Spinnerin

Another pic

2010-09-27T10:18:00.001-06:00

Here I am with the SalesCow at one of our farmer's markets in Las Cruces!

Teensy update

2010-09-18T15:23:00.003-06:00

Hi, y'all! I know, I know, it's been, like, forever....I am married now and living in New Mexico - we're in our first house (we don't even have a COUCH yet) - the cows and the goats and the dogs are all doing really, really well, and we're doing really, really well. Yeah. Actually, I'm happy as all get out - this was so unexpected, and so fast, and so fun, and we're having a ridiculously good time, despite periodic flat tires, the down economy, and puppies that like to eat laundry.

Above is a pic of us (that I love!) that Heather of CraftLit took at a restaurant in Tucson where we met for lunch.

My friends keep telling me I need to write all this down, this whole courtship/whirlwind/insanity thing, and they're right - maybe I can record it? And transcribe it later? Thinking about it....This is just too good to waste. (:

Big news

2010-05-06T09:38:00.003-06:00

So. I'm getting married on June 3! Put that into your pipe and smoke it....Pretty exciting, huh? And then moving to New Mexico, like, right away (Lord willing - if the USDA, my vet, and the New Mexico Livestock Board will all get their stuff together and let my goats in). Uh - yeah. You cannot even SEE how hard I'm smiling right now. Happy! He is, to put it succinctly, a complete and total bad-ass, and it's going to be awesome. Seriously. Yep.

Directive, by Robert Frost

2010-04-15T12:11:00.002-06:00

This was in the Saturday/Sunday Wall Street Journal, and my heart just about stopped when I read it. It is now my gift to y'all, to celebrate me girding up my loins, so to speak, and getting on with the whole goat thing instead of just wishing. I'm tired of wishing for things and not DOING them!

********************************************************************************

Directive

Back out of all this now too much for us,
Back in a time made simple by the loss
Of detail, burned, dissolved, and broken off
Like graveyard marble sculpture in the weather,
There is a house that is no more a house
Upon a farm that is no more a farm
And in a town that is no more a town.
The road there, if you’ll let a guide direct you
Who only has at heart your getting lost,
May seem as if it should have been a quarry--
Great monolithic knees the former town
Long since gave up pretense of keeping covered.
And there’s a story in a book about it:
Besides the wear of iron wagon wheels
The ledges show lines ruled southeast
northwest,
The chisel work of an enormous Glacier
That braced his feet against the Arctic Pole.
You must not mind a certain coolness from him
Still said to haunt this side of Panther Mountain.
Nor need you mind the serial ordeal
Of being watched from forty cellar holes
As if by eye pairs out of forty firkins.
As for the woods’ excitement over you
That sends light rustle rushes to their leaves,
Charge that to upstart inexperience.
Where were they all not twenty years ago?
They think too much of having shaded out
A few old pecker-fretted apple trees.
Make yourself up a cheering song of how
Someone’s road home from work this once was,
Who may be just ahead of you on foot
Or creaking with a buggy load of grain.
The height of the adventure is the height
Of country where two village cultures faded
Into each other. Both of them are lost.
And if you’re lost enough to find yourself
By now, pull in your ladder road behind you
And put a sign up CLOSED to all but me.
Then make yourself at home. The only field
Now left’s no bigger than a harness gall.
First there’s the children’s house of make-
believe,
Some shattered dishes underneath a pine,
The playthings in the playhouse of the children.
Weep for what little things could make them
glad.
Then for the house that is no more a house,
But only a belilaced cellar hole,
Now slowly closing like a dent in dough.
This was no playhouse but a house in earnest.
Your destination and your destiny’s
A brook that was the water of the house,
Cold as a spring as yet so near its source,
Too lofty and original to rage.
(We know the valley streams that when aroused
Will leave their tatters hung on barb and thorn.)
I have kept hidden in the instep arch
Of an old cedar at the waterside
A broken drinking goblet like the Grail
Under a spell so the wrong ones can’t find it,
So can’t get saved, as Saint Mark says they
mustn’t.
(I stole the goblet from the children’s
playhouse.)
Here are your waters and your watering place.
Drink and be whole again beyond confusion.

-Robert Frost

New blog

2010-04-15T11:45:00.004-06:00

FYI: I've decided to stop messing around and get serious about my goats and my dairy. I've sold Toffee (one of the Nigerian bucks), Mom has acquired Blossom and Sesame from me (though I will be milking Blossom after I wean her kids), and I've purchased a Nubian buck, Leo, in addition to the two Nubian doe kids Elanor and Dandelion. It's time for the goats to start bringing in some income, even if it's just to pay for themselves. In pursuance of this goal (she said, grandly), I've started another blog, Woman's Touch Dairy Goats, to give myself a web presence, however small, as I prepare to start selling cheese and kids. I'd love to see any and all of y'all there, even if you're not close enough to be a customer. (: Thanks for your support!

ETA: Incidentally, this also means that goat and dairy news and photos will appear on the Woman's Touch blog, not this one. Since I've also started working on my writing again, this may become a place to blow the cobwebs out of my brain for that purpose as well. We'll see; things are certainly going to be interesting from now on, that's for sure.

Nougat's kids

2010-04-08T14:17:00.005-06:00

I'm a little late putting these up since they were born a week ago, but hey, it's been a crazy week (she said, in a massive understatement).

Nougat delivered three, and for the first time, I let a doe keep more than two. Long story - I've had much advice from many people, and a lot of my herd policies were formed that way, but now that I've got Willis, Mr. Livestock, questioning me on why I do things the way I do (and finding that I don't always have an answer that stands up), I decided to give it a shot, and see if a doe could do it. I'm glad I didn't with Blossom - she's such a fluff-head that she took 2 days to figure out that her kids were hers, but Nougat was bathing Baby #1 before she'd even had the other two. Good sign. Anyway, all three are nursing and growing well, and I'm pretty happy! Two bucks and a doe; have gotten Blossom's kids disbudded now, and the two little Nubian doelings are here and already bonding well to me. In the pic below, the left-hand baby is Dandelion (those spots will turn white), and the right-hand one is Elanor (points if you get the LOTR reference). On the whole, it's been a danged fine week.

More Willis

2010-04-06T18:21:00.002-06:00

Darn it, I HAVE to share this photo, too....Willis! In my dairy!

Meet Willis

2010-04-05T16:21:00.005-06:00

Ta-da!

Blossom's kids

2010-03-25T15:46:00.004-06:00

Are they not insanely adorable? They were born the morning of 10 March (Blossom's actual due date - weird, no?); the little multi is a buck and the red is a doe. Am going to get them disbudded and sell on Craigslist, or at least that's the current plan, since I'm moving away from Nigerians and towards Nubians and Nubian crosses. No names. Because it's just not wise anymore, you know?
The spring continues insane - but it's been awesome as well. My sister, who has been ill/poorly, is hanging in there, and I've had all kinds of good things happen, so....Hope your springs are as beautiful/productive/awesome as mine has been!

CornTortillaSUCCEED!

2010-03-11T16:45:00.006-06:00

Okay, why have I been putting this off for so long? Other than the fact that it's been the most INSANE spring in my life (except for the one with the break-up, the senior recital, and the return to Jesus - okay, maybe that one was more insane, but in other ways). Anyway, I finally took the plunge, and it's easy as all get-out. Let that be a lesson to you, my children - don't put off till tomorrow the cliff over which you can plunge today. And land in a pile of masa. Okay, that metaphor doesn't do much for me, but it's been a long 2010 already. The above picture is of my lovely new tortilla press (what shall I name her? Marilla, perhaps?), lined with plastic so that her oily tinniness doesn't come off on the dough.

The dough, which I dreaded most, was the easiest. I decided not to measure, just to dump in some masa and wet it until it felt good and workable. I did this - and it worked. Crazy pants! Here's my left hand and the damp paper towel to keep it from drying out while I cook.
And here is (a rather unclear picture of) tortilla #2 in the skillet. I don't have a flat-bottomed comal, and to be honest, I don't think I'll need one; the cast iron works no matter what, and I have 2 frying pans packed away of my own, plus this one of Mom's for here, so I'm set. Tortilla #1 was actually better, but I was so proud of it that I fed it to Mom and Dad before I thought of taking a picture - sorry, y'all; your loss, their gain.

Anyway, life is completely nuts right now, but not every part of falling down the rabbit hole can be immediately related!

And no, I haven't seen Alice in Wonderland yet, but I want to.

I hope y'all are having a great spring! Despite much insanity, I sure am.

Sweet darlings

2010-02-23T20:12:00.004-06:00

I thought it was time for a few new animal pictures!

Here's Sesame, Herd Queen Extraordinaire, looking at us through her nostrils (a favorite pastime of hers).

Chamomile - and golly, I sure hope she's pregnant; she carries really discreetly and it's hard to tell until, um, she's given birth. So cross your fingers for me, y'all.

And last but not least, Daphne, Wonder Anatolian and Head of Ranch Security.

It snowed today and there were all kinds of school closings in Austin (the Statesman's Twitter feed was pretty funny, actually; you'd think we were in Newfoundland or something from the way they were chuntering on about it). It was really just fluffy sleet, and it's almost all gone now, but here in Central Texas, we take our thrills where we can.

OlympicFAIL

2010-02-17T16:20:00.006-06:00

Yeah, well, that says it all, doesn't it? I began the Ravelympics with a work marathon, during which I also managed to start each day with about 20 minutes of yoga, so it was a personal triumph - but I was left drained and goofy at the end of each day. Then there's the way I had picked a shawl pattern that involved wrapped stitches, in inflexible yarn, on large circular needles - yeah. It was bad. I finally had to just cut the shawl off the needles and throw it away - there was no way I could get those wraps, tangled and elongated, off those Addi Turbos. Crud.

So then I switched to Aconite. Fantastic pattern, and I love it - but I've only gotten to the beginning of the third page of the pattern, and already my stitch count is off. I'm tired when I knit it - so I don't know if I can really fix it; I may just frog again and start over. No medals this year, I think, but hey, win some, lose some. Many of my pals (you know who you, are *cough, cough*, JANICE) are really toodling along, and all I've gotta say is: Ave, Caeser, morituri te salutant.

Got a speeding ticket yesterday and had a blind date to the rodeo last night who was so mind-numbingly NOT attracted to me or I to him that it was hilariously funny and I could barely keep a straight face the whole time. He was very gentlemanly about the whole thing and we made the best of it - and both of us completely and cheerfully refrained from exchanging phone numbers.

And the rodeo was AWESOME! I had no idea I'd like it so much (I hoped I would), but I did! Favorite things: seeing the Priefert team, Texas Thunder (I've ridden on that wagon - fantastic horses); mutton bustin' (couple little girls hung onto those sheep like ticks - girl power!); Trace Adkins (yes, I actually enjoyed a country concert!); and team roping (it's like a dance). Though I really enjoyed all the rough stock events.

And for the price - $13ish per cheap ticket, which wasn't up too high and actually gave a fantastic view with big screens showing us detail (like a the hand of the bronco rider making last minute adjustments before the opening of the gate), plus $10 for parking - it was killer! I am so going next year and taking the whole family.

So despite the speeding ticket,which I got coming home from being late to a job interview (fun, huh?), it was a good day. Now, if I can just get a little riding in this week, it'll be a zinger!

I'm also, BTW, for anyone interested, making some changes in the goat herd. I'm going back to Nubians and only keeping the most productive Nigerian Dwarf does - I'm just working too hard for too little milk, and if I'm ever going to get off this little postage stamp, I'm going to have to save some serious money, which I won't do by milking tiny goats instead of working. It's hard as hell to make this decision - but I feel it's the right one. I pick out the two Nubian doelings I'm adding to the herd (in addition to Chamomile, my only current Nubian) tomorrow afternoon - wish me luck!

Color

2010-01-22T08:22:00.008-06:00

The Ravelympics are coming! I'm not sure if Team Faerie is actually happening, but no matter what, I've picked my project - I'll be competing in the event Short Track Shawls, with the Maja shawl from Knitty for myself. I've never completed a shawl in such a short time, so it's a good challenge. I have over two pounds of chunky 100% silk handspun that I dyed up on the Breakup Day (great therapy, BTW!), and it's come out beautifully. How I love Landscapes dyes....

