Congratulations to our son Patrick for graduating today from college. We're so very proud of you ♥

Happy Holidays, everyone

Thought I'd share a picture of our Christmas tree.
Many of the ornaments have been made by me or the
kids over the years. Each one brings back sweet
memories. :-)

I hope you enjoy this.

And I also hope you have a safe, happy holiday -- whichever
you celebrate.

Since the flowers have mostly gone, the trees are
turning Autumn colors or losing their leaves,
I thought I'd share a little of our backyard
beauties from this Spring/Summer.

I'm honestly afraid to ride my bike.

Recently wrecked while riding, and fell on my left side,
spraining my shoulder.
Had to go to After Hours Care on Saturday. Doctor took
several x-rays to rule out any fracture of my shoulder,
arm and ribs -- all came out okay. But soft tissue
injuries hurt like heck, and can take longer to heal.
He put me on Medrol (cortisone) for the
inflammation, and Tramadol for pain.
I'm also using ice packs, and Capzaicin cream.
The Medrol made me so nauseous this morning,
in spite of taking it with food, that I had to stop
taking it. Even antacids didn't help.
But it has taken down some of the swelling
so it did do SOME good.
This is the third time in couple months that I've
wrecked on my bike, always falling on my left side!
I'm just so tired of being in pain, and limited
in what I can do.

I walk into the garage, see my bike, and don't feel
the same excitement I used to. Maybe I wasn't meant
to have one after all.

My husband felt so bad about the incidents with the previous bike, that
he took me shopping for a replacement. TA DA!! This one’s just the right
height for me: 24 inches. Rides like a dream; the
first night I rode for 45 minutes, I had so much fun. :-)

Yes, I did wreck the second day: was coming out of the alley,
thought I heard something metallic behind me -- like maybe something had
come loose. Pulled on the left handlebar, went for the curb
and lost control, falling flat on my chest and upper arms. I’d relaxed into
the fall, realizing that fighting it would only cause more pain and even a break.
Suffice to say that the next day I was soooo sore.
Only damage to the bike was a little rough patch on the edge of the right pedal.
DS checked it out and said it was fine, but cautioned me to slow down.
I’ve been riding it every day since, and yes I heeded his loving advice
and have slowed down: no more crashes or injuries.

This is a 24” Next “Tiara” girl’s mountain bike -- perfect height
once we adjusted the handlebar and seat heights.

I almost forgot: went to the bike shop down the street to look for accessories.
The one I couldn’t pass up was the red under-seat bag, that has reflective tape
on it, which I’ll keep bike tools,and a couple pre-wrapped snacks and glucose
tabs, etc. in (I’m diabetic).

Nothing on the radar, and I’ve gotten all the housework done. Guess what
I’ll be doing after lunch today! :-)

ETA: I ride for an hour every day now! :-)
(and sometimes twice, if the weather’s good)

More baking

Yesterday morning, I started bean soup in the crock pot
for the night's dinner. Thought corn bread for the others
sounded great, but found I didn't have enough cornmeal. So
I called my friend Keneil (we get our eggs from her farm)
to see if she had any. To my great pleasure she told me
yes, that it's meal she grinds from the corn she grows.
I loved the rougher texture, and the loaf came out incredible.
Everyone loved it.
We kept half, and gave her the other.

I also baked a loaf of white bread, for me (allergic to
corn). One of the bread machines has a Fast Loaf setting,
so that the bread is finished in one hour. Different
texture than the ones baked longer, but it's delicious.

One of the benefits of bread machines is that on
HOT days like we've had for over a month, it doesn't
heat up the kitchen.

Still smells great, though. :-)

Mmmmmmmmmm!

Don't you just love the aroma of bread baking?

Every Spring our village has a town-wide garage
sale: anyone who wants to have one, can.
We never do, just love going around to as many
as possible to find great deals.

Two of the great deals we found (well, actually
I did lol) were bread baking machines. One only
cost us $8, and the other $4 -- but I didn't find
out til we got home with it, that the $4 one
didn't have any instructions! I went online and
found them; DS gave them to me as part of my
Mother's Day gift from him.
It's nice having both, as they have different
ways to bake, and both have great recipes.
I use them at least twice a month now, when
I was doing so every day in the beginning!!

