Monthly Archives: October 2017

Pretending (and a Recipe!)

It’s mid-October, according to the calendar. According to the weather, however…

It’s difficult to really get into feeling like it’s fall when it’s impossibly warm and muggy out, but the girls and I are doing our best.

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The persimmons are back, but I doubt we’ll get any before the squirrels take them all. I’ve also read that you’re supposed to leave them on the tree until after a good frost, but the idea of that right now is laughable.

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I’m hoping that it won’t still be crazy humid for Halloween. The older girls are old enough now to take Oona out trick-or-treating, and Jess and I plan to sit on the porch and hand out candy.  It’s be nice to not feel drenched in sweat the entire time!

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We also capped off a summer of very little egg-laying with an autumn of zero egg-laying. As tends to be the case, the last batch of straight-run chicks we got turned out to be all roosters. I let them free-range, because honestly? They’ll at least try to be protective, and I could stand to lose a few.

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Indoors, there’s been plenty of fall cooking and baking going on. Soups, stews, roasts, cakes, and cookies.

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I used my favorite cookie cutter to make Raven cookies – just regular butter cookies with black vanilla frosting and black sugar.I got mine a few years ago at King Arthur Flour, but it looks like you can still get them – or a reasonable facsimile –  on Amazon.

Sadly, I only got this one picture, and the next morning discovered that Pippa had gotten onto the counter, knocked the tupperware off and helped herself to every last one. Because of course.

The other thing we are addicted to is Susan’s Autumn Equinox Cake.

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It’s autumn in cake form!  The recipe was originally posted on the Juniper Moon Farm website, but as that is currently down, I’m re-posting it here:

Autumn Equinox Cake

Ingredients:

1 gallon apple cider

1 Cinnamon Stick

2 or 3 cloves

(Or if you buy Boiled Cider from King Arthur, you can skip these and skip the first step).

1/4 cup cinnamon sugar

1 box spice cake mix OR yellow cake mix plus 1/8 cup pumpkin pie spice

1 15 oz can pumpkin

4 eggs

1/3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil

1/3 cup greek yogurt

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

Pour the entire gallon of apple cider into a large pot and add the cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer for the next hour or so. When the gallon of cider has reduced to about 2 cups, it’s done. The reduction will be syrupy, though it’ll be hard to tell until it’s cool. Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt cake pan and “flour” it with the cinnamon sugar.

In a bowl or stand mixer, combine all of the remaining ingredients plus 1/4 of the boiled cider you just made. Mix slowly until combined, then turn to medium high for a minute or so.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake abut 50 minutes, or until done. (I start testing for doneness around 35 minutes – every oven is different!).

Remove from oven and place pan on cooling rack. Carefully pour another 1/4 cup boiled cider over the cake while it’s still hot. Wait 30 minutes for the cake to cool, and then very carefully remove it from the pan. Now pour another 1/4 cup cider over the top.

Serve with whipped cream!

 

 


Tagged: food, Pets

Commercial Vehicle Insurance

For a new business owner or entrepreneurs, the responsibilities constantly keep arising and demand full attention. One of the aspects that cannot be overlooked for businesses is commercial property and auto insurance; an insurance that allows business owners to get commercial vehicle coverage for a single vehicle or a fleet of vehicles.

It is a must to secure your business vehicles, especially the ones registered as commercial vehicle.In the event of an incident, such as a damage or accident a business owner can claim and receive compensation that will help cover the cost of repairs.

Also for every business, risks are a constant. Concerning this form of insurance, it’s important to be knowledgeable about certain requirements and expectations, to prevent any form of So here’s what you need to know to avoid paying out the cash you intend to keep or losing money in the process.

1. Insurance must be the first step: The right coverage for your vehicle can be quite tricky because there are several sides of an insurance to cover. It’s very important to pay attention to insurance needs for different classes of vehicles and also clearly defined requirements for each state.

2. Learn about insurance completely: Never depend on half information. Instead, research and find out the different types of insurance you can get. For instance, your motor carrier policy won’t cover you when you drive your truck on a personal errand. Be sure to purchase a non-trucking liability and physical damage coverage in this eventuality.
You also don’t need to purchase a separate cargo insurance policy. You can have one policy and pay one bill if you include your cargo insurance as an endorsement on your vehicle policy.

