Well, I’m sure many of you know what today is. Taxes are due in. I heard that collective groan. In honor of the taxman coming and taking all our money, today’s recipe is all about Ramen.

Any flavor Ramen will do. We’re going to toss the flavor packet. If you’ve ever lived on Ramen, you know the flavor packets get old quick. Ramen is relatively good with Spaghetti sauce. Anything you can use noodles for you can use Ramen. Did you know that Ramen also makes a decent crunchy topper to a cabbage salad? Today’s recipe has an Asian flair.

Take your Ramen and crunch it up with your hands, put it in a bowl and cover with water, let it soak for a few minutes. Then fry it up with Soy sauce. Voila - asian noodles.

If you still have enough money to buy vegetables, you can make the Taxman Stirfry

1 onion chopped
Garlic minced - 2-8 cloves (I like garlic ok)
Snow peas - large handful
6-8 ounces of sliced mushrooms
Julienned Carrots - 2-3 large carrots
1 sm sliced and halved - zuchinni and summer squash
Chopped Napa Cabbage about 1 cup
Broccoli florets about 1 cup
1-2 Tbs soy sauce
1-2Tbs Sesame oil
1 Tbs vegetable oil (yes both)
3 packages of Ramen (discard the flavor packet)
Optional -
1.tofu, marinated tempeh, chicken, beef, or shrimp.
2. crushed peanuts.
3. red pepper flakes

Crush* then soak your Ramen until it’s noodley. *You can leave your ramen whole, it just makes it harder to eat.
Saute your onions and garlic in vegetable oil - not a ton. If you are adding in a protein item, do it now, then add in all your other veggies in order of the time it takes them to cook. You don’t want them to be mushy, they’re best left with a little crunch. Now add in your sesame oil and soy sauce. Drain your Ramen and add that. Fry it up a bit and there you go! You can top with some crushed peanuts or sesame seeds for more asian stirfry flair.

Taxman this year gave us a small refund. We were able to get a few vegetables and a new member of the family:

I love Ms. Washie the dishwasher. Husbeast wanted a new TV. But I could watch Ms. Washie work all day long.

And because I’ve been pre-occupied with the workings of a dishwasher (I’ve never had one, ever) I forgot to tell you all about a new online yarn shop - WOOLGIRL. Go check it out. She carries my yarn as well as yarn from many other small businesses. It’s a cool shop. Yarn yarn everwhere. My favorite kind of store.

If you pay attention, the Northeast US had another April snow this past Thursday. They say we’re supposed to get more snow tomorrow into Monday. I don’t really mind, it melts pretty fast this time of year. I took the shoveling approach of, lets wait and see how fast it melts before I venture out there. Plus, it’s a good opportunity for photos.

As the snow started about 1:30p April 12th. You’ll notice that the snow from last week had almost completely melted away.

Then it came down in snowball sized chunks.

April 13 - Kola-Dog got to run free because her run, among other things, was iced up.

Here is the photo that matches the first - taken in the same spot.

Lets see those 2 together.

Just to make sure I’ve overloaded you with photos….
A sky shot for Sandy

I emailed the farm that I got Cosmo from last week. I’m so in love with the processing of this fleece that I had to order more.
I know.
I know.
I have 2 others that I need to process. One is from the same farm as Cosmo and I’m so looking forward to processing it that I knew I had to have more. You read that right. I was looking forward to processing the fleece.

The farm is Ruit Farm North here in Maine. I’ve emailed her about other fleeces and found out that Cosmo’s 2006 fleece is still available. He was entered into the fleece show at Common Ground last year and he got great remarks but came short of winning. I don’t know why he didn’t win, he has a gorgeous fleece. At least from what I can tell. I’m not getting this fleece as I already have some Cosmo - email or call her if you want him. Or rather, if you want his fleece. I don’t think Nina will be giving up Cosmo himself.

This is what I’m doing with Cosmo from 2005.This is what the fleece looks like in the bag (in case you forgot):

All I’ve been doing is washing it. 2 tubs of soapy water and 2 of clean.
Here it is after a couple of trips through the carder:

Surprise! He’s not that brown or dark. Cosmo is a gorgeous grey. He had a good amount of dirt in him but a low lanolin content and very little VM. I would dare say this fleece has no VM. I’ve found the same amount of VM when I use a skein a of Noro Kureyon.

