First Skein of the British Top with Silk done!

This is the first skein of two. You can see the shine on this yarn.. would make a stunning sweater.

Close up.

Penny to help tell the size. I still need to do, Wraps per Inch, so I can tell people what weight this yarn is.

Also need to get the rest of that yarn plied, which should result in another skein about the same size.

Lets see.....

DS was able to drive DH to town the other day, to help add to his drive time, so he can get his licence.. sooner or later.

We have been working on the garden to get it ready. Planted peas, spinach, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower. Bought one cheap tomato plant but it needs to be protected at night. Kind'a pushing the garden....so will see what happens.

All the animals are doing well. Cats are helpful as usual. Really need to start telling Cat short stories again. LOL
Grass is starting to grow a lot and as soon as we have a mostly dry day... DH is going to need to mow it. Not complaining....rather mow grass than deal with snow.

Job status is still the same but DH is looking at Intel again for a very short term contract job. I am beginning to wonder if there are any real full time real jobs out there...or has the country gone Contract only?

government control of private gardens-HR 875

Want to see something truly scary.....

http://washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_HR_875.html

Think this won't happen... think again.
NAIS bill, the no dust farming Bill and now this.
When are these stupid bills going to stop?
At the rate they are going we won't be allowed to own animals or garden, how stupid is that?
But then... when has the gov and big business been smart?
Is all about greed and the bottom line for them.... heck to all the small farmers who just want to put healthy food on the table.

I have to grow my own Veggies, if I want to eat. I am on a much needed no salt added diet,, and all canned and frozen veggies sold in stores, has a large amount of salt added. I can't eat it without ending up in the ER. And I refuse to buy food from Mexico or China because they can put what ever they want on stuff.

USDA doesn't do their job and we get hurt for it.
Do not think these new bills will help "food safety" any better than the old bills, USDA and FDA are forever falling down on the job. Because of their laziness, It will just cost us little people a whole lot more money to keep animals or garden, if we are allowed to at all.
Wait until they come up for a tax for every mouthfull of food you eat. Bla......
Or maybe it is time to find another country that is proud of their people that grow their own food.

Anyway..because of this... I will most likely not say wither we garden or not. Last thing I need is the Gov coming in and telling me I can't eat my food.

How things have been going

I hate posting without photographs... so I added some below.

We have been busy with small jobs around the place. DH put a electric fence around the garden to keep the chickens out... too bad it wouldn't work for gophers and moles. He and DS cleaned the water tank out and so on.
DH has been busy trying to find a job local, sadly has been turned down for 2 at this point. Which is strange for him because normally if he interviews..he has always gotten the job in the past but these days sadly,, aren't normal times.
DS has been doing chores and studying with the MIT open college courses because that is all we can do for now. Rest of his drive time to get a licence has been put on hold until DH can find a job. Not what we had planned but that is life.
I have been working on my online shops, Art and spinning yarn to try to bring in some money but those types of things just aren't selling much. I have been getting dribbles of Art sales, just wish things were different around the World. Also have some of my china horse figures for sale, as you can see, so if you know someone that might be interested let me know.

My latest work. In this photo I had just finished spinning up two single plys of yarn. Can see one of the green British Top on the wheel and one on the lazy Kate on the floor.

About 99% done with this two ply yarn. It is green British top, with purple, green, red and blue Tussah silk blended in.

Here you can see me plying the two ply yarn.

Yesterday was a little more interesting than I was hoping for. Had a wicked Gale force wind all day yesterday, heavy rain and hail off and on.... then the power went out for 8 hours. Turned out to be two trees on two different country roads that took out the power poles.....again.

Needless to say, this power on and then off thing is getting tiring. Wish we had the money for a bolt down, full house generator. Until then... I have my freezer packed with ice, just in case the power goes out again. sigh ~~~
Today the wind is not as bad, Thank goodness,,,mix of a bit of sun, rain and about an hour of hail.
We are hanging in there with DH lay off,,, guess it is one way to get a vacation, though not our prefered one.

Have some things for sale~

Hi everyone,
Have some things I need to sell. If you know of someone that might be interested send them the links or have them contact me!

Animal Artisty Earthenware Classic sized bay Pinto Shetland. Starting price on ebay is $150.00 and that is a major steal.

AAA Animal Artistry Bone China custom painted Exmoor pony... kind'a looks like a miniature horse to me. Also for sale at $125.00

Animal Artistry Resin... on sale at ebay $95.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=160319979234

AAA Animal Artistry Bone China, Classic sized, Custom Sec A welsh Pony $300.00 or Best offer over. This price is also a steal.
*

I have these totally new items for sale with Icelandic horses on them,so I finally put them up for sale on my Esty shop. They are priced to help cover the 4% ser charge PayPal charges me.

Would give a discount to family...

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5598628

And I need to sell my Special order Thorowgood Endurance saddle.I am offering this very little used saddle for sale, which is in excellent condition. It is a 17 1/2 inch seat and has an extra widetree. When I bought this saddle last year, it could not be purchased in the US, so I had to buy from Europe. It has a high-comfort seat cushion and flaps shaped for a relaxed leg position. So, together with the Fish™ adjustable-width system to ensure the perfect fit. Great saddle for Haflingers, Fjords, Icelandics, Warmbloods, Drafts or anybreed that has a broad back, this saddle was designed for those kinds of horses. Stored on a saddle stand and this is a smoke free home.Paid $750.00 for it new. Have lowered the price to $550.00 ...buyer pays for shipping.
Did a not very good video of the saddle....

http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i51/Bergere/?action=view&current=DSCN5053.flv

This beautiful Aviary would be great for Canaries, finches, budgies and so on. Really helps keep the dust and mess contained. A very nice Arcylic very large Aviary with oak trim bird cage for sale, size is ..38" long, 23" wide and 30" tall. Paid $595.00 for it. Asking $395.00 Birds not included. Prefer local pickup because it is so large

The Garden or mud pit you decide

You can see we "really" have raised beds this year. DH was working on getting some pots in the ground so we can plant the carrots in them and hopefully keep the gophers at bay.

Pea trellis is up but I need to find more Hog panels, as I need to plant a lot more Peas this year. If you look closely, far back of the photo, you can see the Mars onion starts are in the ground.

Here are some of the long storing, Copra, onions.

Hopefully today DH & DS can get the tops of the rest of the raised beds flatten out. I will be planting more Pea seeds, plus some carrot, spinach and lettuce.
The soil is improving but we still have a long way to go.

The Suit, the snow Cat and a Cats help~

Oh Believe me,, the Cats were no where near DH with the Suit on. Take a good look because this is an extremely rare sighting,, my DH in a Suit!

Nari hunting in the snow. With the type of fur she has, she is well suited to the snow.

Mia helping DS getting things ready for a burn day, as we burn all paper products.

Above you can see her telling DS where to put the bits of paper.

Here Mia is telling him to put the papers closer to her, so she can play. Was really funny for awhile, as soon as DS would throw a balled up paper in the pile, Mia would jump in and take said balled piece of paper else where to be played with.

Needless to say DS had some exercise retrieving said paper play toys. LOL

Snow

Had a couple of inches of wet sticky snow a few days ago. Rather pretty, as you can see it sticking to the branches of the trees.

The old fruit trees up front. Sadly the Very old flowering cherry tree suffered some damage. Have clean up as much as I dare this year but want to wait till next year to continue, as not to stress the old tree any more than I have too.

Horse shed with the horses eating breakfast. Can see how the trees kind'a sparkle.

Looking out to the hay field and our woodlands beyond.