Before the shawl can happen, though, I have thr ee pairs of fingerless gloves to finish before the Olympics, and I'm really hoping to do so; Mom already paid me a pair of Maggie's tights for the job, and I've got to get moving. Fortunately, they're in Malabrigo, so it's a treat to knit them. One pair each for Mom, Aunt Pam, and Aunt Linda. Yum, yum, yum.

This magazine has nothing to do with the knitting project, but I love how Verde Esperanza looks against the cover!

Simon the kitty is doing beautifully - he's big and strong and full of beans (translate: continually getting kicked out of the house for sharpening his claws on the furniture), though I've yet to see him deal with a mouse....Perhaps he's eaten them all. Yeah. That's why. (;

And thanks to the fling with what's-his-name, I've been going through EVERYTHING - books, clothing, planned knitting projects - and making changes, for the better, IMO. Sometimes you need to be shaken up a bit, I think. The horse vet tech thing is still in the plans, but it's going slowly - we've had such a wet winter that I haven't been able to ride for a while. Not that you can't ride on slushy ground, but the lady teaching me doesn't want to take any chances with such an inexperienced rider.

I've had a hard time finding any local venue to learn Mexican cooking, so I've bought a Diana Kennedy book with lots of pictures and info, and I'm going to start in on corn tortillas this next week! If I can just make corn tortillas and a good red sauce, honestly, everything else will be bonus.

And I'm going to try to attend the local knitting group, though the evenings will get more complicated when I start evening milkings again, but we'll burn that bridge when we come to it. I may put out a feeler to some local vets, after I've handled horses a bit more - my friend thinks I'm ready, though I still feel very raw and new!

I'm going to try to get out more; I think that's what I'm trying to say. (: Sure, that'll be insanely difficult during kidding season, but what the heck, other goat-keepers emerge from the barn; so can I!

Jeepers, it's off!

2010-01-15T09:05:00.006-06:00

Well, there's nothing like a fling to wake you up (one that didn't end up in bed - don't worry, my dears) - I spent a heck of a long time just dabbling, and have now realized that I'm ready to jump back into the romantic game. Like, seriously. Weird - Pete was such a twerp, but I was kept safe, and thanks be to God, I haven't heard from him since the break-up! Pride hurt more than feelings, but for the first time in a long time, I began to think about when I leave my parents' home, and what that would involve. Have made a lot of changes, and there are more to come!

I edited this post to read this way on 02/20/2010 - I didn't really like the way I'd left it, though I wouldn't want to pretend that the Pete time period didn't happen! Very thankful it did - like yet another nation attacking the Israelites, he served his purpose and then was taken away. Thank God....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T07:03:00.004-06:00

To all those who are celebrating being with those they love today, and eating yummy things, I wish a glorious, delicious Thanksgiving Day!

If you need a little diversion, here's a treat that a friend recently shared with me: Forgotten Bookmarks, and its sister site, Handwritten Recipes. And if you're on Twitter, follow @cookbook - classic recipes in 140 characters from a brilliant woman living in Northern Ireland!

(This pie is from a Christmas or two ago - today we're having apple and pear/cranberry, and I shall share pics with you later!)

Mmm, color - I mean, colour.

2009-11-18T18:49:00.006-06:00

So many of my favorite things have come to me through Jane Brocket.

I love her book The Gentle Art of Domesticity, which resides on my bookshelves with a favorite sparkly-yarn-tasseled bookmark in it.

I love her blog, which showcases her love of family, eye for color, and incredible photography.

And I LOVE THESE PENCILS *, of which I would never have heard, were it not for Jane. Thank you, Jane.

*Pssst - run your mouse over the pencils.

The Dawn of Cheddar

2009-11-11T08:26:00.007-06:00

I opened up the two cheddars this last month, and on the whole, it was a good experiment. I shall definitely make more this next summer, at least six, I hope.

The wine cooler worked well to keep the temperature even, but the humidity was an issue. I think I let too much water stay in there - I changed out a wrung-out damp rag daily, but shall try out aging the cheddar on boards (clean hardwood) and putting a bowl of water at the bottom.

There was mold under the wax. It wasn't a problem, and made the older cheddar taste almost bleu, but I don't want to set up a situation like that again.

The 2 month cheddar was the best. Light, creamy, flavorful, with a smooth texture, it was everything I want in a cheddar, with just a bit of mold. The 3 month, OTOH, had more mold, and I had to sacrifice more cheese as I pared the mold off. Most of the cheeses, BTW, are now bagged, labelled, and in the freezer.

Waxed cheese, ready to be opened like a pumpkin! You can see the dark mold on the top, beneath the wax. I think that my wax application technique needs improvement, too - that may have set up entry points for mold; also, I need to be sure the cheese is completely dry before waxing. I had thought it was, but perhaps not!

Mold - ugh!

Post-wax, post-mold - isn't it lovely? On the whole, a great little experiment. I feel like a real cheese-maker now, though with many improvements to be made. The journey of a thousand miles, etc. - the perfect cheddar cannot be reached without many (delicious) wheels of imperfect cheddar on the way.

The cheese press that I used, BTW, is awesome - click here to examine it. The site's like SuperThrive for plants, or Dr. Bronner's soap - despite all the hype, it's a super product.

Yikes!

2009-10-22T10:12:00.005-06:00

Omigosh - a teenaged boy just ploughed into our big back gate and fences this morning at about 7am and knocked ‘em down with his truck!

Nice boy - responsible - his dad and brother came out and after many photos and exchanges of information, they helped us prop up and jerry-rig a temporary. No goats were lost (coulda lost dairy bucks and angora wethers) bc Daphne the Wonder Anatolian and Baxter the Basset stood in the gap and barked until Mom came, and they didn’t lay a paw outside the fenceline. Fantastic. I managed to get the boys all up and safe.

It’s been raining, and teen boy (a fine upstanding lad who apologized) hydroplaned, hit the sopping wet clay, and couldn’t stop. We had a pile of logs for this very purpose, and it broke the momentum, but went right through the fence as well. Bent his wheel and broke his front light, but was able to park truck. It will be towed later.

GOLLY! But all is well, praise God.

This text is primarily copied from my post in Ravelry - a friend (hi, Gabrielle!) wanted pics, and I'm still a wee bit too frazzled to think or write much on the subject. All is, however, still well. Of all the people you want ploughing into your fence, it's a member of a family with money, insurance, and a sense of responsibility. Phew!

The first pic at the top (I'm having trouble with Blogger today) is the jerry-rigged fencing we set up so that animals can still roam the yard. Thank God we still had the panels from a chain-link kennel!

Q & A

2009-10-21T06:29:00.008-06:00

Yes, my children, I have come, like Venus Flytrap, to answer your questions.

Q: How did the county fair go?

A: It was a mixed bag. I had a hard time keeping my sense of humor on the knitted items - in fact, I didn't keep it at all, which is ridiculous, since I knew going into it that as an Auslander, there was no way the tight little group that controls the Handiwork division would actually look at my work (unless they spit afterwards). But it still hurt. Le sigh....So my socks were hidden among the afghans and, though the second of only two pairs of socks in the division, didn't ribbon. Incidentally, the little lady who finally found them for me when I went looking, and who had checked me in and who was docent-ing for the first time this year, was FURIOUS - she actually moved my socks to better show them off, bless her. My dyed/carded/blended mohair was in Misc., so I didn't expect much, and, interestingly, it got a third, which it shared with the most awesome cushions ever (above), so I don't mind. My heartbreakingly awesome Habitat hat got a second, and my knitted baby hat got a third - and there were no other hats. Yipes.

On the upside, my cut zinnias got a first and a second (whee!) and my handspun yarn, for which I actually found a category, got a first! So much fun. There are way more entries in those divisions, and they're way better organized and administered, so it's less of an I-didn't-see-anyone-working-on-that-at-the-coffee-klatch kind of standard. So the moral of the story is that next year, at most, I do one knitted item, so fabulous that it merely serves to highlight the Yarn Nazis - and go crazy on cut flowers, and enter a skein of yarn. Hey, works for me.

Q: Have you created a Flickr group for Insane Fair Crafts?

A: Yes, I have. Click here.

17 little acorn squashes

2009-10-11T22:05:00.002-06:00

!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fall Garden: it's coming!

2009-09-03T14:12:00.004-06:00

Yay, it's September! We've still got some really high daytime temperatures, but the mornings are cooler, and there have been some lovely overcast periods. In July, I always doubt that I'll ever garden again - and by September, I'm making lists in my cell phone's notepad function (I'm determined to stop wasting paper by making tiny notes that I leave in my pockets in the wash, or pull out and drop, unnoticed, when I put on lip balm. Anyway....).

One of the great benefits to working at a nursery is the possibility of free plants. I just bedded out some rejects that might yet live, but look awful, and then there are plants that reproduce well by seed, and that have taken root in the mulch on which the for-sale pots are kept. Add the regular water, and bam, baby plants! I dug up some lovely little rudbeckias last week, potted them up, and have been thrilled to see them thrive in partial sun. I plan to put them out sometime in the next month, after I move the giant Henri Martin that I, strangely, put in the front of our main garden bed so that it blocks our view of everything behind it. Weird.

I emptied the ComposTumbler this morning; one of the chickenyard beds needs prepping if I'm going to be starting greens in it at the end of the month. Lettuces? Spinach? Probably mustard greens.

And we have baby acorn squashes! Wow! They are SO cute. I've never grown acorns before, and had no idea how kawaii the darned things are.

Tomorrow I plan to move my desert willow tree - I love it, but foolishly planted it near the wellhouse (where it might grab onto the pipes, etc.), and we've also started all these veg beds where it will soon be shading. And I need to pull bermudagrass out of the front yard squash bed. And prune the roses and fertilize everything. Argh, it's starting - but it's awfully fun.

Long awaited baby goat pics, news, and cheese

2009-09-01T06:54:00.006-06:00

Thought these were lost, but they're not - yay! These were taken in early July, so there've been some changes (girls bigger, for one).

This is Cupcake, one of Blossom's daughters.

In the hay rack, the position of advantage, is Devon (Curry's daughter), and in front are Biscuit (Blossom's other girl) and Cupcake again, and in back is Crumpet, who died in mid-July - yeah, I know. It sucks. Coccidiosis sucks - she got pneumonia as a result.

And in the back of the tub is Tussah (look at her little tongue!), Anabel's daughter, and there's a better view of Devon to the right there.

We're so sad to have lost Crumpet, but so grateful for the five girls we have left. Biscuit has a bit of a cold right now, and some chest congestion, and I'm dosing the hell out of her and praying hard; hopefully it's just a summer cold and not a result of the bout of coccidiosis that they've all had. It's one of those diseases that can wipe some animals out while leaving others standing, and I don't want to short-circuit the process by trying too hard to save the weak, but it isn't fun, no sir.

I've moved to once-daily milking - it's been such a stressful summer with the record heat, and the girls have finally rebelled - it was all I could do to get Sesi and Maud into the parlor! I need to keep them in milk as long as possible, into a second year if I can, so I took them down to once a day to reduce stress and improve their appetite (since that's the only time they get grain). I plan to milk Sesame, Maud, Curry, and Anabel through next spring at least, and dry Chamomile, Blossom, and Nougat off in winter when I also plan to breed them (plus Chloe). Hard to believe that Cham is on her first lactation still, and into 13 months! What a trooper.

I also am leaning towards mini-Nubians again - we had a scare when the local extension agent said in the paper that one acre is legally required for livestock, and fortunately he meant in the city limits, not in the county, but it was a close call. We have written promises now that if we do get annexed we can grandfather in all our animals (city law is only one goat per acre - imagine!), but we do need to maintain a certain number at all times. If we're annexed with 17 goats, that then is our max allowed, so....Anyway, I really hope to get a girl out of Chamomile this spring - eventually I may look for two Nubian girl-kids to breed to our Nigerian bucks, but we'll need more land for that; I might not even like what I get out of Chamomile, but I want more milk - these little girls just aren't very big. We'll see - it's a balance of space and effort.