A little while ago this afternoon I baked a
loaf of egg bread.
A dear friend of mine raises her own chickens,
free range with no antibiotics or growth hormones.
The eggs we buy from her every week are the most
delicious, with yolks the color of deepest yellow
I can't describe. Consequently the egg bread is
amazing-looking.
I also currently have a loaf of (eggless) white
bread in the bread machine.
Oh, and I made egg salad for dinner with some
of the eggs (I'm having leftover pork roast
instead -- not a fan of egg salad).

Well, anyway, my house smells amazing, and
I can't wait to find another reason to bake
a loaf of bread again.
Knowing me it won't be long. :-)

Bye bye new bike

Well, so much for my new bike, darnit.
Our son got it all ready for me to ride, now that
the heat has gone down for a day or two & I took it out.

Rather, it almost took ME out.

Yes, it's been a long time since I've ridden a 'real'
bike. But isn't there a saying that makes it seem
like it would be easy?
Sure felt great, and with all the confidence of
someone who's ridden in the past I took off down
the alley and down the street. Cruising along
nicely, I came to a corner to stop. Too fast
..... and fell.
Then something on the right dug in and left a not-so-pretty
reminder of what I'd just done, above my right ankle,
as I fell on my left side.

(I removed the picture of what happened to my
leg. It's healing, but I didn't think you'd
want to see it anymore. Can't blame ya!)

I picked myself up, dusted myself off,
and started all over again -- to the house
to clean and bandage my wounds.

Figuring it was just a stupid error on
my behalf, I painfully got back on the "horse"
and went off to ride my bike again.
Only to fall off onto my left knee and skin
it in two places.
More soap and water, peroxide, Lanacaine, and
a bandage. Changed from shorts to old jeans,
and had a really nice ride for about half an
hour, being extra extra careful. No accidents
this time!

But boy am I starting to ache all over, and know
that tomorrow's going to be ten times worse.

Son felt so bad about what happened, even
though it wasn't his fault. He put a lower,
smaller seat on the bike, thinking it may
be the problem, but it's not. I still
couldn't ride it. He feels the bike
is just too big for me, that it's a bigger, taller
woman's bike (I'm only 5 ft. 2). So he's going to keep
the bike around for himself or friends to ride (very nice
bike; neither of us wants to get rid of it) or maybe
sell, and said he'll help me to get a mountain bike that's
just right for me.
Incredible, isn't he? <3

Picture of bike we pick out coming hopefully soon.
In spite of the spills I took, and the wounds,
I really enjoyed riding a bike again. :-)

Deal of the day, week, month, year .....

This morning I went to a garage sale around the corner from my house.
Bought a womans’ 5-speed Roadmaster mountain bike, with Shimano
shifters, for myself for $10 (talked the lady down from $15). :-)
Needs a little TLC, but I’ll be riding it in no time. That is
after our son gives it a once-over and sees what needs to be
attended to/fixed -- and the heat abates.



After patting myself on the back for finally finding myself a bike,
I went out to the garage and looked her over with a critical, but
kind, eye. I saw she’s been ignored in the person’s garage for a while.
On a positive note, instead of the hard, uncomfortable seat most
bikes have this one's got a nice thick gel seat. Ah, comfort!
Chain is rusted, as are some of the bolts, and the rear tire’s gone
flat from sitting unused.
I’m sure it won’t take much to get her up and running again.

First I’m getting a well-fitting helmet. Then off to see what ‘extras’ I can
find (water bottle/clamp; basket/bag for handlebars, and one for behind the
seat).
I've been wanting a bike, and been looking for one for about 2 years.
This was definitely worth the wait. :-)

Not going to be a Lace Ribbon Scarf after all

Have you ever gotten beautiful yarn like this, that spoke to you
right away? Told you exactly what pattern it should be knitted
up into? You agree and cast on, with dreams of the soft silkiness
wrapped around your neck, a perfect compliment to the
outfit you're wearing.




Okay, knitting commences: ssk's and yo's perfectly executed .....
until you get to the last five, not six stitches called for in the
row. You try to undo it one stitch at a time so you don't
have to start all over again. Doesn't work. Second cast-on
commences. Same thing happens all over again.
Third cast-on: didn't yo correctly.
Fourth cast-on. Gives up for the night and leaves it OTN to
move forward the next morning.

