Note to self re: filling the wine glass

If I’m not going to be drinking the wine with the moochers (Fluff, Sirius, and Izzy) then don’t fill the glass all the way. (especially if current deadline project is lace) (but it really tastes so good).

If it tastes so good, I really should have gone down there in the dark and shared with Fluff…

Who is contributing to whose delinquincy?

Ok, let’s get back on track

Still sad, but things are ok. Yesterday Baby Justine was limping, and one leg was swollen, but I’ve about decided (w/ Kid Hollow’s help) that she just hurt her leg. So she got a shot of goatie aspirin, and she’s fine today. But I think I’m going to be paranoid and overly cautious for awhile.

My camera came back from Miss Mad for Knit’s today- and it actually still had enough battery in it for a few goatie shots. But first, here is the train as it pulled into the station the Friday morning I left for Boston.

My first train

My sweet father waited at the train station for the train with me- I tried to send him home, but he wouldn’t. This was the first time I’d gone anywhere on a train- and I highly recommend it. Oh, the knitting time! 12 hours later I was being hugged by Miss Mad for Knit- yay! She took me home, fed me a yummy dinner, then tucked me into bed under the very first Kaffe quilt she ever made.

Morpheous reclines on the Kaffe quilt

(that’s the stuffed goat my daughter gave me who goes everywhere when I stay over night. I’ll give you that story on a low content day) Gorgeous quilt, huh? Saturday we went to WEBS with Babycocktails, and a wonderful lunch afterwards. No pictures- it was pretty overwhelming. I’ll show you stash enhancement another day. Saturday evening we relaxed at home and knit, then Sunday was the walk.

As I walked, I knit on a beret for the current service project for Knitters for Obama on Ravelry- if you’re not on Ravelry, let me know and I’ll get you the details (but first, sign up for Ravelry!). Miss Mad for Knit was knitting, as well.

Walking and knitting, knitting and walking

The walk took a different route than I remembered- though it was 14 years ago. There were many, many more walkers. It was amazing.

pretty skyline

It was beautiful, and we kept the conversation light, Carol kept me nicely distracted, and it was only very sad at the end. We finished the walk- but my brother never will again.

We had toyed with looking up his old apartments, but in the end, I didn’t need that this time. There will be another time- and it will be ok.

I promised you all a raffle for donations, and a raffle there will be. Since the walk is still accepting donations until the 30th, I thought I’d give the donation link one more time, then in the meantime get pictures of the raffle prizes, and draw after the 30th. More next post.

A few goatie pictures- cuz I can now.

Baby Justine in a bin

Isn’t she cute? If you look closely, you can see where her mohair has static from the plastic bin and is standing up.

Baby Evan being cute

As if he could be anything but!

A little more sadness

One of my sweet goaties, Lister, passed away yesterday morning. We don’t really know what happened. Their wonderful vet is out of town this week. The first person I called (always, aside from Dr. Melinda when it comes to these babies) is Pat from Kid Hollow- which is where all my goats originate. She had lost one this week, too. We’re thinking parasites- with all the rain and wet we’ve had, the worms and organisms can quickly overload a goat. She also speculated about pneumonia- and maybe he could have had it without showing symptoms. Whatever the cause, my sweet goat is gone. (I’m trying to get through this as detached as possible- not working too well).

Pat came up and took his body for me, so I wouldn’t have to deal with that. A very kind neighbor, Ian, was on standby in case Pat and I couldn’t load him in the truck by ourselves. Actually, my kids helped- I was very proud of them. Then another friend, Connie (who I vend with at the smaller festivals) came out and we did a massive deworming and antibioticing- just in case. I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends who would come like that at the drop of a hat. That means everything.

Lister didn’t get mentioned too much, but he was a very sweet goat. Just the day before he was beside me on the porch getting his face scratched and his nose kissed.  He was 4 years old, as most of my goats are. I’ll leave you with a few pictures of him. Safe journey, Mister Lister- to a field and woods with the best leaves ever.

