work

Due to the nice weather, and the new puppy, knitting has sort of taken a backseat. But I'm still flying through test knitting this sweater (this picture was a few days ago - I've got the back, the right front and half of the left front done):


I love it. I love the yarn, love the construction but am not sure that I will like seaming it up when the knitting is done.


And I FINALLY remembered to take a picture of my medicine cabinet. Which will be painted white on Thursday afternoon and hung in our bathroom.



We've been spending a lot of time in the barn with Punxs. Who is very, very hairy. We try to give him a bath every day (no soap) and blow dry him. The drying takes about an hour and a half to get him good and dry. Jessie's first show of the year is April 11th so we've really got to get moving.

Barlie supervises from whatever comfy spot she can find - in this case Jessie's sock drawer.

I hope everyone is enjoying a sunny day - it's supposed to be in the high 70's the rest of the week here. I. cannot. wait.

Kris

busy

Don't let these puppy dog eyes fool you!

She already knows to stop what she is doing and pose for the camera. Right before this picture, she was trying her darndest to grab ahold of Todd's hand.

She tries to look so innocent. Last night the kids were watching TV and apparently she thought they should be paying more attention to her. Let's just say the newspaper met a quick death right in front of both kids. Which then resulted in them chasing her around the house while she spread the shredded newspaper everywhere.

She's already practicing her stalking/pointing skills.....on the cat. Which is pretty funny when the cat turns around and stalks her right back.

When Todd's grandmother passed away last December, the job of cleaning out the house fell to Todd's mom and Aunt. These are just one of the many treasures they found:

Right now they are at my house to be repaired, and then Todd's mom will be getting them quilted. To think, they were shoved in a brown paper bag in the corner of the chicken coop where she stored a bunch of stuff. I think they are gorgeous!

Thank you for all the commnents on my thrifty finds! I'm loving old junk right now that is a fraction of the cost of something new that I can make my "own." I did go back and get the medicine cabinet. And of course (?!?!) I forgot to take a picture of it. Right now it's a baby blue (blech) but if my planning holds, come friday it will be white. I'll try and take a picture tonight.

The other exciting thing we are hopefully doing this weekend? Well, besides the early morning Sunday service at church and dinner at my parents house? New laminate floors in at least 1 of the kids rooms. I think I've mentioned before, I am not a pink kinda girl. And our carpets when we moved in were all a dusty mauve. Well, the bedroom carpets are getting pretty disgusting (cheap carpet that is PINK) and when i was at Home Depot the other day, I found laminate flooring on clearance - for 49 cents a square foot! While my first choice would be carpeting, we did the math, and I cannot possibly replace two bedrooms with new carpet for $180, can I?

I love the color of this. I do have off work for Good Friday, but am also taking a half a day off on Thursday. It's my plan to finish painting Tyler's room (all the nicks he's put into his walls) clean out his room and we can start laying the floor sometime Friday and Saturday. Jessie's room will have to wait as she is getting a new bed from Todd's grandmother's house and we have to wait for it to make it's way here. And I'm not taking down her waterbed to lay the floor, and then putting her waterbed back up - which is what she wanted me to do:).

Have a good tuesday!

Kris

Thrifty finds

Yesterday I had to leave work early for Jessie's recorder/choir concert. And I had to drive almost to my favorite junk store to drop some papers off at somebody's house. So I had to stop in there.

Nothing really caught my eye until I saw this (which will be turned upside down to make a table out of):


And then I saw this:

And thought they would be perfect on our deck. I'm putting up the gazebo tomorrow (it is supposed to be in the high 50's and sunny, so I'm ignoring all that white stuff for the moment) so that we will be all ready to enjoy the warm weather. In years past I've put a table and chairs out there so we can eat, but it's rather cramped. So this year, I'm putting out chairs and a glider just to sit. Of course, I need to find another chair and the glider but.....I will. And if the chair is $12.00, I cannot leave it sit, right?

Then, as I was getting ready to walk out the door, I saw the most PERFECT thing for me. And it only had a price tag on it of $15.00. It has a couple small tears but nothing that can't be fixed. And the binding is rather frayed. But I'm thinking to set out on the deck - it's just perfect.

