The Long And Winding Road

I love paths. I always have. I remember as a child I would spend hours in my backyard making paths in newly fallen snow, then, when it snowed again, which it did quite frequently in Newfoundland, I would spend hours following the indentations in the snow where I had made the path in the first place. Yesterday, while I was making my bed I happened to glance out the window and saw a path winding away into the bush. This path is not an unfamiliar path to me, I have walked it many times. But yesterday it looked so inviting that I thought I would take a picture of it. (The ongoing dizziness prevented me from following it). I love the look of winding paths and I love the way it feels to walk down one. There's always a sense of the unexpected around the next turn.

When Hubby and I moved here we were delighted to find that the original wagon trail that the pioneers used to get to HH wound it's way through our property. To the east, the trail is covered with other people's property and is hard to find in among the fields and streets that cover it, but it is there. To the west though the trail is very distinctive. The old wagon trail has become a new quad trail and I walk it frequently. However the trail that you see in the picture is nothing more than a deer trail that my kids follow when they are going to their fort. It is a happy little trail that winds its way through our property and ends up at the fence of our neighbour's property. From there you can follow the fence line and somewhere in the bush down there we have a little spot with a firepit and a nice place to stop.

I can't help thinking that trails are rather like life. There is the main one that you follow every day of your life but then branching off are all the little trails that have the potential to become the main trail. If you look behind you can see all the little trails that you didn't take and kept right on going past. They are all winding and sometimes they connect with other people's trails. Sometimes several people follow the same trail. It's cool (did I just date myself using that word?) to see the trail ahead of you and know that there are others following the same trail, but sometimes it is nice to get off the beaten path and follow the road less traveled.
I think that is why I like paths because there is so much opportunity to see what lies ahead, to share the path with a friend, and ultimately to walk down the path without hesitation, whether it be the path of life or just a path in the woods.

My path, the one that I took the picture of, was never so clear as yesterday with the newly fallen snow making it more apparent. And though I've walked that trail a hundred times I never really saw it before. It took looking out the window and seeing it from a different vantage point to realize how wonderful it actually is.

And so you see, when I see the opportunity to take a picture of a winding path, I take it. It is because they are so inviting to me and a little bit of a curiosity that I love them so. Next time you see a trail or path, maybe you will think, "Ah here's a trail like the one Frankie was taking about", and with any luck, if you follow that trail you will be led to something interesting, something that ultimately makes your life a little nicer. Because sometimes its the little paths that you don't see so well that lead you to the great things in life.

Happy trails to you.....

Happy Birthday YOB

Good morning all and once again I'm sitting behind my computer screen. This has become a common trend in the last year as this is the one year mark since the creation of this blog. Blogging has become a way of life for me it seems. My goal when I set out on this momentous undertaking was to have fun with a journal of sorts and try to practice my writing skills somewhat. I didn't know if I would enjoy blogging and I was a little scared about what I wrote being appropriate and interesting enough to entertain folks who happen to read it. My thought was to write about the things that I do with wool. But I very quickly realized that it would become so much more than that. I have had people tell me all the time that they read my blog, which is good, but it kind of leaves a hole in your conversation because you really don't want to keep repeating yourself. It also has been marvelous for those down East who keep up with our lives through the blog. I am a terrible letter writer (and Hubby doesn't write at all) and so for all the family back home it is a great way to keep up with our lives. I hope I have done that in an entertaining and light hearted way. I also wanted to provide information to those in the same boat as me. I wanted to let them know how to start up a small hobby farm and small business. I'm not sure I have done this but if you keep following along I'm hoping that it will come as I continue to learn. A huge part of the last year was taken up with renovations on our house and all that goes with it, and while we are not yet finished with that we are still working on it. (I'll keep posting pictures from time to time).

