solid as a rock?

deep breath! don't forget to exhale! my mantra lately-i've been holding my breath i guess lately. i'm attempting to move forward and get out of my funk. it's hard when the universe keeps throwing you curve balls though. just when things start looking up-bam! the rug 's been pulled out from under me again. from my past experence these two things i know: things can always get worse and "this too shall pass." so i'm rather forcing myself to jump back into life.

as i write this all my friends are at the celtic festival-either spinning or dancing. i was suppose to go and spin but chose to stay home and focus on stuff here. my heart just wasn't into it this year. did'nt feel like being around the masses. being social for me right now would have to be quite an act and i'm not up to it. so instead, i picked up my knitting needles and allowed myself to start a "new" and quik project-i need some instance gradification! so i started a pair of fingerless mittens for myself to match a feather and fan scarf i made last year. from noro kochoran-the groovy stuff with angora bunny in it-fluffy!! i got one done today: still need to weave in my ends.

yes, it sure felt good to knit again. liam has been busy making squash cars and having alot of fun letting them fly down the hill-the chickens even chase the cars-trying to get it on video but ran out of batteries-damn!

things have not been all bad around here-last weekend was a very big highlight in the midst all this darkness. hubby and i got to go away-overnight-yes i said overnight-for the first time in 9 and1/2 years since liam was born. it was a much needed trip for hubby and i.(our 11th anniversary!) we got a 'private" room at the sacramento hostel. very cool hostel-in an old gold rush mansion!

the bedsprings are very squeaky though!-heheeeeee! that's our room with the curtain pulled aside!

we went to the B street theatre to see a play called "the book of liz" written by amy and david sedaris. we love david and(sister) amy but we were a bit disappointed with the play-we expected to have more gut wrenching gafaws! as is usually the case with these wonderful writers. we actually got to go out for another dinner at 11:effin 30-(yes-the p.m.)yeeha! now that's something we haven't done in ages. oh-i forgot to mention we started off our day at the midtown fair-very fun neighborhood in sacramento-we had yummy beers at the rubicon brewery and the best fish tacos-ever!!!!!!!! delightful characters everywhere. the next morning we headed to the crocker art museum for the grandma moses exhibit-i love grandma moses -she rocks!

here's a close up: i love folk art!

i'm really bummed that my kids are not into art museums as i love them-it was nice not to be rushed out! we found a new used furniture store that was totally awesome but dispite their sign-not cheap! i guess they have to pay for these awesome murals adorning their store! check these babies out!

gotta love them-they are hot! well, we ended our weekend with a trip to IKEA-ugh! we were very overwelmed and bought nothing! but now we know what they got and can be more prepared next time. we also met up with a guy to buy my new lap top that i'm typing on this very minute-from the awesome craig's list! craig's list is superb-recycling at it's best.- my new lap top-thanks honey! we got hubby a leather recliner for 20$ and bunches of other stuff over the year.

thanks for the wonderful weekend honey- i love you!

another cool thing is yesterday we got our first new egg from one of our new flock:see the difference in size!

i had a very scarey thing happen to my flock the other day. i was on the phone and i heard a chicken scream. have you ever heard a chicken scream? it's aweful. i ran out to see a huge red tailed hawk attacking one of them-i ran out yelling-the hawk let go as all the other hens went running in to the woods fast as lightening! when the hawk flew off-it's wing span was about the size of liam-4 foot 21!!!!!!!! the hens were totally freaked-i had to crawl on hands and knees to retrieve kamakaze! i put her in the hen house and she would not come out ! whew-close call. but now the hawk knows they are here. this is kama on our outside bed! she loves to hang out with liam there.

anyway-this post is getting way too long so i'll end it here but first i want to give a big heart felt thanks to all who have given me support and kind words-it really means alot to me!!!!!!

this tunnel

gee, it's been sooooo long since iv'e posted-life has been well....intense, unsettling, chaotic, frenzied and very very sad. i've been unable to knit, blog, dye and spin-all the things that bring me joy. isn't that the definition of depression? i've been maintaining. but things are changing- i do see (some) light at the end of this long tunnel and hope for better and brighter days.

ressurections from the past

i've been waiting all week for my undyed wool roving to be delivered to my post office box- so i could have have a great weekend in color play. i went to the post office everyday-no luck. we don't have home postal service here-but we do get a free post office box at out local p.o.! UPS hates coming to my house-i guess you could say it's because of the driveway-they can get down-but not up. today after our growers market i drove to the post office to see if my box of fiber was here. they usually put a key in my box to open one of the really big boxes-reserved for packages. i was so disappointed to find this in box instead of a key. the post office was closed.

this means i have to pick it up from Bo the post master-he's only here mon. -fri. no key, no wool treats in the box-boohoo. must be too big. damn-now i have to wait till tuesday as it is a holiday weekend-blah! i really wanted to dye this weekend. i guess that won't be happening. but things weren't all that bad as i got my order from teadog earlier in the week. remember: my main dealer-hubby-he supplies me with my homebrew-well, teadog is my other dealer- andrew keeps me supplied with my other drug of choice-black tea! i decided to give some tea from wales a try as i am also of that gene pool. they had to two to choose from-so i got them both.

Liam loves the glengettie. i still prefer the lyons from ireland-golden blend. but-it is still tasty and does the job.

life has been busy getting back into the rhythm of schooling. sigh-still struggling with getting momentum. but we are easing back into it-so it's not too much of a shock.

surprise surprise-i got my august ufo ressurection project done-i am so glad to be done with my stormy sea shawl-and i will have to give it away as i no longer want to look at it-let alone wear it. this happens to me a lot. by the time i'm done with a project-i can't wear it-i'm sick of it, tired of it or loathe it-hmmmmm? what's that about? i'm excited when i start a project-but not when i'm done with it. here's eden my "bonus" daughter-carey's sister-she stays with us from time to time. she loved modeling for me.



well, i had good intentions of reading a bunch of homeschooling books to get me back in the swing of things-ha! yea right. i've settled on a different one-in fact i can't put it down." the dogs of bedlam farm" has been put under the bed for awhile. this is much more titalating:
this is an autobiography of laurie lindeen-band member of all gurl punk band "zuzu's petals"- from Minneapolis in the late 80's. she's married to paul westerberg-of "the replacements"(late) one of my all time favorite mpls bands of that era besides soul asylum and the jayhawks. i moved to mpls. from small town wisconsin in 1981 after graduating from high school to go to university of minnesota. well lets just say i majored in P-A-R-T-Y, woke up from my very sheltered middle class up bringing and managed to screw up any chance of graduating. i sure had lots of fun though and learned much about life.- dropped out of the social norm of my up bringing and became a punk. what a great time to be living in Mpls.-all the mpls. music legends being born-Prince, replacements, husker du, jayhawks, soul ayslum, run westie run, blue hippos and zuzu's petals-just to name a few. well, reading her book is a blast from my past-i know every bar,cafe, street, and many of the folks she's witing about. we ran in different circles but had very similar lives-although she became a rock star-ha! wish i had a camera from those days-i have very few pics of that era of my life. luckily i kept lot's of journals.



i will close now as family calls-i leave you with a pathetic attempt to photograph the lunar eclipse.