Disaster on the Home Front

Not really disaster, I'm just being dramatic, but when we got home from the outdoor concert last night, I went out to feed the buns  and found that the umbrella attached to our deck table had blown over in the thunderstorm and broken the glass top of the table. The good news is that the table was the same kind of glass as a windshield, so it shattered instead of breaking into big shards. Still, it means that I no longer will have any shade on the deck, nor a table, AND I stepped on one piece that was sharp and it got stuck in my toe. I did manage to get it out, and the dh very nicely vacuumed the whole deck this morning. I need to vacuum our entryway, which is where I got jabbed, and clean off the picnic table which now has a rabbit on it, and move that to the deck. As for the umbrella, I don't know. The table has support wood in the middle under the top, so I couldn't just drill a big hole for the umbrella to fit through. I suppose I can prop it up which will work in a pinch. Most of what I do fits the “in a pinch” model anyway: cages that are jumbled together, the kitchen faucet with the duct tape covering the hole, the entire basement waiting to be finished…….

Yesterday (on a more pleasant note) was quite nice. We went for a hike (in the roasting heat, but it was ok). We had to wait until after my dentist appointment (no cavities!) and after I could pick up the veggies at the barn at noon. So of course by then it was already roasting hot. We decided not to bring the dog which was a good thing. We spotted a car at the north end, near the concert we went to after, and started at the south end, and hiked along the Pocumtuck ridge. It was about 4 miles, very hot, very buggy with nasty little gnats, but still nice. And the concert after, at the Energy Park in Gfield was nicer for being tired and feeling like we deserved a rest. It was a free concert to kick off the Green River Festival which the dd will be going to all weekend w/ friends. Dh is jealous of her, but I think I would get bored with sitting all day listening to music. And the groups last night were not that great. A little too “country” for my tastes.

Baby bunnies seem to be doing fine. I took some photos yesterday of the big babies, from which I will make a for sale poster to put around, and I took some of adults that I can use on the Etsy page. I will try to do more photos today. I would very much like to make a whole montage of how I harvest and process the fiber that I can put up in a booth. Oh - I sent in the form to sell stuff (I hate the term “vend” ) at the event in Wellesley in August. Perhaps that will make up for missing the fair here in July. Plus it is a new area, new people to tap into….

This technique of writing on the laptop in the sun room, then transferring to the blog seems to be working well!

Visit my new Etsy Shop!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/twistedmysteries

Getting to be a pro

I THINK this is going to work. I did get this “ancient” (remember – 2004!) laptop to connect to the internet with the help of the WONDERFUL computer help desk guy at work – above and beyond, he did not have to help me with my home computer. It is very very slow (because of being ancient – 6 years old!!) so I am gong to write on Word, and later transfer it over. But it means that I can sit out here on the lovely deck, in the nice cool (before it gets scorching hot again in about an hour) and write, and I am doing it after I’ve fed bunnies (they are happily munching away) and before I meditate.

I spent a chunk of time last night playing with the new templates, etc for this blog, so I hope things will look good. I don’t think the signature link will be live, but there is  a place for links on the side, so I will use that, instead. There are all sorts of other features which I will need to explore to see which might be useful. One nice thing about using Word to type is that it self-corrects some typos, and capitalizes at appropriate moments. Very nice.

Oh – more exciting fibrous news: Bathsheba also had her babes. She is in one of the cages with the enclosed hutch attached, so she made her nest and had the babies in there. She also uses the inside for her bathroom, though at the other side, but still…. I’m not so sure the fumes are that great for the babes. I’ve been cleaning out the poops every day, but I kind of wish I could move them into a nest box. I haven’t actually even looked at hers, because last night when I found them and was going to get them out she got very grumpy at me, so I decided to wait til this morning. I need to get the fur snipped so no one gets tangled. And I’d like to check colors. Angel’s seem to be doing fine, though they are both kind of small. And this all begs the questions: what (as the dd wonders) will I DO with all these rabbits? Well, I’ll put it right out here – these are in fact “dual purpose” rabbits, so some are destined for the stew pot. Not a process I love, but I do it. I could go into great detail on my thoughts  on the subject, but suffice it to say that I do in fact eat meat (with my digestive issues, that I can expand on another time, meat works very well for me, thought I still don’t eat a lot of it or every day) and I feel like if I am going to eat meat, better to do it responsibly and raise my own as much as possible. This way I know the animals are humanely raised and humanely killed. We also just joined a meat csa from which I get 5 pounds of sustainably raised meat each month (we share that with one other family). We’ve just done one month so far and it was great.

Well, wow, look at all I’ve written…..

