The WoolWytch

After a year and a half, if not more, of being without a dog in our family, we have rectified that situation. Daisy was a luv, and we waited a long time to bring a new dog into the house, with no regrets over the amount of time.

So it’s with great joy that I introduce “Whisky Tango Foxterror” who has a perpetual surprised expression when he’s not passed out.

Monday night after finishing the first day of our second week of school, and everyone else having that day as their back to school day, I took Calvin and we went puppy shopping.  I didn’t expect to bring such a sweetheart home that day, but WTF picked us out, and I decided that after spending 6 months plus on the process of chosing our new dog and looking everywhere (yes we did actually look at the Shelters around here, but everything is as the ACO puts it ‘either Marmaduke or a fighting pit.’ not what I need here) we contacted several breeders and brokers until we found one with puppies in the breeds we were interested in.

A Toy Fox Terrier was not on our list initially, and my game plan for Monday night was actually to go walking on the High School Track with Sunny and then to hammer out online lesson plans as the Diva’s been slacking a little on her math.

So I have to say – it’s just been two full days, but I think that it was serendipity as a Toy Fox Terrier seems to have been the perfect match for us all.  If you are considering this breed – I say go for it.

Today is a red letter day for the Diva.  She has her first Solo today… she is performing a Ballet to Shakira’s “Gypsy”.  In and amongst all of her eclectic homeschooling, Dance has figured prominently. She hasn’t followed a typical school year, and as a result is still in her Kindergarten curriculum from Time4Learning. continue reading…

Some people think that life is owed to them… whether it’s a house they’ve never paid a dime on and someone else worked their whole life for, to a place on a stage, where they have the spotlight, no matter what their performance is or how terribly they phone it in.

This last few months I’ve dealt with both.

From another little girl who told the Diva that dancing wasn’t it wasn’t about having fun but about personally showing the Diva up – when the girl attended not as many classes as she should and really didn’t seem interested in performing, to a cousin who’s been taking advantage of a situation that has the rest of the family/cousins spitting mad. continue reading…

One thing I can tell you about homeschooling a pair of very bright and articulate children is that finding ways to keep them engaged.

Mine are no exception to that.  There is Dance for the Diva, but Calvin being only three years old is harder to find things that aren’t lightning McQueen or Bakugon… and while I can use Cars for teaching some things (basic physics…) I don’t know enough about Bakugon to save my life. continue reading…

The Diva’s dance intensive workshop is done, and now it’s just M-F with one to two classes a day vs M-F with two to three classes a day… less driving and it’s giving me time to work on more spinning.  I still haven’t figured out the espinner for reverse, but am going to hold off on doing plying for a bit anyhow.  I have a nibble on the HitchHiker, and if it works out and I can figure out what I’m selling it for then I’ll have the expense of the espinner covered at least.  In the mean time I’m spinning like a fool and putting the new spinner through it’s paces.  I’ve gotten about a mile of yarn spun and will need to get another swift soon to be able to put it into skeins properly so it can be measured and dyed. continue reading…

Friday after the Diva’s multitude of Dance classes, we had a girls night out.

Have you ever had a girls night out with a five year old? You never know what you are going to do or eat …  in this case she wanted Sushi, and I was thankful that it wasn’t McDonalds that she had requested as she’s on a growth spurt and I really would rather she get protein without garbage and carbs without preservatives, not to mention that her vegetables be green and not coated in oil and salt.

So with that in mind we went to a place called Tokyo Sushi in Southington CT, and got a couple of Salmon Nigiri for her, and an Alaska roll for me.  They started us out with a lovely salad with crab and cucumbers and we enjoyed our sushi and salad and made it out with time to spare to pick up flowers for her teacher who was in a performance of Chicago that night.  While the content is a bit mature, she really loved the show and was just absorbed and entranced with the singing and dancing.

… it helps that she adores her teacher Miss Marissa and listens to her as if she was the deepest authority on subjects most important in life, which I suppose to the Diva, her dance teachers may just be that.

She had a relatively quiet weekend, and we’re back to the grind today…

• 

  a blur of motion, or how I see the Diva during the week

  Monday – Ballet here in our town, and then Ballet and Tap in the next town over

• Tuesday – Tap, Ballet Solo – both in our town, and then Jazz and Hip Hop dance in the next town over
• Wednesday – See Monday’s Schedule
• Thursday – See Tuesday’s Schedule
• Friday – Ballet here in town, and then Acro and Musical Theater in the next town over.

Next week we cut out the classes in the next town over and I can start seriously working on her costume for the dance recital.  We purchased a chiffon fabric that has crystals embedded in it… and a matching darker chiffon – still translucent like the first fabric and some beaded trim to make her costume out of.  The teacher has cut a special version of her song for the recital making it only a minute and fifteen seconds long, but those will be the proudest 75 seconds in the world for those who love her you know…

I look forward to September when she will return to Home school four days a week and Dance only one day a week.  This running around is exhausting and I’m presently running on low to begin with.

