I Wear My Sunglasses At Night

I never realized the heavy duty lines to that song! Whoa! The next lines go "So I can, so I can, watch you weave then breathe your story lines..."

Anyway, yes.. I wear my sunglasses at night. In bed while I read "Weaving In The Peruvian Highlands" Funny about weaving... I've always wanted to learn how to weave on a back strap loom. I think it is really neat how such intricate designs can be woven using a few sticks they may or may not be picked up off the ground. It is marvelous that weaving can be so intimate and so all empowering. There is a picture where a group of women are sitting on the ground around a central post with back strap looms attached to it. They are all weaving and they look happy to be able to enjoy each other's companionship while concentrating on these lovely pieces of weaving that they are creating. That kind of weaving is amazing to me. It is where the primitive meats the complex, in the weaving and in the relationships of the women who produce the ideas. I am suggesting to you all if you are even remotely interested in fibre arts or for that matter other cultures, this is an interesting read.

I read for quite a while last night but had to wear my sunglasses to avoid the glare of the light. I fell asleep with the glasses on and some time after midnight woke enough to remove them and put them on the bedside table. Hubby had come to bed and turned out the light and removed the book from my hand but left the glasses in place so as not to wake me. I woke this morning with my eye (the bad one) severely gummed up. I washed it out and seemed to have a lot less swelling. I am able to get my eye open this morning anyway. It feels like a piece of sandpaper in there and when I look out of it with my other eye closed I can't tell the difference between a baseball bat and a broom at ten feet. So still quite blurred. But at least there is some improvement.

I decided right away this morning, that since it was still cool (it was 6 a.m.) I would get down to it and finish staining the deck. My eye was in good shape, (sort of) I didn't have to keep it closed and so this seemed a prime opportunity to get some work done. I am happy to say that the deck is nearing completion and as soon as Hubby finishes breakfast I will hit him up to help me move the fireplace so that I can paint under there. I have left a small corridor to the door for walking that I will finish late tonight so that it can dry overnight and not inconvenience anybody. Then tomorrow I will follow up with a coat of Linseed Oil to help protect the stain. Then later in the fall I will do the new North deck when we are not using it and everyone is back in school and there is not so much traffic over the floor.

Hubby and E/P will be working on the plumbing today and hopefully will have the shower installed by tonight. That would be nice as I am starting to pine for daily showers again. We had to go to the school (thank heavens Hubby is a teacher and has a key) last night to wash ourselves and this is not the most pleasant situation. The showers at the school suck! Then we will be working on the new toilet in our upstairs bathroom and moving the toilet in the downstairs bathroom. This will require peeing in the bushes for a day I am told. Thank heavens we live in the country where the only thing that might peep at you while you squat is a sheep or alpaca. (Perhaps I am getting vulgar!!) Inconvenience seems to be the name of the game these days.

In the meantime I am taking out the much anticipated 7 foot tri-loom today and will be starting on the freshly plied Alberta Summer (bought from Legacy Studios). A 2-ply worsted yarn will be used for a woven shawl.... and I might just have to wear my sunglasses for a while longer..... in that bright sunshine. A good day for weaving.: )

Why I'm Here

I started this blog not quite a year ago in an effort to keep a bit of a journal... if somewhat public journal.... of the beginning of my hobby farm and new business. The interesting thing about blogging is that anyone can read what you write. I really have no idea of how many people read my blog. I do know that some family members and friends who do not live near by keep tabs on my family and I and all of our doings through the writing of this blog.

All along I have only had two official followers who have registered with Google, and I know them. Then suddenly I get another and she is a perfect stranger. There are other people who follow my blog who are not registered. I know this because I have friends who mention that they read this or that on my blog and seem to know as much about my life as I do. But when perfect strangers are reading your blog you really have to try to have something interesting to say.

Even the Daughters are starting to have comments made about their lives to them..... it's neat in a kind of weird way.

Anyway, it dawned on me this morning, that even though this blog is supposed to be about starting up my mill and hobby farm, I really have not said a whole lot about that. I have spoken about the animals, and they are crucial to my milling business, but I haven't spoken about the mill itself. I guess it is time to update everyone on that.

Two years ago, I started the Master Spinners program at Olds College and I figured that the next few years would be a challenge and keep me very busy. Shortly after I registered for my first year of college I got an opportunity to buy a cottage mill and picker for an excellent price. I had a dilemma. Do I carry on with the Master Spinner program or do I buy the mill and start a business, which I knew would take a terrible amount of time. I decided to do both, and Hubby encouraged me in this.

