What happens when I go out to the field.

So as many of you know, I went out a few weekends ago to do field work (ie. collect data from shrubs people have been watching for nearly 30 years). We have a site that is just north of Lucerne Valley in the Mojave Desert. I went out with my boss and one of his first students, the current provost of UMass. These guys are quickly closing in on 60 (well, one is already there) and apparently suffer from a bit of hearing loss. We come back to our camp at the end of a day and I hear a rattling noise.

Of course, I leap back making funny "I'm scared out of my mind" noises causing the guys laugh at me (rather loudly I must say). Until I point out that the cause of my behavior is a mojave green rattlesnake that has decided that our tanks of nitrogen gas might be interesting prey (they track heat and giant metal tanks get very hot in the desert sun). Even after I pointed the thing out, they still couldn't hear it.

Now, I've worked in places where these snakes are before. I even came with in a few inches of stepping on one once. However, they have all been very relaxed snakes. This one was on caffeine and speed, in full strike position and rattling its butt off.

Snakes in general are not so scary. This one is though. Its venom includes the usual run of the mill stuff that other rattlesnakes have as well as a neurotoxin which apparently can cause you to stop breathing within 15 minutes of being bit (don't quote me here, this is all stuff I've been told by other non-herp scientists).

Given that they've led long lives, the guys offered to deal with it. So using one of my tent poles they began to try and move it.Of course, it immediately went under a bush which made grabbing it that much more exciting.
Eventually though, they managed to get it into a paper bag to carry it away... using the tent pole of course.
Here are my heroes carrying the evil villain snake off into the sunset.
And a last shot of Bruce with the snake safely deposited too far away to crawl back overnight and surprise us when we're working at 2 am.
Bruce's wife insisted that I walk ahead of everyone once she heard the story since I was apparently the only one in the group who could hear the thing! So their chivalry and machismo died a quick death. At least no one was bit and we didn't see it again for the rest of the trip.

Oh and did I mention that it was 113 degrees F in the shade? Every day?

I love being a scientist.

spinning tonight!

Just a quick post for those who go to the Monday spinning group. It's at Mary's (the big farmhouse on Glenn Annie north of Cathedral Oaks). Feel free to email or call for directions if you need them.

I'll be there late because I have my usual Monday night knitting group AND a softball game to play before I can go (not in that order fortunately!).

Oh, yeah, did I mention work? I got a big grant proposal in on Friday so that's calmed down a bit and I will have time for all of my evening activities for once in a long time. I'll post photos and stories of all of the other happenings tomorrow night probably.

This weekend I go to D.C. to visit Mom (both of our husbands are out of town (the country) for July so Dad sent me a ticket. We're going to hop on a train up to NYC and have tickets to Wicked!!!! I'll definitely post about that trip when I get back.

Hope to see you tonight!

anacapa island

Two weekends ago we went to Anacapa Island. Since Marius was kind enough to create low res pics of his favorite photos, that is what you'll get to see.

We woke up at an incredibly early hour to pick up Thuy and Jaeson and drive to the ferry on time. They claimed we needed to be there an hour before departure although we sat in line for 15-20 minutes and then waited another 20 minutes or so before we could load our gear onto the boat (grumble, grumble, lucky that we stopped for coffee on the way down, grumble, grumble).














It was a bit foggy but the sun came out in time for a little snorkeling the first afternoon.



















Now, if I had selected the photos you'd be seeing a great shot of Marius and Jaeson in their wet suits (Jaeson's had lovely neon accents reminiscent of the 80's), but alas, Marius picked the photos so you only get one of me coming out of the water but grinning like a maniac.

The water is very clear around the islands and so you can see the kelp forests and fish really well. The only odd thing is that there is something that makes a crackling noise in your ear when your head is under water. Even the park ranger could only guess at what caused it even though everyone hears it. His suggestions were the waves moving sand and rocks against the rocky walls of the harbor in which we were swimming. Apparently shrimp can also make that sound but there aren't any shrimp like that around Anacapa.

Okay, the other odd thing is that we were swimming in May in the Pacific Ocean. Despite the wet suits, it was still cold (and not in the "oh, it's just brisk/refreshing/insert your favorite euphemism here sort of way; it was the "oh my god my head hurts" sort of cold). The only reason I managed to forget was because of the nice view. Next time we visit an island where we can swim, we'll bring the underwater case for our camera to show you.






















