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Kimberly Brubaker Bradley  It's been a difficult few weeks at the Bradley house. My husband ruptured his Achilles tendon while coaching our son's basketball practice two weeks ago--tons of pain, emergency surgery, and a long recovery hampered by the shoulder surgery he had two months ago. So. He needs lots of help for daily activities--he just resumed driving yesterday, and he won't be able to climb stairs or fully dress himself for a couple of weeks, at least. He also usually does a lot of work around the house that he can't now do. The children have helped a great deal, and our supporting network of friends have come through for us over and over again, but of course it's changed my schedule quite a bit. I've decided that really, wool is the answer. When I'm feeling stressed, the answer is wool. I can spin it. I can knit it. I can swathe my body in it from head to toe and go ride my horse even in the crummy cold weather we've had of late. I can even go on-line and buy more of it, just to get me through this challenge. Wool is the answer. One of the things I knit was a little toe-cover for Bart's cast. His toes were sticking out, and freezing, and the cut-off tube sock wasn't enough to keep them warm. I went through my stash and found some bulky alpaca yarn, warm and cozy and not itchy at all. The only downside was that it was bright blue. But better a blue toe-cover than blue toes. Riding: a fair bit, all things considered. I was supposed to take a jump lesson this morning, but the ground's frozen hard, so we're postponing until tomorrow. I need to start scheduling my events, but I can't find my Omnibus, which lists the show calendar. The house is a bit disheveled. Writing: After a small break, I'm back working on a new story. It's not the new one I was working on a few weeks ago--that's still back in the shop for repairs. (ie, I'm thinking about it). Reading: Mmm! I've started reading Marian Keyes Irish chick-lit books, and I've also just discovered Morris L. West, who died 10 years ago. He wrote a lot of books--I read The Devil's Advocate, and loved it so much I've started Shoes of the Fisherman. Knitting: Rockin' Sock Club January socks, nearly finished. Cashmere house socks, one down, one to go. Spinning: a lovely Lisa Souza dyed silk/merino blend, that I bought at Stitches last year and just dug out of my closet. Weaving: The loom is folded and set against the wall in my office, to make room for Bart's rented hospital bed. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! P.S. I realized in my last post, I forgot to put where I got the heading. My son is writing an autobiography for school, and he let me read part of it. He wrote: "Everyone in my family shares the work we do. We make time to eat dinner together every night. It is a blessed and beautiful life." This made me so happy, because two of the cornerstones of our family life are that we all work, and that we eat dinner (and, nearly always, breakfast) together. The kids do chores every day--not token chores, but real ones. And we eat dinner together if it means I pick up fast food and meet Bart at the ballpark with it, and we eat in the car before Matthew's game begins. I've always thought that eventually these things would mean something to Matthew and Katie; I'm glad they mean something now. Don't I always say I'm going to update more often? ROFL..... I figured out that it's because, if I'm writing, I'd rather be writing my novel. But I'm officially "between" novels right now, and the one I started last week is putting up a good fight--I figured out a major issue that I have to resolve before I restart (the first attempt will be consigned to the circular file), and I'm working on that in my head for a bit. It's coming, it's just not quite what I thought it would be. It never is. Book stuff: The Lacemaker and the Princess is on a third printing. Leap of Faith is on a second printing, and is a finalist for the Cybil award for middle school books. Cybils are internet-blog awards. I don't know sales data for The Perfect Pony, but at every booksigning this year little girls would see the cover and shriek, "PONY!" and I don't think that can be a bad thing. I've got one recent short novel shelved because it's not quite good enough. I wrote it for my son Matthew, and it's okay with me if he's the only person who reads it. I've written a draft of a book about uber-pony Theodore O'Connor, but it seems the publisher who would be best for it wants to see if he makes the Olympics (yes, a true pony in the Olympics!) first, so we're waiting. Then I've got another manuscript in submission that I think will fly. However, for the first time in a long time, I don't have anything in the pipeline--I probably won't have a book published in 2008, thus breaking the at-least-one-book-a-year streak I started in 1998. I'm trying not to mind, but I do. A little. Meanwhile the horse strained a back muscle in late fall and had some time off to recover; we're working on regaining fitness now. Gully's a Connemara, and they don't keep fit as easily as Thoroughbreds do--so we have to work hard. Logan's started talking spring show schedule to me, but my calendar doesn't fit with the event calendar in the way I'd like. I am going back to camp this summer, which thrills me. I knit a