# FAC -June '08



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Okay gang this is the June Fiber Arts Chat (FAC). What a crazy year this is weather wise. You would never know this is June up here. We have had one day that was 70 degrees the trees are just beginning to leaf out and the buds are just about to burst open. All this should have happened last month about 2 weeks ago I'd say. Oh well!

This is the time we come together to check in and tell about things in our lives that may or may not be fiber related. Newbies and lurkers come on out and say hello! Please don't be shy none of us are :happy: If you have any and I mean ANY questions ask us. If we don't know the answer we will show you where to find it if we know that much.

Tomorrow is my Friday at work, woohoo!!! My son graduated from high school last wekend and went right down to his dad's and he has been gone a week, it's been so nice to have the alone time. Last "weekend" (mine is Mon - Weds.) I spent coming to the realization that I get to redefine myself now. After 13 years as single parent of two boys, both are adults now. This is a rather daunting experience and I have absolutely no idea where to begin. Right now I'm just enjoying the alone time and the quiet. I only had to buy one tank of gas for the whole week and that alone is saying something.

I have a few knitting projects going , other than the sweater it's just a few small things. Nothing else going on really I'm hoping to get into the garden to finish the fencing and hopefully planting.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Early this month Marchie!!

It's strange when children start moving out. I was a single parent for 8 years, have 2 that have moved out and only one left at home. What a concept! No longer having to figure out which one left something out in the rain, broke something, et al. So what do we do?? Get legal guardianship of another teen boy :shrug: 

Finished up my carding for the trade with Ocean Rose. What fun that was, combining colors and different fleeces.

Been down with a stomach bug the last 24 hours, feeling better now, thankfully. Ordered a WooLee Winder for the Sonata. Got a jumbo flyer assembly for it, but I'm going to be sending it back for credit. I have a walnut finish and received a clear jumbo. I'm going to see if the WW will work better for me. With the Sonata, you have to remove/replace the front maiden to switch between the regular and jumbo bobbins. I've been spoiled by the Traveller, only needing a grommet to go between the two.

Happy June everyone!


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## Cloverbud (Sep 4, 2006)

Tummy bug? Amazing G spent this afternoon on the sofa with the "puke pan." No fever, just can't keep anything down. She finally got some flat Mountain Dew to stay put. Glad to hear you're feeling better.

I just came in from reworking the bunny nest box I built, and tomorrow I need to build another one. I borrowed 2 cages and a nest box from a friend for G's 4-H project. We bred 2 does, so I measured the nest box Kris sent with and built a second one. Turns out the metal box won't fit through the cage door. *sigh* Ah, well, it's a really quick project.

Let's keep our fingers crossed for *live* kits *in the box*. I know the realities, but this is Amazing G's first time breeding buns, and the kits are arriving just in time to be old enough to enter in the production class at the fair.


:hobbyhors


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

Hello Ladies! I'm done dying all the wool I want to prep for the fiber party I'm doing, but I still have picking and carding to do...lots of it; I dyed umpteen colors!

In the meantime, I've finally hit on some organization ideas for the wool room. (Okay, it was hubby's idea, but I have to do the work.) He pointed out to me on the way home from Liese's that the plant grow-light stand I built some years ago would hold my fiber bags very nicely. I tried it out, and it really does. The shelves are two feet deep by four feet wide. One stand holds 19 of those large paper composting bags! So, I'm spending part of this weekend welding up two more of them. I'll need my plant stand back at some point! Much cheaper than buying shelves that don't work well! 

If I can get photobucket to cooperate with me again, I'll post pics when the wool room is all cleaned up! If not, I'll email the pics to some kind soul and let them post for me!

I did manage to burn myself nicely, though, during yesterday's welding session. The metal slipped, and I grabbed.  I didn't really need a thumbprint, though, did I? My own fault; I know better!

Meg


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## weever (Oct 1, 2006)

Meg Z said:


> I did manage to burn myself nicely, though, during yesterday's welding session. The metal slipped, and I grabbed.  I didn't really need a thumbprint, though, did I? My own fault; I know better!


Ouch. My sympathies...


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## MOgal (Jul 27, 2002)

Touching base.

My job started March 17 and should end June 18. At least, that will be the last day for me as I have made other commitments for the summer like taking care of the neighbor's critters for 5-6 weeks while they go to Alaska. Work has been a real stress in my life the last couple of weeks because we've been putting in a lot of overtime (54 hrs week before last) but due to DH having to be away all this week, I've told my supervisor I can only work a normal 8 hr. day. 

I've been trying to get the yard/garden in shape to raise as many veggies as possible this summer. I had 4 big heads of broccoli that went into broccoli salad from the first planting in the hoop house. I'm so far behind despite having a lot of tomatoes and peppers ready to go into the ground. I put in a new strawberry bed this spring and it looks like the fruit trees will have a great crop if the weather cooperates. 

No fiber stuff but I found out that a lady at work does knitting for charity, primarily premie hats for the local hospitals. My supervisor at work is a beginning knitter but we never seem to have enough time on breaks or at lunch for me to help her with her skills.

Hope everybody who got to attend the MoCWGA event had a good time.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Yea Cyndi I was pretty proud of myself for remembering the FAC early and acting on that remembrance 

Meg take care of that thumb, ouch! I hope it doesn't interfere with your spinning or felting or carding.

Mogal so goo to see you. I know that spring is your busy time with work and garden and critters. Keep well and poke your head in when you can. I'm envious of your fresh broccoli.

That tummy bug has been going around up here too. Several people at work have had it. (knock on wood) I'm well and so is my child.

I can honestly say it is HOT today, I think it was up to about 80. I just finished mowing my front yard. Finally got my push mower working but it seems to be running rough and smells a lot like gas. I'll need to read the directions to see what is going on. I don't want to have to haul it back into town if I don't have to. I hope to finish up the mowing tomorrow. It is so nice to have on less clothes (shorts and tank top) and being outside feeling warm. I swear n day we are in the 30's in the am and 50's in the pm then we are suddenly in the 80's. This has to be the craziest spring weather. My fruit trees are beginning to bloom and my yard is so sweet smelling.

I'm trying to make one of my hens go broody. I don't care which one. I've left some eggs in one of the nests they have been frequenting in the hopes that one will choose to sit there.

I'm going to try to get some pictures uploaded to my Flickr account. I'm on the old computer so I don't know how it will work. If and when I am successful I will post here to let you all know.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Well, whilst Meg is tidying up her room ( and hurting herself; put lavender EO on that burn it'll help with both pain and healing :kissy I'm still in a mess and likely to stay that way for a time. Meg had suggested a rack to hold the coned weaving threads so I've been thinking of how to do that without making a potentially lethal situation- I'm even more accident prone than she, LOL.

