Time flies when your busy as heck huh??? But what fun stuff I have to tell you about. First some not so pleasant stuff.
I haven't told to many people about this so the news is.. I was in a car accident on June 13th, the last day of school. A lady backed into me while I was driving Allison home from school. My car was pretty smashed up but Allison and I were fine ......... My car is now fixed by a very reputable company and back home. I was given a very nice rental car to drive the entire time. A 2007 Silver Mustang convertible, which I was VERY happy with. I did have some fun driving that thing around. You may have noticed, however that I haven't been showing you very much spinning and knitting lately and that is because..... My left shoulder was hurt during the accident. I thought it was going to get better but it's not, I have contacted the insurance company and they are going to cover all doctor stuff so I have to go get it checked. The problem is my hands are going numb. I can only knit a few rows and then my hands are asleep. BUMMER!! I'm afraid spinning is really hurtful sooooo on to better subjects...............
I still am making progress on my Mystery Stole 3. Slow as steady like a turtle. I'm finished with clue 3 and clue 5 comes out this next Friday. I have another 7 or 8 inches since the last photo. The thing about lace is that it just looks rather blobby until your finished and you block it. thats when it really shows its beauty. This is a pretty stole. I'm enjoying it. If you look really close you can see a brownish /green yarn going horizontally through the piece. This is called a "lifeline" It is just that. I used to think that they were just for wimps until I have had to rip out many rows, with many tears. Now I know that they are for good reason. Ripping out lace is especially difficult with the many stitch combinations etc.
I also found my sock hiding in the mint. See it back there... This is the sock yarn I dyed, and spun using the fractal stripe experiment. I'm excited to see what happens as the colors unfold, so to speak. I finally found some 5' dpn's locally, but I'll post about that later.
Let's see... Oh yes Lily graduated from puppy obedience school. Here she is with one of her fellow class mates, Zorie. Shes the Black Lab/Rott. on the bottom. This is during the break. Which with the puppies is pretty much all the time. We had a really great time at this class. We met some other really nice people who love their dogs as much as we do. And did I mention that Lily made some life long friends. We are going back for the second session. It makes for a great family night.
Ok now for the Saturday BBQ... This is a shot of our "before dinner, get the taste buds ready, cause the nose has been smellin the 'Q' for quite awhile now" appetizers. We had a wonder, relaxed, Saturday afternoon. It's been HOT here this week and decided to start cooling down just in time for Daddy's RDO. And true to form Daddy out-did himself again and made some of the best ribs.
No word needed... Just a YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM... will do!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the Broccoli Coleslaw that I make to go along with Ribs. Tookys favorite. The picture seems a little queasy but if you like coleslaw this is definitely worth a try. Unfortunately I'm a "thrower" when I cook so I'll try to give you the amounts as best I can.
Sue's Broccoli Coleslaw
3 or 4 soft ball size heads broccoli (chopped)
3 green onions (chopped)
4 or 5 pieces of bacon (fried crisp, and crumbled)
1/2 cup dried cranberries ( raisins are ok but cranberries are best)
1/2 to 3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese (grated)
Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise (NOT salad dressing)
1/8 cup sugar
1 TBS white vinegar
Whisk together all sauce ingredients and set aside. In a larger bowl, Chop and mix all ingredients. Combine and refrigerate at least an hour. Enjoy and God Bless. Any problems let me know.
Left overs of this salad are amazing but good luck with that. You may want to take a little bit out and hide it behind something in the fridge for the next day just to see what I mean.
I want to leave you with some the thoughts on perseverance. Or maybe sticking to your guns. or maybe just sticking up for your self or what you believe in or????????
You see this chicken, peacefully pecking the grass. Well she is the last of our little family of hens. We have had chickens for many, many years, since the girls were little. They have come in as chicks and well, honestly gone out as.. KFC for the coyotes that live around our neighborhood. (When children are little and moms are busy, putting the chickens "away"doesn't always mean the same thing to everyone)
This chicken is by far the most tenacious little thing I have ever seen. She has lived through all her coop mates demise and still comes off with grace and dignity. She came out unscathed in a viscous attack that left our oldest wiener dog (15) almost dead and bite marks on the other three ( we were on vacation). We didn't have Lily then.
