# FAC - May 2013



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Happy May everyone!

This is the FAC (Fiber Arts Chat). We use this space to come together and talk about all things in our lives, not just the fiber related stuff. If you are new to the Fiber Forum please take the time to nintroduce yourself. You can do it here or start a thread of your own. If you prefer to sit in the back of the room and just watch and read, that's fine. But we would all love it if you would take the time and tell us about yourself. You are under no obligation to post but we do like to know who we are talking to. If you ever need help with anything please do NOT hesitate to ask. There is nothing that we consider a stupid question, we all started at the beginning. There are no or very, very few absolutes in the fiber arts, so be prepared to get lots of advice, some of it may differ . Remember we LOVE photographs. You don't have to be an expert at photography, just post a photo. It really helps to motivate people and inspire them. It also helps if you have a question about something if you can post a photo of it or provide a link about what you are talking about. Lastly, enjoy the forum.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Finished (_and sometimes Paul_)'s socks last night. Spun some more cotton (to be plied and knit into socks) and started a new scarf.

Off to research how to finish spun cotton. I know linen needs to be boiled and am wondering if cotton is the same.


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Lots of outdoor stuff going on here, now that the weather has finally warmed (and hasn't rained in 48 hours!!), so not much in the way of knitting being done. Got most of my strawberries cleaned up and mulched (about 6 twenty-foot rows), got the 'salad bed' planted, got most of the flowerbeds weeded, and got most of my seedling separated and put into their own little containers to grow some more while I wait a few more weeks for the garden (and the weather) to be ready. Need to move my chicken coop out of it's winter spot and shovel it out, but the ground is still too soggy to do anything requiring the tractor, so that will have to wait another few days. Maybe this weekend.

As far as knitting projects, I got the heel turned on my sock, did the gusset and am now working getting the foot to be long enough I can finish it off! I so want to be done with this sock so I can get the other one made and actually be able to wear them.


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

I'm working on a cotton afghan for my son today (he has sensory issues that make acrylic and wool not an option at all). It is yucky out and will be for the next few days, so I'm taking advantage. The sleet on the windows is so relaxing I'd just as soon sit in my chair all day, but I'll have to do a little cleaning here in a bit and make some dinner.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

Almost done with treatment 1 more time this week and then next week is my "boost". After that I am finally done!!

ETA: I will be finished the day before Mother's Day so for my mom that's a huge present as she has been going to every doctors appointment and every treatment with me. She has been my rock through this whole ordeal!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

Wind in Her Hair said:


> what a celebration, Woodpecker! So glad you had your mom is
> on this journey with you. I cannot imagine how difficult it is- even with your "rock" by your side. You're doing great!!!!


Thank you WIHH! This has been anything but easy for my family and me. I am so grateful this is almost over!


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## lathermaker (May 7, 2010)

Woodpecker, I'm sooo glad that you are almost done with this! I can't imagine what you are going through...hang in there, the end is in sight!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

lathermaker said:


> Woodpecker, I'm sooo glad that you are almost done with this! I can't imagine what you are going through...hang in there, the end is in sight!


Thank you! It's like a can totally feel and it am so anxious!:rock::rock:


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## weever (Oct 1, 2006)

Woot! Glad to hear you're almost done, Woodpecker.

MullersLaneFarm, would you tell us who and sometimes Paul is, and why you call him that? There must be a story. 

Picked up our daughter from college today. She'll be the sheep tender this summer, again, taking a big load from us. So busy lately we can't seem to keep up. And it's still too wet to plant, so I don't know how we'll do it once we actually get to working in the fields.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

Happy May!!! :cowboy: I finished a project, yay! I made a cotton jumper for my friend's daughter. Should I block it? Or does it really matter with cotton? It's really soft!











I'm very much a product knitter, so I enjoy baby stuff. Don't get me wrong, I like knitting, but the whole time I'm working on something I can't wait to get it finished! I get annoyed with large projects (like my never-ending sweater) because I feel like I'm not _doing_ anything!


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## Katherine in KY (May 11, 2002)

I haven't posted here in ages. I just don't spend that much time on-line anymore since Windstream once again lied to us about bringing in broadband by the end of last year. I do follow your goings on when I get to a faster computer. I'm so impressed by what everyone is doing. If I start to list them, I'll leave someone out, so I'll just say good job everyone. I'm still doing a lot of spinning, knitting, and more and more weaving. I'm trying to use my handspun for weaving although currently am doing some cotton fabric (30 ends per inch!) to make a summer jumper/dress. I hate spinning cotton so opted for commercial cones. The cool spring has been wonderful, but I finally put my tomatoes out. We're expected a ton of rain this weekend, but so far my raised beds have never flooded although the aisles fill up periodically. Happy Spring, everyone.


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

MDKatie, my girls would love that! I'm curious to know whether cotton needs blocked, as well. Since the judge at the fair went off because I didn't block a cotton baby afghan I made when I was..10?..I always have, but it doesn't seem especially necessary.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Dreamy,
Doing the happy dance with you! :banana: Almost there!! 




weever said:


> MullersLaneFarm, would you tell us who and sometimes Paul is, and why you call him that? There must be a story.


LOL! Not much of a story. Paul is my sweet husband. He _sometimes _posts on HT. 

If you look at my signature line it says, "Cyndi _(and sometimes Paul)_"

Katie, that jumper is adorable!


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

Woodpecker .... I'm saying a prayer of thanks for you !!! God has gotten you through ! 

You may know, we live with my FIL , who has COPD , is 73 years old ... his brother is 75 and has been in and out of the hospital , along with his wife .... My FIL wants to make his last trip to see him .... but he wont fly, and we dont want him travelling alone.... he cant walk far before needing to sit and catch his breath ...
SO, last week we bought a 26' Motorhome and will be driving him from Oregon to Michigan the first of June . The nice Christan folks we bought it from said there was no leaks , they were the second owner , always stored it indoors... invited us to thier church .... we liked them ! 
upon getting it home however .... I discovered the bunk in the cabover was WET . Long story short, it would cost us $10,000 to get it fixed at the shop , NO WAY !!! The couple we bought this from isnt returning our calls ...
DH has it torn apart and will do his own repairs , we WILL be going on schedule dern it ! Praise the Lord we have had 75 and 80 degree weather for drying it out !!! Thats amazing weather for us this time of year !! 
We will be gone about 3 weeks .... have been running crazy getting people to come care for my 30 chickens .... finally found a sitter that will take my Angora Bunny .... the garden and flowers will just have to wait untill we get home ! I have been blessed to be able to take FIL for his last trip to see his brother ....probably the last time they see each other , as they are getting on in years ! What a job I have been given ! 

I have knitting projects to take with me .... but all I have been doing is trying to find good traveling routes, trying to figure out how to cook on a 3 week trip in an RV etc etc . !!!


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## weever (Oct 1, 2006)

Oh goodness, Miz Mary. What a frustrating business. I'd be tempted (if you didn't need the darn thing post-haste) to drive it right back and park it in their driveway and wait until they needed to go somewhere. 

(muttering under breath)

Cyndi, thanks for the explanation. As you can see, I don't read signatures.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Miz Mary where in Michigan are you going? Too bad you can't plan your trip around the Michigan Fiber Festival in August. It would be fun to do a get together, especially since you are oming this far. Send my a PM if you don't want to post it here. Make sure to pack your wheel.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Sorry got so excited about Miz Mary coming I forgot to post other stuff.

Woodpecker, WooHoo! We will all have to have a celebration when you are finally finished.

Loving that dress. I wish we had some girl babies in this family.

Katherine it's good to hear from you. Do you have any travel plans this year?


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Congrats Woodpecker!!
Youre in the home stretch. It will be a distant memory but worth what you had to go through to be free of it.

Katherine in KY,
To bad about the internet connection, I hate a slow connection. Post when you can!

MDKatie, 
Your jumper sure looks nice!
When I made a cotton sweater for the neighbor, she blocked it really good and it sure looked a lot nicer.

Miz Mary,
Thats a bummer. 
It would be nice to think maybe they hadnt used it for awhile and were unaware of the problem. Avoiding answering the phone sure seems to rule that out though.
I really admire youre determination to make the best of it despite the circumstances.
I wish you well in your endeavors and upcoming trip!


I managed to stay up all day for the last couple of days.
I had gotten in the habit of staying up all night. It sure makes it hard to get much of anything done. Ive got a lot of spring cleaning to do!

Happy May Everyone!


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

The jumper is the Skull Jumper on Ravelry if anyone is interested. I figured I'd leave the skulls off this time.  Plus the yarn was too busy for a pattern like that I think. It was really easy and quick. I think I will go ahead and block it!


