What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread) Showing 2,951-3,000 of 8,509

[Nina]

What you found is correct. The trees that bear them are called Osage Orange and they were originally planted as dividers of property and thus were called Hedge trees and therefore the "fruit" which resembled the skin of an orange, except for the color being green were called Hedge apples. Bag worms are devilish little worms that form small bags as they hang on the branches of bushes and small shurbs. If not destroyed they kill whatever they are clinging to.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina, those were two new things I learned today. We don't seem to have them in our part of the country. At least I've never heard of them. Interesting.

[Jim]

I mentioned the Osage Orange just the other day around here somewhere when Jackie was asking about the black locust that I cut up. The woods are very similar to work, but osage is orangey & the locust is OD green. Both were prized as fence posts since the wood is very strong & durable, but Osage tended to be bushier & not as straight, not to mention a lot slower growing, so we used the locust almost exclusively in MD. I love the bowls I make out of both, but the osage is definitely a lot prettier color. Their woods are so hard that I like to sand them down with very fine sandpaper & just put a bit of wax on to finish them.

[Jim]

We went to the Shaker Village yesterday. It was fun. Had a great lunch & then toured the place. Here are some photos.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I looked at Jim's Shaker Village pics the other day but now I looked and he's written some interesting comments. I clicked that I "liked" one of the scenes. Jim wrote as a caption: "I simply love the stone walls that are all over the place. It makes for an idyllic scene." Yes it did look idyllic.

I thought I had posted a reply here about the Shaker Village but I guess I didn't. I remember looking at the pics.

Haven't seen Jim here for a few days. Hope he's OK. Has anyone seen him posting?

[Werner]

Joy, Jim's probably in Maryland for his son Brandon's wedding. I believe that took place yesterday.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Werner wrote: "Joy, Jim's probably in Maryland for his son Brandon's wedding. I believe that took place yesterday."

Thanks, Werner. I was worried there for a while. Jim's such a steady poster here. Hope he's having a good time.

We have a cloudy, rainy day here in NY and the temp here right now is in the 40's. Hope he has better weather in Maryland. I see online that the temps there are in the 40s and 50s and it's rainy there too right now:
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/f...

We've had such nice warm weather lately. Too bad it didn't stick around for today. For several days, I've had the windows open and the fresh air breezing in. Nice!

[Jim]

I'm back & had a wonderful time. The farm Mom works & lives on was gorgeous & the wedding fantastic. I haven't posted any pictures, yet. I didn't get a lot since I had 210 people to talk to & kept getting ordered around by strange women (including Mom) who thought that as father of the groom & Mom's son, I had duties to perform. 2 friends of ours, the Brierer brothers, amateur photographers who have known us since Erin was born, took a bunch. One used film, the other digital, & their wedding present is photo albums to the family. Neil, the digital brother, said he'd send me a CD of all his pictures, though. I'm sure their work will be superb, as it was back when James got married.

It was a lot of fun & most of the guests were great. When it came time to move tables & chairs to make a dance floor, dozens pitched in. We even had a couple of dozen stay to help clean up. The rain & wind held off until after we sat down after cleaning up. Can you imagine?

We got the truck unloaded & everyone is in fine fettle. Chip's eye is all healed up, too. The goats are ticked off because they've been in for 3 days, though. The dogs were all happy to see us, but not goofy since Josh stayed here with them & took them for a ride today. Well, part of a ride. Erin's horse, Topaz, dumped him towards the end. His hip is sore, but he'll live.

I picked up 5 burls to turn while I was up there. Brandon cut 2 of them for me the day before his wedding. Mom had a friend cut up the other 3 last year. Unfortunately, he cut into a big, beautiful walnut burl as he was cutting it off. He did it from the back somehow, so it might make a few smaller bowls, but I'm not sure.

A friend moved & sold her alpaca farm. She gave me her portable spinning wheel, about 2 big trash bags of alpaca roving & a bunch of other stuff, so I'll have plenty to keep me busy for a while.