Jessie already tried to hijack the quilt for her bed. Which may still happen. If I'm feeling generous. Maybe.

It was the best $32.00 I've spent in a looonnnngggggggggg time.

And I've decided I'm going back there today or tomorrow. When you see a wooden medicine cabinet (with a mirrored front) and don't think anything of it, even though the price tag is only $5.00, and the sucker is HEAVY, and then you have a dream about that medicine cabinet in your bathroom, that is a sign, right????????

Hope everyone has a sunny weekend
Kris

This and that

I think spring is battling with winter right now. It was glorious out last week (60's and low 70's) and then now? It's been 40's with rain. Today looks like it is going to be high 50's and sun finally!

Barlie is doing fantastic. Last night it seemed like the entire neighborhood was over playing outside, and when the kids all went out the door, she laid by the door waiting for Jessie and Tyler for a good while (they would have taken her with them, but 2 of the kids brought their dog back, and I didn't want her getting hurt). They've been keeping her pretty busy so it was good that she had some time to entertain herself!

I just thought she looked so sad laying there all curled up on the floor.

We are working out in the barn every chance we get. Jessie's 4-H steer really needs to come in and we need to start working with him again, and her pigs will be arriving in another 6-7 weeks. So we ordered new gates for all the animal pens and have been busy hanging them and cleaning up the barn.

And I'm thinking about a major overhaul on my flower beds and my garden for the year. I do know I want the garden closer to the house (as it is right now, I have to turn off the electric fence and go into the pasture, also remembering to turn back on the fence when I'm done). As for my flowerbeds, I want some new stuff for this year and I want to fill it up so that hopefully the weeds do not take over:)

And I'm down to just 1 horse now. Who will hopefully go somewhere in the next few weeks.

Hope you all have a sunny day!
Kris

Meet Barlie

It was a wonderful drive, but llllloooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggggggg!

The mom and dad of our puppy.

Add to the fact, I had to do some driving, means I didn't get a whole lot of crafty time. Which is OK, as my neck and back would have rioted if I had tried to do any more.

And yes, her name is now Barlie, which in german means "little bear." So she fits right into our Bair (pronounced just like the animal) family. Thanks Mary for the reminder to post what breed she is - she is a German Wirehair Pointer, and will hopefully be a good little pheasant/bird hunting dog here later on this summer/fall.

I didn't take any pictures of scenery. 1 - I drove through all of Indiana and most all of Wisconsin and I didn't think Todd would appreciate my skills driving down the road at 75 mph and taking pictures; and 2 - as we went through Chicago on Friday, I was just praying that some of the idiots would avoid us. The rest of the time? I was knitting or it was dark.

However, I did get quite a bit done in the two days - most of the back of a sweater I am test knitting for Thea Coleman - Calvados:

I just have 2 more inches to do on the sleeves and the back is done and I will move onto the fronts. It was hard to get a good picture of the yarn color wise, but think varigated green, brown, beige and grey and you'll get the idea:)

While we were involved in some marathon driving, the kids went to my parents house and Jessie made candy with Grandma. Homemade peanut butter cups. Which were so good, the ones that I brought home when I picked them up were gone in....about 10 minutes after walking in the door. So last night, rather than cook dinner, I made these:

You can find the recipe here. Although I did BIG ones, and used crunchy peanut butter. And out of the 24 that I made (I had to triple the recipe), I think we may have 13 or 14 left.

Have a good one,

Kris

We have our puppy and are headed for home...and i will never complain about the drive to pa again

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6 inches

Sometimes, 6 inches in length makes all the difference in the world.

I finished this sweater last September. And was never really happy with the length. I've worn it a couple times, and each time was just a little uncomfortable. And, there is only so much length that can be added with blocking.

So I sat down one evening a few weeks ago and proceed to rip it out at the bottom. Lace is a pain to rip out. But I did it, and added an extra 6" of lace pattern. I've learned a lot while knitting myself sweaters - when I think they may be long enough, go an extra 3-4 inches and I will be happy.