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

Marchwind, I will be in Bay City .....in the "thumb" ?! Where are you at ?!? That would be fantastic to meet you !!! 
Definitely a blessing with the MH ..... I love to demo and redo ...the weather is perfect to dry this out ... I believe in God doing my dirty work ( Karma ) ...I WAS tempted to go to thier church and spread the word of what they did in a sticky sweet tone of voice ... but no, they just get a "bless your hearts " ! ( I learned my lesson in this , believe me ! ) 
We are going to go through country I have never seen ! Montana......N Dakota, S. Dakota ...a bit of Wyoming ...Minnesota...Wisconson .... and Michigan ! I am most looking forward to the trip home, we are going to see the Badlands, MT Rushmore..and Sturgis in S. Dakota !


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Today I discovered our resident woodchuck has dug a large new burrow under the concrete floor of our Morton bldg. Up until now, he/she had done nothing harmful, and even has his/her own wild area on a bank, at the back of the property to do what it wants. He has or had a big burrow out there before. In 2009 a neighborhood fox made the burrow into her den for kits that year.

But the last 2 weeks I was finding little digs along the building exterior where it was testing for the right spot. The hole is just big enuf for boycat Felix to cram himself in there and maybe get stuck. The burrow goes back over 4 feet, I poked a stick in there.

The chuck is in there right now, I saw him/her an hour ago with its head poking out.

The chuck is really cute, and has always been easy to live with. It leaves my garden alone and doesn't do any harm.

Now Honey will want to kill it. Locally that means poison, and I just hate the thought of that. I try to live in harmony with all the various wildlife we have around us (a lot). I posted this dilemma to the Homesteading Questions subforum, so hopefully some one has a solution that doesn't involve killing it.


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

Wow! May already! And by our weather, you would never know. Feels like late February. :shocked:
Yay Woodpecker! So glad your about done!
Love the little dress.... so cute!

Well, DH is STILL working on his late mom's house. Hopefully this will be done soon. It's starting to wear on this family. The farm is in a terrible disarray. Especially since I have been working full time. And DS#3 has moved back home, now he is working 6 days a week. So, we are all working a lot. 
I did manage to order some electric shears. So, now when I get time (which needs to be soon) I will shear the sheep and alpaca. 

I miss my knitting. Don't seem to have much time for it.


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

I spent most of the day at the Festival of Nations in the Viking display. :viking: Turns out tablet weaving draws a huge crowd... Like twenty people all clustered around, craning their necks to watch over other people's shoulders, and staying for up to twenty minutes. :shocked: I was actually slightly weirded out by the end of the day, especially since everyone wanted to take pictures of me weaving. At least everyone was nice and friendly! 

And it was a LOT of fun. Tomorrow I get to do it again, and also DH and I are doing Scandinavian dances for it all.


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## Katherine in KY (May 11, 2002)

The chuck is really cute said:


> Last fall I planted greens, broccoli, etc. in pots on our deck. We've been harvesting them all winter. A couple of days ago a woodchuck walked up on the deck and mowed everything down, including every flower off two tubs of pansies! Then he started in on some seedlings I'd left in flats. That's when I saw him and chased him off. I usually put chicken wire around in-ground beds, but never thought that was necessary by the back door. Be forewarned!


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Nice dress MDKaty.
Wahoo! Woodpecker. Glad you've made it this far and can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Hang in there.
MizMary- you have to drive right past me to get to the thumb! Honk as you go through Benton Harbor! Or stop for gas and I'll meet you.

I have been a spinning mad woman lately. It's my get-out-of-reality ploy. I had some BFL top and am trying to spin in worsted. Maybe I'll even attempt some Navaho plying with it while I'm at it rather than trying to figure out half and make it 2 ply. I vow to NOT SPIN ANY MORE WHITE!!! The rest of my fleeces are going in the dye pot before I spin them. White is driving me crazy. Or maybe I'm just blaming the white.

As for our DS. It's in the hands of the lawyers now. Which is what we were trying to avoid. DH was searching around for a counselor for DS and inadvertantly caught the notice of the CPS. Oops. He contacted the lawyers for our church and they told us what had to be done to protect the church. We never thought of that one. Anyway, they will represent us now with the CPS also because of DH's position in the church. Since the abuse happened at the church, they will pay for all the counseling. Our first counseling session for DS is tomorrow night. This is such a roller coaster. First we're low and then we wiggle our way up and then whoosh! Back down we go. Ds was talking about not wanting to live....just so much stress. But we're making it. We're huddling together getting lots of things done. Dh will have to go back to our local church for a while, but DS and I will not. 

After a year of taking classes on pastures and grazing and managing, we finally reseeded the entire farm last week - with the basic seed mixture they had on hand at the local feed store. There's a lesson in there somewhere. I've been mowing and bagging grass clippings for the animals to keep them off the pastures. But now that we've planted some seeds there's no rain is in the forecast for 2 weeks. So, we sent the steers to freezer camp and sold two bottle lambs today. It was just too much for me. I feel like every little thing is going to break me, but somehow we pick ourselves up and keep moving. Dh is a rock. Now, there's only 12 sheep and 10 chickens left to deal with. I think I can do that- if not, we'll buy another freezer. Onward!


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## lathermaker (May 7, 2010)

Svenskaflicka; I would like to try my hand at tablet weaving. Are there any books, video's on-line sites that you could recommend for a rank beginner?


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Well, we are trying aversion therapy with the stupid woodchuck before we take stronger action. Advice given has us leaving the building's stereo system on 24/7, very loud. We're hoping that 25 million repetitions of Katey Perry and Rhianna will give him some reason to move back to his quieter wild area. Hopefully before I've blown my brains out, listening to that same garbage music over and over. I am also going to make his new burrow a real mess. I'm gonna empty the cat litter box into it, and so forth. Pee in it, whatever it takes. Anything I can think of to make him totally miserable.

Last night he got skunked in his new burrow, too. It just reeks today. I imagine the local skunk found that new hole interesting and went in it.

Earlier this evening I walked way out back to the wild area with the bank that the woodchuck migrated from. I found 5-6 burrow holes out there, with well-worn paths among them in the grass and weeds. But we have only ever seen the one chuck, so I don't think we have a colony of them. I think we have one very busy one. If he would just go back to his own space to live, things would be fine...

I know they can destroy a garden in one night, but he has left mine alone all this time, and he doesn't come near the house at all. So considerate of him!

Today it was warm and still, and very nice. We got the camper out of the building and I shampooed the carpets and upholstery, and it got de-winterized. Now I just have to get the sheets washed and begin packing stuff into it. My garden cart is lubed, cleaned, and ready to carry my wheel and materials to class, already loaded up in the camper. I also took about 300 pounds of straw mulch off my kitchen garden and front flower bed today. The fruit trees have blossoms opening on them all over. I hope it is this nice for SHF next weekend.


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## Pigeon Lady (Apr 4, 2004)

Hi all! just checking in. 

Woodpecker, you're almost done with your treatments!!! I'm so happy for you. I think of you every day. You've been so brave and upbeat throughout your ordeal! 

MDKate, the little dress is adorable! 

Mammajohnson, can't remember if I congratulated you on your new job. It must be a huge relief to have work again. I do hope your hubby can be home to help with the farm soon. It can be so overwhelming when you have to contend with all the emergencies alone. 

Miz Mary, I'm sorry for your troubles and can relate. We once bought an old Winnebago to use as temporary living quarters between duty stations. When we went to see it the guy ran the hose over the whole roof to assure us it didn't leak. It didn't, so we happily handed over the cash. But what do you know, the first night in it, the heavens opened! About 2 am water was pouring in, all over the bed!  Poor dh spent most of his 30 days leave working on the roof. He never was able to get it completely sealed. He went back to Iraq and DS and I were left to live in this thing with blue tarps all over it! I had to keep poking them with sticks when too much water pooled. South east NC in August. It was either thundering and lightening and raining buckets or 105 F! Fun memories now but at the time I wasn't particularly amused. 

Fiber projects are on hold here now that I can get out and work in the yard and woods. 

Been working on putting in a brick path to the front porch. After seeing some picturess in a book about the gardens of Colonial Williamsburg I was all inspired to have a brick path lined with boxes filled with fragrant herbs and flowers. (and a fence to keep the sheep and horses out  It's looking nice so far. Can't wait to see all the flowers blooming along it. We bought some split-rail fence and I'm going to add pickets along the bottom of it and build a nice gate for the end of the path.










My Dad's coming over from England next week! He's going to spend 2 months with us. He's really amazed us since Mum died. She used to do everything for him and was worried that he wouldn't be able to manage on his own if she went first. Well, he's learned to cook, he attends all the senior citizen events, (bingo and bowling, special dinners etc) and thinks nothing of hopping on a plane over here! He turned 80 last December so we're going to have a little birthday party for him. 

Well that's the news from here.

Love to you all.

Pauline


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Lezlie try mothballs. If nothing else it will keep the skunk from living in the hole.


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## weever (Oct 1, 2006)

Callieslamb, I am glad to hear that you are getting ds counseling--his words concern me. I prayed that you would find some joy in all this stress and heartache. Watch for it. Notice the birds, the green, the smell of spring. Notice it. And then thank God for it. 

