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As the sun set on Wednesday, in Chinle, we gathered at the Drapper home.Baby slept.Fire Ready.William Yahzee treated us to drumming and songs of the Navajo People(the Dine) and other tribes from the Southwest.He also played the flute and brought along some sheep...visual aids for a love song about herding sheep.The evening was to honor Teddy Drapper Sr.  codetalker form the second world war.William treated us to a song Teddy composed in Navajo when he witnessed the flag as it was raised on Iwojima.We danced the Navajo two- step and did the circle [...]

On a recent trip to Portugal I found much in common with Chinle, Arizona where I live now and that Eropean country.  OK maybe half of Portugal is bordered by the sea and I live in a desert but:Portugal Much of Portugal is rural.  All of Chinle is.  Both have free range live stock.ChinleBoth have amazing sunsets:Guess where the sun sets over the ocean?Yep we even have shells in the desert.  Possibly a billion years old.  They are not in the water.  Portugal?  They can be in water or on white sand beaches.Wind and [...]

Here is how I spent four days last week celebrating sheep.  Dying, carding, spinning wool, felting slautering sheep, cooking mutton and fry bread.  Lots of material for yarns weather you spin a yarn or weave a yarn....write a yarn or tell a yarn....Churro wool..lovely natural colors.Or hunt down the weeds and herbs and roots and leaves that give the yarn more color...it's all about detail.Time out for lunchPulling, carding, spinnng, felting- all a part of the story and getting the tension right.  Reworking it when you don't get it right.The setting counts too.

Here we are, Steve and I at the end of our 28 mile uphill climb on our road bikes on May 12.  It was a exhilarating ride and we took a moment at the top to take this photo and enjoy the endorphen high. Soon after, we were headed back down the canyon rim thinking about the hot tub, a glass of wine and dinner with freinds.  Little did we know...We were coasting down a winding 8% grade when I heard a groan behind me.  I stopped to check and found Steve unconscious [...]

Before life was on hold for a week or so after Steve's biking accident, I had another lovely adventure in the name of research.  And another day of sharing the canyon with friends.Use those canyon walls to make the herding a little easier.This scarecrow...sometimes sprayed with cheap cologne in hopes of scaring not crows but coyotes, mountain lions, bear away from the corral.This little guy born yesterday needs to learn how to suckle...Mom needs a lesson too.He is too young to get up the canyon on his own so he goes in a [...]

Yes, I could be cleaning up that manuscript or cleaning the house but cleaning the wool we sheared last week only happens once a year so off I go.An old bed spring makes for a simple tool to shake out the bits of dirt and cactus and sticks.  Pretty fundamental.This part shouldn't be that difficult and still I am sure I am not getting it right. But with 125 pounds of wool, you'd think I might catch on after a while. Must get it all done and off to Gallup today since the price [...]