2 a Day

I am actually going to push out a second real post for the day. Mainly because this morning was a cheaters post. It had no real content and two, I have the time before I crash tonight.

So, the Tour. It is fully up and going at this point. I am still as excited about this as I was before it started. So excited even that I started right in on the spinning project I had intended to use as a challenge day spin. Oh well, I'll get my challenge in a bit early.

Yesterday we had a lovely pot luck lunch and spinning fest in the back yard. I showed you the collage of photos but here they are a little better than that.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and get some fiber time in. As you can see, I have some lovely pink fiber. Pink... Maybe that's why I am in a hurry to get it done? Yes, I did leave out peoples faces. I don't like my own picture taken so I try to leave others out of pictures, especially if I plan on sharing it on the internet.

When all was said and done I was able to wrap up the 2.67oz of my first single. Today I wrapped up the second 2.67 oz's and prepped the fiber for tomorrow.

I won't have a lot of time tomorrow morning between walking kids and getting ready to go to work, but I hope to dive into that third single. It must be spun the opposite way than the other two. I am making a three ply crepe yarn like this one I shared before.

But it will have these beads on one of the central ply's.

I'm hoping it will be as pretty as I hope because it's already promised to someone; and let's face it, by the time I get it done the pink will be making me nauseas.

While perusing the daily threads, I had a couple of insights. The first being that I am very jealous of other spinners wooly winders. I didn't think I really wanted one before, but the more I seem them on the forums for the Tour, the more I want one.

The other little epiphany I had was that possibly some of us here in Casper have a little problem. Like, maybe needing a 12 step program problem. As I was reading forums and seeing other peoples goals, I was amazed at some of them saying their goal for a 3 week tour was to finish an entire 4oz braid. Obviously, some of us have already ripped through that much in 2 days, plus some and will have several braids under our belt by the time our 3 weeks are up. Oh well, I can think of worse things for us to be blowing our money on than wool and other delicious fibers.

Being that I in two days have polished off more than 5 oz of fiber, my fingers were hurting a bit tonight when I got home from work so I dove into finishing my short socks up.

Aren't they nice?

I now have short socks to wear out and about that I made myself. Especially for when I am spinning on the wheel in public. I always wear socks while spinning because my feet seem to stain my treadles and I have ugly climbers feet. They're kind of like dancers feet, they show the abuse of broken toes, cramming them into both small climbing shoes and cracks in the wall. In other words, they're ugly and I don't tend to show them off. I have some more sock yarn that I may ball up and throw in my bag to cast on another set. When I finally got these kids going they were a fast knit. It's amazing that I tore out something that had been on the needles since February, and then polished them off in a week. Well, it is to me. I am not necessarily a fan of knitting socks (I don't mind it like I once did anyway), but I am a fan of wearing my own hand knit socks.

Okay, off to bed with me. I hope you all have a great beginning of your week.

The Tour Days 1 & 2

Not much to say, just showing off yesterday and todays Tour de Fleece pics.

I got one bobbin done yesterday

But only had about an hour and a half to spin this morning before i needed to get ready for work.

Have a great day everyone.

Busy Day

Just a quick check in. Between prepping for tomorrow, my other appointments for the day, and the beginning of the Nic Fest I am beat, but still have to do the dishes. But since I will be a stranger on my own blog through the end of the Tour de Fleece, I thought I would give a quick shout.

This evening, despite the heat I walked the boys down to the festival and met The Guy and Shiela girl for music, art, and some good festival food. There is a fountain in the front of The Nic that I wet the dogs down in to help keep them cool. We stopped to play at the park for a few minutes on the drive home.

Then the work began. I had to make a couple things for tomorrow's gathering, prep my fiber for the morning, and now, it's dishes time. Between dusting, vacuuming, mopping, I am done for the night.

Hope you all have a wonderful night, and for the other Tour members, have at it and I'll see you on the road.

Two days in a row?!?

Yep, I have another post before I fall head first into the Tour this weekend. And on that note that is exactly why I am here today, to share that baby camel/silk blend that I got wrapped up yesterday.

It's pretty. 220 yards of beautiful sport weight yumminess. Thank you Andrea. It's going to be beautiful in something. Something wonderful and soft that wants to be near the skin.

I Did It

I took the Autumn Leaves Stole to the fairgrounds today after walking the kids at the river. I was amazed with how nervous I was to leave it there. As nervous as I have been to mail projects to friends and family as gifts. The USPS, has in the past lost some of my knitted gifts. We'll see how they like it.