Pauline, I love your little brick path. And I'm glad your father is coming for a visit. How wonderful!


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

IowaLez, good luck with the Battle of the Woodchuck! I hope he takes his eviction notice well! 

Callieslamb, I hope the counseling will help. Crossing my fingers for you and everyone in your family. 

Pigeon Lady, LOVE the brick walk!! I can't wait to see finished pics! And how exciting your dad is coming across the "pond"! How great for him, and for you guys too!


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

The loud music overnight worked! The woodchuck is back in his burrows in the bank, and now we can fill in the hole and make it impossible to use! I saw him 10 minutes ago, bouncing around back there! I found 5 burrow holes in the bank yesterday when I went to look. Also, we are cleaning and packing the camper about 15 feet from the new burrow, too, so lots of activity to bother him. I guess he doesn't like Katy Perry or Rhianna, either. But we are glad we don't have to leave the stereo on any more, as we had to live with it, too.


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

lathermaker said:


> Svenskaflicka; I would like to try my hand at tablet weaving. Are there any books, video's on-line sites that you could recommend for a rank beginner?


My first book was "Card Weaving" by Candace Crockett. http://www.amazon.com/Card-Weaving-Candace-Crockett/dp/0934026610/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367847266&sr=8-1&keywords=Card+weaving. It is rather inexpensive, has very clear directions, and is easy to learn from. It covers all the basic techniques. 

Later, when you learn the basics, this is a fun site: http://www.guntram.co.za/tabletweaving/ It has a free program for Windows that can be used to design your own patterns and digitally weave them before threading your cards. It is a lot of fun to work with!

Also, the lovely folks on the "Historic Tabletweaving" page on Facebook are super helpful and encouraging. They also have a treasure trove of free beginner patterns!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

No doubt you went right by Callielambs, me, Weever, where the MFF is held each August, and who knows how many others, I know Caren is a bit toward the middle, and Kris is over lots more to the thumb. So, what was this event that Cabin had waited for for so long? Was it just to make a trip around Lake Michigan? When you were on the Mighty Mac did you look down? If it is windy the whole bridge swings. Every year the Governor and a huge group of people walk across the bridge. One of these years I want to do that.

And YES, you have to come back.


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

You all have been so busy! I am finally feeling more like myself. I spent most of the past 6 weeks feeling icky and rundown with some kind of sinus/congestion/ear clogging crud. 

Last week I did a good bit of decluttering, clearing out a storage closet, my linen closet and various drawers and cabinets. I think my closet will be next. 


Today, I took my old sewing machine to the sewing machine store for service and repair. I'm going to try to have two machines to take to church later this month, for our ladies ministry meeting. Some of the ladies want to learn how to make tote bags and baskets.


Also, I may have a serious fiber addiction. My daughter washed a load of all red clothes earlier today. 


As I took it out of the dryer, I looked at the all red lint and thought "if I leave this lint on the filter while I dry my all blue load, I could have purple!" The possible fire hazard stopped me.


Help me.


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

So... I finally have video of me and my dear husband dancing! I will just share them here, if you don't mind. We did a Swedish, a Danish, and a Norwegian performance all in the same day within an hour of each other! It was crazy!

I have my hair up in a braid over the top of my head, and DH has knee-breeches and a red vest in Swedish and Danish, and a green vest and black hat in the Norwegian video. I made most of our clothes, but he made his shirt! (We are also about the youngest ones in the group, lol!)

Swedish:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeREKz7iqHc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeREKz7iqHc[/ame]

Norwegian: 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YvfzwED6dg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YvfzwED6dg[/ame]

Danish: 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FwuPG_1XN4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FwuPG_1XN4[/ame]


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Svenska Flicka, I can pick you out in that line up easy. 
You and your husband look so totally adorable together. 
Is he growing his hair out?

Those dances are kinda long. They pick up more in the 2nd half though. 
It looks like everyone is having fun.
Do you dance with those same people often, or are they from different far away places? 


Sorry for all the question.
I am just tickled to see the videos. 
Thanks for sharing them.


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

Awww, thanks! I'm glad you like them!

-- We are all trying to convince DH to grow his hair out. The general consensus is that if anyone could look respectable and awesome with a ponytail, it would be him. 
-- Each of those performances is a set of about three or four dances all in a row without a break between them. Most of the time a dance lasts about 4 minutes, but we had to choreograph them to fit in the relatively short eight minute performance time slot. We like to go out with a bang, so we save the most impressive dances for last. 
-- We do have a lot of fun. We dance with those people about one night a week, barring illness or holidays. It alternates between Swedish and Norwegian on Mondays, and Danish some Fridays. All groups are open to the general public to join and learn! (No tryouts or anything.) All the people in the groups are so much fun and so nice, and there is a ladies' craft and sewing group that meets weekly as well, complete with knitters and weavers!


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

You all are making me incredibly jealous with your exciting weekend plans! You know what I did? I went to work..all weekend. I try not to do that (work all weekend) very often because it is the only quality time I get with my oldest daughter and husband.

However, we did have some down time at work, so I got through six or seven rows on my son's afghan. I work in Wal-Mart's transportation division, sending truckers on their merry ways. You'd think they'd never seen anyone under 80 with a crochet hook in her hands!

I also made the plunge and signed up on Ravelry this weekend. AMAZING!!!!! I even found a fairly local crafty group that meets at the food co-op where I shop. Once I confirm that they actually still meet there, I'm going!


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

WIHH, wind on the Mackinac Bridge is pretty typical. If they weren't escorting you across, it wasn't "windy", LOL. It's not uncommon for semi trucks and anything with a trailer to get held up until there is quite a procession of vehicles, then all go across at once, single file. Sometimes the bridge is even closed due to weather (lived in the U.P. for 2 years, all our family was downstate, and now my youngest son has lived in the U.P. for 2 years while we live downstate!). Glad you enjoyed your whirlwind trip to MI, and my DH would love to have that Jeep you bought!

Miz Mary, you'll only be about an hour and a half from me when you go to Bay City, and you'll probably pass within a half hour of me on your drive there. I'm just a bit SE of Lansing, off of I-96 by a few miles. Your route sounds wonderful, in fact we did most of that (with the exception of Sturgis) in reverse in 2008 when we drove with our camper from MI to OR to visit DH's aunt who lived near La Grande at the time (she has since moved to Alaska).

Lots of outdoor work continuing here, the ground finally dried up so it's a mad dash to get the garden tilled and plant the early crops which are now a tad late. Also got 2 more acres worked up and have been picking rocks out of that (by hand) the last two evenings in preparation to seed it for more hay field. Chicken coop has been spring cleaned and moved from it's winter parking spot.

And. . . even with being outdoors hours and hours each day for most of the past week (and having the sunburn to prove it), I finished my first sock! I started the second one Sunday evening, and have about 2" of the cuff done so far.

My first sock, after I tried it on and showed it off to my dh and dds:


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

Yes. EVERYONE from the Dance groups here go to Nisswa every year, and I really hope to go with DH this year, if we can get away from work. There are actually people I know in that picture on the homepage.

If I make it, and you make it, we should have lunch!


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

Cool dancing! And great Jeep too, WIHH!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

Nothing fibery going on here. I am counting down the days till the end of my treatment as you all know and am getting ready to finally finally move into my house!!:nanner:Thank you all for counting down with me!:grouphug:

ETA: Pigeon Lady I love the walkway!


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## Lythrum (Dec 19, 2005)

Wow, so much going on with everyone. Love the dancing, jeep, new walkway, first sock and upcoming end of radiation treatments. 

I hope counseling will help your son Callie, I think for people who go through things like that sometimes the aftermath is worse than the actual event because you feel like you will never feel _normal_ again.

We've been enjoying the spring, it got cool again last week but it has rained and rained and rained. I have been trying to get out and get gardening and yardwork done between rainy days, but sheesh. So I have had time to work on projects and I finally got my last pair of socks from my to-do list finished. These are the socks for my knitting mentor, if any of you recall I was taught to knit by a retired Marine major that I worked with. I conspired with his wife to get his shoe size and address, and they are on their way to him now. He is a very practical sort of guy so I made plain ol' Silver's sock class socks. I think they are going to make good boot socks.  Now all of my next projects will be cute baby things, I cast on some pink baby socks last night.


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## Shazza (Nov 20, 2004)

Our latest addition to our Pug family...Miss Nelly
She has a flour moustache lol.


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

Aww I love pugs! They are so sweet. I am now picking out patterns for some baby stuff for my BIL's baby shower. I finished the wash cloths, told my DH to go buy his mom a shirt for Mother's day, and my son's afghan is coming along great (though it's going to be extremely heavy..I should have used a bigger hook). There's room for other stuff, now!


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## Shazza (Nov 20, 2004)

Ive been making a few Pug Jumpers .... and knitting up some claimed Merino tops into Baby Beanies for my Etsy store. Made room now for some more spinning....have a bit of EL/Corriedale I am spinning up and then I can finally go stash diving in my own sheep fleeces and pluck one out to spin.


