Stupidity is PAINFUL!

Ever done something that in retrospect you wonder just WHY in the world you did that? I had one of those all too common moments again yesterday. I managed to get off my first job early and since I didn't have to work my second job, decided to make several errands after going to the bank then head for home and clean the waterline. You have to understand that we live in the back hills of Tennessee where "water supply" can mean anything and everything from city water to hauling water in jugs from miles away. Our farm has spring water and while we thoroughly love the fact that our water is very very clean (not to mention FREE!), getting water from the spring (which happens to be down the road) to our house can very often be a MAJOR source of stress for me! Usually after we have had a lot of rain, which here as of late means about every few days, we have to go down to the spring and clean off leaves and silt from the end of the water line and break the line at the bridge to "flush" it out. The weather here has been well below normal temperature wise (so much for stupid global warming!) but I thought nothing about it when we went down and started to work. What I FAILED to take into account was that when the hose is broken at the bridge, there is no water running through the last 300+ feet of line which means that the water that's stuck in that section freezes in very short order! So......I broke the line, flushed the hose, Susie cleaned off the end then we reconnected it, just to find out that we now had NO water at the house! PANIC! With the temperatures falling and light disappearing quickly, I started frantically looking to see what the problem was. I may need to add that I do NOT handle this kind of problem well.....just ask Susie! When I finally realized that the line was frozen and that we were facing being without again, my mood took a turn for the worse. Past experience has shown me that without water flowing, the line needs to be re- broken at the bridge otherwise the larger main line freezes as well, then there are even bigger problems. I went back down the road for what seemed like the millionth time and found that it was already in the process of freezing there as well as I opened it up. I managed to bang the main hose around and free the ice from inside but that still left us without water to the house and 300+ feet of line full of ice. Let me also explain the spring house and pump setup here. It can be describes in one word....hodgepodge! Our water reservoir is very small....it must hold only about 80 to 100 gallons....and the water is pumped from there to a pressure tank then into the house. The problem in that there is no cutoff switch on the pump so without sufficient water coming into the tank, the pump sucks air and doesn't shut off till it overheats and trips the breaker or one of us RUNS out and shuts it off. Not wanting the pump, tank, or lines to the house to freeze, we spent the night hauling water in 5 gallon buckets from the main line at the bridge and pouring it into the reservoir, then turning the pump on till it fills the tank, then shutting it off again.....EVERY couple hours....ALL NIGHT LONG! (Yes Gracie, we are both sore and tired!)

This morning we were going to start pouring boiling water down the waterline in hopes of melting enough ice to get the flow restored but since it was still below freezing, we drove 40 miles to town and bought a 400 foot coil of larger diameter water line, in the outside chance that we couldn't get the one we have unblocked. (Not to mention that we have NEEDED a new water line for 16 years but Hey!......it's working so why hurry?) Once we got back from town, we hauled another 60 gallons of water in buckets and started heating water on the stove. I went out and started hacking a path through the overgrown field so we could dribble the hot water on the line when Susie noticed that the line was already apparently thawing so we slapped the hose around, pitching 3/4" ice pieces all over the yard. Then we went to the other end of the line to try to just reconnect the hose and thanks be to God, water started flowing through! I am not ashamed to say that I for one, utter more prayers and intercession over the water here than about anything else! How ANYONE can take their water for granted is beyond me. Around here it seems to be my most stressful part of "hollar" living.....when it's not blocked with stuff on the end of the hose, it's running dry due to lack of rain, or freezing from being exposed the way it is. And even when it's working, I have to worry about the pump working properly and not loosing it's prime.

Yep.....I pray a lot around here for water, and as usual, GOD is more than faithful. As I type this, the water is flowing, the pump is working, we are able to flush, and we do NOT have to spend the night outside hauling water! OH YES! ....Life is good when your water works! Now if you will pardon me, I think I will go take a nap!

The Continuing Saga of the Matching Gray Sweaters!

So....what do you do in Tennessee in the middle of November when the weather is sunny and the temperatures are warm? You grab one of the bags of wool that needs skirting and dive in to your armpits! This is one of the two fleeces we purchased out of Michigan and was the first chance I had had to even look at it other than in the bag it came in. The wool is from a mixed breed ewe and I am sure PRAYING that it scours out more gray than the picture shows....otherwise I think it will end up getting used for something other than the matching sweater project. (I also think I will be posting updates on this project for a LOOOONG time before Susie and I are actually seen in the sweaters!)

