Lakes is right! In our yard, in our driveway, in our woods…

When we first arrived, we knew that there was a stream that ran straight through camp. When we took the bobcat through and leveled camp for Tipi’s uprising, we forgot about the stream and standing water. Well, our placement of Tipi, just happens to be in direct path of a downhill slope of that stream that has been trapped in various (huge) puddles.

It was right at freezing when we woke this morning, and there was ice on some standing water… but the puddles had a small riplet that was cascading out of them and it was headed straight towards tipi. Thankfully, we’ve set the floor such so that the water will go underneath us, and really shouldn’t impact us… but- it’s enough to make me want to divert it with sandbags! Things can become muddy quickly, which can dirty things inside even faster!

We’ll see what happens…

In the mean time, we’ve finished shopping for Christmas- very humble one at that! With a budget of $300 for food and gifts… we’re gifting a lot of the things we made earlier in the year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

These photographs were shot on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Cranston, RI. I’ve passed the house with a tipi in its backyard a thousand times, each passing allowing me to form a more cynical conclusion about its presence there. I assumed it was some American whose hobby was the natives of our country. He obviously knew nothing about any of their vastly different cultures (New England natives didn’t even live in tipis, it was the Great Plains people…) and just thought of all these people as a novelty, clumped together as one indistinguishable mass, considered exotic even though they inhabited this land way before we did. Though I’m not Native American myself, or an expert on all that stuff, I just got a bad vibe about the tipi from all my assumptions.

So this led up to my decision to photograph the tipi from the street, and bash on all the horrible shit that Americans have done to the native people of our land; (torture, rape, forced assimilation into whiteness, into ghettos called reservations, the decimation of families, and the genocide of so many people and their distinct cultures, now with nowhere left to go etc. etc. the list goes on, and on, and on). At least that’s what I thought till the owner of the house drove up while I was taking pictures =O. I assumed he’d grab a shot gun and tell me (in a southern accent) to get off his property. But alas, my assumptions failed me.. again.

He was actually really nice, and invited my boyfriend and I to go into his backyard and see it up close. As he led us to the huge, Sioux style structure, he told us about his decision to construct it. “Well, I thought ‘where did guys meet and share with each other since the beginning?’” The answer was some sort of hut, simple and natural; a tipi. He showed us inside, which had designs that illustrated the phases of the moon, there was a fire pit in the middle and dream catchers near the entrance. He knew a lot about the history of the design. He said that the tipi was an ongoing project, and he invited to have dinner there sometime. He seemed so genuinely interested in what he had created, as well as the heritage of the people from whom it had originated, and it was really admirable. On our way out, he gave us a copy of “The Indian Tipi”, just one of the sources he had used to research his project.

When I got home and flipped through the pages, I found the dedication: “Dedicated to the Plains Indians in the hope that their young people will recapture a pride of race, a love of color and beauty, and the appreciation of the good things in their own great heritage-today the heritage of all Americans.” I thought this was a beautiful passage…so simple and hopeful. I’m starting to see that it’s not all so bad. Not everyone’s terribly blind. There’s still some realness out there, some real hope. Will this hope fix all of the past mistakes? I don’t think so. Will it fix things now? I don’t know. All I know is that it doesn’t hurt.

• Height: 46′ 2″  up to middle
  • 55′ up the front
  • 52′ 7in up the back.
• Circumference around the base is 165′.
• The floor area is  2166 square feet.
• The cover weighs over 700 Pounds
• 675 sq yards of canvas were used.
• Contains 1340′ of seams
• 32 interior poles
• 2 59ft long smoke flaps poles with 55 lacing pins

Yes, that’s right- INSIDE Tipi!!

I’ve come to regret teaching Tipi Creeper how to sleep “under, under” with us. He was pawing at the covers all night last night wanting to come in and get warm  with us.

I’ve been away for the past couple days seeing my brother and his wonderful family. A great trip, but while I was away, he became sicker from his tumors on his back, and the sore became larger, and grosser. So, he was banned until this morning when I bandaged him up. Poor thing. He may still be banned, but we got him a sweater, so at least he’ll have a touch of comfort should he have to stay outside.

We’re doing great! The weather is dry, sunny, and gorgeous! The wood stove kept it at 65F last night, when it was 8F outside. There wasn’t an ember remaining this morning, so once the fire got going, it got up to 45 and we left for errands.

I have a video I made this morning, which I intend to upload to u-tube tomorrow. I’ll attach the link then.

In the mean time, we’re dreading the weekend, when the weather is supposed to become rainy once again.

