer jacket, of all things (::wails:: but the yarn would cost $275!), that I have to remember to show to Susan at some point, and a "Studs 'n Spurs" calendar for Maria. It was Maria's birthday last week and we both *love* cowboys and horses, so it is appropriate. The calendar says on the back, "Ride west and fall in love with these toned and tanned cowboys. Each moth a new young buck will have you swearing a pair of jeans never looked so good! This is the perfect calendar for those with a western persuasion, so saddle up for a year filled with hunky heartthrobs." The models all have that wholesome yet sexy farm look about them... like they'd say "aw, shucks, ma'am," at the drop of a hat... ::nods thoughtfully:: She'll like it...

Well, just before I was coming back to the table that Zinzi and I were using, I saw Roy, of all people! He was my inspiring professor of Medieval history... lordy, like three years ago! And he still remembered me! I was shocked! I put my things down over at the table really quickly (the "Studs 'n Spurs" calendar would have been too embarrassing) and then went over to where he was standing looking at the magazine rack. I asked him how things were going and if he and his wife had moved to Boone, NC yet. They haven't, but are still planning to eventually. He asked what I was doing, I told him I was still working on my BA in Medieval history and that I was there studying for a Latin test next week. He asked me what my future plans are, and I told him how I wanted to go on to grad school and get an MA in Medieval too. He remembered that I was interested in the early period without me even mentioning it (he actually remembered that, after three years! I couldn't believe it!), rather than the later one, and expressed what a shame it is that most of the emphasis is on the later period in the History part of academia, but that it will be interesting to see where the field goes in the next decade or so. "But," he said to me, "If you like it, stick with it," and that I should keep an open mind about what to do with it. And I told him that was the plan. He also mentioned that there's a much bigger interest in the early period in archaeology circles and that perhaps I should consider that. Roy is so great! I wished him well and went about my business and he did his... It was really nice to see him again.

Fall Knitty and other knitting stuff...

So the Fall Knitty is up... Some of the patterns look really cute. I also appreciate that all the ones that I would want to make have the size I wear in the pattern, most especially Ivy and Viveka. Even Intolerable Cruelty, a knit skirt, has my size! That's like unheard of, a knit skirt pattern at Knitty.com in my size.

"*Would* want to make" because most, if not all, of the yarns chosen by the designers are freaking *expensive*! I've calculated a couple in my size and every single one ranges between $50 - $150! Even thing that aren't garments are made out of the expensive stuff. Like, I love the look of Lizard Ridge. I'd love to make it. But in the yarn it was knit in, it would cost $150-$170+shipping! For a blanket! That's nutz! I don't have that kind of cash for yarn... I can't think of anyone who does... Plus, I usually can't work with commercial wool. Most brands, even most of the higher-end brands, make my hands itch and swell. Not sure yet if I'll have the same problem with alpaca... My uneducated hope is that because it's hair and not wool, it's commercially processed a bit differently. So... I'm going to put those kinds of patterns aside for now. It's not like I have the time, resources or true inclination to knit them right now anyway...

But I have to say that the pattern that I do so love in this quarter's Knitty is Back to School! I'm so going to reserve some of my cotton stash to knit those the next time I'm working on dishcloths/facecloths/washcloths/what-have-you. I also really like Sugar on Snow. I love the little leaves and the cables... And the yarn isn't wool! And you don't need much to knit it up! If only I had someone to knit it for...

I want to make hats for Rachel and Heather for their Christmas presents... or well, part of their Christmas presents because I'm sure I'll get them more than just knit hats... I think they'd probably want something more grown up and trendy than Sugar on Snow. Maybe Topi or Coronet? I e-mailed both of them a week or two ago with a link to a bunch of hat patterns, asking if they'd look around and see what kinds of hats they'd like and let me know about colors... I haven't heard back yet, but I'm sure they're busy... I have a while yet before I need to start on them, so I have time... Or maybe one of them (or both) would like Odessa? I really like the look of it and I adore Rowan Cashsoft DK yarn... and the beads! That would be superfun. I just had a thought that perhaps it is difficult for them to look through all those links listed in that archive of hat patterns... They might not be working on computers that surf quickly enough for it to be easy or efficient for them... So perhaps I should just look around myself and send them just a few options to consider... Yeah, I think I will... I probably should have done that in the first place...

Other hat patterns I think are cute:
Cabled Wide Brim Hat
Simple Fair Isle Hat
The Frivol Hat (without the pom-pom)

Pope Benedict XVI impersonating Urban II?

Or, "Just in case I haven't pissed everyone off at least once, I'm posting this."

