Almost Wordless Wednesday - Building a Tomb

This weekend our church is having a big drama production. For the little kids, they're having a "Mystery Weekend." The kids will go to different stations in our Satellite sanctuary and get "clues" to what happened on Easter.

Today Des, Diantha and I went up to the church and spent the afternoon building a tomb.

Here are some pre-blocking pics of my TwitKal (Twitter Knit-a-Long) shawl. It's knitted of Merino/Bamboo handspun & has 48 hanging jewels. It will be about 6 ft. wide when blocked.

Oh and I got a new motorcycle today, a GS650 Suzuki. Which I very kindly let 18yos Artemas pose on for the pic. :D

Misc. Stuff From Being Behind in Blogging

Last year I spun up some misc. wool in red and green, plied it with red fun fur, spun in some plastic candies, and laid it aside wondering what to do with it.

This year, Des wanted us to card some green and red merino for her with some white angelina nylon sparkle. She spun it up into a self-striping yarn and hated it.

She gave it to me, Diantha and I knitted it up into this wild and funny scarf, listed it in my HeartFeltFun Boutique, and it sold in 3 days.

Funny how life works sometimes.

Des knitted these Eliza Doolittle type gloves out of the same sock yarn she had hand dyed and knit my piebald (now blue and purple) socks. Then she overdyed them and came up with this lovely maroon shade. Very pretty.

We've been pretty busy, trying to fill orders for Christmas. Artemas got featured on Springtree Road's blog with his knitting needles and sold 6 sets of them last week. You should go to her Etsy shop and check out her handspun yarns. Gorgeous!

Richard's soaps are selling almost as fast as we can make replacement batches. His shop has some nice, small gift sets in it, so stop by and see him sometime! Handmade soaps make great tips for teachers, hairdressers, or anyone who has served you exceptionally during the year. Great stocking stuffers too!
We did Thanksgiving early, because my parents were down from Ohio the weekend before. So I cooked a meal fit for a king, including the best from-scratch gravy you ever tasted, and homemade pies. No, folks, I do not buy pie crusts. My kids say store-bought crusts are an abomination. Are these beautiful or what?

For actual Thanksgiving day, we went up to Greeneville, TN to be with our SIL Tony's dad's family. We all had a great time, ate, did some shooting out in the field (very cold & windy though), and had a safe trip up and back. They are terrific folks to be "related" to.

A couple days later, we went up to Des' house. The ham she baked for Thanksgiving had disappeared up in Greeneville like Houdini, so she made a turkey, just to have leftovers.

We helped her wreck it in true large-family style.

And I cut my hand doing the dishes. No alcohol was involved in this incident, despite the Pure White Trash shirt that looks like a Pabst Blue Ribbon label.

Great Mail Day and Stuff

First, some Stuff. I have to put up another pic of the weirdo cat, D.O.G. Note his leg is wrapped in computer peripherals. He doesn't care.

Another non-mail item.

Diantha carded up a batt of hand dyed, soft as a feather Corriedale that we processed from raw fleece, a tiny bit of nylon, and brown mill-end wool, and spun it together.

She called the resulting yarn of 110 grams/146 yards, Bella Swan, and we are going to list it in the morning in her Etsy shop.

I have made pretty good progress on the Mossy Jacket I am knitting for DD#1's friend's baby Kyrie. Here you see, I have the jacket body done, the bottom seed-stitch border and the button placket done, and I am casting on the neck/left side border.

Today is day 6 of the project, with not a lot of time spent on it (mostly riding places in the car). WHY in the world I stuck to pattern in knitting seed st in the border I will never know. It looks good, but I hate seed stitch. Story about why, sometime else.

Bleh.

Kyrie has a brother a year older, about the age of my baby Beverly. He never really got a "baby" gift from me either. So I want to knit him some slippers and a beanie, but nothing too warm because they live in FL. So I hand-dyed about 1/3 of another skein of this green Cottontots, to a warm woodsy brown. I am going to use the green for the cuffs of slippers and the brown for stripes in a beanie.

Quite manly really.

Tonight we made mini-hamburgers, because I got a good deal on a whole bag of little whole-wheat rolls. We had fresh-sliced tomatoes from the garden (and other veggies) with them. I also made an antipasto with garden tomatoes, sweet red pepper, and basil (also black olives, onion, aged grated cheese, garlic, and olive oil). It was delicious!


Now for the Good Mail Day. I just LOVE to get interesting things in the mail!

Beverly came down with a fever last night. She was quite wakeful all night, which didn't help my killer headache at all. Today she alternately slept and wanted to be held. She got 2 new books in the mail, which she LOVED and then fell asleep.