Something else I did that I think I have neglected to mention here is join the Tour de Fleece. At least I believe I have neglected to mention it here. Forgive me if I have, please? Now, I'm sure some of you are thinking the Tour da wha? The Tour de Fleece. It's a spinning thing, and by spinning I don't mean aerobic stationary bike classes at the local YMCA. No, as in spinning one's own yarn. For every day that the boy's in France on the actual Tour de France, spinners across the globe join them spinning on their wheels, spindles, or whatever yarn creating devices they use. You can find details here if you are a spinner, Ravelry member, and interested.

Then, being my first year to do this, I decided to start a Team Wyoming (I suddenly feel like I have blogged about this...), and now am a captain of a team my rookie year. We're a small group thus far so I believe that won't be too much for me. Perhaps next year someone else can take over the role of team captain.

Why I am blogging about all this I don't really know, other than it has to do with yarn. Well, in the end you hope it has to do with yarn, though I have had some things come off the wheel that I would be pushing the envelope to call yarn. As many of you have noticed, I often discuss yarn here, so I guess that is why I am stating this. And to give everyone a heads up that I may be a rare poster during this time. I hope to be spinning away for over 3 weeks and producing some lovely stuff. I have emptied most of my bobbins in an attempt to prepare for this event. I got the Autumn Leaves Stole done and off the needles and am trying to crank out a pair of socks to get all knitted items done, off the needles, and my time freed up for spinning.

On the note of empty bobbins, I finished up the camel and silk that a friend brought back from the Estes Park Wool Market for me last night. I let it sit for a bit before skeining her up, washing her and hanging for a bit of a dry. For the amount of twist I put in her I'm surprised how balanced the yarn seems at it hangs. It has a wonderful luster and so soft, though it is not very bouncy. It is a simple two ply yarn, and I promise pictures and a final gauge when she is all dry. I can tell you now that the 3.4 ounces I got of fiber gave me about 220 yards and is probably somewhere near a DK weight.

That leaves bobbins free for these projects...

 I have beads planned for this one... And then it's already promised to someone. This picture like the one when I bought it makes it look darker than it is. It's really rather pink...

 Can you get a sense of who I order from a lot?

And I might have a thing for green...

And this is 2 full ounces of undyed silk hankies. This is a last project since it will be very time sapping and I need to decide on how to dye it, no? I'm thinking some long color runs.

All right everybody. Hope you have a great one. I need to get cleaned up, feed the dogs and head to work. Talk to you later. Well... at you anyway.

What Knitting Is (To me that is)

This post has been brewing for some time now. Someone says something to me, or something fly's out of my own mouth and it gets me started thinking. Recently on another internet forum, someone seeking help got a response from another person that got me thinking again and I decided since I got the baby camel and silk spun up into to wonderful singles, I would focus on some blog creating.

I have had people give me a whole gamut of thoughts on what knitting is. A giant waste of time seeing how I can go to Wal-Mart and buy a bag of socks or a sweater. A way to relax at the end of a day. An incredibly fiddly and old fashioned hobby, or a way to give my loved ones a tangible expression of my feelings for them. In truth, it's absolutely all of these things at different times.

Just the other night as I ripped out the third attempt at a sock heel that other knitters rave about, It was a giant waste of my time. All those hours of knitting gone in just a few minutes. Last night as I sat and chatted with friends over a wonderful dinner and excellent desert (I made strawberry pie and chocolate creme pie and I will admit they were dang good), finishing up the evening knitting with them was a wonderful way to lighten my load even as I worked on those socks I had torn out and begun another way. And that big orange shawl? Yes, very fiddly and minute at times but my mom will think of me every time she sees it and perhaps she'll think of a big hug from me her favorite son when she wears it.

So yes, knitting is all of those things. Depending on the day, the hour, my current mood, the yarn and needles I'm working with and the project I have in mind, knitting can be any one of those things and often more than one at a time. Is knitting like this for everyone? I have no idea. I can tell you how it is for me. I can state what I like and dislike, but I cannot assume what knitting is to others or know someone else's mind before they tell me. This is why the world of knitting is as varied as it it.