I haven't blocked this yet, I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be ripping it back again. I'm happy to say that after wearing it twice, it's darned near perfect. I still have almost 2 skiens left of this yarn, I'm wondering if that is enough for a little summer cardi for Jessie. Have to think on that one!

I'll try and get some better pictures either tonight or Sunday when my 10 year old photographer is around:) And if I work really hard, I will hopefully have another knit finish to show you on Sunday. But I'm not holding my breath.....it will all depend on how my neck and back hold up on this drive.

I'm going to JoAnn's this afternoon. My Mom had knit this bag years ago and I felted it, and I want to find some sort of handles for it. The directions said to knit and felt the handles, but I want something sturdy. I still need to sew the gold felted star on it.

I'm not sure that I will get this done before we leave bright and early tomorrow morning (well, if you count 8:30 as bright and early once the kids get on the bus). But....it's one step closer to being done, right?

And, I really need to stop at the gift store and buy some more fake eggs. I thought I had more than this - but I know the cat likes to play with them so who knows where they have gone to! Last time I was at the little antique/gift shop, they were 25 cents a piece.

We are off tomorrow - almost 14 hours one way. I have 2 knitting projects to take along, and a appliqued wall hanging to work on as well.

Later,

Kris

Better

Thanks for all the get better wishes. I'm getting better and ready or not, in 48 hours we will be on the road.

THis weekend was a rainy one! LOTS of mud here round the place.

But one horse is now gone. They came and spent about 2 hours riding her on Sunday afternoon (in the rain) and like I figured, the little girl fell in love with her. Which makes it all that much better. Todd delivered Shamy Monday night (I stayed home with the kids due to my neck pain and both kids having homework), which worked out good as Todd was over there until after 11:00 as they had a sow having a litter of baby pigs when he got there. Todd talked to Carl yesterday, they were already riding her and loving on her. So that is a very good thing.

We did build a leprechaun trap for Tyler to take into kindergarten as his March project.

I wonder if the leprechaun's visited - I'll find out when I go into his class party this afternoon:)

I'm off to another chiropractor visit later on this morning. Then I have to go this afternoon to deliver the rest of the girl scout cookies that Jessie sold and buy puppy chow, a leash and a smaller kennel.

Later,
Kris

Ugh

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I bent over and twisted to the side. And felt agonizing pain unlike I had ever felt before in my neck and shoulder. Pain bad enough to make me nauseous and dizzy. Hard to see, hard to drive, hard to concentrate on anything kind of pain.

I can now say, after a trip to the chiropractor plus my workout at the gym this afternoon (scaled down to relatively easy as more of a stress reliever and loosen up the muscles kinda workout) I think I would prefer to go through childbirth without medication than to deal with this ever again.


This has happened before, and usually happens every 3-4 months on average. But nothing with pain EVER this bad before.

The good news? The chiropractor thinks he can put my neck and back into proper alignment, and I will be seeing a massage therapist to keep the muscles from tensing up again and forcing everything out of alignment.

The bad news? I'll have to deal with some pain for the next few days. Just what I want with a 13 hour drive one way ahead of us.....

The really good news? It was not arthritis that was causing my hip to ache like mad every morning to the point it was hard to walk in the mornings. It was simply my back being out of alignment.

I'll be back with some pictures of the happenings that went on over the weekend - nothing exciting, but we are delivering 1 horse to her new owner tonight. Hopefully I don't have to do anything invovling driving to get her over there...... or turning my head.....or lifting anything.....

Kris

Has Spring Sprung?

After lots of cold, tons of snow, etc., etc., etc. I think Spring may finally be on it's way in here. It was 72 degrees here yesterday.

It's hard to believe that not even 2 weeks ago we were doing this. And now everything looks like this:

What have we been up to? Not a whole heck of a lot. Which is really nice considering Jessie has been having 2 basketball practices every week in the evenings since December. But we did sign up for 4-H on Wednesday night.

