Sittin' n' Spinnin'

Empty Nester

2011-12-14T23:49:00.000-08:00

First a little catching up...

It seems it gets longer and longer between posts here! I keep busy, and it always seems like this is the last place I want to spend time, which is unfortunate, because I love sharing what happens in my life. But, in light of the readership, it just doesn't seem too horribly important to spend time posting. Not that I don't appreciate the five (or so) wonderful people who seem to be the only ones who ever read this blog! I do, so regardless of the lack of comments or correspondence, I will keep posting occasionally, but the frequency will most likely continue to decline.
On to the news!
We were blessed to have spent Thanksgiving with Kevin! He had the National Lampoon's Trip Home from hell to get here, but he managed it! He got to my Mom's house just as we were cutting the turkey! He was supposed to get here the day before but to start, the plane he was supposed to catch in Palm Springs had a flat! That left him sitting in the airport there for almost 5 hours, and when they finally got off the ground, he was late for his connecting flight in Phoenix. They put him up in a very nice hotel for the night! The next day, he was supposed to get in to Reno at 10AM, but again his flight was delayed for a few hours, he didn't get in to Reno until after 1PM. Luckily my nephew lives in Fernley, just 40 minutes from the airport in Reno and was able to stick around and wait for him to bring him home. It was great to have him here, and the visit was way too short, but we had a good time :)
Karaoke will never be the same!

Joy celebrated her second birthday on December 1st! We had a great time, and she got lots of presents!

We went to Arizona for Derek's niece's wedding, it was beautiful of course, she was beautiful, of course! She'll be moving to Virginia where her new husband is stationed in the Navy.

Grandpa Gale, Bailey and Dean

Daughter Jari and her beau followed DH and I down in her beau's truck with Joy so that Grandpa could finally meet his great grand daughter. She loved him from the first, and didn't shy away from him at all! The adventure started when the 'kids' decided to leave on Saturday night. Jari needed to be back at work on Sunday night, the beau needed to be in Boise on Monday, it was time to go home. Derek and I decided to stay until Tuesday. A couple hours later I got a phone call, they had broke down in Phoenix, they were getting a motel, the turbo had went out on the diesel truck. That it happened at all was unfortunate; that it happened in Phoenix, was a blessing. There is a lot of empty road between Phoenix and Home! Much of it with no cell service. Three days later, the truck was still not fixed, Derek and I picked the three of them up on our way home. Luckily it was an over night drive, we all slept most of the way... except of course for Derek, my super husband who can drive the 12 hrs home straight!
After we'd been home a week, my daughter finally did what she'd told me she was planning on doing; her and Joy have moved in with the beau. He is a really great guy, very responsible, good job, and is awesome with Joy! Joy thinks he's 'da bomb', and he's pretty sure she is.

I woke up yesterday with the realization that I didn't have to do anything for anybody for the first time in 26 years. I could get out of bed, or not, and do what I wanted to do; I wouldn't have to clean up after anyone, I wouldn't have to feed anyone, I wouldn't have to argue or cajol or convince or please or worry. And I realized, I've been waiting for this moment, almost like I've been holding my breath.
I've raised my kids, and good or bad, right or wrong, they are now on their own. And although I love baby girl and miss her deeply at times, I am delighted to be my own person once again, for Derek and I to have the time and the space to be 'us' once again. Twenty-six years is a long time to go without a sense of self, when nearly every waking moment is spent thinking about and doing for your kids. I've heard stories about how hard it is on parents when their kids leave home, of the sense of loss and of having no direction... so far, I'm just not feeling it :)

The Difference a Dye Job Can Make

2011-11-16T08:34:00.001-08:00

A few years ago at Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR, I came across a 4 ounce strip of dyed Merino/silk top from Lisa Souza Knitwear and Dyeworks. It was dark blue (black in places), indigo blue, brown gold, greens with undyed white sections. The colors were so appealing to me, I bought 8 ounces. I spun it up, took pictures of it, and tried to sell it on Etsy. Instead a member of the spinning/knitting group I belong to in Elko bought it and made a beautiful Baktus Scarf! I wish I had a picture of it, I would share. But this is the yarn.

I have decided that Navajo plying is my preferred method of finishing hand painted yarns. You get much better color changes and not as much striping as if you two ply it, and a stronger yarn.
I bought the same colorway the next year, don't remember what happened to the yarn, I guess I sold it on Etsy.
Last month I thought about it again and ordered more. When I got it I wasn't sure I would like it. The colors weren't as heavy this time, instead of broad splashes of bold color, it's more like it was spattered with color.

So I wasn't sure what would happen with it, and I remembered that I had liked the last few batches I'd had so much!

So here it is, and I love it! It really is that light, although its washed out a little by the sun shine through the window...

In other news, my daughter started working at a local restaurant, nights, so I have Joy all day while she sleeps, and all night while she works. I tell ya, I haven't been this tired in a very long time :)

We Have an Accord!

2011-11-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

There were a couple of things that were making spinning on Maxwell (thank you Laura :) difficult. First, I'm used to sitting in my easy chair to spin on my Joy, the orifice is at the perfect height, but Max is almost a foot taller than the Joy, so I grabbed two small pillows and plopped my butt down. Just right! Second, Max has, as I said earlier, a draw like a mule team.

The little ball on the string is the tensioner. Its supposed to go over the end of the maiden and tighten there on the right. I took it out of the equation. Even without tightening the string with the knob, just the weight of that little bitty ball caused friction.

I am pretty sure I wasn't supposed to do this, but I did it anyway. I oiled the metal whatchamacallit. The piece below it is plastic, just like a Louette (I think), and I've seen people with these put that grey powder on this spot, not oil, but I don't have the grey powder, so oil it was! It worked.

This is mohair roving, I have no idea where it came from, but it was handy when I went looking for something strong to put on this bad boy. I will never spin lace weight on this wheel, its all about chunky! And it bobs and weaves a bit when I'm spinning, makes a fairly loud 'thunk' at the top of the treadle path, but I think we're going to get along just fine.

My Lil' Angel?

2011-11-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

In't she cute!?

This was Joy's first real Halloween, she was too young last year to really get into it, but boy she was plying that basket this year! She knows what candy is now!

I swear I can sit across the room from her and rattle a candy wrapper, it doesn't matter what she's doing, she will bee-line to me to find out what I've got. Oh, she is a 'Bat-arrina' by the way :) It even had little gloves, but she wouldn't wear them.

Nana and Joy at Nana's house. We always go there for Halloween. Living out in the sticks we have never gotten any trick or treaters, so we don't decorate, and the pumpkin we carve always goes on Mom's porch. She is a holiday Hero, always has her house decorated for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Oh, can't forget Easter!

We had kilbasa, fried cabbage and home made mashed potatoes for dinner.

Goodies!

I've been plying my trade, which could be the reason I'm growing again. I can't believe how fast I put on weight in the winter!
The fiber above is the alpaca bond blend I talked about a couple of posts ago, the yarn below is a better color of the yarn also from that previous post, I like this one better, shows the truer color.

And I finally finished spinning and plying the alpaca blend (thank you Eli the puppy)

New Goodies!

Have you ever heard of Stansborough Grey? Stansborough Grey is a breed of sheep, only found in New Zealand, there are only about 1000 of them and they all belong to the same farm. If you haven't looked up, you should (or just click on the name :)

I regret to say that I let my uncontrollable urge to have some of this fiber get in the way of my better sense that told me it was too expensive. But, I bought it, its here and it is delectable! I can honestly say this wool is like nothing I have ever put my hands in. It is silky soft, to the point where you're really not sure you're touching anything at all. There are a couple of negative points (though I wont let them stop me from processing this fiber), there are second cuts all through what I've handled so far. If you read the website, you'll know that all of this wool is actually meant to be commercially processed. So what I don't understand, is what do the commercial processors do with all those second cuts? From what I've played in so far (and I just got it today, so I haven't gone through very much of it) I will lose a good 40% of this wool, if not more, because where there are second cuts, the staple length is often cut in half (at 3 to 4 inches, that don't leave much!) so I lose the lock too. Ah, well, such is life! I can see why they chose it to grace the backs of movie stars though. Oh my my!

Yesterday, this arrived from the Netherlands!

I am now a two-wheel spinner! Although I haven't quite gotten the hang of the Moswolt Hammer Wheel yet, I feel confident that we will be able to come to an understanding soon. Where I have always thought of my Joy as a girl (the name not withstanding, she is rather petite), the Hammer is definitely masculine. He pulls like a mule team on the draw, so we have some issues to 'hammer' out hehe.

This is one of the reasons I wanted this wheel; see the size of that bobbin??? My Joy is supposed to hold 4 ounces; I'm lucky if I get 2.5 on it, and even then I have to split it because it wont all fit back on the bobbin plied. But this baby! He holds 12 ounces! I can see why some people have bought this wheel just for plying, but I would love to be able to spin that much at one time!
If anyone anywhere sees this sometime in the future and knows anything at all about the Moswolt Hammer Wheel, please leave a comment so we can chat. There is precious little on the internet about these wheels (in English or Dutch) and it would be wonderful to find out more about them. Near as I can tell, the company quit making them in the '80s. To be honest, I am not entirely convinced this one is completely genuine. The flyer is new, that is for sure and made (even though it is well made) from ply wood and I am positive the bobbins are replicas. The body seems to me to be original, but what would I know? The whole thing could be a replica and no one this side of Deutschland and 1980-something would know the difference!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! Cheers!

Porcine Paradise?

2011-10-31T12:46:00.000-07:00

I guess they'd have to know how to talk to be able to tell me if they thought it was paradise, but I can't think of anything else to make it so.
A week ago Sunday, I was sitting in front of the grocery store, looking at the bulletin board, when out popped a sign that said pigs for sale. We'd been talking about raising piglets for the freezer for six years (we'd done this before and I had not enjoyed the experience, but the results were tasty), and the subject had just a couple of days prior, come up again. This time it had more of a chance of succeeding because of the drastic flock reduction I've implemented here. All we needed was a pen and some pigs.
I'm one of those that lets things happen, I 'roll with the flow' if you will :)
If I have to work hard to over come obstacles in order to achieve my goal of acquiring something I don't necessarily need, I will let it go until fate again gives me an opportunity to do so. This may sound lazy, but its the difference between something coming together smoothly, and working out superbly in the long run, and the frustration of trying to make it happen when 'someone' doesn't want it to, and it turning into if not a complete disaster, then at least something that no one is quite happy with. A lesson I learned from my Texas-raised Dad; he would say "If it was meant to happen, it'll happen."
So with the conversation about the pigs a couple of days before, and how we would work out the pen, seeing the ad 'pigs for sale', it just felt like it was coming together.
I called the number later that day, talked to the woman about where she was, when we could come look at them, and decided on four o'clock. Turns out she also has a couple of sheep, although she's very new to them, and would talk to her husband about trading the two pigs for my last terminal ewe lamb. Jari had decided when she took the rest of the lambs to butcher a few weeks before, that this one was just too small to go yet.
So it would seem that this had been coming together for at least a few weeks, it looked like I was in the pig raising business again.
I ended up picking up three pigs, going to raise one for a friend, and they do better in groups anyway.

Introducing the Three Little Porkers!

The pen didn't go up quite like we thought it would, but surprisingly it was still a smooth process. I have several sheep panels that I had thought I would use, but the friend who the third pig is for had these panels lying around in her back 40. We dug a trench about 6 inches deep to put the panels in (with the help of my friends son, we couldn't have done this without him!), this is suggested as a precaution against the pigs rooting out under the fence as much as it is to keep dogs from digging in. We wired the corners together, put T-posts up for stability, set the railroad ties up as the walls of the shelter, and laid plywood across the top bolstered by posts to hold up the corners.

We put straw in for bedding. I figured they'd have this scattered all over the pen by the next morning, but apparently, they like it just where it is!

Joy's First Pumpkin!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Home, Sweet Home!

2011-10-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've been back home now for 11 days, seems like three weeks. I've been pretty busy, but not overly so, Jari did a pretty good job at keeping the house up!
I came home to a small box that contained a pretty good amount of Bond Corriedale wool, ordered from Gleason Fine Woolies while I was in Texas. I just can't resist Joanna's wool selection, even though it is much more expensive than most, I can say its worth it. It is very clean, and oh so yummy!

"Charlie"

"Peter"

I've started work on Peter's fleece, I just love that crimp! It washed up pretty well, although there is still enough grease left in it that my hands feel wonderful when I've been in it for a while. I found this small ball of mohair and wool blend roving that demanded to be blended with some of this fleece, so I got my carder out and started on it. It looked great! I had three batts done and had started spinning it.
I don't know if I posted about my car or not, but its been out of commission for a couple of months. My daughter hit a rock, she said, and it messed up the alignment so bad that I think we will have to buy two new tires for it. We had to drive it home from town, about 4 miles. So the other day we finally found a trailer that we could use to haul the car to Elko (an hour away) to get it looked at. We were gone all day Monday, came home to find that the new puppy likes Peter's wool too! Oh, by the way, we have a new puppy. he is black lab and blue tic hound. He's a great puppy, will someday make a beautiful and intelligent dog! But not if he keeps doing what he did that day! He doesn't know how close he came to shortening his life span. Not only did he tear up those batts (which were in a box with the lid down) but he got on my table and pulled down 5 ounces of that gorgeous dark chocolate alpaca top I posted about earlier! Sigh!
I picked it all up after chastising my daughter about how its never her stuff that gets torn up and ruined by the animals she brings home, its always my things that get torn up! Why is that? Make you want to gnash your teeth and say bad words! Not to mention kick the dog! (something I learned long ago not to do, unless I wanted a bruised toe, cause I never manage to hurt the dog, just me). So, what to do with this mess? I took what I could salvage of the batts, which weren't as bad off as they had first appeared, and recarded them, they have a few more dog hairs in them now but, eh! Then I looked at all that alpaca. I had not over reacted at the alpaca. It was a mess! He must've enjoyed that much more than my home-made batts, cause it was torn up and slobbered on.
My drum carder is not made for fine fibers; they get stuck in the tines, they get all fly away and aggravating! But, I decided to blend the alpaca with Peter, I just couldn't imagine throwing it all away!
This is how I managed it: I took a small amount of Peter's wool, flicked it, laid it down on the carder, took one of the puppy-fied pieces of alpaca and lay wisps of it against that little bit of wool. Then I took a normal sized lock of flicked wool and lay it over the alpaca. It worked great!

Here is the yarn from the mohair blend

This is the alpaca blend in the morning sunlight... I really couldn't get the color right...

It is so much prettier than this picture, I will post another when I'm done spinning it up. I managed to save most of that alpaca! I only had to throw away the most slobbered on bits.
And the car? Found out today that the frame is bent. Musta been some rock!

Motel convenience and puppy problems not withstanding, its great to be home!

In Rememberance.... Picture Heavy

2011-10-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

The day I got to Texas, my daughter called me to say that our faithful 14 year old dog Zip had passed away. I wanted to wait till I got home to share this, because I wanted to share these pictures as well as the story of how he came into our lives 14 years ago.
I went to the store one day and there were some kids out front with a box. There were little black puppies peeking out, some jumping others just looking around. I walked up to the box to get a better look, and in the bottom of the box in the corner was a silver, tan, grey and black ball of fur. I of course took that ball of fur home. I wanted a truck dog. I wanted a dog that would be exited every time I said "wanna go for a ride?". I wanted a bosom buddy, one that would go with me every where and be my best friend. This seemed like the perfect dog! According to the kids with the box, the mother was a golden retriever, the father was a blue merle Australian Shepard, he had a different sire than the other puppies, they were golden and black lab.
As he grew, we realized he was going to be a good blend of the two breeds; the size and mellow attitude of the golden, with the colors and hair of the Aussie. He was smart, and beautiful, and after going through several dogs over the past few years, none of which really fit us, its seemed we'd finally gotten lucky.
I brought this little silver fluff ball home, thinking I'd found the perfect dog. Well I did, I had a dog, but he didn't have me. It was about ten minutes after bringing him into the house, that this little fluff ball had found his boy. If Tad and I sat on opisite sides of the room and called Zip, he would always go to Tad, but if I said lets go for a ride, he'd dump Tad in a second! So I had a truck dog, but Tad was his Boy.
Tad named him Zip, after the Australian blue healer in the movie 'Last of the Dog Men', Tad's favorite movie of all, but as he got older, we realized he wasn't all that zippy. He was very laid back, but he did love to play with sticks! He would chase anything you threw but would only bring sticks back.

Not much room left for Tad....

This was taken about halfway up Mt. Lewis, looking out on Reese River Valley, where we live.

Tad was teaching Zip to catch treats off his nose.

Derek's mother was very sick with stomach and intestinal cancer, so we all packed up and went to visit her in April of 2004, she passed away on June 4th that same year.

Zip rode in the back of the Suburban, while Tad had the back seat to himself. At one point, Derek had went off the road just a bit and hit the rumble strip, scared Zip so bad he jumped into the back seat where Tad was stretched out. Zip landed feet first in Tad's groin. We all laughed at Tad's discomfiture. Neither he or Zip thought it was too funny at the time :)

Zip loved horse grain, and didn't really care that Jasper loved it too....

That same trip to Arizona to see Derek's mother, we came home by way of the Grand Canyon. Wonderful memories!

Me, Jasper and Zip, ready to go for a quick ride.

This is on Mount Moses, just me Derek and Zip on this trip, just wandering around the mountains.

Tad and I used to do this a lot, he loved looking at the stars.

They are together now, I think. It is a comforting thought.
Rest in Peace Zipper!

Time! I have None!

2011-10-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

I have some... but not much. I didn't end up going to Greenville on my days off. In reviewing the website I realized the cotton museum is not really what I was looking to see, more about the industrialization of cotton production and its history than the spinning of cotton.
I did go to see a very nice woman who answered my pleas for a fiber fix on the Spin List who invited me to her home, she was very nice and although a relatively new spinner had some beautiful fiber! I do believe I've made a new friend!
I went looking for a picture of this breed, but all I found were little tiny, so I will let you look it up :)

This is wool from a small sheep in New Zealand, called Arapawa, it is super soft and somewhere between a down wool and a romney wool. She gave this to me! So very generous! I will be sending her some of Gracie's fiber after I shear when I get home.
I also went to Rose Path Weaving and got some goodies!

They are moving their shop, so everything to do with spinning was 40 to 50% off! The white stuff is Merino/Mohair, the brown stuff at the top is Arapawa from my new friend in Louisiana, the brown in the wraps is alpaca, with the McMorran Yarn Balance at the bottom. The books, the new Spin-Off, the Intentional Spinner and another 101 One Skein Wonders book rounded my purchases off. Amazingly, this was all just over $100.

We're calling this my birthday present :)

September 23, 1985

2011-09-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

Twenty-six years ago today my oldest son was born.

