Zoo-Bee-Do and Naia Too

Look who joined us for zoo day! Naia is 16 now and has the drivers license to prove it. (Scary thought, right??)

  Jacklyn's first photobombing.

The line for zoo parking was blocks long and not moving when we arrived in Santa Barbara this morning. We figured that meant it was already over-crowded and we almost turned around and left.

 

So glad we didn't! Not sure what the gate snafu was about, but the crowds were minimal inside the park and the weather was spectacular. 

 

We checked out all our favorite things -

 

 

Giraffe feeding. Check.

 

Gorilla viewing? Check - and he was viewing them right back, having walked over and seated himself right in front of the viewing window just after the girls got there. Needless to say, they were thrilled. (Leanne kept saying she saw gorilla butt! Lol)

 

Goat and sheep feeding? 

 

Yep, we did that.

 

We watched baby flamingoes 

 

do their daily walk-about;

 

compared wingspans with a California condor;

 

checked out the sleepy fox;

 

and generally had a super good time.

 

But the number one, hands down, favorite thing for this crew to do?

 

Nothing else is even close.

 

 

 These girls *love* the hill slide.

 

 

 If there was nothing else here, they'd still want to go to the zoo.

 

 And that, folks,

 

is the end of our tail. 

 

Weaving Continues

Leanne and I picked up weaving where we left off on Tuesday and started threading the "holes" in the reed. 

 

Leanne is a fast learner and was soon inserting the heddle tool (her original job)

 

and placing the thread so it could be pulled through to the correct place (my original task.) We only made one mistake in the threading and it was, ahem, my fault. Oopsie.

 

Leanne also learned the proper way to load a stick shuttle. 

 

It took a couple of tries to remember the figure-8 path 

 

 but she was a pro by the time we were done. 

I tied the warp to the front beam while Leanne took a break for reading, gummies

 

and a bike ride to the park 

 

 

with Hoppy and Pop. 

 

Just before bedtime we started the fun part. I showed Leanne the process twice, then let her take over.

 

 I know I sound like a ridiculously biased Grandma, but she caught on super quick.

 From inserting the shuttle,

 

to placing the weft thread at an angle,

 

then firmly beating

 

before moving the reed up or down. She can do it all.

 

I'm so d*mn proud, I could spit.

Such a Big Girl

Jac's 9-month check-up was today -
 
17 pounds (30th percentile for her age) and 29" long (90th percentile).
 
She's going to be long and skinny, 
 
just like her big sissy and her cousins. 
 
Way to go, JacJac!

Spring Break

It's spring break for the local grand-girls. Leanne and JacJac are with us all week (except Wednesday) and I have daily projects planned to keep Leanne entertained and happy. (And also to uphold my reputation as the "fun" grandma.😛)

 

So on Monday we tried a new recipe for cinnamon roll cake, with added chocolate chips,

 

that Leanne announced was the "bestest." She did all the measuring and mixing and licking of spoons - this girl is enthusiastic about baking. We also practiced her "sight" words - which she loves to do, especially after I offered to pay $1 for each practice session - and she read three first grade-level books to me. 

 

Today we visited the Easter Bunny - Jac wasn't sure she liked having her picture taken and flat refused to smile;

 

took a stroll around the mall 

 

for pretzels and croissants;

 

visited Mom so I could get more houseplants to kill;

 

then started warping the rigid heddle loom for Leanne's first set of dish towels.

 

Leanne picked the colors - and the color order - 

 

and was responsible for pulling the threads around the warping peg. 

 

We got the warp almost completely rolled on before it was time for Leanne to go home (and her attention span started to run out.) Thursday we'll thread the heddles and (hopefully) start weaving. Hooray!

 

Treasures From Yarn Fest

I picked up a few treasures during Yarn Fest - surprisingly, none of it was yarn. A friend had asked me to pick up a certain weaving shuttle for her - 

  aren't they lovely?

 and when I got to the KCL Woods  booth, I fell hard for Ken and Carol's yarn bowls.

 

This one is walnut and turquoise, on a maple turning stand, 

 

with two interchangeable spindles (one tall and one short, made of purpleheart).

 

So gorgeous.

 

I loved it so much, I went back the next day and bought another.

 

This one is mesquite. 

 

Just stunning. Good thing the market was closed on Sunday or I might have a third bowl to show you … 

And if that wasn't enough, look what I found Monday while antiquing in Fort Collins.

 

This thread cabinet is probably from the late 1920's. According to the Google, Belding Brothers & Company merged with Heminway Silk Company in 1925, doing business as Belding-Heminway   Soon after, the company was acquired by Corticelli Silk Company and the name changed to Belding-Heminway-Corticelli. The last mill in Belding closed in 1932.

 

The box is in amazing shape, with intact dovetailed edges,

 

and drawers full of colorful thread on a variety of wooden spools. 

 

Best of all, it was amazingly underpriced. So happy I found this! And there was no way I was trusting this to either the airline or a shipping company. It - and the yarn bowls - came home in my carry-on bag, lovingly wrapped in about a mile of bubble wrap. Love my new treasures.