Homestead Journal

Moving On!

2006-02-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well folks, I'm moving on! To a new blog site that is. Come visit me at the all new Homestead Journal! I look forward to seeing you there!

Wildlife Visitor

2006-02-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

About 10:15 yesterday morning, my daughter and I were going to head down to the coops to look for eggs and check on the girlies. She was near the window putting on her shoes when she starts yelling "Coyote! Coyote!". I look out the window and see nothing, ask her where, and she tells me behind the coop. I slid my shoes on and headed out the door, and sure enough, there was a rather large, well fed coyote nosing around the back of the coop, eyeballing my girls. My big tom, Mr Burbie was face to face with Mr Coyote until I started yelling at him. Mr Coyote wasn't very afraid of my presence as he started to trot away down the field, then up the driveway.

This is the second time in two weeks that a coyote has been around the house. Mike saw a pair of them at the end of the driveway a short time ago. Both times they went across the street into an empty field, where I'm guessing they have a den and are getting ready for babies at this time. I really don't like seeing them out during the daytime, and I really don't like the fact that they aren't afraid of me. I'm really glad the turk's and goosie weren't out free ranging yesterday morning too!!! Mr Coyote would have had himself a nice meal if that were the case.

Got the merino all plied, skein'd, washed, and in a ball, and started on the border of the FPS! Also found a glaring error I made when I started the stole too. Seems I didn't read the directions closely enough and managed to miss slipping the side stitches on part of the border. Sadly, it doesn't look the same on those two inches as it does on the rest of the border. I had been planning on entering this into the state fair this year, but now I'm not so sure. I'll have to see how it looks after I get it blocked, and maybe try to fudge something on the edge with a crochet hook to see if I can make it look the same. There is NO WAY I'm going to rip that sucker out now!!!! Take heed knitters!! Read the directions and don't be dumb like me!!! LOL!!!

Gotta Run! Bye Bye!!!

Bean Stomping

2006-02-08T06:34:00.000-07:00

We finally got our last summer's navy bean's all shelled out. Thanks to Liz at Pocket Farm for the great idea of stomping on the beans to get them all out of their shells. The kids had a great time dancing all over them to get them out. That's my son during his turn. This is definitely a much faster way of doing this than by hand!!!

Here's my daughter sifting out some of the chaff before they put them into the collection pot. The dehydrator screen worked great for the sifting part. Then it was just a matter of picking the little things up.

We ended up with 9.9lbs of dry navy beans all ready to be made up into lovely jars of baked beans! Both kids did a great job of getting that all done!

I got the merino wound into a center pull ball, and hopefully I'll have time today to ply it and wash it. That way I can get started on that border!!!

Gotta Run! Bye Bye!

Spinning Fun!

2006-02-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was lots of fun, spinning with my friends! Here's the group of us working away. 12 gals, including me, were there yesterday. Lots of projects for us to ohh and ahh over, like a nubby cotton baby sweater, and a beautiful green/cream hand manipulated woven table runner, and lots of yummy skeins of yarn! I got about half a bobbin of merino spun, which I'll add to today if I can find the time to sit for a while. That will be wound off into a center pull ball then plied back onto itself. This is for the FPS border.

Here's a pic of the antique loom that is at the museum. The guild weaves rag rugs on it for sale and to demo for the public. Its a 2 harness, and I believe it dates to the early 1900's. Its a beautiful loom, and I like to hear the thumping when its in use.

Here's a pic of the current rug in progress, I couldn't get any further behind the loom without knocking the weaver off her stool, which I don't think she would have appreciated. Don't you just love those colors?

Ah, alas, back to the world of reality! Bye Bye!

Public Spinning

2006-02-06T05:54:00.000-07:00

Our spinning guild here has different interest groups that meet weekly. They have a basket day, bobbin lace day, UFO day, and, my favorite, spinning day!!

Today is spinning day! And I get to go! My husband is usually working on Monday's so I cant attend, but he has today off. We meet at a local history museum, and spin either outside or in one of the buildings depending on the weather. Its great to be able to hang out with these women, talking about fiber stuff, comparing projects, oohing and aahing over each others work, and showing the public that spinning is not dead. I also need a day off and some stress relief, plus I need to spin some more of the merino for the FPS, since I ran out yesterday.

I got the top tier and top row of triangles done on the FPS yesterday. Its sort of off the needles for now. I just have to work the two long border sides and the top border and then I can get it blocked!!! The borders shouldn't take too long to knit, its just a seed stitch pattern for the whole thing. I do need to spin more yarn for it, and that will take a few days. I'll get a good jump on that today.

On a sad note, I found one of my birdie girls had passed away during the night. I'm not sure why she died, she wasn't showing any signs of being sick, and it looks like she passed in her sleep. She was only 2 years old. I'm keeping my eye closely on the flock to make sure whatever it was isn't contagious. Nobody else looks or acts sick now, so I'll just have to watch and see, and hopefully nothing else will happen.

Time to get ready to leave!! Bye Bye!

Paint Shopping

2006-02-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went out paint shopping with Vicky and her kids yesterday. All the colors for the new house are picked out and the kids both love their choices for their rooms. I cant wait to see the new place after its all finished being painted. I can visualize what I think it will look like, so lets hope that it matches what it really turns out to be.

The kitchen will be a cream color, and that will extend into the dining room. The top half of the dining room will be cream and the lower half will be a lovely shade of blue. The blue will extend into the livingroom/entry area. Michaels room will be two shades of red painted over each other. Jessica picked a pink for her bedroom and a light violet for her bathroom. My bedroom will be a seafoam green and the main bathroom will be a light peach.

Eeeewww I'm so excited!!!

Going to be working on more packing today. I think I can tackle the back bedroom and get most of that packed up for now. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Gotta run! Bye Bye!

A Tale Of A Gate

2006-02-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

The other day we dropped off some wood and fencing at our new house, and on the way back my friend Vickie asked us to stop by her place. (Hi Vickie, Happy Birthday Girlfriend!!!) Vickie has this huge gate at the end of her driveway that has to be opened and closed behind your car. So, out I hop and open the gate, Mike drives in, and I proceed to close the gate. Cept I closed it a bit to far and off the rollers that thing comes.

Right on top of me!!

So I'm grabbing for the gate as its sliding down my arm, doing the sidestep shuffle so I don't end up under it. It was quite a sight to see. I was able to evade the evil gate, and it hit the ground.

Mike and I wrestled the gate back onto the track and had a lovely visit with Vickie and her kids. She made the most amazing sign for our driveway so that folks know where we are and don't drive around aimlessly looking for us. I'll get a pic of it when its up so you can see how talented Vickie is!

Back to the evil gate.

I had to move it again when we left. I was extra careful watching it so that I didn't drop it again when I closed it. I was so careful watching the track that I didn't see the wheel as it ran over my toes! Dang, that thing is HEAVY!!! My poor toes will never be the same!!!!

Next time I visit, I will be wearing my flak jacket and steel toe boots!!!

One thing is for sure, its a great deterrent to trespassers, you can trap the suckers under the gate and hold them for the cops.

Sorry folks, no spinning or knitting news, just box packing and evil gates. Bye Bye!

Last Tier!

2006-01-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

WOOHOO!!! I started the last tier on the FPS yesterday!!! Only 3 1/2 blocks left on that and then the top row of triangles and the border is all that remain. I started this stole about a year ago now, and the original plan was to have it done last September so it could go into our guild show, but as you can see, that plan didn't work out very well.

I have started to mess around with patterns for a shetland shawl, but I must not be able to count very well, since I cant make an even numbered pattern go into an odd stitch count row and have it come out in the center! Hmmm, maybe if I make an increase? Yeah, that's the ticket! Hey, it works now!!! Isn't that amazing? Now, how do I make the rest of these patterns work? HeHeHe, just what I need in life, more things to obsess over and stress me out!!!

Got a bunch of boxes packed up this weekend. I would say that about half the house is done now. I want to get as much of that done as possible since I will be up painting and possibly helping put in the new floors in about 2 weeks, or as soon as the drywall guys are finished up there. Its starting to come down to the wire now!!! I'm getting excited about it, but there is still so much to do between now and then it gets a bit daunting for me. I'm trying to keep my mind set on the end product and not dwell on the process.

Time to scoot! Bye Bye!

Angry Fiber Gods

2006-01-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

The Fiber Gods are still angry at me. This time they had a hand in the FPS. I had to frog back two blocks on it. Seems that there were many mistakes that I KNOW I didn't make. But somehow they were there. I think it was the Fiber Gods messing with me. They hid my crochet hooks too.

I'm not sure why the Fiber Gods are still angry with me. Yes, I did pack up my stash. Yes, I have had no good spinning time. Yes, my drum carder is dusty. But are those really good reasons for them to vent their anger on me???

Maybe they are mad because I brought that loom home to live with me. This all seemed to start bout that time. I would have thought they would be pleased that I brought home another lonely fiber making item, ready to give it love.

I tried to appease the Fiber Gods the other day, I offered them fiber, roving, silk, wool, spinning, knitting and words of praise. All to no avail it seems. I shall have to try again. Pray this doesn't mean that I have to give them sacrificial fiber!

A New Sock

2006-01-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

I started a replacement pair of socks yesterday. Some kind of mystery yarn in an oatmeal color. Very pretty color, and the yarn feels good, so away I go a-knittin. All this mystery yarn I have is the result of a gal from our guild that moved out of state and gave me two huge boxes of yarns that had no labels on them. Some of it is identifiable, but most of it isn't as to the brand. At any rate, its great stuff for socks and kids sweaters and mittens. Very handy to have on hand for easy projects.

Only 1 1/4 tiers on the FPS to go. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel! I will need to spin up more yarn to finish the borders though, since I'm on my last ball of what I did spin. I love the feel of merino wool, its so nice and soft and cuddly.

I borrowed a neat book from a friends library, (Thanks Jeannie!) on planning and knitting shetland shawls. Very interesting to read on the history and process of those shawls. I may get adventurous enough to attempt to design one of my own, maybe, I think, kinda, well, I don't know. Jeannie also lent me several books on weaving so I can get an idea of what I'm getting myself into on that front. Still no email back from the reed company yet. Maybe today, who knows.

Think I'll take the takli with me to playgroup today, and spin some more cotton. Or work on the new sock. Too many decisions!

Gotta Run! Bye Bye!

Hole In My Sock

2006-01-26T06:36:00.000-07:00

I have a hole in my sock. The green pair I knit not so long ago. I was quite disappointed to look down and see my heel peeking out of this hole. This hole is about the size of a quarter now. I haven't learned how to darn socks with a needle and thread. I guess they are bed socks now. My bed doesn't care if there is a hole in my sock. Now I have to knit another pair of socks. Will these trials never end?

I found out that the company, J. A. Gowdey, that made the reed that was in Da Loom is still in business. They still make reeds and do custom orders. I emailed them about the reed to see if they still had that size in stock or if it had to be custom made, but haven't heard back from them yet. I was asked by another reader if there were any name marks on the loom, and my daughter did find one for me. It says "AW 117B" and looks like it was wood burned by hand into the side of the loom. I have no idea what that may mean, other than this was built by someone and that's what they called it? Anybody have any ideas on this?

Tried to spin for a while yesterday, but the spinning gods must have been angry at me. It just didn't go right. Twice my drive band jumped off the wheel, my yarn kept breaking, and I just couldn't draft it thin enough to match what was already on the wheel. I shall attempt atonement to the spinning gods today. I hope that fiber sacrifice wont be needed to appease the gods.

Time to feed the birdes! Bye Bye!

Rain?

2006-01-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

They say it may rain today. Or snow. So far it hasn't done anything yet. We sure do need the moisture, or we are going to burn up badly during the summer. They are predicting a very bad fire year for us. Not something I am looking forward to. Mike and Michael spent part of the day, yesterday, picking up the yard. We had a few weed piles that needed to go to the burn pit along with other junkie stuff that needs to go before we move. The kids old sandbox went bye bye too. It had cracked, and was pretty useless. Sorta sad though, they had spent many hours in the sand playing, driving cars around in it, building imaginary castles for barbie to live in. That's one thing about moving that I don't like, the small chipping away at your life when you decide what to pack and what to toss.

I took the reed out of the beater on Da Loom yesterday. It is very old and has the mfr name on it of J. A Gowdey Reed & Harness Mfg Co on it, in Providence R.I. I have no idea if they are still in operation, but figured I would do an internet search on it to see what would come up. The reed says they were established in 1834 and incorporated in 1900. The reed is pretty well dry rotted on the binding edges, as well as very rusted on the reeds themselves. I'll let you know what I find out about J. A. Gowdey!

Gotta run! Bye Bye!

Da Loom

2006-01-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the little loom I got in the auction on Saturday.

It looks a little sad at the moment, but I think its happy it has a new home now. With some cleaning and fixing I think it will be a good loom, esp for beginning weaving. All it needs is some fiber love!

I do look forward to being able to use it in the not so distant future.

Not too much else going on around here at the moment. Jes has been out selling Girl Scout cookies this weekend with two of her friends from the troop. They did pretty well, sold quite a few boxes, and were very professional about it. Michael, my son, is starting Boy Scouts today. He has been asking to do this for a long time, and my friend Vickie found a troop in his age bracket. Her son is going to, so Michael will have a friend there. He's very excited about it!

I got to see the new house this weekend. What a difference from 5 months ago when I first saw it. Its been an amazing transformation. It looks sooo good!!! The drywall folks start this week, so it will look even better very shortly. Then comes paint, floors, and a few other things and its DONE!!! WOOHOO!!! I'm so excited about it! Cant wait to get moved in!!!

Gotta run! Bye Bye!

