Bloom where planted

Such a tenacious plant this one. Uprooted, left in a wheelbarrow to die. Blooming it's little heart out.

Good lesson.

Bummer dude.

Well now. I really hadn't expected THIS!

What an opportunity.

Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become

the gateways that lead to new beginnings.

~Ralph Blum

It's not fair.

I'm stuck "down here" when "up there" all THIS is going on...

I don't do "wait" well.

I'm sure I've mentioned this before.. I love instant gratification. When I want to do something.. I want to do it NOW.

Days, weeks, months will pass and my hair is just fine.. but one day I wake up and I need my hair cut. now. Not tomorrow. Not this afternoon. now. So I get out the scissors and address the need. Sometimes I regret it but at least I didn't have to wait.

There are lots of things I wait for in my life and I see no reason to wait for things that don't really need to be waited for.

I took a drop spinning class yesterday. It was fun. I want to do more. But I have no drop spindle. oh. wait.. YES I do! :)

I found a yarn shop in Salem that I hadn't known about before. They teach spinning. I wish I'd known. Anyway.. despite their classes - they don't have drop spindles yet. They will later this summer. I would have to wait. I don't like waiting. Have I mentioned that?

My handy book "Teach yourself Handspinning," some junk I had around the house, and a trip to Lowes furnished me with everything I needed to make my own drop spindle.


Materials

• an old cd
• some washers
• glue gun
• a dowel
• a cup hook
• spacers
• a string

Assemble and start spinning!

Spinning wheels go 'round and 'round

So do drop spindles!

Today I tossed caution and work to the wind. I skipped out at noon and drove 60 miles west to Lincoln City just to attend a 2 hour drop spindle class. I made yarn (such as it is..) with a Turkish Drop Spindle. I know it doesn't look like much but I'm a beginner. A newbie. An amateur. A novice even.

There were 5 of us taking the class from a lovely woman named Bahkti (bach-tea). I really meant to ask what the originations of a name like that were.. but I got wrapped up with the fiber so quickly! Figuratively, not literally.

Bahkti made it look easy. I couldn't seem to get a consistent draft on the "now" section of the wool. I learned that when spinning wool there is "the past" section, "the now" section, and the "future" section. When spinning wool it is important to work in the "now" and not the past or the future. How zen. This will certainly take practice practice practice. And a drop spindle. I don't have one. I need to find one. The shop I took the class through was supposed to have some for sale - but the order didn't make it in time.

Now what do I do?? oooh.. maybe I can whittle one.. THAT's a skill I haven't learned yet...

Just a couple of chicks.

Jill built an incubator. It looks like a microwave but it's not. I promise. That would be cruel, and twisted. I'm certain the whole incubating and hatching process could not be sped up with the use of microwaves. I think instead of chicks one would end up with cooked eggs - and we've done THAT once already.




This incubator is made from a styrofoam cooler, picture glass, 25 watt light bulb, dimmer switch & fan. We've managed to keep the temperature right at 100 degrees. yay! Optimal temperature is 100.5 to 102.00.

The eggs in the photo are just stand-ins. They are from the refrigerator and just posed for the photo. We have to wait for the real eggs until my next rendezvous with Peter which is still a couple weeks away.

A and C

I would like to introuduce my Aunt Carmela & Uncle Art.



My Uncle Art is (was?) my father's brother. They've come up to visit my mother as well as the kids and I, I suppose.

I have to say, they are my favorite relatives. I would say that even if I didn't know my Aunt is a faithful reader of this blog. (Hi Aunt Carmela!).

Having my uncle around is kind of like having a little bit of my dad around. I miss him. He was a good man.

My uncle loves to help out around the house. He's helped me set tiles in a table, build furniture, rototill, and whenever he comes to visits, he fixes things. Today I artfully & subtly got him to lock the back door. He discovered it didn't work very well. What a surprise!

Then I told him I would make steak for dinner if he would fix the bbq.. (remember - my kids caught it on fire..)

Then there was the chair with the broken rung.. THAT was the chair he sat in for dinner. That was just luck.. I didn't plan that one at all.

They think they'll be able to stay until Monday or so. It's so nice to have them around and I'm so furtunate to have them in my life.

Yummy! Wet dog!

I'm obsessed with felting. I am so obsessed that the smell of felting is a wonderful smell to me. "What smell?" you ask. "That stinky wet dog smell," says I. After all, wool yarn is just animal fiber.

I made this bag from a pattern in my head. I've been working on it about a week. This is the pre-felt stage.