zillion Christmas gifts, and then some birthday socks for Katie, which I just finished on her birthday, January 14th. Now I'm working on my latest Rockin' Sock Club socks, and doodling with an Olympic sock design. Two friends are good shots to make the 2008 Eventing Olympic team (one on the aforementionned pony) and I want to make them good-luck socks. Spinning--weaving--I started to weave some Christmas gifts and realized that it was wicked hard to do because I had the tension screwy and the thread was very fine. I shut down the loom and am going to retie the front warp, and hope that fixes it, but I haven't gotten there. And I traded an unwanted Christmas gift online for a pound of pure white Merino fiber, but haven't spun it yet. All the animals are good. Winter is the hardest time on a farm, but we've started to think about the garden plans for spring, and it won't be long. My daughter's favorite sweater. Socks for my son and husband. My favorite shawl (think cashmere security blanket) for me. So, two weeks ago I was thrilled when we got a day of rain. Guess what? It wasn't enough. In fact, it was all the rain we got in September. Three-quarters of an inch. Normal September rainfall is nearly three inches. So the worst drought in history for my region gets worse. I'm fortunate in that I can afford enough high-priced hay to feed the animals I'm responsible for(high-priced because it has to be transported here from areas with excess hay and no drought: I bought 30 tons from west of Knoxville, which came on two big tractor-trailer loads. The hauling can cost more than the hay itself.), but a lot of local farmers and horsepeople are really struggling. There's been a big uptick in abused horse cases around here, because people simply can't afford to feed them. The last U.S. slaughterhouse, in Illinois, just closed down--and believe me, I think that's a good thing--but it means that there aren't any "kill" buyers at auctions anymore, which means these thin grade horses are being sold for, like, $40. It's awful. I wouldn't go near Kingsport Sales right now for any amount of money. I'd come home sobbing with as many horses as I could cram in the trailer. Meanwhile, I'm writing away, but in no mood to discuss the work in progress. I've read a few really amazing books lately. Born On A Blue Day; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; A Countess Below Stairs; Animals in Translation. Oooh, those were all good. This week I was very excited about the release of Naomi Novik's fourth Temeraire book, and Robin McKinley's new Dragonhaven. I loved the Temeraire, except for the ridiculous cliffhanger ending (5th book due out Summer '08); I finished Dragonhaven last night and am still thinking it over. It's very very different from anything else McKinley's done. I mostly like it. I hope to have some more profound thoughts about it soon. Knitting: socks. Weaving: nothing. Spinning: goat hair. Riding: heading to the JumpStart horse trials, in Lexington, KY, on Friday. At Training level, which despite the name is pretty high up the totem pole. The levels go: Beginner Novice, Novice, Training, Preliminary, Intermediate, and Advanced. Advanced is Olympic level. My goal is to someday do Prelim. Someday--several years from now. I sheared one and a half goats last week before the clippers gave out, so today I have to go buy more clipper blades. The half-shorn goat looks hilarious out in the field. Current mood:  loved.
Well, I swear, I'll start updating more often. It was a good summer except for the horrible drought, the worst our region has had ever, not what you want the summer you open a boarding barn. But last week Hurricane Humberto kindly sent us an entire day of rain. It was the first rain we'd had in six weeks. It may have saved my pastures from dying entirely. We'll see. Meanwhile, critical response to both my new books, The Lacemaker and the Princess, and Leap of Faith, has been excellent; though it's early to tell, sales seem good too. Last Monday I spoke at Farragut Intermediate School in Knoxville, TN, and kids kept coming into the library asking for, "that book where the girl stabbed somebody." Um, yeah. That would be my religious book. Kind of humorous, really. Right now I'm working on a book about Theodore O'Connor, the greatest eventing pony of all time, and a memoir about myself and my best friend in middle school. I've finished a draft of the Theo book. The memoir goes slowly, at least today; I'm at a sad part. Fortunately my dog Polly came to cheer me up, and is sitting on my lap as I type this. Riding news: Gully has moved up to Training level! We managed to get 100 penalty points while still jumping clear cross country, which is pretty darned hard to do, but I'm wicked pleased with us. Our friend Donna Smith is coming to the farm this weekend to teach a clinic, and we'll compete again two weeks after that, at Jump Start horse trials in Kentucky. I plan to go for a double-digit score (like golf, lower is better). Fiber: Weaving is at a small standstill, though I'll go back to it soon. I'm on a sock-knitting kick, fueled in part by my membership in the Rockin' Sock Club. Yesterday I got out my swift and my ball winder and wound off about a dozen skeins that I hope will be Christmas projects. Reading: The last Harry Potter rocked. I've also been reading a lot by Eva