An Almost Perfect Day

I had a pretty good day today. Lots of knitting and spinning. I had a small batt from the High Weald Fibre Factory  in the UK that I spun on the wheel.I really liked the fiber and how well it just seemed to know what it was suppose to do. It came out a little over plied which was entirely my fault. I am hoping that with a little rest and boiling of the yarn it will relax a little. I am still not as good on the wheel as the hand spindle but with everything it will take practice.

I did spin my first Alpaca today from Beesybee Fibers. I did this on a spindle and it was just a dream to spin with. I must make a note to buy more alpaca fiber. I and in the process of deciding weather to ply this or not but it will wait for tomorrow. When I am a little less tired.

At Guild today we had yet another color class. From this class and the general reaction is that some people have an innate talent for blending colors and some people can take the classes and watch the DVDs ad nausium and still not get the concept. I guess it is all part of the creative process. I am also glad that color blending and texture blending are something that I do very well at.

We also got some rain today and in true Tucson fashion it was raining in the backyard a full 30 minutes before the front yard. But we got in the 1/2 inch range so I am very happy. The lighting did delay Eric's night time routine by 45 minutes and with the power iffy for 30 minutes I almost did not cook dinner. But everything settled down and things went on as usual but 45 minutes delayed.

We the boy is asleep so I am going to take advantage and go to bed on the early side.

2 New Rules for the House

Today had a pretty good start with odds and ends getting done at a wonderful pace. I also managed to do 3 loads of laundry. I would rather not talk about the middle of my day until I am calmer and have had time to process it.

I think you are familiar with the rules of the house.

Rule #1
Mom is always right.
Rule #2
If mom happens to be wrong see rule #1.

Well today I decided to add rule #3 and #4 to the list. Yes these will also be etched in to stone.

Rule #3
Don't promise someone else that Mom will do a project for you or your friends without asking first.
Rule #4
If rule #3 is not followed the answer will always be NO.
If you happen to disagree with rules 3 or 4  please see rule #1

I know the new rules will sound very harsh to most of you, but I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately and the new rules are to protect my well being. I have a lot to do around the house and my schedule can be very erratic so this will hopefully help keep things in a better order for me.

Eric came home from school early and help me with some knitting and spinning. I also finished the pink yarn today and if I have to say so it is my best effort on the wheel yet.  My secret was to do the first spin on the smaller bobbins. Then change to the bulky flyer and larger bobbin to ply. It was almost perfect.

Well it is getting late and I have a busy day tommrow. So enjoy your families.

Our First Sick Day of the New School Year

Well you probably know by now that the school year started for Eric last Thursday. I would like to say that we got 3 whole days at school before his first sick day of the year.

So In honor of Eric's first sick day of the year we spent the day together. We even got to watch the same episode of Sesame Street twice thanks to the marvels of cable television. I managed to get 12 inches of lace knitting done on a scarf. A few more inches done on a pattern that I am trying to modify for beginning knitters. Yes it is a charity project and will be put up on the blog under a Creative Commons Copy Right when I am happy with the pattern. I also started a new hat this evening and did almost 1 inch on the brim. I am so glad that my thumb is feeling better and my knitting mojo is in full gear. Although no spinning got done. I just can't do it all everyday.

I also managed to get dinner on the table and am happy to report that we all made it through the day. So good night all and enjoy your families.

Out of the Blender

Today did not go as planned. I had this whole day planned out. I had a mental list of what was going to get done. Well most of the list got scrapped.  If my life was a book in progress there would have been so many edits that the story line got lost.

I woke up on the very achy side and started my list,but I did not get far. I did however get the following things done in no particular order. I took a nap.  I cleaned out the fridge. Rearranged some of Eric's room, Cleaned out the washing machine fabric softener dispenser, 20 tea kettles of boiling water later,  which lead to washing the washing machine with the Tide washing machine cleaner. Got half way through cooking dinner when I realized that the main ingredient went bad and ran to the store for a quick dinner substitute. Manage to fill the kitchen trash can 3 times and the recycle bin twice.