I've spend the last six years ignoring this day, it usually comes and goes without a tear shed, mostly because I am a coward when it comes to grief. I've learned, recently in fact, that by not dealing with it myself I have, I think, irrevocably damaged my other two kids. In not dealing with my own grief, I have not taught them how to deal with theirs. Kevin does pretty well, he is stoic when it comes to Tad, but I think he was the first (and possibly the only) one in our family to really deal with the death of his brother. Jarakah is another story, although I know she is dealing better now.

I did rather well today, ignoring it as I usually do, knowing the date, but keeping the feelings that go with it in the back of my mind, keeping the thoughts and memories stamped down and quiet. But then I told him happy birthday on Facebook, and the posts from others started showing up. Then Jari posted a picture of him, one that was taken just a week or so before he was killed.

This is Tad. I'm not sure if I've ever posted a picture of him here before. I doubt it with the way I avoid all but one of his pictures. I have his senior picture on my microwave, next to his senior prom picture, and his obituary. Even then, my eyes only graze over them except on occasion when I will intentionally look at him, just to see if it still hurts as much. It always does.
Next month, October 25th, will be the anniversary of his death, another date I would rather not acknowledge, and it too usually passes without anything but the stamping of thoughts and memories.
I've only been to his grave three times, he is buried with my Dad, my brother, and my twin nephews who died soon after they were born from lung complications. I have always told myself there is no reason to visit, really. None of them are really there, their souls are elsewhere, there is just a box and dirt. I don't know if I'm just telling myself this to reconcile my inability to deal with death and the reality of it, or if I really believe it.
At any rate, no matter how much I try to ignore the fact that he is no longer physically in my life, he is in my heart and soul, and he always will be.

AHHHHHHHHHH!

2011-09-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

That was an excited AHHHHHHHH! I have decided (at least in part) where I'm going on one of my days off. A couple of people have answered my pleas on the Yahoo group Spin List for information on any spinning interest in North East Texas, so I'll be visiting Rose Path Weaving & Fiber Shop in Lindale, Texas, then up past Greenville to Farmersville, TX to Fancy Fibers Farm, then back to Greenville to the... are you ready? Are you sure? To The Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum! I am so excited! I am super bummed I wont get to go to Dixon this year (Mim and I started talking about going to Lamb's Town when we were on our way home from BSG '10), but this in part will make up for it. The worst part is that Mim wont be with me to enjoy it.
Updates and pictures Tuesday or Wednesday!

Free Time...

2011-09-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

Between fires, the hustle and bustle of getting engines and firefighters to incidents, and paperwork, and map work, and aircraft flying thither and yawn looking for smoke and directing engines on the ground, we do have the occasion to sit back and breath, chat, joke and of course, for me to spin and crochet and knit.

No knitting shown here, but I'm still working on my latest scarf when the mood strikes me.
When I have the inevitable 'bits' of yarn left over from a project, or a yarn I can't think of anything else to do with, I make scrunchies. I take a pony, bought at WalMart in bunches of different colors and sizes, and crochet around it with different stitches, to make ruffly, fluffly scrunchies! I have in the past sold these, but here I've been giving them to firefighters and fellow dispatchers for themselves or wives/daughters. (the yellows in the picture look dirty white...?)
The spindle (my exclusive, hand made dowel/toy wheel design) is sporting a green/white silk.
Gotta keep the skills honed!

Being in Texas...

2011-09-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

I am still in Texas, and it looks like I will be here until the 8th. No Dixon for me :(
But, on the plus side, I am working. The money's good, the people are great, and to be honest, I love motels!
But I miss my family very much, especially my Joy. It was very hard to leave her and I'm afraid by the time I get home, she will be standoffish with me. I have talked to her a couple of times since I got here, she's getting very chatty, and it always warms my heart and makes my day!
I will have a lot to tell you all when I get home, there are things I want to post about but pictures to go with the posts are in my PC at home, and will have to wait to do the post credit.
Texas is a really big state. Anyone notice that? lol I had to drive a little more than half way across it my second day down here to get to the dispatch office I'm working in, and will have to drive back before I can come home. Ah well, it's their dime.
I brought my spindle with me, I couldn't figure out how to get my wheel in my suitcase, and knew if I managed it, they would beat the crud out of it anyway *sigh*, so I've been spinning silk in the office during down time, and have had (of course) a lot of questions and comments. One of the night shift dispatchers is also a knitter, so we have something in common. I am working on her to learn how to spin.
I DID spin today, not in 'public' but as close as I could get to it without leaving dispatch! Did you spin in public today? It was national 'Spin in Public Day' you know. If not, do it tomorrow :)
Time to go to bed. Cheers!

It's about darn time!

2011-09-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

I will be headed to Texas tomorrow for two weeks to dispatch fire. This is why I do this, I get to go new places, meet new people, and at the same time do something good for someone.
I will leave you with a couple of pictures to remember me by, until I get done with fire season.
Gotta say thank you to the few of you who still look for posts here, and apologize for not keeping it more up to date.

This is Navajo plied yarn spun from a splendid hand dyed Panda type blend, dyed by Woolgatherings who does nearly as good a job at dying as Laura! She has some beautiful color combos, and I could easily see my self spending boocoo bucks there! But, I'll save it for Laura ;-)
And Joy at her first carnival! The Lander Co Fair was this weekend. I entered a couple scarves and a hat, if I get pictures, I will post them as soon as I can. I know I got two purples and a special award, just don't know what it is yet.

Later!

My Girl(s?)

2011-08-28T01:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much to post about lately, but thought I would get in here and share some pics of my favorite girl! She's growing so fast! I don't remember mine growing so quickly, but sometimes I look at her and its like I've jumped back 17 years to when Jari was that age, and I'm left wondering where it all went.
Well that melancholy note may tell you why I haven't had anything to post about, for although I am blessed with Joy, and have received a few goodies in the last month (fiber, fiber, and some fiber that I will post pics of soon), I have been fighting with depression and I am always tired. I really can't figure out why I'm depressed, but there it is.

Jari and Joy playing in the sand and surf of the river.

And if any of you fiber-holics are Mable Ross fans, I've got some serious jealous material for you! I found this in one of the Yahoo groups I belong to, someone was selling of someone else's stash, and wanted $65 for it, I ended up getting it for $40 :)
For a surprise, go look it up on Amazon.

Did you look it up? Can you believe what its selling for??? I now have it wrapped and stashed, afraid to take it out! Well, not really, just not in the mood to read it yet :)

Pictures of new stash material soon!

Oh! They called me tonight to work tomorrow, so hopefully that will go a long way to curing whatever ails me!

Here I Go Again!

2011-08-11T01:38:00.000-07:00

It started when I finished that fall colored scarf a couple of months ago. I decided I would never wear it, so why not sell it?
In 2007 I started an Etsy story so I could sell my hand spun. What a pain in the butt! I did sell some yarn, but mostly to knitting friends who I directed to the store to see what I had that they might be interested in. Not many chance sales. I dropped the whole store thing because I was selling it myself and didn't need to pay Etsy to help me.
Thinking of selling that scarf however, brought into fine relief the fact that I live in a very small town and I want more for the scarf than anyone I know would want to pay for it!
I've reopened my Etsy store, and will list scarves that I've made, yarn that I've spun, processed fiber to spin, and raw fiber that I will never get around to playing in myself.
I don't know how long it will last, but hopefully it will help support my habits and addictions; sheep and wool.

Trout, Tents, and Fires

2011-08-09T02:48:00.000-07:00

I guess 'Tent' would be a better term, as we only slept in one...
August 3rd and 4th DH and I went camping at a beautiful spot in northern Nevada called Onion Valley Reservoir.
On our way down the freeway we saw this.

One of Dale Jr's cars headed somewhere, it was kind of cool, even though I'm not a racing fan.

Four and a half hours later, after traveling over not much better than two track, rocky, mountain roads we arrived at Onion Valley Reservoir.

To the left in this picture is where the spring from Blue Lake (another, higher mountain lake that you have to hike to) feeds Onion and is a very, very good fishing spot. The water is clean and cold, running through a beautiful granite boulder strewn bed. I am still berating myself for not taking my phone to get a picture both times we trecked to the spot to fish (we had to park and walk a little ways). There will be another oportunity. I can't imagine never going here again. We camped off to the right of the picture in a stand of Quakies (quaken aspen trees). Yes! There is shade in Nevada! ...I've been here for over .... for a long time and I sometimes doubt the existance of shade here.
We fished in a very small area. I'm used to casting with all my fishing pole and my arm can give, but had to just limit myself to flipping my line out to around 25 feet in front of me and in an arc of around 35 feet, as I was standing on a boulder and didn't have much mobility. In this tiny area, with every cast I at least got a hit on my small spinner. The water there is only a couple feet deep and most of that is taken up by water grasses on the bottom. Derek was on another rock not too far from where I was, and had a little more room to cast than I did as he had open water in front of him. We both caught probably twice as many fish as we kept, and those we kept were a little bigger than what I call 'pan' size. They ran between 12 and 15 inches long. We didn't weigh them.

Onion is stocked a couple times a year with thousands of fish; if I remember right, over 15000 fish are stocked durring one such stocking. You can catch rainbow trout, cutbow trout (Lahontan cut throat and rainbow cross), and tiger trout (brown trout and rainbow cross). From left to right above is tiger, tiger, rainbow, rainbow, tiger, cutbow, and tiger.
When we fish we have four 'awards' that we give to each other; first caught, biggest caught, smallest caught and most caught. I got the most, and the biggest, Derek got the first and the smallest. He doesn't usually appreciate my 'award' game cause I usually outfish him :) (disclaimer, in case he decides to read this) Mostly I think this is because I'm more persistant, not any more skilled.

On the 4th we decided to drive south to another reservoir called Knott Creek. The next pics I took on the way there.

Butterfly Bush; I scared a bunch of butterflies off this bush as I walked close enough to get a picture.

And who says there's no color in Nevada!?

I love these outcroppings...

This was typical of the scenery we enjoyed going out and coming home. We were at about 7400 ft. most of the trip through the moutains.
After about an hour and a half, much nail bitting and second guessing my map reading skills, we arrived at Knott Creek Reservoir (it's only like three miles from Onion). There is no real fishing access right now from the banks, both reservoirs are over full at the moment from all the precip we had this spring, so we both agreed to get float tubes for each other for Christmas and come back next year.

....then we went home.

Oh! I forgot to mention Fires! Before we went on our little fishing trip, I worked in Winnemucca for three days, now I'm back again, been three nights (yes, nights, ugh), and I will probably not be called back to work tomorrow night because our fire fighters are so efficient :)

PS: I encourage you to click for big!

Addendum: I posted this at work and after I posted it, it wouldn't let me back in to add...
We had stuffed trout the next night, it was WONDerful! :)

Horrible week...

2011-07-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

On Monday I went to meet my lawyer in Carson City. Long story short, it was a waste of time, the lawyers offered to not sue ME if we dropped the case. Nice of them huh. Depression fodder.

I had left on Sunday from here and went to my friend Gary Sue's place north of Reno, ate a wonderful dinner, knitted and talked, great visit! I lost my PJs, GS can't find them, I don't have them. The dog musta ate em lol
On the road to Carson I called Mim to let her know I was in town. She had went to the CA state fair the day before, so I wasn't able to contact her Sunday to let her know I was coming down.

After the pointless 'negotiations', I called Mim to tell her I was on my way out to her place. I stopped at Fumares to get DH some cigars, when I noticed I had a low tire. This has been a problem for a couple weeks, so I decided to stop at Les Schwab to have them fix it. Of course, its balder than an eagle down to wires on the inside. I had to buy a new tire.
Mind you, I'm not working, I'm on a fools errand to 'negotiate' with stiffs that don't give a whit that I've lost my son or how, money is the reason for their existence. The money I spend to get to Carson is my own, what little I have, and on top of it all, I have to buy a new tire. Oh My God! I need a vacation from life. It was a very emotional morning, I was drained.

I finally get on the road to Red Rock, and am already starting to grow calmer, knowing where I'm going and who I'm going to visit. If you follow Mim's blog you know she has a very nice place, but you may not know that she is a great person. She may not know this, but I find peace there, in her and her surroundings that I have seldom found anywhere else in my life. So thank you Mim for the sanctuary that you offer and for being who you are.
With the exception of the drama that my daughter caused, until I pointed out to her that I really needed to decompress and to leave me out of it, it was a great evening. I even slept good!

I picked up a few goodies from Mim. She dyes her own fiber and sells it to help keep her sheep in hay, and does a beautiful job of it! I always find something I want to spin. I later will sell the yarn, or what I make from it, so the expense is actually an investment.

Mostly silk, except for the orangy one, thats BFL and silk.

Love that green!

The REST of the Story:

Sitting here last night, between reading email and spinning, my phone rang.
I have been carrying my phone around with me, day and night, just in case THEY call. They are CNIDC, the dispatch center that will (hopefully) call me when there is work. I look at my phone, think Yay! It's them! and go to answer it, when it freezes. I can't answer it. I hit it, I plead with it, I poke it. By the time I got it to work, the caller had been sent to voice mail. I tried to call back, it was busy. I went online to find their other number, thinking I would get through on that line, and I did, probably within 2 minutes of the call. The center manager tells me he was sorry, but after hanging up from my voice mail he had reached someone else, and that he would call me if they needed anyone in the future. ...really not feeling good at all right now.

Finished Scarf

2011-07-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

Yay! It's done! That's even me modeling it!
I've got two more going now, pictures later. I just found out yesterday from my lawyer that I need to be in Carson City Monday morning for a meeting. Plenty of notice there. Its dual purpose in that I will take advantage of being in the area to visit friends :)

Fibery Pursuits

2011-07-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is having a great week so far! I've been stuck at home for the last 10 days or so, cost of gas being what it is, and my employment status doesn't help matters. Though I truly enjoy being at home, I'm going a bit stir crazy. Every few days I go into my fiber hole (spare room) and dig through my stash. I came across this fiber the other day, some that Sam, my dear friend in Moab, had processed and gifted me with... well it was actually more in way of trade for some sheep I had delivered to her farm.

This is a blend of CVM, guanaco, and something else. I can't exactly remember what the 'else' is, its been a year, and I've slept since then. Knowing how I forget things, you'd think that I would put a note in things like this... yeah.
I want to sell a couple of pounds of this ($40/lb), it kind of looks like a brillo pad but is really soft! I've made a few hats out of it, you can see one on my Ravelry projects page here. It's the perfect prep for long draw and spins out fast and evenly. I completed the hat that Jari's wearing in less than a day, spinning and all.

On the Needles
I have the scarf from my last fiber posting still on, I've started into the second skein, this is going to be a very long scarf!

The second scarf I'm knitting out of the yarn below. It has been in my stash since last year, the top bought from a vendor at BSG '10. It is silk and merino. The colors (other than black) are so subtle that I decided to leave it a fairly thin single (maybe a light fingering?) to keep the colors visible, they would have been completely lost in a ply, in my opinion.
This picture is a little washed out because of the flash I think, or maybe just not the right back ground.

And the ball of yarn is what I dyed a few days ago, haven't found the pattern it wants yet, but I am thinking that it might end up being something in a seed stitch. I tried it with a lacy pattern but it just didn't work. The fun colors scream simple pattern. Does that make sense?
I started spinning some raw Gotland I've had for a year or more, it is so soft in places, kind of hard to separate it out from the not so soft bits, but fun none the less.

A Backwards View

2011-07-16T23:21:00.000-07:00

I imagine that by now everyone in the spinning community has heard of the wheel that went missing at BSG this year.
I have been reading replies and responses, condolences, and well wishes on the Spin List Yahoo group since it happened.
It came out a few days ago that someone took offense to someone else mentioning in another post that there was a gun show going on near by. This was taken as an accusation by someone that a gun enthusiast must have done the deed and of course this was answered by many that avowed and defended the gun hobbyists. Many of these responses came from people who have conceal carry permits and carry a gun everywhere they go, including into spinning circles and knitting meetings. Other responses were simply from gun owners.
I made a silly comment about being a spinner as well as a gun owner, but never practicing the two at the same time as the combination would be problematic, trying to ease the tension a bit, because I could see the discussion escalating into an argument. Then low and behold, it happened. Someone said, and I hope if she reads this she won't bomb my puter, because I quote:

"I'm incredibly saddened to read that so many who engage in the gentle art of spinning are so terrified of their fellow human beings that they feel the need to endanger everyone else in public settings by carrying weapons."

She then goes on to say that "we" should all make sure that before we attend another event that the organizers are conscience of the heath and welfare of the attendants by making the event a 'gun free zone'.
Terrified? Endanger? Really?
I don't know about you all, but this scares me! Besides the fact that the only way a location can become a 'gun free zone' is through legal channels and all the hub-bub and red tape that goes with it (generally reserved for post offices, casinos and the occasional government building), a 'gun free zone' is an invitation to people who will do what they want when they want, TO whomever they want, because they are outside the law!
Taking into consideration that this is a free country and we are all entitled to speak our minds without fear of reprisal, the quote above is one of the single most ignorant things I have ever read.
For those who don't agree, give me the small consideration of reading on and I will try to edify you.
Control carry permits are not handed out for the asking, they are expensive and tedious to obtain. The Nevada (I can only speak to NV regulations, but I know it is one of the least stringent in the country!) applicant must pass an extensive back ground check as well as hours of class time after which they must pass a written exam, then its off to the gun range for safety training and firearm instruction. These classes are often given by people in law enforcement, the class my husband took was conducted by a local officer and a highway patrolman. Every 5 years my DH is required to renew his permit and must retake the exam and go back to the gun range. The gun they use in the class is registered on the conceal carry permit, and in order to carry any other hand gun, they must pass the gun range tests again with the new weapon.
I suppose if you weren't as close to weapons as I am most of the time, you might have reservations about sitting next to someone with a hand gun on their hip under their t-shirt. But just remember, those people aren't there to hurt you, they have taken an active roll in their safely as well as taking some responsibility for yours!
For my part, though I roll my eyes at my husband every time he straps on that .45 when we go to town, I feel better knowing that not only are we safer for it, but so are others around us.

Something else to ponder. I saw this in Illinois when I drove through on my way to Ohio a few years ago; If we outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.

Lil' Helper

2011-07-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to spin some more of the Ashland Bay Panda blend that I bought from Mim a year or so ago. I really like it spun in a heavy single.

I couldn't have done it however, without my spinner-in-waiting! ...Look at her foot.

She helped me treadle for about five minutes! Her attention span doesn't usually 'span' that long. While we were spinning, we were watching her channel, 'Babies First TV', that helped, I'm sure. She was really great about keeping her hands off the wheel, and I was beside myself with delight! I can't wait till she's old enough to take it farther!

Today, I filled up my dye roaster. I saw someone's blog post (sorry, I don't remember where I saw it) about a dye technique where you wrap plastic wrap around parts of a skein to keep it from dying. Most of you have tried this I'm sure, but this is a first for me, and I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure yet I like the results? But I think I do.

