April Showers, Birds and Hikes

It's been a busy time here at Willow's Cottage and this is the first post I've written all week.  Time to catch up and think about the good parts of the week.  Friday Fave Fives really helps me do that.  Susanne at Living to Tell the Story leads us in choosing five things from our week that have helped us to be thankful and notice gratitude.  Here are mine:

1.  Encouraging words from friends concerning a difficult situation.  I meet weekly via zoom with friends.  We call ourselves the Art Girls (you can guess why).  Because I was stressed about something, they encouraged me and really helped me focus on the right way to handle things.

2.  The birds are back in force at my bird feeder.  I love watching them snack on the seeds I provide for them.  Birds make life happier and make me smile.

3.  More hikes.  It really is spring!  On Tuesday evening, the Trail Life troop hiked in a local preserve again.  Although it had been raining quite a bit this past week and the creek was up, we ventured through the mud and water, up and down the banks of the stream and had a great time.  (I'm the honorary grandma who hikes with them)  The best part?  Tall Boy was very solicitous for my safety as we crossed creek beds on rocks and climbed up slick and muddy edges, even holding my arm and escorting me along in front of his buddies.  Then we also had a fun hike at the local arboretum again.  Almost three miles.

4.  I guess I should be thankful for all the rain we are having.  April showers bring May flowers.  I need to just focus on being thankful that we aren't in drought.

5.  The spinning wheel is out and I've been working on some merino and silk fiber.  No photos yet.  But hopefully, in the next day or two I will have finished a skein of it.

Now I am off to watch my older daughter (she who is a rocket scientist) dance in the local production of Swan Lake.  Happy Happy Friday to you all.

Off To Ireland, Part 11!

 This was our last full day in Ireland.  What we did on this day was something I was eagerly awaiting the whole trip.  A visit to a sheep farm complete with sheep dog demonstration.

After overnighting in Galway, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at our hotel and then boarded our tour bus.  We headed north to County Mayo.  Glen Keen Farm was our destination.

We met the young sheep dog.

He even let me pet him.

And Eleanor wasn't afraid of him.  He's a sheep dog, not a bunny dog, after all.

Waiting patiently...

OK!  Go get 'em!

Uh oh.  They ran off into the other pasture.

Not a problem.  He still quickly rounded them up and brought them to the pen.

Did I do a good job, Dad?

Do I get a snack?

After the demo, we headed to the farm house and the dog headed off to get his reward.  We were treated to a wonderful lunch and traditional Irish music and a wool spinning demonstration.

I was quite surprised to find that, according to our hostess who was doing the spinning demonstration, there are only TWO spinners in all of County Mayo.  If you have been reading Willow's Cottage blog for any amount of time, you will know that I am a spinner and know many other people (men and women) who spin.

Finally, it was time to depart.  I hugged the spinning wheel and wished it many more years of productivity creating yarn.

Then it was on to our very last stop...

A Fair Isle Sweater

 Several years ago, I was given some sheep wool fiber.  If my memory is correct, it was from a Jacob wool sheep.  With daughter Mia's help, I cleaned, washed, carded the fleece.  Then, because there was so much of it, I sent it to a place that finished the carding and made several balls of roving.

Then I spun it on my Lendrum spinning wheel.

I decided I wanted to dye it and had heard that Kool Aid makes a great dye.  Think about it.  Have you ever spilled Kool Aid drink on your shirt, or had your child spill on his/her clothes?  It never never washes out.  It's a permanent dye.

And then the yarn just sat there in my stash.  Well, not completely.  I did make some outfits for Eleanor Elizabeth from the yarn.

Finally, in March, I decided that this would be the year I would use the yarn to make a fair isle sweater to wear when I visit Ireland and England in June.  The weather should be cool enough for me to wear a wool sweater, right?  Particularly in Ireland.

So I embarked on an adventure to find just the right pattern.  After browsing many many pinterest photos, numerous knitting books and blogs, I chose the Trek pattern by Tin Can Knits.

I finished the sweater just in time to wear this weekend when the weather decided to cool down into the 40s.

I am really pleased with the final results.

Groundhog Fave Fives

 Welcome to Willow's Cottage on this auspicious day when animals predict when spring is coming.  Eleanor Elizabeth is in agreement with all the groundhogs that Spring will arrive sooner rather than later.  Hopefully...

And now it is Friday, February 2nd, still winter.  But the sun is actually shining!  Since it's Friday, it is time for Friday Fave Fives with Susanne and a whole bunch of other people who list five things (and sometimes more) that have blessed them this week.  Here are mine.