I got a simply GORGEOUS hand-dyed sock yarn from SimplyTwisted on Etsy. If you have never seen her shop, and you knit or crochet, you should go there and buy something!

Now, I wonder what obligatory Christmas-knitting project I can neglect so that I can make my selfish-self a pair of socks out of this? LOL

Last mail call, something also for me, just lil' ol' me. I got a holster for my gun! I really wanted an inner-waistband (IWB), left-hand draw (LH) but they were out of them. This one was actually $5 cheaper anyway, and it is good, high-quality heavy leather. The weapon pictured in it is our Lorcin .380, since I am temporarily without my Sccy CPX-1 (no, I actually don't sleep with it).

Pistol-packin' Mama, Lay That Pistol Down. (For those of you too young, this was a song that was popular about the time my own mom was little, ROFLOL) Or, put it on the back of your pants. Anyway, on a scale of 1 being disgusted to 10 being orgasmic, I am at about 8 (very, very pleased) with it.

Last pic. We were walking our local big-box store this morning when we came across this Falling-prices fail. Out of curiosity, I bought a yellow onion to see what it would ring at (plus I needed an onion, LOL) and sure enough, it was the higher price. We thank them for being so dang helpful!

Progress is Good, or, Saving One's Marriage

My dh (take that d to mean whatever you want, LOL) had two days off together this week, Mon. & Tues. For nearly a year now, I have had a new faucet to put on the deep-dish stainless steel kitchen sink: one of those tall ones with the high neck so you can put BIG pots of water under it to fill them. At the time we bought it, we had just also bought travertine tiles to do the kitchen countertops. So I said, "Let's just wait until we have to have the sink out to do the countertop, and put the new faucet in then."

Not that I am big on waiting for something like this, but I KNOW my husband, and I know that if he takes the faucet off, he will tear up the washers or squeeze a water line too hard with the pliers, and next thing you know, the sink will be down 3 days. So I figured a disabled kitchen ONCE is bettter than TWICE.

In the ensuing months, Artemas (DS#2) and I have tiled the kitchen island and the countertop to the left of the stove. We still don't have the edging tiles put around them, but progress is progress. Anyway with two days in a row off, I said to dh Monday morning, "Let's tile that last countertop!" So I got to got to work first thing with a breaker-bar and hammer, taking tiles off the backsplash. Yee-haw! When I was done, he un-set the sink and took it outside. Which took him until early afternoon.

I started laying out tiles, marking them to be cut. Artemas took tiles out to the porch, set up the tile saw, filled the bottom with water, and prepared to cut. Keep in mind that he and I have already done TWO other countertops in this kitchen. But NOW the Army Corps of Engineers is here to rescue us and has suggestions of his own about WHERE the tile saw should be set up (on a barrel over under our last remaining tree). So, I get to be the mediator in a worthless argument.

Tiles cut, marked as to where they go, dh decides he and Artemas will set them. It is dinner time, with no sink. Off I go to Taco Bell with the debit card while they discuss the best way to float tile mastic.

By bedtime we have made a little progress. Tile mastic is supposed to dry 24 hours.

Tuesday evening we can grout! The grout needs to harden about 2 hours before it can be repeated. Because the tiles are nearly zero-grout-line, the grout has to be forced WAY down in the cracks and done several times. So the tiles get ONE coat of grout.

Wednesday we can grout again. Twice. The grout should dry 24 hours before it can be sealed. We are gone in the evening to visit DD#1 so we all make dinner at her house.

Thursday we can seal the grout and travertine! Yay!! By early afternoon (when dh gets home from work), the sealant is done (all 3 coats) and dry and the sink can be set. DD#1 is still needing help at her house, so I say, can I take the 2 oldest kids (one to help and one to watch the babies) and go there? Dh says sure! He and the younger 3 kids at home that evening go to Burger King. I get home at 10PM to find the sink NOT SET. Turns out the counter is now too thick for the clips that held the sink in. In fact it is now too thick for ANY sink clip out there. AND there is ONE little place where the stone tile is sticking out about a micron too far for the lip under the sink to fit down in the hole.

Friday dh doesn't have to be at work until 2 pm. When he got up at 9, I said, "Is there anything you need to set the sink, that you need to run up to the home store to get?" and he said, "No." He hangs out all morning. He starts getting ready for work. I said, "You don't have the sink hooked up." He says, "Well I need a grinding wheel for the dremel to use on either the stone or the stainless lip under the sink. I will look for one when I get to work." WHAT?! You are leaving me with a house full of kids, 4 days of dirty cups (we had been using paper plates because of course if the water is unhooked from the sink, it is unhooked from the dishwasher), no way to make dinner for the 5th night in a row, and NO SINK?!? Until 11 PM?!?

