Springtree Road

The pain in my brain today

I'm still figuring this thing out - this how to have an at-home business while staying home with your little one and trying to keep the house and everything else in good working order.

I decided it would be good to set up a schedule and do things the way the Big Girls do them. You know, list all your items at once, once a week or so, and let everyone know about it beforehand.

So I am planning to update my shop this coming Thursday, as I did last Thursday, at 9:30pm Eastern. And I'll do that this week.

But you know what? I just don't think that's working for me.

I think I'm more of a random happening than a regularly scheduled program. Because see this wool? I'm supposed to have it already spun up, twist set, photographed and ready to list by Thursday and I just don't think that's going to happen. Maybe by Friday or Saturday, but I'd be afraid to put a deadline of Thursday on these two. So that would mean they'd have to wait until next Thursday and that's hard for me because I'm really excited about them, especially the one on the right. I love that one. I've never put pink on Corriedale wool before and I can't wait to spin it.

Once they're done, I want to list them, not leave them sitting around in a bin waiting. I get too excited about the yarn to wait for Thursday at 9:30pm. And that's a good thing, yes?

So is there a way to be ok with that? The randomness? I mean, my head is telling me that I should be on some sort of strict schedule. That if I'm not nothing will ever get done. That if I can't stick to a schedule it's because I have Shortcomings. But my scheduling is for the birds because it just stresses me out. How do you balance things if that's not your natural inclination? Do I have to keep trying? If I don't, what will happen?

And that, my friends, is the pain in my brain today.

Love her

I just came across this - it was taken at the end of October. I was shooting pictures for the banner for November in B&W.

I love this picture. She's holding in her hand these little nuts from one of the trees in our backyard, giving them kisses. Sometimes she'll pick one or two up off the ground and bring them in the house to take care of them - she calls them her Nutbabies. She'll give them a bath in the sink and some felt food and then tuck them into a little blanket she has so they can sleep.

Better On Black

How I love her.

Buzzkill

We went to our friendly neighborhood Waffle House today for brunch. We ate some excellent waffles and eggs and grits and toast and jam and I took some fun photos and V had a great time there, as usual (she loves watching them cook).

They're always Super Nice there, at this particular one - which is why we go there rather than the one that's right down the block from our house. They're nice at that one too, but not Super Nice.

So I wanted to write a Super Nice post about how much I love Waffle House; it was already taking shape in my head. But one of the guys working there (Super Nicely) asked me what I was taking pictures of. Then he told me I wasn't allowed to take pictures and that the rules say that he's not even allowed to serve food to someone with a camera.

Good thing I already ate.

It's not his fault, and he was nicer about it than he needed to be. But it completely soured my brunch and my feelings for Waffle House. I know I've taken loads of photos at Cracker Barrel and they've never given me a hard time. I'm not sure I want to go back there. They have an interesting culture, good, reasonably priced food for the Average Joe, but they don't want Average Joe to photograph any of it. Because that would be ... bad?

Disappointing. I feel like a kid who just got her hand smacked with a ruler.

Soup for breakfast

I would never consider having soup for breakfast, but then I'm not really a fan of canned soup on any occasion. Only having breakfast foods for breakfast is really something we learn to do, right? When V wanted noodle soup this morning my first thought was ewwwww, yuck!

But really, who am I to say what's good for breakfast? She was very, very happy with her warm, double noodle soup.

And I was very, very happy with my small bagel, cream cheese, and chai tea with almond milk, which I will confess is more than I usually eat for breakfast these days.

I'm wondering if you love to eat any non-breakfast foods for breakfast? Anything good I should know about to break the fast?

And goodness, I should probably think about changing that banner up there. Oops.

Carding

Carding fiber for a new yarn. I made a sample for it a few weeks ago, but it's taken me a while to get back to my carder.

It'll have (bottom to top) juniper green firestar, sari silk, some of this blue/yellow Merino, golden BFL (Bluefaced Leicester - my favorite spinning fiber), green Romney locks, juniper green BFL. Hoping I have time to card it tonight and spin it tomorrow.

