Peace & Sereknitty

I'm outta here!

2006-06-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

I'm Moving!

Those two words are enough to strike fear into the hearts of my friends because we've moved so many times (they refuse to commit my phone numbers to memory now). No I'm not moving physically just in the blogosphere. I can't take hitting the "publish post"button and having my whole post just disappear! So please come see me at:

http://www.sereknitty.typepad.com/

please. I'm sorry about the inconvenience! If you come to visit please check in and leave me a comment--it'll make me feel lots better about this...

I'm Lizzy!

2006-05-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

So I was travelling around the blogosphere today and I found this site were you could take a quiz and find out which Jane Austen character you are. Of course I had to take it! And guess who I was? And she's my favorite! But if you look closely I'm also Elinor....that would be okay too. Have I completely lost my mind? I guess this proves how really mundane my day was....

Elizabeth Bennet

72%

Elinor Dashwood

72%

Jane Bennet

59%

Emma Woodhouse

59%

Marianne Dashwood

53%

Charlotte Lucas

38%

Lady Catherine

25%

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!
created with QuizFarm.com

I got a chuckle out of that...

Otherwise, my day has been pretty boring. Went to Target to get some stuff, came home with too much stuff. Making personal pizzas tonite with homemade chunky marinara, fresh pizza dough, fresh mozzarella and I'm going to top them with some basil from my own plants. I can smell the marinara cook as I type and I'm getting pretty darned hungry!

Just went in to get a taste on a piece of french bread and of course its too hot and now I've burnt the roof of my mouth! I always do that!

Talked to an old friend last night (my very oldest friend, in fact.

We've known each other since we were born and we're only 24 days apart!). So many of my conversations with my friends these days are centered around trying to live in the moment and not get sucked into wishing away what we have. It's so easy to see only the laundry, dishes, driving about, groceries (need I go on?) and forget how precious each day really is. In this forever planning ahead and on-the-go society we take it for granted that the sun will rise again tomorrow rather than being amazed and thankful to greet it for yet another day. One way that I combat the treadmill that is our society is refusing to make plans for my kids for the summer. When I was a kid we played by the pool, ate popsicles, read books, layed in the sun. I want that for my kids. I want blessed laziness. Only 15 more days until unabashed slothdom....

please, sir, may I have s'more?

2006-05-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

Spring has returned to Oregon. I don't know how long it will stick around this time but I'm making the most of it while its here! This weekend Doug built an arbor for my cottage garden. We had to get it up quickly because I had a Cecil Brunner rose in a pot that had sent roots out the holes in the bottom and we had to move the rose thusly snapping off said roots. This made the arbor a neccessity because it had climbed about 12 feet and it needed a place to rest on. So now I have a beautiful arbor with a lamp in it and a somewhat sad looking rose (It will perk up when I feed it and water it lovingly) on it. The gate will come next with some pickets kindly offered to me by my mom who got them at a salvage yard and had no project for them but couldn't pass them up! And then hopefully this summer we will put up a short fence. So right now the arbor looks a little like a sore thumb standing in the middle of nowhere in all its grandeur. I'll put up pix when Doug moves the other potted rose over. He had had enough yesterday and refused to move it.

Even though we didn't really do anything for Memorial Day, it was a lovely evening so we pulled out the fire pit and made ourselves some s'mores for dessert.

And here's Henry enjoying his.

By the end of the s'more portion of our evening Henry had eaten 3 s'mores and I was threatening medication! What is it about sugar, fire, sharp sticks and stickiness that brings out the mischievious worst in boys?

I did so much spinning this weekend that my drive belt (or whatever its called) which I knew was on its last legs broke into 3 pieces! Quick thinker that I am, and not to be thwarted in my quest for the creation of perfect yarn, I remembered that you can tie cotton string and use that as a drive belt. Voila! It worked and I continued to spin until my bad shoulder cramped up so horribly that I was going numb in my hand. And did I achieve my goal, you might ask? Yes, I would say so. Pix when I ply (when I regain some feeling other than pain in my right arm...). And on the subject of yarn: I am very disappointed in Koigu sock yarn. Yes, it knits up nicely. Yes, it gets softer and softer with each washing. NOOOO it does not retain its colorfastness! And what it does turn into looks like pastel .....I don't know what. But its not pretty. And its more expensive! I think I'll be sticking with Lorna's Laces and Opal. No more Koigu for me (I'll bet Doug is happy to hear that! He is amazed that I can spend $12 for ONE sock and have to knit it myself!).

So now that I'm addicted to dyeing, I can't wait to try the overdyeing that is shown in Martha Stewart Mag this month. I went a little crazy this weekend with the dye. I had a piece of ugly natural colored fabric that was kind of damasky looking. Kind of. It was in the barn and had bat shit and mouse shit on it and was in the throw out pile when my mom, queen of the salvage, spied it and said "Don't throw that out! Its at least 6 yards, you can do something with it!" Well, folks, she was right. It's a 60" wide decorator (translates to expensive. Bought in the days of the football money) fabric. I had nothing to lose. So I brought it in with gloves, stuffed it into my washer, added lots of bleach and soap and waited. It came out nice and soft and kinda pretty but boring. I was glad mom had made me save it. I've been using it on my window seat cushion (too lazy to sew it up--just wrapping it around the foam. Also easy to remove because big ass labradors like to sit there and put their big noses on the window). Well, this weekend I thought, wouldn't that be pretty blue? And I remembered I had bought RIT dye at least 3 years ago. I found the dye (that itself is worthy of a blog!) and cut the fabric in half and set about turning it beautiful. And it is! So, what do you do when you're done dyeing your project but there is still dye in the bucket? I can tell you this, you don't pour it down the sink! You run around the house looking for things to dye, thats what! I had some white matelesse shams and now they are blue and match my shabby chic (Target) sheets perfectly!

Do not notice the wrinked sheets --only the soft blue shams. I know, crappy picture....

Pretty soon I'm going to have to type with only my left hand because my shoulder is cramped again. I'm so lazy you'd have to guess at the words because I'd just leave out the right hand letters. re t rr w. (More tomorrow)

it's still freakin' raining!

2006-05-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were wondering where he is or how he's doing, here's the Quackinator:

This is him at my kitchen door. Apparently we weren't feeding him early enough today and he hopped his big fat duck ass up the steps and onto the porch. I am sparing you the sight of the duck crap that is beneath him....

I finally finished my Koigu socks (yea!) and am now working on a pair for a christmas gift (can't say who) and a bath mitt.

(Yes I know there is dog hair at the bottom of my socks--I wore them to bed last night and wasn't going to wash them again just for a picture. Sorry.) And I'm spinning! I am so hooked! I went to my lys yesterday and picked up some Perendale roving. It felt pretty soft so I figured that it should be nice if I didn't butcher it with my wheel. And I didn't! I'm still doing the thick and thin a bit (really, really thin and not too thick) but it turned out so soft and pretty I was excited! So excited that I actually spun 86 grams and then dyed it! My lys only carries Jacquard dyes and seeing that I'm an impatient and instant gratification kinda girl I figured I'd try it. It was very easy and not messy at all. I don't know if I'll get enough variation in color but for now it's better than KoolAid and I'll play with it some more before I make the next step. You can bet I'll be "plying and dyeing" , as my daughter Riley would say, all weekend. Yup, I'm hooked.

So this new yarn that I spun yesterday I'm calling Colette because reminds me of the color of that beautiful rose on my cottage. This is so fun!

Other than that, things have been pretty status quo here. Here's a sampling of dinner conversation from the other night:

Ruby takes a bite of salad. "Whoa!!! Whoa!!! Did you buy different croutons?" Ruby continues to roll the crouton in her mouth, checking it out with her tongue.

"Yes I did, Ruby. They didn't have the ones we usually buy."

