I have been experimenting with another sock design. Knitting, ripping, knitting, ripping, and knitting again. But I think I’ve finally worked it out (um…hopefully.) There’s my knitting for the next weeks, exhaustive exploration of the designs’ potential !
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But perhaps the most interesting of things happening right now are the ravens yet again stealing away with my attention in their nest-making work! Photographed (a blurry phone photo) through the window in our tiny house yesterday in the dimming evening light, are the male & female which share the wooded habitat “close in” with us. They are busy tearing up fluff from the packing blanket covering the bath tub and apparently are making a nest! They’ve been at this blanket for about a week now, and I don’t mind, they can shred it up all they like, and in fact, I’ve just now put a pile of yarn scraps in the middle, as an offering to them.
We watch them pull and tear, and fill their mouths with this fluff, then fly off together to some private place near by, and then they inevitably are back, usually to be found up in the limbs close by. Five years ago, back in this post, I photographed and talked about what I assume to be this pair of ravens, and took some good photos of them in the oak trees next to our house. Of course, the wildfire brought on huge concern for a while about what would happen to the wildlife, but as you can see, as we didn’t let the loggers go through our woods, we have many trees left to be the habitat left for the wildlife. Some are not the healthiest trees, but many larger ones managed to not get too injured in the wildfire, showing a number of decades left in them. Did you know that ravens mate monogamously for life, and can live to be over thirteen years? I expect they will be around for years to come (… read more info on ravens.)
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Other news is that we’ve had to cut down the Black Oak which use to shade our original house, and that has been a sad thing indeed. Our original deck was built around it somewhat, and it just seemed a part of the house. 
We didn’t want to do it, but three-quarters of the bark had been burned off, and was nearly entirely dead. We should have cut it down before the house started to be rebuilt, but Jeff wanted to see if it might spring back to life, which it didn’t sadly. Now that the deck is starting to get built, it had to come down ~~~ and it was a huge stress !
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In closing I would like to say that although the rain came late this season, and nearly April it is still raining gobs, and from a fire-ravaged California that desperately needs regrowth of the wild habitat, rain is the new gold. I am very inspired to plant an undergrowth of woodland species, including more fruit trees in the gardens (to share with the ravens of course), and in general have been ready to focus on planting things as soon as the rain wanes off a bit. Making lists and garden sketches in the morning light of the window, with delicious mugs of coffee, is my solid unwavering bliss.
From the archives: “From within the garden gate.”
Jenjoyce Design 
I love that design. That would look so feminine when finished. Love it. So sorry that the oak had to go. Do you know where the ravens nest is? Fred & Ethel, the ravens in my wood, have been adding to their nest for so many years that its a monster. Their slightly dopey son doesn’t want to move out!
You named your pair Fred & Ethel? Lol! Our pair (or are we rather ‘their pair’) remain nameless. I often call out to him ‘ hi guy ‘ . Emma use to bother herself to bark ferociously at them very perturbed, but has since let up on that, being that she has serious napping to attend to most of the time 🙂
I think I have a bag of yarn scraps up in the tiny attic, I will go fetch it and dump them on the blanket over the tub! They’ll know its from me.
YA! They will love you for that!
The “slightly mentally impaired” son, I have not named yet. I thought he was harmless until he started bullying the cats. Poor Possum was terrified of him….so I’m not sure. At the moment, his name is just a string of expletives.
That does sound rather frightful that they harass your cats, being as big or bigger than they are. But I think in your little nook of the woods, so many things to eat, rodents in the ivy, food left out for wildlife by your neighbors, etc. The pair here do rely on fresh additions of kitchen scraps into my compost pile, which I am not always ready to cover up. 🙂
I love the cabled sock, it looks lovely.
The pair of ravens are nice, how special that they are hanging around after the fire.
Sorry that your tree didn’t survive and had to be cut down.
Thank you Wendy! The sock is really basic, yet somewhat fanciful at the same time. I’m still on the leg of the first one, taking my time, yet March, my official sock-knitting month is fast coming to an end. xx
A gorgeous post. It made me near weep with yearning. I think birds are one of my true great loves and, here, in Poshtown, I miss living hand in wing with them.
They are great teachers. I am a poor student sadly but it certainly seems your Ravens are leading, by example, and joining you in getting on with embracing a future.
Very sad about the black oak. I hope the timber can be milled.
Love your sock… Really effective use of a simple broken pattern.
I hope to get time soon to swing by Ravelry and say hello to you and the goils!
Happy spring.
Here, in the Antipodes, we are falling into as autumn,
The Ghost-Town survived another summer.
XX
Oh Karin, music to my ears that your ghost town will stand another year! You and I are sisters in worry that way. Yearning is the deep well within us I think , where from all human nature grows, and so , I love to embrace my yearning, and yet I hope to have a break from it some time soon. lol.
HAPPY AUTUMN!!!!
My favorite time of year ( sans the wildfire worry)
xx
Indeed we are Sisters in Watchfulness when it comes to fire! Lol. But that is the price we pay for living where the Wild Things are!
And yep, yearning has deep poignancy..
But laughter is necessary too.
You enjoy that spring with all that springs..
While I relish this autumn, with all that falls.
XX
Lovely start to a sock! And I see a green carpet in the dark woods, lovely!
As for the oak, very sad. But the others will spread their limbs into the space . I am amazed how the trees on the edge of our space did that after we cleared and built. The back yard is much shadier than it was originally.
Thank you Sarah for all of your encouragement which comes from experience! Yes, I think plenty will want to grow in that space, if not the little madrone sprout from its base. There is plenty of woods around the house which will spread in. xx
Oh, and the green in the ‘dark woods’ you see? That is on a north facing slope, and which just to the north about a couple hundred feet is the property line, and up to which the loggers cut neighboring woods down. So all that light flooding in is going to make a meadow… a lot of which is just the same moss sprouting up as I posted about a month back. It won’t be long though before the dying trees standing begin to fall and my knitting trail will be half meadow. xx