2 inches

That is all that is left and this sweater/shrug is DONE.

I love the simplicity of this knit. It was a no brainer (which was good with all the 3 1/2 hour-one-way trips to PA we have made over the last month). But I am knitting frantically on this. I would have been done but I had to rip out this ribbing 3 times so far. It helps when you read the directions, it really does:)

In other news - the kids are recovered, I think. After both of them running fevers, they have since bounced back and this is their second day back at school. They still have the runny noses and the cough but no fever so it's back to the grindstone for them. Fortunately, neither Todd nor I have exhibited symptoms, yet.......

This weekend we are raking leaves (and jumping in them) and having a bonfire. We brought another cow, and have to move the bull to a new pasture as she is not bred and we don't want her bred at this time of year. So we are putting up more fence, cleaning things up and getting ready for winter. Hard to believe it is almost the first of November.

yes, it is a pretty bad picture of her, but it came off of my cell phone, which to the picture off of a snapshot of her.

After the weed patch that our garden was this year, I've decided I am doing things different next year. Todd does not know it, but I am going to put in raised beds in the back yard along the fence line. No more crawling through weeds and electric fences to get to the garden. The blackberries and blueberries are going to be moved so they are behind the water water garden and hopefully they will do better.

Here's to a wonderful weekend!
Kris

Just Quarantine my house

We had a glorious weekend, EXCEPT for Jessie not feeling the greatest all weekend. Nothing major - just a headache, sore throat, cough, snotty nose and the FEVER (which was totally manageable with alternating doses of tylenol and motrin every 3 hours). It finally hit me Saturday while at the steer show/sale - DUH - swine flu has struck (seeing as how in her school of 650 students, about 280 are out with H1N1)....crap.

Nonetheless, we sucked it up and had an awesome weekend. Jessie didn't show any steers for Todd's uncle (who took 6 steers and a heifer to State College to show and sell) as she was feeling too crappy, but we did manage to bid on this little guy in the auction and he is now hers:

Jessie and her 4-h advisor, Jason (who also went with us on this trip) named him Punxs......short for Punxsutawney.

Then yesterday we wake up - Jessie has a low fever (99.7) and Tyler now has a fever - 102 - 102.5. So we spent the morning at the doctors and it's official - they both have H1N1.

So I'm off to clean the house, do some knitting and go wash Punxs. He was in the show and sale on Saturday (and won his class and was 3rd overall out of 30 some steers) but still has some of his "show day makeup" on that we need to get out of his hair before it falls out.....

Have a great fall day everyone.

Kris

She has got her steer and we are headed out not bad for a girl who likely has H1N1 Now

I want

The times of yesterday…..

• Raking leaves and jumping in them
  
• Friday night football games
  
• Hot spiced cider in front of a roaring fire
  
• Hayrides and picking pumpkins
  
• Carving pumpkins
  
• Halloween costumes and trick or treating
  
• Traditional thanksgiving dinner surrounded by those you love
  
• The first snowfall
  
• Ice skating
  
• Sledding
  
• Snowman and snow fort building
  
• Decorating for Christmas – both inside and out
  
• Cutting down a Christmas tree
  
• Presents made with love – not brought in a shopping frenzy to add to the debt
  
• Cookie baking with friends
  
• Watching Christmas movies on TV
  
• A roaring fire
  
• Visits with Santa Claus
  
• Stockings stuffed to the brim
  
• Christmas pj's for little toes
  
• Making Christmas ornaments and paper garlands
  
• Counting down the days on an advent calendar
  
• Snow days off from school – but not too many to extend the school yearJ
  
• Being snowed in on said snow days so you don't have to go to work
  
• Eating a lot…..and then eating some more
  
• Visits with family
  

Wonder how much we can accomplish this fall/winter? Any other suggestions?

Life times 2

This weekend was lovely. THe weather was terrific (sun and LOW 50's by Saturday afternoon) but at least it wasn't raining or....SNOWING.

Tyler asked for chilli for dinner Friday night so.....

Both kids had soccer Saturday morning, but as it was still drizzling, I took Tyler to soccer and made Jessie stay home. Then I went home and got Jessie and left Tyler there, as Todd was on his way home from work and right around the corner. Much better than both of them standing out in the wind and drizzle.

Of course, after soccer was over, the sun came out.

But we worked out in the barn and I cleaned the house good. I'm talking down on my hands and knees with a toothbrush scrubbing the kitchen floor good.

