Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Early in the day sillyness

So while I continue to try to get my web hosting situation straightened out I am sitting in a cool dark kitchen with my daughter at my side. The Diva has brought me a pair of pipe cleaner sunglasses to wear in the brightness (good thing they don't have lenses) and I sip my coffee while she noms her oatmeal and we talk about what projects I have planned, client meetings ahead (Meeting with a new Mom this week for a Doula job) and telephone calls from India.

In the mean time I am following up on a few projects, some blog posts that I'm looking to do on multiple sites and working at finding something engaging for the kids homeschooling wise this week. It's a short week and it means that the kids of course don't want to do as much but as we homeschool year around, it's business as usual in the WoolWytch household. The Diva is already pretty good with analogies, but it may be time to really sit Calvin down and work on them. I have to chuckle over all the back to school sales advertised on TV because we don't really stop schooling over summer so for us it doesn't apply, so our TV has been turned off and when not on the computer for homeschooling, creative active play has been encouraged.

We are also employing e-readers now in our homeschooling. I use my Nook Color frequently and when we go to the Co-op meeting on the 18th I'll bring mine with the flash cards on it. I love that we can access time4learning on this as well as use all the various apps that are available on it. A proper Nook Color review from a homeschoolers perspective is coming soon - as I have to say this has been a pretty useful tool. Best thing is you can take it out to the park and in between play times when the kids climb off the monkey bars you can sit for story time.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Held Hostage

Arrrrgggghhhh - so my website is going to take longer to transfer than I thought. I'm dealing with host issues, the company not returning calls, automated processes not functioning, and to be honest I'm quite fed up with it all.

I am working on moving into a new domain and host, and will do so in the next few days for a few of the sites I own, including my Doula website.

In the mean time - I'll leave you with this. Casey Anthony was just acquitted... the prosecution failed to make their case for murder... for lying to the police she was found guilty, but not for murder.

I think I'll go hug my children, what about you?

Friday, July 1, 2011

Which Way Did She Go?

So it's been a little busy here over at Casa WoolWytch... I've traversed across the country, traveling to Georgia for a client meetings, fixed a washing machine on my own and of course recital season.

Fortunately, recitals are over – both kids did awesome by the way, and they are taking the summer off from those activities, however learning never stops. Homeschooling continues and as Grandma Oulin is now in the Pacific Northwest we've been learning about tall trees, whales, social studies games learning to write and geography. Traveling for client meetings has afforded us a great opportunity to have the kids learn about weather patterns, history of the east coast and colonization of the Americas and the future of industry in the region.

As you can see we're not seated at the normal site – I've had problems with my webhost, and am moving the WoolWytch as soon as I can reclaim all my files, so keep your eyes open, if I'm lucky I'll have everything back looking like nothing ever happened soon.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Moving...

After a lot of careful thought I decided to move my blog to my own domain.

You will be able to find posts from here over at http://woolwytch.com and I would love to see your visits there. I know that this site is being read, just not commented on that often.

Please, book mark my site and visit often - and Thank you!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Back to spinning, back to dying

Well this last month has been interrupted by first a trip to Las Vegas to visit my brother and mother, and then coming home to my family getting some sort of gastro-intestinal flu. I've become way too familiar with my washing machine, but in that time that my Whirlpool front loader and I have had together, I've made a discovery you would think that I would have already known.

My washer has a spin only cycle.

Yep. I will now be able to process more wool at home (oh I can hear my husband groaning over that now...) and I can spin out the fiber that I've dyed.

The drying time has been an issue here as we just don't have space, but it now appears that we will be able to get more dying done, and I won't have to worry about my nosy neighbor calling the city to say my house is covered in an odd stringy substance.

It is April, and there are Daffodils showing signs of being ready to bloom all over the place and the weather is just getting so beautiful out... I am fielding more interview calls for QA Manager positions, and I've taken on some new clients for web-design. At the end of the month is the CT Sheep and Wool Festival that I will be going to with Sunny. In between all this I'm working on getting my Etsy shop re-stocked, and consider getting a production wheel.

That would make 4 wheels for those who are counting...

I'm actually considering selling my Colonial Wheel. I don't have space to set it up and it really deserves the room to be on display. I guess I'll have to give that some thought. I know that I really want the jumbo flyer for my HitchHiker Roadbug from the Merlin Tree and hope to pick one up at the CT Sheep and Wool fest.

In the mean time, since I've discovered this new setting on my machine, I will be stocking the Etsy shop with hand dyed, locally processed sliver! I'll announce when I've done my latest updates there.

