Whirlwind Summer

Wow! I made it through my first term back in college in over 20 years. I'm proud to tell you that I remember how to study to make good grades. The next three terms will be more difficult I'm told. Anatomy and Physiology require a lot of memory in order to learn the language, body parts, and body systems. For now I have four more weeks to catch up on house and farm work, and try to get some fun in.

The weekend after finals we attended Rocky's 30th class reunion. It was a casual event which was nice; and he enjoyed catching up with classmates.

Last week I was lucky enough to spend in a Judith MacKenzie workshop. Judith confided in us that she aspires to be the Julia Childs of spinning. We all assured her that in our minds she already is.

The workshop focused on color. We spent some time on carding, spinning, and plying techniques; and the rest of the time on dying techniques. (I do have photos to post, but I'm at work right now and the camera is at home.) We learned about some natural dyes that aren't too toxic to use: indigo, madder, cochineal, and lichens. A lot of natural dyes are toxic because of the mordants you have to use in order to get a permanent dye job. It was all very interesting. Judith is one of those people that you could never spend too much time with. She is very pleasant and is a wealth of knowledge.

Now I have to step back into my reality. Work yesterday and today. Tomorrow I get to go to the spinning guild, which I haven't done since June. This weekend is for canning beans. And Duck football starts soon after.