Best Laid Plans....

My Father and Mother just celebrated their 77th birthdays... their birthdays are just one week apart. Yesterday you will recall that I had planned on going on a picnic. X that one... Pops (that's my father... ) called and invited us to go to their house for cheese cake which he had bought for my mother's birthday and had forgotten about. So we ended up there instead. It turned out to be a nice diversion actually. Then Daughter #2 and I came home to watch movies... we've been doing movie marathons each night. Sometime watching three in the run of an evening. Mostly they are movies that are at least a few years old.  I really want to go out on the deck but the wind dies down at night and out come the mosquitoes... that's where the new sun room comes in handy.  We open all the windows in there and sit back in comfort and enjoy the night breezes without the irritation of mosquitoes. It's great... I really think that Teapot and I should look into seriously building a screened porch and maybe make it a little more elaborate than I was first thinking.  The west side of the house has been beckoning to us for several years. I keep thinking that we should build a deck out there but it suddenly occurred to me that it would be a great spot for our screened porch.  We could use clear plastic for the roof.... like the kind that you use for green houses... you know that corrugated stuff. Then have screens that are removable in winter. Or we could get a little more elaborate and make it more fall and spring proof.  We could use sensible glass for the roof and turn it into a real room with a wood stove and sliding glass doors everywhere.  Mind you I could be just dreaming.  I'm sure it would cost an arm and a leg.  Teapot hates them but I love house renovations.... it means something new is happening.... and a change in your location is like going on holiday.

So there was no picnic...

Teapot will be home tomorrow... they are traveling today. they are supposed to be in Grand Prairie tonight which is like a hop skip and a jump away... I might even actually get to talk to him.  All the time he has been away he has been where there is no cell phone coverage, and getting to use the pay phone is a fight against all of those JCRs who are calling home.  I've missed talking to him. Daughter #1 is with him and I will be glad to see her too. It seems like they have been gone a very long time.

All day yesterday... I spun. Something I haven't done for a while.  I've been knitting all along... and I'm sorry to say that I still don't have my shrug finished for the 150 hour project.... I ran out of black wool 12 rows from the end.  So now I'm waiting for Rit Dye so that I can finish dyeing the last skein that I have... meanwhile I have started on the 50 hour project for level 5.  I am making a table cloth out of Ramie and linen.  I started spinning the Ramie yesterday. So far so good.  I am happy with the spinning and Ramie is not so bad.... I know I know... you're all laughing that I would choose linen after the hullabaloo I made last year about hating flax.... but I'm not spinning line... I'm spinning tow and there's all the difference in the world.  I will spin Ramie which is white and lustrous and weave it on my 6 inch pin looms and then I will spin linen and use it to join the blocks together. It will be a picture of beauty as the crisp white of the ramie and the ecru of the linen come together.... I'm excited!

So I just had my juice and toast and I'm off to spin Ramie...

Summer Is Supposed To Be Great... Right....?

Remember the days when summer meant going to the beach... or to the lake... swimming at all hours of the day.... living in your swimsuit. Sun burns were common. running through the forest was part of the game and when school ended the summer stretched out before us with endless possibilities.

What I want to know is why my summers don't look a bit like that any more. Every day.... it's feed the animals. Feed more animals.  Weed the garden. Sleep when you can... (avoid the rain although I do have to say that this last week has been pretty good).... worry about money and how to pay the bills.... (Teapot doesn't get a pay check in the summer). Worry about hay and how much we are going to get. Haul water.... haul more water.... and go to the dump with loads of junk that seems to be generated from my home.  Not once have I dipped my paddle this year... Something's wrong.... right?

I'm feeling the urge to shed.... shed some animals... anyone want some sheep?  I'd like to hang on to my alpacas though... but the horse... well I'd be quite happy to see the end of her...  and Honeydew.... well in a heart beat she could go.

We used to take the kids camping.... We used to take the kids canoeing... I want to go back to that.  Lament lament lament...!

Something has gotta be done! You wait... there will be some big changes around this farm... just you wait!

I'm going to be sittin' by a lake... and I'm going to swim and canoe... I'm done with this sittin around doing nothing.

Yup... Summer is going to be like it used to be... picnics that's how I'll start... with a picnic for Daughter#2 and me we'll do it today too.

Nary A Picture To Be Had

Daughter #1 took the camera with her when she headed for JCR camp a week and a half ago and so I don't have any pictures to post from the dyeing retreat. Now that it's over I can safely say that for the first time ever I really didn't want to hostess it.  Not that I didn't want to see my friends and not that I didn't want them to be here... just that I wasn't feeling up to it.  For about 6 months now I've been feeling bone tired all the time and was actually quite fearful that it might be heart related. But I think that the Doctor has finally figured out what's happening with me.  Just before I went to Olds I figured it was time to see a doctor about my ankle and maybe get some regular tests done to see if all was well with my blood pressure, cholesterol, and my thyroid. So I went to see the doctor two days before I headed off down to Olds.  When I got back I kept thinking about my test results and wondering if anything had showed up... after two weeks of waiting to get a call from the doctor's office I had heard nothing and so I thought since our clinic is all frigged up and no one doctor is reviewing charts.... (we don't have a family doctor anymore) that maybe I should check out what had come back from the blood tests. Friday I found out that I'm anemic. I have lots of red blood cells but they are small which means that there is not enough hemoglobin to make them fat and without the iron they can't carry enough oxygen around to my body.  No wonder I'm tired all the time.

I've been oh so tired..  like bone weary tired.  Like put my head down and sleep all the time tired. Even doing a sink full of dishes just about kills me. And it was getting worse recently. So now /I'm taking iron supplements and it may take a week or two before I start to see a difference... but hopefully soon because I still want to just lie down and sleep all the time.  So you see, when everyone arrived at my house on Friday for a joyful weekend of exuberant dyeing I was not really on the same page. I just wanted to go find a place to lay my head.  But it is all over for another year... and while I was not at my best all the others seemed to enjoy it.  And that's what counts.  I did a little knitting but kept finding that I was making mistakes and having to pull everything out and re-knit.  So then I spun for a while and I tried out my Trindleman spindle with 1/3 cashmere, 1/3 yak down, and 1/3 bamboo.  It is lovely to spin on that spindle... I'm quite enraptured.  We also went shopping at garage sales... I was the big winner. I came home with a rocking chair... a painting, an iron headboard and foot board, an hand woven table cloth, a lamp, a willow basket, and several pretty doilies that were hand crocheted in cotton...and in really good shape too. By Sunday there were lovely colours all over the deck. Purples, turquoise, and blue in every shade. Some had done crowded pots, and some had just dip dyed, but they all had lovely results.  For the most part the weekend was a success.

