Today was the day to gather the yarn from various places, sort and make a written inventory. I don’t have nearly as much as many of my friends, but it seemed to be hiding in various places. Then I gathered the sock instructions that I get free of the internet – which were also hither and yon and they are now in 2 notebooks.
Monthly Archives: May 2018
Yarn, more yarn, and patterns
This is one of the smallest lambs and one of the most difficult to catch. She makes up for size in her zippy movements. Today was her third day of halter training. The first day, she was a bucking bronco, yesterday, not too bad. Today, she managed to slip out of it and get away. Somedays, it is hard for me to win these battles.Halter training
She may be small enough to pick up and carry – she is only 2 months old. But halter training is not her thing and she packs a lot of strength already. She rears up like a horse, then slams to the ground, working very hard to get away from this thing that controls her. The halter is not her favorite thing. I know that if she doesn’t learn it now, she will be an out of control adult. Her life and my life will be much easier once the rules are learned.
Impossible girl socks
The “Impossible Girl” socks (Pattern by Madeline Gannon) were knit out of the Madelinetosh BFL (Blue faced Leicester) sock yarn. I did not realize until I finished that they are 100% wool without nylon. They may be a bit less sturdy, so I will use them for special instead of everyday. I really enjoyed working with this wool and like the depth of color. And next time I may reinforce the toe and heel with nylon – or maybe not. It is sock yarn and may wear very well.
Stack and Flip quilt finished
The Stack and flip quilt designed by Missouri quilts is finished. I used a most of a 2.5″ roll. It languished for over a month while spring chores took my time.
It measures 57 x 74″ which is a good nap size. Since I wanted it to feel nice and airy, I used these clouds to give it that feel. 
The backing has some pretty flowers which also make it a happy quilt.
Farm life is busy
ese
DH went to the gym alone this morning. Beau wanted to go for a car ride, but settled for a good brushing and a treat
When we were through, this office waste basket was full of discarded dog fur and he was happy with his treat of string cheese. And I bet he feels a lot better in this warm weather.
Even mini farm life is busy, and especially so with this beautiful weather we have had. There is always so much to do. And the dogs don’t get brushed often. There are the lambs that need to be halter trained and the stalls that each need cleaning at least twice a week if I want to keep the work doable for me. There is the fencing, and the weeds, thistles, nettles and most of all, we need a garden, blueberries, grapes, raspberries, and an herb garden in addition to the hoop house we have. This year we are moving the garden that has been on the hillside up to a flat area, so that means creating new beds. There are hanging baskets to water and flower bed weeding to do.
These are all extras in addition to the normal feeding and household duties. I have accepted that I cannot do it all without help.
So today, I hired two young men to layout the new garden beds and plant somewhere around 300 potato starts and one hundred onion bulbs. It feels so good to have them in the ground now. Sometime in the next the two weeks, we will plant corn, green beans, and squashes in the rest of this area. They will return to help with the nettle, thistles and weeds on the fence line
While they were doing the new garden area, I was able to get the tomatoes tied up as well as weeding in the hoop house. It should have been done 2-3 weeks ago, but it is done, and now, I need to keep up with it. Already the kale is getting out of control. I picked the parsley and it is time again to pick the peapods and once again, I managed to plant more lettuce than we can eat. But neighbors, chickens, and sheep are always willing to help.
These are called Egyptian walking onions. The little white bulb lets on the end bend down and plant themselves into the soil, thus reseeding themselves over and over. They are a hot onion, so I use them in cooking.
Impossible girl progress
The “Impossible girl” sock progress is slow but steady. The instep is now done and I am on the home run to the toe.
I started to lay out the beds for the potatoes and onions today, when I realized I didn’t have the twine I needed. I went to the hardware store and they directed me to the feed store. At the feed store, I found an employee who told me they don’t keep it out on the floor, only in the back room, until someone asks for it. How do they sell it that way?
So having purchased it, I made my way back home, where I found the sheep migrating (with help) over to the neighbor’s house. They wanted the back yard mowed down. Then the pasture seed arrived and we had a good visit with the people who delivered it.
Now it was suppertime for sheep. They know when suppertime is and as soon as the gate was opened, they were in a mad dash. Look at this lamb who has learned how to jump over the side into the feeder. This is one of my show lambs and I need her to stay relatively clean. The side now has another board on it, so she can’t get over it.
What a week!
What a week this has been! To preserve sanity, I retreated to the sewing studio and quilted this piece with some nice light clouds. You can see in the upper left corner what the back fabric is. It still needs a binding.
I still have to turn the computer off and on several times and hope that one of the times it will let me use the icons, so I am limping until I can find a solution, which I am really hoping does not involve a new computer.
The hoop house is only about half full now that the winter greens have been removed. But the peapods and lettuce are doing great and we are able to use them.
Our weather promises to be sunny this weekend (75) and I am planning to pretend I am on vacation tomorrow afternoon and do nothing except lay in the sun and feed sheep. I wish a good weekend for each of you.
Computer, family and friend troubles
This will be short without photos as my computer is not working again tonight. This will be the third night the Geeksquad will work on it. It works for maybe 10 minutes after they fix it and then quits again.
Family issues: My son-in-law’s brother (age 54) was found dead in bed in the morning. An autopsy is being done, but we have no info yet.
My friend since 5th grade just had open heart surgery and on Monday her husband had to be admitted to a home because of his Parkinson’s and dementia.
On a happy note we and the sheep are all doing fine. I can only hope the computer will send this letter out. I’ll be back as soon as I can.
The birthday
The birthday gifts included several gorgeous floral bouquets plus a hyacinth plant and a fuchsia hanging basket. There were other gifts including a myriad of well wishes. Thank you so very much.
The birthday guests. The table is really only about 8′ long, but the way this photo was taken makes it look very long.
This is more realistic, but still makes the room look much longer than it is.
All I need now is a housekeeper, a cook, a gardener/grounds person and a secretary. I might then get caught up, but the treasurer hasn’t approved those expenses,
Ava, my first Cormo, wants me to be near her when she is out eating weeds.
Busy days
These busy days created a very busy week. Some of the highlights included:
Shopping for us and the dogs.
I was lured by 3 of these lovely hanging baskets.
We looked at the babies with a large marking crayon. A stripe down the back means that this one will be finding a new home. A mark on the head means this one gets to stay here and will be re-evaluated later. Sometimes, it is a difficult decision.
Oops, escapees. It would have been okay earlier in the day, but I don’t enjoy trying to outwit them at the end of the day.
Lasagna and cake for lunch tomorrow.
Gorgeous flowers for my special day from my son’s in-laws.
If you are small enough, your whole head fits into the feeder and you get the prime feed.
It seemed we had an appointment every day. I have most of the winter plants cleaned out of the hoop house now and can put more summer plants in. It’s time to get all the fruit trees fertilized, and get the outside garden ready to plant in another week. It seems the days are just going to get busier for another two weeks. I’m praying for enough energy to get it done. Then I’m hoping it will calm down enough to get back to the studio.
I’m so glad we get a day of rest at the end of each week – Happy Sabbath to each of you.