What a fun week (not)
Mood:  hungry
Now Playing: Goo Goo Dolls "Black Balloon"
Topic: Ranting

My plans for Sunday and Monday were shot to hell shortly after I finished my blog entry last Sunday.

The short story is that I wound up with another gallstone attack (that last remaining stone that was stuck in a duct decided to rear it's ugly head!), was sent to the hospital on Monday afternoon, had 2 (not 1, but TWO) ERCP's. The first was unsuccessful, and I was transferred to a larger hospital with a specialist who was able to remove the offending stone on Wednesday morning. Lets just say that waking up in the middle of surgery is NOT fun, and rather scary. I was sent home on Thursday, and am now on a low fat diet for a week or so, until the area the doctor had to cut in my bile duct is healed.

I did have the foresight to bring a skein of yarn, my Denise needle set and the pattern for the amazing sweater, but being on morphine and anti nausea meds isn't too conducive to knitting. :)

So I'm home this weekend, taking it easy, and with the impending snowstorm scheduled to start this afternoon, maybe I'll get some fiber time in.

I also was unable to shear my rabbits on Monday. That probably wasn't a bad thing, seeing that the temps this week have been in the negative numbers, and I wasn't home to monitor their condition (although Deanna does a fabulous job as step-bunny Mom). I will try to shear one of them today, and we'll see how well this goes. The rabbit might not pass registration, as it will have only had 84 days of wool growing time instead of 90, but hey, it's worth a shot.

Today's game plan
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Commodores - Lady (You Bring Me Up)
I did wind up staying home last night. I sent DH to the dinner party, and I stayed here. It wasn't for lack of trying on the hosts part; they called twice to try to convince me to come and bring the boys (they are wonderful friends). However, I know my kids. They are good boys, but can be very high energy, and yesterday was no exception since it's too cold to play outside for long, and they need a few hours running around to burn off all that extra energy.

DH and I aren't rabid sports fans. In fact, the only time we actually watch sports is when one of our favorite teams, like the Red Sox, Patriots or UMass basketball team is in a playoff or something important like that. Today, the Patriots play the Colts. Now, the Colts are used to playing in a climate controlled covered stadium. This past week, we've had varying types of weather, including snow and heavy rains. According to the tv news, the tarps were left off of Gillette Stadium's field for a while. ! (not). Even though the NFL has said that the field is fine for play, I suspect that the Patriots will be at a serious advantage. This I want to see. So I've told my husband that he should expect nothing less than me parking myself in front of the tv at 4:45 this afternoon to watch the Pats play. I'm getting the Luna fleece out of the barn, setting up the spinning wheel, and first plying ALL of the corriedale singles I've spun, then I can start spinning the Luna fleece. I'll do this while watching the game.

Oh yes, and tomorrow I hope to be meeting up with my friend Caroline, and we'll certify that our rabbits were sheared. Since I don't have a tattoo gun to tattoo the rabbits ears, I'm hiring a tattoo artist to come do it. He was quite excited about the unusual request, and I'll be happy, because I won't have to do it myself. :)

Stand back while I complain
Mood:  irritated
I"m feeling a bit cranky this afternoon. Lately, I seem to be taking care of everyone else except me, and I'm feeling the effects of it. And yet, some family members (not my husband; he's pretty much blame free in this right now) still aren't satisfied and ask for more. But when I ask them for a return favor, I get 101 reasons why they can't help me. So I can either shell out $75 so that I can go out tonight, or I stay home. Guess I'm staying home.

I think I'll start going through and decluttering. I'm in the mood to start tossing stuff.

I'll be back later when I'm in a better mood.

Is this cool or what?
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: John Parr "St. Elmo's Fire"

Yesterday, Deanna, Nathaniel and I took a trip up to True North Farm to visit Stef and see the sheep. Before we left, Deanna gave me my Christmas presents and this was one of them. How cool is this? Bunny shaped pasta! Who would have guessed? Now I'm going to store this in a Tupperware container, and save it until we have our IAGARB National Meeting in April. I'll make up some sort of pasta salad, using the bunny shaped pasta.
Of course my other gift was very cool too; a Christmas ornament with a sheep on it saying "Fleece Navidad!". How appropriate is that? :)

And here are the beautiful sheep. I love these creatures so much; just watching them makes all the stupid stuff in life really seem very stupid. Aren't they peaceful munching on their hay, in the fog?

