Quilted Simple

Drambuie

2012-01-27T20:50:00.003-05:00

I think I've knit 3 or 4 sweaters so far which I haven't shown you. And I've been working on several quilts. I think I need 32 hours in the day....and I have 1 more sweater that is almost done, plus the coolest pair of gloves that I just have to figure out fingers on.

This one was a quick knit. And different. And it is so totally comfortable and perfect.

It was a test knit for Thea at Baby Cocktails....the cable is cool, the fit is perfect. It's knit in 2 pieces (front and back) and then seamed together.

I used yarn out of my stash - Cascade 220 Heathers. I've had this yarn for a few years now and didn't know what to make with it.

Pattern - Drambuie by Baby Cocktails
Yarn - Cascade 220 Heathers
Size - 38 on the bottom, 36 on the top (with this yarn, I should have gone with 36 the whole way through, but it's all good)

I'm also madly working on cleaning up the house - 1/2 of my sewing room is cleaned, the basement stairwell has been cleaned, painted and decorated, and the laundry room is half painted and organized...oh! and we've also been working on the new barn and pastures every weekend that we can - but I'm ready to revolt on that as the house is really suffering..... I'll show you those projects shortly, as I have to wait for Todd to hang shelves - the stud finder and I could not get along the one day.....

Have a blessed weekend!!!

Cleaning out the basement

2012-01-15T11:33:00.000-05:00

One of the things the insurance adjuster mentioned to me when we found the water damage was that we needed to go through the basement and our insurance company would reimburse us for anything water damaged. I didn't tell him that in my opinion, 99% of the stuff in the basement was junk anyhow, but I realized that I did need to clean it up in case the contractor had to work down there. It is January in Ohio after all.....and it would be easy access to that corner of the house if he wanted to set up a table saw in there rather than stand out in the cold.

Todd went hunting in PA January 1 - 3, so the kids and I started cleaning the basement out. Well, rather, I cleaned and the kids ~~fought~~ disagreed over which of their old toys they were keeping. I finally sent them upstairs to clean their rooms. Some things are better NOT done with them around:) We did make a deal with the kids - they could pick some of their favorite toys to keep, the rest will either be sold on Ebay or donated to Goodwill (Tyler elected to keep his tractors and sell his Geo Trax Train set - which takes up the 4 totes on the left hand side of the picture below).

5 hours later (yes, it took a long, long time), I had a small pile of stuff to keep:

See that chest off to the right hand side? That was a Christmas present of Jessie's from her grandmother - and it was packed full of dress up clothes (fancy dresses, pretty hats, high heeled shoes). I'm afraid the chest may be too water damaged to be repaired, but we were able to salvage some of the clothes inside it.

I had a small pile to go to Goodwill.

And I had a rather large pile of things to pitch:

I had 3 rubbermaid totes of kids clothing and blankets I wanted to keep to pass down, which I have just finished washing it all and repacking it into the totes to make sure it was still good.

Todd got home the Tuesday night after New Year's, and we spent a little bit of time down there sorting through the trash pile - just making sure there was nothing in there we REALLY wanted that had been thrown away by accident. We flattened the boxes to be burned, bagged up the trash and will haul it to the end of our driveway next week.

Funny though, as Todd and I were finishing up down here, it led to a discussion about my sewing/computer/crafting room and how to organize it and make it more useful (which started off with a bookshelf that is down in the basement that Todd said I should move up there - but I can't move it up there if I can't get through the door right now, can I?). I'm at a standstill with finishing our bedroom until the water damage gets fixed, and my sewing room is truly a disaster. But we have a plan for moving some furniture, and hopefully in the next couple of weeks it will be done.....

A baby quilt....

2012-01-13T11:22:00.003-05:00

I didn't mean to go silent....but it's been hectic here (and truthfully, I don't think it will slow down anytime soon - maybe when the kids are grown and gone?)

My cousin is having a baby....we lost touch with that side of the family until last summer...and the shower was last Sunday. I wanted to make her a quilt, but first, I had to FIND my sewing machine (and a place to sit and sew).

This is a small portion of my sewing/computer room - looks frightening, doesn't it?

Of course, me being the ~~procrastinator~~ thinker that I am...I started organizing it the Wednesday before the baby shower. I have 1/2 of the room cleaned out to where i can sew and function, sort of. I got up at 5 a.m. on Saturday to finish moving some furniture around (I've set myself a $100 budget to buy whatever I need to make this work for me).

So that I could be cutting and sewing by 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. Jessie had a basketball game at 3 p.m., and we had a birthday party to go to in the evening, but I did manage to get the quilt cut, pieced, quilted and bound by 11 p.m. on Saturday.

I got up early on Sunday morning and washed and dried it. Sorry I don't have a good picture of the whole quilt, but the light wasn't quite right when I had free moments on Saturday to take pictures, and Jessie and I had to get on the road by 11:15 on Sunday to pick up my mom and sister and drive to Westlake.

Hopefully after this weekend, I'll be back with pictures of my clean, organized sewing/computer room!!! Because I have 2 Christmas quilts to finish and a fundraiser auction quilt to get done by March 10th! (and I am determined to not wait until March 8th to start a bed size quilt for the fundraiser!!!!)

Re-decorating

2012-01-02T23:08:00.001-05:00

I love re-decorating our home....changing things up....moving things around.

However, on a budget, this is challenging to do - especially with my love of useful junk and antiques!

I was picking Jessie up from a friends house last week after a sleepover - this mom has the coolest house - lots of primitive decor but very sparse and not cluttered at all, but one thing I saw that I loved was in her entryway, she had an old bench with about 10 crocks on it. And she had a buffet with crocks underneath it.

Now I don't have an "entryway" or a buffet, but I think I have the next best thing!

Our TV stand is actually an old desk that I brought off of my SIL many years ago - I think for around $25.00. And for the longest time (since we moved into this house in 1998, I've had my Longaberger basket on the shelf....

But I just happened to have 3 large crocks scattered throughout the house. They don't match in the least, but I'm thinking that is the charm here....

I'm thinking I need to find some sort of berry garland to place around them, and maybe some white lights?

But....I know I have several strands (if that is what you call them) of berry garland somewhere in this house, and I believe one of them is battery operated with lights, so I just might wait until I find them....

And in the meantime, I have something just a little bit different! That also didn't cost me a dime......

Goings on.....

2011-12-28T07:40:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful weekend full of family and friends. AND, unlike last year, I was not up until 3 am making and wrapping presents! Actually, a good friend and I got togegther on Thursday, and while the kids ~~ran wild~~ played nicely at her house, we wrapped all of our presents. We will definitely do that one again!

See my pretty new bedroom in progress? It's hard to get a true picture of the color - it's a lovely blue/gray color. I painted it the week after Thanksgiving. I had grand intentions of going to get laminate wood flooring to replace the icky pink carpeting that was in this house when we brought it.

Well, it's going to be torn up again real soon. Christmas Day night Todd was walking between the bed and that wall getting ready for bed, and right up against the wall the floor gave way under him. Monday we pulled the carpeting away from the wall and found this hole:

Apparently, were the addition meets the original house, there is a gap under the shingles. And there has been water leaking in here for who knows how long. It probably didn't help that this year has been the wettest year on record for Ohio!

On the other side of that corner is our living room - and when I moved the stuff out of the corner, I found this:

See that nice gap between the floor and the baseboard? Yeah, the floor is rotting away under there...

I KNOW it wasn't like that last spring, because I wanted to re-arrange that end of the room where the TV and stero sits, but Todd wanted it back the way it was after I pulled everything out, cleaned back there and moved it all. And I'm very certain I would have noticed that!!!

And this is what we found in the basement (the sub floor under the living room).....

So the contractor who put the addition on came out yesterday and poked around. That whole corner will need torn apart and the end truss fixed, new shingles, siding, 2x4 walls, insulation, drywall, subfloor and floor joists put in along with who all knows what else. An adjuster from our insurance company should be coming out in the next couple of days to give us the go ahead to get started.

But....the good part? I did NOT put new flooring down in our bedroom which would have to be ripped out (although if I had we might have noticed it a litte bit sooner)....small good part yes, but still good.

We (Todd, the contractor and I) are really hoping we can get this fixed soon...before more damage happends. The weather here has been just horrible (lots of rain) so that might be tough....but our contractor says 2-3 days and he can have the outside all ripped out and rebuilt.

So...I'm off this week and going to clean out the basement. Some stuff that we had to move to get back into that corner is water damaged, so I'm planning on getting rid of LOTS of things.....

12

2011-12-15T09:27:00.001-05:00

In all the excitement of the past few weeks (wonderful Thanksgiving), getting ready for Christmas, going to a steer show this past weekend with about 30 of our friends, I totally forgot this......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSIE!!!

Wow...12....I cannot believe it.

She turned 12 on Sunday. For her birthday, she requested that we go to a steer show in Columbus. And she has asked that we go to the same show for the past 3 years - that is what she wanted for her birthday. We try to go every year - there are worse things she could be asking for, right?

So we went - along with 6 other families from our county and neighboring county - 15 calves, 10 kids, and 19 adults. It was fun, it was long and in Jessie words - this was absolutely the best birthday ever!!! The cupcakes survived the trip down there (but not the food fight between 2 adults - fortunately I took 4 dozen with us so they were able to destroy the extras)....no pictures of her with the kids - they are all at the age where they don't WANT their picture taken but hey.....it's all good!

Now I'm off to finish my Christmas shopping.....

Have a great day!!!
Kris

Francis

2011-11-18T11:11:00.000-05:00

I don't know why I dragged my feet on knitting this sweater...I've had the pattern printed for several years, and I brought this yummy Malabrigo yarn over a year ago with no particular pattern in mind.

But I'm glad I finally decided to knit this. And once I decided, I think I had it done in under a week. Yes, it was that fast!

And it's so comfortable, I think I've worn it at least once a week to work since I finished it. And I've worn it probably once each weekend as we are doing this and that. Great with jeans, great with dress pants for work....

In fact, I was wearing it so much, I never got it blocked after knitting it. And I needed it just a tiny bit longer (and looser). I forced myself to not wear it to work one day (I wanted to wear it on the weekend) and blocked it before going to work.

Watch the Malabrigo people! I did block it in cold water, but there are a couple spots that look like it might have felted - 2 or 3 rows of 3 or 4 stitches under each arm....it was either the wet block or the fact that I've worn it so much...not sure which but it's not bad, you can't see it very clearly, so I'm going to solve this problem the easy way.....

Knit myself another one so I'm not wearing this one all the time:)

Details:
Francis Revisited
Size: 36/38
Mods: Knit a hem for the bottom rather than the seed stitch edging and did some waist shaping
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted, color - Nostalgia

I did have a little bit of trouble with pooling, but I think with the colors on this yarn it's ok.....

Retro Shell

2011-11-16T11:25:00.000-05:00

This poor sweater.....

I love it, but I did not cooperate with the sweater.....

It was a test knit for Baby Cocktails....I had it finished in time, but I didn't like the way the collar laid. But I blocked it and wore it a few times.....still didn't like it. So I re-knit the collar and blocked it again....wore it a few times....nope still not just right.....

I'm still not sure it is exactly right, and I think after wearing it 6 or 7 times, I finally figured out the problem! I started picking up and knitting on the wrong side, so the seam is on the inside of the sweater and not the outside.....

But I do love the fit, I do love the sweater, I do love the yarn:)

A few weeks ago I wanted to finally get some decent pictures of it. And since I was wearing it to work - perfect! But....Jessie was at school and it was just Tyler at home.....so he was my "photographer". This kid is a hoot!! I think in the 5 min. we were outside, he took close to 50 pictures. Although I also had to keep reminding him ...."take pictures of the sweater, NOT of your cat!!!"

Knit in the round from the top down, the pleats and the lace keep it fun, and the stockinette stitch makes it fly.

Pattern: Retro Shell by Baby Cocktails

Size: 36"

Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool

I did end up reblocking it to fix the pleats in the back. I wet block EVERYTHING that I knit and managed to block the pleats right out of it.....

Taking a break....

2011-10-12T12:34:00.005-04:00

... from sweater knitting obsession that is!

Seeing as how I'm almost to the point of adding sleeves on an insane lace sweater (knit out of Plucky knitter lace weight on size 8 needles)....but I'm not sure how to do the decreases once adding the sleeves into the equation (knit from the bottom up)....

...and my latest sweater is way to big in the shoulders (like you can fit me plus another person in there)...wondering what the heck did I manage to screw up.....

I thought I'd take a little break and knit the Winter Wonderland infinity scarf. I am so not crazy about 180 stitches around, but am thinking this is going to be soooo cool! Especially in some to-die-for plucky knitter yarn.

I do have 2 sweaters that have been knit, re-knit (as the case may be), blocked, ends woven in and am just waiting for the combination of nice fall day and available photographer to show them to you. Based on Jessie's school/sports/steer showing schedule and the weather, this could get a little tricky! I'm wearing one to work today, and may re-knit the collar yet a 4th time to see if I can get it to lay right.....

It could also be that no sweater is catching my attention at the moment...there's lots I WANT to knit but nothing I HAVE to knit.....

Any suggestions?????

Wayne County Fair 2011 in review....

2011-10-04T12:19:00.000-04:00

It's over....
We finished up the fair a couple weeks ago

Every year, we tell Jessie don't get your hopes up. Be thankful for what you get. And she blows that philosophy clear out of the water.

She won her class with Tank. Then had to go back in for Division II Champion and Reserve.

Which she also won.

Then she had to go back in for Grand and Reserve overall.

Where she placed 3rd overall.

After that, she had to go back in for Showmanship, where she placed 3rd out of 23 kids.

She was not too thrilled with 3rd but.....she will take it.

Then a couple days later she had to her pig in showmanship. She won her class and ended up in the top 5 of the 13 and under kids. Which is pretty funny cause we weren't going to let her show showmanship - "King Tut" hurt his leg (got it caught in his pen gate) and was limping a little bit.

So we told her to go slow and not push him in showmanship - and she did incredibly well!

The next day was the Market Hog class. She won her class.....

And was Division IV Champion.

So she got to go back into the final drive. I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my life. This judge was good, dragging it out and making the kids comfortable. She didn't get grand or reserve, but she is still one happy little girl!

She missed showing her heifers and her feeder calf, but ended up Reserve Champion Shorthorn heifer, 4th in her class with her Crossbred heifer and 4th in her class with her feeder calf.

It was a great fair - she had lots of fun hanging out with her friends.

Sale day was rough - it is every year. You can always tell the kids who work with their animals and get attached - they are the ones (like Jessie) sobbing hysterically before, during and after selling their animals.

But....she is already hard at work for next year!

Time flies......

2011-08-25T12:32:00.003-04:00

How did we get to this point?

Tuesday was the first day of school. I was so not ready for this day!

Jessie is a 6th grader now.....and with that switch to middle school comes the bus pick-up time of 6:50 a.m. This will take some getting used to!

And Tyler is in 2nd grade this year....with a closer to normal pick up time of 8:25.

So far, the school year has started off very well.....I really hope it continues!

Although I do miss having them at home all day every day....there's lots of cleaning and feeding of animals that they were doing for me.......

It's over

2011-08-10T11:18:00.005-04:00

...and I am SO GLAD!!!

State Fair is a fun time, but also incredibly hectic. Add to the mix, we had sold a steer calf to a girl in Medina County, and their steer show was Wednesday night.

So Todd loaded up the pig Tuesday night, got home about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, and I headed out with the kids and an incredibly packed full Durango to meet the camper rental dude by 8:15 a.m.

And then I had to feed said pig several times on Wednesday, and deal with weighing him in at the fair late Wednesday afternoon.

Todd did come down to the State Fair early Thursday a.m. where I was very happy to let him take over the feeding of "Tyler Jr." can you tell which kid named the pig??? Lol....

We started off showing Showmanship on Friday:

the "bling bling girls". What you don't see in this picture is their bling belts, which did sparkle quite a bit in the ring!

Waiting in the holding pen to enter the ring for showmanship. Not sure where she gets the intensity from...

Total seriousness....

Staring the judge down....the idea in showmanship is to keep your eye on the judge or on your pig...she has mastered that part very well.

Not sure where the chewing on her toungue came from....must be all the concentration!

She ended up 5th out of 23 kids in the 11 year old class. Which she was THRILLED with.

Then she had to show market on saturday where she didn't do so hot - 12th place. But....she had fun and enjoyed herself.

On Sunday was the Open Barrow Show. And we let Tyler show "Tyler Jr." in that class. He is going to be quite the showman I think when he is actually old enough to be in 4-h and have market animal projects.

