Tuesday, October 07, 2008

the joys of country life ?

Fire ban season will start soon, so this time of year is a frantic race to get a bit more of the block cleared. Ten acres of gumtrees equals a hell of a lot of leaf litter and I'm still playing catch up on a block that hadn't been cleared for years when I moved in - complacent, lazy beggars - so I have periodic bouts of insane activity followed by complete collapse.

raking
carting
piling
burning
lots and lots of burning


and while I loves me a good bonfire, I'm feeling trashed and in need of a cuppa tea and a good lie down, so you're getting more unconnected random photos:

No news on the goat watch. Here's poor India doing a fine impersonation of a beached whale:

Who is taking whom for a walk ? Bear and David on the path we've worn up the hill to next door. The 'construction' in the middle distance is PND's goat house which is beside the boundary fence, and if you click on the photo, you can JUST see the corner of the roof of PND's house. This photo was taken, oh, maybe 50 feet from my house, just beyond the corner of the goat paddock, so you get some sense of the distance to the nearest neighbour


and with no attempt at a segue:
More dyeing ... this was previously pale green self striping Opal sock wool
and now
it's not
well yeah, it's still sock wool but not self striping anymore
I'm kinda over the whole self striping thing. Granted it's very very clever ...
but
it suits very plain socks best. I mean that's the whole point, isn't it ? That the yarn does all the work ?
Which is all fine and dandy if you don't suffer from SSS [ second sock syndrome ] but I do - and those second perfectly plain socks somehow just languish in the doldrums [ aka the wicker basket under the coffee table ]
Not that I'm after fiendishly difficult challenges
ooooooh no, not this relatively new little sock knitter... just something to keep up the interest.

Okay that's it, got nothin' else for ya
back to your regularly scheduled business

6 comments:

Donna Lee said...

We haven't been allowed to burn our debris for years. I miss the smells that used to accompany the fall in this area as people burned the leaves. My grandmother had an incinerator in her house for burning paper goods. I can't imagine any regulatory agency allowing that today!

catsmum said...

If I still lived in the city I wouldn't be allowed to either but in bushfire prone country it's clear or risk the consequences

Lynne said...

I may be showing my ignorance but won't the yarn still self pattern - just not with pale green stripes?

Don't wear yourself out without all that clearing - David needs you and so do we.

catsmum said...

Hi Lynne
I probably wasn't being specific enough
The original yarn was one of those ones that looks like fairisle when knitted up - definite stripes and repeating patterned sections. I've completely covered that over with a softer , less regular, hand painted look with far less contrast so ... no ... not self patterning anymore
cheers

Alwen said...

Oh, poor India! I feel for her.

At least self-striping yarn is usually a good base yarn for overdying. I've been doing that, too. I have a couple of skeins that will be all the better for a little swim in the dye vat.

Sarah said...

That poor India, she looks ready to burst!