I went and got the grinding wheel and asked the plumbing dept. head how to hook down the sink (glue down w/silicone). Artemas shaved a piece off the sink and set it in place and glued it down.

This morning Richard had to be at work at 10 AM but by golly he was up at the crack of dawn, hooking up the plumbing to the sink. It probably saved his marriage. Yes folks, the Rosses, who started dating 28 years ago this month (only feels like 30 sometimes), are still together. And we STILL have to do the mosaic-tile edgings, but it looks pretty good so far.

In other news, we put a BUNCH of new handspun yarns and some carded batts up in Diantha's Fluff4ewe shop... stop by and see! Also added a couple new soaps to dh's Rossoaps shop at Etsy too!

A couple weeks ago, I purchased 2 skeins of lovely handspun Merino wool in a colorway called Cellar Door, from OnTheRound at Etsy, and I have knitted a mobius shoulder wrap. Diantha helped with some of the knitting, and we bound it off today. Here it is! It hasn't been blocked yet, so it will look better. It is wonderfully soft!

Not Much To Report, But Why Not

Diantha got a convo today from someone who bought this lovely, gray corriedale fiber from Fluff4Ewe.etsy.com. The lady spun it up fine and plied it with a grayish black mohair, to get this gorgeous yarn. She said she is going to knit a hat for her daughter for winter!




In among Diantha's renewal listings, she also has listed this gorgeous superwash merino batt, hand-dyed and carded here at the house (shown left) ...

and on the right, this beautiful, even, handspun superwash merino sock weight in pale honeydew...

We went to Des' house on Wed. and Friday to help her finish packing. Got just about everything packed up too. Knowing she would need to use a little bit of food yet for meals, and a few utensils/pans/etc, what I did is pack them, but leave them in open boxes set on her kitchen countertops so she could get to stuff if she needed it. Then the mortgage company did NOT call them with a confirmation of the closing date this Tuesday. So there they are, all packed, and waiting... eating out of cardboard boxes. Sigh. So much for being a help. LOL!

I have been working for a couple days now on some new yarns for my My7kids Recycled Yarn Shop. I have several now dyed and just about ready to list, and another 16 (?) planned for the series. Just have to see if I can get some decent pics tomorrow in the daylight.

I finished a project I have been knitting, with this yarn that was sent in the box of yarns last spring from Japan. So a portion of the profits equal to the amount the yarn would have brought on its own, will got to the youth center when I list the item. Hopefully the pics of the finished item will happen tomorrow too. For now, here is a sneak peek...

One last. A few years ago, I was sitting out in the sun one afternoon, when my then-4-yos Josiah came out and very busily started lining up on a railroad tie, a bunch of springs from an old mattress my dh tore up to take to the dump. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "You can look at this, and not be afraid." So I took a picture of his art, and thought I would share it.

Flying Shelters, Oh My

We went out last night and did our preliminary setup at the Smoky Valley Rally. We had a 10' x 15' metal-pipe frame shelter with canvas roof, and a 9' x 13' screen room for our personal stuff (chairs, cooler, and projects to work on). The "rules" state that vendors must be on-site by 10 AM and must remain open and on-site until 9:30 PM. Why til then, I will never know, as it gets dark at 9PM, and there are NO lights in the field where they have us set up. hmmm. This morning we showed up bright and early, finished the setup, laid out all the displays, Richard left Diantha and I there on our own, and we and sat down.

It started to rain.

We moved all the displays to the center of the shelter, covered the moisture-attracting soaps with a quilt, and waited. For over an hour.

The rain quit, the sun came out (thank you for the faith, Annie). We moved the displays back into position and secured them, and waited.

We knitted. We carded a couple batts, one to sell, and one for Diantha to spin. She did a little spinning. We took Portolet potty turns. We each ate a sandwich. We got bored and did a circuit of the field, probably about 4 acres, with 12 whole vendors.

We had ONE retired biker and his brother wander thru about 1:30, waiting for the group motorcycle ride to start at 3. They were very interested in the carding and spinning. We had the 12yod of one of the vendors come over and also be very interested in the carding and spinning.

At 3 PM, it started to thunder. We moved the displays back to the middle of the shelter, the chairs to the center of the screen room, put away anything we weren't working on right this second, and sat down.

THREE minutes later, a gust of wind picked up our 10' x 15' metal-frame, canvas-roof shelter and sent it flying.

I caught one pole, Diantha the other, and we held it. The guys who had been setting up a band in the band shelter came running and helped us carry it back to place and set it down. No stakes. One guy says, only way this is gonna stay put is if we take the legs off and set it on the ground.