The Carolina Wren's little brood has flown the nest already - they're all grown up in 2 weeks! -so I have a bag of wool back. Yesterday we had planned to shear Lashes but afternoon showers put pay to that idea, we had just enough to dampen her. So today I'll get it all ready and we'll do it in the cooler evening after milking.

This is the next 2 baby blankets I'm working on:









I'm spinning more sock yarns, I'd get more per bobbin if I could eliminate those pesky valleys, suggestions?


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Liese you could try a few things to get rid of the valleys. You could add more hooks on the bobbin, closer together. Or you could change the position of the yarn more often. Is that your Ashford? I have 6 hooks on each arm of the flyer on my Traddy. I'm not sure it would be worth it to invest in in a woolie winder but maybe.

I tried to get out early to finish the mowing, I think I flooded the mower. In the mean time I noticed 2 of my horses got out and were running the road. I bet they were out gallivanting all night but they are home now but not in their fenced area. So I took my bucket of fencing tools and walked the fence line. Couldn't find any definite way they got out  Now I'm in getting a drink of water and resting before I go and try to round them up. It's times like this I wish I didn't have all these critters. Unfortunately there isn't a market to be selling anything right now. 

Well, back to work.


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## grams (Sep 10, 2004)

I'm spinning more sock yarns said:


> Try when you get to one end of the bobbin to move the thread to the other arm going back the other way, it will fill in the valleys each way and give a pretty smooth fill.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Grams, the hooks on my Traddy flyer are on the other or back side of the flyer arm so you can only see one set at a time when looking at the flyer and as near as I can tell they fall at the same spacing & position as the other set. My wheel is a 80's vintage, if I drilled pilot holes I _might_ prevent cracking the flyer arm but that worry has prevented me from re-arranging.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Liese said:


> Grams, the hooks on my Traddy flyer are on the other or back side of the flyer arm so you can only see one set at a time when looking at the flyer and as near as I can tell they fall at the same spacing & position as the other set.


this is how you want them. If you can see both sets, you could possibly throw off the balance of the flyer.

change hecks more often or invest in a WooLee Winder


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## MorrisonCorner (Jul 27, 2004)

*laugh* my mother was German and many of my fiber terms I learned (duh) in German. I bet to a non-spinner the above posts sound like... German. Or Greek!

You know that "global warming" thing? Well part of the global warming thing is that some areas "will be cooler than normal." I dare say they are talking about us. If it wasn't flat out cold, it was dry. Finally, yesterday, we got some rain, and today it is sunny and warm. I think my fields are finally starting to grow fast enough to keep up with the lamb crop.

Four years of sheep... 4 buckets of 4 oz skeins. I'm finally ready to start selling yarn.. I'm awfully excited about it. Next step is designing the online store.

In the meantime... you can see this year's crop of lambs, and the new index page, at http://www.woolandfeathers.com


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## flannelberry (Jul 14, 2005)

Checking in - for once! I'm at home sick. It's a nice sick - too sick to be at work but not too sick to knit!

Projects for this month include finishing a scarf I'm making for my sister. She sent my some lovely Handmaiden yarn (http://handmaiden.ca/). It's my first attempt at non-crochet lace and yarn manipulation. What exactly is yarn manipulation you might ask? It's the act of making something nice for someone who gave you lovely, exquisite yarn as a gift in the hopes that the mutually beneficial aspect will encourage further similar gifts.

I have fleece to card as well. And I'm keeping my eye out for an affordable wheel. I'd love a Kromski Sonata but I'm not sure I'll ever afford one!


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## grams (Sep 10, 2004)

Liese said:


> Grams, the hooks on my Traddy flyer are on the other or back side of the flyer arm so you can only see one set at a time when looking at the flyer and as near as I can tell they fall at the same spacing & position as the other set. My wheel is a 80's vintage, if I drilled pilot holes I _might_ prevent cracking the flyer arm but that worry has prevented me from re-arranging.


Liese, mine on my Minstrel are the same as yours, but they must wind different or something because they do fill in the gaps from each other. I will try to post a picture this evening to let you see that it works. LOL, now don't ask me how it works, cause I ain't got a clue and I was like you when I first heard it, but I tried it an it at least on mine works.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

MullersLaneFarm said:


> this is how you want them. If you can see both sets, you could possibly throw off the balance of the flyer.
> 
> change hecks more often or invest in a WooLee Winder


Thanks Cyndi for saving me from making a bigger problem! A guy at the market suggest a fishing reel but I've an idea that by the time it was modified I'd have spent much time & $'s re-inventing the WW. I could have gotten that on my new Fricke but it was another $200, so I just move the spring piece - that system tho not sophisticated works nicer than the hooks - no pre-ordained spacing.

I'm on line here because our neighbor Al is having his woods cut down after he told us he wasn't coming our way and I'm feeling quite upset, especially because I don't know who determined where all those survey ribbons were tied - we'll be disputing them if Bob can get home in time; so am trying to keep myself occupied. I've already walked some of the line and so far have picked off 3 ticks. Looks like our plans to shear Lashes might be on hold whilst Bob deals with this. I just don't understand why Al wouldn't have come to us first - would've saved alot of grief.


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## Annie in MN (Oct 15, 2002)

Liese, I'm sorry you're dealing with this. I hope you can get it straightened out before too much damage is done. I love the color of the baby blanket! It looks gorgeous!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I take it Al's land butts up against yours? Unless there was a recent survey done and pins found, I'd be fast footing it over to Al's and letting him know that if he crosses the line, he'll be reimbursing me for some very expensive, mature trees.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I'm still at work.

Went out and my car would start but wouldn't keep running. Called my mechanic and he says it sounds like the fuel pump might have gone out. Gave me a work around to try (it failed), so I'm putting in some extra time tonight until Paul can come with the trailer and save me. (the :Bawling: of this is I just filled my tank last night AND it's 60 miles one way to where I work.)


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

So much distress this afternoon and evening. Hugs all the way around. 

I have been such a good girl and got so much done today. As I wrote earlier I got fencing done by 9:30 this morning only to go out and find the one remaining horse and one of the other bad boys come running into home plate then one of the other ones who was out was now in  So that means I didn't find the hole. Now at least I have a better idea of where it may be. That will be done tomorrow.

I finished the mowing, yea!!!! Then I took the mower into town cause it still was running rough. They said the carborator (sp) diaphragm needed replacing and a few other things. I laughed and said that it was 1 year old today so it is covered under. So I'm pretty tickled, I told them than since I had finished my mowing they could keep it about a week if they needed to. So I'm feeling rather smug right now.

Morrisoncorner your weather sounds a lot like ours. We finally have more normal temps the last few days. I'm going to check out your lambs.

Cyndi good luck with your car. It just sucks when your car dies and your not ready for it.

Flannelberry please post pictures of the lace. I'm really tempted to try lace but I'm really hesitant since I know I will lose track of what I'm doing and just give up. I've tried it before and this is what always happens with me and then I can't figure out where I left off or how to fix it, what a mess. Maybe one day.