I agreed to buy the mill right away. However, I knew that paying for it in one lump sum would be a stretch. So I paid for it a little at a time. The owner was fine with this. My goal is not to overstretch and to hopefully not take on huge amounts of debt. Next, I knew I would need fibre to feed the mill. That's when the animals became a part of our life. Part of owning a mill is having enough of viable fibre to produce a good quality product. Not all wool and alpaca will work in the mill I have bought. I am trying to find sheep that will produce fibre that will work in it. I do know that my mill will not take really fine fibre and so I am crossing breeds of sheep to find the right mix. Nelly is looking like she might be a good mix. I am hoping Oscar will be good too. Palmer, who is one of the lambs is looking good too. Little Red is not and so she will be culled this fall. As will Izzy. Fanny is a little on the fine side of good fibre but I like her fibre for me so will keep her just as a good hand spun. Greigg also has decent fibre for the mill. The alpacas will be used to blend.

I also am not able to house my mill yet. The mill is still at the previous owners farm. Which is where it will stay until she sells her farm or we finish the house renovation and move everything out of our overly crowded workshop. I also knew at the time of my decision, that if I was going to continue on with the Master Spinner program the business would have to wait until I finished. So suffice it to say that I am working on being in business but am not there yet and will continue to work on that until I'm finished the Master Spinner program. These six years, are years of planning and transition. I have all the time in the world to work on this business and I want it to be the best it can and I want to have it ready when I am ready. I think these are wise business decisions and so that is why I do not write about the milling yet. I am hoping that by next summer I will be able to house the mill in a new building that will accommodate a small shop too. But I am not willing to kill myself or Hubby who helps me in every aspect of this business.

So the resultant is that I will continue to experiment with sheep and look for animals that provide the kind of fibre I want. I have four new sheep coming in the fall. One is a pure Merino which has much too fine fibre for the mill but might make a good cross breeder. I also have another Cotswold/Merino sheep coming which has lovely fibre as well. There is also a Candian Arcott/Charlais/Merino who I am hoping will produce nice fibre. I have a new white ram who hopefully will help me to get lambs that produce dye-able white fibre. (Oscar threw too many black lambs this year.)

So there my fibre business sits at this time. Ye Olde Batt is in the motions of getting started but it will be a long haul. In the meantime, I am looking for a Battmobile this winter. We need a second vehicle and will combine family use and business use in the same car. But I'm sure you will hear more about that as time moves forward as does the planing of my business.

I'm Being Followed By A Moonshadow

If I ever lose my eyes.... if my colours all run dry.... I won't have to cry no more. Thank you Cat Stevens for those most appropriate and applicable words!

Ok so this is what I look like right now.


I'm not sure what that blue thing is by my head and the scowl is because I have my right eye closed and can't open it due to icky stuff coming out of it.

I have been in the hospital all afternoon. I landed there only to get a silicone contact lens stuffed in my eye with a hose attached and a saline solution dripping into my eye in an effort to wash out all the nasty stuff that had gotten in there. Then I had to wait an hour for the drip to go through and then another hour before the doctor was able to see me. Both eyes had been affected but the one eye seemed to be on the mend while the other one wasn't. So there I sat listening to the nurse cleaning the bum of some poor woman who had had diarrhea for several days and wasn't able to clean herself and now had, in effect, a severe case of diaper rash. This was not the most pleasant thing to have to listen to. Worse still was the fact that I had polished off three cups of tea and no solid food for quite a while. The tea pees were affecting me with every drip of saline solution that entered my eye. I lay there wondering if I could sneak off down the hall with the whole thing still connected to my eye and if anyone would notice a lunatic with a hose in her eye and tears running down her cheek into her shirt collar as she sought out the facilities. After an hour of the saline solution dripping into my eye while I crossed my legs (tightly) and then the drip stopping and the contact lens now starting to hurt because there was no longer any fluid dripping into it to help with lubrication, I finally couldn't wait any longer. I gingerly sat up and felt for the edge of the tape holding the whole apparatus in place and eased the contact lens out of my eye. Then I gingerly stepped out into the hall looking for a likely door with a lady in a skirt or some such thing. Let me tell you how good it is to rid yourself of some fluid that you don't want to be there but have had to hold onto to for far too long.

I got back in my room and the contact lens was still on my pillow where I had left it. Shortly after a nurse came in to remove the lens and so I apologized and explained my dilemma and why I was no longer lying with the lens in my eye. She understood..... I'm thankful for that. She then told me I would have to wait about an hour before the doctor would see me to put more stuff in my eye. By this time my eye was gummed up with some icky looking stuff that was starting to concern me. That was when the visions started. I looked at the walls for a while and read the eye chart about 15 times... you know... the one that starts with a very large E that if you can't read it you are in serious trouble. I got up and walked back and forth, I sat down, I read labels I tried to get my severely gummed up eye to open (but it was stuck) and then I had my first vision.