However, the really nice thing about visiting the island in May is that the seagulls were all nesting. I don't mean a few nests here and there. Imagine every seagull you've ever seen in Santa Barbara or Goleta all on 3 acres of rock out in the middle of the ocean. That is what we saw (and smelled!). Fortunately seagull chicks are absurdly cute (although you can't see from the photo Marius selected -check Thuy's blog as I'm sure she'll have better shots and if not, I'll dig up a few to add later this week). They're small and fluffy (go figure) like most baby birds but they are brown with black spots all over. It's the sort of sight that makes you go "awwww" to the point where you make your self ill. It's just too much cuteness to handle and most folks are reduced to gibbering nonsense and taking thousands of identical photos of every chick they see.

Okay, maybe it was just me.














The only thing to break up the cuteness are the parents. They first start interacting with you by barking like dogs (small dogs, but dogs just the same). If you don' t leave their vicinity after the barking they might move toward you on the ground. If that doesn't work, they then take to the air and begin to dive bomb you. When we were on the boat on the way over, we were warned to hold up one hand if attacked by a seagull so that they wouldn't go for our heads (aren't you just feeling warm and fuzzy about them now?), but being hit by an angry seagull parent isn't the worst thing that they do to you. When they dive bomb their victims, they are actually trying to figure out the right moment to bombard you. You might ask, what does a seagull have with which to bombard you? Well, they certainly aren't picking up things to drop on you. Use your imagination.

The only thing to be grateful for is that at least they don't regurgitate on you. I think that could potentially be worse... or not.

Dye Day!!!

This past weekend I went down to Hollywood for a dye day put on by the L.A. F.A.G. (stop giggling, it stands for Fiber Arts Guild -do you really think LA has only one gay man?). The location was a beautiful arts and crafts "cottage" (if a REALLY big house can be called a cottage) with a wonderful back yard and patio area (see the photo above of everyone in action). There were probably over 50 people there over the course of the day with great food and several shops taking over various rooms of the house to do a little business (in case you ran out of your own fiber to dye).

It was so much fun! The members of the guild are great (a couple of us even converted a very creative guy to starting his own instructional blog, I can't wait to see it!) and were very welcoming. We spent the entire day talking, trying out different dyes including everything from Cushing's Acid Dyes to natural dyes to my new favorite way, earth hues natural dye extracts (they're as easy, if not easier, than chemical dyes with the results of natural dyes). Below is a hot pour dye (clown pot) that my dye buddy (twisted) Ruth set up. I threw quite a bit of gray wool into this pot and it came out wonderfully. You fill the pot with water and vinegar, slowly pour the dye on top and then very slowly bring the pot up to the temperature needed for the dye to strike (without poking it Ruth! :) ). That allows the dye to move down through all of the fiber in the pot before it strikes.















Here are some samples drying on the fence of what everyone did and some of the dye pots we had going. You'll notice there was a lot of blue. We had an instant indigo pot going all day and several acid dyes in various blues going but the colors were more diverse than what's drying here.















Speaking of which, below is more gray wool I dust dyed. This is where you mix acid dyes with corn starch and sprinkle it on fiber that is packed in a tray filled with water and acid. You then heat it until the dye exhausts. I'm not a huge fan of pink but we were worried that the gray would hide more subtle colors. Apparently it wasn't an issue!

Granite Mountains

I have a bit of catching up to do so I'll start with last weekend (ie. not the past couple of days but a week ago). I went with the Plant Physiological Ecology class on their field trip to the UC reserve in the Granite Mountains. My boss teaches the class and so I got to tag along to "help" the students (oh yeah, six students, their professor, a TA and me; they really needed my "help"). Below are photos of the group and a shot of Bruce (my boss) hidden by one of our favorite shrubs, Larrea tridentata (creosote bush). It's one of our favorite because we both spend quality time with it in our research. It produces toxins that may help it to establish a territory belowground that is relatively free of neighbors' roots.





































The property is on a 100 year lease originally obtained by a geologist and his brother (both faculty at UofC schools) and it turns out that the geologist's wife is a long time member of one of my spinning groups. If you think your world is small, wait until you move to Santa Barbara -it shrinks even more. It's located in the Mojave Desert about two hours past Barstow depending on traffic.

