1461 Days is Four Years

That's 208 weeks, or  35,064 hours

Including this post, there are 180 posts (and I deleted some  so there were more than this)

Picasa says I have 5008 images stored there from posting to my blog!

I also have 212 dedicated Regular Readers. I have learned a lot about you individually in the past few days as I got ready for the Big Draw.  I found my family supports me and they all signed on... thanks, but I have taken them out from the draw as fair is fair! It would not look good form if my Dad, daughter or hubby won!  :)

I found one reader who had signed up twice so could only count them once and I also discovered two readers opted to follow me 'privately' which means their identities are unknown. They simply show up in the count but no names. Sadly I can't include you because of this and I wish I could.

I have over 8 screen loads of people to record on little slips of paper! Through what you were willing to share when you signed up, I could  see where you live in some cases, what your other interests are, and who else you follow.

 There have been over 108 thousand page views and well on the way to 109!   Its all a bit overwhelming given that this time 4 years ago I tentatively pushed the publish button for the very first time and wondered who on earth would be interested in reading what I have to say!?

All I can say is 'Thank you'.    I had help with the draw today and asked Lynnette to do the honours. It was duly witnessed by Ngaire and our hubbies, Michael and Bruce. First they brought flowers for Bruce:

Here's Lynnette and myself this afternoon about to do the deed!

 I *hate* having my picture taken so you know this is a special effort on my part! I went for the picture that turned out great of Lynnette, but then I look like a deer in the headlights.   :)

So the winners, in the order drawn, are:

June *
Rocky Top Weaver
Martha VA

June *  has a turquoise generic exclamation point for an image and is on the first screen of followers you see. If this is You, then please email me at weeverwoman@yahoo.com  For some reason, the friend connect thing won't let me 'connect'.

Rocky Top Weaver or Annali lives in Oregon and has been weaving 2 1/2 years.

Martha VA has a blog  and was from Rochester, New York and now resides in Virginia. She is also a new weaver.

Please contact me with your addresses and we'll get the guest towels moving through the Post to you!
Congratulations!

Now the rest of you are no doubt feeling somewhat crest fallen at having missed out, so perhaps I can cheer you up with some recommendations for spending some of your left over Christmas money?  I have ordered some books, cd rom's and  (new to me) yarn with my sale proceeds and so far only the books have appeared! I'll report on the rest as and when they appear. In the meantime I'm looking forward to digging into these gems!

This one is thanks to my daughter who gave me an Amazon online gift certificate... thanks Carrie!  Crackle is one of those weave structures that looks incredibly complex on four shafts and amazing on multi shafts!  There are some rules to designing with Crackle blocks and perhaps we can chat about them here on a another post?

New Weaver? Want to learn how to modify or create your own drafts? Then this book may be for you!

On other news...

Our condolences to Theresa and Gene as they have lost one of their beloved brood. Dennett who just reached 19 years old has sadly passed away. Having lost our Connor just over a year ago, we understand.

On the home front, hubby Bruce has had improvements in some areas and a step back in others. This situation is not going quietly into the dark and so we will continue to follow up with doctors and soldier on!

Lastly, I'm happy to report that life has settled down enough that I have picked up a shuttle and resuming where I left off nearly 9 weeks ago (has it really been that long?) I feel a little rusty as you can imagine! But the weaving new year is finally now underway!