On that other internet forum, another knitter had asked for some assistance picking out a book regarding beginning lace knitters patterns. There were many helpful suggestions, but there was one comment that just irked me, and got me mulling over things. This person insisted that the other knitter just hop to it with lace knitting because it's so simple and they themselves have had so much experience over years and years of knitting so their opinion was the gospel truth when it came to lace knitting. And the first thing I thought was, "Who the F is this person to insist that they know best what type of knitting will suit this other person?" Which then led me back to my feelings towards that pair of socks I fought with until they were torn back entirely and some of the unkind things I said regarding the pattern, the person who wrote it and the people who seem to find it a breeze.

Which led me back to, "Who the F am I to insist that this pattern sucks for everyone just because it won't fit my foot?" Now, we all have things that work for us and things that don't. I can happily say, most knitting I get. I can figure out what a knitter did to make their knitting do something, and I can mimic their work. I can make my own basic designs and my stuff looks pretty nice. There are worst knitters than me, but there are surely many better knitters than me. Faster, neater, more confident knitters, who probably have no issue with that sock pattern. Is it that I suck at knitting? No, it's because I either lack the certain skill that it needs at that moment, or it doesn't work with the foot I was trying to make fit. Or simply, it isn't to my taste. In the knitting world, taste is EVERYTHING. Look at that shawl I made that someone wanted to buy this last year. I don't like it, nor ever will. That designers stuff doesn't speak to me, but he has a huge following so it's speaking to someone. A lot of sometone's and he's making dang good money on it so I should just stop griping about it and come to some truths regarding me and knitting.

1. I'm picky. I'm picky about projects, yarns, colors, shapes. Anything you can name I can be picky about.
2. I'm detail oriented. I can get stupid about little issues on a pattern, in a yarn, in life in general. I'm a details guy and I like to have them a bit hammered down before jumping in or I get waspish.
3. I love texture work. Cables, lace, complicated stitch work, I dig it.
4. Well written charts make me smile. Give me a good, clear, and concise chart any day over written out knits, purls, yarn overs, decreases... I'm dyslexic, what can I say?
5. Color-work, not so much. My detail oriented mind doesn't deal with the jumble of colors and the tension oddities drive me up a wall. It's all in my head. I have done color-work quite successfully but just don't enjoy doing it.
6. With all that fiddly stuff above mentioned, oddly I think of patterns as general guidelines. I am picky about my end result, but the actual doing it has a lot of wiggle room.
7. I'm a meat and potatoes knitter. I like the diving in and stitching part of it all. Sure I enjoy the conceptual part of playing with a thought in my head, or just playing with a new pattern I found and yarn ideas. And I love finishing up a large item, getting it off the needles and tidy it all up for showing it off; but it's the actual hands on knitting that I love.

Recognizing these truths about my knitting, is quite freeing. It lets me move on (I promise Cindy and Dana I will quit harping on the heel and that shawl designer), and knit what I want to. Playing with projects that speak to me, designing others that are galavanting in the back of my head as just basic outlines, and staying true to what knitting is to me. On that note, I will embrace these little facts about my knitting and never ever do another mystery knit along. They just aren't for me. I have no details to base my color decisions upon, and I have no idea what the next step is so if I fiddle with this part I have right now, does it screw with the finished result?

With all this said, I hope to never pass on my opinion as fact, or assume that I know what will work for another knitter. I like what I like, you may not like what I like, and I may very well not like what you like. However, I can and will admire well done work, whether the total work appeals to me or not. I feel like recently I too have not been holding true to this and perhaps lost sight of those truths about knitting and me. It's good to be slapped back into the right mind set occasionally before you start pissing off the people around you assuming you know what they like and irritating yourself in the privacy of your own head.

So, if you are thinking about taking up lace in your knitting, have at it. Play with it, laugh with it, cuss at it, and perhaps rip it all out. But just go ahead and see if the two of you get along. In fact, do that with everything, and I hope you get some excellent results, or at least a few truths about you and your knitting (or whatever addiction you have).

About Dang Time...

That I got this thing done.

That's right, I got all the knitting on the Brooklyn Tweed Autumn Leaves Stole finally wrapped up last night.

And the ends woven in.

It was quite late by then so I waited until this morning to block it.

You can see the stitches opened right up for me.

I have to say, though it was long and tedious, it was a great pattern.

Spinning my own yarn may have added to the tediousness, and since it was smaller than the recommended Shelter, I had to drop needle size to 6 to get good stitch definition.

It came out to be about 24 inches wide and 66 inches long. It will be a great winter wrap for my Mom.

I am considering putting it in the fair though. What do you think?

