my own private tourmalet

One of the common things people said when they wrote to me to sign up for the Tour was that sometimes the biggest challenge was simply finding time, or being able to take time, to sit down and spin.

I've certainly felt that the last few days.  This summer in particular, when I'm making an effort to put up food for next winter, I'm finding myself more at the mercy of the weather or the season, and less able to squeeze in more than a moment here or there for spinning.

I spent much of the weekend freezing sour cherries -- they just became available, and I needed to take care of them as soon as I got them home from the market.  Then this morning, my mum called to say my dad had picked some saskatoon berries, and would I like some?

Which meant driving out to pick them up, and then getting them ready for the freezer.

And every weekend will be like this, I know, from now until the fall.  And it's all right, because my goal this time around was not to accomplish any great feat, not to climb any great mountain; instead, I wanted simply to squeeze the spinning in here and there, not overdo things, and that's exactly how it's all working out so far.

There's actually one more spindleful already ready for plying, just waiting for this one.  I'll probably get to the plying by the end of the week.  No, I'm not setting any records, but that's okay -- I'm still getting to the top of the hill.  Just slowly, and steadily.

And now, I've got to go deal with some more saskatoon berries!

(P.S.  Tomorrow is a rest day for the tour.  You are, of course, invited to take one, too, but as the cyclists amongst us know, tour riders never really rest on a rest day, they just do a little less, so if you're feeling the need to keep going, maybe just take it easy tomorrow...I know I will be...)

Comments

[Dianna]

What are saskatoon berries? I've made "things" out of blackberries, raspberries (both black and red), gooseberries, June berries - but I've never heard of saskatoon berries!

I have finished two full bobbins! I think I'll ply before I go on to more spinning -- and it's easier and easier to spin for an hour at a time. Actually the time is flying by. I knew that today would be difficult due to the work schedule so I "pre-spun" for an hour extra yesterday; good thing since I left for work at 6 am and arrived home at 9pm today. No time (or energy) for spinning.

[katherine]

@Dianna -- saskatoons are kind of like blueberries in looks -- but they're a little more red than blue, and they taste different. They used to be available only on the Canadian plains, and used by Plains Indians in things like pemmican, but they've become immensely popular, and now there are places local to me that plant saskatoons as well as strawberries for Pick-Your-Own.

I'll likely use mine in muffins next winter, but they're great in pie, and make fablulous jam.

[katherine]

...and now that I've gone to look it up, it appears that saskatoon berries and juneberries are the same thing!

[Keena Golden]

It took some time for me to decide on a real challenge, other than spinning anything in Team Astana colors. In 2006 I was spinning Phonak colors however, and we know how that worked out...

Then it hit me. The challenge is to finally start a blog, to have someplace to share what I love with like-minded folk. Thanks for the inspiration! I hope it's not too late to add me to the list of participants!

[katherine]

@Keena -- of course not, I'm happy to add your newly minted blog to the list!