Meanderings of a Mermaid

 Have you been there? It is truly grand - the Grand Canyon. This is New Year's Eve morning. It was a day to celebrate geology and the powers of erosion. I'd like to hike and camp down in the canyon but they don't allow dogs on the trails. Poo!  This pinnacle is at Sedona. Another geological wonder. Tourists clogging everything, everywhere. I'm not used to that.  There is a forest of Joshua Trees between Kingman and and Vegas. They are pretty bizarre looking. I need to learn more about them but apparently the wood can be utilized. Here are some of the colours of the Grand Canyon. I'm glad I finally got to so and see it with my own eyes.

 Here is the first bit off yarn produced off the Minstrel spinning wheel here at Home South. I am a beginner at this, having spent only a little bit of time spinning on the antique wheel at Home North this past summer. This fibre was given to me by two friends and some was washed and some wasn't. The more greasy fibre had lumps which translate into the poofy bits you will see below.  I washed the Romney wool after it was plied, and most of the grease and other junk came out no problem. In this second photo the two hanks are drying outside. I am learning about fibre preparation now and next time I will do the prep all before hand. That will make the fibre easier to spin. I found carding combs at an antique store and made my own hackle for blending and aligning fibres.  The final product of the gifts of Romney wool. It's about 166.5 m and 113g. It is very soft and after washing and whacking against the wall (really) the resulting yarn has bloomed nicely. And...

 A good chunk of the summer was taken up with building a boat barn. BS and the local lumberyard owner designed it, and my builder buddy, GA, did an amazing job leading the charge. Of note are the ten foot high walls and the 9 foot high garage doors at both ends! This feature allows us to pull through with the large boat and not have to jockey around and break stuff.  The safety inspector came by a lot but always seemed to be asleep. BS was the capable assistant on the whole job and I stepped in when Amazonian might was required. No humans (or safety inspectors) were hurt during the build.  Ta Da! Here is the finished beauty. No it's not at the water's edge. I don't allow any man made structures down there. The otters, and turtles and fish own that area.  We have a large landing area with a good boat launch, and BS even improved on that so we can circle around with a trailer and not have to shimmy around.  By fall the boat barn was done and we could zo...

The cardinals chased the chickadees away this morning; the feeder covered in frost and still in the crisp air. Like most mornings, I was typing away at my desk, gazing at the nature outside the window. Suddenly this horse walked up to the feeder and all the birds scattered! He walked around the corner of my house and towards a busy side road! I quickly threw on some shoes and a jacket, grabbed two carrots on BS's prompting, and found a newly purchased length of rope. The horse was munching the new grass in our back field, enjoying the smorgaasbord I'm sure. Although this horse knows me a little (lives right across the street now) he spooked as I walked up and went further down this busy road. He stopped at the neighbour's at another great clump of long grass. Carrot extended I got his attention and managed to slip a loop around his neck. He took it all very well, eager to chow down on the rest of the carrot in my hand. I started to walk him back to his home and ...

Incredible, wouldn't you say? These wild irises grow all over down by the water at camp.

Ta Da!! Here is the Minstrel Spinning Wheel, set up in my guest bedroom. Notice the chestnut quarter horse grazing in the first field and the sheep in the next pasture! Okay, so the glare didn't allow for that... behind the chair is a Schwinn exercise bike, so the room is now devoted to spinning round and round. I bought the wheel unfinished and then applied two coats of tung oil to protect it a bit. This wheel is virtually identical to the antique one I bought in April, which now happily inhabits my studio in the North. Now to the nitty gritty shots. Here is a close up of the flyer and my first "production". I can't call it yarn yet, it has to be plied and then I can knit with it. Two friends have given me Romney wool fleece to get me going and this is the product of what GM gave me. OK , so there are thick and thin bits... would you believe me if I said that's the effect I am going for? There is a presumption that I will get better as time goes on. We shall s...