I will be finishing the picking of the second Princess Di fleece this weekend and plan to start right into her first fleece without taking a break. Once both of her fleeces are picked, I still face the other Shetland fleece from SAFF, 2 bags of alpaca from the Corydon festival, and 17 pounds of mixed breed wool from Michigan ....not to mention I would like to also add some silver alpaca top that we bought a year ago and some gray mohair....assuming I can find some the right color! Once all this is processed individually, I will weigh each out separately and start the math process for deciding the blending ratios and finally the carding process. Once that's done, then I get to hand it off to Susie for the spinning and knitting! (I wonder what I can get myself into with the combs, carder, and picker while she's spinning close to 40 pounds of fiber and knitting our sweaters? The potential boggles the mind!)

Two Weekends! Two Fiber Festivals!

My backside and the car seat have "become one" over the past 7 days! Susie and I traveled on the 17th up to Corydon Indiana to attend the Southern Indiana Fiber Arts Festival at the Harrison County fairgrounds. We weren't sure what to expect when we arrived 15 min. after the "opening bell" and we were the 4th vehicle in the parking lot! It was a cold and windy day but weather really hasn't any effect on TRUE fiber addicts. Our main reasons for going were to pick up an alpaca fleece that was being held for me by Willie and Kristen Ems from Flatwoods Farm in New Salisbury Indiana and for a class Susie was taking on working with Icelandic fleece. Last year I had looked at the same alpaca fleece at the same festival but by the time I got back to Willie and Kristin's booth, they had already sold it! I gave them our name and number and asked to be contacted when they sheared again this spring and was pleasantly surprised when they actually DID contact me. This fleece is from one of their "boys" named Francisco and is a much nicer gray fleece than my picture does it justice. (Apparently gray is a lot harder to photograph than I thought since they keep looking lavender rather than gray!)

The Icelandic class was rather interesting since Susie ended up being the only one to sign up. I think that normally they cancel a class with only 1 student but the instructor decided to go ahead and have it anyway so Susie was able to have a 1-on-1 session! While we didn't get all of our questions answered, Susie did make some great strides in understanding the wonderful nuances of this dual coated fleece. Now....with some more practice and "playing around" we should be able to REALLY understand what we are looking at when we clean out the vendor next April in Greencastle Indiana who sells us our Icelandic wool. (Oh yeah! We also WON a door prize!!! Believe me......we don't win anything so this was a rather big deal for me!)


Then....after a very hectic....or maybe I should say ridiculous to be more truthful...week at work, we decided at the last moment to drive yesterday over to North Carolina to attend the second day of SAFF. We had missed this festival for the past couple of years so even though my knee is all but nonfunctional at this point from being injured and all the driving, we left at 3:30 AM and made the trip. While there, we met a wonderful breeder named Lynn Michael and purchased another Shetland fleece from Clarabelle to add to our pile of grays we are amassing. In case your wondering what the "pile" of wool is in the above picture, that is our gray pile that we plan on transforming into a pair of matching sweaters for Susie and myself. What is shown there in the lower picture is the gray alpaca from the Ems, 2 Shetland fleeces from Princess Di that I purchased from Pam Kinnaman in Bloomfield Indiana, another gray alpaca fleece from Baby purchased from Annette Browning at Blue Note Alpacas in Crestwood Kentucky, the other Shetland fleece from Clarabelle, and 2 crossbred fleeces we just purchased from Carolyn Kiminski at Memory Lane Farm Woolery up in Dryden Michigan. (The Michigan fleeces look more brown than they really are mainly because they haven't been washed yet.) The top picture is Francisco's fleece. One bag is the prime fleece that we still have to wash, the other bags contain the hand picked fiber that we had already washed and the seconds, that they gave me in case I could use them. All told, I think I have put together about 32# of fleece that I will process and blend before Susie starts spinning and knitting. The only thing left that I may try to find is some nice gray mohair to add to the blend to give the yarn a little more drape and halo. Gee....that would make it in the neighborhood of 35# plus! I wonder if that's enough fiber to make two sweaters? (Just kidding!)

Why so long between posts?

I see that time has most assuredly gotten away from me again and another post is in order to "prove" that we are still alive and well.....well....ALIVE anyway! The summer has come to an end and fall is finally starting to arrive. We have had some MUCH needed rain and I am glad to report that all of the bad storms and flooding that Tennessee experienced went either to the West or East of us here in the hollar and we got nothing more than some badly needed rain to water what was left of the garden and refill the spring. While I love not having a water bill, I must say that the spring water setup we have leaves me stressed out about 11 months of the year. When I'm not dealing with the lines getting plugged with silt or leaves, I'm praying that the lines won't freeze while the rest of the time I pray that the lines won't go dry. (In case you wonder, we do a LOT of praying around here!)

