d.e.p.r.e.s.s.i.o.n.....

I'm feeling blue today.

There has been lots of negative energy funneled my way lately, and I'm at a loss as to how to deal with it. Let's just say that there are some mean-spirited people out there that seem to get quite a kick out of messing with someone's livelihood. Unfortunately, I'm 99% certain that I know who this group is. I'm working on getting 100% proof and then I'll have to probably take this up through legal channels.

Add that to numerous things happening around the homefront and it sometimes gets hard to stay upbeat and positive.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love my dogs. Quite simply, they are family. Unfortunately, Koby's sight seems to diminish more each day. Gone is the spunky, funny, get-into-everything dog. And frankly, it makes me quite sad. He's not an old boy either, which makes this all the more depressing for me. He'll turn 7 in November. I'm committed to do everything to help him though. He is fine in the house in that he knows where everything is and gets around quite well. Outside terrifies him though.

Here's a photo of him taken this morning:

How can you not love a dog that looks like that????

My husband's job continues to be slow. I know he worries about money and making ends meet. We're trying to cut back on almost everything that we can. We've been working on a mortgage refinance since May and still haven't gotten the A-OK on that one. Our appraisal on the home came in so low that it's been tough getting this one through. We have one car broken beyond repair that will be sold off for parts, and the Mr. traded in his SUV for a more economical car. We don't do vacations, I don't buy clothing and/or shoes, we basically live "bare bones" right now and still it doesn't seem to be enough. Add all of this to the "group" that is intent on trying to destroy my business and it is stressful and depressing.

I'm trying to ward off the depression that I feel enveloping me right now.

Lovely Weekend

I had a lovely weekend - after working for too many days in a row, I managed to get both Saturday and Sunday off from the shop.

Wilson and I went for a nice drive on Sunday. He traded in his 4-Runner for a Camry (lower car payment and better gas mileage), so we took it out for a long drive.

We went to Taylor's Falls to start out with. Even though it was hot out, it was a beautiful day for a drive, so we ended up crossing the river into Wisconsin and took the scenic route home. It was good to spend the day with Wilson. With my work schedule, we don't get a lot of time to do things together anymore, so I jokingly referred to our day trip as our vacation for the summer.



I also got all my warp ends cut for my next weaving project. I'll try to get the loom warped up sometime this week, but I'm not making any promises. I think this upcoming weekend might be pretty busy since my youngest daughter is purchasing her first home tomorrow and it's going to need some painting inside! Congrats Dani!!!!

Summer is Winding Down..

...and I'm kind of glad about that.

This has been a strange summer for me this year. Almost the summer that wasn't. Here in the Twin Cities, it has been hot and humid for most of the summer, so there weren't too many outdoor activities for me (I hate hot and humid weather).

Add to the fact that due to my schedule and my daughters' schedules, we weren't able to meet up as much as I would like this summer.

And much like most everyone else, well, funds have been tight for the past several years. That makes it hard to go and do anything that costs any amount of money.

So, for all of the above reasons and more (including one with shop drama that makes me both mad and sad at the same time), my spirits have been down this summer.

BUT, this past weekend my daughter came down with the granddaughters.

We got to spend a few hours together after work on Saturday. This made my heart happy - how I've missed them.

There's a bit of good news for my younger daughter. She will be purchasing her first home in a month or less! She's excited and I'm happy for her. Wilson has been a huge help with her home purchase - meeting with the inspector for her, going with her when she was looking at houses, and more. It's great to see them getting along together so well.

And I'm still knitting, spinning and weaving too! I do have a few projects to photograph and put out on the blog. Maybe for my next post.....

What I did on my day off....

Obviously, the photos pretty much say it all!

Racing to the Finish Line

Today's the last day of the Tour de Fleece and I'm still spinning away!

Here's my bounty so far -

At this point, I have about 1250 yards of 3-ply worsted to heavy worsted weight yarn. (Pug is included in the picture for scale!). I have 3 more bobbins partially spun - they are all about 3/4's full and my plan is to ply them off tonight.

I just might cross the finish line after all!

I've enjoyed the Tour de Fleece and the Tour de France. I can't wait until next year although I do have to say that I will miss Lance.

Hot Fun In The Summer....

The last week or so has been Hot and Humid - and I don't like hot and humid combined. So - lots of indoor activities have commenced!

I'm still spinning the most boring fiber ever for the Tour de Fleece. Honestly, it's a lovely fiber (I love spinning BFL), but the undyed fiber will no doubt do me in by the end of the Tour. I've spun up one entire 8 ounce bump and I've started the second one. I have almost 2 full bobbins. The photo below shows one of the bobbins along with my "test ply" that I've been doing. This yarn will end up being a true 3-ply yarn, so as I'm spinning my singles I'll let the single ply up on itself to keep the consistency in check. I think as a true 3 ply yarn (from 3 bobbins), the yarn will be more consistent instead of how it's looking here, but all in all, it's looking pretty good.


About 2 weeks ago, we got a notice from our bank that listed our rewards points. I mentioned to Wilson that we should cash them in for something and he started checking out what we could get with the points.

I had been complaining about the old TV that we had in the spinning/weaving studio. It's one of those older TV's that's about 3 feet deep. We had it sitting on a TV stand and it just wasn't an efficient use of space. Wilson's idea for the rewards points was a 32" flat screen TV! So, since that was going to open up that corner of the room, we did some measuring and ran to Ikea to get yet another shelving unit for even more storage!

I LOVE my studio! It's cozy, and the dogs love hanging out in there. There's great light because all of our upstairs rooms have oversized windows. One of the best things is the view that I have when I'm sitting at the loom or the wheel.

It's just so peaceful when it is a fairly cool day and I have the windows open. The sound of the pond and the birds is lovely.

And here's a close up view of our bridge across our little stream.


With all the indoor time, I have been finishing things. I just finished knitting a shop sample cardigan - I'll try to remember to post a photo next time around.

I also remembered that I never did post a finished photo of my Crazyfoot scarf that I wove on the Baby Wolf. My trusty model did a fine job of showing off the scarf -


And just so Josie doesn't feel left out - here's a picture of her waiting at the fence at the very back of our yard. She's waiting for our backyard neighbor, Scott, to notice her. He usually comes over and pets her when he sees that she's standing there. Sorry Josie - Scott was a no-show this morning!

Tour de Fleece 2010

I'm once again participating in the Tour de Fleece. For those that don't know what the heck I'm talking about, it's a challenge for spinners. You basically set a goal and spin every day that the Tour de France is running.

My goal is to spin another sweaters' worth of yarn.

Here's my progress after Day 2 - almost a full bobbin.

The fiber that I'm spinning is a natural colored BFL. I think the sameness of it will definitely be the challening part. Imagine spinning undyed fiber day after day after day after day......

That's not to say that it isn't lovely fiber - it really is, and it is nice to spin too, but.....