Merry Christmas!

Hope you are well.

Sunny Sunday Morning

Not feeling very 'talkative' but know it has been a few days since I posted.
Thought I would share some photos:
Riley wanted a PB&J sandwich Friday...he then proceeded to get upset with me for no apparent reason- ( is this supposed to happen when they are THREE!??! I figure I will not last his teen years if this is what it is like at age 3!!)- so I was being smart and said "Fine! Get your own PB&J sandwich!" To which he replied -after some thought- "Fine! Me get my OWN PBJ!" I had gotten the bread out already and had the PB jar open but he ended up doing the rest! And here is the photo to prove it- there is about a quarter of a jar of pB on there, but he did it! lol This is the first attempt at jelly/jam- he followed it up with dropping more on the counter than the bread- but eventually got quite a hefty amount on there- he ate it all but the crusts- they were pretty well laden with PB- so not sure why he didn't eat it- but the birds love his crusts - so I didn't mind too much. :) He helps me ALOT in the kitchen- loves to make brownies, etc.- so I truly do think he will hold his own in the kitchen one day. :) Boy will I be proud. This photo was taken by DH yesterday- we had a slight shower of rain and everything looked new and luscious- if you click on the photo and see it 'full sized" - the detail is amazing and is truly a fab photo (IMHO)... this is a potted cherry tomato.
I would like to share some photos from Granite Island from last weekend ( already!)- but don't feel i have the time quite yet to spend downloading them all and writing about it.
IF we get done today with all the "Must Do's"- then we might make a trip down today to Victor Harbor and maybe back over to Granite Island. :) It's meant to be a lovely COOL 19°C ( about 68°F) there today... yay! I am so ready for spring to stay or autumn to reappear.... skip summer thanks.

Still working on the pink/blue crochet project...NEARLY done! Won't be there for Christmas now I am afraid.

OK-7:30 am- and I am off to start my MD's!

Hope you are well....write to me and tell me you are! ( or if you aren't- I need to know that too!)

No Whirly Wednesday Day....

.....But I did get a few rows of crochet done... on a project I am working on as a Cmas present-I *will* get it done in time- but will it make it into the mail and to them in time??

This is made from that lovely merino that I plied with a blue fuzzy commercial yarn not too long ago. The colours are coming out nicely in the item too.

And also wanted to share this photo of the zucchini from our garden-

I made a really tasty zucchini and stuffing casserole that was pretty quick and easy. Even Dh ate a big plateful and he not real keen on squash. Email me or leave me a comment and I will be glad to share with you the recipe. :)

Quick post tonight- after 10 pm anyway- but just want to sit and vegetate awhile.

Life with no daytime naps is not always that much fun. Hard to get things done.

PS)

I have asked Santa for amazingly dyed alpaca fleece. He said yes. To over a Kilo of it. :D

I am very happy. Very HAPPY. :)

Hope you are happy and well.

Saturday Update

We are on our way to Victor Harbor today to see some Christmas tree display DH read about and to walk Granite Island... and of course- see the train if we can find it at the station, but wanted to share a few things before we set sail...
Here is my latest F.O. :
a dish scrubbie- my own design. Thanks to my friend Crystal who sends me/us cotton yarn at intervals through out the year.. I SO LOVE all these colours together - not sure if I will be able to use this one- do you think I should just hang it on the Christmas tree?? giggle....

The next thing I have to share- OMG! I have not fully understood wanting to "get nekkid and roll" in a pile of fibre before now- but *now*- NOW I understand! Maybe it was a weird morning ( a good morning compared to the one before), or just a moment of weakness- I don't know....but yesterday my (700g) package of handdyed carded into three (3) colours and a bit of glitz ALPACA tops arrived. It took all my might to pull out the bag of fluff- Dawnni of Tiz Teazles
( Note: the website is down for the moment- once it is back up- I will post the link again....)
had jammed so much fluff into that post satchel... I couldn't even have guessed how much was in there. Ohhhh my gosh- 'like butta'!- this is soooooo soft- SO freakin' beautiful and SOFT! I could nearly imagine myself rolling in it!