Lister- not quite one

Lister- a little over two

whispering goatie secrets

Feeling quiet

And since I seem to be the only quiet one in this house… (right now the other “adult” in the house is teaching the kids how to yell and scream at video games. I’m gonna hafta open another bottle of wine.)

Remember how I told you I’m hopelessly scattered? I guess I felt the need to prove it and left a pair of socks (not knit, so not important in the least), my sweat jacket (the 2nd MD S & W sweatshirt I’ve left behind, so kinda important), and my camera (ok, that one is really important) in Boston. (once you’re done saying what a scattered ditz I am, if you listen carefully you can hear my father saying I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached. That’s ok. When he’s right, he’s right) Luckily- I left them at Miss Mad for Knit’s place, so they should be making their way back to me shortly. By the way, if she ever invites you to stay with her, accept without hesitation- I had a fantastic time, she took me to WEBS, they took better care of me than I ever remember being taken care of, she took me to WEBS, she was with me every step of the way on the walk, she introduced me to Babycocktails, she took me to WEBS, she let me sleep under her first Kaffe quilt (picture when camera returns), her children let me hug them because I missed mine- and did I mention she took me to WEBS? (ok, WEBS was cool, and I did get a few things, but truly, it wasn’t the highlight. The highlight was spending a wonderful weekend with a friend who knew that dragging my ass to Boston for this walk would be the right thing to do- thank you from the bottom of my heart.)

I’ll have about 2 pictures to show you regarding the trip when the camera comes back. As far as the goat show- again- a wonderful time. It’s great to be surrounded by people who love goats (almost) as much as I do, and who don’t think I’m (too) crazy. A friend there will forward me some pictures of my babies, so I’ll tell you about that then.

Now I’m home for the summer. I’ve got lots going on the knitting and spinning front. I’m planning on getting more stuff listed on my website, reopening the Etsy shop, and getting stuff done! I’ve got some testknitting things going that I won’t be able to show you yet, but I promise to get them up as soon as I can, plus a couple of design requests I’m working on.

A bit of sadness. I realized the other day was the anniversary of my friend Erika’s death from pancreatic cancer. Miss Mad for Knit will be doing the run for cancer again this year, so as soon as the details are up for donating, I’ll let you know. Then Wed. night, one of our sweet hamsters, Olivia, died. It’s amazing how attached you can get to a little thing that only lives for 2 years. She died in my arms, so I know it wasn’t too painful- and I like knowing that they know they are loved at that last minute. It was heart failure, which isn’t too bad for a 2+ year old hammie. Safe journey, Olivia.

Yummy eggplant parmesan- score!

You guys have a great weekend! If my camera hasn’t made it back here soon, I’ll throw up some old goatie pictures to distract you, and I’ll update you on the website and etsy shop soon.

Just passing through

The AIDS Walk was a very good experience- and I’ll tell you all about when I get back. Right now, I’m getting ready to head out to the EAGMA show- the Eastern Angora Goat and Mohair Association’s show. For the first time I’m showing some goats- Rosie, Evan, and Renesmee. Details on that when I get back too. I’m also vending there, so I have to throw all that stuff in the car, plus grab a shower and pack. Soooooo- have a great weekend, and I’ll be back next week! (I’d ask Carol to entertain you, but that lucky girl is headed to TNNA this weekend. I’d be going too, but they are holding the goat show on a different weekend than usual. I’m gonna make sure that’s fixed next year…)

Catching a train

This is sooo early for me. My dad will be here in a bit to pick me up to take me to the train station. I switch trains in New York, then should be in Boston with Miss Mad for Knit around 8 tonight. The AIDS Walk is Sunday morning. I know this will be good, and I shouldn’t be sad, or look at it as being in Boston without my brother being there, because in a way, he will be. And I am looking forward to this, but I am sad, too. Even though he is present somewhere, and probably keeping an eye on my sister and me, he’s not here where we can talk to him- and have him talk back. (stupid AIDS).

