Road Trip, and Knitting

Since my last post, my BFF and I had a short but fun road trip.  Some of my friends followed the fun on Facebook, where I used a hashtag for the first time.  The #sandyandlindasupnorthadventure tag enabled us to see each other posts as well as anyone who wanted to vicariously join in the fun.

The first day was hot and sunny, but we rode in glorious air conditioned comfort, taking in Sea Shell City, Tahquamenon Falls (learning to spell it along the way) and Whitefish Point, with its Lake Superior shoreline and memorial to the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The Falls, were thunderous and wonderous.  And I've never seen the big lake so peaceful.

After a nights sleep we awoke to a drizzly cloudy day.  Our first stop was a bear ranch, that takes in nuisance bears from the DNR, thus saving their lives.  While Sandy had her picture taken with a live cub, I opted for the safer, though fiercer looking fake bear.

Roar!

While heading down to US 2, the main east-west artery, we passed some sand hill cranes, and had to get a picture. 

And then while turning back around, of course we chose to use a cemetery, rather than a parking lot.

What else would you expect from the Cemetery Diva's?   We continued along  to the Lake Michigan shoreline.  It was doing its best to imitate the usual appearance of Lake Superior.

Even with the rain, we still had a good time.  It was down to a sprinkle when we hit the Casino for a bit. Later we returned to the land of the trolls, below "The Bridge", where we played tourist in Mackinaw City, shopping up a storm after a wonderful, if late, lunch. 

I got home after midnight, yet still earlier than I expected.

Whew, I guess I will leave the knitting details for another post.

Family Time

Last week was one of those times you dread.  The younger of my last two aunts passed away.  

Aunt Joyce was my dad's baby sister.  She had been living in a nursing home for several years, and passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family.

The weather for the visitation and funeral was fine, and downright sunny the day of the funeral, although quite chilly again.

Yet while it was a sad time.  It was a time of cousins sharing and hugging.  Saying it is a shame we only get together like this at funerals.  And yet there was the knowledge we probably won't be together again until the (hopefully long delayed) next time.

However my cousins, her sons and some of her grandsons have made a habit of showing off their Irish heritag.  They mostly come by it from their father's side, although the closest immigrant ancestor on the side I share is also from Ireland. 

 

My kilted cousins!  Clearly they love their Irish roots.  No wonder their mom and dad (or grandparents as the case may be,) were delighted with the trip they took to Ireland with my parents.

Needless to say, it was a memorable send off for Aunt Joyce.

Progress

There has been progress on the Graceful Harvest Cardigan.  

 

That's right, it may be hard to tell, but I am casting off the bottom of the cardigan in that shot.    I have picked up the stitches on the left arm and have nearly 2 inches into it.  The sleeve decreases will begin soon.  

I hope to get a better picture tonight at Knit Nite.  

And, believe it or not, here it is February 7, and I still have not started any new projects!

The Chickens Know

Spring is coming.  The chickens say so.

 

Since early December or before, my girls have been slacking in the egg production department.  All they were giving was one egg a day.  Not a lot, but we were catching up in the supply.

But this week?  We had two on Saturday, and two more Sunday.  Yesterday and today, three eggs each day.  Not bad.  The entire flock is shown above.  (That is Lacey flapping and showing off, trying to hide Rita by the tire)

At their peak, last fall we were getting around four or five eggs per day, so that is quite a bounce back. If this keeps up, I may be cooking egg rich dishes again.

Eggs anyone?

What's a Grammy to Do?

So, when Grammy discovered on Christmas that her Little Peanut needs to find a hat that fits her, what else can Grammy do but go diving in the stash?

 

And today I started a hat with some superwash wool yarn left from the crocheted scarf and mitts.

 

We are guessing on the size, after looking at several patterns.  So far, I have this much.

 

Since the patterns are estimating 13 inches for a newborn head, and 15 1/4 for a year olds head circumference, I hope this will work.  All in ribbing, it stretches from 6 1/2 to 14 1/4 inches.  

Measurement of actual baby head to follow.  Unless Grammy finishes this and takes it for a try on first.

Birds of a Feather

While it is disgustingly warm around here the last few days, we do have some residents of the farm that seem to be enjoying the broken winter.

Although I have left the door open to the coop several times, Montgomery and the girls have been staying in the run area of the coop and barely poking their heads outside.

 

Just enough bare grass to hold their interest.  They have been enjoying these last couple days out in the open again.

Brrrrrrr!

Country winters, gotta love them.

This morning, I knew something was up when I only had cold water to wash my face.  I woke Hubby as I got ready to pick up Younger Son at work to check it out.  Apparently he had bumped a line on the hot water heater, and it just needed tightening.  

But that wasn't the least of our troubles.  

The inside temps started dropping, down to 63 by the end of the day.  It seems the damper on our outdoor boiler has a broken sensor.  (We discovered this at 9pm and the afore mentioned interior 63 degrees.) Why do these things always happen when it is blowy and like 9 degrees outside?

Of course, after Hubby bumped up the thermostat on Monday, and I was in a 76 degree house in shorts and tee shirt, with the fan blowing, I wasn't as put out as he was today.

Until he can get in touch with the local Amish dealer for our furnace Hubby stuck a big bolt in the damper, to hold it open.  I think my big wool Leftover Pi Shawl/Blanket will be on the bed tonight.  

 

I know the pets will appreciate it too.

Fast Start, Slow Finish?

I started the year so well with blogging regularly. But lately, not so well. Even my knitting has slowed. But I will try to get better. I hope.

Fall has returned, although half heartedly. I am not a fan of these above normal temps, even if it is now in the 50s and 60s. Heck, I wore sleeveless top and sandals to church this week! In November!

The leaves have been falling right along. Usually our yard would be thickly coated. However Hubby discovered last year that if he puts the bagger on the mower he can pick them up and dump them in the manure spreader. He then scatters them in the meadow we leave fallow. The pictures here are less than 24 hours since the last pickup. Our trees drop them one tree at a time, so he will be at it for a while yet.

And another sign of fall. See the dust in the left background?

Our neighbor was harvesting soybeans. They always raise up a cloud of brown dust. There is a red combine in that dust cloud.

And just because I haven't posted anything here about my Little Peanut, here is a shot from this past week, when I got to watch her for a while.

Just like her brother, she wants her hands on the phone.

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Flip Flops

The temperature is acting bipolar again, flipping cool, then hot, the repeating the process. At least I have been enjoying the cooler weather when we have it. And I can't wait for more.

With the recent frost advisory Hubby and I picked all of our squash, under the watchful eye of Montgomery and his flock. They were waiting for me to give them a couple ears of overripe sweet corn, and not too patiently either.

While gathering the squash, there amid the dead weeds, I could hardly believe my eyes to find the squash still in blossom.

And with the possibility of highs in the 80's this coming week, maybe it will have a chance to grow.

Personally though, I'm waiting for snow.

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Upgrades, Wanted or Not

After my coffee maker headed to the great coffee house in the sky last weekend, I decided I was tired of toast only getting brown on the bottom half of the bread. I am not like my son, wanting barely warm bread to come out of the toaster, I want crispy crunchy brown goodness.

So yesterday, with some cash in hand, I purchased a new toaster oven. This morning my toast was lovely. And the toaster oven should work better for heating up left over French toast from the freezer too.

While I was at the "local discount shopping center", I also perused the carpet cleaner section. Yes, Lizzie Belle, the cute little frou-from cow dog does have accidents. It doesn't help that she won't "go" for anyone but me. Couple that with my farmers/factory workers who (irony alert) are not among the neatest people on the planet and our carpet is a mess. It isn't new, but probably close to 30 years old. It started out brown, and is browner. Especially in spots. So I splurged on a purchase I had been considering for some time.

It doesn't handle full carpets, but works great for spots. Now that the humidity is down (hallelulia!), I can clean the worse areas and it can actually dry. And I can really see a difference.

Lizzie says, "I'm not really that bad."

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Hot, and Muggy, with Wool Sock

Will this summer ever end? I can only count a few nights in the last couple months with comfortable sleeping conditions. Old farm houses do not cool down easily after the sun beats down on them all day.

I am leaving my snowy background on Facebook until the weather breaks. I am sure glad I don't need to sit in a hot stuffy classroom all day.

On a cheerier note, I have the sock ready for session two of my class. It is the Gold Digger Sock, top down with the gusset done before the heel turn.

The gusset is all complete, and ready to turn the heel.

I even made the supreme sacrifice and tried on the sock to show on the blog. (I mean after all, wool? In this heat.)

See how the design goes all the way down the heel?

I think I am going to like this sock. Even if I don't enjoy trying in on on a muggy afternoon. Wool doesn't wear well with 88 degrees and high humidity.

I am so ready for cold and snow.

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Hot and Cranky

That's the only excuse I have for my lack of blogging recently. It is a bit better today. Or at least less humid. But high humidity is listed for the rest of the week. Ugh! I am sooooo ready for cooler than average weather.

