Your neck of the Woods Part 10 Memorial Day

Jan, that is so cool about being so close to the arctic circle for the summer solstice! Definitely a 'bucket list' kinda thing to do.

Looks like you are having great fun Jan.

Jan, thanks for checking in and showing us some of your fun!

Wow Jan, so cool! Looks like a blast :)

Really cool Jan, I've seen what they can grow in Alaska, their season is short, but with 24/7 sun the stuff grows huge. Holly and I are going next year with 2-3 days added to each end of the cruise. I think we are going in August.

I realize we're getting a bit long here, but want to wait for a couple days to bump it up.

This message was edited Jun 23, 2014 9:39 AM

How cool!!! Rainy here in Anchorage. Went to the Anchorage museum. Very interesting!!!

Saw a woman knitting with musk ox hair mixed with something else. Very soft stuff!!

Hoping to see a little sun tomorrow.

Jan--

I bet it was mixed with the downy coat of fur that Huskies have...

When i was there--and i also saw a woman cardoing and soinning yarn to knit
caps, and she told me that Husky under-layers of down is warmest fiber
one can ever have. She also said that it was knitted into cap-linings
for explorers heading to the Arctic--as there was nothing warmer available than this.

AK is wonderful--just to witness the cultures--ans the mindset regular people have.
My sister has lived in Homer for a long-long time. I have been there 3 times...

Gita

Sounds like a wonderful vacation, Jan! :-) You'll have to share more photos when you can.

(carding and spinning, if that was the way I usually type)

Hi Jan!

Thanks, sally--
My fingers hit too many keys not intended...Jan--you DID know what I meant??? Yes?

I try to proof-read after I have typed something--but that takes too much time.

My current keyboard is a bit more compact than the old one I had.
Keys are so close together... Great to have spell check.

You should see what my text looks like when I type a letter to my Cousin in Latvia--IN Latvian.
Every word is underlined in red! :o)

G.

haha the underlining!

HEE, HEE, HEE, I will not recommend that Gita change her language to type to her cousin, she may never get back to English, and we will never understand another word. ROTFL
Atvainojiet Gita, tikai joking!

I wonder if, when typing in Latvian, Gita Rrrrrrrols her Rrrrrrrr's? < =D heeheeheee Thank you Sally, for clarifying. G, no offense was meant when I asked about that, I just don't know anything about spinning yarn (and have no idea what 'carding' is!)

In my neck o' the woods, I'm noticing some teeny little white hopping things on my Hostas... but, they are ONLY on the bloom stems, nowhere else, and not on any other plants. I've tried to get pics, but if I get too close with the iPod they hop away. =( Some are about 1/8" long and they REALLY hop/fly when I spray them,.. but in some areas, it looks like it's simply covered with white mildew-y looking stuff. I guess I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and clip one off to get a closer look... I just haven't wanted to 'cause "getting a closer look" means taking my glasses off and putting the thing like 1 inch in front of my eyes to properly see it up close - don't want any icky things hopping into my eye!! Anyway, any of you have any white hopping stuff on your Hosta blooms?

Oh, by the way.. when I talk about spraying them, I use Dr. Earth organic spray, no chemicals. Active ingredients: Rosemary, Sesame & Sesame Oil, Peppermint, Thyme
Cinnamon & Cinnamon Oil, Garlic extract, Malic Acid.
Inert ingredients: Beeswax, Calcium Carbonate, Carrageenan, Cellulose, Citric Acid, Glycerin, Kaolin, Lecithin, Mustard Powder, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Chloride,
Soybean Oil, Wintergreen Oil, Water.

That sounds like an interesting spray, Speedie! Are you finding it effective? Just curious in case I want to try it, too. :-)

Speedie

Those white jumpy things on your hosta bloom stalks are flatid planthopper nympths Pic 1

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pests/msg061145584296.html
"I just noticed this cottony white stuff on a hosta scape and also on a rose stem - both times they are near the flower (or bud) but I don't see them anywhere else. When I flicked the stem, little fuzzies hopped off and then each time I tried to pick one up, it hopped away. Also, when I was taking photographs, they would always go to the opposite side of the stem - smart buggers."