I had a great time although we experienced a cold snap of the likes that I've never experienced in a desert (and I know my deserts -or at least know when to expect them to be cold and that wouldn't include the month of May, regardless of hemisphere!). The students were completely unprepared as some didn't even realize how cold it can be at night when the weather is seasonal and I found myself trying to decide if the one guy (who looks like he played defense in high school football) could fit into my baggy but not huge windbreaker.

Some fauna and flora of the area: a fringe toed lizard (endangered), and coyote melon.

Fortunately, as I wasn't really responsible for anything or anyone on the trip, I got to run away and have fun hiking while students collected data. Both hikes I did were wonderful. I walked up to the top of the mountains located next to the field station for a wonderful view and walked around the mountain and up the neighboring canyon. Of course my camera batteries were dead by the time I went out so the photos are all from the first day and a half. The hikes did result in one of those events that does seem to happen to me whenever I leave home (have I mentioned I got stuck in an elevator by myself in London this spring?).


another shot of the beloved larrea













So my boss tells me that I would really enjoy the next canyon over and shows me the route on a map. I tell him I'm leaving to go on the hike and that I'll be back in a couple of hours. The students were supposed to give presentations on data they had collected in 2-3 hours (which normally mean that they'll start in 4 if we're lucky) and I had to be back in time for those. The hike was fantastic. I took the exact route my boss pointed out (I don't like hiking alone unless people know where to look for me when I don't come back), and started back a little late so that I was approaching the field station a little over three hours later. I look across the desert and see the university van (used to drag the students out to the site) driving slowly along another road in the distance and figure they're off doing something fun. Then the van stops and someone gets out so I figure that I'll walk over and see what they're up to before I go back to the house. As I get closer, I hear someone calling.

It turns out to be the TA for the course. Folks got a little concerned when I wasn't back in two hours (not that you could make it to the end of the neighboring canyon and back in two hours but you never know...) and so this guy kindly offers to go find me. Of course, no one bothered to tell him the route I was taking and so he's off down a road with very deep and loose sand.

I mention this because once I found him and he explained everything, he then explained that he had gotten the van stuck in the sand.

We spent the next hour trying to get it out but failing spectacularly. So we decide to go get the rest of the group to help (and to let them know that I was not lost in the desert with a rattlesnake firmly attached to an extremity). It took the entire group another 30 minutes or so to get the van out. Don't you just love science?

The last shot is of a cholla in bloom. I'll post more soon including shots from this past weekend (a big dye day down in Hollywood and hiking with two of my favorite people).

more Jalama

Someone (and I'm not mentioning names here) wanted to see more photos from this weekend. So please forgive me if you're sick and tired of Jalama Beach. Many of the photos are of Marius so I figured I'd start out with a couple of me. That's right, the chick in the pics above is me. I know, it's hard to believe given the foreign looking garment I have on the lower half of my body, but it really is me (day-glow legs and all). For fun, check out the difference in skin color between my hands and my legs. It borders on a genetic impossibility.

Okay, everything else is Marius since I had the camera for most of the walk.



Including shots of Marius getting a little annoyed that there will suddenly be many photos of him. He's normally the one with the camera and regularly comments on the huge disparity in photos of each of us. And yet, when I try to rectify the situation, this is what I get:





Some of the kelp that he found so fascinating including a shot of the afore mentioned lady bugs.

Jalama Beach

We went to Jalama Beach this weekend despite the gray skies. The only folks there were the surfers so we had the beach to ourselves for the most part and only had to turn back from our walk when the tide started to come in and threatened to turn our stroll into a swim (and regardless of what you've heard about SoCal weather, it was WAY too cold to swim). Marius became obsessed with the number of lady bugs we found on the washed up kelp. So, if anyone knows why they seem to like kelp (other than just having been blown down from the grass covered bluffs above -my current hypothesis), feel free to comment so I can pass it along to him.

The other thing that happened this weekend is that I finally got an order of knitting books from amazon.com. So of course now I'm working on designing a yoke sweater that incorporates some of the charts from the Fassett book. Like I don't have enough projects to finish already...

The organisms in my life....

