Almost Summer...

And we're still having frost warnings! Nonetheless, my garden is thriving (we finally had a good rain yesterday afternoon) and I'm loving the view from my kitchen window. This is my lilac, at the end of the back yard. To the right and up the yard from it are two flowering crabapple trees -- one pink and one deep burgundy (with matching leaves), and there's another one -- white -- on the east side of the yard, too.

I've been doing some stitching outside when it's been warm enough -- and when I wasn't totally absorbed in pruning trees and planting perennials. I am also the lucky recipient of some re-cycled bark chips from my friend B, which I've been using to mulch the perennial bed. A couple more bagsful and I should be set.

I've also been busy washing fleece, finishing a project for the Heritage Park show, taking a stitching class, and knitting, knitting, knitting. No photos of the cleaned fleece -- but suffice it to say that I have enough to pick, card and spin to keep me going for a good long while!

The stitching class was "Turkish Delight", given by Gary Clarke from Australia, at the annual Fibre Potpourri at Olds College (not to be confused with Fibre Week, which is at the end of June). This year the Potpourri was organized by the Edmonton Needle Arts Guild, but

there was a good turn-out from Calgary too -- and some gals came in from Saskatchewan and others from B.C.

The weather was fabulous, the food was pretty good,

and the company was tops. I'd thought it was a canvas-work class,

but the technique used photo transfer on closely-woven fabric,

so there was no counting. Each of us chose our own colours; I went

with an autumn theme and used mainly threads from a sample pack I'd been given by Jeannette Douglas on the cruise I took with her in January. To the right is a photo of our class' work, taken near the end of the weekend. Since I got back, I've added more

satin stitch in a variegated silk from Gloriana Threads (#115 - "Topiary"), finished inserting the 'crystals' around the central motif, and have begun couching some narrow gold and rust-coloured braid around the outside edge. The cord is from a bundle of Oliver Twist 'One-offs' in the 'Chocolate' colourway that I bought somewhere some time ago -- don't ask for details! LOL!

"Where's the knitting?" you might well ask. It's been a full and inspiring month for knitting, too. I've finished one of the "Ilene Bags" (a free pattern in Ravelry, designed by Hannah Ingalls) in elann.com Esprit Print -- a gift for my BFF, P, who will be visiting later this month from Montreal; I've finished the Sierra Breeze prayer shawl from The Prayer Shawl Companion, and have started another PS in basketweave. I've also finished several dishcloths! My next goal is to finish up the four (count 'em -- four) pair of socks I've got stacked in my WIP pile, so I can move easily on to the Sweet Tee (Interweave Knits, Spring 2009) for my daughter. The photos are posted in my Ravelry FO set in my flickr photostream, here. :-) That's all the catching up I have energy for today. I need to get going on a small commission I have taken on for a local quilt shop.

More later!

Planned to be Obsolete

Sigh. My two-and-a-half year-old bread-maker is having a problem. The parts that secure one of the bread-mixing paddles to the bread pan have come loose, and fall off during bread-making, with sometimes troublesome results -- such as incomplete mixing -- so that sometimes I end up with a full loaf, sometimes a 1/2 loaf, and sometimes just "cooked flour".

Sigh. I've hammered the piece back together 3 times now, and after yesterday's 1/2 loaf (I know; it's better than none!) thought I'd try to get it fixed. Dumb idea. I called the company's 1-800 number, and was advised that "we don't have those repair centres any more" and that I could buy a new part -- i.e., an entirely new bread pan, paddles and all for a mere $40.86 CAD, including shipping from Ontario. It'll be here within 10 days.

Sigh.

Catchin' Up with Photos

I've been knitting away -- and working in my yard/garden -- so haven't taken time to post. However, today is cloudy and cool, presenting the perfect opportunity to do a bit of desk-and-computer work.


First, to the pending garden -- AKA the sunny counter in my back room -- where the cherry tomatoes have been transplanted to larger pots and are growing apace!






Not to be outdone, so is the spaghetti squash, given to my by my friend, C, in exchange for a couple of the tomatoes once they are large enough. In fact, since I took this photo, the squash has developed buds that will soon want to bloom. I hope it'll hang on for another 3 weeks or so -- so that it will be warm enough to transplant it outdoors!


On the knitting front, I finished the April Mid-month washcloth -- April Showers -- and it has taken up residence in my kitchen. The May cloth, which I've just begun (this morning!) will follow suit, as I move away from disposable dishcloths. I knit this one in Bernat "Handicrafter Cotton" and really like its softness and absorbancy.


I managed to finish my Mitred Scarf in time for the Library's silent auction fund-raiser -- and I know that it sold, but not for how much. I'm a bit nervous to ask the librarian, too, as that seems...well...rather forward -- plus I don't think I really want to know if the price was low-balled! Darn it; I was certain I'd taken a photo of the finished article, but don't know where it is -- and my camera is empty. Sigh.... I guess that's all for now. Stayed tuned, though; there's more Work in Progress!