I am now down to one remaining project on the needles! Well, two but one is a simple baby hat that just needs a crown finished off which is maybe 30minutes of work so it doesn't really count. I cast it on when we went to see a movie so I could work on it during the flick. I got the ribbing, body, and first couple crown shaping rounds done during it the movie but never got back to it. Now  I may actually get those socks done. Don't hold your breath, but I am going to attempt to finish them up before the Tour de Fleece starts so I can wear them to the retreat and focus my energies on spinning.

Currently I have a beautiful baby camel and silk blend on the wheel. Well, since one bobbin is done and the other not started I guess it's not technically "on" the wheel but you know what I mean.

Alas, let's not forget, every day is made a little brighter with some cute canine silliness.

Am I right?

Farewell Haylie

I wish I had better news today to pass on, instead I only have the sad news that this afternoon Haylie had what I hope was the end to a good day. We started our day with a river romp and walk with friends before we continued lazing in the front lawn while the Guy and I painted the house. Leaving the Guy and his brushes she and the boys drove up the  mountain to some slightly cooler air for a long walk in the woods followed by a cheese burger lunch. I'm sorry there are no pictures of the beauty, I couldn't bare to take them on such a day.

You know the rest. I took her to the vet and stayed with her, even assisted the vet tech's with the medication and catheter placement; in the hopes that familiar hands, voice, and presence would keep this last transition as calm and peaceful as possible. In the end it was fairly quick, and indeed quiet. I only hope that from this life she can take a little happiness from this last month with us in our house surrounded by people who care and other dogs that welcomed her presence into their pack and a friendly enough cat. If the Buddhists are right and I kind of hope they are; she can learn the next time round that fear is not worth the effort.

I'm left feeling drained, sad, and still bridled with a deep anger. Anger towards her first owners for causing the original fear. Anger towards her second owners with letting her get back into a fear cycle and then letting her reinforce it with biting. Anger that I couldn't fix her and that I am unable to take on a permanent fifth canine. Anger at the system that placed her here. And some anger that I was unable to tamp down these feeling and fill myself with the quiet she needed. I fear that in the end as she lay in my lap waiting for the sedatives to roll her under and she licked my chin that she was trying to comfort my feelings at this situation and not that I was comforting her as intended.

So here sweet girl, I lay down what I can, and wish you well on the next step of your journey for this one was too short by far. I don't have much faith and admit that I have no idea what's on the other side, but I know it's something, and I hope it treats you better than this side did.

Ear Scratches to you Girlie
Q and the whole pack.

An Unexpected Lesson

We're going to discuss knitting today. I know, we discuss it a lot here at times, but since I seem to be doing so little of it (damn you spinning addiction and dogs that require walks!), I thought I would discuss it, and a little life lesson it has taught me.

Well, knitting has taught me a lot of lessons actually. Like the importance of reading the pattern. Or the fact that I do not know it all nor ever will. I have actually had that last lesson down since I was probably 6, but it's good to be reminded of it on occasion. But knitting teaches you a lot of things you don't expect to be found among a couple sticks and string. One of my favorite bloggers, the Yarn Harlot probably put it best when she wrote this little doozy.

“Knitting has taught me patience, honed my intelligence, sharpened my ability to solve problems, and shown me how to handle big tasks, knitting-related or not. The one thing it’s taught me that I wasn’t expecting; though, was humility. All knitters make mistakes, and some of us handle them better than others, but knitting is good practice for accepting our flaws and learning to be somewhat graceful about it. Note: Throwing yarn isn’t graceful.”

Though, she is kind of wrong in regards to the throwing bit, it can be quite graceful as it arcs through the air. However I've found what causes one to throw yarn, particularly the temper tantrum preceding such hank hurling, is far from it. But there is another lesson I've gleaned from knitting that I would like to discuss in depth. And that is the art of saying "No". And I use the term 'Art of', to separate the times where you artfully and tastefully tell someone no, compared to the times you've warned them if they ask you again you will give them a nice ball of yarn and pair of size 25 needles piercing of the butt cheek.

You see since I learned how to knit; even more so after I've learned how to knit well, I have had to tell many many people no. No I won't knit you a halloween costume. No I won't knit your childs Christmas present. No, I won't knit your nieces new baby a little something. No, I won't knit your boyfriend a weeny warmer. Seriously, that last one has come out of my mouth several times. I don't have a weeny warmer so why would I worry about the warmth of a strangers weeny? 