Guild Meeting

2006-01-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun at our guild meeting yesterday. Our guild is the Mountain Spinners and Weavers. It was the yearly silent auction and there was lot and lots of good stuff to bid on and try to win. We had three tables of books and magazines, six tables of yarns and fibers, two tables of equipment, the stage edge was full of fabric, and a table of odds and ends. By tables I mean the 6 foot long ones. I was bidding on some nice 7/2 cotton in lavender, a book on lace knitting, both of which I lost. But I did win something! I got a 2-harness table loom!!! For only 8.00!!!! It does need some work but I got lots of offers of help with it from the other folks in the guild. It needs new harnesses mostly, but the rest of it is in place. I want to get a new beater for it, since the one it came with is rusty, and I was told it needed some kind of brake for it too. All in all, it is repairable, and a great way for me to learn weaving without a huge investment in it. Its the perfect size to make some table runners, placemats and napkins that all match for my new house!

It was great seeing my guild friends too, and catching up with their lives. I haven't been able to make it to too many guild meetings in the past 6 months cus Mike has been working on those days. This month worked out very well with him being off so I could go. They have some exciting programs coming up that I want to go to also. One is on spinning beaded yarn and the other is on acid dying. Those are both late spring so I will be all moved by then!

It was a fun day! Bye Bye!

More Snow!

2006-01-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

For a day that was forecast to be partly cloudy with 45 degree temps, it sure didn't turn out that way. We got snow instead! WOOHOO!!! Sadly, it didn't stick around long, but the kids sure had fun playing in it. We had snow showers off and on for the better part of the day here. It was so lovely to watch it falling. That's one thing I sure miss about living in New England. I try to explain that the snow gets really deep back there at times, but I don't think they believe me. The most they have ever seen at one time is three inches. I told them about a blizzard that we got just before I moved to Arizona and that it was snow up to my armpits from one storm, that was over 4 feet. It was like walking down a tunnel when you walked down the plowed road. I thought it was pretty cool at the time. My dogs, on the other hand, couldn't get off the front porch to do their business. All in all, that was a fun winter for me. I do like being able to just shut myself up in the house during a storm like that. Its like your in your own little world and nothing else will bother you and everything is so silent. Course, it sure helps if your prepared for something like that with back up heat, food, and so on.

Finished another tier on the FPS, and started the next one. Only three more tiers to finish on that one! Oh, and the border too. And the blocking. Its almost done though. Its only taken me almost a year to get this far! Still spinning the tussah on the wheel inbetween packing boxes. Our spinning and weaving guild meeting is on Saturday, and evidently I signed up to bring eating goodies, which I totally forgot about until I got a call yesterday reminding me. See what happens when I don't write things down? It should be a fun meeting, since its the yearly silent auction! Sadly I don't have much money to spend on it, but I might find something for 5.00! There is always such a cool array of stuff for the auction. Books, fiber, yarns, tools, anything you can think of that relates to fiber, spinning and weaving. Its a fiber addicts dream day!

Time to run, birdies are calling. Bye Bye!

Shawl Days

2006-01-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a shawl day for me, and I love those days. Its just warm enough that you don't need the heat on, but cool enough that an extra layer is needed to keep you cozy. That was yesterday, it was a shawl day. I took down my shawl and proudly wore it all day. Its a lovely shawl, if you ask me. Made from handspun rose brown merino wool and silk, and knit in a sort of plain shetland pattern, its a big square of wooly softness. I love to wrap it around me and get all snuggly in it. Its like having big arms to hold you all day long. Its an emotional thing too, its comfort food for your outer body. Its yummy.

I love to wear my shawls anyplace, although I do get some funny looks at the grocery store sometimes, but I also see people looking at them with longing in their eyes. I like to think that there is a shawl someplace in their life that ment something to them, maybe it was their grandma's or it reminds them of a special blanket they had as a child, and they want it back. Maybe they need that emotional hug that you can get from a shawl. I think everyone should have a shawl they can wrap themselves up in and take the time to enjoy the feeling of being safe, secure, and loved.

Yesterday was my shawl day.

Bye Bye!

Time Out

2006-01-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

I gave myself some time out the past two days to spin on my wheel. I grabbed some Tussah silk and gave that a whirl. Its making a very nice lace weight single for me. Sometimes, you just have to spin!

Still got the packing thing going on. I try to get two boxes done a day. That way it doesn't seem so overwhelming to me. LOL! Slowly its getting done. We are shooting for the end of Feb. to move into the new place. The drywall project starts soon, and that seems to be the last major hurdle to jump. WOOHOO!!

Cookie sales are going well for my daughter, she is halfway to her goal so far. She got to see the prize she is working towards at the meeting yesterday, and is more determined than ever to get those cookies sold.

Some books that I had on order came in yesterday. Cant wait to get some time to read them. They are "Dyers Companion", so I may get brave one of these days and dye some fiber, and The Yarn Harlots "Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much" I got a few pages into that and it is so true!!! The quotes she uses are right on! Her meditations will become a mantra!

Gotta Run! Bye Bye!

Snow!

2006-01-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

We finally got snow!!! Ok, we didn't get much, but it was fun and exciting to watch anyhow.

Here it is falling last night under the porch light. It snowed for about an hour. The kids ran outside in their jammies to check it out and get a few in their mouths for a taste test. They were so excited about it!

Here is what the morning brings as the sun is just starting to rise. We only got a dusting, but it is much needed and the kids are outside enjoying what we did get. Mike said he got 2" at his job last night. That would have been nice here. I'm sure this will all be gone by about 9:00 this morning.

Still cant find the stinky thing that's someplace in our heating system. Our landlord is going to get a hold of a friend of his that does heat/AC and see if we can borrow a duct brush to run thru the area. If we cant find it, I sure hope it gets dehydrated soon and stops smelling.

Time to get going! Bye Bye!

Something Stinky This Way Comes

2006-01-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

Decided to take advantage of the fact that my daughter was gone and go pack up some of her room. Best way to get packing done, this way there was no argument about what got packed and what stayed out. Well, there was the most amazingly funky smell emanating from her room. First thought of mine was that she left some dirty clothes hiding in the corner that had fermented a bit. Hmmm, no dirty clothes to be found. Food? Didn't find any of that either. I went thru the closet, behind the bed, in the night table drawer, behind and inside the toy box and found nothing. So I sat down on the floor and started to pack up boxes.

Oh My Gosh! The stench almost made me pass out!

Found the smell.

Coming from the heat duct in the floor.

Something died in there.

Something really smelly.

Got the window opened right quick.

Out comes the vacuum, no luck, the hose cant bend around the edge to get into the duct.

Out comes the clothes hanger, bent for better access.

Nothing.

Now the stench has made it to the living room AND kitchen.

Hubby comes home from work and got the plumbers snake out. We ran that sucker back and forth thru the vent from the living room to the bedroom multiple times. Even used the clothes hanger bent up like a snow plow and attached to the snake and ran that thru more times.

Nothing.

Got lots of other stuff out of there. Giant dust bunnies, toys, maker pens, crayons, but nothing dead.

Oh boy.

Is it under the house? Out come the flashlights and we venture forth. Cant find anything under there either, cept a bunch of gopher holes and black widow spider nests.

Going to have to borrow a shop vac tomorrow from the neighbor and see if we can suck it out.

Meanwhile, my poor daughter is just mortified at the smell in her room, so she slept in the livingroom all night instead.

Never a dull moment is there?

I'll keep you updated! Bye Bye!

Green Merino/Silk is Finished

2006-01-14T06:38:00.000-07:00

I finished spinning the green merino/silk blend wool yesterday at our homeschool group. Its lots of fun being able to take my spinning with me now. I haven't been able to do that much with my wheel, that tends to be a bit bulky!

Here it is all plied and drying. It worked out to be about 45 wpi and I'm guessing about 40-50 yards. I haven't counted the yards yet, so don't take that figure as the gospel truth. I would love to find a small lace project to use it with. Something like a doiley. I'll have to ponder that thought, and wait for the yarn to tell me what it wants to be.

My turkey gal is still sitting on her empty nest box. I really feel badly for her sitting there all alone. Cant change nature though. Miss Rabbie hasn't tried to eat my fingers for a while, I think the nose thumps she got changed her attitude for the better. Changing her litter box is on today's chore list. She has wild bunnie friends visiting her at night, seems the like the hay she drops. Even the big jack rabbit has been by to say hello. We seem to have had an explosion of wild rabbits around here in the past month. I have counted 15 of them at one time now in the yard, where we only had 5 of them before. The coyotes were out hunting in the area the other night, so that will most likely take the population down some. Its the first time in about 3 months since I have heard the coyotes nearby. Its nice to hear them back, as I was afraid the new construction by us drove them off.

Time to get the day started. Bye Bye!

More Takli Spinning

2006-01-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

Spent some time spinning yesterday on the takli. Tried a few different fibers now that I feel more confident on it. First I took on the silk noil, which actually spun this time. I like how it gives a bumpy yarn, but I didn't like all the little woodie tree bits, or whatever they are, that are in it. I spent as much time picking goobers out as I did spinning. Second fiber was some soy silk, but that didn't spin well at all. Started out too fat then got so thin it kept breaking. I think the staple was too long for the talki. Either that or I just need more practice.

Third go round was some leftover merino/silk blend, which worked fantastic! Here's what I got done yesterday with the merino/silk fiber. It spins a beautifully thin, even yarn and its really easy to draft out. Sorta has a nice "slide" to it. It was a real treat to spin this. I want to see how much I can load up on the spindle at one time with this, then ply it back onto itself. Oh I just love playing around like this! Course, this doesn't get the house packed up does it? Well, some things can wait for the sake of sanity! LOL!!

Mrs. Burbie is very much broody at the moment. She only got off the nest box once in the past 24 hours now. She doesn't even have an egg to sit on, poor little girl. She looks so forlorn sitting there all by herself, cooing to her non-existent babies. I'm hoping that after a few days of this she will realize that its all for naught, and she will stop.

My daughter is going to a sleep over tonight at her friends house. She is so excited about, its all I have heard for the past three days now. I think the rest of us will have a popcorn and movie night for ourselves.

Mike found some more boards at the local construction site dump pile that will work out great for the raised bed garden boxes at the new house. So far we are guessing we have enough boards for about 6 boxes. We need atleast 10, so the scavenge goes on! They throw away the most useful stuff over there!

Time to get going here! Bye Bye!

Science Fun

2006-01-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went to the library yesterday to see the science program that was being presented. We had lots of fun watching different science projects that were shown by one of the state college students. We learned about ratio with a fan and a strobe light, energy, vacuums, air pressure, and the most fun, was dry ice and liquid nitrogen. The student froze racquet balls in the nitrogen then shattered them. He also sunk a balloon in the nitrogen, it shriveled up, and when he took it out, it went right back to being a balloon. The most dramatic part was when he tossed the nitrogen on the floor and made a huge cloud in front of the kids. It was a really neat program, well presented, with great explanations that the kids could understand. Everyone had a great time!

I believe that my little turkey gal, Mrs Burbie, has decided to become broody. She is still laying eggs, almost daily, but now she wants to sit on them. Even when they are taken out from under her, she stays right in the box all day, making cooing noises. I was hoping that she wouldn't get broody until after we move, and closer to spring, but we cant choose these things can we? I'm not even sure that her eggs are fertile at this time, since there hasn't been any "action" between her and Mr. Burbie. Unless they are sneaking behind the shed when nobody is watching.

Our Girl Scout troop is starting the annual cookie selling adventure this coming Saturday. Yes, we get to go door to door peddling our cookie wares to an unsuspecting public. Jes is very excited about this, which is good, since I was afraid she would get scared about it and not want to go. She has her eye on one of the prizes she can win, and has become very determined about getting it.

Still packing up the house here. The wall-o-cardboard is rising to new heights every day. I may actually get this done! LOL! Although, it is getting tough to walk around in here, skirting boxes and all.

Time to get moving! Bye Bye!

A Treaties on Toilets

2006-01-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

Ah, the comfort of a toilet. Always there when nature calls, unless nature is calling in nature. Always a source of relief. A companion. We have given this piece of porcelain engineering many names. A john, a pot, a toity, the throne, the hole, a head, the commode. We are said to do many things together, taking your repose, driving the bus, praying to the porcelain god, just to name a few.

Nothing causes more consternation that when our bathroom friend breaks. The question, where, becomes the main issue. If your lucky, you have a second friend lurking on the other side of your house, willing to take up the ensuing increase in business. If not, you pray the plumber comes quickly!

My friend had an accident yesterday. My friend broke. We are thankful it was only a simple fracture, easily fixed. No public outcry in this house. It seems that someone, who shall remain nameless, (my husband) was more that Mr. John could bear upon him. Mr. John cried out his pain, and split in two pieces, right where the flesh hits the pavement. The nameless person (my husband) was unaware of the pain he caused Mr. John, and left it in shambles awaiting my repose. It was a shocking and biting experience when that was found. Mr. John made it clear in no uncertain terms that "Houston, we have a problem".

Luckily, our neighbor is a plumber that has a whole shed of new bits and pieces for us to chose from to bring Mr. John back to his original appearance and use.

Mr. John is a happy camper once again, and so is my backside!

In other news, I turned a new tier on the FPS. Only 4 more of those to go! WOOHOO!

All Caught Up, I Think

2006-01-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, I think I am caught up now. Yesterday was really busy, but there was a lot accomplished on the homestead.

Bread is baked.
Laundry is done.
House is clean.
Chicken nest boxes are clean.
Mt Poop has made its final move.
Sold lots of eggs.
Spun cotton on the takli and plied it.
I'm tired just thinking of all of this.

Here's my takli cotton spinning. It finished as a two ply at about 50 wpi, give or take a few lumpy spots. I plied it back onto itself on the wheel. The needle is a size 0 so I could see if this size worked for an Orenberg. Seems ok to me so far. I still don't know what kind of fiber I want to use for the shawl itself. And I need lots more practice with the cotton before I take on that spinning. I need to make a spindle holder thingy too, setting the takli in a glass to wind it off was a real pain in the butt.

Onward to another day! Bye Bye!