Pic 2 Adults turn into small pale green fliers that often line up on stems
http://bugoftheweek.com/blog/2013/1/9/junes-snowfall-planthoppers-family-flatidae-missing-video

Interesting spray Speedie, it almost sounds edible..LOL

Interesting, Coleup--thanks for the info!

RIC!!! Did you go to a translating site to find that? You are a hoot!

Es tev piedodu! (I forgive you)...
Mes esam draugi--viss ir OK. (We are friends--everythinf is OK).

Speedie---
"carding" is done with 2 paddle-like things (like a ping-pong paddle) with handles
but the paddle is covered with stiff, metal "pins' about 1" long.

Raw wool from a sheep is carded--over and over until it is soft and fluffy-like stuffing.
Then it can be twisted into wool yarn while using a spinning wheel.
I suppose--this lost art is no longer practiced here--but in some native lands--
I am sure it is still done this way. Google it......

Re typing in Latvian to my cousins--everything misses the diacritical marks--
but one can read and understand what is said w/o them.

Saproti!!! (Understand!)....... Gita

speedie, I got used to Gita's and Sally's typing long ago. At first I had to look at the keyboard to figure it out. LOL Sally also transposes letters. Funny thing is it usually occurs in proximity to vowels in both cases. Me on the other hand, I tend to skip whole words and parts of sentences, since I think in the jet age and type with the Columbus method.

That's why the cotton gin was so important, it carded the seeds from the cotton.

Gita, tur ir tulkotājs var atrast šeit. http://translation2.paralink.com/English-Latvian-Translator

This message was edited Jun 27, 2014 9:30 AM

WOW!!!!! I bookmarked it----don't know if I will use it---

Maybe something in Estonian? I speak part of this language as well-----
and also a little bit of German.

If I could use any of the latter two--I could get better at it....
Especially Estonian--I/we spent 25 years involved in the Estonian house, culture,
Festivals, etc. I was totally accepted as if i was Estonian--and most people just
spoke that language to me--till I said--(in Estonian)--"I don't understand...)

Estonian is one beautiful language! Clean of any Slavic intonations...

Maybe you could listen to it spoken on this same site?

Nagamist----(umplaut on the "a')------See You! or Good by...

Gita, there are a lot of spinners and weavers in our area. Every year at the Farm Show there is a big demonstration called Sheep to Shawl. There are teams that start by shearing a sheep then card and spin the wool and then weave a Shawl then the teams are judged and the shawls are auctioned off for very big $$. It is great fun to watch and brings in a lot of people to the show on that day. It does take them hours to do we usually try to stop by several times hopefully we will see them shear the sheep and then come back to watch how the shawls are coming along.

Wow Holly, that sounds like a REALLY cool event to attend, I'd love to watch the shearing and carding and all of it! And thank you guys for explaining it to me. :)

Catmint, I do actually find the spray to be relatively effective for many things.. but not so much as of yet with the little white guys on my Hosta. (Thank you Judy for the info, you hit the nail on the head, THAT'S THEM!!). I think tomorrow I will try the "really hard spray from the hose" treatment. ;) Oh, and no, sorry Jeff, it's not edible! =P heeheeheee

Ric, I have gotten pretty used to Gita's typing (G, we'll just talk about you as if you're not here, ok? heehee), but there are sometimes where a typo might totally throw me off, HA!! I, too, transpose letters when I type (typically with the word wthi.... errr... I mean "with"!) ;) I hate those pesky red lines!!!

I need a Scrabble spell check...

I can say 'What is this flower?" in Czech. Plant nerd trivia.

I am surprised that so much of my typing mistakes actually make it to the 'send'..
As odd as it may seem--i always read my posts I have just written before i send them.
This gives me a chance to correct any mistakes--or any spelling--as the words
would be underlined in red.

Can't believe so many errors make it to a post......Hmmmmmmmmmm...
G.

Okay we're continuing here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1366801/