Finally it is spring break and like all good vacations we have started ours with sickness. Daughter #1 was the first to succumb. Vomiting is something no one likes. then Hubby came down with a cough and runny nose and now Daughter #2 has started in with vomiting this evening. I live in fear. I really could do without this nasty vomiting and I know Hubby is hoping it will pass him by too. Not likely. It has hit almost every house in this town at some point of the year. I guess our home couldn't avoid it forever.
I am expecting that if we can just get past this next few days hopefully the rest of spring break will be restful and easy. I get up each morning and look out on my sheep and watch to see if there are any new additions. Fanny and Red and Jelly are pregnant. I am not sure that any of the others are pregnant but those three are for sure. Fanny looks as if she might burst at any minute. Jelly is big, but she always has been. Little Red is as broad as she is long. All three have been pregnant before so I am hoping that there will be no problems.
The girls are excited to have lambs coming. To be honest so am I. It is so neat to see these little cute things bouncing around, and they do bounce. They are happy little creatures. We did not breed the alpaca this year as she is too young yet. She will be bred this July. 11 1/2 months is the gestation period for the alpaca. So if she is bred in July she will have her cria (baby) in June 2010. A long time to wait but that will be an exciting time for us too. Being new to the farming game is cool. We are more excited than kids waiting for Christmas morning.
I am also hoping to get quite a bit of work done on my level 2 homework. There finally is a light at the end of the tunnel. I only have 5 questions left to do. Woolen spinning, Navajo spindle spinning, sweater calculations, colour blending and my 25 hour project. I will be glad to get it done as I am itching to start some other projects. I have wool calling to me wanting to be spun. I have a shawl on knitting needles that is needing to be finished. I have a new loom that wants threading and an old loom with a weaving on it that needs finishing. I have rug warp that needs locker hooking too. All these projects are projects I'm really looking forward to getting done.
Then there is the house. We are hoping that the house renovations will begin soon. I am now awaiting the appraisal and the banks finalization of the money set up. That looks good but the appraisal is late by only a day but I'm hoping that Monday it will be ready and then we have an appointment with the bank. With any luck we will begin by the latter part of this week. There will be packing to do as we have to clear out the top floor of the house. But we don't have to have that done until later in the month. The contractor will begin on the front of the house and for that we don't have to do anything. We may even be able to stay in the house while the work is being done upstairs. that is exciting too. All in all it is exciting times for us... now if I can just get Daughter #2 through this next few hours hopefully she will be on the mend and we can move forward with no other afflictions...... I live in hope.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
What's Ahead!
So my first tri loom weaving came off the loom tonight. I finished my piece on the 36" loom meanwhile I have a fleece in the sink washing to prep for the next bit of spinning in my level 2 homework. I am spinning for my braid. I did some of the spinning but didn't have enough so I am working on some more. Tomorrow will be a day of work. Today was not. Today I exercised and now I am paying for it. My back is killing me.
Once I have the spinning for my braid done then I will carry on working on my blends. I am just about finished.... well at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I need two more blends and then I only have to spin yarn for my colour wheel blends. That shouldn't be too hard. Yeah right! There's the sweater calculation and the 25 hour project. Onward and upward. But it is getting harder to concentrate as I have more on my mind as the house renovations get closer. I will just have to buckle down and keep going. I want to get it done before I go to Olds. I want to have my mark back by the time I leave to drive there. I don't want that hanging over my head while embarking on the next level.
Meanwhile my big tri loom is calling to me and I want to start a project on that. I bought beautiful mohair boucle and merino fingering weight yarn to do a shawl..... but that will be my reward for when I finish my level 2 homework. I can't wait. I will warp up the 36" tri loom tomorrow and carry on with that as I need four triangles in order to finish this project. I think it will be lovely. Green and cream for two triangles and cream and green for two triangles, altogether making one sweet baby blanket. It should be nice.
I still have my pink lace project too. Yikes! There is a lot of work to be done before June. I had better go do it.
