Month: September 2009

Pahrump, Nevada: sunsets and various things in-between

Posted on | by jamie_work_admin | 3 Comments on Pahrump, Nevada: sunsets and various things in-between

I have family in Nevada. Pahrump, Nevada (southwest USA) to be
precise. Nearest airport is in Las Vegas, and since I drive like a
middle-aged wimp that trip takes longer than it should so I generally just
drive straight out from Los Angeles and get the scenic route along the way.


[Pahrump, Nevada sunset]

The route more or less goes like this: drive out of Los Angeles, California as if
you are going to Las Vegas (think Wooley Wonders at Tropicana and
Pecos), in Baker, California turn left at the Mad Greek, keep going till you get to
Shoshone (still California) turn right, drive untill you cross the California-Nevada border and reach Pahrump. (All this, including lunch at the Mad Greek is 6.5 to 7 hours).


[On the way to Pahrump (Nevada), east of Baker (California).]


[Heading back from Pahrump, between Shoshone and Baker (California).]

If you like the desert, which I do, you can get your fill of it along the way and do not have to experience the general unpleasantness of airports and air travel.

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End of summer, Woad vat, cotton, corn and beans

Posted on | by jamie_work_admin | 4 Comments on End of summer, Woad vat, cotton, corn and beans

I don’t know how official this is but most people I know consider “Labor Day” – which in the US falls on the first monday of September – as the end of summer. I ended my summer with a Woad vat. The wool is my SCHG challenge recycling/upcycling project.

Starting from the left: Woad overdye Hibiscus (yellow); Woad overdye onion peel (orange-yellow); Woad multi-dipped; Woad one dip.

I had hoped to grow my own Woad but as it turned out I was growing Weld. (Oh don’t ask, so much for my plant identification skills…)

This Woad was purchased in powder from from Woad Inc in the UK. The All About Woad site has really excellent directions and also sells Woad dye and kits.

Besides the dye plants (my project) there is the family vegetable garden. Most years we get a supply of dried tomatoes and soup beans. This year we tried growing corn.  Besides what was eaten fresh and given away we have dried corn (soup, cornbread, etc.).


[dried -> ground -> corn bread]

And the first boll on my cotton shrub just started opening.

Eat corn bread, contemplate the Woad vat, not a bad ending for the summer.

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