He had fun...didn't place (they only place the top 5 in the Open class and there were 16 pigs in his class)....but he enjoyed it.

And Tyler Jr. was getting tired after 3 days of showing....so he wanted to get the heck out of that ring!

The market pigs are all terminal, so Tyler and Jessie had to say goodbye to him on Sunday afternoon. It was not easy for them but....as they both said, they have other animals at home that now they can devote their time to working with them!

And we get a break next year from showing at the State Fair!!!! It's an expensive week (when you include the cost of the pig and feeding said pig, plus your entry fees, camper rental, parking fees and gate entry fees not to mention your food and drinks), and Jessie and Tyler both said they would rather go to the Medina County Fair and show their heifers and steers in the Open Show.....so I think we are going to do that next year instead of the State Fair.

I'm sure we will go back to showing at the State Fair, but both of the kids want to wait until Tyler is actually in 4-H, and then take either their steers or their feeder calves to the State Fair. Which is a major bummer only from the standpoint that everything you haul down there (including the animals) you have to haul home at the end of the week. We shall see....

All in all? The trip was a success and we got home Sunday night in time to wash and dry her steer, wean all 7 calves, and the kids are busy halter breaking them - which they are doing a fantastic job with so far!

2011-08-02T20:45:00.001-04:00

Just waiting on the trailer to load up tyler jr. To go to state fair.....

Cherry Vanilla

2011-07-20T10:47:00.000-04:00

I FINALLY finished my Cherry Vanilla sweater. I don't know why it took me almost a year but....it is done and I love it!

I did have some very blond moments with this sweater...particularly with the lace pattern, which meant I riped it out and started over I think about 5 times. Of course though, once the light bulb finally went off in my head - I didn't need the pattern at all for the lace panels. And I should have made it a couple inches longer but....I was so ready to be done that I'm cool with it the length it is.

It's a little large - I knit the 36/38 but at the point where it meets in the front and closes with a hook and eye - I placed that part a little too low, and I'm thinking that perhaps I should have knit the 34/36 so it would have fit better in the shoulders and bust.

But I've worn it several times and I'm very, very happy with it! This pattern has a short and long version, and I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, I'll make either the short version or a longer version here at some point.

Details:
Pattern: Cherry Vanilla by Thea Coleman of Baby Cocktails
Size: 36/38
Yarn: Berroco Comfort DK
Mods: none that I can remember......

For some reason, blogger is not letting me comment on any of your posts...it is saying i do not have an "active account"...any ideas why that is? I have IE 9.....thinking of switching to Google Chrome....any thoughts?

4-H still projects

2011-07-13T22:09:00.000-04:00

Jessie got a little over ambitious this year with her still projects for 4-H. She knew she wanted to take a sewing project and the scrapbooking project, but she also wanted to do the photography level 1 project. She must be a little OCD like her mother (ahem....).

Todd's and my ONLY requirement was....all these projects had to be done before she left for 4-h camp on July 2nd. She got home on the 6th and judging was on the 12th. She didn't quite meet that deadline, but 3 hours of work last Sunday and she was done.

The actual judging was Tuesday night....

Loungewear - the fleece robe was what was judged. She got an "Excellent."

Scrapbooking - another "Excellent"

Photography Level 1 - she got an "Outstanding". The judge was a photographer for one of our local papers, and she came out of the judging with Jessie and said to me..... "your daughter took some amazing photographs. I really hope you consider letting her put them in the Open Youth Photography division at the County Fair."

Needless to say, she was on cloud 9 the rest of the evening. When we got home, she picked out 4 pictures that she wants to exhibit at the county fair this year:

Tonight, they had a "Style Review Show" where she gets to model her robe and her scrapbook and find out if she received an Outstanding with either her robe or her scrapbook, and see if she made it to State Fair with any of her projects. I knew she would really love to go to State Fair, but I will dread it 100%.

We just got home - and she got an "Outstanding" with her scrapbooking and qualified for State Fair in both Photography and Scrapbooking. Wow. So we will be down in Columbus a lot. She will go down on the 28th for scrapbooking, the 30th for photography (which is also the day I have to work at our big conference - so Todd just may have to take her down there) and then the 3rd through the 7th (or is it the 8th - Sunday?) with her pig.

She is definitely on cloud 9 - although in true OCD form, she wants me to find out if she can edit either of her projects - she has thought of ways to make them "better."

Here we go.......

Summer......

2011-06-27T10:58:00.005-04:00

It's been a busy summer here so far this year.....I don't see it changing, and I think I've finally got my rhythm and I'm cool with how hectic it seems at times:)

Tyler marched in the Memorial Day parade with his boy scout troop:

Jessie has spent countless hours bonding and working with Tank:

I'm not sure how she will deal with selling him in September, but....we'll cross that bridge in September I guess....

And she spends almost every evening walking her State Fair pigs.

This one ("Chasin") will more than likely not make it to State Fair....he is a little large right now....but he will taste good in our freezer!

And if your pig won't walk at first.....you simply get behind him and PUSH!

The first night was rather interesting, but "Tyler Jr." is learning the ropes and starting to walk pretty well for the kids.

We've since graduated to both kids out in the yard with both pigs. I haven't had a chance to take a picture of both of them out there together, but hopefully one of these nights. It's pretty comical, which is keeping things light around here.....

I do have some knitting and quilting projects finished up - hopefully I'll be back in a couple of days with some photos (if I can convince my photographer to take some decent shots!)

Have a good one!
Kris

2011 calves......

2011-06-10T20:14:00.000-04:00

This year's calf crop is probably our best calf crop so far......

Which, technically, is not much of an accomplishment seeing as how last year was the first year we really tried to pay attention to who was in heat and who was not in heat so we could A.I. as many cows as we possibly could.....

And this year, we have 3 kids who will be showing our feeder calves at the fair.

It's made it interesting as far as the picking out of calves. Obviously, Jessie gets 1st pick. And this year, we let her determine which calf she will show. Todd, Jason and I gave her our opinions (which we did only after she asked for them) but ultimately, we let her make the choice.

She picked the blue roan calf. Todd and I are a little leery of him - not sure he can walk as good as the red calf (who you can sort of see in the 1st picture) but....it's time she start figuring out which calves are good and which calves are bad.....

Tyler's heifer (the white one - lucky) is growing and looking pretty good. We have been informed that he (and he alone) will be showing her this winter as a shorthorn heifer. On a good day (when he is not fighting with his sister) - he agrees that Jessie can show Lucky at the fair as one of her heifers.....we won't mention the bad days.....

I just keep looking at all that white... yes, she is SOLID white....not grey....not tan but WHITE...I think this is payback time for me from all the years of showing a white horse that my parents (and I) spent keeping him clean and stain free.....

5th grade graduation

2011-06-01T12:27:00.010-04:00

The kids' last day of school was last Friday. And it was a very busy 2 days.

The 5th graders put on a talent show last Thursday. Can I just say how much I love this group of girls? 5 of them were on the basketball team together, and all 6 of them are just all around good girls who are good friends.

Then on Friday, they had the 5th grade graduation ceremony. Times have really changed since I went from elementary school to middle school. Back then it was a here-you-go-see-you-later. Now? It's all about the ceremony and awards.

They do make the 5th graders dress up - dresses for girls and khaki's/dress pants with button down or collared shirts for boys. Jessie finally picked this dress pattern, after 3 unsuccessful shopping trips:

We found the batik fabric at JoAnn's, and with a 40% off coupon, I think I ended up paying $6 or $7 for the dress. We won't mention that I procrastinated on doing the hem until Thursday night when we got home from Tyler's boy scout awards ceremony at 10:30.....nope, not I:)

All in all, both kids have had great years at our elementary school, and I'm sad to see her move on to the middle schoool. But - she has a great class of kids so I know all will be good next year:)

Now if I could just figure out where the years have gone that she is 11 already and headed off to middle school....I would be all set!

Willow Sangria

2011-05-25T07:33:00.000-04:00

I had an opportunity to test knit another (well,....actually two) sweaters for Thea Coleman of Baby Cocktails. This is the first one (I'm flying my way through the second one).

This one was a comedy. Absolutely 100% errors on my part. But that only meant I got to knit the entire tank top twice. Yes, you read that correctly.....twice.

And I'm blaming that entirely on my new eliptical machine. Which caused me to loose about 7 inches total (2 of said inches were in the chest) in the last 2 weeks. So I knit my standard 38" size for the top and the 40" size for the skirt.....and it was HUGE. I'm talking exposing everything you don't want to expose huge because it is sagging.

My inital thought when I realized it was way to big, rip it back to just about the flower band and do some mad decreases to get to a smaller stitch count. But as Todd so kindly pointed out (thankyouverymuch), if I manage to loose any more inches, the skirt will be really big. Sigh. So I ripped it out (much quicker than it was knit I might add) and re-knit it in about 5 days.

And actually, this is the 36" size. And while it is still a little snug in the waist and hips, I am cool with that. Because it's too darn cold to wear my cute little tank top sweater right now, and I'm figuring about the time it gets warm enough to wear it (probably end of June the way Ohio weather is going), I'll have lost another couple of inches....and hopefully they won't all be in the chest!

What you don't see in these pictures is me telling Jessie to hurry up and take these pictures please!!! It is freezing out here.....

Details:

size 36/38 (I did knit the 38 for the "skirt" portion, and then spaced out my decreases til I got to the 36" stitch counts just below the flower band

Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns cotton bam boo

Needles: size 5

Mods: none except for the sizing. Oh...and I knit the skirt almost 1" longer.

This yarn is gorgeous. I wasn't 100% sold on the yarn until I blocked it good. Now it's incredibly soft and silky feeling. I have the feeling I'm going to be buying this yarn more often......

Have a great Monday!
Kris

Playing hookey with fabric

2011-05-17T07:15:00.000-04:00

They are paving the state route at the end of our little road. And the grindings were available for a extremely reasonable price...like about 1/3 of the cost of limestone per ton. So a few weeks ago we had 9 dump truck loads of grindings delivered for our driveway. Which meant that I got to stay home from work and play hookey...

I did do some work, but....I did lots of playing too!

One of the projects I got that much closer to completion was this quilt top:

I started it.....who knows when. 2 or 3 years ago at least.

The blocks were all made I just had to put it together. And of course, I used some of the white fabric to make who knows what since then. So I had to improvise but you know what?

I'm fine with that....and it's that much closer to being DONE

Of course, I took these photos before deciding how to use that wild stripe print. Originally I had thought to use that for one of the borders and the binding. But now, it's all used up in a couple of borders on this quilt.

And yes, it does look pretty good in Jessie's room doesn't it? But she's not getting it.....way too much white in it for her:)

If you are looking for a cost-effective way to do your driveway, check with a company that is repaving roads near you....this stuff packs down HARD (we had them tailgate it on 5-7" deep and it's almost like asphalt. Todd did borrow a roller and roll the driveway, but after the last couple days of 80 degree weather, it's all starting to melt together and look like we spent the money to asphalt the driveway, which we didn't:)

Wait until you see my new laundry room.......

I need an intervention......

2011-05-12T10:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had to go and get pig feed. We are going to a couple sales this weekend and will hopefully have 4 pigs for the county fair by Sunday night.

Of course, I drove past my favorite junk store and had to stop!

This chair was sitting outside for $3....

And this wooden rocking chair was $5.....

This rocker was a very pretty green, but I found some black spray paint in the basement and painted it right up.

And this ladder was $13.....

Yes....it's laying on it's side in our living room as it's too tall to stand upright in the corner like I had wanted. I should have known that might be a problem when it had to fit in my Durango from front windsield clear to the back window:) Todd says he can cut it down so it will fit.....

The metal chair is already in place on the deck. I do have this metal chair which is similar to it, and am going to paint both chairs the same color. Any suggestions? I was thinking black or red....

Of course, after I got done at the Junk Store, I had to take my finds home before I could actually go get pig feed. sigh. But it was a gorgeous day for a drive seeing as how it was in the low 80's!

Once I finally made it home, I put the wooden rocker on our walk-out patio. And then decided that I really should paint the table and chairs that are down there now. So the table and chairs now have 1 coat of black paint.... I've had the new umbrella for the table for a while now, so that came out as well:

Ignore the flowerbed behind the table which I haven't cleaned out yet.... and the siding hanging down off of the house.... It was all ripped off of the house in a big windstorm that we had in March - the contractor is supposed to be coming this week or next to put new siding on that end of the house...

Slowly but surely I am getting my flowerbeds in order. Last fall I killed a bunch of my flowerbeds...they were getting too overgrown and too messy. On Sunday we worked outside all. day. long. I cleaned out flowerbeds and mowed the yard while Todd helped me with the heavier stuff (like edging the flowerbeds) and hauling manure...And I'm about half done:

The chicken coop:

One of my beds along the driveway going back to the hay barn:

The first flowerbed I ever put in: This shed was the only thing on the property when we moved in (except for the house) and one of the first things I did was this flowerbed:

We had 5 yards of mulch delivered on Tuesday night....I'm sad to say it's all gone and I'm probably going to have to order about 5 more yards.....the skidloader is EXCELLENT for hauling mulch though....not very much shoveling by hand at all.....you can see in the one picture of the chicken coop the ruts that I put in the ground with the skidloader spreading mulch....I'm just so very thankful I didn't TIP the skidder.....guess when the ground is wet you can't turn very sharp....lol

And my deck.....with the hanging basket the kids brought me for Mother's Day!

So the rest of the week? We'll spend it finishing up the flowerbeds and getting ready for more 4-h pigs.....and I am determined not to go back to the junk store for the bench I saw there....but had no room in my Durango for:)

Calf #5

2011-05-05T11:07:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday evening we had another calf born. A heifer:

The cow was a good momma - she only needed a little assistance. And we have another healthy heifer calf to add to the mix.

I'm loving the wild color patterns this bull has thrown. Too bad we got rid of him last fall - every couple of years we try to "upgrade."

This heifer and momma got to spend 1 day inside - and then Monday night we kicked them both outside to bring in the last 2 cows to calve. We've had some bigger-than-average calves this year, and are keeping everyone contained until they calve. We are tired of trying to do this in the open pasture.

Plus....with all the rain we've been having? The calves at least have that initial 24 hour period to stay dry.....

Going for it

2011-04-30T10:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I finished the top. And actually wore it to work and was comfortable. But....I now see where I need to alter the pattern just a little bit:)

I cut out the patterns pieces for this top just under 1/2" bigger than the Large (the large was a size 36 - I of course am a 38). And could have probably left well alone and cut out the Large, and just not done the 5/8" seam allowance. I did end up taking in the sides to make it a little less tent like.

I've also decided that when I make it again (in either top or dress form) I am going to try and lengthen the bodice piece by a couple inches - we'll see how that one goes......

And then did not try it on before heming it (and just blindly cut it off where I thought would be good....). It's shorter than I like, but ..... live and learn and it's only too short if I raise my arms up above my head.

Fortunately for me, I have a tank top the same shade of green that I just wore underneath it.

I do like it alot - it was very comfortable and not restricting in the least! Which was my goal when I started this top. I'm pretty sure I could wear a long sleeved tshirt underneath it in the early spring/late fall days and it would still fit!

Now I'm wondering why I have been so leery of cutting into fabric to make myself some clothes. This top cost me about $7 in fabric - much cheaper and will last longer than anything I can find in the stores currently (and I'm figuring if this is the dress pattern I use, I can make the dress for under $20 in fabric - which definitely beats the $180 price tag of the 1 dress that I found that I liked.....).

Sewing for me

2011-04-28T10:55:00.000-04:00

Todd's cousin is getting married in August. And while it is an outdoor wedding at the farm, I'm pretty sure that is one event that my jean capris and a cardi or tshirt will not cut it. I've been looking (both in stores and online) for a dress that I could wear to both the wedding and to work for a large conference that we have the end of July. Everything that I am finding is either too short, too fitted or too low cut. And on this almost 40 year old body, none of those are a good thing. I did find one dress online, but the $180 price tag is a little out of our league.

Then I found this book online - Chic and Simple Sewing. I ordered it off of Amazon and had it in a couple of days. And I fell in love with some of the items in it.

For Good Friday, the office was closed. So I hit JoAnn Fabrics for some fabric to make a few of the items in the book out of. Specifically the baby doll top, the circle skirt and the shift dress. Loose, feminine but not bulky. And no zippers or buttons. Of course, I brought home some extra fabrics....