"Wow. I could tell. These taste different." (Ruby is my 17 year old.)

Yep. Things are so boring around here that the arrival of a new kind of crouton is worthy of stopping dinner for and talking about. Boy, you sure can't put one past Ruby....She loves her dinners. Every day when she gets out of school she either calls me or texts me and asks, "what's for dinner?" I guess I can't complain--much better to have your teenage daughter concerned about her dinner than boy problems or whatever. I think I've spoiled them by cooking full dinners every night. College will be a rude awakening, I think.

I'm on a mission this weekend. If anyone needs me I'll be the one furiously spinning....

roses, ad nauseam

2006-05-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

This is a shot of a corner of my big garden with my cottage in the background. I'm loving the lupines and the foxgloves.

Well I'm no closer to finishing those socks but I did ply my yarn and dyed it and I can see that soon we are going to need to go the way of the chemical dyes and leave the koolaid behind. Yep, we all knew it would go this way and here it is. I'm such a color freak that I can't stand not having all the colors of the spectrum at my disposal. So there it is.

Even though the rain sucks and the gray clouds are thoroughly depressing there is one good thing about it: the photography gods are particularly kind to photographers when it is overcast outside. That said, I went nuts with the roses. The wind, however, was not kind and that's not good for macro photography so I had to cut some flowers from my garden and drag a heavy vase of flowers around my yard. And shoot at least 1 gig in about 30 minutes flat...

So we got these:

I love the way that the roses look like ballet tutus. These are all my favorite colors: pink,rose,green and a shot of turquoise and it amazes me that I got them all together in a natural setting (except the vintage turquoise bean pot is not out of the garden and natural, but we'll forget that).

Don't the delphiniums look so sweet with their green polka dots? If that stalk hadn't broken and turned downward I never would have known they were there...Well I'm sure you all have had enough of the roses for today.

Heading to the bath now (with my yarn dyeing book...) Maybe some knitting in bed!

rain, rain go away...

2006-05-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

As I cruise around the blogosphere I am seeing one constant remark in almost every blog I read: its raining here today. Now, I read blogs from all over the US and Europe and I find it amazing that we are all experiencing the damn May showers. I am seriously thinking of turning the heat back on! My hands get so cold so quickly I feel like lighting the wood burning stove and cuddling in with a good movie and some sock knitting. And of course something yummy and freshly baked with a good cup of coffee. Except that I'm trying to watch what I eat...I didn't even brave the rain today with my intrepid labrador--I did the treadmill in the barn and watched Lost on the ipod.

Speaking of hunkering down, as it were, when I go outside these days I can hear finches and bluejays. Because we live next to some huge fir trees the sound bounces and echoes and so, so, so reminds me of the cabin we used to have at Pinecrest Lake in California. Our cabin was surrounded by towering pines and the calls of the finches and bluejays would echo. It was always the first sound I heard in the morning and the sound that would lull me to sleep during a nap. (We used to joke about how it took about 2 days and then you would revert to "cabin mode". That meant that you slept in, took naps, wore your pajamas for long stretches of time, read books and generally let everything go to hell in a hand basket but, damn, if you weren't relaxed!) I do love it that I'm not awakened by cars or people outside; just my own chickens or duck or peacock and the house wren building a nest right outside my window. This morning I rolled over and started to snuggle into my pillow again and my first thought was "Is it Saturday or Sunday?" As we all know, I had a rude awakening when I realized it was Tuesday. And rainy.

I am getting closer to finishing Koigu socks and should have them done maybe tomorrow. And then I really am going to get a head start on knitting some christmas gifts. Along with upcoming birthday gifts. Along with another pair of socks for me....

I didn't even make it out to the cottage today: I felt guilty that the dust bunnies in my foyer were the size of terriers. I'm not kidding. So I had to pick up the vacuum and the dust rag.

And I just want to let everyone who reads my blog know: the comments you leave me make me smile from my heart. There.

I'm a cheatin' ho

2006-05-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

Doug was laughing at me last night because I was working on my toothbrush rug and remarked that I felt like I was cheating on my knitting. Yeah. He almost spit out his coffee on that one. I guess I am truly a sick woman...When you start one of these rugs its so satisfying because you make so much progress so quickly. But as the rug gets bigger it's harder to see the progress. Last night I rugged for about 3 hours and finished one whole row. Only 4 more to go....Willow mentioned that she's interested in finding out more about how to make rugs. This is a good website with clear instructions: toothbrush rug instructions.

Its raining today and probably will be for a few more days but I didn't let that stop me on my quest to walk at least 4 days a week. Angus and I went out and walked in the rain today and it wasn't so bad. Except that my car still smells like wet dog even though I brought a towel to dry him off.

The latest on quackers is that he seems to be pulling out of it a bit. He and Angus were mixing it up a bit today and when Angus came into the cottage he plopped his fat butt on the step and tapped on the door for at least 30 minutes until he finally fell asleep out there. I know it all sounds cute and quaint but now theres a big watery duck poop puddle on the step. I wish he didn't crap--I'd let him in.

I'm listening to 10,000 Maniacs and it so brings me back to the years right after college, being newly married and a new mom. New Jersey, naps, high chairs, strollers. I listened to the 10,000 Maniacs all the time back then; in the house, in the car. It's like the background music to my life as a young mother and NFL wife. I wish I knew then what I know now...but isn't that always the way it is? If I had taken up knitting then I'm sure I wouldn't have had as much anxiety as I did when Doug was playing. It's funny how music can do that to me--totally take me back to where I was when I used to listen to it. Humidity, the red maple outside our house, the chain dragging sound of our radiators, the smell of a baby when she first gets up from her nap with her curls stuck to her face. If nothing else, remembering these things reminds you that, as the 10,000 Maniacs say, "these are the days". Those times seemed like thats how things would always be and look at me now: in Oregon, of all places, with 3 kids that can put themselves to sleep, don't need their food cut and can even wash their own clothes! So what is right now won't always be. I'm reminded to live in the present and love it for what it is, good and bad.

i'm tired of pimpin' for fowl

2006-05-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about when I used to visit my grandparents. They had a ginormous oak tree in their back yard and they put a king size bed under it to be able to sleep outside when it was too hot to sleep in the house. When we would stay with them we would sleep under the oak tree with them and watch the stars (back then the only thing moving in the sky was a falling star--I don't think there were many if any satellites!) and listen to stories before we'd nod off to sleep. I always thought that when I had kids of my own I'd take my best memories and somehow recreate them for my kids. I know I cant' do that completely but at least let them experience something similar. I'm ashamed to say that we hardly ever sleep outside in the summer. I don't know why--maybe the threat of mosquitoes (I don't remember my grandparents having any...), but we don't. And we have great stars out here in the boonies! When you look up in the summer it feels like the sky is going to fall down on you. We have loads of beds in the barn--maybe I should just have Doug drag one on out and put it somewhere for us to sleep outside. But what about the dog? He always sleeps on my bed with me and he'd never settle down outside. And a tent just isn't the same...I'll have to ponder this one.

Every time spring roles around I start getting itchy to use fabric. I usuallly stop knitting and move onto creating with fabric. This year I can see that socks are perfect because I don't have to stop knitting because a project is too big and warm to have on my lap. Socks don't do that. But I am going to start picking up my toothbrush rug. I started it 2 years ago and seem to only work on it in the summer. It's pretty close to being finished so maybe I can manage that this year. I love doing this as much as I love knitting because you use strips of fabric that are ever changing and this keeps my attention span from waning. And I love fabric and colors and the rug is always changing with each new strip. My only downfall is that you are supposed to wash the fabric first and I never do (impatient) so I get some stringies at the end when I wash the whole run. I don't mind and I know that the more I use it and wash it sooner they'll disappear. The rugs are so nice and soft I love to use them all over the house.