I did find something interesting to introduce her to though – online math flash cards!
Cool eh?  It keeps the whole theme we have going on – she is convinced, as is Calvin, that they really aren’t going to school, that they are playing computer games, which they can not get enough of and their father and I have to pry them off the computer.  I can see this interactive math program being used for a long while in our family, and I’m tickled pink that my Cousin Dee has decided that she will be introducing her little man to Time4Learning in the near future as well.  She also will be doing some guest posts here soon and I’ll do some in her blog too – something we’ve both toyed with for a while and it’s a chance to get some of my readers exposed to her work and vice versa… all two of you

I’ve been working hard at spinning when I am not knocked out by my antibiotics or driving miss Diva… I have over 1000 yards of Ramboullet spun up right now, and will be working on learning plying on my e-spinner next, and then going on to dye this.  I may exchange this fiber for the one I was going to use for the custom order as it’s spinning easier and will be a guaranteed volume to meet the order.  It’s really coming along nice, and I am happy with the results I’m seeing.  Once it’s done it will go into the dyepot en masse to guarantee a uniform dye job.

During classes I have been reading.  I have a Nook from Barnes and Noble that I love to pieces.

Originally purchased with the intent of using it for my Doula studies as it has highlight and note features, it also has a functioning MP3 player and with it’s beta web browser and built in 3g access, I have net (albeit basic with no flash and in black and white only) anywhere I go to.  I love my little Nook and have read so much in the past three weeks of owning it that I have managed to get the Diva interested in reading at a level that she needs to be, vs just trying to read whatever Mom is typing at the time.  I grew up with a love of books, and it was troubling me that she wasn’t getting to see that outside of me sitting on the laptop, but in no short time she has adopted my fervor for reading, and we’ve got kids ebooks on my nook too.  I read so fast that I’ve been reading a lot of the public domain books and online fiction as my book habit can be pretty pricey!

I considered the Kindle, but I have really fallen for my Nook, and would be very upset if it were damaged, stolen, etc…  Barnes and Nobles did a great job, and I’ve already got the memory card I bought for it as auxiliary memory filled with my favorite authors, and books on herbalism etc.  I will probably be scanning and converting some of my notes from classes I’ve taken into PDF format so I can reference them here as well.  It’s darn useful I tell you.

To that effect I have to say I’ve been reading Diana Gabaldon‘s Outlander series.  It’s darn addictive I tell you… I woke up in the middle of the night the other night and hadn’t realized it but my bathroom trip had me carrying my Nook.  Between ease of reading and my choice of reading material, I’ve just not put the thing down.

Well this week is rehearsals, spinning, dyeing, spinning, dyeing, and more dance classes than you can shake a stick at.  Once it’s over we’ll just be down to the three classes until her Recital on Aug 10, and then I get a blissful few weeks of not driving her hither and yon, and may try to get the little man out to the train that runs down the Naugatuck River as a treat for not getting as much Mama time as his sister has gotten.  His time will come too, and I expect that he will be dancing as much as his sister….

This week is a crazy one, I’m on formal Short term Disability from my full time job due to severe Diverticulitis (until the end of August,) which really really hurts, and the medication is strong and puts me to sleep… and I have to get some forms in so my disability is processed right.  In the midst of this I am also the head of Mom’s Taxi co…  the Diva has 4 different dance classes… Ballet, Tap, Solo Ballet for recital, and the Petite Team 10 day Workshop she is taking in the next town over.  Three of those classes happen TODAY, two of them yesterday, Add a playdate or two, a visit to Grandma’s and Homeschooling into the mix and it’s enough to drive a person batty.  Wednesday I repeat the cycle all over again with two classes and thurs three classes, and homeschooling mushed into the works.  I manage the medicine when I know I can pass out and not drive and then am good to go later.  Who thought that Antibiotics could be so rough on a person’s body?

Speaking of homeschooling, Calvin is trying hard to learn to read, which is where  Time4Learning is coming in handy.  Finding a preschool reading program for us was easy as the Diva already was working with Time4Learning and loves their curriculum.  He’s just following along and loving every minute as she does her studies, so I really have to get him enrolled formally too.  For her this week we’re going to try something new;  Contraction games.  She’s a little advanced for your average five year old and we’re going to try to keep her engaged.  Using these resources to teach contractions I’m hoping she’ll latch on to the notion quick.  She’s a smartie…

I spun up a couple ounces of Alpaca and Corriedale wool this weekend, I need to do more but am still learning that E-spinner.  I don’t have the hang of the darn thing for reverse, and that’s gonna drive me batty.  It will happen, because I have a buildup of plying to do soon.  I also am starting to think that I can pull out some of the fiber dyed for the custom order and continue in that.  I may have all the singles done up before I get the plying done.

alright – time to go get more spinning done and send an email to the tooth fairy on behalf of the Diva… seems someone was playing with it and it fell out, and she now she is unhappy that her summer recital will be with one less tooth in her head.  Poor Diva… while she’s getting in her 6 year old molar she is not satisfied with that as compensation.  Can’t say as I blame her – her Tap number has her smiling widely and showing off her teeth… whoops!

My poor husband.

G doesn’t take as well to spur of the moment trips as I do and as such shocked me today when after lunch I suggested a trip to Webs and he thought it was a great idea.

