After we tired of the park we wandered back down the street in search of heat relief. Into a dept. store we went. While poking around the kitchen wares insearch of some placemats to make a bag or three I saw these small bags of thread stuff shoved under a table. I think it is supposed to be for making center pieces and other casa pharty stuff. Decor, man, decor. Bags approx 8in wide by 8 in high, 4 inches deep of string. HummMMMMmmmm I humed to myself. Half off even. For a couple euros it looked to be a few hours of entertainment. Blue, red and lime were to be had. I picked up a blue one. Once home and cooled of as one can get here, I opened the bag. The threads exploded. Plant based threads combed like roving or something like it. The only lable on the bag says "Mexican Farden Colorat".

I really need to go back for the lime. It would make for an awesome mosaic basket. My blue hands and spindle make me think wet spinning wasn't the wisest of choice and I should stick with hairy dry spun.

Maybe I should send some to my secret spinning pal.

From Honest Reporting - Covering the Conflict in the North

Throughout the conflict, there were numerous reports of the damage in Lebanon. While it is true that the conflict extracted a great toll on Lebanese infrastructure, there was also considerable damage to Northern Israel. Consider these rarely reported statistics (from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs):

43 Israeli civilians were killed by Hezbollah rocket fire

116 Israeli soldiers and officers were killed

3,970 rockets were fired at Israel, 901 of them hit urban areas

4,262 civilians were treated in hospitals for injuries

6,000 Israeli private homes were damaged

300,000 Israelis were forced to flee

Over 1,000,000 Israelis were forced to spend a month in bomb shelters

One third of the population of Israel was directly exposed to the missile threat

Over $1,400,000,000 is estimated to be the direct economic loss to the Israeli economy.

On the other hand, many in the media have been going overboard on reporting "devastation" in Lebanon. Check out the HonestReporting UK website to see how the BBC's Orla Guerin was caught attempting to exaggerate the level of damage in a Lebanese village.

Not to mention the inflated death counts, fauxtography, intimidation of journalists and all that other fun stuff. Don't believe everything you see on the boobtube, Kids!