Early Autumn

As is my habit, every morning, I feed our animals.  Chip is usually the last one to be fed.  He is one of the bright spots in my day.  Chip isn't very demonstrative of his love for me-what horse is?  But I know he loves me when I bring him his purple bucket full of tasty food.  This morning's fare was 1 part cracked corn, 1 part steamed crimped oats and 2 parts pelleted senior feed. Chip is the senior member of our animal world at approximately 23 years.  Every morning, as I am walking down to his pen with the purple bucket full of grainy goodness, I am thankful he is there, healthy and waiting for breakfast.  Then  I ask Chip "Where's my pretty boy?"  Sometimes, just sometimes, he slowly moves his front hooves out in front of him for a sweet good morning stretch.  I was not so lucky this morning.  He just stood in front of his pan, softly nickering at me as if to say "Can we please just get on with it and give me my breakfast..."  I think some mornings. he would roll his eyes if he could.  @@  Bless him!

Hungry Chip on a frosty morn.

It's of little matter to me when he doesn't perform.  Chip gives me so much to reflect upon as I go about his care. We are so fortunate to have this beautiful animal to love and care for.  The time I spend with him is invaluable.  Everything seems a little brighter.  The cold brisk mornings are a little sweeter.  When I get his "Pretty Boy" stretch..  He might as well have given me chocolate. 

Beautiful Morning Mums

It's days like these that inspire me to work with fiber and create.  I hope there's something in your life that inspires you to create and accomplish.  For without this, we trudge from one day to the next.  So, look up, around, and down.  Find the beauty in the simplest of things in your day and you too will be blessed. 

Finally. Tea Towel Progress!

I could look back in the blog to see when I started working on these towels...  But I won't.  It will suffice to say it's been quite a while.  But I finally motivated myself to sit down at the loom and start working.  I've been tied on for some time now.  The loom has been daring me come over and get down to business!  

But on days like these, distractions are many!

 

After three or four throws of the shuttle, I see a problem.  Really???  I had one thread that was extremely tight.  After investigating, I found I had, after threading it through the heddle, hooked it around several other pieces of yarn.  Ohhh!  I'm not sure how this little detail escaped me when I was double checking everything before I finished tying on, but it did!

So, now that's it's been corrected, I'll show you the little bit I have woven.   One of the best parts of weaving is when you finally begin to see your web emerge!  This is the payoff for all the other preparation you've gone through -whether you find it boring/tedious/even maddening or not!  ;)

Tea Towel in a twill pattern. 

I'm about to start a hem stitch in the above photo.  I've been weaving for close to 20 years.  It doesn't matter how many times I've done a hem stitch, I still really have to think about how it's done before I start.  I've even had to take it out a few times after I started.  Funny, it's just one of those things that sort of messes with my brain.  Some years ago, I would call a good friend to ask her how it was done.  Very patiently, she explained.  Each time.  Bless her, she has the patience of a saint. 

So the process has begun.  Happy Day!

A lot of shoes. A lot of rice. The groom was nervous, he answers twice...

One of my favorite old love songs.  "Makin' Whoopee". Last weekend our little family attended my niece's wedding.  Her new husband has been a wonderful fixture in our family for what seems many years.  I couldn't have been happier about her choice or the beautiful wedding that was tailored for them.

A stunningly beautiful bride and equally handsome groom after cutting the decoy cake...  It really wasn't a decoy cake at all.  The cake was prepared by my sister so the bride and groom would have something beautiful and yummy to 'cut' for the photos.  It was banana.  :)  There was no real wedding cake to speak of.. We had wedding pie!  All manner of fruit pies were served to the guests.  So many fun and unique elements made up this 'wedding of the year'. Food, drink, music and company were wonderful.  To sum it all up, it will suffice to say that if the bride, her sister and their mom went into the business of wedding planning.. they would be tremendously successful! 

My Dad, Dianne, Geoff, Me and Greg.  Happy Day

 

My hubby and beautiful daughter.  Were they dancing??