Quackers has now taken up with the barbecue. He just hangs out there for most of the day. I've looked up some info on ducks and apparently if you aren't going to provide them with a companion you have to be prepared to play with them. I am not making this shit up. If anyone out there in blog land knows how to play with a duck please be sure and let me know. I've also looked into ordering him a companion but you can only get ducklings and it would be a big pain to raise them all over again especially since we now have 5 cats who would surely eat them. I am in a quandary. Any ideas?

2006-05-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Guess what? The roses are really starting to bloom now! You will be so sick of roses by the end of this summer....This rose is Collette, the one growing on my cottage.

Today is a sad day. We found Cheese dead yesterday. Quackers is inconsolable and will not leave the carport.

He spent last night quacking quietly trying to get her to come to him and let her know where he was (that's what they do all day when they can't see each other and are in different places in the yard). So now he won't leave the side of my car where he can see his reflection. I feel so bad for him... I told Doug maybe we should get him some diapers and let him in the house for some company--ducks like to have a companion. Doug pretended he didn't hear me....I don't know what to do! I don't want more ducks but I don't want Quackers to be alone and sad...I guess we'll just have to wait and see how he does. I really didn't intend on spending so much blogtime on this duck but he seems to be pushing himself onto center stage....

I am making some serious headway on Koigu sock #2; let me just say that Little League games are good places to knit.

And I finished the bath mitt and washed it and it looks so cute! I've yet to try it but am planning on taking a lovely tub to tonight seeing that Angus and I took a walk and I was out in the garden again today. I love watering the tomatoes and basil--I swear they look bigger every day! I can't wait!

And lets finish with some roses, shall we?

anyone got any mole remover?

2006-05-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

I've been somewhat of an inconsistent blogger of late--the weather went from a lovely sunshiney70's last week to an overwhelming 90's yesterday! That's just too warm! So I've been doing some puttering in the cottage garden and tramping down mole tunnels in the big garden (damn those things!). Some cat has been catching and killing some of them but obviously not the ring leader in my garden. Whatever cat it is apparently doesn't fancy mole for dinner as I keep finding them dead on the driveway....I had Doug out there Sunday digging out a quince that has become completely overgrown. We have two and he worked on the first one for 30 minutes until we conceded defeat and put the dirt back in the hole and pruned the crap out of it! The next quince he worked on for 30 minutes and then we transplanted it. Its not looking so happy but who likes to be transplanted and then have 90 degree heat? I'm glad it was mothers day because he had to swear at me in his head and not out loud....

I've been making good use of my paraspa and hand cream--I especially needed it after tangling with those quinces!

I haven't gotten much knitting done but am dying to find a nice cool place and do some. I finished one sock with the Koigu and am now working on sock #2. But then I got an idea in my head (I know, fight the urge!) to knit up some cotton bath mitts! Don't ask--I have no idea why! But it's actually coming out cute and I think they would make nice gifts with a bar of soap or something. What is it about knitting that makes you want to knit all gifts? As if you don't have enought to do....But the summer is big birthday month for my family and one must be prepared! There's no reason to be caught off guard and if you knit something it means its okay to sit and knit and not do laundry or dishes...

I'm currently spreading myself thin trying to make bags (I want one of those bags like the one I made my mom for mothers day), garden and spin! It seems that the better you get at spinning the longer it takes to fill up the bobbin and ply and all that. I can never seem to devote more than an hour to it no matter how hard I try. I just got the book Dyeing to Knit by Elaine Eskesen. It is truly inspirational! Her color choices are so beautiful and her ideas as to how to pick colors for things are amazing. Even the cover of the book makes me drool. Right now all I can manage are KoolAid dyes but I know that soon I'll feel to limited and I'll have to branch out. I love the way hand-dyed yarns have a softness and are variegated. I'm so easily distracted that just the colors or textures changing in a project is enough to keep me interested and knitting!

My roses are all so close to blooming and I'm so excited because I'll be out there shootin pictures every other day. I feel I must prepare you for the onslaught of rose pictures that you, friendly bloggers, will have to endure.....

mother's day

2006-05-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day, all!

Whew! Yesterday was spent creating a new garden in front of the cottage. It's going to be a raised bed garden for veggies and herbs. We finished the bones of it yesterday: placed the boxes, filled them with dirt, planted tomatoes (I was getting scared that we waited too long!), laid down some thick mulch for the paths, and created a few planting beds for lavender, rosemary, daphne and others. I'm one hurtin' unit right now! Soon we'll put up a fence (maybe picket) to surround the cottage and keep the ducks and the chickens out.

Doug will be making me a gate with an arbor over it so the two blue pots will move and roses will be planted there. The pix are terrible but I had to take the lighting I was given....

And now I can finally show the cute Amy Butler patterned bag that I made my mom for Mother's Day. (She reads the blog so I didn't want to spoil the surprise...)

And then I was delightfully surprised by my mom and dad with these :

I feel blessed.

OOOOOOHHHH! My kids just gave me my presents! I received a beautiful potted (by himself) plant from Henry, some wonderful smelling and softening hand lotion from Riley and a parafin hand spa from Ruby! I am so excited and feel doubly loved. I am going to go warm up some wax and plop my hands in right now....

who needs tolerance?

2006-05-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

You all will be happy to know that I finished my Mother-in-law's socks last night at 12:15 while I was in bed, listening to my husband snore, and watching the Poseidon Adventure(the old one) on TV. In my haste to get said socks packaged, boxed and fedexed, I neglected to take pictures. Alas, they are now but a memory.

I am currently sitting here blogging with a Mikes cranberry lemonade (summer in a bottle!) and waiting for Chinese Food. Doesn't that just scream Friday?

This may be way too much information but I'm just gonna throw it out there. It is suspected that I have SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Moving to the lovely Northwest definitely did not help and I realized something was up when all I wanted to do this winter was sit by the fire and knit. And nap. And knit some more. And then go to bed. Well. Now it is sunshiny in the morning when I wake up and I just pop outta bed at 6 am like nothin doin (as my papa would say). So I have somewhat recently given up on the anti-depressants. This has created a bit of a situation as I'm kinda gettin a bit rageful behind the wheel. Especially rageful of slower drivers who are not even driving the speed limit! And I seem to get a bit pissed off by bumper stickers. I feel that I'm not shoving my beliefs down anyones throat with them and it bugs me when others do (unless its a Cal Bears sticker or something to do with knitting which you never see anyway). Okay, admittedly I am experiencing some rage issues but I've got it under control. I really do. One morning my daughter Riley (BIG Southpark fan) remarked upon my lack of tolerance and said that I needed to go to Tolerance Camp. I was shocked. I am so tolerant of others (just not slow others) and try to never offend but here she is telling me I need to go to Tolerance Camp! (For those of you who don't watch Southpark, one of the characters is really a snot and very intolerant and as his punishment for doing something very un-PC he gets sentenced to Tolerance Camp) For the last few mornings she and I have been going on about this and I 've even asked her about other people who I know to be less tolerant than me. Riley had the audacity to tell me that Aunt Ali only needed to go to aTolerance WORKSHOP!!! Well, finally I took it to a new level and shut her up. I asked if there were spa treatments at Tolerance Camp. Enough said. Sign me up...(I'm not really that rageful--my kids are big exxagerators)

self imposed deadlines are the worst kind

2006-05-11T21:59:00.000-07:00

I am knitting furiously to complete Mother's Day socks for my mother-in-law so that I can FedEx them tomorrow. That's my excuse for this really lame blog and I'm stickin to it.

