Excuses, excuses, excuses

I've been working, I've been medicating (my horse), I've been gardening, I've been tired, I've been camping, I've been holding down the fort alone.... All true, but the bottom line is that I'm a one-trick pony, not a carnival juggler. I tend to get absorbed in one thing at a time, and my free time has been wrapped around a spindle like the singles I've been spinning. Facing the hours it takes me to compose most blog posts has not been appealing in the least this month, when a pretty little Jenkins Turkish spindle is waiting to be twirled for the Tour de Fleece.

But I started feeling accusation emanating from my blogs (the animosity of inanimate objects), so I posted a long overdue update on Dances With Horses on Sunday and ordered myself to do the same here before I go to bed tonight.

The vegetable garden is doing great. I've been harvesting some "first fruits" here and there; my first Sungold cherry tomato, three little zucchini, some basil and kale, a small Japanese eggplant – and I dug all the garlic, which is now drying on my front porch. I plan to try sautéing some of those pretty garlic flowers with eggplant, zucchini and kale and serve it over red quinoa, a big kettle of which I cooked for myself and have been eating for breakfast for several days. That's one of the nice things about my guys being gone – I can cook whatever I want, and eat when I feel like it!

Right now the daylilies and lavender are blooming in my yard, and the wild sweetpeas are decorating the roadsides with their bright pink flowers. Sunday afternoon I took a long walk up the hill with my neighbor friend, and finally snapped a photo.

Last Friday morning I woke up to use the bathroom at the perfect time to catch the sunrise. It's been awhile since I've gotten to witness this morning miracle; it was a treat.

My presence on the deck made a doe in our middle pasture nervous; my camera couldn't freeze the action in the pale pre-dawn light when she leaped the fence!

If you are wondering if the stars of this blog are still around, then you are obviously not within hearing distance. Yesterday morning before leaving for work, I pulled Sarai and Vienna, the dams of the oldest lambs, from the Sheep Sheraton and put them in the Ram-ada Inn lot with Blaise (who was out there keeping Nightcap company after Bramble died). I hoped the mamas and lambs would get most of their weaning wailing over with while I was gone, but they waited until last night. :-/  It's time to take some photos and advertise the ones I know I can let go, and get serious about halter-training.

Seven "little" lambs and two young mamas left in the fold

As for the TdF, I've spun up the 100g of mohair locks I got at the renaissance faire last September, and started on this gray Jacob roving. I'm ready to utilize the last of my eleven Jenkins spindles; it has been fun getting reacquainted with every single one of them!

I've got to run; a friend has wanted to take me to an ethnic grocery store in Portland for years and we're finally going this afternoon. That's another nice thing about my guys being gone – I've had time to connect one-on-one with several dear friends. I do hope my guys get home safely Thursday night, though. Rick has had some cardiac symptoms on their trip and finally went to the hospital with a cath lab to get checked out on Sunday. The cardiologist said everything looked okay so it's probably just the altitude, but also said he was wise to come in given the symptoms and his history.

Jackson thinks all this working and spinning and meeting with friends is boring

That's the update from . . .