spinning but not spinning

the past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of paperwork. sometimes the business of running a business takes over. lately all my time seems to be taken up with applications and reports and travel arrangements. everything eventually will fall into place. and i'll get back to my wheel...

zen and now

our little book club met last night at catherine's. i had chosen our latest read - robert pirsig's "zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance". i had never read it "in the day" and had always wondered what it was that made it such a classic of my youth. it was a hard read for a number of reasons. we all found pirsig's personality to be overbearing and egotistical and his treatment of his son appaling. my mind bent trying to follow his philosophical convolusions. but again it was worthwhile. pulling me back to the 60's and early 70's and how so many of us saw the world. and how it compares and contrasts with the recent "occupy" movement.

this was our last gathering of the year. some of us will be away for christmas. so catherine made the evening festive and charming.
she overlooked the diner cuisine in the book and went for the zen - saffron rice and lentil dahl and roast chicken for the non-vegetarians. she also baked barb a cake - her birthday is tomorrow. and there were little gifts for everyone. (now you see why we keep our book club so small!).

good food. good company. and a good fire to keep out the chill of a rainy dark november evening.

frozen

yesterday morning we took a dog walk along the pipeline.

the world was cold. and hard. and frozen.

seeking the warmth

we've had a string of very cold days here on the west coast of newfoundland. yestrday it was minus 10 celcius. so the animals and i are seeking warmth. and making warmth.

west coast craft fair

opens today at noon, closes sunday at 6. come out and support your local craftspeople!

and home again

a very quick spur of the moment trip into st. john's. there's no dermatologist in corner brook now so i've been wait listed to have some moles and spots on my face looked at. too many years of too much sun. everything's fine. they were burnt off and now i look like i've been hit in the face with a hockey stick.
other than that, i spent some lovely time with the family.

sharing fibre with lucy.

a trip to lester farm to visit the animals and get some of the last of this year's local produce.

board games. lots of stories and snuggles.

i went to the toddlers program at the rooms with finn and his st. john's nan.

and daily drop offs and pick-ups of eamon and lucy at their school.
but mostly spending a full day alone with my daughter who is half-way through her 4th pregnancy. who took the day off work to take me to the doctor. then christmas shopping and going for lunch and talking and talking...

batts

i'm heading into st. john's today and bringing with me 60 ounces of batts to deliver to jenny at a good yarn on sunday. so all you spinners and felters, drop in and check them out.

and something else new

my first hat kit (posted on etsy yesterday) sold! now here is my next new kit. one of my biggest sellers for the past few years at the toronto one of a kind christmas show was my shawl/scarves. other customers bought yarn and i wrote out a pattern for them to make their own. i always knew a kit would be popular but wanted it to include handmade needles. the problem was that it needs to be knit on a circular needle because of all the stitches. my wonderful needle maker beth custom made these circular needles for me. the kit includes 2.5 oz of handspun, a #12 circular needle and a pattern card. the pattern calls for 3.5 oz of combined handspun and other commercial yarns so you will need to go to your own yarn stash and choose an ounce of interesting commercial novelty yarns to compliment the handspun. the kit comes in a little plastic pillow box (couldn't get a good photo of it because of light reflection). but it will make a handsome gift.

something new from island sweet

my knitting kits - for both the scarflette and the fingerless gloves - are my biggest sellers in most of the shops i work with. to keep things lively, i've come up with a new kit for a hat. it includes 3 ounces of island sweet hand dyed, handspun yarn, a pattern and a pair of handmade wooden needles by baahurah that i paint to match the colours in the yarn. the kits will be retailing for $48.00 and for now will be available through my etsy shop.

off the path

at this time of year, with everything dying back. it's easier to get off the path. and discover magic...

the colours that remain

i have to look closely now to find inspiration from the colours around me. november. the darkest month. yesterday i spent the afternoon outside. with my camera and my rake. i cleaned up the gardens, cutting back the perennials. and raked the leaves into piles. i used some of them for protection on the gardens and the rest keith carted into the woods behind the house to decay. today i'll be spinning up some late autumn yarns.

just noticing

what do you do with a day like this?

yesterday. the weather pathetic. cold rain/snow mix. strong winds. all my errands done in the morning. so in the afternoon, the "girls" and i went to bed. to read and nap. the perfect way to let the day pass...

these golden days

these past few days have been golden. bright sun. warm temperatures. soft winds. perfect for dyeing fleece.

perfect for dog walks with good friends. but last night everything changed. strong wind and rain. this morning almost no leaves left on the trees. winter beckoning...

cat rescue on the humber river

three weeks ago, a litter of 6 little kittens were discovered by some hikers on a trail across the humber river just outside of corner brook. they managed to rescue the kittens but the mother took off into the woods. keith's buddy, pete, spends alot of time on the river and a few days ago, while sitting in the woods, the little mumma cat made an appearance. very shy. but also hungry. so every day pete would return with food and little by little she grew to trust him.

yesterday keith and pete went across on a sea-doo (this spot isn't accessible by road). she appeared almost immediately. and in a little while she ended up on keith's lap, eventually falling asleep.

they had no trouble getting her into the cat carrier.

and she wasn't even too upset going back across the river. kim at scaredy cat rescue had arranged a foster home for her. so last night "hope" (as she's been called by the foster mum) spent a safe, warm and dry night. she'll now be spayed and put up for adoption. if you are interested in adopting this little sweetheart, call the western newfoundland spca at 783-2747 or kim at scaredycat rescue 640-9541.

missing my homeys

yesterday the newfoundland and labrador craft council christmas craft fair opened in st. john's. it runs until sunday.
for all craftspeople, autumn is the busiest time of year. holed up in their studios working from early morning till late at night. and for the younger ones pulling all-nighters just to get enough product ready for the christmas craft fairs. there's a certain comfort knowing where everyone is. what everyone is doing. a sleepy, stressed-out community of peers.
this is the first year that i've not been involved. and yesterday, when the fair opened, i was missing the feeling of excitement. the feeling of community.

but i was honoured to have been chosen to recieve the craft council's "outstanding achievement" award. thanks urve for accepting the award for me. and congratulations to the other recipients including molly white for keeping traditional techniques alive.

if you're in st. john's, drop in and support our local craftspeople.