Week 18 - Surprise! I'm on TIme!!!

Happy Sunday, everyone!  Today is a truly beautiful day in the Ozarks.  Sunny, breezy, clear blue sky.  Just beautiful!

So I told you about Belle having her calf...it turns out it's a boy.  Since Belle belongs to our son and his family, they get the honor of naming the wee thing.  In keeping with the Beauty and the Beast theme (Belle, Beast....) they have decided to name him Maurice!  It's a beautiful french name but my Mr. Wonderful just can't bring himself to yell "Here, Maurice" out in the field so he's decided to call him Mo....That brings our bovine total to 4.  Rosie and Belle with their offspring, Murphy and Mo (rice).  It's so fun watching the two little ones chasing each other in the fields...they scamper like little goats!

Last Sunday the third round of Sock Madness began.  The sock was a lovely lace and cable design that made me happy to knit.  They were taking the first 20 finishers from each team into the next round.  I knit my brains out and was the 17th finisher for Team Firedrakes....I made it into Round 4.  Round 3 doesn't end till a week from today so I've got plenty of time to work on other things before I need to knuckle down again.  In the meantime, here are my Safe Harbor socks from Round 3.

They're so lacy and girly!  

We just keep adding more and more livestock to our holdings.  This past week, we got 26 baby chickens. They were hatched on Monday and we received them on Thursday.  They are a different breed than we've done in the past.  We are trying the Freedom Rangers breed this time.  

Yes, folks, that is 26 baby chicks in that 'pod'.  They will stay in the brooder area of the barn until they get feathers on their entire bodies and then be moved outside to the chicken tractor...probably another 2-3 weeks.  And then 8 - 12 weeks till the Great Chicken Massacre happens.  

There, I think I've gotten you all caught up with life at Pieceful Harbor.  Thanks for stopping by.

Week 17 - and a half

More cows.

More Rain.

More Knitting.

More on Sunday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Week 16 - 4 Cows in the Field

Last week I told you about Rosie and her little calf...John determined the calf was a male and we thought with his red pelt and jovial personality, he was definitely a Murphy. Murphy is so happy and healthy!  He sleeps a lot, as all young 'uns do.  

Yesterday, Mom called me about 1 in the afternoon to tell me we now have 4 cows in the field.  Yes, Belle had her calf shortly after noon with no problems.  This calf is black with a splash of white across its face in two places.  We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet but once we do, our son and his family will tell us what its name will be.  In the meantime, here are Belle and her mini-me...

This little one is about 4 hours old, but is full of spunk!  Murphy galloped over to it and wanted to play...it looked at Murphy and promptly lay down to take a nap.  Frankly, Murphy's energy makes me tired, too!

On the Sock Madness front, I finished my Round 2 socks and they have been accepted!  Now it's on to Round 3...not sure exactly when that will start.  Round 2 ends officially at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and the next supply list can come out anytime after that with the actual start time being between 1 minute and 48 hours after the supply list appears.  Here is my pair of Checkbox Socks for round 2 of Sock Madness 12.

I made them fraternal and I really like that!  

The weather is starting to hint at spring...it was wicked cold over the weekend - W.I.C.K.E.D. cold!  But it started to warm up a bit yesterday and today it's positively balmy!  Temps got to about 77 degrees...and the sun is shining brightly.  Perhaps we will actually get to see spring before summer gets her claws into us!

Mom and I spent the morning at the local yarn shop...I had a student and mom loves going to the shop.  Well, I do, too!  We knit and chat and have a lovely morning most Tuesdays.  Then we came home and I made a spiced apple cake with bourbon glaze...yes, folks, I really did cook!  I think we are going out to dinner. Rib Crib is having an all-you-can-eat night.  Apple cake will be nice to come home to!

Thanks for stopping by.  