Benedict XVI is drawing fire from Muslim clerics and the leaders of predominately Muslim countries the world over today for his supposed inflammatory statements about Islam during his speech at the University of Regensburg entitled "Faith, Reason, and the University." In particular, they object to his quoting a 14th century account of a conversation between a Byzantine Emperor and a Persian scholar. The ancients were discussing the truths of Christianity and Islam... Something that, despite their nearness to the Crusades, they could do with more respect for differences of opinion than we can now, I'm afraid. Here is the quote they object to: "[Emperor Manuel II Paleologus] addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying: 'Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.'" He goes on to say later in his speech that "The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to G-d's nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, G-d is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our [Catholic?] categories, even that of rationality."

Muslim leaders in Pakistan are going so far as to compare Benedict XVI to "Hitler and Mussolini"... Uh, reality check... Sorry, but - No... The statements he's made are nothing to either of those tyrannical sociopaths. A better comparison would have been saying that Benedict XVI is like Urban II, the Pope who first preached the Crusades at the Council of Clermont in 1095. But even there, what Benedict said was not so bad as Urban II and it's not a fair comparison... In fact, what Benedict XVI said, if anything, is preaching the exact opposite of Crusade. He's calling people of all faiths to have a dialogue in order to end violence in the name of G-d because violence is wrong and against everything reasonable (and one could take his argument further to where G-d = Reason, and I think he'd agree with that... It's a pretty traditionally Greco-Roman influenced Catholic idea there...). Benedict points out with this controversial statement and some of those which follow that Islam, unlike Christianity, has explicit exceptions for when violence is good, holy and necessary in its holy writings. This is true; the Quran does discuss holy war in a frank and open manner, something that the Christian Bible does not... There are some passages in the Christian Bible and other writings that have been interpreted to justify violence in the past, but the Quran is different in that matter because it goes into the idea of a holy war in specifics. I believe that is what Benedict was pointing out. And if they argue with or take offense at that, I would tell them that they need to explain those passages of the Quran then.

Now, there is no love lost by me on the Pope... I disagree with a lot that he and pretty much every single one of his predecessors have done... There is little he is likely to do that will make me happy. ::shrugs:: I really don't care that much for Catholicism in general. And I disagree with a number of things he discusses in this speech, including what seems to be his main point here, that skepticism of religion (i.e.: Catholic Christianity) and the push for secularism is dangerous (to human society, culture, the world), and that Faith (i.e. Christianity) should have a place in Reason, that is, in the modern sciences, and therefore in the university. As a Jewess and as an American citizen, I believe in both skepticism and public secularism wholeheartedly. I believe that theology and questions of faith and G-d (as defined by any religion past, present or future) have absolutely *no place* in the hard sciences and are entirely a question of individual preference and education. (It is funny that this point has very little if anything to do with the state of Catholic-Islamic relations, and, in fact, that the statements he made that have so inflamed the Islamic communities were a minor footnote in his overall message.) I'm also offended on a number of levels by the way that the Pope speaks of "Catholicism," "faith," and "religion" as if all these words and all the ideas they imply are perfectly synonymous with one another... but he's the absolute spiritual leader of a religion which purports itself to be monotheistic (and therefore "the only *true* religion"), so it doesn't surprise me, even if it offends me. Furthermore, the statement that, "[The convergence between Biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry], with the subsequent addition of the Roman heritage, created Europe and remain the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe," strikes me badly in two ways that I can articulate. If I were a Turk, I wouldn't like that because it seems a dig against the Turkish desire to enter the European Union, as if he is saying in a way that Turkey, as a Muslim country, can't be a part of the European Union because it is not Christian. And at the same time, it strikes me badly because in context it equates "Biblical faith," a phrase that can be widely applied by itself, exclusively with early Christians, as if that's the highest "Biblical faith" there is... To give him the benefit of a doubt which I don't really feel, he is probably not meaning this as a slight to the legitimacy of the Jewish faith... It could just be the result of his upbringing in a society where anti-Semitism is unconscious but nonetheless pervasive... i.e. Europe... most especially, Germany... They can't help it. It's too ingrained at this point for them to realize that a statement such as this can be taken this way by someone of a different background, the same way that older white people in the South don't realize what they are doing when they do or say something that would be considered by everyone else to be grossly racist, and it doesn't surprise me anymore, even as it continues to be an irritant. So I would never go out of my way to defend any of his statements or actions arbitrarily.

I think the Muslim leaders who are angry with these statements are either, at best, being too sensitive, or at worst, trying to be deliberately inflammatory themselves, accusing the Pope of things he has not done by taking his statements deliberately out of context in order to stir up their followers to further violence and protest. If it is the first case, I can understand why leaders might be too sensitive. After all (and this might piss a lot of people off, but it's still true), Islam is not yet at the point in its development where it (as a whole) takes criticism and decent among its followers well, and you can forget about shrugging off criticism from outsiders. Islam is at the point in its development where Christianity was in... well... right around when the Crusades and the Inquisition happened. This isn't particularly good when all the other major religions on the world stage take critique much better... or ignore it altogether... But we have to deal with it anyway. ::sighs::

