Time out for dinner - tostadas

Time out for dinner. My lovely wife said this dinner is so pretty I should take a picture of it. So here is the picture. (click on picture for larger view)

A tostada is a corn tortilla shell toasted in hot oil until crispy. You can buy the shells in the market already toasted, but I prefer to toast them myself because they taste better. I toasted these in peanut oil.

Then a layer of warm refried beans (canned this time) is spread on the shell, followed by a layer of seasoned meat (ground turkey with chili powder and spices), some lettuce (romaine, cabbage, carrot salad mix sliced into slivers), and some grated cheese (medium cheddar and jack cheese bought already grated and mixed in a bag).

You can also add more toppings like tomatoes, olives, sour cream, guacamole (avocado sauce), or salsa. I just like to keep it simple.

That was dinner tonight and just a snapshot of my corner of the world, Sacramento, California.

Edited to add: You eat the whole tostada, crispy shell and all. Pick up carefully and keep it over the plate in case the shell cracks and spills the goodies on your lap.

Have a good evening!

Hi Franco,

NIce idea bringing it out in the open. ''My Little Corner of the World'' used to be in our backstrap group but I was doing some spring cleaning (it's spring here in Bolivia) and it got tossed!

Mmmm.....I need to go eat something now.

Laverne

That's where it was!

And then I couldn't find ti again.

Oh well, we'll all fill up this new one.

Have a good day!

Mmmm! Its lunch time here and one of those tostadas would go down well, do you do home delivery, hehe!

Usually I would say "Okay", but I think I will have eaten the tostada by the time I get to Australia.

I think you should learn to make tostadas. I bet they would taste great with some lamb!

You could set up a cart to sell them! I bet you would be the only tostada cart in town.

Have a tasty day!

I've been transcribing the latest WeaveCast - Syne Mitchell in conversation with Sharon Alderman.  If you haven't discovered WeaveCast yet, this would be a great introduction http://weavezine.com

For those people with hearing impairment or dial up connection, I transcribe the podcasts so you can still access them even if you can't download or hear the audio.  I've gotten behind but hope to catch up soon.

cheers,

Laura

what's currently on the loom - time to go weave a bit as a break from transcribing.....more info on my blog

http://laurasloom.blogspot.com

Thank you Laura.

I like the podcasts and I'm sure many people appreciate the transcripts.

I've transcribed in the past and know that it can be tedious at times.

Where are you located?

Have a good day!

In my corner of the world, I just finished making 65 lbs of gourmet chocolates in my annual Thanksgiving marathon.  Here's what I made:

They are yummy! but after three 14-hour days of nonstop chocolatiering, I'm totally exhausted.  Can't wait to get the chocolates to the post office tomorrow, and get back to weaving!!

Tien

Tien! 42 hours of chocolatiering! That sounds like a wonderful tradition! The pictures are making me drool.

I beginning to think you have a compulsive nature.

Where is your corner of the world?

Have a joyful day!

I'm in Prince George, BC Canada.....look up.....waaaaaay up!  ;^)

Cheers,

Laura

Tien, can I come and be chief taste tester next year, pretty, pretty, please?

That is a very noble effort!

We don't have anything resembling Thanksgiving here Down-under, and the nearest thing we have to a national dish is the crayfish and/or prawns we try and have on Christmas Day. My family are very traditional so my sister cooks for a regiment: roast turkey with all the trimmings, followed by Christmas Pudding with Brandy Custard, and a side-serve of Alker-Seltzer. Then we sleep. And when we wake up its all served up again! Often in 40C heat.

Why we insist on eating a roast dinner in the middle of summer I don't know, but you'd think that after 200 years we could have developed a celebratory meal thats more suited to the climate, hehe!

Yes, Tien is just  a little compulsive.  And thank goodness for it!   Have you seen her weaving? 

In my little corner of the world (Ohio), I was laid off in October, along with job hunting, and volunteering on the Weavolution Dev team, I've been working on my translation of a 16th century German cookbook.

http://diglib.hab.de/wdb.php?dir=drucke/2-3-oec-2f
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cooking_rumpolt/

Sharon

This is a wonderful color and an inspiration to get myself off Weavolution and get back to weaving more often.  Is this a scarf or a shawl?

Claudia

My corner of the world is the San Francisco Bay Area - Sunnyvale, to be exact.  So Franco, we are practically neighbors!!

And one of my favorite quotes is something my best friend said to me: "I used to think you were obsessive, but now I realize that you're just very, very focused."

LOL!

Tien

No, I'm back to making placemats.  :)  Details on my blog along with a photo of the next mats.  I'm trying to use up stash.  :}  They are similar to the placemats that were in the Sept (?) Handwoven.

http://laurasloom.blogspot.com

Cheers,

Laura

great picture, I just found this site and 'joined' so I am learning how to make posting a permanent thing-- and plan to learn to take and upload pictures.

Welcome! We are glad you found us. You may want to take the "Tour for new users" in the Help section here. There is also a YouTube video one of our users posted for how to post pictures and that can be found here.

Thanks for Joining the Weavolution!

Claudia, Weavolution co-founder

Are u'll ready for dessert to go along with the tostadas? I baked 6 doz jam tarts for a wedding. For all our English folks out there I will soon be baking minced meat tarts, yes, with rum & brandy. Cheryl is English. Tien, am I on your mail list this year, I have been good and can be very, very nice (g)

Michael

Penfield, GA USA

Oh boy, these look great and beautiful presentation too.  I can't wrap my head around minced MEAT with rum and brandy though!

Laverne, "meat" is really a misnomer. In old english, meat was the "meat" of a nut. In fact you can buy minced meat jars with out animal meat in it. The jars I uses (yes, you can make your own) have no animal meat in it. You can also get it with out the rum & brandy.

There was a long story on Bolivia and the upcoming election this morning on NPR (National Public Radio) if you like you can hear it here: http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=3&islist=true&id=7&d=12-05-2009

Michael

Thanks for clearing that up.

A little about my corner of the world.............

Yes, we have elections tomorrow and voting is mandatory-you are denied access to your bank accounts if you can't prove that you voted.

No bars, discos, karaokes etc can operate today or tomorrow and no alcohol can be sold until 7pm tomorrow night. Tomorrow no transport whether it be public or private can circulate. It is quite festive as everyone is out strolling the streets or riding their bicycles. Normally riding a bike here is suicidal! Everything will be shut tomorrow so the streets and supermarkets today are completely clogged. 

Thanks for the link to the radio program. It will interesting to hear the US perspective on this. Not a squeak about it on CNN International.

Laverne

Do not get me started on voting in the US. I am the voting pole manager for the cities of Woodville & Penfield. I think voting should also be mandatory here. I will say no more....