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

Kris in MI said:


> WIHH, wind on the Mackinac Bridge is pretty typical. If they weren't escorting you across, it wasn't "windy", LOL. It's not uncommon for semi trucks and anything with a trailer to get held up until there is quite a procession of vehicles, then all go across at once, single file. Sometimes the bridge is even closed due to weather (lived in the U.P. for 2 years, all our family was downstate, and now my youngest son has lived in the U.P. for 2 years while we live downstate!). Glad you enjoyed your whirlwind trip to MI, and my DH would love to have that Jeep you bought!
> 
> Miz Mary, you'll only be about an hour and a half from me when you go to Bay City, and you'll probably pass within a half hour of me on your drive there. I'm just a bit SE of Lansing, off of I-96 by a few miles. Your route sounds wonderful, in fact we did most of that (with the exception of Sturgis) in reverse in 2008 when we drove with our camper from MI to OR to visit DH's aunt who lived near La Grande at the time (she has since moved to Alaska).
> 
> ...


WOW ! We will going across that bridge too !! Do you have any advice from your trip you made ?? What would you do different ? 

That Jeep is WAY cool , WIHH !

Loud music scared a woodchuck ..too funny !!! 

lots going on ....but making time for yoga and knitting a shawl with some homespun Alpaca/silk .....


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Miz Mary do you have your route picked out yet? I don't know how much time you have set aside for sightseeing tpe of stuff. The UP is beautiful if you enjoy wilderness and camping. They have a bunch of waterfalls up there too. If you are going through Northern MN there are some really fun things to see the on your way across the state.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

WIHH- sorry you missed me!! LOL!! Glad you had a great trip. We haven't made it up that far yet. Not sure I want to try the bridge. 25 mph? Spring here is more like 45 to call it a wind. I'm starting to feel safe out in it after 4 years.

Nice dancing SF- I want to Holland MI yesterday and watched some Dutch dancing for their Tulip Festival. I love the stomping! 

As for our little saga--it's in the hands of the lawyers and I can't say more than that. The counselor seems to be very able. She has a son with Aspergers so hopefully that will be a plus. I also found a autism learning center near us that we have great hopes will help us with our DS and his school work. We're trying hard to find some positives for him. 

I've been very busy with the sheep and garden. Very busy. Had our cats neutered this week, finally. Planting, weeding, trimming hooves, moving fences, cleaning the barn. Work is good therapy. Many thanks to all.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

If anyone every gets near I-80 or I-88 as they're going through IL, I'm just 30 minutes north of I-80 or 5 minutes south of I-88 at exit 40 ...

Jeep envy!!

I try to keep up with the FAC every day, but with spring Finally here, I only have time to read. I think of you all every day.

Tuesday, I met up with my DD & Punky in IA City. DD signed up for the National Marrow Donor Program a couple years ago. She was notified last month that they may have a recipient for stem cells. 

DD had initial tests done last month and final tests this past Tuesday. Punky & I sat in on the 1.5 hour informational meeting (how does a 3 yo handle 1.5 hours of a meeting?? Just give her a few stickers and a MeeMee to stick them on!!)  Final tests are looking good, just waiting for outside tests to comeback ...

Prayerfully, the 53-yo woman with leukemia will be able to receive DD's stem cells 07/02/13 and on her way to recovery! I'm so proud of DD for doing this!

In other news, (_and sometimes Paul_) has rotator cuff injuries that require surgery & 12 weeks of PT.

Photo of Punky taken this past Tuesday:


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Miz Mary said:


> WOW ! We will going across that bridge too !! Do you have any advice from your trip you made ?? What would you do different ?


#1, since you just got the camper you will be towing: *make sure it has good tires!!!* Dh bought a camper for our trip. He looked briefly at the tires, decided he didn't want to mess with hurrying to get new ones (or the expense of new ones) and said they were good enough. Blew the first tire within the first day of leaving home. At 5:00 at night. In Iowa. *sigh* Put on the spare, found a place that was open (Walmart!) that had exactly one tire the size we needed. Bought it. Made an unscheduled stop to camp for the night because DH and I were both not having fun and just wanted to sit and relax before continuing our 2 week journey we'd barely started.

23 hours later, in South Dakota, blew tire #2. Same scenario, only not a Walmart but a "real" tire store we found that had, you guessed it, exactly one tire in stock in the size we needed. Not even same brand/tread, but at least it fit. Another unplanned campground that night, an RV park, but the kids enjoyed it because there was a pool and 'all you can eat' ice cream for $1.

About 20 hours later, second child and I were taking bets on what time tire #3 would blow. I had 24 hours from the 2nd one, he said sooner. He was right. This one blew on top of a pass in Wyoming at 9600 feet. Fun, fun. Maneuvered the camper to a tiny narrow mountain side road and put the spare on for the third time. At least we are getting this camper tire changing thing down pat, only took 10 minutes this time!! Limped into Cody, and found 1)a nice campground (we'd planned to visit Cody anyway) and 2) a tire store with the last two brand new tires we needed!! So changed out #4 before it had a chance to blow (ds had predicted that one to go the following afternoon).

So, first of all, make sure your tires are going to get you here!!

#2 You might want to google and see what rv repair places are on your route. The ignitor switch on the fridge in our camper also went out within the first two days. I'd stuffed it with food, including some frozen stuff, to eat on our trip rather than having to stop daily for groceries. So that was another panic thing--finding out the fridge was no longer cold and trying to locate a place to fix it!



Have fun! We went MI, down through IN and IL, over to IA, up through the bottom of MN pretty much non-stop--with the exception of the blown tires and the dead fridge--since most of what we wanted to spend time at was in the Badlands, WY, and MT. We spent time in both Yellowstone and Glacier, and wished we'd allowed more time for them. We stayed two nights in Cody, took in the rodeo on July 4th, and went to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. That was a hit with everyone, even the 10yo dd! Spent 4 hours in the gun museum, and really could have spent two days there!

Like Marchwind suggested, you might want to do alot of sightseeing on your way through the U.P. My favorite part is the Keweenaw (where we lived while DH was in college, and where my second child now attends college), but unfortunately that's a bit out of the way from WI to the Mackinac Bridge. There are lots of neat waterfalls, some visible from the road, but most require a little bit of hiking. If you have time, see if you can get ahold of a copy of the book Michigan Waterfalls: A Guide to 199. I'm pretty sure that's the same book I bought my ds his first year of college and it has a lot of little known ones in it.

Oh, one more bit of advice: keep your sense of humor. You will probably need it at least once along the way. Remember, you are embarking on an _adventure_!


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

GOOD TO KNOW Kris, thank you !!

This class C cabover has new tires ... doesnt mean they cant blow ....but still 

We are going to go up to Spokane Wa.... then take US 2 or I 94 ....all the way through Montana, N Dakota , Minnesota ,N Wisconson and into MI from the Mackinaw Bridge ....

Homebound, we will take I 90 in Wisconson ....through S Minnesota, S Dakota , the NE corner of Wyoming up to Billings Mt ......

I am planning to see the Badlands , Mt Rushmore , and Sturgis in S Dakota .... other than that we are gonna " wing it " ......

We are buying/installing a generator on the MH .... Im learning when to use things via generator on, gas , and hookups in a park .... kinda scary !

Trying to get this front end re built and sealed up before it rains this weekend ..... 

We have stayed in Walmart parking lots and truck stops before ... lots cheaper !! 

Has anybody been up on US 2 before ?? Im wondering how desolate it is, if the US 94 is better ...

I'll have my laptop , so If we need an RV place, I can find one as long as I can get wi fy !!


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## Geoprincess55 (Mar 19, 2013)

Callieslamb -- 

Still thinking of you and your family a lot and praying for you.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

US 2 through the UP is generally how I go from MN. It is a good road and there are towns dotted around. This time of year things will be open, unlike in the winter when things are closed for the season. If you take I-94 it will take you through Minneapolis across Wisc. Chicago the lower end of Lake MI, through Kalamazoo , and on to the east of Michigan. It is a very heavily traveled road, lots of big trucks, big cities and big traffic. if you don't mind all of that and bumper to bumper traffic fine. I personally prefer the quieter routes. Chicago is a bear, I do anything to avoid that traffic and you have to go WAY out of your way to go around it.

Get out your maps and look at the routes you want to take, google will be your friend. Do you have a GPS? As us here about our areas across the states you will be going through.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

TODAY I HAD MY LAST TREATMENT! So very happy and grateful to my God!


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## Pigeon Lady (Apr 4, 2004)

Woo Hoo!!!!! 

I'm sorry I missed your "count with me" thread. But now, no more counting Woodpecker. I'm so happy for you! I hope you have the most fantastic summer ever.


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## Lythrum (Dec 19, 2005)

Glad you are finished with your treatments Woodpecker! 