Goodness... He's so adorable!

Looks are deceiving.  He's really having a great time!

Lyrics to "Makin' Whoopee"

Another bride Another June
Another sunny honey moon
another season, another reason
for makin' whoopie

Alot of shoes, alot of rice
the groom is nervous. he answers twice
its so Killin that he's so willin'
To make whoopee

Picture a little love nest
down where the roses cling
picture the same sweet love nest
Think what a year can bring

He's washing dishes and baby cloths
He's so ambitious he even sews
but don't forget folks that's what you get folks
for makin whoopee

Another year or maybe less
what's this I hear? Well you can't you guess
She feels neglected and he's suspected
of makin' whoopee

She sits alone most every night
He doesn't phone her he doesn't write
he says he's busy but she say's "is he?"
He's makin' whoopee

He doesn't make much money
only five thousand per.
Some judge who thinks he's funny
says you'll pay six to her.

He says now judge suppose I fail?
The judge says 'Budge right into jail.'
You better keep her. I think it's cheaper
then making whoopee

You better keep her.
I know it's cheaper, than makin' whoopee

Another homeschool-less year.

I've had a huge pile of our homeschool books sitting in a corner for some time.  Our kids started public school last August.  I guess there was a reason I had delayed doing anything about these books. Today, I purchased 2 plastic storage tubs to get it all put away.  They have taken up this space too long now.


But, as I sifted through the books and papers, little snippets of our homeschooling days drifted in and out of my mind.  I miss most parts of those days terribly.  I never woke them up early and forced school upon them.  I allowed the luxury of waking up naturally-unless it was ridiculously late.  School came when they were well rested and fed.  I came across pages of vocabulary words, sentences, math quizzes, and artwork...like the one below.

 This kind of thing tugs at my heart.  Sometimes, I feel like we threw away their innocence.  The lump in my throat is proportionate to the amount of  books I packed away and drawings those precious little hands created.

 Then I ran across these two books.   Many were the days, when we were tired or the weather was rainy and gloomy and we didn't feel like doing the normal work.  We would simply read.  I read Rare Catholic Stories and many other books to them.  Sometimes they listened, sometimes squirmed, sometimes they just went to Bora Bora while I read...

And the Family Journal...I never put one mark in it.  I never had time. 

I know they have moved on to a different way of having school and they like it for the most part.  I enjoy seeing the complexity of things they're learning.  A tiny little part of me is glad I don't have to teach them math I haven't done in many years or listen to them bicker and watch them distract each other... But there will always be that part of me that cherishes every moment we spent together as a homeschooling family.

Sweet, sweet precious babes of mine.

And now for something completely different...

For some time, I have been watching a pair of (get this) Black Vultures.  They've nested in an empty building on our property.  I like these craggy, crusty, old looking creatures.  When one considers the vulture, the mental picture usually isn't pleasing.  But over time, I have to come to see them in a different light. 

There was an old, dead tree near our property some years ago.  It was home to various creatures.  But Black Vultures would use this tree for what I like to call 'conventions'.  They would silently gather in large numbers and talk about their day, plan for the future, gossip...I assume!  I would sometimes go out to stand near this tree and see them-and even talk to them.  I always think of the vultures talking to each other in their best English accents in the movie Jungle Book... "What do you wanna do?"  "I dunno, what do you wanna do?" 

I've lived in a farm-like setting for all of my 22 1/2 years in the South. I've always been somewhat amazed at how quickly vultures can eliminate a...problem. (we shall say for lack of a more genteel word)  I began to realize that these completely hideous creatures were "God's clean up crew".  Everyone and everything has a purpose, and as unpleasant as it is to see these birds for who they are, I now appreciate them.

So, back to the little vulture family in my building.  The Black Vulture incubation period is 37 to 41 days. Young are capable of flight about 75 to 80 days after hatching. So, I've been waiting for quite some time to see their little darling!  When I first spotted their little hatchling, it's body was absolutely covered with light brown fuzz.  Every time I passed this building on the way to or from our house, I was lacking my camera and never got a shot of him.  Finally one day, I had my camera and "Buzz" was sitting on a window sil. 