And here is Nathaniel, who absolutely adores Pecan the dog. They rode home from the farm like this for most of the way. This is the perfect "Boy and his Dog" photo. Pecan is probably the only dog my kids aren't immediately afraid of.

How to deal with frozen water for rabbits in the cold
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: The Bangles "Hazy Shade of Winter"

One of the reasons I hate winter so much is that I have to deal with frozen water bottles for the rabbits. I have two sets of water bottles for each rabbit; one is out in the barn with the rabbits, while I thaw out the other set by the woodstove.

Doing water detail like this involves several trips to the house to change water bottles. Watering takes up to an hour each day during the winter. And when it's really cold, they need to have the bottles changed more often. What I use for water bottles is called a soda bottle converter kit. I usually buy these from Klubertanz, but have been unable to find them in the most recent catalog. They work well, because you use a plastic soda bottle (32 oz. bottles work best) which can be replaced easily. I like to buy bottled seltzer water when it's on sale and use these bottles for the rabbits (after I've drunk the water, thank you). This set up works quite well in the summer, but for winter weather, it leaves a lot to be desired.

So, finally on the advice of Leslie Samson, I changed over to crocks for their water. Last Saturday, I went down to the local farmer's supply, and bought 2 dozen plastic crocks. I was able to get a good deal on the plastic crocks because I bought so many of them (never be afraid to ask for a discount when you are buying in bulk; if the store where you are doing this knows you well enough, most of the time they are happy to oblige). Anyway, for the past 5 days I've been using these crocks. It is working out well. I carry a plastic milk jug out to the barn filled with water, and fill up the crocks. If the water is completely frozen, all I have to do is bang two of the crocks together, and the ice falls out. The real bonus to this is that because we haven't had really severe weather this week, the rabbits are able to break any ice on the top of the crock and still drink. This makes for happy rabbits, and a happy owner. I've also been able to cut my watering time by half, which is nice when it is really cold outside.

Tonight, since it is completely miserable outside due to the snow/freezing rain/rain storm we've been having since last night, I plan to start swatching that sweater I showed on the blog last night.

Stay warm! :)

Pictures! Finally
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: "Kiss You All Over" by Exile

I've finally taken some new pictures to put up on the blog.

First; pictures of the storm we had on Saturday. The first is the view from my windows and the second is my boys enjoying their playtime outside.

I was supposed to be at Webs when these were taken, but decided to stay home. I'd feel too guilty going out and making our wonderful babysitter come out in weather like this. We had a nice day at home anyway, and the boys really enjoyed their hour outside.

Tonight while I was doing rabbit duty, it started to snow again. We are expecting snow until sometime late tonight, then it will switch over to freezing rain according to the weather forecasters. If it is anything like the customer service rep from the farm supply store out in Iowa was telling me about today (they were really getting it bad, and only her and her friend had made it into work; everyone else couldn't due to the ice storm), we are really in for it.

Not much knitting or spinning going on. I do have a lovely pattern that I picked out at Michael's Craft Store, that is destined now for the copy-cat Cashmerino yarn from Webs. It's another Melissa Leapman pattern. I really do love her styles, and she is a fabulous teacher. She'll be here teaching in September; 4 half day classes the weekend of September 17-18th. I'll post more about that next month, when we finalize everything.

Don't you think this yarn and pattern were meant for each other?

The Great Destashing Begins
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams
Today begins the Great Destashing that Rosemary and I are doing together. We are planning to do this in the same spirit that Kate and Carolyn are doing theirs in, perhaps without the amendments. ;-) But seriously, it is time for me to take account of all the yarn I have, and all the fibers I have. The only amendment I asked for was that I was able to buy fleeces for the business, and if I buy it, I MUST sell it. I have bins in the rafters of my bunny barn, loaded with rovings and fleeces that have yet to be processed, that I've purchased for me in the past 6 years. Now I admit, I get an absolute feeling of euphoria when I go on a fleece buying spree, especially with my fleeces from Dick and Gretchen at Whitefish Bay Farm. They raise some of the most exquisite corriedale fleeces I've ever had the pleasure to fondle and spin. And I'm not the only one that thinks that, as each year, Dick usually sells out of his fleeces in about 24 hours, with a long waiting list of people that pre-reserve fleeces from sheep that they've purchased in the past. But, this year, I have to process, dye and sell everything that I buy from them. Perhaps this will allow me some freedom in letting go of things. Who knows?