I just finished another project I have been behind on, knitting something for my husband's cousin's new baby girl. I found a pattern for baby socks on Ravelry and started them, but got confused by her needle arrangements and re-wrote it using a different heel and adjusting some of the other instructions. It uses a very small amount of yarn, so it is perfect for the leftovers of sock projects. This yarn was left over from my KAL socks. I think I'll make a couple other pairs so I'll have socks ready for new babies.


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

Hope everyone had a nice mother's day--I spent the afternoon at the Augusta Museum of History with a meeting of the Tangled Threads fiber guild. It was so nice to meet other spinners! It's the first chance I've had since SAFF in Asheville, NC, last fall. 


My day was clouded a bit by concern over my youngest daughter. She developed a rash over the past couple of days. We took her to the doctor Saturday and he wasn't sure what it is, maybe chicken pox or an allergic reaction. It looked worse this afternoon so DH called the doc again. Doc doesn't seem too worried since she doesn't have a fever and is breathing normally.


It looks less like chicken pox to me than something like poison ivy, but her poor face is blotchy red and slightly swollen. Please say a prayer for her.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I can hardly wait to hear about Shepherd's Harvest.
There had better be a bunch of pictures. 



I wonder if WIHH kidnapped Lexi and is keeping her in her guest cabin....
because that seems plausible to me.


Just saying.
:teehee:


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Hahahaha, GAM. I was thinking the same thing


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

How's your daughter today, Blueberry Chick? I hope the rash is better!


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

Well, I don't have any pictures from SH off of the camera yet, but here's the preliminary report:

I got a huge white llama fleece, a pound of white mohair locks, a nice fluff of hand-painted Polwarth roving, some sparkles, and a couple little packets of silk hankies to try. I have already spun up the Polwarth. It will end up as a scarf for DH.

We met up with several of the lovely Homesteading ladies at Lez's camper for lunch. The food was awesome, and it was great to finally meet some of the lovely ladies I know from here in person! 

I went to WIHH's combing demo and learned I've been doing it wrong. Not terribly, my method worked, but WIHH's method works much better! Meanwhile, my DH slipped over to the flax demo. He has been reading about flax ever since! He's going to make me a flax break, and several hackles and flax knives and get me all set up to spin flax! Woo-hoo!!! :sing: (I have been wanting to get into spinning flax for a while.) hopefully we'll be able to demonstrate flax to linen at Viking events soon. I think he may also be up to making me a blending board and a little box loom as well. I have the bestest, craftiest, most talented husband!  

In conclusion, we very nearly brought a rabbit home. Next year...


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

MDKatie said:


> How's your daughter today, Blueberry Chick? I hope the rash is better!


Thanks-- She looks worse this morning, her face is really swollen to the point that she doesn't look like herself. We have a doctor's appointment in about an hour.


My neighbor was by earlier to work on our tiller and he looked at her. His best guess is an allergic reaction, maybe to a bug bite or plant. I'll post again when we get back.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

I am on my way home right now. Lexi is really awesome, a great lady, very humorous and fun and creative. we learned lots of stuff. 

My weekend was a bit infuriating when the skein competition volunteer was a no-show and my best skeins were set aside and never judged. Then on Sunday when I retrieved them I dropped one and somebody picked it up and walked off with it. I am just sick with upsetness.

So rather than stay upset I've volunteered to handle the competition next year and the felting competitors want me to handle that competition as well.

All in all it was a great event and lots of fun. I'm sure WihH will post pics soon.


_Posted from Homesteadingtoday.com App for Android_


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

Oh Lez, I'm sorry. That's too bad your skeins never got judged, and REALLY too bad that someone walked off with one of your skeins. That makes me just sick. Some people... "oh look, a skein of yarn just got dropped! If I'm quiet maybe the person that dropped it will never notice me stealing it..."  If I would have seen that happen I woulda gone all Viking on them! :viking:


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

BlueberryChick said:


> Thanks-- She looks worse this morning, her face is really swollen to the point that she doesn't look like herself. We have a doctor's appointment in about an hour.
> 
> 
> My neighbor was by earlier to work on our tiller and he looked at her. His best guess is an allergic reaction, maybe to a bug bite or plant. I'll post again when we get back.


Aww, poor girl! I hope the doc is able to help her. She must feel awful. 



IowaLez said:


> My weekend was a bit infuriating when the skein competition volunteer was a no-show and my best skeins were set aside and never judged. Then on Sunday when I retrieved them I dropped one and somebody picked it up and walked off with it. I am just sick with upsetness.
> 
> So rather than stay upset I've volunteered to handle the competition next year and the felting competitors want me to handle that competition as well.
> 
> ...


OH NO!!! How awful! All that work you probably put into those skeins and they didn't even get judged! AND, I can't believe someone just picked up the one that fell and STOLE it!!!! That makes me so mad! :grumble: I wish I had been there, I would have run after it for you!!


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

When I dropped the skein there were people behind me and nobody said Hey lady you dropped your yarn. City people. uggh! 


_Posted from Homesteadingtoday.com App for Android_


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

Lez so sorry that happened to you, that is so wrong!


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

IowaLez, that's awful! What is wrong with people?

We got back from the doctor a little while ago. He says it's a severe poison ivy/oak reaction. She feels fairly well, not too much itching. She'll be on a steroid for the week and we have lotion and Benedryl. Wish me luck.


Thanks so much for your prayers! Her older brother and sister were both worried about her. Her sister (21yo) had a dentist appointment this morning and bought her a treat on the way home. So sweet!


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Blueberry,

I am so glad your daughter's condition was figured out so she could be treated and hopefully will feel better in a few days.

We are home, I have emptied the camper, doing laundry, and putting things away. The cats are very happy we are home, they got lonely. It is cloudy and cool here, and I hope we don't get rain, because tomorrow we want to rent the big PTO tiller and get the market garden going. It is a month behind schedule due to weather. It is supposed to be 90 degrees tomorrow, but doesn't feel like it right now.

A quick recap of the festival weekend:

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and set up camp. It rained almost the whole way there, but stopped before we had to set up in it. WIHH and Ariesgoat had already been there and done setting up of the classrooms, and went to pick up Lexi at the airport. While they waited for her to arrive, WIHH and me traded texts and got in the festival spirit. My only bummer was that I get severe anxiety attacks when I leave home for more than a day, and I finally called a neighbor to check that I didn't leave a cat in the cellar when I watered the tomato seedlings. Then I felt better.

Friday was a very nice sunny day, and we had the big lunch outside. I had the morning free; Stan made a wonderful lunch and we had enough food to feed the whole gang for the whole weekend. Saturday and Sunday were cold and windy, so we all crammed into the camper to eat and hang out.

The fair buildings were cold and Lexi didn't bring enough warm clothes. Her feet were freezing, so she bought the funniest pair of slippers I've ever seen. They were made from angora rabbit hide, with the long gray fur on the outside, and lamb shearling inside them. They made her feet look like funny big blobs, and when she walked in them you just had to laugh.

Lexi has quite the pedigree. Her ancestors had the first and oldest vineyards in the Napa Valley, in the 1800s, and they were bootleggers during prohibition, altho they made legal sacramental wine for churches. Her famous family makes some very fine wines today, and they have won numerous awards.

We went thru an awful of of wine between all of us, :teehee: but we were happy spinners and laughed a whole lot. 

I already knew WIHH and Ariesgoat, but it was so nice to meet Lather (who helped me save a batch of soap gone wrong last January) and Svenska and husband, and Geoprincess and husband, and we all met neat people in our classes to have as new friends. We shared and traded fibers for our batts and art yarns. One lady traded me some beautiful tussah silk for angelina.

Lexi is a marvelous teacher and free spirit, and she helped me a lot because I use the opposite hands than she does, when manipulating the fibers being spun. There were many different brands of wheels being used, and we got to see a variety of carders. In my Sunday afternoon class, the lady next to me had a big, motorized Little Tom Fancy Kitty carder. I drooled over it a lot. She said it costed about a thousand dollars. But the drum is HUGE and the motor is silent and it worked SO nicely. Would LOVE to have one! :thumb:

I did very little shopping, I only spent $20 on two hanks of dyed bamboo fiber. Lather sent us all home with a bar of her wonderful soap in various fragrances, and 2 pounds of lovely Lincoln wool she has. I can't wait to use my citrus scented soap in the shower, and wash up that wool!

I learned how to make the difficult Aura yarn - Jacey Boggs calls it Tornado; it is hard to make, but with Lexi demonstrating the hand moves, and then helping me personally, I can now do it. She gave me good advice about using my Aura wheel more effectively. I will take photos of my yarns shortly, so you can all see them all.

On a side note, my old home county in NorCal for 26 yrs, is in the news big time, because a whole subdivision of 30 homes is sinking into the ground, breaking apart in pieces, and it's 10 feet deep and no end in sight. The homes are condemned but can't be torn down because the ground is unstable for big equipment. The Post Office no longer allows a mailman in the area due to the grave danger. The current head of the bldg dept says he can only "assume" that the project was correctly signed off by the bldg dept head at that time, 30 yrs ago, and the homes were built by a "reputable" builder. We just laugh at that, because it's the most corrupt county government in the whole state, and both if us have witnessed first hand, bribes being given to inspectors and plan checkers by builders. I had a friend who built a junky winery behind the town post office and he bragged to me how he paid off the inspector to approve his illegal buildings... If you want to read the story and see photos, Google "Lakeport homes sinking". So glad we escaped from that county and are now in a good place to live.