"Buzz"

 

 

You can only see traces of Buzz's baby fuzz.  I wish I had been able to get a photo of Buzz when he still had it.  It was definitely cute.  I'm also glad I didn't shoo the parents out of this building.  I was told how unpleasant they would be...  But so far, all I'm seeing is the joy it's given me to see this bird grow and change and watch his parents care for him.  I haven't' seen Buzz in several days now.  So I assume he has finally learned to fly and has gone on to better activities-other than cautiously observing me in my car as I pause to talk to him. 

So the next time you see vultures congregating in trees or soaring on updrafts, you might think of them a little differently.  You could be watching Baby Buzz.  :)

If necessity is the mother of invention...

I can say I'm giving it a pretty good work out!  I decided to weave a "wrap " (I dislike that word...too old for me) for a late September wedding.  Since I have a project on my floor loom, my mind began to wander-thinking of how else I could facilitate my desire with my loom already in use.  I thought of using a large picture frame-into  which I would have to hammer nails.  Not good.  I could cut some wood and make the frame myself-too much work!  Other ideas came to mind and left as swiftly as my children are able to devour a bag of sun dried tomato and basil potato chips I purchased over the weekend....

Finally, after walking past my floor loom, I spied my 2 raddles!  This is what I came up with...

My new, no cost to me loom!

This is a 4 X 6 sheet of particle board-to which I have screwed my 2 raddles!  I strung my warp directly on the nails of the raddle and started weaving.  I'm using my own handspun and/or hand dyed single strand yarns.  The list of yarns-A deep purple mohair single, dyed some time ago with Log wood, multicolored bamboo single, a natural colored taupe Alpaca single and from my friend Annie the Romney, a lilac single strand.  I love all these yarns together.  When I put all the skeins next to each other, it instantly felt harmonious.  So, without further ado, I  started weaving.  There's only one problem.  I don't like!  This project was in as simple as can be my head.  Just a loose, plain weave with beautiful, harmonious, luxurious fibers.  But when I look at what is already woven, I fall completely
out of love.

Partially woven wrap I don't like!

So now, the whole contraption is sitting on my living room floor.  It's waiting for me to make some momentous decision, some small change (that does not involve ripping it out and reweaving it!), that will make me fall in love with it all over again... I am wishing myself luck...!

Here is the dress that goes with the 'wrap'.  Maybe now it will make more sense.

Dreamy Blue Softness.

I recently had occasion to spin some beautiful blue fiber comprised of Merino wool and Bamboo.  It was so lovely to spin. I wanted a fairly fine yarn so that when plied, would be something close to dk weight.  

After the yarn was spun, set and dry, I began to knit a lovely hat with a scalloped lace edge and a beautiful star closure at the crown. :)  I spun and knitted this hat for my cousin.  She is going through a rough time as she is receiving chemotherapy.  Her mood is wonderful.  I only see what she posts on Facebook-I'm 500 miles away.  But I haven't 'heard' her complain once.  I have witnessed other people I know go through the process of chemotherapy and it is debilitating.  She has every reason to be crabby and complaining.  God bless her, she is cheerful and positive. 

I hope to be like her when I grow up.  

This is the lovely hat I made for her.  I hope she likes it.

Hopefully. she won't catch my blog and see this.  But if she does, *Surprise*! :)

Faaaat yarn.

The other day, I began to spin some 'fat yarn' as I will call it for now.  It will be made into a hat for my little, great niece. :) I always tell my spinning students to embrace the fat singles they spin in the beginning.  I continue by saying "When you're an experienced spinner, you won't be able to easily spin yarn like this." We can call this yarn 'novelty' yarn.  They usually look at me as if I'm just trying to coddle them to make them feel better about their fat to skinny to fat, lumpy, bumpy yarn.  In all honesty, I am trying to make them feel better, but for a very good reason. 

