StarSunflower

Oh My - There is an American Kestrel in my Chimney!

2011-07-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

The other day we heard something fluttering around in the chimney and discovered there was a bird trapped at the bottom of the clay pipe! I slowly opened the door and the bird scooted backwards, putting her guard up. I looked at her and talked to her softly, assuring that I meant no harm. She calmed down a little bit, until someone handed me some gloves so I could pick her up. She was so sweet and calm when I picked her up! I probably didn't even need the gloves.

This bird was gorgeous! We didn't know what kind of bird it was at first, and had to do some research to identify this beauty as a "Sparrow Hawk" or American Kestrel, a very small falcon. I took her to the slider for release. She sat in my hand for a few seconds before fluttering off.

We had to go to the store soon after, and as we were driving down the road -- there she was perched on the telephone pole in our yard. On the way back we spotted her again in the road eating her freshly caught dinner. I bet she was hungry after being stuck in the chimney for so long.

The pictures below don't do her justice -- but I figured I'd post them anyways. From what this website says, "Kestrels are declining in parts of their range; you can help them by putting up nest boxes". Maybe that's why this one was attempting to roost in our chimney!

I grabbed this picture from a google image search the other day, and forgot to grab the link to the photographer's site. Woops! Sorry photographer! If I find your image again, I'll be sure to post a link. This is a beauteous male.

2011 Dunegrass Schedule Announced

2011-07-15T05:02:00.000-07:00

Dunegrass Site: 2011 Schedule

Main Stage

Friday

1:00 Susan Fawcett
1:30 New 3rd Coast
2:30 Chris Bathgate
3:30 Jo Serrapere & the Willie Duns
4:30 Ralston Bowles
5:15 K Jones & the Benzie Playboys
6:45 Graham Parsons & the Go Rounds
8:00 Delilah Dewylde & the Lost Boys
9:30 Ragbirds
11:00 Airborn or Aquatic?

Saturday

10:00 The Peaceful Sisters, Dances of Universal Peace
11:00 Song of the Lakes
12:15 Stella
1:45 Jaik Willis
2:45 Luke Winslow-King
4:00 Grasshoppah
5:45 Magdalen Fossum
6:00 Seth & May
7:15 Jen Sygit
7:30 Ella Riot
9:30 Donna The Buffalo
11:30 Macpodz

Sunday

10:00 The Peaceful Sisters, Dances of Universal Peace
11:00 Gospel Hour
12:00 Lake 2
1:00 Hawks & Owls
2:00 Small Houses
3:30 Nervous But Excited
5:00 The Journeymen
6:30 Detour bluegrass
8:00 Donna the Buffalo

Rootenanny Beer Garden

Friday:

6:00 North Shore
8:00 The Wildfire
9:30 October Babies
11:30 Rootstand

Saturday

2:00 Cabin Fever
3:00 Puente
4:20 Doop & the Inside Outlaws
5:45 Billy Brandt and Sarana VerLin
7:30 FunDubMentals
9:45 Funktion
11:30 Rootstand

Sunday

3:00 Soul Patch
4:30 Kung Fu Rodeo
6:00 The Deep end
8:00 Lucky Brown
10:00 Ella Riot

Pickin' Tree:

Friday:

5:00 Puente
6:00 Abigail Stauffer
7:00 Chris Bathgate
8:00 Waltz Dance
9:30 Open Jam

Saturday:

3:00 Lake Folk
4:00 Magdalen Fossum
5:00 Nervous But Excited
7:00 Contra Dance
9:00 Open Jam

Sunday:

3:00 Luke Winslow King
4:30 Abigail Stauffer
6:00 Magdalen Fossum
7:15 Puente
8:30 Open Jam

Knotty Val Giveaway at The Enchanted Tree Blog

2011-07-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

Check out the artist feature & giveaway going on over at Tree's blog:

http://theenchantedtree.blogspot.com/2011/07/knotty-val-artist-feature-and-giveaway.html

Val does some incredible knot work. I'm super excited about this. Would love to win one of her gorgeous works of wearable art!

Homemade Gomashio | House Recipe

2010-11-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

If any of you don't know what gomashio is, here's the description from wikipedia. I use a LOT less salt! My gamashio recipe is VERY loose. Feel free to experiment with it if you like.

If you are in the Central Michigan area, Hometown Health has VERY fresh unhulled sesame seeds that work great for this! I was also able to obtain unhulled black sesame seeds as well. They rock! Here's where you can find them: Hometown Health Directions

Ingredients:
Fresh Sesame Seeds
Sea Salt
Sesame or other cooking oil
Fresh Garlic
Fresh or dried hot peppers (optional)
Fresh Ginger (optional)

Directions:
Take some fresh garlic and mince it up, adding salt to the mixture to soak up the garlic juice from the cutting board. This is an old garlic chopping trick my dad showed me years ago. I had some extra ginger that needed to be used up, so I threw some of that in there as well. My partner and I like a little heat, so we use peppers too!

The black sesame seeds we recently purchased are super awesome! If you can't get them in your area, no worries -- just make sure that the sesame seeds you get are fresh. If they have any bitterness to them, they've been sitting around for a while.

