Ordinary Time

Before I get to fiber-y stuff, I wanted to thank everyone for their kind and supportive comments regarding yesterday's post. I truly appreciate each and every one of them. And would you believe? I only lost one Facebook "friend". I was truly expecting a higher number, but I'll admit there has been some thinning that has happened over the past two years. Anyway, thank you.  I spent some time combing some of the fleece that I am working on processing today. Yesterday I rewashed about 0.6 ounces and I had some time today so I set myself up in the dining room in the sun and got it all combed. Because I am pretty sure that among the hundred of people who read this blog every day that I am the only person who spins because if there are any spinners out there reading I'm sure they would have said something by now. So I thought every now and then I would spend some time sharing what various parts of the process to go from fleece to spinnable fiber look like. (Plus, some o

I think we have all watched in horror over the past few days as Russia has invaded Ukraine as well as being overwhelmed with emotion as we have seen report after report of the Ukrainian people rising up and fighting for their right to be a free and sovereign nation. Images of men and women enlisting, of families making Molotov cocktails to defend their cities, women weaving camouflage nets to protect their soldiers. The images of absolute acts of bravery and defiance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds keep coming. It leaves one feeling a little breathless hoping against hope that the underdog in this instance really can rout the giant. Oh, I hope and pray that they can for all of our future's sakes. And yet... In the midst of this breathtaking defense of democracy, I am still stewing about Texas. I've sat with this post for several days now, to see if I can be rational about what I write, to see if some distance will dull my anger, but I'm not sure it has. I feel

We have almost made it through February! That always feels like a significant accomplishment. Today G. decided she wanted to bake a cake, so chose one she hadn't made before... angel food. (In full disclosure, I have never made an angel food cake myself. I dislike dealing with egg whites.) Well, she made a pretty fantastic angel food cake. See? I had some frozen sour cherries in the freezer, so she also took some of those and made a cherry syrup to go along with it. It was very good. I realized that we are at about eight weeks from being able to plant the garden which means that I really need to start seedlings. So, I spent some time this afternoon finding all of my supplies from where I stashed them last year. And that is where I stopped. My seed starting medium had been stored outside and was completely frozen, so I will be starting seeds tomorrow once it has thawed. In other signs of spring (even though it's still well below freezing and there is till snow on the ground), th

I had planned a very different post for today concerning some of the news coming out of Texas, but I find I cannot write it this evening. The world feels heavy and I need a brief respite by writing about something lighter. That I have the privilege to choose to turn off disturbing events is not lost on me.  Today we finished reading the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series. As when all good series come to an end, it feels bittersweet. We loved these books and the characters in them. They are funny and intelligent and well-written. I don't buy many books these days unless it is a non-fiction book that I can't find but feel I need to read. (All that ongoing personal research, you know.) Fiction? I rarely buy. When I do purchase a book of fiction it is inevitably one I have already read and want to own. There are few books which fall into this category, but this series is going to make the list. I know people are going to want to reread them on their own. It feels like one

If you sew or knit, you know that tension is important. Without enough tension, things don't turn out well. They have little to now shape, or if they have shape it is often the wrong shape. Conversely, if you have too much tension, things don't turn out well, either. They are bunchy and stiff and don't drape well. Don't worry, it's not Monday and you haven't lost track of the days, I am aiming for a broader point. There are so many things in our lives require the right amount of tension for them to turn out well... including people. Think about it. If you are a performer, you know that last thing you want is to have absolutely no nervousness at all when you go on stage. Inevitable your performance will be flat and lifeless. A little bit of nervousness gives you the edge you need. Too many nerves? You run the distinct possibility of your performance falling apart. A story with no tension in the plot is dull. A sports competition where one team is beating the othe

Let's start with this quote: "Psychologist Suzanne Gaskins has studied Mayan villages for decades and told NPR that Mayan parents give their kids a tremendous amount of freedom. 'Rather than having the mom set the goal -- and then having to offer enticements and rewards to reach that goal -- the child is setting the goal. Then the parents support that goal however they can,' Gaskin said. Mayan parents 'feel very strongly that every child knows best what they want that goal can be achieved only when the child wants it.' Most formal schooling in America and similar industrialized countries, on the other hand, is the antithesis of a place where kids have the autonomy to make their own choices. According to Rugoff [Barbara Rugoff, professor at UC Santa Cruz], 'It may be the case that children give up control of their attention when it's always managed by an adult.' In other words, kids can become conditioned to lose control of their attention and becom

I told you about how B. had given me some unwashed fleece for Christmas. I spent the break figuring out how to wash it and prepare it for spinning. Then I told you about me trying to spin the prepared fleece, showing you some samples of what I had spun. Well, here's a tip. If you see me showing you multiple "samples" of something, then you know things aren't going quite how I had expected. I kept sampling because I couldn't get a good, even spin. I tried both wheels as well as a suspended spindle. All were equally difficult to spin and I ended up with pretty inconsistent yarn. So I set it aside as I pondered what to do about it. A few weeks ago I read that if there is lanolin left in the wool, then trying to spin it can be sticky and difficult. Sticky and difficult pretty much sums up my spinning experience, so I decided to take a few locks and rewash them to see if there was more lanolin I could remove. Well... Eureka! I had no idea when I started this little ven