It's really nice, with my daughter getting ready to start homeschooling in earnest, it's been a relief that we have the Etsy shop to supplement income. Homeschooling can be done very inexpensively, but we're making sure we can provide our kids with the tools they need to succeed in the world - as it takes money to make money, I am hoping we can cover some of her foundations costs this year with the profits from TGTreasures.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

New England Spring - Festivals begin!

So - we're home, it was a heck of an adventure and my kids are happy to be home, and I even got back to my Thursday evening spinning - something that just hasn't happened in a while due to my spinning partner in crime being in her first trimester of pregnancy (she's out now and finds out tomorrow if she has a baby boy or girl in there *grins*.)

If you are around Bristol CT on Thursday night and want to come spin with us - please do! We meet up at about 6:30 PM and are there until they close up. This week is iffy as to if we'll be there or not, but other weeks you can definitely find us there.

So that silk and merino/tencil I promised pics of?
My hands area bit rough but somewhere I read a trick about salt and olive oil exfoliation... it's also supposed to smooth hands for working with silk. The silk will be fun to work with though - I have several silk hankies that I've spun up and just loved working with.

I had hoped to post more when I was in Las Vegas, but my little Diva didn't get as much done on her homeschooling programs during the days like we'd have liked, so before bed at night this became a frequent visage in the window...



She's a bright little cookie and has figured out how to use my cell phone as well. She has started texting folks, not content to work on her homeschool website, - no she also wants to Text Daddy, Auntie Reesa, Grandma, and a few others. It makes things a little challenging as she's got my phone figured out better than I have.

So it's spring, shearing season is upon us, and more than likely I will be going back to the same farm in June to pick up more fleeces. Sunny and I are going to wash them out in her backyard this time though, so when we send them off for processing we're not paying an arm and a leg for processing gunk out that we could do ourselves. We also hope to do a bit more dying together than we did last summer. We'll be doing as much as we can outside in the shade as she'll be getting rather large by then...

I am really excited for both she and her husband - this is their first baby, and my Husband was best man at their wedding. As her husband's a police officer in the next town over, there are very few odds that we'll ever have pictures of him posted here, but for future reference, I'll just call him Kel here. Kel's a pretty good guy and I've known him for ages... I don't think he really grasps what we're doing yet with the spinning though. *grins* When his house is overtaken with yarn, as well as all the baby paraphernalia I'm sure I'll get partial blame.

I am looking forward to the CT Sheep and Wool festival as well. It is the 100'th anniversary of it, but I can't find a functioning website for it anymore. Which completely stinks. I know it is happening though - and on April 26, Sunny and I will be there. I'm hoping that Claire can make it too - it's a small enough venue that we may bring my little Diva and if Claire brings her daughter, I expect they will play well together, leaving the adults to be able to oggle spinning wheels and fiber as well as let Sunny get a chance to try out several types of spinning wheels to see if she likes one over another... until then she's using mine and really enjoying it - when she's not having tension problems. ;-)

And speaking of Tension - I'll have a whopper of a tension problem tomorrow if I don't get to sleep now. I'll be bringing a wheel with me to my daughter's dance class, so I should get some sleep now.

Until later!

Sunday, March 22, 2009


Fiber Shop



Really Sick of his car seat




Enjoying the cactus garden together











Springs Preserve





Terraforming at Lake Las Vegas



More Photos later... kids awake now.


Vegas, day 4 complete

Ok - today was just busy.