PS: Hope that the "Concussion Kid" feels better tomorrow...I want to see some pix, Patti!

a few of my favorite things

2006-05-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is my first blooming rose out of all of my roses. It's Collette, a climbing rose (though I think it's more of a rambler). It is especially thorny but it smells like tea when you rub its leaves and I think I love this rose the best. That is until Abraham Darby blooms....If you've checked out my flickr page you can tell I love to photograph roses more than any other subject. It's something about the light and how soft the petals are and the muted colors. I'm just passionate about the things!

I decided to take some pictures of things that make me smile. Things that make me happy. Like the swallows (I can't get a picture of them because they fly around too fast). Like my dog, Angus, sticking his head out of the car window. I always wanted a dog who'd do that but none of them ever have. Now there's Angus. So here are some of my favorite things:

My Wellies.

My fabric stash.

Washed fabric roses.

My Liddle Kiddle bracelet. Okay, this one needs an explanation. When I was a kid I had one of these (long gone now). But when we lived in New Jersey we had this great junk store and I found this in absolutely perfect condition. I love it as much as I love my diamonds...

Stitch markers that I made from vintage necklaces.

I love all these things. I think its important to surround yourself with the things that make you happy. I find that even when I'm having a crappy day I can somehow shake myself out of it when surprised by something that tickles me inside. Another thing that really makes me smile is the comments that people leave on my blog. It just seems that the blogosphere is such a supportive place. It kinda follows the old saying ," If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all." Yeah, I like that.

So, does anyone out there watch the damn Soprano's? I am so frustrated! I was talking with Bernadette today and we were commiserating about how disappointing the show has become. Dang. The only thing they're killing is time! I know it's not all about the whacking but, geez! Christopher's drug tripping? Watching him sit with a stray dog and space out? C'mon!

Okay, I'm done for tonight....

is it swendly?

2006-05-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

When Henry, my son was about 2 1/2, he would crack us up with a set of criteria that he would apply to every living creature that he would encounter: Is it swendly (friendly)? Do it bite? Can I pet it? He would ask those three questions about all animals. I remembered those criteria today while watching that damn duck go after my dog and then a cat. He's obnoxious! No one really takes him seriously and maybe thats the problem. If he knows Angus is in the cottage with me he will hop his heavy duck ass up on the step and peck, peck, peck at the glass for 15 minutes! By this time Angus is asleep on the floor or the comfy chair and isn't even paying attention to him. I think Quackers would flunk Henry's criteria. All 3 of them.

I've picked up some embroidery (mother's day is right around the corner, you know) and between the needle and using size 0's for my sock, some of my fingers are downright sensitive! I'm thinking of getting one of those paraffin bath thingies...maybe that will help. I'm really in a rut with my knitting right now--I'm not inspired by my socks and I'm only on the first one (and scared of SSS) and I'm bored with my sweater. Sooooo, thinking of casting on another pair of fast socks just for fun. I don't know... Actually, now I remember that I just ordered some Opal Petticoat in a new colorway so maybe I'd better wait until that arrives in the mail because you know I'll be wanting to dive into that!

I went to Joanne Fabrics today (how hard would it be to make that place nice, huh?) and got a large cutting mat. Now that I have so much room on my cutting table I can use a bigger mat. Plus, my mom had a 40% off coupon so that was a bonus!

It must've been a boring day on the farm if all I had to talk about was Quackers and a cutting mat....

cottage ho

2006-05-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

We're expecting some rain today (welcome for my garden) but that's not going to stop me from making trips from my old workroom to the cottage. I want to get all my stuff moved over as soon as possible. I was out there so long yesterday the battery of my ipod went into the red--guess I'm going to have to get an ipod/charger/stereo thingy one of these days!

After I was done in the cottage I went out and picked a bouquet for the dinner table (we had the family over last night: my sister and brother-in-law and their 3 kids, and my mom and dad) full of lupines, forget me nots, heuchera, and lilacs. Love it when I can pick bouquets for the table all the time! Once things get blooming it doesn't stop until October.

Sooooo, not much knitting happened last night: I was mentally exhausted by stimulating dinner conversation. Wow, we do have some high powered minds working at our table. Last night the topic floated to my sisters new pool that they are putting in and then the subject went deeper (do you like the swimming puns?): it became a discussion on the amount of water displaced when one cannonballs into a swimming pool. Yep. I kid you not. My father swears that you will not hit the bottom of a 7 ft. deep end with a cannon ball. My sister, however, says that her ass will touch the bottom. The gauntlet has been thrown down now. My daughter laughed and asked Aunt Ali if she was going to shove rocks up her butt (a la Southpark) to secretly make herself heavier. You can see where this is going...The good news is that conversation did not take the turn to poop. Somehow that is always where our discussions end up. Stimulating.

Finally I am close to completely being moved into the cottage. So I took some pix before it got too messied up.

This is my sewing area. I would love to have an ironing board set up all the time but it seems like a luxury, even for someone with their own craft cottage. No, I need to come up with a better name than that. I hate the word craft. It somehow trivializes any kind of artistic or creative endeavor. It brings to mind popsicle sticks and pom poms. Not that I don't like those things--there is a place in the world for that. Just not in my cottage unless its the kids...

And here is a shot of the sewing area and my hutch that hides my mini-fridge. I know. Words cannot describe how lucky I am. A bathroom and a mini-fridge. And an electric tea kettle.

And a comfy chair. This is an old chair my mom and I got when we had our shop in California that she slipcovered and it never quite made it into the shop. My sister has the mate and I am currently bartering with her to get it back...

I will take pix of the mighty work counter that Doug built for me but when I was taking these pictures Henry was busy making a mess over there and I'm not taking pictures of mess.

Lastly, somehow the duck, Quackers, figured out that Angus was in the cottage with me and stood on the step outside and repeatedly tapped on the glass in a taunting fashion. What's a weekend without a little duck taunting?

scrabblation

2006-05-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

I've been working hard on my cottage and no new pix to post yet and knitting at night BUT I did have one thing that was blog worthy: I was playing scrabble last night with Riley, my middle daughter (her brother and sister were both out for the night so we were taking advantage of some alone time) and I got 42 points (triple word score) for "cherry"! That doesn't happen often to me so I thought I'd share it.

Hopefully some cottage pix tomorrow.

big things a'happenin...

2006-05-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post today as big things are happening here on the Farm: our beloved houseguest of a year,Bernadette, has recently moved out. She came last summer to finish her thesis and you know how time flies when you're having fun (with Mike's Hard Lemonade, rum punches, cosmo's, martini's...Not all in one night!) and we did have fun! The kids love her , the dogs love her and Doug & I enjoyed her company and babysitting talents. We will all miss her! However, now there is an empty cottage, and I am not one to waste space, I must do my best to fill it! So, instead of a darkish, cramped work room I'm getting a largeish, light-filled, studio with its own bathroom, and all the room I could ever need (I say that now...) for my work! I'm going to have a big table for my sewing machine and serger, a big counter: one side for cutting, one side for assembly. And windows! Did I mention windows? I can walk out of the house, leave the laundry and have my music on and be by myself! If someone wants me they have to come out to get me. More pix will come of the glorious cottage (it even has Collette roses growing on it) as soon as we get it all together. Needless to say, we'll be working our tails off until its operational!
I am so excited!

Here's a picture of the view from the cottage at sunset.

Some knitting is getting done (when I'm not doing anything else) so here's a crappy picture of my Koigu sock that I ripped out and am know knitting in a plain old stockinette with a picot edge. Knitting with size 0's takes forever. And my hands have very rough from gardening and moving furniture and stuff. Even wearing gloves with scads of thick lotion to bed didn't help much. Anyone have any suggestions for a good hand cream?

I did manage to sew up a spring/summer knittting bag because I was getting tired of the felted bag I was carrying around. Love that Cath Kidston oilcloth. And the bag is big enough that I can throw my damn behemoth of a camera in too. Which brings me to the point of why all my pix are little weird lately--I keep forgetting that I have my macro lense on and instead of running into the house to change it I just make do with what I have.