Another Wasted Day

2006-01-08T06:21:00.000-07:00

Spent all day Saturday in migrain hell again, so another wasted day for me. Now I get to try and play catch up on what didn't get done yesterday, plus today's chores. Should be fun! NOT!

Hope your weekend has been better than mine. Bye Bye!

I Hate Migrains!

2006-01-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

Don't you? I had another one yesterday. And this time I didn't skip my Feverfew. I think I'm getting too stressed about the move and its triggering them. It finally went away at 3am after the 4th round of ice on the head. What a waste of a day.

I did spin a bit on the takli before I got hit with the migrain though. The yarn is starting to look much more even with less fat, slubby spots in it. I still keep putting too much twist in it and making it break, but that's happening less too. I'll just have to practice more! Isn't that just terrible??? LOL!!

That's all that's going on here, like I said, yesterday was pretty much a wasted day.

Bye Bye!

My New Toy!

2006-01-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

I got a new toy! I went downtown yesterday and purchased a takli spindle! Isn't it cute? I spent the better part of the afternoon attempting to teach myself to spin on it. I think after about 3 hours my hands are starting to get the message. Its quite different than using a drop spindle, or a wheel, that's for sure. I am still making very thick/thin yarn, but I'm slowly seeing it become more even as I go along. With lots more practice, I hope to have a very even, very thin single for the Orenburg project. I'll spin the singles on the takli and then ply them on the wheel. The roving you see here is some cotton I found in the stash. I tried to spin a silk noil on it, but that was hugely frustrating to try and start with. The cotton was much easier. I need to be aware of how much spin I'm putting in it though, I either get too much and it breaks or too little and it breaks. Seems to me, that's another one of those practice things. What a good excuse to spend the afternoon spinning!!!

Not a whole lot more going on around here. Still working on the packing of the house. I may tackle some stuff in the kid's rooms today. I can get pictures and posters and such off the walls and packed up now. Also, I think that stuffed animals can get packed up now as well.

I found a neat book at our local library on their sale rack. Its called "The Complete Home Healer" and it has all sorts of nifty information on over 300 medical problems with listings under, homeopathy, aromatherapy, massage, accupressure, herbalism, and orthodox, just to name a few. Very interesting to read up on all the different treatments you can pursue! Good information to have on hand!

Time to run and get the day going! Bye Bye!

National Animal Identification System

2006-01-03T06:57:00.000-07:00

Have you heard about N.A.I.S yet? This is a huge scary program that's being instituted by our wonderful government to protect you from what they consider disease carrying animals. This means your farm will have to be "registered" with the govt. and you will have to give them details of your location, type of animals, amount of animals, and, possibly, have your animals "chipped" for ease of tracking. In essence, you will have to have permission from the govt. to have animals on YOUR farm. Even if you have one chicken, you have to comply! This program will be mandatory in January of 2009. You will also have to pay for the privlidge of complying with this stupid program. You can read information on this here . Read the official govt. program and all that it entails here and here this last one is the draft plan they propose. Keep in mind that this fantastic program is being pushed thru by the giant agribusinesses such as Cargill, Monsanto, and others.

No one is exempt if you have any livestock animal! One horse, and your in. One cow, and your in. One chicken, and your in. This is a HUGE violation of mine, and YOUR civil rights. This is a HUGE violation of the fourth amendment of the constitution.

Do you feel that you should beg the permission of the govt. to have a pet horse, cow, or chicken?

I ask that you do all that you can to stop this dangerous program from completing its implementation. Write, call, fax, email your congressperson. And keep doing it. Tell your friends, family, and neighbors about this, and ask them to contact their congressperson too! Add your comments to their open comment period. Do everything you can to fight this!

Please fight this program!

Feeling Lazy

2006-01-02T06:36:00.000-07:00

I think the hustle of the past month and assorted holidays has finally caught up with me. I sure didn't want to get out of bed this morning and face another day. Bed was so warm and cozy and nice, it felt too good to get out. I think I will just take it easy today, and let myself do some knitting for a good long time.

The kids and I do start another fun filled week of homeschool today too! We are all looking forward to that. Secretly though, I think the kids want another week off! I am excited about the fact that at the new house I will have a larger dining room table for doing school at, instead of working at our miniscule kitchen table where everything falls off if you breath too hard.

The birdie girl that had the prolaps the other day, had it again yesterday. It seems to be correcting itself though, so I'm not going to get to worried about it until I find it doesn't. She lays really big eggs for her size. All the other girlies are doing very well at the moment too. Rosie the goose seems to have it in for my daughter for some reason lately. She chased her around the coop and pinned her in the corner the other day, hissing and honking at the top of her lungs. Very unlike her normal goosie behavior of just running away from people. She does have a "thing" about the white chickens. It seems you aren't allowed to touch them without earning her express disapproval. I think she is of the impression that white chickens are her "children" cus they sorta look like her in the sense that they are white. Even though my daughter didn't touch any of "her" white chickens, some bird squawked when she went in to collect eggs and that evidently was enough to set Rosie off on a goose rampage. I had to go rescue my daughter from the mad goosie attack. Mike and I later had a discussion with Rosie on the accepted forms of behavior, Christmas dinner, and so on. It seems to have sunk in, as she was quite well behaved yesterday. I also discovered that Rosie is the one that has been snacking on Mr. Snowie the turkey's feathers, making him look akin to a porcupine at the moment. This was also a topic of discussion with her. Wether that sunk in or not is yet to be seen.

Ah the joys of life on the homestead!

Gotta Run! Bye Bye!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2006-01-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Welcome 2006!!

May the new year bring

blessings to you and your family.

May your dreams come true!

Good Bye 2005!

2005-12-31T06:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, its the last full day of 2005! And just when I got use to writing 2005 on my checks, it goes and changes on me! I hope this past year has been everything you hoped it would be, that your dreams came true. I wish you a good 2006, with new dreams and hopes to nourish to fruition.

Its also my Grammie Peg's birthday today! Happy Birthday Grammie Peg!!!! I LOVE YOU!!! I miss you more than words can say, my memories of you and Papa Ed are cherished above all others.

Not much new on the homestead today. The prolaps'd birdie girl is doing well, no further sign of that happening again. She is still laying also. Mrs Burbie has given us a full dozen turkey eggs so far. I have one egg customer that has been begging for turkey eggs, so they will go to him. Did some house cleaning yesterday, how exciting huh? My Sister-in-law and her friend may be paying us a visit tomorrow on their way home from the weekend. I have no idea if they will make it or not, so I cleaned anyhow. Better safe than sticking to the floor. Bread and laundry are the words of the day here.

Wishing you a safe and happy New Year's Eve, and a blessed 2006!

Bye Bye!

Mt Poop Moves

2005-12-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

When they started building houses next door to us, they used a strip of land on our side of the project to drive on. They very effectively stripped all the vegetation from that area too. Then they built a wall around the land. Now the ground is eroding. You can see large washes it created the last time it rained. They built and gouged the land so well that the entire bottom of the land will be a huge pond if it rains hard enough. They cut off any chance of the water running off with the wall and how they contoured the land on the other side. Mike spent yesterday morning moving Mt Poop and banking it against the wall in an effort to stop the erosion and to encourage weed growth in the bare strip of dirt. If we get a gentle rain that will pack the poop in place, it should help lots. Besides, its a good way to dispose of Mt Poop before we move. I didn't think it would be nice of us to leave Mt Poop for our landlord. If we can do something to help the land, it will be a good thing.

Spent some time knitting on the FPS yesterday. Finished one tier, turned it, and started the next one. Only a few more tiers to go! I have started pondering the next project when I finish FPS. Orenburg is still in my mind, but the problem for me is spinning a thin enough yarn for it. I wonder if I can do it on a Tahkli spindle. The traditional Orenburg yarns are spun on a lightweight spindle. Course that means I have to go visit my favorite spinning shop and see what's available. I wonder how Miss Rabbie's fur would spin on a Tahkli, that might work for an Orenburg shawl. But then again, that might be too "poofy" for that type of shawl, and I don't want to lose the stitch definition in a cloud of fuzz. Maybe I'll stick with kid mohair, or silk. I also better learn how to spin on a Tahkli too!

Gotta Run!! Bye Bye!

Another Day, Another Box

2005-12-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Oh the joys of packing up a household. My living room is starting to resemble a warehouse stacked with boxes. My poor spinning wheel is buried behind a wall of cardboard. Its sad though too, watching the walls become bare again. Three years of Christmas's, birthdays, and other good times. Trying to weed out what goes to the trash, thrift store, or packed up. An emotional purging so to speak, the letting go of a place. There has been many tears this week, and I suspect, many more as I go thru this process.

Our sick chicken girl seems to be doing ok. She hasn't had any further prolaps's that we have seen. I sure hope this doesn't happen again. She wasn't happy about being stuck in the "sick crate". At the new place, I'm having a sick/birth/baby room built into the coop, which will be very handy to have. All the other girlies are doing well, and laying well too. 2 dozen eggs yesterday. The warmer weather has boosted our production somewhat. The turks are good, Mrs Burbie is still laying well, and we get an egg from her almost daily now. Miss Rabbie has come to the realization that I'm bigger than her and that biting is a big fat no-no now. She was very good when I brushed her out yesterday. So far she has remained mat free!!!

I think the Christmas spirit has worn off of the kids. We did take down the tree and decorations yesterday, so we had room for the wall-o-boxes. They have finally calmed down and aren't fighting with each other, thank God! It was touch and go there for a bit before Christmas, Santa almost didn't visit! Well, ok, he would have visited no matter what, but the threat still worked, sorta.

Time to get the day moving. Bye Bye!

Many Thanks

2005-12-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

I have been remiss in thanking my friends for their thoughtfulness during Christmas. I need to fix that.

To Tracie, your truffels and champaign, to die for!!! Thank you!
To Helena, I love the bracelet, and the turkey charm is the best! Thank you!
To Vickie, you and the kids make the best cookies, too yummy! Thank you!
To Robin, home made jelly, a cool bread pan, smelly candles and chocolate, you rock girl! Thank you!

To all of you, your thoughfulness and kindness have touched my heart. You are the best friends a person could ever hope to have in their life. I love you all!

Jes took her new sewing machine that Santa brough her for a test drive yesterday. She made a pillow for her doll to sleep on. She did quite well, considering that it was the first time she ever used a sewing machine. She is afraid of the needle though, but I think she will get over that pretty quick. Wonder what she will want to make today.

One of our barred rock girlie birds is sick. The kids found her with a prolapse yesterday afternoon. We got it back in, but I'm afraid that it will keep happening everytime she lays an egg. She's in the hospital crate now, recovering. She is the one bird I have that lays eggs that look like golf balls, perfectly round, but larger. I'm not surprised she had a prolapse. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this was a one time deal for her, I would hate to lose her.

Time to run, Bye Bye!

The Packing Shuffle

2005-12-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

Tried to get some things packed and sorted out yesterday prior to our move. Went thru some of the spare room, atleast what I could get at without moving things out of the way. Threw a bunch of stuff out, which is a good thing! I need to remember that we have to downsize for the new place somewhat. I did get a bunch of magazines packed up. My back issues of Spin-off, Knits, Countryside Journal, and Backwoods Home. I just cant part with these!!! Too much good information inside those covers to get rid of. I want to get more done today too, but I need some more box tape first. Kind of hard to pack when the bottoms fall open.

Cooked a small turkey for our family yesterday. I wasn't impressed with the brand I got, it was quite dry and not much meat for a 10 pound bird. I do have leftovers though for other stuff, so it will be all good. The kids spent the day playing and having fun with all their new stuff. I got a hat started with the orange/pink nubby yarn for Jes on her knitting loom and so far there is about 2 inches done. She wants to try out her new sewing machine today and see how that works. Michael is having a blast with his new car/track set, launching them all over the place. It was a good day for us here.

Time to run! Bye Bye!

Christmas Report

2005-12-26T06:16:00.000-07:00

Ah, Christmas is over. We had a pretty good day. The kids loved what Santa brought them this year.

Here they are checking out the tree and opening their stocking's. They actually slept until almost 6:30! That sure was a surprise. Looks like Santa brought quite a bit didn't he? Told you I over spent this year.

Here is Jes opening the sleeping bag she asked Santa for in her letter to him. She is quite excited about it and gave us a few shrieks of joy. Its even purple, her favorite color.

And Michael asked for one too, and his is in green. Both kids test drove the bags last night, sleeping on the livingroom floor. I believe they met with approval.

Jes saw this knitting loom on a recent trip to the craft store and just had to ask Santa for one also for Christmas. Her yarn stash (yes, my daughter has her own yarn stash) was dug into looking for the right color orange/pink nubbie yarn to try it out. Sadly, time didn't allow us to do anything yet.

Serious play ensues with the removal of the paper and boxes. That track my son is playing with launches a car into the air at remarkable speeds. I advise people not to stand behind it when its launched or you will get a serious bruise! It was quite a sight to see that thing fly into the next room!

After the morning chores were done, we headed down to Mesa to see Mike's family and have more Christmas there. They had a lovely buffet set up with ham and all the assorted fixings. Had a great time visiting with folks we haven't seen since last Christmas. It never ceases to amaze me to see how much the nieces and nephews have grown over a year. Some of them I didn't even recognize. Also got the good news that my nephew and his new wife are expecting their first baby, due in July of next year. We finally rolled back into the homestead about 7:30 last night, all of us exhausted from such a busy day.

Hope you all had as enjoyable a Christmas day as we did.

Bye Bye!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2005-12-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas to all!

To my family, friends, and blog visitors,

I wish you happiness and peace on

Christmas day.

EAT, DRINK, and be MERRY!

I'll be back on Monday!

All I Can Say Is Ouch!

2005-12-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of the monster egg from two days ago. That HAD to hurt!

