Week 17 - Another Quiet One

Not a whole lot went on this past week.  That may prove to be a good thing...we don't always appreciate when our weeks are uneventful.  But I sure did this week.  No crazy stuff. 

I recently saw this picture come across my Facebook feed.  Gave me a chuckle, I must say.

We got some fabulous news yesterday.  Our son has been juggling family, work, school, and the Legislature for the past many months.  The Legislative session is over for the next 8 months with meetings once a month till January 2017. He is running for re-election and yesterday was the Utah Republican Convention - he received an overwhelming 84% of the delegates and will be the Republican candidate in the election in November.  We are so proud of him!

Additionally, our amazing son has been going to graduate school for the last year-and-a-half to obtain his MBA.  He told me yesterday he has formal classes till June 23rd and then one more online class to take in October but will 'walk' for graduation on May 6th.  Caps and Gowns and tassels and pictures!!! More proud parents can not be found anywhere!!! Congratulations, John....so proud!

A bit of set-up for this next photo.  The military requires clothing to be folded a certain way in boot camp...when my John came out of boot camp in 1973, he showed me how he wanted his t-shirts folded and frankly, I've folded them that way for the past 43 years.  One can always tell a military folded t-shirt....our son just sent us this picture of his youngest son folding a t-shirt....we recognized it right away.  This almost 6-year-old is folding his t-shirt the Navy way!  

Go, Hewston!!!

More next week.  Until then, thanks for stopping by. 

Week 16 - Strings and Movie Names

I promised I'd tell you what names the grands decided to call their two calves....and totally forgot last week.  Since I don't have a lot to tell you this week, it's probably a good thing I forgot - at least now I have something to say.

The little heifer is to be called Belle...she really is a beauty.  And the little steer is to be called Beast.  I wonder what movie the kids were watching when they were choosing the names. 

I was right last week when I said I'd be knocked out of the Sock Madness competition.  Tuesday morning I saw that there were no spots left, in spite of having only 1/2 of the second sock complete.  I promptly put that sock in time out and went about the rest of the week working on other things.  Things I wanted to work on...things that needed being done.  Fun things!

I got the monthly block done for the Saturday Sampler I'm doing thru a local quilt shop.  And I worked on an online Block-of-the-Month that started in January.  I've kept up with the monthly blocks on both of those.  Today I spent working on the online blocks...I even got the next two months done so I can devote my time to a big project I will be starting this next week.  Here are the two April blocks for the online project.  Same blocks, different fabrics.  

Sorry I haven't anything else this week.  Thanks for stopping by!

Week 15 - The Orchard and a Sock

Three years ago John planted 5 fruit trees - 3 apple, 1 crabapple, and  1 nectarine.  All except the nectarine flourished.  He decided to replace the one nectarine with  2 more.  So now we have 3 apples, 1 crabapple, and 2 nectarines.  And they are all starting to bud...so pretty, don't you think?

 Those trees are only about 3 1/2 feet tall, and I don't think they will produce any viable fruit this year...but I suspect we might have some next year...Can anyone say applesauce and apple pie filling?  I'll have to break out the book on preserving.

The 3rd Round of Sock Madness came out this past Monday.  I didn't get a chance to cast on till Tuesday afternoon.  The spots are filling up fast and I really don't believe I will finish these socks before the last spot is taken.  Again we have a toe-up cast on....moving cables, and a super-stretchy bind off.  I'm using a yarn whose colorway is called Sandpiper.  

The progress is coming along on preparations for Mom's moving in with us.  Only 3 weeks more to wait.  The room has been painted a lovely shade of palest teal-green and now it's just wait for her to arrive!

Last year when the Row by Row Experience concluded, I decided to not be so focused on getting patterns this next year.  The theme is Home Sweet Home and I can picture all kinds of homes patterns.  I decided NOT to ask all my various friends and family to make special trips to get patterns for me.  And I think I will keep that decision.  However, it appears they are expanding the shops to several in England and Netherlands....and one of them is near my friend, Eve, in Hampshire - I think I may need to ask her if she could make a trip to that one particular shop and get the pattern for me.  I have time to figure it out; the program doesn't start until the end of June.  

I leave you with wishes for a wonderful week, filled with good work, good food, and good friends!

Thanks for stopping by. 

Week 14 - In Which We Become Cattle Barons!

 I used to think that rain was an annoying weather condition.  It made the road slick.  It made my clothes damp - or downright wet - and that made me uncomfortable.  Puddles made mud and that was tracked into the house and made a mess.  That was before.  Before I moved here to Missouri and began living in the country and saw what the lack of rain did.  Before I depended on my well for the water we drink and wash our clothes with and clean our floors and bathe in. So, now, I get excited when I hear there will be rain in our future.  I love seeing the clouds gather in the sky and become grey and heavy with moisture. Moisture that will make the grass grow to become feed for cattle and grow vegetables and increase our water table.  