The colors are much brighter in person. I wanted more white left in it, and tried actually to make it red, yellow, and orange. Its mostly orange. Pretty though.

Coupleathings - or "Laura's Fuggly Fiber"

2011-07-13T02:56:00.000-07:00

This is my yarn for "Team Sprinters" in the Tour de Fleece. I've always liked this alpaca fiber, its soft and heavy, great hand. I used straight alpaca for two of the singles, one is alpaca and silk. It is 20 wpi, right at 171 yards, and 1.3 ounces.

After I finished the last scarf, I wanted to start another. I have gads of handspun lying around my house... not exactly 'lying' around, they are in my knitting bag and in a very large zip lock in my stash room. I usually take that very large bag with me to spin/knit get togethers and sell whatever is in it, normally anything I have spun. But in the last year or so I've started keeping some back. I guess its because I'm more confident in my knitting and really am enjoying it.

This is the yarn I spun out of Laura's Fuggly Fiber that I bought from her a few months ago and posted about here. The colors are really very pretty, for being the 'red-headed-step-child' of the dye pot :)

Yes! Meatballs!

2011-07-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

It turned out great! I bought the rice at Railey's, its a chicken flavored saffron rice (I've been sorely tempted to strain the rice out and use the saffron to dye something with, but the rice is really good). The meats, as previously posted, were beef burger, lamb burger and mild Italian sausage, approximately a half a pound of each. The rest is up to you :)
Happy Meatballs!

Meatballs?

2011-07-10T16:56:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in an earlier post, I love to cook. I don't however, love to follow recipes. Normally, I decide what I want to cook, look on the internet for ideas, find a good recipe, and proceed to change it, make it mine.

I try to spend at least one night a week with my Mom; eating, watching a movie, playing a game, whatever she wants to do, usually a Sunday, especially if Derek is on nights.
We decided to go to her house tonight instead of having her out, our DVD player is not right, I'm pretty sure we'd get her out here and it wouldn't work, and she would still not have seen the first half of the last Harry Potter movie.
I asked her what she wanted for dinner; I would cook it here and take it there, picking the movie up on the way. "Meatballs" she said. "And what?" I said. "Rice." she said. "That's it?" I said. "Yep." she said. Well that's pretty much the conversation, maybe not verbatim. That was after she had mentioned lamb, I said I have a little lamb burger left, so decided to use it. Then I got to thinking that I had thawed out some beef burger earlier, might as well use that... come to think of it, I had some mild Italian sausage in the fridge too, why not blend them all together? I cut up two thin slices off a medium onion (into small pieces, I don't like big pieces of anything in my food), grabbed my favorite rosemary/thyme/marjoram seasoning and sprinkled it in, followed by a beef bullion cube, and a bit of salt. I opened the fridge for something and saw the shredded parmesan cheese from our spaghetti dinner the other night and threw that in too, oh and an egg to make it less crumbly. Then I called my Mom to find out what she would do with two inch meatballs in an oven. Temp? Time? What will I ever do without her? I went with 350, and testing in 40 minutes (she said thirty, but I still know more than she does... right?)
So, in the oven as I type is a dish of lamb/beef/sausage/parmesan meatballs, with onion powder, a bit of garlic seasoning and pepper sprinkled over them. Mom also said she wants some kind of sauce, maybe mushroom soup gravy. I think I want corn with it too. If it turns out good, I will post pictures, if not, I might delete this post :)

And now, for something entirely different!

2011-07-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

It was pointed out to me the other day by one of my bestest buds (Mim) that I have neglected to post pictures of Joy lately. I agree! Also haven't had any of Kevin! So without further ado...

The 4th was a long day for us; it was hotter than Hades, my brother decided to have his promise ceremony at 1pm, outside, in the heat. Oh my gosh. I only lasted about an hour and a half, it was just too much for me. Joy had a blast wandering around and getting cooed at. She went to her Dad's for a bit, then came to watch fireworks with us that evening. By 9:30, she was out. Derek's lap is amazing, he used to be able to put our kids to sleep just by letting them sit in his lap.

Kevin is in Virginia, he'll graduate on the 22nd of July, then he will go either to the west coast or to Japan or South Korea. If he goes abroad he'll get to come home for two weeks. This picture was taken right after MCT in June.

The raw wool from the last picture has been dyed, and I was all fired up about running it through my drum carder, when I went in to get it and remembered that I had loaned it out. Damn I hate it when that happens lol So it is sitting in a box, waiting for the carder to return. I will blend the gray and the white (now red and dark red) together, thinking it will be pretty.

When it occurred to me to dye this wool, I stood in the kitchen, looking at my 7 quart (or whatever it is, big) stainless steel pot and thinking "this isn't going to work" and trying to figure out how I was going to dye all that wool together. Then I remembered that years ago I acquired an old electric roaster and had kept it just for this eventuality. I knew that some time in the future, I'd be standing in my kitchen, wondering what I was going to do with all that wool.... ok, no I didn't. But I musta known I'd need it somehow.

I've seen and heard of other people using them to dye, sure am glad I kept it :)

Hello? ...Is this thing on?

2011-07-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

I guess I have to be patient, right? OK, I can do that :)

I came across a couple of fleeces the other day looking for things to spin for the Tour that I had bought at BSG in 2010. I had claimed the fleece of a CVM ram the year before when I had seen him show as a lamb at OFFF (Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival), it was so pretty on him! I was a little disappointed when it came off last year, it wasn't near as soft as I had expected it to be, although it was still nice eye candy. So now I'm a little off track from my spinning for the TdF, but not completely, I still spun a little today... oh, I need to go post my daily pic :)
The other fleece was a Romney that had won first place in its class in the BSG wool show. I had washed a little of it at Mim's before coming home after the trip, but hadn't really looked at it since.
I washed some of each this evening and it is now drying on my bed.

Zip, my aussie-golden retriever cross bestest friend in the world dog got his first shave today. He is close to 14 years old, and had so much hair that I was uncomfortable looking at him, even sitting in the house with the AC, just knowing how hot that fur coat must be on his old self. I've never had him shaved before because I've always been told that their hair just grows in thicker, but since I can't imagine him living long enough now for that to matter, I gave in. Maybe I should have done it years ago, but whats done is done. He looks so comfortable now. If what they say about 'dog years' is right, he's right about a hundred years old.

He is almost deaf now, I found out over the 4th. He has always been terribly afraid of the noise that always goes with the holiday, and would never stay outside for longer than he had to. Cujo almost broke down the door when someone shot fireworks off down the road, while Zip laid on the porch, oblivious. I had noticed him not responding well before this but that cinched it. One of his eyes is getting a bit cloudy, thank goodness its not bad or in both eyes. He was my truck dog (he can't even jump in the car now) but Tad was his boy, and I will miss him very much when he is gone.

Off to play in fuzzy stuff!

I know, right?

2011-07-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

Another post already?
I know, right? Oh, I already said that...

Well, I have a few things to share!
Yesterday I was sitting here, minding my own business, when the dogs went insane! We don't get many visitors out here so after I peeled myself off the ceiling, I went to the door and one of the Basque men that has sheep here had come to tell me that there was a shearer coming to town from Idaho, he'd be shearing tomorrow (today). Nothing like a little notice, huh? This is the same Basque that bought three sheep from me a couple weeks ago. I sold Misty (the Suffolk), Eliza (the Dorset) and a lamb out of Scarlet. The beginning of the end.
Then, yesterday evening, when the dogs went ga-ga again, I was a little less inclined to hit the ceiling (desensitized as it were) another of the Basque men that has sheep here was escorting the shearer around to the places where he would be shearing sheep. The shearer said he would be here at 6:30 am. Ok, I'm not a morning person, but ok. I couldn't sleep. So I finished this.

This is a very pretty pattern and of course pretty yarn :) It was so easy! Took me what... 3 days? Pretty good for someone who doesn't knit. (hehe, inside joke)
I finally got to sleep about 4, I think, then up at 6 to get the sheep ready. We only sheared three, I had sheared the others last fall and will let them be until next spring again. And this shearer knows how to shear for a spinner! Yay! He even has a Merino, and his parents raise Romneys in Idaho. Can't remember the name of the farm right now...
We sheared Honey, Scarlet and 'the wether'. He doesn't have a name yet because I wasn't sure if I was going to keep him. I might yet. His wool actually puts me in mind of Merino as to the look of it, but the hand is a little courser.

After flicking it is very fluffy and will make a nice yarn. I'll post more about it later.
Ta-ta for now! :)

Tour is off to a fine start!

2011-07-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

I saw a post on Michelle's blog about the Tour de Fleece that occurs on Ravelry every year, and decided I would give it a spin... pun intended :)

This is the first time for me, so I went and read ...a lot. There is a huge amount of traffic in and out of that group today! I can't imagine what kind of bandwidth 4300 members (and counting, people are still joining every few minutes), running in and out, posting, and 'love'ing, reading, and uploading pictures would take! Holy-servers, Batman!

When I decided to participate, I went into my stash room to see what I wanted to work with over the next 22 days. I found a bag of cotton top that I bought at BSG in '10, that will be my challenge on the 22nd; a bag of 'Gracie' that I washed a few years ago and didn't finish; 2 ounces of super soft grey alpaca that I LOVE and am going to turn into a super fine, three ply lace (that's the plan anyway); and on the wheel for todays adventure is the other half of the beautiful hand dyed roving I bought from Laura a couple months ago.

The brown skein is the qiviut that was shown in the same post as Laura's fiber. I got aggravated with it, because, even though it is still the most awesome fiber known to man, with or without neps, it got difficult to spin. I couldn't see tossing it (??? Never!) so I ran it and some of my targhee roving through my drum carder. It was a little easier to spin, and it actually made a decent yarn. Any-who, it was on my bobbin when I sat down this morning so I had to ply it before I could move on with the tour.
More pictures later!

ps. Yes, I am aware that the bobbins were dusty. 'Were' being operative :)

Absoluletly Possitive!

2011-06-29T17:38:00.000-07:00

Since I quit the bar, I've started cooking again, something I do really like to do (although if I could forgo the clean up it would make me infinitely happier!), I've started spinning more, I finally finished the scarf I've been working on since last September, and I even dyed some yarn last night! I feel like I have my life back!

(Stella Bamboo Lace Scarf, Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders, Storey Publishing)
The pattern doesn't require actual blocking, just asks that you dampen it, and spread it out to dry. Surprisingly, it is almost perfect in width from end to end, surprising because I tend to start loose and tighten up as I go. It does look looser at the beginning end but not much, and it also is a little worn; its been in and out of my knitting bag so many times that it kind of looks like its been fulled.
These are not very comely pictures of the scarf that took me almost 10 months to knit, but as soon as I can get Jari to stand still long enough to model it for me I will get better ones. The colors are autumn in nature, yellow through a brownish red. Very pretty! Oh! And its for sale! :)

I spun this pre-dyed silk a few years ago, have looked at it longingly over the years, wondering what it would grow up to be. I actually started this pattern with another hand spun wool lace yarn that has languished in my stash for a few years, but didn't like the drape. This skein jumped out at me and viola!

Went looking for another pattern to use the yarn I dyed last night on. I went through all my books, spent an hour on Ravelry didn't find anything that I thought would do this yarn justice. I found one in a book, but apparently I didn't get it, cause I couldn't make the pattern work. I went looking again today and realized that Ravelry has a very good search engine! You can even search by how much yarn you have! Who'da thunk it? Ok, so I'm not very observant sometimes lol
I love this yarn! It is spun from 'Panda', from ...can't remember the company. Mim? Who do you get it from? Anyway, I bought it from Mim a couple of years ago it is 60% superwash merino, 30% bamboo, 10% nylon, and is a dream to spin, to handle, to look at!
I had seen so many singles in yarn stores at the time, apparently they were all the rage! May still be but no LYS's in this part of the world so I wouldn't know. I decided to try my hand (again) at a thick single. There is so much luster in this blend that I think it worked really well, although my thick single was less than perfect, it looked rather nice, I thought. Another skein to languish in my stash.
But I know that you know what this is like. I have one of those huge zip-lock bags full of hand spun, waiting for the right project to be found. Anyway, when I finished Stella, I picked it up (it was white) and decided it needed to be red. Well... it didn't quite turn out red, something to do with proteins no doubt, or lack thereof.

It's kind of a pinki-peachy red, if that makes sense. The color here is influenced by the flash on my phone, but its close. So I think that its going to end up as this;

A free Ravelry pattern I found today, you can find it here. I'll let you know if it works out.

As far as the BLM goes, I'm in waiting. The whole system is a bit convoluted, so not easy to explain, suffice to say, I'm considered something of a contractor. If there is no call for my services, I don't work. But that's OK! I will enjoy my freedom until I'm called.

Decisions

2011-05-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

I've made several lately that are going to change how I live.
First, I've turned my notice in at the bar, my last day will be June 6th. The reason for this is I'm going to start working for the BLM again in fire as an expanded dispatcher. This potentially means long hours away from home, assignments that can last for a month before coming home... Hence the next decision. I am selling all my sheep. This has been coming for a while I guess, last years reduction was the start. Sam (of Moab) will take the four tunis (two lambs), along with Babs and Gracie. My next door neighbor will probably take the dorset Eliza and the suffolk Misty, possibly Scarlet (she originally came from there anyway, she's CA red and suffolk). I will keep the rest of the lambs from this season until they are ready to be sold. This is not a decision I make lightly, and it will affect everything from my taxes to my psyche.
Another decision is not to replace the chickens; coyotes got to them again, all of them dead, most dead from fear it looked like. The coyotes pried through the fence at the join and since I really didn't think they'd be able to get in ANY where much less there, I decided to wait for a bit till I can afford better accommodations for them before potentially putting any in danger again.
I wont be posting here again until I have something positive to say, hoping I will have a little time off between jobs so I can get my yen back in tune with my yang :) Haven't fibered enough lately...
Hoping you all have a wonderful spring and productive summer!

A lot to tell...

2011-04-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

If you're a friend on Facebook, then you already know most of what has happened in my life in the last month. For those who aren't on FB here's the run down;

A month ago last night, my 18 year old daughter rolled our Silverado. Yes she had her seat belt on, no she wasn't hurt, at least not until her Dad got a hold of her...

We had been discussing trading it in on a gas burner because the price of diesel is beyond ridiculous, so when we got the insurance check, we started shopping.

We ended up buying a Toyota Tundra, Limited. Very nice truck, even has a topper, which was the ultimate selling point for me :)

So, I guess this would be the silver lining to my wayward daughters disregard for her personal safety and our personal property, not to mention my sanity. She lived through what could have been a terrible tragedy.

Then my TV died. Actually it died that same night as the roll over for the first time. We managed to get it fixed, and it died again a few days before we went to pick up Kevin. So now our $7 TV has cost us around $100, and likely to cost more, as we have so far been unable to get it back to the repairman. I'm kinda likin it... don't tell Derek.

Then we went to San Diego.
I won't share all the pictures here, it would overload blogspots databases, so here are just a few:

This is the first shot I got of him, just before the Moto-run (motivational run), but it wasn't the first time I'd see him that day.... We had just stepped off the shuttle from the motel, in front of the Museum courtyard. We noticed a large group of visitors on the far side of the parking lot (its a huge parking lot!) apparently watching a platoon of soldiers march by. I thought about going over (did I mention it's a huge parking lot?) but decided we needed to stay there for the meet and greet that would happen soon in the courtyard. We milled around the area for a few minutes, Derek ogling the guns on display, me nervous about seeing Kevin, and urging time to pass. I noticed the crowd getting louder, so looked out of the breezeway I was standing in, to see the platoon headed our way. A Sargent came through and told all of us to stand back to the sides, the soldiers were coming through here. I saw the flag carried by the honor guard, it said 1014. That was Kevin's platoon! I started scanning the faces of the young men dressed in their desert camo fatigues, looking startlingly handsome and ramrod straight, when I realized that Kevin was only about five feet away from me and marching past. He didn't see me, and then I couldn't see him for the mist in my eyes.

We eventually all went to the bleachers, after the moto-run and other interesting highlights, to watch the new Marines march onto the Parade Deck. Kevin is the third from the left here.

As soon as the Sargent said dismissed, a sea of Dads, Moms, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas hit the pavement. I had had my eye on Kevin the whole time, and bee-lined for him, I really don't know how I made it to him without knocking anyone over, but as he scanned the people swarming around him, I hit him dead center! It was a hug I'll never forget.

Kevin took us to the famous 'yellow foot prints', where the recruits get off the buss and get their first lesson in humility.

We went to lunch, wandered around the museum, then went on a shopping spree, Kevin was adamant about buying a computer before he left the base, then he got a hair cut,

and the day was over. He hustled back to his barracks, we got back on the shuttle, totting his sea bag and his new laptop computer :)

The graduation was beautiful! I have pictures of it but they are a poor substitute for the real thing and don't do it justice at all. Just trust me, if you ever get a chance, go to one :)

After the graduation, we went back to the motel, Derek and I had brought him graduation presents; a 3-G Kindle and a multi tool he can use as a Marine. Kevin promptly changed into his civies, then we made feet to the closest clothes store because his civies didn't fit him anymore. We went to dinner, back to the motel, Kevin played on his computer until I had to tell him to turn out the lights.
Kevin had said he wanted to spend Saturday in San Diego, so we found a place to go 'see' (spend money), called Sea Port Village, and after went to the USS Midway, and spent the rest of the day.

Kevin got to come home for 10 short days, Derek and I took him to Reno on Monday to catch a flight back to San Diego for MCT (Marine Combat Training), where he will spend the next 26 days. He will be able to call on the weekends, so no cold turkey this time! After MCT he will either get to come back here on Recruit Assistance or go straight to school to be a refrigeration technician. If he gets to come back here for RA (keep your fingers and toes crossed for us!), when he goes on to school he will have been promoted to PFC (Private First Class).
On the way home Monday, I realized I had caught the cold that both Joy and Jari have been trying to share with me, so I am recuperating now, hoping I'm well enough to work on Saturday, and then go fishing on Sunday. :)

And We're Off!

2011-04-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

Finally! Tomorrow morning (4/6) we go to San Diego!!! Yay! Pictures and story to follow next week (I hope I will have time anyway :)

Bounties of Life

2011-03-29T00:47:00.000-07:00

I have so much to be thankful for; my home, my kids, my husband, my life. But sometimes there are things that jump out at you and remind you just how lucky you really are.
This first picture is of that which I am most thankful for, my grand daughter. Jari and the baby-daddy took Joy out for dinner to the establishment where I work, one of my co-workers gave Joy these balloons, she carried them around all the next day.