I only got two cheddars into the cooler this summer, which disappoints me - I'd hoped for three or four, but it takes 2 gallons, and now that the milking's only once a day, the milk's reduced by a bit - just as well, I guess. Take these as learning cheeses and be ready to try again next year. I did, however, discover the yummiest cheese, thanks to my sister riffling through my copy of Home Cheesemaking, and let me tell y'all: it's fabulous. I'm going to go ahead and share it in my own words, since it's just a variation on Queso Blanco and Ricotta that's common as all-get-out.

1/2 gallon fresh milk

about 1/4 c fresh-squeezed lemon juice (I'm trying lime this week)

Bring milk slowly to 185 to 200 degrees, remove from heat, and slowly stir in most of the lemon juice. Curds should immediately separate from whey - if not, add all the juice. Cover and set aside for 15 mins. Line a colander with butter muslin and pour in the curds; tie ends together and hang over sink (or whatever) for 1 to 2 hrs or until stops dripping. Remove and mix in salt to taste and herbs if desired (cheese won't keep as long if you add herbs, but heck, this cheese didn't last 12 hrs in our fridge). Refrigerate up to two weeks (if no herbs).

I'd been making 1 gallon batches of Ricotta with vinegar and it was awesome, but this Lemon Cheese beats it all hollow, plus it's with a smaller qty of milk, so will fit in between all the fresh milk we drink just fine.

Share and enjoy!

San Japan!

2009-08-21T07:13:00.006-06:00

I hope to post more info later, but here are our outfits from San Japan, taken before we left that morning! Em is wearing her real Japanese schoolgirl outfit from J-List and I've put together a Western/steampunk outfit from the closet (and, um, Etsy). It was really fun! (Look, you can see Baxter in the background)

New kitten and yay, chickies!

2009-08-01T11:14:00.005-06:00

Spurred on by mouse poop (the record drought is bringing wildlife WAY closer), I went to the Humane Society yesterday and picked out a marmalade kitten! I've named him Simon, for Simon Templar and Simon de Montfort and Simon Wiesenthal. He's never been abused, just brought in by decent folks, it seems, and he's 10 wks old and we've already gotten him checked out by the vet. It's going to take him a while to get used to our set-up - I have a swollen, Neosporin-covered finger where he panicked at Daphne the Giant Guard Dog (all's well, don't worry, and she didn't go for him or anything), and he's going to be accompanying me on all my chores in a small crate. He'll be sleeping in a big crate on the porch, but have a smaller one in my dairy, and he'll just pick up, over time, that goats and dogs won't hurt him. And dogs will pick up that they're dead meat if they do. As long as he grows up with Daphne, she'll be fine with him - that's why I had to be sure to get a kitten. Anyway, he'll still be spitting at all the animals from inside the little crate for a while, but he was so okay in the milking parlor that he ran up onto the stand and sniffed Anabel's udder as the milking machine was going - wow! He's super-affectionate and purry, and I'm pleased as punch with him.

In addition, here are pics of the Black Jersey Giant chicks that we just got for pest control in the goat yard! So cute.

Needlework eBook

2009-07-20T07:31:00.002-06:00

I'm still working on the goat photos - sorry, y'all, it's been the usual craziness - but I've been reading Penelope Lively's delightful A House Unlocked memoir and came upon her description of her grandmother's needlework. I so wish she had photos....Sounds incredible. I was looking for Assisi and Winchester needlework on the web and whee, found a free eBook (translation: a book in public domain put on the web by Google) called Needlework as Art! Thank you, Google the World-Dominator. Anyway, here's the link - I downloaded it like a shot.

Image from AntiqueLinen.com

Hold this space!

2009-07-10T16:56:00.002-06:00

I do plan to post again. It's just that Twitter and Ravelry are so all-inclusive of my needs now!

Devon Cream

2009-05-19T16:49:00.004-06:00

We should probably call her Devonshire Cream, but darn it, we like the name Devon. Curry's little baby girl, born Saturday 16 May! She was still damp when I took these pics for y'all.

Hopefully I'll have time to blog this week about my Book Blanket - just finished the block for the Borrowers series! It was a lot of fun.

Last baby of 2009

2009-05-16T18:03:00.003-06:00

Curry had a girl this morning! Yay! She is, like two others we already have this spring, gold and ivory, so we're calling her a name we've been saving: Devon Cream. We just like it.

So a great spring this year - 6 little does! I'll get pics up as soon as I can.

apologia

2009-05-13T16:15:00.004-06:00

Daphne under the trailer

Blossom and nursing daughters

Curry

Sorry, y'all - am just madly busy in the midst of spring-into-summer. All are well - Curry is due to kid any day now, and is the last of the year, thank God - the duckies are growing like weeds and are outside at night in their new house. Last night was filled with the screams of baby goat girls - Chloe needs companions now that Curry is about to kid and Chloe herself is in full weaning mode, so I've put Crumpet, Cupcake, and Biscuit with her at night now, though they are still nursing (this will prep them for weaning, though), and boy howdy were they upset! All for the best, though, and they can nurse for another week or two without further separation. The moms, funnily, were more interested in alfalfa than obsessive nursing - ah, Greed.

Anyway, all is well - just nuts!

Tussah video

2009-04-29T14:53:00.004-06:00

Please meet Anabel's new little daughter, Tussah, plus Daphne the (stinky) Anatolian.

Duckies are here!

2009-04-29T14:47:00.004-06:00

Here they are - 10 lovely little Blue Indian Runner ducklings, and all have eaten and drunk by now, as far as we can tell. They're very tired, and we keep popping our heads in and seeing them asleep, some on the food dish, one curled up in the little grit bowl....So cute!

Another baby goat video, this one embedded properly!

2009-04-20T16:07:00.001-06:00

Pratchgan vs. Book Blanket

2009-04-20T16:00:00.002-06:00

I've changed my mind on the Pratchgan squares that aren't Pratchett-themed. My friend Becky is knitting for a book afghan, and I think that I will divert these other squares to one for myself - a brilliant idea, Becky! So her sweet Rapunzel square will be moved to that group, which will be a lot of fun to knit - I can allow myself a lot more scope with book-themed blocks if I don't run out of room in the Pratchgan for them! Yay.

Three little goats

2009-04-20T11:13:00.003-06:00

And by popular demand, we present Crumpet (reddish-brown with black-tipped tail), Cupcake (brownish with white-tipped tail), and Biscuit (an, um, biscuity color)! Yay, and the crowd goes wild! Plus Blossom, mother of Biscuit and Cupcake, wolfing down some alfalfa.

Pratchgan squares

2009-04-20T07:21:00.004-06:00

Just must post this: I finished my self-designed colorwork square for Wintersmith! In case the Pratchgan is new to you, well, when the great Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, a bunch of knitters on Ravelry decided to knit him an afghan, square by square. It grew, of course, and eventually 99 of us contributed, and he got it! It rocked. And it's in the latest edition of Yarn Forward magazine (May 09), with, incidentally, a bunch of dairy goat discussion inspired by a question I contributed when Shannon Okey asked us for interview help with him.

Anyway....Fast forward to now, and there's this kal/cal in the Guild, on Ravelry of course, and we're all going month by month, book by book, through the Discworld bibliography. I think this rocks.

I got an idea for a Wintersmith block - I only read it last year, and loved it, and came up with this daffy idea for colorwork. Which I just finished. Ta-da!

So far I have 11 squares - it should be around 40 when I'm finished, since I'm also knitting blocks for favorite books encountered in read-alongs, or just because I love them, along the way; for instance, I have a The Dark is Rising block, and one for Tam Lin. I'm planning a The Wind in the Willows one, too.

Technically, I have 12, because my sweet friend Becky knit me a Rapunzel one to put in! So sweet - and it's gorgeous. I'm SO putting it in.

I have received several gifts lately from wondermous knitterly pals, and I haven't posted a word about them yet. I hope to remedy this soon. Meanwhile, you know who you are, Becky and Susan! I love you gals.

Destashing sock yarn and books

2009-04-17T15:53:00.005-06:00

What ho, what ho, what ho!

Animal update: Anabel is due next week, and we actually have buyers lined up for up to two bucks, if she has them! As Mr. Murphy is always with us, I'm sure that means she'll only have does, but heck, that's awesome for us, too, so yay. Curry's not due till May, but oh, how lovely to almost be done with kidding season; it's fun, but exhausting, dangerous, and stressful.

Spkg of the dangers of childbirth (or, erm, goatbirth), I do recommend that folks listen to the latest CraftLit episode, number 129, for a fantabulous Anne Bradstreet poem on such a subject - it's absolutely lovely. And so is the rest of the show.

And spkg of absolutely lovely, the book I'm currently reading is also thus. Funnily enough, it's been on my shelves for over a year, and was actually mentioned during that time by Heather, on CraftLit, and I'm only now getting around to it: Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England by Judith Flanders. It's delicious, deeply moving, and a great sourcebook for those of us who've reveled in costume dramas but would like to learn a little more about the real life of the Victorian family, not just the mad wives in the attic or the immensely wealthy with a kazillion servants. Also, the author has a very personal, very funny take on the whole thing that keeps the details grounded - I like someone that says, in footnote (shades of Pratchett), that there are many books about men in the Victorian home, but this isn't one of them.

If you'd like to keep updated about the goats, remember, I'm on Twitter - just click here to find me.

Okay - the reason for this post. Like many people, I'm destashing yarn; part of it is that whole what-kind-of-knitter-am-I thing, and though I know there are many uses for sock yarn, I would need to buy more to make a shawl or scarf, and I'd rather destash it instead. I'm just a shawl/afghan/accessory/toy knitter, and that's all there is to it. Socks just don't come easily or comfortably to me, and when I do knit 'em, they'll be for me, since I appreciate them more than anyone else in my family, though they're all very sweet about it.

So, what do I have? First, if you're on Ravelry, just click here.

If you're not, well, I have two skeins of Colinette Jitterbug (UPDATE: now sold) and 2 balls of Panda Silk Prints in Blue (one pair's worth) for sale. The Panda Silk is missing a few yards, and I'll gladly sell the two balls for $8, including US shipping. If you're outside the US, we can talk. Please email me at spinningerin(at)hotmail.com if you're interested.

I'm also selling some knitting books - my Amazon shop is here. These are my actual books shipping from me personally, not one of those fulfillment-by-Amazon jobbies.

If you're not into all this, please forgive this small commercial interlude - a sign of the times, I'm afraid.

Though don't worry, we're not begging in the streets - just paring down, you know.

ed. 04/20/09

A baby video

2009-04-12T17:03:00.003-06:00

My dear friend, Susan, suggested I take a baby video of Blossom and Nougat's new kids (Nougat had her little girl Crumpet on Wednesday), and I did so! First time I've ever uploaded to YouTube, but we'll see how it goes. I warn you - in spring, I never get enough sleep, so my narration isn't exactly brilliant, but I hope y'all enjoy it.

Blossom's little girls!

2009-04-05T07:00:00.003-06:00

Btwn 2 a.m. this morning (when I checked on her) and 6:45, Blossom, Sesi's daughter, had two baby girls! Yay! It was fun - I updated Twitter a lot, and it was neat to know that there were folks following. *waves at Archergal and Susan*

We're thinking Cupcake for the frosty chocolate one, and Dumpling for the cream. Can you tell we like food almost as much as goats?

Spring is here!

2009-03-27T13:28:00.002-06:00

I know it was already - but here are the flowers! It's begun - the roses and poppies and iris - and this morning I saw the first blue cornflowers.

Baby Chloe

2009-03-05T09:28:00.005-06:00

Here she is with my sister Emily! One week old, and she's head-butting the Nubian, Chamomile, for gosh sakes - who weighs, oh, maybe 90 pounds, while Chloe herself weighs, um, a pound....Yup, this is definitely the next herd queen. Well. If Nougat, Sesame's oldest girl, doesn't have something to say about it....

New baby!

2009-02-26T10:25:00.003-06:00

Last night, Sesame presented us (and Marzipan, the sire) with a baby girl, Chloe! Yay! and there was much rejoicing

Sad news

2009-02-18T12:17:00.002-06:00

I'm afraid that we're selling the alpacas back to their ranch of origin.