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated, and for all of the good wishes I know you’ll be sending me- you guys are fantastic! (oh, and there will be a raffle, I have handspun yarn from Ducky, Carol will be donating a signed book, I’ll have handspun and roving, and Miss Mad for Knit has a quilt for the really high donors (over 100). So if you want to get in on this, the “donated” link above will take you there, and I will do the raffle in mid-June.)

My internet is back- woohoo! Thanks, Carol, for stepping in while it was out, and for giving everyone real, concrete reasons for why goats are so wonderful- beyond all my mushy “I love my goats” stuff.

Fluff loves me

Have a great weekend!

We interrupt this regularly-scheduled blog…

to tell you that Mindy’s internet is wonky so don’t worry if she doesn’t post for a couple of days. She asked me to let you all know and to do a guest post for her.  So here goes.

Today I would like to talk about goats.

I never knew that much about goats before I met Min, but now I have learned so much about how wonderful goats are:

• they give us milk, which then is turned into goat cheese (nom, nom, nom);
• they give us mohair, in particular angora, which is then turned into yarn (nom, nom, nom);
• they are cute, especially when they are little bebeh goatehs;
• they eat grass thus helping control lawn growth without harmful pesticides or burning fossil fuels;
• they fertilize the grass (’nuff said);
• they are extremely intelligent;
• they have contributed to the development of children’s literature:

• did I mention how cute bebeh goaties are?

Now, shockingly, I hear tell that there are people out there who (dare I say it?) do not like goats.

Perhaps they are clinging to outdated notions about goats (e.g. in the Middle Ages, it was said — incorrectly, I might add — that goats whispered naughty things into the ears of the saints; if you’ve ever seen a rendering of St. Hildegard of Bingen in her later years, you will know that no goat in his right mind would even CONSIDER talking dirty to her) or the idea of the “scapegoat,” based on the Old Testament story about how a goat was driven into the wilderness each year symbolically carrying the sins of the people away with it.  Also, Satanism kind of gave goats a bad rap, but I can assure you that Mindy’s goats are all God-fearin’, Christian goats.  No doubt about it.

So I hope that I have contributed to your knowledge and appreciation of the fine and unique domestic goat, Capra aegagrus hircus, (get it?  capra = capricorn?).

Because let me tell you:

Goats. Rock.

(Don’t worry, Mindy will be back as soon as she can.)

Feeble attempts at organization

I think the time has come for me to own up to the fact that I’m as scattered as they come. If I could somehow pull it all together, maybe I’d spend less time looking for the stuff I need to do, and more time doing it. Also, my couch/office was starting to overflow. So, I took everything off of there, and started a bit of sorting- nothing major, just 2 shopping bags and the stuff that I felt needed to go back on there.

office renovations

The thought being, I would sit and work on the left, a few projects could hang out in the middle, and some books and stuff that I use all the time could share space with a cat or 2 on the left. Sofar, it hasn’t worked. Sigh. Will try again this weekend.

I also thought, if I could fill a calendar with what I need to do, and write down important to do’s, I could keep my projects moving along. Enter: the white board calendar:

in hopes of keeping it all in order

I think the idea here will be to assign projects different days to work on (sweater 1, Mondays and Wednesdays; sock 3 has Mondays and Thursdays; baby hats on Tuesdays, carding on Fridays, etc) and I can order them based on when they’re due. And finally, to keep stuff I need to do on the computer in order:

whimsical organization

Here, I will keep lists like: email so and so about fleece, pay bills, invoice this person, email thank you’s, etc. I told the kids if any of my pens disappeared they would be beyond in trouble- that this was all mommy’s work stuff. So, some fun drawings have popped up- and that’s ok as long as nothing of mine gets erased. So, here’s hoping…

How do you guys do it? Please tell me your organizational and productive tips.

