Maybe you can teach an old dog

Maybe an old dog can learn new tricks, or maybe not. I've been totally unsuccessful in adding multiple images to my posts. Never mind trying to place the images where I want them to be.
So I'm trying again today.

Yesterday our daughter called and said she was coming to visit, making lunch and bringing dessert.

Lunch was pork tenderloin, home fries, spring asparagas and hollindaise sauce.

Dessert, a/k/a Birthday cake was her famous Blueberry cake.

Thank you Leslie,  what a great Birthday gift.

Her blueberry cake is overloaded with blueberries and has lots and lots of butter in it. How do you say rich?

So here is the meal.  The hollindaise doesnt show, but I had a load of it on the asparagas. It was so good

These two didn't join us, but I have to share this picture. They are growing up way to quickly. 

Frustration

I am at the frustration stage now. I'm beginning to want to do things around the house. I can't really get to my desk.  I seem to have created three nests, one by my chair, one by the sofa and the last on the dining table.  And yet, it seems that whatever I want is either out of my reach or a wheelchair ride away.
How many times can I ask him to fetch for me?  And how totally frustrating it is when he just can't translate my request into what I want or need.
Not to mention grocery shopping, banking and etc. We both need haircuts, him especially. The mail needs getting, and the laundry and trash are piling up.
A good friend says that my level of frustration is an indication that I am not depressed. Oh goodie. 
I knit for a bit today and watched a new podcast. Mostly though, I napped. Keeping the foot elevated leads to lots of naps.
Four weeks will be down on Monday. Hoping that the next eight go by as quickly. Then I know it's going to be tough walking again.
Now that was exciting to read.

And then this happened

Life slows down real fast when one is reduced to living on one leg. An unfortunate auto accident, not of my design, has put me out of commission until early summer. My right foot/ankle has a break on each side. I've been plated and pinned and now the healing happens.
Accident was March 1, surgery was March 17 and on March 30th I left the rehab/nursing home and came home. So far I've done a bit of spinning and read a couple of romance novels.
Each day is better than the one before.

Snow Again

So what else is new?? It's snowing again today. More plans ruined.
This weekend is apparently a make up weekend for all the basketball games that were cancelled because of snow. I was all set to head down the hill for a 2:30 game this afternoon. Instead I sit here watching more snow come down. Yes, I could chance it, and go to the game. Problem is, it's not possible to predict what the hills will be like later on. For sure, because I choose to stay home, the storm will be a washout.
SO
Here I sit, spinning mostly. I'm working my way through filling the third bobbin for the 3 ply for the Hiro sweater.  Talk about a long term project.  Once this bobbin is filled, I have just the last of the three colors to spin for the colorwork.  Then there is the knitting. Hopefully I won't get bored and will finish this sweater for next fall. 
I'm dreaming as I spin. Spring shearing is coming up and I want a white Cotswold and one other white fleece. The cotswold will be for woven rugs,  and the other for dyeing and as yet to be imagined knitting.
I have 2.8# of gray cotswold to process. I'll be interested to see how much weight it looses in the washing. It's heavy with lanolin and it seems like the last batch lost at least 1/3, perhaps 4/10ths of its weight.  I want the white to go with this for rug weaving.
I'm going to try to insert a photo of Tigger Who was asking permission to get in my lap this morning.

Spinning for weaving

Tonight I finished cable plying 296 yards of Polworth. Have it in a real hot bath, with a splash of pine tree oil in the rinse.  It will be for a weaving project.

Fluff all over the place, and a fabric rediscovery

I think that I've finally washed every bit of fleece and alpaca that I own.  I think!

Washing dirty/sandy alpaca is perhaps more time consuming than washing a greasy fleece.
One must be much more careful with the alpaca that it does not felt in the handling.  This white blanket from Aja the alpaca was especially sandy.  It took maybe five times through hot water and as many rinses before I felt it was clean.  On the other hand, I had a small bit of a lovely light brown from Grantt, that I first put through the picker to fluff the sand out, and it only took two washes to come clean.  Maybe that is the way to go in that I don't have a tumbler.