Saturday night I finished up my Maggie Armwarmers. These are so soft and warm, I love them! I still need to block them but that's kind of hard to do when they haven't left my hands yet:)

Yesterday (as a reward) I took Jessie shopping for new tennis shoes, got Todd some new jeans and me some yarn:)

Then I sat all afternoon and knit, until Jessie came in the house screeching that there were baby guinneas outside. We thought we were down to 2 adult birds but no.....one apparently was sitting on a nest and hatched out 3 babies yesterday. So when Todd got home we caught the babies and took them to his dad. I'd have taken a picture of the babies but the adult male bird was not happy with us out there pestering them.

And watched the steelers win over the browns. Which was very satisfying!

GO STEELERS!!

Have a great week!
Kris

Life

I think I finally made it through google blog reader. You all have been busy! I had promised myself no more posting until I read everyone's blogs. It also helps that we haven't been doing anything really exciting either:)

It's been cold here....yesterday's high was 42 degrees. And we have had lots of rain. I hear there is a rumor we will get snow today and tomorrow - I am really hoping that is not the case. I still have paste tomatoes in the garden to pick.

Tuesday night I had to work. Then Wednesday night Tyler had a doctor's appt. at 7:00. He's been coughing up a storm and running a low grade fever off and on. We thought it might be a flu, but it's bronchitis. Scary thing happened though when I went to CVS to get his prescription for the cough medicine filled - they handed me a prescription that had pills in it. Apparently they had given Tyler's meds to another person (who had already paid and walked out of the store) and were trying to give me this persons meds. I made them go back to the prescriptions to double check Tyler's, and then I called the doctors office to verify that was the medicine he should be taking!

Last night we had Jessie's parent teacher conference. No surprises, as I can look at her grades online (and I do all the time). All A's and 1 B (which would have been a 102% if she hadn't "forgot" that she had a science test one weekend and went off to a sleepover at a girlfriends). She was whining about the B - I told her that is your own fault for not studying for the test.

What's on our schedule this weekend? Actually, not much. Both kids have their FINAL soccer games this weekend - yippee in the snow! And I'm hoping not to do too much else. I know we need to get everything outside ready for winter, but if it's raining OR snowing I won't be out there. Tyler said he wanted chilli for dinner tonight or vegetable beef soup, so I'm thinking that soup and bread sounds about perfect to me.

And I'm trying to fly though this knit project. It's for a friend, but I have something waiting for my Mom and I:) and I need these needles and really don't want to go buy another pair:)

Have a great weekend!
Kris

Happy birthday to you.....

I was hoping I had a picture on my camera this morning - as today is my MOM's 60th birthday!!!


I think Jessie and Tyler summed it up perfectly this morning when I told them that we were going to call her when they get home from school....

there is no WAY grandma can be 60 this year.......she's way too young and cool for that!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Love,
Kris, Todd, Jessie and Tyler

A first

Saturday we took the kids and 2 of our heifers to a show in Medina.





Tyler did really well for his first time - he won his class and got to go back in for the championship heifer drive.


Jessie got 6th in her class - her heifer just wasn't what the judge wanted in a heifer, which after Todd got there and got them weighed in he had a brief thought that he should put her in the market heifer class instead of the breeding heifer, but he didn't so.....it was what it was. Jessie herself did much, much better than even at our fair and now she is more determined than ever to do well at the upcoming shows. She came out of the ring and said we need to get my heifer at home walking so I can show her.... Sorry, I have no pictures of Jessie showing - my camera batteries faded fast with all the zooming in I had to do. Hopefully Mom will put some pictures up on her blog soon (hint! hint Mom)......I know she took LOTS of pictures...



I did get one of the two of them together once we were all done showing.










Saturday night we had a hog roast to go to for the fire department and boy, was it COLD!!!!

Then Sunday morning we got a call from Todd's Mom - his grandmother in Punxsutawney, PA was not doing well at all. She was diagnosed with colon cancer 2 weeks ago. We are planning on going back the 24th to see her but......we ended up leaving our house at 9:30 yesterday morning, getting to the hospital at 1:00 to see her, then leaving there at 2:30 to go see his other grandmother who is in a nursing home and diagnosed with lung cancer (2 1/2 weeks ago) until 4:00 then stopping at his aunt and uncles a half hour away from the nursing home to look at steer calves for next year for Jessie, and heading home at 6:00 to pull in our drive at 9:30.

This is the calf Jessie fell in love with, and which is actually in our price range!:

And, 5 1/2 hours of useable drive time in the car means I had lots of knitting time, enough to finish 1 Maggie armwarmer, minus the thumb:

And make some progress on another knit.

