LOVE THAT SILKY AL GORA!

Back at the dye pot. Today, it is more Silky Al Gora and the colors are cherry red and spring violet. It will be another berry color, but a different kind of berry.

Finally finished drum carding the last Silky Al Gora last night and spun a bit of it this morning. 2800 yards per pound for a two ply, according to Mr. McMorran. This stuff just begs me to spin it fine and the silk makes it easy to do. I'm beginning to get a hankering to spin enough to make another shawl. Crazy. That's me. What does one person need with three shawls? I don't even have the second one finished yet! (But I have been working on it. No pictures - too boring - but it is up to 35".) You know how it is - you're in a comfortable groove with the current project which allows your imagination to wander ahead. I'm glad that I'm an excellent project finisher. I will not start #3 until #2 is done.

Saw the movie Prairie Home Companion over the weekend. It's a fictionalized account of the radio show - in an alternate universe. I enjoyed the singing and storytelling and the inside joke concerning penguins. The cinema was in the newly built and already sprawling suburbs of New Albany. A landscape of concrete, pavement and strip malls but no sidewalks or trees. Ugh. It was a relief to come home to the country where the temperature was a good 10 degrees lower.

I do want to show you a photo of our dog Bonnie. We got her from the Atlanta Animal Shelter 5 months after we got married. She was 5 months old so it's easy to remember her age - almost thirteen. She's a blend of chow and probably Australian cattle dog and she's always been a smart, energetic and over all great house dog.

Since winter, she's lost much of her eyesight and hearing. She's gotten weak in her hindquarters. Until recently, she would rather chew off her leg than pee or poop in the house. Now, when the urge to poop comes upon her, she can't control it and just goes. She seems demented, too. She'll start slowly, painfully, pacing at 3 am and keep at it for two or three hours. She'll go into the back room and just bark. (I used to be able to distinguish her various barks. The "Bug" bark, the "I want to Play" bark, the "Someone's at the Door" bark. No more.)

This downward spiral has been gradual but quick and I worry about her. Sweetie and I are both agreed to take care of her no matter what. She's our baby, our girl, our firstborn - so to speak. She's been such a good dog to us.