I'm a little late today, for which I apologize. My dear husband and I spent most of the day at my mom's house, cleaning out one of her sheds. I have never seen so much rat poop in my life! Packrat poop, that is.

You know, the packrat poop was bad. So was all the bedding - they gutted a cushion, and ripped the bottom out of a dog bed. The worst thing, though, is unexpectedly finding bits of cholla among the mesquite beans, bedding, and prickly pear fruit.

Okay, so I knew I was going to go work my piddly 4 hours at the non-profit today, and I also knew that I was going to need a good laugh. After all, thirty miles round trip for a $44 paycheck doesn't really bring a smile to my face. Good thing it only happens twice a month.

So, the laugh came upon me unexpectedly this morning, while I was reading the online version of the local paper.

Giant inflatable turd wreaks havoc at Swiss art show

Say WHAT??

No, not that kind of quickie! We're on our way out the door to pick up some freecycle, and of course I didn't plan my WAYWO diary ahead!

I'll tell you what I've been doing this week, though, and I'll post pics when we get back. The latecomers will see them, anyway.

My pastel roving is more than half spun. Of the eight ounces, I'd guesstimate that I've spun about 7. One of my bobbins is full of singles; when I finish the rest, I'll ply them together and we'll see what happens. It's hard to figure out if I'm nervous or excited!

The other major project I'm in the middle of is a crocheted shawl, using my own handspun. It's looking pretty good, and I'm really pleased with it. My mother and sister like it so much, it may end up that I make more for Christmas presents.

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer

Remember that one? It's an oldie but a goodie which came out the year I was born. It was a staple of summer radio when I was a young girl, and it brings a fond smile when I think of it.

The other day, I was perusing the Freecycle postings, and came across an interesting post from a lady near Benson. She had sheared some of her llamas, and was giving away the fiber. GIVING IT AWAY!

Needless to say, I responded immediately, and was one of the three who got to share the fiber. We made arrangements with one of the other ladies, and off we went to the south side of town to pick up our share.

In my fantasies, I'm living with the man of my dreams. He adores me, I adore him, and we're as perfectly compatible as two different people can be.

Wait - I have that already. No need to dream of what's already here. Let's move on to a different fantasy. In this one, we have enough money coming in to live. Our little business is doing well. We actually have an emergency fund again.

Ah, sweet dreams. Now all we have to do is make them happen. While you all are reading the awesome comments that have been sent in today, we'll be working our little business. Thanks to all those wonderful comment submitters, you have something to read.

If you want to be one of the wonderful submitters, or just see a comment worthy of a wider audience, send it to TopComments @ gmail . com, and remember to tell us your Dkos handle so we can give you credit. If you feel REALLY ambitious, you can tell us why you're submitting it!

I don't have a lot to say today; I've been preoccupied with my spinning. A few days ago, I finished spinning the tiny piece of space-dyed roving.

Here's the roving:

Here it is spun:

The color is off - it's too bright - but it gives a good enough idea of what's done. I came up with 100 yds and, if I recall correctly, 1.4 ounces.

Lily, for those of you who don't know, is my sister's puppy. She's a cute mix of Chihuahua and Jack Russell terrier, we think. The Chihuahua part is obvious. She's a sweet little dog who loves cuddles, and barks fiercely at imagined intrusions into her human's space. Chihuahuas - even 8 pound wonders like Lily - know little fear.

Isn't she a cutie pie?

Recently, however, something has come into the house that has Lily worried.

It doesn't look threatening to me, but Lily sees it completely differently. When it first came into the house, it was innocently concealed in a plastic bag. And then it came out.

Last week, I told you the story of my dyeing adventure. This week, I'm sharing the photos.

Yesterday, we had our twice-monthly spinning get together, and my friend brought my dry and nicely braided rovings with her. I was still laboring away at my bag full of wool, but I'm getting through it. I'm ready for a change, though, so my newly dyed Rambouillet rovings will be a nice change.

Here in Arizona, we have our very own despot - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Crazy Joe thinks it's a good thing to feed his fellow humans outdated food (the famous "green bologna"), and to cut costs by feeding them this substandard sustenance only twice a day.

Crazy Joe has his own richly deserved page on Crazyspace. Just take a look at his "friends"!!

Last week, at our twice-monthly spinning get-together, a very nice woman named Amy invited me to her house to learn space dyeing and kettle dyeing. I was so excited! Everything I have learned about fiber arts (other than knitting and crocheting) I have learned from books and websites. This was my first chance to learn a new technique from a real live person.

So Rich and I set out for Amy's house. He wanted to come because he is interested in dyeing, too, though not wool. She lives on the other side of Tucson from us, so it was quite a drive. We waited through two interminable freight trains, battled heinous Saturday traffic, and finally found Amy's neighborhood, and then, her house.

Pizza pie, that is!  

I've spent part of the afternoon making pizza dough, and preparing to have three little girls top their own pizzas.

One, of course, wanted CHEEEEEEEESE!!! And nothing but CHEEEEEEEESE!!!

But, hey - she's six. It's almost a given, isn't it?

Middle child goes for the meat - pepperoni AND sausage! Should I have told her that the Italian sausage was chicken? Muhahahahah! This is a child who will NOT eat spaghetti sauce, or ravioli, or anything tomato sauce-y ... but pizza sauce is okay. Hmmm.

Oldest child, twelve, did a funky combo of the two little kids. Hers was half cheese, one quarter pepperoni, and one quarter sausage.

Kids are strange.

Fellow crafters and DIYers, I hope you got to spend some time this long holiday weekend enjoying your hobby. I did, and get to spend some time next weekend learning something new.

This weekend, we had our usual spinning group meeting, with an extra. We had a potluck! The hostess provided goatburgers, and we all brought something. I got nearly a full bobbin spun, and enjoyed watching Kathy teach four teens how to use a drop spindle. Two walked away with a desire to do more, and their grandma bought them each a drop spindle and some fiber to spin.

This is the document that started the ball rolling, the group far from their ancestral homes who eventually became the juggernaut known as the United States of America.

It's summer vacation time. The kids are out of school and running wild in the streets sitting in front of the TV and computer. Friends are packing up and driving away, off to spend a week with family. We will soon be doing the same thing; the last week of July, we'll be riding over the mountains and through the boring west Texas landscape to visit my brother in San Antonio.

At least Texas Canyon will be interesting ...

Oops! that's in Arizona!

Yesterday, I spent most of the day at my friend Kathy's. I was one of 8 visitors (three male) who came for a spin-in. We set up in her workshop, and I got to watch the wheels & spindles fly.

One of the men was a guest of his sister. She is an expert spinner who likes to spin laceweight. He picked up a spindle for the first time at the spin-in. He did really well, too, making two spindles full of usable yarn while he was there.

Yep, we all scream for ice cream!

Now that the temperature in Tucson has risen to a hellish level, and plans to stay that way this week, my thoughts are turning to everyone's favorite frozen treats.

Here is a fun history of ice cream, dating from flavored frozen snow. Yeah, that's not really ice cream, though is it? Another, more factual-seeming history can be found at this site.

For all you dads out there, and the moms and kids who love them, Happy Father's Day! I hope your family made you feel special and showed you how much you are loved.

On the craft front, I'll bet some dads got hobby materials today. Home Depot has been relentlessly running commercials of men drooling over tools. You'd think men never did any other kind of crafting, wouldn't you?