Michael

Can someone email me or post here how to get pictures on this site--- thanks.

Its mandatory here in Oz, and recently the donkey vote has become quite high - we also have proportional representation, unfortunately. What do you do when you don't like the candidates for either major party, and you know that if you vote for a minority party your votes will be distributed where-ever they have made a deal? Not everyone likes filling in their voting slips to number candidates in order of preference, especially if there are over 50 candidates, as does happen for the Upper houses.

There are pro's and cons both ways.

Instructions are here.........

www.weavolution.com/node/1328

Hope this helps.

Laverne

I want to be Tien's new best friend!  I just bought a music school and store in Georgia and when I finally learn the fundamentals of weaving I will attempt to make guitar straps to sell in the store.  I love (most of the time) the endless challenge of weaving and also the  great people on this site.  I survived the Rigid Heddler's log cabin weavalong and promise to post pictures when my laptop is up and running again.

Caroline I sent you an IM. EggplantLady (do you have a name) where in Georgia is your store? I hope Tien has lots of goodies for all her NBFs. Tien, you may not have time to get married. You are going to be too busy making chocolate confections for all your NBFs. Francorios, we tried your fried tostadas last night. Trying to eat them was a fun event. Cheryl, my proper English wife (who eats fried chicken with a knife & fork) ate hers with, yes, a knife & fork. She said, "You need to eat this around the chuck wagon with dogs at your feet." Kerry, my son, put two tortillas together and tried to eat them like a sandwich. I want back and looked, you made yours out of CORN, I made mine out of flour tortillas. The next time we all need a fun dinner I will try the corn tortillas, I think they will have more body. Dessert was a apple coffee cake. I am off to wash two scarves Cheryl took off the loom last night.

Michael

finished and proofed an article and am in the middle of threading my WDL for another 16-shaft taquete design.  this one could result in a stole...it's a dove-and-cross design on a red ground.  I'm thinking "Pentecost."  ANYWAY, it is threading up at about 4 inches across which is nice for a stole.  Working in Tencel.  Other than that, trying to stay warm.  Yeah, I know, Laura, YOU know COLD, but we are wusses down South and the damp chill that settle in around here is not something for which we are EVER prepared.

I was thinking about moving one of the WDL's into the house until warmer weather returns, but I so like being in my workshop that I guess I will just bite the bullet and pay for the extra cost of heating the other building.

Nancy C.

of course, I COULD go get m propane-tank heaters refilled...hmmmmm.

of course, I COULD go get m propane-tank heaters refilled...hmmmmm.

Just returned from sunny round trip of Egypt to cold,dark, drizzly Copenhagen that is buzzing with Climate Conference and busy catching up with Wavolution news. What amazing changes! Sorry I have not got any of my photos of the sun setting on the Nile ready to send to you all!

Just came back to show you my first impression of Egypt, arriving in Luxor back in November from Denmark that had been so dark, rainy and cold.

My corner of the world this week: HOME. Andover, New Jersey, USA!
It snowed...a lot. (Keep scrolling down...)

So I re-warped/re-purposed a loom, to "dual mug rugs," due Tuesday, Dec 15th for an exchange. (Trying to save time and warp here...) Yes, they are not *exactly* the same due to threading, but when I take them off the loom, the reverse side of one should match the other. (Just wanted to make it a little more interesting when weaving...)

By the way, this is a great tip: take photos of your initial weaving on the loom and then download and pull up on your computer. (Sometimes errors appear that you just didn't see sitting at the loom.) I had to unweave and start over at least once this weekend!

And then I turned my attention to my little Structo with an overt wist sample I started back in Sept. The warp was supposed to be under tension until I could get back to it, but of course, it fell off, and was a mess. It was tedious to untangle and wind, but I did it. The over twist I am testing is HABU uber-fine and something unnamed from the stash. The over twist sections are in the middle and flanking sides. They are more spread out in the reed for now...the rest is bamboo. I wanted something that did not shrink up much, and something I had on hand. This project is totally about sampling the "what if's", sett, and structure changes, not the colors...stay tuned. I may add both to "projects" and you can follow along there....

After getting the weaving & creative fires started again, I am dehydrating a billion batches of apples for holiday gifts. I have 6 trays, so that's roughly 14 apples each 12 hours, not that I'm counting or anything. (Sorry, no photo of that.)

Sally

I need that snow picture as my screen saver so I can gaze at it as the drops of sweat fall off the end of my nose! Is this snow welcome?

Laverne

Laverne. in fact some people have a "first" snow party. Me I left the snow behind in NY years ago. Right now we have a little cold weather here in Georgia, I think Wed it will be 70f. That is the way the weather is in my part of GA , in the North GA mts it does get cold and snow. Alone the coast it is a little warmer, and in South GA it is mostly warm unless we get a big cold blast coming down out of Canada. The temp in US right now ranges from -15f to 85f in South Fla.

Michael 

My corner of the world is a tad chilly today.  :)  Winter seems to have settled in for good now.  I won't mind so long as the sun comes out - then everything looks bright and shiny and sparkly.  

Got the afghan warp beamed last night.  Today I'm winding another warp for the small loom so that it can go on just as soon as the white place mat warp comes off.  More tea towels this time - 2/16 cotton warp and either a fine cotton slub or cottolin for weft.

Cheers,

Laura

Laverne, here is one from north of Montreal that will make you appreciate the warm weather!  Can you imagine doing this after every storm storm?

Oh my! That looks dangerous, but very pretty nevertheless.

I will post these two pics of Santa Cruz that I posted some time ago in the original ''My corner of the world'' thread so you may have already seen these - not much changes here as far as temperature goes but we are just easing into the wet season now. .

Weaving-wise I am plying sewing thread on my drop spindle to do some bands with lots of fine motifs, finishing off my rigid heddle-on-the-backstrap loom experiment and sketching an idea for a pillow cover.

Laverne

Deb, I heard that some places around Montreal got 5 feel of snow? My wife's parents live in NE Maine, Laverne, FYI the airport at Bangor, Maine has the longest heated runway on the US East coast, It use to be an Air Force Base. Weaving wise I washed two knitting yarn scarfs this morning. Cheryl right now has this hung up with using up knitting yarn in her scarves. Her next project is a other poncho, since the shop where she sells most of her weaving has sold the poncho they had. One of these days I will get a loom freed up so I can weave a  overshot rug.

Michael

That is gorgeous Ellen! Indeed returning to Copenhagen must have taken some adjustment. Do you have a Flickr page where we can see more? 

 Indeed it did. But somehow i also like the rhythm of seasons here. Now it gets dark around mid-afternoon and then all the Christmas decorations lights up prettily.