3. Be wary of low price policies: If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Many times if the price is less, it means you will get lesser coverage and you are disguised in a language a layman does not understand. When comparing policy prices from different companies be sure to also study the extent of coverage and terms and conditions. You should be concerned if a company offers a relatively lower price compared to its contemporaries.
Take a step ahead and conduct background checks for insurance companies; research and read reviews and find out everything you can for the commercial property auto insurance you are looking for.
4. Screen and Train your Drivers: If you wish to hire a professional, make sure they go through an effective screening process. Also, ensure that set up a scoring system that helps evaluate their driving records. If they score below a certain minimum point, don’t hire them. If they pass this stage, do a drug testing before you eventually hire.
Train them for future accidents and put a card with a checklist of these actions in your truck as a guide and reminder. The most important item on the card should be a number to call should an accident occur.

5. Record Evidence: In the event of an accident, visual documentation will help defend your claim. Always make sure you click pictures. You can also have cameras and driver cams installed in your truck. The camera shows what the driver sees and monitors the behaviour of other drivers like whether they were texting, eating or taking a selfie while driving. An in-vehicle camera which showing the view of your driver will also monitor their behaviour as they drive your truck.

We moved, Irma came and went, we’re okay!

I need to catch you all up! I want to get the blog back up and running, and things are finally settling down enough to get back to it...



My little family moved back to Florida in May. When I say 'back', I must say that Florida is my home state. It's where I was born and my family has resided for the last 50 years. So, when husband got an offer, we packed up, left California, put an offer on a house from the 60's and moved to an island between two rivers near Florida's Atlantic coast.

Lots happened this summer between tradeshows and new-home tasks and starting a new school...

And then Irma.

I was beyond terrified by the size of the storm. I hadn't lived in hurricane country in over a decade, it's a new-to-us house and we have big trees all around the house. I evacuated us as fast and left as early as possible just in case. My art is now at a nearby co-op gallery, and after I checked on the art gallery, we shuttered the house, packed up supplies and drove north. And drove. And drove. And drove. We made it to Georgia in pretty good time, and the next morning I drove some more and we made it to a friend's house where we watched from afar the storms progress.

Every day, we were glued to the noaa.gov site watching the very slow progress of the storm as it headed toward Miami (where much of my family resides). The predictions of the storm's path kept shifting from east coast to west coast of Florida, but it didn't matter. Hurricane Irma was so huge, if you were in Florida, you were gonna feel it. In fact, even in north Georgia we felt Irma's winds. Even that far away from the center of the storm, we were out of electricity for a few hours. Once we knew the storm had passed, we made our way back.

As we drove back to Florida, we saw a lot of fallen trees and blocked state roads. When we got back home, it was dark, but we could tell some of the traffic lights were out. Electricity had just come back online, and we were a boil-water notice for a while BUT, there was water coming out of the tap. I'm counting our lucky stars there was no significant damage to our house (just a small leak in the front entryway)!

I've included photos so you can see the nearby boardwalk after the storm. As of this writing, a few weeks after, boats that lost their moorings are still tipped over the former boardwalk edge. Piles and piles of foliage and debris are still on people's curbs, but they are receding each week.

Cocoa Village Park, 9/2017

Boats that lost their moorings, 9/2017



Etsy Update

Hi!  For those of you still watching this blog for updates....Just a quick note that my annual winter/Christmas update of my Etsy shop will start happening the week before Thanksgiving.  I usually open the shop back up the weekend after Thanksgiving so I can start shipping Christmas orders right after the holiday!  (Thanksgiving that is!)

Fall shows have been a huge success.  I have one more coming up in Fairfax, VA.  The Icelandic Association of DC Christmas Bazaar.  If you have a hankering for Icelandic food and would like to see more of my work in person (along with several other wonderful vendors; Icelandic wool products, Icelandic chocolate and these awesome little Icelandic Elf/Santa characters among others) put November 11 on your calendar!

Now off to unload the truck!!