Well family I must say it was a beautiful experience.  I’m not sure what I expected, but for some reason I knew it would be like this.  To me this ceremony has a unique energy that is different from other ceremonies I have participated in.  It seems the purpose of this ceremony, among many other things of course is, beauty.  It’s hard to explain, you just get this feeling that love is being shared.

I did really good for my first time, at least that is what I was told by the people that were there.  I saw many familiar faces and that helped me get through it as well.  This ceremony like many others requires sacrifice, patience and dedication.  I didn’t think I was going to be able to stay awake as I started getting sleepy in the late evening, but then I got reenergized and was fine the whole night until the morning.  I got a lot out of this ceremony as did the brother who asked for it to be held.  There were a lot of people there from many places and they all came together to share in solidarity, support and resistance to cultural genocide.  I am thankful to all those that were in attendance and look forward to the next one here in my hometown.

Three Guys from the Andes putting up a Tipi in New Hampshire?
By Randall Richards

G. Seminario placing a pole

It’s not every day you see three Peruvians at a New Hampshire State Park setting up a tipi. But this is what happened at Mountain Spirit Institute’s SunFest, a holistic health and sustainability event held at Mount Sunapee last year.

Band leaders Guillermo Seminario, Wachi Taype and Mario Montalvo had just arrived from Peru the week before, for their first visit to the U.S.

The three were in the U.S under invitation from Mountain Spirit Institute to teach and perform Andean folklore music throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.

Three Peruvians lacing up a Tipi

I decided to press them into action to help me erect our tipi for the SunFest. The tipi would be used for classroom space and presentations by vendors and speakers invited to come to the SunFest.

I took the opportunity to get some shots of Guillermo, Wachi and Mario as they happily worked on putting up the tipi poles, fabric and the lacing pins. I kept asking them if they didn’t mind helping out, and they kept saying they were glad to learn about tipis.  “It’s not something we ever thought we’d be doing,” said band director Guillermo Seminario, of Trujillo and Cusco, Peru.

Project complete

The group ended up playing Peruvian music at the SunFest as well as at other venues throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. While their tour was successful, (and they helped take the Tipi down after the SunFest), this turned out being their most unusual project during their stay, aside from playing in a few offbeat bars.

After a grimacing 4 weeks of, “Yes, the job is in the bag” but no contract… the contract never came. We received final word recently that the Nairobi company in Kenya, Africa had changed their minds about the whole contract.

FINALLY! Someone made a final decision!!! We were tired of being jerked around! Hubby had resigned from work 3 weeks ago, and is steadfast in his decision to do so, which I’m thankful for. It was torture for him to go to his dismal job for his decent wage (but he should have been receiving more- a lot more). None-the-less,  he now has the capability to apply for positions that he would truly want and enjoy.

SO… In the meantime, we’re bunkering down, and attempting to seal up Tipi a touch more. The land owners have allowed us to borrow their old wood stove they’re no longer using for the winter. We are ever so greatful as it holds an ember overnight. Needless to say, Tipi Creeper is not complaining!!!

We spent the morning collecting fallen trees from the forest for next years fire wood.  Its so much easier to drag them back when there are two people!!!

I also carried back the tipi poles and stored in the cabin roof.

I spent the rest of the morning sawing the trees into logs

We drove to a small village about 10 miles from the cabin to buy some supplies.  As we returned I took a couple of pictures of the landscape around my cabin

Later on I completed a Birch plate and kåsa

I also had a half finished kåsa/kuksa which I took back to England and completed

Seit Montag sind wir wieder in Berlin. Vorgestern war unsere “Premiere”, und die war wieder einmal gigantisch. Inzwischen fühlen wir uns schon fast zu Hause im Tipi. Es hat tierisch Spaß gemacht mit dem Hauptstadtpublikum. Bis zum 8.11. sind wir noch hier. Also, an alle die gerade in Berlin sind: laßt Euch das nicht entgehen: POWER! PERCUSSION, life im Tipi. Wir freuen uns auf Euch!!!!!

Eure P!Ps

Heard a strange, regular noise in the forest behind the cabin first thing this morning.  It was clear that whatever was making the noise was moving from left to right.  I telephoned Anki and Ingvar at their cabin and they immediately identified it as a Reindeer with a bell around its neck.

After breakfast I went to the area where I had left the tipi poles tied to a tree to dry, when I was at my cabin in the spring.

I had tied the poles around the tree so that they did not bend as they dried and it had worked very well

I spent a lot of the day carving a kåsa as a gift for Anki for her birthday.  The boys had enjoyed making and watching the boats floating on the lake and so I came up with the idea of adding tea-light candles to the boats to enable us to watch them on the lake at night.