I also found time to finish one hat and fill almost one whole bobbin of spinning. So I did find some me time.

The things that did not get done were the paper work.  Packing things to mail. Do some miscellaneous cleaning. Planning my shopping list, well at least I have a valid excuse for that one. I had the Safeway flyer's all lined up ready to make my shopping list. When I sat down to make the list I noticed all the sale flyer's were cut beyond being useful and needing to be replace thanks to one of Eric's aides. That familiar angry feeling rose up. Isn't this my home. Isn't this my stuff. Don't I get anything first from the paper that I pay for. This feels more like a place of business than my home. Where is my space. I know that I should be grateful for the help that allows us to keep Eric at home, but I really need some me space.. I would really like first crack at my coupons. I do have a pile of coupons for the aides that I have gone through and don't need. That pile was at least 5 feet away and on a different table than my coupons. This rant could continue for hours but won't.  I need to control my me space issues but sometimes it is very hard. The worst times are when I am in a flare up and cranky.

Eric is not doing well tonight so it is time to go check on my little guy and hopefully get him to sleep so I can get some sleep too.

How Not to Plan a Day

OK So I thought I had a great day planned, but..Well I am a little ahead of myself here. So from the beginning. I slept in until about 6:30am and enjoyed the quiet house until 8 am when everything came from the quiet of the night to the busy morning in just a few moments.

John and I got competitive on the Wii. He broke his distance for a 20 minute run so I had to top him with a 50 minute work out that included a 30 minute virtual bike ride around the island several times for a total of 7.35 miles and 20 minutes of yoga. Well round one went to me of course.

Then it was off to lunch with John and Eric at Shogun. Then you guessed it for more walking around the mall. at least 2 miles and 1.5 hours later we headed home. I was trying to out do John on exercise and Eric was enjoying being out.

After getting Eric settled in for a rest we decided to catch up on Tivo. I was working on a hat that I started yesterday. That's when my body decided to start telling me off. Gently at first with random shooting pain. So I tried to get into the relaxed I not going to let my body run my life mode. About an hour later my body said enough and put me in sleep mode until John woke me up for dinner. We went out to the unlimited soup and salad at the Olive Garden which was pretty good.

After we got home my body decided it was time to show who was in control and it won over my mind by a long shot. The random pain and stiffness of Arthritis has taken over.  I have decided that I don't have time for or want a flare up this week so I am really working on this mind over matter stuff. With this in mind I think I will call it an early night and see if a few straight hours of sleep will be curative for me,. so good night all and enjoy your families...

A Wonderful Day

A very relaxing day was had by all today. The day started off with some spinning . Followed by an unintended nap. You guessed it followed by more spinning and knitting. Shopping and dinner with John.  I was really adventuresome at dinner and had salmon at Mayco's and yes I would order it again.

You will also notice that I changed my amazon link and plan to highlight some of my favorite songs. I promise the mix will be electric and that I personally like all the songs that will be listed. I also have paid for my own copies of the songs. If you click the link and decide to buy the song, Amazon will credit me with a small advertising fee. But please only buy the songs if you like them.

Well it is getting late and I think my guys want to do a little more tomorrow.

Its Been A While

It has been a while since I last blogged. In that time John had a wonderful trip to visit Teri. Teri came home for 3 days. I got sick and went on antibiotics. The medicine knocked me for a loop. I also had 3 or 4 days when I was just too sick to knit or spin. Yes it was that bad.

I am doing better and have gotten my knitting, spinning and weaving mojo back. I just might be making a dent in the scrap yarn and odd ball collection. Yes I am on my fourth scrappy hat of the week. Other stuff is getting done too.

Eric went back to school on Thursday and Teri starts sometime very soon. Teri is already busy doing reading and other homework before school starts. You just have to admire teachers who give out assignments before the first day of school and are confident that the work will get done.

Well before I run out of steam I will say goodnight and have a wonderful weekend. Most of all enjoy your families.