As promised, here is the Martingale dog collar we made yesterday.
A week and a half ago, I went to the doctor because my ear was popping as if I were in an airplane. It was decided the ear had wax build up and she should remove it. She sent a nurse in to do a wash, except that was not successful. The nurse then decided she needed implements. She came back with what looked like a dental pick and a tweezers. Neither was successful so I was sent home with ear drops to use for 2 weeks. After a week, my ear hurt enough to send me to urgent care when I got up. They took the wax out carefully and told me that my ear was inflamed and gave me antibiotic to put in it. What I learned from this was that I should have objected when the first nurse came with tools that didn’t belong in the ear. That would have same me from the infection. So BEWARE.
As well as helping daughter find an apartment, I’ve done a bit of knitting.
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After spending most of the day on the blue quilt, including taking out stitches that just didn’t go in correctly, I came to the last corner and border before taking it off and turning it to do the other two borders. The last corner did not want to set up properly. The best thing I could think of was to quit for today and start some socks. I found this in my sock yarn box and since it isn’t exactly exciting to me, I thought it would be a great summer sock where it is nearly all down inside the shoe. There is enough to make two pair. Since they don’t have the leg length, that part goes and I am ready to turn the heel.
Oh yes, the little black lamb got his first shot and his tail docked. Amazingly, there was little complaint.
Yes, I added another year to my age. It is terrific that I am still active and can add another year. Daughter, Jennifer sent this pretty fruit basket. Another daughter called to tell me, there is a picture book coming. Many friends from whom I rarely hear wished me a happy birthday (for your part, thank you Facebook). It was a very good day which I will end with knitting.
My friend, Mary, came over and we spent an enjoyable day in the studio embroidering these little ants for a coming quilt. Naturally, there was also much conversation and laughter.
For lunch, I made my favorite cream of Broccoli soup from the 5 Loaves cookbook I started by putting an onion and half a red pepper in the blender with a cup of water. I added 1 teas of garlic powder, l teas of savory, and 1 Tbsp of chicken-like seasoning. I brought these to a boil and simmered 10 minutes. Meanwhile I took some frozen broccoli from Costco, microwaved it 1 minute and cut into small pieces. Then I put it in with the onion and added 2 more cups of water, brought it to a boil and let it cook, maybe 10 minutes – until the broccoli was still green but nearly done. While the broccoli was cooking I put 3/4 cup raw cashews in the blender with 1/4 potato starch and 2 cups water and blended well. I poured this into the broccoli, mixed well and served. I usually make double or triple this much as it freezes so well and I love having it for those days I don’t want to cook.
I did not get the lambs we’ve been expecting for a week. But then I guess the ewe’s bodies know best.
With such stunning weather and knowing there is work to be done for months without end., of course the most important thing was to finish this dish cloth. (It is called Ostrich Plume by Edith Taylor and I used Peaches and Cream)
Now, since I was sitting outside, who should show up for a good brushing but Beau. Look at that smile!. He is absolutely thrilled to get the attention. Currently, he’s shedding a lot of fur to be spun. I think he was releasing more fur as I brushed just to keep me working on him longer.
The alpacas have been moved to another pasture to give the pasture they were in a chance to grow back. Rotating pastures can be challenging, but does give the animals more food to eat. And somehow, I managed to keep busy without doing too much gardening. That will change tomorrow as I have a lot of seedlings to move into 2″ pots.
Continuing from yesterday: the fertilizer was raked in, then watered and a double row of potatoes was planted on each side of the path. That is a total of 40 feet with double rows.. The garlic was planted to the back. I have more potatoes and garlic to plant but will have to weed the next level below to have room. That will give me something to do next week. I think I’ll rake the hay out of the aisle and just burn those weeds when I burn the ones on the big slopes between the boxes. There are still beets, cukes, corn and other items going out here plus what is going into the hoop house late.
Ava is so smart. There are two feed pans in the sheep enclosure. She watches me and when I put some in one pan, she runs to the other so she is there to get it first. The others come over when the first pan is empty.
There have been several car trips this week, but not a lot of knitting. Today, we picked up the rototiller from its annual maintenance. So I have knit this far on another dish cloth. The name of the pattern is Ostrich Plume dish cloth, It is a 4 row sequence with only row 3 really creating the pattern. I’m using a Peaches and Crème yarn.
After finishing the first pair of “boring brown socks”, I looked in his sock area. He has 7 pair that
I’ve made for him, so I’m not in such a hurry to make the next pair. But I do think they will be just like these, so that if he wears out a sock from each pair, he will still have a pair left. What forethought!.
I have knit with a lot of yarn that I enjoyed more. This yarn was very soft and I enjoyed the feel, but it wanted to split and it also showed any unevenness in knitting. So every time I looked up or something slipped off the needle, it showed as unevenness. But they are a good wearable pair with a 10 year guarantee on the yarn. That will be interesting.
Now for excitement – when I put the animals to bed at night, I usually leave the main gate open just enough for the chickens and turkey to get in. Apparently, tonight, it was a bit too much. I spent about 15 minutes chasing alpacas before calling for reinforcements. It’s really too bad, because if they weren’t so difficult to get back inside the gate, they could come out and eat all the grass we have to mow. Perhaps tomorrow, we’ll try letting them out in the morning and putting them back at noon, when they usually have their rest. Keep your fingers crossed, they’ll go back peacefully. If they do, we’ll all be happier.
Tired of the park yet? I hope not. It was really windy today, but look, there are fields of dandelions.