Liese I'm spinning up some yarn, plying it now and I can't say I get those valleys. I do move the yarn to a different hook fairly often. I'll start paying attention to what I do and see if I can pass it on to you.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Thanks everyone for your good words and thoughts. 

Bob, as soon as he got home from work, jumped into some farm clothes and walked the line with survey (1995) and compass in hand seems that most those ties are okay if our compass isn't too off. Al told him that they are select cutting ... yeah right with big machinery? Well I can't do anything about the death, destruction and degradation on his property. I just want to protect our line and what trees I can. I try to console myself by realizing that he'll never be able to wreck such destruction again in our life times and he'll have no complaints when we lay a fence along that boundary. I do worry about the predation pressures we'll soon feel as that habitat is destroyed. Having a live and let live philosophy has worked because of habitat that extended well out from our own property lines. Soon that will be gone.

Cyndi, I sure hope that it's as simple as a fuel pump - you'll be up and running in no time but I'm sorry for all the trouble.

Susan, I'll be looking forward to any pointers you notice as you work along. Meantime I have tried to move my yarn forward.

On a fibery note we did get Lashes sheared tonight -man those Premier 4000's and new cutters and combs from Jay Ward just made such quick work out of the whole thing. That and Lashes stood so still - she truly is Queenly. I even did her neck so that she'll have less to catch in the wild blackberry. Now we need to address Llew some time this week. That'll be a llama wrestle.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Paul came and rescued me last night. I went to start up the van to show him what it was doing and it stayed running .... So we didn't have to trailer it home, but I did take it and left it at the mechanics. The fuel pump isn't an inline but inside the gas tank, so it's not a simple fix.

Thankfully, I can do my work from home. So today, inbetween working, the laundry is getting done.

Got home last night and was surprised that the WooLee Winder for the Sonata I ordered last week had arrived. I was too pooped to mess with it last night, but I sure will today!

Liese, I hated seeing what loggers would do when the 'select cut' the woods. When I lived there (coastal - between Williamston and Washington), our neighbor had a guy come in and select cut with big machinery. The trashed the place to get the good wood. It was in such bad shape, the neighbor had to nearly clear cut it to get it back in shape. He was p.o.'d


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Yesterday afternoon the boys drove me up to KCK to pick up some wool dyes. A guy was selling about 4# total of several colors of PROChemical dyes for $25. He also put in a few other goodies at the last minute including some amon. sulfate (I'm allergic to sulphurs but think I can use it for mordant if outside and protected by thick gloves, etc.). I've never used chemical dyes so this is a relatively inexpensive experiment. 

When I got there he had pulled out a pile of fibers for my further consideration: half pound pkgs of flax strick, tussah, tussah noils, approx. 1/3# camel, and a strong pound of other silk. (Flwrbrd, I almost sent you the camel but was selfish in the end because I have never even _seen_ it, let alone spun any!) Got all the fibers for an additional $50.


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

Falcondance, I'm jealous. I NEVER run into fiber deals of that sort. NEVER! Raw wool, yes. Exotic fibers that I can examine first? No way!

Liese, how did the wrestling match with Llew go this evening? Or did you decide to give him another day to rest up for it?

And! we got the last shelf unit up in the wool room today, so 'all' I have to do now is sort the rest of the room out! Yay!!!

Meg


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## MorrisonCorner (Jul 27, 2004)

We're looking at having the woods next to us cut this year too... I can't say I'm looking forward to it. On the other hand, the company will take out the "big wood" and leave mounds and mounds of "little wood" on the ground and free for the taking. They won't mess with anything under 6-8" in diameter, which is perfect firewood for us. Be a bit of work to get it out, but probably worth it. And in the end we'll have a bunch of friends up there all scouring out the firewood down to 3" diameter. The woods will clean up quickly that way, and everyone gets "free" fuel for the winter (excusing the cost of running chainsaws and trucking the stuff out).

I need to get motivated to finish a sweater I've been picking on for 2 years now. Say something motivating! Telling myself I can't start anything else until I've finished this doesn't seem to be having the desired effect!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

After much coxing I finally got my newer pictures up on my Flickr account. Here is the link to my site there. Feel fre to look around. There are some picures of my place coming into bloom, my son's graduation, some dyeing I did yesterday, the Cobblestone sweater progress and some of my chickens.

http://flickr.com/photos/marchie/


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Got two Icelandic fleeces from Flannelberry today. Haven't completely unpacked them yet but at first glance, they're gorgeous!

Phillip looked at the box under my arm and said, "wool". His friend asked him how he could tell since it wasn't even opened and didn't smell sheepy. He said, "See how that box is bulging? Wool does that - wants to be free. Better open it up before it explodes lanolin eveywhere!" Then he chuckled and told me to have fun.

Gotta love the man!


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

FalconDance said:


> Got two Icelandic fleeces from Flannelberry today. Haven't completely unpacked them yet but at first glance, they're gorgeous!
> 
> Phillip looked at the box under my arm and said, "wool". His friend asked him how he could tell since it wasn't even opened and didn't smell sheepy. He said, "See how that box is bulging? Wool does that - wants to be free. Better open it up before it explodes lanolin eveywhere!" Then he chuckled and told me to have fun.
> 
> Gotta love the man!


That's too funny! When my box from Cloverbud came yesterday, Chris brought it to me and said, 'this looks like wool.' I didn't ask him how he knew. I'll have to do that; I wonder if the answer will be similar?

Meg


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## flannelberry (Jul 14, 2005)

I'm so glad they've arrived. I have been wondering when they'd get there.

Jason was amazed that we got that many pounds of fleece in that size of a box.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

"Better open it up before it explodes lanolin everywhere" That is a great line!

Yesterday I was called to do some shearing - it's only in the 90's! Guess the flock owner decided it was hot enough! Of course when I found out that she hadn't had them unzipped I dropped everything. Boy, March shearing is sooo much nicer and a good helper - Bob wasn't there to help me. It was hard - everything so slick from the lanolin flowing.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Liese said:


> Of course when I found out that she hadn't had them unzipped I dropped everything.


What does "had them unzipped" mean, Liese?


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

flannelberry said:


> I'm so glad they've arrived. I have been wondering when they'd get there.
> 
> Jason was amazed that we got that many pounds of fleece in that size of a box.


....and if you'd send me a name other than "flannelberry", I bet the postman would appreciate it when I send the payment .

Tell Jason wool is the original memory fiber - you can compress it even further although you did a superb job at stuffing! I began to cut the tape, and it started trying to spring out any available spot. Imagine what would have happened if you hadn't bagged it first!


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## flannelberry (Jul 14, 2005)

Right - I doubt the credit union's going to like a cheque in the name of Flannelberry -lol!


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

lol, Unzipped is my jargon for sheared.


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Liese said:


> lol, Unzipped is my jargon for sheared.