Breakfast eaten, cup of freshly-brewed coffee in hand, I approach
the couch and my WIP. I set the coffee on the table in front of me,
pick up the scarfthatmaybedoesn'twanttobe, and start knitting.
Looks good so far, into the first row.
Second row good.
Third row's a charm? NOT.

This yarn is playing a far from amusing joke on this knitter.
Saw me coming a mile away, and figured I was
fair game -- an easy target.

Well, pretty yarn, you have another thing coming.

There's plenty of other lacy patterns out there that would be
only too happy to help me wrestle you into submission.
So, pretty yarn, I can be as stubborn as you: I'm off to
Ravelry to find the perfect scarf pattern to end your "fun".

You won this set of rounds but I'm not done with you yet.

Plunder from 2011 Upper Valley Fiber Fest

Now that the UVFF is over for this year, I'm saving to get more goodies
at Wool Gathering (in Yellow Springs, Ohio) in September.

Here's what I spoiled myself with:


From Expertly Dyed: Art by Science of Urbana, IL (Jennifer Beamer) www.expertlydyed.com
Bottom whorl drop spindle
I asked Jennifer if she could make me a bottom-whorl,
as she only had top-whorl there.
She made one and had it to me within DAYS.
Can't wait to start playing with it. :-)



From Tina Streuver, beautiful yarn that will definitely
become a scarf for yours truly:




From Valhalla Acres Fiber Farm of Hopewell, OH (Jane Evans)
www.valhallaacres.com
"Deep Sea Greens"
Australian Merino



From Valhalla Acres Fiber Farm of Hopewell, OH (Jane Evans)
www.valhallaacres.com
One ball of hand painted Australian merino gifted
to me by a dear friend; the other I bought.
The colorway is "Taco Salad"



From Valhalla Acres Fiber Farm of Hopewell, OH (Jane Evans)
www.valhallaacres.com
Bought by me
2 are 'rainbow'
2 are 'painted rainbow'
Australian Merino



From Tri-Valley Alpacas of Brookville, OH
(Gary & Maryann Simpson)
www.tri-valleyalpacas.com

An alpaca backpack, made in Peru.
Got a great deal on it; they're eliminating the
Peruvian articles from their stock, preferring
to sell locally-made items.




From Snow Leopard Trust of Seattle, WA (Janice Poole)
gina@snowleopard.org
Snow Leopard trust is an organization that is dedicated
to saving them from extinction. All the items they
sell, are made in Mongolia, and the
funds go back to help save the snow leopard.
These handmade wool coasters will be a wedding
gift for a friend.




From The Trading Post for Fiber Arts of Pendleton, IN (Sue Markle) www.tradingpostfiber.com

Two pictures of the yarn I plan to make the Brady scarf
with; it's like the Swiss Cheese Scarf. I saw it already
made-up, and with the rainbow
of colors it would go with everything.






Also from Trading Post is a gift another dear friend spoiled
me with.
Two skeins of Mountain Colors "Silk 'n Ewe" yarn in
'Mountain Tango' colorway.
Once I stop "loving" and "petting" it, I'll let it tell me
what it wants to be.
It's so soft, I can't stop touching it.



And from Trading Post I got a copy of Knit & Spin
Lots of great articles (one by Abby Franquemont about
drop spindles), and patterns.
Many of the articles are from previous issues
of Spin-off, but I think it's nice to see/read
them again.
Love the magazine. :-)




From Circle Hill Farm of Bradford, OH (Kathleen Bartley)
www.circlehillfarm.com
I HAD to buy her last 2 balls of white Shetland fiber.
So incredibly amazing to spin.




The next 5 pictures are all from
Stitch Sisterz of Toledo, OH (Bonnie Riley)
www.stitchsisterz.com

Pink wool and angora DK yarn -- from Russia. I plan to
make a Lace Ribbon Scarf with this, once I get 2 pair
of socks off the needles.



Four large cones of wool yarn. I know it's used for weaving,
but will knit with it instead. Only plan for it at
present is to enjoy looking at/petting it.



Three skeins dark (doesn't show color well in picture)
green wool/angora Russian yarn.
No project in mind at present.



2 skeins dark pink Russian wool/angora yarn, that is
earmarked for a pair of cable-y socks for yours truly.