She's not a ham, really.... maybe just a little...
I got home from work tonight to find two packages waiting for me, one I expected, the other not at all. This hand dyed roving is from Laura, my amazingly talented friend in Oregon. I saw pictures of this fiber on her blog, and had to snatch some of it up. Its BFL and tussah silk. Delicious!
The second, very small package was a complete surprise. When I saw who it was from I was confused as I hadn't expected anything from that person at all. Sorry, can't tell you who it was from, but it was one of the most awesome and unexpected things anyone has ever sent to me.
About a week ago, I posted on my Ravelry group, Raw Wool Lovers, that I was looking for qiviut. Tonight this is what I got.

Qiviut is the mazarati of fibers, the best of the best, at least in my opinion. I am thinking I will put this on my drop spindle, take it to San Diego with me when we go to get Kevin in ... OH! Eight days!!! :) I'm so excited! Then, after making it into a lace weight (of course) I will make a scarf out of it.
Speaking of Kevin, we got another letter from him, the last I'm sure before we see him on the 7th. The way it reads, he is doing really well and is as excited to see us as we are to see him.

Tis the Season

2011-03-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

For lambs!
On the morning of Saturday, March 12th, a full week before any of them should have been lambing, Eliza had twins, male and female. A few hours later, Misty also had twins, two ewe lambs. These ewes normally have triplets - that is to say that they have triplets more often than they don't - but its nice to see them have twins occasionally, they get a bit of a rest. Funny though, every year they lamb within a few hours of each other, and they always have the same number of lambs.
Poor ragged sheep, if you remember, my shearer stood me up last year, so these guys are wearing extra wool. I was able to shear a few of them myself. Eliza and twins.
Misty and twin girls..
Sunday morning found us once again scaring Gracie. She just will never believe that I don't want to eat her. Jari woke me up to tell me Gracie had one lamb on the ground and it didn't look strong, would I go give it a shot of B. When I got out there I realized that she wasn't done yet, but the first lamb was already nursing, so all was good... so far.
I was puttering around when I turned to look at this recalcitrant ewe; there she stood, looking at me like I was the devil, with a lamb hanging out. I called Jari in to help me help the ewe. I went out to do something, when I came back a few minutes later, Jari had Gracie down and was trying to determine the position of the lamb; just the head was emerging, no feet. It was stuck in the birth canal. The ewe wasn't helping, she just laid there like we'd already cut her throat, very typical behavior for her, until Jari put her hand in the birth canal, then she'd push. I took over and was able to flip one foot forward, then with the next push he was liberated. Two ram lambs, black as coal and soft as downy feathers. Me thinks there is a wool wether in my future!

First near disaster of the season diverted, enter Honey, stage left.
Honey is the only Tunis ewe I kept. I love her style - color, length, size, disposition - she's just a nice ewe. Great mom too. Usually. We had her in the 'barn', knowing she would be lambing soon, although my predictions are usually pretty spot-on, I was off by one; I said Eliza, Honey, then Misty would go. Anyway, Honey started laboring, I put her in a jug, watched as she laid down, strained once, the lamb pops out and... Honey didn't get up. She lay there talking to a lamb she couldn't see, and wasn't getting up to check out. I pulled the lamb around in front of her, questioning her in the process, and she started licking the lamb. OK, all good for now, could be a bit before the second is born (I had no doubts that there was a second lamb), so I went in the house to do 'other stuff'. I went back out in 15 minutes or so, and there was the second lamb, laying in the same spot that the first one had lain, with Honey contentedly 'chatting' with the first lamb, and lying in exactly the same spot. The first lamb wasn't very vocal, and the second wasn't doing anything, although I knew she was alive. I got Honey up and pointed the second lamb out to her, she started licking a bit, not very vigorously. ...this is the great thing about blogs, I just realized, typing this out, that none of them were very hale; the ewe wasn't her usual mothering self, the first lamb is healthy but not thriving; the second lamb just last night found her feet, which is the other half of the story, or as Paul Harvey would say "the rest of the story...".
The second lamb couldn't gain her feet. As I said on my Facebook status, she was the lamb that, if she had not been born in a barn, wouldn't have lived through the night. She struggled to get up, but only managed to push all the straw out from under and around her, till she was lying splay-legged on the cold, concrete floor. I would pick her up, aim her at a teat, she would find it, tentatively suckle for three or four seconds then let go. Vitamin B-Complex and Bo-Se were given, we made sure her mouth was warm and helped her nurse every hour or so, until bed time. She was doing OK, as long as she was on her feet she looked like her brother, if she fell over or got pushed over by her mom, she couldn't get back up. So this is already a long story, but I'll shorten it a bit... with a little help from my FB friends (and real life friends, Laura and Correy) I dosed her with some lamb drench for vitamins A, D, and E, then after acquiring a feeding tube in the guise of a catheter, we milked Honey (gotta love that pump!) and got about 4 ounces of colostrum into her. As of last night, she is still not as hale as she should be for three days old, but is getting to her feet like an old pro. Yay!
Two more ewes to go!

Appreciating Time

2011-03-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

This is going to sound really spoiled, but I'm going to say it anyway; I really don't want to work.
I look at my blog every day. Every day I check for new posts. There are normally only three new daily; Boulderneigh, In Stitches, and Old Rose, with the occasional input from Amy at Purple Fuzzy Mittens, and of course posts from Mim at Desert Peach. I always read these blogs but never have time to comment. Just so you know :)
Every day I feel horrible for not posting, although by this time most of my viewers have sought greener pastures.
So in short, I don't have time to do the things I want to do, things that are good for my soul; spinning, knitting, crocheting, and keeping in touch with my friends. Hoping that changes very soon.

Kevin Update:
Kevin started Phase 2 a couple of weeks ago. The way I understand it, this phase is about hiking, backpacking, shooting, grueling hikes, and endless runs. Only 35 days to go!

The last time I posted we had gotten his first letter. A bit has happened since then!

My Father passed on February 10th, thank you, but no condolences please. We weren't very close as I was growing up, well actually I didn't care about him one way or the other from about 12 to my late twenties sometime. He kept himself distant from me for so many years, that I just never developed the 'daughter' bond with him. He was a friend at the end though, and I will miss him. I got to talk to him the week before he had the last stroke, so I feel good about our relationship and how it ended. I truly hope he made his own peace.
In light of his passing, I emailed Kevin's Senior Drill Instructor and left it up to him as to how Kevin would be told. I was at work when he called and missed the call (another reason to be resentful?), Derek got to talk to him. Kevin wasn't able to really chat, and Derek didn't know the reason for his call, but Derek did tell Kevin about his Grandpa, so mission accomplished. I was devastated. I cried for about 10 minutes at work after Derek called to tell me.

Week before last we got another letter from Kevin, a very upbeat 3 page letter that started out telling us how he had come to realize how much he depended on us and how much he missed us. He never got negative about anything, although I'd be willing to bet that he could have, but he told us about his life there and described what he would be going through in the coming 7 weeks. He was looking forward to Phase 2 at Camp Pendleton because they had bananas lol he was craving them.
So a few days ago, at work yet again, I was walking past my phone and my notifier went off. I had missed a phone call. I didn't think anything about it, didn't have time to see who had tried to call, so went about my business. A few minutes later Derek calls me. Bet you can't guess who tried to call!! Yeah, I know... too easy.
Some of you may know what a privilege call is, but for those who don't, occasionally someone in the platoon, or the whole platoon, does really, really well at something or the whole group may have a very good day with good times and no one getting hurt or unable to finish a run, that kind of thing, and the SDI (Senior Drill Instructor) will give the individual or group a reward, sometimes in the form of free time, sometimes in the form of a phone call home. Is the suspense killing you yet? :)
Apparently, that day had been spent on the rifle range. Kevin out shot EVERYONE. Including his instructors :))
He got to chat this time, telling his Dad and sister all about what is going on in his life. Again, I'm feeling abused and neglected lol but as I told Kevin in a letter I mailed off a few days later, it was probably better that way, since I was at work... I would have ruined my make up. Again.
I can't help but feel like fate is keeping me from talking to him, and as I said, I will cry and that's probably not what I should do, even if they are happy tears. Maybe Fate will find a way for me to talk to him at home. I can only hope!

Derek and I were in Elko last week, and while in Gun World, I looked toward the front door and saw this:
I squinted, said to my husband "Is that a chucker?" He said "Nah, I don't think so... wait, yeah that is a chucker. What's it doing here?". The million dollar question lol The guy behind the counter laughed and said there were a few of them running around the area, a strip mall on the hill across the street next to the open field makes good shelter from wind and weather and people feed them through the winter. This guy was sheltering from the wind that day, which was especially cold and blustery. I thought it a bit ironic. Definitely a picture worth a thousand words, even if every sentence has a question mark at the end :)

The First!

2011-01-29T13:13:00.001-08:00

We got a letter from Kevin yesterday!!! Yay! I have been waiting impatiently to hear from my Kevin since he left for Marine boot camp in San Diego. I checked the mail on the way home from work last night and there it was! I jumped back in the truck and barreled down the road to get home so I could read it with Derek. Really glad all the officers were busy elsewhere last night :)
He says he's missing us of course and that he had a wisdom tooth pulled (this was last Monday, the day I sent my first letter his way) and was on bed rest. And although he was supposed to be studying, he decided to write. So glad he did. He urged us to write soon, lol by now he's gotten at least three letters from me and various other people, I've sent three this week.
If anyone else that knows and loves us wants to write to Kevin, please email me and I will get the address to you. He needs all the encouragement he can get!
Now looking forward to the next letter, again with impatience lol

The New Girls at Work

2011-01-24T19:11:00.000-08:00

I've been getting white eggs for a month or so now, that I am pretty sure are from my three older hens. Then I started getting a little brown egg every couple of days in the chicken yard, so I knew one of the new hens was laying and was confused as to where she needed to do it. Then a brown egg started showing up in the lay boxes, I thought maybe she had figured it out. Now I get three or four brown eggs a day, a couple white ones and I've been waiting anxiously for my Easter egger to start. And today....
Yay!
A nice pale green egg awaited me when I fed this morning, along with three browns and three whites. By the colors/patterns of the eggs, I'm guessing I have 3, possibly 4 hens laying brown eggs, possibly one of the white hens laying a white egg, and now my fuzzy cheeked girl has chimed in :)
Egg-citing! lol couldn't resist!

WOOL!

2011-01-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

I just got this back from Morro Fleece Works, it is a combination of three CVM fleeces that I decided I would never get to process myself. I am selling so that I can pay for Gracie's fleece that will be back later this week.
Samples from left to right; two ply lace weight, three ply, two ply long draw woolen, cable (4 ply)

I am asking $40/lb, it is typical of CVM, very soft and downy. Shipping is FREE! :)

We heard from Kevin, they all get a phone call after they arrive, he is at MCRD in San Diego and I'm sure he's have LOTS of fun :)

One Day at a Time

2011-01-10T10:34:00.000-08:00

I know I will survive.

I know this is what he wants to do to start his life and I am happy that he is taking the initiative to do it.

But oh my! It hurts really bad.

Kevin left yesterday to go to boot camp. I will get to hear his voice sometime today, in an emotionless phone call that he will be allowed to make to let us know he is where he is supposed to be and that he will be sending us a post card with his address, company and platoon on it so we can write to him.

It's the whole 'cold turkey' thing that has my stomach in knots and has me either refusing food altogether, or wanting to eat everything in sight.

Its amazing how many times I've thought of him just this morning since I got up, not just stray thoughts that he's gone but... well they are too many to go into. I've spent every day of the last twenty years thinking of his needs and his deeds, only to wake up this morning and find he is really gone.
He has been my baby boy, my comic relief, my helper, my shoulder, my strength, my rock. I miss him.

I keep telling myself its only three months, so I have decided that today I will feel sorry for myself, but tomorrow I will put my big girl panties on and face the day without my Kevin and do it with, if not a smile then at least with no tears.

Cock a Doodle Do?

2011-01-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

Guess what I've got!?! A rooster! Dang it!
Roosters are gorgeous and I love baby chicks but I really don't want either.
Besides being colorful and sleek, and vocal, they can be mean.

These chickens came to me in a mix of standard sized breeds. I was hoping for mostly Easter eggers, but I only got one. Other breeds in the mix are Australorp, Jersey black giants, dominique, barred rock, buff Orphington, Rhode Island red, New Hampshire red, leghorns and a couple others that I don't remember.

My guy, is he a Jersey giant or an Australorp?

I have two black girls. Again, Jersey or Australorp?
Dominique or bared rock?
...pretty much sure about this one... another breed I would like to have more of.
Rhode Island red or New Hampshire red?
I've got two of these whites also, probably leghorns.

These guys look so great, they've really filled out in the last couple of months and I am eagerly awaiting their first eggs. One of my older three hens has started laying again, hoping the rest start soon, Joy and I are really tired of store bought eggs.

Christmas In the Rear-view Mirror

2010-12-29T13:25:00.000-08:00

Warning; Objects may appear smaller than they really are....

I love Christmas, and I've always enjoyed the giving aspect of the whole affair, even though it's commercialized beyond belief, and Santa is more popular than Jesus in the scheme of things, it is still my favorite holiday.

But.

It always seems like half way through Christmas day I get depressed. I get irritable and grouchy and am just as likely to snap at you as smile. This I have come to know as the 'Christmas Blues'.
All Mother's out there can attest to this; we never get what we ask for. Well, ok, sometimes we'll find the occasional listener, who actually thought about what we asked for, or hinted for, all year who will surprise and delight us on Christmas day. I have asked for pots and pans, a dishwasher, electronic appliances, anything that will help make my life easier! I've asked for spinning tools, spinning fiber, knitting/crochet tools, books, etc ad nauseum.
So I get up Christmas morning, knowing for the most part that I will get something that took someones fancy as they were racing down an isle to get to something someone else asked for, and they thought "Ooo! Mom would like that!".
Don't get me wrong, I know they appreciate me, they just don't think about me very often. ...Ok, no, I don't know they appreciate me. But I do know they love me, which makes the whole off-the-cuff thing easier to swallow.

But!

This Christmas was different. My kids are 18 and 20 years old, and I realize that a lot of my depression mid through Christmas day is, it just isn't as fun anymore. And missing Tad doesn't help either... but this year, we have Joy. It is so nice, so uplifting and invigorating to have a baby in the house again, to over-kill on presents because we can, and watch her learn and play (with the boxes and wrapper tubes), and listen to her laugh and giggle. And I did get something I asked for (been asking for it for 8 years, but never mind that!), DH got me a Kindle! I love it! I've now ordered a skin and a cover for it, and I'm pretty sure I won't be going far without it in the near future.
As you saw in the last post, I also got the book Aran Knitting, the DVD "The Gentle Art of Plying" with Judith MacKenzie McCuin, and the book Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders. These of course were self-given gifts, but I can deal with that :)

So to tie in the title of this post, looking back on Christmas' Past and specifically this Christmas, rather makes me feel like I'm looking back at the Grinch's heart when it grew three sizes that day; the more I look back on it, the bigger and more fulfilling it becomes.

It was a good Christmas.

Early Christmas Present

2010-12-16T15:53:00.000-08:00

Want a review?

Wow. Just Wow. I haven't even gotten to the knitting yet.

I decided to take part of my day and delve into this book that I had promised myself when on a stroll through Barns and Noble while in the Tucson Mall. I fell in love with it there, but didn't have the money to buy it at the time. This book is not only about Aran knitting but will also edify you with a short but poignant look into the history of the Aran Isles as well as the history (surprisingly short history) of Aran knitting.
As much as I want to lay claim to a Celtic background by blood, it is thin blood indeed that a claim may be made. I am approximately 7th or 8th generation after the original crossing of my ancestors, brothers who crossed in the late 1700s from Ireland. But I think that that early desire to claim that heritage has blessed me with an insatiable curiosity about other lands, other peoples, and other cultures.
So, with that point made, here is the other. I decided to learn how to knit mainly for one reason; Aran knitting. The intricate patterns of Celtic knots, the waves of cables, and the rocky peaks and valleys of picot captured my imagination and spoke to me of far away lands and cultures.

At this point, if I got nothing else for Christmas, I would be a happy knitter/amateur anthropolgist :)

The Job

2010-12-16T00:53:00.000-08:00

So I've been at it for a little over two weeks, its not even close to being what I had hoped. I haven't been bar tending, I am working the 'floor', the casino floor, and while its not a bad job, it isn't the one I was shooting for. Not that bar tending is the job I want, its just the only one I thought I could get. The senior bartender is going for surgery in January, and I was told I would get her shift when she went, apparently I will only get two days a week, because the other bartender realized she should be getting it. She's right, I was just hoping she wouldn't want it.

In seasonal news, we got our tree! Finally! I love noble fir, my favorite Christmas tree, and although I grew up with pinion pine at Christmas, I have come to love the pinion for its level branches, hardiness (even after cut), its wonderful aroma, and its deep green color.
Its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Its been so long...

2010-12-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

I know, its been too long since my last post, but a lot has happened!
I had been knitting and knitting, making hats, scarves, socks, spinning, and knitting some more.
Then, outta left field, someone hired me.

Don't get me wrong, I do want to work, just not very much. I'm spoiled. That's the only explanation I can come up with for the resentment that I feel over having to go back to work full time. And the fact that I have a college education and I'm bar tending. Sometimes. Most of the time, for now, I'm 'hosting' the casino floor, which takes the brains of a small amoeba to do. I like bar tending, always have, but not as a career. A hobby maybe. Unfortunately, times are such that any money coming in is welcome money, and my fairer sensibilities be damned. Another resentment comes from the fact that as long as my DH and I have been together I have had a paying job, as well as the one that I didn't get paid for, and have never had any help with the 'non' paying job, and I'm pretty sure that wont change now. Leopards and spots and all that jazz.

On a more optimistic front, we got new phones! They didn't work, but that's OK now :)
We were with Altell, which sold out to AT&T. AT&T sent us new phones that would work on their network. And the problem with that? We don't have AT&T network in this area!
So three frustrated days later, we switched to Verizon. Since the phones (4 of them) were replacements for our Altell phones, we didn't have to send them back to AT&T, so I'm selling them on ebay. Two of them (Palm Pre and a Blackberry) have sold with 'buy it now' and I've been Christmas shopping. I've got Derek's presents ordered except for his cigars, and have bought Joy several things (she'll probably play with the boxes), and have of course been forced to take a sellers fee, and ordered "The Gentle Art of Plying", "Aran Knitting: New and Expanded Edition", the new "SpinKnit E-Mag" from Interweave and Bare Minerals makeup for the new job. Ah, the trials and travails of online commerce!! I'm so excited! I'm down loading the E-Mag now, and if you haven't looked into it, go check it out, the teaser video convinced me!

In the middle of all this, my sweet grandbaby girl had her first birthday on December 1st. She really enjoyed her cake :)
Jari and the baby-daddy took Joy to Vegas to visit her other grandma and grandpa and are headed back today. We will most likely go Christmas tree hunting this week sometime, and for the first time in 5 years I want to put up outside Christmas lights. ...I still can't quite believe that he is lost to me forever, but it seems to be getting easier to deal with. So up with the lights! It's Christmas time!

