breathe, breathe

So I decided to blend some fiber that came in a colored variegation that I wasn't in love with. I spent a couple of hours on Wednesday and only blended about 2 oz. That night my shoulder was SORE! Before bedtime, a migraine was setting in. Not that my Strauch Petite drumcarder is difficult to turn. It isn't. It's a lovely little carder and does its job well. It was just my TMJ protesting the repetitive motion.

I had an appointment for physiotherapy on Thursday. My wonderful physio, Rachel, listened to what I did to my shoulder (even though I had to explain what, exactly, a drumcarder is) and she immediately touched the sore muscle on my shoulder. I guess she knew my body well enough by now to know what was going on in my shoulder (which connects to my neck, which connects to my head, and so on, and so on). She worked out the kinks and the pain is gradually subsiding.

When I got home from physio, Dan (bless his heart!) said, "Well, we can afford an electric drumcarder better now while I'm still working than we will when I'm retired." So I ordered an electric Strauch Finest single-wide. It should be here in a couple of weeks or so.

Now I am alternating between joyous anticipation and moments of hyperventilation about the cost. Merry Christmas to me!

another gorgeous day

The beautiful weather continues. Yesterday was a record-breaker at 17 degrees C (63 degrees F)! Today was also lovely although not quite that warm. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

The shadows are long and the days are short but there was warmth in the sun. Robbie's markings blend right in to the patches of sunshine and shadow.

Bentley thinks nothing of climbing up onto the picnic table to survey the back yard.

Last night I washed and thwacked the very large skein of Sheltie/Targhee/Cormo/Angelina that I finished spinning. Here it is now that it's bloomed and dried.
It's 2 ply, 518 yds., and 223 g. Each of the singles filled a Majacraft bobbin and both plied together just managed to fit on a Roberta jumbo bobbin. That is a big bobbin! I'm so happy to have that electric Roberta for plying. It really saves my knees from a lot of pain.

I'm still here

We had summer weather in September, winter weather in October, and beautiful autumn weather so far in November. I've been trying to make the most of it by walking the dogs in the park and hanging out in the sunny sunroom until dark. Unfortunately dark happens too early (before 5 p.m.) in the day but it is November after all. I saw a mosquito in the back yard on November 10! Here in Saskatchewan on November 10! That is not a common occurence for sure. It wasn't a very frisky mosquito but it was very much alive and moving slowly.

I've been combing the Targhee fiber that I washed then blending it with sheltie fur and a bit of angelina for slight sparkle. The Targhee is wonderfully bouncy, soft fiber but it is full of vegetable matter. It's easier to comb out the bits of straw and burrs than to pick it. It's a lot of work but the result is so beautiful. Here is a batt fresh off the carder.

I found fishy buttons for the EZ Baby Surprise Sweater and it is being mailed to Manitoba for little Dawson to wear.

I have some new spindles I haven't posted yet. First up is a 1.6 oz. Tabachek top whorl Zebrawood spindle,

and a Tabachek Purpleheart Tibetan spindle and bowl.
Apparently Mr. Tabachek isn't taking new orders for his spindles. I think he may be permanently retired so I figured I'd better get some of his beautiful spindles while I still could.

During the intermediate spinning class at Golden Willow, I was introduced to spinning cotton. Here is my new Tahkli and bowl with the first bit of cotton spun on it.
I am not very good at spinning either of the support spindles yet but I'm working on it.

And I've been spinning away on this gorgeous silk blend. I'm spinning it very fine and there are 8 oz. of it so it's taking a long time but I'm enjoying it. The plan is to Navajo ply it to keep the colors clear.
Spinning laceweight gives you great bang for the buck.

football fever

Football fever has struck Saskatchewan even more than usual. As my sister Darcie blogged, most people around here are football fanatics. The Saskatchewan Roughriders have the most devoted fans in the CFL even when they lose but, when they win, there is little else on most people's minds. And they are winning. They won a game here tonight to clinch first place in the division and Regina will host the Western Final game in two weeks. The winner of that game goes to the Grey Cup, the Canadian version of the Super Bowl.

I am one of the lonely few people in this part of the world who could care less about football but I hear all about it as Dan watches it fervently. I can tell how the game is progressing even if I'm not in the same room as the TV by how loud Dan is yelling at it (btw, louder is not better - the worse things are going, the louder he yells). It confuses the dogs. They're not sure who is in trouble but look to me for assurance that it's not them. I keep telling Dan that the coaches can't hear him from the living room but it doesn't make any difference. He gets totally into sports to the point that he has been biting his nails to the quick during the games lately. Me? - not born with the competitive gene, which makes me a bit of a freak on days like this.

The friendly neighborhood gargoyle ain't no freak.

uh, come again?

A parent of one of Dan's students left a phone message for him explaining the student's absence from class today. Apparently the entire family is ill with:

-black mold

or

-malaria

or

-the H1 Nine 1 flu.

They're not sure.