Pleasant Saturday Morning

Daughter #2 went to see the doctor yesterday because on Thursday night when I checked her over I noticed a rash that resembled chicken pox.... it has been confirmed that the stingling in her skin on the back of her arm and under her arm and all down the side of her back is Shingles... : ( I started to suspect this about mid-week and really wanted it confirmed by a doctor... she is now taking antiviral medication in an effort to get the rash and the lingering pain under control. It will probably take a week or two depending on how tenacious the rash is before she will be better. Poor kid...

The loom has landed!  Sitting on the floor of my dining room is the new/old loom. (New to me, but old in years.) I have decided to give this loom a new name.... I so dub thee MacDonald.  Somehow it looks like a MacDonald. It will need some cleaning up and possibly a paint job.... What colour do you paint a loom that is named MacDonald. My friend thought black.... I do tend to paint things black... but somehow I thought Granny Smith Apple green but then that doesn't sound serious enough for a loom whose name is MacDonald.  Perhaps I should paint it black and the decorate and embellish in Granny Smith apple green. Hmm.... now there's an idea!

We had our first snow fall yesterday.  The wee doggy and the kitten had quite an interesting time checking out the new snow... it was their first time experiencing snow.  It didn't really stick on the ground but the vegetable patch is covered in snow this morning and the deck... but everywhere else, it melted.

Time to pull what's left of the carrots and beets in the garden.  I will need to get them out of the ground today since they will freeze there if I don't. Teapot and I do not have a root cellar and so we leave our vegetables in the ground till the last possible moment since they do not last long once they come into the house.  This way you get the effect of a root cellar until the ground freezes.  Our vegetables last this way until Christmas... after that things tend to rot. We have often thought we should dig out a root cellar under the house but since the crawl space down there is so d--n small it is virtually impossible to get down there to dig.   You can see in this picture that the vegetable patch is covered in snow.... next year our plan is to build another raised bed behind this one for potatoes....it will be just wide enough between the two raised beds for the truck to go so that watering with the water tanks will be easier. Probably the year after we will build another raised bed beyond that for more potatoes.  I also want a raised bed in front of the big shed... (that would be on the south side) so that I can put tomatoes and beans and peas there.  All beds would be readily reachable by the truck for watering purposes. I think I might have to hire someone to come in and move the soil since that is a huge job for a person with a wheel barrow.

Daughter #2 has just come down from a night of very little sleep.  She says she was uncomfortable due to the Shingles... poor kid.  All has been quiet to this point except that the two cats have been pestering each other's tails. They seem to like playing with each others tails.... apparently a flicking tail is almost as good as a ball with catnip.  I have had a lovely peaceful cup of tea and now that I have caught up on the news for today, and read my few favorite blogs, and checked out and answered a few emails, I'm off to finish plying a small sample of rayon that I spun yesterday.  I might even get my Lyocell sample finished today.  Either way, Monday, I will have to get the binders set up for my homework and I have to do the many write ups for the work I have already produced while it is still fresh in my mind. So until then have a good weekend... and I hope your Saturday is peaceful and quiet and you get everything done that you planned on doing.

Wabbits, And All The Junk That Is My Life

Today is shearing day.... or hair cut day for the bunnies.  I've decided that I really can't leave it any longer. They will be so cold if I trim their fur and then we have a cold snap.  But I have checked the weather forecast on three different web sites and they are all calling for above freezing temperatures for the next week. That's good because even though I don't intend on trimming the bunnies down to their skin, I do want to get the best staple that I can.  But then I do want the bunnies to have enough fur grown back in time for the really cold weather.  I have learned that the best angora comes from keeping your animals trimmed every three to four months. The angora doesn't get a chance to get matted and they don't chew on it to rid themselves of those pesky lumps... too much fur means a sick wabbit.... and we don't want that.  Some bunnies can be combed and that will do the trick but I have read some real horror stories about bunnies ingesting their own fur and then dying from associated problems.

Yesterday I had intended on finishing up a spinning sample for my level 5 homework but life interjected and I ended up moving furniture around at Pop's house. Once I got him settled I came home in time to get supper on the table and then I was so pooped that spinning was too much for my poor tired back to handle.  I did card the fibre-blend that I am working on and it looks lovely... hopefully it will spin up just as nicely. I am hoping to get some of the book work done today as well. I have five samples now to go in my book with the next one being spun today. That's six samples... if I keep this up I will be finished in no time at all.... (snort!)

As for the loom... the loom is in the works.  I finally was able to get in touch with the lady who is selling it.  I have a friend coming for a spinning day tomorrow and hopefully if everything works out then she will bring the loom with her. However, I am not holding my breath considering how difficult this whole loom purchase has become. Still, October 26th I have an dentist appointment and I will pick it up then if it doesn't work out tomorrow.