I can hardly wait to show it to you......
( Above: a bag full! Below: closer- can you see the sparkle? )

(Above: the whole package! Below: close up of samples- I want it ALL! )

and of course, the photos do no justice and you can't feeeeeeeeeeeel it for yourself.... but you will have to believe me- if you have not felt alpacafleece before......it is so darn soft you can barely feel it when you touch it! ohhh wish I could describe it. Alas, for you, it is ALLL MINE!
lol She was much too kind and generous and sent me the unsold remainder of the "Candy" coloured fleece- with samples of the other colours she has. THIS is going to be an expensive week or next- whenever I can get ahold of her again...
because I am going to get SO MUCH more from her......I think Santa's sleigh will be very light but very FULL when he arrives here this year and has my wish list goodies on it. giggle.
Seriously- if you want any- you might end up having to get it from me- as I fully intend to buy ALOT of this from Dawnni. What can I say?- "Hello- my name is Sharon and I am a fibre-a-holic..."...
She has a farm where they keep abused and abandoned animals and the money from the sales goes to help them- and being an animal person and *so wishing* i had the property and the emotional strength to do what she does....(and the finances to do it as well)- this way my money will help another beautiful soul do what I simply cannot- and I get to have some fluff to play with and enjoy as well. Please go and check out her website and purchase some of her beautiful items if you are so inclined. As for the fluff- well..... I'll race ya! ;)

On the garden front- my zucchini's are doing fabulous- and get this- I have 3 different varieties growing! Reg. green, a stripey one that looks like a marrow, and YELLOW! They are so gorgeous. Those and the tomatoes look to be the only real 'crops' that are going to work out this year.... keep intending to get the American pumpkin style pumpkin seeds ( for jack o lanterns) in - and a few of the cantaloupe/rockmelon seeds I saved..... and also some replacement cucumber seeds- as the ones in the front soil just couldn't survive (*sigh* back to the drawing board on how to make that soil arable!)....even the pumpkin plant is struggling... despite lots of mulch and watering- the soil there is just so dry (and we added in lots of compost before we planted this year...) - I guess I am going to have to stick with flowers that love dry hot arid soil. ( I am not a cactus person! ) OK- off to get the day going-

hope you are well!

Quick CAL Scarf Pic

Wanted to share a Finished Object- it is a Mystery Crochet A-Long - they called it a scarf when we were done. ;

I call it a decorated collar. lol

Hard to see- but there is a flower in the front 'v' part where the ends overlapped.

I did it in a pink yarn as since it was a mystery I didn't want to use my handspun- not knowing for sure what thickness or yardage would be best for it. If I made it again I think alpaca or silk blend or anything that drapes nicely would be ideal for this... it's not for warmth I would say.

Only 4" ( 10 cm ) wide, too long for your neck and you can't wrap it around since the ends are tied down......but it has real potential as an addition to a plain blouse (with shorter fringe, mind you)if made with silky rayon, bamboo, or the like yarns.

Anyway- here it is.... did very little spinning yesterday. Nothing to show anyway. But at least you can see this. :)

Hope you are well.

Happy December!

Woo- November was a fast month...December already!



Haven't been able to get my thoughts organized for very long lately. Not sure what is up.
So I haven't written here.



I have acquired some LOVELY fibre ( via eBay and Mandie at EGMTK! 3 of which are shown here)-

"Tequila Moon" from EGMTK! ( above) - 22 micron merino wool~


(Left) this is a bamboo fibre top handdyed by Mandie- in a colourway she called

"Sublime Exchange"









And this one is Optim ( fine silky wool- amazingly soft!)- and is called "Raynbow1"
over the last few weeks- (some yarn to try dyeing too- a future project...!)- and have done some spinning but not much- not even last Wednesday.
I *did* crochet- a small mystery CAL ( crochetalong)... I'll finish it today ( only a flower to go) and then can post a pic of it... I am not even sure what it is called..... maybe a ponchette?

I think I will be sending it off as a gift to someone- as I think I will look ridiculous in it. We'll see.
No- make that *I'll* see-lol!

It's been quite warm over the last few days- so that might explain my lack of spinning, etc.
After tomorrow we are to have a small break in the temps and then go back up later in the week.

Two more picutres to share:
Rocks at the beach.

A bunny shaped one-found as seen complete with small 'tail' made of a seaweed bubble!



a string of rock flowers.



There was a link posted on a yahoo group board called "ANZweavespin" about a group/movement/idea of making rock formations on the beach, then posting the pics to be seen. ... Dh really loves this idea so while at the beach last evening- we walked to the rocky area and got some ideas going.

