Early Saturday Morning on the Way to the Barn

picture deleted by Blogger

 I don't like getting up early; I never have. But now I'm sorta' gettin' use to it. It's not so bad, really. I guess my body clock is set for these early Saturday mornings. If I get myself and LoJay a hot drink at Tim's, it kinda' helps to wake me up. We then stop by Gypsy's barn to pick up her saddle and hurry on down to "C" Stables where LoJay mucks out stalls in exchange for riding lessons. And the scenery is something you can't see any other time of the day. It's rare.

But I think I would really like to sleep in some Saturday morning. Just to see how it feels.

Nothing

Nothing Between My Soul and My Saviour
by Charles A. Tindley

Nothing between my soul and my Saviour
Naught of this world's delusive dream,
I have renounced all sinful pleasure;
Jesus is mine, there's nothing between.

Nothing between, like worldly pleasure,
Habits of life, though harmless they seem;
Must not my heart from Him ever sever;

He is my all, there's nothing between.

Nothing between, like pride or station;

Self or friends shall not intervene,
Though it may cost me much tribulation,
I and resolved, there's nothing between.

Nothing between, e'en many hard trials,

Though the whole world against me convene,
Watching with prayer and much self denial,
I'll triumph at last, there's nothing between.

Ooops! I Missed Again

Happy Birthday, Soup!

I goofed (off?). I think I have too many projects on the go. I not only didn't get these in the mail in time, I didn't even finish them in time for Soup's birthday! (Well, at least you know they are on the way.) Actually, my progress is a little further along than this picture shows because I was able to knit on the way to the barn (at stop lights), at the barn, and on the way home after this picture was taken.

I plan on going to the States tomorrow to mail some books. Maybe if I work "til midnight" I'll get these done.

Car Trip to Richland, WA

Pictures deleted by Blogger

You will notice that by the end of this post that I have discovered a new toy--slide shows. Sorry for the abundance but I was having fun.

Harvest Party Bonfire

Pictures deleted by Blogger

Harvest Party-Inside the Meeting Room

Pictures deleted by Blogger

Harvest Party 2006 - Games

pictures deleted by blogger

Kate the Kitten

The progress on Kate is slow...very slow. When I started to knit her in H, I thought I would have plenty of yarn. But as Kate grew my discerning eye discerned that I would not have enough brown yarn to finish. Also, Kate was growing to be a large cat, more like a lion than a cute little kitty. A problem, I think.

Solution 1.
Use another yarn.
LK had asked me to make her a Wonderful Wallaby in brown and so I had bought a slew of brown yarn. It's a sport weight yarn and will work much better than the yarn I have because it is a lot finer. If I knit Kate with this yarn she'll turn out a little smaller. And I'll have enough yarn...like 500 grams (about 17 1/2 oz, for those of you who do not convert).

Solution 2.
Revamp the pattern and adjust all the measurements.
Not really my idea of fun. Veto that idea.

Solution 3.
Use a smaller size of needles.
That also will make the kitty smaller. I like working with small needles. It makes the finished product look more professional and not so homemade as large loopy things often do.

Solution 4.
Quit and make mittens.
Nope. I promised SAJ this adorable gal and she's fun to make. Besides I do like a challenge once in a while.

Solution 5.
Scrounge my stash and forget about matching exact yarns. And just continue knitting hoping everything will turn out not too lopsided.
(What one-year old worries about gauge anyway?)

I think 1 and 3 are good solutions. The only problem will be LK. Maybe if I buy her a quality yarn to replace hers she'll be happy. That and if I can get it started on her sweater in the near future!

But I think 5 is the best and will do the trick.
When I pawed through my stash I hit pay dirt. Apparently I had a lot of left over yarn from... get this... from the 70's when Jailgy and I started crocheting! There is a ton! I don't throw away yarn and take all that any want to give me. (I regret not taking the scraps that Gramma offered me while I was in H. Are they still available? If so, save them. If not, I really do have enough.)

(But I could always make another Kate.)

Doors

Pictures deleted by Blogger

St(a)r-bu(c)k(s)

No, this is not the license plate of a coffee lover. (That I know of.) It's actually a plate on a truck of the owner of a horse named Starbuck.

They're In The Mail!

Finally, time caught up to me. I was hoping to have all my socks made before each recipient's birthday but alas Kedj comes near the end of the line. If I lived where she lived she would have gotten them on time because I actually finished them on her birthday. So there.

As a consolation prize I sent along these mittens to keep her hands cozy warm on her early morning walks with Bobby.

One Tired Mitten

When Kedj goes for a walk very early in the morning her hands get cold. It wouldn't be so bad if she could put her hands in her pockets. That would keep them warm. Alas, there's this furry little creature that keeps her company on these treks who does not want to walk very far...maybe 20 feet or so. Just long enough to take care of things. Then he wants a ride. Well, that means that Kedj can no longer keep her hands in her pockets because Bobby likes to "ride" in her arms.