Your corner of the world looks very pleasant. No, I haven't got a flikr page, I'm afraid, I have never understood the reason for having one, but then I am not really very versatile in the computer world.

But here is one more just for you: me by the pyramids :-)

Happy Weavo-anniversary!

Michael, your wife understands us Westerners very well. The chuck wagon is our idea of eating out. Corn tortillas do have better strength than flour tortillas. However, I did warn you all to eat over the plate in case of platform malfunctions.

Since you already know how to fry the flour tortilla, fry it until crispy then while hot sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon. Yum!

Have a good day!

Hi Sally.  I saw your pic of the little Structo and wanted to share a tip that you might find useful.  I found that when the cloth wraps around the front beam, the picks get messed up because of the sharp edge on the beam.  To remedy this, I got a short length of 1" diameter PVC pipe and slit it along it's length, then slid it over the outer edge of the beam.  That rounded edge really helps.

Bonnie

Yesterday my sister in law in Folsom Calif (elev. 218 feet above sea level) got two inches of snow, which would be the first measurable snow of the century for them. Snow fell as low as Rancho Cordova (elev 36 ft ) which is just up the road but we did not get any snow that stuck to the ground at my house.

Have a good day!

Franco Rios, Sacramento Calif (elev 25 ft)

Franco, that dessert would be a sopapilla? Snow is falling in a lot of places that have never seen snow before. We eat a lot of mex. food. Tonight it is Chinese:  roast red-cooked pork, chinese vegetables, rice and a home grown pineapple for dessert and not very big this year, but sweet and juicy. Too much rain and not enough sunshine.This is going to be the wettest year on record for Georgia, And as I type it is raining, and tonight and tomorrow. At lest it is not SNOW.

Michael

Hi Laverne, Franco, Ellen and All! 

I saw many familiar faces, so I thought I'd post too. 

As some already know, I'm living in Amman,Jordan.  Originally, I'm from Cleveland, Ohio, but have been fortunate enough to have lived in 4 other countries as well as the States. 

Here are some pictures from my flickr account.  I hope you enjoy them!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32267306@N03/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32267306@N03/page2/

Very nice pictures. Do you teach the weaving?

Michael

hi Alaa! Where have you been? Did you ever get your backstrap loom going? Did you buy fiber from the nomads as you had planned before they left for the winter?

Laverne

Michael,

Sopapillas are a puffy pastry type dessert. The crispy tortillas are just a quickie treat.

Have a good day!

Hi,

thank you for sharing the photos from Jordan. It looks very good and in many ways reminds me of the trip I just returned from through Egypt from the south (Lake Nasser) to Cairo and Sinai.

Ellen

Hi Micheal,

No, I don't yet.  I currently don't have my looms, still.  They have to be shipped from the States.  But, once here, I do plan on teaching.

Happy treadling,

Alaa

Hi Laverne,

Unfortunately, I haven't got my BS loom going yet.:(  But, I did go on a  road trip and yes, I did get to buy some locally spun and dyed fiber.  I bought 2 kilo for about $8.00.  It is very coarse and really only suitable for rugs--as it's used for. I also purchased a small rug.  The quality of the work from Madabah is much better than that of Salt weavers.  

I have pictures that I have to post for the road trip and the weaving studio.  I hope to get them up some time this week.

Alaa 

Hi Ellen,

Too bad you didn't know I was next door to you in Egypt--you could have come for a visit!  I plan on posting more photos later this week.

Alaa

Michael, can I be on YOUR list? I LOVE mincemeat pie! I'm the only one in my family who eats it, though.

I also love fruitcake, but my DH helps me devour that.  I need to get mine baked!

sure, just pay the shipping to MI. It is too late to be making a fruitcake. Cheryl's mom buys her fruit after the holidays on sale, of course. In January she will bake her fruitcake for Christmas, each month she will add more rum & brandy to the cake. This is how the English make their fruitcake. A friend sent me this recipe for Christmas Cookies

Jose Currvo Christmas Cookies

Here is dessert today in Santa Cruz Bolivia.

These are achachairu-in peak season now and the favorite fruit of every good ''camba''. ''Camba'' is the nickname of Santa Cruz people. I love it when my English students ask me how to say achachairu in English. I just ask them how to say it in Spanish-most don't realise that it is a Guarani word. Guarani is the indigenous language of this area.

This fruit is very acid but refreshing. My teeth ache for days after eating them!

PS....Also showing off my rigid heddle-on-the-backstrap loom cloth.

Laverne

Hi,

I like the cloth, but I'm not sure I'd like the fruit. My teeth ache just at your description of them!

Ellen

Hi yep I too am looking forward to leaving NY snow behind, though of late there has been snow in NOrth Carolina my 'home' 

Followed link to blog and your wife's weaving, wonderful pictures!

Right now I have my first effort of waffle weave on one of the looms.

Good morning! Here's breakfast in Santa Cruz which a touch of ''gaucho'' (Argentinean influence)-or could be morning tea, afternoon tea.

The bread-like things are ''cunape''-cheesy bread rolls-typical Santa cruz snacks. Here they are soft and fresh. They are also sold after being left in a slow oven overnight so they completely dry out and become crunchy. I like them that way too but many a tooth has been chipped or broken on those!

The little pot has ''yerba mate''-a kind of tea typical of Argentina and Uruguay. You put the leaves into the little pot, add hot water and sugar and sip it through the wooden straw. There are many variations in the way it is prepared. I am not a big fan of it but Argentineans are totally addicted to it and carry the little pot and thermos of hot water everywhere! The pot usually gets passed around in a group and everyone takes a sip.

And there's my new green cloth that I made on my backstrap loom. The mug rug was made on the backstrap loom too.

Laverne

Laverne, looks good. We had pancakes this morning. Your friends sound like my wife. A thermos with hot water or her electric tea pot,  tea bags, sugar & milk all in a basket. Then we are off to a craft show or a demo. I thought it was just an English thing. I like the colors in your basket cloth.

Michael

it is great to get a little impression of how various cultures do things. Thanks, Laverne.

Here's a Christmas scene from my corner of the world............

We don't have Christmas cake or pudding but rather paneton, or , Christmas bread. The drink is cola de mono, literally ''monkey's tail''. It is a traditional Christmas drink in Chile and I managed to find it here-made in Bolivia. I lived in Chile for 5 years and had this every Christmas but always home made and always slightly different as everyone has their own recipe. It is basically coffee, milk, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon or cloves and some kind of white alcohol-some people use white rum, others pisco or aguardiente. I am sorry to say that this bottled Bolivian one is not very good!