I'm off to work a little on my knitting... Almost there!

The Dyeing Retreat Starts Today.... Please Can We Reverse Time ; \

Well the dye retreat begins today. Blah ick ugh... the weather sucks.  It is supposed to be rainy today and sunny tomorrow and Sunday.... I'm hopeful. The mosquitoes want to eat me and pester me and make life firmly miserable.  There's recycling to do, and garbage to go to the dump... the lawn mower gave out and so we will be camping in our jungle lawn where killer mosquitoes lurk. The deck is in dire need of being cleaned up but I will do that this morning. The garbage will go to the dump since a good friend is working there and I will take a thermos of tea up and we will have a visit in the shack... there's quite a nice shelter/shack and you can see good stuff going into the share shed.... it's all good.  I have to stop off at the Thrift store for some weaving shuttles that just came in. A quick visit to the doctor's office for a check up on the ankle... (which has moments when its better). And then I should be home for an afternoon of cleaning up my damn kitchen which is a crazy crater right now. I made an apple pie yesterday and just as I was about to clean up after making it and getting it in the oven the contractor who did our house renovation two years ago showed up... I had to leave with him to take him to Mom's and Dad's place because he's going to be doing some renovations to their bathroom.. we hope... So the kitchen was left a la mess... which I partially cleaned up last night when I got home but by the time supper was finished I was pooped. (Well I did have to chase sheep in off the road and haul water (4 tanks) and after all was said and done it was my Dad's 77th birthday.... (the apple pie was for him... his favorite). So by the time I sat down last night knitting was the last thing I had on my mind.  For the first time in a very very long time I sat with nothing in my hands and watched a movie.... I don't do that very often. Even when I watch a movie usually I'm spinning or knitting. I certainly miss Teapot's help... he usually hauls water and feeds and chases sheep and goes to the dump and does the recycling... though the last is generally a shared task.

Now along with all of that I'm training a puppy to not pee and poop in the house... this has generally been unsuccessful so far. He's too young to rub his nose in it... he's doesn't know what that means so you have to catch the wee bugger as he is starting to squat and run out the door and put him on the ground before he poops on you.  It is rather a hilarious scene to see my rather large carcass running for the door with a mini poop machine in my hands.... held at a distance. Yesterday he discovered the thrill of peeing in the furnace. Our furnace is in the crawl space beneath the floor and the vent for it is in the floor beneath the steps.... well the little bugger peed in there knowing full well that no one would ever find it... I just so happened to hear psssspspsssspspsp and looked up to see him standing there with a rather glazed expression on his face. Yup.... I can't reach down to clean it out... my arms are not long enough... so thank God we are not using the furnace right now or else we would have a fine aroma in the house.... Teapot will have to face that one when he gets home.

Meanwhile I'm trying to train the damn kitten to use a litter tray. That has not always been successful either... right now I have a tub full of stinky cat's pee and water and shoes... the cat decided the other day to pee in the closet where we keep our runners and shoes etc... 2 pairs of flip flops, 1 pair of red high heels, and 3 pairs of runners are now soaking and being washed.... they will be finished today and then I have to clean the tub out with bleach. Yeah gotta love those pets.

So if you're coming for the dye retreat be ready to experience Frankie in extreme wacko mode.

Arrrrrrgggggghhhhh.... I think I'll go have some tea and some breakfast.....maybe that will make me sane....

Nah... that's just impossible.

It's A Fine Marnin' This Marnin' Narmin

Remember that from last year.  It really applies this year because we have a new puppy... (I know.. that's the third doggy... but honestly there won't be anymore) and his name is Narmin. (For you proper English speaking types that's Normon). And it truly is a fine marnin this marnin.  The sun is out... there's a gentle breeze keeping the mosquitoes bearable.... it's not too hot... and I don't have to go back to the museum today... I can knit... Now can you get any finer than that? It's a fine marnin this marnin Narmin. If it's as fine a marnin tomarrow marnin as it is this marnin Narmin, it'll be a fine marnin again tomarrow marnin, Narmin.

I'm having a bowl of strawberries with cream and sugar poured over them for my breakfast. Yum!  They are local strawberries and quite frankly outstrip the California ones ten to one for taste. I'm hoping that a few weeks of sunshine will bring out the berries in force this year.  For the last few years it has been next to impossible to get local berries because it was so dry. The strawberries are ripe.... the raspberries are about to be just right for picking, and the Saskatoons, then just a few weeks from now it will be time to pick blueberries. That will just be a pleasure.  Is there anything so gratifying as a day berry picking with a picnic in the middle and maybe a quick swim in a nearby lake?  Summertime pleasure at its best.

Narmin is sleeping at my feet.  He's a good little puppy and he is only 7 weeks old.  The first few days were a bit of an adjustment.  He was peeing and pooping all over the house and if you didn't catch him right away it could be quite a mess. But we are getting better and he is starting to whine in an effort to let us know that it is time to take him out. Thank heavens we don't have carpet. He is a sweet looking little fellow. He is a Shi-tzu and Red Heeler cross so basically he is a mutt... just the kind of dog we like... pure bred dogs have too many problems... at least that has been our experience.  While we like Jiggs and Baily they were neither fulfilling our lap/cuddle requirements and so we got this little guy. He likes to sleep on our bed with us unlike the other two... well Bailey likes to sleep on the bed but she likes to push everyone off so we've had to curtail her bed sleeping with us.  Jiggs doesn't like sleeping with us... I think she thinks it is beneath her dignity... which is really weird because when we first got her she loved to cuddle up with us... but not any more. Jiggs is a very self reliant and individualistic dog.  She is not at all in need of our company... she could live out doors and have nothing to do with any of us except for the food thing.  Bailey is totally not self reliant and wants to be a lap dog only she's too damn big. So then there's Narmin... and so far he's very cute and likes to have a cuddle as long as it is not too confining.  He follows me everywhere. Still, he's a chewer and so far has wanted to chew on any fringe... like the ones on my wool rugs. Fingers are also great for chewing.... and toes. Slippers are he best chew toys and he likes to fall asleep with his nose in a pair of slippers. He's quite an interesting little character.  The only real problem with him so far is he falls asleep at about 8 p.m. in the evening and wants everyone up at 5 a.m. which totally sucks... cause I want to sleep and he wants to play.  However, I managed to hold him off to 7 a.m. this morning and his reward was a nice long 1 km walk through the bush... lovely. That's probably why he's passed out under my feet here. He has very short legs and a bushy round bum and walking that far for the little guy just about exhausted him. Still, it got me out of bed and doing stuff already... (though I really want to go back to sleep for another hour!)

