November Update

On October 4th, our neighbor brought his trailer over to begin staging for the transfer of Garnet to his own property.  Her calf was due to be born the following week and he wanted to have the calf born over at his house.  Evidently, the trailer scared the calf right out of Garnet!  Why, you ask?  Well, when Mom got up the next morning, she saw what she thought was a brown dog in the field...she called me to come see...what I saw was Garnet's newborn calf scampering and running across the field.  It was obviously incredibly healthy, and not less than about 8 hours old.  Mama Garnet was wandering around the field, grazing and baby was following her around.  I called our neighbor, John, to let him know that Garnet had delivered a beautiful, caramel-coloured calf.

The calf is beautiful, with the lines of both the mother and the father.  Daddy was a beefalo and this calf is, therefore, part beefalo. And it turns out, the calf is a female.  John and his wife have named her Addy....she continues to delight me when I see her in the field.  I understand John Pace is planning on moving her and Garnet to his fields in the next week or so.  

Addy is around 50-75 pounds at this stage.  She is about 6 weeks old.

On another note, this picture is meant solely for jealousy purposes!  Gas prices her in southwest Missouri continue to hover around $2.78, although I didn't have my camera with me the day I gassed up for $2.71!

 With the house on the market, it's time to get a few things done around here that have been needed done for a while.  One of those is the surround on the fireplace.  I contacted a local handyman and he came over to place the tiles around my fireplace.  I LOVE it...almost so much that I'm sad to move away....I said almost....a tile surround is not enough to stop me from moving to be near my family...not nearly enough!

 It's official....this place is for sale!  I honestly will be surprised if it sells before spring....but if the Universe wants to surprise me, Bring It!

More later.  Thanks for stopping by.

BIG News!

Oh, dear heaven!  It has been 2 months since I last posted.  I have no excuse.  I will not even apologize and promise to try to do better. It's clear I can't keep my word.  Suffice to say, you will hear from me when I get around to it!

Today, I woke to mom (she is visiting for 5 weeks - YEAH!) asking me how many cows are supposed to be in our field.  Sounds like a bit of a strange question, I know.  But we have/had only 2 cows in the south pasture last night.  They aren't even our cows - they are our friend and neighbor's cows that we are pasturing for him till he gets his fencing repaired.  This morning, there were 2 cows and a newborn calf!  Yes, Garnet had her calf last night.  I called John our neighbor to let him know that the trailer he brought over last night scared that calf right out of the momma! The calf is a lovely milk chocolate brown - the same colour as it's daddy - Buffalo Bill the beefalo.  It was running and gamboling  all over the field this morning.  Very active and healthy. Momma Garnet is up and walking around, no sign that she gave birth recently.  

The reddish cow is Millie, Garnet's daughter.  Garnet is the black one.  

Now, I promised you BIG news....well, here is a hint....

Did you guess?  Ok, it's too early on Saturday morning for games....John and I have decided to move to Utah! In fact, John is already there, ready to begin a new job on Monday.  We have been in the early stages of planning since he came home from visiting the family there in early June.  He had been laid off from his job in March and, having taken another job which didn't make him happy, he decided that it was time to sell the property here and move to Utah. His reasoning?  The grands are growing so fast and we are missing out on so much of their lives.  I readily agreed.  The property is on the market and I will stay here until it sells.  In the meantime, John is living with John and Jill and the grands til I get there, whenever that happens.  I will fly out to spend Christmas with them all.  Another new adventure is opening up for us and we couldn't be happier.  This will also put us closer to my mom (8 hours away by car) and to our friends on the west coast.  I never did assimilate into country living and I admit I won't miss it.  I will miss my house and living on 10 acres.  

John and I have never moved ourselves.  We've always been moved by the military. That meant them packing boxes and trucking us to wherever we were going.  This time it's all on us.  And let me tell you, I have figured out that Sally is a packrat where her studio is concerned!  Oh, my heavens, there is a lot of stuff in there!  A very daunting task.  But Mom came up with a plan.  We will pack a minimum of two boxes every day, with 5 boxes on my days off (Tuesdays) and take Wednesdays off since I work extra long days on Wednesdays.  That sounds entirely do-able to me.  Now to get boxes so we can pack.  And hopefully the studio will be packed with all the extras that I won't need while waiting for someone to buy the property and still leave me projects to work on in the meantime.

Well, friends.  Time to get the day started.  Thanks so much for dropping by.  Until next time!

