Gimme a break!

At first glance, the weather forecast looked like a complete wash-out for the first week of January. At closer inspection, it looks like there are breaks in the rain every other day; I can handle that!

Today was one of those breaks. Poppy got her exercise in early, running the fence with Minnie, the neighbor's female with whom she has an across-fence rivalry (they are fine together when they are on the same side):

After she was ready to come back inside and relax, I turned the ewes out and exercised both horses.

Lance and I came upon a surprising scene as we walked down the lane to pick up yesterday's mail:

On our way back, the owner of the vineyard had walked down to survey the damage while one of the winery workers took photos (followed shortly by a sheriff's deputy), so I asked what happened. Apparently (as witnessed by several winery patrons) a visitor to one of the homes past us (not the winery) was departing at a high rate of speed, and lost control of her vehicle just an hour before. Incredibly, her SUV didn't roll or flip (the bank from the road down to the vineyard is deep and steep); I think the trellis might have kept it upright. Between the damage to the vehicle, the vines, and the trellis, methinks her insurance claim is going to be high!

That's it for now from . . .

I didn't buy a single thing

If you tackled Black Friday shopping, more power to ya. The only time I left the property was when I rode Lance down the gravel road late this afternoon when it stopped raining. I had leftovers (spicy roasted sweet potatoes and a crescent roll) for late breakfast, leftover apple pie (from my MIL, sweetened with apple juice concentrate) for late lunch; the most productive I got was making a late lunch for three guys (Brian had a friend over to target-shoot) and knitting on this:

I haven't knit anything in months, and it feels good to have something on the needles again. This is practically dessert-knitting. Bunny-soft acrylic yarn in pretty periwinkle is becoming an Owl Hat for the co-worker who bought the pattern last year so I could knit it for her. She was going to choose yarn she liked but never did; I sure hope she likes this! However, another co-worker saw and loved the pattern, bought some yarn, and I knit her two Owl Hats from the skein – one for her and one for her granddaughter. She told me she wore it on her daily walks last winter; unfortunately, she didn't live to utilize it another cold season:

Speaking of co-workers past and present, the artist below is one of the former. On Monday we went as a group from the office to see her latest show, and I may have ordered a couple signed prints. But that was on Monday, not Black Friday. ;-)

The show at home is winding down after three days of wind and rain:

(You can see the same scene in earlier posts if you scroll down.) That Japanese maple on the right, in front of the house, is much more multi-colored than that photo shows. Here is a close-up that shows it better:

It is too big for that spot now, the root stock sending up multiple fast-growing trunks after the grafted top was broken off years ago. Rick wants to rip it out but I can't bear to lose this seasonal show; I keep pruning it but you can't tell. Sigh....

On my ride this afternoon, the sun came out and highlighted a distant blueberry field and golden trees (sucky iPhone distance shot, and a better one of a closer subject).

Time for a hot drink and some more knitting. Have a great weekend!

That's it for now from . . .

So much for succinct!

 On Tuesday I planned to do a short and sweet post yesterday titled "Red Wednesday" with those photos, but so much has been going on that I had to stop and catch my breath, then regroup.

The trackhoe has been hard at work since Tuesday piling all the boulders and all the brush and blackberry vines into separate piles. Part of piling the latter includes shaking each "bite" to dislodge as much dirt as possible, which a steady north breeze/wind (an unusual direction for wind here) is blowing right at us. Even though I'm keeping the windows closed, there is a heavy layer of dust on all surfaces inside as well as out. That north wind also blew the clouds away and a heat wave in by yesterday, so at least the A/C (heat pump) is on during the day now to make up for the closed windows.

several piles on Tuesday

consolidating piles

the dirt-breathing monster

Hope the wind isn't blowing our way when they light those brush piles!

With the heat blasting us, keeping the garden watered and the berries picked is critical. Yesterday we put 10 or 11 containers of marionberries, boysenberries and raspberries in the freezer. I had already picked most of the red currants; I'm afraid the white currants may shrivel on the bush before they fully ripen. The vegetable garden all looks happy, though; maybe those tomatoes will actually turn red! The grass, however, has almost all turned brown, a seasonal phenomenon that always surprises those who think the Pacific Northwest is always rainy and green.