Cute project bags (I actually got two blue, one green).
I love that they open up & sit beside you like a
little box; great for sock-knitting.
(the picture doesn't show how flat they
sit -- sorry)




Hold onto your hat: Bonnie is moving out of state,
across the county
and didn't want to pay the moving company by wt.
for all her magazines and books
(can't blame her!!).
She was letting her magazines
go for 50 cents each or 3/$1, and books 6/$5.
I bought ALL the books in this picture for $5 for
the whole bunch! Wish you could
have seen the 2 (or was it 3) long tables stacked
high with all the books and magazines she
was letting go.



Last but certainly not least:
Bagaholic me had to get one of our new Upper Valley
Fiber Fest totes. Heavier canvas, nice sturdy handles,
and a flat bottom so you
can put more fiber goodies in it.
Only $10
(A shameless promo lol)

The Upper Valley Fiber Fest is now history for 2011. Next year's
(2012) dates are Saturday May 19 and Sunday May 20.

I had a great time, the vendors as always were wonderful;
we've become not only business partners, but truly friends :-)

Yes, I did buy a LOT of goodies -- will post more about them,
with pictures, in a couple of days.

Upper Valley Fiber Fest 2011

The fifth annual Upper Valley Fiber Fest will be held on
Saturday May 21, 2011 from 9 am to 5 pm,
and Sunday May 22, 2011 from 11 am to 4 pm
at the Merchant’s Building of the Miami County Fairgrounds in Troy, Ohio .
ADMISSION IS FREE.
This festival will be a celebration of spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet, felting and all things fiber related.
There will be a Weave-in on Saturday,
and a Spin-in on Sunday.
Easy access to the festival from Interstate 75.
Visit our web site http://www.uppervalleyfiberfest.org for driving information and maps.
The Merchants Building, in which the show is located, only permits service animals so please remember to leave your pets at home.

SKIDADDLE On In for a Sweet Give Away!
How many of you can say that you are *in love* with your
diabetes bag?
Not me, that's for sure!
Go to http://www.theprincessandthepump.com
to read the story of how Skidaddle Bags were invented,
and to enter the contest to win an Apple Hipster.

The contest is over, but my number wasn't picked.
Congratulations to the winner!!

Plunder from Wool Gathering

This past Saturday and Sunday, the annual A Wool Gathering
fiber festival was held in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

One of the vendors was the Upper Valley Fiber Guild,
of which I am a member. Many of us put our wares in
the booth (2 spaces)to hopefully sell, plus worked the
booth either to run it or demonstrate our skill(s).
Most of my 3-hour shift I was sitting outside the booth,
in shade and a nice breeze, demonstrating spinning with
my Ashford Traveller. I love doing this! People were
fascinated with the process, and just loved watching.
And plenty stopped by to ask questions about it,
or to try it out. Fiber festivals are a great place
to try before you buy! Anyway, of course there were kids
who were fascinated with the process,but it were told
"look,don't touch" by the parent/grandparent while
they or I explained what I was doing. Every time I
demo -- like at the Darke County Fair last month --we get
pretty much the same reactions. Peope justlove to
see the "old" type equipment in action!

After my stint in the booth, DH and I sat down at
the shelter and ate the lunch we packed.
Then, it was on to SHOP SHOP SHOP

Top left in the picture are three balls of fiber: pink,
brown, and a little white mixed in. (Sorry the one looks
flat; it got a little squished on the way home.) Fiber
content is BFL cross. I'd bought one ball earlier this
year at the Upper Valley Fiber Fest
http://uppervalleyfiberfest.org
at Valhalla Acres' booth.
Once I started spinning it, I realize I should have
gotten more. So I went to her booth at WG and she had
three more!! I don't have a particular
project in mind yet; guess I'll see how much yardage
results before deciding on a pattern.

In the left of the picture are two more balls of
fiber from her booth, 60% BFLX and 40% mohair.
Pretty sure this will be a lacy scarf for me when
spun/plied.

Next to that are two skeins of 100% Merino sock yarn,
but the color is a little darker than shown. I don't
recall the name of the vendor. Interesting that
all of the yarn in her booth is from Russia; the vendor
had bought the stock from someone else who was
going out of business. Wish I'd bought more .....

Bought a pattern from Ewe and I Originals, that is
a cabled Christmas stocking. I love cables, and
even though we probably will only use it for
decoration, I have to knit it! So pretty.