Patterns/pictures.... many choices- will take HOURS- thankfully RJB loves the beach now!

This is just a 'warm up' piece. Will post the link to the project site one Dh is up and I can ask him for it.

Hope you are well.

Beautiful Sunday Morning

G'Day!
Here for your viewing is my latest spun wool from EGMTK!....

It's called Mind Warp and has not only been spun but also used! Photos later of the project. :)
Here's the before roving:

Beautiful shades of blue,green, and a divine indigo colour... I LOVED spinning this colourway.

Then here are the spun ones- on my Turkish again...

The finished skein- all washed and ready:

So this was a finished singles- at about 13 WPI- I forget the yardage now. over 300 I believe. Soft as too- this 100% merino that Mandie has for her current dyed rovings is SO soft - I am SO spoiled!
It is one of the neatest things- to make and use your own yarn. Something earthy and basic about it- even if my colours are anything but! LOL! I look forward to creating MORE with my yarns. :)

I also have some photos to share of the house buildings on the' other side of the fence' ( the grass is NOT greener as they have none- well- one house does and it is much nicer than ours- which is dead already due to water restrictions). If you suffer from claustrophobia- you might not like these pictures!

This is the house at the end of the street- on the other side of the fence, of course!

Here's for you to see how close the other houses are- that fence is only a regular sidewalk's width away from the side of our house (what's that- about 3 feet?) - then there is the corner of the newest finished house there- and to the right is the latest started...they have virtually no space in their back yard and side area- who knows how much frontage they will have- only a few metres I am sure. Our garden area is spacious in comparison, although we have little to no side yard/garden to speak of....

This is the last little bit of 'skyline' we have left- there is another house scheduled to go in that space btwn. the house across from us and that red roofed house, so it is only a matter of time until we will no longer be able to see anything much unless we look straight UP!

( yes- we are searching for a more country located home...)

Some 'nature' shots to share- in our back garden...

This is my butterfly bush- OH how the New Holland honeyeaters love them and how I love watching them sip the nectar from the tiny flowers! Believe it or not I really cut the right side of this bush back pretty far ( I am never as brutal as a good gardener should be...)- and it is right out there with new growth nearly as far as the old wood. Though it is hard to see- there are lots of buds on this buddleia ! :)

This is our teeny little red Bottlebrush tree...it bloomed! It is
only about knee/thigh- high and it bloomed! I can hardly
wait for it to get big enough to REALLY
bloom and be able to take photos to share- how the
little flowers come out is like fireworks
in slow motion- LOVE it! :)



















Out of time for now-have a few more photos to share- will try again later or tomorrow!
Hope you are well.

Happy Thanksgiving 2007!

Wishing all my friends and family a very Happy Thanksgiving. ( OK- so it's Friday here- but technically it is still T-Day in the USA as of my writing this....)
Wishing we could be together at this special time of year.
And for those of you going shopping on Black Friday......I love you, but I think you are CRAZY! @@
LOL!

I am thankful for~ my family, friends, fur bearing animals (giggle), spindles and spindlemakers, and to not work retail ANYMORE!

Now- to start getting Christmas things out and start decorating before the 90°f weather starts moving back in on us. 'Tis the season........

Falalalalalalala
and all that stuff.....
:)

Hope you are well and well - fed! ;)

Nature Photos

Here are some pictures taken in the last few months I've wanted to share but hadn't yet.... some were taken by me- some by DH...
all are gifts from Nature.



A daylily- a neighbour was getting rid of hers-so we took them. :)

A storm cloud that never became a storm- but sure is AMAZING- please click on the photo to see it full-sized- the depth and texture is worth the wait. ( Taken by DH)

A torch lily/red hot poker flower/kniphofia

The guardsman's watchtower- sand fun at the beach. ( taken by DH)

Not sure if there is a proper term for this foamy frothy surf water- but the texture is great-another one worth clicking on to see larger. 'Frozen' water droplets and all. :) ( taken by DH)

Now- here are two that are not nature photos... but nice to look at-

Banana Bread- fresh out of the oven!

Holiday smiles to you !

Hope you are well!

Frying Friday

Ugh- it's hot. I do NOT like summer weather.

OK now for the positive things - some more photos to share.

None of fiber if you can believe it!