I think another idea of which Pope Benedict speaks here is interesting however... It is not one that he subscribes to - he does reject this idea, and anyone who knows anything about Catholicism will quickly see why... That of the trend toward "dehellenizing" Christianity in recent centuries since the Enlightenment. I find it interesting because if one was truly to "dehellenize" Christianity, it would end up looking a lot more like Judaism than any kind of Christianity that exists today... Jesus wouldn't be considered divine in any measure, Mary wouldn't be considered to have been a virgin, Christian baby boys would be circumcised as a matter of religious law, the Eucharist would be a lot more like an Oneg, pig would not be eaten with such gusto at Christmas and Easter, the idea of staying unmarried and childless would *not* be considered a good or godly thing... to point out a few... In short, there would be no Catholic Church as we know it, no offshoots from it, and Eastern Orthodoxy would not exist either. Christianity is *so* influenced by Greek thought, tradition, culture, etc that it would be utterly impossible to separate out all the Hellenized parts of Christianity and still be left with anything that looks fundamentally Christian to modern eyes. The Pope says as much in his speech and he is right in this. Seriously, if you took out all the Greek elements, what would you be left with? Like half the "New Testament" is written in Ancient Greek, for goodness sake, and the Hebrew Bible that they traditionally use is the Egyptian Greek translation, the Septuagint. And most of the stories in the "New Testament" are written with Greco-Roman literary influence and style... It was a Hellenized Mediterranean culture that produced it! So the idea of dehellenizing Christianity is the most absurd thing I've heard of in a while... Unless the goal is to not have a religion left when you're done with it. And you know, the ironic thing is that the Judaism that Christianity probably grew out of was a type of Judaism that was rebelling against the Hellenized Judaism of Judea's aristocracy and priesthood as it was being practiced right around the year 1 (by the Gregorian calendar... and we wouldn't have that calendar either since that comes out of Greco-Roman Christian tradition!)... LOL! I find it incredibly amusing...

It was nonetheless an interesting speech and so I encourage everyone to read either the entire speech delivered by the Pope, or the "key excerpts" at BBC News' website.

"Takings" Will Leave Us In Dire Straights

Please, take a minute to read this article and write your elected officials opposing "Takings."

Okay, one more thing before I go...

All of my newly dyed and dried wool together... The lightest one looks a little too light in this photo and the darkest one a little too dark, but oh, well, you get the idea...

See ya...

I'm going to Virginia tomorrow afternoon and will be back home on Sunday. No updates til then.

Pokeberry dyeing update #4

Ha-Ha! Ballet pink! I did a normal dyeing (1 hour, 160 degrees), but removed the wool immediately after the hour was up, instead of letting it soak overnight.

Pokeberry dyeing update #3

It keeps coming along... The third time I used the same dyebath, I've gotten an... almost ballet pink. It's a little darker than ballet pink, but of the same hue... just a darker tone... ya know? Here are pictures...

This is the wool from the thrice used pokeberry dyebath. My phone is wonky... It's a bit lighter than this (though not as light as below).

For comparison, this is the third result (on the left) next to the second result (on the right) that I've gotten. The left one should be just a touch darker than shown.

This is a better picture of what I got the second time I used the dyebath than I was able to get and post yesterday. It's about this color.

Pokeberry dyeing update #2

Second batch is in and looking pretty good! Here are pictures:

I tried to take a picture from far away like I did with the first one, but it came out very electric looking... it is nowhere near this bright in reality...

But neither is it quite this dull looking...

The last one comes closest out of all the photos as to what the actual color of the second dyeing looks like. It's really a kind of pinky-orange-red... almost a salmon, but a bit more red than salmon. The first batch of dyed yarn is on the right and the second is on the left in both of the last two photos here.

Primary!

Hey, all you Floridians out there, did you vote today? You've got four more minutes before the polls close! Go vote!

Pokeberry dyeing update #1

Well, yesterday I dyed my alum mordanted wool. 8 ounces of it. Enough for the stripes on two shawls. Today (as per Rita Buchanan's instructions to soak overnight in cooling dyebath), I took the wool out and have hung it up to dry. Here are pictures:
Will have to wait and see if the color changes after it dries and is rinsed. Rita says to let the wool dry completely and then rinse with plain water until the water runs clear.

I haven't thrown out the dyebath yet. It's still in the pot in the garage because I think I can dye some more wool in it. It's very dark still... might get a lighter color that's still pretty? Plan to start that after I see how the first batch turns out. Might do some cotton too, just to see what happens. This was fun, even if the dyebath smells horrible!

I also dug up some pine roots yesterday. Dad's instructions were "just don't kill the trees." Well, duh. From the sources I've found, they dye wool a dark red, garnet color... Will get to them soon, with luck. I hope we get some goldenrod before it gets too late in the season. All the marigolds have stopped flowering. I wish I'd found out how pretty they dye sooner. I would have saved them in the freezer all summer. We had hundreds! We still have some sage, rosemary and other herbs, but not enough to make a dyepot. Thinking of also trying to collect enough live oak bark to do a batch of something... and maybe leaves too. We also have dozens of Eastern red cedar. Probably should get some bark from those too while I'm at it. Need to remember about onion skins too!

