Did I ever show you...

my Nora Roberts collection? Oh, really this is only about 20% of my Nora Roberts books -



And I have an Anne McCaffrey/Dragonriders of Pern collection, and a Sue Grafton Alphabet murders collection, and a Maeve Binchy collection . . . . oh, and all the Diane Mott Davidson cookbook murders. . . .

Actually I took this picture last year just before I cleared out a bunch of books to take to the local humongous garage sale to benefit Lydia Place - the local emergency home for women and children. I lightened my closet by 4 big boxes of clothes and my book shelves by three paper grocery bags full.

I need to do it again. How do I get so many books? Oh, well, there's those three book clubs, Costco, the grocery store...and Amazon.com - where it is soooo easy to just pop on line and order that book you've been wanting - right now I'm reading Christina Dodd's "Chosen One's" series - started at book 3, read book 4, ordered (I thought) books 1 & 2 from Az.com & one of the book clubs - Oops turned out I ordered book 2 & book 2... darn it - and not returnable either...oh, well, I'll trade with someone or our church garage sale is coming up soon -

What's on your nightstand?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours from me & mine........

Moving on - Looking Back

Looking back through last year's photographs brought up this cheery bowl of primroses - my Valentine's day present from The Shepherd. Tomorrow we celebrate the first anniversary of owning his own business. Today he got two new customers. Yeah JP!

Fly Away Home

'Bye sweet girl - say hi to Jaxom & Neelix for us.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words of solace.

I can't believe how quiet and empty it is without her.

It's Time -

Sinda
April 21, 1990 - February 5, 2011

Sadly, Sinda's health and spirit have plummeted in the past week. I made one of the hardest decisions in my life yesterday as I called my friend who has a mobile veterinary service to arrange for her to come out this afternoon and help Sinda cross over the Bridge.

I was thinking of the words to Jim Croce's song "Time in a Bottle" this morning

"If I could save time in a bottle, The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day Till Eternity passes away Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever, If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then Again, I would spend them with you"

Sinda has been my companion for almost 21 years - I can't imagine life without her - I will be catless for the first time in 35 years.

You can read about her birthday last year by clicking here
or click on "Sinda" under labels to see more.

Hold your loved ones close today and Thank you for your kind thoughts. T.

Spinning, spinning & more spinning

I have been doing quite a bit of spinning in my spare time - this is some superwashed merino/mohair/silk blend that The Shepherd gave me for Christmas - 4 ounces of brown, green and red yumminess. Don't know what I'll do with it yet.








This is some of Kathy Green's potluck roving that I bought last fall at the Whatcom Weaver Guild sale. I have spun it "s" (counter-clockwise) and plied it "z" (clockwise) because it is a gift for a friend who crochets. I read an article in Spin-Off magazine that said that this type of spinning ("backwards" from conventional spinning) produces a nicer crocheted fabric. I've not made anything with my yarn spun this way yet, so, the "jury" is still out on this one - I'll keep you posted.

One of the best Christmas gifts ever!

I was very happy with the yarn that I made from some beautiful roving purchased at out Spin-In last spring.

When I was looking at the web site for Sunset Fibers in Olympia WA, I noticed that they had a Roving of the Month Club. Now doesn't that sound like fun?

For $150 a year (or you can purchase one month up to 12- there are incremental savings the more months that you purchase) you get 4 ounces of either their Corriedale or Superwashed Merino roving. My mind immediately thought about Christmas and three sisters who always ask me "What do you want for Christmas?"

I decided this year what I REALLY wanted was the "Roving of the Month Club" My sisters were nice enough to contribute $150 and I decided to put in $150 of my own plus a nominal amount for shipping (after all, what can you crochet with 4 ounces of yarn - not much...) so I will get 8 ounces of roving each month - and the above picture was "Miss January" - is that not cool or what!?!? Now I can add to my stash with out even having to go out of the house!

So if you know that hard to buy for spinner (or are one yourself) - give the gals at Sunset Fibers a try - I don't think you'll be disappointed!

P.S. I've already gotten the February roving - it is beautiful tulip colors - pink, yellow & green - 8 ounces of soft fluffy Corriedale!