She will have none of the 4 pestering wiener dogs that share her yard and does drink from their water bowl FIRST and even eats from their bowl while they stand BACK and watch. She rules the roost. I like her. I like to watch her peck around the yard. She seems not to give a darn what comes up, she just takes care of it at the time and keeps on pecking. She doesn't seem to hold a grudge, just slow and steady, peck... peck... peck. Then when she done she goes and finds a nice sunny spot and lays down. Hmmmmm either I need to socialize more or theres something to be learned here. Whatdaya think.
I have alot more to tell you. I found some cool places in San Diego to share with you but I gotta go now before my rear end adheres to this chair.
More sooner then later I hope, as I did figure out how to add links.... And as usual my prayers for you are Many blessings, Sue
I still am making progress on my Mystery Stole 3. Slow as steady like a turtle. I'm finished with clue 3 and clue 5 comes out this next Friday. I have another 7 or 8 inches since the last photo. The thing about lace is that it just looks rather blobby until your finished and you block it. thats when it really shows its beauty. This is a pretty stole. I'm enjoying it. If you look really close you can see a brownish /green yarn going horizontally through the piece. This is called a "lifeline" It is just that. I used to think that they were just for wimps until I have had to rip out many rows, with many tears. Now I know that they are for good reason. Ripping out lace is especially difficult with the many stitch combinations etc.
I also found my sock hiding in the mint. See it back there... This is the sock yarn I dyed, and spun using the fractal stripe experiment. I'm excited to see what happens as the colors unfold, so to speak. I finally found some 5' dpn's locally, but I'll post about that later.
Let's see... Oh yes Lily graduated from puppy obedience school. Here she is with one of her fellow class mates, Zorie. Shes the Black Lab/Rott. on the bottom. This is during the break. Which with the puppies is pretty much all the time. We had a really great time at this class. We met some other really nice people who love their dogs as much as we do. And did I mention that Lily made some life long friends. We are going back for the second session. It makes for a great family night.
Ok now for the Saturday BBQ... This is a shot of our "before dinner, get the taste buds ready, cause the nose has been smellin the 'Q' for quite awhile now" appetizers. We had a wonder, relaxed, Saturday afternoon. It's been HOT here this week and decided to start cooling down just in time for Daddy's RDO. And true to form Daddy out-did himself again and made some of the best ribs.
Sue's Broccoli Coleslaw
You see this chicken, peacefully pecking the grass. Well she is the last of our little family of hens. We have had chickens for many, many years, since the girls were little. They have come in as chicks and well, honestly gone out as.. KFC for the coyotes that live around our neighborhood. (When children are little and moms are busy, putting the chickens "away"doesn't always mean the same thing to everyone) 
I didn't plant any tomato's this year. Can't really say why. I do every year. Just didn't get around to it I guess. But.... Allison was out in the yard and unbeknown'st to me found a seedling that had popped up form a tomato that got a way from us last year.
She planted it in a pot and Daddy has been watering it.. We have a harvest. Reminds me of the parable about the mustard seed, in Matt. 13. A tiny seed can become so much given the care it needs. And tonight these little yellow orbs will nestle into a soft bed of green and red lettuce, sprinkled with just a bit of crumbled blue cheese and gently splashed with Italian dressing. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Oh and speaking of culinary delights..... Check this out! Wine? you ask Nooooooooo.... I have found a tea so delightful it can be a stand in for dessert itself. Its called Blueberry Breeze Green Tea by Celestial Seasonings. OH MY GOSH !!! I have a Mr Coffee Ice Tea Brewer. I make a pitcher using 4 teabags and 1/8 cup sugar. I add a sprig of mint for esthetics's and smell more than taste. Its is really good. Refreshing and addicting. Well if you like yummy teas. I'm very picky about what I drink and eat and well just about everything ( I HEARD THAT, GIRLS)
I leave you with more of God's wonderful abundance. These I'd like to say were fresh picked but no, just freshly washed and gobbled up. We still have some left for tonight and I may just have enough. to put into some homemade ice-cream. But that's another story........ Enjoy your day and week end with many Blessings, Sue
These little house finches are fun to watch. This is a male, they bicker and argue and flitter around. We have plenty of feeders for everyone. I also have alot of goldfinches. They come later when things have settled down a bit.