Week 15 - Rosie the Mommy

Mother Nature is having some identity problems this past week.  She just doesn't know whether it's going to be spring or we should keep winter a bit longer.  Personally, I vote for Spring, but I have no say in the matter.  We had some lovely weather for about an hour this past week.  And we had some hideous weather for far too many days this week.  Cold, windy, rain, sleet, and even snow!  

They say we are going to have warmer temperatures this coming week but I'm not counting on anything yet.  I haven't put away the warm jackets or sweaters or sweatpants.  Today it's very cold and sleety....overcast and gloomy.  Perhaps it will clear up and we can see some sunshine later today...perhaps.

We have a new addition to Pieceful Harbor....Rosie, our white-faced red heifer gave birth sometime during the night to her first calf.  We don't yet know if it's a Zeke or a Zelda, too soon to tell.  But it look amazingly like its momma...red with a white face.  It probably only weighs about 50 pounds, if that.  Rosie is nursing and proving to be a very good mother!  Yeah, Rosie! 

Round 2 of Sock Madness 12 same upon us suddenly. We got the supply list for the next round on Friday at about 4:30...that usually means we have somewhere between then and 48 hours before the pattern actually comes out.  Mom and I left to meet John for dinner and when we came home, the pattern had dropped....My heart fell!  Why, you ask?  Because I have always had a problem with a technique called Brioche...for some reason, my brain has just never quite wrapped itself around the concept.  And this sock uses brioche!  A lot of it!  My first thought was, well, I'm done.  Then I read the first page of the pattern and thought I would give it a try.  Evidently, my brain was perfectly in gear this time, cause you can see that I am having not one whit of problem with the sock so far.

I might just be able to knit that brioche shawl I've wanted to do for so long.  

Well, folks, I have some speed-knitting to do so will leave you till next week.  Thanks for stopping by.

Week 14 - The Signs of Spring

Spring officially started over a week ago...but I only began seeing the signs the other day.  While stopped for the school bus lumbering its way along our road, I happened to see that one of the properties have added a new enclosure....and filled it with sheep.  Mostly little lambs.  Since the car wasn't moving, I rolled down the window and was greeted by the baaaaahs of all those lambs.  

They saw their children getting off the school bus and started making their way to where the 'kids' were...and the soft bleating was so enjoyable.

Winter just hasn't decided what it wants to do....some days it's warm like spring, other days the temps hover in the 30's and the wind whips goose bumps onto your skin! Today the temps started at mid 60's and right now one needs a coat and mittens if  going outside.  I'll be glad when the days start warming up and we can put the jackets away till next November.

Our newest heifer, Rosie, is almost ready to have her first calf.  So is Belle (she belongs to our son and his family in Utah).  We expect both of them to deliver within about 2 weeks of each other and soon!  They're both getting a bit tubby and lumbering across the fields...it won't be long, ladies!  Pictures coming soon.

John told me the other day that the 2 remaining chickens hadn't been laying in a while - like 2 weeks or so.  At least they weren't laying in the brooder boxes he built them.  He went into the barn and looked around - it seems they decided to lay in the old birthing part of the barn....John found about 25 eggs.  

Since he didn't know exactly how long they'd been laying in that location, he decided not to keep them...they went into the compost pile. At least now he knows where else to look for them when the girls stop laying in the roost.

Sometimes, when I drive only our place, I'm so stunned at how pretty it is. What do you think?

A truly happy house!

Until next week.

Thanks for stopping by.

Week 11 & 12 & 13 - I Must Admit

Okay, there's no hiding it...I am lazy!  I keep telling myself that I'm busy, I have tons of things to do, but in truth, I'm just lazy. That's the only reason I can think of why I can't seem to get the blog done each Sunday.  Yes, I have weekly chores to do. Yes, I'm fully involved in Sock Madness and knitting like a fiend to get the socks done and accepted in time.  Yes, since Sunday is a non-work day for me, I tend to sleep in late.Truthfully, none of those are acceptable excuses.  The only one that makes sense to me is that I'm lazy and that's why I can't keep up with the blog this year.  That being said, I can only try to make sure it gets done in a timely manner in the future. 