Recently Hubby was able to help me add a counter on my blog. It is really cool (though freaky, I'm told by one of my blog followers) and with it I am able to see how many people follow my blog and where they are from. It doesn't tell me (so don't worry) what their name is or any personal information just how they accessed my blog and what part of the world they are accessing from, (so ISP and the previous page from which they joined YOB). It tells me what pages were accessed on my blog and how long they stayed on my blog. The statistical information that I get from that is really helpful. Yesterday someone joined my blog from Italy.... but their visit was very short lived. I would say they were just surfing. Still it is cool for me to know whose reading here. Speaking of statistical information regarding YOB, I have written 182 times in the last year which works out to be once every two days on average. I think that is pretty good.

Blogging has become a part of my life like washing my face or brushing my teeth. I wake, I get the family breakfast and out the door to school, and then I sit and blog. Sometimes it is really easy to write but sometimes I just don't have anything to say because the reality is that my life is not all that interesting at times. Daughter #1 says I have a talent for turning the mundane into something interesting but I'm not so sure. Still though I like blogging and most of the time I sit here and it all rolls out easily once I get started.

I want to especially thank all my followers, for staying with me this year and I want to welcome any who actually hit here and think well maybe I'll follow what this gal has to say. I also want to thank the blogging gods (yes there are some) for this outlet for public journaling. What an interesting world we live in.

Whorling Around

Unfortunately every so often I have this wonderful (yeah!) problem in the form of dizziness. Not just your run of the mill dizziness but down right holy-cr-p-stop-the- world-going-around-dizziness. Sometimes it lasts a day and sometimes it lasts a few days. I generally stay in bed and get up only to crawl to the bathroom. This morning I woke up and went to go through the normal morning routine and woosh the room started moving at about 90 km an hour. I was back on the pillow in a nanosecond. After an hour of trying to get this under control I managed to get my carcass out of bed and downstairs.... here I am sitting in front of the computer and I am not ripping my head around a lot at all... and I have a headache. Argh!

Thing is, this really ticks me off. Well of course you say. But I live with this problem so it doesn't usually bother me too much as I like to use a day like this to just rest and catch up on sleep, but last night I started working on my level 3 homework and I was looking forward to continuing that today. A little time on the computer and then back to bed. So no spinning today. : (

Yes... I started on my level 3 homework and I love when I see good progress. Since I still don't have my cotton cards and don't expect to tet them for 6 weeks, I thought I would have a look at my level 3 books and see what other question would interest me right now. I decided to have a go at the support spindle, and so I gathered some silk /merino blend and tried out my new Navajo spindle. It didn't take very long before I realized that my new one has not got enough weight to make it a good spindle. So out came the guild Navajo spindle and away I went. I have to spin a 10 Metre skein and it can be singles, but I was having so much fun that I decided, to heck with that I will do 10 metres of plied yarn. It's fun.

Meanwhile Tootsie is enjoying his chicken... we call the chicken Bob.

Well now that I've caught you up on my doings... I'm off back to bed, and while I'm whorling around...... my spindle is not!!!

Time Management... Not!

Hubby and I are not the best at time management. Here, it is cold... real cold. I look out my window in our office where I'm sitting, and there's nary a leaf to be seen. They all turned yellow and then orange last week and overnight they fell to the ground and just like that it was winter. Hubby and I were up quite late the other night with guests for dinner and when our guests left a 3 a.m. it was -14 degrees C. I think that is an anomaly and that we will get warmer temperatures again, but then in the North, you never know. As a result of this quick decent into winter, Hubby and I have been caught with our pants around our knees. (Not literally!) We should have had everything ready for winter but somehow here we are and nothing is ready for the inevitable cold and snow. The tent trailer is still standing in the yard. It's up and not cleaned out. The trampoline has not been put away, some of the house supplies are still outside, and we are far from ready for snow. Yeesh! How did that happen?

Today, Hubby is butchering the chickens. We have had it with the bu--ers since they are the worse chickens we have ever had! They lay their eggs and then promptly eat them. Once a chickens starts doing that it's hats off for them, or I mean, heads off for them. We've tried catching the bu--ers in the midst of their egg eating habit, but they are just too quick. Out comes an egg and they're on it like a bunch of starving Ethiopians at a Thanksgiving buffet. So with the price of chicken feed as high as it is, it is just not worth it to keep them.... besides, they always looked like they were trying to place bombs under the house anyway!!!

