Deja Vous

Yesterday Jer and I went geocaching in downtown Chicago. Most of it was pretty normal geocaching. We started with brunch at Frontera Grill. I managed to actually get a reservation there much to my shock and ended up getting there late due to the flakiness of the weather and inability to hail a cab. I had a lovely brunch of Indigenous Hotcakes with chile glazed bacon and eggs over easy while Jer was unable to find anything he liked so settled for Tacos al Carbon. After that geocaching started in earnest. Mostly virtual caches. Near one of the micros we found there was a new statue.

A striking image of Shakesphere’s King Lear.

We finished the virtuals on Michigan Ave and then struck out for Navy Pier. It took us longer than it should thanks to everyone and their brother was taking the free trolley. There were two caches to find out there though. The one I liked the best was honoring Milton Olive III who unselfishly gave his life for his companions during Viet Nam. A very peaceful park near the hustle and bustle of Navy Pier is named for him. Well worth the trip.

By this time we were pretty tired so after looking at the line for the trolley we looked at each other and grabbed a cab to Millennium Park to find the virtual there.

Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) is a very fascinating statue and it attracts all types, including zombies it appears. There were more people (and zombies) crowded around it than there were people around Buckingham Fountain over in Grant Park.

We could see evidence of the upcoming Taste of Chicago. Roads were already blocked off, tents being erected. But there was still echos of past events present.

Like a ghost the tenor of the day was starting to change as our last cache was at The Sears Tower.

During 2000 and 2001 I worked a total of ten months in the tower, on the 6th floor. I had never actually been higher then about the 33rd floor. Now almost eight years later I was returning to the tower. The walk was filled with memories. Places I ate, The Board Of Trade, DePaul University, new shops, echos of a world pre-911.

There were no metal detectors when I worked, there. But there are now. And the new management company is handling the property better than the one when I was there. Gone are the days when you could cut through the tower in inclement weather to get to Union Station. But the journey at hand was now to the top. Through metal detectors, long lines, and an elevator ride that mirrored those I had when I actually worked there. We emerged on the Skydeck, perhaps with stuffed up ears. The information needed was gathered, the gift shop avoided as best as we could and we descended to head home on the train.

Ghosts of the time still echo through my brain, even today. I never want to have to live through the 14 hour days, the tension of a company sinking fast, and the events that unfolded not two weeks after my last time walking out of the tower ever again.

California Varigated Mutant-A Rare Gem Among Rare Breeds

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Originally uploaded by morgsarah

California Variegated Mutant, also called CVM, is a naturally colored variation of Romedale. The Romeldale started in 1915 as a cross between Ramboullet ewes and Romney rams imported from New Zealand. The breed was developed to produce fine, high yielding wool with a better carcass quality than other whiteface breeds found in the western US.

During the 1960’s multi-colored lambs started showing up in a flock of Romeldale. During the next 15 years the breed was developed as a closed flock. In 1982 the flock was disbursed and purchased by several breeders in California. Unfortunately, not all wool listed as CVM is actually CVM. Some farms have crossed other breeds with their Romeldale/CVMs and the badger pattern is a common pattern found in many sheep breeds including Shetland, Icelandic and Karakul.

CVM is found in many shades of moorit to brown to grey and but they must have the classic barred faced badger pattern . Any other pattern or spotting without the badger pattern is considered a naturally colored Romeldale. The wool is fine with a micron count from 24-22, comparable to coarse merino or very very fine corriedale. This wool will find many uses, everything from soft socks to scarves and even baby wear if the fleece is fine enough.

I must be smoking something really interesting yesterday as I decided to join the Tour de Fleece on July 5th.  I am getting my new puppy on July 4th.  Someone talk some sense into me!

Cotswold-A Beauty Of Its Own

As I mentioned in the previous installment, Cotswold is sometimes called poor mans mohair.

Here are some dyed locks of Cotswold. You can choose to dye them yourself, or buy them from a number of on-line sources. These I dyed myself with Easter egg dyes.

I chose three preparations for these locks. Flicked tips only, carded and combed.