A very busy, but rewarding weekend in every way. Got to see a lot of friends & family, see my son marry a wonderful gal, & got a bunch of stuff to keep me busy! I couldn't ask for more.

[Jim]

Thanks for the concern, Joy. All is great, as I posted. The temp here in KY was 52 when we got home & is supposed to drop close to freezing for the next 2 nights. The lawn needs mowing, but if it doesn't hit 60 tomorrow, I'm not doing it. I have plenty of other projects to catch up on.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Wow, Jim. It sounds wonderful. So much activity. I guess you flew back and forth by plane. Was there a long wait at the airport?

Hmmmm, what truck did you unload? Did you go by truck?

Glad to hear that the weather held up for the wedding. I look forward to those pics.

What is "alpaca roving"? What do you do with it?

Who is Josh? I gather he held the fort while you were gone.

What happened to Chip's eye?

Sounds like you'll be pretty busy with all your projects. But you'll probably need to rest up first after all the activity.

[Jim]

We drove Marg's pickup, Joy. It's 600 miles, took us about 10 hours up & 9.5 coming back. I just saw the weather forecast for today. Our route home took us across the mountains in western Maryland & north W.VA.. Today, it's supposed to snow up there, so we got out just in time. We don't have to go that way, but if we cross the mountains further south, it adds 50 miles to the trip. That's not a huge amount & well worth doing to avoid snow, but I'm glad we didn't have to. It's just been fantastic how all this worked out.

Even better, the kids found a great starter house & put a contract on it. We got a tour Saturday morning before the wedding.

Our adopted kid thing confused a lot of people, but especially Ashley's step mother, Deeanna, who was trying very hard to keep everyone straight. She KNEW Brandon only had 1 brother & sister, but half a dozen others were acting as if Marg & I were their parents. Deeanna finally pulled me aside in an attempt to figure it out. It was kind of funny, & rewarding, too. I don't think she ever really got it, but we took in a fair few strays over the years & most of them showed up.

Josh is Erin's boyfriend & one of the 6 dogs we have here now is his. He just got a job in Nashville & had to move out of the apartment with Erin & thinks he just found an apartment down there. He's supposed to know later today. Right now he's staying with his mother in Bowling Green, a 45 minute commute.

Thursday morning, the day before we left, Chip's eye was swollen shut & full of pus. He probably got something in it, either a seed head or possibly a bit of bark while he was scratching himself in the woods. We got 3 doses of ointment in it, one at 5am before we left Friday morning, & that was enough to turn the tide. He looks fine now. Not an unusual thing to have happen which is why we keep the ointment around. It's the same stuff we use on humans & the dogs. Putting in to a horse's eye isn't usually a one man job & since the tube is metal, doing it incorrectly can cause more problems, so Chip had to make due. Typical animal timing.

Roving is the hair of a sheep or something, in this case alpaca, that has been carded & is ready for spinning. Actually, I got a couple of big grocery bags of roving, a couple more of fleece that I still have to card, & a half dozen skeins of yarn. Alpaca is very expensive because it is kind of scarce & very soft & warm. Most of the cheaper yarn just has a bit of alpaca hair in it. Pure alpaca yarn is hard to find & often runs $30 or more per skein in the weight that I have. A skein is about enough to knit one scarf.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Thanks for your answers, Jim. Wow, ten hours is a long time to sit in a car. Did you have several drivers? We usually get sore backs if we sit that long. Anyway, glad you made it before the snow.

Didn't know about that eye ointment. I guess it's a sort of antibiotic. Poor Chip. He's the "Calamity Jane" of the horse family. LOL

About the alpaca, is it itchy like wool? I can't wear wool because it itches me. Don't know if cashmere itches. My dad always wore cashmere coats. Now I remember that it felt very soft.

I just looked up "cashmere". Cambridge Dictionary says: "very soft, expensive wool material that is made from the hair of goats from Kashmir". (Don't know if I knew that or not. If I knew it I forgot. Ha!)