Susie and I will be traveling to Corydon Indiana in 2 weeks to attend our 1st fiber festival of the year! We have already purchased an alpaca fleece that we will pick up while there. Susie is also taking a class on working with Icelandic fleece. We purchased a number of very nice fleeces at Greencastle in 2008 and want to make sure we process them to their fullest potential. I for one am looking forward to the trip since work has....how shall I say this.....been a "challenge"! While we have chosen not to participate in the current recession, I unfortunately work for two companies that are doing their best to fail on a daily basis. This kind of working environment has caused me to age about 20 years the past year or so. To me, a day at the festival is going to be a Godsend!


I had posted earlier about making our own English wool combs using Peter Teals book. I am happy to report that I HAVE in fact started work on them, albeit they are going to be Viking combs instead since Susie needs them for her class. I had wanted to post pictures of the progress but let's just say that it wouldn't have been pretty! While my God given gifting is in printing, I seem to loose a fair amount of blood while working in the wood shop! I can say that so far they are looking really nice and I HOPE to have them done in a week and will then post pictures of them. I have used some old growth black walnut that we had salvaged from a barn and also some from a tree that we cut up last fall for firewood. All I can say is they had better work very, very well and Susie had better be up to date on her tetanus shots! These babies look like something off of Lord Of The Rings! They would make great weapons! Stay tuned to see my attempt at combs!

Home again!

It seems the older I get the more road trips take out of me! Susie and I just returned from a trip to Rockford Illinois for a family reunion and managed to pick up a really sweet loom while we were there. Her sister had seen an ad in the Champaign/Urbana paper for a small loom for sale in Farmer City and so we managed to purchase it sight unseen (well....we DID get some emailed pictures!) and picked it up last weekend. I haven't been able to find any markings on it ANYWHERE to indicate the make but it's a nice little 24", 4 harness, 6 treadle loom with a sectional warp beam that needs a lot of screws replaced and some minor clean up and it should be as good as new. I was impressed that the reed was a lot finer than I figured it would be....it's a 15 dent....and it shows very little wear and tear. Years ago I fell in love with the weaving pattern called Ancient Rose and it requires a 6 treadle tie up so this loom should FINALLY allow us to actually try this weave pattern! I will post pictured of "her" as soon as I can get them taken and hopefully one of these days, we can find out a little more about it's make and history. For right now though, all I can do is TRY to get caught up with the mowing! (You would think you could leave for a couple of days without the grass growing 14" but apparently you can't in Tennessee!)

Another post? It's about time!!

Well, I see from the blog site that it's been right at 3 months since I have posted anything. My "silence" has not been wholly intentional but with all that's been going on, posting has been something I've "thought about" usually around 1 in the morning when I'm FINALLY crashing for the day. I could say that "life" has overtaken us but in all truth, I think life not only ran over us, but then turned around and ran over us again! Between working 2 jobs and the commute, plus mowing well over 3 acres with a push mower, my computer time has rather taken a back seat. This time of the year is sort of a "love/hate" relationship for me. I love being out in the hills and hollars but the heat and humidity, not to mention the chiggers and ticks, do take a toll on me. We have the garden in full production right now but am still trying to get at least an 8' fence around it to save the food for US rather than feed the deer which out number humans around here by at least a gazillion to one! The picture I've added here is the view from the kitchen porch in the SPRING when it's REALLY nice around here!

On the studio scene, we just purchased a used second loom! It's a small 24" 4 harness, 6 treadle loom that Susie's sister saw in the paper up in Illinois. We will be traveling up there in a couple weeks to attend a family reunion and will pick it up then. Once we get it home and go over it and clean it up, I will post pictures. I'm not sure where this one is going to "live" but the price was low enough that we couldn't pass it up.

Other news, I purchased the stainless steel I needed to make the wool combs so as soon as I can get some shop time, I will start cutting and grinding them into points and see what happens with making our own combs. I have had a number of people asking about purchasing combs so maybe I have found myself a new career!

And lastly, we received our "sample" of some BEAUTIFUL gray alpaca fleece that we saw in Indiana last fall but someone else bought before I got back to it. We had asked the breeder to let us know when they sheared this spring and low and behold...they did! It's nice to work with someone that actually does what they say they will and keeps their word.....it's VERY refreshing! We washed the 4 ounces that I bought using a different scouring technique that worked very well and I already have it hand picked and LOVE it! You can hardly tell you have anything in your hand, it's so soft! I have them holding the other 3 pounds of this fleece till I can make arrangements to get the money to them and have it shipped. As soon as I can, I will post pictures of this fleece along with another Shetland fleece we bought this spring. Hopefully it WON'T take 3 more months to get that done!

