The storm around the island

I am still rather amazed that we carved out time for that trip to Kaua'i. Realizing rather late in the game that we had to have Rick signed up for Medicare before we left, we scrambled to get that done, and then when we got back, I had to finish my own enrollment. That took hours, and the paperwork it has generated – and continues to generate – is mind-boggling.

The day before we left, Poppy and I competed in an agility trial (no, I'm not crazy; I entered it before our our trip was planned). Three Qs, one of them also a blue ribbon run; my girl continues to do me proud.

Since getting back, my workload has mushroomed (think nuclear 😳). Along with the usual catch-up one faces upon returning from a trip, Rick's secretary has taken numerous days and part-days off for medical and family stuff, most of them unscheduled, and I'm the 'fall girl.' One of my few remaining graphics clients contacted me about a job that I wasn't going to refuse. And my fiduciary boss has been out of the country for the second half of October, so I've had extra responsibilities there.

Tasks at home have been looming, too. I invited a Ravelry member to stay with us when she comes for OFFF, and then pushed up against the nearly immovable twin walls of resistant men whose stuff filled the guest quarters. They have now mostly cleared it that so I can clean and prep the space – I would have done that yesterday but had to REclean the great room after Rick blew fireplace ash all over it with the shop vac while trying to prep our wood-burner for the first fire of the year.🙄

Yes, it is that season again; the weather has turned cool and wet (just in time for our visitor). I haven't taken much in the way of fall foliage photographs; I seem to always be looking skyward these days. Inspiration? Distraction? Probably the latter. Because overlaying all the work and time constrains is the heavy emotional load of watching my big red goober, Lance, decline precipitously. He appears to have DSLD, a progressive, incurable breakdown of suspensory ligaments. He is uncomfortable in spite of drugs and is losing weight; I'm afraid the handwriting is on the wall and I'm slogging through each day with an already broken heart and ready tears. Such is the price of stewardship, and love.

That's it for now from . . .

Fiber and fishing

I've been pretty good about posting 4-5 times a month, about once a week, but as I said in my last post, summertime is hectic. Still, last Sunday we took family time to smell the roses river. I took my tiniest spindle to spin up the last of the blue silk while my guys tried and failed to catch but one fish; still, we all enjoyed the peaceful setting and perfect weather. A scolding kingfisher followed us along the way, and I managed to capture one decent photo of it (along with all the other shots).

In other fiber news, I have skeined, washed and measured more handspun – the two blue-silk-plied yarns I spun up earlier this year. I think I'll use them in a two-color Buggiflooer Beanie, after considering the FFSSA Sheep and Spindle Fair Isle Hat.

Yesterday was apparently Tiny Snake Tuesday. The first of the two I saw, up by the garage, was shockingly aggressive for being the size of an earthworm – it coiled up and repeatedly struck at the toe of my boot!

I have been considering the qualities of my ewes as I ponder the possibility of breeding a few this fall. In recent years I have selected for typier tails; only Bridget, whose only offspring has an excellent tail, and Bitsy, who I don't intend to ever breed, aren't quite up to snuff. Bernadette has the best earset; the rest are closer to horizontal. The fleece quality in my flock is good-to-excellent but I will always strive for better if/when I breed. As for the "if," that depends on the results of the mid-term elections....

Bernie and her "uppy ears"

I'll close with recent sky shows, always good for perspective.

First August fog?

Sara says August fogs predict summer snows!

this morning's cloudscape

That's it for now from . . .

More of a show than the 4th of July!

Yesterday was wild, weatherwise. Thunderstorms are rare here; we've never had literally hours of lightning and thunder before in the 37 years we've lived here. One of Rick's clients lost a horse to a lightning strike, which made me worry about our horses at home in a small pasture with tall trees on either side. Fortunately everyone was fine when I got home from work; even our dogs didn't mind the weather. There were some beautiful clouds around, even while thunder and lightning continued in the distance:

We got 1/4" of rain, too, so I took advantage of the softened ground this morning and pulled weeds, then planted more bush beans and beets in the gaps where the first planting failed to germinate. I picked a tomato, and admired the other ripening produce. It's been a 'cucumber year' so far; if I'd known, I would have planted enough to make dill pickles but usually they don't grow well for me.

already harvested and eaten

Maybe the pastures will get a boost from the rain, too. The sheep have eaten down all their paddocks on the neighbors' property so are home eating hay again; the horses are still picking at their half of the neighbors' pasture . . . most of the time. The first three days of this week they had to stay home where they have access to water, since I had to cover Rick's vet office and couldn't let them in for their afternoon drink.

I've been seeing quite a few mice recently. Natural ebb and flow of populations, I guess; we had a terrible infestation in barn, tack room, and henhouse before a few years of near-absence. I'm going to have to resort to deadly measures in the tack room, as they are destroying soft things like saddle pads and blankets.

In TdF spinning, I finished the first 4oz colorway, and am now working on the second. These are both part of the Inglenook Fibers Mushroom Blends:

second turtle of 'Rosy Bonnet'

first turtle of 'Truffle'

That's it for now from . . .