Off the the cottage! Hopefully completion is imminent!

wishing for tomatoes

2006-05-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

Okay. Picture my farm again. Blue skies. Singing birds. A breeze rustling the fir trees on the ridge. Lots of warm sunshine. Sounds nice, huh? Idyllic. That's what I thought when Riley (my daughter home from school again), Bernadette and I wandered out to the adirondack chairs to sip our Diet Pepsi's and have some chips and salsa. We sat down, put our feet up....and all hell broke loose! First the ducks waddled over and started to chase Angus and they ran around us for a little while until the ducks left him alone and he chose to take a crap right next to Bernadette's chair! As I was picking up that smelly pile the cats descended upon the chips and salsa--one would be knocked down and two others would jump up! Needless to say, that was the end of the chips and salsa. We had a few sips of Diet Pepsi and called it a day. Might as well tackle that pile of laundry that closely resembles the steamin' pile o' mulch....

Under the "Even More Disturbing" header: I had a bizarre dream that I was pregnant with 3 babies . One came out and was fine but the other two wouldn't come out (my body stopped being in labor). They were fine but just not ready to come out. So, anyone? Sounds like my realization that Ruby will be going to college soon had an affect on me. I don't know--sometimes my dreams make so much sense--does that mean I have it under control? Nah, I didn't think so...

I think I'm just going to attempt to keep on the laundry today and get some spinning done and knit tonight. I will conquer the sweater! I do think I'll be ripping out the simply lovely lace socks, though. Even though they're cute, a CO of 60 is still to loose for my ankles and feet. I think I'll rip it and do a simple stockinette ankle sock with a picot edge. I'll probably enjoy wearing them more if they fit nice and snug. I love the Koigu yarn so they'll feel so good on my feet.

Here's that recipe for Willow:

ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE
Can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen up to 10 months
Makes about 10 cups of sauce
15 cloves of garlic
8 lbs of ripe tomatoes, any variety, halved or quartered
5-10 medium onions, quartered
1 cup fresh herbs, chopped—rosemary, Italian parsley,basil, thyme, oregano
(I have been known to use dried oregano and thyme if that’s what I have)
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
Fresh ground black pepper
3-4 tablespoons sugar, optional

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel and chop 5 cloves of garlic. Leave the remaining cloves whole. In a large roasting pan, gently toss together the tomatoes, whole and chopped garlic, onions, herbs, oil, salt, and pepper.

2. Roast for 25 minutes. Gently stir. Roast for another 25 minutes. Stir again. Roast another 45 minutes or until tomatoes are softened and broken down into a sauce with a golden brown crust on top.

3. Remove from oven and taste for seasoning. If slightly bitter, add sugar and stir. Pour sauce into clean, sterile jars or freezer bags and refrigerate, can or freeze. If you prefer a smoother sauce, blend in a blender or use hand blender until smooth.

You can see why I wait to do it until tomatoes are in season! 8 pounds of tomatoes! And I know it sounds like a lot of garlic and onions but, trust me, the onions and the garlic mellow and it isn't a strong tasting sauce at all! Just a very mellow roasty taste. Depending on the size of the onions I vary how many I use: if they're big onions I'll only use 5 but if they're small I'll use more. Sometimes I use a hand blender and blend only a few cups of the sauce and add it back in with the rest just to make it a little thicker. Dang it is sooooo good! Let me know if you have questions. Enjoy!

wasn't i the young hot chick in the red convertible?

2006-05-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

I had a weird moment today. I was driving along with my middle child , Riley, and she asked what we were going to do with Ruby's room when Ruby leaves. Ruby is my oldest daughter, soon to be 17 and soon to be in her last year of high school. I told Riley that we would just leave it because she'll be back to visit for a long time. Then I started to cry. Hypothetically I know that Ruby will go off to college and then on to the rest of her life. I just never really knew it in my heart. I know it has to happen with all of them but I don't really know it.
This is what I think of when I think of Ruby driving.

And this

That's her waving on her Jeep Power Wheels with her cousin. Her favorite ride at Disneyland was Autopia. She couldn't wait to get in those cars and be "a crazy driver". She'd drive so erratically that whoever was in the car with her (she couldn't reach the pedals) would get thrown all over and try to hold onto her so that she didn't hit her head on something. All the while the adult was laughing hysterically and Ruby was screeching about what a "crazy driver" she was. Speaking in a New Jersey accent I might add (we lived in New Jersey her first 7 years).
This is my Ruby driving reality:

Still a red vehicle but that's about the only similarity. At least I have a year to get used to this leaving home thing....

So, on a more upbeat thread--I've finished the front of the Knitting Pure & Simple hoodie. Yea! Now onto the back...the real problem for me is the sleeves-I hate doing sleeves. I don't know why because they're fast its just boring for me...I must perservere.....

Bought tomato plants today: Early Girl, Willamette and Roma. No basil plants in the store yet but I'm looking. That's all I'm doing this year: tomatoes and basil. I have this FANTASTIC (and easy) recipe for pasta sauce in which you throw all these fresh tomatoes and herbs into a roasting pan and roast them and it comes out so fresh tasting and juicy...I'll have to post the recipe this summer when its tomato season. Can't wait! And homemade pesto--the best! And jam! I always get so excited for those things when it isn't the season and then when its summer and everything is ripe and its urgent because if you don't cook, bake, jar it, it will go bad and I get manic and overwhelmed. I love looking at a full pantry, though. Peach jam, yum....

I love Spring the best--so much promise....

just another day on the farm, funny farm, that is

2006-04-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Lupines Blooming! I swear I just blinked and they were blooming! Roses, delphiniums and foxgloves gotta be right behind.
The House Wrens are back. I can hear them in the morning as I'm slowly waking up. I particularly love these little birds because they have such a cheery song and when they pick a house to nest in they pick up twigs that are too big to fit in the hole of the birdhouse. So, these industrious little birds keep trying and trying until they somehow get their twig into the birdhouse. I guess thats a good lesson for anyone...
The swallows are back too. I love the way they chatter and chirp as they're soaring around our fields like the Blue Angels. They even catch Angus's eye if he's out there and can't find his ball.
So, picture my farm with the house wrens and the swallows, blue skies, a cool breeze, and glorious sunshine. I toddled my bad self outside determined to shear that goat, and get my roses tied up to the house. Well, I did shear that goat and she and her sister were so playful afterward! It must've felt good to be without that winter coat. Then Doug and I moved onto the roses. Okay. I am of the mind that any house can look better with some climbing roses upon it. And if one has a porch with columns than that is just asking for said climbing roses. Doug does not agree. In fact, if he had to catagorize roses into a family I think he'd pick the noxious weed family. To him all roses are right up there with blackberry brambles and poison oak. He thinks I am an idiot to tangle with them and always come out the loser. He fails to see their beauty or how wonderful they are as photographic subjects! Yarnstorm, you go on about your tulips (rightly so!). Well that's how I feel about my roses. And I don't mean hybrid tea fussy things. Noooooo. I mean the overblown, old-fashioned, perfume scented lovelies that kind of ramble all over (all the better to prick you). I digress. Doug was in a foul mood to have to climb a ladder precariously perched (he hates heights! ). And all this to get pricked and spiked by those ever-present thorns. And I'm on the ground telling him which branch to move and how to move it and hating his attitude! So there we are, both hating our respective positions and trying to maintain our calm but you know I'd love nothing more than to give his ladder a big push and he'd love to drop that hammer he's using smack on my head! Neither of those things happened and the roses are tied up and we're still married.
So, to move on from there: I intended to take it easy today and knit and spin and add to my blog but somehow I got bitten by the gardening bug and didn't come inside until 4:30! We mulched paths, added dirt to planting beds, relocated shrubs....I don't think I'm going to be able to get out of bed tomorrow morning! And we have Soprano's tonight!! What a banner day! I do hope someone gets whacked, though. Too much set-up for me. I don't know, I still think the first few seasons where the best.
Here's a picture of my newly spun yarn.