My only complaint about the book is that it only has 3 sizes in it - small, medium and large. And if I were to go by measurements, I would need an Xlarge (to get the size 38 that I am). But I dove in on Saturday night about 10 p.m., enlarged the pattern pieces slightly and made the baby doll top:

I'm still working on it (needs a little bit of improving and a hem yet)....which is why you are not seeing the whole thing. Flowy is good....looking a little like a tent is not:)

But I did cut out and finish the circle skirt in about 45 min. on Monday. As soon as I find a white tshirt to go with it, you'll see this one on this body as well...

And Jessie liked the patterns enough that I have to make her graduation dress out of this book. Which meant another trip to JoAnn Fabrics to find a pretty blue and lime green batik fabric. She picked out the summer sundress pattern - I'm going to widen the straps just a bit so it's not quite so skimpy (she is 11 after all and does have a dress code to follow at school about how wide the shoulder straps need to be) but since every blessed dress we have looked at she has not liked, hopefully this will fit the bill!

Calf #4 of 2011

2011-04-26T10:45:00.003-04:00

Last Wednesday, I had someone coming to pick up a twin sized waterbed that I sold on Craigslist. And as I pulled in, Jessie's pain in the a$% heifer Ally was calving. As was the psycho heifer.

So I called Todd to come home from work. (I normally wouldn't call him so fast, but we had a funny feeling that Ally's calf was going to be larger than normal sized, and I didn't want to deal with that. And Psycho is a first calf heifer and more apt to run than let us help her if she was having trouble).

I got there at 3:30, right behind the guy who brought the water bed. And as we were loading it in his truck, within about 15 min. of me getting there, Ally spit out a good sized bull calf (90 lbs.) as if it were nothing.

Which calf then jumped right up and started nursing, all within about 10 min. of birth. I love it when that happens.

And then he started to run around the pen like a raving lunatic trying to buck and jump on legs that weren't even an hour old.

And Psycho? She lost her calf. After about an hour of nothing happening, Todd reached her and she wasn't dialated. So we called the vet, who came out and helped Todd pull the calf. It was a big one, and a bull calf, but it had been dead for about 12 hours by that point, which may be why she wasn't progressing. But she stood through the ordeal like a trooper, and didn't put up much of a fuss (other than kicking Todd about 3 times while he was trying to reach inside her the first time) so we are giving her another chance. The vet wasn't sure why the calf died, other than maybe either she is just to small yet (she is a very tiny heifer) or it was in the wrong position and she had been in the very early stages of labor without showing any signs for too long and had trouble. Depressing yes, but it happens sometimes.

We have 3 more to go, which hopefully will all come by the beginning of next week. We are going to PA the first weekend of May to pick up Jessie's 4-h pigs.......I cannot wait!

calf #3 of 2011

2011-04-22T08:05:00.001-04:00

Even with all the steer and heifer shows we have been going to, it's still calving season. Last Saturday, we got home from Ashtabula about 6 p.m. And jessie had a slumber birthday party to go to. And I was tired.

Todd woke me up at 6:15 wanting me to go check on the cows to see if anyone was calving. But I didn't move fast enough for him, so he went out and checked. And had to come back in to get some supplies and get me up, as we had a cow that was in labor, and he didn't know how long she had been in labor and wanted to do some checking on her.

After checking her, he realized it was going to be a BIG calf. When the calves hooves are the size of both of my fists together, that makes you pause for a minute. So while he went round and round with momma cow trying to put a halter on her, I grabbed the chains, handles and calf puller. We've had trouble with this cow in the past, and she is bred to a good A.I. bull carrying a bull calf - who could be Jessie's 2012 steer prospect.

But the calf's head was not in the right position, so Todd had to reach in there and get it turned around (YUCK). And every time he would let go, the calf would shift and move it's head out of position. So we had to call in the vet.

We did keep trying though, and just as the vet was coming down the road (7:45 a.m.), the calf decided to cooperate and get into the correct position so we could pull it.

After letting momma and baby have some time to themselves, we went out and weighed him.

We were not in the least surprised to find out he weighed 121 lbs.

So far, he's doing great. He was up nursing within 20 min. of being born, and was running around that afternoon testing out his legs.

And Jessie? She is royally ticked that she missed another birth. When I went to pick her up, I didn't tell her the calf had been born. But as she got out of the truck, Todd told her she has to be gone more so we can get all these calves born....she didn't think that was very funny:)

I did have a good laugh though. We bred this cow to have a steer prospect for Jessie (which is why he was so big). And the entire time Todd was trying to pull this calf he was ranting and raving....no more club calf bulls! We are going back to the smallest dinkiest bulls we can find... blah...blah...blah....I asked him last night who he was going to breed her back to for next year...he says the same bull:)

Ashtabula County Classic

2011-04-20T11:41:00.000-04:00

We got up Saturday morning at the unheard of hour of 5:30 a.m. so Jason and I could take Jessie, Tyler and 3 calves to a show in Ashtabula, OH. Todd couldn't get out of work (spring busy season) or he would have been getting up with us before the crack of dawn as well...

But....it was well worth it!

Jessie showed Fancy first, and won her class.

Then Tyler showed Fabulous and got 2nd in his class.

Both kids had to go back into the ring for Grand and Reserve Champion heifer overall. And Jessie ended up Reserve Champion, while the calf that won Tyler's class ended up Grand Champion.

Then Jessie took Tank into his steer class and got 3rd place. This steer is a riot. Most steers and heifers will quit eating while they are at shows....not this guy! Jessie and Tank are starting to work together really, really well. And he has enough personality to make this fun. So our plan to work some of the weight off of him by showing him is backfiring - in a major way. But we are going to plan b this week - he is getting turned out to pasture for a month to just be a calf. He will loose all the hair that we've worked so hard to grow all winter long, but......he just weighs entirely too much. And this picture? I saw a father with this jacket on, and am thinking Todd needs it for Christmas next year.....

We rolled into home about 6:00 Saturday and crashed about 8:30. There are 2 more shows we can go to, but we are on the fence about them.......although we will have to make up our minds shortly who is going to go.

Spring Spectacular Steer Show

2011-04-18T11:32:00.001-04:00

Last weekend we went to a steer show. It was in Wooster, which is about 20 min. away, which might explain why we went a little nuts and took 4 calves of ours, and dragged along 3 other kids with 4 calves between the 3 of them. It's also a sentimental show for us - this is the first steer show that Jessie ever showed in, 2 years ago.

We started off showing with Tyler and Fabulous. Tyler got 2nd in his heifer class!

Then Jessie showed Fancy. And won her heifer class.

Both kids had to go back in for the heifer championship drive, where Jessie and Fancy got Reserve Champion Heifer (talk about knocking me over with a feather).

Then our friends' daughter, V, took Huey in to a steer class. Where she got 4th. Oringially Tyler was going to show Huey, but our friends had a mishap on the way into the fairgrounds and V ended up with no calf to show.

Then Jessie took Tank into the open show and got 1st place:

Jessie had to go back in for the Steer Championship Drive, where she didn't place. And then all the Wayne County steers turned around and went back in for the Wayne County Steer class, and Jessie got 2nd in the Wayne County class.

It was a crazy day, but a lot of fun.

It is so nice to see to Jessie and Tyler grow and improve every time they show. This past weekend we went to Ashtabula, OH for a show. The kids are enjoying this and both keep saying they want to go again (and again, and again). Me? I'm looking for a little time off now......I have flowerbeds and a garden calling my name!

Newest Additions.....

2011-04-12T21:02:00.006-04:00

Last weekend, in addition to clipping calves until 1:00 a.m. on Friday night, and going to a steer show on Sunday (more on those later, I'm still sorting through the 175+ pictures I took that day), we also went to a pig sale. It's getting to be that time of year again, and if we are going to State Fair, we need to find some pigs.

Meet "Tyler Junior" and "Jason":

We originally were going to buy just 1 state fair pig as a companion pig for a pig that we have coming from Todd's cousin in PA, but it won't get here for a few weeks yet. And as we were sitting at the sale, I mentioned to Todd that we are just about out of pork in our freezer.

So we had to buy a companion pig for the companion pig!

If all goes as planned, Jessie and Tyler will show 2 pigs at the Ohio State Fair in August. And one of these pigs will go in our freezer:)

And when we got home, the kids had to spend some quality time with their new pigs:

8

2011-04-05T22:14:00.001-04:00

Tyler turned 8 today. And yes, it's taken me all day to get here. And then I have no pictures on this computer. Hard to believe that he is growing up so fast..... Tomorrow is their last day of school this week. Their spring break was cut short due to snow make-up days. Tyler got his clippers (as part of his birthday present) while we were down at Expo. He's anxious to try them out tomorrow clipping with our friend Jason for the upcoming show this weekend.

Calving Season

2011-04-04T12:28:00.004-04:00

A week ago this past Saturday (the 26th) we had a momentous day here at home.... The first baby calf was born! Last fall we had our vet ultrasound all of the cows. He was able to pinpoint due dates of the calves for the most part (more on that later) and on some, like this little guy, could tell us if it was going to be a bull calf or a heifer calf. Rondell was the 2nd on the list to calve. And she was due to have an A.I. bull calf to Cool Customer. We are supposed to have 4 bull calves this year, all A.I. calves (that he could tell what sex they were). When Tyler and I got home from the Pinewood Derby at 4 p.m....nothing. Jessie had gone to the mall to buy a dress for 5th grade graduation with a friend. When Todd got home at 6:30, this little guy was on the ground. Jessie got home about 9:30, and immediately claimed him for herself. We'll have to see how he looks in a couple months....it's so hard to tell when they are this young just how they will grow! He's been in a pen with him Mom for the last week, and yesterday we tossed his happy little butt outside (so we could bring in the next cow).

Then, this past Sunday (the 2nd), the other cow we brought in when we brought Rondell in we noticed her about 5 p.m. starting to deliver. By 5:30, Todd had pulled this not-so-little heifer and we were on our way out the door to a friends house for dinner (Todd would not have pulled her but for the fact that when her legs were about 1/2 way out - they are HUGE. And we were leaving and didn't want the cow to have trouble while we were gone).

Our vet got the heifer part right on this one, but missed the due date by about 2 weeks. But....we never saw her get bred to the bull (we didn't try to A.I. her so we weren't watching too closely) so we didn't have even an approximate date for him to work off of.

We do have some concerns about her front legs being to straight. But hopefully, they will work out of that the more she is up and around.

I am just so glad that we have a couple calves on the ground.....hopefully in the next 3 1/2 weeks we will be all done and all 8 calves will be on the ground.....

Pinewood Derby

2011-03-27T21:08:00.005-04:00

Tyler joined boy scouts this year. And is absolutely loving it. But that should really come as no surprise when your Daddy was a boy scout clear up until he graduated high school and obtained the rank of Eagle Scout (5 palms). One of the activities is the Pinewood Derby. And we've had the car for it since last fall, Todd and Tyler didn't start working on it until this week. Todd had a co-worker cut the car out and sand it, and then brought it home for Tyler to finish sanding and paint.

Then Todd and Tyler attached the wheels, put weights on it (which involved a late night trip to home depot to get a wood chisel) and made sure it was ready to go.

Friday night we had to take it up to the church and get it weighed in, and Tyler was allowed to take a couple practice runs. I made him stop, as it was flipping over when it hit the end of the track it was going so fast....

Saturday we were there all afternoon. Each boy competed against his den members, and each boy got to race 4 times. Tyler managed to win all 4 races, and ended up 1st in his den!

After all 3 dens were through, he got to go through the semi-finals, where he managed to win about 1/2 of his races. He didn't place in the top 3, but he was happy with winning among his den members. He also won the award for most patriotic.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon....Tyler is ready to start working on his car for next year already.

Wall of photos....

2011-03-26T09:42:00.001-04:00

When we go to all of the bigger shows, the kids want to get thier pictures taken with their animals. And while it is expensive ($10 for 2 4x6 prints) they want them and so that is one thing we've tried to get every year - a good picture with each animal they've shown.

Then of course is the dilema - what do we do with all of these pictures. And then I found inexpensive frames at Wal-mart. The 5x7 frames are $2 each, and the 8x10 frames are $3 each.

Jessie's room is currently cotton candy pink. And her furniture is white. So I painted her frames cottage white by Behr. I figure the white will work with any color room she comes up with when we repaint her room in a few weeks....

Tyler's room is red, white and blue. But I went with leaving the frames black for him. Partly because I'm lazy and painting all of these frames has been driving me batty.

(one of his pictures that I took this past weekend before I put it in the frame)

I try to also print off pictures that I've taken of them actually in the show ring. Which was a challenge until recently when I got a new camera. Because usually in the showring, they are several hundred feet away from me. And my little point and shoot camera just doesn't zoom well that far. So I cashed in some rewards and got myself enough gift cards to Best Buy to buy a Cannon DSLR camera. I'm still learning it, but I do manage to get some good pictures:)

So I do have more pictures to frame and put up here. And then they both asked if I could print off some pictures of them showing pigs and frame them.

I think they are going to run out of room......

Cows

2011-03-24T10:24:00.000-04:00

This is the time of year I love the most. It's getting warmer, the sun is out, and we are so close to having baby calves on the ground!

Rondell should be the first one to calve, and she is looking pretty miserable. Last fall we had everyone ultrasounded to see if we were having calves, when they were due, and whether they were bulls or heifers. Rondell should be having a bull calf (we have 4 bull calves for sure coming if the vet was right). Jessie has already laid claim to this one for her next feeder calf/market steer project.

After I took this picture in the morning, we brought her in last night. We are supposed to get some cold/wet/nasty weather now through the weekend, and we really don't want to be chasing her around the lot.

We also brought in another cow that is looking rather uncomfortable and close to calving, but I couldn't get a good picture of her. She kept laying down with her rear end facing me.

This is the first year that we have all of our calves coming in a 6 week time frame, if everyone does what they are supposed to do!

When we were running out of room a few weeks ago, and had to separate Tank so he didn't eat his way to weighing 1800 lbs. at fair, we tossed the 3 yearling heifers outside for a few weeks. 2 of them (Smokie and Famous) are going to a show over Memorial Day weekend, and we will bring them back in here in another couple weeks to work with them. The solid black heifer will go out with the cows once everyone is closer to being done calving.

Tonight we are bringing back into the barn another steer that Tyler will show at the 3 or 4 shows we have coming up. It's too hard to show heifers and steers at all these 1 day shows so we will just take Tank and Huey to the next several shows.

I cannot wait until these calves hit the ground!

Beef Expo......

2011-03-21T09:58:00.005-04:00

This past weekend, we were in Columbus for the Ohio Beef Expo....and I am beat.

We left Friday about noon, and it was non-stop work until we got home Sunday night about 7:30. Well, the kids and I got home about that time...Todd and Jason got home about 8:30 with the calves. My lead foot must have come in handy coming up I71. That and cruise control:)

But both kids had a blast showing their animals....and did very well in the process!

Jessie showed Tank in showmanship on Saturday. We are now calling him the antsy pantsy steer. He's not bad....but he wants to know EVERYTHING that is going on around him. So she didn't place because he wasn't walking like he should.

Sunday was when the fun began...at 6:30 in the morning washing a calf. Jason brought a registered Angus heifer in the sale on Saturday, and Jessie showed her bright and early Sunday morning. She did well - 6th out of 12. Considering the fact that "Fancy" had never been shown before, it was a good experience. And when you are up against the best of the best (the class winner was recently purchased for $50,000), I'll take being in the middle of the pack any day of the week.

There is now talk about her going to some big Angus shows with this heifer....including State Fair and Louisville, KY this fall.

Then she had to show Antsy Pantsy again, and got 6th out of 13. He was better - still not good, but she handled him very well.

She is realizing just what the level of competition is down here, and is perfectly happy with how she placed.

And then it was Tyler's turn. The little turkey. He's been on the fence about showing. He likes it, but he is super competitive and it hasn't clicked in his little mind that being in the middle at this level of showing is very good.

But he showed Fabulous and got 2nd in his class out of 12, and then had to go back in for the championship drive for Crossbred heifer. Where he didn't have a chance up against some of these heifers that show at the National level but hey......

He will take 2nd and the money that he won with it:)

It was 3:30 by the time we got done showing, and at 4 as we were cleaning Fabulous up, Todd was going to get the truck and trailer. He had to wait in line until 6:00 but he finally made it up to the barn, we tossed everything in the trailer and headed for home.

And the kids? They are ready to go to a show in Wabash Indiana this weekend, but I think I need a weekend to recuperate.....

I've been playing

2011-03-17T16:00:00.000-04:00

and not with fabric or yarn either:)

Last year at the County Fair I took a picture of Jessie and Punx that I absolutely LOVE:

Don't ask me why I love it, because you really can't see her face except for maybe that she is smilling for all she is worth as the judge is talking about her while he was placing this class. Todd hates this picture - she is growing up to fast and looks way to old....

