I got into SOAR (Spin Off's Autumn Retreat) this year. SOAR is an annual spinning conference that is probably the largest in the world. The top instructors teach there. If you spin, this is the place to be.
http://www.interweave.com/spin/events/soar/
My getting in this year was due to luck (and statistical probability). A lot more people applied to go this year compared to the number of available spots. They had a 5 day period in April where they accepted applications. From those applications, they selected by random drawings who got to attend. Some of it is related to the popularity of the classes you are interested in taking.
SOAR consists two separate parts. The first part is a three day intensive course. They have several choices available. Participants are able to list three choices in order.
The second part of SOAR is two days of half day classes. That is just strictly a numbers game. You don't choose the classes until you are at SOAR.
To me, with the price of travel, it only makes sense to attend both parts. The location changes every year. This year it is in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. Next year it is in Bend, Oregon. Last year it was in Michigan.
Got to have something to look forward to. I've been keeping really busy with the pet sitting and dog walking. Yes, I am walking dogs in the middle of the day and the highs last week were in the upper 90's to 101. The heat here is a wet heat, so it makes it feel quite a bit hotter.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Yes, It has been forever since I posted
Yes, it has been forever since I posted a blog entry. Farset and work have been keeping me insanely busy. I've also been trying to complete some knitting projects. I made a fancy diagonal mohair scarf for my DH's aunt. I just finished my first real sock. I started last spring. I am not real thrilled with how it turned out. I definitely need to practice my kitchner stitch.
Farset turned 8 months old last weekend. She is about 115 pounds (and has remained so for the last 3 weeks) and about 30 inches tall. She is going to be a big girl.
More later including pictures.
Farset turned 8 months old last weekend. She is about 115 pounds (and has remained so for the last 3 weeks) and about 30 inches tall. She is going to be a big girl.
More later including pictures.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Dog Show Week
It has been a week of dog shows. They started on Tuesday and will continue until Sunday. I have been insanely busy consequently. Fortunately, I'm only showing Lagan in the real shows. I will be showing Farset on Friday evening (assuming that her sprained ankle is better) at basically a practice match. Just like a real match, but without the points and usually helpful tips. My BIL handled Lagan on Tuesday, we came in second out of two. After showing Lagan on Tuesday, my sister had me bring Lagan over to her barn and we stripped the heck out of him (mostly my sister) and then gave him a bath. He certainly looks better, but if it weren't for the shows, I wouldn't go to all the trouble.
I handled Lagan on Wednesday with the same result as Tuesday. My sister gave me constructive criticism afterwards. I handled Lagan again today with a similar result, third out of three. I arrived late and really didn't have my head together, so I am not surprised that we didn't do very well today. I tried to remember as much as I could from what my sister said. I do think that it helped.
As of Friday, the shows become really big. There will be 25 Irish Wolfhounds competing on Saturday. I don't think that I have ever seen that many in a show.
On top of the dog shows, I have dog walks and pet sitting to do too. I have also been walkign Lagan and Farset in the afternoons. Lagan may get some exercise, but Farset hasn't and gets a little explosive. So for her sake, I try to get them both out too. And if you have ever seen our driveway, it is a good cardio workout just getting to the street.
I certainly have been getting a lot of exercise. Since I am not getting any thinner, in my opinion, it just reinforces the message from the "Good Calories, Bad Calories" book. When you exercise more, you get hungrier to compensate. I have been trying to cut out the carbs, but they are truly an addiction at this point. It is going to take some non-super stressful time to get past the hump. If I can make it for three days, things begin to get much easier.
I love my dogs. They can just be a little challenging at times. Trying to handle them myself and work full time and do anything else is a struggle right now. The shows will be over on Sunday, then back to once a week handling practice. I do want to enter them in the Hound show in early May. Farset will be old enough to show by then. I will need someone else to handle one of the dogs in case we do really well. With them being different genders, they don't initially compete against each other. It would only be an issue if they both won their groups.