Sock Madness Round 1 started a week ago last Sunday...Blackberries is the name of the pattern.  Beading and Swiss Darning are both involved and, let me tell you, both of them are a royal pain!  I've finished my pair, sent in my email, and had them accepted.  For Round 1, they are taking the first 40 people from each team into Round 2.  I finished at # 21.....not bad considering that I was grinding my teeth and muttering all sorts of horrid words as I knit these dreadful socks!  I rarely use that word, but these socks are not ones of which I am proud, nor will they remain as socks as I plan to unstitch the stems and leaves, frog back the entire sock, undo the beading, and rewind the yarn to be used for a pair of socks that can make me proud!  In the meantime, I'm posting a picture of this pair, for posterity!

The yarn for these socks is really quite lovely.  Merino wool with nylon and gold sparkles...dyed a beautiful wild rose color by one of my favorite inde dyers - CelticMemoryYarns.  I've known Jo for a very many years and she's awesome.  It doesn't hurt that she lives in Ireland, in County Cork, and she kinda thinks I'm awesome, too. I just think her yarns deserve a prettier pattern that these awful ones.  

It's raining today, quite heavily.  The farmers sure are happy.  It's expected that we will get between 2 and 4 inches before the weekend.  Mom and I had dentist appointments this morning and there are rivers of water flowing all along the roads and highways, puddles forming in the fields.  I elected NOT to do any more shopping in town once we were done at the dentist...it's just too wet and icky out.  We came home and will spend the afternoon inside, with a nice hot cup of tea and our knitting.  

Again, I'll try to do better this week.  Thanks for stopping by.

Week 9 & 10 - Oops, I Did it Again!

Yes, folks, I lost another week somewhere...how else do I explain not getting the blog post done last week?  It certainly wasn't that I just got lazy, was it?  Nope, can't imagine that happening!!

So Sock Madness, the annual Free-for-All International Sock Knitting Contest began a week ago this last Thursday.  At least the Qualifying Round began.  One has 2 weeks (down to the minute!) to knit a specific pair of socks in order to qualify to get onto a team and actually compete.  I downloaded the pattern, went thru the stash to find the yarns I wanted to use, and cast on....it's a lovely pattern by one of my favorite sock designers...I've finished one sock and am almost ready to complete the 2nd one.  I will definitely make it to a team this year.  My goal is to make it to the 3rd round (of 7).  Any further and I'd need to take time off work and knit around the clock to proceed further.  And that's not happening!  Here's my finished first sock.

The markers are there at the request of the moderators so they can make sure I knit the number of rounds they require.  I'm not altogether sure I like the construction of that toe but it's required so, what can you do?  I don't have to use that toe when I knit my regular vanilla socks.

Our nephew and his wife and one daughter came over yesterday.  He offered to help his Uncle John built a birthing corral behind the barn and we took him up on it!  They started around 8:00 a.m. yesterday and finished after dark - tractor lights pointed at the area they were working worked just fine after the sun went down.  The corral is quite large and made of metal and will be wonderful to keep Rosie and Belle secured when it's time for them to have their calves in mid-April.  That way, John won't have to chase them into the woods if they have problems.  As soon as they weather permits, I can post pictures - it's a work of art!  Our nephew is very good at welding and that corral is quite sturdy!

You know, sometimes I see things on the internet that resonate with me, or make me chuckle, or make me think.  Here's one that made sense to me:

Got it!

And lots of folks post that they are Thankful...thankful for being able to provide for their families, thankful that God is watching over them, thankful they have jobs, a roof over their head, etc.  Here's a good thankful reminder:

I need to knit some more on my qualifier sock so I'm going to finish this for the week.  Keep good thoughts and I'll post next Sunday!

Thanks for stopping by.