Happy Birthday Bob

My brother's birthday is today. We took him to The House of Japan for lunch. It was yummy and we had lots of fun.

Adorned by Ice

Andrew took a few photos in the park on his way home tonight. Note the reflections you can see in the ice on the blooms. Very pretty. Our gutters are full of ice and with the warm up today they backed up and water ran down inside our front window. Andrew spent about 2 hours after work removing snow from the roof and chipping ice from the gutters (let me tell you he was just thrilled about it). I haven't been out of the house for days other than go to work, feed animals and take Daisy on a poop walk. My excitement for Friday was a cream filled donut for breakfast from Schneider's (a local favorite) and getting a new pair of All Weather Slip On Shoes from Land's End delivered this evening.

Tree Clean Up

Cleaning up
To the left of the truck there is another tree down-note the debris from the first one to the right.Just a pretty view of unglaciated countryside...

Andrew had to go to Hocking County today to open the county road through one of the parks that was closed because a tree loaded with ice fell across it yesterday in the storm. Note that everyone is wearing proper safety gear. Just after finishing the job-another tree fell in the woods right behind where they were working.

Happy Birthday Daisy!

Daisy is 8 years old today. Andrew and I went to Indiana in February 2001 to visit the breeder and put a deposit down. Mom and I then drove back in March to pick her up. Fun times. She was just a tiny little ball of fur and looked like a stuffed animal when she was a pup. She's a sweetie. I bet you can't tell we love her. :-)

Book Nook

Andrew and I finally decided that we (he) would build a book nook in the den to handle the issue of having so many books and no where to display them all. Most of our books are reference type and collectible (to us) books. We tend to sell our fiction books back to the Half Price Book Store when we finish reading them and then buy more. In addition this will serve as a storage solution for our many blankets, that are currently overflowing from my linen closet, as the middle section will be a chest which opens at the top (instead of a cabinet as pictured). Daisy will have a cushion to lay on and will still be able to look out the window. Presently we have a small couch in that room which will come out once we are finished installing the "nook". The room will also get repainted. That part I am not really looking forward to. I'm thinking about using a sunny warm color. Andrew spent about a week drawing plans and making measurements, another afternoon going to Home Depot for the lumber and to Sears for a new and larger router (any excuse will do). The book nook has been in progress since last weekend. It took several hours for him to true his saws and make jigs etc. Then another few hours for him to cut everything. He's still working on the cutting. Pretty soon he will move into the house and start assembling things. In this photo all the cut wood is laying behind him. It doesn't look like much in the stack but it will all fit together like a puzzle.

An Ice Storm

It's 5 am. I up checking to see if we have to go to work. Everything is covered in inches of ice. OSU is closed so there is hope. :-) The trees look pretty but the roads sure don't. I can hear a few cars slogging along on the street in all the ice. It's not smooth like glass but rather piled and frozen as the rain mixed with snow and the traffic has run over it. Not sure how much snow we got last night. It actually looks like the ice may have come instead of the snowfall amounts and of course there is the hype factor of always predicting more than we ever get.

P.S. 6 am Yippee!! A snow day! Dancing the happy dance....

I'm looking for that brown rabbit.....
I know he's here somewhere....
The snow is fun!

Mom I'm cold-can I come in now?....
I'm bushed! I'll just have a quick nap...

A Snow Flake

Not much going on tonight. I've been spinning yarn since 6 o'clock. I've done two large spools of the angora mohair blend. I also washed some Shetland wool that I plan to spin tomorrow. It's been snowing since 4. I left work early to beat the rush. I guess we are suppose to get another 6 inches on top of the 3ish that we already have. Andrew was experimenting with the macro lens for his camera and got a neat photo of a snowflake. Not bad for a first try.

