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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Saturday, February 16, 2008 Field trip Today my knitting buddy, Kristen, and I went to a sheep shearing, at Rising Meadow Farm in Liberty, North Carolina. Unlike many commercial operations, the sheep were shorn with traditional blade shears, a job requiring patience and considerable muscle. The two angora goats had already been shorn before we arrived (Kristen went home with all the fleece from one of them), but there were at least thirty more sheep waiting. All I could think of, watching the skilled shearer, was "Hoo, boy, she's going to have a sore back by the time she's through with this!" This fellow has had his turn, and blazes almost snow white in the morning sun. After shearing, the fleece goes to the "skirting" table, where soiled portions of the fleece are pulled off and discarded. This fleece is from a deep chocolate Moorit sheep (Moorit refers to the coloration, not the breed). There were kids everywhere, large and small, and I was pleased to see that most of them were perfectly comfortable with the sheep and other farm animals. This little one looks like she is choking the rooster, but she was actually stroking his feathers. One thing I liked was that each fleece was labeled with the name of the sheep or goat it came from. Kristen and I shared Patty's beautiful 7-pound fleece, I bought six balls of roving from Nutmeg, a Moorit Corriedale, and Kristen's mohair came from Schuster, the goat. On the way to the farm, we stopped for coffee, and parked next to this truck. At first, there was one pretty retriever head poking over the tailgate, then another one. As we watched, one--no, two--no, three! puppies popped up to pose for admiration and picture-taking. If you look closely, there is one more little head sticking out next to the dog with the pink harness, the cutest little pug face almost lost in the furry retriever crowd. Here I am! Aren't I adorable? Kristen said he was probably a beagle/pug mix, a "puggle." They were all amazingly well-behaved. The two older dogs could easily have jumped out of the truck, but showed no inclination to do so.So that was our morning, and then we went to the coffee shop, knitted and spun for a whle, and divvied up our joint fleece. It's a beautiful crimpy blend of off-white, tan and near charcoal, the most distinctive fleece of all the ones there, and we each have three and a half pounds of it, enough to keep us busy and out of trouble for a long time. posted by Liz @ 9:13 PM | Monday, February 11, 2008 We have organ! We also have very sore knees from pumping said organ. That's partly because I don't have anything at a suitable height to sit on. The good old desk chair [spinning chair/weaving chair, etc] is substituting for a proper bench or stool, and even at its highest, it's a bit too low. And if I adjust it to be a reasonably good height for the organ, it's way too high for spinning, or anything else. So that problem will have to be addressed before long.There is a little niche on either side of the center pocket on the top of the organ that just cried out for something overly ornate and Victorian. Fortunately, I just happened to have the perfect thing, a pair of gilded pastoral-style statuettes my son gave me about fifteen years ago. Why he thought I would want these I have no idea--they're so far from my usual decorating style that I would never have bought them myself. They've been shoved from one dark corner to another all this time, but now they have the perfect spot.Of course, the problem with buying something like this is that now I must have a piano stool, and although the good old Baptist Hymnal (green cover edition) will do fine for music for now, I will certainly want some real organ music one of these days, and then, if the knees continue to complain, I'm liable to break down and buy an electric pump. It's like yarn--you can't buy just one skein.Speaking of the knees, their condition might actually have something to do with this:Isn't that a lovely sight? Thank God for chain saws. I went out this morning to take the pieces of the computer desk to the landfill and this is what greeted me. It had been my intention to head down the road for some inspections after dumping the desk, but after cutting up the tree and hauling the pieces out of the road, I didn't have time for the work I had planned, and didn't really feel much like driving all day anyway. I'm lucky that the tree fell close enough to the house for me to get to it with the electric chain saw. As it was, I had to use all 200 feet of heavy-duty extension cord. Another 50 feet farther down the driveway and I'd have been cutting it up with a limb saw.The organ turned out to have two little problems that I didn't notice during my test playing--one sour note and one note that makes a lovely grinding chattering sound along with the musical tone. So I guess I'll be hauling it out from the wall and taking the back off it pretty soon. Parts and tools seem to be easily available, and as long as I don't play anything from Phantom of the Opera, I don't hit the two problem keys, lol! posted by Liz @ 8:10 PM | Saturday, February 09, 2008 Worse before it's better Ugh. I am now at that point where most of the contents of my computer desk are in multiple other places, the desk is ready to take apart, and I can't find a damn thing. The laptop, laser printer and multi-function printer (of which only the scanner gets used) are on the kitchen table, the big rolling file is jammed up against the table, and most of the office supplies are on my bed.The only bright spot is that I didn't have to do anything really catastrophic to stay online. My satellite modem is in the corner with the desk, and there is no moving it. That's