A Whirled Yarn

Whew!

Well, I did it!  I opened a yarn shop!  I had a "Grand Opening" and everything! And people came! (Yes, that is me you hear in the background squealing like my mother at a Beatles concert.)

So here is a quick tour.  I have to admit that I stole (um,..I mean borrowed with out asking...) many of these pictures from Nikol because she obviously has a very nice camera, she definitely has a great eye, and she was actually taking pictures opening night instead of wandering around in a semi-lucid, rather easily hysterical state... as others may have been...

As you come in the door...

Ozark Hanspun and plenty of our own...

The "Yarn Bar" where you can sample and swatch before committing to buy (don't worry I've got a fiber one too.  Well, it's more like a bunch of baskets...but same idea)...

Yarn...

 

More yarn...(Peace Fleece!)...

Fiber...

Fiber...

Fiber...(mohair locks!)

And more fiber...(angelina!)

I had absolutely wonderful people come by all weekend!  Thank you all who came my very first, shaky hours (don't worry...it was me who was shaking), 'specially Nikol and Marilyn, who came twice, and those crazy fun KnitTopeka girls. And a super big thank you to Laura, who helped me immensely, held my hand through everything and will be working here on Thursdays. (Sorry this is starting to sound like an Oscar's acceptance speech...cue the music and get the loon off the stage!)  I was also very honored to have homesteading heroine and leading gardening goddess,  A Homesteading Neophyte and her mother (whose blog I could not find a link to, sorry!) drive 2 1/2 hours to visit me!  I had to slap myself to keep from bowing at her feet. 

So here we are on the outside (and in the rain)...

... we are a significantly brighter yellow in the sunlight, trust me...

How to lose weight...

Become a Horse Show Mom and be forced to compete for your nutritional sustenance (if you can call a hamburger such a thing) with an extremely stubborn pony who is apparently happy to throw vegetarianism to the wind when given the opportunity. 

Plus you get to stress away the pounds watching your little baby girl (who I swear was just a toddler two days ago) doing things like this...

Please note the expression of extreme determination on her little face.  It's going to be a long summer...

Why I Haven't Been Posting....

Wall...

No wall...

Wall...

(Wave Hi to my Dad!)

No wall...

Things are so close to being done now!  I've actually moved from excitement to a sort of "what the hell do I think I'm doing,  post-renovation, need to commit to an opening date and enter a bus load of inventory into the computer," stress disorder.  Here is a major symptom...

passing out in your pajamas, drooling on sample books.

It's Final Exam time!

Please answer all questions to the best of your ability. 

1. What is the correct interpretation of this photo:

A. Never allow people half your height to photo document major events in your life.

B. Able to knock over water spigots with her bare hands,... it's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Wingnut Mom!

C. Panicked woman running aimlessly with a stick...must be sheep moving day!

(The answer I was looking for was C.  However, as many of the more vocal students (and you know who you are!) have quickly pointed out, both A and B are also fair and true assumptions based on my previous posts.  So I will either credit you all for this question, or throw it out altogether...on my whim at grading time...so there...)

2.  This woman is...

A.  Discussing the planned route to the summer pasture, and working out where the flock may pause to sample weeds, clover and rose bushes along the way, with the democratically elected sheep leader.

B.  Way invading poor Barley's personal space.

C. Going to get a million chigger bites where the sun don't shine hovering her derriere over the hay pack that way.

(Okay, I was obviously going for A, but C was also proved later to be true as well.  Answer B is obviously a matter of personal opinion...and in an exam, your's does not count!)

3.  Should anyone truly believe this will lead anyone anywhere?

Oh come on, this answer is obvious...just look at the wander lust gleam in that eye...

4.  Should you trust a 10 year old boy, given a camera and the job to document the "Kansas Family Attempts to Move Sheep to Pasture" story, to actually be paying attention when his father must make a wild leap like he was diving for home base to tackle a runaway sheep, and subsequently roll arse over teacups down a hill hugging said sheep to his chest?

Please view the following photograph, taken by the 10 year old in question, while the excitement was happening...in case you need a hint...

 

Honestly, if you were to answer "yes", please stop reading this blog and ...just go away... quietly...

Okay, time is up.  Put your pencils down and pass all your papers to your right,...no, to your left...oh just hand them to the goat on your way out...he'll have them for lunch.

Happy end of the school year to you all!  Now go graze...

Damn the Victorians...

{Thank you to all who inquired about my week long disappearance.  I have a good excuse...I was kidnapped by Sunflower Electric Corporation and thrown into a dank dungeon.  I only escaped by lulling my guards into a stupor by singing Kumbiyah 10,0000 times. Okay, not really...but admit it, I had you going for awhile...}

Oh sure, everyone just loves Victorian architecture....the fancy rails, the turrets, the scroll work...

Just beautiful...until you have to paint it...

And paint it...

and paint it...

