500 Baskets Book

Now sold out!
500 Baskets is out of print and sellers on Amazon have this book listed for over $100. It's a facinating and inspiring gallery of work.
(No patterns, just finished work.)

SOFTCOVER (all in color)


Embracing a breathtaking range of new techniques, styles, and materials, beautiful basketry offers more options than ever before. And these 500 exquisite artisan pieces will open eyes to the varied and wonderful possibilities. These baskets, made by top creators from around the world - including Ed Rossbach, Michaels Davis, Lillian Elliot, Gyongy Laky, Patti Lechman, and Mary Giles - as well as the best emerging newcomers, range from exquisitely functional to purely decorative, from classical to ultramodern. In addition to traditional twill, rattan, and reed, the artists have incorporated more unusual objects, such as plastic, paper, thread, and metal wire - even seeds, fish scales, and newspaper. Basketmakers, collectors, students, and anyone who loves beautiful items will delight in these masterworks.

This is a gallery photo book, for inspiration and enjoyment only - there are NO weaving instructions or explanations.

420 pages.

The joy and trials of being Stumpy...

How I spent my Tuesday morning...
Another page in the saga that is Stumpy's life:
Raise your hand if you've ever played Marco Polo with your cat only to finally look up and find him 25 feet or so up a tree with a trunk who's branches don't even start until at least 15 feet off the ground. Was the big, bad cat running scared or was he chasing the new stray that's on the ground laughing behind a bush? Either way his hips aren't the best and he's stuck in a V of branches (a V on it's side and he's sitting facing into the V, not sure how to get around safely) and probably has been there most of the night. So you call your brother for backup and get the ladder. You keep talking to him to stay put, you're on the way, climb the ladder to the first set of branches and climb the tree from there, coax him onto your arm so you can swing him down onto your chest. Now what? Zip him into your coat (he must be grateful because he'd never put up with that in normal circumstances) and think that both of you had better loose a few pounds if you are ever going to try this again.
Now at least he's secure and you can use one arm to climb down the tree. Your grateful that your brother is there to move the ladder higher into the tree because you have a ladder phobia and you didn't put it up high enough into the tree when you climbed up (rather climb a tree any day than a ladder).
So now you are both back safely on the ground and wishing you had thought to get your camera to document the resuce of your big, bad cat and trying not to laugh at him while he can hear you.

Great Cats

http://roadrunnerthecat.com/ -
Roadrunner the Cat

What an awesome cat!
She might give Stumpy a run for his money...

Want to let your friends and family know exactly what weaving materials and tools you'd like? Set up a Wish List in our online catalog. If they are not sure how to access it, they can call us and we can look it up for them. Make sure to give it a unique name (not "my wish list" :o) so we can find it.
http://catalog.countryseat.com/

Quick Tips

Sand handles and bases before spraying the basket with Weaver's Stain. After the basket is completely dry, rub the handles and base with a crumpled up paper bag. The wood will be satiny smooth.

New Sign

After losing another of our nice wood signs (that Bill makes) to theft. We have a new sign out at Rt 143 and Hawk Mt Road. Welded by a local metal smith and painted by our local sign painter, I think this one will stick around for a while.

Kitchen Sink Gazpacho

It's time to put those gathering baskets to use and harvest tomatoes. What should you do with all the tomatoes, including those green ones that fall off while harvesting the ripe ones? Try Kitchen Sink Gazpacho.

I've always made Gazpacho from a great recipe in an herb book. The proportions might vary but the ingredients were the same. Last night it was late and we had not planned anything for dinner. With the heat in PA right now no one wants to stand outside and grill or turn on the oven. It's time to check the back of the fridge. Ah, there's the red pepper that I bought almost a month ago and haven't used. It's a little wrinkled but not moldy and smells good.

Out comes the food processor. In goes the red pepper and an onion. Chop well until everything is finely chopped.

I harvested all the tomatoes that were ripe. Right now there are three different shapes ready. I put it that way because I only know what two of the tomatoes are for sure. The plants I have this year came from some saved seeds, some that sprouted on their own and some from a local place that sells fruits, veggies and plants but they're not always labeled. It's a grab bag tomato garden this year and it's fun watching the tomatoes grow and guessing what they might turn out to be. I know that I have Sweet Millions and a yellow midsized tomato (that one is marked but I'll have to crawl under it to see what it is) and I think I have some Romas, Yellow Pear and a beefsteaky looking big red tomato. So I ended up with a handful of cherry tomatoes, a medium size yellow, two large reds and a couple green tomatoes. All the tomatoes went into the processor but only pulsed until mostly chopped.

The herb garden is sparse but growing well so I cut a handful of chives and a couple sprigs of a lemon smelling basil. Not great to eat straight from the garden (I normally eat a leaf or two of basil straight from the plant) but a wonderful addition to dishes. I cut them all up and threw them into the processor. Added some extra virgin olive oil, two heaping tablespoons of vanilla yogurt and squeezed a lime into the mix. I chopped this part of the mixture very fine.

Mix everything together and serve.

Yummy! It was even better cold for lunch today.

Throw in whatever veggies you find in the fridge. I totally forgot I have a zuchini, I should've added that too!