I decided it was time to wash the rest of the fleece that I had from Maggie.
I filled the tub with very hot soapy water and put the fleece in to soak. After soaking for 1/2 hr the water looked like mud!
I changed the water four times before I felt the fleece was clean enough to use for spinning..
I wasn't happy with the drying time with the last batch that I washed. I was starting to worry that it would go moldy before it dried.
I emailed one, and tried to phone another spinning friend to ask if the fleece would be OK if I put it in the tumble dryer on air.
Both friends were out of town. Being impatient, and seeing as I had already washed the fleece, I decided to put the wet fleece in a pillow case, spin the water out of it in the washing machine, empty the loose fleece into the dryer and air dry for 10 Min's.
It has turned out beautifully and so far is looking good on the carder.

After the fact, I got an email back from my friend advising against the dryer as I may end up with clean but useless fiber!!
I am anxious to spin with it now. Hope I haven't ruined it all!
Will let you know.

I have finished the alpaca/wool yarn that I have been working on.
It is on its way to England, to my sister-in-law, Jeannett, who is going to knit slipper for with it.

I have been trying spinning some of the mohair from Maggie.
I have to say, I am not pleased with the way it is spinning up.
Not sure what the problem is.
The drum carder that I am using is the pits. so it may need more prep.
I also think the tenion on my wheel may need ajusting, plus of course the operator (Me) could be doing something wrong!
The thing is, I have spun mohair before and didn't encounter any problems, so I think I will hold off for a bit with it and take it to the next spinning guild meeting. Lots of help there for a novice like me.

Not much happening with the new deck. Rob has been real busy with work so hasn't had much time to work at home.
I will be staining the railing today.

Picture of Rob and our son preparing the deck floor for instalation.

Have you ever played the game, where you whisper something to someone who then passes it on to the next person, who passes it on etc. and at the end of the game the story is no longer the same as the first person told it?

During the summer months we have our grandsons stay with us. They love being here with all the animals. The chickens are bit of a favorite with them and they love to pick them up and carry them around or just sit with one on their lap and pet it.

Grandpa watched the boys one day chase a chicken and pick it up. He watched them walk around with it for a bit. They took it out front and stood it in the cement mixer for a bit. Then took it around the side of the work shop and found an old wheel from a car. They put the bird in the wheel, giggling all the time and then sat on the opening so it couln't get out!

Grandpa finally called and asked the boys what they were doing. They jumped up real fast and said " Grandpa, look, we found a chicken in this old wheel"

No real harm was done and the chicken is just fine.
The boys were chastised for chasing the chicken in the first place and for not telling the truth after the fact.

Well. We told the story to someone, who, told the story to someone.
I got a call from our niece the other day saying she heard about our chicken. "Chicken?" I asked.
"Yes, the boys and the chicken". "The boys and the chicken?" I said.
"Yes the one the boys killed." "The boys haven't killed any chicken" I replied.
"I heard they swung it around until it was dead. Hide the body in an old tire and lied about knowing any thing about it.!!

I told her the real story but doubt it will change the fact that some people now believe our grandsons are heartless chicken killers !!!

one and a half years ago my cousin-in-law introduced me to the art of spinning.
She kind of chuckles that from about half hour on her spinning wheel, I came home, joined a spinning group and rented a wheel. From there I bought my own wheel.
At first I spun alpaca and sheep fleece that I was lucky enough to have given to me.
She knew I was totally addicted when I bought angora goats so that I would have my own supply of spinning matirial!

I keep in touch with the goat breeder and in her last email to me, she commented on how she was laughing at how quickly I have gone from owning one angora to three. From wanting them only as pets with a purpose, (the purpose being their fiber) and now I am asking her about registering them, breeding them and showing them next year at our local fair.
I guess thery are both right, I am hooked! What else can I say!

Our beloved Kesha was hit by a car today and killed.
She saw Robs van driving up and ran out to greet him. She knew, or felt, nothing.

She was still breathing but I believe her spirit had already left her.
We rushed her to the vet, who tried ro bring her back. It was not meant to be.

We brought her home and buried her in the garden.

We will plant a rose bush over her.

Jenny is slowly getting over her mamma being gone. She is coming over to me a bit more readily now when I call her name. I doubt she will ever be as comfortable around me as Hey Babe is but she is doing better.

My car has been in the garrage for a while having work done to the transmision. The machanic now said the head gasket is also gone. Car really isn't worth the coast of the repair so I am going to count my loses and look for another car.

Rob has the sun deck torn apart. It needed a new rail and floor covering.
Should have been a fairly easy job for him, Of course it turned out to be anything but easy.
The support beams he has found out are rotten. So is some of the decking that he was planning on just re-covering. It has turned into a much more challenging job than he was expecting, but true to form he is taking it in his stride and fixing each problem better than new.