After my experience of using Wiltons food dye on a small bit of Aja I decided to try a larger chunk' and used a green with a touch of black.  The black, as expected, broke and actually gave me a lavender.  It's all carded now, and in punis for spinning.

That's my slave +Gina Assetta who came to spend the day on Thursday to help me get caught up and then play with the picker and the carder.  She brought some various colors of roving and top that she was not in love with, and some real curly fleece from long ago.

Blue cloud of fleece

The beginnings of Rainbow in the Clouds

Rainbow in the Clouds

She mixed the blue with some lavender and some pink and added some plum angelina

This was a combination of what she had left, its called The Bottom of the Dye Pot

When Gina does a dye run she sops up the remainder of the dye with small batts of fleece.  Great idea, and similar to what we used to do when we dyed wool cloth for hooking.  We would put everything in one pot and you got what you got.

It was a fun day spent with a good friend.  A good way to spend a wet and rainy afternoon as it turned out.

Now, about the fabric.  Well, there is fabric, mostly quilters cotton stashed in my 'craft' room.  I have been back in the Granbee quilt group for a couple of years now, and am getting my mojo back.  I think that I should look to see what there is that needs finishing, and what I can do with all of the fabric.  One of my first plans is to use the fat quarters that I won at the Granbees last holiday.  I think it will become a Scrappy Trip Around the World.  There is no particular rhyme of reason to the fabric.  Some old, some new, no real theme, so a scrappy quilt will work well.  Looks like I need to cut lots of 2.5" strips.  I'll keep you posted.

One last picture.  Our lab Daisy is very respectful of our cat Tigger.  

And that is why

Daisy is also afraid of the ceiling fans and the camera.  Last night was difficult for her, poor pup.  First the Howard turned the fan off, then the cat decided he wanted to sleep on the chair [her bed as he gets thrown off our bed by the cat] and then I got the camera out.  Poor Daisy, the last straw was when we turned the fan back on.  She may need help.

 At least she got to sleep on the bed all night.

Socks, carding and labs who don't swim

Do you ever find yourself in the mood to start lots of projects?  That seems to have been the case with me and socks lately.

There are these, my coffee shop socks

and these, something wrong with the heel.

and these, which are a MUCH brighter green

and lastly, these

And then there is the pair I frogged because I just didn't like them.    Didn't like the fabric I was getting with my 2.25mm needles.  That yarn has been tried in several projects and lost each time, so it's on its way out the door.

To top this off, I got some yarn at Jo-Ann Fabric the other day for socks for him.  It is Patons sock which I really like for men's socks.  It's fulls a bit and makes a nice cushy sock for olde soles.  Pun intended.

I've been carding the alpaca with the corriedale from Serenity Farms.  I am not being careful enough of the mix, but I figure it will all even out in the end.  I also carded the alpaca that I dyed with Wiltons food dye.
The color 'broke' when I dyed it, so instead of a solid I got a multi color.  Lavender and bright blue.  It is striking, I want to spin it NOW, but remember that Cormo, well, it is still on the wheel, taunting me.

This picture captures the blue better

This picture shows the lavender, but the blue is too light

 .  

Now, about the Lab.  Daisy, as I may have mentioned, is a Texas rescue dog.  Her first year here she was a bit timid about the water, but caught on soon enough.  Last summer, when the lake levels were way down she was a swimming and ball chasing fool.  She was tethered to us with a very long clothsline rope that just kinda followed along behind her.  Because the lake was low last year, she didn't land in water when she jumped off the wall, she landed on sand then then into the water.
This year, began with the lake low and everything was fine.  And then.
The rains came, and the lake almost topped the wall and well, she was jumping into water almost deep enough to swim in.  That and we removed her tether.  Maybe she feels unsafe???  To add insult to injury she was attacked by a large mouth bass several times.  So was I...............  Mama bass seemed to an issue with us being near her nest I guess.
The outcome, Daisy no longer swims.  She wanders along the shore, stepping on the large boulder type rocks, getting wet up to her elbows and knees. [at least she gets her feet clean]  Once in a while she will get her belly wet, but not on purpose.

