It Must Be Spring!

Tonight we are getting a blast of cold from the northwest, and the south winds have been blowing for days.  What happens when the two collide?  You got it.  Possible tornadoes are warned, but hail is our most likely candidate.  SIGH!  It is so lovely to be in tornado alley. 

It has been very warmish, at least pleasant to be out and about.  Tomorrow the high is planned around 50 degrees! That's about a 25 degree difference!  Then mid fifties until Saturday.  Yep-this is definitely Spring.

I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon at two.  I guess I will arrive looking like a drowned rat.  It is all good, because it is water of some kind. 

The other day I noticed a sign at a vet clinic that said, "It's Spring.  Do you know where your tom cat is?"  Well, some of the neighborhood kitties decided to check out our yard.  Noodles is ever vigilant for intruders.  He got into a major and hellacious fight with one of them at dusk yesterday.  So..... my solution is to lock the cat door at night.  He spends all night long on the screened porch watching and guarding.  During the day he is allowed to patrol and hunt and act all macho.  I keep an eye on him and watch for intruders.  His gimpy leg must hurt, because he does not bear weight on it.  And there is the limp, of course.

I planted some seeds and I hope to get some nice flowers out of them.  I hope they have time to germinate before the drought sets in.  I did not get any sunflowers last year.  The stalks grew to about 18-24 inches and then dried up.  I planted some indigenous wildflower seeds that hopefully will create flowers that are drought tolerant.  The only difficulty is they are only drought tolerant when established.  Reports on that later.

My riding lawnmower decided to not start this year.  I finally figured out I needed a new battery.  I went to Walmart because theirs is the cheapest 12 volt battery I can find.  Unfortunately I got a smart ass clerk in the automotive department.  It infuriates me no end.  Testosterone is a wonderful hormone when used properly.

I visited my friend OSM on Sunday at her Tahlequah cabin.  She brought all three dogs with her this trip.  What a zoo!  She continues to battle Graves disease and she is still on her weird diet.  I am so grateful that right now I am okay. 

I am still moving along on my inventory and getting things organized for the fiber show.  I think this will be a good show.  I finally got the labels made for my bags, and now the bags are ready.  I have a thank you card stuffed in each one.  They are ready to go.  I am almost done with the bison/silk blend yarn.  It is really pretty.  I am anxious to see if it blooms after washing and blocking.  Today I got another email from the organizers.  They are providing refreshments for the vendors and a lunch.  I think that is a nice touch.  I was going to stick a peanut butter sandwich in my bag, but now that isn't necessary.

I guess that is all to report this week.  Not a lot.  I am only knitting on my shawl, but I wanted something else to do as a change.  I started a Fair Isle hat.  I think it going to be pretty.  I really find stranded work soothing and I love to use charts.  I remember when I first learned I had to write out the pattern, but now I have learned to read the chart and to read my knitting.  I try to explain that last part to others.  It is really the central key to doing stranded work-read your knitting.  And it is all a form of logic.  At least it is to me.

Have a safe week.  Pray for safety in the storms.  No tornadoes, please.

It Is A Time of Changes

I sometimes wonder about how Life catches up with us some times in the Spring.  We had such a delightful warm spell that was then thrown aside for ugly cold weather.  I will not complain about the rain, and with all the rain we are now in a moderate drought according to the map I looked at online.

We are promised warmer weather by Saturday and for a few days.  Then another chill down.  I am hoping that the major freezes are done.  It isn't so awful when it is cool at night and early morning.  As long as there is warm sun to sit in, I am fine with it.

Along with these changes, my forsythias have decided to open a few buds.  The redbud trees are trying to open their pretty pinky purple buds.  The pasture daffodils are finished.  The henbit is still purple in the yards everywhere.  The Bradford pears are all blooming.  It is all very confusing.

With the seasonal confusion, it seems that everyone I talk to is having some kind of change in her life.  It is very odd.  One friend thinks perhaps it is a magnetic shift.  I certainly don't want the poles to shift in my lifetime.  But a lot of people have folks developing cancer and that is sad.  It is certainly a time of changes.

I am now into my "beginning" panic stage.  I actually have two weeks to be prepared.  The three or four days before the show is errands run, hair cuts, etc.  No time to make something.

My friend OS is visiting her cabins in Oklahoma for her Spring visit.  I will call her tomorrow.  I do not have much time to spend with her this trip.  I hope she is understanding of that.  My cousin is making his annual visit a week from this Saturday.  So time to spend with him too.  It is a busy month.

I am done with the knitting for this show.  I think I have enough, if that is in fact real.  How do you have enough?  I am still trying to get the loom warped to make a cotton scarf.  The weaving will not take long.  I will just have to make a time to just do it.  I am spinning bison/silk roving right now that is luscious.  I have a goal set to complete the second bobbin by this weekend.  Then the plying, washing, and blocking.  That will probably be all I will have time to complete.  I will see.

