Making progress

My To Do list is not making rapid progress. I have no idea where the weekend went to and you would think that with a three day weekend at least some productivity might be observable – but no.

I actually spent quite  a lot of time chasing chickens. Now that they are being dosed on antibiotics and are getting better, they are much harder to catch. I have also spent a lot of time with Mr L  – showing him how a digital SLR camera works, installing and familiarising with Lightroom. Interestingly, and I am sure not a lot of people know this but the Lightroom licence allows for installation on two machines – we can share a copy at no additional expense.

Yesterday we took the bottles to the bottle bank and then played with cameras on the pier for a while. I tried out a 100-400 mm zoom lens and Mr L had some practice in snapping.

I like the long zoom as a portrait lens!

I also like it close up, with lovely blurry background

It isn’t too shabby as a general mid-distance lens either

I pointed it at the Holm of Elsness at 400 mm and though the pics are not worth sharing they did at least show me that there are at least seven sheep out there and that there was a seagull on the gable end of the ruin, not to mention a whole bunch of birds (shags? gannets? cormorants? – they all look the same to me) on the rocks.

We have made the decision to lash out on the 40D and associated kit and thereby help out a friend. I am looking forward to having a partner in crime when I go out shooting.

So, nothing much practical was done this weekend and I got up today still facing the blocking of the Argent curl

I managed no spinning at all and have yet to start the second half of the purple BFL but I did dig out the yellow doily, make repairs of that and begin forward progress again.

After lunch today I tackled the blocking. It was an interesting experience, made challenging by the fact that I could not find the majority of my T-pins. I found a few in a dish on a bookcase but my Altoids tin full of them is AWOL. I urgently need to sort out the  caravan so that I can find things and work efficiently. I need a better day than today for it though as I shall need to stack boxes outside while I work.

I brought the BSJ in from it’s blocking mat today and labelled it ready for the Show.  It’s not brilliant but it looks roughly OK and it’s something to fill a gap on the bench, if nothing else.

The List:

• attach buttons  [icon type=”glyphicon glyphicon-ok” color=”#4f168c”]
• wash and block BSJ [icon type=”glyphicon glyphicon-ok” color=”#4f168c”]
• spin second half of purple roving
• ply second half of purple yarn
• wash purple yarn
• finish Argent [icon type=”glyphicon glyphicon-ok” color=”#4f168c”]
• wash and block Argent  [icon type=”glyphicon glyphicon-ok” color=”#4f168c”]
• go to town and buy some real food CANCELLED
• organise the van to make a better space in which to work (urgent!)
• Write up The Changing Seasons for June
• count yardage in North Ron skeins  [icon type=”glyphicon glyphicon-ok” color=”#4f168c”]
• label North Ron skeins  [icon type=”glyphicon glyphicon-ok” color=”#4f168c”]