Then we have a bright, sunny yellow hank of sock
yarn from Fiber Optic Yarns. All the socks I've
made for myself so far are DARK. So DH helped me
choose this one; he's got great taste.
It's a batik, called Good Morning Sunshine!
80% superwash merino, 20% nylon.

Above that are 3 standard bobbins for my wheel.
A friend of mine gave me a bag with several
balls of hand-dyed fiber in them, to spin for
her. Oh, last year she bought two balls of
fiber from Valhalla Acres and had me spin it,
likes the way I spin, and wants me to do
more for her.
She went to that booth at WG and found there
were more of the ones I'd spun for her,
plus bought a couple balls in another
colorway. So I'm going to be busy for a
while, spinning for my friend and for myself,
hence the need for more bobbins. DH is
going to stain the bobbins for me, same
color as my wheel and other bobbins (we still
have a can of that particular color).

A bottle of Eucalan wool wash in "eucalyptus" scent.
At the last UVFF I bought a bottle of unscented,
and really don't like it. Think I'll blend
both, and have two bottles eucalyptus.
The unscented is half-empty, so won't dilute
the eucalyptus too much.

Last but not least: the current issue of
Wild Fibers magazine. I love it, and one
day may just subscribe (been saying
that for the past four years lol)

We left mid-afternoon. Stopped at Taco
Bell for dinner -- it's a tradition we
started 4 years ago.
Then, I tucked away the $40 I didn't spend,
to add to over the months to spend at our
next fiber festival.

This past week, Premier Yarn was having drawings on
their blog.
The first day, it was to "premier" their addition
to the patterning Serenity sock yarn: solids.
Each person was to leave a comment, and
the next day a name would be drawn. The winner
would receive one skein of each of the 12 new colors.

The next morning they chose the winner: ME!!

Today the yarn arrived, and as you can see it's
just gorgeous.
It's also just as soft and yummy as the patterning;
the bamboo must make it that way.

I have a few ideas for the yarn. One is a pair of
"monster" socks, using a couple of the solids with
leftovers from numerous other
socks I've knitted.

Spoiled rotten!

One of the forums I belong to on Ravelry, is
Swap on a Budget. Twice a year we do a swap
with $20 as the limit, and have to include
in the box one skein of new yarn, and an item
we've made.
It's a lot of fun putting all the goodies
together for your swap partner: Dollar Tree is
one place I go to for it, plus Jo-Ann, etc. My
spoiler went to Tuesday Morning and other places
for my spoilage, and did an incredible job as
you will see:




From top left:
Washed Coopworth fleece; will make very pretty yarn
Creative Couture yarn holder -- will be great for doing 2 socks at a time!
an incredible braid of fiber: Merino and tussah silk in “Poison Apple” colorway from Susan’s Kitchen
handmade for ME, handpainted PRETTY!!!!!! drop spindle
Wonderful note from my spoiler :-)
calculator
notebook
gift cards with my initial on them, tied with a bit of her handspun
point protectors
row counters
flex-net reading light (will come in handy to knit by, next time we lose power during a storm!)
Ravelry sticker
2 rolls memo tape (other is orange)
crochet hook (always misplacing mine!) for picking up stitches
pen/tape measure with the most appropriate saying on it!!
Skein of Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks
and last but not least:
2 gorgeous pair of heart earrings
and a set of the prettiest millefiore heart stitch markers
Made just for me by my spoiler
(wish they’d shown up better in the picture)

"I cannot think that we are useless,
or God would not have created us.
And the sun, the darkness, the winds are
all listening to what we have to say."
~ Geronimo

World Wide Knit In Public Day

The weather was forecast to be sizzling hot,
but fortunately a front moved in and cooled
things off a bit. Oh, and there's a really
pleasant breeze -- plus very few clouds in a
beautiful blue sky.
There's a WWKIP event down at the LYS a couple
towns away, but I didn't really feel like
driving.
So, I had fun knitting on our front porch
which faces the main drag of our town.
Got a few glances from passers-by; no one
stopped to join me, darnit.
Still had a good time, though! :-)
I'd be interested to hear how others
"celebrated" the day.

Happy Anniversary to us

37 years ago today, I married the love of my life.
We celebrated our anniversary by exchanging gifts,
and having dinner out.

I'm looking forward to the next 37+ years with my
incredible husband.