It's been a very long time since I've wanted such a fat yarn for any project.  I really didn't think too hard about the difficulty involved in transitioning from fine to fat again-until I sat down to spin on Monday.  It is so contradictory to allow so much roving  from my hand into the the spinning triangle and then into the yarn.. I've spun nearly 1.5 ounces of this lovely white, Peruvian  wool roving. This yarn might have to become a project for something else.  There are so many places where I've gone from the thickness I want, to something much more fine.  There has been a lot of eye rolling and sighing happening as I spin.  The words to my students come back to me, echoing in the sound of my s-l-o-w-l-y- spinning wheel.  "It will be difficult to spin thick yarn as an experienced spinner."  Yeah, right..... @@

 

This is the lovely little hat that will sit upon my lovely little great niece's head this Winter.

I will just persist until I get it right! 

Happy Wednesday.

Life is Good

It rolls along at it's own pace, not bothering to see if anyone is lagging behind or getting ahead which is not possible.  The last few weeks have been quite a whirlwind and had nothing to do with fiber aside from cleaning around the massive stockpiles.  This results form what I like to call F.A.D.  For those of you who don't know that's Fiber Accumulation Disorder.  Many of us suffer from it and actually live to tell about it.  Suffer though, is a rather strong word.

This last week has brought interesting changes to our household.  A very loud and electric thunderstorm passed over us Monday morning and destroyed our old (very old) computer-thus necessitating it's replacement.  The new computer is wonderfully fast and large with all the newest, coolest bells and whistles.  But when I attempted to plug my phone line into the nonexistent phone modem,I had an aha moment.  I had never considered the fact that new computers might not even have phone modems.  These days, everything is either dsl, cable or wireless...We were about to step even further into the here and now with a new form of internet connection.   Our end result since only one of the aforementioned internet connections are available to us.  We are now the proud  (and poorer for it) operators of our own wireless hot-spot.  (Insert huge grin here)  Now, using the internet has become a sharply contrasting pleasure compared to where we were before.

So even though jumping ahead of life is not possible, we feel through our new technological advancements, we might just be one step ahead of the game. I think, I might just have more time for fiber now.  lol

Have we talked about Yaks yet.... ::grin::

It's putting a smile on my face to even think about them. But I'll back up and give a little history.  In 1992,  I began raising sheep.  They were part of my fiber philosophy-I wanted to raise my own wool and process it myself right from the beginning-and I did.  My little darlings multiplied like rabbits and soon, I had wool coming out my ears.  I sold it, spun it, processed it, dyed it, wove it, felted it and knitted it!  Hence my title of "Shepherdess".

Nearly 22 years have passed since then.  One by one, due to their age or various illnesses, my sweet sheep have all left me.  Lulabelle, my last remaining sheep, passed away over a year ago.  Do I miss her!  :/  Chip the horse misses her too.  They were buddies.  But I digress... 

Ruthie (front) and Lulabelle (rear)

Yaks are hauntingly beautiful creatures.  Their fiber is fine, soft, quite expensive to purchase and dreamy to spin..  Secretly,  I've longed to have my very own Yak.  But I imagined they were cumbersome and ornery creatures.  A couple years ago, I found an article in Country Woman magazine that lead me to believe none of the above is true!  A female Yak is approximately 4 to 4-1/2 feet tall.   They are reported to have sweet and gentle personalities.  They don't appear to eat much either.  This is yet another fine quality in a fiber animal!

Ohhhh I want her!

The fiber from this soft and beautiful creature can be gently plucked or combed.  They are very bovine-like  in their care and feeding.  I have read Yaks are efficient at browsing scrubby pasture and basically prefer it.  Sounds like a winner to me.  I can't wait to have one!  Although, I'm sure I'll have to. Yaks are not inexpensive...  But when I do have one, think of all the Yak jokes you can send me! :)

Pioneer Woman... Book review?? lol

I hadn't been a fan of Pioneer Woman-Ree Drummond, only because I didn't know that much about her.  My wonderful sister gave me a copy of "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" for Mother's Day. This book is the story of how she met the infamous Marlboro Man and how their relationship developed.  I had heard a little bit about her husband "Marlboro Man"  and was curious to know the rest of the story.