Thank you all for linking back to the AIDS Walk on your blogs- you guys are so supportive, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. It’s getting closer…

There’s been a bit of sadness this week. Tuesday one of our little hamsters, Comet, died. She wasn’t very old (not quite a year). Also, my very old cat, Squeak, was just getting older- and starting to fail. On Thursday morning my neighbor who is a small animal vet came over, and while I held her in the sunshine, we put her to sleep. It’s always a hard decision to make, even when you know its right. I do have to tell you this- being able to do it here instead of putting her through the stress of a car ride and vet visit was priceless- I’m very grateful to my neighbor for saving her that stress. So now, no ancient cat is stumbling across my keyboard making odd words, no ancient cat is missing the litter box. She’s not wanting to go in and out 50 times a day just to watch me open the door. I don’t care- I miss her. Safe journeys, Comet and Squeaky-Black-Bear.

I bet you’d like to see some goaties. As always, you’ve come to the right place.

She's all legs and ears

There is Baby Enigma- her legs and ears are growing quickly.  It doesn’t matter how many pictures I take of her, I usually only get about 2 that aren’t blurred from her constant motion. She has springs in her hooves. She does love to sit in your lap and be petted- she’s a little puppy-goat.

I bet this watch tastes good!

And here are Evan and Renesmee doing what they do best- being cute! (and growing mohair- would you look at it all!)

Renesmee and Evan

Happy weekend, everyone!

Feels like a rain forest

very green

Dear Rain,

Everything is very, very green now. Please stop.

Thanks,

Mindy’s goaties

You guys are great!

Thanks for the donations for the AIDS Walk, and for all the virtual hugs. I need to figure out how to get the donation page onto Facebook (they say its easy, but I don’t do computery stuff very well). I may try to pull together some type of raffle near the end so I’ll gather everyone’s names for chances, then. Sweet Ducky offered up her place to stay at as a halfway point if I were driving (thanks!!). Buu-uut. I’m taking the train. Yup, that’s 12 hours of uninterrupted knitting time each way. (well, each way has a 2 hour stopover, but still).

I’ll probably pack along a few hundred projects in my lovely new bag from Carol. Look at this fabric:

Best fabric ever!

She has better pictures of the bag, and you’ve all gone and looked, but I’ll get you some of it in use later. She put 2 dividers in there, so I have 3 nice compartments, and she put a nifty magnetic clasp in there that I will play with endlessly (so easily amused).

I have promised you MD stash enhancement, and its time. So, lets do this short and sweet:

Forest Floor mohair boucle

The dyemistress of this lovely is Leslie of Tintagel Farm- I don’t think she has a website. I’ll be seeing her in June at the goat show, so I’ll see what I can find out.  I’m thinking some kind of shawl, w/ a single button. (got the perfect one- see further down).

it's pink

Pink cotton/rayon boucle- probably be a shawl or something. It hasn’t told me yet (yes, yarn speaks to me- doesn’t it speak to you?) Dyed by Pucker Brush Farm. No website info on the label, but they are also at Rhinebeck.

Lace weight wool boucle

Also by Pucker Brush. Its darker than the photo shows- very autumnal.

rayon boucle

Also by Pucker Brush, this happy green rayon boucle. (see what happens when your booth is directly across from someone?). This one has already start becoming:

spring scarf

Just a light, little, decorative scarf.

Kid Hollow Sock Flat

Kid Hollow is now doing sock flats. And this pretty one is going to become a new pattern- I’m hoping to have it done by the June show.

buttons!

Assorted buttons for kids’ sweaters. Check these out:

Nut Buttons

These buttons are made from some kind of nuts. (and the darker green one- it belongs to the mohair earlier) All these came from Melissa Jean Handknit Design.

Ok, I think that’s it for show and tell. I also restocked the smaller sizes of addis- (2, 3, and 4’s) cuz for some reason everytime I need them, they’re always in some other project…

You haven’t seen Chance in awhile- he’s something like 7 weeks old now, is completely off the milk replacer and eating kitty food like a big boy.

I will conquer this tape measure!

The tape measures don’t stand a chance… (oh, that’s a bad pun)

I bet you’d like to see Little Miss Enigma.

Baby Enigma

oh so sleepy

I’ll be vending at the Sedalia Spring Fiber Festival this weekend, and 5% of all my proceeds will be going towards the AIDS Walk. Thank you again for all your encouragement and support- you guys are the best!