Fall's siren call

I know, I know; I said I'd try not to get caught in an avalanche of photos/topics anytime soon. But my favorite season draws my eye a thousand times a day, and I can't help but try to capture some of its beauty.

But I did promise a spinning and knitting update, so I'll share that first.

I swatched for my Dala Sweater on November 1, did the maths for my skinnier yarn, and started knitting soon after. I dyed my white yarn with Tropical Punch KoolAid and am currently working the charted section. I've found knitting with fine yarn on 2..5mm needles isn't as challenging as I feared as long as I wear my bifocals and have good light.

I've also been spinning the Inglenook Fibers Bat-In-A-Braid (BIAB) that I'm going to ply with my silk hankies single. This project is way outside my  spinning norm, and I am curious to see how the finished yarn turns out. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the spin!

I've also accumulated more IF fiber (My Preciousssss) thanks to the gift certificates some sweet people I proxy-shopped for have given me. Lots of lovely spinning to look forward to – some day!

The next spinning project, after the IF singles in progress, will be the Jenkins Junkies Holiday Snacks I signed up for on Ravelry as a December spin. This was such a fun project last year that I wanted to do it again. I also signed up for my very first 'knitting club,' Kate Davies' Knitting Wester Ross. Call me crazy if you want, but with the release of just the first pattern and blog post, I'm already thrilled.

Now back to Fall's siren call. Pertinent info in captions.

Our power went out for several hours on November 3. We enjoyed the quiet evening!

On a street in Salem, traveling from my PT to visit someone in rehab.

Poppy getting cozy.

A stereotypical fall scene from our deck: bright green, gold and gray.

First look at dawn from our bedroom window; more from deck below.

Our front Japanese maple in full flame.

Another look towards the valley.

I meant to transplant this fir years ago. Now it's too big and will be our Christmas tree.

My view when Poppy stands on me to look out the window.

Mt. Hood seen from Stella's back higher up our hill.

View from our bedroom.

Rick and Brian have continued to work on the shop, laying slope-stabilizing blocks outside, and building a storage loft inside. Rick moved the remaining milled wood purchased last year into the woodshed.

I think all of the above – the fiber, the spinning, the knitting, my animals, appreciation of the Creator's beauty – are semi-conscious mental health exercises. And I'm okay with that!

That's all for now from . . .

Proof of life

After my dad died (dad #2, that is), I tried to call my mom daily to make sure she was doing okay. She didn't always hear her phone (or didn't know where it was, or had inadvertently silenced it) so after asking the neighbors to check on her at various times, I finally asked her to check in with me instead, even if it was just to text "POL" (for Proof Of Life).

I have been trying for awhile now to post here, but between a lack of discretionary time and physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, I just couldn't get 'er done. Then yesterday I got a sweet PM from a Rav-pal, checking in to see how life was going since I have so much on my plate these days and wanting me to know she is thinking of me. I took time this morning to respond to her, and decided my response, below, could be used to give my blogpals POL.

"Thanks for checking in. I'm keeping my head – well, at least my nostrils – above water and that's about it.

“My surgery date is April  9 – if I don't have to delay it. We are still in the process of moving my husband's vet clinic into the new space, and yesterday I started training a new hire in the chaos of boxes and supplies everywhere and no phone service. I have some concerns about her and if she doesn't work out, I'll have to continue covering the office until someone else can be found and trained.

“My sister and I were going to converge on my mom in TX next week to help her get ready to move from a 5-bedroom, 2-car garage house into a 2-bedroom apartment near my sister's in NE, but she adamantly refused our help so I cancelled my ticket this morning. That takes one thing off my plate but we know she is NOT going to be able to do this without our help whether she likes it or not. Since her move-in date is May 1, I won't be able to BE any help if I don't change my surgery date. But the thought of postponing makes me cry; I'm taking two Aleve twice a day and am still barely functioning at times.

“The other thing that MUST be done before surgery is getting my flock of 15 sheared. Doing it myself in my usual time- and labor-intensive way isn't physically possible; getting on a  professional's schedule is iffy. But another Shetland breeder has agreed to come help me, so I think we'll get them sheared at least. Most of the skirting will probably have to wait, but I have a few fleeces already reserved that I will do my best to skirt and ship off before surgery/recovery.

“At least my son is working again!"

I have photos on my iPhone to share but not enough time to download and save them, so I'll just add one more piece of farm news. Bridget miscarried a dead lamb, so provided none of the little escape artist ewe lambs got bred through the fence, I don't have to worry about a lambing season. A blessing in a bane, I guess.

That's it for now from . . .

So festive!

Blogging time has sprinted away from me while I've been distracted by Covid, my knee diagnosis,  playing ring-around-the-rammies, the weather, an agility trial, and my first ever Advent spin! I'm determined to get a post up today, then it's off to the races again.

Except for some residual drainage, we've all recovered from the bug. And for whatever reason, I had a full week of comfort in which my knees rarely bothered me, making my diagnosis seem an abstraction. Then yesterday they started complaining again, and I had a very uncomfortable night. Makes no sense to me; I hope to get some answers on January 20 at my appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. I asked for a surgeon who is open to bilateral surgery, and have started compiling a list of questions for him.

Last week was full of "he-jinx." The ewes have been taking turns coming into heat, standing at and walking the fence closest to the rams. All the boys were/are interested, but mild-mannered Bench turned into a jerk with the two other big boys, constantly bickering and butting. Bijou started laying down more than usual, a sign of a suffering sheep, so I texted the person who had reserved him to see if they could pick him up early, before he could get seriously hurt. Then on Saturday morning I did a double-take at chore time:

What is wrong with this picture? There's only supposed to be three.

Relieved to see that Bud, left, could still stand!

Bud, the ram lamb, has been kept in protective custody on one side of the Ram-ada Inn since he broke his shoulder. Somehow someone 'broke him out,' and there he was in the wooded lot with three mature rams in hormonal temper! Amazingly, he seemed none the worse for the experience, but I immediately set to work separating everyone for optimum safety (good thing we had to stay home from church anyway due to Covid). On Tuesday afternoon, Bijou's new owner picked him up so he's now out of the fray.

December started all aglitter, as befitting this holiday month. We awoke on Sunday (early, due to an agility trial) to our first hard frost, and it has been frosty every morning since. Frost art!

Sunday was a cold day to run agility, never getting out of the 30s. Poppy and I got two first place Qs – and got to put two tickets in the "Blew the Q" raffle (but she was still a rock star 😁).

I also started my first Advent spin on Sunday. A couple members of the Jenkins community on Ravelry volunteered to do all the work if people wanted to contribute fiber and pay postage. They did an amazing job of dividing and packaging everything into 10g fiber snacks for 58 people to open every day of December through Christmas. So far I've managed to spin each daily snack into singles, but sometimes just barely. I'm giving myself through this weekend to keep up; after that I may cut myself some slack and enjoy the fiber snacks (and the holidays!) a bit more at my leisure.

Opened and started at the agility trial!

Time to close and get back to work, but first, my daily IG/FB posts made since my last blog post:

Butternut lasagne (a family favorite) – it's what's for Thanksgiving dinner!

Happy unofficial first day of the Christmas season!

Dogs are good medicine.

My first Advent spin, thanks to a holiday fiber swap with fellow Jenkins spindle lovers on Ravelry.. Started while hanging out in the car between classes at an agility trial.

Waiting to go out on pasture in the morning.

A lovely little sunset  from horseback.

Dogs are good entertainment.

Good morning.

That's it for now from . . .