Ribbit, ribbit, rip it, rip it.

A garden resident.

In an effort to reduce my UFO's I have been frogging. I have them down to 21 and want to get into single figures by the end of October. Then maybe I can start new projects with a clear conscience.

Glass, Rosacea and Cannabis

Three totally unconnected themes as it turns out.

The glass window I am making is for here:




It is in the little log cabin joining our 2 yurts.
This is the view from outside:



I've made a begining and it is mostly going to be clear and blue glass as you can see:



So far, so good.

I realise that I have been sounding pretty miserable on my blog and I guess I have been pretty miserable. When I analysed it there were lots of accumulative reasons and one I think I have never mentioned as it is so hard to explain how frustrating it is. However after reading my blog a spinning friend here rang me and we got talking. She explained how her life was made miserable by ocular rosacea for some years but now after lots of mistakes by health professionals she had done her own research and finally had it under control. It was so wonderful to talk to her as I had not been able to talk to anyone who understood about the total frustration of the condition. My eyes feel dry but they water all the time (at least one does) if I am outside for more than half than hour I can't see properly (which means I stay in unless absolutely necessary). I can see well but it is a struggle as focussing especially when it gets bad is a constant difficulty, but in testing things are ok. My vision is distorted, and my eyes are sore, burning and irritated most of the time. Because of being inside a lot, being over 50 and with darker skin I may be at risk of vitamin D deficiency. Of course all of this often leads to depression and certainly to irritability. So the relief of talking to someone who understood was overwhelming. She came round the same day to lend me some books and give me some stuff that helped her. One of the books was on the beneficial effects of fasting and I am seriously thinking of giving it a go. Has anyone else tried this?

So thank you Diane. She has a blog too, say hello at The Spinning Shepherd.

Another thing that happened recently that cheered me up was getting a cheque for 100 euros expenses from the Musee de Tisserands (Weaving Museum) in my nearest town of Ambrieres. This was for a spinning demonstration I gave in July when they had a fair for their 20 th anniversary.

This was my stall.



I was sharing with a wonderful woman called Marie-Terese who gave me this at the end.



It is a beautiful cloth she made. She was demonstrating the technique which was so easy it was magical. Do you know how it was done?

She gathered fresh plants sandwiched them between layers of cotton and hammered them. She used a wooden mallet and had a marble slab underneath. After not very much hammering you peel the cloth apart and have two perfect full colour imprints on the cloth. If there is plant matter left, let it dry nd brush it off. She uses old cotton sheets as they are very absorbent. The imprints are not permenant if left in the light or washed but last a good 6 months and I can see from the cloth she gave me that there are previous layers of plants under the current one, which just adds depth.

She was helping people to have a go so I picked some plants and had a go.



And yes that leaf is exactly what it looks like. The area was a hemp weaving region and there are cannabis plants growing by the front door. In fact almost half the stalls at the fair were to do with hemp. The stall on the end of this row was run by the (apparently) largest hemp producer in the world.

Shop Update

Despite feeling faint with hunger (well it must be at least a week since I had any chocolate!) I have continued to put stuff in the Etsy shop. I reckon it is better to add a few things a day so that the listings are continually coming to the top. Here is the alpaca/silk/cashmere laceweight I listed today. It is a shame pictures can't show how soft it is.





I am hoping to show pictures of the stained glass work I am doing tomorrow.

Fruity Days

I spent a lot of yesterday juicing whatever was lying around in the garden (pears and apples), picking blackberries and making jam.

The blackberries have peaked since I was in the UK but there are still plenty around so I have juiced some with brambley apples from a friends tree. Unforunately if I stick to the diet (which I am trying to) I wont be able to sample it for a while.

I have however finished with the grapes and melon only. I lost 6lb in 2 days which is bound to be mostly water and will probably go back on in the next 2 days! Big thrill this morning - I got to have some carrot and apple juice and midmorning I was allowed a yeast drink, but since the only yeast extract I have is marmite (which I thought might be too salty) I substituted miso which just seemed more healthy.

mad diets

I like the thought for the day today-
Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.
Vince Lombardi

I think I need to spend some time around confident people...

I feel sooo tired today

Today is day 2 of the getting up early and achieving something tangible everyday program. But maybe I need more sleep. Also I started a sort of detox today.

I found a book on Nature Cure for rheumatism and arthritis. My joints have been so painful I would try almost anything. Anyway this is all about a quite rigid fast/diet routine. It starts with 2 days eating nothing but grapes and melon 40z of each 3 times a day and the grapes must be ripe and have their skins on. I am of the opinion that I can cope with almost any diet regime for just 2 days. However this really means nothing else but grapes and melon i.e. nothing to drink not even water. Apparently the food contains enough water of itself but I am sure I need more than 24 oz of water a day... I am already feeling dehydrated and am torn between sticking to the letter of the regime or having lots to drink.

Our billy goat is improving and actually seems to be enjoying the attention. Which reminds me that I meant to update on Ron the premature alpaca. He is coming on in leaps and bounds (literally) and is no longer a house alpaca but is living in the field and learning to forget he was ever nearly a human being... A good excuse for a gratuitous animal photo.



I had a bit of a reality check in the UK and one of the things I realised was that 30 odd UFOs was downright stupid. Especially as by the time some of them are finished I wont like them any more. So some ruthless frogging is in order.

I did finish Rogue in the UK but didn't have my camera with me. It was too small before blocking but I left it drying after blocking and I hope it will now fit. Maybe Caroline will send me a photo or two when she gets to try it on. Fingers crossed it fits this time.

Bad Pics and Bullets

My life is a mess.
I'm a mess.
I'm depressed.

I am unmotivated which is probably why I haven't felt coherent enough to blog so I will blog and stop trying to be coherent. Which will probably mean non sequitor bullet points. I would also chuck in some pretty pictures to liven things up but most of them are crap. Well it will add to the disjointedness of this post and hopefully add a little surreal counterpoint. It may just be bullet points from now on.

I came back from a week in the UK yesterday.
We drove by Mont St Michel on the way back.
There were lots of sheep grazing on the flats and I thought I took some cool photos.



It was a sunny day.
I have auto exposure.
what went wrong?

i was on aperture priority and it was wide open which is handy for close ups of yarn where I want a shallow depth of field.

Mont St michel is in the background.
Take my word for it.

Here they are in close up.
Any one know what sort the are?



I had a useful time in the Uk.
But it was nice to get back home.
And all the animals gave me a warm welcome.



I think I am panicing about the future.
Work has dried up completely.
I would say we were short of money but 37 euros seems a bit more than short to me.

It is the future that panics me, the uncertainty.

I started listing stuff in the etsy shop again.
Tomorrow I intend to list the long striping sock yarn.



I spent the evening snipping pooey hair off a goats scrotum.
The goat had been ill and had had diahorea (I could never spell that).
Alpaca Alex came to help and it is looking better now.
It stayed remarably still with scissors to its scrotom.
Sensible goat.
I however am now hobbling.
My arthritic knees had been stooped too long
Good job I have a supply of codoliprane.

Ah well tomorrow is another day.

Back Soon

I have been meaning to blog for days, but seem confounded by circumstances. The yurt is chaotic at the moment. I changed ISPs and lost comms for a few days. Then I decided to rearrange things as I was recabling. That may have been a mistake as one thing led to another and now I am wallowing in chaos, most things have been moved out and I can't fit everything back in. Waahhhhh!

I also got stung by something on Friday and my knee is huge and painful but I now have medication and hope to be normal(ish) soon.

I am still struggling with Rogue but am getting there slowly.

Pictures next time.