How To Decrease the Hand of a Mitten


Happy Monday! I am excited for another week of querying literary agents, knitting mittens and writing, writing, writing. What are you excited about working on this week? I mean, I know you’re knitting mittens, and I’d love to see how those are going, but what else?

Here is this week’s installment of the Simple Chunky Mittens knitting tutorial. Today we learn how to k2tog and create an even, round top to our mittens. We even check for fit and weave in an end.

We’re so close to having a finished mitten! Next week we’ll knit the thumb and that’s it!

If you like, here is the written pattern we are using.
And if you need to catch up with the videos, they begin, here.[contact-form]

Don’t forget to share your progress photos with #mittenselfie and #simplechunkymittens. I’ll be searching for your photos on instagram.

Pattern Release: Tafoni Shawl

This lovely light fingering weight shawl, worked as a wedge , incorporates an Aran lace and geometric side edging, with a lacy textured body. The versatile shape can be worn a variety of ways!

One Size (Easy to alter size)

Finished Measurements
Height (from cast on to last row, along edging): 64” / 162.5 cm
Top Edge: 16” / 40.5 cm
See Schematic for more details

Yarn
Dragonfly Fibers Dharma, 50% yak / 50% mulberry silk (480 yds / 439 m per 4 oz / 113 g), 1 skein of Dragonberry. As shown shawl used approx 442 yds / 404 m.

Needles
US 2.5 / 3 mm needles or size to obtain gauge
US 5 / 3.75 mm needles for bind off

Gauge
22 sts and 36 rows over 4” / 10 cm in Textured Repeat
Gauge is important. Alterations in gauge will affect yarn requirements and finished size.

Notions
yarn needle
cable needle
2 stitch markers

Skills
lace knitting
cabling
twisted stitches WS (for double yarnovers)
both charts and line by line instructions provided

 

 

 

October On Martha’s Vineyard…

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October is, in my opinion one of the most spectacular months of the year.

No place is better for experiencing it than on Martha’s Vineyard.

Nature provides a fiery display of color in October, the greens and vivid colors of summer have been replaced with the rusts and orange hues of autumn.

The Vineyard is a beautiful place to visit in the fall … there are plenty of activities to take part in or just relax and enjoy the cool, crisp, beautiful month of October.

Here comes October……


Weekly Photo Challenge: Pedestrian…

New York City… pedestrians hurrying to get to a Broadway matinee…

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…a couple stopping in Times Square to get engaged…

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…or nonchalantly walking behind a big celebrity.

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I’ve also enjoyed the pedestrian walkway at Walkway Over The Hudson in Poughkeepsie, New York, which is the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge.

pizap.com15071392448511

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/pedestrian/


10th Blogiversary…

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 On Wednesday, October 5th, 2017 MV Obsession will be 10 years old. TEN. Ten years of obsession about the place that I love most in the world, that’s a lot of obsessing. There have been almost 1,050 posts and it all began with these words…

Hi, my name is Joan and I’m a Vineyard-a-holic…

Followed by…


Pattern Release: Atlas Peak Stole

 

The feather-like stitch pattern of this Aran Lace stole prompted the name of Atlas Peak. Hawks fly high over this appellation in Napa Valley!

The Atlas Peak appellation is best known for outstanding Cabernet Sauvignan, but other varietals include Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Malbec, Marsanne, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Zinfandel.

Atlas Peak is worked in two pieces and grafted in the center.

Size
One size (can be easily altered)

Finished Measurements as shown
Length: 89” / 226 cm
Width: 15” / 38 cm

Yarn
Sunday Knits Angelic 5 ply, 75% extra-fine Australian merino / 25% ultra soft French angora (137 yds / 125 m per 50g), 8 skeins, shown in Moth.

Needles
US6 / 4 mm or size to obtain gauge
US5 / 3.75mm or one size smaller than needles used to obtain gauge

Gauge
23 sts and 27 rows = 4” / 10 cm in Aran Lace pattern (blocked)

Notions
yarn needle, cable needle, waste yarn

Skills
cabling, simple lace, increases, decreases, decrease cables, Kitchener stitch in pattern
Both charts and line by line instructions included