whackadoodle coconut

today was a wonderful day as Christmas eves go. I shot an awesome two rounds today at 20 yards, enjoyed the company of friends/family and still "working on it" of which I have made excellent progress. happy Christmas, to you and yours.

Early morning day two at the range. This past weekend John and I traveled to Orange County to participate in the NRA’s Personal Protection Outside of the Home course.  In OC they are passing permits out like candy, unlike SB County.  This course satisfies the training requirement for a CCW permit.  Needless to say, it doesn't do us a lot of good to take the class and not receive the “reward” or the permit.  However, more training is just that. Big city range. We were shooting in the bay on the far end.  The two day course (max 16 hours) was incredibly valuable.  I have trained with TJ Johnston previously, but John had not.  This was his first class with TJ and his first formal training opportunity (after our basics class last year).  As he said in the “was the course what you expected” portion of the class, all I told him was that it would be challenging and you would have to work for it.  All true.  Even in my case, h...

unbearable. intolerable. agonizing. excruciating. insufferable. just plain hot.  seriously though, it's pretty awful when it get's this ------- warm. you see, I live on the coast of beautiful California and generally, it's 70 degrees all year round.  with short times of the year when it's colder and warmer. however, when I hear that inland is cooler than the coast by at least two degrees, it throws this temperate weather girl off. I have been seeing an increase in knitting patterns perfect for fall.  and I tell you, here we are in October and I can't even think about knitting without a laugh attached to it.  the worst part is that I am dying to make some new sweaters.  I even had to unravel my custom "girl not grey" sweater due to some weight loss recently. when it's this hot, I usually think two things.  first, I wish I was still working as a lifeguard.  a quick dip in the pool would really refresh me right now. and second, why can't we have n...

it's been a busy last month.  a little crazy, but I've made it to August. phew!  I hope to capture the last two months in a short list. 1.  began teaching Women's 101 at our local shop - 37 future gun owners and lady shooters 2.  recruited new members for CCLSC.  we had 3 new shooters join our club.  my game warden and I have a lot of fun activities to do for the rest of our first year. 3.  certified in another NRA class - PP in the home.  this particular class was challenging for me and I passed and earned a 94% on the test. 4.  wrote my first article for the Austin Sure Shots magazine and my first On the Firing Line radio show. 5.  taught my first shotgun clinic for my hub's company picnic. 6.  purchased a set of combs for spinning wool.  this was a coolest. I'm super excited about it.  I have a pair of cards already and I'm not too sure if these produced the kind of preparation I was hoping for.  I have...

well, a lot of things actually.  in this case, what do I do when the hubby's down for a week with the sick?  I'll show you. a few bags of 1 ounce measure of sheep hairs.  these have been shorn, dyed and cleaned through ready to card and spin. this is what they look like once you've pulled them out of the bag and have them ready to card. yes like a dog brush. I know you will ask.  these are 112 flat carders that are used to "brush" or "tease" the wool so they are ready to spin. think of it as separating the locks so they can be drafted easily onto the wheel. I actually had to learn a new spinning method to do this. really unsure at this point if this is working.  looks like it is, but that really isn't a guarantee of anything. we'll see when I get ready to ply, then wash and finally knit something with it. so you all know, I do more than pew pew pew in my time.  this has been a huge undertaking. I am one step away from s...

I did a little shooting and then shooting a few weeks back.  It feels like forever since I've posted something.  So a recap is probably in need here.  I took some awesome pictures though, getting better and making do with what light I have and then getting into position to shoot properly has all been a benefit to growing. The best one ever of the Hubby - John and his Tavor.  Which promptly sparked the comment "a boy and his dog"? What can I say, I didn't mean to, but my best photos are when I don't mean to take something and it just turns out just fantastic!  And this is no exception. My bestie also had some work at an exhibit in Santa Barbara.  She has been such a huge help with honing my photo skills. Here are her pieces that she had- The glare is ridiculous.  Sorry for that.  Camera Phones what can you do? Finally, this week I went shooting to get a little in and wahoo, here's my target that I taunted buddy Julie with. ...

take a looksy at the list. 1.  35 and my second round in braces. it's just as "awesome" as the first time. minutes after the ortho visit. 2.  being a leader is harder than it sounds.  but frankly it's just as fun as you'd think if you were one of "those" people. not really a "leader" picture, but how do you really photograph that? 3.  happiness is a lot of things.  but I'm sure that it's none of those things you see on pinterest.  really. 4.  dying to spin on that wheel over there (pointing).  funny thing, I saw a post on facebook of the company and there was the man who made my wheel sitting right there. hubby asks, "who is that?"  I said "I think he's the guy to made my wheel" (picking up my wheel and turning it over) "see?  there's his name on the bottom." it's like the earth just opened up and revealed a tiny pot of gold. yup, right there on the bottom. #176 5.  ...