Once I have the spinning for my braid done then I will carry on working on my blends. I am just about finished.... well at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I need two more blends and then I only have to spin yarn for my colour wheel blends. That shouldn't be too hard. Yeah right! There's the sweater calculation and the 25 hour project. Onward and upward. But it is getting harder to concentrate as I have more on my mind as the house renovations get closer. I will just have to buckle down and keep going. I want to get it done before I go to Olds. I want to have my mark back by the time I leave to drive there. I don't want that hanging over my head while embarking on the next level.
Meanwhile my big tri loom is calling to me and I want to start a project on that. I bought beautiful mohair boucle and merino fingering weight yarn to do a shawl..... but that will be my reward for when I finish my level 2 homework. I can't wait. I will warp up the 36" tri loom tomorrow and carry on with that as I need four triangles in order to finish this project. I think it will be lovely. Green and cream for two triangles and cream and green for two triangles, altogether making one sweet baby blanket. It should be nice.
I still have my pink lace project too. Yikes! There is a lot of work to be done before June. I had better go do it.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
More On The Tri Loom Workshop
To add to what I said earlier about the tri loom workshop.... Friday started with the worst snow storm of the year.... and it was the first day of spring. Usually this is neither here nor there since March is usually a month like a mad dog in Nefoundland and I'm a good Newfy.... in other words I'm used to snow in March. But for some reason when I woke up on March 21 this year at 4:30 a.m. (that was bad enough) and looked out my window to see the street light opliterated by snow falling I was most upset. Meanwhile Daughter #2 came to me and said, "Mom my sinuses are really blocked and I'm coughing too much to sleep." This is not good! Hubby and I are supposed to be going window shopping (that doesn't mean looking through windows at items for sale that means shopping for windows for the new addition) in just a few hours, after which I am supposed to take Hubby to the airport before a lovely weekend of spinning and weaving and drinking tea.
Daughter #2 has sinuses so bad that her nose is swolen. She looks like sh--! I can't leave this poor child to the mercy of Mudder. She is likely to poor molases and Buckly's down her throat! And then there is my ailing father. Fadder has serious health issues and even a cold can land him in the hospital. I know this is the end of my workshop and retreat. My brain begins furiously working to figure out what I can do..... but by 7 a.m. and full daylight, I am resigned to my by now coughing daughter holding me back. I finally admit to Hubby who is crawling out of bed that I can't go and he has to get a ride to the airport with his travelling partner.
We get Daughter #1 ready for school and I proceed to load up Daughter #2 with medication while Hubby drives Daughter #1 to school. A short while later Hubby arrives home and says that he just passed his ride, who has already left. Panic sets in because now I know I am going to be driving in the, by now, heavy snow fall. I call my wonderful friend who was supposed to put me up for the night, with the news that I won't be coming. Disappointment abounds on all sides. I have told her that maybe I can make it to the workshop the next day. But when Hubby arrives with the news of his missed ride I call again to let her know that I will be coming after all and that I have no choice but to leave Daughter #1 and 2 with the parents and hope that Fadder doesn't catch anything. WF (wonderful friend) says that I can bring Daughter #2 with me..... Solution at last! Fadder won't get sick, Hubby will make it to the airport and I will get to have a spinning day and my tri loom workshop.... I might even get in some window shopping. And so begins the fury to get ready!
Packing was a mad scrabble and I through myself into forgetting half of what I needed including fibre for weaving.... I'd like to know how a person can weave if they forget their weaving yarn..... obviously my head is not screwed on.... it didn't matter as I'm almost stashless anyway.... that's bad... bad, bad, bad! Being stashless is like being nacked. ACK! (I'm not completely stashless as it turns out I have discovered this morning as there was a few suitable skeins of yarn in a drawer that I had forgotten about. However I am already planning atri loom project with that stuff too!)
The day progressed as planned except I ended up in the ditch at WF's place. (This was no biggy as another friend... lets call her GF for good friend, came along and pulled me out of the ditch with their truck ... and there was no damage either.) I even got to learn how to knit a mobias scarf at a different workshop on Friday night (the snow was grotesque when we came out of that one). The only drawback was that Daughter #1 had to spend the weekend with my parents which requires sainthood!