Its the one on the right, in case you couldn't tell. Its almost a full 3" long and twice the width. The one on the right is a normal size egg for our flock. Wonder if its a double yolk egg? Its still sitting in the box, which wont close cus its too BIG! I pity the poor chicken girlie that had to push that sucker out.

I finished the blue socks yesterday! WOOWOO! All done and ready for wearing today. Its a real Christmas Miracle!!! I made the leg an inch longer on this pair, I like a slightly longer leg than the green pair gave me. I did run out of yarn when I got to the toe, but I did find a blue that matched pretty closely. Can you tell which sock has an odd toe??? Huh? Huh? Can ya??? Its the bottom one! Ok, Ok, the picture isn't a fair representation of the colors.

BTW, did you notice also the change in tablecloths??? I dug out the Christmas one!!!

Almost have the wrapping done, just a few more to go, but I ran out of paper, so I have to add a store run to my never ending "to-do" list for today. Thank God Christmas is almost here, I cant take much more of this running around and stressing out business. Three batches of cookies are done also, with one more to go. That's also on today's adgenda. With all this baking, shopping, wrapping, knitting, and visiting I have done this week, my house looks like a bomb went off inside it! In the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara "I just cant think about that today, I'll think about it tomorrow". Sounds like a good mantra for me.

Bye Bye!

All Quiet on the Homestead Front

2005-12-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

Things seem to have settled into a routine around the homestead now. The winter lull has started to kick in. No garden to weed and water, no weeds to mow down, no trees to tend to. Its kind of nice to be able to take a break from the outside work for a bit. I do have the animals to tend to, feeding, watering, cleaning, and so on, but that doesn't take up much time during the day. The birdie girls are enjoying the warmer temps we have been having this week, up into the 60's during the day. Mike found a monster egg yesterday from one of our new layers, I'll take a pic of it today if didn't get eaten yet. This thing is huge! Mrs Burbie is still laying well, 7 eggs now to her credit. She is such a sweet turkey girl! No more biting from Ms Rabbie at this time, but she still gets quite irate when I put my hand in to feed her, or pick her up. Atleast my fingers are intact for the moment.

Got a bunch of presents wrapped yesterday. I should be able to get the rest done today unless I run out of paper. I love seeing the kids faces on Christmas morning. That precious look of joy and wonder is beautiful. I have a feeling that this may be the last Christmas they believe in Santa Clause. I will be sad to see that aspect of Christmas go. Is there any way I can stop them from growing up?

We all had fun at a birthday party yesterday. One of the other homeschooling family's son's 10th birthday. All the kids had a great time, and it was lots of fun to chat with the other moms midweek! I really look forward to our Friday group meetings, it saves my sanity to be able to talk to adults!

Gotta run! Bye Bye!

Shopping Is Done

2005-12-21T05:13:00.000-07:00

The shopping is done. I spent way to much money. Now I just have to wrap it all up. I hope the kids enjoy their Christmas this year.

Our Girl Scout party was very nice last night. We had a buffet style pot luck and secret Santa gift exchange for the girls. Everyone had a great time and all the food was devoured.

I'm going to scoot, I want to wrap a few things before the kids get up. Bye Bye!

Rituals

2005-12-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

Isn't it funny how the same rituals come out at holidays? I never noticed it before this morning, but I think my son has his own ritual at Christmas time. Every morning when he gets up, the second thing he does is to turn on the Christmas tree lights and the light on the Nativity scene. As I think back on this, he has done this every year when we have had the tree up. Atleast the years that he could walk on his own and reach the light switch to put them on.

My daughter always wants the "count-down" chain put up. She made a drawing and we attach a paper chain on it and she tears off one link every night until Christmas eve. She was quite upset that it wasn't up earlier this year.

Candy canes is another one of the rituals for the kids. My daughter has been bugging me to get candycanes for three days. I couldn't find the things anyplace, I had to hit three stores before I found one that had them. So they are sitting in their boxes waiting for them to put up on the tree today. Couldn't find peppermint ones though, had to get the Jelly Belly ones that are cherry, pear and cotton candy. How odd are those? Not very Christmas-sy if you ask me.

The cookie ritual begins tomorrow. I have all the stuff I need now to make them. Would you believe I also had to go to three stores to find colored sugar and the sprinklie things that go on the cookies? Everyone is out of stuff already!

I get to do the kid shopping ritual today. Oh the joys of fighting crowds at stores, this one I could do without. I did get all the "extra" family done yesterday. Then comes the wrapping. Oy Vey!

Ok, I need more coffee before I go to the stores, wish me luck! Bye Bye!

Oh Christmas Tree, part 2

2005-12-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

The hunt is over! We found a tree, but it was touch and go there for a while. The place we usually get our tree at was sold out and closed down. The other place in our town that had them was also sold out. So, it was on to Walmart, they only had four trees, and they were all over 8 feet tall. We only have a 6' ceiling. We though we would try Home Depot, they had 1 tree, and it was all brown and dead on one side. So, we went back to Walmart, and figured we would just get one of those and cut it to the right size. Got back there and they only had three trees now. We grabbed while the grabbing was good! This is our own fault by waiting until the weekend before Christmas to get a tree.

Here is our tree and the two excellent decorators that created it. They did such a good job with it! I'm sure Santa will be pleased to see our tree this year. Our house smells so nice and pine-y now, I just love that Christmas scent! Shopping starts today, doesn't that sound like fun?

I sat up last night knitting until around midnight. I got the leg, heel, and part of the foot done on that second sock. They might actually be done before Christmas!!! I do have that feeling that I will run out of yarn before its finished though, since I added an inch to each leg on this pair. I might have some yarn that's close to the same color, or I might just use something different and call these the odd-ball socks. Who knows? I'll just wait and see what grabs me when I get to that point. The FPS is staring at me again, she's giving me a ride on the guilt train. I might have to work a block or two on her so that she stops giving me the hairy eyeball.

Time to run! Bye Bye!

Oh Christmas Tree

2005-12-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

We are on the hunt for a Christmas Tree today. The kids are so excited about it, and Christmas in general. Its so neat to see them dancing around singing "7 days until Christmas, 7 days until Christmas" or whatever the number du jour is. I did get the decorations out of the shed and spread around the house in their appointed places. The kids were a big help with that, and they set up the Nativity scene for us this year. The stockings are hung buy the stereo with care, since we don't have a chimney, and we hope St Nick will soon be here. But not too soon since I'm so far behind at the moment, I may never catch up.

I have to come up with a potluck dish for Tuesday. Something fast, easy and cheap. Anybody have any ideas? I'm open to suggestions since I am drawing a blank at the moment. This is for the Girl Scout Christmas party.

The only fibery thing I have to offer you is that I got two inches done on the second blue sock. Its unfortunate when life interrupts your fiber time. It may get done before next year, but who knows!

Gotta run! Bye Bye!

Drudge Work

2005-12-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

Tis the day for drudge work in my house. That means cleaning again. Think I better get to my kitchen floor today, its kind of yucky again. If I can get it all, or mostly done today, that means I have the rest of the week for the remaining stress of the Christmas season! How fun!

The kids had fun at their homeschool Friday group. They made Christmas cards this time. I need to get them hung up with our decorations, which still languish in the shed as of this time. Thanks Tracie for a fun day at your house!

While at Tracie's house, she showed us the most beautiful truffel's she made, oh they are just gorgeous! All covered in chocolate with beautiful colors across the top, wrapped in their own little bags. And these cookies she made with crackers, peanutbutter, and chocolate, all festive looking! She also came up with this neat idea of a winter survival can, stuffed with all sorts of goodies in a paint can. Your just too cool Tracie!

Need to get going here, got to roll the husband out of bed for work. Bye Bye!

AAA Friday

2005-12-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

Ah, its Friday. That means only 9 more shopping days until Christmas. I think I better get started. That means I better get a tree soon too. That means I better get the decorations out also. I think I have a busy weekend ahead. Mike's work Christmas party is this week too. And I had better make some Mascarpone cheese to take down to the big family party on Christmas Day. Think I will make a batch and split it between pineapple added to it and smoke flavor added to the other half. I think that will be enough. Although I am considering a herb flavor too, so maybe I'll split the batch in three. I have to make some cookies too. Spritz, sugar, and I don't know what else yet. Gotta have cookies for Santa! This coming week keeps getting longer. Is this what they call stress???

I wanted to share this pic of my son and his cuddly friend Mrs Burbie. I thought it was just too cute! He's such a farm kid! The turkey still comes in in the morning for a warm up on someone's lap. And she has developed a penchant for eating Cherrio's, so she gets handfed those now too. What a spoiled bird!

Got the first sock of the second pair done yesterday. It came out looking good! Cant wait to finish the pair, but I have a feeling that with this coming week it may be put aside for other things. Maybe I can sneak some knitting time in at 3 am!

Time to get going! Bye Bye!

Is This Year Over?

2005-12-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

It suddenly occurred to me this morning that this year is almost over. Christmas will be here soon, and 2005 will shortly be out the window. Wow. Wasn't it just January? I could have sworn it was.

I has been an adventurous year for me. Full of the ups and downs associated with life. Lots of good stuff, some bad stuff, but mostly good.

Most importantly is my kids. They have done great this past year. They have grown both in size and maturity. It so wonderful to watch them grow into wonderful people. I have seen compassion and understanding blossom in their lives. I have seen tolerance grow, I have watched morality evolve. It is truly a blessing to see that and be a part of their young lives.

We had our best garden in the three years we have been here this past summer. Very productive for us, lots of good eating. Tried some new things that worked out well, such as the raised beds with the really good compost-y dirt in them. The green beans that I didn't think would produce anything gave us more than we could eat, so I had lots to share. I had a much better time keeping the weeds down this year too. All in all, it was a great garden year.

Our chickens laid very well this past year. At our highest we were getting over 3 dozen eggs a day. I would say that they more than paid for their upkeep and feed bill. Many satisfied egg customers! Our turkeys grew big and strong this year. We did lose one turkey, who decided the kids swimming pool was the place to go, and one chicken that had a prolapsed uterus.

I got my first, and so far, only fiber animal. Miss Rabbie, aka bitie bunnie, has been a treat to have. Even if she does try to take my fingers off from time to time. I look forward to being able to spin her fluff and make something beautiful with it.

My fiber addiction has grown this past year. I have gotten more daring in what projects I have taken on. More complicated lace spinning and knitting being the primary project of the past year. Branching out in trying felting also, which has proven a real treat! Socks Socks Socks Sweaters Sweaters Sweaters!!! Maybe next year will be the year of the Orenberg shawl.

Next year will be another adventure for my family. Moving, starting from scratch with a new homestead, new garden, new everything basically. The wonder if my dreams will come to fruition, we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Most of all I am blessed with my family, friends, and home.

Many blessings to you in the coming year, may it bring all that you desire.

Finished Socks

2005-12-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

I finished the socks yesterday, I sure do love them! They fit so well for a change, which has been my biggest challenge with sockmaking. Even though they are actually men's socks, I adjusted the needle size for the foot and they snugged up nicely. I just went down one needle size, from a 4 to a 3. And I did have enough yarn to finish it too, only about 2 yards left on the skein by the time I finished. I still need to change that table cloth don't I?

Here's the finished socks being modeled on my feeties. I like these so much that I started knitting another pair in blue yesterday also. Another mystery yarn with no label on it so I cant impart that knowledge to you. Its some kind of worsted weight stuff. They should also be very warm.

All the girlies are doing well. Mrs Burbie laid her second egg the day before yesterday. Still not acting broody though, so its in the fridge. It would be a bad time for us to have babies right now. With the moving and not having a good area here to raise the babies in, it just wouldn't work. Hopefully that will all be worked out at the new place by spring so we can raise some babies.

We ran a load of wood up to the new house yesterday, and I got to see inside again. One bathtub is in place now! WOOHOO!! That means one step closer to moving in!!! That just leaves the surround on that tub, and the shower stall in the second bathroom to do. Also the new closet being built is all framed up and has a door, now I have a place to stick my vac and carpet cleaner. Thanks Vickie!!!

The animal control lady finally got back in touch with me. She tried to get pics of the offending dogs but the owner wouldn't comply. She told the owner the dogs were loose and what they had done. The owner got pretty ticked off from the sounds of it and claimed the dogs weren't loose. Although she did admit that they were on vacation at the time and couldn't say for sure if the dogs got loose or not. The dogs haven't been back since, thankfully. Animal control has a year to go back and cite her if the dogs get loose again. So, now its just wait and see if they are on the run again.

Time for me to get going, Bye Bye!!

Long Day

2005-12-13T05:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a long day for me. I was laid up on the couch with a migraine headache all day. It wasnt very plesant. This is what I get for skipping a day on my Feverfew.

Didnt do anything worth writing down here. Didnt do anything period.

I'll have more to write tomorrow.

Bye Bye!

Good Intentions

2005-12-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

I had all sorts of good intentions to get stuff done around here yesterday. Had, being the operative word in that sentence. Well, those good intentions went out the window in favor of sock knitting. No bread got baked, no vac got run, no patio got swept. But I do have one sock finished and the second half done! And the finished one looks and feels SOOOO GOOOOD! I just couldn't put the needles down, I just had to knit! Course, knitting is much more fun that sweeping the patio any day. I'm sort of in a bind though. It doesn't look like I will have enough of the green color to finish the second sock. Since the skein was a mystery skein, I wasn't sure how much was there, and just guessed it would be enough. Now I'm not so sure. I may have to do the toe in a different color! Good thing you don't see sock toes in sneakers, huh? I'll have to wait to see how far I can get with what I have. Wish me luck!

No more turkey eggs yesterday. I wasn't expecting one though since she is just starting to lay. I might see one from her today. Miss Rabbie and I had a wonderful time with brushing yesterday. No biting, no running away, she was just as sweet as could be. I'm thinking that she has a fetish with her hutch and doesn't like anybody to reach in there to touch her when she is in there. When she is out, she's a whole different rabbit. All the other critters here are doing fine, I'm getting over 2 dozen eggs a day at the moment, which is a good thing. Now if people would just come down and buy them, I would be a happy camper. I believe I have 12 dozen in the fridge right now! I suppose that folks are too preoccupied with Christmas shopping to think about buying eggs. Don't they know they need them for baking???