I was just standing at my west window admiring the sunset tonight.  We haven't had many sunsets in the past week.  It was a gorgeous deep pink, salmon, and gold.  Really magnificent.

I ordered a Square to put on the IPad .  I am anxious to try that out.  It will be nice to take credit and debit cards.

Not much else is new.  Patty found a composted veggie pile behind my neighbor's house.  The cat ate the little chipmunk I had been admiring earlier that day.  I thought he and Baby had eaten them all when I first moved in.  I was so happy to see one.  The woodchuck is happily eating greens from the bachelor buttons.  Today he/she ran a squirrel off that was quite amusing while window watching.

I am ready to plant some sunflower seeds and other flower seed.  I have to assure them that there is an end to the frost.  I know that drought will get them if I don't get them planted soon and germinated.  My little Japanese Indigo plants are slowly growing.  I talk to them regularly.  I have a bed prepared for them, but it will be a while before they are ready to transplant.

So no other news.  I am just tired.  I am ready to do something other than think about this show.  I plan on resting for at least one week afterwards.  Then time to plan the next show.  But rest comes first.

The ball park down the street opened for the season tonight.  That means fireworks on Friday nights.  I guess that is surely a sign that seasons are changing.

Enjoy your weekend.  Enjoy the heat and warmth from the sun.  Yes, there are Spring storms planned, but right now I want to enjoy the heat.

This Has Been A FULL Moon!

I have had a very frustrating electronic week.  I will not go into details right this minute.  I think I will take something for the headache and go to bed.  I think a good cozy mystery is what I need more than anything.

I am really, really close to finishing the green scarf.  Yeah!  I have had a little trouble with my aches with the really cold weather we had.  Now that it has warmed and a little bit of sun appeared, I am fine and dandy.  My knitting slowed tremendously, and now I am in catch-up.

I am spinning some bison/silk blend and it is heavenly.  I am still watching my BBC soaps on Netflix, and enjoying them.  Occasionally I turn to Miss Marple to take the edge off reality.

I will catch up with my blog tomorrow.  Just felt I wanted to vent a little bit of my frustration.

It is getting close to my show in April, and I am almost ready for that.  I am nervous about putting my toes in the water again after so many long years ago.  But I am feeling good about this one.

My friends seem to be having so many problems.  Mine seem so small in comparison. 

Oh-Patty found another decomposing vegetable pile behind my neighbor's house.  YUCK!  STINK!  She had to have a bath yesterday.  And I watched her like a hawk for any pancreas problems that she is prone to.  SIGH!

Okay-now I have to go lay down and forget the electronic world-except for my Kindle, of course. 

I'm Green-Are You?

Happy St. Patrick's Day.  I actually seldom think of it any more.  But I am knitting green.  This is some handspun yarn I did last Fall.  It is Polworth, and is very, very squishy.  I love the feel of the wool and it seems that everyone who touches it squeezes it. 

Well, we had two days of Spring with temps way above normal.  It was in the 70's and sunny and wonderful.  I actually was able to start cleaning up the winter mess in some beds and I cut back all the dead seed heads and stems.  Today is cold and windy and rainy.  Gray and dreary!  I know March is still technically wintertime.  It just is wonderful to have the warm days to get out and do yard work.

I finished the two bobbins of yellow wool.  Now to plying.  I guess it is good to work on some not-really-soft wool for a change.  I am spoiled by the merino and other luxury yarns I make.  The yellow is a Romney-cross that is a tiny bit rough.  At least compared to the others.  On its own it is lovely.  I dyed it with marigolds. 

My friend GK just had her gallbladder removed.  I hope this is all she needs to get better now.  She had been vomiting for two weeks when the doctor finally addressed the gallbladder.  The surgeon who consulted slapped her in the hospital because her potassium levels were life-threatening low, and she was dehydrated.  So hopefully she will get better and start feeling normal again.

CJE just went to Santa Fe to visit with friends.  She is feeling less stressed and rejuvenated. 

Patty just woke up.  I had to take her out into the yard to start her day.  It is very windy, cold, and I didn't notice the mist until I took my hat off.  It was damp and I hung it up to dry.  Ugh!  Bring the sun back.

There is a major uproar right now on a pig factory farm being on the Buffalo River.  It is always a concern for the quality of recreational water.  I think the people were able to buy land cheaply in Newton County.  It is not just the pollution to the watershed, it is pollution to the air quality.  I am sure the owners used the "jobs and money to the local people" card. 

Well-on to plying yellow.  Have a good day.  Please don't drink green beer.  YUCK! 

Wandering through March!