The snow fell and the wind blew and it was more winter than spring. Driving was treacherous, but I got my windows picked out. And I loved learning how to weave on the tri loom. The instructor was scarey but that's another story for another day.
Daughter #2 has sinuses so bad that her nose is swolen. She looks like sh--! I can't leave this poor child to the mercy of Mudder. She is likely to poor molases and Buckly's down her throat! And then there is my ailing father. Fadder has serious health issues and even a cold can land him in the hospital. I know this is the end of my workshop and retreat. My brain begins furiously working to figure out what I can do..... but by 7 a.m. and full daylight, I am resigned to my by now coughing daughter holding me back. I finally admit to Hubby who is crawling out of bed that I can't go and he has to get a ride to the airport with his travelling partner.
We get Daughter #1 ready for school and I proceed to load up Daughter #2 with medication while Hubby drives Daughter #1 to school. A short while later Hubby arrives home and says that he just passed his ride, who has already left. Panic sets in because now I know I am going to be driving in the, by now, heavy snow fall. I call my wonderful friend who was supposed to put me up for the night, with the news that I won't be coming. Disappointment abounds on all sides. I have told her that maybe I can make it to the workshop the next day. But when Hubby arrives with the news of his missed ride I call again to let her know that I will be coming after all and that I have no choice but to leave Daughter #1 and 2 with the parents and hope that Fadder doesn't catch anything. WF (wonderful friend) says that I can bring Daughter #2 with me..... Solution at last! Fadder won't get sick, Hubby will make it to the airport and I will get to have a spinning day and my tri loom workshop.... I might even get in some window shopping. And so begins the fury to get ready!
Packing was a mad scrabble and I through myself into forgetting half of what I needed including fibre for weaving.... I'd like to know how a person can weave if they forget their weaving yarn..... obviously my head is not screwed on.... it didn't matter as I'm almost stashless anyway.... that's bad... bad, bad, bad! Being stashless is like being nacked. ACK! (I'm not completely stashless as it turns out I have discovered this morning as there was a few suitable skeins of yarn in a drawer that I had forgotten about. However I am already planning atri loom project with that stuff too!)
The day progressed as planned except I ended up in the ditch at WF's place. (This was no biggy as another friend... lets call her GF for good friend, came along and pulled me out of the ditch with their truck ... and there was no damage either.) I even got to learn how to knit a mobias scarf at a different workshop on Friday night (the snow was grotesque when we came out of that one). The only drawback was that Daughter #1 had to spend the weekend with my parents which requires sainthood!
The snow fell and the wind blew and it was more winter than spring. Driving was treacherous, but I got my windows picked out. And I loved learning how to weave on the tri loom. The instructor was scarey but that's another story for another day.
Tri Loom Workshop
I just got home last night from a great workshop. I went to FSJ to learn how to weave on a triangular loom. I now have a new 7 foot triangular loom and a 3 foot triangular loom. I haven't started weaving on the 7 foot loom yet as I want to try spinning fibre for that and of course my level 2 homework comes first. I did however learn three different methods for weaving on my 3" loom. I have the first part of a shawl that I started on the 3" loom. It is green boucle and cream wool, and it is lovely so far. I do have a tendency towards green and cream.
I think I will try several triangles woven on the small loom with acrylic before I get the nerve up to try my homespun. It is so much work to get all the spinning done for a project like that that I want to make sure that I really know what I am doing before I start something with my own wool.
This was a really wonder workshop to do and for a while I was thinking that I might not be able to go since we had a spring blizzard on Friday and I wasn't sure we were going to be able to drive in. But Hubby had to fly to Comox for a workshop of his own and so we headed in to FSJ in spite of everything. Daughter #2 came with me since she had a cold and I couldn't leave her with my parents one of whom can't handle getting sick at this point. I am pleased to say that she was very good and kept herself occupied with a square loom of her own. Poor Daughter #1 got stuck grandparent sitting. She didn't even get paid like she would if she were babysitting. "No fair Mom!" she said, and I felt really bad for her. But she was in school when we left and I couldn't drag her along.
