plied

I plied the teal singles.  It seemed to take as much time to do the plying as it did spinning the singles but that can't really be the case.

Dan's fever was caused by an abscessed tooth.  Apparently the root of the capped tooth was dead and likely had been for some time when his body decided to attack it.  It's been cleaned up and Dan has been taking antibiotics since Monday.  He's feeling much better.

light show

I was in the sunroom last evening carding some merino when the light changed suddenly and everything glowed.  I looked up to see that the sky looked like this:

 the sun started setting just as there was a sudden rain shower.

Once the shower passed, the sky glowed violet.

 We mere humans can try to create beauty but it's hard to top Mother Nature.  So lovely!

Tour de Fleece is over today.  I didn't get a lot of spinning done during TdF this year but did finish this bobbin of woolen singles from my batts the other day.

It's so much faster to spin this yarn than my usual very fine singles.

Poor Dan woke up last night with a very high fever.  He was a bit better today but still not well.  My first thought was West Nile but he didn't have a headache so I'm hoping that he just picked up a bug.

hot!

It's hot here on the Canadian Prairies.  Currently, at 6 pm, it is 31 C (88 F) with a humidex of 35 C (95 F).  Often our summer heat is tempered by low humidity but this spring's wet conditions mean that there is a lot of water still sitting around so the humidex factor makes the heat seem even hotter (and the mosquitoes are vicious).  Thank heaven for air conditioning!

Here's the view of the dogs from my seat at the computer here.  Notice that Austin, Robbie, and Bentley are sensible dogs and know what to do on a hot summer afternoon.

And then there's Cooper, bugging me to put him outside.  He doesn't care if it's hot - he loves to have me spray him with the hose while he leaps into the air to catch the water in his mouth.

We went to a movie on Friday night for the first time in years (Bridesmaids, cute movie,  good for summer viewing).  Yesterday I woke up with a backache that spread up into my neck and gave me a headache too.  I'm still sore today and hoping this isn't the start of a flare.  Did sitting at the theater make my body cranky or is my pain a random occurrence?  Who knows?

Anyway, I've been spinning a bit for Tour de Fleece.

Prepping merino fleece for spinning.  I love scouring and prepping fleece!  It's quite magical.

Finished first bobbin of the 'Austin' custom colorway from Spinning Awesome Good (didn't she do a great job?)

 and started the second bobbin which will be shorter repeats of the color sequence for fractal spun ply.

And I finished up the Bee Mice Elf 'Miss Havisham' BFL 3-ply.  I learned to make a photo collage for this one and I feel very clever!

And now I'd better take the dogs out just in case Cooper really does need to go.

satisfaction

I think "satisfaction" is a very appropriate title for my blog post today.  Here are some things that give me satisfaction.

I live in Canada.  There is nothing that gives me more peace of mind, thankfulness, pride, and satisfaction than living in this magnificent country.  Happy 144th birthday, Canada!  I feel truly blessed to have been born and live my life within your borders.  (The above picture was taken from my back yard a few days ago.)

On a much lesser scale but still satisfying:

These lovely batts are ready for spinning.

 I had some mixed dyes in shades of green and teal that were starting to get old so I used them to dye a mix of fibers from fleeces in my stash.  Pretty much any odds and ends of scoured fleeces that were kicking around got thrown into the dye pot.  They ranged from soft Merino/Rambouillet to Corriedale crosses to Clun Forest and the result is a bouncy blend with some crispness.  Most of the fleeces came from Val at Wooly Wool of the West on Etsy.  I flick carded individual locks before carding them together.  I think the spun fiber from these batts will make lovely woolen mittens and/or hats so will spin them allowing air to get into the twist for warmth.  Tour de Fleece starts tomorrow and this will be a good project to get that rolling.

Next up, remember these little nests of combed fiber?  I spun them for sock yarn and was a little short of enough yardage so spun up a single of merino/bamboo to ply with them.  The result will make soft but strong socks.

And finally, I am satisfied that my husband is officially unemployed since the school year ended yesterday!