I am also craving fiber arts. I did actually finish spinning my yak/dyeing experiements yarn. My goal was fluffy and soft and I think that it accomplished that. I had no interest in making it really uniform or anything along those lines. I still haven't gotten a photo of it yet.
I handled Lagan on Wednesday with the same result as Tuesday. My sister gave me constructive criticism afterwards. I handled Lagan again today with a similar result, third out of three. I arrived late and really didn't have my head together, so I am not surprised that we didn't do very well today. I tried to remember as much as I could from what my sister said. I do think that it helped.
As of Friday, the shows become really big. There will be 25 Irish Wolfhounds competing on Saturday. I don't think that I have ever seen that many in a show.
On top of the dog shows, I have dog walks and pet sitting to do too. I have also been walkign Lagan and Farset in the afternoons. Lagan may get some exercise, but Farset hasn't and gets a little explosive. So for her sake, I try to get them both out too. And if you have ever seen our driveway, it is a good cardio workout just getting to the street.
I certainly have been getting a lot of exercise. Since I am not getting any thinner, in my opinion, it just reinforces the message from the "Good Calories, Bad Calories" book. When you exercise more, you get hungrier to compensate. I have been trying to cut out the carbs, but they are truly an addiction at this point. It is going to take some non-super stressful time to get past the hump. If I can make it for three days, things begin to get much easier.
I love my dogs. They can just be a little challenging at times. Trying to handle them myself and work full time and do anything else is a struggle right now. The shows will be over on Sunday, then back to once a week handling practice. I do want to enter them in the Hound show in early May. Farset will be old enough to show by then. I will need someone else to handle one of the dogs in case we do really well. With them being different genders, they don't initially compete against each other. It would only be an issue if they both won their groups.
I am also craving fiber arts. I did actually finish spinning my yak/dyeing experiements yarn. My goal was fluffy and soft and I think that it accomplished that. I had no interest in making it really uniform or anything along those lines. I still haven't gotten a photo of it yet.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Fiber Craft Overload
I have quite a bit of space in one large bedroom to use as a craft room. When we first moved in, I sorted all of my craft things into boxes with the intent to put them away once I had a better idea of how I wanted my room to function and obtained the appropriate storage.
Well, the Vet Tech program at Central Carolina Community College happened, and I didn't do anything craft oriented for the year I was attending the program. Since then, I have been working out of the boxes. I started to get more involved in knitting and actually bought yarn from stores (rather than spinning it myself). I had a small dresser that worked pretty well to store it. I kept buying yarn as I learned more. Most of my early yarn purchases were novelty yarns. I have quite a lot of that kind of stuff, especially since I most of my yarn purchases were from AC Moore and in the beginning, I would buy enough yarn to do a particular project 2 or 3 times (usually in different colors).
I worked for Nancy of Nancy's Knit Knacks for about a year and learned a lot more about knitting and the fiber arts business and just how hard it is to make a living in the fiber arts business. I have been involved with dog training and my own pet sitting and dog walking business since then. So I have spend up until the last 3 months staying busy with that.
After getting a little overwhelmed with the pet side of my life, I am finally back to doing more crafty kinds of things. Farset, our 5 month old puppy, has made it almost impossible to spin up until now, but I have been able to knit. I have been doing enough knitting to have a better understanding of yarn and how to use it in projects.
I am in the process of sorting through my craft room/office finally. I have sorted the yarn into the different sizes. I used a WPI (wraps per inch) tool to determine the size and attached it as a small label on the yarn. Not all yarn marked Worsted or DK or fingering is actually the size the label claims it is.
Now I just have to find homes for it all. Plus I need to finish going through everything else in my sewing room/office so that I can actually get some things accomplished. I really need to have an additional table set up. My desk/table contains two monitors, a desktop, and a dysfunctional printer. There really isn't room for much else.
