Where, oh, where

has all the wicker gone?? I don't want anything fancy or unusual just real wicker! Not metal framed resin coated wicker~~woven with all the little imperfections and snags that wicker has. Is that asking to much??? Apparently so~~
A few weeks ago I sold the macaws so I found myself with an empty room! I can't have that so I decided it would be nice to move my sewing things in there and that way I could spread out a bit in my "knitting room". I'd like to keep it bright and cheery so I'll be motivated to actually do some sewing. A few plants, a white wicker rocker and I'd be a happy sew'er~~so far no luck. I found an awesome rocker today and I was thrilled because it made me think of old rockers with the woven area on the lower bottom(where you'd put your feet). Perfect style and the price was right I was ecstatic until I read the sign and it said resin!! I really didn't think it was so I had to feel it all over to make sure! If it weren't for the plastic looking rockers I think I would have grabbed it anyway. It was very comfy~~ I'm still thinking about it so maybe I'll cave but I'm so afraid if I do then I'll find a real wicker one!
We've had perfect weather the last week. KK and I are still getting the yard cleaned up~~where does all that debris come from?? We have bags again for the trash. The pond is all clean and running. Poor KK was cleaning it the other day and slipped right in~~~ewwwww!! Pond scum!!
I can't wait to start planting some flowers!
The wool I washed is all nice and dry so today I sat outside and started combing it. I'm not really sure how it's supposed to be done but I managed to do quit a bit. I'm using two dog slicker brushes. I don't want to invest too much at this point. I don't understand how it goes from being brushed to actual roving?? I'm thinking maybe that's what a drum carder is for?? Don't know.
Finished the Brioche stitch scarf~~that's interesting how the colors work out. You knit using three different colors and they change every row. The combinations are endless~~
I'll get a photo soon.
Well, break time is over so
Off to comb wool

Finally!!

You don't even want to know how many times I've tried to get on here only to have blogger tell me I don't exist! How annoying! I've had to change my password a few times and after that they tell my email doesn't exist~~huh?? ok,enough ranting~~I'm here and I have a couple photos for you!
Going to try to put them in some sort of order not that it really makes a difference..it'll just keep me from forgetting something.
Spring has finally sprung here in western NY. The days have been very sunny and they are slowly warming up. Today was one of the best so far~~in the 60's! I'm so ready for the heat! Remind me of that statement in August!
On the home front we have our new roof! A major worry taken care of! During the past couple of wind storms we were really concerned as we watched our roofing shingles flying around the neighborhood! We wound up with three small leaks and we were thankful they weren't any worse! We had damage to our siding a few years back thanks to another storm...so we had the house resided. Went from green to sandstone(lt.tan) and I couldn't make up my mind on what color shutters I wanted. I look across the street to see a tan house with burgundy shutters so of course I couldn't/wouldn't go with burgundy which was my first choice two years ago! So I thought ....... make up your mind before someone else beats me to it! Good ole Home Depot to the rescue ...right there in stock they have this dark blue...not exactly navy but a deep blue and they appealed to me right off! Ds came over the other day and got them on and I didn't even have to feed him!!
Next project is the front porch~~sanding and painting. We're going to rent a floor sander and get it done quick. I enjoy painting so I'm looking forward to that part...hopefully we can agree on the colors!
We've been getting the yard in shape(ok, I lied..KK is getting the yard in shape).It's coming along. We've had so many branches to clean up that we gave up burning them and toted them out to the trash.
Let's see if I can get some photos now

ahhh,there ya go....one completed Noni evening bag, cute,huh?? I love this goofy bag! The bigger flower is rust not the color that's showing up on here. Notice that oak wood it's sitting on??? That's a potty seat.....we'll save that for another day!

The yarn for this wrap I bought the first time I went to the Hemlock fiber fest three years ago! This picture does not do it justice at all. I will try to remember to take a photo outside one day. Funny you can't see the hundred pins sticking into it either! It was so fine that it dried in a couple hours.

Now can you just guess what this is??? Yep, you're right a huge garbage bag of fleece!! Right off the sheep with lanolin and all sorts of nasty stuff included at no extra charge!! lol~~

This was given to me to "play" with. After sorting through some of it I'm not sure I like this kind of "playing". It smells really bad~~just think barn and you got it! I wasn't to sure where to even begin but after awhile I thought "what the heck? Nothing ventured, nothing gained" right??

So I grabbed a bunch and laid it out and started picking through it.....and picked some more......and more.....getting the idea??? nasty......

and when I finally couldn't stand it any more in it went!

Very hot water and dish detergent for a nice long soak! Needless to say the washer was off and the lid stayed open until the water cooled.....then did it all over again! A good rinsing in the sink and then set out to dry. It still doesn't look too good to me so tomorrow I'm going to give it another soaking.

I was listening to Yarn Spinners Tales's podcast this afternoon and it so happens she was talking about washing a fleece. I checked out her blog and she has photos of the fleece she washed......big difference from what I have! After some good advice I'm ready to try again. I'm hoping that tomorrow is another nice day so I can work outside. Fresh air is a good thing.......

Enough for tonight~~it's getting late so........

Off to bed