What Happens to My Fiber

This is a picture of Lynne Macco. I don't really know where she is going but I like to imagine that she is on her way to her spinning guild meeting. I smile every time I look at this.

Lynne, from BayShore, NY, has bought roving and raw fiber from me. This beautifully spun brown yarn is an alpaca and merino blend that she did up. Most of the alpaca came from Sonata, my visitor greeter and barn diva. The merino is from the McMurrays colored lambs.

And look at these lovely mittens..... Beautiful work, Lynne.

Spinning on a Wintery Day

This was a day to hunker down by the fireplace and spin. ♫♪♫ The weather outside is frightful ♪♫♪ Yesterday it was in the 40s and water was seeping into the barn. Tonight it's 12 with winds at 20 mph. This is Michigan!

This is the yarn that is on my wheel up above. I finished it up, took some pictures, put them in my Etsy store, washed the yarn, came back to my computer and it was sold. Will be off to California in the morning when it's dry.

And this is a cute little hat that I knit up with some of Sharon Winsauer's cochineal dyed alpaca. You really should click on that link and go see the awesome new butterfly shawl pattern that she recently created. The woman amazes me. I couldn't even knit those lace patterns, let alone create the actual pattern.

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I just spent 15 minutes trying to get that writing off the side of the hat pict. Sorry.....

Granddaughter Weekend

This is Elizabeth (age 6) watching television on my oh, so tolerant Cassie girl. I am very fortunate because since the girls were born, their parents have allowed them to come spend time here. I love having them and I think that they like to be here.

This weekend our big project was decorating Christmas cookies. Actually, Meredith (age 9) ended up by doing most of the decorating. I got called away and Elizabeth got "the b.... word." They aren't allowed to say they are bored here. I tell them that only boring people get bored.

After cookie decorating, we met Terre at the matinee in Alma to see Bolt. It was a fun time because we had to wear the 3-D glasses. I can't believe that I'm so sappy that I cry in a dog cartoon. Geese.

♪ ♫ TaDah ♫ ♪ I will send lots home with the girls and freeze the rest or I will be snacking big time. Need to save some until Rob comes home. He does like decorated cookies.

The Snow Continues

Anyone for a picnic lunch on my deck? That's over a foot of snow on the table. I'm getting quite handy with the snow blower now and thinking that I'm doing a pretty good job. I keep looking at the neighbors' driveways and they leave a little too.

Today was a cold, but sunny day and you can see here the horses soaking up the sunshine. It's been a challenge keeping those doors shoveled so that I can get the horses out in the morning. Each of the four here have their own door and paddock.

Alpacas in Snow and Damned Truck

Remember that snow game we used to play? We would stomp a big pie in the fresh, new snow and play tag. Was it Fox & Geese? I think that's what these 'pacas are playing. They get really excited when I let them out in the morning.

Here's the real reason that I'm posting today. The truck had a recall - windshield wipers, or something. I had to rid it of snow because it gets driven about once a month. If the neighbors were watching, I'll bet they were holding their breath. A snow brush didn't move this snow at all so I got out a rake. Heh, heh, prongy side up and very carefully, I pulled the snow off.\

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Anyway, here's the deal. The truck was a year old when Smitty died and he had put life insurance on it. I'm really tired of making the payments and have been contacting the insurance company since the end of August. They are trying to be sure that he had no preexisting conditions before purchasing truck/insurance. Which I understand. But first of all, I had to sign a waiver releasing medical records to RiteAid and the Clinic uptown. To speed things up I contacted both these places myself and asked them to send on the records.

Well, RiteAid's records showed that he had scripts from two other doctors - a cardiologist (routine tests) and a surgeon (knee replacement). I learned this by calling the ins. co. When I contacted these two doctor offices, they hadn't had a request. I faxed a medical release (glad we have a trust) to the offices and asked them to fax Smitty's records on to the ins. co. Finally, on Monday the insurance company says they have all the requested papers, they will evaluate the claim, and I might know by Friday.

Now what if I had been a distressed, grieving widow who didn't want to make waves - would this get settled? Would they have contacted the docotors' offices? How many years would this take?

This is a pretty boring post, but makes me feel better to vent. (That's why I put the cute alpaca pictures first ☺)

Changes:

Number 24 . I ran the snowblower today. Rob, when you showed me how to work it, you didn't tell me I was going to be covered with snow and that I probably shouldn't wear my glasses.

First Snow Storm - December 1, 2008

We got about 6 inches of the really heavy, sticky snow that turned my morning trip to the barn into a true winter wonderland.

Beautiful! yes, but look what I needed to move before I could clean. I left a show shovel outside last night thinking that I would need it, but it's buried somewhere in that drift by the barn door. Thankfully, I had that other one inside. I moved Cord and Ivan out so that I could clean their stalls. That's Cord peeking over the fence.

The alpacas were just too funny when I let them out. The young ones had never seen snow like this and were jumping and running and body slamming each other. Each of them had to drop into the white stuff and take a roll. The 4 alpacas in the left picture are (left to right), Orion (Slammie), white Pollux (Luxie), naughty gray Gunny, and our handsome dark fawn, herd sire, Polaris (Lars). On the right are crias with little Junior in his purple coat. He's up to 20 pounds now, but not growing like he should. Vet Russ will be here tomorrow and I will have him examine and do a blood draw. Maybe we will get some answers.

As I was finishing up my chores about 10 o'clock, I heard a snow blower. Dean, my across the street neighbor, blew out my house driveway and this path from my house to the barn. Aren't I the luckiest woman in the world? Actually my son, Rob, was here for T'Day and showed me how to run the snow blower, but I'm really glad that Dean did it for me.

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As Dean was finishing up, Ben, the young man who farms my property, arrived, got the tractor out, and cleaned out the barn driveway. I'm in great shape!

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Changes

23. I realize that I can't do EVERYTHING by myself and am so grateful and thankful that I have folks to help me out.

Changes 21 and 22 & "Twilight"

In my last post I forgot to add some of my daily changes since Smitty's death, so will add them tonight.

Number 21. I don't get nearly as much knitting done as I used to. When ever we went anywhere in the car or truck, I would take along some knitting. Now that I have to do my own driving (I hate driving), I don't even think to grab some on the way out. I do have one friend, Kathy, who drives and knits at red lights.

Number 22. For some reason I now pay bills as they come in. I used to save them up until our Social Security and Retirement came in. I think that I'm afraid of not having enough money and wanting to be on top of finances.

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I had a wonderfully fun evening with Beth and my daughter, Terre. We went to the matinee to see Twilight from the book by Stephenie Meyer, and then out to dinner. I am currently reading the third book, Eclipse, in her series which is basically a vampire love saga. I think the film was very well done, close to the book and all that. The scenery was beautiful and I kept wondering if it was really filmed in the state of Washington. My old and dear friend Mac lives near Seattle and I thought of him throughout the film.