Optimistic

For my final 2018 post, I'm feeling optimistic about the future.

I feel I have some day job security.... which means health insurance and savings security.

I have some ideas for managing our vegetable garden more easily.

Our new rain chains will be useful for watering herb gardens (in to be acquired whiskey barrels).

We are healthy and I've been writing.

Happy New Year!

Fiber Arts Friday: Fiber Celebration, part 12

My Gunnar Mittens are starting to look like Mittens!  :-D

I still have a long way to go, and very little spinning has happened in the last month.  But the prospectus for the Fiber Celebration show has not yet been published, so I shall keep moving forward... no matter how slowly.

Current Status:

• 4-3/4 oz, 277.5 yd complete in 3 skeins
• 7/8 oz in singles
• 4 5/8 (~1) oz remain
• 7/8 oz in mittens

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

More Reading

I'm still travelling a lot for the Day Job, which means I still have a good amount of time conducive to reading.

This time around, you can see I've been focused on motivation.

I didn't care much for Drive or The Bully at Work.  The topics are relevant and useful, but each of these books were longer than they needed to be and I got impatient with the non-value-added portions.

With respect to The Bully at Work, I got especially frustrated.  The authors stated that they were using the word "target" instead of "victim" because they didn't want to reinforce the idea of victimization, but the book was still mostly written from the "you poor victim" point of view.  Although I do have to say that to be reading about the different bullying tactics with our current president's behavior, his treatment of CNN, and especially Jim Acosta was quite interesting.

This is a good reminder that changing words is the first step in changing thought process and behavior.... but if behavior doesn't change, the key words don't matter.  We see this all the time, especially with respect to "servant-leadership."  Servant-leadership is more than just drawing the organizational chart upside down.  Some people do it well, and others are just using the key words.

I mostly enjoyed reading Delivering Happiness.  It captured my attention and I looked forward to the next time I could pick it up.  But a lot was left out...  The stories were presented primarily as Tony Hsieh seeking the next adrenaline rush without working too hard, rather than a driven process with a long-term plan.  There was so much focus on the euphoria that I found myself asking "How does he not have a substance abuse problem?"  The book was longer than it needed to be, but Tony is a good story teller and it's worth the read.

One wonderful thing.... I had left the Bullying book on my inbound plane.  I didn't realize until the next day and hadn't finished reading it yet.  So I filed a lost item report online, thinking I probably would never see it again.  Then about 10 days later, I got an email from SWA.  They had found my book and were willing to mail it to me, and I was able to finish reading the book.  That's pretty awesome customer service.

Of course, being without that book meant I needed to find a new one for my ride home...  I found several at this new, well-curated, independent bookstore next door to my cousin's first coffee shop.

I will continue travelling, frequently and indefinitely... so I have plenty of future time for reading.  I'm loving the dedicated time to make a dent in my stash of books.

Happy Reading!

Fiber Arts Friday: Adding to my Stash

Since I'm working on my Gunnar Mittens, and feeling behind schedule, I really have no business adding to my stash.  However, like any good fiberista, I came up with a great justification.  :-)

I've been working in the Bay Area (near San Francisco, CA) since August.  Generally I am home on the weekend, but stayed over earlier this month.

I took the opportunity to visit the Computer History Museum and downtown Los Altos.

I was casually shopping for holiday gifts, but not really in pursuit of anything specific.  I found a cute coffee shop (with awesome bread), a lovely independent children's book store that had a wonderful (though small) non-fiction section for older readers, and a terrific local yarn shop (LYS).

I had been to Los Altos once before (for running shoes), so I knew it was a charming and more quiet downtown.  It would be a good respite from the traffic of the Bay Area.  The LYS was a complete surprise.

There were several people shopping and chatting, and the two ladies working were absolutely delightful.... no surprise there.  LYS people are the best people!  :-)

I told the proprietor how happy I was to find them and decided that I would find something to buy.  Local Yarn Shops are a tremendous resource, and I want to make sure I am supporting them as much as I can.

I walked around the store touching all of the yarn and found an interesting lace-weight dark purple yarn from Denmark.  The label only says "new wool" so I don't know the sheep variety, but I really liked the texture.

The proprietor then went to her office and brought out a sweater she made from that brand/style of yarn and went to Ravelry to figure out how many skeins would be appropriate for the pattern.

Have I mentioned how much I love LYS people?

We determined that people were using anywhere from 2-4 skeins for the pattern.  So based on the dye lots available, I decided on charcoal and black, and bought four.

I'm not certain I will make a sweater.  I have a few items in my queue that are waiting for the perfect yarn... and this yarn is pretty great.

I also found a lovely, perfect-sized, project bag.

It feels good to support small business, and I was able to at a few places this weekend.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Mud

I've mentioned mud season a couple of times on this blog.

Since we moved in, we have worn a path from our house to the alpaca corrals and barn, which becomes mud when ever it rains or snows more than a small amount.

Mud sucks for pretty much anyone working in it.... but it especially sucks for wheelchair users.  So we've been talking about different solutions to our mud problem over the last few years.

The space right before the gate is shaded most of the day, so it's the last to dry out.

We love brick, but have been disheartened by the cost.

Enter, my sister.

They bought an old house a few years ago and replaced their brick patio over the summer.

It took a bit of time for us to coordinate schedules, but we finally collected the brick on the weekend before Thanksgiving, 2018.

So for the cost of a home-made meal, a load of alpaca manure for their garden, and the labor of moving the bricks, we now have enough pavers to cover most of our plan.

There is about 8500 lbs and 300 sq ft in two different colors.

We have a two high priority areas that we want to pave, so we were not concerned with having different colored bricks.

I'm excited.... this will be our major project for the upcoming spring.

Fiber Arts Friday: Twined Technique

I recently found a video on the Twined Technique.  It's fairly long.  There is no sound.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

AKC National Championship, 2018

The AKC National Championship is this week in Orlando, FL.

Gunnar and I were invited for being one of the Top 10 National Owner-Handled teams in the breed.

I hope to make the trip one day, but this year we are watching from home.

Good luck to everyone!

Fiber Arts Friday: Fiber Celebration, part 11

Since I am getting close to separating out the thumb, I met the recipient for breakfast last weekend for a test fitting.

I forgot to take a photo of the fitting, but it's looking good.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Frosty Morning

I love the Colorado blue sky on a frosty morning.