A mom, her son, their dogs and ...

THEIR LAMB.  That's right...A Lamb.

This Saturday I went walking with my dog and my bonus dog, Hawk, at the park on their main walking trail.  I stopped the dogs along the trail to take their picture (because who doesn't take a picture on their walk?) Keva was sniffing rather interestedly towards the lower bike trail that was just to the side of us so I peeked over to see what she was so curious about. 

See how she's cranning her neck?  That's very unusual for her.
I couldn't quite tell what it was that I was seeing, but I knew that it did not move like a dog.  So we decided to check it out.  Granted, this might have been a rash choice since I wore walking shoes, not hiking shoes and the lower trail is quite a bit more "rugged".  It all paid off in the end though when we caught up to the lady, her son, their three border collies and their little baby lamb who thought he was a dog.  Cutest dang thing ever!

Keva and Hawk got the opportunity to sniff a sheep up close and personal (in the way only dogs can get personal) and I got the opportunity to dream about my future life with sheep and little lambs who are part of the family out for a stroll.

Sicko!

Here's my day today:

Tyler is home sick today so between laundry and nurse duties, I have decided to make some cornbread comfort food using this fantastic recipe I found online. It's the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue corn bread and I LOVE it.

Spindle Spun

Remember this yarn?

I finished spinning this second half of the wool: 

 And then plied it up on my spinning wheel to make this fantastic yarn. 

One of the things that is so interesting to me about spinning is that you can take wool that is bright pink in sections, orange sherbert colored in others, and then dark purple in others and put it all together and it just works.  I love how the colors all kinda mush in spots and then other spots just pop. 

(Don't be alarmed by that bit of white in there.  I was a bit off on either my spinning of the two halves or the separating of the two halves and when I plied them I had a little left over on one bobbin.  Because I can't stand to waste anything, I decided to ply it in with some other white I had already spun up.  My plan is to ply any extra lengths from the current spinning I'm doing with white and then use all the varied marls together in one project so that the white is their commonality and the colors are their visual interest.)

I seem to be awfully enthralled with spinning right now and am finding it kind of hard to want to knit.  The ironic part is that as I'm knitting less (due to the spinning), I'm also increasing my yarn amounts. 

Waffle Day

I can't remember how it came up in conversation, but I recently learned that my coworker, Erika, had never had a waffle. She'd had pancakes before, but never a waffle. Now, I know that they're made from similar batter, but I firmly believe that they are not interchangeable food. So I started a campaign. The "Feed Erika Waffles Campaign." Each new coworker I told about Erika's alarming lack of waffle-ness was just as shocked as I was. (Even Tyler, who asked why I was putting our waffle maker into the car, was shocked to learn that there was a person alive who had not had a waffle.) We decided to do a Waffle Wednesday lunch at work...but due to scheduling conflicts our Waffle Wednesday ended up taking place on Thursday. It was a huge hit! Maggie, Dan and I all brought in our waffle makers so we were able to wip out a ton of waffles at a time and they were oh so good!

Walk Down Memory Lane

My Aunt Lois and her son Max are in town from Olton, TX and Marin County, CA so today was a day for a meandering walk down memory lane. As background, my mom is a fifth generation Hanford, California girl. Although she grew up in Reedley, it was very important to her parents that she be born in Hanford. Today we visited the Selma Cemetary to visit my great-great-great (I think) grandfather Peter Bock.

Then we went to visit my great-greats Jacob and Ella Bock...who for some reason seem to be rolling in their graves (or maybe it's just that they're shocked at my lack of web skills)...

Then we went to visit my great grandparents Herman and Grace Harper.  I've heard so much about my mom's memories of her as a child--She LOVED spending time with her grandparents.

Then we were invited into the house where Aunt Lois and Grandpa Jim grew up, starting at ~age 3-4.  Seriously, the nicest lady...she didn't have to invite us into her home, but it totally made my mom's day.

We finished off our day driving through Hanford looking at all the old haunts of Aunt Lois and my grandpa and that my mom remembered visiting when she was a kid. Oh...And there was this:

Which I valiantly worked my way through... 

People around the world know about the best ice cream shop in Hanford, California.  I swear, you can be traveling in another country all together, mention Hanford and people ask about The Superior Dairy.  Best Ice Cream EVER.

 

On the way home everyone (except me...I was driving) fell asleep or at least rested their eyes.  This reminiscing is hard work!

 

Mine, All Mine!

In order to support my spindling addiction, I purchased a few new bundles of fluff. (Don't worry, all but one of them was on super sale, which makes it even better!)  I love that the Etsy seller packaged it up like a present! 

This is the one that started the whole purchase.  Isn't she pretty!

 

 Since the seller was also having a destash of her unused fluff and I could "Save" on shipping if I bought more than one from the same seller, I decided to go ahead and buy this lovely red braid.

 And while I was at it, I threw the two braids of green and one of turquoise into my cart and thought I'd better call it good.  I can't wait to see what becomes of these!  I'm planning to spin one of them up for a Nerd Wars challenge having to do with the weather where I'm at, but other than that I'm not sure.

One small embarrasing confession though...My spinning wheel had a broken part on it and sat in my closet for almost a year.  And now I can't remember how to get started on spinning with it!  I feel confident that once I got started I'd be fine, but it's that whole getting started nonsense.  And I don't really want to tell any other spinners that I've forgotten how to start out spinning on a wheel lest they think I'm an idiot...which I kind of feel like I am...Oh dear.  What to do?

Spindle Therapy

I've been doing a bit of spinning on my drop spindle lately. It's really addicting and quite mesmerizing. I spun 1/2 of a 3 oz roving that I got from Needles and Ewe of the Anzula Superwash merino...I think the color is called "Garden." 

Not my normal colors...Pink?  Purple?  nah...Not something I'd usually choose, but what the heck.  Break outside the box, right?  So I separated out the roving into two approximately equal lots to be able to create a two ply yarn.  The first half is done, the second half is nearly done but as yet unphotographed.  I'm taking a plying class at The Knit Addiction on Saturday and I'm hoping to have the two halves done so I can become a pro at plying them.  Who knows, maybe there will be a handspun Etsy shop in my future?