Here are the singles on the bobbin:

I’m hoping to get another 3 ounces spun and ply it up soon. I know, I’m not waiting til the end of the project. I want to ply now. I want to have yarn to sit in my basket as I work on the rest of it.

The receipt said I have 2 lbs. Which is just enough for a sweater. Although with the new fleeces I’m getting and Dafka (the one I have from last year). I’m thinking I might do a color work sweater with it all. We’ll see how much yarn I get from Cosmo and if I can wait long enough to get all 4 colors spun.

I had to use all capitals in the titel because it really is huge!

There is a ton of new Fiber

More Mohair and Lace

New colorways in Skinny Socks

More new SuperNova and Beefy socks.

I also have lots of new equipment in New Louet Wheels and all kinds of accessories

But don’t forget I have a full stock of Fricke, Baynes, and Schacht too.

And for the upcoming Fiber Show season (You know you want to process some fleece) I have fiber prep in stock. Drum cards, hand cards and combs.

Tomorrow it willbe back to play and I’ll show you what I’m doing with Cosmo.

It arrives in the typical Louet Box although quite a bit smaller and lighter. Upon opening the box all I saw was a bag that looked half empty. I set it on the floor and opened it up…

I unbuckled one belt that held her in. There is a button lever at the base that allows you to lift up the upright.

Unbuckle one more belt and the Victoria is free! Did you notice all the room in the bag. I had one full bobbin and another ounces of fiber tucked in there. If I packed it all in I believe I could pack in 2 pounds of fiber. Of course, I’m good at stuffing fiber in hiding places.

The flyer is tucked away at the bottom:

All you need to do is slip on a bobbin and snap into it’s home.

Voila! Victoria is ready to go.

I like the Victoria. Overall I have to give her a thumbs up. I do have problems with her so don’t think it’s all sunshine and roses.

A wheel needs to be seen for what it’s meant for. This is a great traveling wheel. A perfect second wheel, or it could be an only wheel for someone who has little space or is on the go a lot. I have the space for a larger wheel so I can tell you right off the batt that I prefer that. I prefer the versaitility of the full size Louets. However, I like the idea that I can travel to show and have Victoria to spin on. I could go on a vacation and take Vic as a carryon. I don’t like to bring my full size wheel with me but Victoria is small enough that it would work well.

Victoria spins well. I spun 2 ounces of a thin single and Navajo plied it to a worsted weight yarn. She is geared high. This is not a wheel that I would find easy to make a bulky weight or a novelty yarn. With a small 3 ounce bobbin (which is always a peeve of mine) you wouldn’t get much bulky on there anyway.

The drive is flyer driven with a brake on the bobbin. This is a set up that I’m not used to. It took a bit to get used to and I can say that I prefer the flyer driven. Ok, over all I prefer double drive but if I can’t have that I prefer bobbin driven wheels. I think this is just a personal preference issue. Once I was used to the little differences and had the brake band adjusted properly, I was ok with it and made some nice even yarn.

I was able to sit in my usual spining spot on the couch. This is a plus, I like my spot. I figured with the difference in size I wouldn’t be able to do this. Husbeast’s comment upon seeing Victoria was “this one hasn’t grown up yet”. Next to my S51DT, it does look like the toddler version. Don’t get me wrong, that’s only it’s look. It’s not rinky dinky. The base is balanced well and I think it really is a stable well thought out wheel.

The treadle is just slightly larger than my foot:

This is not a problem for me. I don’t mind if my foot doesn’t quite fit a treadle but I figured it was worth mentioning because I know it can be a peeve of others.

The flyer is different

I thought at first it was something unique to the Victoria. I set up another wheel yesterday and the flyers have all changed. I’ll be getting in some new flyers because I adore this new type of hook. They are fantastic. They slide up and down. There is a stop at the end but if you turn it just right, it does come off. I’ll carry more of these too. I can see myself losing them.

In the picture you can also see the little leather handle. I carried this baby all over the place. The handle is comfy to carry it by and the wheel is just plain light.

Back to the bag. The bag has handles, a carry strap or a back pack. there is a front zipper pocket and the back zips to hide the backpack straps. The bag was made as well as the wheel. They really did take into mind what you might need.

I welcome anyone that has comments about the wheel to add them. Or if you have questions that you want answered about it. I’d be happy to answer them. I’m hoping to take a chance to review a bunch of wheels like this. Almost all wheels have strengths and flaws. Knowing what they are will help everyone make a good decision about what to get. I know there are many people that can’t try a wheel before buying.