Meanderings of a Mermaid

 Before we left camp in November 2011, there had been two lights snows. Autumn leaves were cloaked in white mantles. It wasn't cold and it wasn't stormy: an easy way to slide into winter. Here is the camp road under the first mantle of snow. We walked the dogs and left our footprints in the still of the morning. Everything is so pretty, etched in snow. Here is one of the two soapstone mermaids that I affixed to large boulders this past summer. One for sure is a Sedna image, because she is crying out in anguish after losing her fingers. In this image, the mermaid is sitting and waiting. I placed her on the rock, facing towards Texas, so she could know that we are on our way back. Not yet, but soon we will return to the place that anchors our soul to this existence.

 [The text wants to come it at the bottom today, so here it is]. We started off harmlessly enjoying the San Antonio Boat Show. Plush campers and dazzling wake boarding boats captivated us for hours. Towards the end of our visit there, an interesting feature of the kayaks offered by Hobie caught our eye. The pedal-powered drive mechanism is truly well designed. It mimics the work of a penguins wings as it flies underwater. (see the image where there are two turbo fins hanging down near the bow. You can see the pedals above the gunwales in the same image). A little more research at home and we were convinced to purchase such a cadillac of kayak fishing. We will go pick up our new fish catcher in the spring, in Canada... so stay tuned for lots of reviews and pictures. And here's a warning to those elusive bass monsters in our shallow bays. LOOK OUT, HERE I COME!

 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 ...