Eventful Week

Done a lot this week...

The garden is just about done for the season. I'm waiting for the last of the black-eyed peas and lima beans to dry on the plants so I can pick them, finish drying them out and then put them away to be used in soups, etc. for months to come. Other than that, only the eggplant, tomatoes and pepper plants are still producing. I've been working on clearing everything else out and planting the herb beds and clearing the new flower beds around the addition on the East side of the house. Dad pulled out the dead corn stalks today...

Meanwhile, I went horseback riding with Maria today in Plant City... She has a very old (23 years old) Thoroughbred named Sky... She's a sweetie, but can be quite moody... She spooked while I was on her, and Lord only knows how I didn't fall off... I guess because I didn't panic for some reason... When I got off (very carefully!) after only about half an hour or so, I had to swing my right leg over Sky's head because, for the life of me, I couldn't get my leg to move the other way, over her back... just would work, got a cramp in my hamstring when I tried... Then, when I swung down, I crumpled all the way to the ground because my legs just wouldn't hold me up... They were about as effective as cooked spaghetti. But I didn't get hurt, just laughed, and Maria laughed too because it was just so sad, I guess. LOL! I'm just so out of shape for horseback riding. I also got to learn some about preparing a horse for riding, brushing them, and putting the saddle on, all that... and washing them down afterward, and also about shoveling dung... It was fun (even learning how to use a pitch fork was fun). But hot!! About 94 degrees today. Thank G-d for cross-breeze and dog-trots!! We'll have to do it again soon...

Yesterday morning, Mark, the yard guy, came to mow our lawn... He also mows the next-door neighbors' yard, the yard of the neighbor across the street, and two others further down the road... He does them all at the same time, single-handed and very early in the morning. He's usually all done by 9:30am. Anyway... I was actually awake (miracle of miracles), and as I sat down with my breakfast at the computer to check my e-mail, I looked out the window and what did I see but a family of raccoons racing up one of the 40-foot wild cherry trees. Apparently, Mark had disturbed their rest and the mother thought it prudent to move her four babies out of their hiding place and up a tree until he left. I told Dad (and Mom... she screamed and threatened to poison them... raccoons scare her...), grabbed my camera and telephoto lens and raced out the door. I think I got some good pictures. They'll be posted as soon as I get them back from Walgreens.

Other than that, I've been spinning like a mad woman. Considering that I only have one bobbin until the other 5 arrive next week, I'm a bit impressed by the amount I've been able to spin this week. I've cleared about 22 ounces of wool, 2 ounces at a time. I still have 4.6 lbs left to spin, and then it's on to plying and dying...

I've been putting off adding the fringes to the shawl I finished knitting. I figured we're going to be out of town in two weeks and I should work on the stuff I can't take with me, like the spinning, while I'm still at home. So until the spinning is done, I'm going to be focusing on that as much as possible.