Lord of the Rings News!!

Limited Edition 2-disc sets...

Theatrical version and extended version in the same set...

All three movies...

New documentaries...

In stores soon...

I'm excited!!

Pokeberry experiment begins

Well, I picked the berries approximately one week ago with Jason's help while I was in South Carolina visiting all my peeps up there. Most of the berries were *very* ripe. We put them in plastic ziploc bags and Jason froze them for me to keep them fresh until I left the Burough on Saturday. As soon as I arrived home, I put them in the outside fridge where they remained until today. I guess the freezing or the time it took for me to mess with them again, something, broke a lot of the berries because all three of the larger bags were leaking juice when I opened the pot they were in and there was a good centimeter or two of juice in the bottom of the pot. That's okay though... I figure it won't hurt the dye quality none if they were breaking and leaking juice before I added the vinegar and smashed them.

I weighed the pokeberries as best I could and I have about 6 lbs. Still doesn't quite add up to even one gallon, let alone two in actual weight measurement. I should have thought of this before. I'm confused by these vague units of measurement. 1 gallon berries to 4 ounces wool? Is that 1 gallon of just the berries, or one gallon of berries and stems? And is it meant as a weight measurement or volume? I'm just not sure. Still... From my best guess, I'm going to attempt to dye 8 ounces of wool with slightly less than is recommended by Rita Buchanan (writer of A Weaver's Garden) for 4 ounces. We'll see what happens.Worst that I figure can happen is that the dye is a lighter shade than expected. I think I'd actually like a lighter pink better with the wools I had planned to pair the pokeberry-dyed wool with, so either way, as long as it's not a disaster, I'll be happy with the result.

So I've placed them in one of my large enamel pots with enough vinegar solution to cover the berries and set it in our warm garage with the lid on it to ferment the berries as recommended by Rita Buchanan as well as several people on the Yahoo! DyeHappy list. I need to let it sit for a few days, so I won't be getting back to it until at least Friday... What am I saying? I *will* get back to it on Friday, provided I have found alum by then... I've called like *every* drug store and supermarket from Carrollwood to the county line and even a little bit into Pasco county, and no one has any. Best I could find was that all the Publixes said that they stock it from the end of September to the beginning of January... Don't ask me why only then, cause I don't know. ::sighs:: So I've ended up just ordering it online... from amazon.com of all places...

Ernesto

We've just started getting the first of our rain from Ernesto. The predicted path of the eye is still far to the east of us. The thunder is pretty bad. My little dog, Baby is cowering under the furniture. As of 8 pm, they still haven't cancelled classes. Hurricane (or in this case Tropical Storm) Days are our Snow Days. They have cancelled classes and school in counties to the south and east of Hillsborough, but still not in Hillsborough. It will all depend on whether or not the storm deflects further to the west than predicted as it comes on land in the Keys and across the Everglades. If it does, we'll no longer have a Tropical Storm Watch, but rather a Tropical Storm Warning, and school will likely be cancelled. If there's a chance that buses could be pushed over by the wind, they have to cancel school...

Classes continued...

... Unlike when I was a Freshman, I *now* know not to bite off more than I can chew. Therefore, I'm dropping my Theory of History class, which (to paraphrase Maria's reaction) is like a full-time schedule all in one class, in order to concentrate on my other classes. I just don't feel like sacrificing my GPA on the alter of expediency, cause seriously the class is ridiculous. Latin requires daily attention and discipline. Medieval Spains has 7 text books, a 7 - 9 page term paper, as well as a movie review. Theory of History required a lot of seriously heavy reading (another 7 books... *thick* books...), not fun books either, books that the prof claimed we would want to kill him for assigning, as well as a ten-page paper, and 7 2-page papers... What worried me most was the pace of the reading (a whole several hundred page book + an impossible to BS paper on said book every 1 to 2 weeks) because I don't read quickly and I have never mastered the art of skimming and retaining information. Call it a mental block, but I've tried and it just doesn't work. On top of that, the prof is the one everyone in the department warns against taking classes with because he's more than a little unhinged in Sadistic kinds of ways... He likes making things as difficult for his students as he possibly can and is extremely abrasive. He also told us that he purposely picked difficult books because he felt like it and doesn't care if his students don't like it. I hope he *never* gets tenure because it's just not necessary to be that way. I've tried to take classes with him before, but I just couldn't stand him. Theory is required to graduate, but nothing says I have to take it with him. There are other profs who are nice and human beings and pick reasonably books. Unfortunately, all other sections are packed for this semester...

So I won't be graduating until Fall 2007 now.

That's alright...

::breathe::

I have to look on the bright side. Now, I have time to concentrate on starting my business.