The coffee pot is brewing and the smell of rich brown coffee is calling me to the kitchen and the knitting sits on the side table in the sun room waiting to be picked up.  I watched The Spinner's Tool Box yesterday and will give it a bit of a review tomorrow along with Rigid Heddle Weaving (the dvd). I'm off for a day of relaxation and two more patterns on this sleeve and I'll just have the sewing together, the darning in ends, and the knitting of the band around the body left to do... a couple more days I'm hoping on that shrug, and I'll be finished.  Then there is the upcoming dye retreat....

Well I'd better get at it.  See ya!

The Visual And The Tactile

So I've been sitting at the Peck House at the HH Museum for the last two days demo-ing spinning as a traditional/ pioneer skill.  There were very few who showed up, which didn't surprise me as most of the people in this town have at one time or another seen me demonstrate spinning... mostly we were hoping to pick up traffic of those passing through our community. There has been such bad weather of late and with all the road closures etc. there are very few passing through our community... still it was fun to show off the art/craft to those who came.  As a result my 150 hour project has been suffering from neglect... not entirely... because I have been working on it from time to time, especially in the evenings, but not enough... never enough!  This morning though I woke early and came downstairs for reasons I will talk about later (like tomorrow if I get the nerve)... and started knitting right away. While I was knitting I decided to pop one of those DVDs that I purchased from the Interweave Hurt Book Sale. I happened upon Margaret Stove's, Spinning for Lace. Wow, it is awesome. It is by far the best DVD that I have viewed in terms of usable information.  She never opened her mouth on the video without teaching me something I didn't know. Obviously there's a lot to learn out there yet.

Now there's something that could be done for a Group Study for Master Spinners.  Hmmmm...! Maybe I should suggest Margaret Stove to come for the Master Spinners who want to keep working.

Next video... A Spinner's Tool Box. We'll see if that one is as good.

So it looks like it is going to rain again this afternoon. After two days of sunshine I am hopeful that those dark clouds coming our way are full of wind and nothing else... otherwise any farmers out there haying are not going to be happy.

Having just got home from the museum, I'm about to continue on with the second sleeve in my shrug. It is looking awesome and it feels simply .... well, there are no words.  I wish we had feel photos.... you know pictures of how things feel rather than just how they look. There is beauty in this shrug that I am making and I am not trying to brag now... but aside from how it looks (which is quite nice)... it is how it feels that makes me want to sing it praises and that is not something I can take credit for.  It feels nice because the merino sheep have been bred to give fine soft fibre, and the silk worms produce an exemplary fibre, and the Cashmere is.... Oh! The Cashmere is beyond heaven... oh heavenly goats!  I have enough knitted and sewed that last night I was able to slip one arm in one sleeve.... and it feels like the silkiest cloud you have ever felt... it makes you want to get naked and just wear it... sorry I had to describe it that way... it would be like rolling in hundred dollar bills for you tycoon types, or,  for a connoisseur, drinking the finest Scotch Whisky and letting it slide over your palette after twenty years of not drinking at all.  If there were Greek Gods they would be fighting to roll in my Shrug.

Do you get my drift... the Shrug is glorious. The only thing I can think of that even closely compares is new born baby skin... on the inside of your arm. Soft and smooth and sleek all at the same time.  I cannot sing the praises of Cashmere highly enough.

 If I could wear Merino/Silk/Cashmere underwear... yeah... I think I would...

Ok.. enough... I won't say anymore... there have been too many over the top images already!

God.. it's really bad having a visual imagination. I'm just sayin'....

So with that in mind here's another image at the other end of the spectrum.... and thank God it is not a tactile photo....

Ha ha... that's it for me today... I'm out of here... ya hear? Gone...

Good Night To One And All

I've been knitting for the last few days. 150 hour project... is coming along really nicely... though slowly. It looks awesome... even better than I thought it would look.

I woke this morning to a ripping thunder storm... one of those ones that every crack of thunder seems like the sky is going to open up above your head and something awful is going to fall out of the sky and squash you smartly.  Then it rained.... like nothing I've ever seen before... the rain was so hard.... (how hard was it you say?)... it was so hard that it was like someone tipped a bathtub over and poured it over our heads.  But then the weird thing is it just cleared up after that and out came the sun and it was down right steamy and hot hot hot. Teapot says that this is the change of the summer and we will get hot weather from here on in.  We'll see... and if things are like that it won't be fit out since the mosquitoes are dreadful this year.  We'll still be house bound unless we're covered in Deet.

Teapot and Daughter #1 are headed off down to Cochrane, AB for a trip with the JCRs.  It's all good though I have to take care of animals alone while they are away. A few weeks ago Teapot decided that the sheep and horse could get out on graze if we put up a temporary fence around the lawnier parts of the yard.  So up went a temp fence and if ever I had wories about the alpacas I don't any more. Mishka the female alpaca stays inside a three strand fence that in some areas is no higher than just above my knees.  Howeydew the llama, has to stay cooped up since the fence would be a joke for her. The sheep fit through the wires but because Mishka stays inside the wires they don't wander far. Usually on our property or within a short range of our place.  Meanwhile the horse goes into another area with a temporary fence and is loving the fact that she can eat green stuff instead of hay. However, with all horses and animals in my experience... the grass is always greener... so she lifts the wires and heads off in her own direction... it's good that she is such a placid horse because Daughter #1 has been known to be dragged down the road holding on to the tail of her horse until such time as Dreamer will stand still to get the halter on her. Then she is quietly lead back to her digs with head hanging low.  Silly horse.  While the dear Daughter is away I think Dreamer will be staying inside her paddock and living on the bit of grass that has been able to grow up in there recently.... that and hay.  Meanwhile the alpacas are grazing on their two new paddocks and enjoying the new digs... they will hopefully be ok there till Teapot gets back.  Still the whole thing is a worry when I'm here on my own... Daughter #1 is a good help but sometimes she's a bit hard to jump start.  Hopefully there will be no surprises.

