Mrs Brown Gets A Bikini Wax

I tried a bikini wax one ill-fated day a long time ago. After doing one side there was no way I was about to do the other. Took ages for the bruises to heal. Let's just say I can identify with Mrs. Brown.

that's how I feel about it too

Found this today on Sandi Wiseheart's blog, wiseheart knits. Sandi's blog posts never fail to crack me up.

Japanese tsunami

This brings tears to my eyes. My heart aches for the people affected by the earthquakes and tsunami. Please, if you haven't already done so, consider making a donation to a relief agency of your choice. This is mine.

puddlicious

I guess it doesn't matter what kind of "kid" you are.

vernal equinox in Sask.

You wouldn't really know it was Spring today by the weather in my back yard.

It has been snowing all day. The temperature is just below the freezing point so a lot of the snow is melting as quickly as it's falling but it is depressing just the same. If you're a human that is.

The dogs don't mind the snow one bit.

It's the perfect accessory to Robbie's formal black attire.


Austin and Bentley happily eat it and make snuffly snow tunnels with their noses.

Cooper is happy all the time, snow or no snow. He was very interested in the camera today.

first handspun

I was rooting through a bin of fiber looking for some that I could use as waste on the drum carder to make sure that it was clean before starting a new project. I found a bag of white Romney that would do the trick. When I opened it up I discovered this:

my very first handspun yarn wrapped around a paper core. I made this in the summer of 2006. How my spinning life has changed since then!

We are finally getting some milder weather (seasonal, at least) and the big melt is on. It's so lovely to be able to be out in the sunroom on sunny afternoons again!

my favorite comedy sketch of all time!

wascally wabbit

The big old jackrabbit that has been sneaking into my garden through a hole in the fence was caught in the act. I had just brought the dogs in and saw the perp through the kitchen window.

He (or she, I have no way of really knowing, of course) went over to the back fence and hopped back and forth along it for a bit. I think he was checking to make sure that the dogs weren't in the yard. Then, as fast as a bunny (sorry, couldn't resist), he scooted to the neighbor's open gate, bee-lined to the hole in the fence, and hopped right into the compost bin.
Look at the triangular structure in the corner of the garden. See the opportunistic bunny sitting on it?

I have to admit that I look for him every day now. I think I'm getting sort of attached to the critter.

a lion, definitely

There was never a danger of March coming in like a lamb in these parts. March is still most definitely winter. Yesterday, we broke a weather record for the coldest March 1st daytime high in 130 years, -25C (-13F). Yesterday morning the wind chill felt like -41C (-41.8F) (C and F are approximately the same at -40).

Honestly, when I took the dogs out into the backyard it really didn't feel that cold. The sun was shining and we were sheltered from the north wind. Then I opened the front (north) door to get the mail and the wind hit me. It felt like an alternate universe, such is the power of the wind on the prairies.

March is a tough month in Saskatchewan. We feel like it should be spring but it rarely meets our expectations. Sometimes Mother Nature teases us with a balmy day or two but then smacks us upside our heads with another cold spell/blizzard. If it does get spring-like, the snow melts too fast for the frozen ground to absorb and we have problems with flooding (not at our house but lots of other places that are on lower land). The ground was saturated before it even snowed last November because last year was ridiculously wet and we have had a ton of snow since then. A slow melt would be best but it's hard to like that option at this time of year.

The upside is that the daylight hours are noticeably getting longer and the sun has warmth as it shines into the windows even on the coldest days. The big old jackrabbit that's been venturing into my garden through a hole in the neighbor's fence isn't snowy white anymore but looking more salt 'n pepper-ish.

I haven't been very productive lately. I got tendinitis in my thumb so I've had to stop most fiber activities to let it heal. I'm not sure what exactly brought it on but it may have been a longish spinning session. The depressing part is that, out of my whole body, my hands are probably in the best shape. They get the most exercise and are rarely still (ahem, unlike the rest of my body). So I've been trying to take a break from spinning and weaving and only do a little bit of knitting.

I do have a picture of a Pimpelliese shawl that I've been knitting out of handspun BME Snow Capped merino/bamboo/silk. It was fractal spun and the color sequences are blending nicely.