I have come to understand that people who do not do hand crafts of any kind, simply don't appreciate the effort, time, or work that goes into the creation of items. To the point that they assume that I'm simply standing around waiting for someone to bring a project to me for me to jump for joy, clapping my hands together in the eagerness to donate my time, materials, and know-how to make it for them. And when the word no comes out of my mouth, they are truly astonished that I am not going to do that little dance and hand clap and hop to with their request. I have even had some people get offended that I would choose to knit items of my own choosing and for my own reasons above their own. And ooooh boy, if you offer to teach them to knit so they can do it? It can become quiet tense.

So, in an effort to keep the tension from your life let me tell you something that took me way to long to learn. If you have no interest in knitting something other than the fact you feel guilty because someone asked you to do it, you are not going to enjoy knitting it. It will become one of those projects that loathes you with the same strength that you yourself loathe it. It will ruin needles, tangle its yarn, and find other ways to make you take longer and longer to finish it up. Don't believe me? Wait until that scrumptious skein of yarn in your stash that you splurged half your rent on (okay, if it cost half your rent you may have a spending problem but you get the hint, right?) becomes the object of hate filled baleful glares from across the room because you can feel it staring at you while you work on something else you wanted to knit after it was selected to make your neighbor a shawl that now appears to be half a jacket that the Salvation Army deemed to sad to wash and re-sell. Just save yourself the time, tears of rage and self hatred, and anxiety by saying 'no' when the issue first bares it's ugly little head.

With all this said, yes, I am good now at saying no. Last weekend at work I told three different co-workers that I would not knit them or their kids a little jacket like that blue baby jacket with the buffalo nickel buttons I showed you previously. However, I am not always good at saying no tactfully. I have been known to say, "Not even no, but f*** no!" when approached with items that look like Grandma Elma wrote the patten in 1962 for her daughter to wear to prom. I also informed the co-worker who had requested the weeny warmer for her boyfriend, that I had no intention of knitting it nor did I need to know the length, shape and girth or lack there of, of said boyfriends weeny. And I also once accidentally coughed out a laugh when shown a requested project and said something along the lines of, "You're shitting me." None of these responses nor the reaction they garnered would be what is called 'artful'.

So let's discuss saying no in a more appropriate fashion. I know, I'm not the person to educate this topic, it's kind of like me teaching "human growth and development" to a Catholic Junior High School class, but we're going to try anyway. Stick with me kid, this could get fun.

I have found that giving people a monetary amount often deters them. Last week when I was asked how much for another of those sweaters, I explained that this was at least 8 hours of work. If I were to even ask for current minimum wage rates ($7.25/hour) which my work exceeds that for what I should ask, this item would be $58.00. She scoffed at that price and we went on with life. But not only did she scoff, I saw her stop and think for just a sec, and though she scoffed at paying the price she didn't seem upset by my refusal to make her one. I also used this technique when someone asked me to re-create the beaded Celaeno shawl for her. When she laughed when I said she couldn't afford it I pointed out that the last row of the pattern that I beaded every other stitch and cast off every single stitch as I went down the row, took me over 5 hours alone and calculated that this single row alone would cost her $36, and explained to her that there were over a hundred rows she dropped the subject.

More importantly I have learned to just say no and not offer an explanation unless asked, and I typically run with the answer that I knit for me when pressed for an explanation. A lot of what comes off my needles is meant for others, but the actual act of knitting and the joy it brings me is for me. Due to this I knit items that I want to and therefor do not knit for money or others. Now, this is an over simplified reason as to why I knit, but at the heart of it I am a selfish knitter. My time, my energy, my joy is for me. Often I see a yarn or a pattern and think, "That will look lovely on So-n-So." It makes its way into my stash and queue and when I'm done I'm typically right and it brings them great joy too. But primarily, it's my joy that concerns me when I dig into that project. The joy of the project, the learning or exercising the skill or technique, and probably most of all, the joy of seeing their face when I give it to them. I guess you could argue there's some selflessness to my knitting, but I know the greedy selfish bugger I am and am assuring you now, it's all about my knitting wants.

Perhaps there is no "Art of Saying No". I think maybe it's more of a being comfortable saying no. I happen to be very comfortable saying it but I have found many are not comfortable hearing it. I will admit there is a wrong way and a right way of saying no. Suggesting that someone is insane for thinking to ask you to do something is very definitely the wrong way. Don't ask, just take my word for it. If in doubt please read the above section again. But be at peace knowing that as long as you are the one making those knitting needles, beading plyers, crochet hooks, sewing machines, or hot glue guns churn out your hand made items, you are the one that gets to decide what you make with the tools of your choice. And if they don't like hearing a polite no from you, send them over to me and I'll explain how stupid they will look wearing whatever they are requesting.