So that's it. Not a lot happening around here other than the normal... though I do start Knit Night again tonight after a hiatus of five long months.  I am looking forward to seeing the knitting gang again.  Daughter #2 is staying home today as she has developed some odd sensitivity in her shoulder that is causing her quite a bit of pain... whether it is muscular or nerve related we are not sure but I will be calling the doctor today for an appointment since we have been trying to self treat for over a week now. October seems so mundane it hardly bares writing about it.  Hallow'een is coming and maybe that will provide fodder for blogging.... but then I shouldn't complain since who knows what excitement might come... and it might not be excitement I want!

I will wish you all a good day and I will wish you a sunset like the one that came and went as I was coming home from Pop's house last evening.

Marvelous eh?

Loom Issues Continued

So I still haven't been able to sort out the loom situation.  Obviously the lady who is selling it is not wanting to sell it very badly.  I have not been able to get in touch with her. I've left messages but she is either not getting them or just doesn't care. D-mn!

Well I guess it will require a drive to FSJ.... ; \

A Good Morning For A Little Of The Blogs I Love, Some CBC, And Some Spinning

I had a lovely comment this morning from that lady who got me started on blogging in the first place. So I responded in kind and wished that she would be more consistent in her blogging... (it only takes a couple of minutes to post... really!!! and I wish some of you would blog or blog more, as case may be). Then I sat here with the intention of catching up on some of my favorites.... Yarn Harlot this morning is worth reading. Oh how I hooted..... I can't believe anyone in their right mind would "dry" their sweater in the oven...
The House Of Edward was sweet too. (All men could do with reading that one).  I mean not every man gives cool gifts like, antique bronze kaleidoscopes, first edition fairy tales, hand painted lockets.


It is a blustery day and the wind takes the curtains in my room and blows them across our faces. Teapot dreamed that it was spruce trees as he walked through the woods. But I just woke right up as the curtain drifted across my face. It was lovely to know that the first Chinnook of the season is here and it is not even winter yet.  It would have been a good day for a canoe ride... too bad Teapot has to work.


I have been working on my level 5 homework. I have three samples done and I will be working on more today. It feels good to know that I am on my way.  So far the samples have been coming off the wheel with assurance that they will be just fine. Some of the nylon ones were under plied but this was quickly remedied and so, for the next one, I will know to put a little extra ply in it.

From left to right... Bamboo, Nylon, and Nylon/wool in 50/50%.

I am not overly gone on working with some of these fibres though I do have to say that there is a place for a little nylon in sock yarn.


Some people think that Bamboo is a new and lovely yarn with a renewable resource. Bamboo grows quick and therefore is a good alternative to some more natural yarns and certainly is better than acrylic which comes from petroleum based products.... but in the end Bamboo is highly processed and as a cellulose based yarn, is regenerated through an extruded process that is as highly manufactured and chemically nasty as any of the petroleum based products... in buying it... don't think that you are doing something good for the environment. It is not a green product. As a matter of a fact Soy silk and Bamboo and NGO (corn silk), and silk Latte, and Banana are all similar in how they are processed and as such are no better than any of the rayon type yarns.


(By the way the pink (yes pink) table cloth against which the previous picture was taken was a Thrift store find and  hand woven/hand made.... I can handle pink in that situation. )

So I am off to listen to some CBC while I spin a 80/20 nylon/wool blend yarn... I hope this one comes out as nicely as the previous two...


See ya.... (go have a look at Yarn Harlot... it will give you a good laugh.)

Loom Issues

After I sold the sheep I had intended on using the money or at least some portion of it for something of value so that the money didn't get dribbed and drabbed away in small increments for water and gas and lunches at school and so on... you know all the things in daily life that need a little extra cash and when you check your budget at the end of the months you've blown $300.00 and don't really know on what you have spent it. So I made the decision that it was time I purchased a little loom... not just the Rigid Heddle looms that I have which in the eyes of most weavers doesn't even rank as a loom. (Mind you having said that I will probably get poo for that statement from weavers that read here. And Ashford has come out with their version of the Knitters Loom (I have one) which is taken the weaving and knitting world by storm... if that's possible)!  Now, I have been eyeing up the loom of one of my instructors, a really nice little table loom that I had had a look at when I was in Olds.... and I have been diligently saving my pennies for it and if it is still for sale next June then I might... just might have enough money saved for it. So when the sheep sale went through, I started to sound out people in my guild about buying a wee floor loom.

Problem #1:
I don't have a whole lot of room in this house for a floor loom. I need a small floor loom.