And when one caught fire that added to the enjoyment for the boys.  Here is a piece of video of the boats when we first put them on the lake

The new birds for my list today were Siberian Tit and Bullfinch

Porcino reticolato, Porcino estivo

Boletus Aestivalis

In questo articolo troverete tutte le informazioni dettagliate riguardanti questo fungo

Ẻ indubbiamente uno dei porcini di migliore qualità.

Habitat: Boschi luminosi e ricchi di fogliame, radure e bordi forestali.

Cappello: Dapprima emisferico e poi convesso, asciutto, vellutato; presenta una tinta uniforme nocciola.

Tubuli: Bianchi al principio diventando in seguito gialli ed infine olivastri; spesso lunghi, si accorciano bruscamente vicino al cappello.

Gambo: Robusto, corto e panciuto oppure quasi cilindrico, di un colore nocciola appena più pallido di quello del cappello; la sua superficie si presenta come una rete percorsa da sporgenze bianco brunastre.

Carne: Spessa e compatta, diventa molle nei soggetti adulti ed il colore bianco non muta al taglio.

Spore: Di colore bruno-olivastro.

Odore: Gradevole.

Sapore: Dolce, zuccherino.

As the chill air of Fall and soon to come Winter sets in, with temperatures dipping below the 40F Deg. mark last night, our days become shorter and nights become longer.

Our days are focused on working our wood for winter stores as well as staying warm during the day. The evenings and nights are spent under wool blankets cuddling Tipi Creeper while working on crafts and reading.

A time of educating ourselves as well as preparing for hybernation. Our creaking joints ache from the effects of the cold nagging at our cramping muscles attempting to stay warm. Another reason to stay active with that wood!

It’s time to focus on the expansion of our garden. Preparing the soil and tilling it. Our intent is to double its size- at least! This year, we’ve had a nice bounty, but not enough to last until spring. In fact, it’s been gobbled up as soon as it was ripe! Hopefully, next year we can remedy some of that.

… Sau cum sa ai grija sa nu cazi in groapa sapata de tine [pentru nevoile proprii sau ale altora].

Alaltaieri a fost Sambata. M-am trezit de dimineata sa sa primesc pachetul. Trec peste faptul ca acum trebuie sa ma duc la naiba’n praznic, tocmai la autogara din vestul orasului ca sa il ridic, pentru ca niste “tipi” de la primarie nu mai permit autocarelor sa traverseze orasul… [poate voi acoperi mai pe larg subiectul cu alta ocazie!]. In fine, ajung la autogara. Lume multa. Imi gasesc un loc pe o banca din metal. Ma asez pe ea si imi dau imediat seama de naiba mai toata lumea sta in picioare. E rece! Dupa mai bine de jumatate de ora de mers pe jos pana aici,  nu prea imi mai pasa, asa ca raman asezat. La un moment dat, apare un tip, asa mai rocker [nu ma intreba cum mi-am dat seama. I just know it!]. Se uita la mine. Ma uit si eu la el. Pare cam dezorientat. Ascultam muzica in casti, by the way. Se aseaza pe banca langa mine. Dupa in minut doua de tacere ma intreaba: “Auzi, nu stii a venit RVG-ul?” la care ii raspund: “Nu, nu cred. Stau de un sfert de ora si nu l-am vazut.” Mai trec cateva zeci de secunde, dupa care il intreb: “Da’ la ce ora trebui sa vina?“. “Pe la 12, 12 fara 5.” “Aha…” zic eu. Urmeaza cateva momente de tacere. Imi scot telefonul mobil si ma uit la ceas. E 11 si 5 minute. “Stii nush cum sa-ti zic, dar e 11 si 5…“. La care tipul, cu o expresie ce denota surprindere si frustrare in acelasi timp: “La naiba… Mi-am dat toate ceasurile din casa cu o ora inainte. Shit, it backfired!“

Interesanta ideea cu datul ceasurilor din casa inainte sau in urma. Am auzit multe cazuri de genul acesta, in care “prietenii” iti modifica cu o ora ceasurile si intarzii, sau din contra ajungi cu o ora mai devreme la servici. Nu mi s-a intamplat niciodata [asta nu e un apropo!]. Totusi nu am auzit niciodata [evident, pana acum] ca cineva sa-si fi modificat de buna voie ora exacta. Cu ce scop? Damn! Inca unul din misterele vietii…

Caught an evening at the tipis while taking a ride on the bike.

