wendyhoo's pre-posterous

My space for random thoughts

Easter Sunday at Cootes Paradise

It was a gorgeous day at Cootes Paradise, a part of the Botanical Gardens, in Hamilton, Ontario.  Cooler temperatures made us bring our jackets though we didn't really need them.  We walked about 7 kms starting at the Bruce Trail head office and going as far as the Bull's Outlook where we had a lunch that included hard boiled Easter eggs (of course).    

We're all a little weary, especially the 5 yo and the dog, who seem to travel twice the distance that us adults do, especially considering their shorter legs! 

Some attached photos include my ongoing quest for the perfect honey bee picture.   

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Spinning a winter day: caution - this is addictive

Today was a beautiful winter day for both me and the family ... though we went our separate paths for most of it.  Hubby and the 5yo went to the local ski hill and then skating. It was a gorgeous day for it: sun was shining and the snow was crunching. It even seemed to warm up ... at least my nostrils stopped sticking together from breathing in the ice cold air. Isn't that the weirdest sensation? Is there even an expression for that?

But I digress; it was that kind of day. 

My day started of at the Galt Farmers' Market: which I blogged about earlier today. 

Then, I went to the Kitchener Farmers' Market for my first ever spinning lessons... and not the kind of spinning you do on a stationary bike. ;) This spinning is much more traditional. In fact, our instructor, Tabi Ferguson from the Roving Spinners, told us that spinning was originally done with a rock and stick. This "modern" spindle is not such a new design.
Brief History of Spinning 
It is generally agreed that the spinning of fibres, to form a thread or yarn, has been in existence for over 10,000 years. The drop spindle was the primary spinning tool for almost 9000 years, it was used to spin all the threads for clothing and fabrics from Egyptian mummy wrappings to tapestries, ropes and sails for ships. -excerpt borrowed from History of Spinning
I think I owe 9000 years of history a bit of my own time to learn how to spin with a drop spindle.

One of the first things Tabi told us was that she found spinning highly addictive. She's often up into the middle of the night spinning. Gawd! This sounds shockingly like my knitting. She also said that she started off as a knitter but prefers spinning.  She's also using her engineering skills and is designing & building her very own spindle though she says it's a slow, work in progress - you've heard it here first, folks!   

Many of her current spindles are rudimentary objects. If you look at the photo with the three spindles, hers are the hand-made ones - mine is the store-bought spindle. Spindles ideally weigh as little as possible - to allow for finer yarns to be spun. The heavier the spindle, the thicker the yarn will need to be.

At any rate, I actually did manage to spin something today. It was lumpy and uneven, but I filled my spindle with a single ply of gorgeous blue-face Leicester purchased from Yarn Indulgences.  
Blue Faced Leicester
Our very popular BFL, this is a white top, that is very lustrous and soft. It is beautiful with a long 5 inch staple length, definitely worth trying!  Blue Faced Leicester is a longer stapled wool (the individual fibers are longer) which is fine enough for next-to-skin wear and very hard to felt. It is considered very easy to spin, and is easy to dye with acid dyes (including food coloring and drink mix). It is extremely popular for fine to medium yarns for anything from lace to socks to light sweaters, and insulates and wears well enough for outerwear too.
Our first class involved learning the basics including drafting and spinning the fibre into a single-ply. Next week, we will ply it to make a two-ply yarn.  

By the way, if you're wondering if I managed to get outside today, especially after raving about what a gorgeous, sunshiny winter's day it was? When I got home from the spinning class, hubby & 5yo were out skating. Our poor dog was beside himself wanting to go for a walk. Instead of jumping into my spinning, I was a good dog owner and took him for a walk. Now, let me get back to my spinning. ;)

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News Years 2010

Last night was our son's first New Years celebration that he got to "enjoy."  From the look on his face, I'm thinking it was a bit too late for him. ;p  At any rate, we spent an enjoyable evening in Toronto with old friends who we don't see enough.  It was great to ring in the new year AND the new decade with them.  New years resolution: see old friends more often. 

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Thinking of family, far away in Philly

Wendysgrandparents

Was going through some old photos tonight and was happily surprised at what I found. 

My grandmother, from Philadelphia (that great City of Brotherly Love) died just over five years back - I remember being pregnant with my son during the funeral.  

Luckily, I had spent some time with her the week before she passed away.  In the last few years, I had made far too few 8-hour drives from southwest Ontario to Philly.  

I remember her having trouble standing up from sitting down; that was a shock for me.  She had always been very strong and independent.  I also remember that she scoffed at me when I suggested that she could come visit the following year when she was feeling better.  Back in my youth, I remember that she would drive all over North America with my granddad and the trailer.  

She had a way of making me feel that I was very important to her when I was around: she would listen so very carefully and always look you straight in the eye. Her smile was crooked - even before her stroke that left her partially paralyzed on one side.  I see my son smile like her from time to time.  

Of the part of my childhood that occurred in Philly, I remember hearing her constantly arguing with her husband (my granddad).  They would argue about anything and everything.  She was always right.  

When she was 70, she went back to school and completed her BA in English.  I always loved rifling through her bookshelves.  

Amazingly, she had 11 children: all separate births (no twins).  My dad was firmly in the middle at number five.  She called him Michael.  The oldest was James, named after my granddad, though she called her son Jimmy. So, if I can get them all, there is James (Jimmy), then Hazel, Mary, Carol, Thomas (Tommy), my dad, Richard (Dick), David (Dave), Elizabeth (Betsy), Patrick, and Margaret (Maggie).  Amazingly, everyone is still alive and doing well.  I have - at last count - 22 cousins.  There are, seemingly, countless second cousins.  

Anyway, back to that photo I found.  The original is a wallet size photo of my grandparents younger than I am now.  They're both handsome, happy, in love.  I haven't done anything to modify this image in anyway, so it is what it is.  I love it.  

Grandmom, where ever you are, I'm thinking about you tonight.   

@spellbunny Here's the cutest *seasonal* desktop ever - in yo' face!!! ;)

Scary_pumpkin

From last year's pumpkins came the challenge... how do we represent each member of our family?  Young John wanted a scary pumpkin.  His pumpkin was SO SCARY, that our pumpkins were shaking in their boots (if they had boots, that is).  Now, this year, we get to do it again.  So much pumpkin carnage! 

Day trip to Niagara (more photos)

We spent the day driving down to Niagara Region today. It's always like visiting another part of the world. It's only an hour or so drive and yet it feels like we could be much further away.  I love all the fruit at this time of year.  

Our destination was a park down near Brock Monument.  It's used minimally: probably because it doesn't have washroomsr.  However, it always has lots of space, solid picnic tables and the view is breath-taking.  We have not been here since before our 5 year-old was born because the cliff is so high and so precipitous. 

While we were there, some fighter jets flew by coming from the US side of the river, presumably on their way to the Toronto airshow.  About 15 minutes later, they flew back.  Fastest Canadian invasion ever.  

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