OK so we all know that I never thought I'd see the end of it..... I don't even want to mention ITS name..... but while I've been all consumed with that black thing, I've been pretty much flat out, non-stop, go go go! I have managed to spin enough fibre for the Level 4 required dye samples. I've managed to make food for two meals while I'm away. I've managed to make a felted spindle bag for a fellow who is making a Navajo spindle for me and I'm working on the Madder vest for the fashion show..... (so MB, you had better be prepared to model it....). These are all things I wanted done before I leave and I"M LEAVING TOMORROW!!!!!!!
I can't believe that a full year has blown by and I'm heading off for another year of the Master Spinner's Program at Olds College.... I'm looking forward to it. But meanwhile I'm trying to pack everything I will need for a week of living in an apartment with food (we cook our own), and uncomfortable beds (I bring a big foamy and a fan), and spinning courses and dyeing courses. I can't wait..... no I mean I really can't wait..... I'm going to go bonkers waiting for tomorrow.
In the last week we have brought home Daughter #1's horse, which is in the sheep paddock and meant moving around all the sheep. We have fenced a large portion of our land, which meant pounding in 100 fence posts and feeding the five thousand.... or at least in felt like the five thousand. We have prepared for children's sleepovers (Daughter #2) and prepped for final exams (Daughter #1), and gotten Teapot off on a camping trip with his school kids. So now it is my turn. I was up till midnight last night cooking and spinning and today I'm spinning, sewing, cooking and picking up kids from school at which time I will need to make sure the animals are fed and Jiggs is walked (or at least thrown the ball for a million times), and all the while I will be packing and implementing a week for moi. You'd think I was going to a spa..... ha.... but I will be in class all next week and it is still a vacation!
So first chicken stew for the slow cooker.... then I will ply my skeins.... and then I will sew on a handle for that spindle bag..... and then I will cut out the back of the vest. A day of work?.... yeah.... but at least it's not the big j.c.
Woo hoo.... I'm done...
You're going to be sick of hearing me say that....
Woo hoo... I'm done.... (gosh that sounds nice)!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Da da da da, da da da da da.... Drum Roll Please
Ta Da!!!!!
The big j.c. is now complete....
This is the jacket front.....
This is the jacket back.....
This is a hand painted antler button....
This is a bit of the collar detail.....
This is some of the sleeve detail....
I am so relieved to have it finally finished..... but I frankly think it looks awesome.... I am very happy with the results....
But I never want to see the thing again....
WOOO HOOOO I'm done!!!!!!!!!!!!
The big j.c. is now complete....
This is the jacket front.....
This is the jacket back.....
This is a hand painted antler button....
This is a bit of the collar detail.....
This is some of the sleeve detail....
I am so relieved to have it finally finished..... but I frankly think it looks awesome.... I am very happy with the results....
But I never want to see the thing again....
WOOO HOOOO I'm done!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Busy, Busy, Busy
I really haven't had a lot of time this week.... the Big j.c. is taking all of my time. I have the lining finished and shall fit it in today. Hubby is bringing home the Polyurethane today and I will give the buttons a coat of that which will have to dry overnight. I will sew them on tomorrow and then I'm done..... if all goes well! If not then I will finish tomorrow and Sunday... either way I'm going to be finished this weekend. That's why I haven't been writing here as much lately.... I just want to get the Big j.c. finished. I have also been spinning fibre for the dyeing portion of my level 4 course... that I do at night when I am too tired to work on the big j.c.
I won't write today either as I have to get back to it if I'm going to finish but I will post pictures when it is done.
Woo hoo.... I'm almost done......
I won't write today either as I have to get back to it if I'm going to finish but I will post pictures when it is done.
Woo hoo.... I'm almost done......
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Nostalgia
Daughter #2 and I have been having a grand old time watching movies and eating. We decided to buy orange crush and vanilla ice cream and make floats, and we also bought pretzels and chocolate chips. Pretzels dipped in melted chocolate chips with orange floats is yummy. (I do realize that this will not help me lose the 25 pounds left that I need to lose before I head off to Olds in two weeks but I don't think that is going to happen now anyway, and if moms and daughters can't have an over the top weekend while everyone else is off having fun, then life isn't worth living!) What I have noticed though is that Orange Crush floats don't taste as good as they used to when I was little. So what I'm wondering is, has the food changed in flavour or is it my taste buds that are becoming decrepit?