More Scenic Pictures to be found:

Yes… truly I am an arts and crafts genius!!!  Check out my lunch time creation using only potatoes and the skewers from my chicken sate

So, onto more serious things.  Well actually not that serious because at the end of the day this is me!  Still very busy on the social side of things which is marvellous.  Gives my brain very little time to actually do any thinking which is the whole idea.  I had quite a quiet weekend with my girlies which I think they enjoyed.  I decided to see if a wine bottle cork was a good toy while they were out on the sofa with me.  It turns out that a cork is an excellent toy…. to shred!!  There were bits of cork EVERYWHERE!!  But it made me laugh so its all good.  Ella is getting very cheeky, her latest trick was to actually steal my lighter out of my hand as I was using it!!  This morning their water bottle was on the floor as they’d decided to eat through the hair bobbles that were holding it to the cage (yes I forgot to buy a clippy thing so had to improvise)!

Last night was really good fun.  We had our first amateur photography group meeting.  Basically I decided I didn’t want to join the formal expat group here.  They were just a lot more professional that what I was looking for and a few friends from the expat group also wanted to explore their photography a bit more so we thought we’d just get together.  So we met at Mark’s place and he cooked us a delicious stir fry accompanied by generous amounts of wine which is always a good thing.  It all got very giggly and I don’t think the cameras came out till about 9-9.30!!!  We just worked on portrait pictures which I’ve not done before so it was nice watching the others and seeing how they used the light and the angles.  There are some amazing pictures of me so as soon as I’ve got copies of those and of my work I’ll put them up on here.  It was really really good fun.

Our next session is actually tomorrow as the 4 of us are going to Lille in France for the night.  We’re driving there after work tomorrow then staying at the Crown Plaza before spending Saturday taking pictures and coming back on Saturday night.  I LOVE France so am really looking forward to it.  I’ve not really spent much time in the north of France, most of my visits have been either to the south or to Paris (which is think is possibly my favourite city).  I’m the only one going with a film camera (as well as my little digital one) so it will be interesting to see the difference in what’s taken.

I have also done my first little movie review for Fiesta Diva.  Feel free to go and have a read.  I now need to finish the book I’m reading so that I can review that one too.  Its quite hard reviewing something without giving away plot points!

And last but not least I’d like to say congratulations and good luck to Simon and Claire who are getting married in Yorkshire tomorrow.  I really hope you have an amazing day

Si fa presto a ordinare una bottiglia di Malvasia al ristorante, l’importante è indicare chiaramente quale si desideri, perché la denominazione Malvasia comprende svariati vitigni tra loro profondamente diversi.

Malvasie vengono difatti prodotte nella zona dell’Isonzo e del Collio goriziano ( e sono eccellenti vini da pesce e da minestre ), in Sardegna, nel Lazio, sui Colli Piacentini e di Parma, in Alto Adige, in Basilicata, nelle Isole Lipari, in Abruzzo. Uve Malvasia sono entrate a far parte per decenni dell’uvaggio del Chianti, prima di essere destinate a quella straordinaria invenzione di marketing denominata Galestro.

Difficile se non impossibile trovare però un minimo comune denominatore in tanta varietà di vini, bianchi secchi, aromatici o ancora frizzanti, vini passiti o liquorosi ( la Malvasia di Lipari ), o addirittura vini rossi, dolci come la Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco, la Malvasia di Casorzo d’Asti o secchi come la Malvasia di Gries, nei pressi di Bolzano. Per non citare la Nus Malvoisie, che designa in Val d’Aosta ottimi vini da vitigno Pinot grigio…

Fonte: www.winereport.com

Tove and i took our first mama daughter trip over labor day weekend to an anarcho-primitivist women’s gathering campout.  We were sans-daddy for 5 days.  It went great. We slept in our camper truck and spent most of our time outdoors. It wasnt Tove’s first camping trip, but she was definitely the most engaged and involved. She loved all the new people and really enjoyed putting her feet in the grass (she loves and DEMANDS to stand up with her hands wrapped around your fingers).

She also enjoyed her first campfire and night in a tipi- I hope to see lots more tipi action- anyone wanna buy us one? (just kidding a little-they are so expensive).  She was really loving the firepit, and got fussy and angry when i would pull her back a little from it- she was practically cooking herself!

Another great thing about the weekend was that all the babies there were ec (elimination communication) babies- that means lots of naked bottoms and lots of babies peeing in the grass.  This is something we have been a little shy of starting, but would really like to do with Tove. being around all the other moms was really encouraging, and Tove was diaper free all weekend.

I thought she was kinda crabby and fussy (she was getting over her first cold) but everyone else seemed to think that if this was crabby and fussy, she must be an amazingly well behaved baby- and she is!  She really only fusses to tell us what she wants.

I hope to have pictures soon, there were lots of mama’s shooting all day long.