Was picturing sheep standing upright with their front legs crossed in front of them in a posture of modesty.


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## thatcompchick (Dec 29, 2004)

AHHHHH I need a graphic that has this - anyone???

Andrea


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Two days ago I had reached the depths of despair and depression, believing the Iowa house was going to escape us and we'd be renters somewhere and not be able to plant fruit trees next Spring. I just cried my eyes out. I lost faith that the house had a magic address and was meant for us. I had created a Etsy storefront with the town's name in it, for gosh sakes! I started a spinning/knitting blog with the area name in it. All was wasted effort! All a bunch of trash. I'd be living in some crappy rental.

Well, as of yesterday late afternoon, things changed. We will now be proud owners of a house that needs a complete interior remodel, but has good "bones". 









And it has a nice Morton building with it, over 5,000 sq ft. Once it's surveyed we'll know how much land we have, but it will be at least 3 acres, and hopefully 5.









And since I can't put more images in one post, I'll have to post smilies and a couple of views in another post later.

I have wool news, too. I'm going to be importing some incredible Leicester colored fleece/s from NSW, Australia in late August, or September. I'll have samples very shortly. The Delco Stud is a *very* famous breeder of champion animals. If I can do this for a reasonable price I'm going to offer some fleece for sale, and if you've never seen fleece from Ozland, you haven't seen fleece! it's to die for. I'm looking into this because I've realized spinners' choices in wool types and origination places has decreased in the last 20 yrs. We're missing out on some spectacular stuff. I can also get roving in 4 natural shades from the Delco Stud, if people would rather have that. It's all going to depend on shipping rates. I may have to ship by mail boat.


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

:bouncy: The place is gorgeous! _*sighs with envy but in a happy way*_


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Congratulations Lezlie! When do you close on it or have you already?


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## flannelberry (Jul 14, 2005)

What a great place. Have lots of fun!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Yay!!! Congrats Lezlie!!


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

We will not be taking possession until the 2nd of August or so. All I know is that is the date we arrive with the cat after the fastest 2,000 mile trip we've ever done (trying to spare our almost-feral girl trauma).

We take our next load of stuff in early July. I'm going to dig up all my irises and bring them with me. 

I decided today to dye the rest of the luster wool a lavender color, using the cornflower blue with some raspberry dye. The Gaywool dyes are intermiscable. I'm going to use purple and aqua sari silk in it, and the white ice glitz and the white angora and lavender nylon. That way it will be usable and coordinate with the cornflower blue yarn. Now I just have to get my work done today so I can play with that.

Thank you to you all for your good wishes and thoughts.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Oh, Lezlie what happy, happy news! 

Need overdyeing advice please; washed an armload of dark chocolate brown corrie with bleached tips now what acid dye colour do you think would really make a dent in this? I tried overdyeing in the kettle with some dark Jacob and saw no effect so maybe technique help would help too. I've got quite a few purple hues already so would like to branch out into other colours. Am using Washfast Acid dyes and have both cool and warm primaries.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

FalconDance said:


> Was picturing sheep standing upright with their front legs crossed in front of them in a posture of modesty.





thatcompchick said:


> AHHHHH I need a graphic that has this - anyone???
> 
> Andrea


:rotfl:


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## thatcompchick (Dec 29, 2004)

you think i'm joking?????

what else would i put on my 'nekke sheep' yarn line????

;0p


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## thatcompchick (Dec 29, 2004)

Check out the Morton building!!! yay! Fiber Studio for Leslie ;-) House looks like it has a lot of character (ie potential)

Andrea


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## MOgal (Jul 27, 2002)

Great looking place, Lezlie. 

About your fruit trees. I have had better luck planting them in the fall, just as they are going dormant than I have in the spring. They will continue to grow their new roots until the ground freezes and then they will start growing again in the spring before the leaves start to bud out. I'm sure there are sources on line that would ship in the fall. When we put ours in, I selected some varieties that held well in storage (is there a spot on your place to put in a root cellar or does the basement lend itself to such a use?) and that needed little if any spraying for diseases. I know this is a FIBER site but I couldn't resist putting in my horticultural 2 cents. 

I'm very proud for you.

Put in an extra 8 1/2 hrs OT this week but at least the project is supposed to be completed by June 18 and I can start living a normal life again.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

thatcompchick said:


> you think i'm joking?????
> 
> what else would i put on my 'nekke sheep' yarn line????
> 
> ;0p


LOL, Stop it already, you're killing me! (is said in a good Bronx drawl)


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## thatcompchick (Dec 29, 2004)

Liese said:


> LOL, Stop it already, you're killing me! (is said in a good Bronx drawl)


Hmmm how about 'tushie toostles' or 'bare baas'
(in a NJ accent in rebuttal)

I visited a new fiber shop today so I'm in goofy wool wonderland right now

Andrea


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Liese,

I've overdyed dark gray wool with lavender, and I've worked with black wool that had brown tips. I've overdyed with blue on black and red on black. The red tends to make the black look browner, the blue makes it look blacker. Maybe if you ovedyed with red on your chocolate wool it would look interesting. Choc wool with red tips. The worn tips always dye darker for me than the rest of the lock. Red and brown are harmonious colors, together. It would give you something different. You could try just a little bit first.

Mogal, the nurseries I'm using for my heirloom trees are all West Coast and only ship in the Spring that I know of. We only plant heirlooms. We will be too busy getting heatable workspace ready for winter in the Morton building to do much Fall work outside. We have some hydraulic equipment that has to run at above 65 degrees. 

I told Stan about the idea of a fiber shop in the Morton building and he told me I could go live out there too, if I was going to stuff it full of wool! 

The house has been vacant and needs work before winter. Like, they removed all the asbestos that was on the heating ducts, but they didn't recover the joints so wherever there is a bend, there are openings that have to be sealed. 

The basement is perfect for root cellering. It has 18 inch thick stone walls. It's a typical 1900 farmhouse, but nicely framed. The floors are over 2inches thick! It was built back when lumber was full dimensioned, and a 2x8 was really 2x8. We figure it will take us 5 yrs to remodel it ourselves, and we have experience. Our biggest concern now is getting an economical alternate source for heat because of the price of propane. It looks like even wood pellets have gone way up. And a cornstove isn't all that practical right now with corn prices way up.

I have to do some work today, but I'm going to do my dyeing, too. I'm going to look thru my Spin off magazine today, it just came yesterday.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

thatcompchick said:


> Hmmm how about 'tushie toostles' or 'bare baas'
> (in a NJ accent in rebuttal)
> 
> I visited a new fiber shop today so I'm in goofy wool wonderland right now
> ...


Yous too funny! (all Philly here)


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Hey Lezlie, I like your red idea! Gonna try it out tomorrow. Should have pics in a couple days for critiquing.


