Life as avalanche

Reminder to self: pick a limited topic and blog (like the 'flock and fiber' of my last post). When I 'collect' a bunch of topics to blog about, usually because each one seems insufficient for its own post, it turns into an overwhelming avalanche, picking up more and more subjects and accompanying photos, until the task of covering them all buries me – hence the lapse in weekly posts. Time to start shoveling.

My favorite change of seasons always inspires a flood of photos, some of them related to other topics. For instance, we celebrated Rick's birthday at his mother's house so she and her husband didn't have to drive at night, and I took a walk around her neighborhood and the nearby park while waiting for the birthday boy to arrive.

My birthday gift to DH were tickets to the Fellowship for the Performing Arts' The Screwtape Letters, followed by dinner at a favorite restaurant. No photos of the production were allowed, but the Portland venue (NOT a war zone as those trying to distract would have you believe), inside and out, had lots to appreciate.

As for the colors closer to home....

I finally put the canner away when I filled my available space (on the bottom shelf) with applesauce.

Then there are the sunrises, striking light, cloudscapes, and rainbows visible from our deck,

the colors around the house,

the colors on and from the hill taken during walks and rides,

and the color taken along I-5 on our way back from Eugene yesterday (my son drove Stella and me to a horse show there). The setting sun made the colors glow!

I'll try not to get caught in another avalanche anytime soon. I'll save spinning and knitting for the next post.

That's it for now from . . .

Flock and fiber

Last Wednesday the three 'barn ewes' (because they share a stall at night) – Bernice, Bitsy, and Bridget – got their toes trimmed, and the latter two got bigger coats (Bernice got a bigger coat and fleece detail shots the day her son left). Good opportunity for photos: ✅

Bitsy's fleece is jet black, always a struggle for the camera.

Bridget and Bitsy, on the left, in their bigger coats

That inspired me to look for other flock photo opps:

Mother Boop, behind, and daughter Blossom

Woolly rumps!

On Sunday afternoon I drove down to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival with a couple friends. I delivered my Clemes & Clemes drumcarder to someone who will hopefully use it more than I have (which wouldn't take much). Divesting!!! I also dropped off Bette's 2024 fleece and a washed and picked Romney lamb fleece at a mill's booth. I've had the Romney for years, thinking I'd card it with that drum carder; time to have someone else turn it into roving that I can sell or spin. I found a fellow Jenkins Junkie's champion entry in the fiber arts competition and drooled over it (along with a captivating needle-felted fox), then just walked around window-shopping until the festival closed, since the Jenkins didn't have a booth there to tempt me with their latest model and I didn't need anything else. Well, that's not quite true; soap and shampoo are essentials – and I couldn't resist this shawl magnet. 😁

The famous Wanda Jenkins on the left, with me and another fiber friend.

Check out the bead 'water droplet' at the end of the fox' paw!

I took along my biggest spindle with its plying project, the last third of Prada's black fiber, but didn't have time to sit and spin there. Two-thirds is plied and skeined, awaiting a wash so I can start knitting a Dala Sweater with it. I still need to dye my white skein red for the yolk pattern. Can I finish it by the end of the year? I also finished spinning the ounce of silk hankies that I dug out of deep stash; I'm planning to ply it with a soft, fat fingering single I have yet to spin from my first ever Inglenook Fibers purchase (from a destash).

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That's it for now from . . .