Roadtrip: PKOTT at NETA Spa

This Saturday the lovely ladies of Portland Knitters On The Town took a field trip to NETA's Spa, Spin and Knit weekend up in Freeport, where the Hilton Garden and Haraseeket Inns were crawling with Spinners and Knitters from throughout New England.

Many were day trippers like ourselves, but others from New Hampshire and Vermont came to stay for the whole weekend. The Hilton was sold out - primarily to knitters and spinners. It was great to see so many fiber lovers in one place!

There were also a ballroom full of the usual merchants, but being pretty stocked up at the moment, I only purchased a card of beautiful pewter buttons that made me think of a new sweater design almost instantaneously.

With so many spinner around I was inspired to pull out my spindle, which I haven't touched since sometime in late September/Early November, when Christmas and other deadline knitting kicked in.

So while I didn't purchase any yarn, I did come out of the event with some new yarn. Which as Mr. Cleaver accurately described it, "feel like you hair after a day at the beach." It's llama, and yes, it's a bit straw-like. I'm hoping it'll soften up a bit when I wash it (which it seriously needs - so much dye transfer!!), but I'm proud of the thinness and relative evenness of this skein. Inspired, I started spinning it's companion purple fiber last night.

We also made side trips to a BBQ joint and a fabric store. So all in all, it was a good day. :)

February Sunshine

While the Mid-Atlantic has been getting pummeled with inches upon inches of snow, we've been sitting up in Southern Maine with hardly a flake insight. Amazingly it is February and there is more grass to be seen than piels of snow. I'm sure we'll get hit with a doozy of a storm as soon as I post this, but in the meantime, Mr. Cleaver and I have been taking advantage of this February Sunshine.

Last weekend we took my first trip to the Maine Audubon sanctuary in Falmouth. In the past, Mr. Cleaver has gone to the sanctuary to cross-country ski, but we just wandered the trails, holding hands.

It was still cold and breezy, but the sun was so nice we sat on the ground and soaked it in.

I didn't think it possible, but this weekend was even nicer - so we went to the beach.

We picked up pizza and pier fries at Lisa's Pizza and took a walk along the shore at Old Orchard Beach - one of those places that is crawling with tourists in the summer, but lovely and quiet in the winter.

We're currently at a 50% chance of snow for Tuesday, but in a Maine winter, you take what sunny days you can.

First Snow

Last night was our first real snow of the season in Portland - around 6 inches.

Between the snow, seeing the Nutcracker Friday night, and the balsam pine scent of our $8 roadside wreath, I'm starting to feel very much in the Holiday spirit.

Only 19 days left to go!

Giving Thanks: Family, Food, and Fun

This Thanksgiving, Mr. Cleaver and I had the pleasure of hosting my big brother Luke and his lovely wife Jen for a few days. I think we crammed two days worth of activities into each one, showed the family some Portland-area highlights and had an all-around good time.

Photos 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 by Luke and Jen

Mackworth Island

It was an unseasonably warm weekend, so Mr. Cleaver and I took a couple of long walks to enjoy it, including another jaunt to Mackworth Island. Where we checked in on out fairy house (the roof had caved in), and got close to the wildlife.

Snacking on a nut.

Letting me know I finally got too close!

Not too much to share today, I just felt like posting something. I also finished knitting a pair of socks for the husband this weekend and will try to post some pics later this week.

Happy Harvest

When Mr. Cleaver and  I went apple picking a few weeks back, we came home with 21 pounds of apples. For two people. What did we do with them all?

2 Quarts Apple Sauce and 1.5 Pints Apple Butter;

3 Fat Apple Pies;

3 apples for my mother-in-law and 3 apples for my lunch.

All in all not a bad haul! It took one day to do all the canning and another day for the pies. It was a lot of work, but I'll happily be eating apples until next September!

Though this is my fourth year making apple pies, this is the first year I worked out a recipe that I was totally happy with. In the past, my pies had ended up too watery, but with a few tweaks to some recipes from family and friends, I think we've ended up with something delicious!