Last night we ear tagged the 2 baby calves that we have so far and let them loose. Feisty little things. And then we had a mini party out in the barn when a friend and his family came over. We will buy Jessie's 4-h pigs from him. And his daughter fell in love with Shamy. So it looks like if all goes well this weekend when she comes back to ride her, I will be less 2 horses (he is planning on buying Kiara for himself and leasing Shamy for his daughter indefinitely). Which is fine, as I've thought long and hard about keeping the horses. I don't have time to ride, Jessie and Tyler do not want to ride and really - the one horse that I used to show, Shamy, is too nice of a horse to just sit out in the pasture and do nothing. She thrives on being ridden and shown and worked with. So I will send them to a fantastic home and when Jessie and Tyler are all grown up and gone, I will buy myself another horse and start showing again. It will be wierd not having a horse, I have always had one since I was 9 or 10. But I'm not thinking about that and instead I am thinking about how happy she will be if this all works out.

This weekend I have to work Saturday, but on Sunday we are planning on cleaning out the barn and getting ready to put Jessie's 4-H animals in there. Unless it's raining and then I will be cleaning in the house and making our trash hauler mad at me again for putting so many bags out there.....

Have a great day

Kris

Gearing Up...

Wow. In 9 days Todd and I will be driving to Minnesota to pick up our puppy.

9 days.

Today, my Durango is in the shop getting checked out. When I had new tires put on it last december, they said something about the tie rods and ball joints needing to be fixed/replaced. Whatever. I'll get to it in good time.

But...with driving 13 hours (962 some odd miles) one way. We had better get them fixed. And they might as well change the oil, rotate the tires and check all the hoses. I would seriously HATE to be broke down somewhere far far away on Friday night.

I'm not sure yet what route we will be taking - either into Iowa and up north to Belle Plaine MN or across Wisconsin. Anyone out there want to meet up for a brief visit while we are either coming or going? If you Map Quest West Salem, OH to Belle Plaine MN, it tells us to take the northern route. But Todd said something about taking the southern route across 80 into Iowa.

And I have already let it be know that if I have a chance to stop for a little bit and visit or find a cool shop somewhere - we will be stopping. And you know on the way home with a 7 week old puppy, there will be lots of stops.

Now if I could just get the cargo area of the durango cleaned out so we could put the puppy kennel, and get my projects ready for this trip I'd be all set.

Kris

I feel Lucky.....

Every now and then something you knit comes out darn near perfect.

As was the case with my Short Lucky.I have to say though, when I first downloaded the pattern, I was a little unsure - it was 8 pages long. I jumped in though and quickly figured out that the pattern is so long because she gives such great detailed directions. Which I need....

I did a wet block on this one, as I wanted mine longer - from shoulder seam to the hem it is 25". I've learned that if I have a shorter sweater I will NOT wear it. Or I'll spend all day tugging at it. And ribbing (to me anyhow) looks very good with some aggressive blocking.

I think I may need some sort of clasp or closure at the top, but for now, I am so wearing this to work today just as is.

Details:

Short Lucky by Thea Coleman

Yarn - Cascade 220 heathers, 4 skiens

Needles - size 8 circulars (I think the pattern calls for 9's, but this yarn just looked so much nicer with the 8's)

Size - Medium.

Calf #2

They sure do seem to be popping out around here:)

Friday night we brought in the next cow to calve. Normally, we'd leave them out in the field but...Todd was leaving the house at 6:00 Saturday morning to drive to southern ohio for an auction. And I just knew that she would have this calf Saturday sometime.




And let's just say she has had trouble in the past and is not the easiest cow to catch. And I'm not standing out in a muddy field trying to rope a cow who is intent on chasing me out of the field and running me over. There are some things I am just not doing. (For the record, I will and have helped to pull calves when needed - as long as they are caught first). So if I have to call in help I wanted her somewhere that we weren't going to be chasing her all over creation.




Saturday morning was not a good morning. All I had left to do on my sweater was the neckband. You think the kids would stop arguing for 20 minutes so I could do it? Nope. Which left us all out of sorts as I finished that, cleaned the house and kept checking on the cow. Who was for all appearances no where close to calving.

Only to walk out the door at 11 a.m. as we are rushing to get to the final basketball game of the season to hear "the moo."