The little festive llamas are bread dough figures which are made in a town outside of Quito, Ecuador. I blogged a bit about these figures and their  pre Columbian origins if anyone is interested to know more..........

backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/

And they are on my pinwheel cloth which is still on my backstrap loom-yet to be finished.

Salud! Cheers! and  happy holidays to all!

Laverne in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

This post has been deleted by bolivian warmi

Hi. I'm in Elgin, Texas where it was 75 degrees yesterday. Only 45 today. Elgin is a wonderful little town east of Austin. I'm waiting for my sister and friend to arrive from Houston for Christmas. My sister and I are both knitters, having resumed in our, er, old age. I have just got the weaving bug and so far have made a couple of primitive looms from foam board and an old frame. Just bought a LeClerc Nilec (eBay) which is a two-shaft table loom. It hasn't arrived yet and I am a bit nervous about warping it, but I'm sure I'll muddle through.

 Dear Thegnu!  don't muddle thru by yourself, call Texas Fiber Mill and talk to Deb Sharp, she is in your area near Elgin.  There is a neat guild of knitters, felts, weavers and spinners that meet monthly.  You have access to lots of talent  just by picking up the phone!  Deb

Tamales in My Corner of the World

It is traditional to make tamales at Christmas. To save time we bought a kit from the supermarket. For $30 you get everything you need to make your own tamales!

Sure is a lot of stuff here in this box! There is masa (corn dough), corn husks, cooked pork and red chile sauce, cooked chicken and green chile sauce, refried beans, salsa, and chips! You have a holiday meal in a box.

Although the kit comes with cooked meat, my lovely wife is a fan of cheese and green chile filling. We spread the dough on a corn husk, put fiilling, wrap the tamale with another corn husk and will steam it to cook.

Here is some of the red chile and pork.

First batch of 16 tamales in the steamer basket for about an hour. The second batch was only 9 tamales when I used up all the dough, so I guess we'll only have 27 instead of the 36 as said on the label.

I didn't even open the chicken and green chile packets. I'll freeze those for use on another day.

And that's what's going on in Sacramento, Calif.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Franco Rios

Laverne,

What a festive setting!

I love the edges on your pinwheel cloth!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Thanks Franco! and Mmmmm I'm dreaming of spicy tamales.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Laverne

To date I have baked 14 doz mincemeat tartlets. On Tuesday a took 2 doz to town and shared with the shop owners. Yesterday a took 3 doz pies to a Christmas party at Atlanta Thread and Supply Co. in Stockbridge, Ga. Tuesday I ordered a "body" double for Cheryl as a Christmas gift. I was told that they would be closed from 11-1 for a Christmas party. So I invited byself to their party, the lady on the phone said, "What are you going to bring" I told her mincemeat tartlets, She said,"come on" It was a fun party and I have been invited back for next year. making the pies.

Michael those look delicious! Mincemeat is an English dish right?

I should talk my lovely wife into making these tarts since she has that heritage in her bloodline.

I'll show her these pictures for inspiration.

Have a joyful day!

Happy Christmas everyone! 

Its a perfect day, blue sky, fluffy clouds and the forecast is 25C.

Just right for an Aussie barbecue!

Toss a t-bone on the barbie for me Caroline! Glad to hear you have a nice day-i have been hearing awful things about your weather lately. I expect  the desert will bloom soon-that should be spectacular!

Laverne

Those look amazing, Michael. How nice of you to go around sharing with everyone!

Best wishes,

Laverne

Happy Holidays, Gingerbread cake for my parents and husband.....Best wishes to all! Deb

Leslie Johnson of Riverside Loomworks in Michigan sent me an email today telling me if I had crashed the White House party with mincemeat pies all would have been forgiven. This is the time for sharing, I also give the shop owners "goodies" throughout the year. This is a small town.

michael

Yes it is, you can buy Mincemeat in jars at grocery stores. Most people here make a large pie. The English prefer the smaller tartlets and have a special pan for making them.

U'll have a great Christmas

Michael

Best wishes to you too Deb. That's clever what you have done with the photo of your cake.

Laverne

Today I am in Gaithersburg, MD, where I am visiting family.  And I have brought fruitcakes! which I made about four months ago, using my own home-candied citron, Seville orange, bergamot, and Meyer lemon peels.  (And a whole bunch of other dried fruits, raisins, etc.)  Non-traditionally, they are sprinkled with Southern Comfort and amaretto rather than rum or whiskey, but the recipe was given to me by a family friend, who has been making them this way for 30+ years, so perhaps it does count as traditional after all!

Happy holidays to all!  May they be warm, merry, and bright!

Tien

Welcome Tien, to my little corner of the world, quite literally.

All the yummie good food is very inspiring. I will do my best to get the camera out in the morning to take pictures of our breakfast scones.

For tonight, I will you all a very merry, happy and loving Christmas.

Here's a picture from the main drag in Poolesville:

Be well,

Claudia

I like tamales but heard they were a lot of work to make.  How neat that you can buy a box with all the ingredients!

Tina, I buy mine in a can. Just heat and serve. The first time a did, I forgot to remove the outside warper and tried to eat it.
Oh well, live and learn.

MIchael

My mom always made mincemeat pie for Christmas -- but pies, not tarts.  She's the best pie maker, but stopped a few years ago (she's 92 now) as her vision declined due to macular degeneration.  I didn't like the mincemeat, but several in the family did.  The oyster dressing is another casualty of changing times too.  Only a few of us (mostly my dad and me) liked it, and we haven't had it in years either.  It's nice to reminisce.

Talking about oyster dressing, for Christmas dinner, my friend's oldest son made duck with oyster dressing. The recipe called for 16 oz of oysters but knowing the family likes oysters her used 2 lbs. It got rave reviews. So, maybe oyster dressing is making a comeback with the 20 somethings. At least 3 of our 4 sons love to cook. And 2 of them are very adventuresome.

Claudia, who's a vegetarian and didn't taste the duck or the dressing

I made cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving dinner for my nieces who have gone vegetarian. It was cornbread, celery, onions, craisins (dried cranberries), and vegetable broth. They loved it!

The veggie nieces also tried out the cheese/green chile tamales at Christmas dinner and thought it was good.

I don't mind going meatless. My favorite sandwich at Togo's is the avocado cucumber sandwich. My second favorite is the pastrami.

Have a veggie day!

I've gone vegetarian several times.  One Thanksgiving I made a very good lentil loaf.  Maybe I'll try making oyster dressing next year as a surprise.

My father was stationed at that base.  I was quite young, but remember Bangor well.   My father vowed never to shovel snow again (he had grown up in Maine) and moved the family west - to the central valley of CA).  I particularly recall a blizzard that dumped at least 6 ft of snow and the snow that was falling as we were driving out of Bangor for the last time.