ETA: I got this in the mail last week and am dying to share it.

This is the NTSRI's (National Tunis Sheep Registry) first annual calendar, and Gracie made the cover! Another of our pictures was used for January. I am so excited to have our pictures chosen! Thanks to all who had a hand in the making of the calendar!

Arizona

2010-11-24T07:14:00.000-08:00

Was warm!
Normally when it comes time to come home after being away for a week or two, I'm ready; I miss my kids, I miss my bed, I miss my life. This time I was torn between wanting to come home, to freeze, or stay there and stay warm! What settled it for me? I missed my Joy!
Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and I missed both of them, but I've known them for 18 and 20 years respectively, and the new has kinda worn off. They just don't do anything cute anymore, ya know?

We spent most of the week spending time with Derek's Dad, with a few trips into Tucson. I went to Grandma's Spinning Wheel, Unique Designs by Kathy, and the Tucson Yarn Company. Derek paid visits to two cigar shops, and on the final trip to town, we went to see Harry Potter, the Deathly Hallows, Pt 1. Kinda wish we'd waited, its going to be a long year waiting for the second half. It is a very good movie!

Here are a few shots uploaded from my camera to Facebook while I was gone, the first is an area between Florance, Catalina and Picacho Peak that is all for sale. I'm sure it will all get developed soon, although it would be great to get a piece of land here to settle on. Derek and I have been thinking about where we're going to go after he retires, its a ways down the road but its fun to think about.
We went to the town of Tombstone, and to be honest (maybe it was the wrong time of year?), it wasn't all that. There are a lot of shops, more restaurants in two square blocks than seems necessary, a stage coach that sits in the middle of the road (those horses look so bored, don't they?) and goes for the occasional trip-d-trip around the block, a trolley car (I think it would have been fun but Derek didn't want to ride it), and the gun fight at the OK Corral every day at 2PM and every half hour after that. We didn't go to the OK Corral, they wanted $10 per person, and we decided we'd seen it enough times already in the movie.
We wandered around, then went and had lunch at Big Nose Kate's (Kate was Doc Holliday's 'girl friend'). Then we left.
But I'm bringing the cart before the horse as they say... Before you actually get to Tombstone, you have to drive past Boothill.
Boothill is where the three boys that died at the OK Corral are buried, along with many other people of the day, and a few since that have either died in or around Tombstone, or had a deep connection to the town. One grave contains ashes of a man that someone sent to the cemetery, marked C.O.D. Then there's George, above, poor guy unknowingly bought a stolen horse and was hanged for his efforts. And another; "Here lies Lester Moore - four slugs from a .44, no Les no more". I have more pictures and will share them later, just too lazy right now to down load them from my camera :)

On the way home we stopped in Pahrump to visit and have dinner with my brother David and his wife Lisa. They met us at Ohjah's Japanese Steakhouse and Hibachi Grill. So fun!
After much good food and more good visiting, Derek and I set out for home, which at this point was about 5.5 hours away. I had been trying to talk Derek into staying over somewhere because I knew it had been snowing at home all day Sunday and half the night before. To get home we have to go over a pass (Austin Summit) that sits at about 7900 feet; thats about 3500 feet higher than Battle Mountain. This pass is always treacherous in the winter time so I was worried. But he was driving.
We got through the Smokey Valley OK, not very much snow there but as soon as we hit the pass things got dicey. From there Battle Mountain is about 110 miles north. Three hours later we drove into Battle Mountain. A very edge of your seat drive.

Knit Pics Wish List

2010-11-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.knitpicks.com/cfCart/viewWishlist.cfm?wishlistid=76CD2856-219B-8E23-D1D5FE71E0CA9332&media=WLBL

Ok, this isn't a hint... unless you want to take it that way :)
This is to enter a drawing at Knitpics.com, if you're on the mailing list, you got the ad too!

Off to Warm Climes!

2010-11-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning to a bright clear day, still some snow on the ground; the temperatures probably wont get higher than the low 50s during the day again until March.
Yesterday morning was cold and blustery, degenerating into a blizzard by 2pm. About 10 minutes later, I couldn't see the other side of my driveway from the front door.

This picture probably belongs in the 'Firsts' post, as this is Joy's first snow :)

Can you say 'cat'? How bout 'fat cat'? This is Spaz. We went to Arizona in 2003 after Derek's Mom passed and while there found this kitten someone had dumped at Derek's Dad's house. We had to bring him home (Gail doesn't like cats, and Derek's brother thinks they are good sport). So Spaz is an AZ transplant who eats lizards and squirels in the summer, gets slim and trim, then fattens up for the winter to enormous proportions. I swear he gains at least 10 pounds as the weather gets colder. I'm pretty sure he outweighs Joy.
We're headed back to Arizona tomorrow, be back around the 20th. See you all then!

And THIS is why I have sheep...

2010-11-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

Even the really, really dumb ones.

These two sheep are the scariest sheep I have. They are actually the scariest sheep I have ever had! When we have to catch Gracie (the gray ewe) for whatever reason, if we have to go any distance with her, like to the garage/barn, we have to put her in the trailer and haul her over. Why? Because three steps out of the gate, or sometimes before we get to the gate, she decides that we're going to slit her throat and so throws her considerable weight to the ground and wont budge. She will lay there until we heave her up bodily and make her stand. Babs isn't quite that bad, we can usually get about 10 steps out of her before she gives up.
We sheared them yesterday, I feel a little bad about Gracie's head, but not bad enough to try to fix it, we left it a bit ragged. After fighting her for an hour and a half on the shearing stand I was just done. Babs walked out of her coat; after we took off all the wool it was way too big for her.

So why do I keep them?

Yeah.

Firsts

2010-11-02T16:48:00.001-07:00

Who knew? Ok, so I guess someone must have known, cause someone wrote books on it, but I didn't know. Now I do!
Socks two at a time are a blast! I bought the book, Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks a few weeks ago, thinking it would be kinda fun to get two socks done at once. I haven't done very many socks because it always seems hard to start/finish the second one. This is right up my alley! These are for Derek for Christmas. Only one mistake so far! I waffled a little when I started them last night, I wasn't sure it would be wise to start a new method on a Christmas present, but once I got started it was cake! This is another first for me; first time I've used something besides handspun since I started spinning 6 years ago.
My first lacy hat! The gray hat was my real first hat, but this one is my first pattern with a 'pattern' to it, the first with cables!

This pattern is from 'Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Small Indulgences', but beware! There are many corrections at Storey Publishing to the patterns in this book, something I wasn't aware of when I started the hat, the knowing of which would have saved me a few gray hairs! Everything went great until I got to the decrease for the crown. A particular stitch sequence said 'slip 2tog kwise, K2, p2sso'. K, so someone with experience may already see the problem, but I didn't until I had already tried to 'fix it' and got three rows away before I realized that I couldn't. And of course, and of course after I'd frogged it at least three times. I finally frogged back to the last row before the decrease, counted my stitches, went to the lap top and looked it up. It hadn't occurred to me before that moment that these people that write/edit/publish these books don't have someone or several someones to test the patterns! Something else I know now.

And how can I post so soon after Halloween without a picture of my favorite spook on her first Halloween? Well, elephant...

I really like this fiber!

2010-10-28T16:32:00.001-07:00

I have to say thanks again to Sam, your sense of fibers has really come through in this blend. I mentioned in my post yesterday, this fiber is a blend of CVM (Romeldale), alpaca, and guanaco (the 'g' is silent). Also I mentioned that it has character. I really had no idea until I finished this hat and washed it. It has white hair all through it, makes it look like it would be scratchy, but it sooo isn't! Jari modeled it for me but I made it for Kevin, hoping he will like it. It is so thick and is going to be so warm. If he doesn't want it, I might keep it :)
The pattern is out of 'Luxury Yarn, One-Skein Wonders', pg 43.

Cold

2010-10-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

Its been down in the low 20's for three nights in a row! I really don't like winter at all.
It snowed in the mountains yesterday, and spit a little on us here in the valley. Mt. Louis has a fine dusting this morning, always means winter is here.

We will be taking delivery of the last load of hay for the winter today. I hope that with reducing my flock I wont have to worry about hay again until next fall. I have 7 sheep left now, not counting the last lamb that will go in January, down to Carmine and his 6 girls. I still haven't been able to shear the last two girls that I wanted to get done, its just been too cold. I am afraid what I will have to do is shear them and leave them in the garage-barn for a couple weeks until their wool grows back out a bit; it doesn't look like we're going to have any more warm nights.

I finished Joy's scarf! I did it a few weeks ago, just hadn't had a chance to take pictures of her with the hat and scarf on. I really enjoyed working it up and the end result is more than satisfactory!
Kevin and I took a trip to Moab, UT a couple of weeks ago, where my good friend Sam (Mary Ann) Cunningham lives and raises Tunis sheep, along with guanaco, guanaco/alpacas, Navajo Churros, CVMs, and various other wool/hair/feather bearing critters. She got the last two Tunis lambs I had. We do this pretty much every year, I take her registrable sheep and she gives me elk meat from an elk ranch in Montana (I would personally rather eat elk than beef; it is leaner than beef and you know its not raised with antibiotics or growth hormones). And as a bonus, I always go to Arches NP when I'm there. Kevin was the only one of us that hadn't been, and I think he really enjoyed himself! We both ended up wishing we'd had more time, as there is sooo much to see and do in the Moab area. It's the Jeep capitol of the world, they say! I haven't had a chance to go to Canyon Lands NP yet, maybe next time.
We took so many pictures, but I think I like this one the best. I don't know what this formation is called, but it should be something like 'the knife'.
This is the 'Delicate Arch', the one that adorns Utah's license plate. We hiked up a hill (thought I was going to vapor lock, I need more exercise!), about 20 minutes to get this close (click for big); come to find out there was another trail that takes you right up to the arch, but that is a 4 hour round trip! Glad I didn't try that one lol
Sam also threw in a few pounds of roving for me, along with a big box of canned itesm. She is always more than generous, giving more than she takes, no matter how much I argue. I have been reprimanded by her more than once for trying to give her more than she gives me, or tell her to not give me any more than what I think she should. The roving is a blend of CVM, alpaca, and guanaco and is very pretty. Kinda wish it was something besides gray, I have so many grays, but it is soft and has a lot of character.
Since I started spinning, I have done well at fingering weights and lace weights, spinning fine threads for fine yarns. Truth be told, it is very hard to do anything else now. The control freak in me pulls out every nep, drafts out every thick spot. So when I spun this fiber I made my control freak go away. I spun it with a long draw and just spun it! Ok, so my control freak straitened or thinned out a couple spots, but I managed to keep it to a minimum :) I'm making a hat out of it now.
I finished a scarf that I've given to my bff, Brenda, for her birthday, she loves it thank goodness!
I bought the fiber at BSG, two bumps of merino silk top, one was a brown, the other the same color brown with maroon/pink ish areas. I spun each then plied them together.
This picture doesn't do it justice, it is very pretty and lustrous with waves down both sides affected by knitting in short rows.

Joy is growing up so fast! Almost as soon as we brought her home she was standing in our laps rather than laying prone like infants usually do. Now she's walking! She started about 6 weeks ago, now she almost has it perfected :)

Feeling Sheepish

2010-10-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

I found my card reader, and I won't go into where it was or how many times a day I walk past the spot... OK, it was on the TV stand. Sheesh.
I started on this in like June or something and Kevin and I just finished it a few days ago. Other things just got in the way. But I'm happy with the finished product and I think the chickens are too :) This was taken during the day. Something else I don't think I posted about was the nest boxes I built, you can just see them to the left.
I didn't think I'd gotten any aracuna chickens in this mixed batch, but I did! I love these chickens; they're bold and have neat personalities. I'm thinking I would like to order more of these next spring, but that will depend on whether I can enlarge the coop or not by then.
These black hens are either Jersey Black Giants or Australops, still don't know because I haven't caught them to look at their feet (one breed has yellow feet, the other pinkish).
I have three white hens, could be Plymouth Rock or Leghorn.
These two are either Rhode Island Reds or Hampshire Reds... the hen in the foreground is one of the three left after the coyote attack, notice the size? Those are either some really large chicks, or some small hens :) Actually its both; the assortment of chicks I got are all standard. Why they call them standard I don't know, every breed in the assortment is large. The Jersey's are the largest with hens weighing in at 8 lbs and cocks at 10. That's a big chicken!
This is my one Dominique. Looks like a Barred Rock to me, but they said it wasn't.
You can just see the tail of the one Buff Orphington.

Camping!
So we went camping for my birthday... I know, its been too long since I posted last.
We went to Wilson Resevoir, north and east of Elko, about 2.5 hrs from here.
We took the 'big' tent. This is the same tent that Tad and I set up about 6 or 7 years ago that I thought had a missing pole. It is a really nice tent!
Yes, these are pelicans! There were so many water foul there that when one took off, hundreds would leave the water, making a sound like the roar of three semis running down a dirt road.
The water is so low this time of year that you can't fish off the bank by the camping spots, you have to come to this end of the lake where the rocks slope down into deeper water.
And here is part of the catch. I was the only one to land any fish this trip, although Jari had a really nice trout on, she didn't get it over land quick enough and it flopped off back into the water just as she went to reach for it.

Dinner?
I just HAD to include this picture; I decided to make stuffed meatballs and it was delicious! So here you see stuffed meat balls with marinara/alfredo sauce on wheat noodles, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. Anyone wants the recipe let me know :)

Joy!
She is starting to walk, which means we are all gonna be just a bit busier than we have been trying to keep up with her. She is also pulling herself up on couches, and I know the short drop to the floor behind one of our couches is not to far off. Here she is admiring the baby in the mirror.
This is a mountain ash tree in our back yard, it is telling us that fall is indeed here, regardless of how unseasonably warm our days have been in the last week. I wasn't done with summer yet! And its hard to believe that I will be putting Carmine in with his ewes in another week. This year has just been weird.

I haven't taken a picture of Joy with her scarf on yet, but it is done! Hoping it doesn't take me two weeks to get it posted :)
Having a yard sale this weekend, went through the garage yesterday and found a bunch of things I thought were no longer with us, and lots of treasures for other people to hopefully, take home.
GarySue and her sister are coming to pick up her sheep and they are going to help me shear a couple sheep (hoping for 4 :).
Have a great weekend!

Lots to say....

2010-10-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

But I can't find my card reader! I have a huge amount to say and to show but without the card reader, the pics are stuck in limbo on my camera.

A little of this, a bit of that...

2010-09-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

I started this the week after I got home from the state fair. It is a scarf, knitting for intermediate/beginning knitters, knits and purls make the pattern. I've had a lot of fun with it, so much so, that when I had to frog it because I had miss judged the amount of matching yarn I had on hand, I gladly started over with lots of 'like' handspun. ...I think the smudge in the middle of the picture is a Joy finger print....

Trying Something New!

When at BSG this past June, I heard Heidi, a fellow CSSW'er from Reno, talk about this class she took where you ball up two strands of single onto a ball winder, then ply them from there. It sounds great doesn't it? It is, I've seen her do it. Although I'm inclined to believe that she has had either a very good teacher or lots of practice.
For me, it was a study in patience, as so many things I do are, because I tend to start something without all of the steps for doing it, and so usually end up starting in the middle, whereupon I have to turn around and complete the first steps before I can complete the project. (another story in this post will prove this)
So I have this gorgeous purple and white top, merino and tencel, bought at BSG, just spinning it for something to do. I finished spinning it, thinking all the while I would ply it from a center pull, but then realize it would be a great time to try this method that Heidi told me about. So here I am with all 4 ounces on one bobbin. duh.
So I sit down in front of my wheel with this 4 ounce center pull ball with the aim of putting half of it back on a bobbin. I thought it would be really handy to have my scale there so that I would know when I had put half of it back. Then I realize it would be great to have both halves on bobbins, so I could use my built in kate to ball from. After several starts and stops, a few birds nests and knots, I managed to get it all onto the ball winder. I have typed all this out so you would know, I always do things the hard way. It was a challenge to keep tension right while winding onto the ball winder, but after a fairly long time, I managed. Despite my efforts with the scale, I still wasted about 2 tenths of an ounce of single.

Here is where I learned something - about this method, not about my need to make everything complicated - I really like to control how two singles twist around one another.
Do you see how it looks like one single is wrapped around the other, rather than two singles wrapped around each other? I don't know if it makes any sense to anyone else, but as in the picture above, sometimes one single has a thick spot while the other single is thin. In these cases, I will hold the single with the thick spot straight and let the thinner one wrap around the thick one. I know this sounds like I am intentionally causing the issue above, but honestly, it actually fixes this problem when you relax tension on the thick part. With this method I can't control which wraps around which if I need to. So lets just face it. I'm a control freak. :)
Regardless of my 'lack of control' this is beautiful yarn and I have learned something and had a new experience! Thanks Heidi!

Joy's Hat!

While in Oregon, again during BSG, I spotted this top in Laura's stash. This is some of the top that Mim got from Ashland Bay for Laura and I, merino, bamboo and silk (ohhhhh soooo soft! and shiny too!).
Laura had dyed this herself, and I fell in love with it, knowing as soon as I saw it that I had to make something for Joy out of it.

I found a pattern that is just so cute! It has green on the bottom, blue on the top and little white sheep marching around the middle! But, since I don't have any green yarn, and well, no blue yarn and I really didn't want to make it just like that... I decided to change it. I kinda followed the pattern! It was also written for a newborn so I had to change the size. That was all well and good until I go to the reduction around the crown, because it was based on the number of stitches around. Well I got round that too (see? I gotta do it the hard way!) and finally finished it. It was so cute! But you see in the above picture, the curling rim? Although Jari thought it was cute, I didn't like it. And besides, I want to make a scarf to go with it, and matching the curl was problematic for me. So, I frogged it. I'm really glad I did!This is the finished hat, again modeled by the ever joyful Joy! I put in a few rows of seed stitch, then went on with knit stitch to the crown, then, (for some reason, I actually did the numbers before I started) started reducing to the top, and made the pompom :)
Next will be the scarf, stay tuned!

2010-09-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

Wow, sometimes there is just so much more to do than blog!
Well, I had good intentions of posting more about the fair, just didn't seem to get the minutes and the want to together.

My Mom's birthday was Monday, so we all went to the park for fried chicken, potato salad and other odds and ends. We had a great time, but Mom had the best. Joy has started babbling, precursor to talking, so everyone is working on 'ma-ma', or 'pa-pa', or whatever easy sound we can get out of her. She made Na-na's day, when she looked up at Mom and pointedly said "Na-na!"
But, even though it was Grandma's day, Joy was the constant object of the lens. Just can't keep it off of her!
It was a very nice day, not too hot, nor too cold, no wind to speak of and the kids (meaning Kevin, Jari, my nephew David and niece Mikah) had a great time playing with the soccer ball and foot ball. It was just a nice day.
Joy got her first swing ride and had sooo much fun!
Then a walk back to the picnic table...
And she's out!
I started working on a scarf while in Reno, and here it is as modeled by Joy!