I have a knitting machine that I would like to set up. I have a drum carder that I would actually like to use on occasion. I really need to have a ball winder and swift set up all the time. I just remind myself that I have to take it one day at a time. I really need to find someone to help out with the dog walking. It is hard to grow my business (and find time for crafts) when I am working all the time.
Well, the Vet Tech program at Central Carolina Community College happened, and I didn't do anything craft oriented for the year I was attending the program. Since then, I have been working out of the boxes. I started to get more involved in knitting and actually bought yarn from stores (rather than spinning it myself). I had a small dresser that worked pretty well to store it. I kept buying yarn as I learned more. Most of my early yarn purchases were novelty yarns. I have quite a lot of that kind of stuff, especially since I most of my yarn purchases were from AC Moore and in the beginning, I would buy enough yarn to do a particular project 2 or 3 times (usually in different colors).
I worked for Nancy of Nancy's Knit Knacks for about a year and learned a lot more about knitting and the fiber arts business and just how hard it is to make a living in the fiber arts business. I have been involved with dog training and my own pet sitting and dog walking business since then. So I have spend up until the last 3 months staying busy with that.
After getting a little overwhelmed with the pet side of my life, I am finally back to doing more crafty kinds of things. Farset, our 5 month old puppy, has made it almost impossible to spin up until now, but I have been able to knit. I have been doing enough knitting to have a better understanding of yarn and how to use it in projects.
I am in the process of sorting through my craft room/office finally. I have sorted the yarn into the different sizes. I used a WPI (wraps per inch) tool to determine the size and attached it as a small label on the yarn. Not all yarn marked Worsted or DK or fingering is actually the size the label claims it is.
Now I just have to find homes for it all. Plus I need to finish going through everything else in my sewing room/office so that I can actually get some things accomplished. I really need to have an additional table set up. My desk/table contains two monitors, a desktop, and a dysfunctional printer. There really isn't room for much else.
I have a knitting machine that I would like to set up. I have a drum carder that I would actually like to use on occasion. I really need to have a ball winder and swift set up all the time. I just remind myself that I have to take it one day at a time. I really need to find someone to help out with the dog walking. It is hard to grow my business (and find time for crafts) when I am working all the time.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Pictures Finally - How big is she?
I finally got a chance to process some pictures of Farset.
She looks very puppyish in these pictures. You don't really get an idea of scale.
Here is a photo of Lagan and her together. You still don't really get a good idea of her size.
Since I am usually taking pictures, I am not usually in them. I have a photo of Farset graduation photo that includes me. All of these pictures have been taken in the last 2 weeks.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Farset Graduates from Puppy Class
Farset graduated from puppy class on Wednesday.
She is now about 4 ½ months old (20 weeks) and up to 68 pounds. At this point, there better be a darn good reason for me to pick her up. Getting her into the car when Lagan is in the car is one of those reasons.
Farset started the class when she was 10 weeks old. The instructor, the other student, and I figure that Farset gained 40 pounds while in the class. She went from a small harness to a large harness during that time. When we started the class, she was smaller than her classmate, a cocker spaniel. When we finished, she was so big the cocker spaniel could walk under her and had been able to do so for several weeks. I just wish we had taken a before and after picture. I do have an after picture that I will eventually post.
She learned so much in that class. Things that were never covered in all of the obedience classes that I had taken with Lagan. I haven't decided if I am going to move her up to the intermediate class soon or if I want to wait a little while. I would like to work on conformation (what they judge in dog shows)with Lagan and her. There is a class on Tuesday nights
at a different place. It is a drop in kind of class, you just go when you can.
I would also like to take Lagan through the intermediate class. He could use the practice.
It figures that a week before the end of class, Farset "forgot" the "down" command. She also forgot how to stay. She is driving me crazy in that respect. I think that it is just a matter of working through it. Some of it is due to her wanting to be close to me. Right now, she inevitably breaks a stay or wait when I am out of view. So we have been working on all of it here at home.