Mind you, I'm about 18ft up in the air...well, okay, maybe 12ft.  But it's like a humid day...no matter the actual measurement, you're really as high as you feel...

Our little shop used to be a quiet, pale yellow with faded green and red trim.  We were quite overwhelmed by the large, historic theater to the south and a beauty salon (Glitz'nGlamour!) with Wildcat Purple flower boxes and excessively grease painted windows (Jelly Nails for Mom only 8.99!) to our north.  (What the hey are Jelly Nails!?!)

Now, thanks to my persistent, if not professional paint job, we stick out like a sore thumb...

You won't be able to miss us!

It's b-a-c-k!!!!

This is a lovely picture of the belching coal towers of the Jeffery Energy Center that both pollute my air and power my home...

Yes, I am back to the whole coal-fired power plant thing.  Our, thankfully enlightened, goddess of a governor continues to veto all the stupid legislature's stupid legislation.  However, last night the house just missed over-riding the veto by four votes!  FOUR!  So please, stop by here, and use the handy form to send those four legislators an email congratulating them on their good judgment and encourage them to stand strong.  So what if your not from Kansas?  If our state wins against big business coal, your's has a better chance too.  While you're at it you can remind your Kansas legislator what an idiot they are ...if they're not one of the good guys. 

Come on, we can win...and won't that feel awesome... It's like the power of the people, man!  Make love not war!

Peace.

And the Pulitzer goes to...

First, in the poetry category...

   

If cats ate cold pizza and drank hot coffee.

If cats ate cold pizza and drank hot coffee,

They would also drive SUVs.

The price of clay would be through the roof. Gas, too.

They would shop at Target and drive a third world market for fuzzy toys on suction-cupped plastic rods

Made by kittens.

They would plow up fields to build acres of kitty condos

(each three stories high and carpeted on the outside).

The world would be their litterbox. 

~ the AMP

So this answers the burning question about what the Absent-Minded Professor does while waiting to give lectures at Continuing Ed meetings.

Also in contention for this year's Pulitzer Prize... in the non-fiction category... is this little work in progress whose title caught my eye on our computer's Word file directory....

Beware, all mothers of fourth grade boys, there apparently is a manual in the works...

Is this Heaven?

No, it's yarn school!!!!!

I was teaching and talking and eating all weekend at Yarn School.  It is the best time.  So much fiber, so much yarn, so many spinning wheels...it's where I want to spend eternity...especially if Nikol will be cooking.

If you were wondering where yarn school was held...it's here...

And that is pretty much the town.  It is about an hour away from me and the drive is beautiful.  In fact I saw lots of Kansas wildlife along the way.

Turkeys being all sexy...

A herd of buffalo at home on the range...

Dinner on the hoof...

Dinner taking a nap...

Umm...dinner lost on the wrong side of the Atlantic?

Honestly, how could you be expected to eat something so cute and fuzzy?  I swear he (she?) only stands about 4 ft high.  This is a prime example of why I am only an Insteader, not a Homesteader.  (Carnivorism according to Jen...only eat the big, ugly ones.)

And I'm pretty sure I found one of the Billy Goats Gruff...

I think he might be the smallest (trip-trot, trip-trot, trip-trot...)  So, if you're needing any troll busting, he lives right in downtown Auburn, KS.

I also discovered my dream house...

(It doesn't really lean dramatically to the right...)  Picket fence, flock of sheep, daffodils in the spring....it would be perfect...

What?  You want to see pictures of Yarn School?  The wheels, the fiber, the fun?  Yah, I didn't actually take any of that...

Men just don't understand...

Me:  Honey, I just got a pair of sheep shoes!

Absent-minded Prof:  I hope you got a pair of cheap shoes.  We're not made of money you know!

Me:  No Honey, I got SHEEP shoes, SHEEP shoes. Look!

AMP:  Those are some of the most ridiculous shoes I've ever seen!  How much did you pay for those anyways?

Me:  Oh,...um,...like I said, they were cheap shoes, CHEAP shoes...Is that the fire dectector?  Dinner must be done... gotta go!

Undeniable Proof

Okay, it may have been a high of 45F two days ago, but I know spring is here.  How, you may ask?  Well, let me tell 'ya...

First, my boots are muddy...

...and chewed on by the rabbit.  (But he does that no matter what the season, so it really doesn't count).

Second, the forsythia, that will some day consume our house, is blooming.  Now you have to look quick because all the blossoms are blown off by the constant, driving, prairie winds in about two hours.

Here is a close up of the lovely, little flowers...

What's that?  Oh, you mean you noticed the giant bag of Jacob wool?  Now how did that get in those pictures?  But since you mentioned it...I scored a 10lb bag of Jacob wool! I got Jacob wool, uh huh, oh yah!  It's even very soft.  I desperately needed this because I only sent off a measly 45lbs to the processor last week.  So...you know...I needed more.

Don"t you?