I'm gettting better...I do need to keep practicing though. I don't feel I'll ever be spinning sock yarn but that's okay. It's relaxing in it's own right and I love the whole dyeing thing! I'm thinking that since my yarn isn't the greatest yet maybe I should use it to make a felted bag.
Looking back at the last few days I swear one would think I'm on crack! If you coulda seen me this winter you'd think that I'm being possessed--all I did this winter was sit on my ass and knit, knit,knit. Oh, and nap. Yeah. So now I'm outside shoveling mulch and dirt and ripping up shrubs(!!) What the hell is going on? Maybe its just a phase. Maybe I just want it to be pretty so I can sit on my ass on a lounge and knit or read trashy novels and drink iced tea. Pick up the kids from school? Maybe....
And while Doug and I were working our tails off does anyone want to guess what our two teenage daughters where doing? Hmmm? Yeah, they went to the MALL!! And had the audacity to ask us for money this morning as we were waking up slowly over morning coffee! We live 13 miles from town. I ask you, is there an ATM down our gravel street? Do I look like an ATM? If you push my belly button will I crap out a $20? Then I was told that if I didn't have cash I could come with them (they were only inviting my credit card). I promptly told them I would rather have a tooth pulled than go to the mall. No wonder I was fired up today--damn teenagers!
I can't resist a pic of Ali's finished Easter Socks (I know Easter was 2 weeks ago) in their wrapping. Little Pumpkin was interested too. As soon as he saw that the gift did not include food for him he was off.

Time to get ready for Sopranos!

Remembering Elmer

2006-04-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite picture of Elmer. I love it because he is smiling and it captures perfectly how much I love him and he loved me. Elmer died 1 year ago today and even though I have Angus now I still miss him so much. I don't know that I'll ever stop crying when I think of him.

Elmer was my particular friend and he knew my moods and what I needed and I did the same for him. I'd do anything for that guy. He was so special. He was friendly and warm and thoughtful and my constant companion. I miss him.

He loved retrieving, laying in the sun and following me around when I gardened. He'd find a patch of sun and lay near where I was working and keep my company. When he was a puppy, he loved gardening too but was a bit more mischievious about it. Back then we had two women, Sheryl and Joanna who took care of our gardens and Elmer would go nuts when they came! He'd follow them around and quietly wait until one of them took off a glove and he would daintily grab that glove in his front teeth and run away. He never chewed it; he just liked the chase.

Elmer loved a warm fire in the winter. He was a true yellow lab (all the ones we've seen have an affinity for fireplaces) and would lie as close to the the woodburning stove as he could without getting burned himself. One of the reasons we chose to get yellow labs was the dog in the movie Funny Farm with Chevy Chase. At first the characters get a dog that likes to run but when it doesn't stop running and runs away they get Yellow Dog, a yellow lab who hardly moves and definitely won't run away. In one scene, Chevy Chase has to get the fire tongs and remove Yellow Dog's smoking tail from the fire because the dog just lies there and doesn't feel it burning. Elmer wasn't that bad but he did love his fireplace snoozes.

He loved to sleep on our bed too but as he was anywhere from 68-85 pounds in his life, thats alot to have between two adults even if the bed is king sized! And he wasn't a "curl up small at your feet" kind of dog either. He would lay flat on his side with his legs at right angles to his body, taking up as much room as he could. I'd gladly give up sleeping comfortably for the rest of my life (it's over-rated anyway, right?) to have him here with me now.

A Day of Many Accomplishments

2006-04-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

There must be something about this sunshiny spring weather that makes me just want to complete projects. I finished Michelle's knitting needle carrier:

Here's a close-up:

I used some old Cath Kidston fabric (Summer Blossom, my fave) and even used one of the tags from my old store, Old Friends. I think it's still appropriate to use because I only make things for old friends anyway!

And then I moved right onto a pair of pajama pants: (I know they look kinda like a tent and that the crotch is down to the knees but its not really...)

And I even added some ric rac on the bottom:

I'm thinking that these pants may not only be worn to bed--they're cute enough to be worn out I think....Now I'm going to scrounge through the fabric stash and make some more. So comfy for the summer!

Last but not least, here's a picture of my new old-fashioned-bathroom-green bird bath amongst my delphiniums:

Thanks mom & dad!

Fairy Slums and Other Nonsense

2006-04-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

My mom and I took a trip to Garland Nursery today. As we were going after we dropped Henry off at school, he got to listen to us chat about what we were looking for (plant-wise) and what we were planning for our gardens now that things are beginning to pop up and show themselves (or not, unfortunately). I was telling my mom about a hollowed out trunk that I needed to plant something in when Henry added, "But mom, that's part of my fairy garden that you let me have!" Well, it's true. I did let him have a patch of garden that he could plant sweet plants and leave special little things for fairies and putter around with when I was gardening and he was keeping me company. Recently, I took stock of said fairy garden and have determined that it has become a fairy slum and have since reposessed it. That's right, I have kicked out the slum lord that is my son and I have greatly improved their projects. Gone is the swing that hangs at an angle, gone is the stone garden dwarf that served as their protector (his face busted off in the frost) and gone are the weeds and their fairy pool which the mosquitoes had taken over. I left the picket fence and some matchbox cars so they can load up their posessions and head out to their next fairy dwelling. I have standards. I'm all for the fairies but I don't think I want the one's that could live in that kind place....My son says, "I'll just find another place." Spoken like a true slum lord....

Here's the former fairy project that I've started to plant out:

On the knitting front, I am almost done with the front of my sweater (take that michelle) and still progressing on socks. Gardening does cut into the knitting time....I hate to say it (or admit it) but I need to find some sunglasses that are reading glasses so that I can sit out in the sunshine and knit and be able to see what I'm doing! I refuse to do the clip-on thing--is it too much to ask for a little bit of style?

I started reading Darcy & Elizabeth by Linda Berdoll. I loved Darcy Takes A Wife and have been looking forward to the sequel. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these books they are unauthorized sequels to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. There is controversy about these books as some say that they are not what Jane would have written about these characters and that P & P should be left alone. I can see their point. However, I loved the first book and thought its raciness a bit fun. It was different from the original P & P but I really enjoyed it. So now I've got projects coming out of my ears--it's a good thing its staying lighter later! Maybe I can get it all done!

Here's my wheelbarrow with some of my goodies:

The garden beckons.

Boom, boom, Out Go The Lights

2006-04-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

I had two kids home today (a touch of spring fever) so I put them to work in the garden with me. My daughter Riley painted that bench for me and I think that paint will help hold it together for another 6 months...keeping my fingers crossed.

Doug and I are big time Soprano's watchers and we were sitting down last night at 8:55 saying goodnight to the kiddies when the unthinkable happened: the power went out. That's right, T minus 5 to Soprano's launch and our power goes out! At first there was yelling out to tell the kids where we were in the dark, and then we just kind of chuckled and waited for the electricity to come back on, and then we lit a candle or two. Then we lit a few more and looked nervously at the clock (battery operated). Then we lit a few more candles and had to explain to the children why they couldn't flush (we have a well and you need electricity for the pump to work and provide water for the house) and tell Ruby our 17 year old why showering wouldn't work. And then...dread set in. We had reached 9:15 and there was no way that we'd be watching the Soprano's even if the power did come back on...we'd have to watch it Monday night. The electricity did return after one hour and we have no idea why it went off in the first place. Finally we sent the kids to bed ( they refused to go because the lights were off! Isn't that the most absurd thing you've ever heard?) and resigned ourselves to an early night.