I expect that this tri loom workshop will stand me in good stead for a long time to come as I hope to be able to weave lots of things on these looms. So I better get to it if I am going to get anything finished.
I think I will try several triangles woven on the small loom with acrylic before I get the nerve up to try my homespun. It is so much work to get all the spinning done for a project like that that I want to make sure that I really know what I am doing before I start something with my own wool.
This was a really wonder workshop to do and for a while I was thinking that I might not be able to go since we had a spring blizzard on Friday and I wasn't sure we were going to be able to drive in. But Hubby had to fly to Comox for a workshop of his own and so we headed in to FSJ in spite of everything. Daughter #2 came with me since she had a cold and I couldn't leave her with my parents one of whom can't handle getting sick at this point. I am pleased to say that she was very good and kept herself occupied with a square loom of her own. Poor Daughter #1 got stuck grandparent sitting. She didn't even get paid like she would if she were babysitting. "No fair Mom!" she said, and I felt really bad for her. But she was in school when we left and I couldn't drag her along.
I expect that this tri loom workshop will stand me in good stead for a long time to come as I hope to be able to weave lots of things on these looms. So I better get to it if I am going to get anything finished.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Everyting Old Is New Again
I really can't tell you what people are going to think. I'm sure they are going to think Hubby and I have lost it altogether. But then I've always said that age is just a state of mind. I always hope that my mind is considered young.... even though some days I feel like I'm positively ancient.
Hubby and I have decided that in the process of financing the renovations that we should finance a new vehicle as well. It is part of staying young.... buying a new vehicle ... and of course the vehicle that we have chosen to buy... will add to the fun of life quite a bit.
Now sit down because when I tell you the kind of car that we are buying you will laugh your guts out. We are buying a Firefly convertible!
Ok so those of you who know us will know too that this was the first car that we ever bought after we were married. We drove around in 1992 - 1994 a firefly convertible and drove it across Canada twice. It is a delicate thing telling people that they are too old for such vices but better that than become an aging alcoholic who makes a fool of themselves at events. (I've known a few of them!)
I want to use the car as a promotional vehicle for my business.... I want to paint Ye Olde Batt on the side of the car so that I can call it my Batt mobile. Hee hee!
It is white with a black vinyl roof (that doesn't work and will need replacing). But otherwise for an ancient car it is in great shape. I expect that Hubby and I will have to get the engine rebuilt at some point but hopefully not for a while. We both have to renew our know how on a standard because neither one of us has the proficiency to drive standard.
But either way the Batt mobile is in our future and we will just have to let every one know that old fogies like to have fun too!
Hubby and I have decided that in the process of financing the renovations that we should finance a new vehicle as well. It is part of staying young.... buying a new vehicle ... and of course the vehicle that we have chosen to buy... will add to the fun of life quite a bit.
Now sit down because when I tell you the kind of car that we are buying you will laugh your guts out. We are buying a Firefly convertible!
Ok so those of you who know us will know too that this was the first car that we ever bought after we were married. We drove around in 1992 - 1994 a firefly convertible and drove it across Canada twice. It is a delicate thing telling people that they are too old for such vices but better that than become an aging alcoholic who makes a fool of themselves at events. (I've known a few of them!)
I want to use the car as a promotional vehicle for my business.... I want to paint Ye Olde Batt on the side of the car so that I can call it my Batt mobile. Hee hee!
It is white with a black vinyl roof (that doesn't work and will need replacing). But otherwise for an ancient car it is in great shape. I expect that Hubby and I will have to get the engine rebuilt at some point but hopefully not for a while. We both have to renew our know how on a standard because neither one of us has the proficiency to drive standard.
But either way the Batt mobile is in our future and we will just have to let every one know that old fogies like to have fun too!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Blah! Cold!