Gotta run! Bye Bye!

First Egg!!

2005-12-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

My little turkey girl laid her first egg yesterday!!! I am so excited!!! Its the brown speckled on in the middle, I put chicken eggs around it so you can tell the size.

Mrs. Burbie doesn't seem any worse for the experience. She isn't acting broody at all at this time, so the egg will most likely be eaten. We are hoping that in the spring she will get broody and I can get her to set on a clutch for babies. I would love to have a bunch of turkey babies running around! I'm not even sure if this one is fertile. Sniff Sniff, my little girl is growing up!!!

Got more done on the sock yesterday. I have about 1 1/2 inches left on the foot before I start on the toe. Might actually get the thing finished today! It fits quite well so far too. I have the habit of making them too large for my feet.

I like the color as well, and the socks are warm when I hold them, so they should make a good cold weather pair to add to the drawer! Think I need to change out that tablecloth too, fall leaves are the wrong holiday aren't they? Wonder where I put the Christmas one.

I didn't get bread made yesterday, I indulged in a day of knitting instead. So I have that on the to-do list today, along with the remainder of the laundry. Prob should run the vac around too, the floor is getting crunchy again.

That's it for me, what's new with you? Bye Bye!

Socks

2005-12-10T05:56:00.000-07:00

After scouting thru my sock drawer, looking for a pair to wear, I decided that a sock project couldn't wait. It seems that all my socks over the course of the summer decided to make holes in themselves, such silly socks they were. My friend Tracie, who has impeccable timing, sent me an email with a link to a neat pair of sock she saw online. So I started knitting socks yesterday afternoon! I have about 3 inches done so far. I have no idea what kind of yarn I'm using, it was some stuff in a box I got from from another knitter that was moving. No label on the skein, but its a lovely shade of green, and knits up beautifully. I'll take a picture when the light gets better in here, cant see anything now. The pattern is here socks (Thanks Dawn, it worked!)

The kids and I had lots of fun at our homeschool group yesterday. There were lots of yummy goodies to munch on, spiced cider to drink, and gingerbread cut outs to paint. I must say, some of the kids sure have interesting and vivid imaginations when it comes to the designs on their cutouts. Even the parents got in on the painting. Much fun and laughter was had by all! Thanks Tracie, you put together a great day that will create many fond memories in the years to come! I just know that ever year we put those gingerbread men on the tree, the kids and I will be talking about how fun it was to create them.

Leslie, I tried your advice on the rabbit problem, and gave her a tap on the nose when she tried to nip me, she sure didn't like it, but it stopped her in mid step, and I didn't get bitten. I then held her until she stopped trying to get away from me and she calmed down. So far so good, we'll see how today goes. Atleast my hands survived another day in the hutch. Thanks again for the advice!

Time to get moving here, got to make bread and get laundry started! Bye Bye!!

Fried Apple Pies

2005-12-09T05:47:00.000-07:00

The kids and I had fun yesterday making fried apple pies. This has quickly become one of our favorite desserts around here. They are very simple to make. Take a package of pre made canned biscuits, a can of apple pie filling, and a deep pan with oil for frying. Open the pie filling, pour it into a bowl, chop up the apples a bit and add your favorite pie spices to it. Take a biscuit, roll it out good and flat. Add a heaping tablespoon or two of the apple onto it. Run some water around half the edge, fold over the dough, squash the edge with a fork until its all sealed up. Drop that into the med-high hot oil and fry until its brown on one side, give it a flip and fry on the other side. Drain on some paper towels and eat! One can of 8 biscuits is enough for one can of pie filling. You can also use your favorite kind of fruit filling, doesn't have to be apple.

Also made two loaves of banana bread, although half of one of those is gone already! That doesn't last long in this household. The other loaf is going to our playgroup get together today. I think I finally used up all those frozen nanners that were lurking in my freezer!

Got two blocks done on the FPS yesterday. One more block and the side triangle and that tier will be done. Maybe today if I get the time.

Miss Bitie-bunny didn't take another chunk out of me yesterday. Thanks for the advice Leslie!!! I sure do appreciate it!

Thats all the news that's fit to print! Bye Bye!!

My Rabbit Is Evil!

2005-12-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

She is possessed! I need to have a bunny exorcism to cast out the EVIL from her body. Yesterday morning, while I was feeding, watering, and petting her, she decided to bite me in the arm. She bit me so hard that I have entry AND exit holes. She was holding on so tightly that when I pulled my arm back, she had all four legs off the ground and was hanging by her mouth dangling in mid air! I could have put those piercing things people wear in their eyebrows thru the holes! It looks like I tried to commit suicide by rabbit if you look at my wrist.

She is EVIL I tell ya, EVIL!

She gave no indication that she didn't want to be petted, nothing, just turn and WHAM! This is the worst bite she has given me so far.

Do all angora's act like this? Is this some genetic malfunction with the breed, that they bite? Or did I get a rabbit that is just EVIL? She has never been mistreated, unless you call brushing mistreatment. She has been with us since she was 8 weeks old. Nobody has mishandled her, dropped her, pulled her ears, none of that kind of stuff. Is this normal behavior for the breed???? She is an English Satin. If there are any angora raisers reading, I would love to know your opinion.

Maybe she is just EVIL!

I had lots of chilly chickens yesterday too. As soon as they came out of the coop, they made a beeline straight to the sunny side of the yard. Even the goose was getting in on that action. Our weather has gotten decidely colder at night again. Down into the teens. The girlies have heat lamps in the coop, but don't seem to hang out under them very much. Guess they needed to work on their tans instead.

I got to spin yesterday!!! I plyed a ball of mystery wool that has been watching me lately. It kept telling me to do something with it, or it would run away and hide. I also got a skein of merino for the FPS done. Both are currently hanging in my bathroom drying out. I hope to get some more knitting done today, if I get the time.

The kids had friends over yesterday for a play date. Another homeschool family's kids that lives near us came over. A good time was had by all. And it left me free to spin!!!

I need to make banana bread today for our weekly homeschool get together tomorrow. We are heading over to my friend Tracie's house to decorate Christmas ornaments and eat goodies! I cant wait! It sounds like it will be lots and lots of fun!

Gotta get going here, Bye Bye!

p.s. Any of you angora bunny raisers, drop me a line please!!!

Cleaning Frenzy

2005-12-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went on a cleaning frenzy. I made the mistake of looking up and seeing my dusty ceiling fan blades and that was all it took. This wasn't your normal cleaning, this was a move the furniture and get at all the nooks and crannies cleaning. I am sure glad that doesn't happen too often to me!!!

My daughter was a huge help to me durning the cleaning. She did a great job with the dusting and sweeping. I didn't even have to ask her to help!!! I wonder if someone put something in our water, me cleaning and her cooperating, something isn't right. Could it be a phase of the moon? I don't think its full right now, so that couldn't be it.

Oh well, what's done is done.

Mike and our friend, also named Mike, got a good load of wood yesterday. That is, before the forest service began a prescribed burn across the road from them. They figured that leaving was a good option at that time. Mike is guessing that puts us up about 1-1 1/2 cords of wood for now. Not a bad start. Now we just need to get it bucked up, split, and stacked. My son went with them yesterday for a day in the woods and had a great time by all accounts. He got to play with the hatchet and smacked off the branches on the logs. He also got to see carpenter ants and check out a wood peckers nest. Only two smashed fingers was the damage.

Since we didn't do sit down school yesterday, we are calling it Home Economics Study for my daughter and Woodland Environmental Studies for my son. Hehehehe, I can rationalize anything!

I didn't get any time for fiber playing yesterday. I would like to sit down and do some spinning today if I get the time. I need more merino spun up for the FPS, since I'm down to one skein at the moment for that. That wont last me long, maybe only 1 tier of knitting.

Thats about it here! Bye Bye!

Wood Cutting Day

2005-12-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

Hubby is off wood cutting today, or will be when our friend gets up here to pick him up. We are splitting the wood between us and our friends to keep the cost of our heating down. Or trying to that is. We can't even burn at our current house, its going up to the new one that has a fireplace in it.

Here's the fireplace of which I speak. This is a picture prior to the remodel. The previous owners left quite a mess for my friend Vicky and her family, who own the house, to pick up. Yes, the walls are pink, but they wont be staying that way for much longer.

This is the front of the house before painting. Its a lovely shade of light green now, with white trim. It also has a new roof on it, new bathrooms going in, new kitchen appliances, and all sorts of other neat stuff. The chicken coop is behind the house, you cant see it in this pic. I'm thinking climbing roses under that window there.

Baked two pumpkin pies yesterday. I had a real craving for some pie and had to give into it. There's just something about fall and pumpkin pie. Might just have a piece for breakfast, how decadent!

Got some knitting done on "The Forest Path" stole (now known as FPS). Got the row turned and one block done. Only 6 3/4 tiers left to finish on the body, then its onto the border. I might actually have it done before next summer!!!

Going to try and get a box or two packed today, I had better get going on that if we are to move in 7 weeks or so. I have some packed, but its tough, you don't know if you will need something, or have to go digging thru a box to find something. Moving is a pain! I also better think about digging out the Christmas stuff too from the storage shed. Kids are getting antsy for that to start.

Gotta run! Bye Bye!!

Finished Bags

2005-12-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

I got the two bags I was knitting done and felted yesterday, they came out quite cute!

Here's before the felting. The white string holds open the drawstring holes.

Here's the after shot. I really like how the blue and white bag got all fuzzy in the machine and that the colors blended more. The blue/white one took much longer to felt than the green one. Don't know what I will do with them, the kids are begging for them at the moment, and they arnt even dry yet.

I just finished reading a great book. Its called "A Breath of Snow and Ashes" by Diana Gabaldon. I really like her writing! This book is the sixth in the series, which started with "Outlander". If you get a chance to read them, go for it! Its a great story about romance, war, medicine, time travel, colonial America, and 1700's Scotland. I find that her books are the kind that grab you and you cant put them down until your finished with it. Here is her website so you can check it all out. http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~gatti/gabaldon/gabaldon.html

Other than that it was a pretty boring day around here. Made the bread, washed the laundry, cleaned the house, not much exciting in all of that. Back for another week of homeschool today and a run to the library.

Time to scoot! Bye Bye!

Donut Day

2005-12-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

Ah Sunday, our family donut day. Mike and the kids go to the local store and pick out their breakfast and get a newspaper. I always get surprised with mine, since they pick out different things for me each week. Last week was a cheese and onion scone. I wasn't too fond of that one.

Here is our Girl Scout troop waiting on the float for the parade to start yesterday. All the girls had a great time singing and waving their hands at everyone. My daughter is third from the left. It was a really big parade, over 100 groups/floats/bands in it this year. The weather was great, nice and sunny, and not too cold either. We were lucky that we were at the front of the parade, number 9, and when we were done we got to watch the rest of the parade that came after us. And yes, everyone was shouting "MERRY CHRISTMAS" at each other.

Fun on the farm yesterday. One of the people that buys eggs from us every weekend was here and caused an accident. He drove over the water faucet outside by the fruit trees, breaking the line. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy person when he did that. Course this all happened 20 mins before we were all leaving the house too. Our landlord was really ticked off as well. The guy offered to pay for the damage, but I don't think the landlord will be replacing the line anytime soon. Now we get to walk further for water for the birdie girls, since this broken one was near the coops too. Never a dull moment, is there?

I had a request for recipes on here, so I'll start with the bread recipe I will be making today. Its the 6-grain bread that I love. I use this cereal I have in #10 cans, called 6 grain rolled cereal. It looks like oatmeal, but its a combo of flaked red wheat, rye, oats, barley, sunflower seeds and white wheat. Its suppose to be eaten hot like oatmeal, but I prefer it in bread.

The recipe is a variation of the white bread recipe in the "Encyclopedia of Country Living" by Carla Emery, 9th edition.

1C milk, scalded
6T butter
6T sugar
2t salt
Mix those together, let the butter melt, and cool slightly to about 105 degrees

In a bowl:
2 packages yeast, or 4 1/2t
3C warm water 105-110 degrees
Allow yeast to dissolve before adding cooled milk mixture

Add 9-10 cups flour and 1 1/2 cups of 6 grain cereal.

Mix well and add as much flour as you need to make a workable dough.
Knead for 10 mins.
Place in greased bowl and allow to rise for 1 hour.
Shape into 4 loaves, place in greased loaf pans.
Allow to rise for 30-45 mins.
Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap it.
And eat!

That's my day today, bread and laundry. Time to go, Bye Bye!

Beautiful Sunrise

2005-12-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

I saw the most beautiful sunrise yesterday morning. It was all orange with a hint of pink on the edges. See for yourself.

Sadly, the picture doesn't really do it justice. It was beautiful. Awe inspiring, to say the least. My son says "Its like a big blob of ice cream, falling from the sky". That's quite a compliment coming from him.

The kids had fun at our homeschool play group yesterday. They love being able to hang with their friends and play. I love talking with the other moms and dads! Good conversation is a pleasure in life.

The Girl Scouts are all ready for the parade today. Got the float decorated, the songs sung, silly hats passed out, and I believe we are good to go. I don't think I have been in a parade in about 15 years now. And the last one was at Christmas too.

I'm trying a few of the felted bags from the "Felted Knits" book now. I had such fun with the hat that I had to do more. Those bags are the right size for all the leftover handspun I have laying around. I did one in white merino 2-ply and a multi blue wensleydale single knit together. I need to stitch up the bottom before felting, but I think it will come out looking neat. I also started one in the same green as the hat. I thought they would make neat little bags to put presents in for my kids this year. Don't know how much I will get done between now and then, but its fun trying.