Our Responsibilities

I just got the news today that the dog we have been working with over the last month is not going to be able to be placed in a home due to her history and continued fear issues. In layman's terms this means she will be euthanized.

I don't think I can sum up in words how I feel about this. I am angry that this dog is in this position due to not only her original owners, but also her adoptive owners that let her escalate back to this state of fear. I am sad. I am sad for her, and for other dogs that I have not been able to offer assistance that end up in similar situations. I feel responsible some how, as though I could have done something different. And more than anything I feel a guilt for feeling a bit relieved for having an answer for this dogs future.

I understand where the rescue that she belongs is coming from. I do. They as an organization have a responsibility to not only the animals in their care, but to the community at large they place animals into as well as the homes and families. Due to these sometimes disparate responsibilities, unfortunate and hard decisions must be come to. With all that said, it still sucks.

I have worked around and with animals most of my adult life in one way or another as well as a chunk of my adolescents. This, is the absolute worst part of doing so. I love animals, I love seeing them flourish and succeed at tasks given them and would not trade the time I have had with them or may for anything, but this is the part of doing so that sucks. When you either have to make a choice due to an animals health, welfare, or behavior is never an easy task.

For those of you who read this, Thank You. This is one of those entries that is more just a diary entry for me. I needed to get some words out there before going back to work. I needed to feel it, and move on with the rest of the feelings that are still yet to come. So, I have the appointment made, the time set aside so I can be there with her and now it's time to get cleaned up and keep on keeping on. I promise there will be a lighter posting in the next couple days.

Cute Crap

All together now... Ahhhhhh.

This little hoodie has finally found a home. 

One of the guy's many nieces is expecting her first baby boy and since we finally got a baby shower invitation this jacket that has been sitting in the gift drawer for just such an occasion has been pulled out, finished and blocked and ironed for today. I figured it was time to get a couple more photos as well.

When I say finished, it got its blessing of torrid insults and cuss words as I sewed on the little snaps. It's going to catholics so it needed its blessing, right? I've mentioned before how much I hate sewing. I don't think of my Mother as an especially patient woman yet she loves sewing and I did not get the sewing gene. Of course, trying to sew on little snaps while hurtling at highway speeds northward from Colorado when I was already exhausted, maybe wasn't the best idea.

After a good long nap, I also finished up my spinning project I've been working on. I know, that picture doesn't make it look very finished but I just love how the evening light made the colors glow. Just so you all know, I'm a noob at photography and though I have a wonderful camera, I do not play with my photos beside cropping once they have been dropped to my computer. Someday, I may be that good but for now I love catching things as they are if I'm able to.

But, back on track. I have 346 yards of a 4ply cable yarn.

It's awesome. So soft, though surprisingly un-bouncy. It does have some trouble spots but I know how to correct them next time so I'm happy with it.

The most surprising part for me is the kind of drab olive green that was p[resent in my singles turned in to a sunny bright yellow in the final ply. It's amazing what color does in spinning.

I love it!

And the best part about coming home last night? This was on my door step. My monthly installment of fiber club and my special order fiber purchase form Huckleberry Knits. Have to stock up for the Tour de Fleece. And speaking of the Tour, any other wyoming spinners out there going to partake? If you're a ravelry member you can join me in the rookie group here.

And, as you can see there's some more garden pics here, so I thought I'd throw up some more.

The last of my iris's bloomed out this weekend. Makes me kind of sad, they are a favorite and they just don't stick around very long after teasing me with buds for so long.

And the purple robe locust came into full bloom the last couple of days. I'm so glad it survived the vicious deer mauling.

Gives the yard a burst of color since most of my flowers tend to be blues and purples. Even my ornamental pepper that I had no idea what color it would be is giving me only deep purple pepper pods. So between the locust blooms and the maples reddish that is about all the color variation away from the greens, blues and purples of my garden I get. Notice a color theme in my world? Now if only that second locust the guy put in this spring would give us leaves... It looks like a sad Charlie Brown christmas tree in my front yard, but then since three of the trees in my front yard are new as of last spring, the front yard looks kind of like a Charlie Brown christmas tree lot. I should get a picture form across the street to show you after we get the house painted this summer.