I sat there and started to dream of drop spindling and some lovely merino and silk rovings in an undulating red and purple and of a nifty little Turkish spindle that I had bought in Olds. Like what was wrong with me!..... I could have brought it with me and had a lovely 20 metres spun while I waited for the doctor. Take it from me.... always bring a supply of fibre and a drop spindle with you in your purse. You never know when you might need it.

I digress. Anyway eventually the doctor came in and dropped some more drops into my eye (which were a nasty messy yellow) and had a good look. He pronounced me to be fit to leave and that my eye would undergo some swelling and irritation for a few days but would be as good as new after that. No sh--! I must say that I am glad to hear it but three hours in the hospital listening to an old lady get her bum cleaned was not a great way to find out. Oh well.... all's well that ends well.

In the meantime look what Hubby and E/P were doing at home.


This is Hubby removing the old shower stall.


This is E/P who didn't want his picture taken and so produced his butt at the crucial moment.



This is the corner where the shower was. It had to go out through the window.


The bathroom window is out and plastic will do the trick for the next twenty-four hours.


The shower made it upstairs.


They started to drill the hole for the plumbing. It looks pretty good there in the corner.


The shower had to come in through the door... the front door that is.


Like the window, the front door got a coating of plastic for the night.


The jacuzzi came in the front door and sits waiting in the living room for it's final move to the downstairs bathroom.

Wow and this is the worst of our bathroom renovations and we are getting there with them.... I'll be glad when the shower is hooked up again. Anyway... I guess we will see how my eye is doing in the morning.

The Eyes Are The Windows Of The Soul

As I am writing this I am flushing my eyes out every five minutes. I guess it is very easy to take your eyes for granted since really you only look at them only when you see your reflection. I mean we look out of them minute by minute and hour by hour but we don't really see them. Today Daughter #1 came in through the door with a hornet sting on the back of her neck so I proceeded to the medicine cabinet for the Afterbite to put some on the bite site. Problem is that Daughter #2 had two bites last week. She used the Afterbite and did not put it back in the medicine cabinet. We were frantically looking for the Afterbite when Hubby remembered that he had some in his kit from the JCR's. The first thing I noticed was that it came in a tube of gel rather than liquid form which was different from what I normally used. I opened the tube and tried to squeeze a small amount onto the bite site of the neck of Daughter #1. Hmmm it wouldn't come out.... hmmmm! So like a a fool I turned the tube to see why it wouldn't come out and squeezed at the same time. That's when the accident happened.

Somehow a small amount had dried in the opening of the tube and was blocking the liquid gel below. It popped sending a spray of ammonia straight into my eye. I was blinded instantly. I'm not sure what I did but I think there was a scream involved and Daughter#1 was panicking and trying to get Hubby to come quick. Next thing I know I'm stumbling into a wall as I try to get to the nearest water source. Hubby is grabbing a glass of water and trying to force me to the floor of the deck.... "My Deck" and drowning me with water as he pours it over my face. I for the moment can't breath both from the shock of having water pured over my face and also from the water that went up my nose. At this point it would have been funny except that I was in serious danger of burning my cornea to pieces. I grabbed the water and sat up and started to carefully pour the water into my eyes flushing them as best I could. It was, in all honesty, one of the most scarey things that have ever happened to me.

Both eyes were burned but only one eye still hurts. That was about an hour ago. Don't you know it.... our clinic was closed at the time. The medical profession are never available when you need them. I am able to see but I must say that I am worried that I have done permanent damage. As soon as the clinic reopens I'm off to have it checked ... stay tuned.

75 Years Young Today

Pops is my father and he is turning 75 today. He has had a lot of health problems in the last little while and so it is a wonderful thing to have him turn 75.
I have watched him over the last year go in and out of the hospital for various health problems mostly to do with his heart. He has had low blood pressure a number of times and several infections that have been an issue. He has a slipped disk that gives him great pain and is inoperable. Last year a couple of times I thought I had almost lost him. It is hard to watch your parents health deteriorate. When I was little I always felt that Pops was invincible but as an adult I realize that this is not so.



Pops started researching his genealogy several years ago and has been able to trace my family name back to the times of William the Conqueror. He is very proud of the work he has done and has been writing that history down in a book form that he hopes to leave to his grand children. Unfortunately he had no sons and so the family name will end when he ends. I think that is what prompted him to write his book. The book is well over 700 pages, and tells all about his life, his father's life (who was a fishing merchant and owned a successful business) and continues down through the family history with all kinds of notes on the history of Newfoundland, which is where we are from, and even contains notes on the socio/economic history of England and what brought my family to Newfoundland and eventually Canada in the first place.