Well it is getting late and there is a sleeping dog with it's chin on my foot and I think it's time to hit my pillow... all is peaceful and Daughter #2 is sleeping, Daughter #1 is reading in the sunroom and is too excited about her trip to sleep... she'll have time in the vehicle to do lots of that.  Teapot is packing the last of his gear. They leave at 10 a.m. My knitting is sitting on the side table next to my chair in the sunroom... it's calling me... I just wonder to I have the hutspa to knit another row or two or should I just face reality and head off to bed....

I think bed is winning.

Good night... and stay tuned for my foray into Pioneer days at the HH museum, I'll be in costume...

Quote For The Day And A Few Other Things

I had a comment saying that the links I placed in yesterday's post were not working... they work for me.  They are two links to YOU Tube videos of men Air surfing... They fling themselves from airplanes with surf boards attached to their feet and fall to the earth surfing the wind currents using the board to help them.  Then when they are almost down to the ground they open their shutes and land as though they are birds. It is quite something to see. If you want to view it and can't get through on the links in yesterdays post just look up Air Surfing on You Tube.

The rain is still coming... in small amounts and so we find ourselves cooped up in the house. It is giving me a great opportunity to knit... and so I knit. My 150 hour project is coming along nicely... But I need to keep knitting. My posts here over the next few days will be short as I try to knit as much as possible.

Here's a quote for the day... Teapot read it to me from a book he is reading and quite frankly I found it to fit my personal philosophy quite nicely....

There is pleasure in pathless woods;
There is rapture in the lonely shore;
There is society where none intrudes,
Where horned owls hoot and night hawks soar;
Not that I love man the less but nature more.
                                                   (Unknown, possibly C. W. Mitchell)

Wackos In This World

Sometimes insanity can be pathetic.....


But sometimes insanity can be awe inspiring.....

Check this out

and this

I Can't See Through This Fog...Oh... That's The Sleepy Dust In My Eyes

This morning even the mosquitoes are walking. I'm sure that the fog is so thick that they just are too nervous to fly. Really it doesn't surprise me that it is so foggy. We have been having so much rain this year that it looks positively tropical out there. Still I'm not complaining, though I do hope the farmers are able to get their hay off. The fog is golden coloured off to the east so the sun must be trying to burn through.

I peered out through the murk at half past 6 and wended my way downstairs for a cup of tea and to let the dogs out for a bathroom break. I needed to stay by the door and keep an eye on Jiggs since she ran away last night. We are thinking that there is something that distracted her in the bush, like a baby deer or maybe a bear (I'm thinking baby deer since the alpacas and llama are quite peaceful). Usually she will come when she is called but not this time. Then Teapot got mad and that made her run faster. She was gone for a good half hour and only came back when Daughter #2 coaxed her home.  So while I watched through the window this morning, I began to read The Alden Amos Big Book Of Hand Spinning. I've always been told that if there is one book that a hand spinner needs in their library it's The Alden Amos Big Book Of Hand Spinning. So this year, while Interweave Press was having its Hurt Book Sale, I decided to finally buy it... it's hilarious. Alden Amos, I think, must eat shards of glass for breakfast to be so sharp. (That's a compliment.. weird I know).  At one point he is talking about cleaning fibre and in this instance silk in particular.... he says, "About the only time you have to clean silk before spinning is when you have raised, purchased, or fallen heir to a quantity of mangled, semi-occupied cocoons. In which case you have my sympathy." Ha ha, he cracks me up....  Anyway, the books is awesome. It has everything that you could ever want to know about hand spinning and then some. I've already learned lots and I'm only on pg 49.

Fog seems to be a prevalent issue these days. Last night, when Jiggs went missing, I decided that perhaps I should take the truck and have a look for her on the road. I didn't really think that she had gone that way... I really figured that she had run into the bush, but then I'm not an expert on freaked out dogs who are thirsting after something to chase. So off in the truck I went. That's when I noticed the fog from hell.... there is a streak of some substance on the windsheild of the truck that no sane person can see through. It is the fog from hell.  It's hard to drive when you are constantly putting on the windsheild wipers in an effort to wipe away the offending substance on your windsheild. Suffice it to say that I wanted to get out and like the proverbial grandma produce a tissue from the sleeve of my sweater and wipe the offending slime off. However, SINCE I'M NOT OLD, (I only fall asleep in my chair because I have narcolepsy...  just joking) I didn't have the required tissue. In the end I didn't drive far and by the time I got home Jiggs was there and it was raining again. (I must say... a little sun would make me feel better if it would only come out for a little while.... but really I'm not complaining!!) The humming birds too seem to be staying in the trees... because I'm refilling the feeders for them and the only thing coming to the feeders are the ants that promptly fall into the feeder and then drift to the top of the syrup, dead. So I'm wondering if the hummingbirds too are feeling that there is just too much fog... still they have to eat... perhaps they have left for the year and are roosting in sunnier climes.

It's years like this that remind me why we left Ontario... The mosquitoes there were unbearable. They would land on the window screen by the thousands and to go outside the door meant that you were taking your life in your hands. It's years like this that make me think that a screened porch is just the ticket.  Teapot and I have been seriously thinking about a screened porch since the year of the renovation, but it has not gotten past the planning stages at this point. Still I may have to prod Teapot into taking out his dreaded hammer if we are to survive this summer.

Oh looky!  There's blue sky above.... maybe just maybe I can sit out and knit today... for I finished spinning the two spools of Merino/Cashmere/Silk that I was spinning yesterday and I even got it dyed. So now it's straight knitting for the next few days and hopefully.... hopefully, I'll be finished with that level 4 homework...

Have a great day. (And try not to sleep in the fog... because even walking mosquitoes will find you and enjoy a good suck).

Spinning Day... Dyeing Day

Right now I'm plying the last of my 150 hour project... I know I've said that before but this time I know that I'm spinning the last amount. I have 450 metres of yarn coming off the bobbins in about 2 hours from now. I started to fall asleep at the wheel (ha ha that's so funny... I wonder if the cops will pull me over for that!) mostly because I went to bed really late last night after spinning the last two baggies of fibre. This morning I got up at 8 a.m. and started spinning right away. But even with a coffee in me (actually two) I found that my eyes are getting heavy so I should be snoozing instead of writing on my blog... but here I am.. all the same.

Teapot, I'm sure is sick of doing everything while I spin. He just punched down bread and put it in the pans so that I wouldn't have to wash goat stench off my fingers (I'm spinning unwashed Cashmere which is kind of rank). I'll be glad to get this stuff plied and in the dye pot. I'm looking forward to getting back to knitting.  My goal is to get this in the mail to my instructor by Monday.... and yes I will post pictures of it before it goes in the mail.

