Thunderstorms, Shivering Dogs, Sick Cats, Presents, Fleece, and Doctors

The last few days' weather has been very diverse. It's been sunny and then downpours with thunder and lightning that shook the ground when it hit. I love thunderstorms, day or night, so this doesn't bother me. I do try to leave electronics off during them and won't talk on the phone. My poor dog, Hanna, is having issues with them. She never had a problem until a couple of years ago. Her mama, Babs, had issues until I think she stopped sensing them. Then Hanna took over. I had a stressed out 12 year old dog climbing up my leg to get on my lap during them this time. Luckily, she only weighs around 15 pounds and sits quietly, pants, and shivers once she is held. Pooh was stressing because I was holding her. He had to be held too. He's about 20 pounds. I had them both on my lap together. lol

After the storms passed she was exhausted and slept for a few hours at my feet, never leaving my side. The cats are starting to make a good to fair recovery. Megan did come down with it too, but, was put on the amoxi right away. She doesn't seem as sick as some of the others. Thank goodness it's almost over.

Now, for the present......... My fourth wedding anniversary is this Sunday. My dear, sweet, wonderful husband, Patrick, ordered me my Sonata wheel!!! Yippee!!! It should be here on Friday. After I practice on it for a bit, I already have the first fiber I want to spin on it picked out. It's going to be the one I dyed recently. "Evelyn's Roses". It's a special roving and will be a special memory for me. :)

Right now, I'm washing a CVM hogget fleece a bit at a time. This one seems to have a bit more lanolin than the Romney and Border Leicester fleeces I've washed previously. It dried and still has that greasy feeling. I'm going to give it another cycle of wash/rinse/dry and see if it makes a difference. I have one Romeldale which I may send to the mill for processing. I'll think about that for a bit. I also have a Santa Cruz to process. That one has a very short staple and will be interesting to see the result. I know it will take a lot of twist to hold together when I get ready to spin it.

My other news is..... I got my Merino Lamb fleece back from the mill. It's gorgeous!! So soft, white, and fluffy. I had it pin drafted and this will make spinning easier. The plan is to dye some of it. Liz bagged it up into 4 bags, so handling it is easy.

I need to make my final selections and fill out my paperwork for the Gathering in November. The paperwork and check has to be mailed on July 1st. bright and early in the morning. I can't mail it before that or it will be rejected. It's going to be a fun weekend with friends, and learning new things.

Tonight is Panera in Cranston. I hope to see everyone again. We had such a good time last week. I always bring stuff for "show and tell", but this week I don't really have anything to bring to "show". I can "tell" them about my Sonata, though.

I'm still knitting away on the same projects, making little bits of progress. I recently discovered Plurk which is an online chat, similar to something called Twitter. It's a great way to have several conversations with several people at the same time. I'm in a knitting/spinning group of course. Search for me there, and be added to my friend list.

I went to the Diabetes doctor on Monday. It was a very depressing visit. I'm now on another med on top of all the others I already take. At least it wasn't the Byetta shots yet. I have to go back in 3 months.

Off to finish the laundry and make lunch....