It's the same story that we all hear from everywhere right now - expenses are up, income is down. We're not destitute or anything, but we've got to radically decrease spending, and the alpacas, though they're my darlings, do not produce food. The new angoras, ironically, are much easier and cheaper to maintain, and they just fit right into the herd and all my normal goat care responsibilities and expenses. The chickens are eaten and produce food themselves. The alpacas, though, are quite high maintenance, and to be brutally honest, the fiber is so heavy and hot that it's expensive to use, weirdly enough, because I have to blend it with so many purchased things to lighten it for Texas use.

This is horrible, of course - I feel like screaming. But thank God, the ranch is still doing quite well, and can buy them back, though at a fraction of the purchase price. That's fine - it's better than putting them down or selling them to an untrustworthy person. I know the herd manager, and he's a really good guy who works hard to care for the animals. It's worth it.

In better financial times, we could manage this - right now, we can't. Even when things even out, I'm not going to do alpacas again - I could even see sheep before doing alpacas.

Readers who've followed the stories of our little alpaca trio might be very shocked that I'm even considering this - but I've had doubts about the economic wisdom of keeping them for months now - I just haven't shared. And now that the rubber is meeting the road, I feel that this is the right thing to do. And thank God they're going to a safe, healthy place where they'll probably be pleased as punch to see the herd again.

Ah, veggies....

2009-02-11T12:11:00.002-06:00

This woman is a goddess! Check her stuff OUT!

Victorian brushfires

2009-02-11T08:16:00.002-06:00

So a lot of us have been sobbing over our radios/computers/newspapers at these horrible fires in Victoria, Australia, but here's a chance to help. Serendipity is running a raffle with fabulous prizes on her blog, one ticket for each$10AU donated. With the exchange rate as it is, we Americans can make our donations go way farther than usual, so if you can, I encourage you to help. If you'd rather just donate, without worrying about yarn, here's a link to the Australian Red Cross.

There is no place in hell hot enough for the arsonist(s) who set these fires. If I talk about this too much, I become enraged and profane, so I'll try not to dwell on it. I'm honored to be able to do my small bit to support these poor people, and I thank Serendipity for using yarn to get me thinking about what I can do. And thanks to my friend Linda, EclecticRose on Ravelry, for referring me to Serendipity's raffle.

Shearing photos, text coming soon

2009-02-02T16:36:00.004-06:00

A Shearer's Tale

2009-02-01T15:45:00.003-06:00

"I can get roving for a dollar an ounce. I can't imagine why anyone would be fool enough to keep fiber animals!"

I stared at the woman over the whirring bobbin of my wheel as I spun the wool/silk blend I'd dyed into yarn. Surely she wasn't serious.

I remembered her words this week as I sheared my angora goats for the first time. As I worked my way down the flanks of the second goat, I marveled at the excellence of the smooth mohair locks I was slowly clipping away. It's hard to believe, when you see an angora goat, just how fine and silky the fiber can be. The mass of soiled ringlets that flounces about them as they run, full-fleeced, around the yard, is revealed to be smooth, soft, and exquisite by the truth-finding scissors.

I was surprised at Magnus' calm. Though his fleece was far superior to that of Mason, my other angora, Magnus is an emotional basket-case. I'd say he's afraid of his own shadow, but in truth, it's everyone else's he fears. As needy as Magnus is, his fleece needs nothing. He wasn't even as greasy as Mason had been, which allowed me to clip him with the larger, blunter shears, and to use the smaller ones only for the detail work on his legs, neck, and belly. He nibbled happily on my fingers, growing bolder as the hours passed, and sometimes he managed to rip out my hair-tie.

After four hours of constant work and contact, I wobbled to a standing position and gazed down at him, this little animal, still so new to my goat herd, and so nervous around us all. He quietly returned my look with his odd, flat-pupiled goat's eyes, reached up to me with his soft pink nose, and handily tweaked off my headband. He was glad enough to flee the little building, after I'd put a sweater on him to protect his chest from the cold, but he soon returned to watch the cleaning process, and did his best to eat my broom.

My bags of fleece are exciting, if a little fragrant with Eau de Boy Goat. Both fleeces need to be examined for straw and other debris, and they can't be stored in an air-tight container, since neither is completely dry. They must also be shaken so that the second cuts, little extra-short bits of fiber that an inexperienced shearer like myself inevitably produces, will fall out before being blended with the longer fibers, just as a question asked over a spinning wheel shakes out the debris, and gets me to sort out the truth of why I live this way.

Mason's fleece will be saved for a sock blend with Cormo wool; a sheep's fleece is already en route to be set aside for the processor. Magnus', however, is so beautifully soft that I intend it for the Heavenly Blend, to be composed of my three alpacas' fleeces, purchased merino wool, pounds and pounds of silk - and Magnus' mohair fleece. I plan to sell some of this roving, but the majority of it will be spun by me and made into items for our own use: shawls, hats, throws, scarves, and fingerless gloves. This blend will unite all the characteristics I seek in spinning fiber: drape, softness, memory, strength, and warmth.

That poor woman. She'll probably never know why I'm fool enough to keep Magnus.

Luddite addendum

2009-01-29T08:19:00.002-06:00

Thank you so much for the kind responses, Boogeyman's Wife, TheLady, Janice in GA!

Janice in GA, you are awesome. Just as I was kvetching about the warranties on this blog, Mom was finding the people who now carry them - thank you for the link and the details. Phew!

TheLady - don't worry - I'm still pushing myself to change and improve. It's more about admitting that I simply don't get pleasure out of fine lace knitting, and don't look right in it anyway. Plus, it catches on everything. I'm still learning new techniques; I just have to pay more attention to what I really like to wear and knit - simple socks, for instance. I am, however, learning to do so toe-up, two at a time on 1 circular needle!

Luddite dreams

2009-01-28T14:05:00.002-06:00

Okay, bummer time - our main PC at home is pretty much dead as a doornail. Which sucks - I'm having to put the podcast on hiatus for now, since I'm not even sure if the laptop we've got as a replacement will be able to support all our files, PLUS the software necessary to record. Why are we stuck, you might ask? Because we bought all our computers and things at Circuit City. Yup. Which means that all the extended warranties that Mom bought for all the computers and iPods are now worth about as much as a radish that has been run over, after spending a week in a tanning bed.

However - we do have a laptop to cover, for now. We dream of Apple - our next computer, Lord willing, will be a Mac, and so we live in hope.

And since it's spring, and the first does are about to kid, and I'm about to kick into high gear at the Rose Emporium again, it's just as well. I mean, I'd be fighting to record anyway, so it's one more stress removed. However - I love the community that podcasting has given me. I've met people that share the things I love, and I hope not to lost my foothold in this fabulous community of craft online. I'm typing this at the library right now - Mom's wrestling in prayer with Norton, and it may be a bit before we can find out if the laptop will truly be able to substitute.

Ironically, I now have no excuse not to catch up on my knitting queue!

On that note, I think that spring is a great time to go through your stash (wow, original idea, Erin...) and through your books. I've done so out of necessity - we were quite low on money this spring and I just sold a heck of a lot of books through Amazon and was able to do crazy things like buy a large round hay bale for the livestock, and purchase kelp powder and dairy soap and goat minerals. I also am trying to work toward being who I really am. That sounds a little flaky, but I, like many out there, I suspect, am continually imagining a non-existent me. This applies in books, in knitting, in spinning, in sewing. Clutter - but not just the kind of clutter that is created by not putting your scissors and yarn away. Clutter that obstructs the kind of crafting/reading/being that I really want to do, by presenting things I feel I ought to do and don't want to. There's enough guilt in everyone's life already - there's no need to manufacture it by acquiring projects you can't make yourself do, and that distract you from your real purpose.

I like knitting simple things. The knitting books I sold tend to be complicated. I love looking at Victorian Lace Today, and Knitting Vintage Socks - I don't want to make anything out of them, not really. I like the idea of being a vintage knitter, who churns out reproductions of Gentleman's Shooting Stockings, or Cornelia Mee's lace patterns, but I don't really like doing them at all, and I found myself distracted by things that I admire without any real love. And I felt guilty. I love history, don't I? I get a charge from reading Mrs. Gaskell, right? So why don't I want to knit a fine lace fichu?

This is the kind of thing I mean. I sold a dictionary of the Elizabethan world. It's a rockin' book - but I didn't want to read it. I'm not a scholar - I read biography, and history-as-narrative, not history for its own sake. I'm interested in people, not movements, just as I love reading blogs about 60s and 70s American craft. I don't want to make home decor out of pipe-cleaners - I want to look at scenes of people who did.

It's the same with spinning. Other than learning to Navajo-ply, I don't have a lot of aspirations right now. I want to make good, clean, simple yarn, with good drape, in order to knit good simple things that show the yarn off. I want to play with color, but not for novelty. I want to make beautiful things that people can use, especially me. I want to raise animals that are happy, so that when I wear the alpaca or mohair, I feel good about completing that little circle. I don't have to process the fiber myself; in fact, I'd prefer not to, and my salary this spring will be paying for goat feed, hay, and fiber processing, and that's about it.

This is a rambling post, and I didn't start out intending any kind of mission statements. I guess you could say that I need a break from podcasting as much as the technology is forcing me to do so. It's time to make some quilts again. The machine is set up in its own place in my room now, on a work table in front of a new rolling cart full of sewing, knitting, spinning, and craft supplies. I've purged out the UFOs that I was never going to finish anyway. I'm actually pretty excited - it's time to find out what I'm made of, if you get my drift. Alpaca/mohair/silk/wool and batik fabrics, hopefully.

Raffle for Dylan

2009-01-27T14:46:00.001-06:00

A friend in Ravelry drew my attention to a really neat cause. Click here to check out a gorgeous raffle of stash for the raffler's nephew, whose mom has just died. It's pretty cool, and a lot of great people have pitched in.

For Sale

2009-01-09T11:41:00.005-06:00

Ed. 02/11/2009:

Okay, y'all - just to let you know: I've sold the dehorner and the workbox for the tattoo kit, but still have the tattoo kit and the dehorning tips for pygmies and bucks for sale.

**************************************************************************

Hi!

I know that this is a departure from the usual, but I have some equipment to sell, and if any readers know some goat folks, please tell them.

Influenced by advice given by the delightful and very wise Lisa Shell of Kai Ranch (my angora breeder and guru), we are not going to disbud any more goat kids. We also aren't going to tattoo - which, honestly, we haven't been able to face anyway (we'll be doing ear-tags). Therefore, we have some very nice equipment to sell, never used, that we'd like to sell for half of what we paid for them. Reasonable offers will also be considered.

All items were purchased from Hoegger Goat Supply.

We have a tattoo kit, including the work box and the 3/8 full set (with ear-release), plus extra ink. We'd like $30. Here's the Hoegger page for those items.

We also have a disbudding iron, a Rhinehart X50, with the tips for both standard and dwarf goats, plus a wrench for adjusting the lug nut, plus a coffee can to keep it in. We'd like $52 for it.

If a buyer is in Central TX, we can do a cash transaction and meet up somewhere; if you're elsewhere, we can do PayPal and ship it. Shipping would, of course, be extra (but only as much as it costs to ship, USPS Parcel Post).

Thanks! I can be reached by a comment to this post or at spinningerin(at)hotmail.com.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T12:02:00.002-06:00

Forget Santa - Sushi here will know if you've been naughty or nice, and she's excellent at gnawing the edges of clothing. Don't mess with the goat, that's all I'm saying.

Behold Cyril the Hedgehog!

2008-12-11T17:45:00.001-06:00

Angoras! Aaah!

2008-11-23T16:12:00.003-06:00

Aren't they insanely cute? They're my new angora goats! The one on the right (and the only one in the right-hand photo) is Mason, and the one on the left is Magnus.

"At a Bach Concert" by Adrienne Rich

2008-11-16T14:00:00.003-06:00

Coming by evening through the wintry city
We said that art is out of love with life.
Here we approach a love that is not pity.

*

This antique discipline, tenderly severe,
Renews belief in love yet masters feeling.
Asking of us a grace in what we bear.