This little dove comes every morning to clean up the mess from above. Theres actually a pair and they coo to each other. Quite endearing.
Oh yesssssss!!!!!!!!!!! Too bad you can't smell this one.. Hickory I believe...OH YEAH!!! This is the new BBQ we "all" got Daddy for Fathers day. He LOVES it. I LOVE it too. heeheh. Does it make you girls want to come home ?????????? Don't worry we'll fire it up when ya get here. I miss you so much.
Ok so what else is there to do when its soooooo HOT????HAHAHAHA This little poop isn't even supposed to be on the couch, neither is the one on the other end. But how can you resist such cuteness. Seriously we've been taking here to obedience classes. This is her 5th week. She really is a great dog. I'm not sure how obedient she is. Sometimes with her, Allison and Daddy here I feel like I have 3, 14 year olds to pester the living crud outta me.
The other evening it was very humid. One of the only really humid days so far. We really have had a mild summer. But this sky was so beautiful. This is out the front window. There was an enormous rainbow but by the time I grabbed the camera I just got the tail end of it. I thought you'd like it anyway.
Half the fun is trying to guess the theme of the stole. Any thoughts?
It's not really crooked . I didn't by any means try to block it. I'm also working on a baby sweater for a good friend of my daughters but can't show it in case she peeks on here. Lots of other stuff to tell you but I'll wait for another day. I wanted to take some pictures of some special stuff but my batteries died. soooooooo next time..
OK, I'm Back...... Sometimes life goes by fast.
In this photo you can see the King and Queen up in the upper left hand corner. It was all pageantry and very, very cool. these actors are amazing horsemen and very good performers. You can also see the stadium like seating in the background.
It was hard to take pictures. There was alot going on and it was very dark in there. And loud, lots of screaming and laughing. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed watching the girls. I enjoyed watching the boys. It was quite different. And gladly so. That's why it is what it is.........
I like the differences. I'm a mom to girls. I don't get to see the boy side of things to often and it was refreshing. But now on to the reason................ I truly believe that deep in our hearts, sometimes hidden VERY deeply, there was or is, the hope of that knight in shining armor, that handsome prince, that really buffed out guy, who is going to come and see us in a whole room of other people and see only us, the true us, way down deep and we will be saved from whatever it is, and we will be carried away on the back of his horse , or motorcycle, or firetruck hahaha and rescued and live happily ever after. I saw it... In those girls faces as they screamed for the carnation ,kissed by the knight. I saw a gleam in the eyes of the boys who were thinking they could be " that guy" and have all these stupid girls acting like this over them. I saw the way those same boys looked intensely at the swords and shields.
And sadly I saw as we left the arena those same boys and girls, take off their paper crowns, and pull out their cell phones. But it's ok. it's there. I believe it. I know it....... Because.............
Even though I haven't been blogging for a few weeks I have still been busy. This is my latest finished project. I spun this using a technique I found in the current Spin Off magazine. I am always eager to try news ways to work with color in in my spinning. While I like to dye pre-spun yarn to get different variegation's I am intrigued by how many different ways you can manipulate colors while spinning. This technique is called " The Fractal Stripe" One method of controlling the striping of painted roving by Janel Laidman. I like that it has a name, one that I probably won't remember and lots of mathematical calculating stuff too. Not that I can really get into that part of it and don't really. I just do it. Anyway you will really be able to see the striping effect when it is made into a fabric either by being knit or woven. I may turn this into a pair of socks. 
Blue Face Leicester, Wt 3.8 oz. at 12 to 13 wraps per inch.
Well going to close for now and I'll leave you as usual with many Blessings, Sue