Eighty-eight.eight-degrees now, time to head down to the water.

WHOOOOOSH

Whoosh and a month is gone.  Where?  Who knows.
But, it's been hot, and we've been doing a lot of this.

Napping under the fan

I've even been swimming.  The lake temperature quickly rose to 88-degrees and I find that acceptable for swimming.  Well, I don't really do what you could call swimming anymore, but I do a lot of moving around in the water.  It's great that my body has always wanted to float to the top.

Seems like in June I was talking about some roving that I had that was a mix of corriedale and alpaca.  Cary and I are doing a spin in/knit in.  I think I was supposed to wait for her before I started on the knit in part of the deal.  Well, I thought I should make a gauge swatch and before I knew it I had a sock. OPSS!

Coffee Shop socks, pattern by

Cary Smith, Serenity Farms

Alma, MI

These socks are just screaming cold, snowy winter walk.  They are heavy; boot socks for sure.  The yarn is so nice and soft and has a great sheen too.  Now, I seem to recall how we were [not me] all complaining about winter, so I won't wish for summer to fade just yet.  But I assure you, first cold nite these are going on my feet.

I spun up some of my mystery fiber last week.  I didn't overprocess this fiber so the finished yarn is rather rustic.  I plan to make the lined beanie.  And maybe some gloves too.  I have lots more fleece from this batch, but next time will run it through the carder [at least] once more.  I have about 8 3/4 oz which I think is only around 300 yards.  I keep doing the math again and again, but can't get more yardage::-(

Mystery fleece turned into rustic yarn

Next up on the wheel is some Cormo that I picked up from someone on Ravelry.  It is a roving, so that is a plus, but it is full of straw bits.  I am trying to make myself spin it thicker than I normally spin.  It's so funny that when I first learned to spin I was getting a ultra bulky two ply.  Now I seem to automatically spin so much thinner.  There is lots of this fiber, more that I will spin at this sitting for sure.  It is a nice clean white, so the yarn will lend itself to dying.

Cormo roving

 I promised the owner of School House Alpaca in Granby, CT that I would demonstrate spinning at Granby Open Farms Days in September.  So, naturally I needed some alpaca.  I now have a white blanket.  I'm slowing washing it and preparing it for carding.  I've sampled some mixed in with white corriedale at a 70/30 mix and it spun well.  I also spun some 100%.  I haven't plied them yet, but am sure they will make lovely yarn.

There is more I could talk about, like the CSA we joined, and more I won't talk about, like what is going on at the Board here in our community.  BUT, it's time to get moving along.

Keeping it in Circulation

Money that is.  I just purchased a Patrick Green triple picker.  Now you say, what in the heck is that.  Some of you know..........................
It is a potential killing machine.  It waits for that moment when one forgets what they are doing and grabs digits and won't let go.  It also picks fleece that is all ascramble from washing.  Gets it ready for carding.

Under that top part are a gazillion sharp nails

Nice soft cloud of fleece, ready for carding

On another note, THE SUN CAME OUT TODAY, if only for a moment here and there, but I did recognize it from the last time it came around.  The animals, in a rare moment of tolerance, not only shared a sunbeam, but also let me take a photo of them.  Miracles

.

Sunday, a beautiful sun day

It's so nice to wake up to a sunny day and know that there is nothing on my calendar for the whole day.  A do what I want day, a do it when I want day.  We started out with coffee and the Foot Guard Dog Show on TV.  Enjoyed by someone more than the rest of us me thinks.

Although it does not look it, she was very intent on
watching the herding dog trials

Then it was on to OJ, bacon and eggs.  Now more coffee, and the smell of the corn chowder that is on the stove already.