I remember growing up home in Newfoundland having ice cream floats that burst in your mouth with the most divine orangy flavour. When I was a little girl a part of the summer was going to visit my grandfather who lived in a little small outport in Newfoundland that was lucky enough to sport a sandy beach where swimming was actually possible and free of undertowes if one was brave enough to bare the frigid temperatures of the North Atlantic. Days were spent in glorious sunny splendour roasting your skin, fearless of the sun's damaging rays, building sand castles and diverting the brook that flowed down through the beach rocks cutting a meandering path through the soft sand. Or perhaps we would go gathering sea urchins that the gulls would drop along the cliffs above the beach. Occasionally we would brave the frigid cold water and the jelly fish for a swim or body surf in the waves that broke on the beach with ever ready persistence. It was a lovely way to spend the summer. In the memory of my very early years there was a snack bar in the parking lot that served the people who enjoyed the beach and there you could get any number of bars, chips, or pop, and of course my favorite was Orange Crush and Hostess plain chips, which as soon as you opened the bag, filled with sand and became gritty between your teeth. This did not deter us youngsters from munching because after an enthusiastic afternoon of play we would be so starved that we would have licked up the sand itself if it was flavoured. Part of our joy was the bottles in which the pop would come. Glass bottles were beautiful to behold.... and the chip bags were a paper covered in a tin foil which if you were like me and had bad teeth with fillings, would give you a delightful shiver up your spine if you happened to chomp down on a portion of the bag. By five in the evening when the beach was emptying of people my father would go to our car and return with the Coleman stove and a picnic basket full of food to be cooked on the rocks of the beach and we would have a pleasurable time wading in the seaweed while a supper of fish and potatoes with drawn butter would cook with mouth watering smells to encourage you to stay close in case your sibling made it to the pot first when my mother called that everything was ready. Around 8:30 p.m. when we were exhausted from the day's activities and dehydrated from an abundance of sunshine and sunburn we would pile into my father's car and drive the five miles with no seat belts to my grandparents house where I would have a cool but refreshing bath and wash all the sand that had managed to collect in the crotch of my swimsuit. Then in fresh babydoll pjs I'd crawl into a cozy bed and drift to sleep listening to the adults chatting amiably in the lower portion of the house. Next morning I would wake to the sound of crows cawing at dawn around 6 a.m. and begin the whole process again.
What happened to those times when flavours and smells and sights were so poignantly spectacular that you could never forget them no matter how hard you tried. Some people say that the flavours of food have deteriorated, but I think that as you get older things don't have the same profound impression on you. Still for two nights I have lay in bed and felt the cool breeze from my window and there is nothing as lovely as the sound of the leaves bristling in the evening breeze, a soft sound like the feel of a butterfly brushing your skin.
I wonder if when you die and your life passes before your eyes these are the memories you take with you into the next ..... place.
Not what you ate, but the flavour against your tongue. Not the fish that you caught but the sparkle of the light on the water. Not who you kissed but the touch of lips on your cheek. Not what you said but the whisper of breath against your ear. Not who you were with but the touch of their hand in yours. Not the ones you love but the feel of love swelling in your heart.
Like the mist of a damp path being evaporated before you on an evening walk, is nostagia. The memories of your life drift in and out of your consciousness. They are still there if you think about them.
In middle age I would like to have things leave an impression..... that will stay with me always.
It felt good last evening with my shoulder brushing against Daughter #2s as we watched our movies in the semi darkness of the living room while drinking our floats and munching on chocolate coated pretzels, even if they weren't as flavourful as when I was younger..... and even if it is not a long term memory for me maybe it will be one for her.
