Two New Pets:))

Well I was visiting another site and she had a little lamb. No her name isn't Mary :) So I checked it out and picked up Marty and Licorice. You can pet Marty, he will follow your cursor. Licorice eats alot and scratches. Now if she bothers you, as I am finding her scratching can , please go down and push her sound button and she will just eat and stop her scratching!
Had a very busy week end. Got some drainage put in the front before winter so it won't erode so bad. We have sand here and it will wash off until you get to the harder sand stone and then it will wash from there into deep ruts. Our property has a slight grade down to the creek, so if we get really bad rains, which it has been know to do here, it can be a mess. So we have planted some rye grass around the yard and in the pastures and graveled the drive. Also have been getting the storage shed cleaned out. We moved from a 3800 sq. foot house so we have lots of stuff. It's almost all going way! I am so tired of having so many things, I want everything to be simple and useful and that's all! I'd rather spend my time doing things I like at this point of my life and with no family around (that we get to see :( ), won't be having all those family dinners and get together either. It's hard sometimes to look at something and think, oh maybe I should keep that. Haven't used it for 5 years! But now all of a sudden I will need it :0. Not anymore! I finally kicked hubby out of the shed and started going through it all alone. He is worse than I am.
Also got some really pretty things listed on my site and had a several sales this week end so I am behind at the beginning of the week. That's okay, now I will have to go out and work on some more Alpaca and other pretty things :))
I listed some combing wastes for felting, last time I sold these so fasts and got really good feedback on them. But I think maybe I priced it to high, so this afternoon I'm going to lower it to 60 cent an oz. It's really very nice, if I had the time and enjoyed spinning more novelty yarns I would keep it and spin it up. But my time is better spent doing more of what I enjoy. I started adding blogs I enjoy, not that I have just started enjoying them, I just forget to add them! Like movies I watch, I forget the names before I can get it listed and then I think, oh that was a good movie what was the name of that? Yes it's called age!
So I guess I best get it going, do something productive, beside clean house!

New Group!!

I decided to start a Yahoo Group! It is called handpreparedfibers. I was hoping a few people would have the same interest I do and like to talk about it. It just seemed like so many people had questions or were intimidated to work with raw fleece. Alot of people were having trouble with Angora, oh so pretty! What do you do with cotton bolls? If you want to grow flax, then what?? Well, much to my suprise, there are over 160 members so far! Everyone has been so nice, staying on topic, only advertising on Monday and Thursday like I requested and only promoting those thing that have to do with raw fibers or processing them. I already let it be known, this moderator is not doing much moderating :) I belong to one group, I can't even get a message posted, no matter how much I beg or remove my sig line. That is discouraging. All I have done so far is check in a couple times a day, check links and pics. So far the are all so considerate. And what a wealth of knowledge! I can see where a few are still alittle conservative in their posting, not wanting to post links or make suggestions, but they are loosening up as the notice they aren't getting scolded :)

So what have I been doing? Well I have a beautiful lamb fleece from the batt lady, white Salish. It wasn't coated so it is alittle dirty, but it is washing up wonderfully and it is oh so soft. It's mine I tell you all mine! Here's a picture before and after.

Then I combed up some Polypay to ply with a muticolored single I have, it also combed up so soft and pretty

Then I had a bobbin of mixed wool, I called it kitchen sink. It was a muti sack of colors, alittle day of this and that. So I spun it up in sections and spun up a little thicker strand of silver Salish and plied them together. I am really please how it turned out. Then I had a small amount of Lavender left so I made a cordinating skein to go with it. I just love the Salish wool.

Then I combed up some Llama, he was a big boy and so soft! Very long staple, I really expected it to spin up a little course as I only pulled out few guard hairs, but look how it spun up! So soft. It's going on my Etsy site for someone that wants to spin up some wonderful soft singles. I don't think it will lend it's self to thin yarn.

So today I need to get all my scraps together and put on my Etsy site. I have so many combings left over. I wasn't really sure some of it would felt, and as you know I don't felt so I don't really know what I am doing. So I brought in some of the LLama I combed, and the Merino I had left over and started trying to felt. Well much to my surprise the Llama felted almost instantly! The Merino felted but not as fast. I had heard that Llama didn't felt well, but this sure does! I have gotten good feed back from my scrapes and they seem to sell quickly. Several of the lady's that purchased them have actually spun some novelty yarns. I don't put in anything that has veggie matter so it is all clean. and at 1$ an oz I guess it's cheaper than buying fiber to felt at the hobby stores.

So if you read my blog from time to time stop by the new group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/handpreparedfibers/

a very nice and interesting group of people.