Problem was: a) it has a "grey tint" to it; b) I was too far away (I was maybe 100 feet away from her) and c) my little point and shoot camera just doesn't cut it for distance.

But I played around in Photoshop Elements (the cheap version of Adobe Photoshop). And I got this, which is much better:

And after playing around some more, I got this, which is better yet:

I played with these a few months ago, and I honestly don't remember what I did. I just know I was on Pioneer Woman's photography site and doing what she told me to do (as far as layers, colors, etc.) step by step (look under photoshop elements - it was one of those posts).

Here's another one from the Spring Show last year:

And after playing with it:

The original of another all time favorite of Jessie and Punx:

And the edited version:

And then I had to play with one and make it black and white:

I love the more colorful "edited" ones for printing off and framing - we've started picture walls in each of the kids' rooms of all the steers/heifers/pigs they've shown. One thing I did find out though (much to my dismay) -don't use those edited photos on your desktop. Your eyes really won't appreciate it.

Fortunately, I still have the oringal-straight-out-of-the camera that I can put on my desktop - much nicer:)

We are headed off to another steer show this weekend - The Ohio Beef Expo. 3 adults, 2 kids and 2 calves going down Friday morning....3 adults 2 kids and 3 calves coming home if our friend Jason buys a heifer through the sale down there. And I've got a new to me DSLR camera (brought with a bunch of gift cards) that I am anxious to try out....

Tank....

2011-03-15T20:23:00.000-04:00

.....is a growing boy obviously!

We went to weigh in's for the county fair January 15th....and had a mild panic attack when we realized he weighs 838 lbs. We think about it, regroup and move everyone around into new pens, kicked some outside, and figured out what we were doing. We had 8 months to county fair at that point, and obviously, Tank needed to go on a diet while Huey and the other calf needed to be pushed, seeing as they only weighed 600 lbs.

So a heifer came in to stay with Tank (to keep him company) and we sort of coasted along the last month and a half.

Beef Expo is coming up, and we thought that just for kicks we would weigh Tank last Sunday.....

....and the sucker weighs 1019 lbs. Seems he is such a feed hog - he pushes everyone out of the way and eats all the feed. We thought Smokie (the heifer we put in with him) would be more aggressive, but apparently not. So her butt got kicked outside with the rest of the heifers, and Tank is now flying solo in the barn. He wasn't very happy about it the first night, and there were even some tears on Jessie's part thinking he was lonely...but taht sucker is enjoying it now.

The new game plan? Monitor his feed intake, switch feeds and show the daylights out of him. Hopefully by showing him 6 or 7 times between next weekend and the end of May, it will slow him down a little bit. I'm not counting on it cause nothing fazes this calf but....we can always hope:)

So now I've had to buy all new feed (we didn't need shredded beet pulp for Punx, who had to put on weight, not hold him) and Tank is not a happy camper:) And I'm learning all over what feeds you feed to put on weight, and what feeds you feed to hold and fill him up! While Tank does not like shredded beet pulp in the least little bit, it has no nutritional value and will only fill him up - not put any "real" weight on him......

It's only March and it's getting interesting here with all the feed......

Knitting

2011-03-09T09:12:00.000-05:00

Since the weather is so crappy out there, I've been doing lots of sewing and knitting. In between boy scout meetings for Tyler and basketball practice and games for Jessie. Thank goodness this weekend is the last weekend of basketball games. However, from now until the middle of May we have steer shows every single weekend but Easter weekend. Mainly to get her some more practice but also to keep Tank's weight in control. The boy likes to eat, we can say that much:)

I'm chugging right along on my Heleborous Yoke sweater. Interesting construction - you start with the right front and work your way around sideways. I'm just about to the part where I do the left sleeve.

It goes very quick, mainly because it's on size 10 1/2 needles with big yarn. I'm worried that it's going to be big, but I'm trusting that since it's supposed to be worn with 4" positive ease, and I made the size 38, it should work. I know my yarn guage is a little off, so hopefully i'll end up with it just about right.

In digging through a basket of odds and ends of yarn while we had our knitting party last weekend, Jessie found my Cherry Vanilla sweater. I love this sweater. I do not love size 6 needles. But I'm going to finish it here shortly with any luck. Mainly because my Heleborous Yoke is getting to big to be dragging around to basketball practice and friends' houses for dinner. Although it's making a nice blanket to keep warm with!

I managed to get through 2 repeats of the lace before loosing steam (and ambition) last fall, but I think I have about 25 rows to go before separating for the arms.

This sweater pattern is great - you can make it long or short, long sleeved or short sleeved. I'm thinking long with short sleeves so I can wear it this summer. But then again, if it takes me all summer, I just may make it hip length with long sleeves so I can wear it this fall:)

I also need to finish up my socks. My Mom started them for me, and then I took over and knit until I got to the heel shaping. She did that, and now i have to knit the feet. Again, love the yarn but do not love size 1 needles in any shape or form:)

Be back later!
Kris

Table runners and cowls

2011-02-28T10:26:00.003-05:00

We had an incredibly busy weekend, but I still managed to get some sewing and knitting in!

First, I made this table runner for Jessie's dresser: I started on it Friday evening and finished it up Saturday evening sewing the binding on by hand.

I couldn't follow the pattern exactly - it is supposed to be a 6x2 layout of the blocks, but....her dresser isn't that big! So we improvised a little. I must say I do like it, and have enough blocks, backing and binding to do another smaller one (using only 3 blocks) for her other dresser and I will have 4 blocks leftover for a mini quilt/wallhanging for in her room.

Jessie did finish quilting this for me (I just stitched in the ditch around the blocks and on the insides of the blocks) and sewed the binding on for me. She liked doing this well enough she now wants to take the quilting 4-H project and make a table topper.

My Mom has been saying for a while she wants to learn how to knit cables. And my brother's girlfriend Ashley and her friend Danielle also wanted to learn how to knit cables. So on Sunday we had us a little party. The 3 of them came to our house and we knit simple cowls:

Pattern: Awbrey
Needles: 10 1/2 16 inch circulars
Yarn: ? I'll have to check the tag when I get home.

We had fun, everyone realized that cable knitting (at its simplest form) is not really all that difficult, and I now have a new cowl. It only took about 3-4 hours, with lots of getting up by me to go get sweaters for my Mom to try on that I have knit.

Last week before everyone came over, I tried it out to a) make sure it wasn't going to take forever to knit and b) make sure there were no surprises in the pattern.

Pattern: Awbrey

Needles: 10 1/2 16 inch circulars

Yarn: Reynolds Lopi

So I actually have 2 cowls now.

And all that snow in the first two photos? Is now rushing down our driveway. Torrential rains/thunderstorms last night mean lots of flooded roads around here and flooded basements. I didn't check our basment this morning (I really should have and am even now debating if I should run home to check) but our driveway is underwater (still passable with my Durango and Todd's truck but barely) and the basement at the office where I work is about 8 inches deep. And Todd's been out on emergency calls since 5:30 this morning for stranded motorists who tried to drive through high water. And a gas line leak at a local business.

Stay dry everyone!
Kris

More quilty goodness...

2011-02-25T19:18:00.005-05:00

I think I'm on a role here....

Due to a horrendous winter storm that sent me home from work at 9:45 this morning, (which I then managed to get stuck in our driveway half way up it), I had LOTS of time this afternoon to sew.

So I sewed....and sewed....

This table runner I've had the top together for who knows how long (2 years? 3 years?). It should have 2 more triangular pieces on the side, but I cannot find them for the life of me. I know they are made, they are just burried somewhere in my sewing room. Oh well. It fits our kitchen island pretty good just like this:

Yes, it still needs the binding, but...I don't know where it is:)

I also quilted this potholder. I've had it together for a couple years, just needed to finish it up!

And I got a dust ruffle done for my newest nephew:

And I started on a table runner for in Jessie's room, but I don't have any pictures of that one yet. It's a pattern and fabric from Anka's Treasurers, and let me tell you - the book is great on directions. And the fabric is gorgeous.

Hopefully tomorrow I can finish up the table runner for Jessie's room, in between basketball and chores.

Have a great weekend!
Kris

Finally....a quilting blog with quilty content:)

2011-02-23T11:05:00.002-05:00

I did promise something quilty, didn't I?

And I actually have almost 2 completed quilts!

This first one, I'm embarassed to admit, has been languishing in the bottom of a pile of quilt tops for .......several years. I first blogged about it here. The original intent was for it to go in Jessie's room as a wall hanging to match her batik flip flop quilt. She wanted it as a bed quilt, but I didn't have enough batik fabrics....

And it is now quilted and awaiting it's binding. Which i have to go BUY as I can't find the binding I picked out for this quilt when I first finished the top!

But she has been making noises about wanting her room repainted. Truthfully, she's been wanting her room repainted since Thanksgiving. I told her when your room is cleaned out, I'll repaint it. This past weekend she hauled 3 garbage bags out of her room, so I guess I'm painting over spring break...if she can keep it semi clean. So far it's stayed clean, and they've been off school for 5 days due to a teacher inservice day, the holiday, and a major snow storm yesterday:)

I'm hoping I can talk her into yellow walls with lime green and pink accents, and her furniture painted white. Right now she is lobbying for lime green walls and YELLOW furniture.....

Of course, along with the new paint, she wants a new chair (lime green) for in the corner so she can read, and a new quilt (look at the Diamond Diva kit - that's the pattern and fabric she picked out!) and dust ruffle. So while this little quilt won't be of use in her room, I figure it will be a good lap quilt on those chilly spring evenings!

I'm plugging along on another baby quilt for my nephew, along with a dust ruffle for his crib. I used the tutorial here for the dust ruffle, and talk about a piece of cake! I hope to get the binding sewn on tomorrow when I get home from work, and then it will just be stitch the binding down and deliver it. I'll show pictures of it once it's completed (hopefully tomorrow).

And finally? Jessie made a cake:

She's enjoying baking cakes, brownies and cookies lately. I'm just glad to have a little something sweet in the house every now and again:)

Taking over.....

2011-02-21T09:47:00.007-05:00

I think basketball is taking over our lives this winter:)

She STILL cannot hit a foul shot to save her life,

but she is getting a little closer....

We've been to more basketball games in the last two weeks than we have been to the entire 15 years we've been married. It helps when you know some of the kids on the JV/Varsity boys and girls' teams. Both the girls and the boys Varsity teams are in the tournaments/playoffs, so I think we're going to 2 games this week and a game this weekend....or as far as they make it!

But then Jessie also plays every single Saturday in the Parks and Rec league.

I think her favorite part of the game is being a post player. She's not afraid to take the ball from an opponent, and get down on the floor and fight for it.

Although I think we are going to have our hands full in a few years....some of the Varsity boys and girls AND the some of the 5th grade boys' team came to watch her and her friends play on Saturday....although she did tell me on Saturday morning before the game...."boyfriends and cell phones are so overrated Mom".

Final score - 19 to 0. Our girls did well.....

Oh....and I've started a new sweater....but it's going very slowly. Because I've been quilting up a storm! Hopefully I'll have some finishes to show you in the next couple of days!!!

Creating a Monster!

2011-02-16T13:40:00.000-05:00

After what seems like months and years of sub zero weather, weather in the teens and lots of snow, ice, sleet and general uck.....

it warmed up to 48 degrees yesterday. Which really felt like a heat wave.

Tyler has been at Jason's elbow every time he clips on these calves. Wanting to learn how to clip...wanting to know why Jason clips them the way he does.

And Sunday was the day we put a set of clippers in his hands and said "Go to town."

Jessie and I washed and dried Huey and Jason and Tyler got to work. Huey has not been clipped since the middle of October. And we've been growing lots and lots of hair since then on him. I think they took off about 3" and left 2" on him.

While they worked on Huey, we then washed and dried Tank, bedded up the steer pen (again) and started on chores. Tank and Huey are hopefully going to the Beef Expo show in Columbus the middle of March....it's been a nice little break not washing calves every day (or so) but it's time to get back to work....as long as the weather holds.

Tyler is now asking for a set of clippers for his birthday.....I think we've created a monster!

A sign of spring

2011-02-11T10:30:00.003-05:00

After months of not getting any fresh eggs out of our young chickens, I remembered last night to tell Tyler to check for eggs....

I'm so glad he did. Spring may be coming after all!

Too bad I didn't remember to tell him to check before the -3 degree weather we woke up to yesterday morning. The other 4 eggs in the chicken coop might not have froze....

It's supposed to be in the mid 40's this weekend.....which will feel like a heat wave after the last couple weeks of barely getting into the 20's, and mostly in the single digits and teens. Now if the snow would just go away, and not leave mud behind, we'd be doing good!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Kris

Sorelle Lace Pullover

2011-02-03T09:34:00.004-05:00

This sweater was quick! And my type of knitting.....

In the round, so not a whole lot of purling involved, and the lace and the twisty columns kept it interesting!

Start to finish this took exactly 2 weeks. And I only worked on it in the evenings and the weekends when we didn't have anything going on. I think last Saturday I managed a 3 hour stretch of knitting on this sweater.....

Size 8 needles meant easy.

I normally don't block my sweaters right away. Usually I'm too impatient and want to wear them right away. And I did want to wear this one in the worst way, but I knew the lace would need a good blocking, and you could really see my increases and decreases at the waist shaping I put in.

Soooo.... I dumped it into the kitchen sink and got it good and wet. I think I freaked Todd out doing it that way.....but......after laying it out on a towel to dry, and flipping it a few times even he noticed the difference in the lace!

Pattern: Sorelle Lace-Edged Pullover

Yarn: Valley Yarns Colrain, color lapis blue (and only 3.49 a skien)

Needles: size 8

Size: 38 (the only modification I made was to make it about 2 inches longer and do some more waist shaping).

Also, I'm not sure why it only took me 5 skiens of yarn (or about 550 yards), when others used 700 - 900 yards. I'm thinking that maybe this yarn is a little heavier than what the pattern called for.......

Since I was blocking sweaters that night, I blocked my Collins as well. I've worn this one a lot, but the collar was never long enough and never laid flat. I steam blocked it right after finishing, but this time I soaked it good and laid it out flat to dry. I've decided that is the only way I'm blocking sweaters from here on out.....get them good and wet!

The results?

The collar lays perfectly now and is an inch longer, I gained an inch in the shoulders (which I needed) and somehow managed to shrink the waist a couple inches (which I also needed).

So now I have 2 perfect fitting for me sweaters, and can't even wear them to work. See, I'm painting the office at work, and I would be really irked if I got blue and green and grey paint all over my nice sweaters. Hopefully this weekend I'll get to wear one of them at least!

And after all that hoopla about the big snowstorm? We ended up with about 4-5 inches, some ice and 3 days off of school. I'm REALLY hoping that the kids go to school tomorrow - they have about had it with being home all day......

Stay warm everyone!
Kris

Another sweater down.....

2011-01-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

Despite the yarn unraveling its way down the driveway because I wasn't paying attention and dropped the ball attached to the sweater before climbing in my truck to go pick up the kids from the bus, I did manage to finish this sweater:

This was the sweater my Mom was making for all of us for Christmas (my sister, my brother's girlfriend, my Mom and myself). I however managed to get my yarn in a nice little bag sometime around the middle to end of November.

But, I can honestly say, knitting 4 of these would drive me batty. But since I have a hard time knitting even 2 of any one thing, that is understandable!

And while I probably made mine longer and looser than the other 3, I am not such a fan of fitted knits for the most part. Actually, this could stand to be shrunk a little bit, but I have never had any luck getting Berroco ultra alpacha to shrink....usually it grows!

However, this is going to be one of those go to sweaters this spring, if you know what I'm talking about. Throw on with a pair of jeans and a long sleeved tshirt, wear to work with khakis.....you get the general idea!

There was no actual pattern, which is why it's a little loose....the directions I got were cast on 76 stitches, place markers and do your raglan increases, separate for the arms once you've knit far enough down, and keep knitting til you reach your desired length.

Since I am a person who likes detailed directions, this was a trial for me. I did the raglan increases, knit until I had gone far enough down, cast on 8 underarm stitches, and knit until it hit my hips. Looking back, I should have cast on less stitches under the arms, adjusted my raglan seams so I had more sweater in the front and less in the back, and put in some waist and hip shaping.

But, better to be too big than too small, and I am happy with it and I am sure I will get lots of wear out of it.

Now off to a busy weekend!
Kris

In a hurry...