1.  A new family member has been added!   Little M was born last Sunday evening.  He is the son of a young man we have known for more than twenty years and who became our 'grandson' just because we love his family so much.  (they're the ones who followed us here to Ohio two years ago)  We haven't met M yet but have seen a couple of photos.

2.  We met a friend and her mother for lunch on Monday.  This friend is very special to us because of her involvement in missions work in Uganda.   She managed the Ugandan Lambs for years and introduced us to Daniel and Mark who we have sponsored for a long time.  She even brought a gift to us from Mark.  (If you have read this blog for a while, you may remember our heartbreak when Daniel passed away three years ago.)  Uganda is dear to our hearts.  Now our friend is living in Hanoi and again working to help the lives of children and young adults.  It was a blessed time.  In my opinion, it is a good thing that she has family living in Ohio, so she visits them every year, and we can see her, too.

3.  That gift from Mark.  A wood carving to hang on our wall!

4.  The weather has moderated a bit and we have been able to take two walks this week.  Yesterday, while we waited for Tall Boy at his piano lesson, we just walked around that neighborhood.  It's the best way to learn your town AND get some exercise at the same time.

5.  I've been planning a rather industrious knitting project.  I have had a big bag of handspun and hand dyed wool sitting in my studio closet for a long time.  The biggest issue was that there wasn't enough of any basic color to use for a vest or sweater.  So I decided to pull out my spinning wheel and spin up some undyed wool.  First I had to finish spinning some lovely grey alpaca from Peru.  Yesterday, I finished it. 

Now I am on to working on the wool.  I am pleased that I finally pulled out the wheel and am actually getting some spinning done.  These are the dyed colors.  I chose a basic beige/grey wool which I think will work well with all these bright colors.

I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to use my hands to create such beauty.

Mid January Gratitude Warmth

Greetings from cold and windy (dare I say frigid?) central Ohio.  It's a grey and chilly Friday.  But.  Even in harsh weather or maybe difficult situations, there is always sunshine and goodness if you look for it.  That is the whole point of Friday Fave Fives.  Susanne leads other bloggers in this exercise of gratitude each week and for me it is important to look back and note the blessings I might have otherwise missed.  I am so thankful for Friday Fave Fives (the link takes you to Susanne's blog)

1.  Does working through your mending pile count as deep cleaning?  While I did not manage to clean any cupboards or floors, I did do all the mending.  My daughter's beautiful green cashmere sweater had a hole-- she brought it over and that set off the chain of sewing.  Of course, the next day, I had to start a new pile...

2.  On the one day when the weather cooperated (no rain, no snow, no below freezing temperatures), The Professor, Young Daughter and I took the two 'puppies' for a walk.  Three and a half miles!

3.  We have friends from here who have been on a road trip to the West Coast.  Knowing that we have lived in the Pacific Northwest and that we have driven those routes numerous times, they asked us to help them out with planning their trip and being their weather reporters.  They're on their way home now, and so far,  they have had only one nasty weather day (yesterday in Utah and Wyoming).  We are monitoring and texting with them (well, it's mostly The Professor) and are thankful they are safe.  One extra blessing is that they have sent us photos of all the wonderful places along the way and especially the Columbia River Gorge.

4.  A morning spent with Younger Daughter at a local coffee shop.  We chatted about so many different things including knitting, of course, and her work as a nurse.  I think she is going to love being a nurse.  It's her passion.

5.  Our discussion about knitting?  I am in the planning stages of using up some of my handspun and hand dyed wool yarn.  I want to knit a Fair Isle vest or sweater (or both).  My biggest issue has been having enough of a single color of yarn for the base color.  Then last night I had an AHA moment!  I have some unspun wool fiber in my stash!  So, I made a mess in the room I call my studio and pulled out two rolls of roving.  Now I just have to spin it and make sure it is the same weight (size) of yarn as all the skeins I already have.  If you care about how yarn is made and how it can be dyed, you can click on these three links and read some old posts I wrote years ago.  Handspun    Dyeing Wool    More Dyeing 

Bonus.  Cold weather means I stay inside more.  I have finished reading several books!

What a Week(end)!

Wow. Where did the week go?  Well, I know where my weekend went; but the whole week flew by, too, which is why I didn't even get around to check on others who posted their Friday Fave Fives last week (my apologies! I'll do better this week.)  If you wish to participate in Friday Fave Fives, follow THIS LINK to Susanne's blog.

1.  Of course, my first fave would be the days I spent at Reyes Adobe Days last weekend.  I love this venue because the staff there are so welcoming and helpful and encouraging.  They moved tables.  They offered water.  They gave hugs.  (Don't tell the other places, but I think this is my favorite place ever to do weaving and spinning demos.)