Streusel Apple Pie

Crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 6 full Tbl cold water

Filling:

• 6 apples of choice ( I love jonagolds and rome beauties best - but any firm and tart apple will do).
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbl lemon juice
• 1/3 cup flour

Streusel

• 3 Tbl butter (softened)
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400°F

Make crust by mixing together flour and salt. Cut shortening into flour mixture with a pastry cutter or some forks.  Add cold water until dough holds together. Form dough into two flattened balls, wrap in plastic wrap and store in fridge until filling is prepared.

Peel, core, and slice apples. In a large bowl, mix apples, lemon juice, sugar and spices. Add flour until a thin sauce is formed from the juices. Set filling aside.

Removed chilled dough from fridge and roll out into a top and bottom crust.

Place bottom crust in  9 inch round pie pan (metal or glass) and fill with apples, heaping up in center. Cover apples with top crust. Top can be latticed or vented with several cuts through the top.

For streusel, cut together softened butter, flour and brown sugar with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle streusel over top of pie.

Bake pie at for 40-50 or until filling bubbles and top is brown.

Cool, slice and enjoy!

Anniversaries

2008

2009

As part of our anniversary celebrations, Mr. Cleaver and I once again went to Mt. Bradbury, the site of our first date. We're creatures of habit, what can I say?

Other than my having more hair, I'd say we look about the same.

And early October is a great time to go the mountain, because the color is peaking and the view are lovely. As you'll see below, we weren't the only ones with the idea.

And speaking of anniversaries - it's my 2-year blogaversary! I want to say a big thank you to all of my readers - thanks for hanging in there with me!

Roadtrip: Ricker Hill

With four apple picking adventures under our belt, I present the Cleaver's Guide to a Successful Apple Harvest Trip:

1. Pick a beautiful fall day

2. Get apple cider doughnuts first. It's no good picking on an empty stomach.

3. Eye your prey

4. Don't be afraid to use tools to get the best fruits.

5. Pick the Most Photogenic Wagon to Haul your Harvest

6. Don't be so focused on the apples that you miss out on other marvels.

7. Waste Not, Want Not. Rotten apples explode fabulously when flung from a slingshot.

8. You're never too old for a petting zoo.

9. And never too big to stop being silly.

10. Pick up more apple cider doughnuts on the way out. It's only once a year!

Wild Times in New England

As if the Common Ground Fair on Sunday wasn't enough, this Thursday I skipped work an hour early and Mr.Cleaver and I headed to the Cumberland County Fair. There were cute kids on rides (check out the tongue action on this "Biker Chick"):

Fair Food for Dinner:

Prize Winners:

Cute Animals:

4-H Pig Races (worth the price of admission alone):

an International Ox Pull

and sneaking it all in before it started to rain.

With a rainy Saturday, the Mr. and I took a trip over to Westbrook for Candlepin Bowling and $2.25 worth of Pinball:

Roadtrip: Common Ground Fair

It's fall in Maine, which means Fair Season and for the even slightly crunchy granola of us, it means the Common Ground Fair hosted by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. When I went last year, I was unemployed and recently arrived from Chicago. I went because I was told there'd be yarn.

This year I went up as part of a group of seven from my Tuesday night knitting group. We left Portland at 7:30 and even getting slightly lost, managed to avoid the long line of traffic that you get after about 10 am. It was cool when we left, but the weather couldn't have been more perfect. We wandered around the fair for about 6 hours seeing all the sights.

And yes, we bought yarn and fiber. I bought lots of fiber because this is my first fair trip as a spinner. The haul, as displayed below is as follows: Llama fiber from Botanical Shades (Orange on spindle and purple), "fudge sundae" wool-bamboo-silk blend from Pleasant Valley Farm (dark multicolor ball), and wool and sparkle blend from Enchanted Knoll. The sheep sculpture is from Maple Lane Pottery.

I spin now, did I mention that yet?

Mr. Cleaver got me a drop spindle for my birthday and I've be happily leaving tufts of wool all over the sofa since July. But really, we all knew it was just a matter of time, right? I look forward to sharing more bits of fibery/handspun goodness here in the coming months.

My first (grey) and second (white) spinning samples, apx 1.1oz each, wool fiber from the Portland Fiber Gallery and Studio.