This Month

Well, no pictures today. This is one of the hardest months, other than December which is Jeffery's birthday. I try so hard to keep busy this month, but grief sneaks up on me anyway. We don't talk about it often, it's like you open a damn when you do. I miss Jeffery so much, and his children also. I have drafted a letter to send Jane his wife to ask for pictures of him and the kids. Like so many people, I wasn't very careful with the pictures I had of him and the kids, I lost the most precious ones off one of our computers right after he died. They were of his last Christmas and my email dumped. I am crushed. Then I was getting copies of all the pictures Jane had, and now with no contact I haven't gotten those either. I have been wanting to start a scrapbook for the kids, showing what their daddy was like when he was their age, but every time I start working on it, I am in a teary state for days. I know 2 years sounds like a long time, but it seems like yesterday. I still get this awful hurt in my gut that is so deep at times you wonder if you will live thru it. Then you wonder if you want to. I know I am here for a reason, I know he was here for a reason, I can look at those 4 little kids and see why! I can't wait till we get to see them again.
Well this was a yucky post, but sometimes I just need to write it down and I feel better.

Lazy Morning

It's Tuesday after Labor day and I am not getting a very fast start! But I did take a couple of pictures last week so I thought, what better excuse to still not get dressed and get started with my day :))

I put some things on my Etsy site and was combing some Salish, thought I would share that with you. I just can't tell you how interesting this fiber is.

This is what it looks like when I get it and after I wash it, which is very easy by the way.

This is what it looks like on the comb after I comb it

And coming off the combs and after,





It is so soft!

Isn't it beautiful? I am going to spin this for a lady that purchased some of my yarn on Etsy she is on my South East US Street Team, thewishingwell.etsy.com. It will be a thick thin yarn to go with the Turquoise she got. I have 1/2 bobbin spun up on my Mach 1 and will fill it up with this. Then I am finally going to weigh the bobbin and see how much it holds. I keep getting asked that and everytime I do fill a bobbin I forget to weigh it!

Here is some of the naturals that I have on my site, I am surprised it hasn't sold. Maybe it's too boring. I love natural colored wool. This has Yak in it and quite a good amount, it is so soft. I have 4 oz. Maybe I should make my daughter some gloves for winter in Wisconsin.

I also have been going thru some boxes in the storage shed. I have so much stuff in there I will never have room for that stuff again! So I put some of them on my Etsy site. If anyone sees something they like and the price is too high, throw me and offer, I just need it to find a good home. All of it is either vintage or antique and I just can't bring myself to donate them yet, but it may come to that! I feel a great need to pare things down! Simplify, Simplify!

Murano Hand Blown Glass Candy 5$ per dozen

I have 2 dozen

This is a Weiss pin in perfect condition. Very pretty blue, I was going to use it as a shawl pin, but it is too heavy :(. I got this as an estate sale years ago, forgot I even had it!

15$

This is sun glass from the early 1900's, I have 2 of these. Pressed glass they are small around 5" wide and 2" tall. So delicate and pretty.

5$ each

I have more things on my Etsy site and will unpack more this week. I have oil paintings,glass,fleece,weaving yarn,oriental vases even an oriental elephant porcelain foot stool or little table! You would have to see it :))

I take paypal, check or mo. I don't really like to use my blog for advertising, but I really don't have an avenue to get these out, and I really don't want to ebay these few things.

We have had so much rain! And with Hanna maybe hitting the Carolina's we will probably get more next week. Doesn't look like it will develop into anything serious, but still lots of rain! I really don't mind to much, but here it gets so humid, yuck.

Well this is the month our son died 2 years ago. It doesn't seem possible. The 29th of this month. I still remember that day from minute to minute and the next few, then they start becoming a blur. I would have never realized what a change this makes in a parents life. You always think "how awful" but it is worse than that. We still don't get to see his kids, Lauren is 7 now, she is the oldest. Elliot the youngest will be 2 this December 10th. We haven't seen them since last November. It just breaks my heart that Jane could be that hurtful. I wish I knew why she turned over night. One day was fine the next she wouldn't talk to us,take any of our calls. Told The nanny not to let us see the kids. They are 2 hours north, so you try to get in touch before you go, we didn't really want a scene with the kids there. I may never know, but I really miss them. I think I have posted pic earlier on my blog. I miss him so much, he was always mom's boy. He was born on Christmas morning, what a gift, I was only 18 years old. We were kids ourselves.

I know he is in Heaven with the Lord and I will see him some day.

Warned you ahead of time this would be a journal some days :)

So whats everyone think of the conventions? Beside taking up too much time on TV? We are Republican and I am happy with Governor Paylon running with McCain. But I am tired of th politics on TV from both sides!

Tomorrow I am going to get some things done! Today was one of those days. I have so much Alpaca I really need to get some of it worked up and on my site. I have about 40lbs! I have every color you could imagine, especially some very soft pretty black. I'm not sure if I should leave it raw and put on my site or comb it up and then put it on my site. I just have so much, hard to get thru it all.

And I have about 40lbs of Salish greys,browns and white. It takes dye so well. I spun up some brown for a cardi for my hubby, it is so springy and soft. Should work up nice.

And I have about 20lbs of CVM, now that is the best!!!! So pretty and soft. A little more work to wash, but well worth it and no veggie matter!

So now I have gotten myself excited about tomorrow, I think I will go pull some down and make some plans :))