Ibbotson, finding her delightful. I loved Born On A Blue Day, which I read for my bookclub. And right now I'm partway through both 1776 and In Another Time (?), a book about the Roosevelts in WWII. Library Lady: Range Elementary looked great when we finished. We'd weeded all the dreck out of the collection, rearranged everything, shelved all the books logically, and added tons and tons of new stuff, most of it donated, including a brand-new World Book Encyclopedia. We took down all the stuffy prints and put up book posters. Much better! Also, every child who registered got three or four new books to keep, and next week they'll get a few more, thanks to First Book. The Janie Hammit library is thriving, too. I'm taking pizza there tonight. Again because of First Book, the girls have gotten more books to keep. I can tell that the culture of the place is changing--more and more girls are reading. I'm really proud of this. More soon! Before spring! I've posted here about the library at the Janie Hammit home. Since then, I've become even more of a library advocate. (The Hammit girls call me "library lady,"--and I like it.) In May I had the opportunity to do a full week of school visits in Johnson City, which is about 30 minutes from my hometown. It was a great week--lots of very good schools, and all of them well prepared. One school stuck out, however, because to be honest I'd no idea that there were public schools in this country so completely underfunded. It's a little rural K-8 school in a poor county next to the county Johnson City itself is in--94% free lunch--my visit was paid for by grant money, and a different grant bought each teacher a single copy of one of my books, for classroom use. I asked the principal about time for book signing, when we reviewed the schedule, and she said very gently that these kids weren't going to be buying books. They had neither the money nor the background. So, I brought a bunch of books and we gave them away, randomly, in a free raffle. The kids were excited and it was a good time. But I had a peek at the library while I was there, and I was horrified. The school as a whole--bad facilities, good kids (almost all kids are good), good faculty trying hard so far as I could tell. Horrible, awful, horrible library. No librarian--an aide instead, who dislikes reading. When I left I couldn't get the library out of my mind, so I emailed the principal and offered help, and she was more than gracious--she was thrilled. I emailed Karen Breen, editor of the children's portion of Kirkus Reviews, whom I am priveleged to call a friend, and she sent me a couple of big cartons of brand new glossy books. I sent off for grants, and I've arranged to go in there and start cleaning and sorting and generally raising hellfire. I decided that this sort of thing is something I am called to do. So I signed up with First Book, an organization that gives away books to children. I had to come up with a name, so I chose A Houseful of Books Appalachia. The Houseful of Books part comes from "A life without books is like a house without windows." I forget who said that, but I love it. Appalachia because I live there. I have a nice cushy life, but when you get out to places like this elementary school, not far from me--the mountains and fields and sky are so lovely, and the opportunities so few. Yesterday I was granted 846 books. When they come, I'll sort them out by age level and give them away. Every kids in that elementary school, every girl at Janie Hammit, will get half a dozen books to keep forever. I am so happy. We don't count in calendar years around here so much as academic years. So this is my new year's resolution: to make this a true blog by posting a LOT more often. Lately my life has reminded me of a line in the new Daughtry song: "Careful what you wish for, you just might get it all." We're really busy, and really happy, and really busy, and at the same time, we're all pretty good at relaxing. Usually as soon as I've got my pajamas on in the evening my work is done--I won't do anything more strenuous than an expert Sudoko puzzle. And I've been known to put on my pajamas at 6 pm. We've started a business boarding barn, Walnut Ridge. So far it has 2 boarders, both of whom work for me...but it's going to be gorgeous, and I'm looking hard for an eventing instructor, and I think we're going to have a big time. Donna Smith, an eventer who rode at the World Equestrian Games for New Zealand, came to teach a clinic in March, and we liked her so much we're having her back in September. Meanwhile, Gully and I got eliminated at our last event when I stupidly fell off in show jumping. Wasn't his fault, poor horse.... And now I'm going to sign off, and post more tomorrow. I promise. Or, at least, I resolve. It's snowing, great big goosefeathers of snow. I didn't need an incentive not to ride today, but if I did, there it is. Gully hates getting snow in his ears. Katie's been sick for three days, but is back at school today, and I've been snuggled down with laundry, dogs, and fiber. Mmmm. Update to a bunch of stuff: Writing: just send off a manuscript, Matthew's Rain Forest Diary. It's a second draft. Can't tell if they'll like it or not, but I do. The Perfect Pony comes out in March, so I'm waiting for reviews right about now. The Lacemaker and the Pricess comes out in