Spinning is Dreamy Goodness

Hi Peoples,

Well, last night we had a break in the warm humid weather. I was able to spin almost 4 oz of the Cotswold fleece I got from my mom. It was heavenly!!! :D After a summer of no spinning I forgot how relaxing it really is. Tonight I hope to finish bobbin #1 and start on bobbin #2. I'd like to ply it together by the end of tomorrow evening.



I am a little sad, however, because at the end of September I have to turn my wheel back into the guild. At least for a little while. They are offering the fall classes and they need all wheels back for that. I am hoping to be able to rent it again after the classes are finished. However, if all the students decide they want to rent them following the class, I'm out of luck!!!!!!

(*gasp*)

So, the only logical thing is I just need to buy my own.



:)



Alas...I have no money to do that right now. I am currently looking for part-time work while setting up my photography business, so I am hoping to budget for a wheel. I do have a drop spindle so I wouldn't be totally out of luck. But I will truly be "bummed out" if I can't get a wheel going in the near future. So for now, I will spend the month of September spinning like a crazy lady. After that, I must knit knit knit! All that nicely spun wool must be used up. Not sure which project I want to work on, but time will tell.

Good night for now as I leave you with a picture of the Cotswold on the bobbin (singles)...enjoy!

Spinning this is a dream...

So Hot...So Sticky!

Okay, so I know I mentioned in one of my more recent blogs that due to the extremely hot humid weather in the prairies this summer I would no longer complain about the weather here at home...ever...ever again...

...well, too bad! It's stinkin' hot and humid here. And to top it off, there isn't even a slight breeze tonight! Nothin'. Just hot stinkin' humid weather. Hrmph!

I really wanted to do a bit of spinning tonight, and I really did try, but it is too muggy. Argh!

Tonight my Spinners' Guild met for our first meeting after the summer. So I was rather excited to come home and spin for a couple of hours until bedtime, but, alas...it is too yucky tonight. And so, my wheel sits...neglected.

I did wash up some fleece I had bought in the spring. I was told that it had been cleaned, but I don't think it was rinsed properly because it is pretty tacky/sticky. I also didn't realize a lot of it is a bit felted, so I'm not too happy about that!!! So I grabbed a bunch of it and re-washed/rinsed it and now it is drying on a rack under a ceiling fan. With this warm weather, it should be dry tomorrow. We'll see if it is usable or not.

For those who don't know, I am in the process of setting up a photography business. I am just in the beginning stages right now, but I am hoping the have things up and running soon. As things develop, I will tell you more. For now I will leave you with my favourite picture I took this last week. I went down to our local marina and was playing with my camera. The clouds in the sky were amazing! I think I did a good job capturing the image. If you would like to see more of my photos, please check out my Flickr photostream by clicking on the Flickr box in the right sidebar. Talk to you soon.

My Mommy Loves Me!

Hi Ho,

I love my mommy and she LOVES me! She was at a craft sale this summer and bought me, her spinny spinning daughter, some fleece for the spinnin'. Yee Haw!!! :)

The white is Rambouillet roving (approx. 125 grams)...which I'd really like to try dyeing...dare I dream...

The brown is Cotswold pencil roving (approx. 4 oz times 2!!!!!!!)

Tonight I know what I'm doin'. I'm gonna slip into something a little more comfortable (...my flannel pjs -- it's quite cool here today) and I'm gonna spin, spin, spin. Today has been quite cold and rainy so what a perfect way to end the day.

Which reminds me...fall is just around the corner...Woo Hoo! My favourite season of the year! Why? Because I don't like the heat. The quintessential autumn day is going for a walk wearing your favourite sweater or scarf (handspun and handknit...duh, of course), the sun is shining, but the air is crisp. The colours leaves that have fallen crunch under your feet as you stroll....ahhhhh...perfection!

Well, time to go spin. The following are a few of my favourite pics from our summer holidays. Only a few though...too many to post. I took almost 2,000 pics on our summer holidays! Yep, I'm addicted...

