How to Panic Effectively ...or

How I live my life from day to day.
I dislike change … and not just a little. And yet, I have managed to live a life that is constantly full of change, most of which is totally out of my control. I think I might have issues. A few days ago I found out that we were probably moving … again … overseas …. again. This is no small task although I could do it in my sleep … what makes this daunting is that I have to accomplish this in 8 weeks. I have to liquidate my livestock now that I have a flock of award winning sheep and sell my vehicles and separate out my household goods into storage, to be packed, and to be sent off to the kids. I have to figure out what JennietheDog needs to do to get there ok and introduce her to “the kennel”. I have a business that I need to figure out how to make work from there and a new venture that I will be learning from long distance.
The up-side you may ask? Well that is the part where I will be living at the foot of the Italian Alps. So I guess you can expect lots of pictures of Italy and lots of recipes for northern Italian food. Not so shabby huh? LOL

Traveling along

Down this road … even here I

Cannot see the moon

A Very Merry Christmas

As the end of the year approaches I have much to be thankful for … great friends, a wonderful family, and time well spent with all of you. Life is definitely good I would say. I wish the very best for everyone of you. And JennietheDog says Merry Christmas too!

The little sparrows
Are my only guests today
Hiding from the storm.

Let the Fun Begin

Well the Daughter has arrived home for Christmas after a horrible two day process of blizzards and flight delays … coast to coast travel and an overnight in Phoenix. So … now I am making Christmas Dinner and tomorrow we will decorate the tree and on Sunday we will open some of the Christmas presents. In October, when I was preparing to head off to Rhinebeck, I decided that I needed a hat. I make myself a fair isle hat using natural coloured wool from my sheep. So, when I decided that I would make a pair of Nordic mittens for the Daughter for Christmas I thought that this would be quick and easy. Neither turned out to be true … but I loved knitting them and am already planning a pair using my wool/silk blend with an angora lining. Here they are:

I can hardly wait to start another pair. The very small bit of blue yarn is all that was left … a cause of much concern while I was finishing up.
All the cows are gone now … Jack the Pirate King comes home tonight in his new paper and vacuum wrap. Thank goodness, because we have had an extremely cold week and I hated going out to feed and bucket water to the sheep … the cows would have been a mess. As it is, the eggs all froze in the hen house within a hour of being laid so I was able to pick up only two good ones in the last two days.
I think I’ll stay home
This snow fall is too perfect
For me to walk on.

Are We There Yet?

Winter and I have a love/hate relationship. I detest the cold and love the fact that I can finally spin and knit to my hearts content because it's too cold to do much else outside. I still try to knock out a few miles a day with JennietheDog but there are days when the wind chill makes that risky so we just stay home. And we have wolves down here by us currently and a dog is a wolf magnet ... so I have to be careful when it is just the two of us out.

So, in the last month, I went to Rhinebeck, New York for their Sheep and Wool festival. I met tons of people who knit with my yarn and that was fun and exciting! I saw some Wensleydales that were cute and I met my daughter's boyfriend ... he was cute too ... and very nice. I did not take the camera as I packed the night before in a total frenzy and forgot it. I will email the Daughter and see if she has any ... I do have a gratuitous photo of some wonderful socks knit in my Rainy Day Colourway that Marty sent me. Marty also writes that : "The Ravelry group is “2-at-a-time socks”, and we work with Melissa Morgan-Oakes’ book of that title" Amazing! And maybe I would not have such a problem with knitting the second sock ... LOL. I finished my Rainy Day socks finally and will try to get some pictures taken as soon as I write up the pattern. Also in October I had the shearer come and shear the sheep so they have gone from large and fluffy to slim and slick. Check out the Feb 27,2007 entry for before and after photos. The ram is in with most of them now but the shearer thinks that at least one of them might already be pregnant (he escaped twice this summer ... the ram not the shearer LOL) so I may be having January lambs ... yuck! This is Gabriella and Walker in their new shorter coats. Now, the mountains are covered with snow but it was still decent weather back in October. I have started my Christmas knitting but most of it is still a secret so for now ... I guess that is all the news that is fit to print! No haiku today as I cannot get Blogger to make paragraphs now ... geesh!

This years maple leaves

Fall, still green, no reds to warm

The snow laden wind.

Hah! I, SO tricked it!

It Was Short But Sweet ...

Autumn that is. It lasted about a day and a half and now we are expecting snow. So, we scoured the garden today for everything that needed to be picked before a hard freeze. Carrots, squash, and the last of the eggplant. That leaves the parsnips on their own for another few weeks.




Things that have happened since the last post are:

The Western Idaho State Fair ... where Ruby took Grand Champion in her class and Walker took 3rd in his and they both took third in a combined class.




This pictures is of Walker being "set to show" by some friends of mine. It was fun and they have amazing and funny "Fair Food" like deep fried Twinkies and Snickers bars. And Tornatoes (a crispy potato swirly thing) and great Basque lamb sandwiches. There were tractor pulls and some amazing quilt exhibits (I thought of you there, Anne!)






We had several more batches of baby chicks show up and one fatality in that bunch. And I have a hen that has started crowing ... not sure what that is all about.


I am getting ready to head out in a week or so for Rhinebeck, NY for their Sheep and Wool festival. Taking some new yarn colours and a new sock pattern called "Harvest on the Palouse". And I will get to see the Daughter and meet her beau for the first time ... big excitement there.

On a lighter note ... Jennie the Dog has been having a great time keeping the leaves rounded up and keeping track of her chicken friends. I just wish they liked that part as much as she does.

Slowing our passage

Chestnuts, that the wind knocked down,

Litter the pathway.

As Summer Draws Down

First the camera has been found and so without further ado here are Jennie and Blanche:

They have been pretty good buddies till yesterday. Jennie likes to pull on Blanche's ears as a way to get her to go where she wants her to go ... but a lamb has delicate ears. Last night while tugging on Blanche's ears Jennie managed to nick a vein ... and there was blood everywhere. On the lamb ... on the dog ... on one of the other sheep. Everyone survived but now when Blanche sees Jennie coming she runs in the shed and shoves her head in the straw. Not all friendships are made to last I guess.

Resting on the porch

A morning glory has bloomed

Brilliant in the shade.

The Kindness of Strangers

We have a new addition to the sheep flock. A tiny late born lamb from a friend of mine. She is white and smaller than JennietheDog and her name is Blanche. Blanche DuBois. She was alone for about 3 weeks before she came here to live and is a bit neurotic because of that. But I think she will be fine in the long run. No pictures however as I cannot find the camera since my return from Sock Summit.

And WOW! was that fun. I don't get off of the ranch much. And Portland was overwhelming and the Summit was exhausting. I met quite a few people who buy my yarn which was nice One of them even knit me a little tiny sock to wear on my neck thingy that they give you to keep your name tag etc. in. A very sweet gesture I thought. No picture ... camera still missing.

I did however receive an e-mail just before my frenzy of preparations began from a lovely woman who must knit like the wind because she sent me pictures of two sets of socks that she knit from my yarn.

Aren't they gorgeous? I feel a bit like a slacker since I am a slow (but steady) knitter. I will have to try this pattern out for myself.

Well I have to find the camera as I do have some pictures to share ... catch up with you later!

Blue-eyed prairie grass

Waving in the wind ... rippling

I can see the wind.