It was a beautiful morning, so we decided to work outside. I finished skirting the fleeces and then we started to set up the beehives for the bees coming to live with us on Sunday. We bought new frames as the old ones were well used. The location is set and one hive is ready. The other is still here in the garage as the weather suddenly changed and we had a good blast of hail and a downpour. It is still raining.
A short nap and then spinning seemed like an excellent idea. I filled the bobbin and this is the swift that I put it on. The yarn broke at about the half way point on the bobbin, so I just wound off to that point as I think I can get the rest of the yarn spun on this bobbin.
From there it gets washed, dried and then a sample is made. I counted 460 yards in this hank. This is about a sport weight yarn or perhaps a bit less, so I should have enough for a simple cardigan.
What do I do when overwhelmed and understaffed? I make more and more detailed lists. At the top of the day, when I wasn’t sure which way to go, I started writing down all the things that were bothering me. I knew they couldn’t all be achieved today or even this week. On paper, they are not bogging my brain down. Having made these lists, I could then do a better job of prioritizing. And yes, more was added as the day went on. I mean who knew that
the washing machine wanted to die today? And who knew that when I went to REI to get a pair of gym pants, they would have nothing casual? Every pair they had were meant to show every wrinkle in the skin. So after an hour of driving to and from REI, I went to my list and added, “shop for pants and a washing machine” Costco is sending me pants to try and probably Sears will be delivering a washing machine (still deciding). Now that was so much easier and better than chasing all over the countryside, wasting time and gas. I do love some of these modern conveniences even though I believe that we should know how to be self-sufficient.
What did I achieve today?
Did you notice how many of these items only took a few minutes? What did you achieve today? I’ll bet it was a lot more than you gave yourself credit for. Make a list of everything you do in a day. It will surprise you, because normally one gets to the end of the day and can’t think of much that was accomplished. At least that’s what happens here. When I make a list, I can see that something is done which in turn makes me feel better.
I’m starting to feel a bit tied to the kitchen, which is never good, because bites of food find their way into my mouth. We finished processing the soup between other jobs. Two students came to help me today in the rain. One of them cleaned stalls in the barn and worked in the hoop house, weeding, fertilizing, watering, thinning lettuce and planting carrots. The other cut blackberry vines and planted corn (I hope it’s not too early)
We harvested two crispers full of lettuce today. We need to up our intake or we will have a refrigerator full of lettuce.
The new bees arrived today. I hope they will be happy here. We will do our best to keep them comfortable. Maybe I can find a spot to put in a bee garden of flowers they especially like. We got them set up and then couldn’t find their water bottles so we called several stores. All were out of them, so we are improvising with chicken watering bottles. By the time, we had done what we could to make them happy, we had spent 3 hours. And that doesn’t count the hours, we go back out just to look and see that everything is good. Does anyone know if I have to fence around them so the sheep won’t knock them down?
This is a paper pieced rabbit. My theme seems to be “Rip it out” and do it over again and again and again. Or put another way: practice, practice, practice. The entire rabbit paper is 8″ x 8″. 
Here is a photo of the roving that I have been spinning along with the spun wool. My memory failed me a bit yesterday when I thought I had 2#. 
I actually had a pound of this and a pound of the one on the right. I have finished the spinning, which took most of the day today. Next I will take these two spools and ply them together.
The refrigerator crisper is full of delicious crisp lettuce and radishes with more to pick.
We put a new tarp on a storage building since the old top had shredded after 4 years and weeded the containers sitting in front.
I managed to skirt 2 more fleeces. I started a third, but that fleece was too felted so it will become compost.
Daughter gave me this cute knitting bag. My guess is she was tired of seeing the Ziploc bags in which I was constantly carrying the knitting. So now this bag carries the beginning of a new pair of socks. Perhaps I can find the instructions soon and put them in the bag as well.
I also took apart the legs of 2 pair of jeans in preparation for adding designs on them. If you have ever had to remove the original stitching, then you know why they hold together so well.
It’s hard to believe, but I spent the afternoon at this party and this is the only photo that I remembered to take. I think I was enjoying it too much to remember to take photos. It’s fun to have family get togethers. And this one was special because Bill’s brother and wife came to visit with all of us.
These flowers were gifted to me along with some lovely gift certificates and clothes.
This is a lovely large fleece which is now skirted. One at a time, I’ll get them done.