First day of classes

I've been to two out of my three classes for the day, and so far so good. I feel almost like a Freshman again, in that I'm cautiously optimistic. I've got an enthusiasm for something I think is going to be very, very difficult, but ultimately worth it. I think that this is a pretty good out-look. More on that later in the week...

Tropical Storm Ernesto could be headed our way, and by the time it gets here, would be a hurricane... so we might have a Hurricane Day or two the first week of school. The two profs I met earlier today are either definitely new, or seemingly new to Florida and haven't been through hurricanes before (either from what they said or the impression I've gotten from them), so it should be interesting to see what happens. Current predictions place the center of the storm almost over Lake Okeechobee on Wednesday at 8:00 am. We'll just have to wait and see where it goes as it makes its way northwest from Cuba.

Bringing it home...

The article linked below was written in August of 2002. Even then, people knew that imports were becoming a huge problem for American manufacturers and workers. Susan is from Martinsville, VA and her people have lived just up the road in the Bassett, VA area for many, many generations, so perhaps I do have a personal reason to care. Though even if I didn't, one of the saddest things I have ever see in this country is the empty shell of a factory - shut down, silent, filled with broken windows, graffiti, dead leaves, trash, and rusting, wasted machinery.

Bassett, Stanley, DuPont, Pulaski, American of Martinsville and Hooker (I'm sure, among others) have all been based in or had a major plant located in Martinsville or Henry County, VA at one time or another. Many of those factories have closed and moved manufacturing to Mexico and/or China. Those closures left a good portion of the working class people of Henry County laid off, and many people lost retirement pensions. There are many more just like them all over the country in every industry.

So please do think about these thousands of good American working people who have been put out of a job and pension by the needless shift to imports and outsourcing the next time you're buying a new bed, bureau or TV stand. Consider doing a little research first to find what products are US made before buying and go look at them first if they're anywhere near your price range. You just might get a nicer product for your dollar and feel better about where your money is going than if you just go straight for the uber-cheap at your local Haverty's or Rooms-To-Go. Let me tell you from personal experience, furniture from both of those stores is cheaply and poorly made, and begins to fall apart very quickly and with little provocation. You'll have to replace it at least twice as fast as the better made products, so might you just as well go for the nicer products first if at all possible? And if what is still manufactured in the US is beyond your price range, consider going to antique stores, flea markets, garage sales and Good Will Stores in search of furniture. Sometimes, you can find really nice, good looking things at those places at very reasonable prices. Sometimes, you can even find a total *steal*!

For raw numbers and statistics from people who know what they're talking about and are involved in the industry, go here.

This just in...

It is a sad day when I am forced to agree with the likes of Rush Limbaugh... I was listening to his radio show, not by design but because my dad also listens to the Devil Rays games on that station and he didn't want to change the channel...

Rush... or whoever was standing in for Rush... it didn't sound like Rush... was talking about the Southern Lebanon issues, the issue about Lieberman loosing his primary, and the general state of politics going down the toilet in this country right now.

He read a letter-to-the-editor from a Berlin, Germany newspaper written by a doctor who left southern Lebanon in 2002. He said that he was a Shi'ite Muslim and that he hates Hezbollah. Hezbollah is actually to blame for *all* of this (which some of us already knew). He said he witnessed first hand in his village that Hezbollah in 2001 (or there about - after the Israelis pulled out in 2000, but before he left in 2002) built a bunker for their weapons and bombs and then built a school and a residence on top of it. In this way, they figured they could not loose. Hezbollah could either bomb and kill Israelis with those weapons *or* if the Israelis bombed the bunker, Hezbollah would still win because the International Community would condemn Israel for the resulting civilian deaths. The doctor went on to say in his letter that Hezbollah really *does not* care about the Lebanese people or their lives. They use them as human shields in their terrorist activity, and once they are dead, they use them as propaganda to further their extremist terrorist cause and gain sympathy from moderates and liberals alike. He goes on to say that Hezbollah does not mind killing other Muslims because their view is that *any* Muslim who dies as part of their jihad, whether an attacker or a victim, will go to Paradise as a martyr and it is G-d's will that they die, so they don't view it as a bad thing. You cannot reason with people who think like this anymore than you can reason with a turnip.

FYI: Prior to 9/11, Hezbollah had killed more US citizens than any other terrorist organization in the history of the world. In 1983, the US Armed Forces stationed in Lebanon as part of an international peace keeping force lost over 200 men and women to Hezbollah attacks on the soldiers. That was only one of the many attacks Hezbollah has carried out against the United States and the rest of the world. They are not, in any measure, to be trusted or believed. Hezbollah will not stop until Israel is destroyed and Lebanon is under their complete control or they themselves are all dead or incarcerated. They *are* being backed by Iranian money and have been so funded for many, many years.

The lighter side of life

Food, fun and shopping! oh yeah...