Last Day of Holidays

Hello ever faithful readers,

I have been on vacation for the last two weeks...today we start the trip home. So I haven't been around for awhile. But this morning I just needed to write since I have been missing it so.

On this particular vacation, we have returned to our roots to visit family and friends. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to see everyone. In fact we didn't get to see everyone we would have wanted...there's just no time which is the frustrating part of it all. However, it has been rather exhausting jumping from place to place every few days. Staying up late to visit and then getting up early because you feel obligated to be the quintessential guest is physically exhausting!!!!! But yet, we travel great distances because we love everyone so much and miss them terribly.

On this particular vacation, travelling west has meant leaving the much-preferred cooler balmy temperatures of home. Oh, we get hot weather, but for the most part it is cooler and much more comfortable...and I will never complain about our weather again for the rest of my days upon this earth! I much prefer the cooler setting as opposed to stepping out of our comfortably air-conditioned travelling van into, well how do I put this politely...the oven of Satan himself!!!! Man, I do not remember heat like this when I was growing up. The temperatures have been so hot I feel like an overdone turkey. And then you throw the humidex reading into the works and you have the makings of one very hot mama (and I don't mean the sexy kind!)

I mean, really...how can anyone look beautiful in this kind of heat???? You get up in the morning, your eyes are puffy, your mouth feels like the Sahara desert because you are so dehydrated, so you drink a gallon of water and head for the shower. This will make me feel more human, you think to yourself. So you shower, brush your sand-blasted teeth, and (if you're female) perhaps you decide to throw on a bit of make-up (to cover up your flaming red face from the sunburn you obtained while trying to relive the glory days of baking in the sun with only a thin layer of baby oil) and you blow-dry your hair (mmmm...more heat...). By the time you are finished, you emerge from the bathroom with limp hair, melting make-up, and wet armpit stains quickly forming from becoming so blinkin' hot from the humidity in the bathroom. By this time, you are quickly developing a rather persnickity attitude toward the day which is now looming ahead of you. Mmmmmm...sexy...

Oh, how I am looking forward to the trip home. Vacations are great, but there's no place like home!

Have a wonderful day everyone...and stay cool.

P.S. Here's a bit of a shout-out to my neice Chloe Milan who wanted me to mention her name in my blog! There you go, baby girl...you're famous!!!!!! Smooches...

How you doin'?

Hi All,

I have been rather busy this last couple of weeks. We've had company on and off, my hubby and baby girl spent a rather cold and rainy week at camp last week, and, of course, there's always laundry!

I washed up the remaining fleece from Sis the sheep (we used her fleece for the Back to Back Spinning/Knitting Challenge). It washed up beautifully -- it is soooooo soft! Last week I spun it and plyed it. This morning I set the twist and now it is drying. It really created a bulky yarn ... not too sure what I'll do with it. Probably make a hat -- I don't think there will be enough there for a scarf. I'll post pics later.

But for now I just wanted to say hi. Summer blogging will be sporadic at best. We've had pretty rainy weather lately, so when the sun finally breaks through, I'm outside with the camera. Here's a taste of what has been catching my eye as of late:

A Thunder Bay Sunset

A Thunder Bay Sunset

Sis's fleece waiting to be spun

A red-capped mushroom...I was rather excited

about this since I've never in my life seen

an actual red-capped mushroom

Oh, Canada...how I love you!

Oh Canada, our home and native land,

True patriot love, with all our sons command.

With glowing hearts, we see thee rise

Thy true north, strong and free.

From far and wide, O Canada,

We stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land, glorious and free,

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.



I love Canada and I love being Canadian! Yesterday our nation celebrated it's 140th birthday. We went down to Marina Park to take part in some of the festivities followed by fireworks. It was the first time our daughter had been able to attend the fireworks. She was so excited and loved every minute of it.



To my American friends, have a great 4th of July!



Here are a few pictures from our day:

I need to get me one of these crowns...

I am a princess after all.