Yes, it is March 10.  We are stoically marching on through March.  It has rained two good rains.  Last night we actually had thunder and lightening and wind.  It was lovely.  Thank goodness, Patty has had a hearing deficit for a while.  She does panic when she sees the lightening strike nearby, but I don't think she hears the thunder as much as before. 

It was lovely to dig out the umbrella and push Patty out the door and take a little walk in the soppy ground puddles.  The ground was quite mushy and verging on muddy. 

Spring is popping up in odd places, as it always does in March each year.  My yard originally had been a pasture.  So I don't really have decent grass, and I have a lot of pasture weeds.  Chickweed, henbit, wild onions, plantains, etc. are popping up everywhere.  The teensy-weensy bluets are blooming.  When I bought the house the yard had been mowed carefully to make it appear there was yard. 

One year later I discovered that I don't have a yard, but a pasture.  And in the pasture are pasture daffodils.  They are the kind that were not planted by anyone, but suddenly there they are blooming away.

I am watching the forsythias carefully from now on.  They are the forecasters that tell me that it is time to rejoice.  It is over.  We will still have cool days and evenings until May.  When the forsythias are blooming, winter is over.

One of our weaving guild members died last fall.  Her sisters are trying to sort through her studio and mountains of stuff.  Several guild members have helped them along the way.  Yesterday they held a sidewalk sale for the weaving guild members prior to our meeting.  It was astonishing how many bags of yarn there were.  I am seriously trying to limit mine, and it hurts to see how her stuff was sorted and pawed through.  I know Sally would have wanted us to do just what we were doing.  We honor her by taking good care of her things.

I am on the second bobbin of yellow yarn.  I have switched today to watching Miss Marple.  It isn't something I have to think too much about.  She is so clever with her logical observations.  I love to watch the actress knit.  She has an interesting style of holding the right hand needle.

I am knitting a beautiful scarf with the green Polworth wool I spun. The pattern is in the book One Skein Wonders.  The pattern is easy and I don't have to think too much. I am also knitting on a pair of fingerless mitts-just plain and simple-no pattern on the mitts.  The yarn is enough interest with the dyes.

I guess that catches me up to date.  It has been cloudy, windy, and chilly all day.  By week's end we are supposed to be 70 degrees!  Unfortunately, it is time for me to clean up the winter debris out of the flower beds and do some weed control early.  So my short reprieve from the yard is coming to an end early.  I like working out in the yard.  For some reason, I never can see an end to it.  It goes on and on and on.

Enjoy the winds of March.  It blows out the old staleness and brings in the freshness.

Interesting Factoid!

 I made a big ole blunder on my website.  I sold a pair of socks twice.  After sorting out that mess, I actually ended up with an order for two pairs of socks to be made.  So I cast on the blue ones Monday, January 28.  Four weeks and two days later, both pairs done.  The striped pair are fancy-pants socks with a zig-zag rib that I had to pay attention to and use a counter.  Of course, I am well aware that I would have starved to death if I relied on knitting socks for a living.  I am sure whatever knitting ancestor that lives in my house would scoff at my complaints.  But my hands are tired, and I am not knitting a sock for a while.

My other weird thing are these lovely merino skeins.  I finished them, washed and blocked, and put a photo on Facebook.  They are now winging their way to a new home.  A friend saw them and bought them within minutes of my putting their photo online.  I didn't get to love on them very much.

Nothing else of note.  We have had two very wet, sloppy snows in eight days time.  Nothing all winter, and wham!  here's your winter precip all at once.  I truly am not complaining about anything wet that falls from the skies.  We need the rain and moisture however we get it. 

I did get a burst of planting-itis during the warm spell we had.  I bought some seed potatoes, and I coveted the packets of spinach and lettuce.  I swooned over the packets of summer flowers.  Luckily I can remember that I have seed, and that we are still in drought.

This week has been the usual 30's and windy.  Normal gray skies.  It keeps me inside to do the work I need to do here.

Now that my commission is completed I have to get organized and plan for the show in April.  I want to increase my inventory quite a bit.  I have been spinning every day, but not a lot to show for that.  I am spinning some pretty rough Romney that I dyed with marigolds.  It is neon yellow-at least a very bright yellow.  The wool is neppy and so it has lumps in places.  I can't pull everything out as I go.

I have been watching a BBC show called Monarch of the Glen.  It is a wonderful series that played for four years, yet not here in America.  I love it.  The actors are wonderful, I like the storyline, and it keeps me spinning while I watch.

So move over February-here comes March.  It seems strange to think that two months have already passed in this year. 

Have a good weekend.  Enjoy the sunshine when we do get it.

That Beats All!

Just as I finished the previous post, I got up to plug in the batteries.  I looked out and it is snowing!