It's still cold.... -31 : \ I am not impressed. We were all up at 6 a.m. this morning to get the girls on the bus for he regional science fair which is being held in FSJ today. Daughter #1 won in her category for an experiment in acidic soil and plant growth. Daughter #2 won in her category for an experiment in food tasting and how smell affects taste. The standards are very high at the regional level so we will see how they do.
I am taking my mom and heading to FSJ later this morning to bare witness to the event and to do a little shopping too. I need batteries for my camera so that I can post pics here of my weaving. A few groceries will make it into my cart and hopefully a new toaster oven which I miss greatly since mine caught on fire last summer and I have been doing without since then.
I just read my post from yesterday and have decided that my brain really was frozen when I wrote it. Sorry that it was so incoherent. I am not going to write about spring today.... I refuse.
I am instead going to write about what I am doing which for the most part has been weaving on pin looms and doing research for a level 2 question on spindles. I have spent an inordinate amount of time working on research for spindle information. I have discovered a number of different kinds but frankly it is pretty hard to find out background information on them. Spindle spinning is not terribly popular and so I gleam bits of information from here and there but never finding any really good sites. The one that I am having most trouble with is a double whorl spindle called the Balkan spindle. This morning before I go will be an opportunity to do some more research.
The other time consumer lately has been my pin loom. I have been weaving 6 inch squares on my pin loom with yarn that I bought for socks a while ago.... you may remember my secretive purchase from my local yarn shop.... and I am weaving squares with it as I have decided I like cotton socks better than wool. I am doing alternating squares. Ones is woven on the bias and one is woven straight. So far it is looking quite nice.... I am no sure I like my HRL loom as much as I like my Weavette.... well I know I don't actually... but it is ok.
Anyway when I am done I am hoping to have a baby blanket for a new child we support through Foster Parents Plan. We have three now. The new one is named Thavyne and comes from Brazil. We have Maria in Peru and Rosa in Dominican Republic. It gives me great pleasure to be able to make things for these little girls. Maria is 12. Rosa is 5 and Thavyne is not quite 2. Maria is getting a quilt and Rosa is getting a woven purse. I will see about posting pics here next time.
I will end here today as I have to get ready to go and still want to do some of that research....
I am taking my mom and heading to FSJ later this morning to bare witness to the event and to do a little shopping too. I need batteries for my camera so that I can post pics here of my weaving. A few groceries will make it into my cart and hopefully a new toaster oven which I miss greatly since mine caught on fire last summer and I have been doing without since then.
I just read my post from yesterday and have decided that my brain really was frozen when I wrote it. Sorry that it was so incoherent. I am not going to write about spring today.... I refuse.
I am instead going to write about what I am doing which for the most part has been weaving on pin looms and doing research for a level 2 question on spindles. I have spent an inordinate amount of time working on research for spindle information. I have discovered a number of different kinds but frankly it is pretty hard to find out background information on them. Spindle spinning is not terribly popular and so I gleam bits of information from here and there but never finding any really good sites. The one that I am having most trouble with is a double whorl spindle called the Balkan spindle. This morning before I go will be an opportunity to do some more research.
The other time consumer lately has been my pin loom. I have been weaving 6 inch squares on my pin loom with yarn that I bought for socks a while ago.... you may remember my secretive purchase from my local yarn shop.... and I am weaving squares with it as I have decided I like cotton socks better than wool. I am doing alternating squares. Ones is woven on the bias and one is woven straight. So far it is looking quite nice.... I am no sure I like my HRL loom as much as I like my Weavette.... well I know I don't actually... but it is ok.
Anyway when I am done I am hoping to have a baby blanket for a new child we support through Foster Parents Plan. We have three now. The new one is named Thavyne and comes from Brazil. We have Maria in Peru and Rosa in Dominican Republic. It gives me great pleasure to be able to make things for these little girls. Maria is 12. Rosa is 5 and Thavyne is not quite 2. Maria is getting a quilt and Rosa is getting a woven purse. I will see about posting pics here next time.
I will end here today as I have to get ready to go and still want to do some of that research....
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