Bad Blogger!

Well, who's a bad blogger now? Yup, that'd be me! I keep thinking "I need to write a post!".. but then of course, I never get around to it. So I was a little horrified to see that my last post was in July..... oops!I do have a pretty good excuse for not updating the blog though - I've been busy! Almost every weekend has been packed chock-full of travel, fiber, and/or ponies. Hardly a moment for rest.

Let's see how well I can condense this. At least I have pictures to help me remember!

The end of July:

Montgomery County Farm Tour:

Chicken in the goat field, stealing the goat corn

Pigs contentedly expressing their pigness at Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary

Alpaca at Blue Ribbon Alpacas (check out his buddy's 'fro!)

Pat and Minh Chau came up for a visit the next weekend, to check out the Cylburn Arboretum. We love it there - tranquil gardens and woods, right in the middle of B'more.

Burr-in-the-beard

August! Seems to have been somewhat of a black hole month. I can only remember one thing from August.. knit day at the Mannings!



There were plenty more people there.. but this shot is of my knit night buddies. We chose to sit across the street from the store and the rest of the people - to get a great view of the river and bridge. Very peaceful.

September was wild. Ryan got a new 'do:


Super-talented Kerry hosted a knit night dye party, where she taught us about dyeing, and then let us loose with her dyes:

(This is just a small portion of the fiber we dyed!)

And then, Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest, which actually deserves a post all it's own. Alas, I'm out of time and wind.....

I almost brought home a puppy!

(Not really, but how irresistible is this little dude!?)




But I did bring home My First Fleece!

So.. a bit of a silly & scattered post, but I feel better now that I've gotten somewhat caught up. I'm going to try to be a better blogger from now on!

Another quick one...

Lots has been happening in our little house lately! I have tons of photos to post.. of ponies, the garden, food (mmm!), stray kittens, fiber, and from mini vacations.. but of course that means that I have to edit them first. And who has time for that?

These were cute even without any further help, though.




This is Ray, our new foster pup. He had just begun a promising racing career when he broke his leg. Now he's all healed up and looking for his new home. Sometimes adjusting to the "real world" can be a little difficult though, especially when you're so good-looking and are used to being King.



He's getting the hang of things quickly - smart boy! If only he were a little smaller.....

Baby did a bad bad thing

During a weekend bout of unexplained insanity, I did something very bad.

I totally should have known better.

But, no.

Lust won.



She's a new-to-me Kromski Sonata. Everyone who asked me when I was getting a wheel.. you were right. :)

Stuck in my head

Often, songs get stuck in my head. This one's been stuck for days, though. And I'm totally fine with that. :)

While Bob Dylan's version is the one that first got me singing, this version by the Swell Season has me smiling big:

You Ain't Goin' Nowhere

Such a great performance, I just had to share!

In other news, Ryan has upcoming appointments at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown. Looks like he won't be going right back into chemo. While that's a welcome thing, it's also a bit terrifying. I guess that's how it goes. Thank you, everyone, for your notes and support.

It begins again

Things had been going so well, but we knew, in the background, that it wouldn't last. Ryan's PET/CT results have come back, and he'll have to start treatment again*.

I guess we went into it knowing that it would just be a break. But the news still sucks.

Thank you everyone for your continued thoughts, prayers, love, and support.




*Knit night ladies - I don't usually talk about it all that much, but Ryan has stage IV colon cancer. I feel now like I should've said something on Tuesday so the news isn't out of the blue. Oh well. There it is.

Another busy month has flown by. Last weekend we went camping and hiking at Greenbriar State Park. This weekend we visited the Baltimore Herb Fest, had sushi in Bethesda, and have a super-special project to work on. :) Oh, plus a BBQ tomorrow. Mmmm.

In the middle of all this, I've gotten a little spinning and a little knitting done. My multi-talented knit night friend Kerry has opened her own Etsy shop, Fluffy Stuff Yarns & Fibers. Right now there's washed fleece, dyed roving, hand spun yarn, and hand dyed yarn up, all of it gorgeous! My first purchase was some of the Targhee fleece that she picked out at Sheep & Wool. I have 4oz, and it is incredible. Pictures can't do it justice (though it looks just like hand-whipped whipped cream), because it's the softness that really sets it apart. I wish you could feel!



Kerry was wonderful and loaned me her Ashford cards so that I could get my 4oz. carded and spun. I think I spend more time oggling the fiber than actually getting any real work done, though....

Sometime last week, I finished spinning up singles from a braid of Fat Cat Knits Falkland Wool in "Clay Pigeons."



I had originally envisioned fingering weight 2 ply, but my singles themselves were fingering weight (oops!), so that was obviously not happening. I settled for a 2 ply sportish weight, but when I went to ply, I hated the look. My singles didn't have enough twist, and I didn't like how the colors were mixing and getting muddied. So, I wound it all off, gave it a hot/cold/hot/cold bath, and then smacked it against the side of the tub. Ended up with this:




Couldn't be happier! I think it's what I had in mind for it all along. (I love the long color repeats.) It's 530yds, 18-20wpi.

And finally, Squirrel pictures. I feel terrible.. every time I post photos of my beautiful kitty, she's doing something ridiculous and looks like a dork. But these were too funny to keep to myself! (Plus her grandma will appreciate them!)

Squirrel will eat any green plant she can reach, so we've kept the deck mostly barren. Ryan had the idea to build her a box with grass that she can gobble up to satisfy her green craving. (So that we can put more plants out.) And gobble up she does......








I love animals!

Sheep & Wool

I can't put it off any longer - I must make a Sheep & Wool post! Unfortunately, while I lugged my camera around with me all day, I only took one photo!



Yes, it's well established that I am a Dork. Oh well.

Mom and I arrived bright and early, which turned out to be a very good idea. By the time we got there, the lot had at least 100 cars in it already. And that was an hour before opening. By the time Ryan and family showed up, the (HUGE) lot was full and they had to park down the road and across the street. After waiting 1 1/2 hours to park. Not fun, I'm sure.

Mom and I had a blast though, despite it being completely overwhelming and crazy. My prize purchases are my new Bosworth (shown last post) and 6 ounces of North Ronaldsay fiber from Spirit Trail. Mom picked up a spindle from Spanish Peacock as well as some very pretty yarn and fiber. Though I hear that she's not spinning as much as she should..!!!

So that's it for Sheep & Wool 2010. At 3:30, Mom and I had an appointment for a photoshoot at the barn (just down the road from S&W). This is Scout, the barn manager's new lesson pony. Isn't he cute?!



While family was up, we also went to the Cylburn Arboretum (in Baltimore) and the National Arboretum (in D.C.). I highly recommend trips to either if you're ever in the area.






That's all for now - time to start the day! Here's to another awesome weekend!