Goodbye My Furry Friend and Companion.....




The sun was shining, birds singing, and a light breeze was in the air as we headed out to the car with Babs in Pat's arms. This was the last car ride for her. As many of you who have read this blog already know, this trip had been coming for a long time. She had cataracts, was hard of hearing, a bit confused, and had started to be incontinent. She also would fall over if you touched her hips the wrong way and had trouble walking. I think she may have started to go into kidney failure as well. The only time she perked up was for food. Babs would tip her head sideways so she could sort of see the food near her mouth. Her spacial judgement was way off as far as distance as well.

Babs was 17 1/2 years old. She lived with her almost 12 year old daughter Hannah, a puppy, Pooh, and several cat companions as well as my husband and me. She was a very intelligent dog who was extremely friendly. The only time I saw her snap at anyone was to steal food. It was funny to see her antics while walking with her. If we came to a yard with a big dog, she would act ferocious and fierce, snapping and barking. Little tough girl attitude happening here. lol She was an excellent mommy dog as well as a great cat baby sitter. The only animal in the house she wasn't that happy about was the puppy, Pooh. I think that Babs thought he was her sister, his grandmother. Babs and Kissy hated each other.

As we rode along, she perked up and seemed to really enjoy the fresh air and warm sun on her head. Babs managed to walk on the grass better than she had been able to in a long time.



We did some videos and took some pictures of her before leaving the house as well as in the front lawn of the vet's office.



The house is so quiet without her barking at air or growling in her "postal" attack mode. Hanna and Pooh know something is different, too. Hanna cries near the door every now and then for her momma. It will take her some time to adjust. I'm playing with them extra, especially with Hanna to keep them distracted.

Goodbye my old furry buddy. I'll miss you with all my heart, but, I know you are running around with the cats, Dee, Sammy, and Tiffany, and having a wonderful time. There's no more pain or confusion for you to suffer through. I love you dearly.......

Handwriting quiz.....

I found this on Yarn Tales' blog and thought it would be fun to try

What Your Handwriting Says About You

You are a fairly energetic person. You know how do pace yourself, and you deal well with stress. You are very extroverted and outgoing. You are loving, friendly, and supportive. However, you are also manipulative and controlling at times. You are balanced and grounded. You know how to get along well with others. You need a bit of space in your life, but you're not a recluse. You expect people to give you a small amount of privacy, and you respect their privacy as well. You are somewhat traditional, but you are also open to change. You listen to your head and your heart. You are a good communicator. You work hard to get your ideas across effectively.

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

Sheep Shearing, Festival Hopping.....

It's been a couple of busy weeks around here.

On Saturday, May 10, I attended my first sheep shearing at Watson's Farm in Jamestown, RI. I learned a lot about the sheep as well as picked out 2 fleece to purchase. One, a Border Leicester and Cheviot cross, was "yelling" and looking right at me. I think he was demanding I buy his fiber. He kept baaaaa-ing at me and coming up close to the pen door where I was standing, and up the fence to me outside in the shearing yard. Today was a lovely day for fleece washing. His fleece is drying in the shed right now and is snowy white. The other fleece is a texel cross and I didn't see the animal it was from since this was one of the first fleece to be shorn before I got there. We had a fun day talking to people and spinning into the late afternoon. Here's a table of freshly shorn fleece, sheep shearing, and a lamb from the farm.


On Sunday, May 11, I spent the day with my husband. We rarely get an entire day together since we are both so busy. He took me to the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Show where I met a few of my friends. I was riding up with them, but when Pat said he wanted to take me, I gave up my seat in the van. Another person canceled her seat and went with her husband, too. It worked out well, because others needed a ride. I found the Golding booth and bought a very nice walnut finished 1.9 ounce spindle. At the other end of the same building, I found Grafton Fibers and bought a bright pink, fuschia, and purple batt. We spent some time walking around for a while looking at everything, and taking pictures of the Alpacas.
I loved the speckle spots on this one. The black alpaca kept humming to me.

Near the alpacas, I found EOW Farm who was selling some pretty roving. I ended up with a pink and a blue one.

The only other purchase I made was at BallandSkein. On the display wall was the laceweight I had been looking at online. Three skeins of "Pokeberry" which is a blue/purple color is now in my stash. My totebag was getting full, so I stopped shopping. On the way home, Pat and I stopped to visit friends in Massachusetts.