It is RAINING outside! NOOOOOO!!!! I need the soil dry to till!!!!

It is good to be back home again, and I can't wait to try spinning some more fancy yarns!


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

Aww I'm so jealous of all you Harvest Festival go-ers! This weekend I finished a yoda hat (pattern found on Ravelry) and a cute little summer weight beanie for my son and daughter (respectively). Along with pictures of the hats, you'll get to see my sweet babies.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Your kids are cute and look great in those super-duper cool hats!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Taylor R,
Your kids are adorable!

BlueberryChick,
Im glad you found out what the cause is & that she will be alright. That was very sweet of your oldest daughter as well!


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

Taylor, they are adorable (and the hats are cute, too)!

My little poison ivy girl is hanging on there. She's itching more today, but not complaining. She slept well last night, thankfully.


But, when it rains it pours. A toilet overflowed while we were away and we had ServePro here last night until 10pm. It looks like we'll be putting in new carpet in my son's room (shares a wall with the bathroom) and our wood floors will have to be replaced/refinished. It's a bit overwhelming because the wood floors cover well over half of the downstairs. I'll likely be packing up as if to move.


On the up side, I get to redo the kids bathroom!


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

I'm going to have to check around our area for a fiber festival...hmm..google here I come.


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

Our little poison ivy face girl is getting better. The swelling is down a good bit since Monday and the redness is starting to go away. She just came out of her brother's room with a comforter and an armload of stuffed animals. The game's afoot.

On the water damage front, a lady from ServePro just called. They'll be out to "demo", as in "demolish", my bathroom later this morning. And yesterday, when I asked the supervisor if they could be done in time for the annual family reunion on June 8, he just shook his head. Not a chance, apparently.


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

Oh no! The wait makes remodeling awfully difficult sometimes. I'm glad your little lady is doing better though!

I've got a 3 year old who got glass in arch of her foot. The doctor said she should stay off of it. I think I'd have to immobilize her whole leg to even deter her from walking on it. I'd have to tie her up to actually keep her from walking on it. Summer break is off and going here, folks!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

I had to see my oncologist today and she finally told me I am in REMISSION!!!


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Great news, Woodpecker!


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

Woodpecker said:


> I had to see my oncologist today and she finally told me I am in REMISSION!!!


Woo-hoo!


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

Woodpecker said:


> I had to see my oncologist today and she finally told me I am in REMISSION!!!



FAN FREAKIN TASTIC !!!!! praising the Lord !!


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## lathermaker (May 7, 2010)

That's FANTASTIC news Woodpecker! I knew you could do it!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

Thank you all! I have been waiting seven long months to celebrate!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Woot :clap: woot :clap: such wonderful news Woodpecker, Congratulations! So happy for you. Now to focus on getting you strong again and to remain healthy.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

Wind in Her Hair said:


> Woodpecker, having watched your battle from afar, I am reminded again how fortunate I have been never to have battled that dread disease - cancer_ and I also reminded how powerful that diagnosis is - how the "c" word can shake the very foundation of your soul and how you entire future suddenly is in question.
> 
> You have walked a lonely, scary, dark and tumultuous tunnel - and you have come out the other side - this is no small thing.
> 
> ...


Thank you WIHH! The road wasn't that lonely for me as I had God the whole way. Plus my family to lean on.


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

Congrats Woodpecker!

And great updates everyone. Hope the poison ivy girl and bathroom are all healed up soon.

Cute kids & hats & dresses and so much more. 
I am a little jealous on the fiber festival...but I will get over it. I have actually already put in to work for a day off during the Kid N Ewe festival. It falls in the middle of the busy season at work, so I am crossing my fingers. This is the third try to go...maybe it is the charm.

And!!! NEWS FLASH!!! DH is HOME!! :bouncy:

I sheared my first alpaca yesterday. It was an experience. Let me just say, they are stronger than they look! lol! Here are Rusty Before, After and Fiber. I am NOT the best at shearing. It was my first time to do an alpaca, and the first time I had used electric shears. So, it's a bit of a rough cut. I hope to get better. Have 2 more alpaca and 3 sheep to shear, need to get that done really soon. I am hoping to have them done Next weekend.

Anyway, now I need to go make burgers and fry fish (will be using my new mom's day grill!), My DS brought home a couple of young men to help cut up lots of trees and get them burned. The homestead is on the mend! I am so happy!


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Woodpecker, I'm so happy for you!! Wonderful, wonderful news!!

Well. I am officially back online!
I was using ds#2's computer when we first got out internet, but then he up and moved into his own place, and we couldn't find mine. So I was back to my phone and hit or miss signal. But yesterday mine came out of it's hiding place! So here I am.:nana:
Lot's going on, lot's to still do, but I'm sure it'll all come together soon. Having the devils own time finding a contractor to come out, but I think we've got one locked in finally.:dance:
I do have my garden in, 1800 sq. ft. of it anyway, so I'm thrilled about that. I've been doing some spinning on Miss Saraphine, and working on a couple more pairs of socks as well. 
Our neighbors behind us are using our grass this year for thier cow/calf pairs, we offered as pastures out here are pretty bad off from the drought, and we aren't using ours this year. We will be getting two, count them two steers for the freezer from them in the fall for letting them use 20 acres of ours! I'm excited as we get the meat without having to do the raising! Love it!!:dance:
Anyway, I'm rambling and I need to go get ready for my grandson to come spend the afternoon! 
Take care all!


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

The alpacas are beautiful! 

My poison ivy girl is much better. The swelling is gone and there's just a slight redness left. 


When it rains it pours, again. We seem to be making no progress in getting the water damage repaired at our house. It looks like it will be weeks, if not months before the house is back to normal. 


On top of that, my husband's truck was hit by a school activity bus yesterday. Thankfully, he wasn't in the truck at the time. It was parked in the parking lot. As far as I know, there were no students in the bus, so no injuries at all. But of course, we have to deal with repairs and securing a loaner/rental for DH to drive. 


My mantra--nobody's in the hospital, nobody's in jail...it will be okay.


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Oh my goodness, BlueberryChick! Glad that no one was hurt, but it is awfully frustrating and inconvenient to have to do vehicle repairs on top of everything else.

I have 2/3 of my garden in! Hooray! Considering it's about 8000 sq ft, that is a major undertaking. I still have to plant the salad cukes, the second corn planting, and a lot of the squash.

We have new kittens, and my chick order arrived Monday too. Lots of babies, lol.

I managed to get my second sock mostly knit on the drive to SC and back when we went to visit my eldest ds earlier this month. Finished it last night and of course took a picture for posterity! One toe seam isn't quite as smooth as the other, but I think I can live with it (I'm one of those people who can be driven bonkers by the feel of a seam in the wrong place).


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

Your socks are great, Kris! BlueberryChick, I may steal your mantra.

Today is my sweet little guy's fifth birthday. When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner; he said cereal. We don't buy any processed food and I guess he really missed cereal.

I've finished most of my projects that need to be done. I have a couple newborn hats to whip out still (those take me less than an hour even with all the interruptions in my house), and my son's afghan isn't done yet, but I told him it's for him and he's incredibly excited.

I also got part of my garden in. I have my porch planter and the back be to do yet, and hopefully I'll finish them before the week is up.


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

Taylor R. said:


> BlueberryChick, I may steal your mantra.


You are welcome to it, Taylor! (I stole it from my sister-in-law)


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

I got quite a bit of wine drinking and crocheting done yesterday evening (though I doubted many times if that was a wise combination).

Here's what I finished (plus worked on my son's afghan, which will someday be completed..I hope).

The baby beanie is for my nephew's baby shower, and the cuff is for ME! I really wanted to get my paws dirty with some fingering, and it was more satisfying at the time to complete a small project than to start a massive doily. Land sakes alive that sounded dirty..but I swear I didn't mean it that way!


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

Nice work, Taylor!

It just never ends around here. Last night while I went to see a stage production of Arsenic and Old Lace (the play had quite of bit of swearing, and I had invited friends who barely watch a PG movie), DH had taken the younger two children to dinner and a movie. On the way home, they hit a deer. No one was hurt, except the deer, but now there's more damage to the truck. At least it can get fixed all at once!


On top of that, my son got up this morning and just after breakfast said, "I don't feel good". He spent most of the morning sick; much better now though.


I almost burst into tears at the feed store when I ran into two friends, and was just feeling overwhelmed. That's not at all like me, so DH said, "What would help?". I told him I wanted to spend the afternoon gardening. He said, "Pick out some plants". What a good guy!


