Another New Hobby!!

This is what I got Nick for his birthday - a MasterCraft Mini Lathe.

He's always wanted one, and I was super curious.  I found a used one on Craigslist for a decent deal, and the guy was going to give us tools and a free turning lesson!

Today we went out and bought some purpleheart to play with on his new lathe and here are the results!

Purple Heart is so hard to photograph - the color is so rich in person and the flash just washes it all out.  Fresh cut purpleheart is actually a coffee brown - takes a few minutes of oxygen to turn it that vibrant purple color!  Pretty cool!

They're destined to be orifice hook handles for my vintage spinning wheels - the top more traditional one is done by Nick, the bottom bigger one is done by me.  Not bad for my first try on a lathe, ey?!  I wanted to try out all the tools and techniques in my piece.  It's so much more fun than I expected - and way addicting!! I've warned Nick that I may end up being out in the garage turning more than he will be - but hey, now I'll never have to buy a spinning tool ever again!

i love apples.

they are probably my favorite fruit. really. so versatile, so delicious, so easy.

we went apple picking this past sunday, it was our first time and we don't even know if we went to a good orchard or not but it didn't matter - the weather was fantastic and we had a wonderful time!

their season had been extended this year due to high yield.  being so late into the season, we weren't sure if we would get a lot of good ones, but  it was 16 acres of gorgeous trees, filled with fresh apples still!

it was a blast, fresh picked apples are so amazing.  we tasted every type, quickly discovered which we liked and which we didn't, and had so much fun in the gorgeous weather, just eating and stuff apples in a bag.

nick had brought a little swiss army knife with him, which came in handy because some of the apples were so tough to get through their skin.

i, of course, am a giant fat kid and didn't need a stupid knife to get to my apples.  i think i ate double what nick ate just in the orchard alone.  especially when i found the fuji apple tree...

then there were these goats... 

this one had a beard.  or we thought it was a beard. turned out, it was just a lot of burrs stuck under his chin.  he didn't seem to care though.

here's what we came home with.  10 lbs of fresh picked apples, and a cat who was not impressed.  he likes doritos, fries, cake frosting and spam - but not apples.

and check this out!  nick saw this and just had to bring it home.  it's a blue hubbard squash, weighs about the same as a large turkey and looks like one too!  lady at the orchard said it was completely edible and gave us a recipe.  we can't wait to try it out!  it's so huge, she told us we would have to smash it on the concrete to break it into manageable pieces!

so for now until winter, it sits on my front steps along with the 3 little green pumpkins we accidently grew in our old apartment garden!

lots of catching up...

been kind of blah since we moved.  it was really stressful and in conjunction with this craptacularly dreary weather we've been having, half my brain shut down.

but, things are starting to settle back to normal - the house is feeling more like home, the animals are finally recognizing the new routine and actually know where the door is!  there's still lots to be done, but something broke down inside me and finally allowed me to tell myself that it will get done.  it just doesn't need to be done right at this moment.  

not much knitting or spinning accomplished since the move.  i've been knitting a few rows here and there of my dad's christmas socks but only because they are straight stockinette.  i need very much for knitting to be completely brainless at the moment, so the sleeves of my mom's Serrano Cardigan will just have to wait a little while more.

however, i did take a nicer picture with my actual camera of my yarn cabinet to show off.  my stash, of course, was one of the first things to be unpacked and organized!  it's one of a pair of antique chinese curio cabinets brought over from china by my dad's father over 20 years ago.  anyone that knows me knows that i'm quite fond of antique pieces and i've been fortunate enough to receive several items from my grandparents for the new house.  i'm so proud to call them mine.

still waiting to be CO and completed before christmas:

1. grandma's Petra Cardigan

2. judy's socks (haven't picked a pattern yet!)

3. nick's Some Assembly Required

4. soul's Endpaper Mitts

5. chuck's Sackboy

6. marianne's Sideways Bobble Hat

7. jo's Floopy Hat

8. my Prairie Boots house slippers

and a couple misc. generic guy's beanies for random guy friends.

yeah.

better get that knittin' mojo back right quick...