As for the rest of today – dh is home today, and we made plans to go hiking then to a free concert. I’m a bit concerned that it might start to rain later, and we cannot leave until I have picked up our CSA vegetables at noon – though I could ask the dd to do that (she’ll probably say that we have too many vegetables already and not want to (she does have a mind of her own, that dd).

Ok, time to meditate. Maybe I’ll try to upload this to the blog.

Visit my new Etsy Shop!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/twistedmysteries

a Test

this is a test to see if the Etsy link I have added to the bottom of each post will work.
Well, it's there, but not live...

Visit my new Etsy Shop!!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/twistedmysteries

A thwarted attempt

I decided to attempt using our "ancient" (2004!) laptop outside to write this morning, but I can't get it to connect to the internet. It is a total pain of a laptop besides being huge and bulky. It sucks because I had been thinking that I could lend it to my friend whose laptop had died, but if it won't connect, what is the point? I have often had trouble in the past, and can usually by some magic incantations get it to connect, but of course, being magic,one cannot write them down or commit them to memory. So it goes, and thus I am again stuck inside to write.

I think I should go back to the technique of writing first before I meditate, so I can purge my brain of whatever random thoughts are in it. Not that it would truly work, since more random thoughts would still pop up.

My friend did "purchase" an item from my Etsy page, and it worked fine, so that is good. I need to find someone with paypal to try that part. And of course now I need to repost that item (back to its original price). In a bit I will put up a photo of the lovely dark stuff I am carding, destined to be spun up fine and then knit into the stuff for my niece. The rambouillet  I am using is really soft and nice, and not too messy or tangled.

Yesterday the dd and I went on a college tour. It was actually pretty fun, even if it is not a school she wants to go to - the tour guide was absolutely adorable, but as dd noted, she never said a word about academics!

Oh - big news!! Angel had her  babies - 2 of them! Finally I get something out of Blizzard - he has not seemed very effective in the mating department lately. Bathseba is acting decidedly broody also. It's just as well having these small litters, I hardly need more babies. I tried again with Lucky and Onyx - ever hopeful, but I doubt anything will come of those. 

What else is there to say? I think this blog idea is not the ideal way to do morning pages, because I do feel constricted. Like I don't exactly want to tell the Universe (even though the universe, and in fact not even a single soul, actually reads this) things like if I am feeling grumpy and about what, or complain about the things I usually complain about in my journal.

I think I will clip the nest hair for the new baby, take a pic and take a pic of the carded stuff that is so soft and lovely.

Here I go

My first day with blogging as Morning Pages.... Now I can't think of anything to say, which is very normal with morning pages, even though all morning while doing everything else I do - stretches, feeding bunnies, meditating - I've been thinking of things to say.

Well, this will be very rambly, but that is ok. One thing that I am not at all sure I will like, is having to write this at the computer, instead of sitting in my lovely sunroom (except today it is more of a rainroom). SOMEDAY I will get myself my very own laptop, then I can sit in the sunroom and still do this, as well as many other things. Someday. After we get the dd her laptop, which she will need for going to college, and in fact wants now, so she can do her homework (and facebook) in her room instead of int he living room.

As for things fibrous: see from above, the photos of the pink stuff I FINALLY finished spinning. This has been a long haul because of the hours spent carding and blending the purple, and it was not the nicest fleece, so it took a lot of work to get the bits of hay and tangles out of it, and then I blended and blended in the gray angora. then i did not like it, so I've been trying all kinds of options. I finally settled on this, for which I had to card up the pink and white angora, then blend it with the purple. I am happy with the result. It is super soft and will certainly fluff up a lot, as it contains a lot of angora. I think I will post it on my Etsy page, and I must figure out how to link to that from this blog.

Today's fibrousness: I am working on making some yarn that I can use to make a neck warmer and probably a hood or cowl for my dn and her new husband. I have some very nice dark rambouillet that is super soft, and I think I will blend it with angora. Should be fun.
time to get to it.

hello world!

I think I will try again with the blog thing, because I now have an ETSY page, and blogs seem to go along with them nicely. I've been writing morning pages pretty well all summer, maybe I will substitute this and focus on the fibery side of life, as that is a lot of what I write on the morning pages anyway.
Plans:
- take more picckies of buns that I can use on the etsy page to better describe where the fiber for my stuff comes from (dd says I already have WAY too many bunny photos, but too bad).
- take pics of more skeins and put them on the page.
- firm up some sort of instructions to go along with skeins.

plod plod plod

I still as ever plod away with this web page. It looks way way better, I'm getting happier with it. However, I have for my own organizational purposes, divided my skeins of yarn by: 100% Angora, 100% wool, Angora Blends and Plies. I realize now that these are not effective divisions for most people, especially since it is not really clear what is meant by a "ply" or a "Blend." I sometimes use other fibers besides angora and wool, and I use all sorts of combinations. I think I may reorganize by grist/weight/count - you know, like fingering or worsted, those rather fluid hard to pin down descriptive terms. But they are ubiquitous and they will be familiar. Oh dear, more work.
I have also been taking Marcie's advice and checking out other blogs and even (oh risky - what if they think I'm stupid?) leaving little comments. Mostly like saying how cool the stuff they make is. What I really want to say is - oh wow, the stuff you make is WAY COOL and way cooler than the stuff I make and I feel incompetent in comparison. But that does not seem very positive....