  • Breakfast at mom's
  • Finish laundry/fold and bag to go back to hotel
  • Springs Preserve with all 3 little ones.... wow can I have some of their energy?
  • Back to Mom's to check on step dad and grab anything we left earlier.
  • Off to Coldstone creamery - 3 quarts custom blended for us, Tessa had to have strawberry gummybear as one of them.
  • Lake Mead for a Sunset Dinner cooked by my uncle Paul who really is a bit of a gourmet. He makes Spaghetti and Meatballs something amazing... and OMG home made cinnamon buns, from a yeast dough. All this in a 5th wheel camper - wow.
  • Post dinner Kids went for walk with Uncle WegasWingnut and Grandma Oulin fretted when it was post dark and they weren't back yet.
  • Kids and Uncle return - Garret has soggy shoes - someone danced in Lake Mead while wearing Sneakers, and Tessa was hungry.
  • Tess and Liam fed again, and then we headed out...
  • 10 minutes on the road Garret starts crying that he's broken his mouth. Interpreted as teething, those nasty 2 year molars, we stop at the first CVS we see and pick up some children's advil. Once dosed he's a happy camper within 20 minutes and is singing his favorite song - the Boobie Song. His own composition.
  • Mom dropped off at her house, we come back to hotel. I panic - can not find hotel key, do not want to treck across casino with bag of folded laundry, tired preschooler and shoeless toddler just to get to front desk. Hotel laid out inconveniently unless you are a gambler.
  • Key found in crack of passenger seat - mom drove to Lake Mead, so I must have lost it out of my pocket. All is well again.
  • Upstairs again, kids skip bath tonight in favor of feet in sink while teeth get brushed, while I scrub assorted body parts of kids with washcloth while they sit on edge of sink and giggle.
  • Kids dressed in night clothes, put in bed and within 10 minutes of heads to pillows they are OUT.
  • Mommy (me) now laughing to self as it's before 11 on a Sat night in Las Vegas, and I'm looking forward to going to sleep more than anything else.
  • Unemployment filed for electronically and now I'm going to finish uploading pictures and then go to bed.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Vegas, Day 3 complete

I actually took pictures for day 3 day. I can't upload them right now for fear of waking the kids with the noise of trying to find the memory card adapter for my new cell phone camera's memory card, but they really do exist.

It's 6am local time in Las Vegas while I write this on day 4, but I fell asleep last night so I didn't get to write it.

Friday was a busy busy day for us. I started out the day with a shower while the kids were still asleep and while trying to blow dry my hair the blow dryer popped and caught on fire in my hand. Unplugging it and holding carefully, the flames went out quick, but that was an experience. After the kids were up and dressed I contacted the front desk to request more towels and a replacement for the blow-dryer... one that wouldn't catch on fire please...

Post Breakfast (and Tessa discovering why we we are careful when walking past cactus and not INTO Cactus - or else you end up with spikes poking holes in you) we checked out a local fiber shop where I was able to pick up silk caps for spinning, for a song... as well as Tessa picked out some Merino/Tencil blend. I didn't even spend 10.00 there and feel like I've really gotten a good deal. The Store owner was a lovely woman and has invited me in for her saturday spin/knit day today, but I think I'm going to have to skip it. We have a full day ahead of us. But that is skipping ahead my self here... I have to say that I've never felt that comfortable in a yarn/spinning/weaving shop and if I lived out here, I'd have to be pried out of there with a crowbar frequently.

Following the trip to Wolly Wonders, we went to the Ethel M chocolate factory. Tessa thought it was pretty cool to watch them make little candy bars, and loved the chocolate sample we got at the end of the tour. We picked up something for Daddy, who the kids miss terribly, and then went on to walk their Cactus Gardens. Tessa loved it, and Garret loved the ability to practically run about - it's been a long winter back home with very few days that were really good for playing at the park in comparison to the weather they are experiencing here.

At this time everyone was ready for a late lunch. We piled back into the SUV and headed north towards the region where our hotel was - Gas, Grub, and then Naps were in store for us. Tessa worked on a homeschooling reading site on my laptop, and Garret and I slept with the door bolted and unable to be opened from the outside, nor by little girl if the Starfall games got too boring for her and she decided that in the hour I was going to lay down with Garret that she wanted to do something else. She didn't and when Gaelon called us to make sure I got up on time to get to Mom's for dinner, she answered the phone like a big girl and brought it to me.

Dinner at Mom's with my brother and his family, and my Aunt and Uncle was wonderful. The kids had a blast together, and all three are close enough in age to really enjoy playing together. Liam was more verbally expressive when playing with my kids, so I think his quietness is just because his big sisters do so much for him. Seems to be a family trait - as my brother and my cousin Nick both were the same way as small kids.

Following dinner (and my brother's bunch leaving a little early due to an allergic reaction by his middle girl to construction dust and pollen - and we're talking severe reaction, the poor girl) I loaded the kids up into the SUV while my mom got ready to take her sweetie out to Lake Mead for the night in the rig.

Tessa had requested that we drive the strip at night time as she wanted to see all the lights. As it was a friday night - well I was a little concerned about traffic on Las Vegas Blvd, but it was early enough that we could start out on Fremont, and make our way south. I had expected Garret to sleep through this, but he was awake, and giddy over all the lights as well.