And I'm also hoping you're having a wonderful day!

Winter bubbles

V has forgotten about bubbles just because it's winter time.

POP!

Yeah, they're a little harder to blow now, what with all the chilly wind, but we're up for the challenge.

Sometimes the sky feels lonely

Mudslinging

Hi, my name is V.

I love playing in the mud.

Okaybye.

Loves to ply

I have made two New Year's resolutions. They don't involve losing weight, decluttering, or saving money.

One is to read this (hated to get it on Kindle instead of a real book, but come on! $3.19!).

The other is to spin more 2-ply yarns. So...

sky blue...

plus plum, gray, and golden yellow...

equals Sky at Dusk...

I love plying! You can dye up the craziest colors and spin them and you think they won't go together plied, but they do! It's like a crazy experiment every time.

Oh the joy!

Nest

There's an empty nest in the tree in our front yard. I waited all of autumn for the leaves to fall off so I could get a picture of it. I believe it was a Mourning Dove's nest and that it should come to good use this spring.

This month the robins have taken over the bare branches of the tree. For a good hour or two in the late morning, I hear them bantering back and forth and flying about. Yesterday I raised the blinds a bit so the cats could enjoy them too.

Dirt & sparkles

What do you want to do when your 4-year-old wants to play in the dirt with her sparkley silver shoes on?

Well, I let her. The shoes will only fit for about 3 more minutes anyway - and what's better than playing in the dirt with your sparkley silver shoes on?

Hot Chocolate

Just right for a winter's day.

Gorgeous handmade mug by Illyria Pottery, a Christmas giftie for R.

Snow!

Just a little bit of snow - we'll take it!

Hot chocolate coming right up.

An average morning

Routine: a January morning 2010

R is up around 6, showers, dresses, wakes me by 7. V is usually up by now, but not this morning. She was up at 4am last night and I think the night before as well. She'll wake in the night 3 or 4 days in a row, until she's sleep deprived enough that she has no choice but to sleep through for a night or two. She does this in cycles, but doesn't share the secrets of her sleep cycle with us to it's impossible to plan around.

We're perpetually tired. Every morning when I open my eyes my first thought is tonight I'm going to bed early.

I shower and dress quickly, hurrying to be ready before 7:30 when R has to be out the door for work. When I come out of the bedroom they're watching Handy Manny, snuggled on the sofa together. "I'm ready for Mama Style!" I say and plop down on the sofa. Within two minutes I'm handed a cafe-worthy cup of coffee with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice on top. Then they go back to the kitchen so V can have some baby bird, which is what we call a squirt of Reddi-Whip in your mouth.

After hugs and kisses and whines and cries about wanting Daddy to stay home with us all the time, R leaves for work. V immediately wants to start doing things. All I want to do is drink my coffee. She grabs a yogurt and I get a 10-minute reprieve. She starts chasing the cats - that's my cue to get a move on.

Downstairs to check two email addresses, convos, stats, Twitter, Etsy Treasuries, and update my shop announcement. I should've brought a load of laundry down with us so we can do our one a day as the Fly Lady preaches. I forgot, but I'll do it in a minute...

Upstairs I have a craft ready for V so I can dye wool. Usually it's Playdoh or anything having to do with glue, but today she's super excited about the Fun Fusion beads she got for Christmas. Doesn't take her long to tire of her still-kinda-clumsy fingers knocking the beads off those tiny little pegs though, and she asks me to finish putting them on. Then I iron it, let it cool. It's packaged as a suncatcher, but she calls the big plastic heart a cat toy. She tosses it to Roxy, who sniffs it twice and then continues to snooze.