Problem #2:
Finding a small floor loom is not the easiest thing to do.... since there are very few on the market.

Tackling these two problems has not proven easy. My dream floor loom is the Leclerc Compact loom in an 8 shaft. Or if I could find a 12 shaft Minerva.... which is virtually impossible since Leclerc doesn't even make the Minerva anymore... then I would be happy with either. The reason for these is that both of those looms are 32 inches wide.... which translates into 36 inches on the outside of the loom... the smallest floor looms on the market.  Perfect for under my steps here in the house.  But more importantly they are both Jack looms and that is what I want since I absolutely hate.... hate... hate.... counter balance.

So with a little money in my pocket the search was on to find a wee loom for the right price... and the right size and most importantly a Jack....

I have a friend who has this acumen for sniffing out spinning and weaving equipment when no one else can.  She had heard of an ex-weaver who had a little 32 inch loom for sale but she didn't know if it was a Jack or not. So Saturday we went to have a look at it. After digging through someone's shed and looking like the proverbial neighbourhood hoodlums (the lady who owned the shed was at work) we found said loom and dragged it into the daylight.  Looking closely we discovered that the reed was in horrible condition with rust basically ruining it... (this was not a terrific problems since if CLR wouldn't take the rust off then you can still purchase reeds to fit that loom) and it was the perfect size though only a four harness.  But then we noticed the pulley on top.... hmmm... it was a counter balance and I absolutely didn't want that. So back into the shed went the loom. That night I came home with disappointment in every fibre of my shoulders. "Pooy," I thought... "no loom."

Next morning I was up early as Teapot and his nephew (The Wonder Boy) headed off for a day of hunting... (still no moose or elk).... I decided to look online at Leclerc looms. And there it was, in all it's glory... the loom my friend and I had pulled out of the shed the day before.... and according to the website it is a Jack... hmmm!  It is an odd Jack as it turns out,  since it has some pullies on the top, thus our confusion in thinking it was a counter balance. Hmm!

So this morning I am calling the lady who owns the loom and I am confirming with her that I want to buy it. It is cheap.... cheap... cheap... for a floor loom... which is great... it is a little flimsier than a floor loom should be and it is no longer in production though the website confirms that you can still order parts for it. Still, I think it will do until I have saved enough moola to buy the loom of my dreams.... (actually looms since I still really want that table loom that my instructor is selling).

Have a look at the one I am buying....

I'm pretty sure it will work... at least for now.

Crazy Daughters And Their Crazy Friends On Crazy Sundays

The Chicken girl is here. And the Daughters are nuts. I have one that is up-side-down on the settee and the other is gurgling instead of talking. She is argueing that she is diagonal and the other is complaining about her cheap vinyl shoes from Jasper which she thinks are awesome and leather.  How do you know it is Sunday afternoon in the Nichols house.  We are all really bored and this brings out the crazy side of our personalities. The cat is now hanging over my head.

I think this is enough stupidity for one afternoon...

Hope your day is not as boring as ours and that craziness is only minor in your house. 'Cause it's really taken ahold in ours!!

Simon and Garfunkel

Most people will look at this photo and will know who these two gents are. I can't remember a time when Simon and Garfunkel weren't a part of my life.  As a girl my sister learned how to play piano (I couldn't or didn't because I had no thumb on my right hand) but I could sing and did I! When my sister turned 12 she was given a songbook of Simon and Garfunkels hits. She learned how to play many of them but the one I remember the best is Bridge Over Troubled Water. She would play and I would sing and my grandfather loved it.... so much so that he recorded us on a really bad cassette player and we still have that cassette (but no player to play it on).

I was tickled this morning to learn that Paul Simon has just turned 70 years of age.... and he keeps on truckin'.  He has just come out this year with an original album and recently he has come out with an album of previous hits. That to me is just awesome.  Now I realize that a lot of people out there will say that Graceland was Paul Simon's best album ever but I disagree... I just love Rhythm Of The Saints. The Daughters and I will groove out in the living room listening to that album fairly regularly.  So I am looking forward to listening to these new albums.

The other evening I went for a walk with Teapot and on reentering our driveway I was truly impressed with two trees standing sentinel over the driveway and house in the full moon's glow. One tree is a Pine tree that so far has been able to withstand the onslaught of the Pine Beetle and the other is a twisted and gnarled spruce tree. They have been standing over the driveway since we first moved into this house and somehow in the moonlight of the other night they made me feel like I was coming home to two good friends. So I named them.... they are... you guessed it... Simon and Garfunkel.

Teapot thinks I'm nuts....
I think you should just "Slow Down You're Movin' Too Fast...."  and check out the trees or smell the roses... it's all the same.

"Feelin' Groovy"