Perhaps today will be the day that I fire up our new "fire pit" down on the dock.  Maybe my friend Sue will come over for a swim and she can warm up afterwards by the fire. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

Waters is getting a bit high, but after last summer with the lake 

way low all summer, this will be a treat

Oh my, what hot weather.  We were in jackets and jeans last weekend and this weekend it's in the 90's.  Guess we won't need a fire to warm us up tonight.

Yesterday I went to watch alpaca sheared.  I've previously watched sheep shearing, but never alpaca.  Very interesting.  It was so hot I felt sorry for the crew and for that matter for the alpaca.  I can't help but wonder if they are cooler without the fiber on them.

Of course I fell in love with the fiber, in particular a very dark brown, a white and a maple color.  I'm sure that the fiber will have to be graded and whatever before it is priced, but I might try to be first in line.

On September 7, I am spinning at Granby Open Farm days at the alpaca farm.  I am hoping to get and process at least a white fleece for my demo.

Sisters of the Fleece

Sisters of the Fleece

Have you ever spun, spun out of control.  Well, I have, and I'm back.

Now I am spinning in a different way,  I am spinning with a spinning wheel and wool fleece.  I've found a calming hobby, one that allows me some ability to be creative, one that leads to my next hobby - knitting.

Several months ago I read an article in an online magazine that led me to find source for fleece and roving right from the farm, a farm in Alma, Michigan.  I began a timid friendship with Cary of Serenity-farms and it's been a great time, getting to know her.

Sisters of the Fleece roving

Cary and I got together late this winter and shared some very dark brown alpaca I had, and two lamb fleece from her corriedale flock.  See her post where she speaks of it.  We have decided to call our roving Sisters of the Fleece and we are having a spin along/sock along. We are using a pattern that Cary wrote up for her coffee house knitting group.  There are coffee cups around the cuff and at the heel, so cute, I cannot wait to have my yarn ready to go for this one.

I've never spun for socks before.  Certainly not fine enuf to have fingering yarn.  I'm not sure that will be what I get, but I am trying.  Cary suggests that she might do a three ply but then will have sport weight or so.  I will try too, just because I have much to learn from her when it comes to spinning for socks.

fine, but probably not fine enuf

working towards 100 grams

I have one bobbin full, 100 grams which is probably enuf for a pair of socks.  The next two bobbins will each be around 50 grams each.  I also have some white corriedale from Cary that I am going to spin for the coffee cups motif.  

It's great fun having a email pal/blog pal again.  I so miss my Florida genealogy/quilting/gardening friend Wanda.  We had a wonderful fulfilling friendship, but God had greater plans for her.  Since the internet, the world has gotten so much smaller. 

Time for tea. 

Blogger and I are having problems tonight.  Twice I've poured my heart and soul out here, once to have it not post, and the second time to have a window come up that I could not remove.

So, this is a test.

Maybe tomorrow I will try again when Blogger and I have had some time apart.

Hello, I'm Daisy

Hello, I'm Daisy. I am from Texas, I was a rescue dog. They say that I am just about the sweetest thing going, and I believe them.
I've been up here in the Massachusetts hills for about a month now. Not a bad place to be, all things considered. The trip up here was a bit trying, but once that was over all was well. We have a lake here. Well, in Texas we would have called it a small puddle or a watering hole, certainly not a lake. I'm learning to swim by myself now that the summer people are leaving.

My friend Kohl is arriving from Texas on Saturday and I can't wait to show him the water. He is used to swimming in salt water I think, so this will be new to him.

I don't want you to think that it's all fun a games around here. There is this cat who thinks he is the boss of everyone who comes across the threshold. His name seems to be Tigger,




they call him Kittykitty, and refer to him as TDC which is a polite way of saying That Damn Cat. He and I race around the house a couple of times a day, we scatter the rugs and make a mess of everything.

Goodbye Pooh, you were a good dawg

 

And another one bit the dust

Holiday meal that is. 