The one that means get away from my baby.




A quick look at the cow and calf - it was breathing and trying to get up, take the kids to Jessie's basketball game (where they tied 8-8), eat lunch at Wendy's, run home to check on mom and baby, and back to Acres of Fun for a round of laser tag and roller skating, to come home and grab pizza and wait for the kids friends' to arrive to spend the night.








Which we aren't doing for a very long time as all four of them were up pretty much all night long.



But I did get my Short Lucky finished and blocked, and it is drying now. Hopefully tonight it will be dry and I can get some pictures.

Once again, a pretty bad picture that doesn't show the true green of this yarn.......

Kris

Getting there.

I really don't like to purl stitch when I'm knitting. Stockinette in the round is what I like. Well, that and cables or lace.

HOWEVER, I LOVE this sweater. And I think I'm getting faster with doing this rib pattern. Too bad it took me through most of the sweater until it clicked in my brain which rows you start out with a knit stitch and which rows you start out with a purl stitch and which rows you start out the same. Now I can do this by memory as long as I keep track of what row I am on.....



It's a good thing this is knit from the bottom up - it got the boring stuff out of the way, and now with all the shaping you do, it keeps it interesting.

this picture is taken before I totally finished knitting the back

I now have the back done and am halfway up the right front. All I have is the left front, the neckline, collar, sleeve edgings and some finishing to do, I think.


Which is good cause I really, really, really want to wear it this weekend.

this yarn though? I'm not sure about. I've had 2 skiens (out of the 4 I've wound so far) that have had split yarns and cut yarns in them.......which means lots of weaving in of the ends. I do love the color and the fabric it created, but if every skein is going to be wound into 4 or 5 balls, that is a pain!

Kris

1st calf of the seasson

It has started.....

Monday (March 1st) night (well, technically Monday afternoon) while I was waiting for the blacksmith to come trim the horses hooves I was riding. I know, shocker....

And yes, I was messing around trying to

take a picture with my cell phone.

And keep my balance at the same time and not fall off.

But I climed up on Shamy (and this was not the brightest move I have ever done but there are some horses that you can do this with and some you can't..) bareback, with just a halter and 1 leadrope. No saddle, no bridle, heck, not even 2 lead ropes to control her. She probably has not been really ridden since sometime in 2008. And did I mention it's been almost 2 years since I've been on a horse? Probably 2 years this coming August.

It was fun - trotting and cantering around the field through the snow. She still remembers how to be a western pleasure show horse. Sit back, hit the cruise control button and go.

But anyhow....I was looking at the cows and thought Mittens looked a little uncomfortable. The blacksmith arrives, I end my ride, hold both horses while I catch up with him (when I showed horses I almost always showed against either him or one of his brothers and sisters), and as we are looking at the cows he even makes the comment that Mittens looked uncomfortable.

I go in the house at 5:45, Todd gets home at 6:20 and guess what? There is a baby calf on the ground in the back of the lot. She had it all on her own, no involvement or help from us:) I love this heifer.

We give them some time and then in the dark go out and bring them in. It's a tiny little thing, only about 60 lbs. And it's a heifer. Which was vastly disappointing to Tyler, who wanted a bull calf. But he has since decided that this is my heifer and we AREN'T selling her and sissy is NOT showing her - NO WAY NO HOW. hmmmm...... opinionated little thing, isn't he?

But she's healthy, mom survived and has figured out the whole routine, as we sit back (not really) and wait for the rest of the herd to start popping out babies. All the while we are praying really, really hard that everyone takes a mini break while we are in Minnesota here in a few weeks....

Let the fun begin......

Kris

Wishful thinking....

that this will work to "plow" all the snow we have had.....but this kid has TONS of imagination...

And Jessie's basketball game? She actually managed to score 10 points for her team (final score - 20 to 8 WAY TO GO HUSKY GIRLS!!!!). I tried to get it on video and or picture......it is very hard to get good video when everyone in front of, behind you and a round you is yelling and jumping up and down....

Otherwise? This is what we did all. afternoon. yesterday.

Be back later,

Kris