Home and home

I am home again from my trip home. Strange, isn't it, how we can have more than one home? I love NW Oregon; I have never lived anywhere as long as I have lived here and I can't see myself living anywhere else. But some of my earliest memories are of Kansas and my family there, and that is where I am deeply rooted on my father's side. Someday, I will inherit some of my family's land there, as my dad has, and his father before him. And I can see my ashes buried there, in the little country cemetary near my grandparents, great-grandparents, and other distant relatives.

It was good to be with family to celebrate my grandma's life and mourn her passing. It is heart-wrenching to wonder when I will see my cousins again, now that we don't have grandparents to bring us together. Yes, we will have to make intentional efforts, but it won't be easy or often, given how far-flung we are and how busy everyone is.

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I have kept my place in the Tour de Fleece while traveling; in fact, yesterday on the final leg of my flight home, I finished all of the fiber I took with me!
I wouldn't have made such progress if I had been able to knit more. But I was not a model air traveler yesterday. First of all, starting out in Wichita, KS, I had my hairspray can confiscated and tossed. I knew it was oversized but took a chance on taking it, since I didn't have a travel size option. No biggy; TSA ignored it in Portland, so I got it to Kansas where I needed it. Since only one small personal carry-on (like a purse) was allowed on the small regional jet out of Wichita, my big carry-on was gate-checked to Chicago. But when leaving Chicago (to fly to Dallas/Ft. Worth before the final leg to Portland - I kid you not), for the first time in my flying experience there was a gate agent asking everyone to use the metal rack to prove that their carry-ons would fit in the overhead compartment. Mine, stuffed with added items that had been my grandmother's, was too fat to fit. I didn't grab my knitting pattern out of the front pocket before it was carried off to be checked, forgetting that I was ready to start the lace section in the middle of my shawl. I didn't grab my reading materials, either; at least I had my spindle!

Today I will resume spinning my fiber from Corgi Hill Farm on the miniSpinner, and continue with Inky's roving - in between setting the house to rights, doing multiple loads of laundry, watering garden and flowers, and working with my animals. Russell and I need to resume his daily walks, and I plan to halter Sarai and Marta and let them eat some green grass to improve their leading skills. I've caught up on email; I may never catch up on all the blogs I follow!

That's it for today from . . .

Sheep shots

Sarai is now dressed for success (clean-fleece success, that is!):

Marta wasn't sure what to make of Sarai's new attire, at first:

Beautiful Bramble:

Lovely Annabelle:

Those are the four adult ewes at Boulderneigh now. Annabelle carries one poll gene; I'm hoping the others carry at least one poll gene as well. I am tentatively planning to breed Cadbury to Annabelle, and Bunker to the other three. Here's hoping I don't get all white lambs next year!

That's it for now from . . .

Amethyst

This is a chunk of amethyst my hubby picked up at a rock shop in Spokane when we were there for Father's Day. He thought it was pretty. He thought I would think it is pretty. I do. I also love that my husband and son appreciate beautiful things, like flowers and sunsets and pretty rocks.

This is my amethyst yarn. The miniSpinner and I had a 45-minute date yesterday in the midst of my packing and watering and washing and readying, and then got more time in last night. I felt it was important to give it some love since it will be missing out on four days of the Tour de Fleece - and I finished the first of two braids!

Myrtle and Inky got a little love yesterday, too. Myrtle will be staying home; I don't want to risk breaking her lovely, long Swan neck. Instead, I am taking a little spinning "fix" stocked with Inky roving and my Tiny Threads Through Time Turkish spindle with its sturdier shaft.

In case I run out of fiber, I'll also have my current knitting WIP, a second Sakaki small shawl, this one with beads.

By the time you read this, I should be boarding my plane to Dallas/Ft. Worth. A change of planes there and I will fly on to Wichita, KS. It will be good to see family; to say good-bye together to my grandmother. Not good-bye, really; more of a "See you at the Resurrection!"

That's it for now from . . .

Bye bye Birdie; TdF, day 4

Yesterday Birdie's family came to pick her up. She doesn't know yet what a lucky lamb she is! Hopefully Bronwen will help Birdie feel comfortable at her new home. Christine tells me that Blackberry has settled in well, preferring the company of the dairy cows to that of the angora buck. Bronwen is very affectionate and runs up for attention whenever they go out to the sheep's quarters. I suspect Birdie will join her in doing that.

I could hear Annabelle's plaintive calls off and on throughout the afternoon; by 5:00 my own bereft feelings joined hers. No, not over Birdie; my 100-year-old grandmother finally slipped away. She had a good day Monday, interacting with my dad, uncle and others and even eating a little (something she hasn't done much of in the last few weeks). The service is on Saturday, and I have made arrangements to be there. Brian was torn between going with me and staying for his first-ever summer camp experience; camp won out and I feel bad that my boy even had to face such a choice. I'll take along some of old Inky's fiber and a small spindle for the trip, and maybe a knitting project. It helps my mind to have my hands busy.

I did spin on both spindle and miniSpinner yesterday, but not enough to show much progress.

I won't be taking my computer with me, so will have to catch up with everyone when I get back. Will probably schedule a post or two to share random photos that haven't fit in this week.

That's it for Tuesday at . . .