I remember growing up home in Newfoundland having ice cream floats that burst in your mouth with the most divine orangy flavour. When I was a little girl a part of the summer was going to visit my grandfather who lived in a little small outport in Newfoundland that was lucky enough to sport a sandy beach where swimming was actually possible and free of undertowes if one was brave enough to bare the frigid temperatures of the North Atlantic. Days were spent in glorious sunny splendour roasting your skin, fearless of the sun's damaging rays, building sand castles and diverting the brook that flowed down through the beach rocks cutting a meandering path through the soft sand. Or perhaps we would go gathering sea urchins that the gulls would drop along the cliffs above the beach. Occasionally we would brave the frigid cold water and the jelly fish for a swim or body surf in the waves that broke on the beach with ever ready persistence. It was a lovely way to spend the summer. In the memory of my very early years there was a snack bar in the parking lot that served the people who enjoyed the beach and there you could get any number of bars, chips, or pop, and of course my favorite was Orange Crush and Hostess plain chips, which as soon as you opened the bag, filled with sand and became gritty between your teeth. This did not deter us youngsters from munching because after an enthusiastic afternoon of play we would be so starved that we would have licked up the sand itself if it was flavoured. Part of our joy was the bottles in which the pop would come. Glass bottles were beautiful to behold.... and the chip bags were a paper covered in a tin foil which if you were like me and had bad teeth with fillings, would give you a delightful shiver up your spine if you happened to chomp down on a portion of the bag. By five in the evening when the beach was emptying of people my father would go to our car and return with the Coleman stove and a picnic basket full of food to be cooked on the rocks of the beach and we would have a pleasurable time wading in the seaweed while a supper of fish and potatoes with drawn butter would cook with mouth watering smells to encourage you to stay close in case your sibling made it to the pot first when my mother called that everything was ready. Around 8:30 p.m. when we were exhausted from the day's activities and dehydrated from an abundance of sunshine and sunburn we would pile into my father's car and drive the five miles with no seat belts to my grandparents house where I would have a cool but refreshing bath and wash all the sand that had managed to collect in the crotch of my swimsuit. Then in fresh babydoll pjs I'd crawl into a cozy bed and drift to sleep listening to the adults chatting amiably in the lower portion of the house. Next morning I would wake to the sound of crows cawing at dawn around 6 a.m. and begin the whole process again.
What happened to those times when flavours and smells and sights were so poignantly spectacular that you could never forget them no matter how hard you tried. Some people say that the flavours of food have deteriorated, but I think that as you get older things don't have the same profound impression on you. Still for two nights I have lay in bed and felt the cool breeze from my window and there is nothing as lovely as the sound of the leaves bristling in the evening breeze, a soft sound like the feel of a butterfly brushing your skin.
I wonder if when you die and your life passes before your eyes these are the memories you take with you into the next ..... place.
Not what you ate, but the flavour against your tongue. Not the fish that you caught but the sparkle of the light on the water. Not who you kissed but the touch of lips on your cheek. Not what you said but the whisper of breath against your ear. Not who you were with but the touch of their hand in yours. Not the ones you love but the feel of love swelling in your heart.
Like the mist of a damp path being evaporated before you on an evening walk, is nostagia. The memories of your life drift in and out of your consciousness. They are still there if you think about them.
In middle age I would like to have things leave an impression..... that will stay with me always.
It felt good last evening with my shoulder brushing against Daughter #2s as we watched our movies in the semi darkness of the living room while drinking our floats and munching on chocolate coated pretzels, even if they weren't as flavourful as when I was younger..... and even if it is not a long term memory for me maybe it will be one for her.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Lickity Split
Holy Cow.... what a banana day! One left yesterday and got back today and is too tired to talk. One leaves tomorrow morning and I am packing lunch and supper for her and helping her get her stuff together. She leaves at 6:30 a.m. .... ouch! Then the other is leaving tomorrow afternoon and has to pack tonight when he gets home and it is almost 10:30 p.m. now! He left about a half hour ago to pick up one of the canoes. There are three canoes going and six fellows with several others doing the ferrying. We will all be so wasted by the time Sunday rolls around that I'm sure we're all going to collapse. Still it will be good when it is all over and everyone has had their adventure and life goes back to normal.... you see I'm quite a mother hen at heart.