Good day for eggs yesterday. We got 31 of them. The older flock seems to be coming off their molt and are laying again. I got some eggs so big that I can't close the lid on the egg carton! Still no egg from Mrs Burbie, but she is still beating up the boys every chance she gets. No further dog incidents either at this time. I haven't heard back from animal control yet either. I'll call them on Monday, if they don't call/show this weekend.

Time to get going for me. Bye Bye!

The Hat is Done!

2005-12-02T05:22:00.000-07:00

I finished the hat yesterday afternoon!! It's still on the form drying right now, didn't think it would take so long to dry! I wanted to wear it today, but, I will have to be patient. It didnt take long to knit, I could have had it done in two days if I didnt have to go on a needle hunt. All in all, I'm very happy with how it came out.

Here is the hat before I felted it. Doesn't look like much does it?

Here it is on the form drying. Thats a shot of the top of the hat.

My drive to the city wasn't much fun. Now I remember why I like to stay home. Too many people and too many cars. My daughter had lots of fun looking at all the different things in the craft store we stopped at. I really think she is going to turn out to be a crafty person. She was walking thru the rows and commenting on how she can make this, or how she can paint that, or what neat bracelets she can make with those beads. It was really neat to see her forming her own ideas just on what she was seeing. Also gave me some ideas for Christmas.

Got some of the poop pile moved, but need to get the rest of it this weekend. Mike went and scrounged more scrap wood from the construction site next door, that already went up to the new homestead. Don't know if this wood was for burning or for building. I want to make a "baby" room in the new coop. Some place where I can put a broody girl with her eggs and to raise the babies without being eaten by the other birds. So I will need wood for that.

I heard on the news last night that they found that bird flu virus on a quail farm outside of L.A. California yesterday. They are saying its a weak form of the virus and poses no threat the people. Don't know if I believe that. Weak forms get strong and mutate too. It's too close to my place for comfort. I sure don't want the men in white bio-haz suits coming to my place and killing my birds "Just in case".

Time to get the day going here. Bye Bye!

Off to the Big Bad City

2005-12-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

Well its off to the big bad city with me today. I have to get a red sweatshirt for my daughter for the Christmas parade she is marching in on Saturday. Watch out Walmart, here I come!

Going to try and find the needles I need also when I'm down there, since I have made it as far as I can on the circulars. I was thinking of needle felting something on the side of the hat when I have it done. Maybe some kind of vine-y pattern with a flower or something. I'll have to let my imagination go with that one.

All the weed piles are hauled off and into the burning pit at the neighbors. Its easier to haul them down there than to try and burn them off in our barrel, since it would take weeks to get them all done. Emptied the compost barrel onto the garden yesterday too, and got that spread around. Just need to get the rest of the poop pile hauled into the garden, and that's today's plan. It will be all ready for discing and tilling. After that I think all the fall garden/outside chores will be done! Ok snow, you can start falling now!

I think maybe our little girl turkey, Mrs Burbie, may be getting ready to start laying eggs soon. She is acting funny lately, laying around more, and is fighting with the boys. They boys are also pestering her more too, so I think they know something I don't at this point. I put the boys in separate coops for now so they don't fight with each other. Of course, if I were her and a 50 pound turkey boy tried to keep climbing on my back, I think I would turn around and bite him too. She spent another morning laying in repose upon my son with the sleeping bag over them both, taking naps.

Leftovers report....hot turkey melts for dinner. All the stuffing is finally gone. Nobody wanted the turkey and rice thingy.

Time to run! Bye Bye!

Cold Turkey

2005-11-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

No, I don't mean the kind that you do when you quit smoking or eating chocolate. I mean the real kind of cold turkey.

Our little Mrs. Burbie was very cold yesterday morning. So she came inside for a bit and had a warm up on my tummy covered up with an afghan. She also enjoyed a quiet nap during her visit. She then went back outside to bask in the sunlight.

You might be a farmer when......your turkeys are spoiled rotten and think they own your house!

I finally got the bread made. WOOHOO!! Four loaves of 6-grain bread are ready to be eaten. Now I don't have to worry about it for a few days. Is it just me or does the bread from the store taste like glue?

I didn't have much time for knitting yesterday, but did find time to get five more rounds done on the hat. Didn't make it to the yarn shop yesterday for the needles either. I might just make some from a dowel instead.

Got the other coop cleaned out yesterday, it smells so much nicer in there now. I'm sure the girlies appreciate it. Got more weeds burned off too, but raked up more piles so it doesn't look like anything got done. Oh well, I'll burn off more today. It will get done eventually.

Leftovers report....I forgot, daughter and I had a girl scout meeting yesterday, so I didn't make the turkey and rice thingy, that's for tonight now. Just had eggs when I got home.

Time to run! Bye Bye!

I Started a New Project

2005-11-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

After all the wind and colder temps we have been having, I came to the conclusion that I don't have a hat. Which, if you ask me, is a pretty sad state of affairs for this spinner and knitter.

So I looked thru my patters and books, but couldn't find anything I liked. I knew what I wanted, but had nothing to match it. After a visit to my friend Jeannie, and a raid on her knitting library, I have what I want.

I am making the shaped brim hat, from the book "Felted Knits" by Beverly Galeskas. The yarn I am using is Brown Sheep Nature Spun in Meadow Green. So far its knitting up beautifully, and after one day of knitting I'm almost half done. There is one problem though. I don't have needles. Not the size I need to finish that hat that is. I have to change to DPN's at some point, and I don't have any in the right size!!!!

Oh, the horror!!!! That means I will have to go to my favorite yarn and fiber shop to get some!!!! I don't know if I can take it!!!! AAARRRGGGG!!! Shopping for knitting stuff is just too much!!!! Guess I'll just have to tough it out, wont I? Anybody want to join me?

Still haven't gotten bread made, dreams of felted hats too up too much time yesterday. Did get one coop cleaned out, thanks to my husband. The other coop will get done today along with the piles of weeds for burning. Kids and I had a good day with school yesterday. We are doing an experiment on evaporation right now, so there are little jars of water all over the house so we can measure the rate of evap in a few days. Trying to see if one part of the house is faster to dry out than the others. I think the experiment for today is with wet towels. We'll see how that goes.

Did you know turkeys don't much like cold weather? Ours have spent lots of time hanging out under the heat bulb in the coop for the past few days. Doesn't seem to bother the chicken girlies, cept they aren't laying as much now.

No further dog incidents, and Miss Rabbie is doing good outside. Wish the animal control folks would come back with pictures soon, so I can get these folks cited.

Leftover's report....turkey and stuffing with gravy heated up on plates, nothing fancy, just a quick meal. We still have about 5 pound of bird left. Think I'll do a turkey and rice casserole thingy for tonight.

Time to go! Bye Bye!

Too Windy

2005-11-28T06:04:00.000-07:00

Boy was it windy yesterday. We couldn't get the coops done since it would have all blown away as we were loading it into the wheelbarrow. Besides, I don't think the girlies were too inclined to get out of the way since they were all hanging out inside away from the wind. I thought my sheets hanging on the line were going to become airborne! Quite chilly too, didn't get above 38 all day. Gave Miss Rabbie new straw in her hutch to mess around in and make a nest out of. She seems to like eating it more than sleeping in it.

Didn't get bread done either, I sorta ran out of steam after getting the rabbit hutch cleaned out and the laundry done. Guess I'll get to it today.

Another week of homeschool to get started too. Need to get pages printed out for that after I finish morning chores.

I don't have much to write this morning, so I'm going to get going with other stuff. Bye Bye!

Rhythm of the Farm

2005-11-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

I stood back yesterday and listened to they rhythm of the farm around me. That beautiful music created by our life. The sound of the kids laughing. The snap of dead weeds being raked. Wind blowing thru the branches of the fruit trees, rattling the last of the leaves. A hen telling the world she just laid the most beautiful egg ever seen. Our roosters having calling contests to proclaim they are kings of the yard. Turkeys trying to out-do each other gobbling to impress the lone turkey hen. Mourning doves flying overhead, making that little noise they make as they flap their wings.

All these sounds overlapping each other creating the rhythm of our farm.

Stand back today and just listen to the rhythm of your world, its beautiful!

Spoke to the animal control officer yesterday regarding those dogs that tried to eat Miss Rabbie. She's very sure she knows who's dogs they are and has had a run in with them before us. All she needs is a positive ID from me and then she can go and cite them. Sounds like they will have to go to court for this one. She took pictures of the damage they did to the hutch too. She tried to get pictures of the dogs so I could look at them but they weren't home and the dogs not outside yesterday to do that. She will keep trying on that score. Miss Rabbie spent the night outside, since she was trying to scratch and eat a hole thru my bathtub. I didn't hear the dogs back in the yard going after her, and I barricaded her hutch, so it will be much harder for the dogs to get at her. Don't think they can lift a bale of straw off the top of the hutch, I could barely lift it on.

No rain yesterday, so we got lots of yard work done. All the fencing is down in the garden and rolled up for transport to the new place. Got all the dead weeds raked up from around the house too. I was surprised at all the grasshoppers that are still alive and were jumping around at me when I was raking. Figured they had all gotten killed off by the frost.

Plans for today include making bread, the rest of the laundry and cleaning the chicken coops. I want to try to get the weed piles down to the burn barrel and get those burned off tomorrow but don't know if I can squeeze that into the day today.

Leftovers report....Turkey and cheese wrapped up in a flotada (aka soft tortilla) and microwaved, very yummy. The kids call them flotadas, dont ask me where that name came from, I have no idea.

Well, I better get at it. Bye Bye!

Naughty Me

2005-11-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

Naughty me, I overslept this morning. Guess that's what happens when you cant sleep at night. Thankfully the birdie girls don't seem to mind when this happens.

I added a new side bar over there on the left of other blogs I love to read. A big huge thanks to my good friend Tracie for helping me to figure out how to do that and to re-write html stuff. Couldn't have done it without you girlfriend, thanks a bunch!!!

We might get rain today, or not, guess I'll have to wait and see if something falls out of the sky. The plan was to pull the fencing from around the garden today and get that all rolled up. The rain wont help my clothes hanging outside either. Oh well, I have enough inside stuff to do too, in case of the wet stuff. Namely bread again, since we are on the last loaf.

Last night's leftovers use...cut up turkey and gravy over 6-grain bread slices with cranberry and stuffing on the side.

Time to run! Bye Bye!!

Turkey Hangover

2005-11-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

Ah well, the food is eaten, the kitchen clean, and leftovers are pondered. I believe there is about 10 pounds of turkey leftover, along with two big containers of stuffing and a few rolls. Everything else was devoured!

Here's the kiddo's eagerly awaiting the command to start their engines! They sure packed away the food! Can't say that I didn't do the same. Got that turkey hangover going on now too.

I haven't seen those two dogs back yet, which is lucky for them. The town animal control folks know who they are, and they just need me to make a positive ID on the dogs and they will cite the owner. Too bad they didn't say "take the dogs away", which would have been my preferred action. Unfortunately I think that this will happen again. Miss Rabbie is living it up in the bathtub apartment at the moment.

The first of the annual slew of seed catalogs came in the other day. Oh all the shopping I can do in those things! There are some books this company has on sale that I would love to get, stuff on herbal medicines and so on. Good things to have in the homestead library. I'll have to save my pennies and egg money to get them. I would love to get some dye plants going on the new homestead so I can play with those. This catalog has some that look like good choices to start with.

Got some yard work done yesterday after the feasting. Raked up and burned a bunch of dead weeds that have been lurking round my yard. Still have more to do, but this is a start. Got the strawberries covered up too for the winter. Just need to pull the rabbit fencing from the garden and move that up to the new place for next year. Then its onto moving the poop pile so it can be disc'd under and that will be the end of the garden chores for the year.

I got the rest of the tier done on the "Forest Path Stole" this week. YAHOO!!! Now I'm not getting dirty looks from her as I get into bed. She has been slightly mollified for the moment. I still haven't mentioned socks to her yet, figure the less said, the better off I am. Besides, with boxes packed and stored in the back room, I cant even get at my stash to find the grey romney for that project. I suppose it will have to wait until I get moved and can reclaim my life again.

Well, its time to get a working for the day. Bye Bye!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2005-11-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

Please take a minute to think of what you are thankful for today.

Things I am thankful for are...

My God

My Family

My Friends

My Home

My Food

My Homestead and all thats on it.

Bye Bye!

Mad As Hell!

2005-11-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

I am as mad as hell right now!

Got woken up at 4am to thumping and barking dogs. Couldn't see anything outside my window but had a pretty good idea of where it was coming from. Ran to the front door and got that opened and found what I had suspected was the noise. My worst fears coming to life.

Some F*****G IDIOT thought it would be a good idea to let his/her dogs run free all night and they were attacking my rabbit hutch.

Out I ran, grabbing the broom from the patio, yelling at the top of my lungs, imagine banshee screaming, and out shoots some husky type dog from my shed, which took off like a bat out of hell. Another dog was still in there. I could hear it tearing at the wood on the hutch and barking. More banshee screaming from me and calls to get the gun. Out comes a huge, and I mean huge, rotteweiler. He stopped, looks at me, I threaten him with the broom as I run at him, and off he runs down the field. I went to see if my rabbit was still alive, and yelled for my hubby to hurry up with the flashlight and gun. Meanwhile, I can hear my kids inside crying now, cus they just got woken up and didn't know what's going on. I turned to get my hubby and found that damn dog standing behind me again. That thing circled around my chicken coop and came up behind me. More banshee screaming and broom threatening ensued. Dog ran, hubby ran, I got the gun from him, I ran, but I couldn't get a clear shot at that damn dog.