Better?????

Well I like this better. Brighter, more interesting. Slowly slowly slowly it all comes along. Now I am off to my Conscious Communication course which is where I learn to communicate with people. Maybe blogs are not the best way, you think???????

logo

So here's the logo I was working on. Hmmm. I don't luuurrvve it, the yarn is faded, as it must be so the logo shows up, but maybe it should be a bit less faded. I also made on with ferns in the background, but it seemed busy and besides the fact that I like ferns, what has it to do with my bunnies or yarn or anything?

HELLO??????????

Hello world. Are you there? I just can't help but wonder if ANYONE, EVER reads this silly blog. Does it matter? Well, maybe not since for years I have written a journal and no one reads that, at least they'd better not..... and part of the point of this is just to keep myself feeling like I should make progress on my web site so I have something to post. But still, it would be interesting to know if anyone reads it. After all, I look at others' blogs and they get all sorts of comments. But poor old boring me gets none...... 'sob.' I suppose what I need to do is read and comment on others' blogs and maybe then they'll look at mine. I will try that.
Meanwhile.....if anyone out there in bloggerville reads this post, could you please please please leave a comment, even anonymously, so I know you exist. If no one does read it, well maybe I should go back to my journal and be done with it (so there!)

Piccies!!!

I spent a good chunk of yesterday doing more with the web site logo. It is not on this computer, so I cannot post a piccie of it, but here are a few of other things.
First a really cool skein of a style I've been working on lately.
Next a sock, done but for the few rows of angora to be added to the top.
Last a pair of socks with said angora. All these socks I'm knitting from yarn I spun ages ago that has been sitting around and I decided, time to do something useful with these. So there you have it.
Today I will dye with a friend!!! (Think Jonestown????)

The Dreamweaver/Photoshop Interface

So in an effort to make the pages look better (a very good friend who has lots of web page experience gave me some very good suggestions) I am TRYING to figure out how to put an image or some texture behind my logo. This means getting more involved with Photoshop and it is NOT intuitive. I think (being, as I am, of a “certain age”) that I need to get an actual manual for Photoshop. Most everything they have at work is on-line which does not do it for me. I need an actual book that I can pick up and flip through. I found one old one at the library at work; later today perhaps I can go to the public library and find something a bit more recent.

Meanwhile I have been at least spinning some cool stuff. Someday I’ll perfect the photography aspect of blogging and post photos of these cool things.

And so the day begins – must actually go in to do actual work today (I’m “off” for the summer, but I have a meeting today).

ttfn

The web page progresses

It is coming along. I have made several pages and they even link to each other. I'm not thrilled with the way they look - very simple and one could even say dull. But I;m not sure I have the patience to make it perfect. I still have to figure out how to get it hosted and acually on line. I spend a lot of time messing with the photos i have of skeins - I'm not thrilled with them either. Oh dear, it's what comes of having high ideals. Time to get to the food bank farm and then cook supper.
ttfn
oh, btw, I finished Harry Potter!!!!!! shhhhh no spoilers here.....

Off Topic but pretty pics

after dropping

Just back from VT where we stayed for 2 nights one daughter off at camp. I now have 3 (count 'em - three) full days with both kids gone and hubby off at work. wooooohooooo Now for the pics:AND I just figured out how to make the photos go into the middle of the post instead of just on top! How about these 'shrooms? And nice stump, and lovely beaver pond?

Reading Blogs

Blog reading is very entertaining, connecting with the world that way, but it has its problems. First of all, WHO HAS TIME????????????? I mean, some people write and write and they have very good things to say, but I do not have time to read it all. There are dishes to wash and laundry to hang out and kids to drive to camp, and when all that is done, wouldn't I rather spin?
How is it that other people have time to read these blogs?
Or maybe no one reads them, they just skim. The best are the ones with lots of photos, I must perfect this technique.
I did find some interesting spinning type ones, like this
and this
I will figure out how to list these "favorite blogs" like other people do. But not today, because I am going ot my friend's house to spin and it is her birthday!
ttfn

Moving Along

I am slowly slowly moving along. I have made 2 pages, and links between them, and I have enlarged photos that small photos can link to if that makes sense. It is tedious and I wish I could be doing something else.