Next we move to my bedroom, where I spin two really quick and bulky yarns while V crawls around under the quilt pretending she's Baby Wylie, digging a kitty burrow, and having cat fights with a few of her favorite stuffed cats. She takes any scraps of wool I deem unsuitable for my yarn and saves them in a pile on the bedside table for her collection. I contemplate going outside for pictures of the three yarns I have ready to list but it's cold and windy and I've waited too long now - the sun's in exactly the wrong place. Will have to try to remember to do it this afternoon. I think about how nice it would be to have a light box inside my warm little house so I could take pictures anytime, but I know that with my current equipment the photos would just look flat and I can't have that. That would make me crazy. I will brave any temperature to get a shot at the perfect photo. V, on the other hand, would poke her little nose out and decide she'd rather stay in with her cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows shaped like snowmen.

It's starting to feel like lunchtime, so we go to the kitchen to unload the dishwasher from last night...

***

I also wrote about my morning routine in July 2008, if you'd like to see how things have changed since then.

Simple Small Bear

I'm imagining a really quiet week, this last week of the year. I have just a few yarns in my shop and they're all 10% off. I'll start adding new ones again as soon as the calendar flips to January. But until then, I'm taking some deep breaths, playing with the new marble run, reading a book or two, drinking some really nice coffee, and knitting the Simple Small Bear pattern from The Best-Dressed Knitted Bear.

R says that when I finish this one, I could go on to knit the Bear of Unusual Size Likely to Win in a Battle of Wits, perhaps followed by the Gigantic Misunderstood Bear. I'm not sure there's that much time left in the year, but we'll see.

How are you spending this last week of the decade?

Ready?

I'm ready for Christmas.

It's fairly easy to get ready when you plan to have a very, very simple Christmas. I love all the usual fanfare, but this works for me this year.

Tomorrow, we bake cookies for Santa (double chocolate chip, methinks). Today, V wants to go out for more gathering of her beloved nutbabies and pine cones.

Sounds good to me.

Wanna win a crayon wallet?

Would you like to win a crayon wallet for your favorite little one?

Are these cute or what?

I'm not giving one away, but my BFF is. So hop on over ASAP & enter to win - contest ends Monday AM!

Mud & stuff

Oh my, but this month is moving fast! Isn't it? But even though I feel like I'm not getting enough done, the house isn't nearly clean enough, and I don't enough time to breathe, really nice things are happening. Like my mother-in-law getting a new KitchenAid mixer and giving me her old one (woot! cookies are right around the corner!). And Shaye wrote the most thoughtful and kind post on her experience with my handspun yarn. She's a sweetie and the hat she crocheted for her daughter with some of my Red Delicious is adorable.

Also, I set up a new shop for my photography - I got the name from the strip of moss that runs across our backyard. There's nothing in it yet but I have lots and lots of ideas for it, so I'll (very slowly) be working on that over the next couple of months. You're welcome to check it out. I would've loved to have it ready in time for Christmas but, as my mom would say, that's the way the mop flops. No idea what that means, but there you go.

Yesterday when V and I went outside, she wore her new cowl that I knitted up from one of my sample yarns that I made while working out how to spin ultra thick and thin yarn. I love this look. I know lots of photographers use this sort of yarn for baby hats, but it also makes soft and pretties for older folks.

She looks so sweet, doesn't she? Yeah, she was digging in the mud. Sometime today or tomorrow I'm going to find out how easily Georgia red clay comes out of supersoft Merino wool. That's my girl. One day, I'm going to get her both The Daring Book for Girls and The Dangerous Book for Boys. Though I'm pretty sure she's got both daring and dangerous covered all on her own.

While V dug holes in the moss, I walked around the backyard looking for fun things to photograph. We need some more plants or something back there. A good swing set would be golden too.

A few weeks ago, V and I made bird feeders from mini bagels, peanut butter, and birdseed. I've left this bit of yarn on the tree in hopes that a bird can use it for her nest. Do birds build nests in the winter? I dunno. They might have to patch theirs up occasionally, I suppose, should a winter storm hit. It's nice to think of the birds in the neighborhood using handspun yarn in their nests. And I love the jewel droplets.

More jewel droplets on the grass. They make me so happy.

And dead leaves, lots of those around. Pretty in their own way.

This spring, we'll have to plant some flowers so we can have more color and more jewel droplets in our lives.