So I share my apartment with many other species (most by choice with the exception of the ubiquitous Santa Barbara ant infestation). This week they're giving me fits.

Sam went and got into yet another fight with probably the same cat that sent us to the vet a few weeks ago. I'm only grateful that it looks like he won't develop an edema since the cut is lower this time (directly below the last wound which nicked his jugular). So now he’s sleeping it off after having to deal with me washing the wound and applying antibiotic ointment. We're just waiting on the wonderful Dr. Sellers (http://www.catandbirds.com/bourdoctors/) to call back and let us know if Sam needs to make another trip in to the clinic. I wouldn’t mind that he fights except for the fact that he seems to always lose! He’s not the brightest creature in the world.

On a more cheerful subject, some of my plants are blooming. Two came from the university greenhouse when the collection was thinned out late last year and I have no idea what either of them are since the white flowers are from a plant that was hiding in a pot of another plant and the orange orchid came from some idiot who completely destroyed a potted plant they had and left behind tons of broken off pieces, two of which happily reside in a pot in my window right now.

However, the dark purple orchid is a Maxillovia variabilis that I just got along with a few other plants from a graduate student in our program. His neighbor is one of those crazy collectors with more plants than space and apparently their spouse insisted on a little downsizing. George, the grad student, very kindly brought them in for us to plunder and this lovely little plant was in bud. Thanks George!

Spinning WIP

I promised spinning projects yesterday and I deliver. First is some roving I've got on my wheel. The roving is superwash merino from Royal Hare (grabbed the last bit from their booth at Stitches West, unspun sample first). I can't wait to see what it turns into when I ply it on itself.

















And of course there are all of the all of the dye experiments Thuy and I have been trying out. Everything that isn't the Royal Hare roving up above is wool that we dyed with food coloring. Some of it is from the supermarket and some is Wilton's cake frosting dye. The colors are just amazing although we aren't certain how colorfast it all is.

Towards the bottom is some of it spun up both on one of my Bossie's and in a 2-ply where I just folded what I had in half and let it twist back on itself. The stuff in the shot with the spindle is BFL that I have several pounds of from John and Marsha up in Solvang. The rest is some unknown beasty that Barbara (Monday night spinning group) had in her stash and shared with us. It was dirty and fairly rough stuff but it cleaned up and softened up a bit in the dye bath and more junk came out when I spun up the first sample so it isn't too bad. Barbara was so impressed that she's going to be sending the rest of the stuff our way to play with (thanks Barbara!!!). I'd turn the stuff into fun socks except that food coloring has been known to bleed and dye your skin. I really don't think I need multicolored toes just yet so I'll have to come up with another project for it all.

Finally WIP photos

I know it seems like I just pretend to do fibery things as I have yet to post any evidence. But I have finally decided to silence the un-believers among you with photos of the things I'm working on right now. I'm sure I could drag out many other projects that are on needles but I'm not posting it if I haven't touched it in the last month.

To the left is Sam on the linen stitch (also called woven stitch) cotton throw blanket that I will be working on for forever. I found some great space dyed cotton a few years ago in a sale bin in a shop in Cary, NC. I haven't known what to do with it but I just finished a bag in linen stitch that was also in a space-dyed yarn. Space-dyed yarn does really nice things in linen stitch and so I figured I'd go ahead and try to turn it all into a blanket. I know, it may the project I work on for years, but it will be pretty if I ever finish it. Plus it's great for knitting nights since it's relatively mindless knitting.


I've also nearly finished the front of Marius' first sweater (see earlier post for photo from pattern). I have to redo the ribbing at the bottom and it doesn't look like much as the fun neck work is all done at the very end, but I think it will turn out okay.

The most recently started is the Babette for mom. I sent her the photo of this pattern to suggest I could alter it to match something else she was looking at and she decided she wanted this instead. Since I'm not one to reinvent the wheel, she's getting the babette. I'm just doing the sequins (the spotted looking bands have threads of sequins held together with the yarn) much more subtly by using another yarn with small copper colored sequins.

Tomorrow I'll post my spinning photos.

I GOT IT!!!

I will be employed next spring. Woo-hoo! The head of the department just called, said some lovely, complimentary things and offered me the job. Of course it's not tenure track or anything but that will be the next step. For now it's enough that I have a job that will help my career and I get to live with my husband for a while.