Fran Sale Stafford

Oh! The frustration.

My favorite spindles are handcrafted in Oregon. Over the years, Ed has created several different sizes of spindles from tiny to large, all Turkish style. I own three of his spindles, a very small one that is just about 2.5″ (63 mm) in diameter with a 3.5″ shaft. It is my favorite of the three. It fits in a 3 ounce loose tea tin assembled with fiber, and I can only spin about 10 grams of fiber on it, making 38-42 yards of laceweight 2 ply.

The other two are a discontinued one with a 4″ diameter arm span and a 6+” shaft. It is a workhorse of a spindle and I can spin slightly heavier weight yarn on it, but usually keep it fingering or light fingering weight 2 ply. The third a current style similar in size but slightly more delicate in style.

Middle is discontinued Lark. Back is current Wren.

He makes a tiny little spindle that is only 2″ diameter with a 2.5″ shaft but only makes a few and they are extremely difficult to get. Last week, they posted that some would be for sale this week. Yesterday, they announced it would be at 1:30 pm PDT today. I anxiously awaited the time, prepped dinner ahead so I would be on my computer when they posted. Alas, because there were 180+ other people also waiting, their website couldn’t post them all at once. I sat here trying over and over to get one, not caring what kind of wood. Finally one popped up just as I refreshed and I clicked on it, the website took me to the check out page, but the spindle wasn’t there. Back on the main site, I could see that I had clicked in time as there is a 10 or 12 minute hold to allow you to complete your transaction before it is reopened for sale. I sat and watched the time click down, knowing that I had reserved it, but I couldn’t get to it because it wouldn’t show up in my cart and no one waited for the time to expire before completing their purchase. Just as the time ran out, someone else grabbed it before I could. I was disappointed. I shouldn’t allow myself to get worked up over something such as that, but I lost out. I didn’t get the tiny little spindle that I have coveted. With the virus lock downs, the vendor can’t do shows, and the vendor rarely does ones on this coast anyway, so purchasing one in person won’t happen either. I’m sure that the vendor was frustrated with the process too, but in the end, they sold all 14 spindles.

I will have to be happy that I have what I have and let it go, but I am disappointed.

Walks

Each day I try to get in a walk. We used to go to town nearly every day for lunch and take a walk on one of several paved trails, but with the Stay at Home order, the walks are limited to home areas as even the marked trails in the National Forest are closed. When the weather is too wet, because our road is not paved, I will concede to walk on the treadmill, though my tolerance of it is much lower than being outdoors. Yesterday was miserable, cool, windy, and rainy so to the treadmill I went. I am trying to keep up my stamina which doesn’t work on flat walks very well, so I spent 35 minutes walking at 3 or more miles per hour at an incline of 6 to 8%, then a few slow minutes flat to cool down. It was a good workout, but boring. We have a TV down there and I put it on a music station, but I can’t hear it over the machine without turning it up so loud it drowns out the upstairs TV that hubby is watching.

Today is a cool but sunny day so I took off up the road, then off road for some exercise. Our road has a cattle grate set in it not far beyond our house then I am in the middle of fields with cows. There was a calling back and forth between the various groups today. When I headed out, they were all off in the distance. When I go off road, I challenge myself.

This steep moss covered hills crests to a high spot where I can look down on the hollow and our house. Back down this hill across the pasture I see groups of cattle munching on hay.

This young one was more interested in me than the hay. Back on the road home, there were two cows with their calves that I had to walk quietly by. One calf was nursing and not at all concerned about me, the other’s mom was unconcerned, but the little one was less sure.

Before I left to wander the hills, I turned the hens loose for free range time. Only 7 came out, so I peaked into the coop and found the other two sharing one nesting box (there are 6 boxes), and instead of side by side facing out, they were 69’d.

It is nice to be able to get outside and enjoy the beauty of this area.

Cool, rainy days

Looking ahead at the next 10 days of weather, it looks like frost may be behind us. Today is much cooler than yesterday, but tonight the temperature doesn’t fall but a couple of degrees. Cool, rainy days are bread days. There is a loaf and a half of homemade bread in the freezer, but no more rolls for sandwiches that call for a roll rather than a slice. I pulled out the mixer and the dough bowl and made a batch of the sandwich roll recipe, dividing it into 8 rolls instead of 6 at the recommendation of a friend that made them after I did a couple weeks ago. They are a much better size. I also used half whole wheat flour with the all purpose to make them heartier an healthier.

And pizza dough rising for dinner.

My walk in the drizzle up to check for mail revealed the beautiful Dogwood at the top of the drive in full bloom, though they aren’t really, as it is just the colored modified leaves showing now, the real bloom in the center hasn’t opened yet.

On my way back down to the house, I saw the Momma Wren fly from her Barberry Bush nest so I took a peek.

Though the one in the garden failed, this wren has 5 hungry babies hidden away. I will leave them alone as I can see the nest from the utility room and will see as they get ready to fledge.

Yesterday, we went to the local nursery and though I tried to start my own pepper and tomatoes, they look puny and leggy, so I purchased my pepper and tomato starts for the garden. They are under the grow light with hardening off time when the wind and rain permit. I have tried numerous times to start my own starts and never had good results. The 14 starts are healthy and strong and cost less than the 4 packages of seed. I guess I should just plan on buying them each year. I wore a mask and was pleased that all the employees and other customers had on masks. They didn’t even handle my debit card and I had taken my own container to bring them home. Another couple of weeks and they will go in the garden. In the meantime, I need to finish the weeding and prep.