Onward goes the embroidery... nothing ever goes as fast as you would like it to. The big j.c. is still being worked on, with sewing tomorrow... then a little more embroidery.... then a little more sewing. It's coming along...... but now there is a boomerang. Olds College emailed me today to say that the level 4 students will require 182 yards of hand spun wool in a multiple of skeins for the dyeing room and this needs to be finished and labeled by Monday the 28th.... argh! So as I am writing I am waiting for Daughter #2's supper for tomorrow to cool as it just came out of the oven..... and I am waiting for several pounds of wool from Wingy's 2010 fleece to soak a little longer before rinsing the damn thing and setting it to dry overnight on the clothes line. I guess I will have to work on the big j.c. by day and the fleece by night. Then there is a vest to finish before I go to Olds (don't worry that was woven last summer) and a felted bag for a fellow who's trading a Navajo spindle for it (the flets done I just have to sew...... and all before Olds. So yes, "lickity split" is a good adverb for moi and what I'm doing, right now.
Shearing?!... what the hell's that?! Poor sheep they must be so hot..... oh well soon the little ones can be weaned and then there will be a few bullets in the head of the louder more obnoxious bullies. Lambs will be done in the fall.
I've decided to cull my flock as hay is at an all time high of $60.00 a bail..... at two and a half bails a month....that's $1800.00 a year... too expensive. Hopefully hay will be at a better price this year. And with a substantially lower number of sheep there will be less cost.
I've made some changes to my business future but I won't go into them yet. Soon though I will let you in on my secrets.
Anyhow, Teapot returns and the oven is dinging letting me know that I need to finish packing Daughter #1's meals... that fleece needs rinsing so I had better get back to it.
See y'all on the other side of crazy....
Onward goes the embroidery... nothing ever goes as fast as you would like it to. The big j.c. is still being worked on, with sewing tomorrow... then a little more embroidery.... then a little more sewing. It's coming along...... but now there is a boomerang. Olds College emailed me today to say that the level 4 students will require 182 yards of hand spun wool in a multiple of skeins for the dyeing room and this needs to be finished and labeled by Monday the 28th.... argh! So as I am writing I am waiting for Daughter #2's supper for tomorrow to cool as it just came out of the oven..... and I am waiting for several pounds of wool from Wingy's 2010 fleece to soak a little longer before rinsing the damn thing and setting it to dry overnight on the clothes line. I guess I will have to work on the big j.c. by day and the fleece by night. Then there is a vest to finish before I go to Olds (don't worry that was woven last summer) and a felted bag for a fellow who's trading a Navajo spindle for it (the flets done I just have to sew...... and all before Olds. So yes, "lickity split" is a good adverb for moi and what I'm doing, right now.
Shearing?!... what the hell's that?! Poor sheep they must be so hot..... oh well soon the little ones can be weaned and then there will be a few bullets in the head of the louder more obnoxious bullies. Lambs will be done in the fall.
I've decided to cull my flock as hay is at an all time high of $60.00 a bail..... at two and a half bails a month....that's $1800.00 a year... too expensive. Hopefully hay will be at a better price this year. And with a substantially lower number of sheep there will be less cost.
I've made some changes to my business future but I won't go into them yet. Soon though I will let you in on my secrets.
Anyhow, Teapot returns and the oven is dinging letting me know that I need to finish packing Daughter #1's meals... that fleece needs rinsing so I had better get back to it.
See y'all on the other side of crazy....
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Another Book
I just finished reading another book about two days ago. Generally I don't bother with book reviews on my blog.... it usually has to be an outstanding book to make me want to write about it anyway. Besides that's not what I want for this blog..... reviews on books can be found at any number of websites and if you are into that sort of thing, generally you will look it up at literary websites...
Having said that I have just finished a book that I debated about writing about. I love reading and a day wouldn't be complete without a chapter or two being part of my daily consumption.... usually at night and usually in bed. In the last few years I've had a hard time finding a book that grabs me and makes me wonder what is going to happen next. They are all too predictable and I generally get the feeling like I have read it before, which really is a bit disappointing. A few weeks back I wrote about a book that I read and was quite happy with called, The Help. It was a good read and I was happy to find something that I actually enjoyed.... then I went to the library two weeks ago and picked up A Fraction Of The Whole by Steve Toltz.