Oaky,I need to go shower and pretend like I care for the day. You all have a great weekend.

Tornados and TaTa's

I know, that seems like an odd combination, doesn't it? You'll see the link, I promise.

I go through cycles of watching the news and I try not to. I always try to guilt myself into watching the news because I like to have an inkling of current events, but I find the news just so irritating that I tend to go days, sometimes weeks at a time without watching, or reading it at all.

Why do I find it irritating, you may ask? I think it's mainly due to what people feel is news, compared to what I feel is news. Take tonight, once again I got to hear about Angeline Jolie's mastectomy and reconstruction because she and the hubby went out to some event last night. This is news? Even more irritating is the fuss surrounding her decision to have a mastectomy in an effort to fend off a high likely hood of developing breast cancer. Why anyone thinks that their opinion regarding someone they will never actually meets breasts matters a damn I will never know.

I could argue either way here pointing out the benefits of either decision she could have made, but why? One, it's done been did. Two, Angie doesn't give a damn what I think about her breasts or lack there of, as she shouldn't. They're hers. Not mine. Period. She had the money to pay for it, she had the information regarding it and she made a decision that was right for her. My opinion on it doesn't matter and neither does anyone else's so I would appreciate not hearing about them again. I know, tomorrow at Safeway I'll see a headline about them so this is pointless, which brings me on to tornados.

Yes, tornados. Friday it seems three tornado chasers were killed in Oklahoma by a storm that caught many people in its grasp. On the news, yes, we're still discussing the news show tonight, they made a fuss about whether storm chasers risks were acceptable. Once again, I could argue either way to come up with some meritable conversation but in the long run, my thoughts don't matter. I don't chase them, nor am I going to. I personally am scared shitless of tornados and would be happy to never see another. Give me a good earthquake over a tornado any day. One I'm trying to get at is why is this discussion news worthy? It should have been simply that these three men died while fulfilling their job. That's it.

The decision to chase storms belongs to those who make a living doing so. Not me, not Brian Williams or any other new caster on John Q. Public. Their employers or contractors see the benefit to do so whether it's scientific, news related, or simply good money and cool pictures. I don't really care if they do so or not. I think on the science side of things, the more data they collect the better for all of us. Let's discuss that data in the news. As for those that make a living as tornado tourism guides or what not, well I'm trying to keep this post a little more polite than the language required for me to describe my true feelings towards that stupidity. But truly, as long as their actions are not harming others and they're aware of the risks as they make their discussions... I hope they stay safe.

What I guess I'm getting at is, when did the news become a place to air our opinions instead of reporting the facts? I know that in the end, our own opinions always color our words so newcasts always our skewed a bit, but it seems like there is no longer any effort to not do so, and the ridiculous crap they consider news. Then when we have truly newsworthy events it's covered to the point where you're just sick of it. Case in point? The Boston bomber apprehension. Why did I need to see the sequestering of the neighborhood they thought they had him in from three different ground crews, at least on helicopter and digital maps? Yeah, I'm sure that all helped with crowd control. Maybe I just need to go with reading my news daily. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll find something to gripe about with that too.

Saturday's Drive

After popping in to a family event, we decided to "decompress" by taking the dogs for a ride. We headed to the north west to the southern bighorns out near the red wall.

It was a pretty day and still a little cool with the breeze up on at elevation.

The bright red of the chugwater formation is always pretty when up against the green of the spring fields.

I was tired and napped for several sections of the drive but it was bumpy enough that I was kept somewhat awake. I crashed when we got home since I was sapped from the weeks fun.

It was surprisingly wet in a few sections still though there is not near enough snow pack still left for 8000+ feet of elevation and the very beginning of summer.

I was too busy taking pictures of these beautiful lime stone formations with their vibrant lichens to notice the dogs paying so much attention to a hole in the wall. When I finally clued in I realized it was most likely a bears winter den. I wasn't wanting to figure out if it was still occupied so I got the kids back away from it before walking the stream a bit.

Just a little snow left...

This is the last picture because I slept most of the way home from here.

Alas, it's time for bed again. I played with some spinning after the night walk with the dogs, bats, and pesky mosquitos. I have two of the four required singles spun and a good start on the 3rd. Maybe by the end of next weekend and I will have pictures of a finished cable ply 4 ply yarn. Probably not but it's good to dream, no?