So...

We got a new toy this past week...

but I didn't get a chance to play with it until today:

Not the shape I had in mind when I started, and it's easier to see before I put cherry Danish Oil on it.

It's just pine, so it's not so awesome, but I do like the shape I ended up with. :-)  It's going to need a bit of wax to fill in some of the rough spots since you often can't get pine smooth like the hard woods.

I finished the batt bite on the Star Trek spindle:

(am I geeky or what?!) and plyed it on the Penguin (because it was the only wheel with nothing on it :-/). And I finished the merino/silk on the Mazurka too. Unfortunately the bobbins were waaay uneven:

so the little skein is a bit finer than the large skein - I may make a wrist distaff out of the little skein because this yarn is soooo soft. :-)

And finally, a nature shot.

click to biggify

Mrs. Cardinal is nesting right outside our window (see the orange beak?). :-)  This is on the side of the house where we lost the trees; thankfully the cardinal and her nest weren't damaged by the storm. I peeked yesterday, and could see one egg; there may be more.

We're finding more tree damage as we get around the homestead, and one of the 'crown' panels on the machine shed came off, but all-in-all we're ok. I'm sad for my birch, but we're saving the wood for turning.

Oh - I almost forgot!  This is what I came home to TWICE this week:

(The spaniel is not the guilty party)

DH is going to need a new chair sooner than he thought!  Don't know why the New Puppy thinks that arm is so tasty. :-/

Well, that sucks...

The view from my living room window:

And from the other side:

(The 'naked' tree behind the house is in the process of being cut down, so that is not storm damage.)

My lovely river birch!  My beautiful crabapple! :-( 

We had a short spate of very high wind - maybe straight-line wind as there is absolutely nothing on the news about it.  Thankfully the trees managed to miss the house:

My first dog's physical therapy pool (a stock waterer :-D) ended up in the treeline - you can almost see it - it's that bit of blue:

There's a bit more tree damage around the homestead, but this is the worst.  Luckily the house is fine, the roofs are still on the buildings (though the machine shed's roof needs a bit of repair).  And we're all safe and I wasn't on the road when it happened - though I would have been if the power hadn't gone out!

It's a spindle weekend!

DH and I finally had the time and the interest at the same time for him to show me how to use the lathe. :-)  The first result is a Russian spindle:

I couldn't believe how looong it took (partially because we were using some crappy hard red oak we had laying around, and partially because the turning tools need sharpening - a *lot*, and partially because it was my first project), but I'm pleased with the result.  I made it a bit too smooth so roughed it up a tiny bit before I put some Danish oil on it.

Then today I turned the shaft for a spindle lap bowl.  Since DH wasn't home to show me how to do a small bowl, I improvised. :-)

Since I used hot glue the glass bowl should come off pretty easily when I want it to so I can replace it with a wooden bowl.  I think this turned out ok too, and didn't take nearly as long!

And then I made a jewel-ly spindle, to please my inner magpie. :-D

Oh and this came in the mail yesterday - TOO COOL!!!!

And it spins great!  I've not had good luck with top-whorls before, but I'm glad I took the chance on this one.  It came from here.  She's also doing some ST-themed spin-alongs. :-)

Tour de Fleece is coming up and everyone's talking about it. :-)  I'm having trouble deciding what to do this year, though one of my goals will definitely be to spin on the great wheel for 15 minutes each day.  Right now I'm thinking of finishing all of my spinning UFOs (if that's even possible :-/), or maybe something to do with spindles (or finish my spindle UFOs - that might not even be possible in the time allotted :-/).  What are you doing for TdF this year?

We have spinning!

The new boy doesn't seem to mind me spinning toooo much.

He seems to be fitting in pretty well :-) and has quieted down a *lot*.

I've finished the first (of two) bobbins on the Mazurka:

Love the color!!!  I'm trying to spin it a bit thicker so the color doesn't get too washed out.  Spinning seems to go rather quickly with this wheel; this 2+ ounces of merino/silk only took two spinning sessions - for me, that's really fast.  The Mazurka is a good spinner, so I'm glad I got it (though I still need to do the last finishing on the drive wheel - ugh).

I leave you with the Canine Family Portrait :-D: