How do you title this?

Sorry I’ve been gone. Alot has been going on- and its taken some time and thought to get back here. The truck accident was one thing- I was pretty shaken from that- it could’ve ended much, much worse- and the kids were with me- so that was pretty heavy. Then there was dealing with all the insurance stuff, finding another truck (they did total it)- that was alot of time spent on-line searching- because I need 4-wheel drive for my hill, I need the 3rd row of seats since 2 of my kids are still in booster seats, and I need a decent amount of covered cargo space for when I vend. This past Friday night I went down to Richmond and picked up this:

you're not seeing double

That is exactly my truck- down to the year and color. Just minus the stickers, with newer tires and more miles. There is some body damage to the front, but I had it all checked out where I get my service done and its good. The kids will redecorate it soon, I’m sure.

That isn’t such a big thing, anymore. The weekend after that, I found out that my friend Steve has pancreatic cancer. You’ve heard me mention Pat & Steve many, many times. They are Kid Hollow Farm. All my goats came from them, when I’ve bred my does, its been at their farm. They are 2 of my most favorite people in the world. They’re one of my “safe places” when things are hard. They are the kindest, most caring people I know. This shouldn’t be happening to them. (I know it shouldn’t happen to anybody)

The world is still the same. It just feels like someone picked it up, and shifted it slightly to one side. Things look the same, things are still happening- relatives come to visit, chores need to be done, dinner needs to be cooked, knitting still happens- but things just feel slightly different. I can’t even begin to imagine how Pat & Steve feel.

So, please- send your thoughts, good energy, prayers- however you do it- their way. He will be undergoing a 12-hour surgery week after next. I really believe that good thoughts sent someone’s way can make a difference- somehow it makes the air around more positive- I just have to believe that.

Also, come October, Miss Mad for Knit will be doing the Boston Half-Marathon for cancer research. If you possibly can, please donate here. When I get my head together, I will be donating some handspun yarns for her raffle.

That’s where I’ve been- just haven’t been able to wrap my mind around blogging, or even reading blogs (now I’m almost scared to go to bloglines to see how much I need to catch up on).

I’ve been test-knitting again, so not much to show. I did finish a beret in the wonderful Black Bunny Fibers thick and thin.

beret

It’s not as slouchy as I’d hoped, but I forgot to change needle sizes, plus I was afraid I might run out of yarn. Here’s a close-up of the fabric:

close-up

I’ve got a cardigan in mind for this (sketched it right after the Harry Potter movie- which was super-excellent, btw). So I gotta talk to miss Carol about redoing this color…

Ok, gotta run my sister-in-law to the airport. We’ll take my daughter along, and hopefully the 3 of us will have time for a girlie-time cup of coffee before we drop her off- she’s headed back to Kansas. So, more in a day or 2. In the meantime, a couple of goatie shots:

Baby Evan, or Cousin It?

Stuff sends his love Marri

Read Full Post »

It’s summer

It has been incredibly mild. Until today.  I think this morning’s coffee time was the first hot morning. So what do you do when its gonna be like that? You be very glad that your parents have decided to live at an apartment that lets you bring your kids to their pool once or twice a week.

fun

alien invasion

Now you know, you can’t go swimming without the aliens joining in… my mom found these at Target, they live on her couch, and they have to come swimming with us every time. Yea, I don’t know, either…

My poor goaties are in full fleece right now.

Rosie and twins

The shearer will be here in about 2 weeks. I know they’ll be glad- the bigger guys like Fluff usually shear about 8 or so pounds of mohair. Also, when they’re in full fleece, they can’t feel the shock from the electric fence, so occasionally they walk right through. For the most part they wander through the rest of my woods (haven’t finished fencing all of it yet), or cross back into A-the-hay-god’s field. He’s very gracious about the whole thing and says he doesn’t mind. I still get a little nervous knowing there are bear and other problems around. After shearing, they are gonna be some surprised little goaties when they try the fence…

Let’s see- some stash enhancement made it’s way here- my sock club and yarn club shipments from Black Bunny Fibers came. Lovely, as always. First there is a new sock yarn.

color: The Sacred Mountain

This yarn feels fantastic! It’s 90/10 merino/nylon- so it’s got extra strenth from the touch of nylon, yet with the higher merino content than most merino/nylon blends, it’s super, super soft. Gotta get that on the needles soon. From the yarn club, these 2 beauties-

mauve mocha 1

mauve mocha 2

They’re both 98/2 wool/nylon. One is thick and thin, and one has the nylon making a barber-pole effect. I think they will both be hats- probably slouchy type berets like this one:

slouchy beret

You want another view- she’s looking kinda moody and grouchy, though. Wait, I think that’s the right look for these…

Miss Moody

Oh- gotta show you the rental monster car I got- look at this huge thing-

monster truck

It’s this huge Dodge Ram thing. The kids are thrilled. Me, I’m just waiting to hear from Allstate- please cross your fingers for me that they don’t total my truck.

Ok. Off to knit and try to shake the pool-glare headache. When I become rich and famous and build my in-ground pool, the lining will be a nice, soothing dark slate grey- it’ll look like a nice, mountain pool. Ahhhh…

Rosie says hi.

No, I'm not saying hi. I'm saying, Jonathan, please come shear me!

Read Full Post »

Freakin’ suicidal deer

We’re driving along, taking the kitten to the vet for his shots, when this silly deer had to choose me as his instrument of death.

The kids and I (and the kitten) are all fine. Deer and car- not.

Sigh

Silly thing bounded onto my windshield. I’m not quite sure how I managed to pull the car over. A very nice person stopped, and stayed with me until the police came- the officers who came were fabulous. We left the kids in the car, they directed traffic around, my father came and got us (once again, my hero- even without donuts!). All told, we were there about an hour. The tow truck driver was fantastic, too. The kids got to spend some time in the back of a cop car (if you have long legs, I highly suggest you don’t get arrested. Don’t do anything to get yourself arrested anyway, no matter how long your legs are. But still, no leg room) and E got to sit in the tow truck and watch him load my car from the side mirror. I love that kids can find the fun in anything.

So my dad brought us home. I spent maybe 15 minutes on the phone with Allstate filing the claim (I love Allstate, btw.). While talking to the adjuster, my guineas started squawking and heading across the driveway- I saw a flash of black and the adjuster heard “Holy shit, that was a bear!” Telling Carol about it afterwards, she commented on how I was wildlife central out here- and she made me promise not to go after the bear with my camera. I didn’t- figured I better not push my luck twice in one day.

Now the saga will be whether or not they total my Pilot. I really hope not- cuz you know that even though the give you whatever the “value” is for the car, no dealer is going to have that year truck on their lot at that price. Tomorrow they will tow it to wherever they do their figuring. Cross your fingers…

My knitting was in the car with me- it was this blanket, made from Blue Ridge Yarn’s Pima Paints.

Pima Paints Blankie

Unfortunately, it was just covered in pieces of glass, and lots of little glass splinters- so into the trash it went. I have another skein of that color here, so I spoke with the person who ordered the blanket, and she said she would be ok with a little sweater. So I’ll get started on that today.

I was so scattered yesterday, I just couldn’t focus. I just needed an evening of this-

Rosie and her babies

And some of this didn’t hurt, either-

Yum

Now you know, any wine that’s called “Love my Goat” is gonna go over well with me. It really is good- very mellow, not dry, but not syrupy, either. One of my friends is in Buffalo and she wants to go to the vineyard and bring home a case of this stuff- the vineyard, Bully Hill, is about an hour or so from where she is. I’m wondering if she’ll have room for 2 cases…

Besides being frazzled, I was at that weird place in knitting where I’d finished a large project and was at a loss as to what to do next. The blanket would have been perfect to work on- simple, didn’t require thought, and I could have worked through my mind being a wreck. Since that option was shot, I just gave up and spun. And even though I really wanted to throw something new on one of the wheels, I finished up the 2nd ply for a second skein of this-

Lavender Fields

Black Bunny Fibers merino top. I’ll ply that today, get it washed, and hopefully have both skeins listed by the end of the week. I’m planning on listing some stuff in Etsy today, so will post again when its done.

Here’s a shot of the clouds my daughter took last night during the sunset. I love turning her loose with the camera.

sunset clouds

Read Full Post »

I can show you something!

I’ve finished the lace test knit, and it’s blocking. While I can’t tell/show all, I can give you a few tidbits.

soaking- in my new washer!

See that pretty blueness in my pretty new washer (yes, I’m still in love with it).

This is a lace stole written by Carol– it will be the first of many BBF (Black Bunny Fiber) patterns to come. She’s hoping to have this on her website and Ravelry by Labor Day. As that time approaches, I can show you more, but for now, this pre-block shot is all I can give you.

What will it be?

As usual for Carol’s patterns, its perfect. Stay tuned, it’ll be well worth it.

My kids were prowling around the corners (and top shelves) of the house (they tried to tell me that’s what I get for not letting them play video games 24/7- but guess what? I’m not convinced. Ha.) I knew this was in the house somewhere, but couldn’t remember where.

Teddy

A 48-year old teddy bear named Teddy. He was my brother’s, then mine. He looks well-loved, doesn’t he? The discoloration on his leg is rust from the music box that was inside him- once upon a time he played Brahms’ Lullaby. Does he stay this way forever, or do I have him restored one day? For now, he’s safely stored on the top shelf of my closet (until the next bout of boredom).

You need some goatie pictures, don’t ya?

prety goats all in a row

Fluff has been all about mooching during wine time.

Can I have a sip, pretty please?

Have you noticed what’s been happening from all this time spent with my goats? Look:

I'm growing mohair!

Do you think I should worry?

Read Full Post »

Untitled

Just cuz I couldn’t think of one.

It’s been a pretty mild summer. Except for the period of rain then heat that caused the parasite problems for all the goat farmers. Today has been cloudy and cool, so after I finished up my bunny chores this morning I decided to take all the kids for a walk. It’s been awhile since I’ve done that, with very good reason, as some of you may remember. It went well this time (whew). We crossed onto the beautiful field behind my property where A-the-hay-god runs his cows. (he really is a hay god- i think he grows goat-nip if such a thing exists- the goats love his hay- and he delivers- yay A). The cows are slacking, cuz the grass was waist high. We felt a little vulnerable about ticks- not being safe in our guinea-patrolled yard, but we braved it. Saw tons of blackberry bushes (note- call A and ask if he minds if we pick blackberries). We made it to the creek- I love this spot.

The sight and sound of water in motion is so soothing and mesmerizing.

mini waterfall

I could stare into the tiny pool at the bottom of this waterfall forever- trying to capture that illusive color of water.

better than hypnosis

See- mesmerizing. But the kids can only be still for so long.

putting the sand back in the water

heading back home

It really was a nice walk.

pretty sky

They’ve been calling for rain today- hoping it holds off until after evening wine. Wouldn’t want to disappoint the wine moochers.

Working on a test knit these days- (move along, nothing to see here) but also have a baby blanket that’s been ordered. I will get a picture of that for you next time. I’ve put a bin over by the computer, and I’ll start putting stuff in it that needs to have pictures taken. In my never ending quest for organization and productivity, I’m thinking of assigning certain days (or times of day) for certain tasks. (mondays- take pictures, tuesdays- list in etsy, wednesday- skirt fleeces- you get the idea). Stay tuned to see how that one goes.

I have not forgotten the raffle from the AIDS walk. Soon.

Just a few goatie pictures. First- look at Baby Evan’s pretty mohair.

baby mohair

It is so soft and silky. I need to get you some good pictures of the babies over the next few weeks. Jonathan will be here to shear the beginning of August. They looks so cute in full fleece. Here’s pretty Rosie.

Beautiful Rosie

I didn’t really get a good shot of Renesmee that evening, and the one I have of Evan is slightly blurry.

Evan says hi

OK, its wine time. I’ll take the camera with me…

Read Full Post »

Summer silliness

It’s 11:30 at night, and all the kids are outside. My daughter has a friend over, so instead of just C and I going down to tuck the goaties in, it ended up being C, her friend C, and the boys (cuz they just have to follow the girls when there is someone over) and me. Sometime on the way back up, my daughter turned into a werewolf. You can just imagine the chaos. I should probably put a stop to it, but its summer, and they’re only little and crazy once. So the next question is- why am I on the computer when I have free knitting time???? (never mind that I’m too tired to form a stitch properly, and I’m working on lace now. On second thought, maybe I’ll go guard the goaties by moonlight…)

Read Full Post »

I can wash clothes!

I know that’s normally not a big deal, and often even a dreaded chore, but I’m ecstatic! My washing machine has been slowly dying for several months now. Had many “discussions” over whether or not it was fixable, but when I was faced with paying $250 just for parts, I decided that was… silly. So Lowes just brought my new washer today. (complete with a 5 year warranty that even covers lanolin damage- ha!)(have you ever noticed that I make sure all my warranties cover some kind of goat damage? Cameras, washers…). It’s currently washing its first load. Get this- you don’t have a load size selector- it does that automatically. Cool, huh? I imagine I’ll get some fleece in it within the next few weeks.

Anyway- I’ve got a few weeks’ worth of laundry to wade through, so I’ll be busy. In the meantime, take a look at Lucky-

Lucky

He came to me 3 years ago in March as a bottle baby.

Look what I've got

He was hanging out on the front steps with me the other day when my youngest brought me some flowers. He was very sweet about it and let me give them to the goats (good thing, since they probably would have taken them anyway…)

(that’s sweet little Izzy mooching in the background)

Sounds like my washer is ready for its next load- I’m having fun!.

Read Full Post »