I think it must take a lot of patience to card and spin wool or hair.
====================================================
PONDERINGS:
Why do they call it wool if it's hair?

Definitions found:
wool - the fine, soft, curly hair that forms the fleece of sheep and certain other animals, characterized by minute, overlapping surface scales that give it its felting property
http://dictionary.infoplease.com/wool

"felting property"
felt (VERB) - mat together and make felt-like (“felt the wool”)
---entangle, mat, snarl, tangle
---twist together or entwine into a confusing mass
http://www.vocabulary.com/definition/...
(I didn't know "felt" was a verb as well as a noun.)

wool:
---The hair of the sheep, llama and some other ruminants.
---A cloth or yarn made from the wool of sheep.  
Etymology - Middle English wolle, from Old English wull, from Proto-Germanic *wullō (cf. Dutch wol, German Wolle, Norwegian ull)
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wool
=====================================================
Ah, now I feel better, having clarified things. LOL

[Jim]

I posted some pics on Facebook. Anyone should be able to view them through this link:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...

I didn't get as many or as good of ones as I would have liked, but I think the ones I posted are pretty good.

[Jim]

Joy, on the way up, Marg gave me a 2 hour break, but on the way back, I only got a 30 minute break. I drive faster & don't sit still well without anything to do.

Actually, Chip isn't all that bad. Most of them go through rough patches occasionally. Cutter & Topaz have had chronic hoof problems, but I don't bother to post about them. A lot of it is technical & they're not mine.

We tend to call anything that sheds fur & anything you have to cut hair. Horses have both; fur on their bodies, hair for their manes & tail. I've read there isn't a good definition for either. Oh well, it works for us. The definition you found for wool makes sense.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "I posted some pics on Facebook. Anyone should be able to view them through this link:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s... ..."

Jim, thanks for the great pics of your son's wedding. What a beautiful setting! I enjoyed seeing all the scenes and people. I feel as though I've been there! You have a beautiful family. Good luck to the bride and groom. They had a lovely wedding.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim, it's interesting that "Horses have both; fur on their bodies, hair for their manes & tail." Didn't know that. I guess the hair keeps growing but the fur stays the same length and probably sheds as new fur grows in.

[Jim]

Joy, like I said, I've read that our definition of hair & fur isn't scientific, but you do understand what we mean.

Thanks. The kids did have a great wedding & the place is gorgeous. The Energizer Bunny, AKA Mom, never stops.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim, I think you take after your mom. :)

[Werner]

Thanks for sharing those pictures, Jim. Warmest best wishes to the newlyweds!

[Jim]

Thanks!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I'm going on a cruise for a week starting tomorrow. So I haven't got much time for the Internet right now. Got to finish packing. I HATE packing! :-( See you when I get back.

[Werner]

Have a great time, Joy! We'll miss you; tell us all about it when you get back!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Thanks, Werner. At this point, I'd rather stay home. There's too much stress for me in preparation. Usually I find that it was worth it, but not right now. :)

[Werner]

Hang in there, Joy! :-)

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Werner wrote: "Hang in there, Joy! :-)"

Thanks, Werner. You're always very supportive and it's appreciated.

As for preparation, at least I've polished my toe-nails! LOL Bright red!
Can't afford a pedicure. :)
The cruise is to the Bahamas.
Ed will be minding Romeo at home.
Romeo will miss me. I think Ed will too. :)
---Sea

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Hi!
I'm back from my cruise to the Bahamas. It was great. I was on the Carnival ship called "Miracle". Here are links:

http://www.carnival.com/cruise-ships/...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahamas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turks_an...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Moo...

We stopped at 3 different places: Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau (on the island of New Providence).