Got some light on Miss Rabbie, while I was holding my breath, afraid of what I would find. She was ok. All she had was a small cut on her foot, that I believe she got from inside her hutch. Some minor bleeding that stopped really fast. Those damn dogs didn't get inside at her, thank God! Miss Rabbie is now reposing in my bathtub. She's really upset and not happy at what happened this morning. She will let me pet her, but nobody else can put their hand near her without being bitten.

don't know how much damage was done to the hutch, too hard to tell in the dark, but I could feel some big holes from teeth in the wood of the lid. Hopefully it can be fixed. Miss Rabbie wont be sleeping outside for a while, I think those dogs will be back for more.

All this time I have been worried that coyotes will get my Miss Rabbie, and its really the idiots with the domestic dogs that are the problem. I will be contacting the town animal control when they open and filing a complaint. These dogs weren't scrufty and/or underfed by any streach of the imagination. They were doing this for fun. I would love to give the owner a piece of my mind, and it wont be pretty either.

HEY PEOPLE, IF YOU OWN A DOG, TIE IT UP OR KEEP IT CAGED!!!!!

Good Morning

2005-11-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

Good morning. A chilly one here. I sure wish I was up where they are getting snow. That's something I sure miss. SNOW!!! Lots and Lots of SNOW!!! We just don't get that much here in Arizona. Atleast not in my yard. More north of us gets more, but even up there, it doesn't always stick around long.

Think I am mostly ready for Thanksgiving at the moment. Just need to make the pumpkin pies, and that's on tomorrows adgenda. Got the kids turkey decorations out for them to put back together. This is the third year for these silly colorful turkeys to grace our table. They are sprouting more feathers each year as the kids go out and find chicken and turkey feathers to add to the mix. Some of our favorite birds that have pass into the Great Thanksgiving in the sky, repose in memorial on those wee birdies.

The kids and I made peanut butter cookies yesterday for our weekly homeschool cooking class. They came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. Bit crunchy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. YUMMM! My son took the cookie pic!

Need to run the vacuum around today, the goatheads are multiplying in the carpet again. I think they breed at night when nobody is watching, then scatter themselves about the room in the most walked upon areas to stab our feet unmercifully. Do you know that I hate goatheads? Nasty little boogers they are.

If I get time I want to do some knitting on the "Forest Path Stole". I have been sadly neglecting her and she was staring at me mournfully last night as I crept into bed. Ah the guilt that an unfinished project can instill in a person! I wont tell her, but I have been eyeballing socks again. If she knows I'm thinking of making socks, she will prob jump up in the middle of the night and wrap her merino softness about my neck in a not so soft and friendly fashion. I really like the kilt hose in the "Folk Socks" book. Tried them once before, but couldn't make them work right so they got ripped out. I don't think I have any yarn spun that I can use for those anyhow now. Guess I will have to go stash hunting. I have some nice grey romney that would spin up beautifully for those, and then maybe overdye it with koolaid. They grey overdye has a nice heathery look to it. Hmmmm, now I have to go dig out the romney.

Time to get my day going and drink more coffee! Bye Bye!

Its Monday Again

2005-11-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Time to return to real life I suppose.

Back to another week of homeschooling. This one will be short due to Thanksgiving day on Thursday. So, only three days of that. The kids like the idea of a short week.

Pretty boring day yesterday around the homestead. Just the usual house and animal work to do. The birdie girls dont like the colder weather we have been having. They seem to be on egg strike at the moment. I'm lucky if i'm getting 18 eggs a day at the moment. I'll try giving them a protein boost this week to see if that helps them. They like the cat food and buttermilk mix the best.

Did some window shopping yesterday to see what the kids are wanting for Christmas. They wernt very cooperative in that area, they didnt give me many ideas.

Hope we will hear today from the part time job Mike got, so we can get his start date. He will be unloading trucks at Target. The extra money will be very handy.

Saw the new homestead we are moving to yesterday. Its looking really good on the outside. All nice and painted, roofed, sided, and patio'd. Found a bee's nest though, which I dont like much, being allergic to those little suckers. Cant wait to get moved! Too much construction around our current place. Too much noise, and an increase in crime. Besides, the town is trying to push animal owners out with new codes they are devising. They are limiting how many animals you can have in town limits now. If we stay, we will lose almost all of our chicken flock, and I'm not willing to do that.

Gotta do chores! Bye Bye!

Whatever Shall I Do?

2005-11-20T07:06:00.000-07:00

Today is the last race of the NASCAR season! AAARRRGGGG!!! What am I going to do on Sunday afternoons until February? Lets hope #8 has a better season next year.

Mt. Dirty Laundry has been smushed down to a sand dune for the moment. I'll get the rest done today. Don't need to make any bread this weekend either, since there are still three loaves in the freezer. Turkey is thawing in the fridge at the moment too. Miss Rabbie needs a brushing today.

Not much else to do cept pull weeds is there? Great, just what I wanted to do. Atleast its not 100 degrees outside.

Got to go get chores done, and turn off the heat lamp for the spoiled turkey that gets cold at night. Bye Bye!

Recent satellite Photo's

2005-11-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

Recent satellite photos have shown that the enemy is indeed massing for attack. We have found a large tunnel and bunker complex located very near to our base. This complex is exceptionally large in size and complexity. The gophers, having allied themselves with the centipedes and mice, have dug the complex. This complex may well extend under our base, we are studying the problem now.

It is our belief that the centipedes and mice are massing in these tunnels for a future assault. This is a clever ploy by the enemy, as it will be difficult to remove these tunnels, and the gopher diggers. without much damage to the surrounding landscape, or much bloodshed. It is our hope that a campaign of Shock & Awe will eradicate this potentially deadly assault. We are Leary of sending in troops at this time due to the fact that feet and ankles may be injured.

Here is a recently dug tunnel entrance noticed very close to our base. Note the attempts at camouflage with the sticks and leaves surrounding the entrance. Our forward spotters have seen the gopher diggers at these, and other, entrances. However, obtaining pictures of these diggers in action has proven probamatic.

Aerial recon snapped this pic of a re-supply convoy. Note the small quantities being moved. We were lucky to obtain this pic, since most supplies are moved at night.

Another pic of the resupply convoy. Note the heavy guard front and rear of the column. This roadway has been dubbed the Ho Chi Gopher trail.

Offloading the supplies under heavy guard at the tunnel entrance. Small quantities point to frequent re-supply at night. This column must have been behind schedule.

A MOAP (Mother Of All Pumpkins) was dropped from a high altitude bomb platform. This bunker buster pumpkin bomb only had shallow penitration due to the rugged terrain and the hard ground area. Shock & Awe will have to re-evaluated as a suitable bombing technique.

Time to spin

2005-11-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

I got some time to spin yesterday WOOHOO!! Found a nice chunk of kid mohair roving and gave it a whirl on the wheel. It feels so good to have that mohair in hand. So silky! And soft too.

Starting point, all pre-drafted and ready to spin. Isn't it shiny???

One half of the roving is spun onto the bobbin. I believe the roving weighed about 1 ounce. Its still nice and shiny! The wheel is a Country Craftsman Saxony repo. I can get lots and lots of yarn on a bobbin.

Its all done! Except for the washing that is. It worked out to be a 2-ply at about 30 w.p.i. Maybe 200 yards? I haven't counted it yet. Although it doesn't show it, it has a really nice shine and luster to it even after being spun.

School is almost done for the week here, only have a few more pages to get thru and we have the weekend off, yeah!!! It was a pretty good week, but we had a few stumbles over the math.

Everybody's water was frozen yesterday morning again, this seems to be a regular occurrence now. Do you think that means its cold outside at night? Hubby Mike and a friend of ours, Mike too, went wood cutting yesterday. They found some nice dead and down on the state land that we can take on our permit. Got one truck load done, and will be going out next week again for more. So far, I think they have found and cut about 2 cords now. We are splitting the wood with them, since our new place will have a fireplace in it. I'll have to do a post on the new house and moving the homestead.

Time to get going on the day, Bye Bye!

Heat

2005-11-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

I finally broke down and turned on the heat last night. It was a bit too chilly in the house in the mornings. Oh, I so dislike having to pay the extra on the electric bill this will be costing. I guess its not a good thing to let the kids freeze though, is it? Seems to me I heard someplace that that wasn't a good thing.

Kids had a fun play date yesterday. There is a new homeschooling family that lives right down the road from us. Very nice people, with really sweet kids. My two had a great time, and I got to watch a movie without playing 20 questions!!!

I am now a co-leader of my daughters girl scout troop. Our original troop split into two new ones, and the new one needed a co-leader, so thats me. The annual Prescott Christmas parade is coming up and our troop is going to have a float in it and sing songs going down the road.

Didnt get the strawberry weeds pulled, but they will last until another day. Mike has a week's vacation coming up, so I think we are going to tackle things like weeds, mulch on the garden, garden fencing and stuff. I want to get the outside work done before we start getting snow and muddy muck that's too hard to work in. Also need to get the coops cleaned out, and the pile under Miss Rabbie's cage and get all that put into the garden to get worked into the ground with the tractor.

This is Miss Rabbie, the angora bunnie I keep for spinning fiber. I just finished brushing her when I took this pic. She's cute, but she has a penchant for biting your fingers. Don't let her size fool you, shes mostly hair!

"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. De Mille" says Mrs Burbie.

My Aunt Linette sent me a neat article on heritage/Heirloom turkeys, of which my Red Bourbons are. Very interesting reading. Thanks!!!

Time to run, and break the ice on the goosie pool! Bye Bye!!

Pasta!

2005-11-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

Got busy yesterday making lots of pasta. First batch I made was Buckwheat linquini, second batch was whole wheat wide noodles. It came out yummy! Great way to use up the extra eggs we cant sell cus they are too small from the new layer girls. Those pasta rollers are a nice handy tool to have on hand too. Makes life much easier than trying to roll it out by hand, if you ask me. I had pictures, but someone deleted them out of the camera by mistake before I could get them downloaded.

The girls are laying well, despite the colder weather. I got 23 eggs out of them yesterday. Nine of the new girls are laying now, and the colors are pretty, every shade of pastel green, olive green, and even a blue layer. Goosie and the turk trio are happily roaming the yard in search of the last green things to eat.

Another day of homeschool for us here, then Jes is going over to her friends house for a visit this afternoon. I might actually get some spinning time in today! Although I should go outside and get the last of the weeds pulled from the strawberry bed and put a layer of straw over them for the winter instead. We'll see, depends on what I feel like doing.

Time to run, Bye Bye!!

Sweater, Part 2

2005-11-15T06:23:00.000-07:00

The sweater is finished! All ready for wearing! My son loves it too, thankfully, since he picked the yarn for it. Now he has a sweater, hat and matching mittens. I wont be able to find him outside anymore, he will blend in too well with the great outdoors. Hmmm, I wonder if that was his objective???

Guess this means I can finish the "Forest Path Stole" now. I better get back to spinning and get the yarn made for the rest of it.

Got our Thanksgiving turkey yesterday. Not a bad deal for it, .49/lb. I got a 19.5 pound bird. That should keep us in leftover bird for a week or so. I do so love roast turkey, and stuffing, and mashed tato's, and gravy, and cranberry, and sweet tato's, and green beans, and pumpkin pie. Do you think anybody would notice if I celebrated Thanksgiving a week early? I dont know if I can wait for the real one to roll around.

Another heavy frost night before last. More ice on the goosie pond. Miss Rabbie was being a snuggle bunnie yesterday morning. She tried to burrow into Mike's coat when he picked her up. With all that hair she shouldnt be cold at all. I'll get a pic up so you can see how fluffy she is. Cant wait for her to blow her coat so I can pluck her and spin it all up. She has the most beautiful charcol grey/black fuzz on her. I expect that wont be until spring now.

Time to get the day started. Bye Bye!

Couldn't Decide

2005-11-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

I couldn't decide which bread to make, wheat or oat, so, I made both.

Thats honey wheat on the left, with the pretty horizontal split on the top, and Vermont maple oatmeal on the right, with the odd upsweeping split.

These loaves had a really good rise on them this week and aren't too squatty looking either. Can't wait to slice off a few pieces and toast them up.

Errand running this morning. Got to hit the library and grocery store. Also its Monday, so its back to school for the week too. I haven't printed out the pages in the lesson plan for the kids yet, lazy me. I have a feeling its going to be a very busy day around here.

The sweater for my son is almost done, might have that finished today if I can get time to sit down and knit on it. Only half of one sleeve left to knit then to sew up the side seams and its alllllllll finished!

Gotta run! Bye Bye!

Is Winter Here???

2005-11-13T06:06:00.000-07:00

After the storm front went thru the other day, it sure got colder.

There was ice on the goose pond yesterday morning. Poor goosie didn't know what to do with it. She was looking so dejected about not being able to take her morning bath. Evidently the bathing won her over, cus she jumped right onto the ice and broke thru it for a good thorough washing. Some things you just cant do without when your a goose.

My last squash plant bit the dust too. The cold was just too much for it and it died a heroic death. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. Too bad it wasn't a bit longer, I was really looking forward to one more fresh squash dinner. Oh well, next year!

Got all the obligatory housecleaning done, and the mountain of laundry has be reduced to an ant hill for the moment. I sure love the smell of clothes that have been dried outside on a cool fall day. They smell so crisp and clean and yummy. Sheets too!!!

Bread baking is on the menu for today. Debating between a 6-grain batch or a straight white batch. I ran out of regular wheat flour, so honey wheat is out. Bad me, running out of flour!! Now I have honey wheat on the brain, I may have to make a run to the grocery store! Or maybe oat bread. There are just too many to decide from, and they all taste good. Maybe I'll leaf thru my Grammie Peg's old cookbooks and see what's in them. There are some neat recipes in her older Betty Crocker cookbook that aren't in the newer version that I have.

That's all the news that's fit to print, have a great day! Bye Bye!

Holiday Traditions

2005-11-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

Ah, the time for Holiday Traditions has arrived!

One of our favorites is to make cranberry sauce for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Also to eat during the rest of the year.