Zoning on the Computer

Yes, I am zoning on the computer and Not Spinning. This is bad. This is also boring.
I am STILL working on this web page stuff. I am making tables like mad, and putting all kinds of stuff in them, but I cannot get them to layout the way I really want. Well.
I already made the decision, about an hour ago, after spending several hours hassling, that I was going to make a Very Simple web site. That I would focus on Ease of Use. That graphic doo-dahs would be minimized (interpretation: a dull web site, but one that I might actually be able to create before I go completely senile).
I have a feeling that it will be not only simple, but also rather imperfect. OK. I can handle imperfection. Not well, but I can handle it. I can have perfection as the star towards which to aim, but then I can accept whatever small hillock I manage to reach. How's that for a philosophy of life.
I can't help but wonder if ANYONE has read any of this. Does it matter? I'm pretty sure that Marcie's well-timed comment went a long ways towards enticing me to start writing again in earnest (I am, if nothing else, earnest). Maybe I should stoop to commenting on others' blogs to encourage them to comment on mine. But honest reality: I rarely take the time to read many blogs. A few on occassion, so I'll add my little "hello" when I do.
Back to the cursed 'puter!

Baby Steps

I UPloaded the photos, then got them into the computer at work, then I did nothing productive though I was there 3 hours. I am trying to get the gist of cascading style sheets and layers. The sheets I'm starting to understand, the layers not so much. Getting there but it sure is baby steps.

Today I went for a little hike after spending about an hour on line to buy tickets for my daughter and friends for HP and am now I am going to actually SPIN!!!! which I also did last night at my friend's house while she and some others stitched tiny little cross-stitched projects.

Tonight - Shakespeare under the stars!

ttfn

And So On....

Update:

Yesterday turned out to be a great day. I sold 3 bunnies to Andrea at Black Berry Hill Farm. Yay – 3 buns off to a good home. AND I did errands, oh how the errands do pile up. I will totally not bore the universe with a list of my errands, though it is tempting since after all, they take up so much time and if I don’t list them, well, it seems like what the hell did I do with myself all day (btw – I LURVE using Word to write my entry instead of writing directly on the blog b/c it corrects my bad spelling and capitalizes my “I”s). I also finished photographing the skeins though now I need to download them. And put them on a cd to bring to the work computer. It never ends.

I plan to go into work today after I get myself to the Food Bank Farm (our local CSA – Community Supported Agriculture farm), and call the store about the back pack part that I need and and and……. (again with the errands – see what I meant about griping?).

So I guess I better go. Oh and we saw Harry Potter last night. It was great – like seeing old friends!

Ttfn

hello world again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just reset my password for about the fourth time because of this blogger moving to google thing which I find very confusing. I keep resetting it then forgetting my password! So now I've written in down and I just have to remember where I wrote it.....
I have made a decision. I think I will use this blog, along with writing about my foibles on getting a web presence and trying to sell yarn etc, all of which continue, as a Complaint Site. I find that I get vaguely nauseated by all those blogs out there with unflappably cheerful tones (my apologies to any cheerful writers who may actually read this, I'm sure I don't mean YOU). I am not an unflappably cheerful person but I do try to present a reasonably pleasant demeanor to the world, and I find I do need an outlet for good old fashioned GRIPING. So gripe I will and if you the blessed reader does not like it, you can find other blogs to read, which is certainly easy to do.

Sooooo, first gripe: I have colitis which I found out last month after having a routine (hurray for turning 50!) colonoscopy. And I just had another one at which the lovely doc took lots of bits to biopsy presumably for cancer - doesn't that sound like fun? It wasn't and I felt like garbage yesterday, but the good doc did put me on meds last month and I seem to be recovering more quickly from the trauma this time.
Second gripe: boy it sure is taking a long long time to get a web page created. I first (last summer!) attempted the direct html method. I didn't get too far. Now I am onto Dreamweaver, a program I have at my work computer. It is a pain in the ass if you ask me. I think I would do better if I could learn it via a class, and they do offer such classes at work every now and then, but I didn't catch one last spring and I don't know if they'll have one in the fall. So I'm on my own which is very tedious. It involves using the tutorials provided, and the book I got for Christmas last year. And the thing is, I really do not need a complicated web-site, just something simple and straight forward, no flashing buttons or dancing bunnies or anything, so IT SHOULD NOT BE HARD. ' nough said. It is hard.
Well for a little visual distraction, I will show an example of what I have been doing in preparation for the upcoming web presence: photos of all my skeins.
Oh drat, I forgot I need to resize the damn things for the blog... try again:

well, loverly except that they are at the top. Too damn bad! Gotta go.