I did start another sock (a worsted weight wear-around-the-house-sock) even though my lacey Koigu sock is not finished (those Kbls are kickin my ass!). My sister Michelle has now shamed me into working on my hoodie as she is a knitter with no time and she has passed me up and is finishing the body. Its not a race, its not a race, its not a race....knitidiot that she is.....

I also had some time to work on Michelle's needle case (pix tomorrow) and was having a great time listening to my ipod on speakers in my workroom. My daughter Ruby never listens to playlists; she says her ipod knows what she wants to hear. Well, today, I channeled my inner ipod and let it rip. It did beautifully: 10,000 Maniacs, Sarah McLachlan and AC/DC. I couldn't resist the urge to turn it up loud which caused my children to ask some questions about the terminology in some of the AC/DC songs. Ahh, yes. Mom was once a belly baring, 501 wearing, crazy teenager. My husband jokes about prying my ipod out of my hands and today I felt even closer to it. (I have it loaded with my favorite movies: Pride and Prejudice-all five hours, Bridget Jones, and I have to admit, South Park. I just put the first season of Lost on (which I've never seen) so I'm looking forward to that.

But I digress. It's so enjoyable to work and listen to something you like. Especially in my workroom--I have to shuffle things around to use the paper cutter or the rotary cutter or the sewing machine or the serger or the ironing board...I'd love to see Posy Gets Cosy's or Disdressed 's workroom. I have visions of light and beautiful colors and organization...

Time for Soprano's....

I'm spinnin' and spinnin'....

2006-04-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

Yep, learned to spin yesterday. I was constantly frustrated in class (I hate it when it seems I should be able to do something and it's difficult for me) but came home, sat down, threw away all yarn created in said class and actually spun some good shit! I mean, its not great but it resembles yarn and I'm one happy spinner for that! And I plied it too! Woman on fire! Now there's no stopping me from shearing that darn goat. She doesn't know whats comin' her way today! Give me your fiber, you freeloader!

Got two teenagers with baditude today so I'm going to spend all day outside dealing with HUGE pile of steaming mulch (thank you Carole and Ed). And then I'm gonna spin and spin and spin....(if I can still move or use my arms....)

And this is Harry, my peacock who is not sure what the steaming pile o mulch is and if he should be trying to attract it for a little sunday morning action...freeloading and confused....

The stash grows

2006-04-20T12:44:00.000-07:00

The local yarn store had a huge sale. Need I say more? But just look at the pretty stuff I got so I can't really be blamed can I?

I was so inspired by the colors ( and the few flats of annuals I picked up while wasting time before said yarn store sale--don't tell anyone!) that I took a few macro shots.

That's about all the time I have for now--I have lots of knitting to do!

A Salty Dog

2006-04-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Well, lets just get something out of the way: Angus (the dog) is one of the most un-photogenic dogs I've ever encountered. No matter what I do I can't get a good pic of that guy. I love him to death but I've got to be honest. And he is pretty in real life--he just won't settle down long enough for a good picture to be taken. My last dog, Elmer, was the most photogenic dog I ever did see so this is a bit difficult for me...

That said, Henry (my son), Angus and I went to the beach today and it was beeauuuutifulllll! We timed it just right and got to explore tidepools and saw all kinds of stuff that had me kicking myself for not bringing my macro lense!!!

We saw this:

And this:

The colors were amazing!

And all the dog wanted to do was fetch the ball. Throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball...like that neurotic dog in Doctor Doolittle. So he looked like this:

A good day was had by all and we topped it off with fish and chips at Mo's and some candy for the car ride home. It brought back good memories of when I was in school and my dad would show up unannounced at my classroom and excuse me for the day and say we were going to the beach. We'd go home, grab some towels and swimsuits, stop at the deli for some sandwiches and we'd be laying in the sand by 11:00. Those were great times--we never knew when to expect it but if the day was beautiful and the beach beckoned my dad wouldn't let anything stop him from playing hookie. Seeing that Henry had a conference this morning and we totally blew it off I guess I'm a bit like my dad...One must set one's priorities.

Well, as this is a late post and I came home from the beach and gardened for 3 hours, I think some well deserved knitting on socks and watching some Midsomer Murders is in order...a perfect end to a lovely day.

Oh Dear, Oh Deer...

2006-04-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

This morning was a waffle morning!! Yes, I'll say it again, I had a waffle! And not those Eggo things--I went out to breakfast with Bernadette and had me a real waffle with a scoop of butter and syrup on top. There's no way you can have a bad day when you start it off the waffle way. Bernadette had to go to town early and we were going to meet and walk but the lure of breakfast out was more than we could take...

And then, to make the day even better, there is enough break in the rain (really cold rain, I might add) to go out and take some pictures with my lensbabie. In case you don't know what that is , it's a lens that distorts certain areas as you take a picture and creates some neat effects that are unique. So out I went with the camera to take pictures and I was followed and harrassed by the ducks, the cats and the loud goats. Sometimes its hard to take a picture with all the wildlife butting in.

Easter was good though soggy and the bunny brought way too much chocolate! I have a thing for those See's candy rocky road eggs and, believe me, that will be my dessert until its all gone!

As for knitting, well I'm still plugging along on the socks (no, I didn't make the Easter deadline) and the sweater. My kids are off school until Wednesday (what is with that damn school district? They just had spring break!!!) so who knows how much I'll get done...

There will be a soggy egg hunt...

2006-04-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

There will be no gardening today: it is raining buckets. I hope the Easter Bunny can hop through all the mushy ground to get to us...We started the day dying the easter eggs, just Henry and I, 'cause the girls didn't want to this year. Guess they're getting too grown up...needless to say, Henry and I split those 36 eggs 50/50. I'm never too grown up.

Next on my list of things to do today was come up with a knitting needle roll-up storage thing. Michelle bought one that was plastic and hideous and was sure I could improve upon the design so I did my best.

I used Cath Kidston fabric (my favorite) and though my roll-up isn't perfect yet I should have a good one for Michelle by next week.

Happy Easter to all!

Thinking of better weather

2006-04-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

I love this picture...I took this picture with my great friend and fellow photographer Patti when she came to visit me last spring. We went out driving around with our cameras and I remembered this barn and wanted to re-photograph it with my new higher pixel camera so off we went...Those times are always so great because the time spent in the car is relaxing and filled with catching up and NO interruptions from kids or duties. We always manage to get some great stuff--the photography gods usually smile upon us and we have good light and little or no rain...Anyway, that picture just captures my mood for today....

Had an interesting conversation with my youngest child, Henry yesterday: I was taking him to school and he was rifling around in my purse and remarked, "Here's the gum! I know where everything is your purse, Mom." To which I replied that it's commonly thought of as rude to look in a woman's purse without permission. He put me in my place by telling me, "Oh, it's okay. You're not a woman. You're my mom." LOL. Gotta love that! No wonder I can't find a job--I'm not qualified for anything!!!!!

Thanks to Persistent Illusion for all the cabling help!! I'm off to get a cable needle and start cabling me some socks (as soon as I finish the Easter gift socks--don't worry Alison and Bernadette--I haven't forgotten). And Michelle, aka Sereknidjit, you'll be getting some soon...

Sushi Day

2006-04-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

Today has been a good day: got to have lunch (sushi) with B and R, my two magazine friends. It's always fun when we get together because we just can't resist the urge to verbally abuse one another and B is often caught off guard when she has either food or drink in her mouth and then she must struggle not to spit said food allover or dribble it on herself. I find this hilarious and love to see her is this situation....I must have been particularly obnoxious today because I think I got flipped off by both of them....R (I think I'll call you Mr. Rogers and you know why....) was telling us about his plans for Easter and B and I would not leave him alone. Let it suffice to say that we hope his puppet show goes off without a hitch...