Canadian Punks even came out for the festivities!

Even our cops are hot!!! :D

Great fireworks

A truly Canadian icon!

Webkinz Mayhem

Greetings my loverly readers!


Yesterday I woke up feeling something I haven't felt in years. It was slightly reminicent of years gone by after spending the night in a lovely drinking establishment...okay, who are we kidding...THE BAR. That feeling of blurry eyes, headache, achy body parts, and pure exhaustion. No, I didn't go on a bender...

...my daughter got a Webkinz.

Now for those who are not in the know, Webkinz are sweet little stuffed animals that, when purchased, come with a website secret access code. Once this code has been entered into the "Adoption Centre" at the official Webkinz site, a whole new realm of childhood joy fills the home. While on the site, your animal has it's own house which you can decorate with the latest in home electronics, furnishings for the boudoir, kitchen accessories, gardening furniture and supplies, food, clothing, and toys, books and games for your newest addition to the family...the list is endless. Now, me being the ever-doting mommy, I really only want the best for my baby girl.

Yes, I spoil her...sue me!

In order to "purchase" these items for your Webkinz internet home, one must play games, answer quizzes, etc on the site in order to earn KinzCash. Well, seeing as I love my baby girl, and given the fact that I am addicted to a certain internet game where one must incessantly pop coloured groups of balls or ballons, this mommy was intent on getting baby girl some mega KinzCash!

They have a certain game on the site called "Cash Cow 2". Here, the unsuspecting player must pop groups of coloured bottles located in a cyber-milk machine. As you pop groups of colours, you obtain points and the "milk-meter" climbs ever faithfully to the top of the meter. To advance to the next level, one must fill this meter with milk before becoming one of the priveleged few who will one day reach a level on legendary status. I wanted to be that legend!

So I hit the "play" button which then launched (no...sucked) me into this whole new realm of children's online games of which I would one day be queen whom all would regale and write epic poems about.

The first few of levels were, of course, seemingly simple. Pop pop pop...the milk-meter filled including bonus points for clearing the screen. As I blew on my fingers and polished my nails against my shirt, I smiled, recognizing the sheer genius which was me.

I eventually hit ... LEVEL 5.

Here I met my adversary...the introduction of new colours and blockers that would be the bane of my existance. As I strategically clicked away the coloured sections all of a sudden the remaining bottles in the milk machine shatter into gazzilons of pieces and then informed me that, "oops, you didn't reach the required level".

Well, no probelm, I thought to myself. I'll just play again. I must not have been paying attention.

Click click click, pop pop pop. EXPLOSION..."oops, you didn't reach the required level". A blood-curdling scream escaped from my throat, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!"

Well, this is just stupid, I thought to myself. It's a kid's game for heaven's sake. So, with cheering crowds, minstrels and poets writing that epic poem still in the forefront of my mind, I forged on determined that I would get past Level 5.

I quickly glanced at the day's high score which was held by an adorable piglet named Petunia. Her high score for the day was something like 25,352,619. Piece of cake.

"You're goin' down, pig!" I snarled at the screen. Click click pop pop click pop click ... shatter! I quickly glanced at my score: 1, 028 WHAT????? "You have got to be joking," I screamed at the screen. I glanced at my watch. It was 1:32 a.m. "This is crazy...it's just a game. You need to get to bed," I told myself.

But by this point my competitive side had kicked in and told my wimpy side to,"go to bed then, you big sucky baby. I'm stayin'." Now the goal was no longer to get my daughter high points to buy that sweet hippo topiary tree for her garden. This was about winning and frying up that pig and eating bacon for breakfast! There was no turning back and certainly sleep was for wimps and losers. I was a winner ... no matter what the cost.

After almost two hours of competitive play, I admitted defeat. Petunia the pig was most definitely the queen for that night. But I will return and I will see my daughter's monkey, Webby, in that picture slot. And there will be those who will try to defeat my high score, and I will smile and wave to them as I sit and enjoy my plate of bacon.

You're goin' down, pig...