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## MOgal (Jul 27, 2002)

Lezlie, I would recommend the nursery I used but they unfortunately, went out of business a few years ago. Mine are also old varieties. That basement sounds wonderful for a root cellar. Great place!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Lezlie I have (can get) some info on a really good stove. One of my coworkers put one of there in their house this winter. I don't remember the name but I'll get it when I'm back at work Thursday. His father-in-law has one so they got one. They are so happy with it they are getting another one this winter. I'll try to get a website and all the specs for you. I can email him too and maybe get it sooner.

I need to do something this winter too. Propane is way too expensive and I don't have an alternative. I can't afford one of those stoves or I would get one. 

I know Annie (our very own Annie) has a corn stove maybe she will pop in and tell about hers.


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## therealshari (Jul 10, 2007)

I'm back for another go at things.

We've been really busy over the past several months. Between the little farm, and all our animals, there's the remodeling and even some part-time work.

We're shearing our small flock this week. Of course that will happen during a "red flag for high winds and low humidity". I just hope the wind holds off for a few hours. We're trailering the whole flock to a neighbor's place so the shearer only has to set up once. I'm sure it will be quite a circus as the lambs aren't yet weaned, and they'll go with the mama's. 

The hens are molting, so the egg production is a little lower than it has been all winter and spring. Still, we get more than we can eat, and have plenty to sell. Now if we could get Mom to raise her prices... $1.75 a doz is a steal!

Got the greenhouse going again, and this year, we'll actually have a little to eat out of it. That's a huge improvement over last year, when we couldn't keep things growing on account of not knowing what we were doing.

We've started the remodel of the basement, adding a full walk-in pantry, office, family room and my bedroom, as well as enclosed storage for all our extra "stuff". As we can afford it, we buy $100 worth of 2x4's and plywood, bring it home, and do some framing and shelf building. Around here, we're expected to have enough food for at least three months. 

Judging by what's already on the shelves, we're close. This weekend, we're adding a freezer in the garage. That will buck up the storage and make it possible to buy 1/4 beef from the neighbor.

If things go our way, we'll all be working through the winter as there's a food service contract we'd love to have. I've been writing the business plan, doing the recipes, the menus and all the costing. It could become available sooner rather than later in December when it actually expires. 

I'll be getting the fleeces from our flock as well as our neighbor's flock and will get them skirted, then available for sale within the next few weeks.


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## Cloverbud (Sep 4, 2006)

I decided to spoil myself a little for my birthday. I ordered 'Color In Spinning' and 'In Sheep's Clothing' from Amazon yesterday. I can't wait till they come! Cyndi has taped in samples of real fleece for each of the breeds listed as she spins/comes across them. I'm going to do the same thing.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I'll gladly give samples for your book from what I have.


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## short farmer (Oct 16, 2006)

Haven't chatted for awhile but feel fibery all over.:happy: Helped some really good friends shear about 400 head of sheep yesterday. It is a very stinky, sweaty, tiring job but I had a blast. I am the offical pusher, keeping the ramp into the shearing wagon loaded. We had 4 shearers and they are amazing one of them averaged a fully sheared sheep in 2 minutes and I was impressed but how gentle they were with them and vey little blood. Course my pay was the pick of all the fleeces I got 6 two of them being lamb but someone told me lamb wool is great for socks, we will see. The shearers were telling us durng a break that about 60% of small flock owners just throw there wool away what is the deal, and it is not just junk wool there were churros, shetlands, icelandics, and angora goats. All the black wool is disposed of almost. Any way been spinning away lately, just building up a good supply so that I can get to making rugs on the loom that I have never used and have had for several years. a lady that I work with gave me a portable Leclerc that she had in her garage and was thing about throwing away. What is the world coming to? (don't answer that) The weather here in Ore is weird, not much rain, not much sun. Take care all and happy fibering.


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

I know the woolen mills don't take anything except white wool so colored tends to get thrown away. And most sheep people don't seem to 1) know there are those of us who will gladly take/buy their wool or 2) want to bother with marketing (even though the web makes it _so_ easy these days!).

Phillip told me there's a flock of sheep not too far away from here that he noticed the other day - and he's pretty sure they're wool sheep, not meat. Told him I need to go investigate the matter because if it's a wool breed, then why haven't I heard of wool being available for sale? Enough people know the weird lady in town spins (that would be me), surely _someone_ wouldn't mentioned it.

Beginning to wonder if I shouldn't just start a wool distribution hub of some sorts - my local Ramb source has dried up, but I bet there are others lurking about needing an outlet for their wool besides the local dump!


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

For about 5 minutes I contemplated starting up a cottage mill after reading about Stonehenge and their line of equipment. *But* they estimate $100k for start up. Even if I could do that by half .... I think the real question is who would I turn the business over to? I'd need a partner, someone younger, willing to relocate. This is such a tease for me because we actually have a building that could be retrofitted. Oh, well - another dream bubble goes POP!


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

I thought about it, too, but the start up costs are prohibitive! Too bad, because I also have a good building for it.

The problem is...we all need to be closer together so we can partner these things!!


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

Well, I started this short summer session on Wednesday. Mostly I'm pleased with the caliber of student who is willing to take General Biology in 12 teaching days. (yep, you read that right.) Eat, sleep and breathe it and get it over with in short order. Perfect for non-majors that know how to focus.

I told them yesterday that during a normal semester I give weekly quizzes on terminology to reinforce...as well as give them extra grades to average in. I explained that the equivalent for this course would be daily quizzes, and let them vote on it. They voted unanimously to have the daily quizzes.

Then I had two students who didn't come yesterday show up today. They were horrified to find that they had a quiz today and a major exam Friday (the 13th!). Personally, I'm amazed that a student would take a 12 day short course, miss the first day (three hours!) and expect that nothing had happened that day. An email to the professor would have been in order, I would think, especially since one of them is a teacher!!!

So, I came here to grump. Grump, grump, grump. Sigh....
Okay, it's out of my system now. Thanks, gals!

Oh, yeah...I've been moving into my new private office (yay!!!), and the new department chair poked his head in. He looked around, commented that it looked kinda bare, and started to leave. Then he came back, grinned, and said, "Don't let me find a spinning wheel in here, though! It's not That bare!" Mind reader! :bash:

Meg


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## Cloverbud (Sep 4, 2006)

Meg, he said nothing about a basket of wool and drop spindles! (no, trouble is *not* my middle name--it's my first. )

Congrats on the new office!

I would think that cramming 16 weeks of information into 12 days would be rather hard on the instructor as well. Does your voice give out after 3 hours of lecture?


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

Cloverbud said:


> Meg, he said nothing about a basket of wool and drop spindles! (no, trouble is *not* my middle name--it's my first. )
> 
> Congrats on the new office!
> 
> I would think that cramming 16 weeks of information into 12 days would be rather hard on the instructor as well. Does your voice give out after 3 hours of lecture?


Well, Ms Trouble, great minds think alike!! I already have a basket picked out! 