Dad is a trooper and it amazes me the amount of work and time he has put into this book. It amazes me how many times he has pulled back from ill health where we wondered if he would come out of the hospital. Just yesterday he went swimming in the local outdoor pool. He loves his children and he adores his grandchildren. We will pick him up later and take the guy out for lunch. He will enjoy it I think. What a better way than to spend his day with his grand kids who love him immensely. I look forward to this day with my Dad because he is someone who I think deserves the best.

Happy Birthday Dad. I hope this is a good year for you.

What A Weekend!!!

I dyed. I dyed and went to heaven.... what a way to go! What an amazing bunch of ladies. We almost all of us dyed and went to heaven. This weekend eight ladies came to my house for the annual Frankie's Mid Summer Retreat and we enjoyed three days of all the things that fibre artists love to do. We spun. We drop spindled. We knitted. We wove. We swapped ideas. But most of all, we dyed. Playing with colour in the middle of the summer has to be one of the most satisfying play activities a spinner and weaver can do. (I never write last names here and I try to avoid first names so I will just use initials to protect the identities of friends and family alike.) MW from three and a half hours away showed up on Friday afternoon and right away we started talking shop and showing off new spindles and new fibre and of course the house renovations were at the top of the list too. It was such a joy and a pleasure to have a like minded person with which to share the projects of the last year. Then later in the evening the next vehicle pulled into the yard carrying NC and FE and the furry friend Mokie. Supper was soon on the go and fibre chat began in ernest. Later AM showed up and out came wheels, spindles, looms, and knitting needles as the activities began. We gabbed and chatted and shared ideas. We laughed and relaxed and that was what the retreat was all about. Too soon yawns became apparent and AM made her way home because she lives only moments away and didn't want to camp out considering that she is 86 years of age. Then shortly after NC and FE followed with Mokie as they were staying at AM's house with the intention of arriving once again in the morning. That left MW and myself to spindle and relax for another hour or so before directing ourselves to our respective beds. MW stayed in her vehicle as she had a snuggly bed set up in there and I headed upstairs to my pallet.

5 a.m. in the morning my eyes popped open in anticipation of the day ahead (I was really excited) and while I really wanted to get up and get going I knew that some more sleep would be good since I didn't want to fade out when the real fun started to happen. By 6:30 a.m. I knew I was a goner. I gave up trying to visit the back of my eyelids and I removed myself to the shower to spark myself for a day of activities and fun. By 7:30 a.m. MW and I were enjoying a breakfast beverage while a pot of oxalic acid stewed on my hot plate and a fire merrily crackled in the fireplace. We planned our crowded pot and began soaking out the fibre and skeins that would make their debut in a new colour later that day.

Our choice of colours was to use the primaries in an Ashford palette. So out came the dyes and we began to mix colour. MW had never done this crowded pot dying and so I led her through the steps with ease. She's a quick learner and so began the day. We played with colour all throughout the day and when our results were not what we envisioned we made other plans to sharpen up colours or try a new concept in dying. It was fun.

I have primary colours in acid wash dyes and there came a point when MW and I decided we wanted to try something different. By that time NC and FE and AM had shown up and we were patiently waiting for a couple more people to show, one of whom owns a store in FSJ where she sells all sorts of supplies for fibre nuts like myself and my friends. When she called slightly before noon to say that she wouldn't make it till the next day I jumped on the opportunity to suggest she bring some of the lovely dye colours that she carries in her store. With that in mind we decided to put off any more dying until we had more colour. My fingers by that time were red and yellow and blue.

The rest of the afternoon was spent seeking shade and shelter from the hot sun and then later the showers while we diligently all worked on separate projects. Along about early afternoon MW and I were fading fast and NC and FE were needing some exercise so FE and NC went for a walk while MW and AM went to their respective vehicles for snoozes and I headed for my pallet above for a much needed snooze too.
Hubby and Daughter #1 had headed off earlier in the afternoon for some much needed hay and Daughter #2 and her friend were playing on the computer. All was quiet and so I dropped off for a 45 minute reprieve.

Later the spinning and weaving began again. MW was spindling with a lovely spindle that had an interesting purple marbly looking stone-ish type whorl. It was small and compact and she was spinning a lovely lime green concoction. Very pretty! FE was diligently working on a lovely tapestry and NC was working back and forth between a tapestry and then some spinning. AM had a lovely cream and gray Icelandic sweater on the go. I was spinning thick yarn for a woven shawl on the triangular loom.