I just received in the mail yesterday a stack of books that I bought from the Interweave Hurt Book Sale. Oh joy and bliss!  Videos and books to peer at and take pleasure in.  Last night I lay in bed perusing Spinning Control (I can't remember who wrote write now and I'm not running upstairs to get it either!) and this morning I watched the video Spinning Rare Breeds. Awesome so far... loads of information that nobody would want to have except for us nutty spinning types.

It has stopped raining... though it continues to threaten. Everything is so lush that it looks like a jungle around here. Yesterday Teapot and I walked the forest trails in the wet and by the time I got home my legs were soaking wet and my feet. Jeans went into the wash because they were wet to the thighs and the runners had to be left on the deck.  The walk itself was lovely... we looked at the reams of Bedstraw  plants that are growing profusely. And Teapot pointed out the beautiful blooms of the Wintergreen plants that are also blooming in profusion. I have not seen any orchids this year but it may be too wet. Mushrooms are everywhere. Teapot brought home some giant puff balls which were yummy with steak the other night. Still my favorite are the good old fashioned regular puff balls.

I'm off for a quick snooze before I carry on with that plying... I can't believe that it is over a week since I got back from Olds and I'm still feeling pooped. Yup it's a sure sign that I'm getting old.

Well I ain't dead yet....

Slogging Through

Slogging through Seems to be an apt title today since I seem to be slogging through a bunch of stuff.  The rain has been pouring for a few days now and though right at the moment it is not raining it seems to be possible that at any moment the skies will open up for another downpour.  the forecast called for a drying trend two days ago but it has not stopped raining heavily all the same... so much for predictions!

Everywhere there is mud... have a look at this...

The water is pooled every where and will not dissipate...

This is a rare thing indeed...
Even my flowers got hit....

They look so pathetic in their barrels with the petals all beaten down.
... and through it all we're slogging through. All that praying that I did last year must be coming back to bight me on the bum. Everything is looking lush and green and I guess we did need the water but why things can't come in a more measured way is beyond me.

I've been slogging through spinning for the 150 hour project. Yes I ran out of yarn and need some more...  not much, but some, so I have been spinning for the last few days whenever I possibly can. I'm doing ok and I only have two more baggies of fibre to spin so I should have that done today if all goes well and there are no interruptions.  At least that is my plan. But I really have my mind on the next project so I'm slogging through the 150 hour project too.

For the last few days I've been helping the parents move furniture around in their house. They have decided to move Dad's chair into the spare bedroom in an effort to give him some privacy.  His chair is is home... he sleeps in it and eats in it and pretty much lives in it. We also brought him in a book shelf and desk so that he can continue working on his 3000 page book of genealogy. He has been working on it for twelve years now.  He has traced our family back to the time of William the Conqueror. so he has written a book  of our family. It's actually quite interesting... but time consuming.  Meanwhile it has been a slog cleaning up the papers and Christmas cards and birthday cards that date back ten years... real horders they are. They also had a leak in their bathroom so Teapot has been doing his best to fix that... slogging is actually an understatement for all of that.

Teapot and Daughter #1 leave at the end of the week for summer camp with the JCRs. They are headed for Cochrane, AB, for ten days of fun so we are trying to get done everything that we need to do before they go. It is an intensive time for sure. Too much to do in too little time... but we're slogging through.

For family member who want to see them I leave you today with another picture of the girls... on the eve of that graduation ceremony of two weeks ago.

Can you tell that Daughter #2 doesn't think much of getting her picture taken.??? Yeah kind of...

Have a great day and hope you're not slogging through like I am... and no more rain.... at least for a few days... not likely!

Rainy Days

We've been having a few days of rain and a few weeks ago while I was in Olds, certain areas in our region were dealing with flood-like conditions. The rain we've been having again this week is really making life difficult for those who were hit not so long ago. Teapot and I remain dry as we are on higher ground but our poor alpacas are suffering in this rain. They are in the new paddock and though there are tons of trees to get under, they are all soaked through to the skin.  I really wish we had a shelter for them in there. But you can't put shelters everywhere, so they will just have to suffer through this wet weather.

This rainy day started with me waking early and not wanting to wake Teapot I felt that perhaps I should evacuate the bed in an effort to let him sleep.

Normally rainy days in summer means that I would haul out a puzzle and go to work on it but not this day. I've been reading blogs and passing time on the Internet. (I'm giving myself a free day from spinning as I twisted my ankle again last night and thought that a day from treadling might aid it somewhat. And it was getting better too...) I happened to read a blog post that quite interested me... it was a review with a philosophical bent of a movie called The Tree Of Life. I've not heard much about this as I'm not getting a whole lot of information regarding current movies these days... (with no T.V. movie info and for that matter popular culture news is not really a prevalent part of life.) So after reading the review I went to IMBd to check out whatever info I could find regarding the movie.  It seems to be a somewhat philosophical look on life in the 1950s and familial relationships in middle America. So having read the review and watched several trailers I'm about to embark on a commentary that might be somewhat off base.  I will have a look at the movie at such time that I can find it on video... until then I must be patient.  So bare that in mind as you read what I have to say...

The movie opens with this quote apparently:

"The nuns taught us there were two ways through life - the way of nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you'll follow.

Grace doesn't try to please itself. Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries.

Nature only wants to please itself. Get others to please it too. Likes to lord it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it. And love is smiling through all things."

Opening lines from the movie, Tree of Life

I ran into trouble right away. The one thing that I have noticed in life is that Aristotle still reigns supreme in our concepts of how life is or should be... for I do believe that it was he who initiated the idea that the realm of the spirit and the realm of the passions... i.e. nature... i.e. our baser nature.. should be completely separate. 

I have a very different view of nature... I believe that nature can bring us closer to the spirit. I believe that the two cannot be divided. That they are intrinsically connected and that in trying to separate the two, it tears us apart and turns us into anything but the truly human. By exploring how the two are connected and by keeping them connected we are able to be more human. We are undeniable a source of both nature and spirit and when we try to separate them that is when we get into trouble. 

For example;

I see a dish of ice cream... I want to eat it but I know that if I do I will get fatter.

In Aristotle's way of thinking... I have two questions before me. Do I deny my self my physical want, thereby reaching for the higher moral of the spiritual, or do I succumb to my baser nature. 