On this past Saturday, May 17, the day was spent at Coggeshall Farm at the RI 2nd Annual Wool & Fiber Festival. This is a working historical farm which does have tours. Some of the booths:

It was so great to meet so many Ravelry friends. After many attempts to meet, DkKnits and I finally succeeded. It was Becky's first try at a festival and I think it went well for her. I know she had some gorgeous selections of hand dyed sock, lace, and silk yarns. Personally, I bought eleven skeins. There were a few more I could have added, but, wouldn't allow myself to do it. I also was given a beautiful skein of yarn as a thank you from her for suggesting the festival to her. Her bright pink columns made her booth stand out. She also had lettering on the front top where you walked into the booth and on the back wall. Here's a shot of myself and Becky.

As you know from previous posts, DkKnits group on Ravelry was having a KAL for the No Purl Monkey sock. Becky made posters with pictures of all our finished socks and had them displayed in the booth. It was fun to see all the socks and it gave people a good idea of how some of the colors looked knitted up, since everyone had used a different colorway.

Next door to DkKnits was Manmade By Jonne. I bought a set of Indigo Hound combs from him to work some of my longer fiber with. These are serious dangerous tools. I think I will have to use them outside so the cats don't accidently get stabbed with the lethal tines.

On the other side of Becky was Fibers4Ewe Mill with Liz and Sandi. I bought the other fiber I had lusted after in CT. It's a deep red with angelina sparkles in it.

I also bought a skein of laceweight yarn which was from Sandi's sheep. The fiber was sheared from her sheep, processed and spun into laceweight all before she dyed it inthe most scruptious raspberry pink color.
I seem to be back on my purple/pink/blue kick again. I know these are my favorite colors, but I have been trying to venture away from them a bit. It just seems I head back to them all the time. lol

I did buy some Alpaca fiber and some Merino/silk fiber. Then I stopped shopping.

The Bayberry Spinners and the RI Spinner Guild were doing a fleece to shawl demonstration. Both shawls came out beautifully. The fiber used was from the sheep at Coggeshall Farm. The shawls were then part of a silent auction with the winning bid benefiting the farm. This is a picture of the RI Spinner Guild Shawl.

Of course there was the usual Wednesday night at Panera last week. This week, I was alone. Everyone was busy with other things. I wasn't going to go, but the soup and half sandwich called to me as I drove down Reservior Ave.

I'm not sure about MA Festival right now. I might still go. I will see what happens during the week.

Harry Potter Quiz

I have never read any of the Harry Potter stories, but, took the test anyway. Someday I'll get around to reading them. Here's my results with a link if you want to take this quiz and see which house you belong to.

The sorting hat says that I belong in Hufflepuff!

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."

Hufflepuff students are friendly, fair-minded, modest, and hard-working. A well-known member was Cedric Diggory, who represented Hogwarts in the most recent Triwizard Tournament.

Take the most scientific Harry Potter Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

CT Festival, Wrist Woes, and No Purl Monkeys Socks....

I had a great time at the festival. I was truly conservative and only bought one Merino Lamb Fleece, which was promptly and immediately brought to the booth of Sandi and Liz from the Fibers4Ewe Mill to be processed. They had some gorgeous pink fiber, "Lips of an Angel" which kind of jumped into my arms and cried to come home with me, not once but twice. I ended up with 8 ounces.

My only other purchase was a pretty shawl pin to hold my Lady Eleanor up. It kept slipping and really needed that pin to hold it. Since it was a bit chilly, I was very glad I brought it along to snuggle up in. After a while, I had to take it off because it got too warm. There was so much to see and buy, but, I plan to go to NH's festival on Mother's Day, so saved some choices for there. My fleece was in here, and then,
I did meet these guys

While at therapy Tuesday, my wrist did it's click click dance when my therapist was holding my hand stretching the thumb. She stopped working on me and asked what that sensation was. I explained that is what has been happening since the brace came off. I was told to rest my hand, keep the brace on and just wait until I saw the doctor. My ortho doctor decided to give me a second cortisone shot in the wrist Thursday. The follow up therapy was very limited and I am in the brace again. This is causing me much anguish since I can't spin or really knit. The knitting is very slow with this hard plastic thing on my wrist.

I have managed to finish the No Purl Monkey Sock for the KAL over on Ravelry in the DkKnits group. Just need to kitchener the toe up and it's ready for it's photo shoot tomorrow.

Well, that's all for now. This one is short and sweet......