Tussah was lucky, and so were you and Bekah and Ariel and Ceilidh. I'm sending much love to you, and hopes that Ariel and Tussah are hanging out together in the dog-spirit world....

I think "Writing a Woman's Life" would make a great workshop for the next Story Circle Network memoir-writing conference (which is next April, right?). Maybe I'll organize a panel on self-publishing including you and others with varied experiences.

Kudos to you, Susan, for "dancing with the one who brung you" but also exploring new avenues. Are you going to offer a workshop on your experience at the next Story Circle Network conference in 2014? It would be a sell-out, I'm sure. And you've already got a great title in this post.

I got tears in my eyes reading about the Dreaming of Shetland eBook project, Deb. I'm thrilled that you have this innovative and dedicated support-group, and that they're helping make it possible for you to pursue your passion, which of course will benefit all of us. Yay! And what a treat it is to see your art peeking out from around the words. Those research notebooks are like any artist's illustrated sketchbooks, and would make intriguing eBooks themselves, just to show others how to present information graphically. (Yes, I can see the influence of Tufte, but you've developed your own systems for conveying number data visually and they're very compelling as images.) I'm excited for you and the work ahead.

Pencils to Theo Chocolate to St Kilda yarn--the thread being attentiveness to living thoughtfully and lightly, and making beauty as we go--lovely post! Thanks for the view of the world through your always interesting and informative perspective.

Snirk! I hadn't thought of the Border-collie-instincts part....

Oh, yeah. I love this post! Especially the Ram's head. Is that how you know it's the right direction--because you'll grow a full curl if you go that way? ;)

I figured choosing the locks for the Field Guide might give you a new perspective on the sheep breeds. As for the "Rhymes with Orange" comic, it was perfect timing for me too, as I start into learning finish carpentry to finish this house.... I'm sorry about your bandwidth issues, and hope they're resolved soon, but the testing itself sounds horribly taxing. :(

I think you're right about the re-photography. With the smaller format, it'll be critical to have clean, comparable shots. Sorry it means so much packaging for you though! BTW, you'd appreciation the comic that begins my latest blog post. It's about finding the equation to explain the difference between how long we think a project will take and how long it actually takes. ;) http://susanjtweit.com/2012/12/catching-up-keynote-comic.html/

Deb, I think if your samples are only missing three breeds, that's extraordinary. Great job! I can't wait to see how the new guide turns out. I'm sure it'll be as well-written and visually appealing as FNF.

Wow! What a brilliant idea. I clicked through to Susan's announcement and then spent a happy half-hour reading about Juniper Hill Farm. I love the scholarship to get more women into shearing school especially. Having helped out with lambing (always at two in the morning, always in a blizzard--what's with that?) and shearing earlier in my life, I can say that once you get involved with sheep intimately, they do tend to take hold of your heart. Thanks for the post about this, Deb!

Thanks for the field trip, Deb! What fun to meet the yaks and learn about their fiber and the yarns coming from it. That Yak/silk combo sounds wonderful. Your fingerless mitts are lovely too. And congrats on filling Explore 4 (v.2) beforehand--the participants are lucky to be working with you....

Deb, It sounds like the research for the workshop gave you new material for that wide-ranging book, and an expanded framework for understanding what I hope you'll be writing about someday. We've talked about doors opening from F&F, and it seems like they still are, and they're interesting ones that pay as well. I like that! BTW, that Cormo sweater is gorgeous! And looks wonderful on you. It's nice to see you looking relatively relaxed in the photo. (I realize it's only relatively, but still, given all you're dealing with, that's a big achievement.)

Wow! Congratulations. It's great to see the finished article after hearing about it on and off over the past year. I know you could have said a lot more, and I hope you'll get the chance to do that in book form one of these days, but I think amassing all of that breed and lineage information and then distilling it into an overview is a huge contribution. I love the photo of the Ryelands on the cover, too!

Deb, As I said on FB last night, I am so sorry for your friends. What a tragedy! The High Park Fire, and the other large fires burning in Colorado this summer, seem to me to be an example of the "perfect storm" of fire conditions: extreme drought drying soils, fuels, and atmosphere to tinderbox conditions, too many decades of successful fire prevention allowing natural fuels to build to dangerous levels, pine bark beetle cycles amplified by the above conditions, and too many people living in forests that can no longer be allowed to burn with regular small fires because of all of the development. Oh, and the warming and drying due to global climate change. That we can explain what's happening doesn't make it any less tragic, especially for your friends. May they find the support they need, and thank you for being part of that! (Don't forget to take care of you, too.)

Yikes. I don't think tomorrow's predicted weather is going to help much. it's cool and wet here in the PNW, and I imagine flying home tomorrow evening we'll get a pretty spectacular view of the fire. I wish I could bring rain with me, but I'm afraid this is our year of confronting the triple-threat of drought/global climate change/fuels build-up. Stay as cool as you can and as out of the smoke as you can.

Ay yi yi! If it's not one thing, It's another. I second Valerie's thought's about satellite radio. You tune it to a station that has music she'd enjoy and just leave it there. She can turn it on when she wants it on, and off when she doesn't. Volume would be a separate control, but it sounds like the noise levels in her room environment are likely to be pretty constant, and thus setting the volume might just well work. Remember to take time to breathe and take care of you....

I'm glad you got at least a small getaway, and tickled that in addition to the writing, you saw a few of your moose neighbors. I love that you were noticing fiber detail--moose yarn? They can move faster than you think, when they want to. I hope that shipping out Nomad Press books is helping the bottom line (or at least the space crunch) and the article is on its way to being out the door....

Oh, you made my decision about whether to walk to Concourse A when I fly out of DIA next weekend, or whether to go down to the train first--I want to see Shadow Happy! Thanks for letting us know about. And thanks to you and Becka for toting the luminaria makings to Seattle, and for joining the celebration of Richard's life that way. It was wonderful to have support from around the continent and in fact, the world. Happy being home! (Love the shoes, socks, and the rag rug...)

Yes, the wacky fence-characature artist is near Mullinville. The politics are almost as interesting as the figures, but it is rural Kansas, after all! There's actually some really rolling country south and east of there, and a great scenic highway (two lane, lightly traveled) to view it from. Welcome home to you and your laptop!

Woo-hoo! Lovely to see that article in print, and to see some of the sheep up close as it were. Those American Tunis surely are beautiful sheep!

And that is true work! I hope that SOAR is rewarding and that the days are not quite that long...

Congrats on having happy tomato plants this year. I hope they produce more than that one tiny tomato... And it's not "ripping off" my recipe when you use it! Enjoy the bounty of CSA basil and the pesto for winter. :~)

Well, I'm relieved that you're not bored... Kudos on being close to ready for SOAR--and surviving the prep work. Special kudos on being invited back for Knitting Daily TV--that's really cool! I know you don't have time, but it surely is great exposure. And I love the photo of the prickly-poppy flowers with the very green, not-at-all-camouflaged grasshopper. Talk about standing out! Remember to breathe...

I'm sorry that one doesn't look good, and I hope it perks up. Still, 26 ought to be enough if it doesn't. The photos are up, along with a plug for you. http://susanjtweit.typepad.com I think of documenting the wildflowers in our restored grassland yard as marking what's here now, as a record for the future. Ever the scientist, I guess, taking "field notes" on what's around me...