Hey babe, your hair's alright / Hey babe, let's go out tonight

Today we went for lunch with R's mom. I brought along my finished skeins to photograph because I didn't think I'd get another chance this weekend. Then I brought V out in the cold and showed her the differences between a pine tree and all the other trees.

I think it's a camellia bush.

Tonight I've been editing said yarn photos and suddenly remembered "John, I'm Only Dancing." It's a David Bowie song.

I commandeered my mom's ChangesOneBowie record sometime around 1985 and my friend Clay and I listened to it endlessly. I've been missing it ever since we set up my old record player a couple of months ago and I found that it wasn't in my carefully-saved-and-carried-all-over-three-states box of records.

So I found the song list and made a playlist, which is now in my top left sidebar. And then I ordered the vinyl from Ebay.

And now I'm dancing. Won't someone dance with me?

9 down, ? to go

Spinning 20 yarns is definitely a worthy goal. This just wasn't the week to accomplish it. I've spun 9 so far this week. I plan to spin a few more, but I doubt I'll get to 20. I'll try again next week.

There are 8 in the photo above - the 9th I spun on Sunday and it's already in the shop. Three of them were spun from roving dyed by Knitty and Color, who, lucky for me, lives right around the corner. And three of them should already be on their way to a brand new yarn shop opening this weekend in Jonesborough, very close to where we used to live in Tennessee. There have been so many other things to do this week - I think I spent half of Monday photographing yarn and the other half ruing that I didn't order V's Christmas gifts in November. But eventually I found everything I wanted to get her. More or less.

In my quest for 20, I completely ignored the blog - didn't feel like I had anything to say anyway other than must spin more, which I don't believe could possibly be that exciting to anyone else but me. And tonight R and I are going to the company Christmas party. But all in all, it's been a good week. I've had some good ideas about a few things, I listed 5 new yarns in the shop, was on Etsy's front page twice, am working with someone lovely toward getting a little something new and wonderful to give away with each order, got something new to wear tonight, started reading The Complete Beatrix Potter with V, taught V how to get warm water in the sink so her hands aren't freezing every time she has to wash them, and more. And hopefully Saturday I will get that book giveaway up and running. Yay!

Hope you're having a good week as well, and that you're closer than I to accomplishing any goals you've set for yourself for this week.

Spinning & spinning some more

What are you up to this month? The usual? Holiday shopping, decorating, merry making?

Me? I'm up to spinning. And lots of it. I had a goal this week to spin 15 yarns, more than I've ever spun in one week before. I got off to a very good start on Monday - I spun 6 yarns! Then 3 on Tuesday and Wednesday and 2 on Thursday.

That means I have one more to go to complete my goal, but I'm hoping to spin 3 today. I've got some pretty wool all dyed up that I'm looking forward to spinning. Out of all these I think 4 will make it to the shop today or tomorrow. One will sit in a basket because I don't think it's up to my standards (the colors got all muddy but I spun it anyway because sometimes it still looks cool, but this one ... not so much! I will use it for something, though). Several are for custom orders (whew!). I'm setting the twist on 2 right now, so they weren't ready to have their pictures taken this morning with the rest. Two are for yarn club members. Yay for yarn club!

I need to decorate the fireplace mantle - maybe I can do that this weekend? And I need to take some pictures this weekend for a children's book giveaway that I'm really excited about for next week.

My goal for next week is to spin 20 yarns. Wish me luck!

***

See more fibery goodness at Alpaca Farmgirl's Fiber Arts Friday!

Hey, color!

Yay for color! If you look at the new banner, you'll see that we have a white Christmas tree. R wanted it and V concurred. We love it - it's fun - like a little spot of retro in my living room.

Here's that hat I mentioned yesterday. It's a pretty Merino/silk blend and so colorful!

I didn't knit it from any special pattern. First I made a little swatch so I could see how many stitches per inch the yarn knit up to on my needles. Then I measured V's head and figured out how many stitches I'd need to get around it, making sure the number was divisible by 6. Then I just knitted it in the round - no other stitches. The thick and thin yarn and the bright colors don't really need fancy stitches. After it seemed long enough, I decreased every 6, 5, 4 stitches, etc. If that makes any sense. And if not, the basics are probably better explained here. That was the very first hat pattern I used when I learned to knit on circular needles and could be the basis of wherever you want to go from there.