I have done some crocheting and spinning- but nothing I can show here, now.

however, a new spindle arrived from the USA.....

it is a little white church from an eBay seller called Wooly Knitpicks. She has affordable unique spindles- I have only just gotten this one- so am not sure how well it will spin- but I did try a bit of wool that was included and it spun ok. My only real complaint is the that the hook arrived bent over- but I carefully bent it back and seems to be ok.
I took a pic or two this morning- so will share those:

the full length- it has a green agate stone on the end of the shaft.

and close up. Love the purple sparkles that she painted on it. Just a fun spindle. I intend to hang it on the Christmas Tree this year. :)

Here's also a picture of a bird bath:

What? Did you think I would mean something traditional??? No way!

Not at this household!

This is a Spotted Dove having a bit of a drink in the old baby bath. It wasn't meant to be out there for that purpose- but it has stayed out because the bigger birds CAN drink and have a splash about in it if it has water in... we dont' always keep water in that one- but we do the old dog bowl one- so there is virtually always a drink available to them.

Too warm to sit here any longer- but at least there is something new to look at. :)

Hope you are well!

Sunset Skyscape Yarn

I managed to get a few photos taken before they left for the beach so here I present my latest yarn- 50g ( approx) of 2 ply wool.....plied by the "wind two singles into a ball then spin/ply them together" method.

You've seen the batts before but here is a reminder.

Here is it on the branch drop spindle :
that I recently got from Aubelsbeth on eBay ( USA )- I HIGHLY recommend their spindles-please check them out- really super items - not just spinning either- wonderful handmade jewelry and more- these are fellow SCAdians (well- i am not one anymore actually- but in my heart I am!) so you can be sure they are doing beautiful custom work with true quality and with great prices to boot!

I spun the singles on a beautiful dark mahogany coloured one called (love this name) Saucy Bowl ( will show you later- the camera is at the beach now....) -also from Aubelsbeth, but had to ply on the Branch one as it has a longer shaft for me to wrap all the yarn. This is just 50g and it is quite full!

Then I skeined it, the dh and son washed it and then let it dry. I did the Wraps Per Inch and length but can't recall it at the moment. *sigh* I believe the WPI averaged out to be 8. It's a beautiful colourway- mango and pink and the most amazing shade of purple mixed with a touch of the lovliest bright blue...when it was done all I could think of was the sunset sky and clouds on a bright day. Dh came up with Cloudscape- I 'fine tuned' it to Skyscape this morning! I've just finished 25g more- spun the same way- and will do another 25 today if possible, then ply it the same way to have 100g of the same yarn.

Here's the skein up close as well. :)

If anyone is interested in getting batts of wool from Kathy- please email me and I will get you in touch with her-as she doesn't have an online shop- but will send digital pics., etc. and the best part is her prices are FABULOUS!

I got some handdyed rovings from her for only $8 per 100g and at the shows her batts are currently selling for $5 per 100g!!!! It's like being at the 'penny candy' counter when you are at her show booth- as you can mix and match all you like and her colours are just fun and diverse.

Her blends are always my favourites- but the solids she does often times are the complementing colours she has used in her multiblend batts. Brilliant. And if you have not done any spinning from a batt- let me tell you- they nearly self draft! The Saucy Bowl wanted to spin mostly a thickness that at 2 ply has left it to be a sport weight yarn- which is just what I was wanting- and it all came together very quickly.

OK- better go get some other work done- then maybe take a small nap! :)

Thanks for looking and hope you are well!

Strike A Pose- There's Nothing To It....

I just had to share this with you-
there was a crested pigeon in the back yard sunning herself two or so days ago.
She's surrounded by bits of bread- but not interested in eating- just the sun. ;) ( If you click on the photo to make it bigger you can see what fluffy underfeathers (down?) she has. Just guessing on the 'she'-by the way- as there is not alot of colouration difference btwn. males and females that I can see. )

It's always startling to walk passed the window and see this. The first time I saw this I was sure something horrible had happened......they don't call our one magpie variety "Butcher Birds" for nothing...

but even with knowing this is what they are doing- there is still always a moment where my heart skips a beat then the brain remembers.

I'll search through pics to see if I can find one of one upright so you can see. I know I took some the other day in the rain... what hoot - these birds are not particularly waterproof!LOL! *** Didn't find a dry bird photo- but here s/he is soggy ( and caught in mid blink- don't you just hate that when it happens?? ):

Garden update:

The zucchini plants are just growing like weeds this week- glad for the rain and now sunshine I guess! :) We have several tomato plants with small fruit and lots of blossoms.

