First, here’s Super Fluff

What can I say more? Logan’s hair is awesome; especially right after a tubby! And look at those hands. Their huge!! This kid is a monster. He has no fear. Oh, and I must mention, razor sharp claws.

And now for my crowning achievement of the last few weeks. Meet Rupert (or Ruby if it ends up being a girl when I get it dressed).

He’s a “rug bear.” I hooked his body pieces with ramboulet (some kind of sheep) and angora yarn I spun on one of my drop spindles on a linen foundation. He’s fully jointed with glass eyes, regular DMC floss nose and stuffed with poly fill. His paws are made of merino wool felt I made all by myself.

Anyway, I’m super-duper excited about him. I’m working on a little friend, so stay tuned…

Easter Greetings! (a little late)

I was working in my spindle factory tonight (my garage/ woodshop) sanding away at drop spindle whorls, and the smell of black walnut sawdust brought back memories.

Urban Forest Woodworks. Now, that was the COOLEST job ever. My first year of college I perservered through being salad bar girl at Sizzler and a telemarketer for long distance telephone service and landed a job in a woodshop. And not just any woodshop, mind you, it was Urban Forest Woodworks. The mastermind of this opperation was George Hessenthaler. He had piles and piles of old trees out front– trees that would normally be taken to the dump. There were old elm trees, maples, whole discarded fruit orchards. He’d cut these trees into lumber and we’d make them into pretty boxes.

For hours on end we’d stand at the “puffers” (little orbital sanders clamped to a table) decked out with ear muffs and dust masks sanding away until our box tops gleamed. (There did come a point at which George’s wife Helen put her foot down and reduced the amount of puffing. It just wasn’t economical and sand the boxes at 150, 200, 220, and 320.) Heather and Melissa and I (we were girls with power tools) would sit at the putty table and talk about getting putty in your reveals (getting kissed) and laugh hysterically upstairs as we oiled boxes and finished the interiors. (I realize now that most of the hysteria probably wasn’t really funny, but who cares when you’re breathing in all the fumes?) I could tell the difference between plum and cherry, norway maple and silver maple, english walnut and black walnut. We had so much fun. There was such a bond between us college kids working there. We were a team and loved what we did. We’d have dinners and George would pull out his Dictionary and make us play some silly game he made up, then he’d cut the bread on the band saw.

I was reminiscing tonight while I puffed my drop spindle parts.

Urban Forest Woodworks has gone through some rough times since then. But I think it’s still afloat. Last I heard George was living in the shop. He’s a man with a dream.

Thanks, Captain Knuckles, for the memories. Those are surely some of the treasures of my life.

TODAY!! It’s going to be in the 60’s today in Ohio.

Can it be spring?!

WOOHOOO!!

and these are some of the cutest ever– my niece and nephew Cameron and Kendall.

I can hardly stand it that I’m so far away.

Brenna: Sister Ahlquist, I have a really important question I’ve been wanting to ask you for a long time.

Thoughtful Primary teacher: Oh, you do? What is this question?

Brenna: Why do men have hair in their noses?

Sister Ahlquist falls off her chair laughing.

but really, not much else unless it’s Cyberchase or Zoom after the house is picked up in the evening. So, what has inspired my daughter to give Jonah a makeover?

Brenna: Okay Jonah. We’re done playing gymnastics. It’s time for your makeover. We need to get you looking good.

Jonah: (dutifully follows)

Brenna: I’m the makeup artist. First I’ll do your hair. Let’s slick it down…

This is all going on at the moment I’m writing this.

I remember dressing my little brother Ben up in my clothes. There was one time we went all out with fake boobs and everything. My Dad’s only comment was, “You look a little lopsided there.”

Now Ben’s a bartender who cross dresses on Saturdays for extra tips.

Hmmmmm…..

It’s been awhile since I posted anything. I’ve been making things and working on my living room (which will be finished by Wednesday!!!) and living life as usual, just not writing anything about it here. It’s an easy habbit to get out of.

Jonah had an ear infection last week. On Monday he was crying in pain that his ear hurt, but I couldn’t get him into the doctor until Tuesday. Tuesday morning he said everything felt better, but the outside of his ear was full of gross crusty gunk. The doctor looked in his ear and could barely stick her ear-looker-atter in it–it was so full of wax. She scraped and prodded and pulled out 3 chunks nearly the size of dimes…but there was more!!! The nurse came in to do an “Ear Irrigation,” which means that they squirt water into your ear with a syringe to flush the wax out and soak your clothes while you scream bloody murder. 2 hours later we headed up to the pharmacy with a perscription for antibiotics because they could finally see Jonah’s bulging pussy ear drum. He was a trooper. He sat still through it all and when the doctor was leaving our room at the very end he said, “She was a really smart doctor. She’s really smart. Really, really, really, really, smart.” You see, she gave him a stamp on his hand and that made up for the “Ear Irrigation” she had subjected him to.

Now (completely unrelated) Barry is totally done with school. We are now preparing for visitors. Barry’s family is coming on Friday. We are bracing for what promises to be an exhausting week, but definitely memorable. Many happy memories will be made.

Now (on another note) for some pictures. I would have liked to do this days ago, or even weeks, but the photo software is all on Barry’s computer–yeah, yeah, I’ve already told you that. Anyway, I knit a few toys and sewed a baby gift, so take a look:

Brenna wrote in the card “The bears name is Snowflake.” She’s made of polar fleece and totally baby friendly. Her head can’t pop off.

Here’s a side view:

Now for some more pictures of my first knitted toy. Brenna calls her Woolly, which isn’t the most creative name, but she’s made from handspun angora and stuffed with angora fluff, so it is fitting.

And here’s a little bear Jonah named Gordon. He’s made from 2 oz. of Blue Face Leceister wool–the kind that was included in my last batch of drop spindle kits. I had exactly the right amount of yarn with nothing to spare. I was holding my breath while knitting the last few rows!

I’ve been meaning to make an entry about my new furniture. I mean, we’ve had chairs in the living room for a week and a half, and I made some pillows and bought a lamp. The thing is, the camera software is on Barry’s computer blah-dee-blah. But Jessica has been decorating, so I need proof that I have been too.

So, I scanned in a pillow. yep, that’s a covered button with embroidery on it. I’m particularly fond of it.

Stay tuned for more…