I only had 54 yards of yarn but I have a good 2-3 yards left over. Must be pretty bulky yarn, but I didn't measure it. I'm such the rogue knitter!

Got Wood 4 You

I had a great birthday! Thanks so much for all your well wishes. It was lovely.

Some nice people even gave me birthday presents - blog readers, I mean. My friend Sarah, who I met through Etsy/Twitter and lives about five minutes away, gave me some roving that I'd admired at her house a couple of weeks ago. As I was spinning it, V saw it and asked me not to sell it, but to make her a hat out of it. I couldn't say no to that.

So I made a hat from it, which I'll show you later - it's so pretty! Lots of colors. It'd be a shame to show it off in black & white.

I spun the yarn really thick and thin because I love that look and I'm going to start offering more of it in my shop. Makes great baby hats and I know a lot of photographers use that kind of handspun yarn for photography props. But I've also made a cowl for V out of it that is really pretty too and I'd like to make my own hat out of it sometime soon.

Anyway...last week I got a lovely little package in the mail for my birthday - a really cool set of double pointed needles that I'd admired for a while. Nikki is one of my Twitter contacts and she, her husband, and a few of her kids have their own Etsy shops.

Nikki's son Artemas has an Etsy shop called Got Wood 4 You - he made these DPNs out of the branches of a pear tree that fell in their yard. This is an awesome repurpose if I ever saw one.

They are wonderfully crooked. I didn't have any trouble knitting with them at all - but then I love working with DPNs. They make me feel like a real knitter. And these needles made me feel like a super knitting pioneer woman.

These wonderfully rustic double pointed needles would make a truly unique Christmas present for your favorite knitter. Artemas also has lots of other really cool one of a kind things in his shop, including wooden buttons and handmade spindles.

Black Friday

This morning I was facing the window as I slept and I dreamed that that wall had been removed cleanly and that I was lying in bed, watching the sun rise through the trees. It was shivering cold out, but I was warm. The air was crisp as can be and the light looked like it should look on such a morning.

Then I woke up and it was my birthday and I had coffee with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice in bed and opened presents. So far, so good.

We're having a few overnight guests from out of town so that means that after the pancake breakfast I'm about to eat, we'll be cleaning house like mad. Then later we womenfolk will do some grocery shopping, make a lovely dinner, and then sit around and talk and laugh and generally make merry.

While I love a good deal, I don't love crowds of people all trying to get them at the same time so I stick close to home. I hope your Black Friday is equally as wonderful as I'm anticipating mine will be, no matter where you are or what you're doing.

I planned to take all sorts of photos yesterday, but didn't. I really just took a few while we were driving home because I love playing with the shutter speed at night.

Seems appropriate to me on my birthday. I could explain, but I don't think I will. And now, it's time for those pancakes!

If you have a black & white photo to share, please leave your link below. Thanks!

Door's unlocked

Another with the Diana.

I hope you & yours have a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. If you've taken any black and whites lately and catch a minute on Friday, come by and leave me a link. Friday's my birthday and I'd love lots of lovely b&w's to peruse.

(And just ignore this, please.)--> A3552MW7H5ER

Garden hose

Taken with my Diana camera.

Lofts from the high $100's

This guy was on the corner spinning this sign around.

Notice the shorts? Yeah, that's November in Georgia for you. Though today it's cold enough for a nice sweater and squishy socks.

He seemed to be having fun spinning the sign around.

At least as much fun as a person can have standing around with a sign advertising real estate that's obviously not selling.

I have to wonder how much money he made doing that. And if people walking by talk to him or not.

Or if anyone who saw him there with his sign thought, oh wow! A loft in the high $100's! Exactly what I need to buy today!

If you've taken your own b&w photos this week, please link to them below. I'd love to come by and see them!