2011-01-27T18:12:00.003-05:00

When you are rushing to get down to the end of a 1/4 mile driveway in plenty of time to get the kids so they don't have to walk up said driveway after school.....

make sure the ball of yarn that is attached to a two more rows and it will be ready to bind of sweater is INSIDE your car as you race down the driveway......

or you will have this mess to untangle on your hands....

Just saying.....

I'm not sure untangling that mess is worth it, other than I do have 2 short sleeves to do yet. I did manage to untangle enough (after reeling it all in) to do the bind off on this sweater!!!

Thank goodness the driveway is still snow covered instead of wet, dirty, gravel covered right now!

Instant Gratification

2011-01-26T10:37:00.000-05:00

2 pheasants that flew into the wild yonder while we were "training" Barlie a few weeks back. Nice to know they are still hanging around in the woods behind the house!

Thank you for the island love. I'm pleased to report that after 5 coats of mineral oil and letting it soak in - we are eating on it and loving it. And I'm itching to start on the rest of the cabinets and the floor but that is going to have to wait until funds are available - I'm NOT going into debt to redo this kitchen:) Although....Home Depot (where the cabinets came from) has all of their in stock cabinets on sale 20% off - and I was able to "return" my cabinets and "buy" them again - and I got the $120.00 store credit. With the other returns that I took back that we did not use in installing these cabinets, I have enough moolah to buy the pantry cabinet that will match. And I got Todd's blessings to go look and see if they have the pantry in the oak finish that will match the island cabinets.

I also brought out Kitchen Collection at the Lodi, Ohio outlet mall to keep all the drawers organized. We'll see if I remember where I put everything:)

After my attempts to organize my stash, what else could I do but start a new to me sweater out of some stash yarn? Admittedly, this yarn started out as a totally different lace sweater, and I even got halfway up the sleeve before loosing steam in a very real and very fast way. So while Todd was off lifting weights at a friends' house last Thursday night, I proceed to rrriiiiipppppppppp out the poor lonely sleeve and cast on for Sorele Lace Edge Pullover.

Instant gratification. After just 5 days the body of the sweater is done. All that is left is the sleeves and the neckband. This is my kind of project - knitting in the round with some lace and twisty columns to keep it interesting. In a couple hours last night, I am halfway up the first sleeve. I am really hoping this sweater is done by the end of this weekend!

These twisty colums run up and down both sides of the sweater front and back. Interesting way to add some waist shaping!

We've had lots of super frigid cold snowy days here. Not so hot when we need to be out in the barn, but perfect for sitting by the fire knitting like a fiend!

I think I can handle that:)

Umm.....

2011-01-18T20:54:00.004-05:00

Apparently boredom has led me to attempt to clean up my sewing/computer/catch all room...and since the thought of ironing and folding a few rubbermaid totes of fabric was more than I could handle....

I decided to sort my yarn stash. After gifting a huge gift bag to my Mom and Ashley (my brother's girlfriend), I of course spent an hour sorting through the remaining 2 rubbermaid containers.

The end results? Enough yarn to make ......14 sweaters with about 10 different single skiens of varying yarns. And another good sized rubbermaid tote to donate to Mom and Ashley.

But it's all photographed and in my stash on Ravelry (except for 3 sweaters worth of yarn that are in progress/wound/semi-started) so hopefully I can find sweaters to knit with all this yarn. I guess I have a tendency to buy yarn (mostly on sale) without a specific project in mind.....

Now if the rest of the house would just clean itself I would be all set.......

In love.....

2011-01-17T09:20:00.004-05:00

We've been wanting to re-do our kitchen for quite some time now. Technically I have wanted to gut it and redo it since we moved in way back in July, 1998. It started with Jessie and I removing a hutch from our kitchen way back when.

I'm happy to say that this weekend, phase 1 (the kitchen island) was installed. In about 4 hours!

I ripped out the little wall that separated the kitchen from the family room. I will never understand why someone would want to close in their kitchen by putting in a 40" wide wall.

Give me space any day! (I also don't understand why anyone would put white linoleum down in a kitchen on a farm but....me? I'd rather have poop brown.....hides the dirt better)

My BIL came over yesterday and they started installing the base cabinets. They aren't anything fancy - American Classic cabinets from Home Depot - but considering the shape our kitchen cabinets are in - these are wonderful! We are doing this as we can afford to, paying cash as we go (or in the case of the base cabinets - gift cards from Home Depot gifted to me).

The countertop? I am seriously in love with it although it wasn't my first choice. I really wanted poured concrete.

Todd said not on his life was he doing concrete counterops. He must have thought they would be hard to do or something:)

I knew I didn't want laminate. And granite is WAY out of our price range. So are the solid wood countertops from Home Depot.

Until I found an Amish woodworker who built me a 42" by 8' butcherblock countertop. For just over $400:

I still need to oil the top side. So it will darken considerably once I do that. But it's heavy, solid and gorgeous! I love it so much we are doing the rest of the countertops exactly the same when we get to the rest of the kitchen! Yes, they are a bit of maintenance (you have to oil them every month to seal them) but.....

We chose oak, maple, cherry and walnut. Had we left out the walnut, it would have been $375.

There is still a lot of finish work to do (move the light switch for the light over the island - you can see it hanging in the first photo), stain the backside of the island (stock kitchen cabinets you need to put a nicer back on them - in this case oak plywood), oil the top of the cabinet and put the toe kick boards under the fronts of the cabinets. Oh and I have to find some bar stools that I like (preferrably with backs on them).

Next up? We are saving our pennies to have our Amish neighbor build us cabinets for the rest of the kitchen (which won't be all that much really - it's only about a 6 foot stretch which includes the sink and the dishwasher), which will also have the butcher block countertop, new laminate wood flooring, new pantry cabinet and a new window. The flooring will be the absolute last as we want the laminate to also go into the family room.

Although it may have to wait until this fall/next winter. I told Todd he could put his addition on the barn before we finish the kitchen.....

Crafty goodness

2011-01-10T10:36:00.000-05:00

While I don't have a lot of 100% finishes, I'm very close on a few things.

First off.....I quilted....nothing big...but 2 table toppers and a runner:

The runner I have one little section of quilting to do and the binding, but I ran out of green thread so I had to go buy more.

The table topper - I actually made 2 of these. One went to my Mom for Christmas and I kept 1 for me.

I actually ordered the kits direct from Joel and Heather Peterson of Ankas Treasures - and talk about great service! I'm debating if I need to order 1 of her quilt kits in this fabric to make for next year - while I have LOTS of stash, I don't have this fabric in my stash and I love it for Christmas.

The Curacao Cowl for my Mom? Just about done....6 inches to go and the smocking..... the stars, gods and planets did not align while we were in Columbus for a steer show, but I only have a few more inches to go so hopefully this week it will be done.

My Christmas sweater from my Mom is coming. Slowly but surely. Not really a pattern to follow - sort of a combination of 2 patterns.

I'm trying to figure out now how long I want it and what sort of sleeves I want.

I'm thinking maybe hip length with a garter border the last 1 1/2".

And perhaps short sleeves? Elbow length sleeves?

So far I am loving the fit of this one. While it is rather plain and simple, I'm sure I will get lots of use out of it and it will go with everything.

I did finish all of the toast mitts I was making the kids' teachers for Christmas. If I never see a fingerless mitt til next fall I will be a happy camper. 5 pairs out of the same yarn was a little much - even for me.

Now that the steer shows are done until the middle of march, and we can take about 4-5 weeks off of the walk, rinse, dry routine, I have LOTS of crafting to catch myself up on!

Kris

Hunting pheasants

2011-01-05T09:11:00.000-05:00

Barlie has been playing and growing and we've been working with her and pheasants or chuckers. We had grand intentions of getting out there in the field with her on New Year's day, but it was raining. So Sunday we went out to the field. It started out with Todd, me, Barlie and a shotgun - he wanted to make sure she wasn't afraid of the noise the shotgun would make.

Not a chance - she knew what she was supposed to be doing. But....Todd felt that he needed to be with her while she pointed at the chuckers. And someone needed to shoot them out of the air once she flushed them so she could retreive them.

I offered to shoot the gun....but Todd said ....you need to be able to HIT the flying bird and bring it down... and I am not a very good shot at moving targets:)

So we called on a good friend of ours, Andy, who in turn brought his 2 kids along for the fun.

Barlie spent lots of time running back and forth....

Until she would find the chucker and point at it:

One got away into what we call "the swamps." We let her run back and forth in there for a few minutes to see if she could find where it landed ......

There's a bird in here somewhere...

Andy stands ready with the shotgun

Of course, the little boys had to pull out their bb guns....

I spy a birdie.....

And if you are 7 and 6, and get bored, you can always make sure the chucker that was shot is really dead.....

And another birdie....

This is getting fun....

The grand total? Out of 5 birds, 2 were shot and Barlie "sort of" retrieved them.....she is not really good yet on coming when called but......Todd says his uncle's 2 german wirehairs aren't really good at that either, and they have a number of years on Barlie.....

If the weather cooperates we will be out there again with her one night this week after work and a few more birds.....

Christmas a week or so late.....

2011-01-04T10:29:00.003-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. This is what my living room looked like at 3:00 a.m. Christmas morning after I finished wrapping gifts and making fleece blankets for the kids:

Between you, me and the fence post, I hope I never see 3:00 a.m. on Christmas morning again!

We started with Christmas Eve. My parents, my grandmother and uncle, and some good friends and their 2 kids.

What a hoot! We typically try to buy 1 big gift for each kid, and then some smaller gifts. Jessie's was an ipod this year and Tyler's was a DS. My Mom got Jessie an Ipod home and Tyler some DS games. She played the blond very well (Jessie has a MP3 player that broke about a month ago, and Tyler has a game boy.....)

Jessie got a Penn State blanket from her "boyfriend" (not sure why they say they are boyfriend/girlfriend when they barely talk to one another if they r in the same room and they aren't allowed to go anywhere together...but oh well! They do text each other a lot...mainly yep, yah and what's up?)

And when the festivities go on a little too late, you can always lay down and take a nap!

Fortunately for me, the kids didn't get up really early - 8:30 a.m. So I did get a little bit of sleep after my late night of wrapping and making gifts!

Tyler is thrilled with his DS:

And Jessie was ecstatic that she got her Ipod!

When Jessie won her showmanship class at the fair, they gave her a nice metal sign to display for the week....which had to be returned. I offered at the end of the fair to buy it and replace it....but the fair board said no. So I searched and found a company that made this sign for her:

Which of course caused her a few tears as she thought about her steer, Punx.

Tyler got some tractors:

They each then got smaller things, like clothes, CD's, movies and books. It was a wonderfully relaxing day for us...but I am so glad the holidays are over!

Swamped

2011-01-03T11:44:00.004-05:00

Yes, I've been swamped beyond belief.....

I spent the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Christmas lying low and taking it easy from eye surgery....finally the steriods kicked in and my eye started healing REALLY quick....thank goodness the bandage contact lens came out the Thursday before Christmas......while I still don't have quite 20/20 vision, it's more like 20/25 or 20/30 and I can live with that very well....thankyouverymuch. My doctor is beliving that with time and healing, I will get to 20/20 or better vision.....

And yes, even knowing that I am highly allergic to the bandage contact lenses they use, I will have my other eye done again if it gets significantly worse.....the gift of 20/20 vision is awesome....

Once I was up and running again, I spent lots of time getting last minute Christmas gifts, putting up the Christmas tree, buying food and all the usual hoopla that accompanies Christmas. I was up until 3:00 a.m. Christmas morning making the last 2 christmas gifts for Jessie and Tyler (fleece blankets) and wrapping presents. Since I've had the fleece for a good month now, I'm not sure why I waited until christmas eve to fringe and knot all 4 sides of each blanket but there you go....

We also spent lots of time doing this:

And with the help of a new bullet heater, it makes this process so much nicer in 25 degree weather. Tank and Smokie tend to sweat a little towards the end but Jessie and I enjoy being comfortable enough to not have to wear a coat and gloves in the barn.....

We have a big show coming up this weekend, and the kids' final Christmas present arrived right before new years eve:

The new showbox will make life a little more organized for us, and Jessie spent a satisfying hour putting everything in it that we will need this weekend. Now if I could just get myself in gear and get all the food ready, we'd be set.

I do have some knitting and quilting (GASP! yes, I actually did some quilting while on vacation) projects, but managed to misplace my camera yesterday.....hopefully those pictures and Christmas pictures will get put up here shortly before we leave for Columbus on Friday!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Hugs,

Kris

Down and Out...

2010-12-19T14:01:00.002-05:00

10 years ago this coming March, I had Lasik surgery done. I was developing an allergy to all contacts (this should have been my first clue) and couldn't wear contacts anymore. And glasses were out of the question for how strong of a prescription I needed (can anyone say double coke bottle thickness?)

It was the BEST money we ever spent. Hands down. But I never had 20/20 vision in my right eye. More like 20/40 on a good day, 20/60 on a bad day.

This spring my eye surgeon (I go every year to him for a checkup and in return, have free touchups for life on my Lasik surgery) said he could get my vision in my right eye to 20/20. So I jumped on the chance....after I procrastinated through a busy summer.

And I had itLasek surgery done last Thursday night at 5:00 p.m. Friday until about 4 was awesome, clear vision, no pain, no symptoms. Then my eye started feeling like it had a piece of dirt in it. By Saturday morning it was red, itchy and streaming tears....I make an emergency run to the doctors?

And I'm FREAKING allergic to the bandage contact lens they used to protect the nerve endings in the surface of my eye while they heal for the next 7-10 days! You have GOT to be kidding me....

So it's home to the recliner for me. No light, no TV, lots of drops and rest......Saturday was torture, today has been a little better. I feel like a wierdo wearing my sunglasses INSIDE the house, but the light hurts way too much.

Hopefully when I go back tomorrow to the doctor it will be even better. Cause I have lots of crafting that needs to get done here in the next 5 days.......2 knitting projects and 4 quilted table toppers!

But as I told Todd last night, even if I had known this was going to happen, I would do it all over in a heartbeat....my vision is awesome.....he took care of my astigmatism as well.....I just should have had it done AFTER Christmas, instead of a week before Christmas!

Off to decorate the Christmas tree in the dark! Wish me luck....

The calm before the storm

2010-12-15T10:32:00.004-05:00

Surprisingly, I'm not feeling the usual holiday panic....yet.

The house is decorated for Christmas (except for our big Christmas tree which will hopefully go up Friday night), the presents are wrapped and ready to go. Wait....I do need gift tags for all the presents but that is minor....

We had the family over for dinner on Sunday night for Jessie's birthday. Ate a lot and laughed a lot...what more can we ask for?

The actual day of her birthday? Saturday? We spent 6 hours at a basketball tournament. Where her team played 3 games with an hour inbetween each game.

The first game? They won 18 to 2 (or something like that). The second game? They got creamed 26 to 0. The third game? They lost again, 14 to 9. Talk about a long day though....by the 3rd game they were dragging. But they played well, learned some things and had a lot of fun.

I have a few crafty gifts to finish up...but the kids and I are on vacation the last 2 weeks of the year....so I've still got plenty of time!

Enjoy your days!!!!

Kris

2010-12-11T13:06:00.001-05:00

Happy 11th birthday jessie....we are at a basketball tourney....1st game won 18 to 2...2 more games to go
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Christmas Knitting

2010-12-07T09:32:00.002-05:00

Yes, I decided I should really make just a few Christmas presents. Not as many as in years past - time is rapidly slipping away but......it'll all get done.

Jessie's in 5th grade this year - and they do "switch classes" and she has 5 different teachers every day. 3 of her teachers are female (and in fact, 1 is a good friend and saw the fingerless mitts I made last year for Tyler's teacher and put her request in). So I have 4 pairs of fingerless mitts to complete by the 17th. 2 pairs are done:

The picture isn't doing them justice - they are a very pretty royal blue, which is the school colors. Her 2 male teachers? Gift cards here we come.....

Then Mom wanted to make sweaters for my sister, Ashley (my brother's girl friend), her and myself. Of course, I get the yarn and some vague instructions on how to make the sweater. It will be just like this one unless I decide to change things up, which could happen:

You can see how far I am on it. It's taking forever to get all the raglan increases done. Hopefully I'll be separating for the sleeves soon. If not, I'm handing it back to her to wrap up and I'll finish it after Christmas!