Form is the ultimate gift that love can offer--
The vital union of necessity
With all that we desire, all that we suffer.

A too-compassionate art is half an art.
Only such proud restraining purity
Restores the else-betrayed, too-human heart.

********************************************

I love this poem. This is just how I feel - the first burst of passion, or lust, or desire, is not love - love is waking up every morning and not killing each other. Love is backing down when you might or might not be in the wrong. Love is choice - not feeling.

This is why I prefer Bach to Beethoven. I know it is possible to enjoy both - but to me, the restrained exuberance that is the product of Bach's hard-working hand is more mind-blowing than the emotion that gushed from the deaf artist of Vienna.

Kid'N'Ewe

2008-11-13T16:13:00.006-06:00

Okay - so I know I've been a Bad Blogger. And I'm going to be even worse, since I'm not going to put up much of a post right now. Kid'N'Ewe was awesome, though - and I had a fabulous time meeting Faery Knitting listeners like the Knitting Fairy (who taught me a new stitch combination for bag straps - wow, she really is amazing), Bijouxmaster(who'd given me a Ravelry Hello button and is awesome), happytexan, Rosedawn (a masseuse and generally cool lady), TexasPurlGurl (a fellow podcaster who rocks), and the delightful KnittingRose, with whom I got to knit and chat and just generally have a fabulous time.

Here's a picture, courtesy of TexasPurlGurl - thank you, Dawn! From left, happytexan, KnittingRose, TexasPurlGurl, me, the Knitting Fairy, and Bijouxmaster.

What did I buy? Well...not a whole lot. I have so much fiber that I just can't justify buying too much, though I did get 13 oz. of white tussah silk from Lynn's Texas Fiber (my silk source of choice). The rest was just fun! A shark finger puppet for Em and fingerless gloves in fawn baby alpaca for Mom from Thousand Oaks Alpacas. A knitting needle sizing pendant from the Knitting Fairy (woo-hoo - I LOVE it!). A clip-on light for movie knitting from a new yarn shop in Comfort, TX, called The Tin-Smith's Wife - great stock and sweet ladies, BTW - I'm SO dragging Mom there one of these days; it'd be a terrific road trip. A fab little shawl pin for Mom from Ozark Carding Mill in Durant, OK.

I also did some scoping out - anyone who's looking for the finest spinning chair ever (as well as insane wheels) should check out Wyatt in San Antonio. There's no pic on the site, but take my word for it - it's incredible. Unlike every other chair/stool/whatever I've tried, it cradles the pelvis and keeps the weight off the tailbone - I'm seriously saving up for this. Wow.

Also had a nice chat with Lisa of Kai Ranch - I hope to have more news there soon!

Cheese joy and chock-full mail bins

2008-10-20T07:10:00.003-06:00

Yo!

I can't believe I've lived this long without the Cheese By Hand podcast on my iPod. I love it. Share it with me - a cheese-lovin' professional and her husband on a national tour to find American cheese-makers making real cheese (do think I said 'cheese' enough in this sentence? It's like a photo shoot or something!). There's a blog with it, and you can search iTunes or your podcatcher of choice for "Cheese By Hand". Nummy. I want a t-shirt.

And I know I can't be the only person who finds it difficult to delete messages out of my Ravelry message box. Seriously - I have seven pages now! It's like the refrigerator in The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - I daren't delete any because who knows where it will end - perhaps Armageddon will start just because of my deletions! And if you think that's out of proportion, than you come over here and feed me coffee.

Etsy shop update

2008-10-14T12:37:00.001-06:00

Just FYI - I've put some more roving up for sale in the Etsy shop.

The Way of All Flesh

2008-10-04T12:30:00.005-06:00

Ah....Well, the Comal County Fair was interesting in many ways, one of which was the discovery, though expected, that cliquishness is rampant amongst the needlework, as well as, uh, every other aspect of life here. As the eternal outsider (university was the first time I'd spent more than 2 yrs at any school!), this wasn't exactly horrifying, but it was funny to see the results when yarn is the vehicle.

First of all - well, everything entered got a ribbon. Everything. Which is probably the only reason I even got ribbons. There were flour sacks with clowns embroidered on them with ribbons - though, honestly, they were probably embroidered by the dainty fingers of the real power-broking old ladies of the town, so duh, they had firsts.

Okay. Pic #1 here is the grand prize winner for the crochet and knitting division. Are you ready? Wait for it - wait for it - oh, you guessed it. A crocheted doll dress! Of course. In green and white and pink and orange acrylic. Yummalicious. Sorry that the grating's in the way - probably there to keep the envious drool of passersby at a distance.

It's actually quite good, in its way - I just don't think it was the best thing in the division.

So this beat both the items I entered, because it was the Grand Reserve Champion.

I entered my Waving Lace Socks - sorry, the links only work if you're on Ravelry. I'm very proud of them - I think they're the best socks I've ever knit. Good even tension and the lace is clean; it's also easy to see this because they're in plain gray Knit Picks Risata yarn.

They got third. Behind the pair below on the left, and shared third with the pair on the right. Yup.

And my handdyed, handspun Wensleydale Lacy Prairie Shawl, which you can see here and in the right sidebar, got a second, and was beaten by the stole below. I think it was feather-and-fan. Sigh.

Not that I was shocked - but it was kind of sad. But - here's the silver lining: you get one exhibitor's pass for every item entered, so free admission to the fair for three days! Cool. So every year, I'm going to enter four items so that we all can go to the fair, free of charge (except for insane prices for the rides my sister insists we biliously accompany her on), and I think I'm always going to have one kick-butt item to underline the insanity of it all.

Awesome as my items were, check this lady out - she got shafted way worse, in my opinion. And I know we're not alone.

Rockin' knitters in inbred little towns, unite! Yes! Wave the Clapotis on the end of your needle proudly - we will survive! And we will not knit corners onto dishtowels so they can be buttoned onto kitchen drawer handles! Well - uh, actually, maybe we will, with these fantastic women at the helm...but we will not enter them into fairs and get ribbons for them! Yes, if I'm lyin', I'm dyin' - those were at my fair. With first place ribbons on.

Aw, yeah....

2008-10-01T10:32:00.002-06:00

Thanks for this, sareeswfla, Raveller extraordinaire! References back to this post....

What was that, Miss Matty?

2008-09-30T17:35:00.003-06:00

I'm planning this awesome post about my glorious triumphs at my county fair (uh, this is sarcasm here), but I need to get pics off the camera. To hold you until then, consider the new thing Blogger has (well, probably not that new, but loops were made for me not to be in) with "followers" and "following blogs". I'm tremendously chuffed that I have one for each blog - but every time I see "1 Follower", I think of Cranford, and Martha wanting a follower and, for a while, Miss Matty insisting she not have one. So, needless to say, it gets very confusing for a minute. But what else is new? 'Tis the curse of the rabbit-trailing mind.

Leave it to Satchel to nail the political jello to the wall

2008-09-13T11:29:00.002-06:00

Couldn't believe this one - Get Fuzzy has done it again. Spot on.

What????

2008-09-05T13:51:00.003-06:00

Okay - I was listening to the BBC World Service Global News podcast this morning, as I prepared to milk, and they were, of course, covering the Republican convention. Goodness knows it's the easiest way to find silly American quotes....Anyway, they were getting delegates to say what it means to be a Republican. And this guy said...wait for it..."Living up to our Judo-Christian values." Ba-dump-ching. Yes. He said that. As a Jew who follows Christ, I am appalled with about five Ls. The mind boggles.

Forgive us, world - not all Americans have the IQ of crushed soda cans! Really! Just the ones singled out by the BBC, and who buy these!

Bring on the laurels, I'm a Ravethelete!

2008-08-24T20:55:00.003-06:00

Oh, yeah.

Buckling pics

2008-08-24T16:13:00.006-06:00

If anyone reading this is in the Austin/San Antonio/New Braunfels area (big area), I've got two little buck kids to go to a good home, one black, one chestnut. They'd need to be neutered, but they're Nigerian Dwarfs (pure-bred) and would make great pets or a good little meat goat (don't be freaked - it's the difficulty of livestock). They're about 12 pounds each right now. Email me if interested.

Addendum on 08/25/08: They have a lovely new home now! Hurrah!

Alpacas on Daily Show!

2008-08-09T10:29:00.002-06:00

Ach, what a treasure. Other than the rotten "example" of alpaca fiber and, uh, alpaca burger, not bad....

Jellybean

2008-08-06T16:04:00.003-06:00

Our dearest Jellybean was put down last Thursday. Her body's allergies/reactions were just too much. She was the best dog we've ever had (easy to say, but true in this case).
Here's Jelly and my sister (so glad she wanted pics to put up on MySpace).

And here she is modeling the Calorimetry I'd knit several weeks ago - the pic was taken the week before she died.

We tear up a lot, but it's good that the awful weight of her pain is off her. Dearest Jellybean, you will be sorely missed.

A little Rilke

2008-07-10T16:24:00.003-06:00

[You who never arrived]

You who never arrived
in my arms, Beloved, who were lost
from the start,
I don't even know what songs
would please you. I have given up trying
to recognize you in the surging wave of
the next moment. All the immense
images in me -- the far-off, deeply-felt
landscape, cities, towers, and bridges, and
unsuspected turns in the path,
and those powerful lands that were once
pulsing with the life of the gods--
all rise within me to mean
you, who forever elude me.

You, Beloved, who are all
the gardens I have ever gazed at,
longing. An open window
in a country house--, and you almost
stepped out, pensive, to meet me.
Streets that I chanced upon,--
you had just walked down them and vanished.
And sometimes, in a shop, the mirrors
were still dizzy with your presence and,
startled, gave back my too-sudden image.
Who knows? Perhaps the same
bird echoed through both of us
yesterday, separate, in the evening...

Rainer Maria Rilke
courtesy of PoemHunter.com

Probably my favorite poem of all time. I recently purchased a copy of the book we studied in my senior AP English course, and was stunned by how fresh and beautiful his work is. Yeah. Nice to discover that nostalgia only goes so far - sometimes the glitter really is gold, after all.

Kidding videos

2008-07-06T11:38:00.002-06:00

Do not watch if you have a weak stomach! This is the first installment of kidding vids from Anabel's last week.

New Etsy shop

2008-06-15T10:25:00.007-06:00

Okay, y'all, I know it's been donkey's years since I blogged here, and I hope to remedy that, but I wanted to post an FYI: I now have an Etsy shop! It's more of a destashing tool right now for me, but eventually I hope to sell alpaca roving, alpaca yarn, and hand-knit shawls. We'll see. Meanwhile, here is the first of some current WIPs that I will be posting.

A contractor who re-sided our upper story and replaced our columns and is just a lovely man has commissioned a shawl from me for his wife for Christmas: hand-spun, hand-dyed, and hand-knit. I'm not charging a huge amount since it's a blend I'd already carded and had sitting in the stash, but since it has a goodly amount of silk in it the drape will be good, and I'm already learning a lot in my first heavy-fingering-weight large project. I still have a lot of fiber left to spin, so it's gotten me on the wheel more regularly: a good thing. I think I'm one of those people that needs a deadline to do anything worth spitting at. Unfortunately, the dyes I had planned came out too bright; he said she likes greens and blues, but there are so many possibilities, and when I called him with a description of the way the first dye-batch came out (I really wanted to get started knitting it, and just keep good records of my dyeing), he said she preferred earth tones. Please look at this: earth tones? Nuh-uh.

So I'm going to continue dyeing the yarn in the exact same way, and then when the shawl is finished, I'll just over-dye the whole thing (with absolutely no agitation!) with a dark blue. It should turn out OK. I hope. And if he doesn't think she'll like it, he doesn't have to buy it - I think it's going to be pretty super, and Mom's already spoken for it, if it's unwanted.

The podcast seems to be going well, and I'm awfully glad I started it, though there's a bit of a delay right now (not really, but I'd been hoping to do a bonus episode and also all the LibriVox and CraftLit I owe) since I damaged my mike headset and then ordered a replacement that's totally wrong, so I've got to wait for the new one, though it ought to be an extreme improvement on my previous set. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I'll continue wrestling with my Flip and will hopefully have some farm video for y'all soon! Ciao.