The Spinning Shoe, and Martini Glass made of lights up at Freemont Street really blew her mind, and made Garret babble in the back seat. They were chanting "Glitter Gulch" and having a blast over what they were watching go by. Tessa kept seeing all the chapels and gal's in Wedding Dresses and she wanted to know if the white dresses got dirty from all the pollen and dust... I told her that I bet they did. All the lights, and the fountains impressed them, but the big point that caught their attention was the fountains at the Bellagio - all in patterns with music in an amazing light/sound/water show that both wanted to come back for. I told them when it wasn't Mama alone and they were bigger that we'd discuss it and likely walk around on the strip instead of driving on it.

They were highly amused by the Luxor yet again, and Excalibur blew Tessa's mind as there was a big story book castle in the middle of this sea of lights... driving on the highway back to the hotel, we got to see the other side of the hotels and Tessa told me she was greatly impressed with all the flash and color. She thinks it's very pretty and is very much a grown up playground. I told her she was very smart and that's exactly what it is.

She still isn't really understanding what a casino is - other than that they don't let little kids in there, and people come in to lose their money so they go home with an empty wallet... I have told her I didn't get the allure either so we are sharing a case of "I don't get it's" and she is happy with that.

Completely exhausted she was in bed and asleep before Garret, and he and I followed shortly afterwards. I'm going to grab a bit more sleep my self for now before we go back to my mom's and finish laundry and begin our Day 4 adventure.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Vegas, Day 2 complete

We were supposed to get together with my Sister in Law today, but she didn't realize the plans were firm and when her sister came into town from Ohio unexpectedly, she spent the day with her. No harm, no foul. We had a nice restful morning and mid afternoon we went out to Walmart for more pull ups for Garret, and Ensure for my Stepdad and then over to my mom's favorite shop, where my beautiful diva had a nightmarish moment that made me take her outside and threaten her with us coming home to Connecticut on the first airplane that would take us home. She didn't like that threat at all and after we discussed it further she was apologetic for her behavior, and she actually contritely gave her "I'm sorry's" to my mom, and not because of what I had threatened her with, but because she was in the wrong. It made me very proud of my little girl, although I was mad at her for her poor behavior for a little while.

We went back up to my Brother's house for dinner, the kids all had fun with each other and I got time to talk with my brother and his wife. She's really a lovely woman, and I have to say a spectacular mama. Liam was a little cutie-pie, and the three littles were all over the place... at one point Garret snuggled up on the couch with Nicole - the middle girl, and was watching TV with her, and happily chirruping to her. They've stolen their cousin's hearts, and the admiration is mutual.

It's tough seeing how hard things are for my mom with my step dad. You take the normal Mother/Daughter dynamic and then factor in a man that you've never liked being an emotional and physical drain on your mother. Next add in the fact that once upon a time he used to make her so very happy, and now he's an invalid and mentally/emotionally not the man he used to be and see the toll on her health and center and it's heart breaking. I want to scream at his children "Where the *F* are you, as he's *YOUR* Dad."

Mine is gone, both my brother and I greatly grieve that he doesn't get to his lovely three little grandchildren playing together and getting along as wonderfully as they are. I'd give anything to have him in our lives, and they are squandering what life their own father has left.

It's not even that they are off-put by his physical state - they would have to see him to actually know what he looks like. No - they just aren't there. This means his grandchildren aren't either. So - Tessa, Liam and Garret are the surrogates for his affection as the Step Grand kids, and Tess is still in that really shy zone with him as he's just not able to be an interactive grand dad. I may not like the man, but I will not refuse him the joy of wee ones to call grandchildren, and Garret has laid claim to him in a way that is very sweet and special.

I am feeling better today compared to yesterday, and tomorrow will be a big walking day for me with the kids. We're going to the candy factory, and maybe over to the strip to see the water show, there's a family dinner with my Aunt and Uncle who will be driving in from parts south, as well as my brother's family and then I have promised Tessa that if she is still wide awake after dark we will drive down the strip so she can see it lighted up like she sees when we watch CSI. As it was her request, I will do my very best to honor it.

Garret is just as sweet as can be, and pure boy. It didn't take him long to get dirty in his cute little clothes today, and he even managed to get some soil (Literal dirt/earth from the flower garden) on my mom as well. The doting on eachother - Mom/My kids/Liam is just wonderful and I hope Tessa retains the memories of this trip.

Well - I'm tired, I should get a drink of water and go to bed. I'm not drinking enough and need to make sure I stay hydrated as the desert just pulls the moisture out of me like a sponge, my lips are feeling chapped and that happens when I get sick or dehydrated, and I'm certainly not sick.

May all who read this have a good night. Rest well, as I know outside of missing my Husband (who is back in CT,) I will be sleeping pretty hard my self tonight.

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