My drive band for my Ashford Kiwi is AWOL, I needed to pick up some Cushings Dyes for a project I have to have completed by early August, and I knew he was in need of felting needles.

So we hopped in the van, and headed north with the kids happily reading and singing.

Somehow ‘Row Your Boat’ got turned into the Nine Lives Chorus – with all Meow’s, but they were well behaved for the trip and at Webs.

Of course the Diva headed straight back to the Schacht Ladybug and tried to set herself up to spin on it immediately, but she gave one of the salespeople a heart attack as they don’t want small children touching spinning wheels, never mind that she’s shown a degree of proficiency and was being ever so respectful to the wheel. This is the wheel she truly desires, and after I finally got a chance to spin it myself, I can see why.  The wheel spins smoothly, quietly, and in no time flat I had a laceweight yarn that was soft, strong, and pretty.

I want one now like you wouldn’t believe.

Calvin was bored, wanted to spin and then discovered the toys.  G sat with them while I tried out the Ladybug my self, and then looked for the dyes.  Much to my chagrin, they did not have a replacement drive band.

We then drove around Northampton Mass, and fell in love with the community.  I foresee trips back there later in the summer, especially as I have to replace my swift (you wind yarn on it) and I will undoubtedly need more dyes.  I am getting in my e-spinner this coming week, a Vespera (see right) by Heavenly Handspinners, and I promise to have a review on it as soon as I can.  I need to get my Etsy shop re-stocked and with breaking and rebreaking my ankle I’ve not gotten through a couple of custom orders that I need to… so I am hoping that the Vespera will fit the bill and that I don’t burn out the motor from use.

It’s a lovely July Fourth weekend, and we’re taking a little time off homeschooling this week – I need to do a reinstall of the kids ASUS Netbook Operating System and figure out what’s wrong with their Dell, all while I’m supposed to be taking it easy from Diverticulitis.  While Mama recovers the kids get a break from Time4Learning, but the Diva still has dance school as she’s signed up for a Solo in August, hence the need to pick up the dye as I am making her costume for the recital.  I’m finding that the drive today was a bit much on me and I am now going to head off to bed, listening to fireworks outside the window, and enjoying the lovely summer night.

Grace, dignity, and a fashion plate all at once.

My picture of the day…

So I’ve been asked some questions and I thought instead of answering them in notes I’d write them in an entry, anyone else wanting to ask questions, I suppose I could answer more.

• First – A Tag Sale is a Yard Sale, just New England Terminology. I had never heard of it before moving east, but that’s what they are called here.

• Yes, I do still miss my Dad and as I got a picture of him as a child recently I am amazed how my little boy has his eyes.

• Do I still spin and does the Diva spin with me. She hasn’t really gotten the hang of her little wheel, but she does like to spin. Dance has kinda swallowed her up though so it’s her passion where working with fibers and learning about being a Doula is mine.  I am having some health problems and have decided to get an electric spinner so my shop doesn’t go bare for too much longer; spinning is therapeutic, and

• Now the Diva’s Dancing… How did I get her into it, how did I know it was the right thing for her? When did I get her involved, how long has she been doing it, did I decide for her or did she decide…

She’s a really strong minded, independant child. She used to drag my mother in law and sister in laws into my mother in law’s bathroom and then make them dance to music on the boom box in there. This expanded to me showing her dancers on YouTube and her demanding “MORE!” and so she discovered ballet, tap, irish step dance, modern dance, and when we clicked on a bunch of small girls dancing in a recital she told me she wanted to do that.

So at two and a half she was very demanding about it but we let her dance at home and didn’t put her in a school. She needed to be potty trained and able to follow directions and hold an attention span more than thirty seconds – as smart as she was, she was still a toddler, and hardwired as a toddler is to have much energy in small bursts and then go to the next attention focus. At three and a half I went looking for a dance school locally, and made several calls, talked to the staff at the schools and had a couple of them send me brochures. I found one I really liked and we went to talk to the Director at the open house in August of 2008. Tess was nearly four and had that ability to listen better than she had a year and a half earlier when she first started telling me she wanted to dance like the big girls in “Lord of the Dance.”

She took to dancing like a duck to water, and it rapidly became her whole world. Not much else exists for her outside the dancing. She found out about the dance teacher wanting solo and duo’s for the recital and at first asked me to ask her teacher. I told her that I wouldn’t, and that a solo was her alone dancing on the stage and if she wanted to do that I’d help her practice but that she had to tell the teacher herself she wanted it, as she had to decide for herself how much a dancer she was going to be and how much she really wanted to do this. She marched up to her teacher and told her she wanted to be in the summer recital with a Solo, and that she even had music she wanted to do – a Ballet number to Soul II Soul.

I got a chuckle out of it. but was also very proud. It’s her call do do it. I’m just the taxi driver and dresser and music getter for her – oh and provider of costuming and dance shoes that she just grew out of this week and will need to buy new ones before the next week and a half is up.

• My Son – he wants to dance too – some of you picked that up from the last post. Like her we’ll leave his level of involvement up to him. It could be he decides he really doesn’t want to do it after all and if that’s so, then we’ll find him another activity to do.