It's a Maine Thing

I spent the last week of July in one of the most special places in the US.  A dear friend has a summer cottage on a small island off the coast of Maine and I flew out to Portland to see her and recharge some badly depleted personal batteries. Upon landing, Carole and Frank picked me up and we made our way directly to the Casco Bay Ferry Landing.  Since we had a bit of time before the next boat, we had lunch at RiRa, an Irish pub.  Ah, refreshing food and icy drinks sure did help.

   

Then it was onto the ferry and a short 15 minute ride to Little Diamond Island.  Turns out, on Wednesdays, the local sailing club holds a regatta on the bay....here we are skirting the regatta on our way to the island. 

Below is the little house where I spent a most enjoyable 6 days.  It was low tide when we arrived, as you can see.  At high tide, the water comes almost up to the front lawn. 

Frank took this picture of Carole and me.  Both of them are amazing photographers and Carole told me to cup your hands under your chins and that way no one can count how many chins you have.  Pretty neat trick, huh? 

There are 3 lighthouses visible from the front porch.  One of them is Portland Head Lighthouse...can you see the light flash?  I had a tough time catching it just right.   

Sunset on Casco Bay.  The sun began setting below the clouds and just disappeared on the horizon.   

 Several of the days were so cloudy, misty, and foggy, that the sun never even poked through.  We sat on the porch and watched the fog creep toward the house.  Then the wind started, followed by rain. Once the rain stopped, the fog was gone.  Then it started all over again.  I was mesmerized by the changes.  

Carole and I left the island on my last day there and hit a couple of quilt shops, LL Bean, and the Christmas Tree Shop (one of my favorite New England shops!).  Then it was back to the island so I could pack my suitcase, ready to fly home the next day.  

Carole is an amazing quilt artist and photographer.  I spent a lot of time in her company and gained some great ideas for quilts of my own.  While I was only gone a week, I came home so recharged. Maine will always hold a special place in my heart. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Keep coming back. I've got some quilting to do but soon I'll post them.

FINALLY!

Finally some time to post and something to post about!  Let's journey back in the Way-Back Machine to May of this year. That is when our oldest granddaughter, Emily, had a momentous birthday. She turned 13!  We are so proud of our oldest granddaughter.  She is growing up to be a sweet, smart, nurturing young lady.  When we were visiting them last year, she had shown me a fabric packet that she liked.  I turned it into a quilt for her.  It was fun and every time I worked on it, I thought of her!  She is a joy to be around and we love her dearly! 

In May I also finished several knits I'd started during the winter.  First up is a Color Affection shawl.  I chose turquoise, mouse grey, and forest green.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  It's all just straight knitting, with increases done on each end.  I have several more colourways planned for more of these!

.

Most of you know I do test knitting for a designer out of New York.  Here is one that she designed for her Dr. Who series.  I love, love, love Dr. Who and jumped at the chance to do this.  It's called Rose Tyler's Shawl.  What a fast and fun knit.  I love doing the staging for the photo shoots, too.  It's always a challenge to do something that will translate to the theme.  I think I nailed it this time. 

In June I took a Beginning Weaving class at a local Alpaca Farm.  Stacy at White River Alpacas, LLC, is a weaver, spinner, knitter, and she is a fabulous teacher.  I'd thought about learning to weave but didn't want to put money into all that's necessary just to find out I don't like weaving.  So when Stacy mentioned she was giving a class, I jumped right on it!  I spent all last Saturday at the farm, and here you see what I was able to accomplish.  Most everyone put theirs on a tote bag, but I think I will leave mine as a wall hanging for now.  It will tell me what it wants to be soon enough.

 And what would a visit to an alpaca farm be without seeing the alpacas?  Here is Rusty.  He was in the pasture right outside the house when we broke for lunch.  He looks like he has a dashing mustache.  I fell in love with Rusty! 

My friend Peggy and I drove to Rogers, Arkansas one Tuesday in May.  We wanted to go to the lovely quilting and knitting shop down there.  I knew that a lady in one of my groups lived near there so I contacted her and asked her if she'd like to meet us there and then have lunch.  Gail jumped at the chance, as we all do, to meet another Raveler.  After spending far too much time and money at the Rabbit's Lair in Rogers, we walked to a little cafe and spent 2 hours just talking, and knitting, and eating, and knitting....well, you get the idea!  The waitress was kind enough to take our picture.  

Gail, Sally, & Peggy at Rogers, Arkansas - May, 2013

Well, folks, I think I may have run out of things to tell you. Imagine that!  