I was searching today for CSA farms (Community Supported Agriculture). They're kinda like a time share except worth it and with a farm and not a house. With some, it's like a commune where you help with the work on the farm, and others they do all the work, you just get the fresh veggies in return for your money. They have one of the latter types in the western part of Hillsborough County and it's *organic*! And only $550 a year, and you pick up your produce shares *twice* a week from September to May! Fabulous deal! Mom's calling about it tomorrow...

Later, I was shopping for direct shipping mead online, now that direct shipping to Florida is legal (yay!). I'm having a difficult time deciding on what kinds of mead I might want to get... I thought Florida orange blossom, since that's my favorite kind of honey. In my search for that, I stumbling upon a site that sells honey from farms all over the country... Lo and behold it is the same site that has listings of CSA farms that I was using earlier today. I looked around their store a bit and found that they also sell rovings from all over the country at very reasonable prices. I'm going to link this site in the right hand column of my blog. It's http://www.localharvest.org and I highly recommend checking it out!

Oy vay... We need to get working NOW!

My dad is really pissed right now. He's going off at the reports on CNN of the French withdrawing their support of an international UN force in southern Lebanon to ensure that Hezbollah does not rearm once they have been disarmed. He's convinced that this is yet another symptom that the world hates Jews and that the vast majority of the world, including France, wants to see Israel destroyed... This may or may not be the case. I certainly don't believe that the vast majority of the world wants to see Israel destroyed per se, but it would not surprise me to learn that the vast majority of the world doesn't give a damn if it survives... including France... And France does and doesn't surprise me, taking this turn. They surprise me because France is home to more Jews - in raw numbers, not percentage - than any other country in Europe. They don't surprise me because they're the French, who have a history of rolling over for whoever comes knocking at their door since Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, and more than half the times that's happened since Charlemagne died. They are, after all, the fucking French, to paraphrase Eddie Izzard.

How is it that anyone can believe that, if left to their own devices, Hezbollah, an admitted terrorist organization, will not reform themselves and rearm and go back to their terror tactics against the Israeli people just because the Lebanese army is in Southern Lebanon? Anyone who does is more than naive, they are fools! But they won't be the ones to pay for their foolishness, the Israeli people who die will be the ones who pay. But I suppose they probably won't care about those who die, anymore than people who buy exotic wood, beef or soybeans from South America care that their patronage contributes to the destruction of the rainforest and the murder of innocent farmers, as surely as if they cut down the trees and put the guns to the farmers' heads and pulled the trigger themselves. It's appalling. And all the while their misplaced faith or apathy strengthens governments and organizations that free people should never even dream of strengthening, the jihadists and the extremists of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan and in smaller numbers in most of the rest of the Middle Eastern countries, furthering agendas that will mean the death of what little freedom people can enjoy under any government. And all out of ignorance and want of oil to power their creature comforts! Fools, fools, everyone! And if they don't wake up to reality soon, their children, and, more importantly to me, my children, and most certainly the Israelis will pay for it dearly!

These sycophants are lazy, and forget that they have power if only they are willing to exercise it. They forget that they are capable of impacting positive change for the ultimate good of themselves and the world. They forget that cars, electricity, air conditioning, etc are recent luxuries for the human race. We can and have survived quite well without all that... Perhaps not as comfortably as we do now, but we have survived and can do it again if we must... Though there is no reason why we must because there are alternatives for energy production all around us if only we are willing to use it and reject the oil. Then we can say to Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose anti-democratic agendas fly in the face of everything every free person holds dear, "Drink your damned oil, for all we care, and eat your sand, I'll be your thrall and allow you to treat others this way no longer!" I, for one, pledge to work to this end, making myself and my family as independent of black oil as one who is not independently wealthy can possibly get with no help from big business or the government. Instead of buying fancy cars or luxury vacations, I will save my money so that I may spend it on energy efficient, solar and wind powered housing that hurts no one but the evils of Big Oil and benefits everything in the end. What money I do spend in the meantime will be on the most fuel and energy efficient cars and appliances to be had, and on food grown and produced in harmony with nature. I will drive as little as possible (already I'm down to an average 1 tank of gas per month, and in the last 8 months, I've driven under 3,000 miles total) and use alternative means and carpooling whenever possible. What is good for Big Business is no longer good for everyone. I am a proud American capitalist, and I believe in the power of free markets, but I have my limits, and that is it. When the machine of economy is heading us all for a cliff with a hundred foot drop into disaster, I choose to do everything I am capable of to stop it before it gets there and to find a safer, better road. I urge everyone who reads this to do the same.

Every citizen - that's right, every - in these United States is as capable as I am.

Start by writing to your government representatives at any level you choose, or at all levels, and tell them what you want for this country. It doesn't take much time. You don't have to be eloquent or persuasive, just informative. And together with the work of other Americans, we can take back our government from Big Business, Lobbyists and corruption!

