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Basil & Spindles & Squash…..Oh MY!!!

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Janis Thompson

Good Thoughts for a TRAGIC day in history…..
I spent the morning in the garden picking the leaves off the stems of BASIL for PESTO making…the heady scent filling the air around me as the Goldfinches, Red House Finch, Chickadees & Nuthatches sang their varied and beautiful songs. My outside Kitty wrapping herself around my ankles as my Welsh Corgi tried to eat Basil leaves, but kept spitting them out…I felt relatively safe. This is a luxury that people in some countries don’t take so much for granted. After my batch of PESTO (YUMMY!) I plied the first yarn ever spun on the new ZEPHYR turkish style spindle, again, out in the garden with the sound of the tweety birds drowning out the traffic on West Eleventh Avenue.
Thought for the day: Any day that I am not living in SYRIA is a really GOOD day!Basil

Spindle

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Spinning Tools and Toys

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Janis Thompson

Introducing ZEPHYR and PIXY!

A Turkish spindle that truly goes and goes and goes some more…….for the center pull ball, so dainty and easy for plying!  Comes with a nice bag and some fiber.

And for skein samples, 1/2 yards a mini-Niddy Noddy……when you need to take small amounts of yarn off the bobbin, to label..before you forget what it is!

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Woodworking is relatively NEW to me, however I do remember watching my maternal Grandfather Mihaly Nemesh (Mike Nemes) from Hungary in his wood working studio in Paradise, California.  The scent of the woods and sawdust were intriguing, with the whirring of the lathe in his capable hands.  He built all manner of things and my Mother (Annabelle) says he worked on many a Movie Star’s Mansion on Mullholland Drive…back in the day!  By the time I was a summer visitor, he was making standing clocks and small glass top tables to hold his and Tra-Tra Grama (Dorothy’s) rocks, shells, bones, exotic eggs and ODD found objects.  She had a small teardrop trailer that we go camping in at the beach….hence the moniker Tra-Tra.

When Vance (my beloved) and I made these FINE little Hand Spinning Tools….It felt so good to be in the wood shop with those familiar smells and sounds, completely natural for me.  Working with my hands, making stuff, cutting, sanding, staining, buffing…..sigh!    P A R A D I S E ! ! ! ! ! ! !

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