She lost one of her original pair of mittens and the other was worn with a hole. I said I would be glad to make her another pair. "Would 25% wool, 75% acrylic be okay?"
"Um, no. 100% wool would be better. Do you have any? It gets really cold in H."

Really.

Happy belated birthday, Kedj!

Coca-Cola BLAK

Have you ever seen this? Kedj and I saw an advertisement on a billboard in S. CA and thought we had to try it. Believe or not, it is unbelievably good. It tastes like a mild coke with just a hint of coffee. I would go to the States just to get it since I haven't seen it here in Canada yet.

Thanksgiving

What a feast! I would say we have a lot to be thankful for.
Cream for our coffee?










Family:




















Friends:











Health:











And abundant food!

Dolls

Bethany asked me to make doll clothes for her doll and I told her I would if she brought it to meeting next time I saw her. Well, was I surprised when she chased me down on Wednesday night and showed me a cute little baby doll! She was hesitant to let me take it home but finally relented when I showed how difficult it would be to make the clothes without the doll. On Lord's Day I brought both the clothes and the doll back. I wondered when I gave them to her that she was not so thrilled. I think she was more embarrassed than anything. You see, the doll she gave me was actually not hers but belonged to another little girl who had left it there Wednesday night!

Red Beads

Here are a few beads that I found lying around. I looked for all the large beads I could find and really couldn't come up with much.
Most come on strands that are 16" long. All are less than $10. Most are under $5. It's the carnelian that is expensive. Even so, this is really the best price any where. I'm not sure the name of these beads--poppy jasper? They are about 10mm.

These beads are about the same size as the flat oblong beads. The larger beads, that is.

These are carnelian and are the more expensive ones. They come in all shapes.

Redefining my profession

I've been demoted. The on-line catalogue was taking me too much time so B told LK to take over. Secretly, I'm very glad. It was getting to me. I needed large blocks of time which is one thing that I never have. My kind of tasks are those that take minutes or ones that can be picked up and put down with a minute (or second) of notice.That's one reason I enjoy knitting so much. You can do row after row after row or you can do one stitch only before putting it down. And you don't lose your place (unless you have a complicated pattern).

There are some other menial tasks I do. I really don't mind because:

(1) It's very easy. (Can you count to 1000?)
(2) I don't get paid so I'm realy under no obligation to get things done. (Although I did promise B that I would give him four hours a day starting at noon, with one break to get LJ from school). So much for not having large blocks of time. They are there, really.
(3) I can stop and start at any time. (Not really. If I keep my part of the bargain which was "I'll work for four hours if I can have till noon free to do the stuff I need to do around the house.")

This is a pile of tri-beads that represents two bags of 1000. My job, should I decide to accept it, is to count out those two bags. There are many ways to do this. The first would be to count each and every bead, one by one. That's the long way. The second would be to count out each bag by 5's. Somewhat easier. The third way is to count 1000 by 5's, put it on the balance scale and put the rest on the other half of the scale and see if they come out evenly. If it doesn't you have either too many or not enough beads on the second half, in which case you're out of luck because that's all the beads you were given.

You would never guess that I was a graduate student at one point in my life. But then again, maybe all that univesity prepared me for just this type of work!

View from the plane--wild fires and sunsets

Alas, by the time I finished struggling with my carry-on bag for my camera, the wing of the plane was in the way of the wildfire in Northern California, and we passed over. I consoled myself with this magnificent pic of the sunset.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEDJ!!!!!

Baby Bug and Starbucks

I think we're hooked. Which is too bad. They are so overrated. But I can't and won't stay away. I really like their coffee.

On my last day in H. we all went to Starbucks for breakfast. Not really much of a breakfast unless you're a coffee drinker.

Notice that this is an unusual picture in that there are four generations. Not only that, each of these females is the first born in their families. And they're all directly related. Baby, Mommy, Gramma, and Great-Gramma.

Whose birthday?

We don't know whose birthday we we're celebrating. On this day we were at B and B's. Everyone pitches in and donates something to the cause. Gramma made the main course-Chicken Paprikash. Chuggy made the rolls and provide the broccoli and rice. Jailgy brought the Martinelli's and other beverages. Can't remember what Soup brought but I'm sure it was something. The salad was made by Kedj and was the most delicious. She and Chuggy carmelized pecans in maple syrup and added that to butter lettuce and pears topping it off with Gongorzzolla (?) cheese and some kind of dressing. Yumm!! It was all delicious.
There are so many bithdays that you can point to anyone in the family and be pretty assured that it was his or the person right next to him. On this day alone we celebrated three and maybe one other.

The birthdays start coming by droves in July and don't let up til October. By then we have pretty much exhausted them all except Babbyboebee's, whose comes at the end of November.

It doesn't matter because my family will use any excuse to get together. Really. We like each other a lot and get along great...as long as they do as I say. Just kidding.


So take your pick and celebrate.

For dessert Kedj and I made a Marmalade Cake and an orange tasting Lemon Cheesecake. Both were delicious! I can compliment the cook because I really only had a little to do with it. (I think I made the cheesecake crust and measured sugar).

The waiter comes with the house.