The kids are here (batch one)

2008-04-27T17:30:00.002-06:00

Here is one of my completely amateurish videos of Sesame's new kids, born last night. The little wobbly cinnamon-colored doeling is Blossom and is Mom's, and the sleepy caramel doeling on the ground is Nougat, mine. Golly!

Alpacas galore!

2008-04-11T10:19:00.004-06:00

Here is Monty being shorn, and boy, he doesn't like it. The shearer is Australian, from a firm that does business in both Australia and the US, and it was really fun helping him for a morning the day before, though I'm still sore. Lesson one: don't wear your steel-toed boots to crawl around on a concrete floor on your knees grabbing fleece away from loudly-buzzing clippers....This all takes place at Fantasy Farms, where we bought our three boys. If I can, I'll post another couple of videos, specifically a prelude, where you can see how poofy they were in the trailer as we waited in line, and Teddy, the poofiest of all, post-shearing. The fuzzies are way cooler - but you can tell (and I'm serious here) that they are ashamed....They know that they look, uh...smaller. And more ragged. But still super-cute.

Bald alpacas

2008-04-09T12:34:00.003-06:00

I've been spending so much of my meagre spare time on the podcast that I haven't updated much lately. No more: the alpacas just got shorn (this morning!) and I took videos on my new Flip. Soon they will be up! Yay! Hold your breath!

In white linen...

2008-03-18T18:30:00.001-06:00

MyPodcast.com and Audacity are driving me MAD!

Maud and Miss Coco

2008-03-02T10:23:00.003-06:00

Isn't Sesame pregnant?
Maud, checking me out.

Maud, checking Miss Coco out.

Maud is the larger doe of our two new ones - a four star milker! Aaaaaagh! I'm getting about a quart of milk from her twice a day. Miss Coco is her daughter, and I'm hoping she's pregnant.

New goats!

2008-02-29T21:31:00.002-06:00

We have new goats! Yes! Two does, a mother and daughter - registered Nigerian Dwarfs with four and five star milking pedigrees - wow! I will post pics ASAP. I milked a quart out of the mom this evening - we're calling her Maude, and the daughter is Miss Coco (as in Chanel). More info soon!

Vet Visit

2008-02-22T19:11:00.004-06:00

Ooh, rough day for Monty - he's been gelded.

I've never taken an alpaca to a vet before, so it was weird; I actually got there twenty minutes early and just sat in the trailer with him and knit while he hummed nervously. He went in like a trouper for the vet, and was weighed - 125 pounds. The vet injected him with a sedative, and I hung out with him beside cages full of drunk kitties coming out from under. It felt odd - the vet techs and assistants were all eating Jason's Deli and there was a maniacally-winking rep, probably from some veterinarian pharmeceutecal company, and I think he brought lunch. I've dealt with so many vendor reps, what with Dad's job (international lumber) and my own various jobs, and it was so strange to have a rep automatically set out to charm me and draw me out about my alpaca and wink all the time - and I was just there for an operation. Though I guess it makes sense - in an indirect way. Still - strange, strange, strange.

So Monty and I looked at the kitties, and I was beginning to think he was oddly interested in cats, until I realized that as the sedative was taking effect he was moving in to lean on the cages until he was smack up against a gray tabby's door. He was beginning to block vet techs from the dog cages, so I pulled him back until we were by the surgery door, and gradually he slipped under. The vet was so matter-of-fact - he just dragged Monty along the floor to the surgery table, and after we lifted him up with help, I held a cone of gas on his nose while the vet removed his voonerables.

Afterwards, the vet dragged Monty outside onto the back pad, and a border collie coyly put a stick in front of me to throw - rather coyly, since she'd mostly leave it three feet in front of me. It was fun. Monty was slowly surfacing, with a leg twitch here and a moan there, and then a quirk of the lip - and then the vet came back from his house next door and pounded on Monty's sides and yelled, Get up, lazybones!

And Monty jumped up! He'd been milking it - ah, I felt like such a chump.

I read all the Herriot books repeatedly growing up. It's funny to me that even as large-animal medicine is the primary source of vet stories I know, today felt so incredibly strange, to be holding the head of my animal while the vet operated. And he threw the bits out, and then said, uh, did you want those? It's things like this that make me want to get a vet tech degree. Seriously.

St. Brigid's Day

2008-02-06T11:57:00.000-06:00

I feel silly - I missed the Blogger's Silent Poetry reading. I know it's late - but here is my offering. I've repeated Rilke in my heart ever since my senior year in high school when we studied Ahead of All Parting, and I became drunk on his words. I love this poem because it's very much the way I view love, whether I like it or not - that there is someone for me, and he is not here yet. Who knows what echoes of his life are in mine, or mine in his, before we've met?

You who never arrived
by Rainer Maria Rilke

You who never arrived
in my arms, Beloved, who were lost
from the start,
I don't even know what songs
would please you. I have given up trying
to recognize you in the surging wave of the next
moment. All the immense
images in me- the far-off, deeply-felt landscape,
cities, towers, and bridges, and unsuspected
turns in the path,
and those powerful lands that were once
pulsing with the life of the gods-
all rise within me to mean
you, who forever elude me.
You, Beloved, who are all
the gardens I have ever gazed at,
longing. An open window
in a country house-, and you almost
stepped out, pensive, to meet me.
Streets that I chanced upon,-
you had just walked down them and vanished.
And sometimes, in a shop, the mirrors
were still dizzy with your presence and, startled,
gave back my too-sudden image. Who knows?
perhaps the same bird echoed through both of us
yesterday, seperate, in the evening...

Translated by Stephen Mitchell

The podcast is now on iTunes!

2008-02-06T11:39:00.000-06:00

Yay! Just search for Faery Knitting and boom, there it is. Sigh...lovely.

I'm afraid my computer is down for the count with spyware (curses!), but at least I'm able to use my sister's. As a result, though, photos will be sadly derelict. To give you an idea of the manga- and anime-crazed sister I live with, I post, herein, some pics from her files.

This is the cover of her all-time favorite, play it a million times, cry most of them because the story is so beautiful, fairy-tale-esque RPG game. I actually picked it out for her (because I loved the tree on the cover - all that Tolkien early on changes you on trees, you know), and although she has many great games on her PSP, this is The Game for her. For what it's worth, I like it, too, though I haven't played it - gorgeous, and a great story. PoPoLoCrois - check it out.

This is Naruto, and I think that it's her favorite anime - it's fun, though melodramatic (honestly, I think most animes are just telenovelas, you know?). I have a Naruto (the center guy in orange) zipper fob on my knitting notions bag - got it at the only convention we've been to so far, and it was fun, despite my having a flat tire on our arrival in the parking lot!

And as a fitting send-off, here's Mrs. Peel, the ultimate rabbit, currently living in the chicken-yard with her consort, Steed. We have our own voice for her, and she has greater influence in our family than most rabbits do in theirs, I think.

Plate Tectonics

2008-01-26T17:12:00.001-06:00

I have a new podcast episode up and both Emma and Dawn have said lovely things! Praise indeed, from such interesting women.

I've discovered this unreal BBC podcast on all these different topics - I never knew how they found out the data for seismic activity and the theory of plate tectonics. Very cool.

Rest in peace

2008-01-25T11:10:00.000-06:00

We just lost my favorite wether, Peter Bredon, to urinary calculi. FYI, goat owners, esp in alkaline areas: even apple cider vinegar in their water doesn't work. Supplement your boys (both bucks and wethers) with ammonium chloride at medicinal levels (even low levels don't do the job). I wish we hadn't had to learn this by losing him - but by God, at least we're learning it.

Podcast!

2008-01-14T21:15:00.000-06:00

Boy oh boy! I've got a podcast! Almost. The shownotes are here, the podcast itself is here. I have a lot of work to do - the swallowing and lip-licking noises are monstrous, and I think I need shownotes in front of me, not um, um, um.

My idea is a fairy tale (public domain of course, or of my own invention), then chat. That way people who only want stories can tune out after Joseph Jacobs, or Andrew Lang, or whatever. I have no idea if anyone will want to listen to this, but I don't blog for some huge audience either, so whoever wants to can listen. I hope to be in iTunes sometime, so we'll see.

I finished my Union Square and threw a little shawl collar onto one side - I'm really pleased with it. I took a week off knitting because I was fencing like crazy, and my carpal tunnel is really playing me up, and there's nothing like driving in t-posts to make sure you can't handle knitting! So I spun up the rest of the variegated Romney fleece and it is finished. Done. It was so worth buying that fleece - what a terrific project! I've started Carol's Clever Little Shawl with it (from Cheryl Oberle), which is a reproduction of a museum piece circa 1830, and so far it looks fabulous. What wouldn't, in fluffy lofty gray Romney?

Make way for turkeys

2008-01-07T22:10:00.000-06:00

I'm fighting carpal tunnel right now, but I'm almost almost done with my Union Square - just the pinning and sewing to do once it dries from the blocking. I may be resting from knitting for a few days, while my good friend Mr. Anti-Inflammatory visits. Thanks for the help, Dawn!

Please treasure this short (yes, all my others have been way long - mea culpa - I'm learning) video of my new friend Wendy's crazycool turkeys. My sister and I had a rockin' time visiting her ranch.

Tiny holiday update

2007-12-31T23:14:00.000-06:00

Oh goodness - typical holiday madness. It was super-grumpy at times, and then it would be insanely fun. Christmas Eve was delicious - as we dined on the finest (nitrate-free) ham I've ever tasted, we watched Patrick Stewart as Scrooge...classic. And then It's A Wonderful Life, by my sister's request - argh! What a weenie George was. If he didn't want to be Mr. Gooshy-goo, then hell, take time by the forelock and burn rubber to Europe! Instead he just breathed heavily and said Gawsh, and acted as enabler for the world.

Here's Mom's prep for dressing - yum. I like it really sage-y, with sweet cornbread and either brioche or challah - this holiday was brioche - rock on, egg bread.

Gifts were great this year - every one got and gave fabulous stuff. And the turkey wasn't as good as the Thanksgiving one, but I think brining just works better with a smaller turkey anyway. And we just picked up our organic grass-fed half-steer from Coyote Creek Farms - wow! You just can't FIND this stuff - and it's local! We even have soup bones and the liver. Okay - organic beef liver? As If. Mom and I were practically dancing around the chest freezer.

Look, Em and Dad still wearing their Christmas cracker hats - golly, Rule Britannia, I love those things!

And I made the finest chevre I've ever made today - yum. And $18 of fireworks were just perfect tonight - so I'm sure some of them were illegal. Gosh, we're squares - we set 'em off around 7-something and Mom and Dad went to bed at 10 because he's taking her hunting her in the morning - man. To each his or her own, I guess...at least we eat like kings. Here's some cheese - rowr.

I've started a Log Cabin Afghan (yup, Mason Dixon) with all the Swish Superwash I've got coming out of my ears - um, discovered I don't want to knit for money - and it'll be the washable afghan our lifestyle demands. And I've cast on another shawl, this time out of leftover small balls and scarp yarn, and I finished a square for an afghan the Ravelry group of Ankh-Morpork Knitters is sending to Terry Pratchett - yay!

Okay, I'm toast - and there's someone coming tomorrow to trim alpaca feet and teeth. So I've gotta go - happy new year!

December events

2007-12-23T22:18:00.000-06:00

Oh my goodness. I have been, of late, derelict in my blogging duties. C'est la vie.

One reason was my sister's Christmas concert - and the band performing contained not only my little sister (first year on the flute and doing great!) but also my own trumpet student and other beginners - gosh. This was a fun semester at Cross Lutheran. In the pic, my sister's the flute player in green!

I also just took another of the students with me to TubaChristmas in Austin - it was great. Here we are, warming up before the rehearsal. I'm not used to baritone/euphonium - I still think in trombone. And all the places I have to empty spit from! I have christened my baritone "Gurgles", because it did. Continually. But I love it anyway.

I have several new podcasts I'm listening to - knittingatnight and CRL - and on CraftLit, we've gotten to grumpy bits (surprise!) in Frankenstein - gosh, Victor was a selfish PIG.