I do take a break in the middle of those three hours, which helps. And I keep a drink handy. And I actually let them talk some too. 

Meg


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## Cloverbud (Sep 4, 2006)

One of the young gentlemen in our 4-H club was showing me his new flock of shetlands today. Cute little things! They're smaller than the Australian Shepherds his mother breeds. Hmmm, I bet I could buy a bit of his fleeces at shearing time. Especially if I spun & made something for him.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Meg summer classes were always some of my favorites. For what ever reason I always aced my summer classes. I think my most challenging was the World Regional Geography in 2 weeks :baby04: or 10 days. You have to laugh at those students who fall asleep in those classes or skip a day and then panic.

Congrats on the new office. Sounds like your boss knows you well.

Clover maybe you could smuggle on of those little sheep. Teach him about hand spinners needs and how to shear them properly and you will have a great supply of wool.


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## therealshari (Jul 10, 2007)

We got our flock sheared Tuesday, and I also got all the fleeces from the neighbor's flock. I'm now beginning to skirt and will have pictures up as I go.

I can tell already that our fleeces are much cleaner this year than last. The shearer was quite impressed with the improvement and commented several times on our quality. While we do have a lot of sand, there's minimal VM in our sheep. 

Now, the neighbor's sheep, I'll have to check more closely, but from what I saw and felt, they were relatively clean. 

I'll have Black Merino x Suffolk, PolyPay, PolyPay x Merino, and one Jacob fleece. Quite a few are shades of gray to black, one is more chocolate, and the rest are white with the Jacob being spotted. 

I'll be skirting one fleece per day at least, and should be finished by the second week of July. PM me if you'd like a 4 ounce sample of any particular fleece.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Meg Z said:


> Well, Ms Trouble, great minds think alike!! I already have a basket picked out!
> 
> I do take a break in the middle of those three hours, which helps. And I keep a drink handy. And I actually let them talk some too.
> 
> Meg


Don't forget horehound candy - that works well too.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Well, I'm on this Yahoo raw fleece sale list, and just up the coast 3.5 hrs from me is a lady with clean coastal Romney fleeces. White. She sent me samples and I washed them up. They come out brilliant white. No VM at all, they are just plain dirty with dirt. So I'm taking all 4 fleeces for $80. She says it's over 30 lbs of wool. I can't card this long wool on my drum carder, so will have to send it out for processing once we get moved. Her and I gabbed about dying and wool, and I was bummed to learn she and her friends are holding a natural dye class today that I'm missing. Indigo and cochineal among other things. I wish I had known and had better contacts with all the spinners on the North Coast. 

Yesterday was a real busy day for me, and I caught myself panicking that I have so much wool to spin and so many yarn plans, and that I had to get it all done, when I realized no, you have all summer to play with washing wool and spinning. I have all next year to play with my growing stash. Patience!

Next Thursday we drive up to get the fleeces and from there go on up to Salem, OR to visit my Aunt before we move. Just a quick trip. 

I have spun up one ounce of the soysilk/cashmere pencil roving I got, and it is quite a change going from longwool to short fibers, and this is short fibers! It made smooth drafting a real challenge. One more ounce of it to go so I can ply it.

Hope everyone has a fibery day today!


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## Katherine in KY (May 11, 2002)

Lezlie, I hope your new home is far from all the flooding in Iowa. What a mess there and in Wisconsin! Is everyone on this list high and dry? 

I'm home from my parents' at last. The garden is a jungle, but I'm amazed that the tomatoes already are setting fruit. It seems like I just planted them. I still have lots of squash and melons seedlings to set out but am waiting for cooler weather this coming week. It's just too steamy today. I got home and found Liese's swap package--wonderful white llama  I want to blend it with something but have to decide what. There are so many fibery things I want to do and so many other things I have to do--such a pain!


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Well, today was not only Father's Day, it happens also to be our anniversary..... and I spent nearly the whole day on the road .

First son and I delivered my goat to KS (nearly a 3 hr drive because we had to detour further south due to roads being underwater). Then we drove back up north past home to Grandview to pick up my (literally) new grain mill. Husband had gone to friends' house visiting, and he and I ended up eating supper there which was nice. Now I'm catching up on online stuff before I go to bed. 

*sigh* It's been such a long darned day.

BUT the guy who bought Widget just _happens_ to raise Angoras (or his friend does now, actually, I think) and now knows I'm a handspinner. Since one of his short-term plans is to bring in colored Angora, I told him to definitely keep me in mind at shearing time.


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## betty modin (May 15, 2002)

You all are so busy! It was good to see that most of you are doing well in spite of the weather (coast to coast). We've had chilly weather-snow on the passes on Wednesday- and expect more rain this coming weekend. Since the west doesn't typically get rain after mid June, it looks to be an unusual year. The ski resort thirty minutes (and 3000 ft higher) was open this weekend! 

We've a late spring. It's been chilly enough that not even the lettuce, chard and spinach will sprout. My tomatoes are looking yellow and brown from cold... all that's come up is cabbage and sunflowers-and that was the third planting of each. It's better than storms and floods or forest fires, but plays havoc on psyche. I'm so glad it's been sunny the past three days.

School is out for the summer-and I hope to have a few days to myself sometimes before the end of June. I need to spend time with this year's fleeces-reskirt, wash, sort and store them properly-and I want to finish the spinning for the last part of the hooded sweater I've been working on for so long. I might have enough yarn to finish the sweater and make some fingerless mitts to go with it. I've found a lacey pattern I want to try to adapt to a pattern I already know by heart-should be interesting.

I have a full schedule coming up this summer. My family-parents and siblings-will be here for probably my parent's last visit. Dad will start dialysis soon and Mom's medical condition makes it hard for her to drive very far. They're all coming to help me replace the back deck and clean the barn. My mom LOVES to clean the barn! She's a farm girl from birth... 

I'm doing visits with the next foster child over the next few weeks. He's a very active (and incontinent) eight year old with a short attention span-such a sweetie and all the animals love him. He ll move in after my trip to Madison in mid July for a wedding. That should keep me busy for awhile. The planned stay is six months, but lately the powers that be seem to have realized that these children need longer stays in treatment foster care homes- some of the homes have had young children for over a year- so who knows how long he'll be here before the decision is made that he's ready for a 'forever' home. We took a hike, played horseshoes, had a wheel barrow ride, played with a remote controlled monster truck, and drew three pictures all before my shower so we could go to church this morning! He has lots of ideas and goes through them all in five to ten minutes bursts of energy. I should lose those extra ten pounds this summer! In spite of all the energy he still gets the sheep to eat from his hands-he can stand so patiently and wait for them to come to him. None of the other children could do that.

Take care of yourselves, I'll check in when I can. betty


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Betty! Big hugs to you. I was getting ready to email you to make sure you weren't having problems again. I'm so happy to see you post. 

