....

Ta-Da!

Taken with my NEW Cannon A2000 IS :)

Merry Christmas to me, Merry Christmas to me!

I bought this culitivated Mullberry Silk in my Mom's name for myself for Christmas; the colors aren't showing up very well on my now short-timer camera. I have decided my Christmas present this year is a nice camera, I haven't had one for quite awhile, just not sure which one it will be yet.
We had family and friends over for dinner today, we had prime rib and rack of lamb.... ohhh just thinking back makes my mouth water all over again! We stuffed ourselfs to the point of pain (I think its called gluttony, but it was fabulous), then sat down and watched WALL-E! Very cute movie :)

I got my White Christmas, it snowed almost all day.

Tomorrow I have to get up at 4:30 AM, take the DH to the parking lot to catch the bus to work, then come home and wait for the insurance adjuster to look at my poor little car, then go to Elko for some 'After Christmas' shopping!

Stay warm!

"Slip Slidin' Away"

Yes, this is my car. My son was driving himself, his sister and a friend to school and got t-boned by some guy driving too fast in the snow.

The story is long and convoluted, but in the end, even though the other driver (an adult that had dropped his kid off at school) had tried to make the cop believe that his car had sustained multiple injuries from this encounter, through no fault of his own, was found at fault and I was told by said cop that I did not under any circumstances need to give this guy my policy number.

Huggs to all! and...

Stuff

So why is it that my heater only quits working in the winter time!?!?!?

Of course! Because that's the only time I use it!!!

We are thinking that the switch has gone out on it, but what a time of year to make me spend money on repairs! Guess it will have to wait till January.

What a pain in the patooty! It is cold in here! We have a kerosene heater so its not like I'm going to freeze my tootsies off but it does get nippy in here in the morning.

Here are some random pics from my week... sorry if the colors are weird, my camera is on the fritz too I think.
Drive way on Monday morning; nice pogo nip! Spaz under the tree. This is the funniest cat I have ever known. He is so human its actually a little scary. Some of you may remember the story of how we got him? In short, we found him at my FIL's house after my MIL passed away. Anyway, he is skinny as a rail in the summer, chasing lizards and gophers, not to mention the occasional jack rabbit; right now I would be surprised if he didn't tip the scales at 30lbs!

My new scrunchie pattern; now includes beads :)

The silk yarn I made the scrunchie out of...

Zip LOVES the cold weather! Until it gets into single digits, then he prefers to be a house dog.

Just Another Magic Monday!

Before anyone corrects me, I know "Manic" would probably fit better, especially this time of year.

There seems to be an epidemic here; my Mother is depressed, my best friend is depressed, and I woke up at 3AM the other morning wondering why the hell I'm here! I don't seem to be accomplishing anything! We scurry about frantically for 70 or 80 years and then we die. What a thought to wake up to, eh?

I'm better now, I still don't want to get out of my jammas, but I do. This is why I haven't posted lately, just haven't had anything good to say.

I recently went through some of my stash and came up with this. I had intended to send it off with some other odds and ends to be processed together, it just never happened. This is North Ronaldsay wool. There was an article in Spin Off in the Summer 2006 issue about this very unique breed of sheep, very good reading! Soon after that, someone listed this on eBay and I pounced! It is a 5- or 6" long, semi lustrous wool that is very fun to spin. I have both white and a variegated grey, but they apparently come in lots of colors.

Post drum carder...

I am spinning it heavy because that's what it told me to do.

This is what we woke up to this morning... the sky was so bright I couldn't get a good picture, but there is snow there! My tree is awaiting its trimming so we can fit it to the stand. I love Noble Fir, just wish it weren't so expensive. I would have gotten a bigger one :)

Hey! What happened to the doughnuts!!?!??!

Buried Treasures

What a great week! We had some time away from reality, good food, family and time to enjoy both. We ate too much, talked too long and before we knew it, it was time to come back home, back to reality! That really sucks you know? I have decided though, if I ever leave Battle Mountain, southern AZ is a likely place to migrate to. I already miss the mild weather of Oracle which sits on the slopes of the Catalina mountain range (Mt. Lemon) to the north of Tucson.

There is a fiber store, a buried treasure if you will, nestled in middle of the city of Tucson. Well, maybe not dead center, but close enough. Unique Designs is a great name for the place; she not only designs unique yarns and knitting/crochet patterns, but the whole set up is unique! Unique Designs is a ranch with a fiber store attached. I love the set up and Kathy is really easy to talk to. She is proud of her fiber business and the quality of the product she sells shows it. Her spinning is way off of what I would do, she is nutty and creative in her production of yarns and it sells! I had a really great time looking at all her fiber animals, the bulk of which were angora goats, along with shetlands, a few rambos, some llamas and two or three alpacas. Oh, can't forget the angora bunnies in the wool shop; as you walk up to the shop, there is a sign on the door that states; 'Please close the door, the rabbits are out'. Very down to earth and a great place to pass a few hours. I bought lots of mohair (more than I want to admit to really) and learned a couple of techniques that I plan on practicing.

This boucle yarn is an accident, one that I plan on repeating! I was actually trying to do a coil, hoping I will get it right soon and be able to show you what it is supposed to look like. In the mean time, I will enjoy the misadventures of learning :)

All pictured here is mohair, from kid to yearling and a bit beyond, all of it is nice to work with and really fun to spin.

Natural colors here!
I just finished this tonight. It is kid mohair spun from fluffed locks, some call it tail spinning, others lock spinning. I am going to try another method that is also called tail spinning, where the tails of each lock actually hang out of the thread (or yarn) by 2 or 3 inches! (this skein is for sale, 1.7 oz, 148 yds, $10)

I also went to Grandma's Spinning Wheel, which is REALLY down town Tucson! She has a great shop with lots of things like silk, merino, bamboo, and so on and has fair prices. She sells beading supplies and charms. She also has spinning wheels! I had intended to ask when I went in if she was familiar with the SpinOlution Mach 1, but didn't have to, it was the first thing I saw as I walked into the shop! Guess what I did next! Go on! Guess!
Wow! What a wheel! Yeah OK, I tried it. I woulda liked to see her try and stop me LOL
I really enjoyed spinning on this wheel. It is a big heavy thing that doesn't walk away when you treadle but is still fairly portable at 22 lbs with wheels and a strap for a handle. I tend to spin at an angle from my Joy, so it is a bit of a challenge to spin sitting directly in front of the wheel, but here there is no choice really, not the way the 'legs' come out on either side. That doesn't really deter me though, I don't know that I would buy one, but you never know what I might do with the next $500 I have lying around doing nothing!
I think I picked the two best fiber stores in Tucson to visit, both have their flair and are different from one another. I will definitely go back to both.