Even the garden is a loss. It was too hot to venture out very long. With Hubby at the fair all week, I just couldn't face picking anything. I picked a few beans the other day to give the chickens, but that has been all. I should look to see if any of the tomatoes are getting ripe.

I could use a good tomato and miracle whip sandwich on whole wheat toast. Yum.

Yesterday Hubby and I attended a surprise 80th birthday party for a friend and former co-worker of his. Luckily it was inside, but still warm.

On a lighter note, the usual rain during the fair helped the corn fields again. But why does it always rain fair week?

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Rain Again

So we got a bit of rain again last night.

While a neighbor had been trying to get some straw ready to bale, it started getting dark. And in case you don't know, straw sucks up water like....well like a straw. I'm not sure what state his straw is in, but the corn fields will also love it.

Just a week ago, they were looking pineapply and dry and spikey. Today they look alive again. I know our sweet corn enjoyed it.

Of course, there is always the downside. The most recent planting of sweet corn was not quite so happy.

Hmm. At least the cows will like it, even if it doesn't set ears.

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Too Darn Hot

Too hot to type, so let me share a semi appropriate clip.

Ann Miller

That says it all.

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That Time of Year

The local festival is here again. Old Fashioned D....oops, National BabyFood Festival time at last. Hubby and I went to the annual Brat and Pop cook-out at Bills Shop N Save.

 

The line wasn't too bad when we got there. And it was moving quickly. (Pardon the finger in the edge of the picture.)

Yum.

And the best thing, with all these people outside eating and lined up to eat.....

We finally got a brief, although much needed rain. Now if we can get some more. The radar is looking promising.

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Busy Day

I had my training today to be an Election Inspector for my township. Wow, that title sounds a bit overwhelming! I saw several people I know, and I think I can handle working once every three months or so. I'm also glad there is a primary before the big event in November.

The local weather guys have been calling this week typically the hottest week of summer. I am amazed at all the wedding anniversaries occurring this horribly hot week, including my own. What were we thinking? All I can say is, I can hardly wait for winter again

I have continued working on the Peanut Dress. I had hoped to work on it Sunday when I was at a graduation party. But the wind was blowing so hard, I didn't want it to blow away. As long as this heat holds, the Baby Hap is remaining in Time Out. Sorry, Purple Princess.

I planned on getting another good chunk of stockinette done tonight at Knit Nite. However, we had no key, and the spare was miles away, and another spare was camping. With the heat and congestion of the Old Fashioned Days.....oops, National Baby Foof Festival, I didn't want to trek across town to knit at McDonalds so we decided to cancel for tonight.

Since I was home, Hubby corralled me to wrangle squash vines do he could rototill around them. I also picked pickles. I posted the picture on Facebook. Here it is again in case you missed them.

Note to self, next year only plant three plants, not six.

And if anyone saw last evenings post, Jumper has decided to stay in his own pen today and just talk to his neighbors over the wall.

 

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I Give Up

The heat got to me.

Sorry little Purple Princess, but your Baby Hap will need to wait until the weather moderates some. And perhaps until my little new granddaughter arrives early next month.

As the blanket on my lap was really not conducive to enjoying my knitting, I found some rose gardeny looking sock yarn. Swatching soon started.

This is going to be a simple pinafore type dress, sleeveless, and suitable for wearing over a onesie.

All one piece, with seed stitch around the hem. Easy knitting, and going quickly. I started swatching only around 2:00 this afternoon and had this much of the dress by the end of Knit Nite.

If the weather's heat and humidity won't break, this will keep me knitting merrily along.

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Tour De Hesperia?

Among spinners there is this thing called the Tour De Fleece. This take off of France's bicycling binge involves spinners spinning daily during the same time period as the Tour de France. I took part several years ago, but this year, I have been trying to knit through the heat, rather than spin. However, as I mentioned previously, I did sally forth with my wheel and some drop spindles to Hesperia to spin.

You will notice the temperature was warmer than the last time I spun there. Indeed, this time I was more worried about a heat stroke, but the day was delightfully cool as I spun away.

I completed almost second bobbin today at Spin Guild. Although I didn't have as many extra equipment with me. The spindles and hand cards were left at home.

Knitting continues on the Baby Hap as the border grows. With the heat is a bit hard to work on the border with the entire blanket on my lap. As a result, my knitting mojo has been wilting.

I have been working on the Tapestry Hitchhiker at Knit Nite, but perhaps, I will need to start something more compact to work on occasionally at home.

Hmmmmm. Perhaps a baby something. Maybe I'll go stash diving again.

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