Last week one day Mom and I went Christmas shopping (I had a $100 target gift card burning a hole in my pocket so I got most of the kids' Christmas shopping done). We stopped into Studio Knit in Medina, and Mom picked out this yarn for me to make her a Curaco Cowl for Christmas (notice the pattern here?). It will be lovely in this red tweed, and really, I can't wait to get started on it. Just have to have it done by Christmas Eve at 5:00 when we get together for dinner!

Of course, I got some Malibrigo for me. After all this holiday knitting I'm going to need something for me, me, me. The sweater is Debbie Bliss Win, out of her luxury collection book. I'm thinking mine is going to be longer, but that will be the only change I make:)

I cannot believe how fast Christmas is approaching, but I was on vacation last week and got: the house cleaned, the family room painted (except for 1 corner, but that would require me moving a very old and very heavy hutch so it's gonna wait), all the inside Christmas decorations out, and most of my Christmas shopping done. And yes, I was 1 of the crazies at Wal-mart the Friday after Thanksgiving for 3 things that were on sale. But I was back home in bed by 6 a.m.....

Have a great day!
Kris

Barlie

2010-11-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

Remember that sweet, little, puppy?

Well, she has spent the summer, growing, running and playing, and has turned into this:

Who got to play with birds for the first time last Saturday:

She quickly figured it out:

And would point at the birds when she found them:

This should come as no surprise, as she's been pointing at the cat and the cows for the last 4 months:

I do think she got a little aggravated at the birds that flew away when she got too close. But as Todd said to her, it's not your job to catch the birds, it's your job to flush them out of hiding so I can shoot them!

Todd didn't have the gun out there with him - he wants to take it slow and easy with her so she does not become gun shy. Believe me, a gun shy bird hunting dog is not a good plan.

But she is going with Todd back to PA for the next 2 weeks while he goes black bear hunting and deer hunting, so I'm sure they will find some birds to play with while they are back there.

Ribbed Cape

2010-11-18T09:13:00.004-05:00

Before you think that all I do is sit around and knit (as if - I wish!), this knit is big bulky yarn with big bulky needles. And I have been working on this one for the better part of a week, with an hour here, an hour there......

I love 10 1/2 and 11 sized needles. Things seem to fly off of them with no thinking involved on my part.

I have seen all these cute Capelet's out there in the stores and online.....but I'm not paying huge ssums of money for them.

So I found this pattern on Ravelry.

Knit in the round on size 10 1/2 needles, it flies. Simple ribbing means I don't have to pay attention to a pattern while helping the kids with their homework or watching TV.

The pattern is free, and you can make the short or the long version - this one is the short version. I thought about the long version briefly, but wanted to be done with it. I'm glad now I didn't make the long version, as it was 6" longer.

I have Christmas knitting and sewing to do!

Details:

Decreasing Rib Capelet - link directly to the pattern from the designer's website.

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Bulky - 2.5 skiens

Needles: size 10 1/2 and 11

Mods: I knit a cowl neck like seen here - rather than the turtleneck the pattern called for. I should have maybe knit the cowl a little longer - I knit to 7", and the last 5" I switched to size 11 needles. But I'm wearing it and I'm happy with it.

Size: range from 45", 50" and 55", measuring around your shoulders and bust. I of course am a 48", and while the pattern designer said she knit the 45" with a 48" measurement, I chickened out and made the 50". And I'm glad I did. I plan on wearing this to work, where I do actually have to type. So it's a little loose at the bottom, but I figure this way it won't ride up my arms as I'm typing and filing and copying. Maybe if I had made the 45" size, it would have been shorter cause the ribbing would be a little more stretched?

Have a great day!
Kris

Collins

2010-11-12T09:15:00.000-05:00

I know I say this about every sweater I knit, but this one has to be just about perfect!

I test knit this one for Thea Coleman over at Baby Cocktails. All the cables kept it interesting and the size 8 needles made it quick. Can't get any better than that in my book!

I used Berroco Remix yarn and it is wonderfully soft and warm. Just a little tweedy, in a lovely dark brown color (we took the pictures this morning while waiting for the bus in the sun).

I myself am not a big fan of sweaters that hit right at the top of my hips, but this one may convert me.

I will make this again for myself at some point (perhaps in a dark red?) but will go down 1 size. It seems a little loose in my waist. But that could be just me too.....

I haven't blocked it yet - I at first thought I wanted it longer, but I am afraid that if I block it, it will grow wider - and I certainly don't want that happening to this. So I've worn it a couple times and am adjusting to the shorter length.

I will however block the collar - I think it needs that so it lays nice and flat.

All in all? Another great sweater by Thea. This is the 3rd one of her's I have knit and I can honestly say these are the sweaters I wear the most! The fit is absolutely perfect, and there is no guessing involved on what I should be doing.

Details:

Pattern: Collins, by Baby Cocktails

Yarn: Berroco Remix - 5 skiens

Needles: size 8

Size: 38 with 1" added in length.

Native American Shelter Project

2010-11-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

As a 5th grader, Jessie had to do a report and Shelter model on a Native American tribe. She picked the Mowhawk Indians - they had longhouses instead of teepees.

Can we say UGH?????

The report included: 15 paragraphs, title page, table of contents, bibliography, pictures and illustrations. I think her's ended up being close to 20 pages long. Fortunately, she did the bulk of the work herself. Which included note cards, a rough draft and final typed report. Its worth 3 course grades (written expression, social studies and who knows what else). She just got the first grade back - for written expression she got 48/50.....I'm happy with that!

The Shelter Model was a little trickier. No larger than 20 x 24 inches, it had to include the shelter for whichever tribe she chose, landscaping, and at least 3 cultural aspects.

Definite UGH.

Our first model (a oatmeal can cut in half with bark glued to it) she didn't like. So another trip to Pat Catan's where I brought out the store again, and we had a shelter that was more to her liking (thin, flexible corkboard and dowel rods). Then she made actual beds to fit inside the house...

I love my new glue gun. It heats up to 400 degrees and uses the big FAT glue sticks. I did glue the house together, and then gave in and Jessie glued the rest down. I think we used something like 43 glue sticks.

Todd cut the board, Jessie painted it and we started attaching all the fun stuff. She made a canoe and cook pot out of sculpy clay, people out of small wooden clothes pins, and painted little baskets and put corn, wheat and mini pumpkins in them.

Then she wanted corn and trees.

The trees were relatively easy - cut branches off of the pine trees and Todd drilled holes down through the plywood and she glued them in there. The corn stalks? A dowel rod painted green and a corn husk from the corn crib cut into smaller leaves and glued on there......

When I took it into school Monday morning, I was simply amazed. There were some great projects that came in.

But I still wonder why in 5th grade we had to have something this involved......

The Natives are Restless

2010-11-09T14:00:00.003-05:00

As with past Halloween's, my kids had varying wishes for what they wished to be for trick-or-treating.

This year in 5th grade, Jessie has been working on a report and shelter model for her Native American project. Let's just say....it's been a trying month here at home. One or the other wouldn't have been bad, but when it's a 15 paragraph report with pictures, illustrations, table of contents and a bibliography AND a shelter model which includes the shelter, landscaping and cultural aspects all made out of natural materials....well......hmmm. More on that later - the pain is still to fresh....

But they FINALLY settled on being Indians. And I had a week to pull the costumes together. Plenty of time.

Tyler needed his for boy scouts the Thursday before Halloween. So I got up Thursday morning at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. and whipped out his shirt and pants. Fortunately, the local costume store supplied the headdress and the tomahawk.

Jessie's? Trick or treating was at 6:00 on Sunday. I sat down about 3:30 p.m. and whipped up her dress. No pants for her - she wanted to wear her leggings and her boots. And again, the costume shop supplied the wig, even though I had to braid it. And the kids had friends coming over for pizza beforehand......

Jessie and Blair had to play cowboys and indians before we left:

And then we had to get a group shot:

We covered the entire town for trick-or-treating, and met up with other kids throughout the night. At one point we had 3 cowboys, a witch, 2 indians and a teen. We ditched the drunken rock star 6th grader as soon as we could:)

All in all we had a blast. And the kids have 2 more costumes to add to our ever growing collection!

I crack myself up sometimes

2010-11-04T13:12:00.002-04:00

My Mom talked me into attempting to knit a pair of socks. For me. I will do the cuff, the leg and the foot - she'll take care of the heel and the toe. My problem? I don't like to do 2 of anything - whether it be sweaters, sleeves, quilts......

I have enough yarn to do a vest like I made for her last year. It's still in the skiens. One of Jessie's friends asked for a sweater just like Jessie's.....hasn't happened yet.

But after 4" into this sock:

I got the bright idea to try the 2 at a time on 2 circular needles. Especially after seeing Judy L's sock knit along. Figuring, I'd get 2 done a lot quicker than just one. I had a lovely greyish black skien of bugga sock yarn, and a ball winder. Which I used with great success the other day, even though I don't have a yarn swift.

Guess it works a lot differently on sock yarn vs. worsted weight yarn:

But I did manage to get half of the skien of yarn wound so I could start these as well:

Two rows into it and an hour later, I'm not sure which will be faster for me. But we'll see. I figure when I get to the heel shaping part, these are going on DPN's and I'm giving both of them to my Mom to do the heels. Then I'll attempt to put them back on the circular needles and do the foot.....

What did I get myself into?????

Jefferson County Fall Spectacular steer show

2010-11-02T10:30:00.005-04:00

Last Saturday we loaded up 4 calves, 2 kids and 3 adults and went to a steer and heifer show 100 miles south east of us. If our friends' heifer hadn't died unexpectedly last week, it would have been 6 calves, 4 kids and 5 adults.

Once we got there, it was so nice out we decided to tie out to the trailer and show out of the trailer. Rather than haul everything out of the trailer into the barn and set it all up, and then when we were done showing to pack everything back up, haul it out to the trailer and load it all back onto the trailer.

And if you're 10, you can slack off for a little bit and text your boy friend/girl friends while you are waiting around:

It was beautiful out, even if it was a little cold.

But the steers and heifers stayed cool and we didn't need to turn on the fans.

The kids started off with showmanship:

Jessie got 2nd out of 23 kids with Smokie in Jr. Showmanship.

And then Tyler went right back into the ring for beginner showmanship (kids 8 & under) and got 3rd out of 6.

We took a heifer and a steer for each kid to show. Tyler got 7th with smokie (out of 13).

Jessie got 6th with Jason's heifer Fabulous (out of 14)

Tyler got 8th with Huey (out of 13)

And Jessie took her new steer Tank in and got 10th (out of 16).

Our main goal for this show was to get everyone in the ring and walking and behaving well. And for Jessie to get in there with Fabulous and Tank, whom she has never shown. If all goes as planned, we will go back to Columbus over Jessie's birthday (she again this year wants to go to a steer show for her birthday) and we want her comfortable with these calves.

And we were happy that we were in the middle of the pack. There were some big names down there - kids that skip their county fairs and show at the National level......but we held our own.

It was a very long day (we left the house at 7 a.m. and got home just after 9 p.m.). But it was a good day and we are planning on going back down there next year:)

Kris

1928

2010-10-22T09:55:00.001-04:00

Tyler joined cub scouts this year. Todd was a boy scout all the way through high school (and actually is an Eagle Scout - 5 palms) as is Todd's brother and their father.

Last night we went on a field trip to the historical society.

It was interesting, to see the pictures of what our little town used to look like 100 years ago. They had advertisements, posters, newspaper articles, and all sorts of old kitchen ware and farm equipment.

Tyler had fun having me read the articles and posters to him, until we came to this one:

I don't know how to make it so you can click to enlarge the pictures, but it says: "Home baking in most homes is no longer an economy - it is an expense that should be done away with. Baked goods from our ovens, fresh daily, have taken the place of the home bake day, freeing the housewife from hours of drudgery. Make 1928 a bakeless year in your home."

And for Tyler, who loves nothing more than fresh baked bread straight out of my oven (with butter and cinamon sugar on it of course) - he was appalled that someone would even consider this!

Interesting how times have changed, isn't it?

Kris

Tank

2010-10-20T09:34:00.005-04:00

Last weekend, while Jason and I were riding herd on 2 kids and 5 calves at a show, Todd was enjoying some fun at a club calf auction at his uncle's farm in PA.

I'm still not convinced that I shouldn't have been at the auction and he should have been at the show. But....if I had been at the auction we would have probably spent more money. And he did get her a very nice steer - not one of the ones we were hoping to buy, but when they go for over $3,000 - that was way over our limit to start with (which is about 1/2 of that....). Jessie has to have a chance to at least break even.......

We have a game plan on this whole buying steers for the kids to show: We gave Jessie her first steer, and when she sold him at the fair, she took the money to buy herself a steer and we buy her a steer, then in the spring, she brought 2 pigs (one for State Fair and one for County Fair) and we buy 2 pigs. This year, she sold Punx and her pig and brought the steer that Todd bid on at the auction. And she has enough money to buy herself 2 pigs for next year and a little left over. We buy all the feed for all the animals, and whoever doesn't go to the fair goes into our freezer.

And Sunday, him and a friend of ours and our friends' son left our house at the ungodly hour of 6:00 a.m. to make the 3 1/2 hour drive one way to bring Jessie's steer home.

So I spent the day (mostly) parked in my recliner knitting up a storm. Which was all good, as I have this sweater just about done:

Another inch on the collar and I am golden. And I will be wearing this as soon as it is done! It's Collins, by Baby Cocktails. And it is an absolute dream to knit.

Until I decided about 3:30 that I should really go clean out the basement so we can get into it this fall and winter. But I had the kids to help, so the 5 yard carts of trash to the burn pile didn't take too long.

In fact, I got done just in time to welcome home:

Tank!

Who is already turning into a pain-in-the-rear because he is so friendly. We are talking you walk in the barn - and he's waiting for a scratch and a rub. You walk in the pen and he is right next to you wanting some love.

Jessie has had him out every single night - brushing on him, walking him and practicing showmanship. We are going to another show in southern Ohio on the 30th. And they have a showmanship class. And her friends are going (who incidentally placed ahead of her in showmanship at the last show), and she wants to make sure she in her A-game.

We've been sort-of taking it easy the last week and a half, but tonight, all that is going to change, as there are 2 steers going to the show on the 30th and 2 heifers.

I'm looking at it this way - if I can manage to avoid driving a vehicle going to this show, I'll get in 200 miles of knitting time:)

Later,

Kris

Harvest Choice Steer Show

2010-10-12T13:36:00.005-04:00

This past weekend, while Todd was in PA bidding on Jessie's steer for next year, Jason and I loaded up Jessie, Tyler and 5 calves and went to a steer show in Medina.

I'm not sure if we were insane or not at the time.

We called on my parents and my brother and his girlfriend Ashley to help us out, seeing as I had to take Tyler to his last Flag Football game of the year, where he played the first half of his game and then we booked it the 30 min. away to the show.

But the kids had fun, and we are looking at going to Smithfield, Ohio (100 miles away) the end of October for another 1 day show!

Jessie showing Huey in his market steer class, and our good friend Erin showing Jason's steer class. Jessie got 3rd and Erin got 4th. And the red calf is now Tyler's steer for him to call his own and show this fall and winter!

We have a joke among us and Erin's parents, who are good friends of ours, that these 2 girls are twins born 12 years apart. We have pictures of both Erin and Jessie when Erin was Jessie's age - and the resemblance is unreal! Todd and Robin keep joking about getting DNA proof....

Jason's steer doesn't walk the greatest (which is why Tyler or Jessie didn't show him) so Erin and her sister Brittney had to do a little pushing and pulling.

Jessie showed our heifer Smokie and got 3rd in her heifer class.

Tyler showed our other heifer Famous (who Jessie showed at our county fair) and got 4th in the heifer class.

Jessie also showed Huey in showmanship and got 4th out of 12. He is something of a butthead, and likes to push her around, but she handled it!

Erin showed Jason's heifer Fabulous and got 2nd in her heifer class.

And while we were all at the steer show having fun with family and friends, Todd was in PA and bid on this guy for Jessie. Who will come home this Saturday so we can get him ready for the show the end of the month.

It was a terrific day with family and friends, a lot of work getting 5 calves ready, but also a lot of fun that included a cookout and a water fight.

Now I'm off to rush home to cook dinner for the family and get back to work for an evening meeting. Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

My New Obsession....

2010-09-23T11:38:00.000-04:00

...and after the summer we've had....it's not a steer, or a calf... or a pig!

It's my soon to be new sweater!

I am lucky enough to be test-knitting this for Baby Cocktails, and I LOVE this sweater already. I cannot wait to be wearing it!

While it looks like I'm not very far into it, this picture was taken on Sunday afternoon....after just a little over an hour of knitting on both Saturday and Sunday.