Got the rest of my Easter shopping done, took daughter # 2 to orthodontist and knit every time my car stopped--I will conquer the knit gifts by Easter!

When I took Angus out to throw the ball for him, I noticed how all the trees have taken this opportunity to start to bloom so I took some pix so all can see what Oregon's looking like right now. Damn, I love living in the country! Some people wonder how I can live 20 minutes out of town and how I can survive the long drive every day to school and such but I think it's what keeps me sane. I love to drive, I love driving through the fields with sheep (Benton county is the grass capitol--that means lots of green fields and lots of spring allergies), and I love to listen to my music really loud! I've been driving like that since was 16 and now that's just how I roll...I think I've passed that down to my kids as my 16 year old can be heard a block away when she drives up! I hate to admit it, but when I'm not listening to my ipod I listen to Bob, a radio station that plays "the 80's , 90's , and whatever". That stuff just brings me back--I always know what I was doing at that time.

And Di, LOL on the thought of chicken on your lap! You sick woman! :)

Spring = hard boiled eggs

2006-04-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

It's not even noon yet and, damn, I've got a lot done! Took all three kids to school, took a walk with Angus (he is currently snoring at my feet...), collected the eggs AND hard boiled them! I couldn't resist taking a picture because our chickens eggs are so beautiful. It's always worth it to have a few aracaunas just for the blue eggs...We're supposed to have sunshine here (a rarity in Oregon) for the next few days and I definitely want to get some gardening in. The cherry trees are budding up as well as the apple trees and I can't wait to take pix of that.

On the knitting front, I am still furiously knocking out socks for gifts and now that I have a time limit(Easter) I have a million things to do and have to steal time for knitting and the completion of said projects. For me it's so much about the colors and textures and what looks good with what--I can't help but slap my knitting up against beautiful fabrics (talk about a stash! That's my true weakness! Alison's socks look so good with the little shabby chic bag that I use for my knitting stuff. Once I get started on a gift then I start thinking how I'll present it: just tissue paper and pretty ribbon? A box covered in vintage paper? Tucked into a teacup or painted basket? Arguably I have way too much time on my hands!!!!

I miss having my cute little shop where I could play with all my ideas...Yes it was hard work but it was so fulfilling and such a great outlet for my crazy, creative mind!

I think I've become a blog addict....

2006-04-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

I really have nothing to write about because today has been spent sitting on my butt (thankfully not so sore anymore) and reading the new Knitty.com and checking out blogs. Took the kids to school, stopped at the store for Easter plunder, came home and have proceeded to while away 3 hours at my computer with nothing to show for it except to be heartened by the fact that there are lots of people out there kinda like me....scary, I know.

I did finish mom's socks last night and now I'm forced to work on the sweater. Except that the lure of pink Karabella just waiting to be cast on into a pair for Alison is too much to ignore.....

So I'll leave you with a picture of adorable Angus.

I've got a sore butt!

2006-04-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

Gardening was somewhat productive but weeding produces a sore butt. Unfortunately the weeds in my garden are so profuse and tenacious that I must be on my hands and knees to pull them out. I am only able to cover small portions of said garden at a time so as not to get overwhelmed. I did pick some rhubarb and made Doug's favorite: Gramma Buelt's Upside Down Rhubarb Cake. A very springy dessert.

The down side of gardening is that you cannot knit and garden at the same time and you're dead tired in the evening so the knitting productivy goes down. I did manage to finish one sock of the pair for my mom and started sock number two so that they will be finished when she comes home from her trip to visit my sister Michelle in California.

Socks are so addictive that my sweater definitely takes a backseat. Maybe I'll actually finish it in time to wear it this spring....

Having a sore butt also makes for restless knitting because you can't really sit still...Maybe I should just become a weed gardener and let them take over.....

Dang! Blogging is addictive....

2006-04-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

I am so loving this blogging thing--now I'm even responding to some of these people and reading comments left for them. You will be happy to know that I did not spend my whole day blogging--I gardened for an hour and walked with Bernadette and Angus.

And now I must tear myself away to go to Target with Alison, my sister.

Shit! She just called and said she had makeup on--must go make myself look presentable to avoid looking like a hag. (Lucky you, no pix of that!)

Fertility Farm

2006-04-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

So....Spring is finally here in Oregon (as much as it can be in the Northwest) and it seems as if the creatures have decided that my farm (sometimes known as Freeloader Farm) is the place to get jiggy with it. We have at least 25 turkeys that fly down out of the trees in the morning and hang around having their fun until they fly back into the trees at night fall. I am being awakened every morning by their "gobble gobble gobbles"! I like waking up to birds but this is a bit much.

We also have Harry, our adopted peacock ( he adopted us) hanging around showing off his lovely plumage to none other than our chickens. Unfortunately there is no peahen for Harry and as long as I have known him he has proven to be one frustrated mofo. I feel this is enough of a reason to continue to feed him and give him compliments whenever he shows off. He is pretty low maintenance: he doesn't crap on the front porch when he eats the cat food, he will eat anything (cat food, chicken food, cereal, pasta...) and he doesn't infringe upon anyone's space here at the farm (my husband Doug would vehemently disagree as Harry does like to roost in the barn carport where Doug splits wood and apparently Harry's pooping manners are not as fastidious as the porch).

The subject of space infringement brings us to another pair of freeloaders: Cheese and Quackers, our ducks. Our 15 pound ducks. Our ducks who do NOTHING but crap and eat and lay huge eggs in strange places. And lately (this is the most entertaining yet distressing) attack our dogs! Quackers, the male duck, makes a beeline for the dogs when they go out, quacking, flapping his wings and even trying to bite (ducks can't really bite, don't worry) the dogs which are easily 4 times his size. I have to get this phenomenon on video one of these days...

At least watching all these antics is made enjoyable by some sunshine, warm breezes and blooming trees and bulbs. The muscari and the daffodils look fab and the smell of the daphne is amazing. The flip side of all this growth is that I can't put off working in the garden anymore.... I do love gardening but right now weeds are what's facing me when I go outside. Nobody told me that living in the out in the country meant lots of weeds and getting to love Roundup (there is no reason to be organic in my flower garden....) Oh well, hello dirty nails....

What a day!

2006-04-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

What more can one ask for? Began the morning by finishing Jaywalker socks with lovely Koigu KPPPM and headed to the beach with friend Bernadette and dog Angus in tow. He had great fun chasing the ball on his very first trip to the coast! Bernadette and I stopped in at Moe's for Fish & Chips, loaded ourselves up with saltwater taffy for the ride and headed back home. As if that wasn't sublime enough, I came home to find 7 balls of Karabella 8 from Jimmy Beans Wool in my mail box!! I can't wait to get those onto my needles for some wonderful socks!

Even though we're heading into spring I can't stop knitting the socks...I figure that i need to stop knitting so many for myself and start on Christmas presents so this sock fixation could be a good thing. I just can't get over how good hand knit socks feel and how fulfilling it is to knit them! The only minor hitch is that Angus sits with me (I should explain that he is a very large yellow lab and that "with me" reallly means on me) and I'm sure I'm knitting a lot of his yellow hair into all of my socks. Oh well, chances are if my sock recipients aren't allergic to wool then they won't be allergic to Angus Hair.....

Knitting as Breathing

2006-04-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

I've decided that knitting, to me, has become just like breathing. I don't even think about doing it anymore. My knitting bag is almost like an article of clothing--i drag it with me everywhere: to drop off kids, pick up kids, watch tv, go to bed. (It isn't part of the dining experience--I couldn't stand food getting near my precious yarn...) It isn' t just something to keep my hands or mind busy--it transcends that. It's become so much more: relaxing yet productive, fulfilling and pleasurable. Definitely cheaper than therapy!!