Your spring sounds about like ours. We have had rain and storms for the past two weeks. I can't get out to do anything, my weeds and grass are almost knee deep, the garden is doing alright, the peas and rhubarb are anyway, but the weeds need to be dealt with. I haven't even thought about tomatoes yet. We had a few days of 70 degree weather but that seems like months ago. I think our drought is officially over for now. Most of the lakes and rivers look like they are up to normal levels. I'm worried about my fruit trees, I'm not sure the bees, if there were any, were about to get them pollinated. I suppose I will know soon enough.

You sound like you have a busy summer ahead of you. Here's hoping that the weather improves for all of us.

My son will be leaving again to go to his dad's for the remainder of the summer. I swear when children are around I never get anything done. Even as grown children they are like tornadoes creating mess where ever they go. It seems I'm left in the wake. Trying to get people to see things for what they are is a difficult thing I have discovered.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Wow have I been busy! I feel like I have just come off another planet. I took Saturday and Sunday off from work so I could help out at a Game Fair and Pet Expo that was held at the fairgrounds. I was helping to man the Collie booth and took one of my collies for the meet the breed session. Mostly I was helping man the booth for Mason the retired movie star dog. Mason played Lassie in the most recent Lassie movie that was released in this country in '06. If you haven't seen the movie and if you like that sort of movie I recommend it. Mason lives here and his owner is a friend of mine so we sat all day with Mason on display. He does a few tricks but mostly people just wanted to pat him and have their picture taken with him. He really is a special dog, very sweet. There was a ton of other things to do with animals there, mostly dogs but it was fun. Our county Sheriff's dept. did a demo of the K-9 unit, boy was that interesting. There was also a really fun thing called Dock Dogs. Basically dogs would run and jump off a dock into a huge pool of water, what fun! It was a competition for distance and height, the dogs obviously loved every minute of it. ON the second day, I didn't take any dogs but I did take a bag of Collie fluff and a drop spindle to spin up some yarn for show and tell.

My oldest son and his girlfriend came up for a few days so I've been busy with them. My son got both of my computer working for me too :rock: We ended up wiping them both and installing Ubuntu (Linux) on both of them. I was having some real problems with my computers. Everyone is leaving this morning including my youngest son. We are about to go to breakfast before they leave.

I've been doing quite a bit of spinning. Working on my fine spinning. I can get it pretty thin but not thin enough for sock wool I don't think. I need to check my wpi.

Well I need to head out to eat.


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## thatcompchick (Dec 29, 2004)

Wow you have been busy!

I start Farmer's Market this Thu - I'm SO STRESSED. I have tons of yarn available, and will be spinning AT the market, but my chickens have taken a break this past week, so my egg #'s are down - so I'm showing up with lots of fluff, a bit of lamb, and hardly no eggs past my restaurant delivery 

I'll take some pics - I had my yarn hangers made by a local smithy - who does Ren fairs - I love them!!!! He did them in Stainless Steel - his wife is a fiberholic too so she instructed him on the special things (smooth, stainless steel, no hooks here, there, etc)

Lots of the DC crowd are on vacation and will be in this week, so hopefully <fingers crossed> I can at least sell enough to cover my tent ;-p

Andrea
www.arare-breed.net


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Good Luck Andrea -I hope it's a smashing success! Pics of those hangers would be quite interesting; SS is hard to work is my understanding.


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## MOgal (Jul 27, 2002)

My last day at work was Friday and I'm so glad to be home for a few months. I'm so far behind on everything, particularly the garden and fruit trees that if we have an early frost, I probably won't have much to can or freeze this year. This season has provided plenty of rain and I'm hopeful that will continue once I get my seedlings set out and more seeds planted. Then I can concentrate on house and FIBER!!!


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

MOgal said:


> My last day at work was Friday and I'm so glad to be home for a few months. I'm so far behind on everything, particularly the garden and fruit trees that if we have an early frost, I probably won't have much to can or freeze this year. This season has provided plenty of rain and I'm hopeful that will continue once I get my seedlings set out and more seeds planted. Then I can concentrate on house and FIBER!!!


LOL...and I'm looking forward to giving final exams on Thursday...and having the rest of the summer to do fiber! Woohoo! Well, and canning, too. But I cna do some fiber while things simmer and not burn anything. If I set the timer.........

I already had to label strawberry jam as Strawberry Caramel Jam. Wanna guess what I was doing? :frypan::bash::help:

My other four fleeces I bought will be getting shipped in the next couple of days. 2 more White Romneys, one white Romney lamb, and one white Chevoit. I need more white sheep in my flock, but i don't have the room/land to keep a bit flock. Nor the energy. Here we were working toward sizing DOWN the flock, and now I have a good upsurge in business! <sigh> Decisions, decisions!

Meg


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Meg, how did you get 3 smilies to post? Congratulations for finding a way around the system.

Mogal congratulations on the ending of your job. I know it is a huge relief for you. Here's to hoping you can get all the things done that you need to.

Andrea, Good luck on the farmer's market! Sounds like you are ready for the big time, with the exception of the chickens not cooperating. Can't wait to see pictures.


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

Marchwind said:


> Meg, how did you get 3 smilies to post? Congratulations for finding a way around the system.


Meg is magic. :wizard:

Meg is wise. :nerd:

Meg knows things.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Will the all powerful and wise Meg :gossip: share :bow: Or have they lifted the ban entirely :shrug: We'll give it a try and see.


ETA


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Let's see Meg is has broken the smiley spell and Susan is friends with a famous dog, Andrea is making tons of money at her market, everyone else is getting lots of things done and Liese is trying to decide what to do with a potful of cherry pink wool - a little too much Magenta!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Blend it with some nice silver or gray wool in a 3-1 ratio (gray to pink) It will be muted and beautiful when spun up.


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

Marchwind said:


> Will the all powerful and wise Meg :gossip: share :bow: Or have they lifted the ban entirely :shrug: We'll give it a try and see.
> 
> 
> ETA


I see you are also magic and wise. :clap: :bow: :gromit: :buds:

They trained us, then turned off the electric fence. We've been staying inside plain wire for some time now. 

There's an 8 smilie limit, in case anyone wants to know. 

Meg


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Thanks for the inside poop Miss Meg! Hmmm, me wonders if they also changed the number of photos we can post too?


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Let's see. The only thing I've done recently that was vaguely fiber related was ..... inquired on a few fleece spoken for this spring (they're still waiting for the shearer to show), sent my addy for another one, piped in hopefully for another on the sheep board, and watched the video Liese linked us to (it was Liese, wasn't it? If not, apologies all around.) so I now know exactly how to use the Balkan spindle - which had always puzzled me since I'd never seen one in action but wondered.

Oh, and formally designated our canvas tent as the wool drying 'shed' since the weather has been so drizzly and breezy at the drop of a pin. Not that any wool has actually been drying in it, mind you, but it has been so designated!

