Slow Living: April 2014

I have not made a Slow Living post since October 2013???  Or at least that's what my next draft indicated.  sheesh.

The last six months have been ridiculous.  The Day Job has been out of control.... We've been taking down one tool and ramping up a replacement tool... and I've been trying to fill the roles and responsibilities for 3 people.

But here we are, already in May.  It's spring.  It's shearing season and planting season... and all of the reasons that I have this blog and love being back in Colorado are swinging into focus... A perfect time to get back on the wagon and make a six-month catch up for the Slow Living Project.  :-)

NOURISH: Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch overpackaged, over-processed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead. Share favourite links/recipes/tips from the month here.

There was Thanksgiving.... which was full of lots of wonderful, delicious, home-made food and quality time with family.

Also there was Christmas and an attempted vacation to Mexico over the New Year.

We found a Jewish Deli, not exactly close, but not so far away.  The Matzoh Ball Soup is amazing, along with everything else that we enjoyed... I'm very happy with that... good Matzoh is something I'd been wanting for quite some time.

Hubba discovered a wonderful and large Asian Market about an hour from us.  As a result, his love of Kimchi has been well-fed and he's been making all kinds of wonderful Korean foods.

PREPARE: Stockpile and preserve. Freeze extra meals or excess garden/market produce. Bottle/can, dehydrate or pickle foods to enjoy when they are not in season. Aim to reduce dependency on store bought items especially those known to contain BPA and other suspect additives. Stocking up on dry goods when prices are low counts too.

Hubba and I went out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday... This was the first time we have traveled together in a very long time.  Therefore much of November was spent helping our new farm sitter learn the ropes and teaching our lead guardian that the sitter is allowed to be on property whether we are there or not.

The Giant Fluffy Puppy and I took our first road trip, there was the Denver Dog Show where he won Best of Breed over the #1 Tibetan Mastiff in the US and another local show, so there were preparations for all of those.

Shearing Season  is underway as of last week.

We finished off the applesauce and have been enjoying last summer's pickled peaches and jam.

REDUCE/Reuse/Re-purpose/Repair: Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing. A ladder into a strawberry planter? A sheet into a dress? Share ideas and project links here, allowing others to be inspired.

We continue to use what we have.  In a some areas we have way more of something than is necessary.  For example, tea lite candles... A large number made the move with us from Albuquerque in 2009 and several had been gifted to us since.  We weren't using them so we had a huge stash.  I decided to make a point of using them up last year.  Hubba would get annoyed... they're small and don't last very long, and took quite a long time to use them up.

We still have a glut of pens, post-it notes and socks I hate.

GREEN: up our lives. Start (or continue!) using homemade cleaners, body products and basic herbal remedies. The options are endless, the savings huge and the health benefits enormous.

For some reason I was thinking there was a LOCAL category, but I think it makes sense to go here....

After one too many irritations with a national service provider that I had been using since 2009, I called a local provider of the same services.  I made the switch at the end of March and can say that the service is better, I am saving ~40% and the money is going to a local, family-owned business instead of some exorbitantly-wealthy, faceless CEO in another state.

GROW: plant/harvest. What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden? Herbs in a pot, sprouts on a windowsill or and entire fruit/vegetable garden -opt for what fits space and time constraints. Don't have a backyard? Ask a friendly neighbour or relative for a small patch of theirs in return for some home grown produce, they may surprise you!

The trees are beginning to leaf out and our plum was the first to bloom in mid-April.

The chives have come back and the garden prep is started, but I'm not yet ready to plant.

CREATE: to fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others. Create something as simple as a handmade gift tag or something as extravagant as a fine knit shawl. Share project details and any new skills learnt here.

Several fibery projects have been started and finished since October... and I am now into Shearing and Shedding Season.

DISCOVER: Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests. Trawl libraries, second hand shops or local book shops to find titles that fill the need. Share titles/authors of what is being read this month.

I finally got a Library Card.  We moved back to Colorado in 2009, but I only got a local Library Card a few months ago.

ENHANCE: community: Possibilities include supporting local growers and producers, help out at a local school/kindergarten, barter or foodswap, joining a playgroup or forming a walking or craft group. Car pooling where possible and biking/walking instead of driving. Even start up a blog if you haven't already - online communities count too! Or maybe just help out someone trying to cross the street! The rewards for your time are often returned tenfold.

I spent part of a Saturday afternoon helping a friend's daughter with her math skills.  She was learning Long Division... and having been an Engineer, I'm generally pretty good at math.  ;-)  It was fun to help her get from unhappy about having to do math to realizing that there are a few situations where she's using division and multiplication already and proud of having successfully completed a large number of problems.  She even gave me a high-five and said we could get together again to do more math.  :-)

ENJOY: Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. Marking the seasons, celebrations and new arrivals are all cause for enjoyment. Share a moment to be remembered from the month here.

The Fluffy Puppy and I had a fun road trip in early November.

Hubba and I enjoyed a visit out of town for Thanksgiving and a Hanukkah party with extended family, and Christmas.

Two more puppies joined the family... Miles and Mochi.