May, and Leap of Faith in July. Reading: I've been reading lots, of course--always am--but right now can't think of a thing lately that's stuck in my head. I'm reading Travel Team to Matthew, at his insistence because he keeps telling me I need to read it and I haven't yet, and I'm reading Lyddie to Katie, which is one my favorite books. Trying to start research on a Revolutionary War-era book. I haven't read any of the Newbery books this year, a record. Knitting: Christmas knitting--a flurry of scarves, mitts, and socks--now over, I'm knitting a few pairs of socks (one travel, one home) while I wait for two great events: my first installment of the Rockin' Socks Club, and Stitches West, a giant yarn and fiber convention in California that I'm going to with Sam. Since we are co-enablers of yarn (and books) we ought to have a grand old time. Weaving: Finishing up the dish cloths. Next project with be a new set of altar cloths for the church. Father Tim is highly skeptical, the unbeliever, but I think they'll be gorgeous. I'm using the dish cloths to experiment with a few things, and also practice my form. Spinning: I've been experimenting here with trying to spin thick yarn, in a woolen rather than worsted fashion, out of some of the lovely heather white top I got from Polly and Pippa last spring. (Ohio Valley Fibers processed it.) I plied the first 60 yards this morning. It looks like someone tried to teach monkeys to spin, with limited success. At the same time I'm strangely fond of it. Don't know what I'll do with it, but it's begging to be hand-dyed. I had an email today from Ohio Valley Fibers that my mohair has been cleaned, picked, and carded, and is on its way back to me. I can't wait to see it. This is the fleece from the first shearing of my two angora goats, Buckner and Clinton, last fall. I shear the fleece from the animal and toss it, flithy dirty, into a box, mail it off, and it comes back ready to spin. The goats gave 6 pounds of raw fiber and I'm getting back 4 1/2 pounds clean--last spring, the sheep gave 12 pounds raw and I got back 6--which tells you how much greasier sheep fleece is than goat. (It's not at all unusual to lose that much weight to grease--my sheep are no more disgusting than anyone else's.) But I'll shear my goats twice a year, which means that the goats produce more fiber--interesting. Angora goats make mohair yarn. Angora yarn comes from angora rabbits. I'd like one of those, too. Meanwhile, I bought my husband a dog who's refusing to have anything to do with him. She seems to be afraid of men, since it's nothing to do with how Bart's been treating her. But I'm the one who rescued her from that stinky airport crate (she'd vomited), and I'm the one who hides all those magical balls of yarn all over the house (she'll strew one skein over three rooms, given the chance), and I'm the one she's decided she belongs to. Bart feels strongly that we have now reached the limit of the animals we should own. Out of respect for his feelings, I turned down a recent offer of a free (free!) alpaca. On the eve of what might--might, because they are always threatening bad weather around here and we hardly ever get any--be the first snowstorm of the season, we've been preparing the farm. 1) Friday Bart planted the hedges that will come summer and a little growing, be a hedge jump for Gully and I to jump. 2) Yesterday Bart and Mack went for 100 bales of hay and put it in the loft. (I helped some.) For some reason the local weather, though not extreme, was absolutely lousy for hay-making this year, and I had a terrible time finding any square bales for my crew. We were down to the last few flakes leftover in the horse trailer, and the sweepings of the loft floor. However, we're now set. (Yeah, Bart!) 3) This morning, after church, we finished cleaning out all the lights that line our long driveway, and replacing all the bulbs. We do this once a year. Wednesday I spoke to the fifth-graders at A.L. Lott Elementary School in Knoxville. They were a good group of kids--all 8 classes, it's a huge school--and I enjoyed my time with them. No more school visits or speeches now until after the holidays. It's been a terribly long time since I posted, partially because I've been gone a ton--I was actually out of town for 18 of the first 24 days in September--and partially because I swore to myself that I wouldn't update my blog or website until I had those stupid rugs finished and off my loom. They're done. The one I made for myself sits under the loom, looking fine, and Sarah reports that hers brightens up her room considerably. (It should, being as how it's purple and red.) That's it for rugs for me, forever. Blech. Nothing but tabby weaving and slamming on the beater bar. Katie's learned how to use the warping board and is helping me prepare the loom for our next project, which will be dish towels, not wildly interesting but a good way to practice a few techniques. I've told her I'll let her weave some, too, and we can give one of the towels to her teacher for Christmas. Other news: Writing: Have finished correcting the galleys for both The Lacemaker and the Princess (May, 2007) and Leap of Faith (July, 2007). Both covers are gorgeous, and I'm super happy with how the books turned out. Along with The Perfect Pony (March, 2007), it'll be quite a year. Now I'm working