I won't mention the 3 loads of laundry I had to do last night so we all had clean clothes to wear today.....

Have a great day:)

Kris

Christmas is coming....

the goose is getting fat

pleased to put a penny in the old man's hat.

If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do

if you haven't got a ha'penny then

GOD BLESS YOU!

I think that is how it goes....

Is anyone else thinking about Christmas yet? Specifically, christmas gifts?

I've started thinking....not much has been done but I do have 1 possible gift that could be given to someone if the mood strikes me. Again, this year, I want to make as many gifts as I possibly can. So I guess I'd better get it in gear and get moving, right????

This scarf was a super quick knit when I needed a break from the sweater I'm working on. And with only 24 stitches across and a 4 row repeat, I could knit a 4 row repeat at a time very quickly, which pretty much guaranteed that I would not loose my place.

I love the changing colors of this yarn. I am still thinking about keeping it for myself, BUT....I always seem to get tangled up in scarves - or catch them in the door on the truck - so I'm thinking this needs to be the first christmas gift that I have done and ready to gift to someone - namely Tyler's kindergarten teacher. If I could find more of this yarn, I could knit her the matching mittens but......I think this yarn is several years old.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The new calves still don't have names. Jessie thinks Theodore would be good for her steer?!?! And Alvin for the heifer and Simon for the steer we will going to be picking up in a couple weeks. I mentioned that Alvin might not be a good name for a heifer, but the boy who showed one of our heifers this past summer named her Roscoe (to go with Jessie's calf Daisy and his pigs, Bo and Luke) which she immediately pointed out.

After last nights halter breaking episode, I think Ezmerelda would be good for her.....

We are off to a steer show tomorrow in Medina. Ought to be interesting as both Jessie and Tyler will be showing. Have a great weekend!

Kris

Newest Additions

Last night we drove down to Benton/Millersburg to pick up the new heifer (the red and white one) and one of Jessie's steer calves (the white one) for next year.

Hopefully it won't be too hard to halter break them both, as this is the heifer we are planning on showing this winter/next spring and summer:)

Now the funnest part begins......picking out names for the two of them!

See this wood?

I stacked most of it by myself. While Todd and the kids split more of those great big logs. This will probably not be enough to heat our house through the entire winter, but we aren't done splitting yet.

Sunday was a dreary day, but....wood needed split. So Todd and Tyler started early while Jessie and I cleaned out the camper. Then we all started in on it.

I'm embarassed to admit I'm sore. We've never stacked it this high before, but wanted to try and get as much wood into this little shed as possible this winter. There are 3 rows that are about 12 foot long and 6 foot high and 1 row that is about 5 foot high. We are tired of paying an arm and a leg for propane, especially when all the wood that is cut and all those great big logs you see were free. And of course, Todd has to go and haul out of a friend's woods about twice this many logs....anyone need wood?

Now I'm wondering - what can I cook on a wood stove? Can I bake bread on top of it, brownies, casseroles? Any ideas?

sorry for the crappy picture - I took it at 8:00 this morning......

It starts early.....

It started at the fair - 4 little boys from Jessie's class came SPECIFICALLY to watch her show her pig.....

She's been playing football at both recesses with the boys....

Jessie played soccer on Saturday, back to back after Tyler's game. She was sitting with me watching Tyler's game, but as soon as 2 little boys showed up, she ran off to warm up with them.

I didn't think anything of it, until the game when these 3 were yelling back and forth, helping each other out.

Afterwards she asked me if she could have a "boyfriend and go out with a boy?"

Where will you be going? You can't go anywhere by yourself...

I don't know, I just know I like him cause he is SO nice.

Lord help us. Now I just need to figure out which boy she is talking about........

Second time is a charm

I guess I didn't understand the whole gauge thing in knitting (which is why when I got 3/4 of the way through my most recently started project, which was intended to be an Adult Medium, it fits Jessie pretty good.......).

Until I went to my Mom's LYS with a pattern in hand, and they helped me pick the yarn. My only requirements? It had to be a specific color - I don't care what the fiber is, how to care for it, it just had to be a specific color.

Too bad I decided to switch patterns after bringing the yarn home, but a quick call up there (hey - she told me if I had any questions to give her a call) and they verified that the yarn I purchased should work with the pattern I FINALLY decided on. With different sized needles than what I purchased of course:)

Another call up there this afternoon to ask them to hold another skien of yarn for this project, and I should really be good to go.