From The Back Porch This Morning

I was going to title this post "Could This Be It?" but I'm pretty sure the weather recognizes a dare when it sees it, so discretion being the better part of valor...  

Really, there were are (almost did it again!) many things about summer that make us all happy. Thanks for the fun list!  Keep adding to it and we can all check back for updates when summer is finally over ;-).

Random.org picked Jean as the happy winner.  The prize will be a 2016 farm calendar that I am working on now...instead of knitting and reading ;-).  

How Hot Is It?

There are Jacobs in the aisleway of the barn!  Completely against the code of Jacobs.  Jacobs hang out in the outer stall (except Billy Belly who is always in the inner stall - maybe because he snores or something).   Jacobs, being a more "feral" breed than, say, any of the Nistock sheep, don't like to draw attention to themselves.  They stay "outside".  Yesterday they were "inside".  That's pretty darn hot.

Ford, Henri and Jester have learned to like being in the aisleway.  It took awhile.  That's Heidi and Allie standing up.  Look how many sheep are lined up along the wall.  

I'm not sure who's idea it was, momma Baby Belly or daughter Clover Belly (like Emily and Casper Belly, they are inseparable), but there they are, smack in the middle of the aisleway.  I took this through the gate because I knew if I got too close I'd spook them and they'd scatter.  Let 'em sleep.

Oh, and here comes Casper Belly with momma Emily behind her.  It's getting pretty crowded in there!

Uh oh, and now Hershey (cue duh duh duh duh music).  I'm not sure why he left his Number One Profile position in front of the outer stall's fan.  Possibly Murphy finally got one over on him.  Or maybe he came in to get a drink and saw I was in the barn.  He's the opposite of feral ;-).

Daniel has been ruling the left side of the aisleway fan.  Last year he had the outer fan.  Hershey pushed him out this year.  Is he making a move on the aisleway fan too now???  Can you tell how close he's standing over Daniel?

"Ready to say Uncle yet?"

"I can take whatever you dish out."

Actually, I'm not sure that's what's going on.  For some reason, the hotter it gets the closer sheep want to stand.  The physics of it probably work if everyone's a sheep, but if it's me they are all leaning on, usually at least four at a time...it's not at all cooling or comfortable.

But it could be a show of strength.  I think of Jester as being a pretty big sheep.  He's definitely big for a Jacob.  He's actually using the gate as a head rest (I think), but I wouldn't be surprised if he's was wishing he could get a couple licks in on Hershey.  

B. Willard just wishes everyone would go back inside.

Yesterday seemed to be the hottest day so far.  Today is supposed to be in the 90s too, but tomorrow there's a chance of rain and the high is just the upper 80s.  I can't believe I'm saying "just the upper 80s".  Sigh...

Sunday Stills - Happiness Is...

What makes you happy? Simple challenge this week.

I've missed so many Sunday Stills weeks that just being here with Ed's group today makes me happy :-).  So many things make me happy that I'd never get this post finished, so I'm going to narrow it down to just things that make me happy with this group of photographs.

1.  I love my zinnias.  So much color every summer, all summer long.
2.  I love where that garden sits.  I can see it from the house, the wool house wash room, the barn aisle, walking up the driveway.
3.  I love how the sun hits all the flowers in the afternoon and how they look as I walk to the barn in late afternoon can't be beat.
4.  I love seeing all the bees and butterflies using and enjoying them, too.

5.  I love how the sun is shining through this Monarch's wings like stained glass.

6.  I love how if you look closely (click to biggify) you can see that this is a Monarch with some mileage.

7.  Who knew that butterflies got wrinkles?
8.  I love that I can see so much detail if I catch a good shot.
9.  I love that butterflies flit around so much that you have to catch a good shot to really stop and look at them.
10.  Butterfly claws.

11.  Monarch's polka dotted bodies.
12.  Drinking through a built in straw, their proboscis.

13.  Photobombs by flying insects.
14.  That they happen all the time.

15.  The goldfish flying in from the right in this picture.
16.  The sunflowers are pretty sweet, too :-).
17.  It makes me happy to be home to see these beautiful things.
18.  It makes me happy to be able to do little things to help these beautiful things.
19.  It makes me happy to be able to take pictures of these beautiful things.
20.  It makes me happy to have neat people to share them with.

What makes you happy?  Everyone leave a comment.  We'll draw for a happy prize :-D.

Joining in with Sunday Stills...

And Then The Plagues Started

Well, just one plague. And it was really more something super cool we were really glad to experience - a swarm of dragonflies!  Hundreds of them swooping and darting and buzzing and soaring and circling and flying all around us in front of the barn.  Actually, now that I think about it, we probably were experiencing two plagues, an insect hatching of some sort and the dragonflies taking care of them for us :-D.