Research the candidates' records and history, and VOTE and for who you think will do the best job (not who the media, or your pastor, or your next-door neighbor thinks will do the best job!). The right to vote in free, democratic elections is the thing that sets free people apart from those who are manipulated and exploited by those in power. That we have allowed ourselves to come to this point is a deadly shame on our American ideals. Men and women have truly suffered and died to give us all the right to cast a ballot for our chosen candidates and causes. That is an historical fact, so think about that for a moment. Would you die? Would you give up your life in order to give your fellow citizens the chance to impact their government's policy? There have been many thousands who have done just that for you, for your family and loved ones, and for your fellow citizens. So VOTE and make it count for what you think is right.

Write to the media - to newspapers and news networks - and tell them what you think of their reporting, or tell them about stories you think they should report on less or more than they do (Such as the NAIS plan of the USDA). You don't have to write to them all, you don't have to write long letters... just pick whatever source you use to get your news from (I don't think that "The Daily Show" or "The Colbert Report" will be all that effective, but if that's where you want to send your letter, go to!) and send them a letter, a quick e-mail, a post-card, anything. They will listen to the people who compose their audience. They must if they want to keep your attention with the competition in that field right now.

Be active in your consumerism! A good deal of your power in a capitalistic society is in the money you choose to spend and on what you choose to spend it and with whom. I don't say that you can't buy things that you want to buy. I only ask that you make conscientious decisions about what you buy and from who you buy it.

Compare the benefits of organics with those of non-organics, and buy what you will from whomever you will.

Consider the economic benefit to yourself and your friends, neighbors, and countrymen if you buy goods produced in the United States, rather than imports.

Consider if something you can only get "made in China" is really necessary for you to buy, and if it isn't, consider not buying it. If you must buy it, make sure that you get your money's worth and don't buy cheap junk that you'll have to replace with another purchase from China.

Write to companies that you have purchased from in the past and ask them to manufacture in America as much as possible, stating that it is important to you as a consumer that they do so, and praise them if they already do.

Buy appliances and cars that are as efficient as possible and write to manufacturers that you are considering patronizing and ask them to make their products even more efficient. Write to car manufacturers and ask them to build cars that at least have the option of running on something other than gasoline, full-time (as opposed to those that still require any amount of gasoline in order to run).

I have done all of the above at least once in the last six months. Some I have been doing regularly for even longer than that, and some I have integrated into my day-to-day life with surprising ease and little effort. I believe that all of these things are things that any American citizen, regardless of economic situation, is capable of doing - especially since in this blessed country it is free to get a public library card (to this day, not so in Russia! "public" libraries are truly a foreign concept there!) and internet access at public libraries is free for those who have a library card. There really is no excuse anymore to not get involved in some way in making a positive impact of change on our society. Take a few moments to consider all this, and do something about the negative things we all see daily on the news, in our country, in our cities, towns and homes.

Our American system is only as perfect as we are willing to make it be for us, and for our children. It can work and it does work, when we want it to work, if we are willing to work for it!

Good gracious me

So I am once again preparing ahead. I've been searching for Chanukah/Christmas gifts for the bitties and also Lara. In this search, I came across a book called 50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know by Russ Kick. To be frank, it looks like something that Michael Moore might have written and for the sole purpose of pissing off the Christian Conservatives, something that I enjoy, but only if you get your facts absolutely right with no hyperbole because if you get hyperbolic, those whose heads you're hoping to implode instead get ammunition to use against you... Nonetheless, he points out an interesting thing about the Bible. He says that the Ten Commandments aren't really the Ten Commandments we think they are (but he left out one commandment, probably because he didn't understand what it meant, meaning that there actually should be *11* Commandments... this doesn't surprise me much because I doubt he's Jewish, and he's certainly not a Biblical scholar, *and* he was using the King James version for his translation, which any scholar will tell you is not worth the paper it's printed on for clarity or accuracy of translation).

Read Exodus 20-34 if you don't believe me. I'm not kidding here...

These were the rules written on the 2nd set of tablets by Moses in the Exodus story (paraphrased & with my commentary in the parenthesis):

1. You must not worship any other gods. (The Israelites at this time did not deny the existence of other gods, only that they should worship them... not that it stopped most people...)

2. You shall not make molten idols to worship for yourselves. (Personally, I would take this to mean that one *could* make idols for non-Israelites to worship...)

3. You shall observe Passover. (pretty clear...)

4. The first (male) offspring of every mother belongs to the Lord, whether human or animal. Animals will be sacrificed, human sons will be redeemed from sacrifice by donating money to the priesthood (or by joining it if they are a Levite). (To this day, if the firstborn child of a practicing Jewish mother is a boy, the child's parents will give an inconsequential amount of money - like a dollar or less - to any Jewish man who is believed to be a Levite in order to fulfill this commandment. If the first child is a girl, now, as in Biblical times, nothing need be done.)