For those of you who might not be familiar with The Pioneer Woman (yeah right), she is a blogger who has been entertaining readers since 2006 with her stories of  transition from city life to a rancher's life and all the recipes that go along with it. 

I began reading this book and could not put it down.  My eyes blurred and teared (from weariness and laughter).  I read every available moment.  I seldom devour books like this anymore. I think it has something to do with the 3 children my husband and I are raising...At any rate, I finished my book shortly after receiving it. I loved it.  Every word. I even spent a few days in a mini-funk because I was done living in Ree and Marlboro Man world. We actually had quite a bit in common.

If ever I could recommend a book that would make a person feel good-even though there are a few parts that aren't happy, this would be the one.  As I would read into the night next to my snoring husband, I could even overlook the 100 decibel snores emanating from his head.  I could do this because Ree's book made me remember the reasons why I fell in love with him in the first place. 

I even made her Chicken Spaghetti recipe (from the back of the book).  It's comfort food and I really needed some last week.  It was yummy.  Thanks Ree.


If you have the chance, I highly recommend "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels".  It's one I know I will go back and read again and again. :)

It's done, it's done, it's done! :)

After several months of knitting in seed stitch, my Great Niece's coat is finished!  This sweet little coat was to be one of her Christmas presents.  But it took this semi-experienced knitter, nearly 7 months to complete!  I didn't knit my every waking moment on it's completion.  There were several stops along the way attempting to decipher the instructions for button holes and the collar.  Both were ambiguous...to say the very least.  Fortunately, with the help of the experienced knitters around me, I finally finished it.  In the photo, the coat is  hanging on an adult size hanger and makes it appear disproportionate.  The coat is really a 24 month size and will hopefully fit my adorable little Great Niece for a very long time!

 

 I cannot wait to see "E" in her new coat! :)

I love these beautiful little buttons purchased at Enchanted Yarn and Fiber. At the time, they were in Russellville, Kentucky and have since moved and opened a lovely store in Sango (Clarksville), Tennessee.  The yarn is a Merino, Alpaca and Donegal Tweed blend in "Lemon Curd". (Mmm...the yarn was' purchased' and not spun by me, as I wanted a specific color and fiber blend).  I used ivory buttons and velvet ribbon.  I'm so pleased with this little coat.  I stepped outside my normal range of garments; mittens, hats, socks, scarves, etc., when I began this project.  Some parts were difficult, because of the poorly written pattern.  But overall, I'm very glad I trudged through it all.  Step outside your fiber or other comfort zone once in a while and see where it takes you.  You might be pleasantly surprised! 

Break-

I took a break on Friday afternoon, from all things fiber and otherwise to keep track of the impending weather doom.  I am very grateful the doom was not meant to be for us.  I managed to capture more beautiful clouds.  The sky was so angry, yet beautiful. When I'm able to put my fear aside, I see beauty. 

Isn't he adorable?

 "Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from."
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

I think this is where I missed the boat...

I did not get this memo.  In the book from which this was taken, (shhh), I read where the author writes...not to be tempted to comb the warp.  @@  My guess is her warp doesn't contain 32 ends per inch (e.p.i.) Oh yes, and this weaver has a friend.  Maybe the cats will lend a hand/paw to help expedite matters! 

A demain mes amies!

Warping Tea Towels Alone without Tears.

I know there has got to a book out there by this name or-something similar...  There will always be snags in the whole weaving process.  It just goes with the territory.  However, this is one lesson, I seem destined to repeat over and over again. 

