Ordinary Time

I had dinner with two very good friends last night which was lovely and just what I needed. One of them asked me how I was doing... as in really doing given our current political crisis which directly affects my family in a myriad of ways. My answer? So far this year I've read 12 books and finished one knitting project and started many other projects. The need to keep the chaos out of my head is huge. I can keep up with current events for only short periods of time and then I need to dive back into my books or projects or head out to the barn. It is a perpetual balancing act of keeping informed and keeping sane.  How about all of you my dear readers, how are you all faring?  What are you doing to walk the tightrope of informed and actively resisting versus keeping sane?

If you enjoy reading about history, I have a great book recommendation for you. I'm just a few pages away from finishing Follow the Flock: how sheep shaped human civilization by Sally Coulthard. It is an extremely engaging book. I would say it is an extremely engaging book even if you aren't vaguely sheep obsessed. I have read this book faster than I typically read non-fiction books because I'm finding it so interesting. Probably one of the biggest takeaways that students leave my Sheep and Fiber classes with, other than to be thankful for automated spinning and weaving machines, is a greater awareness of the importance of sheep and wool. At this point I'm time I know quite a bit about the role of sheep in civilization. But one of the things that kept me reading was the new information regarding the intersection between sheep and history.  If you are looking for an entertaining and informative read, I highly recommend this book. I don't think you have to particularl...

In a rare moment, I decided to go with the more SEO friendly title. I could also have called this post Becoming an Autodidactic. My third choice was Grown-ups Homeschooling Themselves and Not Realizing It. So many options.  But I should back up. This morning I was searching for a podcast to listen to while I cleaned the barn to take my mind off of the continued extremely cold weather. The podcast I had been listening to had volume issues, so turned out not to be a good fit for the barn. On a whim I searched, "psychology of crafting" to see if I could find something that would hold my interest in eleven degree weather. The first option was for The Modern Mrs. Darcy's podcast, What Should I Read Next? I do wonder at algorithms sometimes because at first glance this had nothing to do with my search, and then I noticed the first word of the episode title. It was crafting. A very tenuous connection to my way of thinking. The whole title was Crafting Your Personal Curriculum. ...

I realize that I seem to have a penchant for choosing things that are somewhat labor intensive. You have probably already figured this out. Why buy something at the store when you can spend a million hours making it yourself? Which is why my newest craft to learn is English paper piecing. Here was my first trial run to see if I enjoyed the process.  I chose the colors pretty much at random from the bags of scraps I have. This will probably become nothing because I'm not overly fond of it design-wise, but I love the possibilities. It also didn't as long as I thought it might.  For those unfamiliar with the process, you begin with little paper hexagons such as you see in the top of the photo. Fabric is them wrapped around them and basted in place. The hexagon pieces are then sewn together.  When the project is sewn together, the papers are then removed and can be used again. This whole process was made a lot simpler because of the cool template I had. W. and MC have a 3D pr...

It was cold today. Cold enough I broke out my snow pants and extra long wool scarf. But really, it didn't feel too much different appropriately bundled than the times we have been in the single digits this winter.  The animals are doing fine. As predicted, the sheep appeared to be completely unbothered. Our new hens, the ones who were chicks in June and and are now full grown, are buff brahmas. We chose them because they are supposed to be particularly cold hardy. I guess they are because while all the other chickens didn't mention so much as a beak out the door, the five new hens were out and about as if it were thirty degrees warmer.  We still have running water in the barn. It feels almost miraculous. Both I. and I have a brief moment every time we use the hydrant where we wonder if this is the time the hydrant freezes. Trust me that we don't take running water for granted. It was cold enough last night that L. opted not to stargaze with her telescope despite Jupiter, Sa...