Nobody's in the hospital, nobody's in jail...it will be okay.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

(((((((((((((((Blueberry Chic)))))))))))))))). Mylife feels kind of like that too although there is nothing like any of that happening to me. Im just feeling overwhelmed with life. I can't imagine feeling like this and having all that on top of it. I hope your quiet gardening time helped you to feel centered again.

Taylor you crochet both of those AND drank wine :bow: I definitely bow down to you. Just don't get together with WIHH or you two may be dangerous :buds:

I wok with a migraine this morning and called off work. I took some Meds and went back to bed. It's a bit better but not completely gone. I'll relax today, spin the yarn for my DIL's sweater. I think I have 6 skeins spun up now. I need to find a pattern, I'm not excited about any of the ones I've found.


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

Hang in there Blueberry Chick!
Hope your head is better Marchwind. When you feel up to it, I may need to send you another one of my tangled messes. 

Finally got all three of the Alpaca sheared. I am a tad sore! lol! 
One girl cried the whole time, a shrill sound that was sorta unnerving. The other wanted to spit on us. lol! I now have 5 bags of alpaca!!!
I think I finally got the hang of the electric shears. They are heavy, but WAY better than doing it with the manual scissor type clippers. 
So... here are a few pics of nekked Pacas!



And my gorgeous kids, who went to an end of the year "Era" party, and dressed the part. 2 out of three won first place in the costume contest. Beka (going for 40's glalm) got best girl and Zach (youngest) got best guy. The boys were 'greasers' and I think they pulled it off well. I personally think all three are gorgeous.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

My big news is that I am ready to fly the nest! My mom bought me my very own set of dishes. As soon as the handyman fixes the chicken coop fencing I am ready to go. Im am not going far just to grandma's house where I played as a child. I bought the place after she passed. My poor mom is starting to have half of empty nest syndrome already. No fiber stuff going on just finally achieving dreams.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Congrats Woodpecker!

Thats awesome. Sounds like things are really coming together for you. And you have been through a lot. Its nice to see everything working out so well! :sing:

--------------------------------------------------------------

I need to ask you all something. This is a smart group. Im sure I will find the right answer here, so here goes.

I have friend that I care about deeply. However,my friend has a temper problem. I would say its actually an addiction. Of course their is always a justified reason for it.

Shes mad at me for something irrational, & insignificant.
I think shes expecting me to apologize. Shes not going to get that. Im pretty much fed up with trying to step around her temper, or hope and pray Im not the one on the receiving end of it, this time. Im getting clueless how her S.O. who is usually the recipient of it deals with it. Not that hes an angel,still.

I feel I need to tell her.
How would you tell her? Point blank and let the chips fall where they may? 
I realize that might end the friendship. I am so fed up & tired of it, Im not sure I care anymore.
Still, if theres a better way that might get through to her, Im all ears.
Tia


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## weever (Oct 1, 2006)

Pearl, that's a hard one. I think you're on the right track, though. Can you just tell her that you are through with having to walk on eggshells? If she wants to continue the friendship, you will be happy to do so, but she must behave herself. That means no hitting, no cursing, no yelling, no shooting, no spitting, etc. (Fill in your own list of rules.) Honestly, it isn't wrong to be occasionally angry--it's what you do with the anger that either makes you pleasant to be around or not so pleasant. 

You can model how to express her emotions by saying to her, "I feel tired of having to be so careful around you so that you don't get angry at me." See she could learn to say something like "Pearl, I feel angry when you kick my dog like that--can you stop doing that?" instead of ranting and raving. It might help her to get to the bottom of why she feels angry in the first place--because you're not being nice to her dog, in this made-up case. 

In my humble opinion, though, people who are angry have a hard time changing. They are either masking their fear with anger, or they are completely self-centered people. Yup. I know I just over-generalized. It's one of my talents.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank you Weever!

I think she knows shes got an anger problem. She has to on some level.

Its not really any of my biz, till she turns it loose on me. Im not the only one she does it too. I probably get less of it than others cause I can see it coming

I wouldnt mind helping her figure it out if she asks. But if she doesnt ask, I dont want to intrude.
She can be so sweet also, its just .:hair:hair:run:

Thanks for letting me vent folks! Weve talked, we resolved any problems without talking about them. Hopefully shes starting to figure out, I wont play tag your it!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

WIHH Thank You! 

You are brilliant when it comes to stuff like this! Im very non confrontational, & as I result I unwittingly attract people like this, or responses like this.

Thank You Im going to copy your letter!


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

Pearl, I hope things turn out okay with your friend. WIHH had good advice.  

I had a great weekend with DH in Nebraska. We had a barbecue, I made art yarn with my mom, and finished a 4oz braid of handpainted roving I was spinning worsted. Pictures of all that later. 

On the way home, though, Well, that was an adventure. A car tried to make a U-turn in front of us just north of Winnebago. They pulled into a driveway, then suddenly turned out right in front of us. Philip slammed on the brakes and swerved to miss them, but we clipped bumpers. Our car is totaled, and we are spending the night in a hotel in South Sioux City, NE. We are both okay. 

The driver of the other car was drunk and did not have a license, and his girlfriend, whom the car belonged to, was very drunk, had an expired license, and could not prove she had insurance. They were both drinking from a large bottle of whiskey as he drove. Driver got hauled away to be booked. Another police officer brought us and all our stuff to a hotel. Our car got towed and is now impounded for safekeeping. It's been a long evening... But, we have each other and are not hurt. I even have my spinning wheel in our hotel room, and it rode on my lap in the police truck. 

If you guys feel like praying for us, that would be great.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Sven, thanks.

I will be praying for you. Thank goodness you & Philip are okay. I hope they lock the guy up for a long long time. Glad your spinning wheel is okay too!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I'd write a note too. Apply the three day rule and do as your heart gut and mind tell you. The three day rule is this. Write the note and sit on it for three days, make no decision until day three. Reread the note edit and then send it or not. Generally after three days you have had time to really think through what you have written and what to add or take away. Even if you decide motto send it you have purged much of your own stress into the letter.

I think a thoughtful letter is a great way to go personally. It gives you time to put into words what you want to say. It gives her time to read and reread it and maybe understand what you need for her to know.

Good luck, it's a hard thing!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank You Marchwind!
I think thats the way to go. Ive been writing & editing. It sure is a good way to purge out the emotions.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Svenska..... I have long challenged myself by seeking wild and unpredictable adventure.

You sure get the prize this time around. :bow:

Was the kind policeman intrigued with your wheel ?


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

PearlB, you can't get better advice on the trouble than what you've had here! Best wishes for you in dealing with it. 

Svenska - OI! How scary! I guess you guys get the "hero of the day" award for getting a drunk off the streets, if nothing else ... thank goodness nobody (and no spinning wheel!) was hurt in the process. Gracious, after all this time you'd think people would be smarter than to drive while hammered. 

I, too, wanna know what the cops thought about you holding a wheel in your lap. I am so glad you had your spinning with you for comfort! 

BTW hi Forerunner!  How's your spinning coming along?


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

Pearl and Sven you will be in my prayers. I would have loved to be a fly in that police truck.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

My spinning....... :whistlin:


I am slowly running out of yarn, and eying my sheep more appreciatively..

JDog and I attended a short day Bishop Hill fiber event a couple weeks ago, and I too some Icelandic roving that I had picked some time ago......and my efforts were not disheartening. I'm looking forward to some spinning time at Cyndi's weekend, coming up in a few weeks.

My wheel and carder have been sitting quietly, waiting for the spirit to move me in those directions.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

Howdy all! Pearl, I wish you the best with the angry friend. WIHH gave some excellent advice. Svenskaflicka, yikes! I'm so glad you and hubby are safe and sound! That is so scary! mamajohnson, those kids look fabulous in their getup! :goodjob:


I haven't been around much. Been busy with life! Finally got caught up on getting all my bedding plants potted up and planted. Spent 4 hours in the garden yesterday and got mostly everything planted that I wanted to. I still have a few odds and ends to finish up. 

DSS (10) is going through rabies treatment because some kids at school found (and played with) a dead bat. The bat tested positive, so about half of the 4th grade has to get treated, since those darned kids ran around touching everyone yelling "rabies touch!". Poor DSS had 4 shots last Wednesday (not in the stomach, thank goodness), got another Saturday, has to get another tomorrow, and another the following Wed. I tell ya, I am really not a kid person. I just don't care as much for kids who don't belong to me or my family and friends. ound: Sounds awful, but they just do the dumbest things! And please just know I'm venting. I'm not evil, and I know I did plenty of stupid things when I was younger! 

DH brought home 3 Rock Doves (pigeons) from work on Wednesday. They were in a nest under a drawbridge, and when the bridge was opening the nest got destroyed. So his coworker saved them, and then nobody wanted them so DH asked me, "Can you keep them alive?" So I had been caring for them....all they do is eat and poop...goodness they grow fast too. It was just too much on my plate though, and DH didn't want to actually feed them, so I contacted a bird rescue about an hour away and they said they would raise them. I dropped them off last night,and even though I got kinda attached to the little rascals, I was relieved to be free from one more thing to take care of!