Thanks for stopping by.

End of April

So the other day was my day off and I stayed home and puttered around (that means I knit most of the day).  It was overcast and rainy and there was no reason to be outside in the weather.  I looked outside around noon and this is what I saw...nap time in the meadow!

 About an hour later, this is the scene outside the window - thick fog. And it got even thicker as the afternoon wore on.  But by the time John got home from work around 5, there was absolutely no evidence that there had been fog...none! Clear skies and beautiful sunshine.

 Since then, we've had rain and cold....I see some blue sky peaking out of the clouds as I type this...almost enough to make a Dutch boy a pair of overalls so we might be clearing.

Yesterday John and I went out and bought some plants...some to put in the beds in front of the house and some to put in hanging planters for the porch...see that beautiful red rose there?  That's a Knock-Out Rose...they are supposed to be hardier and easier to grow that most other roses...we'll see.  It's a double red and just beautiful.  John is going to put it in a huge pot for now, till he gets the front section of the gardens done....then he will probably plant it permanently.

We also got several plants to put in hanging planters, some begonias, some coleus, and a huge fuchsia plant there in the far right of the picture...I love fuchsias....And he bought some bleeding heart seedlings the other day for my front beds....

Our oldest granddaughter is going to be 13 this Wednesday...I can't believe how the time has flown.  She was only 3 when Jill and John got married and now she's a teenager with 4 younger siblings.  And she's grown to be an amazing young woman....We are so very proud of the person she is becoming - caring, smart, pretty.  Just a lovely person to be around. Happy Birthday, our dear E....I'm really jealous that Papa is coming out there at the end of May to spend time with you and your family.  But I will get to see you at Christmas....can hardly wait.

Remember, folks, if you are ever near Springfield or Branson, Missouri, we have 2 guestrooms and you are welcome anytime!  Just give us a call!

Thanks for stopping by.

The Madness has Begun!

Yes, folks, it's that time of year again.  Sock Madness 7 started a few weeks ago. There are so many competitors this year that they made 7 teams....7 teams of 40 or 41 people!  Usually they have 4 teams of 50 people.  The word has gotten out that this is THE annual contest for knitters...I have no idea how many countries are represented this year.  The US, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, France, Australia, and New Zealand are the ones I know have someone competing. And there will be 7 rounds again this year.  My team is Team Mission Accomplished and we have 41 lovely ladies.

 I made it into Round 2 with this pair, the Sockdolager.  Can you see that the top sock is a slight bit bigger than the bottom one?  Let me explain.  When the pattern first came out, there was discussion that if one had 'fluffy' ankles, one should knit the larger size.  Obviously my self-esteem said that I needed the larger size since I'm a rather 'fluffy' person all over.  So I cast on the larger size and went to town knitting.  Everything was going along swimmingly and I was counting the ridges you see along the top of the sock.  We needed the sock to be a minimum of 13 ridges.  I counted....then I counted again....and counted a third time.  Yep, 13 ridges.  The sock seemed to be really long...I mean really long.  Even for my size 10 feet this sock was l-o-n-g.  I finished the sock and laid it out and, just for good measure, counted the ridges again.  It seems I not only have non-fluffy ankles, I also can not count to 13.  There are 14 ridges on that sock!!! I was not going to rip it out and start over.  The rules state you can knit more but not less.  I left the sock as it was.  Then I cast on for the 2nd sock, this time with the number of stitches for non-fluffy ankles and was careful to knit only 13 ridges.  Socks were completed, photographed, and email sent to get qualified for Round 2.  I have since ripped the first sock down to parade rest (military term meaning back to the beginning for you civilians) and will knit a companion for the bottom sock once the Madness has ended for me. 

Round 2 was the Flying Dutchman sock.  This was a different method of knitting than I am used to.  A wonderful learning experience, as all Sock Madness Patterns are meant to be.  This time, we used a method called intarsia-in-the-round.  Put simply, one knits two rounds and then turns the needles around to purl two rounds on the inside...all the while following a set number of stitches in each colour.  I guess that wasn't really simple, was it....anyway, that's what one does for intarsia-in-the-round using two colours. I loved this technique.  My pair are entitled  USNRet. in honor of Mr. Wonderful...they are my socks but named for him.  They were only taking 33 people from each team into the next round so I knit like the wind and finished this pair in 6 days (as well as working and spending time with Mr. Wonderful on my day off!) I was number 17 on my team to finish. 