where the cable comes through the wall, and it has about three feet total of slack. But I happened to remember that I had a 50-foot CAT 5 cable, made up for another purpose and stashed away in case I ever needed it again. I hauled it out, ran it down behind the loom and the big easy chair, plugged it in, and away we went. Other than that, this is an unmigitated disaster. Every time I start to do something, I realize I don't have something I need--stapler, pencil cup, telephone, adding machine, etc. Even after I get the table arranged to be minimally useful, I'll still be looking for things for months, and until I at least get my bed cleared off, I'm stuck to sleep with Clarence--not my idea of a restful night's sleep.The next step is to get a wireless print server so I can get the printers off the table. I'm not sure yet where I'll put them, but they can't stay here. I need some outbuildings here, and not just storage sheds. It would be lovely to be able to move all the computer/office stuff and all the fiber stuff into its own building.Back to clearing off the computer desk, sigh. posted by Liz @ 8:49 PM | Friday, February 08, 2008 The one that got away . . . and the one that didn't I tried to buy this antique great wheel (shown with a much smaller flax wheel in front of it) last month. I had actually written out the check and the owner had taken the wheel apart, and then we discovered that, despite careful measurements, it wouldn't fit into my car. So I came home without it.For which I am glad, because yesterday, totally on impulse, I bought this old reed organ. I had wanted one for years, and passed them up because of the price. I don't know whether the owner of this one didn't know what they were typically going for, or just wanted to get rid of it, but I paid less than half of what they ordinarily cost.Even so, I spent about half an hour playing it and looking inside it before plonking down the money. It pumps easily and smoothly, all the stops seem to work, I couldn't find any sign of termites--always a risk when buying old wood--and it sounds just like the one I played years ago in my ex-husband's grandmother's farmhouse. So I bought it. And now I have no place to put a great wheel, absolutely no place whatsoever.The inscription on the front says "Manufactured for Emil Wulschner," which tells me only that it wasn't a church or theater organ, or at least not for a church or theater that could afford anything better. The Emil Wulschner Company was a distributor of inexpensive musical instruments, so this one would have been in someone's front parlor, and that's just fine. Now I have to rearrange the whole living room to make space for it. My big corner computer desk, that I've been trying to give away for months now, is going to come apart and go to the landfill since no one else seems to want it, and I'll be using the laptop on the kitchen table. But I'll have an organ! posted by Liz @ 6:57 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me INTERNET TRAFFIC REPORT SOCIAL SECURITY CLOCK Which one has the Crisis ?! Plastic bags consumed this year: KNITTING BLOGS A Stitch in Time Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-SUFFICIENCY andINDEPENDENT LIVING -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Food Storage Made Easy The Modern Homestead Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Today my knitting buddy, Kristen, and I went to a sheep shearing, at Rising Meadow Farm in Liberty, North Carolina. Unlike many commercial operations, the sheep were shorn with traditional blade shears, a job requiring patience and considerable muscle. The two angora goats had already been shorn before we arrived (Kristen went home with all the fleece from one of them), but there were at least thirty more sheep waiting. All I could think of, watching the skilled shearer, was "Hoo, boy, she's going to have a sore back by the time she's through with this!" This fellow has had his turn, and blazes almost snow white in the morning sun. After shearing, the fleece goes to the "skirting" table, where soiled portions of the fleece are pulled off and discarded. This fleece is from a deep chocolate Moorit sheep (Moorit refers to the coloration, not the breed). There were kids everywhere, large and small, and I was pleased to see that most of them were perfectly comfortable with the sheep and other farm animals. This little one looks like she is choking the rooster, but she was actually stroking his feathers. One thing I liked was that each fleece was labeled with the name of the sheep or goat it came from. Kristen and I shared Patty's beautiful 7-pound fleece, I bought six balls of roving from Nutmeg, a Moorit Corriedale, and Kristen's mohair came from Schuster, the goat. On the way to the farm, we stopped for coffee, and parked next to this truck. At first, there was one pretty retriever head poking over the tailgate, then another one. As we watched, one--no, two--no, three! puppies popped up to pose for admiration and picture-taking. If you look closely, there is one more little head sticking out next to the dog with the pink harness, the cutest little pug face almost lost in the furry retriever crowd. Here I am! Aren't I adorable? Kristen said he was probably a beagle/pug mix, a "puggle." They were all amazingly well-behaved. The two older dogs could easily have jumped out of the truck, but showed no inclination to do so.So that was our morning, and then we went to the coffee shop, knitted and spun for a whle, and divvied up our joint fleece. It's a beautiful crimpy blend of off-white, tan and near charcoal, the most distinctive fleece of all the ones there, and we each have three and a half pounds of it, enough to keep us busy and out of trouble for a long time.
Monday, February 11, 2008 We have organ!