Let me say that I am first amazed that I was able to find a book that really grabbed me (2 in less than a couple of months.... I'm on a roll.... makes me wonder about my granny's old saying... things always come in threes.... I hope I'm able to find a third book that I enjoy as much). I would have to describe this book as wry philosophy. It is all over the place and so keeps you off balanced which is a good thing for me. I did find that it dragged a bit at the end, but otherwise was a good read. It was full of witty remarks that made me smile and some of the scenarios actually made me laugh..... though I would not say that it was a funny book, just that some of the depressing bits were lightened with humour. It was nostalgic, and wry, unpredictable and philosophical while keeping you irritatingly interested. I wouldn't say it was a pleasurable read but it was a pleasure to have read it. It was full of juxtaposition and while the characters were well developed it was a book where you disliked liking them.
It is not a book for everyone.... but it is worth a read if you are into different things.... if your idea of a good read is the next installment from Danielle Steele then this is not the book for you.... it would be like eating the darkest rye bread when your craving Wonderbread.
Anyway, hope you guys don't mind the book review.... but I do love recommending things I enjoy. So go ahead, have a slice of rye.....
Having said that I have just finished a book that I debated about writing about. I love reading and a day wouldn't be complete without a chapter or two being part of my daily consumption.... usually at night and usually in bed. In the last few years I've had a hard time finding a book that grabs me and makes me wonder what is going to happen next. They are all too predictable and I generally get the feeling like I have read it before, which really is a bit disappointing. A few weeks back I wrote about a book that I read and was quite happy with called, The Help. It was a good read and I was happy to find something that I actually enjoyed.... then I went to the library two weeks ago and picked up A Fraction Of The Whole by Steve Toltz.
Let me say that I am first amazed that I was able to find a book that really grabbed me (2 in less than a couple of months.... I'm on a roll.... makes me wonder about my granny's old saying... things always come in threes.... I hope I'm able to find a third book that I enjoy as much). I would have to describe this book as wry philosophy. It is all over the place and so keeps you off balanced which is a good thing for me. I did find that it dragged a bit at the end, but otherwise was a good read. It was full of witty remarks that made me smile and some of the scenarios actually made me laugh..... though I would not say that it was a funny book, just that some of the depressing bits were lightened with humour. It was nostalgic, and wry, unpredictable and philosophical while keeping you irritatingly interested. I wouldn't say it was a pleasurable read but it was a pleasure to have read it. It was full of juxtaposition and while the characters were well developed it was a book where you disliked liking them.It is not a book for everyone.... but it is worth a read if you are into different things.... if your idea of a good read is the next installment from Danielle Steele then this is not the book for you.... it would be like eating the darkest rye bread when your craving Wonderbread.
Anyway, hope you guys don't mind the book review.... but I do love recommending things I enjoy. So go ahead, have a slice of rye.....
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
2 Things.....
Round two of romance is going to happen this evening. Coal and Mishka will be put together for another hootin' and falootin' time. I guess they need several go rounds of hootin' and falootin' before she will catch.... eventually she will get pi---d off and hiss and spit at him and then you know she's finished with him. Then 11 1/2 months later.... well, you get my drift..... mind you nothing is for sure.
So the big j.c. ,.... yeah,..... nothing is for sure, alright.... I keep thinking, "well, this is it, this is the day I finish, but something always comes up and though things are progressing they are not progressing as fast as I would like. I have the sleeves done and sewn up and I am now proceeding with the embroidery work. There is a day's worth so my goal today is to finish the embroidery. Tomorrow my goal is to finish the lining and put it in. Then I need to put on the collar and do the buttons and button holes. Hopefully there will be no more interruptions this week. Wouldn't that be nice!!! But progress... well, at least I am making some.
So I had better have at it for today is a flyin' by.
So the big j.c. ,.... yeah,..... nothing is for sure, alright.... I keep thinking, "well, this is it, this is the day I finish, but something always comes up and though things are progressing they are not progressing as fast as I would like. I have the sleeves done and sewn up and I am now proceeding with the embroidery work. There is a day's worth so my goal today is to finish the embroidery. Tomorrow my goal is to finish the lining and put it in. Then I need to put on the collar and do the buttons and button holes. Hopefully there will be no more interruptions this week. Wouldn't that be nice!!! But progress... well, at least I am making some.
So I had better have at it for today is a flyin' by.
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