Jackson's way to beat the heat

Yesterday was also busy on the fleece and fleece producers front. I got a call out of the blue from an acquaintance I haven't talked to in ages, asking if I had any available sheep. She's looking for a wether and two ewes; before she comes out Sunday, I've got to make the difficult decision of who I'm willing to sell, besides the obvious choice of Bogie. Problem is, I'm pretty happy with all my ewes as proven or prospective fine-fleeced Shetland breeding stock! But I can't breed when I have this many sheep, so.... The ewes that would be easier to part with aren't as friendly, but she wants friendly sheep to join her one remaining, very friendly, wether. I've also been thinking that I should let Blaise go to the breeder who has wanted her for the last two years. Selling five sheep (counting Butler) might give me the option of breeding Sarai and Vienna to Blake again this fall....

Then yesterday evening I got a message on Ravelry from the person who bought Bittersweet's fleece. She (and her co-workers at the fiber mill where she works part-time) just love his fleece, so she wanted to know what else I had. Waiting to hear if the last of my fleeces will be flying out the door together!

So far I've kept up with spinning every day on the Tour de Fleece. I'm making lots of progress on Braveheart's roving with the miniSpinner, mostly at night, although that's not the best time of day to monkey-pick out debris (this fleece came from the days before sheep suits).

I'm doing less spinning and more photo ops with my horn spindle because of the Jenkins team challenge to try and spin in a different, distinct place each day. Five days in; so far, so good. Tomorrow I may have to walk down to the neighboring winery for a new location, as I've already used up the options of my house (inside and outside).

Seeing what others are doing for TdF is inspiring. Sara turned the trashy neck wool from one of her sheep into gorgeousness. Makes me want a set of wool combs to salvage something from my flock's trashy neck fleeces. I'm seriously considering these; what do you think? Would I use them? Would I hurt myself with them?

That's it for now from . . .

Riding off into the sunset

I don't usually allow myself the luxury of taking time to ride until the end of the day. If we get our usual evening coast breeze it's refreshing then, and if we're lucky (well, if I'm lucky; I don't think Lance cares one way or the other), we get the bonus of beautiful skies.

Last night as I was getting Lance tacked up, the sky looked promising. After several clear days, there were clouds for the sun to paint on its way westward. We headed out to chase the light, me snapping photos all along the way. It was spectacular from beginning to end!

In the summer the sun rises before I usually do, but I still got a treat this morning:

Sunrises in the winter; sunsets in the summer – I am aware of the embarrassment of visual riches I get to enjoy here at . . .

Joy

It was a heavy-hearted weekend. The shock of losing my dad so quickly, hours on the phone making necessary calls and decisions from afar, not being able to get ahold of Rick for HOURS, going to church and facing all the condolences, family conflicts rearing ugly faces; I tell you, the business of death is HARD!

But by yesterday afternoon, we finally learned it is all out of our hands. What my dad and his financial guardian intended as a will isn't, and wouldn't hold up in a court of law. Others are taking control of memorial service details that I figured would be my domain; so be it. To me, nothing in this is worth fighting for, if it would damage relationships; I've held that position all along. Thankfully, a key other seems to be there now, too. What a relief!

My old iPhone has been glitching lately, and the problems reached a peak on Friday when having a functioning phone was critical (of course). Rick decided we needed to remedy that, so on Sunday we did some research and then went to Costco. Having a phone is a necessity; having a new "camera" to play with is dessert! (I've almost abandoned my digital cameras because all they all have dust inside the lenses that create spots in my photos.)

Monday I took some flower pictures before leaving for work; the new phone captured some nice detail (I encourage you to click to biggify):

On the way home from work, I had time to stop here and there to shoot what caught my eye – a luxury I rarely have. I kept my four favorite photos and played with various filters, choosing a different one for each photo. Fun!

This morning while we were eating breakfast, a bluebird landed on the bracket for the hummingbird feeder. We watched a pair flit between bird box and house, the female seeming to favor our house over the little wooden box. I waited for a chance to document her interest, figuring I would get a silhouette, and was surprised the camera actually captured some detail. I posted this photo on Instagram with the caption, "I kid you not; the bluebird of happiness is knocking on our window this morning – repeatedly!"

Later in the morning, from a different position and with better light, I captured these:

Thank-you, Lord; I haven't felt this light-hearted in weeks! "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5 I'm sure the tears aren't over, but joy is here, too.

P.S. Thank-you for all YOUR condolences!

That's it for today from . . .