The kids really like to watch the cranberries pop when they are cooking and to mash them all up into pulp. Course there is lots of taste testing during the whole process.

My son is washing the berries and picking out the yucky ones before we start to cook them up. He thinks its pretty cool that they float!

Time to mush up the cooked berries. Both kids like to turn the food mill and fight over who gets to do it. Those food mills are sure a time saver. All the left over skins and seeds go down to the birdie girlies, they sure love cranberry skins.

Ta Da!! The finished product. 14 jars of beautiful cranberry jelly, all ready for eating! Not to bad from 5 bags of cranberries. That should hold us for a little bit now! I might get a few more bags and make some more if I can find them on sale again.

Its almost time to go down and dig out the rest of the Thanksgiving decorations. The kids are bugging me to get out the the turkeys they made a few years ago. That's the one thing we have to have on our holiday table every year.

Ah, Tradition!

Canning Today

2005-11-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

Got all the potato's that our garden produced canned up. Not to bad a haul considering they went in very late this year. All that from a few tato's I found growin in the fridge. Free Food!!!

Got a bunch of bags of cranberries yesterday too so I can make up our annual batch of cranberry sauce. I try to get about 12 jars or more of it made to last us thru the year.

I need to get apples, since we are out of applesauce now too. Ate the last of it two weeks ago.

Anyhow, I have a thunderstorm over me at the moment, and dont want to fry my puter, so I need to scoot out of here! Bye Bye!!

Current Knitting and spinning projects.

2005-11-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my current knitting and spinning projects. Enjoy!

This is the front of my son's camo sweater. It knits up so quickly. I have the front and back done so far, and am working on the neck right now. He will blend in so well with the surroundings that I wont see him anymore!

Here is the neckline on four needles. Works much easier this way than trying to work it on a circular needle.

I like to make each of my kids a new sweater each fall. Some I have done on a knitting machine, and some by hand. I need to make new mittens for them for winter too.

This is the lace project I'm working on. Its called "Forest Path Stole" from Knits magazine. I dont recall which issue, but if you want to know, just ask and I'll look it up.

The yarn is handspun Merino in a 70 w.p.i. single ply and a 35 w.p.i. two ply.

I have about 10 tiers left to work before I can start working on the border.

Here is a close up of the different stitch patterns used. They are Lily of the Valley, Fern and Leaf patterns.

If life ever slows down a bit, I'll get this done!

Crappy Day

2005-11-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

Well, this day sure ended on a crappy note.

I had to put down one of our new 6 month old layer hens tonight. She had just started laying her eggs this week and evidently her body couldn't handle it. She blew out her back side and prolapsed her uterus.

I couldn't let her suffer, knowing that nothing I could do would fix it.

Both kids are very upset about it.

This day sucks.

Conspiracy Abounds, the Invasion Continues!

2005-11-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

The conspiracy has been proven, and I have the pictures!!!! The mice are in collusion with the centipedes. I believe the mice have shown the centipedes how to invade my base and to plan sneak attacks on me and my brigade. This collaboration is escalating the invasion of the mice at this time. One emboldens the other, so it seems.

I have found evidence of dirty bombs that have been planted by the enemy mice in an attempt to harm my brigade with biological contaminants. These dirty bombs are in clusters left in sensitive areas designed to inflict the most damage possible. An O. D. team has been dispatched, deactivation and decon has commenced. I have not been able to trace the bio contaminant to its source as of this time. I believe they have a bomb making factory located under my base. I will be further investigating this possibility and make plans for eradication of the enemy facilities. One forward mouse base, located in the chicken coop, has been destroyed as of 0730hrs today.

The chicken sentries have been given orders to be watchful for enemy sightings and to destroy the enemy with extreme prejudice. The centipede sharp shooter, Miss Rhodie, has been pre-positioned for maximum field of fire. Her orders are to shoot first and eat after. My turkey and goose elite white berets have made multiple tours of the A. O. working on S&D ops.

This evening, anti-mouse landmines will be deployed in strategic locations in an effort to stem the flow of enemy invasion. These landmines will be cleverly disguised as peanut butter dispensers, which I have found to be the enemy's weakness. This will be referred to as Operation PB&Jelly (aka Peanut Butter and Judy's Excellent Lure (to the) Landmines, YEEHAW!)

Please view these pictures for further evidence of this invasion.

Here is the rear Echelon mouse base located at the concrete wall. Note the dry grass being incorporated into the base structure. This is evidently for the comfort of the enemy's sleeping quarters.

This is the forward base, located in the chicken coop, that had been eradicated this morning. Note the tunnels extending to the right from the main sleeping area.

A cluster of Dirty Bombs located in a sensitive area for maximum Bio-Contamination. Their small size make it easy to go un-noticed and their camo colors help them to blend in with the surroundings.

Chemical deactivation is indicated in the case of these particular Dirty Bombs. Normal decon procedures can spread the bio-haz material of the bomb into airborne particulates that can further be inhaled by the troops.

Mechanical extraction is the most efficient method of Dirty Bomb removal. After removal, the bombs are disposed of in the proper receptacle to prevent further bio-haz contamination.

unfortunately, everything in a two foot radius must also be decontaminated to render the area safe for human use. We don't wish the bio-haz to spread to other areas or people.

I will keep you posted as this war continues.

Potato vs. Tato?

2005-11-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

That is the question du jour between my kids. One says potato, the other says tato. Such a burning question in the annals of history! Esp. for 6:30 in the morning. What's your opinion on this debate?

I think I need more coffee!

Here is my beautiful daughter modeling the latest in young ladies active outerwear. I believe I was very lucky in getting this picture, since she is very much anti-photo taking. She's so cute!!!

My sons sweater is much progressed since yesterday. I have all of the front and part of the back done now. Its amazing how much knitting you can get done during a girl scout meeting!

Update on the raven. We spoke to the vet yesterday and he was able to preform surgery on its wing to fix the break. It is on its way down to the Adobe Mt. rehab palce now, and he estimates that within 8-10 weeks it will be able to be released back into the wild. The vet gives it a very good prognosis for survival, and said that the raven has a very very good appetite. Considering that it ate like a pig when we had it, I'm not surprised at that. The kids feel really good about helping out wildlife and getting the bird the help it needed. Jessy even colored pictures for the raven to take with it on its recovery. What a lucky bird.

No further centipede attacks to report. It appears that the mice are now massing for possible invasion. It was noted that they are making bases in the concrete wall surrounding us. I know we have had some recon into the house from them, and have managed to catch several in the mice torture devices. Unfortunatly, they expired prior to obtaining any useful information.

I wonder if the centipedes and the mice are working together. I'll have to watch their behavior and note any conspiracy on their parts.

Gotta run!! Bye Bye!!

Cool Fall Days

2005-11-08T06:29:00.000-07:00

Fall is here for sure. The short days are a dead giveaway. Not to mention that its gotten a bit cooler at night. Local weather is saying we are going to be down into the low 30's for the next few nights here.

I just finished this sweater for my daughter yesterday. Pic didn't come out too good, I'll try to get another later today with her modeling it. She picked out the colors and told me what order to knit them in. It sure is colorful! The pattern is from the Red Cross history website, and is from their home knitting project for the war effort. See the patterns here and try your hand at it . http://www.redcross.org/museum/knitting.html
I started another one for my son in his favorite woodland camo yarn of browns, tans, green and black. So far there is about 5 inches done.

The raven is at the vets now, and they think he has a good chance of recovery at this point. We can call their office later to see what his status is.

We got a not so nice letter yesterday from our electric company. In Arizona its APS (or as I like to refer to them..A Piece of S***) Seems they think they are entitled to more of my money. Over the course of the next 6 months we will be seeing a 26.7% increase in our rates. They want money for power plant upkeep that we don't even get our electricity from!!! Maybe they should think about cutting the salaries of the CEO's instead! I know in our household we cant cut back anymore on our use. Bout the only thing we can do is to keep the heat even colder than we did last year and just bundle up more in the house.

Gotta run!!! Bye Bye!!

Quoth the raven "Nevermore"

2005-11-07T06:54:00.000-07:00

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore -- Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the raven "Nevermore"

One of these critters is paying us a visit, as of yesterday morning. Mike and the kids found it when they were out on a walk. It has an open fracture of the left wing. We will be taking it to a local vet today that takes in wildlife that has been hurt and we understand that it will be transferred down to a rehab place near Phoenix after that. The rehab is at a juvenile prison and the kid inmates do all the rehabbing of the animals. The animals are then released back into the wild when they are all better. The kids are enjoying watching the bird move around in the cage. Mr. Raven eats well too, dining on canned ham, donuts and bread.

Yesterday was a productive day in the kitchen. I evidently cant count though, since I got 8 1/2 quarts of pumpkin instead of the original count of 7 1/2 quarts. I can only fit 7 jars in my canner at once, so 1 1/2 quarts went into the freezer. I didn't want to run the canner for almost 2 hours for 2 jars!

The bread is a 6-grain bread, and those four loaves should hold us for the week now. I always seem to get one squatty looking loaf in each batch I make. Oh well, its edible.

It was a good day for eggs too, we got 25 of them and four of the newer younger birds are now laying too. Its time they start earning their feed!

Gotta run!! Bye Bye!!

Centipedes, the enemy within

2005-11-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

They are out to get me. Centipedes have declared war on me. My front has been breached.

Last night was the latest in the recent attacks on me by centipedes. Allow me to illustrate, if you please. The war started a year ago, however, at first the attacks were few and far between. The first of these attacks was the under-the-couch-under-the-newspaper foot attack. Reinforcements were called in for eradication and a well placed footbomb delivered by my second in command was able to stop the attack and repel the invader into the great beyond. The second attack was the crawl-out-of-the-yogurt-tube hand attack. Again, reinforcements arrived on time and the attack was successfully repelled.

Last week I noticed a great increase in recon by these foreign invaders. The garden seems to be the place they are setting up their bases for this. More than once I turned to the yells of my two privates regarding the latest attempt at spying by the enemy. We were successful in capturing one of the spies, and held him for several days at a prison with no known location. However, interrogation revealed no useful information and he was turned over to the chickens for further torture and dinner. The chickens also got no useful information out of him, but they did get protein.

A few weeks ago, they tried a new tactic on me. They attempted an aerial assault on my head by dropping out of the air and landing on my lamp next to my bivouac. This new tactic was startling to say the least. I retrieved my .50 cal anti-centipede flyswatter and started in firing. It took multiple hits from this weapon to finally subdue the enemy. It did attempt to evade my weapon by crawling under my bed, but an S&D mission brought it to its multiple knees. The enemy was airlifted over to the toilet and given a nuke flush into septic hell.

Which leads us to the latest of the attacks, last night.

The two privates had just completed their nightly ablutions, when the latest attack occurred. Again, it was an aerial attack into the tub which the two privates had just recently vacated. The two privates called for reinforcements and I came at double time with the .50 cal anti-centipede flyswatter. Firing commenced. Three hits later the enemy was still in attack mode. The noise in the bathroom was deafening due to the two privates jocularity at the moment. A fourth hit was enough to subdue the enemy for airlift to the toilet and another nuke flush was deployed by private #2. Both privates and myself celebrated our victory!

The enemy seems to be getting smarter by the day and the attacks becoming more numberious. We are ever watchful of the skies and the land for the next attack.

See? They are out to get me!!!

In other news...

The remaining pumpkins have been cooked down and mashed for today's canning. I was able to get 7 1/2 quarts of pulp from 20 pumpkins. That's about 14 pies worth of yummy pumpkin.

My job was made easier by my chef assistant Michael. Of course both of us were wearing lots of pumpkin too, since it seems to enjoy squirting out of the food strainer. It will be days before I find all the little orange dots to wash off the walls, floor, furniture, you name it. The seeds did a migration as well this year. They went from back door to bathroom.

99.9% of the garden is gone for the year. I have one lone squash plant clinging to life right now. Since we are getting frost/freezes now, I have been covering it at night with layers of straw. So far its staying alive and hasn't gotten burned. There was ice on the birdie girls outside water dishes yesterday morning. First time I have seen that since last winter.

Time to run! Bye Bye!

Turkey Visits

2005-11-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our little gal turkey, affectionately known as Mrs. Burbie, likes to come visiting in the house on occasion. On this day, she figured my daughter made a good conveyance to the living room. She is such a sweet little gal, and she loves to sit on your lap for petting and naps. We hope to have her laying some eggs for new babies in the spring, along with her hubby, Mr. Burbie, except he doesn't lay the eggs!

Had a great time at our homeschool group yesterday. The kids love having the playtime with their friends and to ride their scooters around on real concrete instead of the dirt of our driveway. Much stimulating conversation with the other moms for me too.

Got half of my pumpkins cooked down also. I will get the rest done today after I get bread made. Don't know if I will get as far as mashing them all up, but I plan to try so I can avoid that step tomorrow before I get the whole mess canned up. There is nothing so delicious as home canned pumpkin pie, with its deep roasted flavor. Need to dig out some more jars to get the taters canned up too. Didn't get much of a crop of them this year, since they got in the ground too late, but there is enough to fill a few quart jars with some nice size smallish ones.

Time for me to head out and let the girlies out into the sunshine.

Bye Bye!

Welcome!

2005-11-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog!

My goal here is to put down my musings regarding kids, family, country life, spinning, knitting, animals, and the myriad of things that go along with it.

Guess I better think of some stuff to write, huh?

My name is Judy and I live in northern Arizona with my husband Mike and our two kids, Jessica and Michael. I'm a stay at home mom currently. We homeschool, homestead, and try to live as independently as possible. I put in a garden every year and try to can as much as possible from that. I also raise chickens, turkey and have a lone goose, along with my angora rabbit.

I am a handspinner, knitter, soap maker, cheese maker, baker, and wannabe weaver.

And on that note, its time for me to scoot and get the day going here. Off to do errands and then to the kids homeschool group!

Come back and visit soon!