on a short chapter book called (tentatively; my titles almost never stick) Matthew's Rain Forest Diary. It's fun. Friday we got high-speed internet on our computer. I'm sure that'll help my writing, now that I'll be able to check my email and log onto knitting blogs so much faster. Riding: Gully and I finished 21st out of 76 in the open novice division at the national championships! It was thoroughly fun. I could see how much better I've learned to ride cross country, and the dressage was the best of our lives. We had plans to move up a division two weeks ago, but Gully tripped and strained his right elbow tendon and had to have a couple of weeks off. I could be riding him now, but it's sleeting--winter's a slow period. My indoor arena (part of the derilict adjoining horse property we bought last spring) is nearly usable, so soon I'll have no excuses. Reading: To list all the books between July and now would be impossible. Highlights include the Gregor the Overlander series; Dick Francis's new Sid Halley book; In This House of Brede; the Jacky Faber books, including the brand-new In The Belly of the Bloodhound, which I finished last night; Ken Follet's cathedral book whose title momentarily escapes me. The stacks of to-be-read books around my desk grow ever larger, I must do something about it soon. Oh, and I loved Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time, and also The Naked Mole-Rat Letters. And I got a sneak peek at the fourth Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants book, and it's wonderful. Knitting: Christmas gifts, shh! Surprises! All from the stash this year, because I've got to get the stash down a bit--because in February Sam and I are going to Stitches West, a giant knitting convention near her home in San Francisco. Mmmm. Friends and knitting, what could be better? Spinning: I'm working on making woolen yarn (as opposed to worsted, it refers to the spinning technique, not the fiber content) out of the Jacobs wool. It's fun. I sheared Clinton and Buckner, my two angora goats, this fall (goats are shorn twice a year) and have sent their fiber to Ohio Valley for processing. I'm eager to get it back. Other stuff: This spring I started a library at the Janie Hammit home, and it's become a super project--the girls are getting very interested in the books. We're starting a book club next month. Yesterday we had our annual Fourth-of-July cookout and fireworks show at the farm. It was lovely, but a storm blew up and cancelled the last little bit of the fireworks. Then Bart got called into the ER at midnight when someone took a blast to the eye--this is always a bad holiday to be an eye surgeon. Bart didn't get home until 4am, then woke at 6 for a long day. He's home now, napping. The garden thrives this year, and best of all has been the raspberries. I never thought I'd grow so many raspberries that I would be able to eat all I wanted and still have extra. The beans are producing now, and the cucumbers; the tomato plants are heavily laden but so far not ripening. In the orchard the peaches are close to ripe. Bart never got around to spraying them this year; he feels neglectful. I prefer the term "organic." Recently I finished the revisions for the two novels that will come out next year some time. They now have permanent titles, too: one is The Lacemaker, and the other Leap of Faith. I'm pleased with them both. The Perfect Pony, a picture book, will be out in 2007, too, so that's another year with three books in it. So now for the first time in a long time I'm looking for a new novel. I have a few ideas--several, actually, with a few in the forefront--and I'll have to see what sticks. It's fun to ponder what to write next. Riding wise, Gully and I are just rocking. We finished 2nd at Mayfest, so qualifed again for the national championships, which will be in September. Even better, we spent a week at an adult eventing camp run by David and Karen O'Connor, two Olympic eventers. It was stellar. I learned tons, enjoyed myself, and felt like I actually became friends with Karen, and with Donna Smith, a Kiwi who works with them and is a pretty fabulous up-and-coming rider. Now that I'm home I'm trying not to piss my local trainers off by saying, "But Karen said--" more than 3 times every hour or so. Karen convinced me that I needed a new saddle by taking mine off my horse and putting hers on instead: the difference in balance was incredible. The kinds she recommended were all very expensive, but I found a used one for sale online and it's working out very well. Jumping is so much easier! I can't wait until our next competition. Other news: Reading: well, quite a lot. I've revamped the book piles and am starting to get through the backlog. Recent favorites--the Gregor the Overlander series, books 1-4; Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched; Marley & Me; Blue Shoes and Happiness; Queen of Babble; the two new Naomi Noviks. Spinning: I got my wool back from Ohio Valley Fibers and it's lovely, a soft off-white roving, a pale grey roving, and a dark brown. I haven't spun it yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Knitting: several small baby items for the Princess Smooth, Bart's friend's daughter, who is expected soon. Shawl for Katie. Now I'm tackling the UFOs. |
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