I think that way of thinking is just plain wrong. When we deny one or the other that is when we get into trouble. It is the Middle-Road Theory that I prefer. 

For example: 

I see a dish of ice cream and know that if I eat too much it will make me fat and possibly sick in the future. So I eat some but not a lot, thereby not denying my physical wants but also reminding myself that too much of a good thing can be bad.

Nature and spirit are neither denied and in the end it is a healthier choice because I've learned to bring both together, denying neither part of my humanity.
 

This is a somewhat simplistic example but it helps to make my point.
 

If we were taught this from our youth the world would be a much happier place I think.
 

As we go along in life so much comes into play. The more we learn, the more there is to consider in each and every challenge we face or decision we make. In the end we only entangle ourselves further by denying that which is a part of us, be it spiritual or natural.  The natural is not the enemy. Just because we run naked in the rain is not a bad thing.... (I don't do that really!!! I might get a black eye. LOL) But neither is the spiritual the epitome of the enlightened life... have you ever found an intellectual to be someone you really want to spend time with?!  Even the Dalai Lama eats ice cream.

The human-centric idea in the initial quote from the movie is what has gotten the whole world in trouble in the first place.  We cannot separate ourselves as being above the animal world. It is the idea that we are better than animals that I have difficulty with...  I believe that we are animals. We are as much living beings as anything else on this planet and denying that is truly the mistake. We are no better or no worse than anything else... (which could lead me into a whole other area of this philosophy... maybe I'll expand on that tomorrow... or maybe I won't!)

So though I have not seen The Tree Of Life... I look forward to seeing it and exploring what was the view of the person who conceptualized the movie.  But always I will bare in mind that nature and nurture come together to be beautiful... in every aspect and should never be separated.

And that's it for waxing poetic on this rainy day... I'm off to move furniture at the parent's house... and maybe do a little spinning depending on this ankle of mine.

Hope you all like the new look of my blog...

While I Was Away

While I was away the kitten grew and started to really walk and play.

There was a terrific downpour which over flowed all the rivers, and washed out many of the roads.

 

And Daughter #1 attended the Graduation ceremonies this year. She was a candle barer for one of the boys that was graduating....

Thanks to my good friend G who was a mom to Daughter #1 and helped her with her makeup etc while I was not able to...

Sometimes I wish Fibre Week at Olds College was a little later in the year. (sigh)

Delightful Days

With summer here in full force I find myself stuck in the house.... which really isn't fair. I want to be out on the deck but the mosquitoes are heavy enough to carry me off and that's saying something since my backside is pretty mighty these days. During the day the wind comes up and drives those mosquitoes off in the direction of who-knows-where-land. And if I try spinning out there then the current fibre wants to blow away from me too.

While I was away at Olds there was a mighty downpour. It rained and rained and rained so hard that in two day there was more rain than we had all of last year. The rivers were full, the ditches were full and soon the water was trying to go in places it doesn't normally go. Everything is green and beautiful this year, everything is growing well. But in Chetwynd, a town some 63 kilometres to the south of us, trains were derailed and roads were washed out and they were hit very hard indeed. Hudson's Hope almost got cut off completely.  If it weren't for the diligence of one really good tractor operator who had his machine down on the banks of our wee creek building up the banks with rocks, the bridge would have been washed out for sure.  The strange thing is that everything went back to normal fairly quickly after the rain stopped... but now the forecast is predicting another rainfall like the previous one.  This morning the sky is blue with nary a cloud in sight. The farmers in the valley are starting to mow their hay. Rain right now is really a burden and not a good thing at all. Now we want sunshine to dry the hay that is already cut. Rain will just mean bad hay in the fall.

Sometimes I wonder if the weather will ever be right.  Dry summers like last year are devastating. The grass hoppers thrive and while they don't bother you much when you are on the deck, they do decimate veggie gardens and hay fields.... and drought is never good for gardens. Then if you do get rain in the spring everything grows nicely but the mosquitoes are plentiful... and you had better hope the rain stops when it is time to cut hay because if the hay gets wet your animals still suffer through the winter with moldy hay. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth having a farm at all.

Teapot has weeded our carrots and beets but for some reason the beets are not doing as well as they should be. We didn't get the potatoes in at all... that will have to be for next year.  I would be out there in the garden each and every day but I'm working on my 150 hour project and in a hurry to get it done, so I'm not being a farmer at all it seems.

Still, farming aside, you couldn't ask for a more pleasant summer. Teapot and I walk each evening a short walk to the highway and back on the trails through my beloved forest. A 2.6 kilometre walk and slowly I can feel that my ankle is strengthening.  These are the delightful days of summer. There are strawberries to be picked and eaten, and hopefully with all this rain the blueberries will do well this year.  We might not have potatoes in the fall but we will have carrots and some beets. And if all goes as well as I hope, the animals will be well taken care of this year too.

Yes, absolutely delightful.

I'm off to spin a little cashmere/silk/wool for that blasted 150 hour project. I'm so close to being done I can almost taste it. And guess what... I'm going to try doing it on the deck! Mosquitoes here I come...

By The Sea

Well, it has taken me a few days to realize it but summer is upon us. It's the time of the year when Canadians everywhere fit out their RVs or trailers or campers and head to the bush for weeks of mosquito munching fun.  As a child summer meant long trips to my grandmother's and grandfather's house where we would spend dreamy days on the local sandy beach body surfing in the crashing waves and re-diverting the brook that meandered behind the beach and eventually crossing the sand to the ocean waters. I would spend hours with my cousin playing in the water that entered the ocean from the brook because there and only there did the brook water mingling with the ocean currents make the temperature anywhere near bearable. The water of our local beach was cold... really cold but we still managed to have a wonderful time in the shallows swimming with the jelly fish.

My first swim suit that I can remember was a green two piece and I was really proud of it... it looked good on me... I looked great.

When I got older this did not appeal quite as much... I began doing what every other person it seems likes to do. I started camping. Swimming was still a large part of it because usually you would camp by some lake where you would tear down to the waters edge with your boyfriend at midnite to frolic in the cool depths.

I remember a yellow swim suit passed down to me from my sister and then a navy blue one with white that to this day reminds me of Jackie Kennedy... I don't really know why.

Then I moved to Ontario and camping became canoeing... and still I swum. We would grab the canoe on hot days and paddle to the nearest island (and there were plenty) where we would promptly remove our clothes for a skinny dip in the warm waters and cool ourselves down also taking our skin off the market for the abundant clouds of mosquitoes and black flies. As long as we were in the water we would not need deet.

