Winter Is Messy. Also, Some Other Stuff.

Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours." ~Robert Byrne

It's been a long week. When it rains in L.A., it snows here. It's been raining a lot in L.A.

I haven't left the house since...when? When was the last time I left the house?! Maybe it was to go to Cynde's party. No, wait. We helped Christina move on Sunday last, so it's only been six days. Six loooooong days. I think Taylor and I are beginning to get a little nutso with the Cabin Fever. I spent a buttload of money on craft supplies this afternoon, because we decided we needed something different and nifty to do, and all most of our other supplies are buried in storage somewhere in Oxford. I'm guessing they're going to stay there until Spring. The UPS dude (or dudette, whatever) will be bringing us all sorts of goodies to make incense, soap, lip gloss, wool wash, and bath bombs. You know why? Because I cannot do fiber arts all the frickin' time. (Blasphemy!) Also, I gave myself tendonitis with all the dyeing/spinning/knitting, so I need a change of pace. Specialization is for insects!

Icicles of doom. They broke a window downstairs when they fell, sending snow, ice and glass all over the computer area. Fortunately, no one was sitting there at the time. Now we have sexy styrofoam instead of a window.

The weather has been a bit of a drag, but there's other stuff nagging at me this week. We lost our friend Emma earlier this week. She had been very ill, so it was not unexpected, but still. She was a fun, feisty, awesome lady. She adored her children. She loved her friends. She never did quite get the hang of knitting, but she liked the company and we liked having her around. She insisted that I spin her some yarn, so I did. I will miss her.

Also, my daughter, my only child, is turning 13 tomorrow. Birthdays aren't a sad occasion, but they certainly do mark the passage of time in a very glaring and obvious way. It really does seem like yesterday that she was born. I don't know where all that time has flown, but I'm a deeply grateful for it, even in the bittersweet way that I'm feeling right now. It's been an wonderful journey so far, and I'm really looking forward to the next leg of it, even the difficult stuff. Because, you know, it's all about the journey, right? Right.

Catching up here, but not in real life.

So, hey! I thought I'd take a few minutes to semi-catch up here. Life's a bit mad at the moment, but that's alright. I wouldn't mind at all if I didn't have so damn much to do! Adam and Taylor are out fishing. I suspect that we'll be having trout for dinner.

Adam w/ last week's catch. They aren't very big, but they're damn tasty...and I don't even like fish.

Anyway, we did the SLV fiber fest this last weekend in Monte Vista. It was fun. We got to catch up w/ Mac and Monica, make a little money, make new friends and generally enjoy the mellow atmosphere. I am totally digging vending at fiber fests. Fiber people are just so nice to be around, and there's always something to talk about.

My vendor tent.

We stayed at the Movie Manor Motel, which is a motel w/ two drive-in screens. So we watched a couple of movies, both of which sucked, (Year One, & the new Sandra Bullock one) but whatever. The novelty, people! We have to leave town to go to a drive in, which is sad. I keep hoping maybe the tribe will build one or something.

My friend Mizpah groping the fiber. Her husband, Chris, makes all sorts of wonderful drop spindles and tahkli spindles and other beautiful things, so we arranged a trade. Fiber for spindle.

My new toys. A walnut tahkli spindle and a darling beehive yarn guage.

A little bit of my yarn. There's so much that I have trouble displaying it all. We're working on that, though. Hopefully for the next show I'll be more organized. We can always hope, anyway.

Also, many people asked me if I dyed it all. The answer is yes. Everything you see comes to me with no color at all. That's where the fun starts, dawg. Ya dig?

It puts the color on the yarn or it gets the hose again.

Anyway, now that we're past SLV, I have to think about Sock Summit. I was contacted by a business owner who wanted to represent my yarn at Sock Summit, and naturally I said yes. So I need to prep a bunch of stuff to ship out w/in the next few days. Also, Ravelry is having a yarn dyeing contest for people who's merchandise is going to be at Sock Summit. Naturally, I also need to do this, as it would be good exposure for me. I understand that there is DRAMA over on Ravelry because people are all butthurt over not being able to enter the dyeing competition. I shall make a point of avoiding that shit. It's yarn, people. Get over it.

Taylor is such a good sport. Both Adam and Taylor are, I suppose, and invaluable helpers. These shows are lots of work. I couldn't have gotten that tent up all by myself, that's for sure. Plus, Adam can make small talk. This is such a bonus for those of us who can't seem to master the art of random bullshitting.

And now, on my horizon: I'm moving. We're moving. Back to Allison, back home, back to my house and my land and my pond and my trees and my garage and my storage shed, and my driveway....did I tell you that I missed being home? Well, now you know. I told Adam that he is not going to be dragging me away from home again. And now he knows.

This is my attitude concerning pretty much everything.

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