I's in a spin rut, ladies. Spinning my wheels but they're the wrong ones! :stars:


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Marchwind said:


> Blend it with some nice silver or gray wool in a 3-1 ratio (gray to pink) It will be muted and beautiful when spun up.


A lovely suggestion! thanks

Meg, you're fence analogy really cracked me up! 

Driving 80 miles round trip to pick up hay without a radio in the truck allows for many musings. This morning I was thinking about that Serbian video - firstly, we can peek into their lives via a technology they obviously don't have anything like; secondly all the people were pretty old - no young persons. So I'm thinking that all the older people of the village stay put whilst the younger go off to find work. I also wondered if I would be capable of living like they do - it's almost monastic in a way. Wouldn't it be wonderful to recreate something similar tho here in the States? Let's see there's a nice area up at the top of the middle pasture with a log barn needing restoring and we do have a large creek at the bottom of the property ... it's easy going down and good exercise coming up. Have an idea spouses might object to joining a fibery commune , lol.


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Just got a wonderful first-thing-in-the-morning surprise in my pm box . yarrow wrote to say she sent me a bee-U-tee-ful fleece and it should be here Mon or Tues! I believe it's this lovely lady's coat (Chamomile's) http://www.agesagoacresnubians.com/theothers.htm. And all because months ago I piped in on a conversation in the Sheep forum (or maybe it was originally the Goat forum .... it all blends together these days .)

My 'wool drying shed' (the tent) blew down overnight in a rather abrupt thunderstorm. Phillip had loosed its guidelines when he mowed and forgot to re-do them so it had nothing to counter-balance against the wind gusts. Now it's all soaked again . *sigh* Luckily, I hadn't any wool in it drying although I'd planned that for today and tomorrow since the weather reports the next chance of rain at the end of next week. Heavens only knows there's plenty of wool washing to be done. I'm soooooo far behind!

You know, I got to thinking: it's a good thing gas is so high and that cats don't really travel well. Otherwise, I'd be spending an awful lot of time travelling to visit with some of you gals .......... There's several gals in southern MO then to swing up into Illinois and onward to NC to double back around the WI line or so ..........


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

FalconDance said:


> You know, I got to thinking: it's a good thing gas is so high and that cats don't really travel well. Otherwise, I'd be spending an awful lot of time travelling to visit with some of you gals .......... There's several gals in southern MO then to swing up into Illinois and onward to NC to double back around the WI line or so ..........


While I'm sorry about your wool drying house, this is the part I must comment on.

If you're making the trip out this way, I'll chip in on the gas! 

The cats are welcome, too. Murphy likes cats. die:

Meg


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Silly woman!

Hmmm, if I go interstates the whole way, it takes me some wonky tour and brings me up thru SC to you. If I "avoid highways", it looks a lot more direct (well, as direct as you get going halfway cross country) but adds some seven hours to the trip even though it cuts 30 miles.

Of course, the avoid highways options makes me swing down to Springfield and across which is awfully close to donsgal and yarrow and .........


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Hi Everybody,

We've been away for a few days and I was offline. Nice to be back.

We are in the middle of all the wildfires going on in NorCal here, since the lightning storm started over 400 of them a week ago. Just realize we haven't had any rain since February and we are as dry as tinder. The forest is burning up. The air here has so much particulate matter in it, our pollution levels are off the charts. It makes Los Angeles look like nothing. The area official air pollution monitor got clogged from too much smoke on Thursday! 

Even over on the Coast, there are so many fires, the ocean air is smoggy, too, for miles out to sea. No relief anywhere, really. Yesterday the wind changed direction, and we came home from the Coast, to see how bad it still is. The air pollution is this layer to about 3,000 feet, I could see it in the sunset last night against the volcano (Mt Konocti) we live next to. It is less polluted than it was on Weds. Our 80-mile view over the lake was reduced to 200 yards, that's how bad it was. We could only see the house next door, nothing else. All my wool smells like woodsmoke now. In our area, it's chaparral that is burning, many square miles have been blackened so far. Our rural subdivision is surrounded by dense brush, so let's hope no fire starts near here. We are not defensible.

I am only spinning a little bit, as we pack up the house to move in two weeks, so I am winding down my life. I am packing a little bit each day, of stuff that isn't essential. Our farm tractor is on a trailer now and chained down, ready to go. The spinning wheels will get broken down into sections and boxed up. I still have to vacuum and seal all the bags of fleece and wool to make them as small and bug-proof as possible. So much to do, it seems. My nerves are a mess from worrying about the long trip ahead of us to Iowa again.

For those of you comfy at home, be glad you don't have to pick up and move, too. Or that you aren't on fire and can breathe. I'm going to spin up some Aussie Border Leicester wool today when I get a few moments. I didn't realize it was considered carpet wool. It's very nice to spin, and I'm making a bulky yarn with it, to keep it softer. I'm going to buy a shaded fleece from Australia and make it into a poncho. It is rough and rugged looking yarn. 

Spinning is a little relief from the stress. One nice thing I look forward to each afternoon is a little bit of evening spinning.

Have a nice day, everybody!


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## MOgal (Jul 27, 2002)

Good heavens, Lezlie! You are going from one extreme to the other with the drought in California and all the flooding in Iowa. I've been wondering if your new place were okay, high and dry. I can empathize with you on the move though. Our longest moves were 400 and 500 miles, relatively small compared to yours, and they seemed to be a logistical nightmare too. Since all the moves have been financed by the company that had hired DH, we got a commercial mover for our household goods, a rental truck driven by DH for the freezer and last minute things, someone to haul animals and I drove one of our vehicles. The other personal vehicle was in the new town where DH had been using it during the time I was selling the old place and he bought the new one. We hauled a tractor with us once too but our biggest thing has been our goats, sheep and dogs. Cats you can put into carrier and they do fine if they are cool but Great Pyrenees and German shepherds are another matter. When we moved from the Kansas City area to central Arkansas, the man we hired to haul our animals was eagerly awaiting having the last of my Angora bunnies in his huge stock trailer--he wanted to tell his buddies about the crazy people who hired him to move a rabbit. As it was, moving day was hotter than expected so Wooly Nelson rode in the air conditioned van with me. 

You are in my thoughts and prayers for no problems at all for this major logistical exercise.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Lezlie we shipped out 3 firefighters to Redding, Ca. the other day I am told there are several who are driving rigs out there because they need to trucks and the man power. We have also shipped a few off to Raleigh/Durham, NC. All the guys tell me this is a very early start to the fire season in Ca and it isn't looking good for the rest of the summer. I'm glad you will soon be out of there Lezlie, sending you calming thoughts.


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

I just received the prettiest, finest fleece from yarrow! Sometime today, I shall _have_ to get the camera out (yeah, I know, been promising you gals pics of various sorts for ages).


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

The July FAC is up. Please post there, here is the link http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?p=3171243#post3171243


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