I now understand why so many people like cruise ships. There's such a variety of things to do and there's a show every night in a huge comfortable theater. There are also stand-up comedian acts in a separate night club. Of course there's lots of FOOD! LOL

It was really hot on Grand Turk. The sun is very strong in the Bahamas. I enjoyed swimming in the beautiful blue ocean water while at Half Moon Cay. I also enjoyed the pools onboard. It's hard to come back to reality! :)

As soon as I can, I'll be reading all the comments which were made at this group while I was away. It's taking me a while to recuperate from all the activity. I'm not usually that active and my muscles are complaining. I've been sleeping a lot too. I guess I was just plain exhausted. But it was great fun and I'd do it again in a minute!

[Jim]

Glad you had fun, Joy.

[Werner]

Glad to have you back, Joy, and glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Thanks, Jim and Werner. And thanks to those who posted "bon voyage" wishes on another thread here.

I've browsed the conversations which took place while I was gone, but haven't the energy to write specific replies. So I'll pick up whenever I can at the other threads.

[Jackie]

You need a vacation from your vacation! You had an active time and now you can rest. Sounds like you had a great time.
My mother went a lots of cruises and loves them. She said the food is fabulous and there's lots to do.
I was 10 when I saw The Poseidon Adventure, it made a lasting impression, I don't think I'd ever go on a cruise, lol

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jackie, I tried not to think of what could happen if the ship sank. LOL At least we weren't crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. It's hard to believe that our country's Founding Fathers had to cross the ocean in sailboats with no engines! What courage!

Yes, the food on the ship was excellent, especially in the main dining room. The Carnival meals were so well presented and there were some interesting choices on the menus. I had my first frog legs as an appetizer! Delicious. (But I felt sorry for the poor frogs. ) I had Chateaubriand one night. The warm chocolate melting cake was to die for. If you wanted 2 desserts or 2 appetizers, they gave them to you! Needless to say, there are a lot of fat people on these cruises! LOL

[Nina]

Joy, Nice that you had that opportunity and that you took advantage of it. NOw that you are home you can relive it at your leisure and have fun all over again.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Yes, Nina, I'm reliving it over and over again. I found it very exciting. I really wish I weren't afraid to fly. There's so much to see all around the world. But then again, traveling certainly takes a lot out of you. It's for young people... or for people in better shape than I am! (lol) One thing about reading, you can do it sitting down. :)

[Nina]

Joy H. wrote: "Yes, Nina, I'm reliving it over and over again. I found it very exciting. I really wish I weren't afraid to fly. There's so much to see all around the world. But then again, traveling certainly tak..."Yes, and if the writing is good, you can really "be there."

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Yes, and if the writing is good, you can really 'be there.'"

So true, Nina.

“Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.” -Mary Schmich

[Jim]

Happy Mother's Day to those of you ladies who are. Mom told me not to call her today because she's busy getting ready for a Hunter Pace. Still going strong at 71.
;-)

Long day yesterday, but a good one. Erin graduated with Honors, Cum Laude, with a Bachelors in Agriculture Science & a teaching certificate for Kentucky. Super for a girl with dyslexia who was in special ed for reading in Elementary school.

500 miles of driving sucked, but it rained really heavily on the way back. About 1.5 hours out from home, we spent 30 minutes in really heavy rain. Not the way to end up a trip.

The weatherman had assured us it was going to be a sunny day, rain coming today after lunch, so we left the windows & back door open for air - didn't want the dogs to get too hot. We called a friend who said it wasn't raining, wasn't supposed to & didn't look like it was going to, but he'd go over & close our windows. He got here, a mile away, & the heavens opened up. So nothing got wet, thank goodness.

[Nina]

What a nice mother's day for your wife; and for you to have a daughter achieve this is spite of an earlier difficulty. You have good reason to be proud parents.

[Jackie]

Thank you Jim.
Happy Mother's Day to all you ladies.

Jim, what's a Hunter Pace?
Congrats to Eric, impressive girl you got there.

[Jim]

A Hunter Pace is a long course, 3 to 6 miles, that is timed for a 'best pace' across country, usually with lots of jumps, stream crossings & other obstacles. People ride the course & see who gets closest to the perfect time. Mom quite often sets the times for these events & lays out the courses.