Stuck at home

Yesterday I was honored to be on the Scoutie Girl blog. I did an interview on art and process and inspiration and things like that with the brilliant and lovely Amy of doobleh-vay and one of my all-time favorite Etsy shops, Little Alouette. So please check it out if you have a moment.

And if you would allow me to lead you in another direction, I'd love for you to check out my new friend Susie's shop - MishMish Market. Susie does lovely watercolor prints, some with personalization available. She's also participating in The Miracles of Hanukkah Sale this week and that's how I ended up buying this print for V's room just a few minutes ago.

So, unless you're Alexis, who has heard just a wee bit, or Kim, who has heard the whole story, you might not know that I've been stuck at home for a few weeks now. I blame the recession and my own procrastination.

See a few weeks ago, I had an errand to run so V and I were in the car. We were on our way home and I decided to drive around a little bit and see the sights because I still don't know my new hometown very well.

So I was keeping up with traffic and all was well when we all came to a police roadblock. The officer let the car ahead of me through, but had me pull over. So he could give me a ticket. For speeding. I fail to see how I could've been speeding when the car ahead of me was not but I decided to keep my mouth shut - which was probably a good idea since the officer kindly informed me that my Tennessee license plate is expired.

Oops.

Two citations and a couple of days later, we got to add a third. On his way to work, R was not even out of the subdivision when he was ticketed for a rolling stop in the neighborhood.

Oops again.

So that's about $350. Normally I don't like to complain because I feel like this blog is my happy place. I've seen in the news that counties are not making enough money in taxes. So it seems logical to me that they would think they need to go out and get that money from somewhere. But should anyone from my local police department happen upon this post (not likely, but you never know), I would like them to know that we will have to find that money somewhere in our budget. And that means that we will not be spending it in our local shops. So you're not really generating tax revenue; not from me anyway. I won't just charge it and forget it. I am staying home and not spending money.

Now, how do I do that? Stay home and not spend money? Easy - I'm a procrastinator. I still haven't gotten my new tag yet. And, because I fear another ticket, my car is in my garage. I haven't driven it since. I'll get it soon, but first I had to get my birth certificate. I know I have one here somewhere, but I couldn't find the box it's in from the move. But I got it and I was all ready to go get my license/tag when I found out that I also need my marriage certificate to prove my name change. So now I have to order that.

And it's on my to-do list, so I'm sure I'll get that done by January, February at the latest. (I'm only half kidding.)

So I'm stuck at home. That doesn't bother me too much - there's no place like home to me. But V asked me the other day why we never go to the park anymore. She will again, just not yet. Instead, we'll work our way through Preschool Art this winter and hang out in the backyard whenever there's a small patch of sunshine. I figure that if nothing else, it cuts down on the chance that we'll be exposed to H1N1 - a silver lining if I ever saw one.

This woman was full of good works

At Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia.

More here.

Metal works

These photos were taken at the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, as were the rest of the photos I've shared this week.

The property was bought in 1850 - six acres. It's a quiet, lovely place with lots of beautiful magnolia trees. When I was a kid, my grandparents' neighbors had a huge magnolia in their yard. We played under that tree for hours. I remember scrubbing the fuzz off the underneath of the leaves with my thumbs and wishing I could climb all the way to the top.

When we were there, there was a photography club taking photos. Also young women jogging. And families checking out the history. It felt serene - more like a park than a cemetery. Margaret Mitchell is buried there.

The sun was really high in the sky while we were there, which made for some fantastic light beneath the shady trees - though the only shade I had for the photos in this post is in the next one. This picture looked fine on my computer, but here on R's laptop it looks a little dark. May have to revisit that one in Photoshop. What do you think - too dark?

I have a few more pictures from Oakland that I'll try to find time to blog this weekend, but now I'm on the lookout for another photo-taking adventure. No idea right now where that will be! Gotta talk to R about that.

Do you have any b&ws you'd like to share this week? I'd love to see them! Please link to your post or photo below. You can also add them to the flickr group as well. And happy weekend!