5. No one should come to worship without a sacrifice. (pretty much what it says...)

6. Keep the Sabbath day. (no working at all, period, end of story... Building fires is included in this specifically, which is the reason some Orthodox Jewish families and probably all Orthodox synagogues employ a non-Jew - sometimes called a "Shabbos Goy" in Yiddish - in order to turn lights on and off for them during Shabbat. Others probably simply turn on any light they will need before Shabbat begins and keep it on until after it ends. All food is prepared the day before and must be ready to eat as is - no cooking.)

7. Observe Shavuot (also known as Pentecost) and Sukkot (also known as Tabernacles).

8. All the men must go to worship three times a year, at Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot (the Pilgrimage Festivals).

9. The sacrifice cannot be combined with anything leavened, and the Passover sacrifice cannot be left to eat the next morning. (Lack of leavening might recall to mind the Passover matzo - I'm guessing - and the Passover sacrifice could not be saved for eating later, it had to be consumed all in one meal or evening.)

10. The best of the first fruit harvest had to be sacrificed. (Just what it says... From what I understand and remember from class, at one time, the best of the fruit harvest had to be brought to the Temple in Jerusalem. They found that they had problems with shipping though, just as I'm sure farmers have problems today. The fruit from out-lying areas would spoil before they could get it to Jerusalem. The priests allowed these farmers to sell their fruit that they would have been bringing to Jerusalem and then travel to Jerusalem with the money and buy new fruit once they arrived... It was the thought that counted...)

11. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. (This obscure commandment is what has led to the separation of dairy and meat products in modern Kosher dietary laws... Funny thing is that was not what this is referencing. A delicacy of non-Israelites in the area some near 3000 years ago was boiling a baby goat in its mother's milk... This not only grossed out some Israelites, it was also seen as something that made the non-Israelites different from the Israelites, and as a way to separate themselves further, they forbid the consumption of that dish.)

Now, about all these commandments... They are all concerning religious cult matters, not day-to-day living. To me (again, guessing here, I could be wrong 'cause I haven't looked it up - note to self: I really need Who Wrote the Bible by Friedman), they are most clearly from the Priestly tradition (the tradition that comes from the Levite priesthood). Without looking any of this up, just going by what I can remember from my lessons on how to properly criticize Biblical text, these second set of rules are for a sedentary people, not the nomadic Hebrews at the beginning of their wandering. The traditionally known 10 commandments may very well be the *Ten Commandments*, and I would guess they are the older of the two traditions that have been combined in the Book of Exodus et al, but still if you follow what the text says today, they aren't the ones that were to have survived in tablet form way back when... Do ya follow? I would think that the second set of commandments cited by Russ Kick couldn't have come into the oral tradition until the time of the Judges at the *earliest*, possibly not until as late as the reign of Solomon, maybe later... (Didn't research, can't give time periods for sure, these are all educated guesses.)

What Russ Kick should have said was something else from the Bible that's misunderstood or not known by the vast majority of people... like Jesus probably didn't walk *on* water because the preposition used there could be translated as "on" *or* "next to"... and was probably meant as "next to"... but some over-zealous believers misunderstood it and went nutz with that interpretation to the exclusion of all others and it got spread around and pretty soon everyone was interpreting it "on" water. Or he could have used the info about commonly misinterpreted sections of the Prophets' books or Revelations, or even the fact that the story about the adulteress who was about to be stoned and Jesus is quoted to have said, "Let he who is without sin..." yada-yada, didn't appear in the text until more than 500 years after it would have occurred and is in none of the oldest copies, and so is most certainly not original and was made up and added by some scribe or particular Church group... Any of that, and a lot of other things, he could have expounded on for his "the Bible isn't the Bible you think it is" part of his book, but Russ Kick didn't do that. His book looks kinda crackpot to me.

random

Oh, my goodness, I love banana pudding!

Pokeberries

Interesting facts about pokeberries:

The United States' Constitution was written with pokeberry ink.

The ink was also used by Civil War soldiers to write letters home because it was available in the wild during the summer months... Walt Whitman is said to have used it to write dictated letters of wounded men when he was working at a field hospital.

Why I hate hot...

So, this evening, I was going to make myself an egg sandwich for dinner... And to put on this egg sandwich, I was sautéing some diced sweet onions and what I thought were mild chili peppers. Big mistake... 'Cause the peppers were supposed to be like slightly zesty bell peppers. I've cooked with them before. No precautions necessary, totally innocuous. The capsicum is almost undetectable and has never left a significant residue on my hands before. Well, these, apparently, were mutants. I mistakenly rubbed my left eye and instantly was blinded by the pain. It took over 30 minutes of alternately flushing my eye out with cold water and sugar water to get the sting to subside enough to open it and yet another 20 minutes before the burn went away completely. My fingers are still stinging, despite being washed what must be a hundred times and soaked in sugar water for about 15 minutes. My mom tasted a small piece and said they were hotter than jalapenos... Joy...

So I decided not to use peppers in my eggs. Had to dump that batch and start a new one. Onions, dill and tarragon with Swiss cheese on a French baguette. Much better.