I Keep Forgetting

That I'm not a kid; that almost-57 is closer to 60 than it looks... Yesterday I took advantage of the great weather and spend 4 1/2 hours raking my back yard and getting the leaf mulch off my plants and bushes. I swear I took breaks -- 1/2 hour after the first 2 hours, and another hour (for dinner) after the 3rd...but I awoke at 3 a.m. with a nasty surprise.

Now, I've been gardening since I was a kid, and did the same sort of work as recently as a year ago. However, in the wee hours of this morning, I was wakened with pain -- achy muscles and joints -- in both shoulders, right down to my finger tips! Granted, I had postponed my after-garden bath till this morning, because I also wanted to wash my hair, and didn't want to risk a serious case of bed-head. The alternative? There I was at 3 a.m., slathering leg-and-muscle lotion on my arms and shoulders, followed by a dose of Ibuprofen. Eventually, I went to sleep -- and got up this morning feeling much better. Then I did have my bath -- with lovely White Tea epsom salts (a gift from a dear friend) -- and washed my hair, and feel pretty fit.

That said, I'm going to take my walk today, but leave the front yard for Monday! LOL!

Earth Day

What have you been doing?

I haven't done anything...out of the ordinary. Why?

1. I compost. I've done so for years. Even after my move out of the city, I have at least 1/2 a compost bin of lovely stuff with which to fertilize my new garden beds;
2. I have a blue box. Even before the City took over recycling (and put my private recyling company out of business by not hiring it on a contract), I paid $10 per month for the removal of my paper, plastic, metal (cans) and glass. Now that I am in a hamlet, I put the stuff in my blue box and take it to the recycle bins myself -- in a village about 10 minutes away -- making sure I have another reason to go to that village, or that it's on my way somewhere else;
3. I shop -- especially for groceries -- with green plastic boxes and fabric bags;
4. I use a local thrift store for nearly-new (i.e. "gently used") clothing, yarn, and household goods. I volunteer at one once a month -- and on Saturday, someone contributed $13.00 worth of energy-saver lightbulbs. Go figure. His environmental irresponsibility is someone else's environmental gain.
5. I re-use paper bags and ziplock bags; I store food in re-usable containers, cutting down on plastic wrap and tin foil.
6. I return empty cans and bottles via a local Bottle Depot.
7. I drive a small, fuel-efficient car; I keep it maintained and running smoothly.
8. I pick up litter when I go on walks, and take it home to throw out properly.
9. I give away re-usable clothing and furnishings, rather than throw them out.
10. I take old and non-functioning electronics to a proper electronics recycling depot.

What's your plan for today? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Next year?

"Live Green."

Sheepy Saturday!

The weather was gr-r-r-eat, the company was too...and I came home with about 5 lb. of Shetland fleece, too boot. Here are the photos:

These wee guys (gals?) were excited to be watching the action in the shearing area. I think they're Cotswolds, or CotswoldXes. Aren't they cute?!

Tracy, the shearer, began with Penelope, which I think is either a Shetland or a Columbian. After shearing, Tracy clips the sheeps' hooves and administers shots (immunizations?). Apparently, T Burns a couple hundred calories per sheeep that she shears!



Here's my buddy, B, getting ready to teach me how to 'skirt' a fleece. This means we're going to go around it, pulling off and throwing away the 'nasty bits' -- dirt, poop etc. -- that collect around the butt, legs etc. This is done prior to the fleece being weight and priced, so that the buyer doesn't pay for this waste.




All hands on deck as fleece is checked for any last bit of unwanted materials.












These sheep were shorn the day before we got there. Although the sun was warm, I thought they looked pretty disgruntled in there 'nekked' state! LOL!





There are alpaca and lamas on the farm, too. The black and white one seemed to ask, "You lookin' at me?!"





Here's the smaller of my two fleece, about 1.5 lbs, from a fellow named 'Ulrick'. He's an 'intermediate' Shetland. Very pretty!



And here's my 3 lb., 12 0z. fleece from Rebecka, an off-white Shetland; I saw Tracy shear here with my own eyes, and everyone agreed I got a very good fleece in this one. As for what I want to do with them...well, I definitely want to dye some of the white one, but I'm not sure whether I'll do that in the pre-spun stage or after spinning.

My goal is to have at least some of the fleece ready to take to the Twisted Sisters' retreat in mid-June, so I can learn to used the drum carder with it. Next year, I'd like to be ready to spin a slightly trickier fleece -- such as the shorter-haired South African Meat Merino (SAMS). It's going to be a real learning curve -- but fun -- and that's not a ba-a-a-ad combination! ;-)

Ah, Well...

Maybe next time. My entry, "Picked for the Ripening", wasn't selected for The 2010 Quilting Arts calendar...but the subject matter (tomatoes) was popular. I'm looking forward to actually seeing the pieces. The tricky bit with entering a 12" square piece using 8"x10" photographs (that's right -- no e-mailed images) is that colour is really an issue. While I did my best with the photography, it could be that it isn't going to work in a glossy calendar.

The good news is -- it's the perfect size for a donation to the 2009 SAQA auction -- so next week I'll be putting a sleeve on it and sending it out.

Now I must away -- I'm off to Crossfield to watch sheep shearing today!