Finally vacation has arrived!

I am officially on vacation all next week. With Thanksgiving on the horizon and cooler temps here to stay for a while, we've begun using the wood burning stove and I'm playing Christmas music already. I LOVE this holiday season. If they had Thanksgiving music I'd play that instead, but as it is, Christmas music sets the tone nicely.  Neither Jeff or I have family who celebrates holidays so we are having a holiday at home season again which is OK with us. We aren't traveling or worrying about travelers coming to us. The last two weeks have been so busy that I am ready for vacation! First there was the craft bazaar to get through. Which I did. It was my first time participating and I had fun, for the most part, and enjoyed seeing which of my things sold and hearing what people had to say about them. We were given numbers as vendors so nobody knew what vendor name  belonged to what craft. That was interesting. Some folks put their cards out with their things which was smart for returning customers. But after it was all said and done, I was relieved to have it over. I'm not sure if I'll do it again next year. It's hard putting the things you made with love out for people to paw through and comment on. It feels like standing naked on a corner lot while pedestrians walk by. Lol! NOT that I've ever done that either but I think it must be just as disconcerting. Now for the best part....

Jeff e-mailed me at work yesterday to say my spinning wheel was ready to pick up! With a little creative financial geniusing he managed to get enough money to pay my wheel off and I brought the Majacraft Rose spinning wheel home last night.

Majacraft Rose

Here she is. :) As for looks, I think the Traditional wheel is prettier. But for sheer mechanics and and as a production wheel, the Rose has it where it counts. And the wood used to make it is really lovely as well. I got my jammies on, snapped a couple of pics and started spinning with some prepared roving. The roving was a kid mohair/merino wool mix and a bit neppy. But I spun a nice fine single using the standard whorl and I'm very happy with my wheel! I can't wait to get back to it again tonight. For now, I figured it was time to catch up with my blog, let the parrots play around while I typed and enjoyed the scenery outside this morning. This is what my yard looked like when I got up today.



It was snowing. It stuck but it won't stay.

It's our first snow of the year in the valley and almost everyone is glad to see it. Those who aren't are lamenting the weather change but when God says it should snow, who's gonna argue? Not me. Meanwhile, I sit comfy and warm in my home with Jeff, the birds and our hedgehog while the dogs play in the snow, the cats avoid it at all costs and the chickens peck at it suspiciously. It's the chickens' first snow since they were hatched and when I let them out of the coop this morning they were afraid of the snow. I don't know if they thought I had manufactured it to throw them off or if it was a dangerous creature in a hitherto unseen form but they hid under their coop for a while before deciding it was safe to venture out. I spread a little of the parrot's leftover seed on the ground and that seemed to encourage the chickens to peck at the snow and make sure they were going to be OK. Chickens indeed!
Fog is rolling in now so we have some low lying clouds coming in to sit on the hill top we live on. It's going to be a gloomy day I fear. Tonight is the Canyon County Christmas show at the Idaho Center and Jeff is going to take me tonight to look around. I just love craft shows. My friend Carol is at one today selling her wares at a booth. I hope she does really well. Her hand spun yarns and hand knit hats and cowls and gloves and socks are the best ever! Tomorrow she is going to teach me to make soap. At our holiday bazaar at work someone brought in goats' milk soap to sell. It smelled alright at first but it had an "after smell" that was unpleasant and it seemed like it would be one of those soaps that smelled great the first 2 times you used it and after that the nice scent would be gone and the nasty smell would be all that was left until the soap was a sliver. Carol's soap stays lathery and smells good up until the very last particle has been used. THAT is the kind of soap I would be proud to make. And she is going to be generous enough to teach me!! And now that the holiday bazaar is over, I have to buckle down and learn to knit for real and true. No more crochet deadlines are hanging over my head so it's time to get serious about knitting. I am also going to start spinning straight angora rabbit fur now that I have my new wheel. I'm using the roving that came with it to learn the ins and outs and settings of the wheel and whorl and then I'm going to focus on angora. It's almost time to shear Licorice, my black angora rabbit. She's so fluffy right now!! The little tufts at the tips of her ears have grown out and she looks like a cross between a gnome and a rabbit. She's adorable and of course, soooooooo soft! That black fur is going to spin into something beautiful! This coming spring I hope to acquire another angora rabbit. I have a huge merino fleece to start working with too. My friend let me borrow her book by Margaret Stover on preparing and spinning merino wool. It's not for the faint hearted that's for sure. I'm wondering if I shouldn't get one more fleece to play around with that's not quite as fine as merino. I'll have to think on that for a bit though. I have more than enough to focus on for now.
Well, off to play with the birds and eat some snacks. No church for us today because of the weather (and I woke up too late) so it's a home day. Hope everyone has a great weekend!