Brrr!

I am threading the read with the silk sample and will be weaving it by the end of the day if work doesn't get too much in the way!

Yum!  As a child, the candied citrus peel was always my favorite part of fruit cake.  Now it is the rum.

                                                                           HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!!

                                                                    OR                 

                                                                OR                  

Which one are you? This is a Santa Cruz custom on New Year's Eve. You wear red at midnight if you wish for love in the New Year and yellow is for those who want more money in their lives. Ideally you wear a red or yellow outfit and it has to be new but the most economical and, therefore, most popular item is underwear and the street markets are full of stands of red and yellow underwear today. Strangely no one has come up with a red AND yellow item so you have to choose..........................

                                                                          RED                 or                YELLOW?????

I have to tell you that yellow gear out numbers the red stuff thus year.

And if you miss out on getting your yellow ''thing'' you can always buy fake money in a variety of currencies, although dollars still rule!

Fifteen cents will get you one thousand dollars in nice crisp bills that even smell like the real thing. You are supposed to count the bills at the stroke of midnight.

So that's New Year's Eve in my corner of the world.

Laverne

In my life, I go outside at work, and look up at the sky and look for fireworks at midnight on new years eve. I thank my lucky stars that I still have a decent job. Around here, the "carpets roll up" around 6 or 7pm most days, so on a "holiday" the carpets still roll up, and for things like libraries, instead of being open until 7pm like normal, they close at 5pm.

Some religious groups like the Baptists and "born again" Christians will have a private party called a "sing" where they "sing in the new year"; Singing gospel songs from about 11pm until midnight. 

Last year, my housemates went walking aound the neighborhood at midnight, and found that the local bar had closed early, like at 10pm! Just a sign of the poor economic times, that people don't have money for Alcohol! 

Sharon

Happy New Year everyone! May we all enjoy some peace and certainty in the year to come.

My neighbourhood last night was quiet until midnight, when the cheering and firecrackers started, and went on sporadically until about 1.30 am. I gather from the news that most of Australia partied at public parties paid for by local authorities and governments, and broadcast on TV for those that could not attend.

Today is rather a nothing day, a public holiday where everyone tries to recover, and the hardware stores do booming business because they are the only shops of any size allowed to open. We may be having an economic downturn, but this is a consumer-driven society, and as long as there is space on the credit card, its spend, spend, spend!

I'm glad I'm a weaver and spinner: creating beauty is good for the soul!

Oooh .... home candied citron!  Where did you ever find the citron?  I would love to be able to do that.  These days my fruitcakes don't get made until New Year's or after.  (and I am a couple of years past due - I am being reminded of that by my dear spouse.)

Love your wedding coat and dress - it is coming along so nicely!

Barbara

Magical is my word of the day, that's  how I feel when I attend the Pasadena Rose Parade, I've lived in Southern California all of my life but only started attending the parade a couple of years ago.

I attend the parade by walking to the end of the route and walking towards the coming parade, there are hundreds of people in the neighborhoods at the end of the routeits one big neighborhood party.

If it's beautiful on T.V., it is glorious in person. Seems like everything and everyone in that parade  is beautiful, including the team's that walk behind the animals and keep the streets clean.  The city of Pasadena executes that event with amazing precision, its a nice place to be on New Years Day. The participants look just as good at the end as they do at the beginning, maybe a little tired.

One of my goals is to become of the people who wear the Rose Parade logo emblazoned white suit with the red arm band and red helmet, riding those white scooters leading the floats.  Whee!!!

The weather seem to find favor with the parade also, it was 70 degrees and warm.  

In my "Corner of the World" right now it is VERY cold for us. In fact it was warmer at my wife's parents house in Maine,  with 2 1/2 feet of snow on the ground then here in  cold "sunny" Georgia. I hear Maimi had frost warning this morning. I know the orange growners can not be happy as this is the time to be harvesting the crops.

Stay Warm,

Michael
Penfield, GA, USA

This post has been deleted by francorios

Its nice to see conservation so well organised - they have similar programs here in Adelaide, but I'm not sure what happens to the fish/frogs, etc, once the holidays come, or they get too large to remain a class-room exhibit - we need a couple of you to give our educators a bit of a shake up! Come to think of it, our pollies need more than a shake up too on that score, but thats another matter. If we all do what we can for our little corner of the world, then things  happen on a local scale, which increases the likelihood of it happening on a larger scale -  so it all comes down to the power of one in the end, and what one person can do when united with lots of other like-minded individuals. Nice one mate!

corrected version:

Salmon in classrooms in my corner of the world

Salmon are a native fish in California. They hatch from eggs in creeks and swim down to the river, then out to the ocean. There they grow for a couple of years and return to the river where they were born.

My lovely wife is an elementary school teacher (5th grade) and her classroom is designated to receive eggs from the "Trout/Salmon in the Classroom" program. She has a special refrigerated fish tank provided by the fishing sport association and the fish eggs are provided by the Dept of Fish and Game.

The classroom received 30 eggs, which all hatched and after several weeks, there were 30 fish almost an inch long that needed to go to the river. Since the fish eggs are from the Feather River which feeds into the Sacramento River, we had to drive the fish to the Sacramento River (about 10 miles) to be released.

This is the boat ramp at Discovery Park leading to the Sacramento River. It's almost dusk, the sun is going down.

This is the little traveling tank with 30 of the one inch long salmon.

Here they go, hopefully to grow big and strong, then return to spawn and lay eggs for more fish.

This is the first time the classroom has received salmon eggs. Usually they receive Steelhead trout eggs from the river close to our house, the American river, and the children get to go on a little field trip to release the fish.

It's harder to get permission to go to the Sacramento River, so we had to take the fish ourselves.

So that's another little piece of life in my corner of the world.

Have a good day!

Franco Rios

Sacramento, Calif.

edited to correct: My lovely wife informed me that we released SALMON into the river. The Steelhead trout arrive in February.

Darn! I tried to remove my earlier erroneous post and it removed Michael's reply at the same time.

My apologies Michael.

If the board would have let me change a couple of words (edit) in the post it would have been fine.

Have a good day!

Well, my "Xmas dinner' this year  turned out to be shrimp cocktail! LOL  My old college roomie found me on Facebook and came for Xmas so we had about 3 decades to catch up on.  We were so busy talking that we chucked our plans to go to a fancy-schmanzy restaurant and just thawed out the shrimp and mixed up some cocktail sauce, opened some beers and kept talking! (-;

In past years, I have been with cousins and made an elaborate "Bûche de Noël" for the dinner.

Going out or just raiding the fridge like that sure  keeps the cleaning chores down!