The flying shelter had knocked over the stacking shelves, rack with the quilted bags, table with the soaps. We took the legs off and set it down, making a giant pup tent. I crawled around on the grass in the rain, picking up soaps that I hope aren't ruined. I threw them all on the tablecloth, wrapped it up and pitched it under the tent. I crawled around under the tent and picked up bags, knitted items, and yarns, so they wouldn't stay on the ground and get damp.

While I was doing this, the wind tried to blow the screen room away too. I told Diantha to hang on while I got the car. She threw in bins of more soap, the bin of "stuff," and climbed in. I took the poles off the screen room, set the domed roof down over the chairs and we got the HECK out of Dodge.

Rules or no rules, I got 3 hours sleep last night and this was the 2nd storm of the day with NO customers. I was done. So done.

The National Weather Service is predicting rain until early afternoon tomorrow. So, rules or no rules, I am staying home until the rain stops. Then we shall go out, try to repair the damages, and see if we can make some money!

Oh, Alpacas!

Today the kids and I went to the alpaca farm. I should say, the kids and Richard and I, and Des and her 2 kids, and my BIL and niece Dana.

We were greeted by Max, the VERY old Great Pyrenees hound. He did his best to keep up as we went around the farm. Here he is being petted by grandbaby Jeremiah.
We got to see the Expecting Ladies (there are 23 in this pic!). Half of these are due soon, and half due in the Fall. It takes alpacas 11.5 months to have a baby. As things stand, I have spent 5 1/2 years of my life being pregnant. SOOOooo glad I am not an alpaca!


There was a pen for the nursing babies. One mom had been shorn for breeding, and her baby too. We have had warm weather, in the 70's! And now this week it has been COLD, in the 40s at night. Today was overcast and windy, in the mid-50s. We all needed sweatshirts. That mom and baby were shivering today!

There was also a pen for the weaned babies. She said she tries to halter break the babies before they wean, so they don't associate the halter with being deprived of Mama. ONE of the babies in this pen is not weaned, so its mama is in with it. But Sherry said Next Week, LoL! Better enjoy that last little bit of milk, baby!

She had 2 pens just for the "boys"... one for "teenagers," which are about 2 years old and of market age if she is of a mind to sell them. One pen just for Grownup boys... 4 years old, and she said actually a little old for selling. Good for breeding tho! And then there was a pen for her stud... a gorgeous all-black alpaca. He had 4 ladies in with him. She said they come into heat a few days after being put in his pen and get to stay about a month or so, to make sure the pregnancy takes. We didn't get pics of all the boys, sorry. I heard someone say he wished he were an alpaca! (No names here!)

Sherry let the kids all pet a couple babies. Just above on the Right you see Jeremiah, Josiah and Artemas petting a Huacaya baby, the youngest on the farm. They have a deep, downy, nappy coat like a sheep (only softer!). Here to the Left you see Diantha holding grandbaby Hannah down to pet a Suri baby. They have a stringy, slightly oily coat that is also incredibly soft. In the foreground is my niece Dana's head.

Not to be outdone, Beverly had to pet something too. Here I am holding her down to touch the Suri baby. (I am not kidding when I say my hair is colored purple, LoL!)

We had a good time talking to Sherry, and the older girls and I are invited back in a little while to spend some time spinning. We are looking forward to it! And then...

When we got back to the house, we had sandwiches that we had taken along for a picnic but TOO cold! Then we did some spinning and Des did some knitting on her shrug. For Christmas I bought her various batts of red Merino wool and others that had black in them, and bamboo, etc. She spun up a gorgeous set of yarn skeins and is knitting this without a pattern. When she is done, she is going to edge the neck/shoulder/back edge with handspun black Merino. Bravo, Des!

While all the kids were having fun, running around and discovering earthworms in the moist dirt, Veronica didn't feel very well. She endured the trip stoically, then went to bed at home. Where I went to lay with her and sing to her and fell flat out of her TALL antique-frame bed. She said I was funny. Sometimes I feel funny, all right. Downright Stinkin' Hilarious. I managed to make it through the song on the 2nd attempt, without gravity getting the best of me.

And one last, happy note. Remember my kidney stone attack from 2 months ago? And that I posted I have been in almost constant, dull pain from it? Well on Sunday the pain became acute. Today all that pain paid off. Yes folks, that is a 7 mm kidney stone. A .5 mm (that is half mm) stone would put most people in the hospital on IV pain meds. That pic on the left was taken on Sunday, with a house full of company and a stone stabbing me. Do I look like I can scarcely believe it? Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. You saw it here.