I gave an interview for a documentary on dog shows.  It will be a couple of months before the initial drafts are ready.  But it was a whole lot of fun talking about our experience.

Of all the things, I am most happy and grateful to be able to live and pursue my dream.... even if it's only part-time right now.  :-)

Happy Spring for those in the Northern Hemisphere.  :-)

Fiber Arts Friday: Shearing Season is Underway

Last Saturday, I volunteered to help a local farm on their Shearing Day.

starting the take-down

The owner helps when I shear for one of my clients.

stretching her out

She has a lot of livestock experience and I always learn something from her.

shearing the blanket

She uses another local shearer, Steve Salter, who I've talked to but hadn't yet met in person.

two stations set up in the garage

We send work to each other when we get calls that we can't support.

shearing the top knot

So I thought it would be fun to do some of the other jobs on shearing day and that I might be able to pick up a few pointers.

shearing the brisket

He's been shearing much longer than I have and shears significantly more animals each year.  So I was not disappointed.  :-)

shearing the blanket

I learned several tips and techniques that will make me both a better and more efficient shearer.

the blanket comes off in one piece

I always hear good things about him, and he said he hears the same about me.  So it was great for the both of us to see each other work.

the last boy of the day prepping his ammo

30 alpacas were sheared on Saturday.   I did six.  Steve did the rest.  My personal record is 18 alpacas in one day.  Steve did 17 before lunch.

fruits of our labor

I begin my regular clients today and our farm tomorrow.  I love the opportunity that comes with a fiber harvest.

two of the boys I sheared

Happy Shearing Season and Happy Fiber Arts Friday (updated link)!

100% Wool Feel Acrylic

What?!?

My sister found this at a shop in Seattle.

I hope this isn't the beginning of the fat-free, sugar-free, gluten-free fad for natural fibers.

Fiber Arts Friday: 40th Annual Fiber Celebration

One of the things I like about this blog is that it reminds me that my life isn't entirely consumed with work... as it often feels.

When I think back over the last 30-odd years I believe I have spent more time and energy working on things for other people... things I had to do and very little time and energy working on the things I want to do... the things that rest my brain and give me energy.

This feeling has been strong for the last few weeks and especially last Saturday.  I was exhausted.  Just trying to get done what I needed to and feeling like a zombie.

But I decided to take 45 minutes and visit a Textile Exhibit at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins.

They asked that no photographs be taken in the gallery.  It was difficult to comply, knowing that my phone was in my pocket.  ;-)

There were so many beautiful and interesting pieces... a Go Bag inspired by the High Park Fire, a 3-dimensional piece that was made only of zippers, a pair of antique glove-stretchers that had been used in a Dream-Catcher-like crochet piece, and my favorite which turned out to be the Best in Show.

Brochure with the Best in Show piece on the cover

From a distance this pieced looked like a white-on-white weaving with black paint.  But up close you could see that the black was part of the weaving.

I would love to have this piece in my home.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday (two days late)!

Features and Benefits

This photo came across my Facebook Feed today.

Two phrases that I use a lot when managing Product or Process Development Groups came to mind.... "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should" and "Not all Features are Benefits."

I have no idea of the original source,
but it came to me via Knit and Crochet Now

I think we can all agree that this garment features a Breathable Fabric, but most of us may disagree that it is a benefit.

Strange Weekend

Today is April 20th.

It is Easter.  The holiest day of the year if you happen to be a Christian.

It's also 4/20.  Important to people who like pot.  While it's now legal to possess it in Colorado, it is still illegal to consume it in public.

Today is the 15th anniversary of the Columbine Shootings.  Less than 3 miles from my mom's house.

Yesterday was the 19th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombings and the 21st anniversary of the culmination of Waco in 1993.

Tomorrow is the Boston Marathon.

Fiber Arts Friday: Terry-All Dog Show

With the show last weekend and the dogs shedding, my Fiber Arts pursuits have been heavily Tibetan Mastiff Undercoat Collection specific lately. lol.

Gunnar visits a professional groomer a few days before each show.  I was hoping that he would hold off on blowing his coat until after the show, which he did, but he IS shedding.  His groomer was kind enough to collect what she could while grooming him.

10 5/8 ounces collected by our Groomer

At the show, I gave him a good raking and brushing before each "show groom" and collected what I could.

3/4 ounce collected by me at the Dog Show

Between the two of us, we collected 11 3/8 ounces (322.5 grams) of undercoat last week.

The Tibetan Mastiff undercoat is very soft and has a nice amount of crimp.  Depending on the dog and where the fur is collected from it can have a reasonably long staple length.

Gunnar's undercoat is averaging about 2 inches.

I have not had time to turn any of my TM fiber into roving yet and have not spun from a cloud on the drop spindle before, so I gave it a try last night...

It's a very fuzzy yarn, but deliciously soft.  :-)

Maybe I'll bring a drop spindle the next time I'm at a show with a shedding dog.  ;-)

Also, just so you know that I'm not only about the dogs... I got a little knitting time with my Palindrome Scarf over the weekend as well.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday... and Happy Spring!