Let there be spinning!

And spinning, and spinning....

I finally got up the nerve to set the twist on all that fiber I spun. Into the warm, soapy tub of water went each hank of spun yarn, then a rinse, and then onto a drying rack with a mug suspended underneath each processed skein just to pull out any wiggly parts.

There are 13 different skeins hanging up to dry. How cool!

B is for Baseball.

It's almost February and the groundhog will soon see his shadow and plunge us into six more weeks of winter, but my thoughts are on baseball for this entry. Barnstormer baseball, that is.

Not that I am a great fan of baseball, but I do love all that the Barnstormers have to offer us. In addition to hosting our Stitch and Pitch a few years ago, the stadium is home to ice skating in the winter, music concerts, fireworks after the games, and has the most awesome entertainment area for children. When you're not glued to the game, you might take notice of the bumper boat section, the ca

rousel, a rock climbing wall and other play venues for the kids.

The Barnstormers' home, Clipper Stadium, is located on Prince Street, the entrance to the city from the north. Construction of the stadium, and the return of minor league baseball to our fair city, spurred an amazing renewal in the northwest area of Lancaster City. Creative reuse of many beautiful old buildings has taken place since the arrival of baseball. So, take me out to the ballgame and watch Lancaster shine!!!!!

A is for architecture.

I love reading everyone's Alphabet entries, and Sonya (Stringplay) invited me to join in the fun. So, my ABC along is going to be about Lancaster, PA. It's funny, but most people probably think A is for Amish when they hear the words Lancaster, PA. Me, I always think of the beautiful and always interesting architecture all over town. Starting with the mundane, I give you the Guggenheim-ish Prince Street Parking Garage. (Photo by Matt Lester) When my children were very young, they loved riding around and around as we exited the parking lot....these days, I really enjoy seeing the structure all lit up in various colors at night.

To walk down West Chestnut Street is like strolling through architectural heaven.

As beautiful as these homes are, they are only a small part of the architectural diversity that exists in Lancaster.

It's taken me a very long time to write this post, mainly because this topic is so important to me. There is beauty even in failure, such as the Prince Street garage, which takes up almost a full block where once stood numerous historic jewels. Maybe I started this post with that garage, because its construction was an impetus for the Preservation movement in Lancaster. But that's the letter P. Stay tuned :)

A spinning I will go.......

There will be no pictures with this post. I didn't want to stop spinning long enough to focus the camera.

What a couple of days in the woods. Being with 40 women, having meals prepared and no dishes to wash, snacks galore and all the knitting and spinning you could possible do is a step towards heaven on earth.

By now, all normal bloggers are already posting the letter B. I know what I want to write about, but I can't stop spinning long enough to compose! My goal for the week is to successfully blog about Lancaster's A and B entries. The knitting will have to wait.

Maybe.

Grace Notes

It's official. Gracie, the queen of our home, is all better. Whatever caused the large swelling on her neck responded to antibiotics. What fun to give her morning and evening medicine doses disguised in bread and peanut butter.

More yarn!!!

Wait till I tell my biologist husband that he can help me obtain yarn! I just discovered Rana Pilosus, while reading Fleegle's Blog. Oh, the wonderful things you learn from other people's blogs. I hope all of you lace knitters out there can profit from this new discovery.

LOL ;)

A prayer from our pets.......

Something I found in my files while searching for slipper patterns. Posted in memory of all our pets, past and present. Yes Virginia, there is a pet heaven.

Dear Lord:

Please watch over our humans, they are so weak. They have no claws or teeth, they can't run fast or fly away, neither can they burrow or build a nest in which to be safe. They smell bad, do strange things that aren't altogether intelligent, have no real ability to communicate with us, although we are able to figure out what they want.

Lord, grant us the ability to watch over our humans, care for them, cheer them when they are down, make them laugh, smile, and shower them with our love. We pray that we can bring a little joy into their otherwise mundane existence.

Lord, please let them know that when we insist on getting attention, it is so we can check their emotional well being and boost their morale. When we pester them for different foods, toys, etc., it's so they will learn to see us in ways they hadn't considered, bringing them closer and back into the fold ... which they are part of but keep forgetting about.

They expect us to know what they want even though sometimes they don't know what we want. Some of them really try and we know they love us but some of them are so dumb yet our love for them remains intensely unfaltering.

Lord, when we die, please make sure to send us ahead to where ever our humans are going to be, so we can pave the way for them, vouch for them and be there for them when they too die.

Please allow us to continue proving the humans are worth the effort. You placed these humans in dominion over us, but you charged us with the task of caring for them and showing them your love every day, through us.

God bless these mere mortal humans, they know not that we are their guardian angels sent in love to task them so that they may grow to be part of your plan.

Author Unknown

Spinning my wheels.

Saturday was freezing cold here. I decided to make the best of it and finally take up my Thursday Night Knitting Club pal, Erik, on his offer for spinning lessons....so I packed up the Kromski Sonata and headed off to Akron and Eric's place. Had such fun with Jack, the doggie, and thoroughly enjoyed Ava and her little friend's packing peanuts adventure. Such fun to see parents cleaning up smashed styrofoam from every nook and cranny of the house. Have you ever used a shop vac to "clean" a three year old?

Eric told me that it takes a year and twenty minutes till you feel comfortable spinning, or something like that. All I know is that I kept thinking, I could be knitting right now for the first hour of spinning...then, I started to enjoy it.

and a Happy New Year!

The Meret Christmas hat is now a Happy New Yarn completed project. Such fun to knit, and it fits too. Now I get to block it.