Spinning Wheel!!!!

While at the Salvation Army with my new found friend, Christine, who I met on http://www.girlfriendsocial.com/, I found a spinning wheel.  I said, I must buy it!  So I did.  And after looking on ebay, I apparently got a great bargain!

It's definitely not new.  If I had to guess, based on its hardware, I would say maybe 1960's, but what do I know of spinning wheels?  I'm so excited to start using it.  I got a good book at the library called Start Spinning.  I will also explore youtube.com.  And Yarnivore has private lessons on learning to spin - I need to price those.

My only concern is will my neck hold out?  I'm hoping so, because there's a lot of looking down with this, but leaning forward usually works for me.  Hopefully my stars and vertebrae will align right to spin!

I found a BUNCH of yarn, roving, and needle on craigslist for $35 - but it already sold :(.  I'm bummed.  All of this is new to me, so as I learn, you will, too.  Roving is apparently the clean, combed, and possibly colored wool that is ready to spin.  Raw wool comes off of sheep (or goats, rabbits, etc.).  It generally needs to be cleaned and combed.  Maybe they could genetically engineer colorful sheep. That'd be fun :).

Cheese update

Some of my cheese is coming of age.  The Cotija, which only takes 2 weeks, is like a Mexican Parmesan.  It's the same texture as Parmesan, but creamier and doesn't have the lipase (the stuff that makes cheese stinky).  Parmesan takes 1 year to age, Cotija 2 weeks.  Hmmm, I'm thinking Cotija from now on.

My Gouda is also ready to eat.  It tastes a lot like a sharp cheddar.  I don't think it's supposed to be that sharp, but it's still gouda to eat :).

Both cheeses are far superior to store bought cheese.  I'm happy :)

Neck update

My neck is doing much better!  Still have trouble sitting for long periods, bending, lifting, the usual.  But I can now sit in my husband's recliner.  It allows me to be in different positions which my neck likes.  So when one hurts, I lean back or forward to adjust.  I thought I'd never be able to sit  in a recliner again so I sold mine on craigslist :(.  But, doing better!