We're only nine days into summer but there is plenty to report.
#1 – Last fall I ordered a triangular shade cloth after our neighbors to the east shared how much of a difference theirs made. Brian helped me install it to provide some shade over our east-facing windows, and it does seem to reduce the solar gain. Win!
#2 – The weekend after Fathers Day, with the promise of good weather, Rick and Brian took off on a short backpacking trip. They came back groaning and complaining about being sore, raw (Rick), sunburned (Brian), and exhausted. The trail in and out had been covered by snow, greatly increasing the time and difficulty, and though they saw lots of fish in the lake, they couldn't catch a single one. Inexplicably, they seemed to really enjoy their misery-sharing, male-bonding experience!
#3 – Here it got HOT. The Stella D'Oro daylilies popped, Poppy panted, little snakes emerged, the horses sought shade, and Chuckie acted like he always does. Cats really do seem to enjoy hot weather, in spite of their warm fur coats!
#4 – I didn't just stay home and swelter. It was also the weekend of Black Sheep Gathering, and a friend had agreed to ride down with me on Sunday. We split up because we had different 'shopping lists.' On mine was getting Jenkins Turkish spindles for myself and proxy-shopping for others, finding cotton roving to spin for handknit washcloths, meeting up with Ravelry and blog pals, and checking out fiber mills for a couple of my fleeces. Check, check, check-check-check, and check.
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| "Jenkins Junkies" with Wanda Jenkins in front |
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| This is Rico, who belongs to the daughter of a blog pal I got to meet |
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| Oops; this isn't cotton but it came home with me anyway |
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| My preciousssss new spindles |
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| The sweet border collie needle holder my friend got me for driving |
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| New spindle in use on new fiber; this batt is now spun |
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| Anther new spindle with another batt, also now spun |
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| A new spindle with some 'old' fiber, ready for Tour de Fleece |
#5 – I conducted a partial survey of our fruit trees. The cherries are pitiful, the Braeburn apples are non-existent, the Brooks prunes are spotty, but the little Italian prune tree, at least, is loaded.
#6 – Bridget and I are still ladies in waiting; she got close, but no cigars warranted yet. I was thinking of using Belated and Behind for her lambs' names, but now I'm thinking she's holding out for for an Independence Day theme. Boom, Bang, Blast, Bottle Rocket, Black Cat?
Ready or not, here July comes . . .
10 comments:
What a nice summary of fun things. Glad your husband and your son got some quality time together. And that you got your quality time at a fiber fair. Such wonderful purchases. That sun shade for your big windows looks like it might help with temp control in the house for sure. When we moved into this condo we had a deck door that got the direct sun for about 8-9 hours a day. The heat from that door in the summer acted like an oven for the condo. It was dreadful and the door knob on the interior door was almost too hot to touch. We replaced the exterior deck door with E Glass designed to reflect the heat producing rays. It made a HUGE difference.
Your blog is always fascinating to me. Thanks!
As a woodworker, I'm interested in those spindles. I need to read up/learn more. Turning lace bobbins has always been a fun thing for me. Somehow, I'm drawn to things 'difficult to do'....
As a restorer, I am/have been professionally interested in dye stuffs. I find most of my best info comes from the wool folks! Most of what works for wool seems to also work for wood.
Cheers
Our love/hate relationship with the sun, Elaine. We need it, we want it, we can't handle too much of it!
As is yours to me, Tim!
I love your sunshade!! Our place faces west and we get the full brunt of the hot afternoon sun. I like the way yours looks, kinda like a bird about to take off.
As always, I loved seeing all the photos.
I am jealous you got to Black Sheep and met Rico!!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog and looking at the pictures this morning. I'm glad Rick and Brian had a good time together - except for the sunburns.
The highlight was finding your picture of my adorable grandpup, Rico! He is such a delightful little guy, and can be so funny. My daughter and I love him so much. He's a big help to her.
Those are some gorgeous Jenkins spindles! I've always admired his work. Fun to look at.
I know what you mean about having the HOT weather, though ours only lasted about two days.
Enjoy your spinning on those lovely spindles. You do such a beautiful job!
Mokihana, this was the biggest triangle shade I could find on Amazon. It looks pretty small on that east side, but does provide some shade without blocking our views.
Donna, it was the perfect outing, as far as I was concerned, focused and fun! It was delightful to sit and talk with Marlys and Jan and have Rico warm up to me; he's a charmer.
Jeanne, I'm so glad Marlys texted me, because I had a lot of balls in the air and hadn't yet contacted her. We had a delightful chat and selling a fleece to Jan was an unexpected bonus. I'm appreciating the cooler, cloudy days now!
I fell in love with that lovely variegated fluff you pictured! So beautiful.
I'm interested in your lavender fiber you're going to be doing for the Tour de Fleece - it's beautiful, too. Is that some that you purchased? I'm looking forward to seeing it as you go along.
Marlys and Jan are spinning upstairs as I write. They're doing lovely stuff too, for the Tour de Fleece.
That triangular sail is great! I'd like one big enough to cover the house :) Saw that you finally got your lamb on the Fourth - what a way to celebrate. And HURRAY for prune plum tree!
Those spindles are beautiful.
The triangle shade is interesting! Hope it works the way you want it to :-)
You are so fast with your spindles. Seriously. I spin on a wheel and I'm never as fast as you are!
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