We ate a lovely repast of barbequed salmon, with bean salad, green salad, coleslaw, and fruit for desert as well as a sugarless and gluten free rhubarb desert which though it was sugarless and gluten free was delightful all the same. We spinners and weavers never go hungry! Fruit abounded all weekend. The food was not a priority but it sure added to the pleasure of the whole affair.

After NC and FE had followed AM off to her house in HH, MW and myself sat down for a light snack before turning in for the night. By this time Daughter #2's friend had gone home and Hubby and Daughter #1 had showed up with a large bail of hay and Hubby had headed off to the river for an evening of fishing. Just as it was getting dark, in the driveway came MF, whom I had given up on showing up. So though MW and I were about to fall off our feet from fatigue (remember I was awake at 5 a.m. and MW comes from a different time zone) we decided to keep her company and chat awhile with her. Finally MW looked like she was a goner so she headed off to bed and so I waited a little longer before crashing myself. Hubby came in with narry a fish and kept MF company till she was ready to crash at which time she headed out to our trusty old tent trailer.

In the middle of the night it started to rain and knowing that we had all of our stuff spread around I decided to go and check out if there were things getting drenched in the rain. As I headed out onto the deck I discovered that our big dog had discovered a bag of garbage and chewed through to the garbage and proceeded to spread it over "My Deck" Grrrrr! Hubby and I were cleaning up garbage at 4 a.m. in the morning in the pouring down rain.

I was actually able to get back to sleep after this incident and so I was feeling pretty good this morning when all things fibre started again. MF, MW and myself started out on the North deck with spinning and spindling. I even managed a little weaving on the Weavette. So when CP showed up with the dye from her store around just before lunch we all jumped on the opportunity to pick out some very pretty colours. That's when we all dyed!

Actually, I'm not sure that AM and FE dyed but that's ok..... not everyone among the fibre junkies is perfect. Out came pots and rice steamers and slow cookers and vinegar and yarn and fleece and silk hankies and then the serious dying began. People were dying all over the place..... here's the results of our day.




All in all we had a great time. We showed off our nifty weaving....
We showed off our stickers that Granddaughter gave us... thanks Hallie for Grandma's My Little Pony.
We showed off our toe nails

And most importantly, we enjoyed every last minute of our opportunity to just be with like minded people. We dyed, we spun, we wove, and we knitted and what a time we had. I can't wait till next year when we do it all again...... I'm already planning what kinds of dying we can do. Hmmm..... maybe we can get some nature dyes on the go.... maybe we can dye some self striping yarn.... maybe.... maybe.... maybe....

To all you fibre enthusiasts.... maybe you can come and join us. Then you too can dye and go to heaven.

Up Up And Away

I'm so excited! Phase one of the bathroom renovation is just about complete. The plumbing and electrical is done and ready for the washer and dryer to make a one way trip upstairs. Hubby has lined up some people to help him move the dryer up the steps today. No small task I assure you as the washer and dryer is a stackable and so both get moved at one time. The Electrician/plumber is coming back today to help Hubby take out the shower and plumb the shower for upstairs. I can't wait!





Meanwhile during the time that Hubby and E/P have been working on that little project I have been doing what I can as well. I have been working on the deck. Yes "My Deck"! This weekend, I will be holding the annual Frankie's Summer Retreat. I am expecting a bunch of ladies to show up for the retreat and here I am working on the deck. The deck was built two summers ago and it should have been stained at that time.... but like all things Nichols (at least this bunch of Nichols) it was put off till the following summer. At which time it was put off till this summer.

The wood of the deck has been deteriorating in the weather over the last few years like any wood does and so this year splinters in tender feet have become an issue. Thus the reason for working on the deck. I started staining the deck two days ago. One day stain, then the neighbour who shot the bear last week suggested I would get better results from the stain if I treated it with an overcoat of Linseed Oil. So yesterday I did that.

It is tacky this morning and only one half is done yet. This is the other half!!!
(I sometimes wonder if I am mad. I wonder if everything will be back in place by the weekend.) But so far so good. It is definitely looking.... well.... shiny.... and like it can withstand some rain. I just wish I had started it a few days ago.... in time to finish it for the retreat, but I don't think that is going to happen. We will no doubt be using the deck a lot this weekend.

What it means is that some of my list of 40 + jobs is getting done slowly and surely and that puts a smile on my face. So does the fact that I will be spinning..... and dyeing..... and enjoying a good time with friends, this weekend.... I like that... meanwhile.... up up and away with that washer and shower!