Here's a pic from Wednesday (5/22) when we first got them:









And here's 5 (5/27) days later:









And then I taught DSD (7) how to sew, and (barely) helped her make a pillow case. She did really well and is so proud of her work! She's going to take an all-day beginner sewing class through 4-H later this summer. 









The finished pillow case:









And DSS got into the crafty mood and did a bit of needle felting.










So I've been busy, but I'm going to start knitting again hopefully tonight! I'd like to start on one of these adorable knitted doll babies. I am too thrifty to want to spend $10 on the pattern, but I know I'll get lots of use out of it since many of my friends are having babies.


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

WIHH - that is one of the video's I watched before I got started on my shearing! In fact, I think it was the first one I watched.
We actually tied them laying down. 

MDKatie, so sorry about your DSS and the bat! Hope the treatment goes well. And I sorta feel the same about some kids....like the ones that run rampant in the Walmart or grocery store. They make me crazy.

Sven - wow! glad ya'll are ok. And you have your wheel! that would have freaked me out. 
Pearl - hang in there!
Forerunner! get with the spinning already! ((lol))

Had a scare today with the alpaca. my girl was down, and when DD found her she called me hysterically crying. I was stuck at work. finally got her calmed down. Eventually Abby (the alpaca) got up and was real shaky. She had gotten into a pen that DH was seeding for pasture. (DD left the gate open and I think that is why she freaked out). Called out the vet, finally got my girl in a small pen. Big sister Alpaca stayed right with her the whole time. Rusty - the male- may be the problem. They think he may have been over zealous with her and knocked her down. Vet says she is healthy and looks good. Took blood and a fecal, will let us know more tomorrow. That bill is gonna bite. 
So, say a little prayer for my Abby!

Got my last sheep sheared today. He fought the whole way. I seriously am thinking about getting new sheep --- bottle babies. I need tamer animals. :catfight:
AND - he was SO matted I think the whole thing is useless. 

ok, off to milk. 

this whole working full time is screwing up my HT/Knitting/spinning/facebook/ravelry time. And I am NOT a fan.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

MD Katie, Thanks!

Im sorry your DSS has to get rabies shots. Thats terrible. Kids can do some really dumb things. Your not evil - lol. I can remember some dumb stuff kids did, me too, when younger. Rabies & shots, thats quite a fright for anyone to deal with.Especially when one of the kids is yours.

That was sweet of you to take care of the birdies till
you could get them to a bird rescue. Pigeons can take a lot of attention.
Long story,short, I wound up with a baby pigeon cause its nest got destroyed, & momma took off. So I took it home and raised it till it could fly.

When it could fly I built it a little nest in the shed outside. It made friends with the local pigeon population and flew off one day. It came by every now & again to say Hi for awhile. It was a chore raising the little thing!

The pillowcase your daughter made is adorable, & so is she! She looks happy sewing too.:thumb: I will keep your DSS in my prayers.


Mamaj Thanks!

I hope your little Abby is okay & will keep her in my prayers!
I hope your schedule works out to where you can get some more time for knitting & netting!


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## Geoprincess55 (Mar 19, 2013)

Hi everyone. SvenskaFlicka, glad to hear that you and your DH are OK! Pearl, I think you've really gotten some good advice here. Hopefully, your friend will see your love and concern for her in all of this. MDKatie, sorry about the rabies shots for your son.

Thanks everyone for all the great pictures! Cute kids, naked alpacas, finished projects. So fun to see what everyone is doing.

We bought a small, bank-owned, farm late last fall so we spent the winter working inside on the house (heat, water, flooring). Now that spring has sorta arrived, we've been really busy outside replacing fencing, repairing barns and outbuildings, pulling out brush and mowing overgrown pastures. It is actually starting to look like someone lives here again. :clap: We put in a small garden this weekend, and are getting ready for our chicks to arrive next week. It has been really fun to find the surprises too - wildflowers down by the river, a gigantic lilac bush by the chicken coop, amazing bird species coming to the feeders, antique farm equipment in the brush at the end of the field. With all this, I haven't had much time for my knitting or spinning; I think I'm going through withdrawal symptoms.

Is anyone thinking about going to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in September? I know it's a long way off, but I always have to plan far in advance to take time off work.


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

Well, we made it home safely last night.  The Federal Marshall didn't say anything about my wheel, but the nice Chinese hotel owner was quite confused. So was the pastor my mom called to give us a ride to the car rental place from the hotel. They wanted to know if it was my grandmother's. They were confused to hear I got her from a lady in Connecticut and that it was made in New Zealand.

Renting a car is a huge hassle. It really is. But we made it through and got home with everything safe and in one piece except for the car. My dad came up to Sioux City and towed our car back to my parents' house so he could look it over, and DH and I spent ALL yesterday morning and ALL this morning talking to insurance people. Slowly but surely things are getting sorted. We just have to wait and see if either of the people in the other car have insurance at all. If not, our insurance will file claims against them to get them to pay us somehow. It's a headache.

Thanks for all your concern! Forerunner, I can say right now that I didn't really want the adventure of riding in a police car with my spinning wheel, but it was quite the experience!


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

MDKatie, good heavens! I'm so sorry your boy has to have rabies shots. 

mamaj-glad your alpaca is doing okay.


SvenskaFlicka, good to hear you are getting things under control. And glad you kept your wheel close!


The saga continues here. There has been no progress on the water damage. We're still waiting on an estimate from the ServPro people so they can get started. I still have subfloor in one bathroom and a good chunk of my family room. My son's room still needs new carpet and he's been sleeping on the sofa.


My husband took his truck to get an estimate for repairs. Hopefully that will go smoothly. 


On top of that, I had been doing laundry all day yesterday and just as I was finishing the last load, the machine stopped dead. I managed to rinse the soapy, wet towels outside today and hang them up, only to have the clothesline fall. DH and I went to a furniture/appliance store and bought a replacement washer and had it delivered this afternoon. Yay! Only, not so fast...they couldn't get it hooked up. The plumber will be here at 7:30 tomorrow morning.


I couldn't make this stuff up.


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

Don't you just hate those times in life when everything is going so humorously wrong that it you start contemplating the amazing amount of money you could make selling your life story as ABC's newest sitcom?? I have been there, BlueberryChick.

WIHH, the gardening beats me up, and I'm too young to blame it on my age! Once the beds are planted, though, maintenance is low, thank goodness.

I did a little garden work today, too, and mowed the yard for my love. He texted me on a break today to say he got employee of the month, and I thought he deserved a treat. I did all this with the two little neighbor girls running around as extras today. They don't do any gardening at home, so they had a blast 'helping' me weed and work the soil and best of all, plant.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Hi Everybody,

I have been absent for quite some time from this forum; missed everyone and all the news and and fun photos. I'm glad everybody is okay/hanging in there - I'm too bad and slow a typist to reply to each of you individually here, but I do want to say, Svenska, I'm really glad you and your husband are okay and not hurt! I hope the drunk gets the book thrown at him, and you get reimbursed adequately by your insurance company.

I have been absent because we have had some unpleasant things happen at home, plus I was working like a fiend to get most of my garden planted before this last rainy 9 days began. My garden is 6,000 sq ft, once again, but this time I made my row aisles 5 feet wide, so the lawn mower can go down them, if I can't hoe away all the weeds. My sweet corn patch is about 30x60 this year. My son is coming on Monday to help me get my bean trellises up, the hops trellis restrung, and my hydroponics set up. I still have to plant about another 30 tomato plants.

I have spent the last couple of days watching the Weather Channel's coverage of the bad storms. Have any of you seen the video of one of Mike Bettes' team's chase vehicles get caught in the big twister? A GMC Yukon SUV with them inside, while it was lifted, tumbled 8 times and blown 200 yards into a field, totally destroyed? Pretty scary. The tv coverage of the tornado outbreaks seems almost like reality tv this year.

Thankfully here we have just had wild and crazy winds, and rain coming down in sheets for what seems like days on end. In fact it is supposed be a record or near record rainfall we've had for the last month. Our ancient cellar had to be pumped twice this week, with a few inches of water in it, not hurting anything, we expect this to happen sometimes. The corn fields are sopping wet, and the rivers in Eastern Iowa are all cresting above flood stage by Tuesday. In NW Iowa the fields are under water and will have to be replanted.

I have been absent largely because I have been very upset over the actions of someone who claims to be our friend, but has stolen from us now, lied to us, defamed us to others, and so we are done with him. It is going to be a painful divorce but we'll be much happier when it's over. Hopefully in the next 2 weeks it will be resolved and I can come back here a happier person.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Lezlie I am so sorry you are dealing with this betrayal. I hope you get resolution and closure.

The new FAC is up, please post there from now on. He is the link http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/country-homemaking/fiber-arts/486953-fac-june-2013-a.html


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