Then I had a miserable bikini in a orange and purple multi colourway... Ick!

Then I moved here and was pleased to discover that though we lived next to a unswimable river there was a local outdoor pool for our amusement. The kids were little and so Teapot would stay in bed each morning as  rolled out of bed and head for the pool. An hour to swim and then home for breakfast. Soon the girls were old enough to come too... and so we all went swimming. After years of this we moved a little further out of town and I find that I have lost my interest in swimming daily. Occasionally when I can stand the heat and sweat no longer I will convince Teapot to load up the canoe and the kayaks and we head to the Cameron Lake School Centre for an evening of water activities and hot dogs on the fire... but we don't do that often.  Somehow, somewhere I have lost my summer need to submerge myself in water.

After that I remember a lime green bikini, and a black and white polka dotted bikini, after that there was a red one piece....

I never took official swim lessons... I learned the old way.... trial and error. First I learned to float... and that was in the shallows of a beach off the coast of Massachusetts. Then I learned to doggie paddle in the waters of a swimming pool where my father insisted we go each Sunday for a couple of years in my very young youth. Then I learned to spread my arms and do the breast stroke in the waters of that local beach by my grandfather's house.... where I also eventually learned to body surf. Soon I was diving and swimming under the water and acting more otter than human. I love swimming... and I miss it dreadfully.

Then there were numerous black one pieces... and now I have this aqua blue strappy one piece that probably is too small.

Yesterday I splurged... I bought a season pass to the swimming pool here and have decided that a swim a day would do me good. Adult swim to be exact... 6:30 -7:30 p.m.

Now I just have to get a swimsuit to fit... like pulling teeth that will be!

Things That Go Bump

There has been a slight bump in our otherwise smooth road... Teapot is not going to Australia after all... thanks to the passport office my dear one will be missing out on the biggest chance of his life. He's taking it in stride... on the other hand I'm super pissed off.... ( I even spelled that last bit out so that means I'm really really ticked)! 

It's just not fair.  He needed his passport yesterday ... he will get it next week.

I think I'll go kick Murphy out... he's been under that china cabinet too long... he's formally getting a dismissal from our lives.

That's it... that's all I've got for today... I'm just to spluttery at the mouth to say anything of any use to any one!

Numb

Yesterday was not the day I expected. By the time I had read through all the emails and blogs that I had been out of touch with for the last ten days, it was lunch time. I didn't eat lunch, instead I headed upstairs for a shower and to get dressed. I made my bed and suddenly I was falling asleep... so... I fell asleep on my nice soft bed and stayed there for several hours at which time I had visitors. I had a shower while the Daughters got tea for my folks. We had a nice visit which is not always what happens but it was good yesterday. After they left I unpacked the stuff that was still littered all over the living room.  It was then that I discovered that somewhere between Olds and home I had lost all the stuff that I had bought in Olds! No Ramie. No Merino in blue or yellow. No fawn mohair in the grease. No orange mohair batt. No grey yak/bamboo/cashmere blend. No dye.... Procion or acid. No knitting needles. I'm really hoping that all of my stuff got taken out at my friend's house and left there. If not I don't know where it is. Never leave husbands to unload vehicles... it just screws things up.  I was so numb from all the driving that I never noticed when I got to the switch what was being taken out of the vehicle and loaded into mine and what was being brought into the house.

Speaking of numb.... meanwhile my two fingers...the pointer and the middle finger on my right hand (the one with no thumb) are numb. Like I mean seriously numb. Can't feel a thing. Too much knitting I'm thinking. But of course I need to keep knitting if I'm going to get that 150 hour project done. So I expect numbness in my hand is going to be the norm for the next while. then there's all that worsted spinning which also adds to the numbness in those two fingers... ow! : (

After all was said and done Teapot and I went for a lovely walk down through the bush. We headed down the trail that takes us to the highway and we had a lovely time as I told him some of the stories of Olds. It was during the porn star story of one of the instructors that we noticed blood on the tail in tablespoon quantities every few feet that was fresh for sure. Then Jiggs came bounding back to us and there on her paw was a pulsing-blood two inch gash. Hmmm... so we turned around and headed home. Teapot set out ahead of me since he can walk faster than I. By the time I got back to the house Teapot had things well in hand... Jiggs was cleaned up and he was in the process of bandaging the gash up. So now Jiggs is numb in the foreleg too.

Oh lovely the missing Olds purchases have been found. I just got an email from my friend to say that she had discovered that my purchases were among her stuff. All's well that ends well.

I'm kind of feeling a little numb this morning... like I'm trying to figure out just what happened to me. Over tired. Over tired. And over tired some more. Even though I slept 14 and a half hours the first night I was home and I slept 9 hours last night I just sort of feel numb.  There even seems to be a bit of brain numbness going on. I hope nobody tells me anything that I should remember because my brain feels like its just plain numb.

I wonder when I'll feel.... well... not numb. 24 hours? 36 hours? I hope not too long. Maybe I'll go back to bed. Perhaps when I wake up I won't feel numb.

Numbny numbny numbnynumbny num num. (to the tune of the lone ranger) Numb!

And I'm Back In The Saddle Again

The saddle being the big blue comfy chair that sits in front of my computer monitor.

Well, I got back just after 6 p.m. last night after a full 12 and 1/2 hours bumping along over the road.  I was totally not a good partner for the trip as I was completely bushed from not sleeping much for the last several days.  Scintillating conversation was not my forte as we rolled along... I kept nodding off in the passenger seat. My poor driving partner had to suffer the trip with no one to help her stay awake. I did try my best but there was a wall that I kept hitting and the back of my eyelids kept me coming back over and over. When I got to FSJ, Teapot picked me up and we still had to get groceries... argh!  Somehow I managed to survived that and I got home quite exhausted. Teapot managed to get some supper into me and then I hit the bed where I promptly closed my eyes and slept solidly for 13 hours before opening my eyes for a quick trip to the loo and another hour and a half of more snoozing. I can't remember the last time I slept for 13 hours straight without a little wake up. I had to be in my teens. But this morning I feel much more rested and ready to face the day. But it is no wonder I was so tired yesterday since I arose at 4:30 a.m. (that's 3:30 a.m. B.C. time) and we were on the road by 5:42 a.m. Alberta time (4:32 a.m. B.C. time) a long day for sure.