Traffic Feed

Everyone who is reading my blog that I don't know please introduce yourself via email and if you have a blog please also send me a link so I can read yours too. Please feel free to comment or ask questions about rabbits, wool or photography or anything else for that matter. :-)

New Wooden Bowl

I started a wooden bowl collection back in the late 90's. Most of them are from a craftsman named Arthur we know who lives in Pine Mountain, Kentucky. A friend from work had several of Arthur's bowls and introduced us him. I immediately fell in love with the bowls and the lovely wood grains and beautiful shapes and colors. Each one is different and hand made from a native wood. Pictured below are just a few of the bowls from my collection. Our friend Brian, recently took up the art of bowl making and has made some beautiful bowls. One of them in particular I had admired on several occasions. Last night we went to dinner at an Irish pub with Brian and his wife Cindy. We haven't seen them for awhile due to everyone being busy. Andrew worked with Brian and Cindy and in fact introduced them to each other years ago. Anyway when they got to the restaurant they said they had a present for us. After dinner they gave us a beautiful bowl very similar to the one I had admired. It's made of box elder which contains a red fungus in it which gives the bowl beautiful character. This will definitely be a treasured part of my collection.

The Little Man

My friend Diane's brother in law Ronny has had a jig doll for years. When I came back from the Soakum Festival in Noble County this past September and talked about them she told me about his. Diane said he has entertained their family for years with "The Little Man". You may remember that Andrew made one of the folk toys for me. (In a previous post there is a photo of it). I have been wanting to see Ronny's jig doll since Diane told me about it. I reminded him last Saturday night at the basketball game and he brought it in to the office for me to see. I thought it was really cute. The design is a little different but the results are the same.

Satin Babies First Grooming

My Satin babies are getting big. They are so friendly. I decided to give them their first grooming this evening. They were surprisingly clean on the underside. I thought they would be worse since they have been sitting in their bowls. I took all the food bowls out last week (because they took up so much room) and started putting their food in clip cups that attach to the side of the cage. They still have their large water crock but they stopped sitting in it a few days ago. Anyway they all cooperated pretty well for their grooming session and I have no scratches on my hands to prove it. Here they are: two reds (bottom) and two chocolate agoutis (top). One buck and one doe of each. It's kind of hard to see the color difference in the pictures.

Amy's Shawl

After Andrew built my triangle loom for me he made a second one for his sister. Here are a couple photos of a beautiful shawl that she made. This is made with a Wensleydale & Suri yarn and she used two strands of yarn. She and her husband own Lake Erie Alpacas and she has a nice supply of Suri at her disposal.

Mom's Neck Warmer

Here is mom modeling her neck warmer made from the yarn spun from Angelica's angora wool (previous post). The total amount of yarn for this project is 80 yards.

New Roving

I got my roving back from Stonehedge. This was the Wensleydale roving and the mohair/angora blend. It turned out very nice. The Wensleydale is not as soft as an angora/blue faced leicester or angora/alpaca blend ,or even plain BFL, but I think it will have a nice drape to it when used for the purpose that I intended, which is to make a shawl. I took some time to spin up a sample of the yarn to see how it would look. It's very nice to spin and spins uniformly and with ease. The angora/mohair is extremely soft. Stay tuned for a photo sample of it to be posted. This is post #2 in my on going series about raw fiber to finished product. Previously I posted a photo of the raw fiber before it went to the mill.

Millie Muskrat

Andrew finally caught up with "Millie" the Muskrat down at the creek. She has been eluding him since January 2. He also got a nice photo of some geese and ran into a local artist who was scoping out some scenery in preparation for an exhibit he is doing in August. I think Andrew needs to do a photography exhibit somewhere.

Evan Almighty

Taking care of the rabbits in the winter is a lot of work. It's cold out and their water freezes, you have to worry about them being warm enough and it's harder to keep things clean etc. The one nice thing though is that your rabbits can grow some really thick wool. Such is the case with Evan Almighty. I haven't done much grooming since the New Year's Eve show. Yesterday I noticed that he was a puff ball of wool. Today I brought him in for a grooming session. He cleans up nice. He also sits still while I brush and blow his coat which is a plus. I've had him at many shows. He won Best of Breed last fall. Most of the judges don't like him-he places 2nd or 3rd most of the time. His wool is on the soft side and lacks texture. That's probably why he doesn't do well. I will probably breed him to a doe with nice texture and they will have nice babies.

RV Show

Every year we go to the RV show with Bob and Kirk. We do it because we like to look (and dream) at the campers and boats and because it's in January and we are usually stir crazy and ready to get out of the house. The RV show is at the Ohio State Fairgrounds in two big buildings so we get an opportunity for some exercise too. We start the day with breakfast, this year at Frisch's, and then go to the show. It's a tradition! Ever since Andrew and I saw a TaDa camper one year at Edisto Beach I have wanted one. It's a cute little retro camper that comes in bright colors. It is small enough to go on the Needles Highway in South Dakota and large enough to be comfortable for a long trip. Unfortunately they are 25K so we won't be buying one any day soon. Here's a couple pictures of the smallest model. I have my eye on the deluxe which has plenty of room and a nice bathroom (which is my goal). I also liked the pink kayak and the pink scooter which are also pictured.