They're similar to Steeple Chases, Point-to-Points, & Timber races. All evolved out of cross country riding to see who had the best/fastest horse & was the best rider. Both you & the horse have to be really fit to make it that sort of distance, even if it isn't a race for the fastest time, usually. They might give a prize for fastest time at some, but the 'pace' time is the highest honor.

[Werner]

I'll echo Jackie's congratulations to Erin, and join in wishing the moms in our group a happy Mother's Day. (And Jim, your mom sounds like a really special lady!)

[Jackie]

Wow, Jim, I'm totally impressed by your mother. You are surrounded by amazing women.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I'm finally chiming in here. Congrats to both Erin and your mom, Jim. Your mom is truly remarkable. Where did you drive to?

Thanks for all the wishes. I'm sending the same to you. It was a good day.

[Jim]

We had to drive down to Murray on Saturday for the graduation, Joy. It's about 250 miles (4 hours) each way, so we got up at 4:30am & got back home about 7:30 pm.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Thanks, Jim. I finally found a clear map online showing lots of KY cities, and including Murray in the south of KY:
http://geology.com/cities-map/map-of-...

For us, it's about 200 miles from Glens Falls to NYC. So now I can understand what a lot of driving that was for one day (250 miles each way!). Too much! But I'm sure it was worth it.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Hi everybody,
My modem is on the fritz.
I'm at our local public library connecting to the Net right now.
The repair man is due to come tomorrow to remedy the situation.
TTYS

[Nina]

Joy, when you are back on line try, Nexflix, "The Music Never Ends," Tony Bennet. It is a good program narrated by Clint Eastwood; also, Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra make apperances; and Ginger Rogers, scenes from Make Room for Daddy; Jimmy Durante and several others; Bing...too and ouis Armstrong, Harry Belafonte. It is worth it to hear I Left My Hear in San Francisco. I think I did.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Joy, when you are back on line try, Nexflix, "The Music Never Ends," Tony Bennet. It is a good program narrated by Clint Eastwood; also, Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra make apperances; and Ginger R..."

Nina, thanks for telling me about "The Music Never Ends". I see that it's streamable from Netflix!
"The Music Never Ends" (2007)
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/Tony_...
"Director Bruce Ricker and executive producer Clint Eastwood toast the storied career of legendary crooner Tony Bennett in this documentary tribute packed with live performance clips, archival footage and celebrity interviews. Featured personalities from Bennett's remarkable life and times include Mel Brooks, Martin Scorsese, Harry Belafonte, Don Rickles, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire and Judy Garland."

I've moved it to the top of my Instant Queue and I may watch it tonight! I'm in the mood to relax after finally getting a new modem and getting back in business on the Net. :)

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina, the Tony Bennett documentary was fantastic. Whoever put that together was a genius. It had the best of the best in all the pop musical entertainment world! Such extraordinary talents! It was thrilling the way they worked those classic dance scenes alongside the singing. Thank you so much for telling me about it.

[Nina]

Jim wrote: "Joy, on the way up, Marg gave me a 2 hour break, but on the way back, I only got a 30 minute break. I drive faster & don't sit still well without anything to do.

Actually, Chip isn't all that bad..."
Jim, An easy way to peek in at a beautiful ceremony. Bride lovely; groom handsome and oh the cute attendents; including the flower girls. Mom and Dad look pretty good also. It looks as if a great time was had by all. Hope it lasts through better and worse or do they say that anymore?

[Jim]

Thanks, Nina. I think George said something along those lines. I'm not sure what kind of preacher he is, but I've always found him long on common sense the few times we've spoken. I've known his wife & step-kids for 40 years & him for about 20, but he's always off doing something.

Donna's first husband, Perry, was the complete opposite of George. Where George is quiet & thoughtful, Perry was a hoot. He was one of the best orthopedic surgeons in MD before he retired, a wonderful banjo player & kind of a wild man in his time off. It's very odd how Donna switched gears.