Wordless, random Wednesday

Tardy Tour take-off

I had good intentions, really I did. I took my only SIP (spinning-in-progress – some white mystery fiber and my Jenkins Kuchulu Turkish spindle) with me horse-camping, intending to at least get off the starting block of the Tour de Fleece on time. But it just didn't happen – not on the 5th, or the 6th.

Last night, however, I sat down and n-plyed all four ounces of singles on my mS; woot! Now Miss Maple is empty and ready to devour some more fiber. My goal is to spin up the sundry batts and bits I've accumulated so they can be knit up into sundry gifts. Next up, the unclaimed fiber from Sara's booth that she sent me last year:

These would probably be good fibers to spin up on Turkish spindles as there is not a lot of either one, but I'm more likely to get them done on my miniSpinner. Besides, as I said, I already have something going on a spindle:

With that halo, I'm thinking bunny....

That's it for now from . . .

Daylilies, dahlias and dust

We got back yesterday afternoon from Cowboy Campmeeting. Rick and Brian arrived home first (with truck, camper and horse trailer), and were met with a sweltering house. By the time my folks and I arrived with the car (we took the scenic route home, so my parents could see Multnomah Falls and Vista House on Crown Point while traveling the Historic Columbia River Highway), Rick had cranked up the AC and the house was comfortable. As I said in my last post, July=summer here, and roads and pastures have turned dry and dusty. But daylilies and dahlias greeted us out front, and on the deck, my roses are blooming!

Today is being spent unloading the camper, watering the garden, doing laundry, and keeping everyone busy. My folks don't want to just sit around, they want JOBS to do; Brian wants to just sit around (or play), but he HAS jobs to do. Heh; you can tell how I was raised. ;-)

I haven't had a chance to download my photos from the trip yet; there are a LOT. Photos of people, horses, wildflowers, Mt. Adams, Brian's baptism, trail rides, musicians and speakers in the big tent. There was a trail challenge competition on Thursday in which I rode my horse; I was so pleased with how well he did! (Details will be on my horse blog . . . eventually.)

At home the hens stepped up production and the sheep drank so much that our chore person came out three times a day a couple times to make sure they didn't go dry. Bramble (my freemartin ewe with chronic vaginitis) was acting 'off,' so Rick had our chore person start her on treatment, which we are continuing. This morning I decided to separate the two ram lambs, Barbados and Benny, so Annabelle can dry off and Sarai can taper back her production by half. I sure wish we had gotten Benny wethered before hot and dusty fly season....

And since I know you are all so interested in the changes in our neighborhood, I took a photo of the winery construction before and after our trip:

I also took a photo as I sat in my car and waited Wednesday morning, trying to get to the airport on time to pick up my parents and drive on to Mt. Adams:

Needless to say, waiting while construction materials were off-loaded made me late and made my parents wait. This seems to be happening with increasing frequency. Isn't it lovely that the county didn't deem it necessary to require this commercial endeavor to widen the road? Just think of all those stretch limos carrying wine-tasters I'll get to wait on this fall. Yay.

That's it for now from crotchety . . .

July = summer

Heat waves, brown grass, fireworks, camping trips; yep, it's officially summer in the Pacific Northwest. You can never really count on summer weather until July (not that I was wishing for it!). Yesterday was hot (90s); today is getting hotter. Thankfully there's always the beach if you can get away (we did Saturday afternoon with a group from church).

Tomorrow morning (the earlier the better for the horses) we leave for Cowboy Campmeeting; thankfully the heat is supposed to abate somewhat. I am taking the car and picking my folks up at the airport on the way; they are joining us because Brian is getting baptized at Cowboy Campmeeting this year. Rick's mother is coming up later, along with what sounds like half of Brian's Pathfinder youth group and a sizable segment of our church congregation. I don't know if they need to see it to believe it, or are showing support. Okay, okay; I know it's the latter, but I'm telling you, the devil works extra hard when someone announces his intention to publicly commit his life to the Lord!

I'm scurrying around trying to water as much as I can as thoroughly as I can before we leave, in between packing and finishing up our church's newsletter. Our garden is looking pretty good (except for those five bare spots that are supposed to be hills of cucumbers); we'll enjoy fresh berries – and maybe even a tomato – with my parents when we return from Cowboy Campmeeting. Hopefully the blueberries will be okay until Sunday after a heavy watering tonight; we're learning just how much water it takes to keep them happy.

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Americans, and the rest of you have a great weekend!

That's it for now from . . .