This is my lovely tea towel warp hanging in front of my loom-waiting for me to untangle it.  Sigh. Somewhere around here, I have really great wide toothed pick. It was part of an Estee Lauder gift.  What a great item for combing through tangled warps. Since it's currently missing,  I will use my fingers to comb and untangle.  Mind you, this happens to all weavers to some degree while transferring a warp from their mill or board.  This particular yarn has an affinity for sticking and in general making a mess of itself.  I remember winding this same material on my loom several years ago.  I was weaving  2 overshot (Orange Peel-pictured on the right side of my blog) table runners for my sister.  At that time however, my good friend Debra was here to help me.  It's ever so good to have 2 sets of hands (and such a good friend) when attempting this process!   I am cognizant of the fact that, one day, soon,  I will prevail...

The above is what I've already untangled and wound. For the time being, this will be my lesson in patience.  Heaven knows I need it.   Once I have it wound around the warp beam, it will be smooth sailing... I think.

Tea Towels

Well, after a weaving respite, I've finally begun the process of weaving 6 tea towels.  I've wound the warp, chained it off and transported it to my loom.  I'm always surprised when I begin this process.  While winding, any warp, there will be some variation in length on any given end.  Mine however always seem to be quite long on the end that was wound first. I suspect the problem is the pegs begin to push inward from the pressure of the warp thereby making subsequent windings shorter!.  So, I've tried to correct this by not winding the warp so tightly.  It never works.

At any rate,  I'm on my way to enjoying all the processes/steps of weaving.  Each one is quite distinct.  You can't go on to step B without fully completing step A.  This erases any confusion as to what comes next! It's just a small part of why I love weaving.  If you follow my drift, you're a weaver.  If you don't follow, I apologize.

With my next blog entry, I'll include some photos and maybe it will be clearer as to what I'm doing! :)

Happy weaving! (to me)

Sunsets and Ethereal Clouds

I am absolutely enamored with clouds.  This is two in a series I took the 2/15/11.  The shape and color of a cloud at sunset changes with such rapid speed.  Unless each photo is taken very quickly, what you get is an ever changing array of glorious colors and shapes-all painted by God.  I'm just the lucky girl capturing tiny little fragments of such masterful art.

:)

Energy?

What is this stuff.  The hubby, was not feeling well this morning, so he took the day off.  I got the little people ready for school and dropped them off.  I came back to the house and had my coffee/Frasier/knitting ritual. I don't like to miss that and it appears that I may be doing exactly that soon!  -More about that later though.  I proceeded to get up and start cleaning my kitchen. This job was long overdue.  I worked on laundry, installed a new ink cartridge in the printer, folded laundry... bla bla bla.  It's odd for me to have this much energy lately.  It's all part of the no/low motivation to do things creative or otherwise.  As I was in my cleaning frenzy, I remembered my outing to the YMCA yesterday. I took a friend's 'yoga stretch' class and afterward, walked about 3/4 mil on a treadmill. I wonder if the small amount of exercise I had is contributing to my slightly higher than normal, energy level... This is something with which I can ponder and experiment.

As the miles and miles I have to go pass by me ever so slowly, it's occurring to me that I will need to go find some type of employment.  Then I will have an even better excuse to not be creative.  Unless someone can come up with a way for me to earn a regular paycheck and be creative as well....  ;)

At least my house will be cleaner than normal today-and on any day, that is a good thing.

Happy Jumpin' Lambie. :)

Happy Thursday. I haven't made any diabolical plans yet for my loom. I'm not amused either.  I have frittered away yet another morning.   I've begun to wind a warp for tea towels.. But whole idea isn't really very exciting.   I think I need to use my little Happy Jumpin' Lambie as my mascot and muse.  Maybe she will help provide me with some direction. 

In the Spring, there will be a number of Fiber Festivals taking place.  I'm usually a vendor at two of them.  With the economy tanking, the festivals I attended last year were so unfruitful.  I'm considering dropping away from both of them.  If I manage to weave some interesting things and price them unreasonably low, I might have a little more profit.  Weaving is incredibly labor intensive.  There is no real overhead for me since I have so much fiber stored away.  So, I would be losing out on labor in the end.   :::shrug:::  Taking a negative view of all this so incredibly  counterproductive.  So, I need to get up from the computer, walk over to my warping board and get busy, right??!!  Yes!  So, it looks like some beautiful, reasonably priced, handwoven tea towels for me....!