So here I sit, breakfast in hand and I know some of you have been lamenting the written word found here at my humble blog.... (snork!) Why on earth you miss the happenings of my life is beyond me. But here I am, back again.

Fibre week was, as usual, a great experience.

My class mates, instructor and I.

 It was tougher for me this year and I missed some of the events in the evenings as I was fighting the swollen ankle thing the whole time I was there. The swollen ankle has improved some and I enjoyed the walking to and from from classes through the lovely grounds where flowers of every description took my breath away.

The first two days reminded me of how out of shape I've grown this past winter as I would have to stop and take a short few seconds on the many benches for a chance to catch my breath... I have made a resolution to try and get myself in shape this year so that when I return again next year, I will be in better shape to walk the grounds for more enjoyment. Still, by the end of the week I was doing better and though still finding it hard to not puff and pant, was able to walk the whole way without stopping to sit for a moment. I'm definitely needing some exercise though, and that will be the focus for this year. However, the bench moments were a great opportunity to get back to some art and while I was there I had picked up, at Staples, some gel pens, so I took the opportunity to draw whatever was around me.... usually flowers and trees and landscaping. Some of my drawings are quite lovely, even if I do say so myself,

This drawing was based on....

... this view.

so I at least used my time on the bench, productively.

Patsy Zawatoski was the keynote speaker this year and she was truly an inspiration. She is a graduate of the COE (Certificate Of Excellence) from the Hand Weaver's Guild of America, which is also something that I am interested in. (That may be my next endeavour but we will see.)

The Olds Master Spinning Program is suffering some growing pains and it is difficult to watch.  2013 will be the centennial year for Olds and the 25th year for the Fibre Week and the Master Spinning program. One would think that after 25 years the college would have their act together but it has only been about seven or eight years that the current continuing education coordinator took over the program and evidently he basically was working from scratch.  He has done an amazing job with the program taking it from being virtually non-existent to having over 400 registrations. I think he's amazing and I really hope he stays with the program for a long time yet. In the last few years they have introduced a curriculum which is still being modified and that is where the trouble begins. Curriculum always is difficult when being organized and decided upon. This expert will say that this is required and that expert will say no to the first one and introduce some other topic and that is what the Master Spinning Program is undergoing. This in turn, makes it difficult for the student, since we are constantly second guessing the program and ourselves.  It happened for me in level 1 and I thought, "well they'll have it sorted next year." But then it happened in level 2 and once again I thought, "well they'll have it sorted next year." Each year there has been a curfluffle of some kind with the work book requirements or with the Modules/text books and still, in level 5 it happened again. You could say that it is frustrating... I think mostly because I happened to land in a strange year.  I came at a time when the Modules were being introduced and have followed along with the updates the whole way. I'm not sure that the other levels are having the same problems. Next year is level 6... its the testing year/ in depth study year for me and I'm really hoping that when the instructors get together next time that they think long and hard about the level 6 students next year and realize that things need to be right for them. We've put up with a lot, I think, and I would like to see it settled for us. I want to know that I graduated from a program that I can be proud of.

I have always believed in life long learning. I think I might have mentioned that here a few times... for me it is necessary for keeping the mind active and it is a great opportunity to get out there in the world and not feel completely cut off as sometimes happens with people who live in the nether (well maybe nether is a bit strong) regions of the world. I am happy to say the there was an octogenarian in my class this year, which was a true inspiration to me. If anything ever encouraged me to continue on with learning, it was him.... (yes him! I had a him in my spinning class!) I hope that if I make it to 80 then I'm as alert as he is and as inspirational as he is.

We had a great group in our class this year and lots of laughter was the name of the game... even though the learning curve was kind of flat this year. We either have reached the pinnacle of learning in spinning or level 5 needs some bumping up. Mostly it was, "try this" and "try that"...  but really it was never demonstrated and so we were left to figure out a lot of stuff through reading. I'm not sure I believe my $543.00 in tuition was well deserved in this case and I'm thinking that the instructor I had, may have been better placed elsewhere in the MSP... I hope that doesn't sound terribly harsh... but I came away feeling that something was seriously lacking. I can't quite put my finger on it because I did learn... just not as much as I expected... perhaps my expectations were too high.

Level 4 homework has been left with my level 4 instructor except I did not complete the 150 hour project, as I had hoped... I just didn't get it finished in time... though I am close. I do have to send it to him in the next couple of weeks, so today will be spent knitting. My level 4 instructor will hold off marking my work till then... so I'm on the clock. I had intended it to be a shawl but I really wanted it to be a shrug... so now that I have it home, a shrug it will become... I will have to fix a few things on the write up like changing the word shawl to shrug and bumping up the time somewhat since I've already gone over the amount of time that I had guessed it would take me. But I am glad that I am so close to being finished. Then I will be biting into the next level.

While in level 5, I made a decision. I tried a new fibre called Swalesdale which is a very coarse sheep wool that has tons of guard hair and kemp (a coarse wirey hair for you non spinner types) in it, which makes a lovely scratchy yarn that no one in their right mind would like. But being me and a bit of a weirdo, I fell in love with it... so for my level 3 fifty hour project I am knitting a scratchy winter/late fall jacket and saving my cotton baby blanket for my level 5 homework. Mmmm I can't wait.

The dye retreat comes next and that is only a few weeks away. I will be starting to organize for that and I will be sending out reminders to the guilds for their reports for the summer issue of the Threads Along The Peace... the newsletter that I edit for the PCSW. That will take up the majority of July. Teapot is readying to go away with Daughter #1 for ten days in July and only is back for one night and then off to Australia after that, we hope.... the passport is still being awaited... and phoned about and so on... So July is lining up to be a bit of a freak show. I have a tapestry to be woven and I'm spinning wool and cotton for dyeing in August when a friend and I will be getting together for a few days of nature dyeing with logwood and cochineal... "25 shades of" to be exact. I won't be dyeing at the dye retreat this year, just facilitating those others who would like to.... I will be spinning Swaldesdale for that lovely winter jacket.

My roomies walking to class as I sat on one of those breath saving benches.

Looking back toward the gazebo and the rose garden where sometimes weddings are held... there was one while I was there.

Looking toward the greenhouses where much retting, braking, scutching, and other good stuff has taken place over the years.

And so you see... I am definitely back in the saddle again. It is now 9:31 a.m. and I've been drinking tea long enough. I'm off to shower, go for a walk, and then spin, spin, spin.... 

If anyone's got balls around here, it's you guys for coming back again and again and again.... thanks... and I'll see ya'll tomorrow.