I am about to get serious about knitting 2 socks on 2 circs. And I'm not too far from finishing my handspun Romney Union Square. And I've ordered a spindle! Yes! I'm sick of considering myself a wheel-only spinner, when all I've got is a clunky beginner heavy-with-despair thingy. My dream is to spin sock yarn, so my Bosworth Bossie Midi Top Whorl Spindle (in ash) will arrive soon. Ah, soon, my beauty....Okay, I need to go to bed soon. Anyway, I'm excited. The world of spindling awaits.

You know, I don't think many people read my blog (oh, really, Erin? Really? Why on earth do you think that?), but if you do, I'd love to see you on Ravelry. I'm Spinnerin there. Come say hi.

Meanwhile, check out these amazing first graders from my sister's school. I started filming them well into it, I'm afraid, but just expect them to have begun at the start of the second chapter of Luke, and then go on and on and on....I foresee some Academic Decathlon stars here.

Yay!

2007-12-11T22:27:00.000-06:00

It's raining! Okay, so it's not exactly a Laura Ingalls Wilder blizzard - but hey, at least it's not as muggy as a wet sweatsock like it's been lately!

Check it out - I bought 4 oz. of this yummy purple/yellow/tan merino/tussah roving at Kid'N'Ewe and spun it, and dyed 4 oz. of white merino/bamboo (bought from another vendor, same place) a plummy color, and spun it, and plied 'em. Yow. This one's for a little shawl for Mom. I finished her Fauxbius Wrap (Cherry Tree Hill Baby Loop Mohair - wow!) and am continuing apace on my Union Square.

Okay, cutest Basset ever....

2007-12-09T22:28:00.000-06:00

Behold - we must have been good, because Santa brought us a Jellybean!

long time, no...

2007-11-26T14:46:00.000-06:00

Okay - tiny post here - but it's been frenetic. We now have 3 alpacas - Monty, Ume, and Teddy (that's what we call them) - and 9 goats - the 2 new bucks are Marzipan and Toffee, and of course we have the remaining rogues' gallery of Sesame, Chamomile, Marigold, Curry, Peter, Taku, and Carmichael. So - 12 head of livestock in the Back 40! We just finished the Frat House, a larger 2-stalled pole barn with small corral that includes an alpaca stall and a stall I'll use as a milkroom until we have the new one built (or babies, whichever comes first). The bucks live in the Bachelor Pad, which is a glorious mass of livestock panels, t-posts, and a Dogloo. Sesi is giving about a pint of milk a day, it's super-insanely creamy, and I think I got her good and bred yesterday! Now I just need a platform for the bucks to stand on for the Nubian girls....Here's a photo of the boys - Toffee's reddish-brown and Marzipan's cream.

So, all in all, life is good. Really really good. We brined and roasted the turkey the Alton Brown way and we will NEVER go back to the old way. It was superb. The delicata squash pie was made with duck eggs - Attila really came up to snuff in time for the holiday! Amazingly rich. In other words, we're now recovering, but it was the best Thanksgiving meal ever, and I'm having fun experimenting with chevre culture.

Knitting-wise, there's been a pause for fingerless gloves, and a few projects added - like stockings - but now the current things are a Fauxbius Wrap for Mom and a Union Square Shawl/Poncho for me. Yum! Here's the WIP of my US.

And we saw Beowulf and I think it sucked.

I can hear the thunder of testosterone...

2007-11-02T20:29:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's true, these insane rumors you've been hearing - we're getting bucks! Those stinky, h*rny critters that happen to be so vital for, um, coming up with the "dairy" part of "dairy goat". We got shafted by various breeders, and have investigated the insanely complicated and expensive (but very cool) process of caprine artificial ins*mination, and after plumbing the shallows of despair (it wasn't that bad, you see), I was calling breeders for price quotes on buck kids to do a cost-benefit analysis of classic goat breeding vs. AI...and by the end of the day, we'd made a verbal agreement to buy 2 Nigerian Dwarf bucklings! The breeder rocks, and if she had a website, I'd link to it, but she's too cool for that. Suffice it to say that she breeds for dairy character and milk (which, since udders come from the male line, is AWESOME), and I was bemoaning the issues of getting 2 bucks, one Nubian and one Nigerian, for each breed on site, and how the Nubian would get so big and hard to handle - and she's like, "A Nigerian would be so happy to keep your little Nubian girls taken care of for several years - and after that, just get him a stool". Really, she said that. And I realized...(insert fanfare)...why do I have to breed my Nubians to Nubians? I mean, I'm breeding to get the girls in milk, and for good daughters - and wouldn't their daughters be amazing? I can't register them, but they'll be fantastic (this lady's cross-bred goats before, and gotten great results), and we'll have registered Nigerian bucks on site to breed the Nigerian does. WOW. We are pumped. And we already have the stools.

So I've been building a buck pen this week. You have to double fence because goats can breed through fences (um, it's true), and the pen has to be the greatest possible distance from where we milk (because the buck odor gets in milk - this is why most people think goat milk is nasty) and from the house (again, buck odor - this is why we thought we wouldn't ever have bucks on this particular small piece of land); yet we want it large and interesting enough that they will live in comfort. Sooo...I hope to have pics up soon. It's great.

We pick up the boys (twins, one red, one white, born in February) on Tuesday. Oh, golly! I'm so excited. And now I can enjoy anticipating the trip, since the Pen Is Done. Yes! And we get to name them!

I'm also preparing to attend TubaChristmas for the first time in years - man oh man, it's going to be great. I just bought a baritone (funfunfun!) to play at this fabulous event, hopefully taking along one of my sister's bandmates (it'll also help me teach trumpet in my sister's band - I really need the review, jaded trombonist that I am!). Ah, tuba and euphonium players swathed in garlands and Santa hats and jingle bells on the Capitol steps in Austin, playing carols in four-part harmony....It just doesn't get much better than that.

And after a week of dogs being shut in the outside kennel (and Jelly getting rashes from her regular non-nettle allergies), sunflower seeds everywhere, and many odd encounters with our strange but pleasant landscaper, we have an 8' tall cedar fence blocking our nearest neighbor! Yay! Our neighbors' many buildings (not seedy, just not pretty) abut our yard, and it's been a long four-and-a-half years looking at their window A/C units over my garden beds, and being woken up by their motion-detecting backporch light(s). There is now much rejoicing, and I've already planted four roses and a fragrant white mistflower in front of the lovely new fence.

I didn't knit much (um, t-post driving kind of numbs the upper arms) this week, but what I did do was on my lovely Union Square Shawl/Poncho from Weekend Knitting, which I'm working up in my handspun gray Romney lamb that I processed from the fleece. It practically sparkles - ooh, thank you, Christiane! This wrap, BTW, has turned out to be a Godsend. Of all the four shawls I've knit for Mom, I never expected this to be The One, but it is - it's perfect for all those chores we do at all hours of day or night, when our hands must be free and shawl tails, however pretty and tucked in with pins or chopsticks, just are too much. I LOVE this wrap. Thank you, Melanie Falick. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

And milking Sesame has just gotten a heck of a lot easier - check out the gadget on this site. Talk about your American geniuses - in my opinion, Buck is a treasure. Long may he invent!

So, this was pretty much my week. I'd say it was a pretty darn good one. I've got Four Queens sitting on my bed, just asking to be read (and BTW, it's one of the best books I've come across lately, and the author is hilariously outspoken - who else ever says that Eleanor of Aquitaine "took promiscuity to an art"?). The Magnatune Renaissance music podcast is playing on my iPod. Oh, and I got a Star of David tattooed on my left palm on Wednesday. Seriously. Yup - I'm feelin' good.

Look, my sweet mom in her Union Square (which I've been borrowing like mad during our recent oh-so-brief cold snap).

Darn Vader

2007-10-30T17:20:00.000-06:00

This is possibly my most favoritest video ever. Golly. Thank you, NotScarlett, you goddess, you!

Share and enjoy.

Sigh...8 weird things....

2007-10-19T11:36:00.000-06:00

Argh! Wicked, wicked Dawn, to so tag me with the 8 weird things!

The Rules: Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

I'm gonna have trouble finding 8 people to tag - I'm such a shy, retiring blogger!

1. I'm descended from Nancy Ward, and am in the Wolf Clan of the Cherokee.

2. I met Drew Barrymore once (played in a brass sextet at the Christmas party of Home Fries), and she was very pleasant. It was worth it just to see the short ultra macho trumpet hot dog of the UT Music School stutter out, "Uh, have you done your Christmas shopping yet?" Ah.....

3. I like mild salsa, but I like to put enough wasabi on my sushi so that I'm pounding on the table and crying (I use a LOT of napkins at Japanese restaurants).

4. I built the entire set of The Wind in the Willows with paper, crayons, tape, and scissors when I was 5 so that my beanbag toys (still have 'em - Badger, Moley, the Toad, and the Water-Rat) had somewhere to play.

5. I check out WAY more books from the library than I could ever have time to read. I mean, really, I turn at least half back in unread. I figure that if I haven't devoured it within three days, I must not really want to read it.

6. I called 911 during my mom's nap one day when I was 4, and when the nice lady asked what was wrong, I said, "Nothing, I just wanted to see what would happen." She said, "You must never never never do this again." I said, "OK," and hung up, and I never did it again.

7. I kiss my goats.

8. I'm also related to two American Presidents - the Harrisons. One helped bring on the Civil War through obtuse jingoism, and the other caught cold during his inaugural speech and died a month later. Not a great showing, I'm afraid.

Whoa - meanwhile - we had a brushfire that got out of control today. It was our own fault, mine and Mom's, but it was still super-scary and I've made mucho herbal tea for all the smoke inhalation. We had to call 911. Mom threw up, like, 15 times. I've never understood why people run back into burning buildings, or just seem to have no idea how dangerous the fire is. I get it now. It melted a bucket, for gosh sakes. Photo of the aftermath.

I also include a pic of the next sock - the Embossed Lace are (gasp) too big for Mom, so I've taken them (no hardship, really, I'm just a little crest-fallen), and I'm knitting Mom a pair in BFL Ultra using the Yarn Harlot's formula. C'est la vie, and indeed, que sera sera.

Oh, and I've discovered a delicious new blog, via Dawn (bless her little punkin heart!). I just about bust a gut when I watched the second video in her 8 weird things post.

I'm tagging...well, heck, no one. Sorry. I done broke the chain letter and the fire'll be rainin' down on me.

Pausing to chat

2007-10-17T08:32:00.000-06:00

I'm not able to post much right now, but suffice it to say that I finished the Embossed Leaves Socks - after the Endless Scarf, which I finished last week! Wow! If you're on Ravelry, check out my projects; I'm Spinnerin there, too.

I was knitting on fumes at the end - I was all ready to order another skein of Velvet Bilberry Jitterbug from Kaleidoscope Yarns, but fortunately they were out of stock, and when I finished with 12" to spare (golly!), I was able to change the colorway and yay! Stash enhancement. I feel the Copperbeaches calling me - "We're faddy people, but kind-hearted." Aaah, Joss Ackland! Don't hurt me!

I need to get cracking on poor Mom's Box Lace Shawl - what with that and the Litla Dimun for me, I'll be pretty busy, but I'll find time to cast on a pair of socks for me - probably my yummy skein of SeaWool for the Bordello Socks from Fleece Artist.

Monty's doing well - he ate food from our hands today (way to an alpaca's heart is through his stomach?) and is not shying nearly as much as he was. Ooh, his camelicious twitchy lips!

Jellybean is continuing to heal; chopping down all the trees has transformed our yard and we've added 10 roses, yes, 10! And stock and calendulas and snapdragons and nasturtiums...lovely. And we have a new favorite rose.

And oh oh oh! And I'm going to Kid 'N Ewe at last! All those Yankees with their huge and glorious wool festivals just can't understand how grateful we are for even our own small festival - 20 vendors? Thank God. And I'm signing up for a workshop on spinning variegated yarn from colored fiber. This is going to rock. Craziness: Kid 'N Ewe and Zero Day Anime on the same weekend!

And do you know what has been delicious lately? Barbara Michaels novels. Ahhhh...soothing. And I have finally started (natch, in the final season) watching Queer Eye. Oh my gosh. At long last. Just the flamingness would make it a fun program, but the cuttingly clever commentary? Ouch!

