Ordinary Time

A reader posted a comment on yesterday's post asking about what my children read in high school and was there any overlap in what they liked. I'm always up for answering questions because it means I don't need to figure out what to write. Thank you to the reader who posed the question.  I've decided that this is a more difficult question to answer than I initially thought. It's been over a decade since my oldests were in high school, so trying to remember what they read is challenging. Plus, most of them read voraciously so keeping up also proves challenging.  I tend not to assign reading at this age unless it is directly to do with what someone is learning about. I would say nearly all their reading was or is their choice. They also tend to read widely. More than a few times a book would occur to me and I would think, "It would probably be good if [insert current high schooler's name] read it." So I would go in search of said child and asked if they h...

In college I was sitting in a discussion session that was actually run by the teaching professor and as an opening question, he wanted everyone to go around and say what their favorite book was. I've always had difficulty with this question. How does one pick a favorite? More especially, how does one pick a favorite when it feels as though it is going to define you for the rest of the semester? I don't suggest doing what I opted to do, which was to say I didn't have one with the tacit implication that I didn't have one because I didn't read.  This was in my years of never wanting to speak up in class, and it was beyond me to explain that there is no way I could pick one, but then offer a book I had enjoyed. This is most certainly what the current me would answer, and probably I would throw in a comment about the period of asking favorite type questions, especially in a situation of unequal power. I often wish I could go back in time and answer for my younger self.  ...

While I've been working on lots of projects this month, I realized this week that I'm just not up for anything terribly complicated. Take my doubleweave sampler I've been working on. The original project that I planned to do and put enough warp on for involved maybe ten or so different variations of different things that can be done with the structure. The last half were fairly complicated in that it involved picking up different warp threads by hand. Normally I am all for time consuming and complicated, but not right now it seems. Today I decided I had learned everything I would ever use doubleweave for and cut the project off the loom.  I did learn a lot and I'm glad I did it. You can't tell from just looking at it, but I learned to weave two separate layers of cloth, how to move the bottom layer to the top then back to the bottom, how to create cloth connected on just one edge and how to weave a tube. This was all great and I wove a few inches of each.  Now look ...

As you might imagine, January and often February are extremely slow when it comes to doing anything equine related in terms of my business. I'm happy to work in the cold (I'm out in it anyway), but it seems other people are not as excited to join me.  This explains why a post someone shared on FB caught my eye. The post that was shared said, "Parents of children who want a horse... This week only, for $100 you can drop them off at the barn for two hours and I will change their mind." [Original poster is Kate Montgomery, whom I don't know.] My first thought was finally a way to bring in income in winter, quickly followed by missing a prime opportunity with our recent frigid weather.  Of course, while this might work for some children, I know first hand that for those of us well and truly bitten by the horse bug, that this wouldn't work. I used to ride in the summer in Arizona. In an uncovered arena. I can remember getting off the horse after a lesson and downin...

I had dinner with two very good friends last night which was lovely and just what I needed. One of them asked me how I was doing... as in really doing given our current political crisis which directly affects my family in a myriad of ways. My answer? So far this year I've read 12 books and finished one knitting project and started many other projects. The need to keep the chaos out of my head is huge. I can keep up with current events for only short periods of time and then I need to dive back into my books or projects or head out to the barn. It is a perpetual balancing act of keeping informed and keeping sane.  How about all of you my dear readers, how are you all faring?  What are you doing to walk the tightrope of informed and actively resisting versus keeping sane?

If you enjoy reading about history, I have a great book recommendation for you. I'm just a few pages away from finishing Follow the Flock: how sheep shaped human civilization by Sally Coulthard. It is an extremely engaging book. I would say it is an extremely engaging book even if you aren't vaguely sheep obsessed. I have read this book faster than I typically read non-fiction books because I'm finding it so interesting. Probably one of the biggest takeaways that students leave my Sheep and Fiber classes with, other than to be thankful for automated spinning and weaving machines, is a greater awareness of the importance of sheep and wool. At this point I'm time I know quite a bit about the role of sheep in civilization. But one of the things that kept me reading was the new information regarding the intersection between sheep and history.  If you are looking for an entertaining and informative read, I highly recommend this book. I don't think you have to particularl...