Sunday, April 27, 2008

Weekends

Weekends can be really wonderous events. I've even had two great ones in a row.

Last weekend was our 3rd annual spinning retreat at Stella Maris on Conesus Lake. We have been truly blessed with first-rate spring weather every time. My weekend spinning project was to spend some time spinning up all those small samples of different sheep breeds and other fibers that have been populating my stash. I put a really big dent in that pile, so that mission is close to being accomplished. During the weekend, I found out something really good about a fellow spinner...not only is she a fabulous spinner, felter and photographer, she makes the best. ever. pina. coladas!

Yesterday was filled with a bit of gardening and getting the pool cover (or what was left of it) off the pool. Since the cover got torn up in a wind storm back in January, we really need to open the pool earlier than usual...before it gets all green and ugly.

Today was "Same Ol' Days" (really called Old Fashioned Days) at a farm just south of here. The local draft horse association gets out their teams and equipment. It's also a good opportunity to catch up with folks you haven't seen all winter. Many people (including us) bring their dogs, so they get to have a bit of fun, too.

There were alpacas, sheep & lambs, mares & foals, horses, arts & crafts, and a whole variety of food (ice cream and kettle corn topping my list).












Sorry, the battery went dead the other night and I decided to follow it and went to bed. Latest weather oddity...it was 85 F here on Saturday; two days later it is now 43 F...going from shorts to mittens in that short amount of time, without traveling anywhere, is just wrong!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Promises, promises...

I kind of promised myself that I would really, really try to post at least once a week, preferably twice. So much for that plan.

At any rate, I'm on spring break right now. I really like the time off I get on this job; the only drawback is that the breaks aren't paid. Other than the bit of snow in the air over the weekend, the weather is actually acting a bit like spring. I even saw these (and there were 4 of them) wild turkeys on my way home the other day. It's amazing at just how fast they fade into the brush.

The sun is shining and I ought to be tidying up the great outdoors while Gypsy is off at the groomer's getting her summer "do".

What am I doing instead? Well, blogging and taking pictures, of course! Daffodils have got to be one of my very favorite flowers and this one is certainly enjoying it's patch of sun.

Hyacinths are in my top 10 favs. These ones are very, very blue (as is the yarn). I just finished up spinning this. It's a mystery wool dyed by my friend, Joan, that found it's way into my stash during her moving sale. I'm thinking that I may knit up a pair of sideways gloves.

Other knitting projects on the needles include the latest traveling sock that so desperately wanted to go to Toronto for the Yarn Harlot's book launch and a lace vest that's well on it's way to doneness.

These swatches are for the Colorado Lynn sweater that I fell in love with a few months back. I'm going with the green plied onto white as I think the green shows up better.

Later this day...Gypsy is back from the groomer's and looks like an Airedale again. To be honest, she looked like a scrofulous, black and tan sheep. Much better now; it's really like having two dogs...the difference is that much.

Here she is destroying yet another toy. Clearly, it takes much too long to roll the toy around to get the treats out. Gypsy takes the more direct route and just chews through it.

This coming weekend is our spinning guild's now-annual retreat. I'll try (but no guarantees) to be a good blogger and take pics.