Tomorrow is Y.'s birthday, but we celebrated tonight because most people could make it. We had almost everyone together. Y. chose dumpling stir-fry with caramel apple pie for dinner. (For breakfast tomorrow she chose rice congee and cereal... not to be eaten together, though.) Some pictures, Her birthday candles say '15'. Opening up Grammy's gift of two book from her favorite series (Fablehaven by Brandon Mull). Her big gift was a hardcover book about the Thorne Rooms which she has wanted for a very long time. This is her face when she realized what was in the package. Happy Birthday, Y.! We love you very much!!

Here is J.'s project for the morning. It's all hooked up and working. And working. And working. Load number four is currently in. It may take all week to catch-up with the piles of laundry around here.  This is just a fraction of what there is. I can think of at least three other piles around the house which are equally large. Plus, there are all those children who do their own laundry who will want to get in line as well.  Yes, we bought the extended warranty. We are hard on appliances and have learned the hard way it is well worth the money. I guarantee that we will be using it in the next five years given that it will be five years that we've lived here this June and this is machine number three.

I am a little sad that it is Friday because that means our two week school break is at an end. It was nice. It makes me look forward to summer.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy homeschooling my children, it's just that it does take a chunk of time out of the day. The other evening at dinner, L. announced that she was only going to refer to herself in the third person. There was massive revolt from everyone else at the table. Thankfully, I think she has laid those plans aside for now, but points for knowing what third person is. I think the plan is for J. and TM to head out and buy a new washing machine tonight. It is a sad state of affairs when doing laundry actually sounds like how I want to spend my time. R. had a great day today, doing a variety of activities and voluntarily switching between activities instead of endlessly doing the same thing over and over and over and over again.  I love having social interactions because it feels as though for the past two years that hasn

Thursday is usually our co-op day, but due to a forecast snow storm, it was cancelled. No one wanted families stuck in the parking lot because they couldn't get out. The storm did eventually arrive, somewhere around 1 pm. It was pretty much a free day for us at home which I didn't mind at all. R., on the other hand, minded very much.  R. loves co-op. She takes two classes for preschoolers. One is a music class and one is a movement class. They are perfect for her and she enjoys them a lot. They also tire her out and for at least one hour during the day, she falls asleep with her head on my shoulder. So, R. was not happy that we were not going this morning. It took some convincing over the course of the day to make her understand that it was just one week we were missing and that we would be going back next week. She initially believed that there was no more co-op forever.  Which is why, as J. and I were waking up (which involves sitting in bed sipping coffee) we heard a knock o

I don't know what the weather is like where you live, but it is extremely windy here and is only supposed to get windier tomorrow. When the birds were out this afternoon I was a little concerned they would blow away. (They didn't.) The washer is still broken with the bad news being J. doesn't think it is possible to get the part that needs to be replaced. I have a feeling we will be the proud owners of a new washing machine by the end of the weekend. A good friend offered to take L.'s laundry and do it for her, so that crisis is now averted. The door handle is still broken as well, but it's not as though we don't have four other exterior doors to go in and out of.  R. had a rough day yesterday for no discernible reason. She'd have a bad patch and I'd be able to talk her down, then she's have another bad patch and I'd talk her down. But by the end of the afternoon, she wasn't quite so able to regain equilibrium. I knew I had a choice of sittin

So much for not having anything to write. The house was evidently feeling neglected in this space and wanted to do something blog-worthy. Within the course of about twelve hours, we had... 1. Our sliding back door, which is really the main door we use to go in and out has always been sticky. (Okay, more than sticky. It will mean that no one will need to ever go lift weights in a gym.) It is so difficult to open and close that the bolts holding on the handle sheer off from the force every so often. Well, a couple of days ago, the handle completely gave way and broke. You can't really use it. So now we have a big 'X' in painter's tape over the handle with a sign reminding people to use another door. It's not the end of the world, but it is annoying and a tiny bit inconvenient. Replacing the door is really not in the budget. Have you priced sliding doors? I'm not sure when it will be in the budget.  2. Yesterday morning, as is my daily routine, I went downstairs to

Well, the lull in interesting things to write seems to have come to an end, but writing about the house falling apart doesn't seem fun or relaxing, so I'll let that go until tomorrow. We'll just focus on nice, fiber-y stuff for tonight.  My big accomplishment for the week was using my handwoven fabric to create a work basket for the studio. What I like best is that it turned out size-wise exactly as I hoped it would. It will be really useful for storing my current spinning project skeins. The other side: I lined it with some material that was in my stash. A close up of the fabric I wove. This part is using that "interesting" skein of hand spun that I made when I was first getting my spinning skills back. It is significantly mellowed by the dark blue warp. And there are all the skeins for the cardigan I've spun. Well, minus those that I have already knitted and the last few that are hanging in my bathroom drying. I've spun about 1200 yards of this particula