New Beginnings

Spring has finally sprung around here.  I sincerely hope that I will not see another snowflake until at least October!  It's supposed to be quite warm this weekend, up around 80F.  The day the leaves all come out on the trees is always amazing to me.  One day, trees are all bare branches and the next they're covered in fresh green leaves.  Maybe that will happen this weekend.

Yesterday, I visited a friend of mine.  Her guard llama kept an eye on me while I fed this little guy.  His name is Homer.  I'd never fed a lamb before.  He went right to it and very efficiently emptied his bottle.  Every time I think of his little tail wiggling at the speed of light, I have to smile.

Here are some of his pasture mates.  Linda's sheep are all Shetlands and she is a very good shepherd.  The wool from them is just a delight to spin!

The pillows that were started the other day are finished.   Cutting my first real project off my own loom was pretty cool.  They are a bit smaller than I thought they would be; I still need to work on my planning skills for weaving projects.  

There is an antique show this weekend, so I'm hoping that at least some of them will go home with someone else and some green will come home in my pocket!

Note:  Very slow at the antique show, but all of these attractive pillows are available on my brand new Etsy shop...link is on the left.

Finished Stuff

Hopefully, I'm getting past the deadly combination of "I have lots of time to do ______", "There's always tomorrow to get _____ done.", "I should probably do _____ instead."  Pick your phrase/excuse; they're all about the same.

Finishing items on the to-do list is rather rewarding, especially if there are few fun items on it.  DH, DD and I have gotten quite a few tasks done at my Mom's new (and old) home.  I've been helping DH with some of his jobs and getting a bit of a start on outside clean up on nice days.  

It's supposed to be rainy/chilly tomorrow, so I'll do the normal job hunt thing first, then I'll see about getting some seeds started.  It's a little late, but only by about a week.  

The weaving class ended last week (sigh).  The teacher, Joyce, was just wonderful.  The perfect combination of knowledge, encouragement and teaching skills.  My first project were some mug rugs.

Another project that had been hanging around for awhile was to do something with a friend's horse's mane. Yikes!  The stuff is not a pleasure to spin.  Even combed, it is coarse and it doesn't really want to be spun.   Bits stick out and are quite prickly.  I stuck with it long enough for a small skein of singles that I steamed to set the twist.  Then I used a Weavette loom to come up with a small square.  That and some stash fabric adds up to a small purse.  

There is a small antique show next weekend, so I thought I would see if some handwoven pillows would go over well.  I've got the loom all warped and part of one done.  All of the yarn is Kitchen Cotton out of stash.  Might as well use that to test the waters.  

A Belated Easter

I don't know what it is lately (and can't even blame it on the job upheaval).  I just can't seem to get around to posting regularly anymore.  There is a routine, of sorts, around here.  I spend the morning job hunting, applying and following up on any leads. 

 The rest of the day is spent at various activities that often include helping my DH out with his jobs, some sort of fibery stuff (carding, spinning, knitting, weaving, even a bit of sewing), outside stuff (if nice enough to be out...spring is dawdling, at least as far as warmer temperatures are concerned) and even, occasionally, a bit of housekeeping.  

My DD suggested that I should consider some self-employment of some kind and I find the idea really quite interesting.  I've been giving quite a few ideas some thought and there are some that are coming to the top.  I'm thinking that 2 or 3 of these would work out...simultaneously, too.  None of them would be a big enough "bang" to cover household expenses by itself, but added up, they might just work out.  Still mulling over the possibilities.

At any rate, Happy Belated Easter to all of you from the Easter Beaster!