It was a long day of riding 702 miles to make it to our first destination to the Grand Mesa in Colorado. Weve made this trip before but I always enjoy riding the Colorado mountains the best. We pulled off the road to take in the Blue Mesa lake that really takes your breath away. I even managed to take a picture or two from the bike ... always multi-tasking.
Too many hours behind the wheel has given me extreme low back pain for several weeks. I desperately needed some relief for my upcoming trip to Sturgis so I've been seeing Dr. Gao for acupunture therapy everyday this week and it's been amazing. From the moment he inserted the needles, my back pain has disappeared. I'm ready to RIDE!
Grabbed my neighbor, Shawndra, for a cool, early morning summer ride. We fueled up with a big breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then headed over to Strong City to pick up the Scenic Byway to Cassoday. We passed by several other motorcyclists who must have had the same idea for a Sunday morning. It's safe to say my new motor is now "broke-in" with over 600 miles and will be ready for the journey to Sturgis.
I got on the road early this morning to drive to a fiber event in Kellyville, Oklahoma for the two classes I signed up to attend. The first, The Amazing Angora Rabbit, a hands-on workshop using a live bunny. We learned how to handle, groom, harvest 
and spin the wool from the rabbit. Sounds cruel but it's simply brushing out the loose fibers - which they do enjoy. We got to spin fibers from English, French, German and Satin rabbits. Of them all, I prefer the English. At the end of the class there was a drawing for the demo bunny but (unfortunately) my name wasn't picked. 
The next workshop was Spinning Novelty Yarns. There were only 2 of us in the class so we received special attention and learned several techniques for plying with thread. 
I'm relieved to have my bike back. The dealership replaced all with factory coated parts so hopefully there will be no more issues (or reason) for me to set foot there ever again. In fact, after all we've been through with them, the last thing the tech said to us was, "Sh*t Happens". I wanted to tell him, "No, Incompetence Happens," and then tell him off but I didn't. Just need to chalk it up to terrible customer service and again, hopefully, be done with them. Rode to dinner tonight and put 200 miles on my new motor. Life is good again.
Besides being nostalgically cute, the bamboo/wool yarn used for these socks is incredibly soft. It's another Twist-of-the month project I can cross off my "To Do" list. I've forgotten how much I like to crochet and this project has me wanting to make a granny square blanket now.
I haven't been back to Texas since my grandpa passed away so it was good to spend some time with my Grandma Fetty. We visited grandpa's gravesite in Mabank and my uncle Larry in the nursing home. We were excited about and ate at a new oyster bar on the lake and made the rounds to all the flea markets and small town antique shops. Church on Sunday with Aunts Tami and Ruth and then it was time to come home. Just another busy weekend.
Organization is good-especially in a craft room. As I fill my shelves with yarn and new fiber, I'm challenged to move things around and make the most of my space. A trip to Target sparked some new ideas for years of knitting magazines and a special place for my handmade garments. Of course, a spacious closet also helps.
This is a clever idea I ran across for those like me who love sun tea in the summertime. Gallon sun tea jars take up so much room in the fridge so what you can do is use a mason jar to make a sun tea concentrate. It takes up less room and you can stretch it out over several days adding it to cold water. Give it a try!
You know I LOVE my motorcycle so when we got the call from the dealership today that my engine and transmission is ruined, I was simply sad and heartbroken. Turns out the black powder coating they did was not removed from the inside of the parts and has worked it's way around causing mass destruction. On top of that, the service mgr advised it would cost us $8,000 for the repairs. That really sets the tone for a happy, holiday weekend when we can't resolve the issue with the owner until Monday. Really, if they don't agree they did the all work and caused the damage - it's still under warranty - it will be time to get an attorney. But in the meanwhile, road trips are delayed (Sturgis is around the corner!) and I'm left heartbroken without my ride.
I made this special gift for Sr Terry at Heartland Farm. It has very sentimental meaning because the yarn was spun by Sr Mary Ellen from an alpaca named Albie that passed away on the farm last year. I gave it to the sisters and wouldn't you know they sent me home with more alpaca yarn to make several more. At this rate, I'm never going to be able to make one for myself!