We also have very sore knees from pumping said organ. That's partly because I don't have anything at a suitable height to sit on. The good old desk chair [spinning chair/weaving chair, etc] is substituting for a proper bench or stool, and even at its highest, it's a bit too low. And if I adjust it to be a reasonably good height for the organ, it's way too high for spinning, or anything else. So that problem will have to be addressed before long.There is a little niche on either side of the center pocket on the top of the organ that just cried out for something overly ornate and Victorian. Fortunately, I just happened to have the perfect thing, a pair of gilded pastoral-style statuettes my son gave me about fifteen years ago. Why he thought I would want these I have no idea--they're so far from my usual decorating style that I would never have bought them myself. They've been shoved from one dark corner to another all this time, but now they have the perfect spot.Of course, the problem with buying something like this is that now I must have a piano stool, and although the good old Baptist Hymnal (green cover edition) will do fine for music for now, I will certainly want some real organ music one of these days, and then, if the knees continue to complain, I'm liable to break down and buy an electric pump. It's like yarn--you can't buy just one skein.Speaking of the knees, their condition might actually have something to do with this:Isn't that a lovely sight? Thank God for chain saws. I went out this morning to take the pieces of the computer desk to the landfill and this is what greeted me. It had been my intention to head down the road for some inspections after dumping the desk, but after cutting up the tree and hauling the pieces out of the road, I didn't have time for the work I had planned, and didn't really feel much like driving all day anyway. I'm lucky that the tree fell close enough to the house for me to get to it with the electric chain saw. As it was, I had to use all 200 feet of heavy-duty extension cord. Another 50 feet farther down the driveway and I'd have been cutting it up with a limb saw.The organ turned out to have two little problems that I didn't notice during my test playing--one sour note and one note that makes a lovely grinding chattering sound along with the musical tone. So I guess I'll be hauling it out from the wall and taking the back off it pretty soon. Parts and tools seem to be easily available, and as long as I don't play anything from Phantom of the Opera, I don't hit the two problem keys, lol!
Saturday, February 09, 2008 Worse before it's better
Ugh. I am now at that point where most of the contents of my computer desk are in multiple other places, the desk is ready to take apart, and I can't find a damn thing. The laptop, laser printer and multi-function printer (of which only the scanner gets used) are on the kitchen table, the big rolling file is jammed up against the table, and most of the office supplies are on my bed.The only bright spot is that I didn't have to do anything really catastrophic to stay online. My satellite modem is in the corner with the desk, and there is no moving it. That's where the cable comes through the wall, and it has about three feet total of slack. But I happened to remember that I had a 50-foot CAT 5 cable, made up for another purpose and stashed away in case I ever needed it again. I hauled it out, ran it down behind the loom and the big easy chair, plugged it in, and away we went. Other than that, this is an unmigitated disaster. Every time I start to do something, I realize I don't have something I need--stapler, pencil cup, telephone, adding machine, etc. Even after I get the table arranged to be minimally useful, I'll still be looking for things for months, and until I at least get my bed cleared off, I'm stuck to sleep with Clarence--not my idea of a restful night's sleep.The next step is to get a wireless print server so I can get the printers off the table. I'm not sure yet where I'll put them, but they can't stay here. I need some outbuildings here, and not just storage sheds. It would be lovely to be able to move all the computer/office stuff and all the fiber stuff into its own building.Back to clearing off the computer desk, sigh.
Friday, February 08, 2008 The one that got away . . . and the one that didn't
I tried to buy this antique great wheel (shown with a much smaller flax wheel in front of it) last month. I had actually written out the check and the owner had taken the wheel apart, and then we discovered that, despite careful measurements, it wouldn't fit into my car. So I came home without it.For which I am glad, because yesterday, totally on impulse, I bought this old reed organ. I had wanted one for years, and passed them up because of the price. I don't know whether the owner of this one didn't know what they were typically going for, or just wanted to get rid of it, but I paid less than half of what they ordinarily cost.Even so, I spent about half an hour playing it and looking inside it before plonking down the money. It pumps easily and smoothly, all the stops seem to work, I couldn't find any sign of termites--always a risk when buying old wood--and it sounds just like the one I played years ago in my ex-husband's grandmother's farmhouse. So I bought it. And now I have no place to put a great wheel, absolutely no place whatsoever.The inscription on the front says "Manufactured for Emil Wulschner," which tells me only that it wasn't a church or theater organ, or at least not for a church or theater that could afford anything better. The Emil Wulschner Company was a distributor of inexpensive musical instruments, so this one would have been in someone's front parlor, and that's just fine. Now I have to rearrange the whole living room to make space for it. My big corner computer desk, that I've been trying to give away for months now, is going to come apart and go to the landfill since no one else seems to want it, and I'll be using the laptop on the kitchen table. But I'll have an organ!
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
INTERNET TRAFFIC REPORT
SOCIAL SECURITY CLOCK
KNITTING BLOGS
A Stitch in Time Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-SUFFICIENCY andINDEPENDENT LIVING
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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