Everything has a light dusting of snow and so begins the dark days of winter. I dread it. I went outside a little while ago and just about froze my buns off, but the great thing is that I found a lovely picture. So I went back in again and grabbed the camera in an effort to capture the image in digital form.

Later I was cleaning up some things that had been in the shed for the last few months because I didn't want to leave them out there over the winter months and in the box was a stuffed chicken that someone had felted for me. I think it was supposed to be a pin cushion but I never used it as such. I thought, "I bet Tootsie would like to play with this, now that he won't have chickens to herd anymore". And sure enough he loves it and takes it everywhere with him.

Saturday was a good day for renovation doings too. Hubby got my closet done to the point where I can hang up clothes and so I have been putting clothes away all yesterday and today with a little time out for Turkey with the parents and some time on the tri-loom yesterday. I started a small shawl last week as an experiment and so far it is looking good.

Meanwhile the things that we need to do linger and languor. I sure hope this weather is an anomaly because I'm really starting to wonder if it is. One thing is for sure, I'm starting to think that I need to work on my time management!

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving Pizza????

I'm sure glad I'm not a Turkey this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. I'm sure there are many households that have turkeys thawing on the counter in readiness for cooking on Sunday.

We're having Pizza. Actually we are headed out to a friend's house for Thanksgiving this year but we decided that we would have our own Thanksgiving meal at home too. There is no school today as the independent republic of HH where we live has a K-12 school and because of bussing issues and timing there is no school today for our school. Yee haw!! As a result our household is having Thanksgiving dinner tonight. We are having Pizza. And let me tell you we are as thankful for pizza as we would be for a turkey.

I started making pizza a few years ago with a twist to it. I don't use sauce and I don't use pepperoni or any meat for that matter. I know, I know, what's left?

My pizza started out as a vegetarian pizza and has progressed to become what it is today. I use lots of vegetables and tons of cheese and it is delicious. My kids love it. You just have to be willing to try something a little different.

Here's the recipe....
Frankie's Thanksgiving Pizza

Pizza Dough
lg batch (makes 2 pizzas)
1 1/2 c water
2tbsp. olive oil (you can substitute veggie oil)
2tsp. salt
2tsp. sugar
4 c. unbleached or all purpose flour (I prefer unbleached)
2tsp. Quick-rise yeast

Mix all above ingredients together in usual manner and set aside in a warm place to rise.

Toppings
Grate lots of Cheddar cheese at least 2 cups
Grate lots of mozzarella cheese at least 3 cups
1 - 1 liter container of ricotta cheese
Parmesan cheese as much as you want
1 chopped onion
2 sticks of finely chopped celery
5 large-ish ripe tomatoes
lots of sliced fresh mushrooms
chopped red and green and yellow peppers (1 each)
1 smallish grocery store sized zucchini sliced thinly

Kneed dough and split the dough in half and oil a pizza stone or pan. Spread dough over pan and layer toppings in this manner, keeping half the toppings for each pizza....
Ricotta cheese (helps to absorb juice from tomatoes)
celery and onion
sliced tomatoes
sliced zucchini
sliced mushrooms
red and green and yellow peppers
cover all in first Cheddar cheese
then Mozzarella cheese
then Parmesan cheese

If you have it, some spice with sun dried tomatoes to put on top helps to make it just divine. I use a Greek spice mix.

Bake till cheese is drippy and starting to brown and crust edges are browning....

When you try this pizza, I guarantee you will be thankful. Now aren't you glad that you are not a turkey!

What's Red And Green And White All Over

That's not some stupid joke you know.

Let's start with White.....
I looked out my window this morning and "My Deck" is white. Yes.... first snowfall... (gag)! I had to dig out my winter jacket.... (but I still refuse to wear the sox.. Hahahahaha!)That's my toe poking out there!!!...
A few years ago I wanted a really unique jacket so I bought a plain black heavy fleece jacket and decided to add a little flair. I got out my embellishments and here is the result of my creative juices. (Someone who loves Hollowe'en and follows this blog might think the spider and spider's web in the centre is neat!) I am not a big aficionado of Hollowe'en. Unfortunately when I moved to the country there was no longer any reason to decorate for the event. No one comes to my house because we just live too far away. We bring, or I should say, brought our girls into town to do some trick or treating and then we would go to the fireworks that our volunteer fire department puts off each year. So unfortunately I don't put out pumpkins and ghosts in my trees and other symbols of the season.... but I do wear my jacket.

