Happy Birthday Piddles

Piddles is one year old today. Here's a picture of her right about when we got her. I tried to snap a photo with her birthday hat on today, but I can't seem to get her to sit still long enough for a picture. I'll keep trying.

Piddles is such a silly puppy. We play with her using the laser pointer (her name is Dottie) quite a bit. She still hasn't figured out it's not alive. We wondered what would happen when she saw her first lightening bug. Sure enough, she ran all over the back yard chasing them and eating them until she puked. I also like to put a few ice cubes in her outside water dish. She likes to stick her nose in the bowl and blow bubbles as she bobs for the cubes.

I've been working on the Baby Surprise Jacket out of my hand spun. Fortunately, I rented the DVD with Meg Swansen from the library. Right now, it just looks like a lump to me.

I've also been spinning up some roving I bought at the community organic farmer's market in Victoria. I forget the breed of the sheep. It's a natural brownish gray. I plied it with black crochet cotton. It's kind of boring looking, but I think it will make a nice pair of fingerless gloves. Spinning and knitting with black (or almost black) is monotonous, but everyone loves to wear those colors. I think it will be someone's Christmas gift.

The walnut tree in our back yard has been the bane of Sam's existence for years. Recently, I found a recipe for Nocino, so we made some today. I'll have to have a nocino party around Christmas to try it out. I'm also thinking of making pickled green walnuts. Later on, I can use the ripened hulls to dye wool. It makes a lovely brown.

The weather was clear enough over the past couple of days that I could process a small amount of wool. It seems to be raining about every other day here, so it's slow going. I'm not worried about it all that much, as it stays quite hot here until October.

Here's some more photos of Buchart Gardens.