She makes an awesome model doesn't she?

In other news, our county fair is this weekend. I've been volunteering for three years to help with the fair and someone finally took me up on it. We had a great fair for many years here, with nearly the whole community coming together every year to enter things or set up booths or participate in some way. But, the generous lady that spent 8 years of her life organizing the fair and making it what it was became ill and eventually passed. In the 10 years or so since then the fair has gone down hill to the point where only half of the civic center is used for displays (and even then sparsely), whereas it used to be filled to capacity and it took two or three hours to wander through it.
I'm hoping, by becoming involved myself, to help bring it back to at least something of its former state.
My part this year is only to organize and see through the pet show. I have a groomer friend doing the judging, and we will give out ribbons and a grand prize. I will post pictures sometime after Saturday.

Almost 6 years ago we started to build a fence around our property. Between money constraints, work, and ...whatever, it still isn't finished. With Kevin leaving in December, I talked Derek into setting a date where we could invite friends over to help finish it. We will BBQ a crown rib roast and a leg roast (lamb of course), have potato salad and whatever else comes to my mind between now and tomorrow noon.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

State Fair

2010-09-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

Yep! It was better, it was louder and, I have no doubt, it will be even better next year!

This was the scene in the arena, the back half was set up like a frontier village, complete with a napper, a blacksmith and a general store. The front half was to be used for many things, such as hunter jumper displays of the mounties and cavalry, and the Wild West show!

The Hoop dance was a special treat, I have heard of this but never seen it, it is really pretty impressive.
The chuck wagon races! These guys went around this arena at break neck speed! One of the chuck wagons lost its back wheels, Mim and I couldn't decide if it was part of the show or not, but it was certainly entertaining!

This is a multi-talented cowboy! He may be the leader of the show, as he played so many parts. He also did some trick riding, very impressive!
Doesn't this little car look like it should be in the movie "Cars" or something like it!? I couldn't resist taking a picture, if the owner sees it I hope they don't mind. Its just so darn cute! I don't know if you can tell, but the frame is bent, the bumper is crooked and the sun visors look like eyebrows! I don't know that I would have it fixed if it was mine; so much personality!
Here is my main winner this year. A skein of alpaca/silk blend spun in a gossamer to lace weight two ply took reserve grand of show, a skarf made by a beginning knitter won grand and I was glad to come in second to him, it was beautiful!
This was one of the highlights of the weekend; the Dutch Oven Cook Off! They sold tickets to about 40 people per night, at $5 per person, you could be a judge! There were 4 teams, each making at minimum, a main dish, a side, and desert. As a judge, you went through from team to team tasting some of each dish and grading it on creativity, presentation, and taste. By the time I got to the last team, I was reeling! Such wonderful tastes and aromas, I actually went back to two of them and got just a small second portion because it tasted so wonderful! Thursday night the main dish was pork, we missed that one, but on Friday, the main dish was to be lamb. We made sure we didn't miss that one :) I got some good ideas on ways to cook lamb and am going to make a similar dish tonight to one I tasted there. Although, it wont be near as good as I will have to use a frying pan instead of a dutch oven.

More later!

The Nevada Territory Wild West Fair AKA Nevada State Fair

2010-08-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

They've changed the name, they've changed the look, they've changed a lot of things! But it seems to be shaping up to be just as entertaining, even more so if you believe the talk, as it has been in the past!

I have made this a yearly trip since 2005. I love the atmosphere, the festivities, the food (garlic fries and fresh squeezed lemonade!) and most of all the fellowship of the many talented and multifaceted people of Carson Sierra Spinners and Weavers guild. Throughout the year I look forward to their company for a whole three days, and always wish I had longer to enjoy them. These were the first spinners I had direct contact with after I had taught myself to spin a year and a half earlier. I was seriously deprived!

CSSW sets up a pavilion just inside the fair ground entrance off of Wells Avenue, and inside are arranged all the collective talent of the guild. There are several displays centered on one fiber art or another, and every year a particular sheep breed is chosen to be in the spotlight so that people can learn specific things about that breed. Last year they allowed me to have a couple of tunis lambs there for petting, along with a display of tunis wool; raw, processed, spun, woven, crocheted and knitted. Thinking back on it I think I could have put up a board or something telling about the breed, but I did have pamphlets that are put out by the registry. We reserve the center of the pavilion for the 'spinning circle', with a path around the circle for fair goers to wander through and see all the great displays!

The state has a huge hall devoted to entries from all over the state, from baked food to canned to quilts and home grown vegies, as you would see at most fairs, but CSSW has its own displays specific to fiber arts and all the entries are judged there in the pavilion totally separate from the other exhibits. We also have a fleece show, something I've enjoyed watching immensely every year, and I somehow went and put my foot in it; I'm to judge the fleece show this year... gulp.

The following picture is deliberately vague, as these are the things I have entered in the CSSW fiber show. But I will tell you this; there is something crocheted, something knitted, a single, a Navajo ply, and a two ply :)

More pictures next week when I get back! Have a great weekend everyone!

I love babies!

2010-08-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

These are the last two Tunis lambs I have for the year, brother and sister, out of my favorite Tunis ewe ever, Honey. This is the first time she has thrown a lamb that looks so much like her. Aubrey was very close, but I think this guy has her beat. He even has the 'old style' back line, with Honey's length. He has retained his red coat so far while his sister has faded out.
They will be going to Moab to Mary Ann Cunningham, a very good friend and fellow red-head raiser.
I haven't named them because I knew I wouldn't be keeping them.

The ewe lamb has her fathers back line, long and straight.
To those who have not shown lambs in a formal setting, or not learned terminology that we learned showing in 4-H, the space between the vent and where the legs meet in the middle is called the depth of twist. The deeper the twist, the more meat you get in the leg roast; its as important to me as the length of the loin.
I have seen several lambs over the years who have this nice depth, but haven't yet seen it in both twins. In my flock, it is usually just one if it shows up. I was pleasantly surprised when I went to take these pictures and looked closely, that both these lambs have a very nice depth of twist and will make excellent breeding animals in my opinion.
They both have good coloring, but the ram is a bit darker. I think about the only thing I would change about them is the length of their ears, which is the only thing I've ever wanted to change about Honey.

And of course, the baby of the hour (well, pretty much ever hour), the joy of our house and of our hearts.
She has managed of course. to wrap us all up around her pretty little fingers and its hard to imagine a day without her.
And for those of you who ask why there are never pics of ME in my blog, here ya go. In my Black Sheep News Letter tee from Black Sheep Gathering, and look! You can see my tat! :)
Joy is becoming quite the personality, has started this fake temper tantrum thing when she thinks we aren't doing what we should be...
We look at her and can't help but laugh and then she does something like this... This was taken seconds after the last one.

...So I have a cat. He has adopted me, while I am now (still) reluctantly letting him.
Mitzy loves Joy's toys, thinks they should be hers and we have to watch her or she will have all of the small, puppy-portable toys out in the breakfast room under the dining table. Mitzy was deep black when we got her, and is now turning gray. I thought she was just dirty!
Shes laying on a lamb puppet I bought for Joy at BSG.... Another lamb lover :)

New (to me) Toy

2010-08-05T15:16:00.001-07:00

Meant to get this up a couple days ago, but such is life, always behind :)

Here is my second swatch, all done and stretching out to dry. It is in Joy's toy box now, along with the first one, she likes them.

After the local paper ran a story about me and my desire to start a group of fiber enthusiasts here in town (I have a lot of great fiber friends, but they all live at least an hour away), a Baptist pastor called me saying he had a few wheels to sell and wondered if I'd help. His mother had recently passed and had been a collector. There is still an Ashford Traditional for sale if anyone is interested...
Among the treasures he showed me was an Inkle loom and this Kromski. I thought maybe I would see if I wanted a wheel, but after working with them a bit, I decided the only wheel I need is my Joy... but a small loom was another matter! He asked me to finish off the warp that is on this one and give it back to him as it was something his mother started.

Mitzy loves Joy's lamb hand puppet :)

Pictures of Joy in next post!

Swatch #2... and other UFO's

2010-07-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

This is the second swatch in my lace lessons, I'm about a third the way through. I was talking to Mim earlier who reminded me that it had been her that suggested the marker string. I was telling her it was kind of funny, I was using the marker string, but I went on a few rows without moving the string (I get cocky that way, or lazy, or something), counted out my stitches and realized I had one extra.
I had time to regret not moving my marker string up to the last row, when I noticed one of the holes about 4 rows back was in the wrong place. And the marker string was right below it! HA! HahaHA!
One of those instances where you can mock your cockiness, or laziness, or whatever.

I have been wracking my brain, trying to decide what to enter in the state fair this year. I don't think I can beat what I put in last year; a three ply merino lace yarn that got reserve. I spun up some BFL and cabled it, I'm not horribly impressed with it, can't imagine a judge that would be... I thought about entering my seed stitch scarf ('member, the green one?), but that was just a practice piece, something to teach me what the stitches looked like in relation to each other...
So I started this. It is actually supposed to be done in garter stitch, and with a smaller needle, but I didn't like the tightness of the material, no drape whatsoever. So I decided to do a seed stitch with a bigger needle. I think I should have made it narrower too... the finished scarf will be about 42" long, with a gathered middle, I think the pattern is after a mariner's scarf.
Here's whats on the wheel! A very pretty dyed BFL, we'll see how this one turns out... fair material?

Lace! ...well almost

2010-07-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

I actually haven't seen one of these since I was a kid. To be honest, I really think there are not as many now as there were... admittedly, there is less desert around here than there used to be and I don't spend near as much time in what desert there is left, but when I say I haven't seen one since I was a kid, I'm talking almost 30 years.
Derek and I went fishing last weekend, turns out my sister had the same idea and we ran into each other out at Willow Pond. As we pulled up, Mikah, my niece, had this lizard in her hand and was taking him back to the sage so I had to take a picture.
Below is Mikah closet, my sis Arlee and Derek.

Remember this?
I finally got through all the information about the Oomingmac Co-op in Anchorage, and all the delightful history of the musk ox and the unequaled fiber they produce called qiviut, to the real reason I bought the book to start with. To learn how to knit lace.

The author takes you through three steps to learn knitted lace techniques. All three lessons consist of knitting swatches with basic lace stitches, starting with size 7 needles and sport weight yarn, then size 5 needles and fingering, then the third swatch takes you into lace weight and size 3 needles.
It took me TWO (thats 2!) days to do the first swatch, knit rip, knit rip, I have no idea how many times. Then I remembered something, a tip, someone (Mim?) had given me about knitting lace; run a string through the stitches of a row you know is right, then if you mess something up in the next couple rows, you just rip back to the string. As I discovered, picking up stitches in a lace pattern is nearly impossible. After I started this, it was much easier to fix a mistake.
Here is my first swatch. (click for big, you gotta see that pin cushion :)
As I was trying to block it (on the foot rest of my recliner because I don't have another surface large enough to pin something like this to), Joy decided to help me.
I made a lot of mistakes that I hadn't realized I'd made but for the most part, I think I didn't do too bad for my first time! :)

I decided to put the foot rest down, Joy was playing in her toy box, but came scuttling back over, to check it out again.

Trust me, she's quicker than she looks....
And not near as innocent as she seems...
And much more determined than you might think :)
When she finally gave up trying to push her way through my legs (Jari and I both laughed at her tenacity so hard we cried), I went back to working on the second swatch. I've already had to frog it twice before I could put my string in, but its going ok now!

Ratoodle?

2010-07-17T14:36:00.001-07:00

As most of the followers of this blog know, about a year and a half ago, we lost our very special chahuahua, Tug, to coyotes or dogs. We have often thought of getting another small dog, but I have been afraid that if we were to get another puppy too soon, we would constantly compare the new one to Tug, and it would be no contest; he was the perfect dog for our family and our way of life.
Time heals all wounds they say, well I have to agree that it at least heals most of them, makes others easier to bear. So when I heard that two rat terriers belonging to a friend of mine both whelped at the same time and collectively bore 10 puppies, I decided it was time to take that step. I asked Derek if he was ready to look at puppies too, and he said sure. My friend also has two males, a miniature pincer, and a poodle. The min-pin wasn't supposed to be fertile, so she separated the girls from the poodle, but didn't bother to separate them from the min-pin... yeah.

Meet Mitzy :)

All of the puppies were slick haired except for this one. We've decided that the poodle didn't get entirely left out. New designer dog? Ratoodle?
And of course, new pics of Joy!
She's getting so big and learning so fast!
I washed this fleece and started working it yesterday, it is the Romney I picked up in Oregon at BSG. So nice!

Catching Up (photo heavy)

2010-07-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday week, Derek and I decided we wanted to go fishing. We headed out early in the morning with the intention of going to a place called Wilson Reservoir, about three hours north of here. We were about an hour from home when we got the flat.
Derek and I got out, started hunting for the tools we needed to change the tire, knowing that this was the end of our trip, we wouldn't go anywhere but back to town without a spare. We hunted and hunted.
And hunted.
You wouldn't think it would take that long, or that there are that many hiding places in a king cab truck. We finally accepted the fact that we had no way to pull the spare down from under the bed, the bag that contains the bars needed was nowhere to be found, and also that we had no cell service. Derek started walking back towards town and the alfalfa ranches that dot the valley hoping to find cell service so he could text or call someone for help. He was also hoping to get a hold of Kevin, thinking that Kevin was the reason we didn't have the bag of tools, had Derek reached him, he would have had some apologizing to do later.
About twenty minutes later I decided to look again. The seats in the back fold down for cargo space and there are these flaps (for lack of a better word) that go over the bottom of the back of the seat to make a flat surface. We had lifted those flaps... but had forgotten about the 'other' flaps. What I call the 'super secret hiding spot'. We've had this truck for 5 years, and this is only the second time we've had a flat in it. It is also the second time that we both forgot about the 'super secret hiding spot'. Low and behold! There were the bars that, when put together are used to lower the spare tire. I honked on the horn, hoping he was still in range but I couldn't know for sure. I started changing the tire. Thankfully, a very helpful Mexican cowhand happened to drive out that way and gave me a hand. In about 15 minutes we were done and I was headed back the way Derek had started walking. I caught up with him about three miles down the road, picked him up and we laughed about the 'super secret hiding spot', then decided that our day was still fairly new and we could still go fishing.
We decided though, to go through Elko, no matter where we went ultimately, so we could go to Les Schwabb and get the spare fixed. Derek called a friend, told him of our misadventure, then we all decided it would be fun to go to South Fork.
South Fork is just a few minutes out of Spring Creek, about a half hour south and west of Elko. I was surprised! I had never been there and it's so close! We had a great day, wetting line and watching skiers, then muttering and frowning at them as they seemed to think it was funny when they came so close to the bank that we could almost hit them with a water bobber... seriously, Derek threatened to after about the tenth time. We moved to the other side of the lake.
I was pretty floored when we saw these...
We fished all day. Didn't catch a thing. It was a good day though, we talked and laughed and got irritated at selfish skiers. Had a few beers and drowned a few worms. Oh, and cant forget the sunburn :)
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When I was still in Oregon, Jari called to tell me that she'd 'found' a kitten on our porch. Since I, when young, was a professional at the "It followed me home Mom! Really!" line, I was pretty sure she'd found it on the porch after she'd put it out to go potty. Its origin, I later found out was from a litter belonging to someone who had the sad story of "Its the last one, and I can't seem to find a home for it!". So we have for the moment another kitten. When my friend, who just lost her very old cat, comes home from Washington I'm going to take him to her. If she absolutely wont take him, Jari will sit in front of the grocery store until she finds him a home. He's so very cute, but I want my house back and have told her and everyone else, I wont be replacing any cats. As much as I love them, its nigh on impossible to make them respect your space.

______________________________________
These are the family members that came from Sac for the 4th... Chris, Kim (twins), Gina, Michael, and Mat.
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And a few pics of Joy!

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When I came home from BSG, my poor rooster was on deaths door. I still don't know why, but he was gone soon after. That left me with 7 hens. A few days ago, I went out to feed and couldn't find any of my chickens! I eventually found three and came to the conclusion that there were some well fed coyotes sleeping it off in a nearby den. So, I ordered some chicks from MyPetChicken.com, a really neat chick sales site that is very much aimed at, well, pet chickens!
They got here this morning, all fuzzy and peeping. They've settled in well and so far all of them seem to have traveled well. They're in a galvanized water tank in my living room for a week, then they will move onto the front porch for a week or two, then to a rabbit hutch in the chicken coop for another couple of weeks to climatize and let the remaining hens get use to them. I wont be keeping all of them, the only reason I got so many is because it was the cheapest way to get any, as the only other way was to pay $34.75 in shipping charges, on top of $44 for the chicks them selves, this only cost $47. Five will go to Mim and another 8 or 10 will be sold locally. They are various breeds, wont know anything until the get bigger, but they should be breeds like Buff Orphington, Easter Egger, Wyandote, reds and Australorp.
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I have been working on getting this done since Joy was born, and voila! Finally finished. It was a toss up as to whether it would get done or not for a couple weeks, had some technical trouble (I ran out of a specially dyed yarn and had to go 'backwards' from the foundation row) and sought professional help (the owner of a yarn shop in Elko that goes by the name of "CrochetQueen" and she is!).
This is something I picked up at BSG, very very pretty black merino blended with silk with spots of purple and violet in it. I decided to leave it as a single because the colors are so subtle, I was afraid they would get lost in a ply.

ETA:
I (looking ashamed now) bought this recently (ashamed because I really shouldn't have...) but its so pretty! As I have typed this, I have a washed lock of this bond x corriedale silvery white fleece sitting on the lap top table, keeping me company. Its so very soft and such crimp!
A special treat for us in Battle Mountain today, a veggie/fruit stand! One of the many wonderful things about summer :)

Fiber Over Load, Finale

2010-07-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

Belated Happy 4th of July! We had family here from CA for the weekend, it was great to see them and we had a wonderful time!

SHEEP! That's were I left off, here are some pictures!
Lincoln... love those dreads!
Gotland - a rare breed this side of the pond, all Gotlands in the US are cross breeds, but these happened to be (I think he said, Mim correct me if you remember) 84%.
BFL - oh sooooo soft!
I met this guy last year at OFFF, (blog post is here), as a ram lamb and claimed his fleece then, I got to watch them shear him on Sunday. Wow, there was a lot of fleece on that boy!
If you don't know the story about Jacob sheep, you need to read it. Especially if you are a biblical history buff. I don't know if you can see his fleece, but there was a sign on the outside of his pen telling people not to reach into the pen because the horns can be painful.... guess what I had to do... shhhh, don't tell the owner, k?
Mim and Laura, checking out Mim's pictures. Laura is the gracious one who let us stay at her house :)
And this is my hat mentioned in the first Fiber Overload post! Laura is a knitter/designer and does such beautiful work! The white wool in this hat is from Babs, my Suffolk/Dorset cross ewe.
I am.... A KNITTER! lol I found this pattern at one of the booths and decided I had to make some booties for Joy. I followed the newborn baby pattern, as it's written (these are too small for Joy), and am now working on a larger pair.