 These pictures show what I saw when I drove home from work on Wednesday....gathering clouds with masses of water inside...and we got 1.75 inches of rain overnight!  Can I hear a Yeah!!!

I think we can now take on the title of Cattle Barons!  On Friday, we took delivery of 2 more calves..one heifer and one steer.  The little steer is the solid black one and the heifer is the black with white face on the right.  They were born on October 13th and October 1st respectively.   Admittedly, they belong to our son and daughter-in-law but they will live on our property and so I'm claiming the Baron status for ourselves!  The male will ultimately become freezer fodder and the female will be bred for ongoing food production!  We don't have names for them yet...our grandchildren and their parents get that honor....will let you know the names once we have the Naming Ceremony (that consists of the Utah family telling us the names and me writing it down in the Cow Journal that I keep).  

 Here is the entire Herd in the south field.  That's Garnet, new steer, Aggie, new heifer, and Rosie.

 The cutest picture came across my Facebook page the other day.  It represents perfectly how I feel about the current choice of presidential candidates. 

Given the choice, I wonder which I would pick?  How about you?

Did you know, when we use the word try, we are giving ourselves permission to fail?  

Yoda said it best:

 Always say you will do it, not try to do it.  Your brain will know that you intend NOT to fail.  And success is within your grasp.

I leave you today with the following word play picture. Can you figure it out?

Thanks for stopping by.

Week 13 - He is Risen!

Today is Easter Sunday.  From looking out the window, you would not think it was early Spring. It has been overcast and rainy all day...and cold, really cold!  But there is something in the air and Easter it is.  John and I had a wonderful dinner together of home-grown ham, stuffing, and fresh asparagus.  I made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce, most of which is now in the freezer, with one quart in the fridge for tomorrow's dinner. 

 We have a huge bay window in the morning room and we can look out any time of the day and see all kinds of wildlife coming out of our woods.  John was watching the cows out the window and called me to see this beautiful red fox out in the clearing.  She was obviously hunting....fun to watch.

 I logged onto Instagram to see what new pictures were posted...here is my most favorite one.  This is our wonderful son and his amazing wife and the 5 most Special Grandchildren in the whole wide world.  Aren't they beautiful?  Every single one of them.  Hey, W in the bottom right is going to be 9 years old tomorrow....Happy Birthday, W....you make us so proud of you!

Earlier this week our son's company celebrated a re-branding...they are now called Rize Point.  The CEO is a friend as well as our son's boss....he posted something that resonated with me and I thought I'd share with you all.  His 15-year-old daughter had sent him an email earlier that day to remind him what is truly important on that very stressful day. I loved it so much, I asked for permission to re-post it here.  Thank you, Frank Maylett and your wonderful 15-year-old daughter for these inspirational words. 

1. Smile

2. Focus

3. Eat yummy food

4. Dance when good things happen

5. Smile when bad things happen

6. Be social

7. Have some "me time"

8. Help someone out

9. Thank people for their work

10. Praise God

Work is what we do, not who we are. We are spouses, friends, humans, citizens of the world and at times, forgetful and flawed.

Round 2 of Sock Madness 10 came out on Sunday night.  Wow, I am learning so much this round.  The cast on was a bit fiddly - took me over 4 hours to cast on the first time I tried it.  Once I got the beaded cuff done, it went much faster.  I am currently working the gusset on the 2nd sock.  With good fortune, I may be able to snag a spot into Round 3 by tomorrow nite.  Here is the first sock completed.

I'm using a bright turquoise yarn made from wool and silk....it is so squishy and soft to work with!  The beads are multi-colored...teal green, copper, gold, and gold-lined clear ones.  The socks remind me of a desert sunset.

Well, I need to get to knittin'!  I want to snag one of the 15 spots left on Team Folo Foxgloves to go to Round 3.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Week 12 - In Which the Season is Confused

The political mayhem that is going on in this country is so disturbing and, frankly, embarrassing.  In the last few years, the United States has become such a laughingstock throughout the rest of the world.  It appears we will have only two choices in the coming election; and neither of those two are good for the country.  Each will bring to the table a collection of lies, subtrefuge, double-talk, bluster, and downright hatred for this country and her citizens.  That's all I can say about these two lying buffoons.  No country will take us seriously with either of these two at the helm.  And while I will definitely vote, I'm really torn about which one to vote for - the Lying Millionaire or the Blustering-Mysoginistic-Racist-Bullying-Narcissistic Zillionaire. As my father said, if I don't vote at all, I have no place to complain.  So I will vote, and then complain about whichever one of them won...neither is good for this country. I voted in our Primary election this past week...and NOT for the apparent front runner in my party. Ok, I'm going to jump down off this soapbox now and talk about important things.  