Anyway when I got up this morning and discovered that there was a white coating over everything.... well, I just wanted to barf quite frankly. I carried on down stairs and thought about green trees in spring and the green of the leaves on my flowers and even how nice it is to walk through the woods when green surrounds you..... then I looked in my dye pot and was very happy to find green wool which had been sitting all night in an effort to exhaust the dye pot of yesterday. This should look very nice in a saddle pad I think.

After I made breakfast for all and had decided to brave the north winds to find my October jacket in the shed, I happened to look out the window and noticed the punk sheep in the paddock. Punk sheep???! you're thinking. Oh yes.... there is nothing ordinary about this day because we discovered that Greigg, who is always so placid and dignified, has decided to attract the ewes with a new doo. Have no fear this is not blood. It is just the paint from the red gate that Greigg has decided to rub his obviously very itchy head against.

Meanwhile in the next paddock over, there is Reece... lamb of lovely fleece.... and she's white too.
Sporting her own divine and very fashionable coat...

Aaah the oddities of this small little northern farm....
So what's red and green and white all over??? ..... everything around me!

To Dye For

OK so I have been experimenting. Yesterday I had a well earned day off.... so I couldn't just sit there I had to do something. Out came my dye pot.

First! A while ago when Daughter #1 started horse back riding lessons, her teacher and I were talking about saddle pads. She showed me a lovely woven one that she would like to have duplicated. Then we got talking about saddle pads in general. She told me about the different kinds of saddle pads on the market and I told her about a friend who made saddle pads by locker hooking and so the conversation went.

Next! So as you know I have been working with pins looms for the last year and I have been having a blast with them. I started out with a 2" x 6" Weavette and started making bookmarks with dog wool that I spun from my wolf/husky dog. Then I bought a 4"x 6" Weavette and have been weaving my Madder project for my level 3 challenge on that. Then I bought a 6"x6" Hazel Rose loom and loved it but found it quite different from the Weavette. It is fun too and I am working on a baby blanket for our foster child in Brazil. At the same time I bought a Tri loom and a diamond loom as a kit with the intention of making a blanket for a twin bed on that at some point in the future. Then we did the tri-loom workshop and I bought two tri looms. One is a three foot and the other is a seven foot. I have done my practice piece that I started in class on the three foot loom and now am working on the seven foot loom and will hopefully have enough yarn for a blanket or throw.

Put all that together and I have come up with the great idea that I can make saddle pads using a Weavette made to specific dimensions on a homemade pin loom. I just have to take the 7' tri loom pattern and make a rectangular loom that will work with rug warp and rovings with a slight twist to them.

If I want colour in the rovings then I need to know how to dye the rovings so that they don't felt too much. (A little felting wouldn't hurt I don't think.) And so back to yesterday.

A while ago I got a phone call from a lady here in town who said she had some bags of wool for me if I was interested. I, being dubious because of being given wool before which turned out to be nasty moth infested messes that basically ended in the dump, was not sure what to say. To be polite I told her I would come and take a look at it. In the end I discovered that she had 7 (get that? 7) bags of carded batts from Carstairs mill in Alberta that she had picked up at and auction and didn't know what to do with it. She GAVE it all too me..... SCORE!!!!

I am tearing this fibre into strips and dyeing it to see if I can use it for my saddle pads. The first batch that I dyed, I used my hunk dyeing method where I combined three colours to get a varigated look. This is it....




Today I will dye some more but I will use one colour as I want my saddle pads to be sensible! (I know... it's not like me to do anything sensibly!!!) I am looking at green and black for the pattern.... we shall see.

Meanwhile here is my bowl finished.