THE TAKE
Ok, so who out there is going to throw the first stone!?!? Hmm? Which of you spinners is going to do it?? lol Yeah, I know, not a one of you can say 'no' to a nice fleece. Sigh. I can't either.

I went to the wool show on Friday, where Judith MacKenzie McCuin was judging fleece this year for BSG. I spied a fleece right off the bat that I couldn't live without and when it came time to buy on Sunday, Mim and I had our battle plans all mapped out! I would go for the black Wensleydale (OMGosh! It was gorgeous!), and Mim would head for this (below) Romney. Well, as soon as I entered the building I had my eyes on the table with the Wensleydale (OMGosh! Did I mention it was GORGEOUS!!) but when I got there it was .... sniffle... gone! No one came close to that table, I know, Mim and I were right up at the front of the line (I stood there for an hour and a half. Yeah, I know) so even though I missed my Wensleydale (realized later that the volunteers get first choice, and saw the fleece sitting alongside a wall. hmmm, thinking of volunteering next year :) I did get two beeeutiful fleeces!
This Romney got first in its class...
This is a Romeldale CVM cross, right up my alley. This fleece didn't place; Judith is one tough cookie! I still haven't figured out why it didn't do well, it is sooo soft, no breaks, very consistent. The only thing I can figure is the tips are just slightly cotted. It works up beautifully though!
This is from my nekkid ram above. I left 3.5 lbs of it at Mim's house (I took the train to Reno and it was a toss up as to whether they would let me on the train with all my.... stuff) and she is going to order some bamboo to put with it and I will pay her for that and the shipping to Morro... soon.
This? This is self explanatory :)
And this? I am more excited about this than anything else I bought at BSG. I started knitting because I want to learn how to knit lace. I also lovelovelove qiviut! The first half of this book is dedicated to the discussion of the Oomingmak Co-Op in Anchorage, AK and the Musk Ox that delivers the super fine fiber that spinners drool over and the knitted fabric that rich people hoard. This is my absolute favorite fiber to spin and although there was a booth there that had qiviut roving for $30 an ounce (gulp!) it was not in my cards to get it then. Normally qiviut sells for $25 an ounce raw! The price was astounding and if I'd found it early on in the weekend, I might have walked out with a few ounces.... C'est la vie.

And then we came home. :)

More Fiber Over Load, 2010

2010-07-01T10:40:00.001-07:00

Sorry its taking me so long to do this. I've been having a bad week, thinking of Tad, sometimes the hurts come back a little stronger than normal and depression is close. Post BSG blues? Don't know, but here is more on BSG :)

Where were we? Oh, the Sea Lion Caves! Not much to say here so moving on to the pictures! Click for big!

Sea side of the Sea Lion Caves building in the last post.
Mim giving us a comparison in size... the plaque said these were life sized...! wow
Inside the Sea Cave.
King of the Rock!
See the Light House in the distance?
This was below the deck we were standing on for the last picture.. does that look like a cannon ball to you?

Next post: Sheep!

Fiber Over Load, 2010

2010-06-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

The last (also the first) time I went to BSG, I thought I was in heaven! I'd never been around sooo many like minded people! When I walked into the building on Friday morning, I was instantly euphoric! So much fiber! By Sunday, I was saturated with fiber, and I was actually ready to come home. Yeah, I know, weird right?
The time between Friday morning and Sunday evening was spent with new friends and old friends, spinning, gawking, buying and admiring all kinds of fiber and breeds of sheep. Mim and I even got to help a shepherd show her romeldales on Saturday morning! That was a treat! I haven't shown sheep in what... well long enough that I really had to think about what I was doing :) Too much fun!
I finally got to meet Michelle and her wonderful sheep! And Lois and her sheep attended, as well as Corrie and Kristy, and many many others!
Laura (from Walton, west of Eugene), Heidi, Toni, Robin, Linda, Sharon, Ian, Ilene, ...did I forget anyone? oh and Linda's significant other, from the Reno area were there as well. We all went out to dinner on Friday night to a neat little Mexican food joint in Eugene, we kinda filled the place up.
Ok, so back to the first day.
Mim and I got there on Wednesday evening, just so we would have plenty of time to make a trip to Florence on the coast. Laura had given us our hats (mine is going to cost me Babs' fleece this year, but its worth it :) and we got to wear them to the beach! Which was great, because although the wind wasn't too strong, it definitely had a bite to it.
The white wool in this hat is Babs!
I had a great time, and was delighted to show new things to Mim who hasn't spent a lot of time wandering beaches. We saw sand dollars, starfish, lots of shells, a few jelly fish, and a couple of beach houses that were to die for!
Kevin and I had gone to this beach when we were there last year for OFFF, it is covered in driftwood. I want this one...
Kev and I were in the car, so I couldn't take it home then, and Mim refused to take her topper off her truck so we could put it in the back... there wouldn't have been any room left for her two little ewe lambs, so I guess it was for the best. Sigh.
After wearing our tennies out on the beach, we went to the Sea Lion Cave, the largest Sea Cave in the country they tell us! I don't doubt it, it is rather large and holds an amazing amount of sea lions. Kevin and I went here too, on our trip, but it was no less fascinating to me the second time around.

More later! Have an eye doctor appointment in Elko today, and today is mine and Derek's 20th wedding anniversary! Going to have a steak sandwich at the Star I think... or lobster, whichever ;-)

Bubblin' Brew

2010-06-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

I was walking through my back yard on Wednesday (something I do surprisingly little), when I came across a bubbling puddle. Nope, not black gold! Exactly the opposite actually, it was sewage.
I'm going to spare you the gory details, suffice to say it was an adventure from the start, thank goodness we had Kevin to help, I am so horribly dependent on him! What am I going to do when he leaves?
We hired a back hoe to do most of the digging, and the guy actually stayed and helped a bit with replacing the lines, which was great because Derek was on graveyard (always happens that way doesn't it?). Whilst digging up the sewer lines a water line to an outdoor hydrant was broken, which I capped off thinking it was a dead end and wouldn't hurt anything, well it wasn't. We had no water for 2 days while we tried to figure out the problem... the lines in the back go every which way (a legacy of the previous owners, and probably the ones before them) turns out the line that went to the hydrant also feeds the house. Who'da thunk that the line that comes out of the pump house would go out into the middle of the yard to a hydrant, then circle back around to the opposite end of the house? ugh.
We have water now, and no bubbling brew, but I'm pretty sure I've got a big question mark over my head begging the answer to the riddle of my water lines.

BSG
I will be taking a train to Reno tomorrow morning so my family will have two vehicles while I'm gone. Kevin is house sitting for a friend that's on vacation, and so is spending most of his time there. I only have one problem with the train idea; I have to get up at 4AM tomorrow. I hate getting up before the sun!!! I think I'm spoiled.
It will be fun though, Mim and I will get to visit for two days before we leave to Eugene, and I always enjoy visiting there. A vacation from my reality. We'll leave her place on Wednesday to go to Black Sheep Gathering where we'll stay with our friend Laura who lives outside Eugene. We're going to the coast on Thursday, then bright and early to the festival on Friday. Yay! :)

Talk to you all when we get back, have a great week!

Oh my, I'd forgotten how fast they grow...

2010-06-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

Derek and Jari watched "Wolfman" yesterday, with Joy on the floor playing and she has learned how to growl... not sure how I feel about that... I gave them a talking to about watching this type of movie with the baby in the room, although neither of them think she's old enough to be affected by it; clearly she picked up something... but then Jari is watching E! all the time, don't know which is worse, a serial killer or a prima-donna.... yeah Ok, but those women truly irk me! lol
It is certainly very cute regardless :)
As you can see she's crawling (kinda) now, and it wont be long before she is pulling herself up onto things, and making all of us jump through hoops.

Home Sweet Home

2010-05-27T13:05:00.001-07:00

Yep, we made it! Got home on Tuesday evening, got up Wednesday with a head cold. Yay.

I feel a little better now, I'm pretty sure it started with the reaction to whatever it was in Chewelah that had me sneezing, then coming home to my cats after 10 days away was just too much for my sinuses.
I have posted some pictures on my FaceBook, they aren't in this computer but as soon as I get them on here I will share.
The trip home was fairly uneventful... except for when I went looking for a car charger for my phone and found my husbands missing gun. Yeah. I had just driven across Oregon and Washington with a concealed weapon. A LOADED concealed weapon.
A couple weeks ago my husband realized his .45 1911 was missing. We reported it stolen after we had went through the house, the truck, and yes the car with a fine toothed comb. It wasn't there then. Whoever took it, and I have to assume it was someone we know, got scared and hid it there after the fact. There is no access to the underside of the seat from the front, and it was shoved all the way up under the seat. I got home and called the sheriff station, the guy asked if I could safely remove the fire arm and if so would I 'read' the serial number to him so they could be sure it was the same gun. If he was so concerned, why didn't he come out to look at it? Guess it wasn't such a big deal to him, but it pissed me off. I told him I had touched the grip, and then put the gun back where it had been, didn't he want to come finger print it??? Apparently not.
So after getting over the realization that I could have spent at least a minimal amount of time in hand cuffs, waiting for them to determine who I was and that I hadn't stolen the gun, had I been stopped and the gun found, I brought the gun in the house. Shortly afterward my son handled it, then my husband. So whoever took it is free and clear and we'll never know for sure.

Otherwise it was a really great trip!

2010-05-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

I couldn't get pictures loaded last night while at my friend Laura's house on Fox Island, so no update, but was able to here in Raymond, WA at my Mom's friend Betty's place.
This is the view that my friend Laura has from her deck, the two following were from the same deck just different views...
Rose garden... the deers love it, hence the lack of roses.

These are Betty's dogs, she took me to the beach after we got here while my Mom took a nap. The tide was coming in and the wind was blowing but I always enjoy a walk on the beach, wind water whatever lol

Just a view... and oh what a view!

Will still be in Raymond tomorrow, will try the beach again in the morning at low tide. In the afternoon my Mom and I will go over to our cousin Donna's house and visit with her for a day. On Saturday we will go to Aberdeen for a visit with my great Aunt, then hoping to be able to get up to Forks and La Push for a quick jaunt on the beach and some spectacular pictures!

Just a Quick Update...

2010-05-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

We are in Wenatchee now, a very nice man (who will get a thank you note from me when we get home) found the problem with my wipers and fixed it. Apparently, there was a loose ground wire! After all that, a guy in a bitty shop, in a bitty back water town (it is smaller than Battle Mountain!) was the one I needed all along. I so wanted to hug him.
On to Tacoma and Fox Island tomorrow!

Washington, the beginning...

2010-05-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

We're here! The first day was a breeze! We stopped in John day because it is about halfway between Battle Mountain and Chewelah Washington.... oh wait. You guys don't know whats going on! lol
My Mom has wanted to go visiting friends and family for quite awhile, so we planned to take a trip to Washington, first to my Sis's home in Chewelah, then to visit Laura, a friend on Fox Island, then to Raymond to visit a cousin and a best friend, up to Aberdeen to visit an Aunt, then take a quicky trip up to La Push! (thats the part I'm waiting for :)
And back to my story...
So we leave John day (after an uncomfortable night... my Mom slept like a bug in a rug, my bed was too hard lol woke up feeling about 20 years older), heading to Chewelah; about 30 minutes out of Pendleton, OR the windshield wiper motor quit. And of course it was raining or I wouldn't have noticed. The really bad part about that is I just had a new (used) one put in! Three days ago! Well, four now. So we have ahead of us the prospect of driving the width of Washington with no wipers. But never fear! We have RainX :)
Lots of pictures to come!
Here are a couple of my 'other' daughter and my 'other' grand daughter :)
Love you guys Mandy!

sigh

2010-05-11T18:43:00.001-07:00

This was the view in front of my house this morning... the flower bed is in dire need of attention, but the daffs don't care... pore little daffs.

Goodies!

2010-05-04T22:22:00.000-07:00

This is it! The fiber I've been waiting for! Merino, bamboo and nylon, its called Panda from Ashland bay. My excellent friend Mim got it for me! Since I started knitting, I thought it would be great to make my own sock yarn (and maybe some for other sockers), and this stuff is soooo wonderful! I will be doing three plys with at least some of this, even though three ply can be so tedious! ...see the wad of dark fiber there at the bottom right?
That belongs with this. I traded Billie (a spinning/shepherdess friend) 8 ounces of the above for this alpaca/mohair blend she just got back from Spinderella's in Salt Lake. I've never sent fiber there (Shari at Morro has me rotten), but it looks like they do a good job!
And of course, the obligatory Joy picture :)) I absolutely love this baby girl!
We'll call this one 'bath time'.

Correction and Apology

2010-04-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

In the post Num-Yummy, where I show that gorgeous, sumptuous, silvery Shetland, I mention that I got it from Mim. I realized after Mim pointed out that she'd never had a ram named Polaris, that I had bought the wool from Lois at Stone Haven Farm when Mim and I had went to pick up a ram. Lois raises some beautiful wool and gorgeous sheep. Thanks for the fleece and I would still like to buy it again :)

WIP.... FO?

2010-04-18T10:48:00.001-07:00

I am not a knitter.

I have said that for many years, I'm a crocheter! I really don't know why I was so averse to learning how to knit, it was almost like I was a traitor for picking up knitting needles. It still feels weird. But when I said to Jo the other day "I'm not really a knitter." she pointed to my then almost-finished sock, and said "I think you are!". Hmmmm.
As soon as I finish the second one I will wash them, hoping they will shrink just a little, tighten up a bit.
This is my pattern, pretty basic. I used the book "Socks from the Toe Up" for the general idea and following the toe and heel pattern but the cuff is mine. I don't tend to wear tall socks much (except the ones that Jo made for me :) so my socks are pretty easy! This is using the short row toe and the short row heel and magic cast on. Maybe someday I'll try cables.I finished a pair before this but didn't count it as too much of an accomplishment; I was following someone else's instruction, kept needing help, and so I didn't feel like I had done them myself. Like I was cheating lol I know, I'm weird.
This is my practice scarf I talked about in an earlier post (and of course the other, unfinished sock). It is the seed stitch (k1,p1, alternately), something I decided would be a good learning tool and it was. It taught me how to 'see' the stitches, what they looked like in relation to one another, and it helped me get past my awkward pearling, helped me look a bit less silly when trying to pearl. I had to frog a few times so it also helped me learn how to undo stitches and how to pick them up again after I'd ripped them out.

And of course, the obligatory 'Joy' picture... I'll let you all come up with a caption to this one :)

Some things I didn't mention...

2010-04-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

I had intended to mention a few more things in that last post, but I was so tired from staying up late with lambs that its actually quite a wonder I got anything up at all.

Lambing this year has been for the most part wonderful. With the exception of Crimson having twins and rejecting one (she went to the neighbor, her and her kids are enjoying having a lamb as a pet :), and one of Bab's ewe lambs dying for no reason I could fathom, lambing has been easy. Then, one of the new ewes lambed in the big pen. I had felt her udders the day before and figured she was an easy two weeks away from lambing, so left her out. Jari called me when I was in town that day and told me the ewe had lambed but she didn't think the ewe knew what happened because she had walked away. This Tunis ewe and one other that came to me from my friend Sam in Moab last year (originally from a Tunis raiser in Oregon) are first time mothers, so it was not unexpected that she would be confused. So I came home. I noticed the lamb was bleating and strong, the ewe had come back to her, but the lamb wouldn't pick her head up. When Jari went to pick the lamb up so we could get her and her mother into the nursery, she kind of screamed, and backed away, I thought she was going to throw up, and said its neck was broken. I went in to the pen and found the lamb with a horribly twisted neck, not broken but the result was the same. Her neck was so twisted that her head was on sideways. My son put her down for us.
Then, last night, the other new Tunis ewe lambed in the big pen (attentive? me? That's two!). While we were watching Grace and making her nervous, Kevin went to feed and come back to tell me there was a new lamb in the pen and it didn't seem 'right' to him. He had his head held low, like you see some sheep do during fly season, and he kept backing up. When I picked him up to get them to the nursery, his heart was hammering! He was dry and warm, despite the 35 degree weather, so I knew he'd nursed, but watching him in the nursery (after a hefty shot of B Complex) I realized Kevin had been right. This lamb wasn't 'right'. After his hair raising adventures in the big pen (all the ewes and lambs were running around bleating for mom, bleating for kids, it was total confusion) he got a bit shocky I think, and just lay down to sleep. I wasn't sure what I would find this morning when I went out, but I had resigned myself to another dead lamb.
When I did go out, there were still three healthy newborns and they were all nursing and seem to be thriving. Despite his posture, the 'not right' lamb seems to be doing fine nursing and hopefully will continue to do well.
So is it just me or could there be a pattern here? Seems odd that I have two 'not right' lambs out of two ewes from the same farm... I have a msg in to the breeder to talk about it, so we'll see.

Michelle asked how many pure bred Tunis we have this year, the total is four.

LAMBING SEASON IS OFFICIALLY CONCLUDED :)

And the Final Tally is...!

2010-04-09T10:45:00.001-07:00

16!
These two were born last night; the pie-bald is a ewe, the other a ram. Notice the wrinkles? They were born to Gracie (we are going to rename her, we already have a Grace, we call her Belle all the time anyway). Gracie came from Mendenhal's The Wool Ranch last year, this is the first time she's lambed for me. I'm not entirely sure what breed she is, other than a Romeldale cross (a Romney and Rambouillette cross). So, these two are CVM/tunis and whatever else Gracie is. I love his wrinkles, means he'll have lots of wool!
These are Honey's babies; the girl is the one with the white top knot. She always has such beautiful lambs! And such a great mom.
This is one of Eliza's three, all her lambs are long bodied and leggy.
Not sure who these belong to (its getting confusing out there, we are going to do tags and tails this weekend). If you click to biggify this you'll get a surprise!
The whole gang! Well, ten of them anyway. The big pi-bald in the middle there is my favorite out of Eliza's trips, I'm thinking of keeping him as a terminal ram.
Joy in her Easter dress, she is so precious!
lol Jari like this one and said I should share it :)
This is what I see almost every day in the chicken coop lately. They all tend to lay in the same place, although there are three of these impromptu nests as well as nesting boxes, if one lays in this nest, all the rest of them will too. I am sure someone is laying about 3 eggs in 2 days, I've only got 8 hens and there are nine eggs here.

I don't know who came up with this name first and I don't suppose it matters, Michelle of Boulderneigh has a hen named Luciel, and here is my Luciel :)
Guess its just a name that fits a chicken. She has no fear of me, in fact sometimes will walk on my feet if I'm in her way. She is the one that lays the blue eggs. She runs out to me when they are out and about, and walks next to me all the way back to the coop where she knows I'm going to feed her.