Covered in unspeakable fluids, she winces

2007-10-05T20:48:00.000-06:00

Boy, has it been a rough week. Do you doubt? Well, just today, I escorted three separate goats to a breeder - and did they breed? NO. There is no sillier feeling (well, maybe several) than standing there with your doe on a leash, watching her avoid the buck's eye (and he's more attracted to the women in the picture than the goats), saying in a pathetic trailing voice, "Well, it looked puffy back at the house...and she was acting really oddly...uh...." Can YOU tell if a goat's in heat? I didn't think so.

On the bright side, I've discovered that I've been doing absolutely everything wrong with Monty, in time to change. Thank God he's an exceptionally gregarious alpaca, and I haven't ruined him with my cornering and arm-waving and neck-grabbing. And thank God for Marty McGee Bennett and her book.

And I just milked Sesame, and got 6 cups. Sure, the milk bucket had been stepped in several times before we tied her back legs together and Mom pretty much sat on her, and sure, there was about a teaspoon of my blood in it from a pinkie slashed by the edge of the milk bucket when Sesi kicked it into my hand, and sure, we wouldn't drink it anyway because it's been sitting in her udder for about a week while all those cracks on her teats healed. It was still a successful evening.

Isn't seeing an ex after a very very long time just super-weird? A long-ago boyfriend of mine (with whom things ended very badly) has a brother with telenovela-type situations with women, and this brother just got married! Wow. And here are the pictures. My ex is the best man with the extra short hair. It feels rilly rilly strange, you know?

I love this picture of my sister in a ruana I knit for Mom. Isn't she beautiful? I don't know where her Gorgeous Genes came from, but I sure do like to have her model garments.

Alpaca photos!

2007-10-03T11:40:00.000-06:00

Here's little Curry the Nigerian Dwarf checking Monty out.

He's so cute! Here he is with Taku (on the left) and Carmichael.

And here's Jellybean in her bath - ooh! I'm so sorry to have violated the privacy of a lady!

Monty

2007-10-02T17:50:00.000-06:00

I wish I could post photos, but we've lost (as we lose everything, at one time or another, in this crazy house) the extra battery in the charger, so you'll have to take my word for it: Monty is adorable. His name was Atlas, but the world has turned upside-down for him, so it's a good time for a name change anyway. He and the goats are slowly bonding - they're way more skittish about him than he about them - he's ready to cuddle. He's getting more and more comfortable around me, and I held his head under my chin this morning and hummed at him; I got alpaca snook all over my shirt. Awwwww....I love him so! I think it's all working out very well. He follows the goats around the yard and lies down near them in that cute camelid way!

Thanks to Heather of CraftLit and her yummy fiber trade with me, I'm going to start trying out blending camelid fiber with wool and silk in preparation for the spring! Oh, what fun this is! I've also made another new friend, and she crochets compulsively.

Poor Monty; he wanders around saying, "Hmmmm?" I think he's looking for the other alpaca boys - oh, golly! We will, Lord willing, get him a buddy soon, perhaps from the same place we got him.

The photo isn't Monty - it's just an alpaca lying down, which I love.

I also found a fabulous source for alpaca info, and am tremendously thankful. I knew that I needed some help when I flipped through my books and found Bette Hochberg saying that only a spinner who knew a generous zoo-keeper could spin this exotic fiber!

Wait for it....Behold, the alpaca!

2007-09-28T21:23:00.000-06:00

Okay. Life is truly strange, yes - but did anyone expect me to get an alpaca? Yes, I just did! Oh my gosh oh my gosh!

No pics yet, because he'll be delivered on Sunday. Mom bought him for me at the county fair - he's a young male (I'm almost 100% sure a gelding - uh, yeah, it all happened really fast!), creamy off-white with a little patch of deep brown on his side and brown goggles around his lovely liquid eyes! I am naming him after an ancestor and favorite historical figure: Simon de Montfort! Monty for short.

To say that I'm stunned would be like...like....Well, I'm so stunned I can't think of anything. Mom basically just said, "Would you like one?" as we gazed at their dear fuzzy faces. This is the perfect fiber animal, too - llamas have too much guard hair and aggression, and sheep are just looking for a place to die. Angora goats would beat up my sweet dairy goats, and angora rabbits...they're a little fluffy. And rabbits in controlled situations make me feel guilty. But an alpaca...perfectamundo. He'll bunk down with the little Nigerian wethers - oh, gosh, this is great! Though I may need to pen him while the goats eat their pellets, or pen the goats to eat them - ATTRA says that pellets are a bad idea for a camelid, unless there is nothing else to feed them. I'm so going to read up on them - I have so much to learn.

On the goat side, things have been terribly exciting - and then terribly rough. Wednesday, when our new goat stand was delivered (wow! go, local carpenter!), we realized that Sesame still had some milk in her udder from freshening with her twins in the spring. I milked her that evening, yesterday morning and evening, and this morning (can't use the milk yet because she'd been eating anti-coccidia pellets), but realized tonight that she had a little split in the skin on her teat from all this sudden milking. I feel horrible (though she feels worse, I'm sure). I'm going to go to once a day (now that I've started milking, I've got to go on or the pressure and old milk will damage her), and go way gentler. I'm a newbie, and she's never been milked before, though already her yield is increasing, bless her little pumpkin heart. I put some goldenseal on the teat with the iodine; Lord willing it'll be better soon.

On the knitting front, I've been invited to Ravelry! At last, at last! I spent, um, three hours on it last night - it was awesome. I'm going to have trouble actually knitting and not just being online talking about it.

I'm still knitting the Endless Scarf for my co-worker's daughter - I don't regret doing it, I just am ready to be done with it. C'est la vie.

So, What Would Mrs. Tittlemouse Do? (WWMTD) Probably go through my untidy home like a dose of salts, finally getting it vacuumed (updating that little dustpan a bit), and somehow guilting everyone else into putting their five million pairs of shoes up (not mine because I am without flaw). But I'm just me, so instead I think I'll download the latest CraftLit and go to bed.

Septic insanity

2007-09-25T10:19:00.000-06:00

Oh my goodness - everything has gone all pear-shaped around here! It's incredible, how by the probability laws of the universe, the minute my sister goes anywhere (Lutheran school canoeing/outdoorsishness) and we sigh and say, at last we'll get something done around here -- something explodes. This time, it's the septic tank, but at least the money will be there, and Lord willing it'll be fixed okay, and the goats (who are going bonkers shut up inthe corral) will still be okay, and it's not like the house is sinking into a sea of mud. This isn't MouseHunt or anything.

The picture isn't my house, but I needed a septic truck, and found it online.

On the bright side, we finally found out what in the yard has been driving our dog Jellybean into pustulated allergic overload, and are praising God fasting. Noseburn! Hate it! Fear it! In our case, cut down all the trees in the front of the yard that are providing the dappled shade it desires! Die die! Um, sorry - it's just been a hard summer. We thought we were going to have to put her down, and she is just the best dog we've ever had, but it would be worth it if living meant some kind of overmedicated, dying-by-inches Life Half Lived.

Meanwhile, I've decided it's time to tackle my too-many-projects-cast-on (but it feels so good!), and I need to burn through this scarf for a co-worker's daughter and Mom's socks. Then maybe I can work on the two Folk Shawls I love so much. Why? Why do I start so many things when it means I work LESS on what I love? A shrink would have a field day with it, if they cared to. Which they probably wouldn't.

And I'm GOING to spend a day recording for LibriVox - no more shilly-shallying! Because the time just won't be there - I'll have to take it. Thank God for Cast-On and CraftLit.

And here's Mrs. Tiggywinkle. I think my new slogan will be What Would Mrs. Tiggywinkle Do? Wash pinnies and Sally Henny-Penny's stockings, I guess. Sounds good. I need a t-shirt. WWMTD?

Socks again

2007-09-19T21:22:00.000-06:00

Oh, boy - sock progress! I've tossed my first crepe (symbolized by that first pair), and have gotten over halfway through the Embossed Leaf Socks from Favorite Socks from Interweave, and I love it. The twisted rib at the top cuff is lovely, but I actually think it's a little tight compared with the looser fabric of the (delicious) lace pattern on the leg and foot; this may, however, be my own inexperienced gauge uniting the two fabrics. The lovely rounded star toe is fantastic, and I now know that I prefer four-needle socks to three.

Ooh, I love Jitterbug! The ladies at the Yarn Barn in San Antonio raved over it, and I can certainly see why now - um, the stash is plumper by two skeins after a short shopping visit this weekend....

Triumph of Socks

2007-09-09T21:48:00.000-06:00

I have finished my first pair of socks! They almost don't fit Mom, but fit her they do, and the lust for sock-knitting has rolled over me in a mighty wave. Oh, I can FEEL all those handpainted skeins out there, calling my name - I have ordered a lovely skein of Socks That Rock, and a luscious ball of Colinette Jitterbug is waiting in the Armoire O' Wool. And thank God for Mom getting me some Lucy Neatby DVDs - oh boy oh boy! And I have a new favourite podcast - Lixie Knits It.

Here, just for fun, is the Trendsetter Yarns mitered throw kit I'm (periodically) knitting. I love it, despite my normal dislike of yarns with actual, listed metal content. Go figure. As long as no one waves magnets at the couch when it's finished, I think we're good.

Knitting like the wind!

2007-08-28T21:10:00.000-06:00

Oh, my GOSH! I wrote an essay for Cast-On and Brenda accepted it!!!!! Wow wow wow! So this is a good time to post my Knitting Scout badge: “Proselytize Knitting”.

Mom destashed some of my handspun/dye experiments (the pain!) and a skein of Manos del Uruguay (um, I'm not too impressed, despite the starving women factor) and some scarp yarn (carded and respun roving samples and yarn bits), and since the handspun Border Leicester and the Manos are rather scratchy, I've decided to knit a gi-normous rectangle (ah, the simple things in life) and felt it. I need a mat for my fan-on-the-cedar-chest. So...why not knit it? Here's the WIP.

And here's my Box Lace Shawl - I LOVE this simple pattern! I've been so blitzed lately, and it's nice to have lace without going mad in white linen. Thank you, Cheryl Oberle.

On the goat front, the vet checked Chamomile and Marigold out today (they're about 6 months old) and he says they're both fine for breeding this fall! Oh, my little baby girls - I'm so excited! I'm going to try to breed Sesame (the 3yo Nigerian doe) to kid in February and my little Nubian girls to kid in March - I'd love to have an experienced mother kidding first, and then the yearling does a month later. And since my workplace explodes in April, maybe, just maybe, this will work out.

Hahahahahaha! Okay, just kidding - no way will this work out, but at least I'll have fun going crazy with my girls.

Did you see that yarn move?

2007-08-25T20:49:00.000-06:00

I finally understand all this stash stuff knitbloggers and podcasters are always talking about. Until today, I laughed at those people; I mean, a reasonable person just does NOT let their acquisition of yarn and/or fiber get out of control. I only have enough for a few projects, just about everything is earmarked for something already, and I can always feel free to pick up a sample ball of yarn or half pound of fiber because I just don't have that much at home. Um, right.

While picking up a magazine file at T*rget (hm, not that my knitting and spinning magazine collection is increasing at an insane rate or anything) I thought, hey, I could pick up a few of these college-themed bins and organize my stash! Not that it would take very long!

Good grief. Please witness the Armoire O' Wool, newly organized (one super-overflowing bin of wool, one half full of silk and blends and exotics, bags of carded Romney roving, a giant bag of Rambouillet that I think will become a felted rug, a huge giganticus tub of yarn and satellite bags of yarn earmarked for specific projects), and the pile of things moved OUT of the Armoire and ready to put in the upstairs closet.

And then there's the tub of current projects, and the giant crock of machine-washable KnitPicks yarns for manga hats, and the tub of already-spun Romney yarn in my cedar chest.

I can't buy any more yarn or fiber for a very very very long time. Um - this makes me feel really silly about the skein of Sea Wool I just ordered - uh, and the skein of Bamboo. I wonder if there's a Yarnaholics Anonymous group?