Today we had “Christmas at the Lake”.   We were blessed with a warm day so that we were able to use the summer porch, opening the room up to the house and using an electric heater to take the nip off. 

The house was bulging at the seams with happy family.  Four generations.  It used to be that when someone bragged about four generations I thought someone must be really olde.  Well, now that I am a member of the ‘older generation’ I can tell you that I was misled.  Someone is not ‘really’ olde, just kinda olde.

We had enough food to feed an army and have some leftover for a navy too.  Once, back when I was a bride, I ran out of roast before the platter made it around the table – never again, never again.

As each of the families left we checked to make sure that they had their kidz in the car.  Then somehow our daughter and son-in-law managed to slip out without their two. It’s bedtime now, and I am off to listen to Brown Bear, Brown Bear for the gazillenth time.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Walkin' times four

 

Way back in the beginning of my blog, I posted a photo of Zach and Lexi walking, holding hands. My aim was to take that photo each year so I could record their growth. Well, I quickly learned in year three that there is no making those two perform on cue. Leslie tells me that she actually had to bribe Zach to get close to Lexi for this photo shoot. At any rate, I like this photo of the four of them; they look carefree don't they?

Its tough to get older

Its tough to get older
Originally uploaded by smoorect.

But its great to be in Florida visiting with old friends.
I visited with my doctor yesterday and he put me on Heart meds. He may also have to put me on diuretics but says that may cause trouble with mom and the rugs. Mom just wants me to be better.
Mom, Dad, TDC [that damn cat] and I are hanging out in the MH today cause Dad says it is too hot to be out. I'm having trouble breathing so he is probably right.

Traveling Bag

I've been thinking about how inconvenient it is to carry my plastic bed knitting machine around in its box and wondering just what I could do to make a bag using stuff from around the sewing room. I wanted a bag that would protect the machine from bumps and thumps, but would fold for storage when not in use. I wanted a place to put the 'parts'. I didn't want to goto the store down the hill and run another line on my plastic.................








Now we are off in the cold wind to watch our grandson and his team mates play soccer. They are 4 for 4 and this is their first 'night' game. If their bedtime is 7:30 how do they play a soccer game which starts at 6:30?

Where

Did August go? One day it's August 8th and the children are paddling the lake in their kayaks and the next day it's September the 2nd and they have been in school for three days. When did the school systems decide that they could steal the last week of summer?

So, I'm officially no longer the summer [of 09] sitter from Sunday through Tuesday. I didn't get fired, I got eased out by school. I am sure that if we lived closer I would be the after school grammie, no, I know that for a fact! But we chose to live up here in the hills and they chose to live down in the flatland. Most likely a good thing for all of us.................

I would post their first day photos here, but haven't gotten them yet. Mayhaps I should check Facebook and see if they are there to STEAL. Found them! BUT, now have to study how to add them, and they aren't even Leslie's photos. Maybe Leslie will send some to me when she reads this post. Can I make her feel guilty? NOT! She has learned how to fend off my attempts at that. I guess because I'm not really a Jewish mama.


Last night TOS and I went down the hill and met my daughter at the cinema. We saw Julie and Julia, or is it Julia and Julie? At any rate, it was a great movie. Have to say though that Leslie couldn't relate to it the way we did. Leslie does not watch cooking shows on PBS. I was disappointed that Julie never got to meet Julia and resolve the issue of her blog.

If you are into old fashioned fun you might want to wander over to the Craft Sanity etsy shop and look at her wooden looms. Ahem, I've already order a couple and am now waiting patiently for her to post her rug size looms. Jennifer has just quit her day job as a journalist and is staying home with her girls. She has great craft interviews on her Craft Sanity podcast. Pop over and give a listen.

Well, I've managed to waste most of the morning already. I've taken some stew beef out, but won't be making it Julia's way. Now it's off to the showers for me, then the garden where I will clip away all of the flox and trim the shrubs.