A Winter's day

It's snowing again.  I really love that 'snowed in'  feeling on a Winter's day. (even though I know we're really not)   Each time we've had the opportunity to be 'snowed in' this Winter, I have thought of the song. "I am a Rock".   I'm not nearly as jaded as the person in the song.   It's not December and I'm certainly not shielded in my armor..@@  But some parts of the song resonate with me for some unknown reason. I do love this season.  There's not much snow here in the Mid-South, so I have to treasure what I get.  These days fill me with a longing to start and complete projects having artistic value.  So, as my children play a video game together and laugh wildly, I will sit with my glass of wine and computer and plan my artistic escape for tomorrow- when they're all home again-snowbound, stir crazy for the 13th time this school year....  So tune in tomorrow to see what diabolical plan I have devised for my own amusement...

 

 

A Winter's day

In a deep and dark December;

I am alone,

Gazing from my window to the streets below

On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.

I am a rock,

I am an island.

I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don't talk of love,
But I've heard the words before;
It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

 

-Simon and Garfunkel

My friend Diana found a photo of a sheep in a garter belt, stockings and stilettos.  So naturally she sent it to me. I wrote the first line of this poem as a status update the other day when it was raining so hard, I thought I should be building a moat.  Diana in her creativeness wrote the rest..

There's a moat around my house - I didn't put it there....
I need a boat - so I can motor my way outta here ....

If sheep could fly, I'd have it easy - wouldn't have a care ...
But they wear heels and they're lazy -- so I'll shave them bare!

Diana's a funny girl...  :)

Restless!

Did you ever have so many projects in your head, you didn't know where to start..?  That's me right now.  I have 'projects in progress'  or "on needles', I have projects that have supplies purchased and are waiting in line right behind the p.p.'s   Then of course there are the projects that live only in my head... Who knows if they will ever come to fruition!

I also have Fiber Workshops and Classes to teach!  I'm really excited about these two things. It gives me joy to share my craft with like minded people.  Some students get it right away and spin yarns that I would have been proud to spin after a year or so!  Some decide after the first class they don't share the same enthusiasm or perhaps dexterity and they drift away.  I feel bad about these students.  I feel like I've failed them somehow and wonder what I could have done to give them that "Ah ha!" moment so many beginning spinners cherish!

I ran in to a friend yesterday who took my "Beginning Spinning" class last year and totally 'got it'!  She did very well.  I haven't spoken to her in a couple months as we have both been busy with the holidays, children etc..  She told me that she had purchased a spinning wheel! Students who take my class begin with a simple, rudimentary drop spindle.  It is an inexpensive means to and end.  If the student grasps the concept of spinning and enjoys it, then they can make the decision to spend more money on a wheel and produce greater quantities of yarn.  -There are many, quite proficient drop spindlers out there and they would argue this point.  Notwithstanding, I prefer my wheel for it's ability to produce!

I was excited for my friend as she talked about her new wheel.  As we talked, I realized- last fall this woman, whose excitement and enthusiasm I was sharing, would have been referred to as an acquaintance.  Now, she is my friend.  My journey to find exactly where I fit in the in the grand scheme of the fiber world, becomes clearer with each student and each bit of fiber secrets we share.  It's much more than just making yarn.  :)

Snowy Southern Day

It was a beautiful, Winter day.  The snow clung to every branch.  It was a wet, good packing snow.  The kind that are great for snowballs and giant snowmen.  We dont' get too many of these days in the South.  That was January 26th.

Today is January 30, the high was 68.  It was sunny and beautiful. The same is to be expected until Tuesday, February 1st... It will be warm again with *strong* storms later in the day.  Then, non-accumulating snow on Wednesday.  The ups and downs of the weather here can be annoying at best.  ::sigh::  Being that we cannot change it, I'll just keep the memory of this lovely day in my head and here on my blog.  :)