On size 8 needles, it's flying right along.....I'm about 8 inches up the back, just a few more to go! I think all sweaters need to be knit on size 7 or larger needles.....

And yes, I can't believe I've managed 2 posts in as many days. Things have REALLY slowed down here now that the fair is over. And it helps that Jessie has "realized" that the more she is around her calves, the better they are. So her and Tyler have been doing all the feeding and cleaning out in the barn....

Wayne County Fair.....in review

2010-09-22T10:17:00.007-04:00

Wow. That is all I can say about our County Fair this year. It was tough.

There were some fantastic steers in the show on Saturday. So we were thrilled with 2nd in her market class. And can I just ask how she can look so incredibly old while she is showing her steer? Is it the hair do (which took 2 girls almost an hour to curl it all)? Is is that she has worked with him so much that she is just comfortable with him?

This picture kind of reminds me of this one.

Showmanship class was so thrilling. She got a huge plaque to hang above her steer, but we had to return it to the fairboard on Thursday. I offered to pay for a new one to be made so that we could keep it....but no go.

All that hard work really paid off with Punx.

We just won't talk about when we sold him. The 5 of us couldn't take it. Still can't really......but that's ok cause our vet brought him, and he had to rush out of there after seeing us adults standing there while she sold her steer and we all were crying and he started crying.

If you had told me 10 years ago I would get attached to a steer, I'd have been rolling on the floor laughing.

Hamilton made it in to the fair with 5 lbs to spare.

There's Jessie in her orange shirt (that I made her) in showmanship. She was convinced it was her "lucky shirt". It certainly stood out in the ring!

She ended up with a 2nd in showmanship. The judge had it narrowed down to her and another boy, but Jessie's pig ran out of steam and wouldn't go down the fence - he liked to be out in the open. And when the judge stands in the corner of the ring 2 feet away from the fence with his back to you and wants you to get down there as fast as you can to get in front of him and your pig doesn't want to go near the fence, it's a problem.

But I'll take a 2nd in showmanship and a 3rd in her market class.

Because that just means she doesn't have to go back in for the Championship Drive and can instead run as fast as she can down to the beef ring to show her heifer. And win her age class so she can go back in and win Grand Champion Shorthorn (out of 6 animals)....

And go back into the ring and win Reserve Champion Supreme Heifer overall (out of 7 breeds) and get a really cool trophy and director's chair!

Sorry, no picture of her with her trophy and chair, because she had to turn right around and go back into the ring with Huey:

And get a 2nd in her feeder calf class (out of 10)!

She did not show her last showmanship class. Both of her calves were tired and starting to not to stand and walk like they should. And it had been a long day as she started with showing her pig and then her heifer and then Huey.

But that's ok, cause it left time for fun stuff that we caught like this:

A 17 yr. old (Jason's niece) and a 10 yr. old doing some weird sort of head bobbing side-to-side thing.....

and you should NEVER bet a 17 year old a milk shake to go up and kiss a 13 year old boy on the cheek for getting reserve champion in his division. Todd learned his lesson on that one. Which he should have known as we've been hanging out with all these kids in various barns for the last month before the fair.....

Thursday after the sale, while waiting to load up at 10 p.m. and head for home, we went to the demo derby where Jason was entered.

He won his class and went back in for the final heat, where I think he placed 4th. I keep saying I want to have a car in the demo derby.....but no one has agreed with me yet!

And Tyler had his kiddie tractor pull on Sunday.

In his age division there were 57 kids. And he had a full pull and had to go back up against the other 5 boys that had full pulls. And he ended up 4th overall. I just noticed in looking at that picture the front tires are up off the ground. How cool is that?

He did complain for the next day or so that his legs were sore.....but he had a blast!

And when all else fails and you get tired you can always lean on Jason and take a nap. And yes, she was sleeping and slept this way for about 30 minutes. We thought she was faking it at first, until he went to prop her up and walk away she about landed in a heap on the floor if he hadn't been so quick to catch her.

Then we had to amuse ourselves with lifting her head up (or her arms) and watching them roll about like limp noodles. I told him to just wake her up....but he was too nice.....and stood there while she took a nap.

It's over, the animals are sold.....and will be in somebodies freezer before too long. We survived the tornado that passed just south of the fairgrounds during the beef sale and had a memorable week.

And now? It's onto next year. We are taking this week off, but next week will keep right on working with both heifers (a friends daughter showed our other heifer and won her class and got reserve champion crossbred heifer with her) and Huey, and next week we are traveling back to PA to pick out Jessie's next year steer prospect. She made enough money at the sale to hopefully buy a really good calf and put some money in her college fund......we brought Huey for her right before the fair so.....she will have her work cut out for her!

Have a good day

Kris

Real Quick...

2010-09-15T09:02:00.002-04:00

Jessie is still sleeping....guess these long nights are catching up with her.

She has has a FANTASTIC county fair this year.

With Punx:
2nd in her market class
Grand Champion Jr. Showmanship
"Pro Showmanship" - they take the winners from each age division (senior, intermediate, junior and beginner). She didn't "win" but the Judge told everyone in attendance that he could not place her as the winner due to her age and the fact that she has 8 years left of showing. IF she had won, she wouldn't be able to show in her age division EVER AGAIN. He did come up to us after the class and say he has never seen someone her age so good....she was definitely "with it" on Saturday.....

With Hamilton:
2nd in showmanship. Let's just say the Judge was sneaky and Hamilton ran out of steam after 20 minutes in the class.
3rd in Market Hog. There were some really, really, REALLY tough pigs in that show!

With Fancy (her black and white shorthorn heifer):
1st in the Shorthorn Jr. Calf class
Grand Champion Shorthorn Heifer
Reserve Champion Supreme Heifer overall

With Huey (the feeder calf):
2nd in his feeder calf class.

She did not show her 2nd showmanship class last night. She was getting tired and getting frustrated with Huey as he was being something of a butthead. We figured it was better off to skip it and have her fair end on a high note. Which in hindsight was a good thing - there was 27 kids in her Jr. Showmanship class. And Todd watched the class and there were calves going every which way - jumping, getting loose, etc.

We are going into the fair today. Let the kids have some fun, walk around as we haven't made it any further than the swine barn and the beef barn and take care of her animals. Tomorrow is the sale, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be rough! There have already been a few tears over having to sell these animals, and the request that we BUY them back so they can be pets (which can't be done and we wouldn't do in any case).

Have a good one!
Kris

2010-09-12T13:11:00.001-04:00

I think she will have a rough time getting rid of him

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2010-09-11T17:52:00.001-04:00

Second in her markey class and grand champ junior showman....not a bad day at all:)
Callback #: 330-465-6079

50 hours.....give or take

2010-09-07T10:18:00.004-04:00

That is how long we have to pull EVERYTHING together and get ourselves and these animals into the fair...

Punx walks like a champ - if we could only get him totally clipped! I've never seen such an idiot when the clippers get anywhere near his head or neck. He was clipped on Sunday night and Monday night. One more good night and his head will be done.....

Jessie is getting pretty good at blow drying all of these animals. And her heifer is really starting to come around for her and walk like she should.

And Hamilton the pig? He weighs 284 (max weight is 280) so we are hoping with some vigorous walking and washing and the trailer ride he SHOULD slide in at about 276. Friday night he weighed 289, so we are slowly getting there.

And yes, that is a marshmallow on the end of her whip. Amazing how far he will walk for a marshmallow.

Tonight Todd and Jessie are taking the camper into the fairgrounds while I take Tyler to football practice. Then we are going to a friends house to weigh their pigs and so Jessie can walk Huey one last time. Then it's home to weigh "Hamilton" and wash and walk him one last time.

Tomorrow night we are hauling the fan cage into the fair grounds and decorating our club's pens. Todd and I both have off on Thursday - I'm really hoping to get the grocery shopping done for the week and we will get the tack boxes and feed all packed up and make sure Hamilton is on track with his weight. Then while I pick the kids up at school, it will be one last weight check for Hamilton and our friend's pigs, and the first load will go to the fairgrounds about 4:30. I think they have to make 4 trips to get everyone into the fairgrounds this year......

And...I have to put the binding on the quilt I'm taking to the fair. It's all ready to go, it just needs sewn down so hopefully that can happen tonight as the quilt has to be in there tomorrow morning by 9. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?????

Determination

2010-09-01T10:59:00.000-04:00

Last year at the fair, Jessie was a little gun shy of her steer. And who wouldn't be - when you weigh 80 lbs. if you are lucky and your steer weighs 1400 lbs? This year, she has worked with her steer from the time he weighed about 450 lbs. And a turtle probably walks faster than he does....on a good day. On a bad day - he doesn't want to move. at all.

But she had some nerves earlier this summer as he got bigger. And Huey (her feeder calf) was a little rambunctious the first time she walked it.

But she has gone from this:

there ain't no way I am walking this calf by myself!!!

To this:

And then to this:

To this:

To this:

In the space of maybe 2 weeks. She has worked her butt off this summer. Poor Punx...he has been her "practice animal" but she has him to the point, she stops walking, and he places his feet right where they need to be.

Although it hasn't been all hard work around here:

Apparently the blower for the steers/calves can be used to create unique and unusual hairstyles as well:

Something tells me we may be having a little too much fun these late nights in the barn with friends and their kids who are showing also....but we aren't stopping the fun now! And we are planning a major cookout/party at the camper in between the steer show and the tractor pull on Saturday night. And another one Sunday night.....and Wednesday night.....you get the idea......

We have 7 days until we move into the Wayne County Fair. Everyone is walking (for the most part). This weekend we will spend packing the camper, packing the tack boxes, the usual "walk, rinse, dry, repeat" routine we've had with all 3 calves and Punx all summer long, and walking the pigs.

We are still in the air on which pig is going. It will all depend on what they all weigh next Thursday night when the trailer backs up to the barn doors....and on what our friends' pigs' weigh. We are "hoping and aiming for" that none of them are in the same weight class. We'll see how well we manage THAT one.

For today.....I have to go find some hot pink spray paint to "decorate" a derby car for the fair........he should NEVER tell another Mom, the 3 kids and I "sure....go ahead and decorate it....."

Have a good one!
Kris

PS - THANK YOU everyone for your suggestions on my quilt dilema. Let's just say I finally made contact with a couple of family members, and my quilt should be coming back to me unquilted by the end of the week. There were circumstances beyond the quilters control, for which I am truly thankful she is OK, but a phone call, email, text message from someone would have still been helpful. So if everything goes as it should, I should have my top back here within the next couple of days.....for which I am ever so thankful!

Heartsick......

2010-08-27T10:22:00.003-04:00

I've sent 3 quilt tops off to be quilted by a blog friend, with excellent results. Reasonably fast turnaround time, great job done, fairly priced.

I sent a quilt top to her the end of March, along with a check for the quilting, batting and the return shipping. I included in the package the quilt and backing. She cashed my check on March 31st, I talked to her the first week of April (and she assured me it would be done within the next 6 weeks) and I have not heard a word from her.

I am devastated. And yet, I am oh so thankful this didn't happen with the first quilt that she quilted for me, which is a 60+ year old heirloom.....or the seond quilt which is one that I pieced the entire top by hand......

I've sent letters, emails, left phone messages with no response. The quilt top was a gift from a friend and I just want it back. I've even go so far as to send 2 of her relatives messages on facebook - which I just managed to track them down this morning and send off messages. And yes, I see from a wall post from 1 of her relatives that she is still alive (or was still alive as of the beginning of August). Hopefully I'll hear something.

All I want is the quilt back - whether it's been quilted or not. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get it back? Todd suggested that we take a couple days off work and he will DRIVE me down there (5 hours 1 way) to go to her house and pick it up. I'm not sure that I am that desperate.....yet.

But...I have 3 heirloom antique quilts that were Todd's grandmother's that I would LOVE to have quilted. But I'm not sure I could send her another quilt - even if she were to call me today with a perfectly good excuse as to why I've had no contact from her. How hard is it to drop a postcard in the mail.....or send me a message on facebook....or an email? Anyone have a long arm quilting machine that would take execellent care of these quilts and get them done for me?

Leave me a message in the comments and I'll contact you.......

In the meantime, if you are reading this and you have my quilt - please send it back ASAP. I don't care if it is quilted or not......I just want my quilt back!!!!

Patience is really not my strong suit, but oh am I learning it right now......after the fair Todd and I just might have to take a drive.................and I am just sick over this whole mess.....

Curacao Cowl

2010-08-13T13:45:00.004-04:00

I have managed to squeeze in a minute or two here and there of knitting. Mostly a minute but hey.....every little bit of relaxation counts, right?

I started this back on June 22nd. And I'm embarassed to say I just had 6" left to do up until a week ago.

I love the smocking and the cable together. And I LOVE this yarn. Too bad it's discontinued and I had to search high and low for just one more skien to make this long enough.

My seam is horrible, but it's easily hidden in the back and under the second wrap. I can't wait for fall to wear it with a tshirt and jeans.......or to work with a cool jersey jacket.

Hopefully here in about 6 weeks I'll have a little more time to sit, relax and get back to my crafting. Although Jessie and Tyler both are conspiring to hit some steer shows this fall and winter, so we shall see if my plans work out!

Details:

Pattern: Curacao Cowl

Yarn:Berrocco Cotton Twist Solids, 5 skiens, sasafrass

Needles: size 8

This would be great if you are new to cables - very clear instructions and easy to understand!

We are super busy this weekend - tonight is the Alumni vs. Varsity soccer game at our school - and while I don't particularly enjoy watching soccer, Jessie and Tyler are dying to go to see a good friend as well as Jessie's 4th grade teacher play so....we will go to a soccer game. And tomorrow is a benefit car wash in Wooster that our 4-h club is putting on at a car dearlership on Old Lincoln Way across from the fairgrounds (sorry, but the name of the dealership escapes me at the moment - but I do know there will be food there at lunch time in exchange for a donation to have your car washed). Then tomorrow night is a picnic/party/cook out to celebrate a friends' parents 35th wedding anniversary and his dad's 65th birthday.

Have a good weekend everyone!
Kris

28 days

2010-08-12T11:49:00.005-04:00

I cannot believe that we only have 28 days until we have to haul all these animals into the County Fair!!!

This is Wilbur the weekend before we left for State Fair

getting clipped by Jason. Jessie and Todd were feeding

him blueberry poptarts to get him to stand still long enough

to be clipped. Who knew a pig would like pop tarts?

Actually, I cannot believe we have 5 days until school starts. And a whole new routine has to start as well. Because I won't have 2 kids at home all day every day to do chores:)

Does anyone else think that the summer just flew by?

I started to freak out Tuesday night. Punx is shedding his hair.....her feeder calf is not walking the greatest....her pigs weigh 190, 199 and 215 lbs right now (we'd like WHICHEVER one goes to County Fair to weigh 260 something). My flowerbeds are not-so-very-pretty-among-the-weeds.....I won't mention what shape my house is in at the moment.....

This is Huey. Who actually behaves very well for the little

he has been worked with.

Then Todd reminded me - we have a month. We can do a LOT in a month.
My response? Sleep will have to be overrated for the next month. For ALL of us:).

Actually, today - I feel optimistic. Punx weighs right about where we want him.....it will not take more than a few days to teach her pigs how to walk better......the feeder calf? She is just determined enough to not let him pull any crap with her....and Roundup became my new best friend in my flowerbeds last night. Now as soon as the weeds that I sprayed die, I'll run the weedeater all around the house and presto....they will look good. I "hired" Jessie to clean the house - I left her a list of 10 chores today - if they are all done, she will get $10. And it's stuff like vacuming a room, dusting a room, sweeping the kitchen floor, wiping down cabinets and countertops. I'll leave her a list of 10 more tomorrow, and do the same next Monday and Tuesday. She'll have some spending money and I'll have a cleaner house. I offered to pay Tyler but he said he has plenty of money for the moment....lol.

Ohio State Fair

2010-08-09T11:05:00.005-04:00

We survived.

The kids had fun (heck, we had a blast).

We started off with lots of late nights before show day practicing in the show ring (and a trip down to Columbus for Jessie and I at 5:30 in the morning on Wednesday).....

We said going down there that we weren't going to win it all but were going for the learning experience and to have fun.

I think we succeeded.

Jessie ended up 12th in showmanship out of 26 and 10th in the market hog class out of 17. And she ended up 11th out of 30 on the swine skillathon.

And no - I didn't get lots of pictures. I was to busy enjoying it. And biting my nails while watching her show. We rented a camper for the days we were there - which was such a blessing. There was 15 people in our "group" - we ate way to much, stayed up way to late and had way to much fun. We also rented a golf cart - it was a very, very long way from the campgrounds to the pig barn - a 5 min. trip one way on the golf cart.