Nancy C.

Franco, It is no biggie. I will say it again. You and your wife are doing a great thing. We need a lot more people like you in the world. It got above freezing here today, the first time in two weeks. This is unheard of here in Georgia to stay below freezing for so long.

Take care,

Michael

Mic 

Nancy, a chocolate covered cake taste good anytime. Even if it looks like a tree. Shrimp and beer also works for me.

Have a great year

Michael

There is a lot of salmon restoration work going on in my part of the world also.  My kids grew up with a hatchery in their back yard, and have released fry into the creeks and rivers every year of their lives.  I think they feel that that is just part of living.  My youngest son's name is Woodland Salmon Day.  (a good old hippie name)   

 Yesterday I made it out to my friend, Ace's, farm to help him skirt fleeces.  I love the smell and feel of sheep wool.  We made it through all of the whites, and will work on the natural colored fleeces next week.  Ace shows fleeces and sheep in several shows regionally and sometimes national shows, so we rated the fleeces for show as we skirted.  These are covered fleeces, very clean.  I reserved my favorite one.  I won't get it till the end of the 2010 show season.

 In the mean time I took home four big bags of skirtings and neck wool.  This is all the stuff taken off the fleece, to leave it cleaner for show and sales purposes.  I don't mind the seconds off of these fleeces because it is pretty good stuff and cleans up nicely.  I also get to work on some of all the colors.  I usually trade Ace, processing for fleece, 50/50.  I'm planning on using some of the neck wool, spinning it for my backstrap weaving projects.  The neck wool has quite a bit of vm, but that combs out fine from Romney wool.  Since I have such a wide selection of natural color, and plenty of white for dying, I will be set for plenty of weaving.

I bought a big felting machine which arrived this week!  I can make felt 5 feet wide, or wider if I double it, and up to 20 feet or so long.  I don't think I'll make pieces that big, but that is the potential.  On the first day I made one 5'x4'.  Then the guy who is working for me made four big ones.  He will be running this machine a lot for me, taking wool and time on the machine for himself in trade.  He is pretty excited about making felt, thinking about having a booth at fairs to sell felt and felted goods.  I'm also thinking about what I can make with the felt.  I'm adding offering custom felting to my services offered.  We need to make a bunch more pieces so we become more expert, but so far the felt is coming out nicely.

I love seeing the sheep on the green mountainside meadow.  The ewes are all dragging their bellies, and their udders are starting to bag up.  They are just a week or so away from lambing.  Ace invites a few friends over on a day that he is expecting a bunch of lambs.  We help with tail docking and whatever other chores need to be done, have a fun lunch and spin-in, and a good visit.  He calls this event the Lambarama.  I've attended three years in a row, and there hasn't been a lamb born on Lambarama day, yet.  Just like babies to not cooperate.

Rambling on here.

Aunt Janet

 Walking to my studio today here's what I saw:

Then later in the day, as I wove on my current tapestry, here's what I saw:

That beautiful hill, and those trees! You are so very lucky!

I look over a large amount of roofs, mostly iron or aluminium, towards some very bleached hills in the distance, with a clear blue sky that only promises more sun, and little or no rain. Its not like the desert here, its just sun dried and the colour leached out of everything. There are very few birds now because there is no water and the parched trees are dying. We have water restrictions so the grass in the gardens has died, and only a few hardy plants survive, along with the weeds. Its not attractive, and it makes the whole city look very run down.

So I envy you your crisp cold mornings and even the rain, ice and snow. I haven't seen snow for 37 years!

Hi Caroline.

Here are a few pictures from my corner of the world. We are having the coldest winter in decades here. Just to keep you cool :-)

Thank you Ellen!  The romantic half of me feels homesick for the snow, the crisp mornings, and hurtling down a snowy hill on an overcrowded sled, but the practical part of me tells me to get under the air conditioning and stop whingeing - my blood is now too thin to cope with the chilblains and all those clothes, lol! But its still nice to day-dream! And its nice to think that children today have as much fun as I remember having when it snowed!

Sacramento 13 St & Sacramento River

More notes from my corner of the world: Sacramento Calif, 13th Street

(click on pictures for larger view)

These are things that I see on my way to work on public transit. Above you see the whimsical painting of a Beefeater who greets visitors to an apartment building on 13th Street.

Walking 13th St toward N St, this is the back of the Westminster Presbyterian Church. A beautiful old building capped with red tiles, I like the dome, the bell tower, the chimneys and roofs surrounding it.

Here is the 13th St side of the church, I like the big medallion window.

There's a little roadway that bisects Capitol park at 13th St. This is a view of the State Capitol building. The park has trees and plants from all over the world and many of them have signs to tell what they are. There are also statues and monuments that we will see on future postings.

I walk about six blocks from the light rail stop to the bus stop to go across the river into West Sacramento. I could use another stop that is only a two block walk, but I need the exercise and it does not go through the park.

Here is a view of the Sacramento River from the bus as I go over the Tower Bridge, looking toward the "I" Street bridge. You can see the excursion boats at the docks the right. The big boat is actually a paddle wheeler that is permanently docked there. It serves as restaurant and hotel. The water is very high from over two weeks of rain in the area.

The big building on the left is new and part of the development going on in West Sacramento.

That's all for today from my corner of the world.

 Snowing in north Georgia... trying to catch up with some of the rest of you but don't think we'll make it... we're feet behind ya!

Here's a photo of my little corner of the world taken on Saturday.  We enjoyed a wonderful brunch full of stimulating conversation and delicious food surrounded by the incredible paintings and weavings in my friend, Mary Kelly's home on Hilton Head in South Carolina.  After brunch some of us took off to enjoy the Gullah Festival, a celebration of the African-American culture ("The original Gullah were African slaves who were shipped across the Atlantic from West Africa to work the cotton plantations of the South.  While plantation owners built their fortunes upon slave labor, the slaves were able to create something of their own -- the unique culture that is now known as Gullah. ")

This is a photo of Mary and her friend Kristin, from Germany under the speading arms of a Live Oak Tree dripping with Spanish Moss outside of the Coastal Discovery Museum at HoneyHorn on Hilton Head Island.

What a fantastic tree!!

It is so nice to receive impressions from all over the world. Thanks for posting this.

We're spending January through March in Florida.  While the temps have been much lower than normal down here, it's still much better than back home in Indiana.  I am going back for a week and a half (leaving today) to help with my mom, who fell and broke her pelvis.  But here's a picture we took at sunset of the lake here in the RV park.  I think it's one of our best pictures ever and really shows the beauty of the area.

Oh what beauty. And I love the way you have captured those birds. For someone who has seen nothing but frost and snow and more snow for more than two months now this is wonderful.