I'm a little nervous about this project. I've taken the skills and techniques I've learned from other projects and applied them here. The bottom of the bag is crafted using the technique from the large blue and green bag I made for Jill. The strap was made using a technique from the first bag I made. The dimensions, flap and stripes I made up on my own.

The first felting is certainly not what I had envisioned, but that's not surprising considering Jill's bag took 4 feltings - it IS the level of felting I anticipated for the hat(s) I made for Peter. I'm starting to wonder if it is the yarn, more than the felting technique. This yarn is old yarn Peter's mother gave me. It was purchased in Canada about a zillion years ago. It has very short fibers that make it very rough & fragile.

Aha! The second felting is bringing us very close.

But I want to try it one more time. It's always so nerve-wracking.. Should I stop? Should I go on and risk ruining it? Once more. I tried it once more...

I like it! :)

But perhaps I should have stopped with two..

Frittata anyone?

I got home from work today and the incubator had hit 125 degrees. We have been unable to get the temperature to stay steady. I think we cooked the poor things. I'm very sad. Should we try again? I don't know. I just dont know if I can stand the thought of additional failure here. Poor little chickies.

On a happier note, my friend Babs got 4 little goats. Dixie, Daisy, Dotty & Gigi. I'm so jealous. They are nubian pigmy goats and she brought them home in the back of her mini van. Aren't they cute? She says I can play with them whenever I want. They aren't for dairy though. I'm trying to convince her she should try it!

The egg, Jill, & I

Yesterday we played tourist on Whidbey Island. We prowled around Coupeville. We saw an orca spouting, We went to Ebey's Landing and poked around Isaac Ebey's house - which I love. We went to Fort Casey and explored all the ammunition chambers and assorted dark cavernous spaces. It was a good day.

Sadly, we had to come home today. Jill talked me into bringing a little bit of rural life with us. We brought home 4 (cross your fingers) fertilized chicken eggs. The two little ones would be the chicks fathered by the little white rooster on the banner. The two bigger eggs are, well, obviously from the bigger chickens and the bigger rooster.

We also brought home an incubator. What an adventure this will prove to be. Eggs need 21 days to hatch. If all goes well we'll be having a little birthday celebration about May 3. Are you excited? I'm excited. Jill is more excited. She's reading the book and she's assured me she'll turn the eggs and monitor the temperature and the humidity. I may be the chicken queen - but she is running the chicken nursery. Jill the chicken nanny.

New Stuff

Several years ago, about the time I started considering dating again (2007), I made a New Year's Resolution: THIS will be the year I do things I have never done before! It was a rousing success that lead me to some mighty adventures. That year I:

• Rode on a mondo-huge roller coaster (I hate roller coasters.. riding on one did not change my opinion).
• Went to Jamaica.
• Rode on the back of a motorcycle.
• Fell in love with Peter.
• Spent a week in jail (kidding!!).

But this year.. We're talking seriously "never done it before" stuff!


Today alone I moved irrigation pipe, prepped a field for planting a vineyard, had a chicken round-up and got stabbed in the backside by a hawthorne tree. It was all so much more fun that the roller-coaster!

Go to College!

I've lost my job. I still go to work. I still get paid. But I have no work. About two weeks ago the work I was doing no longer exists. I go to work. I do my best to look like I'm working hard. It's brutal. Faking it is hard. I've asked my boss for work - but there is none to be had.

• 15 years ago I was an awesome Novell Network Administrator.. Since then things have changed (welcome Active Directory) and those skills are now antiquated.
• 15 years ago I could get into DOS and re-write .bat files and make all sorts of cool and awesome things happen on a desktop pc. Since then things have changed and those skills are now antiquated.. (DOS...what's DOS??)
• 5 years ago I could make html sing and dance. Hello asp, cf, js, and more. bye bye html.
• 3 years ago I was the technical trainer. On-line training and another employee has taken over.
• 2 years ago I could write code like nobody's business in our Web Content Management Software. That software is now at end of life and being replaced - and handed over to another division.
• I was once the GroupWise expert. GroupWise was replaced by Outlook about 18 months ago.
• 6 months ago I was neck deep in Microsoft SharePoint creating sites and wikis and blogs and more. My agency has now scrapped that project.

Yesterday my employer started the process of figuring out what skills I have so that they can find a new place for me. The process involved defining my "desires" as far as a job goes. The concept is so alien to me. I'm 50 years old and find myself with no marketable skills, no degree and very worried.

If anyone knows of a job where they value socializing, knitting and drinking coffee, please send them my way! Of course, in a little over a year, I think I'll find my bliss...

- oh.. I've started a lovely hot pink beret for Jill. I'll show it to you soon. I'm almost done.