Thanks It is woven. The teal is hand spun the rest is commercial yarn.
The guild meeting and fiber sale event was fun. It was neat to be around other spinners in person instead of only online. Everyone was nice and welcoming. Everyone I talked to had more than one spinning wheel which makes me feel a little better about yesterday's purchase...a used, in mint condition, 2nd spinning wheel!

I bought a lot of fleece for dyeing. That's definitely the cost effective way to get fiber/yarn - to buy by the fleece, then wash, process and dye it. More work but most of it is fun except for the washing. We'll see how I feel about it after I go through this pile! Next year I might have to take the truck and really stock up!

Ruby is healing nicely. There's no infection, just a little fluid in the area. My MIL who is/was a vet said the fluid is okay and will go away soon. Ruby is starting to put some weight on the leg and walking on it more each day. Soon our biggest problem will be holding her back from running and jumping.

To follow, a picture of my new wheel, and poor Ruby's shaven butt & leg.

Ugh, Mihani, I know exactly what you are going through right now not being on track with food! I am out of onederland again I was planning to batch this weekend, but with all of the things going on, including Mother's Day, I didn't fit it in. Once I get back from town this afternoon, I'm going to make whatever the simplest looking meal is so I at least have dinner ready for tonight. The snacking is out of control.

Donna, at least the cliff bar was before a bike ride! The other day when I was craving something sweet, I made a homemade version of the cashew cookie lara bar. I put roughly equal amounts of medjool dates and cashews in the food processor. I like it better than the bars because it isn't quite a sweet...of course it doesn't hold together as well either, but I rolled it up into balls and that worked well. Ruby's surgery was a pretty major operation that included rotating the bone in her leg quite a bit and adding a plate. I think they also had to shave extra fur off because it is super long!

The fleece I bought is in the freezer to kill anything off that might be lurking in it! Apparently you have to either freeze it or have it at very high temps in the sun for many days. The freezing takes 24 hours and you don't have to worry about fluctuations in temperature like with the sun. It isn't hot enough around here for the sun method. I finally had the chance to oil my new wheel and play with it for a bit. I'm still getting used to it, so I'll wait and see. This new wheel has an accessory that would enable me to spin very big circumference art yarns and because the bobbins with the accessory are so huge, I can also get a ton of yarn on one bobbin without having to switch. If I can get used to the wheel I might spring for the accessory since my other wheel doesn't have that option.

I haven't kept up with my walking, but at least I've been doing some yard work. Yard work for me right now is mostly weeding. We would have to order a huge truckload of mulch to redo all of the beds, and we've decided to put that off until next year. I'm avoiding using round-up wherever possible. On the weekend we burned a bunch of the limbs and brush that came down over winter. It is nice to have that stuff gone.

Hope everyone has a great day! I am going to try to get back into a daily check-in here.

Carla - I am amazed by you doing this. I think it is so cool. I love the textures and color of fiber. When we lived in Canada (in the 60's) my mother had some one knit my father and I matching heavy sweaters called siwatch (?) we both loved those sweaters but I outgrew mine. It was the first piece of clothing I fell in love with as a child. So warm and cozy.

How is Ruby doing? Dogs are just so amazing. I had a big walk planned with Cleo this morning while temp was in the 70's but had a phone call...it was 82* when we left and we could only walk 2.5 miles before the pavement was too hot for her. She is such a buddy.

Mihani - you might try ordering online. You could always cancel if you did not like it. Good job today!

The TJ's pizza dough was very good. I followed someones suggestions: http://www.momtastic.com/food/445923-how-to-make-perfect-pizza-at-home/#/slide/1

The only thing different I did was to take a toy size rolling pin to it as we like thin crust pizza. I used the herb and garlic dough and sliced zucchini, one big shallot and mushrooms ontop or the TJ's quinoa pesto. Then sprinkled McCormicks low salt steak seasoning on the vegetables.

I am going to make one of our favorite vegetarian pizzas from Italy for the whole wheat dough. Spread a TJ's olive tapenade, just a thin layer then add pre roasted red pepper, egg plant, mushrooms and onion and bake. Then when it is done I am going to cover it with arugula and balsamic vinegar. I also want to try the mushroom, pear, walnut and onion pizza I had the last time in Italy. I don't care for red sauce pizzas or thick crust or cheese. Brooks likes everything.

Mihani - I think that is smart for you to order on line the stuff that you know you need: pet food, TP, dry or canned food and then spend your extra time enjoying the produce department and meal prep. I am starting to think about it because if all I had to do was run in to get produce I would be less tempted on other junk and save money.

Carla - I love your enthusiasm for your master spinning class! What a great skill to learn. The lasagna sounds delicious.

Brooks & I went on a 25.5 mile bike ride yesterday with several rolling hills and 1 big hill at the end that I had no leg left for and it was +90* by that time. We are going to ride it again on Monday...he has trauma call tonight and gets Monday off. We are going to park past the hill and work on distance and speed rather than hills. Our ride next week is 30 miles and in a flatter area of Texas. We took Cleo on a 5 mile morning walk before the heat set it and now going to go do a 30 minute swim before he goes into work.

I am having a hard time staying on track. Delicious red wine last night plus fish tacos. I was all set to order a quinoa salad at this place we went to and last minute changed.

I made hummus for friends and added pesto and extra pine nuts then made the almond milk/cashew salad dressings with the "dregs" at bottom of Vitamix. Going to have a big salad with roasted cauliflower and broccoli tonight.

Have a great weekend!

New Clothes!

Well not really. We arrived in Texas last memorial day and I was 40 lbs heavier. I was wearing long pants & tops to hide under and the heat was miserable. This year it has already been 100* and I refuse to have an ice cold house with A/C full blast so I have been wearing my tennis skirts and tank tops inside. I went to look for my summer clothes I packed last fall and found all my old tennis clothes (some brand new) that I grew out of and had forgotten. It felt like xmas. What a score. I don't want to spend money on summer clothes as I m not working. My 2 shorts from last summer are too big and I gave them away. What is funny, some of the tennis teams I was on the "team uniform" were very bright colors that I did not like. Now I love them! I also think these tennis skorts look better than shorts. Didn't find my summer clothes yet from last year.

Taking the day off from activities as Brooks has tomorrow off and we are biking & swimming. In the heat of the day we are going to the movies. I ended up making vegetable pizza last night instead of that big salad.

That sounds delicious Mihani. Glad you are catching up on some rest. I need to drink more tea.

I am rather bummed but in a good way. I had a pair of very nice khaki pants that were too tight but I could have been wearing them 20 lbs ago...one of the things I found in my closet. Brooks told me tonight they were baggy and looked sloppy. I guess I will give them away but then a little voice in my head says: what if you gain the weight back????

So I have khaki pants in 3 sizes 18-16-14....these were the 16. I guess I need to let go and trust myself.

I made trader joes cauliflower rice mix and added more roasted vegetables. Such comfort food now. Much better than mac & cheese.

Hi gals! Sorry I have been tied up!! Crazy class full of lots to learn and do and some new good friends. So happy I took the class. Last day is tomorrow, so after that I will be back on track with checking in more regularly and hopefully back on track with food too.

Great news about your clothes, Donna. That is so rewarding!!

Is the your 4 day weekend off going to happen, Mihani? The dressing sounds good.