I am longing for some warmer weather (and perhaps some double-paned windows?) Those picts from the south sure do look good!

First off, Suzy wants my recipe for Tropical Chocolate Chip Cookies: I use the basic recipe on a package of Ghirardelli Sem-sweet chocolate chips, which is.2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tea salt, 1 C butter, softened, 3/4 C sugar, 3/4 C brown sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 large eggs, 2 C chocolate chips, 1 C chopped nuts. I then add to this a 7 oz package of (Sun-Maid Tropical Trio)(Pineapple, Papaya, Mango) or any dried tropical fruit and 1/4 C of Coconut. For nuts you could use any you like.  Now with the fruit you can soak it in a couple of Tsp of Rum or lemon juice. I also cut back on both sugars to 1/2 C each. Bake in a 375F oven, Drop by tablespoons on to a ungeased baking sheet. 9-11 mins.

I also make these cookies with "trail mix" I use the mix with M & M candies, mix nuts and fruit. The mix has salt so I remove the salt from the basic recipe and the nuts.

Suzy I saw your picture of the Life Oaks Trees (This is an Oak tree that grows in the Southern US, it is called "Life" because it keeps it's green  leaves on in the Winter, (for anyone that wants to know),  Savannah is beautiful in the Spring with the avenues lined with Life Oaks and all the plants and trees in bloom. It truely a floral picture.

Michael

Elisabeth, I moved out of your part of the world (NY) in 1975 for the warm South. We have our cold days, but then we have days in Febraury like yesterday 69f and lots of sun. The Robins are back and I have seen my first daffodil, can Spring be far off. I know what you mean about double pane windows. The house we live in was build in 1832, it has no insulation in the walls and single pane glass in the windows. In the Summer this house stays very cool with natural ventation, the air moves thought the walls (from the ground floor and out the roof) of this large two story old house. In the Winter on a windy day you cannot keep this house warm. My wife wants me to add insulation to the walls. I keep telling her no, the air moving thought the walls keeps then dry. Unlike the double wide trailer she has her weaving studio in, with the siding rotting off. This house will still be standing long after the trailer is gone.

Michael

We get both ends of the spectrum.  Yesterday I think we might have hit 80 and I spent the day winding warps on the back porch. Tomorrow we'll hit the 30s and get some snow, maybe.  It's been a crazy year here-- this summer we had the longest stretch of 100+ days since 1924, and a month ago we his a record low in the teens. Thousands of pipes  burst all over Austin. But I like the winters here (summers not so much)-- they get cold enough to satisfy my scandinavian blood, but warm up often enough to let me thaw out and keep my skin from getting scratchy!

 I am in a state of envy - we won't expect Spring here for quite a while - we have had quite a few Easter egg hunts in parkas and gloves - we only have to worry about the eggs freezing - not spoiling.  Oh for the sight of a daffodil.  It seems a long way off, but maybe I can sing the praises of New England when we get our cool breezes on August evenings.

Lisa

Lisa, Easter can be very tricky here. Two-three years ago, Cheryl and I went to Charleston, SC for the week and Cheryl planned on going to St. Michael's for Easter service. The weather was in the upper 70s and Charleston was in full bloom. We keeped hearing people taking about the cold weather coming. On Thrusday we called a friend back home and asked about the weather. Susanna told us the temp for Sat. morning was going to be 14f. With in the hour we were on our way home (4 hours). Susanna and her husband lost 14 acres of organic vegetables and we lost a crop of pecans. Easter is going to be early this year as well. We will see what the weather people will bring to the party. Right now all the trees are in bud from this warm weather (46f now 66f today) but more cold weather is coming. Tomorrow morning 25f. We just go with the flow. I know about your cool breezes, Cheryl's parents live in Penbroke, ME. You know were the high on the 4th of July is 55f and if Summer comes at night you may miss it.

Michael

Thank you, thank you, thank you Michael!  I can't wait to go shopping so I can try this recipe!  My mouth is watering!

Yes... the Live Oak trees were part of what lured us to Savannah - that and the azaleas which are about to pop any day now, the ocean at Tybee Island, the arts and culture, the historic homes, the mild temperatures (even though it was about  the coldest winter recorded, we could get out and walk every day!) and the people -- so friendly!  The tree-lined drives with the sun shining through and leaving lacy shadows on the pavement because of the sprawling branches of the Live Oaks dripping with Spanish Moss make Savannah extra special all times of the year!  They take my breath away every single time I am in their stately presence!  Yesterday the redbuds with their pinky purple blossoms burst and shouted "its SPRING!"... and its only February!!!  (Sorry to gloat!)  

Again... thanks for the recipe Michael!

Suzy

 Snow in the Hill Country, outside of Johnson City, Texas.  This is a big deal for here!  Not enough to ski on but enough to  sweep off the steps!

and today we have snow. Sunday we hit 80. The weather is not boring in the winters in  TX, now summers are a different matter entirely.

Can't help thinking what a lovely place you have.

But you can't compete with us for snow this year :-) We have had ½ meter of it lying around for a month. Now we are finally seeing a few days above freezing point. It will cause a lot of slush before all this snow has melted away, though.

Ellen

Thanks.. and TODAY -- right now as a matter of fact. I"m sitting on my gloriously sunny porch with only a sweater on. But well to do I remember those interminable slushy days!

m

My arms are actually too tired from shoveling to tappity-tap at the keyboard much, let alone weave. These were taken at 7 a.m, and we are getting yet more today...I am basically shoveling every 6 hours to try and keep up.

BTW, in the second photo, that is a 48" ruler, not a yardstick. I am now having difficulties tossing the snow ABOVE the perimeter of my driveway.

P.S. These are taken in New Jersey, not Norway or Sweden!

an old hs friend, when I remarked that snow in CT isn't anything new, remarked, not but it's getting OLD!

Thanks for reminding me why I left New York, I have kin folk that work for the NJ DOT.

Michael 

My corner of the world this week is Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, where I'm taking part in the Anne Wilson exhibit at the Knoxville Museum of Art.  Here's a link to my blog posting about it:

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2010/03/weaving-at-knoxville-museum-of-art-at.html

Tommye

We in the DC area are delighted to share the wealth (snow)!  It does look pretty, but becomes heavy and old very quickly.  Hope that you will find time to weave soon. 

 Next installment in my blog about my experience at Knoxville Museum of Art at the Anne Wilson exhibit:

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2010/03/cloth-of-memory.html

Tommye

It's great hearign from all of you.  It reminds me of why I moved to El Paso, Texas, in the north end of the Great Chihuahuan Desert.  We've had more snow this year than we have had in some time, and I don't think I ever lost sight of the grass.