Use a cast iron pan or very thick skillet. Add a small amount of oil to the bottom of the pan and preheat. Throw in your sesame seeds and cook at low to moderate heat, stirring often. My stove tends to be very very hot so it's hard for me to gauge a temp. It should be a fairly low heat so it allows time for the chopped to dry out. You will hear the sesame seeds crackling and popping. If the seeds are super fresh, some of them may jump out of the pan. ;) You may use a cover to prevent this and also to keep the heat in. When the seeds start to turn a golden color, everything is done! If your garlic doesn't seem dried out, leave the mixture set for a few hours or overnight. This typically gives the garlic time to dehydrate a little more.

Once everything cools, you can store your gamasio in glass jars un-refrigerated if you think you won't use it up within a few months. We go through this stuff like crazy, so refrigeration is not an issue here.

This stuff is good on many types of food. I sprinkle it on pasta, pizza, rice, bee bim bop and just about everything!

Attention Central Michiganders!

2010-10-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hi everybuddy! Just a quick FYI to let everyone in or around Central Michigan know that a slew of my jewelry is up for sale at Hometown Health in Remus Michigan. Below are just a few of the goodies that will be displayed from now through the Christmas season. ::cheers::

Also anyone who may be passing through on M-20, here is the location:

Hometown Health
235 W Wheatland Ave
Remus, MI 49340-5112
(989) 967-8030

I received a Sunshine Blog Award today :)

2010-05-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Today I was pleasantly surprised with a message from The Enchanted Tree today, to pick up my Sunshine Blog award. I'm passing this award along to 8 friends and folks who I follow on the blogger blogosphere.

The Passions of Her Heart

From Out of the Cracks

The Bee Keeping Journal

Feathered Nest Farm

Critter Sam

The Back Porch Boutique

Stitchin Bitchin in the Kitchen

Doublecat Batik Blog

Please pass this award on to your favorite bloggers!

Here are the Rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post
2. Pass the award on to bloggers who bring a little sunshine to your life through their words and photos.
3. Link the nominees within your post
4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

Char Petosky

2010-04-17T14:41:00.001-07:00

"Char Petosky"

Green & Orange Aventurine, Sodalite, Rhodochrosite, Opalite and Petosky Stone

Web & Peyote Stitch

West Coast

2010-04-17T14:34:00.001-07:00

"West Coast"

Tiger Eye, Lemon Chrysophrase, Agate & Pearls

Peyote & Web Stitch

The Web of Connectivity

2010-04-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Sailing in the sea of things to do, I often neglect this blog. Here's a link to other places you may find me.

http://www.google.com/profiles/SISTARSUNFLOWER

Steamboat Queen

2009-07-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

"Steamboat Queen"

Chocolate agate cab, chunky smokey quartz roundelles

Web stitch, peyote stitch

Jasper Danglies

2009-07-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

"Jasper Danglies"

Howlite?, greenish brown turquoise, jasper

Wire wrapped

"Earthy Discs"

2009-07-02T17:35:00.001-07:00

"Earthy Discs"

Coconut, orange aventurine

Wire wrapped

Jasper Triangle Danglies

2009-07-02T17:34:00.001-07:00

"Jasper Triangle Danglies"

Jasper, Agate

Wire wrapped

Starble Pendant Assortment

2009-07-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

"Starble Pendant Assortment"

Glass cabs, seed beads

Web Stitch

A Bundle of Starbles

2009-07-02T17:15:00.001-07:00

"A Bundle of Starbles"

Glass cabs, glass beads & tiger eye tumblies

Web stitch

Owlie

2009-07-02T16:55:00.001-07:00

"Owlie"

Chrysophrase, pearl, carnelian rondelles, sunstone

Peyote stitch

Moonlit Daughter

2009-07-02T16:52:00.001-07:00

"Moonlit Daughter"

Blue goldstone round, pearl, faceted labradorite rondelles, faceted amethyst rondelles

Wire wrapped pendant necklace

Midnight Moonlight

2009-07-02T16:48:00.001-07:00

"Midnight Moonlight"

Blue goldstone cab, pearls, smokey quartz rounds, labradorite rondelles

Peyote Stitch, Web Stitch

Cobalt Silver Sparkle

2009-07-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

"Cobalt Silver Sparkle"

Lapis, lampwork beads, Chinese longevity beads, lapis & sodalite rounds.

Peyote Stitch & Web Stitch

Running kde's dolphin and gwenview in gnome

2009-06-09T04:58:00.000-07:00

I recently installed the full KDE desktop environment in Ubuntu "Jaunty Jackalope".
I run the KDE desktop a lot less than gnome, but still enjoy the full features of KDE within the gnome shell.

I've discovered that the dolphin file manager is very powerful, and offers some features that I was looking for, specifically browsing image files nested within folders rapidly. One feature that could possibly bother some, is a great one for me! When you hover over images with your mouse, a preview of the image automatically appears as depicted here. If the file is clicked on, it opens gwenview.