Grooming Daisy

When we got back from working the basketball game tonight Daisy greeted us at the door and I picked her up to say hello. She wasn't smelling so fresh and I told her she needed a bath. (I was planning to give her one tomorrow). A few minutes later I got in shower because I was cold from being outside and wanted to warm up. I heard some scratching at the door a few minutes later and figured Daisy wanted to eat because we keep her bowl in there on the linoleum floor so she can be as sloppy as she wants when she dines. Anyway Andrew opened the door and let her in and instead of eating she jumped up on the side of the tub and started pawing at the shower curtain. I opened it up and said hi to her and said do you want to come in and she jumped in the shower with me. Andrew thought the whole incident was quite funny after I told him what she did so he snuck up on us later and took a photo while I was drying Daisy's hair in my pj's. She's such a lovable girl. The middle photo is of Daisy cleaning a spot that I missed ;-) After grooming Daisy always gets a doggie peanut treat. She's waiting for one in the last photo. Doesn't she look clean?

Finished Yarn

I finished my yarn a few minutes ago. There was 2.75 ounces so I way over estimated the raw amount and spun it made approximately 80 yards. I have a bunch more wool to spin but I think I am going to read the 3rd Tucker Sinclair mystery tonight. Andrew just got back from the creek. He was trying to get some more photos of the beaver and a muskrat he saw on his a subsequent visit. The sunset was gorgeous (again) and some Canada geese were roosting for the night hence the steam rising from the water.

Spun Wool

I spent the past few nights spinning up a big bunch of Angelica's wool. (I believe I plucked it in September because she is almost in full coat again). Of all my rabbits she probably produces the most wool. I plan to weigh this batch but I'm guessing there are about 4 ounces. One thing that I have noticed about Angelica is that when she is ready to molt her wool doesn't cling to the wire cage like some of the others. Its because she doesn't have any of the cottony texture that some do. Vesper (who I have talked about in previous posts) is her daughter and she has the same type of wool. Now that wool is spun next I will ply it to 2 ply. I am too tired to do that tonight so stay tuned and when I am finished I will post a picture of the yarn along with the specifics on the weight and yardage produced. This wool spun really nice because it was so long and it was all prime meaning no short pieces included.

Lots O Snow

It snowed all day. Everyone was abuzz all day about the amount of snow we were getting which really wasn't all that much but for Central Ohio I guess it was a lot. Evening classes at the college were even canceled and everyone is speculating as to whether day classes will be called off tomorrow...not. Since 1990 classes have only been canceled twice. Almost all the students live on campus so they can walk to class. Speaking of walking Andrew and I took Daisy out for her nightly walk. I made her put her coat on so she wouldn't get her chassis wet. She looked like a little snow plow. Poor thing even had a hard time finding a spot to do her business. Andrew put a heater in the rabbitry. It's just so cold and with Little Doodle being ten and Phazana's babies being out there we thought they needed some warmth to take the edge off. I made a quiche and am reading a new Tucker Sinclair mystery-Andrew's doing a crossword puzzle. Not much excitement around here tonight.

Yak Trak

On Sunday I mentioned Yaktrak's in my post. Today I decided to expand on that topic a bit since I wore mine on the snow and ice last night to walk Daisy and this morning on my way to work. They do a great job gripping ice and snow so you can actually walk like a normal person instead of tiptoeing like an idiot. A friend of mine told me about these last year and I didn't bother getting any. It was late in the season and I wasn't sure I would get a chance to use them. Little did I know we would get a blizzard on March 7. This year with my back issues I decided I wasn't going to take a chance on a fall. I ordered a couple pairs as gift right before Christmas and so far everyone loves them. I got the Pro version because it comes with an extra strap that Velcro's over the top of the shoe for added security in keeping them on. We got some snow last night again and it was really pretty this morning. It took me 7 minutes to get to work instead of 3. Anyway photos posted so you can see the actual appearance of the shoe with the Yaktrak fastened on.