We have received the specifications for Round 3 and are chomping at the bit for the pattern to be emailed to us.  They don't tell us exactly when the round will start, only that we can expect the pattern within 48 hours of the release of specs.  That was 6:30 yesterday morning so it could come out anytime up to 6:30 tomorrow morning.  Waiting is the worst part of any Madness. 

Weather in Southwest Missouri is more spring-like these days.  Temps got to the mid-70's yesterday and the same is expected today.  Thunderstorms are expected as well but I love the sound of thunderstorms!  John is spending the good weather days seeding and fertilizing the fields so we can get some good grass for the cows.     

While waiting for the Round 3 pattern release, I've been working on a quilt for my daughter-in-law.  I promised I'd make a quilt using her running t-shirts.  I promised a long while back.  And I'm finally getting around to it.  The hardest part is laying them all out.  They are all different sizes and laying them out so they look pleasing to the eye is really hard.  Once I finally am happy with the layout, the sewing is the easy part.  Then it's off to the quilter.  I'm trying out a new quilter...she and her husband are just starting out with a new machine and I am letting them use my tops as experimental pieces.  So far, the ones I've seen them do are quite lovely.  They have one right now for me and I will post it soon.

Well, I suppose I've rambled enough.  I'm off to work on the T-Shirt quilt some more.  Thanks for stopping by.

TEN ON TUESDAY

This week's Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Random things on my Mind.

1. Easter - it's less than 2 weeks away...we have 8 folks coming for dinner and the menu is set.  I made some cute plastic eggs with washi tape on them for the tablescape...now to decide how to display them.
2. Movies - I like going to the movies but the cost has gone up so much.  It's so much less expensive to wait for the DVD to come out and then we can watch them at our leisure - and make popcorn at home.
3. Yarn - I have so much yarn.  And I have so many plans for using it.  What I don't have is time.  I suspect that is not an uncommon complaint among crafters.
4. Travel - I am beginning to twitch...I love to travel (well, if truth be told, I love to fly).  I miss my friends in Southern California and those in Rhode Island.  I want to meet my newest granddaughter who is 5 months old already and I'd love to go see my mom for a few days.  All of this takes money, more money than I'm willing to spend at this time.  Thank goodness for telephones!  At least I can talk to my friends, and my mom, and the family in Utah.
5.  Bunco - this Thursday is Bunco nite and I am hosting it at my house.  We had to postpone it last month due to weather and I suspect we may need to do so again...snow is expected for Thursday thru Sunday.  It being the first day of Spring tomorrow doesn't seem to make a lick of difference when it comes to weather here in Missouri.
6. Getting older -  DH was laid off work a couple of weeks ago.  He is looking for work but who is going to hire a 61 1/2 year old man in this economy?  So we are trying to cut back on expenses.  We'll be fine, well, we have to be fine, don't we? But it sucks to get old!
7.  Crochet -  I've always wanted to learn to crochet.  I can't seem to find a reliable class anywhere near so I'm going to teach myself.  Thank goodness for YouTube and the internet...let's see how far I get.
8. Bucket Lists - How many people really have a Bucket List?  Or does everyone just use the term to mean a nebulous dream out there in the ethersphere but it's not written down?  I think I'm going to start a Bucket List for myself.  I can't imagine that it will contain really lofty dreams - let's face it, I'm 60 years old so the time to learn to be a really talented ballet dancer is probably more than I have left, don't you think? But I could take dance lessons just for me...I may need to look into that.
9.  Tidiness - what's the big deal about being tidy?  My studio is jammed with stuff, not at all tidy. But I can almost always put my hands on what I'm searching for, without ripping all over the place to find it.  I think Tidy is over-rated.
10.  Leprechaun Farts - I know, some of you are thinking, "What is she talking about?".  I received a swap package yesterday from a friend in Georgia.  I haven't sent hers yet...hopefully later this week.  The theme for this month is Leprechauns.  Inside the package was the usual Wee Tiny Sock, and a green pen, and a shamrock dishcloth, and some other green shamrock-y stuff.  But also included was a bar of soap.  The fragrance was labeled Leprechaun Farts.  Let me tell you, I never thought much about what Leprechauns' farts smelled like.  But after opening that package, I can surely tell you that they smell divine!  I wish I could send some of the smell thru the internet...you would be smiling and smelling for weeks!

Ok, that's about all on my mind today...I think I need a nap.

Thanks for stopping by.