Tyler did get to show in the open show on Sunday - he didn't place but he is ready to do it again.

I think he could end up being a better showman than his sister.

The best thing about the past week? Jessie came home last night fired up to work with her pigs and her steer for our County Fair. She knows what she needs to work on now and is anxious to get started......

2010-08-05T09:34:00.001-04:00

We are at the state fair .....now its a waiting game
Callback #: 330-465-6079

Checking in

2010-07-28T22:01:00.003-04:00

Life is seriously kicking my behind. But it's been a memorable summer so.....I'm not going to complain!

Jessie got an excellent for both her sewing and her scrapbooking projects. She is thrilled that she had good comments (and THANK YOU LORD she did not make it to state fair. I could not have done it....).

Jessie also took her 3 beef skillathons and got a 100, 98 and 96%. Tomorrow night she does her pig skillathon.

Jessie was at 4-h camp all last week. Tuesday to Friday on Kelly's Island. Then Tyler was at church camp from this past Sunday to tonight. And on Sunday Jessie was going to spend the night with some good friends and their 22 and 24 year old daughters? Well, the girls were going to Attica NY and wanted Jessie to go. So off she went from Sunday to Tuesday.

I never appreciated until they were gone just how much work they do every day with the animals. And I am so thankful they are home now:)

This weekend I have to work. All weekend long. Friday night through Sunday morning. Although I may skip out of the Sunday part of conference. I'm feeling the crunch to get things done in preparation for State Fair. My parents are keeping the kids this weekend - I'm sure they will have much more fun with Grandma and Grandpa than with me.

Feeder calves are weaned. And Jason has Jessie's calf pretty well broke. We are working on her heifer. We actually have 4 in the barn - whichever is the calmest will get to go to the fair.

This is Huey. So far, he is a big puppy dog. A puppy dog with lots of hair.

Wilbur (the pig) is wilbur. Tonight he weighed 260 lbs. We want him right around 265 so we have to do some adjusting until we load him up and head out next Tuesday. Right now, the plan is that Todd and Jason will haul him down during the middle of the night Tuesday (can't have him stressing in the heat and it's been hot here - 90+ degrees). They will turn right around and come home after getting him bedded down in his pen. Then, at the UNGODLY early hour of sometime between 6 and 7, the 5 of us will head out in the Durango to meet the delivery person with the camper we are renting for the week. And while Todd and the kids are taking care of Wilbur, I will be unpacking the back of the very full Durango and making a grocery run to Aldi's. There's no sense in me buying all of the food we will eat in 5 days by home to drag it all an hour and a half away when there is an Aldi's 1/2 mile from the fairgrounds (if Mapquest is correct).

And Jessie informed me late Sunday afternoon that her jeans, belt and boots no longer fit. So I had to order her a new belt and a couple pairs of jeans. The boots? We are heading out on Monday when I am off to find her a pair. And I still have to sew the buttons and button holes on her 2 show shirts. At least I have them made......although we cheated and went with short sleeved shirts. If it continues to be this hot, I won't let her do the whole long sleeved shirt deal. No sense in giving her a heat stroke, right?

Of course, we come back from State Fair and the kids have a week and 2 days until school starts. I'm seriously looking forward to school starting.

I hope everyone is having a terrific summer!!!! I am visiting all of you, I'm just stealing a minute here and there to catch up with each of you....

Have a great week!
Kris

I'm still here.....

2010-07-13T09:49:00.005-04:00

.....barely!

Wasn't I the one gloating about we had Jessie's scrapbook project and her sewing project all done weeks ago?

I think I was....at least in my head.

This summer has shot that down in it's entirety. Between baling hay, doing chores, trying to keep up with the garden, flowerbeds and the lawn, and working with all these 4-h project critters, I am SO READY for December to hit. Wait, better make that January when it will definitely be too cold to do anything out in the barn!

We've gotten in from the barn every single night for the past week between 11 p.m. and midnight. And I am a girl that NEEDS a minimum of 8 hours of sleep a night. So 6:00 a.m. is kicking my behind big time. I think I'm living on gas station capucino. At least it's cheap:)

And I still have to sew a button on Jessie's top for the judging tonight. Or rather, I have to spend the time to TEACH her how to sew the button on the back - between getting home at 4:30 p.m., cooking dinner and being at judging by 5:30 p.m. I think McDonalds will win tonight for dinner.....

And I have to pick up some more stickers for her scrapbook, drop both the stickers and her actual scrapbook off at the house on my way from 1 job to the next so she can finish it.

Did I mention that both projects get judged tonight? At the same time?

Let's hope she remembers to take a shower and wash her hair before I get home from work at 4:00!

But this has happened every single night:

And walking 3 pigs one night and giving them baths, and walking the other 2 the next night and giving them baths. If I can find where I put my camera, I'll treat you all to the video of her walking the pig and washing it. She is getting quite good at it and we are no longer rolling around on the barn floor laughing.

1 week until Jessie goes to 4-H camp for 4 days (what am I going to do without her? She is REALLY picking up the slack around here).....2 weeks until Tyler goes to Church Camp for 3 days ......3 weeks until State Fair, 5 weeks until school starts again for us (August 17th)......

Where in the world did summer go?

Edited to add: I'm really not complaining, even though this post sounds awfully whiny. I do love this life that we have chosen and would not dream of telling Jessie (and Tyler) no they cannot do all that they do but....holey moley....i NEED about 30 waking hours in a day for the next month......

hmmm.....

2010-06-25T10:30:00.005-04:00

When you spend your birthday doing this:

All 78 bales got baled up safely, no rain, no wind and no major accidents:)

You'd better get a little time to yourself to start this:

Curacao cowl by Thea Coleman - Baby Cocktails.

It's almost too hot here to knit anything larger:)

And FINALLY, after months of on-and-off knitting, finish this:

Rusted Root

Yarn: Elle Cotton Fields

Size: Medium

Perfect for summer!

It also helps if the day your birthday falls in ends up being in the low 90's and the air conditioned tractor that your husband is using to bale hay only seats 2 people, and both kids think it is great fun to go round and round the field with him at a snail's pace.

This meant lots of ME time last Sunday in between when I quit spreading mulch in the flowerbeds due to the heat and helping Todd by driving the skidloader while he drove the tractor to pick up all. 78. bales. of. hay. Although he wouldn't let me load them onto the wagon - I wonder why????? And helping Jessie wash her steer.

So we ate dinner at 9:30 that night. No big......

Later,

Kris

1 project done

2010-06-17T08:47:00.003-04:00

Remember how I said we flew through Jessie's sewing project on Sunday, and had just the sleeves and the hem to do? Well, she buckled down again on Monday night and in under an hour did set-in sleeves and her hem:

Pretty cute, if I do say so myself. And she says she will actually wear it to school, church or wherever.

We still have to find brown leggings and brown flats to go with it. And some sort of jewelry. But that is minor compared to getting it done and actually having it look good.

Now as long as she doesn't sneak it out of the house before the judging on July 13th and wear it while doing this (and yes, she did try to after she had it on for the pictures):

All will be well in our little world:)

Kris

Summer

2010-06-14T10:35:00.002-04:00

It's been hot, muggy, humid and rainy here the last two weeks. I'm so ready for some hot DRY days it's not funny. We haven't cut a blade of hay it's been so wet - and we are fast running out of hay for Jessie's steer. Fortunately he doesn't eat much.....Hopefully this weekend we can get the hay made.

But Friday I found this on clearance at our local home improvement store. And Todd was nice enough to put it together Saturday afternoon for me in the 90 degree weather. That felt like 105.

Just in time to use it for seating at an impromptu get together with friends on Saturday night. I do love summer.

Yesterday found Jessie and I working on her 4-H sewing project. All that is left to do is the sleeves and the hem. Which would have been done if she had been able to stay focused, but it's summer and that word is apparently not in her vocabulary right now.

But she did the majority of the work on it so far - and is saying that she will wear it - so that is a plus in my book:) She wants to find brown leggings and brown flats to wear with it. And the sash around her ribcage will have a button in the back rather than the bow that the pattern calls for.

Of course, when I sent her outside to play, I figured her brand spanking new sewing machine was already set up, so I might as well get busy working on her show shirts for the State Fair and County Fair. Seeing as how I am so not into paying $30 a shirt when she really needs 4 of them for the county fair. Since there is no time to do laundry that week.

I'm pretty happy with the way it came out so far. The collar seems a little stiff, but it fits her really well. I still need to do the sleeves, the buttons/button holes and the hem. Hopefully tonight I can finish this one up, and start on the lime green one next. Or the bright orange. Or maybe the hot pink.

She definitely wants to be noticed this year:)

And our last cow to calve finally had her calf last Thursday - a black and white bull calf.

Todd was really hoping for a heifer, but I was hoping for a bull calf to make a steer project for Jessie next year. I should have bet him on whether it would have been a boy or a girl.

So this year we were tied - 3 for 3. Now we just have to get everyone re-bred for next year's calves.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
Kris

An update.....

2010-06-03T10:15:00.005-04:00

I really don't have a whole lot to say (shocking, I know) but......

I think I'm finally getting caught up. Of course, I say that now and SOMETHING will happen. Oh yeah - that's right, we do have to bale hay at some point in time. But since my main job is to keep the cold drinks coming while Todd and others are baling, I'm going to put that one right out of my mind! And I have to spread 7 yards of mulch in the flowerbeds. Which I will use the skidloader for... But I think that is about it.

This is Jessie's feeder calf for this year at the fair:

Which we still have to bring home from a friends' house once he is weaned. We are trading a friend 1 of our heifers from this year for him and possibly another steer calf.

And these are the latest pig purchases from the live auction a few weeks ago:

The one where we got a little carried away (ahem) on the bidding.

Fortunately, they are growing like weeds. Still tiny (46, 57 & 73 pounds as of Monday) but I'm not stressing and obsessing about it just yet. I'm not stressing and obsessing about it just yet. I just keep repeating that to myself along with we have months until the county fair.

The kids' are 1 week into summer vacation. And bored senseless already.

Tonight Jessie and I are going to start working on her sewing project for 4-H. We went Monday and she picked out fabric and a pattern, I got it approved by the advisor yesterday, so tonight we will start. Hopefully I will have the patience to teach her how to sew clothing. We also picked up the stuff she needs to do a scrapbook project. The judging for both of these projects is July 13th, so we really need to get moving on them.

We planted the garden on Sunday - in under an hour. 32 Tomato plants (roma and eating), green beans, 4 pepper plants, 4 cucumber plants, 20 lbs. of potatoes, 4 zuccini squash plants, 1 butternut squash plant, 4 giant pumpkin hills and 3 jack o lantern hills. We comandeered the kids to dig all the holes, Todd dropped the plants in and I filled in around them with dirt. We'll see how this goes. And yes, I got a little carried away on the tomato plants.....

Have a great Thursday!
Kris

Memorial Day

2010-06-01T09:35:00.003-04:00

Happy belated Memorial Day everyone! We had a busy weekend, but a very fun and relaxing one too (if that is possible). Although I did have to work on Saturday, but we aren't mentioning that right now......

I planted more flowers around the pond - I must have a weakness for flowers:) Either that or I am a glutton for punishment!

Everything is growing so big so fast! This week we are FINALLY going to get the bridge across the stream done. And Todd is putting an electric fence around the pond to keep Barlie out of it! I guess it shouldn't surprise me that she loves the water (being a bird dog and all) but my water lillies and the fish are probably traumatized.

Jessie was home sick from school last Wednesday. With the last day of school on Thursday what a bummer for her. So while she and Barlie slept the day away, I put up the gazebo and decorated my deck!

Remember my chair and barrel from the junk store? I still need to paint it, but it hasn't broken yet:)

I found the other 2 chairs at Lowe's for $17 each. I still want to find either a glider or a bench. Last year I had a table and chairs out here that we ate at, but Todd thought the chairs were too small for him, and there wasn't a whole lot of room up there. So I wanted to do something that we would use. I'm pleased that already we have spent hours out there in the afternoons and evenings.

Thursday was the last day of school. For Tyler's kindergarten teacher, I had the school's art teacher put the kids' handprints on this flower pot, and I filled it with flowers. You know it's a good gift when the teacher cries.

And this will be Jessie's feeder calf 4-H project. Once he is weaned from his momma, he will come to our house. We are trading our friend Jason one of our heifers for him.

Now it's back to work. I need a few more days at home, but.....I don't think I will be getting them anytime soon.....

Have a great week

Kris

Hello there...

2010-05-20T13:40:00.005-04:00

Working 2 jobs (45 hours a week total) plus travel time is really kicking my butt. Add in all the rain and cold weather we have had (we actually fired up the woodburner the other night)....and ....

I'm not getting much of anything done.

But....I'm playing hooky this afternoon here in a little while. And I'm going home to mow the yard (which incidentally is super high) and play in my flowerbeds.....

Because I went to Green Valley Growers last week and Boyert's Greenhouse Monday night in the rain and brought a few (ahem) things with a good friend.

I think I need to find a job at a greenhouse....

Oh....and I'm going to another pig auction this weekend all by myself to help a friend with all the behind-the-scenes work. Wish me luck!!!

Kris

Our new rules.....about going to an auction

2010-05-17T10:25:00.005-04:00

1. Kris does not get control of the bidder number...ever.

2. Kris does not sit next to Todd while he is bidding....ever.

3. When Todd gets done bidding and goes back into the barn to help get the rest of the pigs to the auction ring... he MUST take the bidder number with him and tell everyone sitting around me (and the ring crew taking the bids) that I am not to bid...on ANYTHING.

If we follow those 3 little rules, a) We won't get the pig we really, really want (when it hits the $1150 dollar mark we are so beyond done bidding and then we aren't the ones paying $1350 for a 45 lb. pig) b) Todd's sides will be safe from brusing as Jason and I are elbowing him from each side "bid higger....just once more....bid some more" c) we will end up with 3 very nice fair pigs for almost the same cost of the pig that we really wanted and d) I won't just randomly bid on pigs and almost buy us a gilt - which can not be shown as a market animal at our county fair. Fortunately, a good friend of ours was sitting next to me and he clued me in that it was a gilt I was bidding on and not a barrow before I had the winning bid.....

In my defense though....it was a crazy auction....prices were super high and I was really, really worried that we would not even get 1 pig brought. As for the bidding I did on my own - it was simply a fun evening....

We have 1 more pig auction to help with next weekend. Todd will not be there.....I will be helping with assigning bidder numbers and checking people out when the auction is over.....our friends are already trying to figure out a way to get me to bid on 2 pigs for Lousiville this fall......I will not bid. I will not bid. I will not bid. There is no way we can afford to go to Louisville this year....maybe next year.

We'll see how well THAT goes.

P.S. I could not get pictures of the other 2 pigs we brought friday night - there were too many in the pen and it was late (12:30 a.m. late) by the time we got done cleaning up and the majority of the pigs were loaded out. And then we headed out to PA as soon as the kids were done with soccer games Saturday morning....and we got home at 2:15 yesterday and spent the rest of the afternoon getting pens ready to bring the piggies home tonight or tomorrow night, washing a steer and showing the last horse I own to a prospective buyer.

Have a great one!
Kris

So far so good....

2010-05-11T10:36:00.003-04:00

Wow. 2 posts from me in 2 days......

I'm still plugging along on my Rusted Root. So far, I think I'm liking it.....

Recently, the only knitting/crafting time I've had is the 10 minutes every morning while we wait at the end of the drive for the bus. And I had gotten just far enough on it this morning that when I got to work, I thought I'd better try it on before I go too much further.

I added a couple more increase rounds before separating for the sleeves - I was worried it would be too tight. But if anything, it is now a little loose. Which I am fine with, as that just means I won't be uncomfortable in it:)

I've had some screwups with the lace pattern - the most recent one being I managed to drop 2 stitches 6 rows back or so. But I got them weaved in and am back on track - hopefully it won't be too noticeable when it's done. I'm going to go a couple more rounds and if it looks too bad, i'll rip back. If not, I'll keep going.

Have a great day - hope it's sunny wherever you are!
Kris

PS - Michelle - we are currently feeding Jessie's pigs Honor Show Chow - but it's rather expensive ($17 for a 50 lb. bag). If they weren't going to the State Fair and our County Fair, they would be getting a grind and mix feed from our local feed mill at $6 a bag. I'm just thankful that we can get by for now with the $17 a bag feed - last year the stuff we had to feed her 2 pigs was $40 a bag - and 1 bag lasted 6 days!!