The strawberries are coming along fine- still haven't figured a way to keep them off the ground from the bugs though. The dog managed to get into the bed of carrot seedlings so there is nothing really left there and the corn just didn't' grow where we planted it... maybe one seed. :(

The lettuce, pictured here, is going great.

As for spinning, I have some yarn to share- but don't have the photos of the finished skein yet- so will post ASAP for that. Made from wool batts hand dyed and created by Kathy Baschiera from Lobethal, SA......we discovered her at the first wool event we attended and two weekends ago went to the scarf exchange just to get some wool from her. I fully intend to take pics of what I got from her that day.....slow but sure. ;)

Today is Rememberance Day in Australia- at 11 am on the 11 of Nov. each year everyone is to stop for one minute and observe silence for the fallen of Australian Wars. ( If I didn't get that right- someone feel free to correct me- I am pretty new to this. )

Well- the guys are getting ready for the beach so better go for now - but perhaps I can get photos taken of the yarn and put online sooner rather than later! :)

Hope you are well.

Friday's Photo-Up Close

Woohoo! I have a yarn to show you! This yarn is now my new favourite..... ( gee whiz- it often seems the newest yarn finished is my favourite- is that good or bad!?! LOL!)

This one is from a roving called "Up Close" from EGMTK!

Below is how it spun up as the singles- I did long strips ( pencil roving thickness generally) and spun them in the full length colourway as Mandie had dyed it...and let me tell you- it was so just SO FUN to spin! The colours are just so vibrant and the yellow is just the perfect contrast colour to the pink/orangy colours. I'd been wanting to get back to making a thicker, chunkier yarn -and this one I spun pretty thick as a singles.


Then the next decision was with what to ply it... I already knew I wanted to use a thread so that the colour wasn't affected too much- but what colour? I originally was planning a dark purple- that I knew would contrast with the colours- but once it spun out so beautifully I decided that I wanted to ply with something that wasn't obvious... so I was going to use the gold rayon sample Mandie had sent- but couldn't find it! :( So... I held up all the threads I had on hand and a light pinky purple-y colour ( Orchid I would call it....) came out the winner- I could only guess how amazingly this thread would go- from a distance it practically disappears! Up close it is a perfect compliment to the colours. I could hardly wait to get the yarn done so I could wash and fluff it and see how it looked. The Turkish spindle is jam packed full- I seriously don't think I could've fit much more on-it was popping off as i spun it to ply!
And here is how it looks- full skein -182 yrds- approx 100g.. ( didn't weigh it yet) and here is Up Close- up close! ( you know I had to say it...! ) ;)
( If you really want to see it UP CLOSE- click on the picture and let it down load- yikes!!) I finished this on Whirly Wednesday- but wanted to wash it and dry it and fluff it up a bit before I posted the pics. :) WHee! It is THE SOFTEST i have made- you just want to snuggle your nose into it! The only thing that happened that was a bit of a bummer was that when I washed it- the pink colour came out alot- and it muddied up alot of the yellow. It's still pretty- but not as vibrant as it originally was. I managed to get it out in time- usually I let it soak a few minutes before I rinse and hang it to dry- bit this time I grabbed it out asap. Not that it was all that dirty anyway- I just like to do it as then it is 'preshrunk' - ready for use.

I have alot more photos of other things to share too- someone find me two more hours in the day and I might be able to get all the stuff posted that I want to share! RJB has been going to bed verrrrrrrry late at night, naps are short or non-existent and I am not getting virtually any ME time. Thankfully he doesn't resent my spinning while he plays some during the day. Being at the computer...on the other hand... he doesn't appreciate. :( So i try to limit myself,thereby not getting as much done as I would truly like.

I have the scarf exchange to talk about from last weekend and some ocean photos to share from before that!

It is doing to be a WARM day today, warmer tomorrow. Just in time for Christmas parade in the city- being from the Northern Hemisphere- it does nothing to put me in the mood and I can't tolerate the sun to even go to the parades. I think the local one is next weekend. Fingers crossed it cools back down for that one. I *think* RJB would like it even with all the chaos. :) We shall see.

Hope you are well!