There are two practice matches coming up. One at the fairgrounds on Feb 23rd and one at the Durham Kennel Club on March 8th. I really want to enter her in both of them. I would love to bring both her and Lagan to the event at the fairgrounds on Saturday, but there is no way for me to handle both of them in that kind of situation. I can do ok when they are both just walking around outside, but not with a big crowd inside. Yet another thing to practice.
So much to do, so little time.
She is now about 4 ½ months old (20 weeks) and up to 68 pounds. At this point, there better be a darn good reason for me to pick her up. Getting her into the car when Lagan is in the car is one of those reasons.
Farset started the class when she was 10 weeks old. The instructor, the other student, and I figure that Farset gained 40 pounds while in the class. She went from a small harness to a large harness during that time. When we started the class, she was smaller than her classmate, a cocker spaniel. When we finished, she was so big the cocker spaniel could walk under her and had been able to do so for several weeks. I just wish we had taken a before and after picture. I do have an after picture that I will eventually post.
She learned so much in that class. Things that were never covered in all of the obedience classes that I had taken with Lagan. I haven't decided if I am going to move her up to the intermediate class soon or if I want to wait a little while. I would like to work on conformation (what they judge in dog shows)with Lagan and her. There is a class on Tuesday nights
at a different place. It is a drop in kind of class, you just go when you can.
I would also like to take Lagan through the intermediate class. He could use the practice.
It figures that a week before the end of class, Farset "forgot" the "down" command. She also forgot how to stay. She is driving me crazy in that respect. I think that it is just a matter of working through it. Some of it is due to her wanting to be close to me. Right now, she inevitably breaks a stay or wait when I am out of view. So we have been working on all of it here at home.
There are two practice matches coming up. One at the fairgrounds on Feb 23rd and one at the Durham Kennel Club on March 8th. I really want to enter her in both of them. I would love to bring both her and Lagan to the event at the fairgrounds on Saturday, but there is no way for me to handle both of them in that kind of situation. I can do ok when they are both just walking around outside, but not with a big crowd inside. Yet another thing to practice.
So much to do, so little time.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Life has been busy
I know that it has been a while since my last post. Things have been really busy. I am walking lots of dogs every week day and the pet sitting is picking up again too. The economy seems to have significantly affected personal travel and is causing people to cut back on the extras. When talking to friends and acquaintances who own small businesses, they are feeling it too. I do have enough business that I need to add a dog walker or two soon, and hopefully a pet sitter by the end of March.
Farset continues to grow. As of last Wednesday, she is up to 62 pounds. She only gained 2 pounds during that week. I expect her growth to slow down a little bit.
We will be going to the fairgrounds on Feb 23rd to participate in a B match. The AKC is hosting an event at the Dorton Arena. You can find out more at: https://www.akc.org/news/index.cfm?article_id=3425 B matches are for inexperienced dogs to get some practice being in the ring without the points. They allow puppies as young as 3 months old, so it will be perfect for Farset.
There are regular dog shows at the fairgrounds from March 18 through 23. I will only be able to show Lagan since puppies need to be at least 6 months old before they are able to go into the regular match. I plan to showing Lagan and Farset at the hound show at the fairgrounds on May 11 & 12th. That assumes that I have an additional handler.
Farset continues to grow. As of last Wednesday, she is up to 62 pounds. She only gained 2 pounds during that week. I expect her growth to slow down a little bit.
We will be going to the fairgrounds on Feb 23rd to participate in a B match. The AKC is hosting an event at the Dorton Arena. You can find out more at: https://www.akc.org/news/index.cfm?article_id=3425 B matches are for inexperienced dogs to get some practice being in the ring without the points. They allow puppies as young as 3 months old, so it will be perfect for Farset.
There are regular dog shows at the fairgrounds from March 18 through 23. I will only be able to show Lagan since puppies need to be at least 6 months old before they are able to go into the regular match. I plan to showing Lagan and Farset at the hound show at the fairgrounds on May 11 & 12th. That assumes that I have an additional handler.
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