I didn't get any good pictures and the video I took only barely shows them, but to me it's still a good souvenir of something that many people don't ever get to see. The chirp purr you can hear if you turn your sound up is Comby, another good souvenir :-).

Click to biggify.

More Complaining About The Heat

I'd taken these yesterday afternoon for an evening post, but when I saw Woolliam sleeping outside last night I knew that really told the whole story.  These aren't far behind.

That is one sound asleep sheep.  Can you guess who?

Poor Woolliam.  Also very sound asleep.

Rebecca Boone.  Asleep.  What else can you do?

Well, if you are Keebler, you can get mad that you are so hot, get up, turn around, punch the sheep next to you so you can take his spot which surely must be cooler being nearly five feet away...  It probably doesn't say much about me that I fall in the Keebler/Maisie camp if we did a "Which Punkin's Patch sheep are you?"

"Go back to sleep, Little.  It will be over NEXT THURSDAY.  Hope I don't punch anyone before then :-o."

I decided it was time for a cookie party and picked up a fresh box of Nilla Wafers this afternoon.

The Great American Barn Lot Camp Out

In all the years Woolliam has lived and slept here, he has never not slept in his corner of the inside stall of the barn.  It is That Hot.

I know, Big Guy.  I'm miserable too :-(.

Maisie's just mad about it.

Mad as a hatter.

Yarn Along - Renny's Ready!

This post is probably going to seem pretty random and/or weird, but hey, it beats missing another week of Yarn Along and I do have something exciting to share.  Or a couple things.  I had a pretty intense root canal this morning/afternoon, so hang on, it might be a crazy ride!  I apologize up front :-o.

First up, Renny's ready to roll!  My half of her yarn is all spun and I feel like I've got plenty of yardage to not have to dip into the other half of anything :-D.  How did I get it done so quickly?  I ended up having a brilliant idea to enter the Handspinner's Yarn Basket class at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival later this month.

Not only have I always thought that looked liked fun, but by doing so, I Had A Deadline.  This is never a bad idea with me ;-).  And, not only did I have a deadline, but I obviously wanted to do my very best spinning, so I really concentrated on doing my very best spinning.  Also never a bad idea with me.

I had a great time assembling my basket.  I included half of the spun yarn, the pattern I've picked, my knitted swatch and some info about Renny and Miss Ewenice and how and why this project came to be.  I did take some pictures of it before I put it in the mail.  I'll share those after the festival.

If you've never entered your yarn or a finished item in competition, I can't encourage you enough to do so.  Even if you don't win a ribbon, you are going to get so much valuable feedback from folks who know way more than you do and that's a big win in itself.  Even just taking the time to really do your very best spinning is going to teach you something!

Speaking of fun and interesting competitions at fiber festivals, I would LOVE to enter a Shepherd's Lead class...but I can't find one close by.  Can you imagine taking Maisie all the way to Maryland?!?  I have an idea that maybe we could all do something "online", but oh man, I'm getting way off track here...

Back to Finger Lakes!  This is one of the very nicest fiber festivals I've been to.  I've gone three years now.  Or maybe I've gone two years and this is my third?  Lalala...  Last year I taught a drop spindling class and they asked me back to teach it again and add a "what next" class after it to talk about plying and finishing your yarn.

We had a blast last year and I'm really looking forward to this year.  Just like entering your work in a competition kicks you in the butt, so does having to teach someone how to do something.  I always learn as much as my "students".  I'm sure there are still spots open.  Come join us!  Or at very least, stick your head in the door at the end of the workshop and say hey :-).

Now for something random about spinning yarn you might find interesting.  Or maybe it's about wool.  Or it probably includes characteristics from both spinning and wool.  As I was making test samples before I started spinning for real, I'd spin a bit and then wash the sample to see how it worked, if I needed more twist or less twist or thicker or thinner...  You should always wash your samples to get the truest final results.  Don't ask me how I know this ;-). 

Here are two samples.  Notice that they are different lengths even though they were wound on the same skein winder?  Do you know why?

The long one is still wet and the short one is dry.  As your wool yarn dries, the fiber itself and the crimp or curl in the fiber will relax back into more where it started just off the sheep.  That wet skein is stretched out.  The dry one is stretchy.  And even though this picture really doesn't show it very clearly, it's thicker and rounder and exactly what I wanted :-).  

See I told you this post was going to be goofy.  I'll wrap it up.  Okay, one more really random thing.  As I tried to type wrap, I actually typed warp (a weaving term).  I also tried to shear a book.  Friends should not let friends post blogs on pain meds :-o.  

For my book to share - I've listened to several books lately as I was spinning.  One I really enjoyed was The Language of Hoofbeats by Catherine Ryan Hyde.  Ooh, I didn't realize she also wrote Pay It Forward.  I'm currently listening to another No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency story.  Always fun :-).

Joining in with Ginny...