V. Howard Johnson Jr. 1932-2009

I had thought that this posting would include all the fun information about our trip to The Fiber Event in Greencastle Indiana but things changed rather suddenly with the unexpected passing of Susie's father. We were actually loading the car for the trip when we received the call from family so rather than attend the festival, we attended to more somber matters and made a trip to Illinois instead. Even though we have been married for 30 years, I didn't really know Howard in anything more than a superficial way. For the past 20 plus years, he had been confined to a nursing home and his condition didn't allow for any type of deep relationship. Most of what I knew of his life, I learned from listening to Susie and her brothers and sisters conversations over the years. What I DO know is that before becoming ill, Howard was a consumate artist, musician, and photographer. He held a number of classified and non-classified patents and was one of the most intellegent men I have known! It seems a shame that this talent was never realized to it's fullest potential and it will only be on the other side of eternity that what "could have been" will be known to us. In the meantime all I can do is be supportive of Susie and her family in their time of loss....and wait for the day when it will be my turn to grieve.

Our First Clam Shell Box!

We recently completed our first clam shell box to house a book project we worked on as a group with the Tennessee Book Arts Guild. (Actually there were a LOT more that started this project than finished it!) The choice was made to make an accordion book with each of the members contributing a printed page demonstrating their art "forte". Once the pages were shared with each member and bound, our good friend John Smith began the task of teaching us how to make the box. Making a clam shell box was something that we had wanted to learn how to do for a LONG time so Susie and I were delighted to finally be able to try our hand at this. What we didn't realize was the amount of extremely detailed measuring and cutting that is required to make one of these WELL and that FITS. (Out of over 20 people that started this project, I think the final count of actual boxes made stands at 3) John put a LOT of work into his instructions and while my end result does fit well, it has a number of things that I'm not happy with but for a first attempt, it's not bad! (Now we just have to find a place to start working on the second box to house Susie's book and I'm sure that one will turn out much better!)

Lace weight Alpaca

What can I say? I realize that it's because Susie has been spinning for a lot more time than I have but I'm still rather jealous when she seems to effortlessly whip out MILES of lace weight yarn while I'm still making "rope". (Actually my spinning isn't THAT bad but compared to hers it's rather pathetic!) This black Alpaca was purchased from the Greencastle Indiana festival last year and Susie has been spinning it very fine and plans to knit it into a lace shawl.....for HERSELF! We will be heading north to Greencastle again in just a few weeks and I've already made connections with several of our vendors who are already holding fleeces for us. If I can figure out the camera, I will take it with us and get some shots of the festival and those breeders who keep us up to our armpits in fleece. (Last year I came home with 10 fleeces and an assortment of other fibers that I just couldn't pass up!)

THE hat and mittens

Here are the hat and mitten set that Susie did for our friends Christmas gift. I wish I could have gotten better shots of these that showed more detail but being new to the digital camera, I'm not too proud to say I have LOTS to learn! (To be honest, I miss my 35mm camera.....IT took great pictures!)

Our first dyeing!

This was our first try at dyeing and it turned out rather well, if I do say so myself (and I do!). Susie had spun the yarn from some of our huge stash of Finn fleece and after doing the math on brewing up the dye bath, we started! Since this was MY first time ever dyeing, I found the whole process very interesting and couldn't wait to do more! After we dyed this yarn, Susie was asked to do a hat and mittens for a friend of ours to be used as a Christmas gift for his wife. He requested a light pink so we were able to do a SECOND dyeing project right on the heels of the first. The dying on these went very well and after spinning, dyeing, and knitting them into the finished items, they were well received.....especially since we were in the middle of some VERY cold weather at the time. SO MUCH FOR GLOBAL WARMING!

We FINALLY have our own!!!!

After getting the wool combing book through inter library loan for about a dozen times, we finally found someone with a copy and now OWN it ourselves! I have been wearing out our Louet double row mini combs processing a number of fleeces and have been really wanting to make our own English combs so having Peter Teals book at hand for reference is a God send! I've also located a local supplier for stainless steel welding rod to be used for the tines so hopefully in the not too distant future, I will be able to actually START making a set of these lethal looking instruments. Now the big decision will be what wood to use for the combs themselves. I have some nice flame Birch left from a kniddy knoddy I made for Susie so I may use that....otherwise it will be some old growth Cherry salvaged from a barn one of the neighbors tore down to use for firewood! (Don't get me started on THAT topic!) Right now I'm finishing us a couple of dizs made from an old coconut we've had for years. This is the first time I have ever worked with coconut and I'm rather amazed at how this looks as it nears being finished.

Our first posting!

We have finally made the first steps to take our love of fiber, paper, ink, and wood to a new level, thus is born Sojourner Studios! Besides starting our blog sight, we have also made the move to list our work on etsy, have actually gotten our letterhead and business cards printed and have started plans on making a new studio space in which to work. All in all, this is a little frightening since this is a HUGE step for us. As we continue to post here, we will share our progress with our work in fiber, paper, and wood....our studio space, and anything else that is pertanint to our professional lives.