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Archive for Life
Knitting the Duchess & the Queen
Well here i am again, I have to look back on my photos and go oh yea and we did that too. August was lots of fun. The first week the Duchess arrived she showed off her stash that she procured in NY at School Products and I showed off several socks one pair finished. Koigu handpainted sock yarn and another on the needles. Sock yarn dyed by the Duchess, pattern from Interweave Socks, twisted cable.
This was done in the Queens courtyard (backyard). We also captured some photos of the King’s Mother, the Duchess and the Queen. Good Work camera, along with the shawl that the Duchess knit for the Queen Mother F. Beautiful isn’t it.
This little cake of yarn in my vacation yarn that the Duke and Duchess presented to me. I am rubbing my hands together deciding what it will become.
I am so proud of myself, finished JH sweater which included the sewing and weaving of at least a thousand ends and no one died. Therefore i am showing it off again as a finished project. 
We will throw in the Frisbee Kids because they think if you are outside you are there to throw the frisbee.
Dyeing Naturally or How to do it. In Color not person.
Yesterday I had such a great day with some marvelous people. The owner of my favorite fiber store, (Three Wishes) Kristine hosted a Natural Dyeing Class with fiber artist Carolyn. (www.greenwoodfiberworks.etsy.com). What a blast, although I was totally overwhelmed by all the information, my processing chip must be getting rusty, dusty, and disjointed. I should have thought about it before hand and done a bit of educational reading, but I really didn’t know what to read. I’ve been busy, doing my other 101 hobbies and interests, plus getting ready for a visit from the Duchess, and the arrival of “W”, oh and the Queen Mother. Is that enough excuses? Yes I thought so. Well anyway back to this great class. We discussed mordants and dyes. We made natural reds and almost purple. Purple is a hard color to produce vibrantly. For instance when I rinsed my wool and the color went down the drain. Drats! We boiled and stirred wool over cauldrons of fire and I felt like one of the 3 witches. CACKLE! CACKLE! CACKLE! Suits me I know. It was great. I met some very fun new friends. Melinda, who volunteers at “This Is The Place or Pioneer Heritage Park” where she spins every Thur and on many different wheels (Jealous all you spinners?) Katy (who happens to be Carolyns’ favorite sister) is a great mother who won sweepstakes at the fair for her knitting, and Kat a special ed teacher and her son.
Tribute to a marvelous lady
We are very privileged to add some wonderful pieces of art to our home. These are originals painted by a dear friend Patsy Fernau. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as we do. Keep her in your prayers, she is very ill and no longer able to paint.
Tradition Reigns for the 24th
We have been to see the Bees, the Buzz, the Stingers and now once again our beloved Bees. They are actually all the same team, the Salt Lake Baseball just having trouble keeping there name. Larry Miller bought the rights to the Bees name back last year so we are watching the Bees the original name. We started going with dear friends when the kids were teens and have continued on. The game was a good one, which sometimes doesn’t happen, Omaha Royals. We lost but just barely. I unraveled a ball of cotton yarn, we had foot long dogs, and Chicago dogs, mmmmmm, mmmmm. The princess took pictures my camera was still recovering from the trip to Wyoming. The fireworks rocked as usual and the night was exceptional, rain had watered our parched lawns and cooled the day making it a perfect evening. The Dukes family joined us and most of our kids, the grandkids are on vacation with the other grandparental units. It was a great evening and day. Just can’t believe that July is winding down, this summer has been so busy, but we have enjoyed the back yard more than usual its been great. Hope you all have enjoyed your summers also.
TREKKING WYOMING
Here is are family.
Wyoming will not be my new home. Thank you very much. The King and I did survive and we had a wonderful experience now that we are home and not in the middle of Wyoming with the wind blowing our tent around and peppering our food with sand. I do believe if you ever have a chance to Trek yourself prepare and go, it’s a one of a kind experience. We went as a MA & PA with 6 assigned teens from our stake, 4 we didn’t know, they were all great kids and we were lucky to get to know them. This was a trek of endurance, and will, even though we prepared it was still a challenge. It was such a spiritual experience that i still cannot talk about some of the sites and the miracles that took place in our stake. Starting with the Stake Pres. and working on down to a change of weather during the women’s pull, to no serious medical problems . We were blessed and will remember for the rest of our lives. I spoke in church and i do think it was an inspired talk that touched many. I wish i would have gotten pictures of the landscape, but i just sat around and admired it, too tired at the end of the day to get the camera out. Central Wyoming is beautiful, rolling hills of the praries antelope in abundace and sunsets that will rival those in Utah. Wow!!
Can you believe Gnome taking in the sun.
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The King still Rocks
Did I mention that we still love rock and roll. The King and friends have been practicing in our basement for a year and now they are out of the basement and live on vine. This is the second time that the King and Rex have performed on Vine, but this was a full band. It was a great night June 29th with the arrival of some old hippies (aka THS friends) and friends and relatives from around town.
Schack and I are doing better
The Duchess made a strong point of practice makes perfect in the art of spinning. Well being the good Queen that i am i took her advice under advisement and have to agree. Schack and i are doing better, so now i am considering a traveling wheel to go with me like knitting needles and yarn. Possibly that will open up the idea to the King that we should travel a bit more than around the yard. Well we will see for now we have an 80th birthday celebration to tackle and a youth trek in Wyoming to tackle and then we start preparing for W.
But for now we have spun up some bobbins
And then we were so excited about the fiber we won from random picks on Yarnnation that we decided to spin it up next. What do you think, fabulous colors right. Just leave your comments below. It’s very easy to do. 
Good Reading
Just a short note on a good read if you are so inclined It’s called “THE HIDING PLACE” the life story of Corrie Ten Boom, her life in Dutch Harlaam during WWII and her time in a German consentration camp and life after the war. It is moving and powerful with a testimony of faith that probably will cause you to pause and reflect on your own life and faith.
A Random Tagging
I have been taged which i think is really neat, but i like the princess don’t have anyone to tag. Hey friends hint hint.. Here goes.
RULES
List 7 random things about yourself on your blog. Tag 7 others. Leave a comment on their blog to direct them to your site to the rules.
1. I have three insane dogs that are all different breeds, one is a terriorist terrior, the second is a psycotic border collie, and the third is a sheltie who loves everyone and especially loves to bark.
2. I have been married for 36 1/2 years, lived in one state, and 5 houses and 3 apartments in those years.
3. I am a certifiable pack rat and will have to move to declutter. Don’t hold your breath for the moving episode.
4. I have too many hobbies and consider myself a jane of almost all trades. I really love the the act of acquiring new projects and am not as good at getting them completed.
5. I could visit every yarn and fabric store in the United States and not be bored. A fact the King does not understand or participate in, much to my chagrin. We passed to cities with knitting stores on the way home from Seattle and he wouldn’t stop.
6. The only people i know that have a blog are related to me so i guess i wont tag them again. That would ear a tate them. He He He The King is wearing off on me.
7. I get the award for being the most flexable person my physical therapist knows. I want to know why i have a physical therapist? He’s really great but i still don’t like falling apart. Well that’s it.