Tonight I'm hoping that DH and I head down to Lowe's to purchase a sink and vanity that were on order. Our downstairs bath is finally being finished, and I actually have DRYWALL WALLS up in there. It's been a year or two since I've had actual walls, so this is quite exciting!

Wish me luck and the wisdom to follow through on the Great Destashing!

Snow Day!
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: "Love My Way" by the Psychedelic Furs

The local school system must have been thinking that sending small children to school in a snow storm that is supposed to turn to freezing rain and ice would be a bad idea, so we have a snow day today! I love snow days as much as my kids do, as it is an excuse to get a fire going in the woodstove (which I do anyway, every day), watch cartoons, and be somewhat lazy. Although my day today will be filled with writing reports (hey, when you work at home, you really can't take a day off with the excuse "I couldn't get out of my driveway!"), I'll still find some time to do something fun with my boys.

Tuesday night was spinning guild. While I was excited about the prospect of getting out, I wasn't too keen on spinning the lovely corriedale roving that I've been spinning for months now. Although I've hardly been spinning at home, the lovely Luna fleece from True North Farm that I bought several years ago is calling out to me. I have to dig that out of the barn, and start on that. I need to do it justice, in Jimmie's name.
But it was nice getting out, and seeing old friends and new ones. Webs is having a spinning day at the shop on Saturday to promote spinning. Marcy, Deanna and I will be there for at least 4 hours, so feel free to stop by and join us.

Tuesday also found me clipping down my favorite little buck, Chunky Monkey. CM was a joy to clip; once he figured out that he WAS staying on my lap, he settled in, and relaxed for the duration. This is a very good thing, as new bunnies that learn that shearing is not to be fear go on to be docile adults at shearing time. CM joined his siblings back in the cage, looking no worse for ware. His litter mates will join me in the house within the next week for their own shearings.

The Spirit of Christmas
Mood:  lyrical
Now Playing: "The Christmas Song" by Perry Como
Carolyn writes how it is true to form that she is getting sick just before Christmas. Well, the same thing is happening here at our place. My boys missed the last three days of school, and now DH is showing signs of illness. I'm way behind on my Christmas shopping, and hope to finish it up this morning, wrap everything this afternoon and then go to my MIL's for dinner tonight, and my parents house tomorrow. But above all, I'm keeping in mind that my children are young and Santa is very much alive in their minds and hearts. This time is so short, and I love the look in the eyes of one of my boys when they see Santa somewhere, or "hear" him on the radio or in a song. Just the other night, while playing a Chipmunks Christmas CD (it isn't as bad as you might think, and the kids love it), Rudolph sings on the CD, and Nate, my youngest got so excited about it. It just makes your heart melt to see such excitment in their faces.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May we all remember the important things in life, and not get caught up in the stuff that isn't important, but tends to drag us down.

A holiday season with mixed feelings
Mood:  rushed
Now Playing: "O Christmas Tree" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio
I had a perfectly wonderful blog entry almost completed yesterday, and I hit a button on the computer and it *poof!*, disappeared. And it was a nice long entry too.

Christmas this year has seen a few ups and downs. The worst thing that has happened is that my friend Jimmie Londagin from True North Farm was killed in a farm accident a week ago Tuesday. It was such a shock to us all, as Jimmie was so filled with life, laughter and love for his friends and animals. Many people from the Sheep Thrills list came out to say goodbye to Jimmie. The funeral was held at the farm, in the fields that Jimmie so loved. While his time on that particular farm was so short, you could tell by just how many of the locals were there that Jimmie had touched with his friendship. While we all shed tears, we also laughed at some of the "new" lyrics we sang to "I'll Fly Away" and to the stories that people shared about Jimmie.

The funeral on Saturday reminded me of what wonderful friends I have though. Seeing Thrillers from far away, like Carolyn, ClaudiaLB, Catherine, Stef, Nancy and Shelley, and those that live closer, like Marcy, Deanna and Robin helped to put things into perspective. The lesson for the week, which unfortunately, had to be given by the Clue Fairy with her Clue-by-Four was "Don't sweat the small stuff....and it's all small stuff!"

Goodbye Jimmie. We'll miss you.