Here are the undyed locks with the tips flicked open.

Here is the yarn from the flicked locks. They retained more vegetable matter than I was happy with. But if the locks were cleaner to begin with this is a perfectly lovely way to prepare Cotswold. In fact those dyed locks would look great spun up this way.

Here is the carded Cotswold. I used medium handcards to prepare these.

And here is the yarn spun from it. It’s about the same grist as the yarn spun from the locks, but is more consistent.

And combed Cotswold. For these I used my two row Viking style combs. By far this was the cleanest preparation of the three. Though the carded fiber didn’t have near as much as just the flicked locks.

This stuff spun like butter. I was able to easily spin it finer and more even.

As far as what I would use Cotswold for. Blankets, outerwear and other items not for next to skin wear. Individual fleeces can vary but I would not plan a knitted scarf made of Cotswold if I didn’t have a washed sample of the fiber in hand. Ladies, one “convenient” place to check and see if a wool is good for next to the skin wear is to stick it in your bra and see how it feels after being there a while. A spun and knitted sample is best. Men, you are on your own. I’m not sure I feel qualified to recommend a place for men to check out fibers.

Cotswold is one of those fibers that with planning, preparation and a little whimsy can exceed expectations.  Take it for a spin and see what shows up on your bobbin.

In a moment of weakness I signed up for SOAR 2008.  In reality I will not have near enough vacation time this year to go so I had to cancel my reservation.  I’m sure I made someone on the wait list very happy.  But this way I’ll be able to do more things with Jer and the dogs. 

Mason Or Bust

I’m back and boy was that a trip. I’m just a little slow getting this up….

May 29th, Jer and I packed up three of the dogs and headed east to Mason, MI for the 2008 Canine Performance Events (CPE) Nationals. Danny had earned enough legs to qualify, Roo did not. But he and Adam came along for the ride. Luke and Daisy went to the “spa” for the extended weekend. Adam really wanted to just stay home, not go to the “spa” and certainly not go to the Nationals with the rest of us.

We had gone once before in 2005 aka the year from h*ll. I was an emotional mess and facing surgery for possible cancer, our van was rear ended on the way to the trial and I had a follow up mammogram scheduled for the next week…believe me it was not conducive to concentrating on agiliity! This year I promised myself to make it up to Danny….sigh…

It was a fine example of good dog, bad handler. Friday was really bad, we qualified in Wildcard, but we were not even on the same planet for standard and fullhouse. Saturday I wasn’t much better but we did manage to qualify in standard. Finally on Sunday for colors and snooker I got my act together only to screw up again in standard.

Jer played photographer and got some good shots of Danny doing what he loves.

I have always said that he did rally and obedience for me, but does agility for himself.

Roo enjoyed time walking with me. Meeting other dogs and most of all puppies! He gets so excited when he sees puppies. For Adam we just worried about bodily functions and some basics. Does he feel safe enough to go potty, to eat in his crate? To walk into the buildings? I didn’t push Adam, but I also didn’t let him drag me back to the crating area when he got scared until I was ready to. He wasn’t over his limit though.

I did manage to spin a little when not working the trial or running my dog or shopping. I did some damage at the vendors there. My credit card is still sobbing. But I got some very interesting rally and agility equipment that I can use to train in my basement and that travels really well. The company is called Pac ‘N Go. The stuff will need staking when used outside. Seriously, you could carry the dog, the equipment and yourself in a Mini Cooper!

On Monday we headed to Howell to The Spinning Loft for some additional retail therapy of the fiber variety. Beth got to try my Lendrum and I got to try the new Louet Julia….oh my gosh…. No raw fleece followed me home, but I did lead Beth off the edge and forced her to buy two corriedale fleeces. AND she had fresh Abby Batts that were not online yet. I nabbed sock batts and some lovely yellow batts….mmmmmmm……

See what I mean?

Yeah, life is good. I had the privilege of stepping up to the start line with my 9 year agility partner at another National. Laughed with old friends, made new ones and finally met a cyberfriend of many years!