Like, who told Mother Nature that the first day of Spring warranted dropping snow on the ground?  I woke up this morning to this:

 Yes, folks, that is snow...at the end of March!  The temps are in the 40's already so most of it has melted away but, come ON! Snow? 

Last week was one of catch up, too.  I am doing a Block of the Month sew-along online.  Each month for 8 months, the designer tells us which block from her book she is showcasing and we then make 2 of them, fraternal.   Here are my March blocks.  I'm doing mine in sherbet/tropical batiks.  I think this is the 3rd month that the blocks have had curves...sure hope there aren't any more.  I'm really tired of curves!

I had ordered this pocket square of tartan that was designed for the Outlander Book/TV series.  I don't care for brown but this brown is soft and creamy (like hot chocolate) and it appealed to me.  Then, a yarn was introduced called Jamie's Kilt from Lorna's Laces....again, mostly brown but soft and creamy with a touch of heathery green.  I had to have it.  Don't they look pretty?  I see a pair of sock or maybe a little shawl or scarf.  Will keep you posted.

Just got an email yesterday with my team assignment for Sock Madness 10.   I am on Team Folo Foxgloves.  There are 17 teams this year...not exactly sure how many people on each team; somewhere between 40 and 50.  I know that 764 people qualified to go on to Round 2.  That's a lot of folks to wrangle! I wondered what the Folo meant and someone on my team told us that Folo is the number 10 in Malagasy, the language of Madagascar.  Each team name begins in the number 10 in a different language and then a flower name.  The yarn specifications came out at the same time.  This next sock will include beads.....lots of beads.  I didn't want to go out to buy beads so I'm using stash - pale turquoise yarn with copper/teal beads. The specs also call for a cable needle so I'm thinking this will be a cabled sock with beads...hopefully not on the foot portion cause that could be painful to wear. Not sure exactly when the pattern will drop. It could be anytime between now and 36 hours from now.  Will let you know next week what's up on that front.

My drive to work is along about 4 miles of country road till I get to 'town' - if you can call our little burg of 6400 people a town.  Tuesday my drive looked like this:

Yep, that's fog, folks.  Not Tulle fog like we used to get in California but just enough fog to make the drive a bit eerie.  The next day, this is what I saw at the end of my driveway - a beautiful Bradford Pear tree in full bloom.  Bradford Pears are ornamentals that bloom in the early spring, and only for about 5 days then the blooms are gone and it's just a green tree - no fruit. Where Kentucky gets the gorgeous Dogwood trees, we get Bradford Pears. 

Hopefully, this next week will bring some socks to show you, at least partially done anyway.  In the meantime, thanks for stopping by!

Week 11 - Qualified!

I finished my Sock Madness Round 1 socks on Thursday afternoon.  While I am not fond of knitting socks from the toe up, these were not bad to knit.  I really dislike knitting the required heel pattern...it's quite fiddly and doesn't fit as well as I'd like.  If I ever have to knit that heel again, I will stop on the foot about 5 rows less than I did on this pair.  That might tighten up the heel a bit.  All-in-all, it was an easy pair to knit and it took me just about 10 days to knit the pair.  Not bad for a speed competition.  Of course, this is only Round 1...the patterns get much harder as the competition goes further.  Round 1 ends at 11:00 p.m. my time tomorrow.  Then we wait a few days to find out what team we've been placed on, and then to receive the specs for Round 2...once we get those specs, we have between 0 and 48 hours before we get the 2nd pattern emailed to us and then it's knitting like the wind to qualify for Round 3.  Additionally, only some of the members of each team will go on to the next round.  I aim to make it to Round 3 at least...one year I made it into Round 6 but never even cast on for those socks cause they scared me spitless.  I still have the pattern and may one day cast on, just to prove to myself that I can do it.  But not today!

I have to include this cute picture...this is Garnet.  She is currently living on our property with her offspring, Aggie.  Garnet is the first born of our Ruby - remember Ruby?  We sold her to a wonderful older man about 3 years ago when we found out she had a fractured hip and could no longer carry calves to full term.  Well, Ruby gave birth to Garnet about 10 years ago....and we gave Garnet to our neighbor as thanks for letting us keep our cows on his property for the 4 years it took John to get our own fences built.  We move all our cows between the two properties periodically to let the grass grow and recover.  Garnet and Aggie are currently living here at Pieceful Harbor along with our newest calf, Rosie.  John was out this morning, trying to get a picture of Rosie, and Garnet came up to see what John was doing...she probably was looking for a range cube -John always has range cubes in his pockets for the cows! 

             

Finally got all 3 of the girls up to the feed trough.  That's Aggie on the left, Garnet on the right, and Rosie in the middle.  Compared to the older ones, Rosie is quite petite - only about 200 pounds...not bad for a 9 month calf.

             

Today is a good day for some red beans a rice!  The past few days have been drizzly and overcast.  John started this pot early today and the house is smelling so yummy....I can hardly wait.

Thanks so much for stopping by.