I recently discovered gwenview and am thoroughly enjoying this app. It has pretty basic file editing capabilities including cropping and resizing. The cropping dialogue allows one to hand key in the dimensions, which is super nice. Gwenview also has a nice list of plugins that can be installed pretty easily. I went to add/remove and downloaded "DigiKam" which also bundles Kipi and then had the ability to create custom html and flash photo slideshows, which is a super fun way to do a quickie photo set for family or friends. Another cool feature is import and export from some of the networking/imaging services.

To update or not to update?

2009-04-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

I'm running Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. I tried 8.10 Intrepid Ibex around Christmas time and then went back to 8.04 because my graphics were slightly fuzzy with intrepid. Do I really need to update? No. Welll....better multiple monitor support is a good thing, as I do not have an nvidia graphics card. Dual monitors are definitely a good thing, especially when doing lots of data entry and code work.

Ubuntu 9.04 Features
Release Notes Overview

2009-03-17T23:31:00.000-07:00

GNU Operating System
Support the FSF
Free GNU/Linux Distrobutions
GNU-Linux Free Software
Free Software for Microsoft Windows

The Zones, An Open Source Community

2008-12-26T19:18:00.001-08:00

Are you looking for a cozy place to chat about your Linux endeavors? Kat is an open source enthusiast who has recently put together a wonderful linux forum just for you!

The Zones, An Open Source Community

Blogged with the Flock Browser

2008-09-20T18:56:00.000-07:00

I love the etsy Organic Guerilla Gardening Seed Bomb Kit! How cute!

"...political gardening, a form of nonviolent direct action, primarily practiced by environmentalists. It is related to land rights, land reform, and permaculture. Activists take over ("squat") an abandoned piece of land which they do not own to grow crops or plants. Guerrilla gardeners believe in re-considering land ownership in order to reclaim land from perceived neglect or misuse and assign a new purpose to it."

Check out her shop!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15264037

2008-08-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

I've been sewing up a storm today. I'm finally diving into my stockpiles of fabric. Getting to the point of seam ripping all of the zippers out of miscellaneous cut up pairs of pants doesn't seem so much a daunting task, now that I have a studio space to work in. I've got several squares of the earthy tones cut out, and am getting ready to dive into knocking out some more.

I'm getting so accustomed to taking pictures every time I create something, I decided to post a little note, in case anyone is curious about my progress. My pouches still have a little bit of fuzz on them in these images, but it gives them character!

I've got stockpiles of jewelry, and will be featuring my current works at White Lake Trailside for Labor Day weekend.

I walked up to the farmer's market and bought some beauutiful black eyed susans today. Sunflowers from Montague Foods brighten up the little brick wall down by the tree area. I put them outside the studio to spruce things up. I could spend months landscaping out there. Guess I will do what I can for now. My whole day yesterday was consumed by sweeping the walk with a little kitchen broom and a snowshovel, trimming the shrub with scissors, pulling the tops of the weeds to cut them down. I carried plastic storage tubs half full of very heavy dirt and rocks that had somehow collected down the front and side walkway I also cut back the low branches in the driveway. Luckily I have a tree trimmer. I will rejoice the day when I have a lawnmower and proper gardening tools.

I got some silverware and some nice DIY books, kids craft books, and a very old Dr. Seuss book about an owl and a firefly. from the little thrift store called the Junction. It's down the block from the StarSunflower Studio. I was grateful for the wares...reusing plastic forks and spoons was getting pretty old.

My question for the day is: "What is sustainability?"

The answers that roll through my head are: family, community, gardens, seeds, farmer's markets, consuming less, sharing more, thinking about what you throw away, there are people in the your own little village that struggle to get by, giving away things that you no longer need, moving beyond the ego and showing kindness, having gratitude every little thing, and every living person. All life deserves our love. Beyond sustaining environmentally, we strive towards sustainability as a community who sometimes gets caught up in the ego drama of psycho planet.

Light and Love and as Merl Saunders sung it... "Save Mother Earth, nana na na naa"

Oh yeah, I almost forgot...I am GRATEFUL for the web! I found wonderful little links on this SO inspirational blog: http://www.twelve22.org/
Here's the zipper tutorial if anyone out on the wu wu wu is interested: http://www.twelve22.org/2006/07/zipper_tutorial.html

Shift Happens

2008-08-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

Things are shifting. I am stirring within my crysalis.

Jewelry Images

2008-06-14T11:52:00.001-07:00

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Testing out the Flock browser

2008-06-14T09:54:00.001-07:00

I downloaded the flock browser some time ago, and really like it. Right now I am writing in a little wysiwyg tool that publishes your blog entry to a chosen blog site. Lets see how this little tool works!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Sunshine!

2008-02-24T10:47:00.000-08:00

It was starting to seem like spring would never arrive. It has been good to get some sunshine over the past few days. We have had quite a snow filled winter this year. The drifts are gargantuan!

Saturday morning on our way down to GR the tops of the trees appeared to be brushed with surreal, sparkly frost. I wish I had a camera with me to take a picture of it. The frost was just on the very tops of the trees with a bright blue sunny backdrop. It was amazing.