My very serene view of the patio before everyone arrived.  Do you notice the damp spots?  Yes, it rained Friday night.  Believe it or not.  In Southern California.  Not much, just enough to get everything wet and make it all smell wonderful.

2.  On Saturday, I took my rigid heddle loom and worked on a scarf which I nearly finished that day.

Eleanor enjoys helping me.

Finished on Wednesday!

3.  On Sunday, I had my spinning wheel and worked with some alpaca fiber.  It's fun to play the guessing game with the kids.  "What kind of fiber am I spinning?"  Some of the hilarious answers included elephant, giraffe, dog and cat.

4.  You'd think I'd take a day to rest, right? Nope.  Monday morning, my friends and I surprised our friend with a Birthday Brunch.  At her house.  Her husband and daughter organized it, and for once, she was truly surprised.  It was the BEST!

5.  Guess what I did on Tuesday.  Yep.  Nothing.  The reason that is one of my faves should be obvious.

And here are some wise words to make you laugh:

You only need two tools in life.

WD-40 and Duct Tape.

If it doesn't move and should,

Use WD-40.

If it moves and shouldn't,

Use Duct Tape.

Five Faves at the Fair

If you have been reading the Willow's Cottage blog for very long, you will know that even if I don't post anything else during a week, I will write about my favorite things from the week and link up to Susanne's blog Living to Tell the Story and her Friday Fave Fives.  This edition of Willow's Week for Friday Fave Fives features A day at the County Fair.  This is a recurring theme each year.  I love our county fair.  It calls itself "The Country Fair with an Ocean Air" because the fairgrounds are literally across the street from the beach and the Pacific Ocean.  Who wouldn't love that?

Usually I work the first fair day doing demonstrations of spinning in the Agricultural Building at our guild booth (Ventura County Handweavers and Spinners Guild).  It was busy the whole time I was there.  People love to stop and watch us weave and spin and they ask so many questions.  My answers?  "No, it's not really a lost art."  "Everything you are wearing right now as gone through this same process--just using a large mechanized and industrialized method.  But truthfully, nothing is fundamentally different than it was hundreds and thousands of years ago."

We get free tickets for working the fair and since I work the first day which is Dollar Day, we just pay our dollar each and save those free tickets to attend another day when I'm not working.

This year the fair was extra fun for me because my sister-in-law joined us.  Normally, she avoids the fair's crowds like everyone there has the plague or lice or at least the flu.  It was a treat for me to share my love of the fair with her.

The Professor enjoys listening to the music acts on the smaller stages.  One performer has been returning for several years and we will sit and listen to Brady Goss sing.  We love his style and I love that he's from my home state Oregon.

Do you love the fair?  What's your favorite thing?

Looking Back At The Week

It seems like Friday arrives so soon every week.  As The Professor often states, "Time flies."  Here I am and it's the end of the week and I am running a little late for Friday Fave Fives.  What has happened to make me grateful?  Here are some random thoughts.

1.  I love my local library.  This week I returned two books, and check out, let's see, (counting in my head), three books.  Oh and I renewed a fourth book.  All for free.

2.  Speaking of books, my daughter bought me a book for Mother's Day. It arrived this week.  Oh, I'm a happy mama!

3.  Where I live there are many places that have been used (and are being used) as movie sets.  Often when we are driving along the coastal route, we will see movie set trucks parked at the beach.  Sometimes, roads are closed as commercials are being shot.  Old Westerns were often filmed in areas within 20 miles of Willow's Cottage.  One such place is Paramount Ranch.  Appropriately named for Paramount Studios.  At this time, it's part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.  Every May, on one Sunday, the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Festival is held there.  And every year for the past eight or so years, I've taken my spinning wheel and sat in the Western town on the iconic porch and spent my day spinning and talking with people.

 It's a busy time.  But oh so fun!

4.  After that crazy busy day, I was glad to stop off at my favorite restaurant and pick up a burrito and come home and crash.  After I ate my burrito.

5.  Another perk to living where I do is easy access to various renowned museums and centers.  Like the Getty Center and Getty Museum.  And Reyes Adobe.  And all the Los Angeles museums.  The Ronald Reagan Library may be the closest center to us.  We've been there several times to visit with friends and to see special exhibits.  Right now, an exhibit about Genghis Khan is there.  So we decided to visit RRL this week.

Gotta love the Imperial passport!

"I am the emissary of the Khan. If you defy me, you die."

model of a yurt

Where there were sheep there were spinning wheels (drop spindle).

I hope you will take some time this weekend to contemplate your blessings.  What are you thankful for?