Now it is in the 60's (Farhrenheit) and the rosemary is beginning to bloom.

WeaverJohn

This post has been deleted by ImaWeaver

Spring Break: Monterey-Santa Cruz 2010

Back from Spring Break - Monterey and Santa Cruz, California - 4 days

Spring Break is a one week school break. So my lovely wife who is a teacher set up a 4 day trip to Monterey and Santa Cruz on the coast of California, about 200 miles from Sacramento. Above is a pic of us at the pier in Monterey, near the big aquarium.

Here is number three son Oscar on left, and number two son Frankie on right. They are laughing because Oscar stumbled and nearly crashed through the mesh railing which would have dumped him onto the rocks and into the water below. Well, they thought it was funny.

Here is Frankie trying to sneak up sideways on this seagull. But the seagull saw him coming and fled.

Since we are at the world class Monterey Bay Aquarium there are lots of opportunities for one-of-a-kind photos. Here is my lovely wife tickling a life size sculpture of a killer whale (Orca). We are so clever!

The aquarium sits on the former site of a sardine canning company on Cannery Row. There is a circular tank with an artificial water current and these shiny sardines swim around and around. They open their mouths to catch food on the fly, looking like little cartoon characters or Pac-Man.

There are about dozen different jellyfish on display at the aquarium. They are so beautiful, so graceful. The shapes and colors are wonderful and inspiring.

We had some camera problems, and these are some of what we salvaged. More pictures later.

Have a good day!

Those jelly fish are awesome - it does not look like a photo but a piece of artwork!

The jellyfish picture would make an amazing tapestry!

Laurie Autio

Laurie...that is precisely what I thougth when I saw the photo......beautiful!

Su

There are other jellyfish that look like sheer lace, I'll be uploading pictures over the next few days.

I tried to get good pictures but our good camera died the day before and we had to make do with a cheapie digital and our cell phone cameras. Sometimes a good pic, often not. Some of my pics are only good for color and shapes, being too fuzzy for use on my blog.

A good day would be to bring a good camera and spend many hours shooting pictures at the aquarium. There is plenty of images inside and outside of the museum.

Have a good day!

Spring Break: Santa Cruz, Calif. 

We spent Sunday of our 4 day weekend at Santa Cruz, Calif. Here is how a city boy goes to the beach. Behind him is the boardwalk with amusement park. Somewhere in that park my sons are testing every amusement ride. That gives us a few hours to relax on the beach.

*because of posting limits, you are invited to visit my blog for more pictures*

http://francosfiberadventure.blogspot.com/2010/04/santacruz.html

Have a good day!

Hi , here are some photos of our trip to France last month. Not weaving related but  very nice  to see. And for me pictures and photos are often  a source of inspiration. We went to Le Val D'Ajol a quiet and rural  little place in the Vosges.First is a view from the camping place. The appletrees are blooming.

A view at the village garden. There is a wheel from a watermill. It turns in vain and now there is a competition for artists.The goal is to design an object that turns by the power of the wheel.Very ecologic don't you think so?

The other side of "Square Du Moulin"

We also went for a walk in the woods to search the "waterfall".The waterfall was not really spectacular but the walk was good for our condition.

I hope you all enjoyed this little corner  of France.

jeannine (Belgium)

This weekend I have a folk craft booth at the Fort Sisseton State Park Historical Festival.  I am selling rag rugs, rag tablerunners, and purses/totes made from woven rugs...

Here's one picture from my time there.   Come over to my blog and check out some more.  One more day left.  My bags and totes have sold well, the rugs have been slower than I'd like....

Here's my blog address :   http://renew2beginagain.blogspot.com

It seems to me that you are having a good time. I am sure your rugs will sell  also because they are beautiful. Perhaps people are waiting until the end of the festival so they can take the rugs home at once.

That sun looks good! Its a typically damp, cold and windy winter's night here in Australia, so your photo looks really inviting!

You can never quite predict what will sell at any particular craft fair, so much depends on the economy, what is fashionable, and other factors like what the cheap Chinese importers are bringing in, but those that value the personal touch will know what they are buying, and value it. What doesn't move on one day often moves another day, so I'm sure that you hard work will bring its rewards.

Your Fair looks like fun, much nicer surrounding than many of ours are, so enjoy. I like your work. Those who pass you by do not know what they are missing out on.

Caroline

Or maybe there is a reason there are no weavers there.

I have seen weavers in the high end craft market give up weaving and move to something else.  Particularly in wearable art.  Here is this year's Smithsonian Show.  I only found these rug weavers: Kelly Marshall, Emilie Pritchard. 

In WearAble Art there is  FRITTELLI & LOCKWOOD.

Do some research and look at people who made their business with handwovens but have now expanded or moved to other things: Candiss Cole (4 out 5 lines now in commercial fabric),Deborah Cross, who used to sell fine handwoven jackets, Randall Darwall , who now also exhibits tie dyed and clothing made from commercial cloth. And no new weavers.  I've seen brillant weavers admired but not purchased by public...

Etsy which has lots of price pressure downward, has little to no handwovens, the other internet sites have a few.  Nothing as exciting as the projects here! I was hopeful when I saw Housewarps, but that was very short lived.

Selling is about making a profit and it is very hard to get a fair value for US labor in something as labor intensive as handweaving.  Just look at cars.

I weave for other reasons, many other reasons.

Do you have yor clipboard loom there in that bag?

I really enjoy this thread but it is almost at the stage where it is impossible for me to view. It is one of those ones where I have to go off and make a cup of tea and then come back hoping that it will have loaded. Franco's pictures are around only 20KB (I am assuming they are all like that-I only checked one) and look at the great quality. However, there are others here that are over 500KB and some that are around 300KB and when there are a bunch it makes the page really heavy for those with slow connections and sometimes impossible for those on dial up. I am on dial up 50% of the time. I know that I have uploaded heavy pictures too-around 200KB-so I am to blame too but I generally try to remember to downsize. There is one thread in the towel group that I cannot get into at all.

Just a friendly plea from someone with slow internet.

Laverne

New Thread has been started at

http://www.weavolution.com/node/9524

See you there!

To begin December, I visited an exhibit in Atlanta, Georgia, USA... "The Opulent Object" contains the fabulous tapestry works of Jon Eric Riis. Also in the exhibit are exquisite wood and silver collabortive works by Richard Mafong and Mike Harrison.

The exhibit is at Museum of Design Atlanta and is up until January 1, 2012. The website of the museum is http://museumofdesign.org

Tommye

It is now December 2011
Please use the current message thread to reply.
http://weavolution.com/forum/chat/my-cor...

Please do not reply here!

Have a good day!
Franco Rios