Num-Yummy!

2010-03-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

Just got my package from Columbia, er, um, I mean Morro Fleece Works.
:))
This is a blend of Targhee and Romeldale, so soft and lofty!
Sorry, not a very good pic, just started on this one this morning, I'll get another pic when I finish a skein.
Meet Polaris! This is one of Mim's Rams, his wool was so nice I couldn't pass it up, but then when I started processing it, something wasn't going well and I can't remember what it was. This was the longest wait I've ever had with Morro, it was about 5 months. She does such an AWEsome job though, it is worth the wait.
Polaris happens to be my all time, bestest, favoritest color in all of wooldom! Would love to have it again Mim if he is available!

One, two, .... oh my

2010-03-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

From the last post you know that there are three ewes in the nursery under watch. We really thought Crimson was going to lamb next, she showed all the signs; head in the air, lip pulled back, turning to look at her belly, lambs rolling around conspicuously getting into position, pawing, pacing, straining, the whole nine yards. Then Misty started straining. I sat out there for a bit last night until I realized nothing was going to happen very soon, and went to bed.
This is what I found this morning.
I was so worried about this ewe last night. Misty was the first to have stiff legs. As hard a time as she had getting up I was afraid she was too weak and would have a hard time delivering. This is only her second lambing. She had twins the first time. So I gave her a B complex boost, 5 cc's in the buttocks, and apparently, wether I helped or not, she did a bang up job :)
Going to have to keep an eye on the lambs to make sure they are all getting plenty to eat, and will probably supplement them anyway. I was surprised at their coloring; they are a chocolate brown!
So, anyone out there know how to get a suckling lamb to take a bottle too?

Spring in Spades!

2010-03-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

For the first day of spring we got... three little lambs :)
Eliza has done it again! She is such an awesome mom! Two big boys and one very petite girl, all fine and nursing and full of themselves!

Still waiting for Misty and Crimson to lamb, I believe one of them will be next. I took Misty (suffolk) into the barn about a week ago because she was acting ketotic. She was stiff and not terribly excited about food. I took Eliza in at the same time because I wasn't sure which was going to lamb first. Then Eliza got stiff. She has been ketotic before and it is a scary situation! Half the things you read talk mostly about death and how little hope there is of pulling them out of it. But we did obviously and she hasn't been there again. Well now I'm thinking it has to be something else. Both sheep have good cover and are not overly fat, how could they be ketotic? Besides there are no other symptoms. I went out to feed yesterday morning and Babs (Eliza's daughter, suffolk/dorset cross) is stiff too!
So now I know it isn't ketosis. I got to thinking about it and realized it had to be the grain I bought last week. I had moved up to 18% protein from 14% (it was all I could get), apparently more abruptly than I thought I had. I talked with Laura and she agreed the grain was most likely the problem. I had also made a call to the vet that had come to take Harry's (border lamb) blood as part of a study on Hairy Lamb Disease the day that Misty started looking ill, he called me back and agreed the first thing he would look at is the feed. He suggested I buy some oats to mix in with the 18% and if it didn't take care of the problem to call him back. We'll have to wait a few days to see if it works.

And on the chicken front, we are done molting! Yay! Now I have two and half dozen eggs in my fridge, but I wanted to show you this... I wanna know who let the turkey in the hen house!?!
I think I have two hens that, more often than not, lay double eggs. Poor girls!

2010-03-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

As most of my friends know, I bought Gracie's fleece for three years before I bought her. I just realized tonight how much her wool has changed! The lock on the left is from three years ago. The lock on the right is from last year. I can't believe I hadn't noticed this before! I sheared her last year for goodness sakes! Wow!
Had to show you guys this; Jari and I got the 'barn' ready today, all except for the straw. I'm demonstrating drop spinning tomorrow in Elko so I can pick some up then, but while we were out running around the property collecting errant fencing (it always seems to move around during the winter), I was again noting the condition of my girls. It looks to me that either Eliza (dorset) or Misty (suffolk) will lamb first, they have the biggest udders at this point. But check this girl out! Holy sheep! And no udder! 'Splain that one to me Lucy!

Voila!

2010-03-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

Oceans of three ply :)

Fiber Projects

2010-03-10T15:45:00.000-08:00

I've been working on another three ply yarn; super wash merino, bamboo, and silk blend from Ashland Bay. It's a lot of work, but I keep reminding myself how beautiful a three ply looks when done, it really makes it worth it. I wanted the Panda blend, super wash, bamboo and nylon for socks, and accidentaly ended up with this, but I love it anyway. It is a really soft, lustrous wool blend that equals the Panda blend, at least in beauty if not completely in strength. It will still make nice socks. I will be getting the Panda blend soon though.

To do the three ply, I will have to get my extra bobbin out and put the full bobbins on a kate.
This is my scarf in progress. It's a very simple pattern, meant to help me fine my knitting technique. k1, p1. Very easy, but it is teaching me how to pearl in a more, um, graceful fashion lol
Made from the merino two ply in a previous post. It is a deep green, the flash washed it out but at least you can see the texture in this picture.
The weather turned icky again, we've had snow off and on all day, along with wind and cold. yay.
Hope it straitens up soon, we will be lambing by the third week of the month. I haven't been able to work my excitement up thinking of the nasty weather we may have to deal with along with the lambs. The garage is almost ready for them, I just need one more good day to finish it. Wish up luck! :)

OMGosh! Two, in one day???

2010-03-07T16:43:00.001-08:00

There are just some things that can't wait. Such as this;
This is Rosie. She is out of Honey, my favorite (and oldest) Tunis ewe. She is a twin, her sister went to live with my friend Sam in Moab. One reason I kept her was her face; she has such a sweet face, with the not-quite feminine nose of her mother, though her ears are her sire's, a bit shorter than I like, but within limits. She has a nice top line, even if you can't tell it by this picture. Rosie has been in a coat since she was about 6 months old, it was big on her then, but was small on her when, today, I got round to taking it off. It bunched her wool up in weird ways.
Her wool is pretty nice, but not real consistent from neck to tail; this is about mid back...
This is about at her shoulders... hmmm I think I know where I'm starting :)

Ham?

2010-03-07T12:08:00.000-08:00

(its a mirror :)

Good News!

2010-03-03T23:52:00.000-08:00

We found Sansa! Well, not exactly 'found' her because the day after I last posted, she wandered into the living room. We looked at her, and I (totally expecting her to answer me) said "Where have you been??" Well she didn't answer me, not in the literal sense, but after she took a mouthful or two of food, a couple laps of water, she went straight back into the computer room and hid under the 'red chair' (it's ancient). The one place on this entire 5 acres of property we didn't look to find her.
I pulled her out and loved on her for a few minutes, then took her into Jari's room. I noticed that her fur was a bit oily looking like she hadn't been taking care of herself. She went straight to the window sill where I noticed something very odd; her right eye wasn't dilating. I looked like an upside down tear drop where the other pupil was almost none existent in the bright sunshine. The first thing that came to mind is that she got kicked or hit with something. Knowing how much she is loved in this house (and how long its taken me to get my husband to respect my cats) I knew no one here would have intentionally hurt her, but there ya go. Something happened. She was dehydrated, and had to be hungry. She refused to come out and when I put canned food in front of her she just didn't get as excited and a cat should with a plate full of canned food! I decided to take her to the vet and after a 45 min drive and 25 bucks, the vet agreed with me. She had no sign of any injury, no temp, but when he pulled back that right eyelid, where it should have been white, it was blood-red.
Not much we can do for her. When we got her home I forced some water, then did it again later. Now she's eating (if not with gusto) and must be drinking water because she isn't dehydrated now. Her fur is even looking better.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

All better!

2010-02-25T16:50:00.001-08:00

She's all better, with a brand new conrod (and one in the wings), and I finished the merino I was spinning when Derek (the brute!) stepped on her (jk, honey :). I started a scarf... I cant see the details but maybe if you biggify...
I finished Joy's socks, but to my utter surprise! (not), they didn't fit her. I have learned a lot from this pair though and will do better on the next. The second had two holes in the heel, not sure what I did there, but it was also tight around the top. I thought I would make my life easier by binding off the same way I knit; now I know why they say to knit from the back of the stitch...

And I know I haven't posted enough of these, but if you're on facebook, look me up, I have bunches of pics of her there :) (look for Rebecca Pennington in the Reno area)
Joy went to the doctor yesterday, the first time since she was a week old. She weighs 9lbs 14oz and is doing just fine! Although she does have a bit of a cold with congestion (its so pitiful!), she is right on target with her growth. I love this outfit and those shoes!!! She is adorable. I may be prejudiced here, just let me know :)
On a sadder note, our Sansa, the "kitten who never grew up" is missing. DH says he saw her yesterday (she stays in Jari's room most of the time) but we can't find her anywhere in the house. She is an inside cat, but will sometimes sneak out the back door when its open; someone went out yesterday and didn't close it good and the wind opened it. We haven't seen her since. Keep good thoughts about us finding her, we miss her very much already.

An Unpleasent Surprise

2010-02-18T17:07:00.000-08:00

I didn't want my next post to be negative, the last one has enough negative in it to last me till next winter. But it seems I don't have much choice, either I don't post or I tell you all what happened.

I've been trying to get myself back to spinning, so I've been sitting in front of my wheel at least a few minutes every day. I bought some green merino to kind of get me kick started and had been working on that. I finished a bobbin full one evening, and decided I would leave it on the bobbin and spin the other bump, then ply from the kate on my wheel.

That night, my husband (he's been on graveyard) comes to bed quite late. As he climbs into bed, he says "I'm sorry, I think I broke your spinning wheel." I had been brought half awake when he opened the bedroom door, but sat bolt upright at this muttered line. "WHAT?" came my startled cry! "Sorry, I went to turn off the light and stepped back and lost my balance. I stepped on the foot thingy and I think it broke."
OMG!!! I was too tired to get up and go look at that point (not to mention terrified to), but I had spinning dreams all night.

See anything wrong?
How bout now?
It's called a conrod. Its a thick plastic rod (same material as the drive band) and is attached to the treadle and to the drive arm (is that the right word?) with screws. The conrod broke where the screw goes through it in the drive arm. So my wheel is sick :*(
I've ordered two of them, all I have to do is figure out how to get the broken piece out of the drive arm. I think it will be easy to fix after that.

I guess it isn't all bad. My foot itches horribly to treadle my Joy (of course, now that I can't), so I started to dig through my bag of goodies and decided to try another pair of socks for Baby Joy (ironic?) since the ones I started before were supposed to be for a preemie, and she is past that now. Maybe I will get these done before she grows out of them :)
Next step, the short heel!

Arrrggghhhh! I hate this time of year!

2010-02-01T11:00:00.000-08:00

I know I'm not the only one winter does this to; its cold, its dark, and its depressing.
I hate that I don't want to do anything that I enjoy, I have to force myself to spin, or crochet. The only thing that doesn't suffer that I love is reading. Plenty of time for that. I don't want to post on here, guess that's pretty obvious.... I don't want to go out side to work with the animals; I have great plans for an old silver sided shed out back, I want to move it over to the sheep pen and set it up as a shelter for them, but I can't seem to talk myself into going out in the cold to clean the damned thing out!
I started crocheting hair scrunchies again, hoping the fact that they are small and quick will help me get back to where I want to be and not put me off when I look at one... you know that feeling you get that says "That job is just too big for me right now, I think I'll go lay on the couch!"? Yep! Thats the one!
I just went to find my pile of scrunchies to take a picture, cant find them. I had them in my hand yesterday, all in a row, and I remember putting them somewhere.... I'm in a fog. I wish the sun would come out. As soon as I find them I'll post a picture.
Oh, and for the worry warts, don't mind me, I do this every year... pretty much.

A New Life Style... Change I Can Live With

2010-01-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed (if you've ever fought being over weight, I'm sure you have) that in order to lose weight and keep it off you can't just change your menu or your level of activity for a few weeks, you have to change it forever.

At Christmas, Kevin and I were talking about his fight to be able to do three pull ups. You might think it should be an easy thing for a 19 year old to do three pull ups, but add 6'4" and 250 lbs to your imagination... there. You see? Very difficult. He isn't horribly over weight, but what he does pack around on that huge-mongous frame, is too much for him to lift. He has to do these pull ups to be able to sign up for the Marines, and I realized at that moment, that while I don't really want him to go in the Marines, it would be heartbreaking to watch him fail.
As he was telling me that it was almost impossible to lose weight in a house where no one else is worried about it, I made a decision; we would all go on a diet. My daughter reluctantly, my husband kicking and screaming. We've been on this diet before and it worked wonders for us (my DH and I, the kids didn't really participate), we just didn't handle it right, we didn't change our lifestyles to go along with it, we also didn't give ourselves any lee way (no rewards at the end of the week, no deviation from the diet) so although we stayed on it for 3 years, it wasn't sustainable. I'm speaking of the Atkin's Diet. But this time, its the "Pennington Approved Atkin's Diet".

We have cut out virtually all carbohydrates from our diet. Absolutely no refined flours or sugars, but we can occasionally have whole wheat bread or use whole wheat flour as these don't affect your blood sugar (GI) as white flour does. I am learning all kinds of new recipes and thoroughly enjoying stretching my cooking 'wings'!
Derek is still kicking and screaming, he hates not being able to walk to the fridge and just grab something to eat, although I am working on that; I started reading about coconut flour and have decided that I am going to start baking with it. I can make breads that can be munched without guilt, even a lemon zest bread that I can hardly wait to make! We can have all the protein we want, such as cheese and meat, and most vegetables are ok, although corn is off the list for a few weeks yet as well as carrots because of their high levels of natural sugars. The addition I am making to this diet plan (and many low carb diets insist on you doing this) is to reward ourselves from time to time, at least once a week, with a food that we love that we normally can't have on this diet. This way, when I see a baked potato, I won't go gaga a fall of the diet wagon :)
So we've been on this diet for three weeks now, any change? Kevin has lost almost 12 lbs, while I (I cheated a little... at first :) I've lost almost 7. Don't know if DH has lost anything, he doesn't think he should have to do it anyway (his gut says different), and DD Jari isn't really a part of it, although it wouldn't hurt her 'baby' fat either.
If anyone knows any really good low-carb recipes, please don't hesitate to share them :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-01-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

And since I'm not very good at putting my thoughts into words, I'll let these people handle it :)

A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to the world!
Charles Dickens

Then sing, young hearts that are full of cheer,
With never a thought of sorrow;
The old goes out, but the glad young year
Comes merrily in tomorrow
Emily Miller

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a
better man.
Benjamin Franklin

A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
Edgar A. Guest

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called "Opportunity" and its first chapter is New Year's Day.
Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Resolve to make at least one person happy every day, and then in ten years you may have made three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy, or brightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment.
Sydney Smith

Your Merry Christmas may depend on what others do for you. But your Happy New Year depends on what you do for others.
Anonymous

Every new year people make resolutions to change aspects of themselves they believe are negative. A majority of people revert back to how they were before and feel like failures. This year I challenge you to a new resolution. I challenge you to just be yourself.
Aisha Elderwynv

Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto man His Son hath given;
While angels sing with tender mirth,
A glad new year to all the earth
Martin Luther King

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!
William Arthur Ward

And may we live in a world at peace and with the awareness of God's love in every sunset, every flower's unfolding petals, every baby's smile, every lover's kiss, and every wonderful, astonishing, miraculous beat of our heart.
Anonymous

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want.
Irish Toast

A Season of Joy

2009-12-22T22:06:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
This year as you all know is filled with Joy in more than one way. Our sweet granddaughter has filled our home and our hearts this Christmas like none since our own kids were born. We have three kids in our home again! I keep thinking though that its going to be a double-edged blessing some day soon...
But for now, we have the Joy of our hearts and the Joy of the season. Following are consecutive pictures of Joy, from a couple days after she got home to just yesterday.

As you can see, she is a lot more active now, something I have been looking for fervently. She has also lost the yellow tint. She 'wakes' up around 8 or 9 every evening and its all you can do to hold on to her, she squirms and flings her arms and legs around like she's running a marathon! It's good to see :)
This is our big Christmas present this year. It was really odd how this TV came into our lives...
I told the kids we wouldn't be having a lot under the tree this year as I wanted to buy the family a large flat screen, probably a 42 inch or something close, and it wouldn't leave much for other things. They were good with that.
Then Kevin went to work at a local furniture store. He delivered a TV just like this one to an older man one day. The man had been having trouble with his older 52" TV and rather than have to deal with sending it back to be repaired he just bought a new one. Kevin asked him if he needed help getting rid of the old one, and the man said he didn't know what he was going to do with it. So, Kevin brought it home. Turned out the 'problem' was two small tubes that cost (w/shipping) less than $7. One of Kevin's best friend's Dad is an electrician. Yeah.
Wow.

Kevin trying to be as tall as the tree; his feet are actually off the floor...
It took 5 tries to get them all to look at me... the man on the left is Miguel, Joy's father, he's doing a great job being a Dad.
Sansa going fishing on FaceBook....
Yeah, she has a thing about TV's too. :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Brrrrr!

2009-12-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

I don't know who ordered this weather but they should be dipped in a pool of cold water and left out in it.

It has been below freezing here for over a week with lows below zero and double digits, too damn cold for any living being, whether woolly, feathered or clothed.
Kevin went out to get the eggs and feed one morning and the eggs were so cold, when he touched them they cracked. So I put a red heat lamb in the chicken coop, hoping that maybe I would get a couple eggs this week and maybe the chickens would have water all night rather than it freezing solid between feedings. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

On another note, Joy is living up to her name. She had her first doctor appointment yesterday and came out none the worse for it, although they really ticked her off when they stuck her in the foot. Whatever it is in her blood that is causing her jaundice is still elevated but the Doc didn't seem too concerned about it, just said we need to keep an eye on it still.
I have a picture I want to share on my phone but for some reason can't figure out how to get it here, when I do I will post it.

Stay warm!

Baby Girl Pennington is now Joy!

2009-12-02T21:46:00.001-08:00

Mom finally settled on a name, Joy Angel-Lee Pennington. Joy is doing fine today but wasn't able to come home yet, they wanted to keep an eye on her for a little longer. Her temp was a bit low this evening but they got her warmed back up and she's doing great.
Because Grandma's a dolt, I kept forgetting my camera in the car, so this is the only picture I have to share with you today, but trust me there will be many more :)

Baby Girl Pennington

2009-12-02T08:12:00.000-08:00

Baby Girl Pennington (Mom hasn't settled on a name yet) was born yesterday around 4PM in Elko Nevada weighing a whopping 5.7 lbs and 18.5 inches long. They estimate she is at least 4 weeks early and after a slightly rocky start she and Mom are doing fine. Pictures and details to follow! :)