Sunday 30 December 2012

It's Not Over Yet!



Most of you will be gladly resting, in that after-Christmas euphoria that sets in as soon as you realize You're Done.  No more presents to make or buy or wrap.  All Done.

Not I!

We were blessed with a January baby.  She was due to arrive Christmas Day, 10 years ago, but she decided to bide her time and wait... for 9 days.  This next birthday marks a mile stone - her first decade - and I want to acknowledge this with something extra-special.

So I am embarking on a journey to parts unknown, somewhere I've never gone before but have imagined for a while.

My - and her - first quilt.

It's an easy go, strips of fabric sewn together, some new some old (parts of old pajamas that weren't completely worn out, bits and pieces from other things I've made her), but still.  I've never done this before. And it seems fitting to do it for her.  My first baby, my first quilt.  And I don't have a lot of time...


Thursday 27 December 2012

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Keeping Warm

Brrr.  It's been chilly here the last few nights, with temps getting to -11C.  Yea, I know, that's not COLD, but it's cold enough.  My mind always wanders to my outdoor menagerie and hope they are keeping warm enough.

We don't heat the outdoor enclosures unless it gets REALLY icy, like -16 or less.  Instead, we use the old farmer trick of feeding them, and feeding them well.  Every afternoon, around 3 PM, I do my rounds, as I like to call them. Buckets of warm, fresh water to everyone and today I splurged: they all got a helping of black sunflower seeds along with their regular fare.

  Feeding birds so that they have a full crop when they turn in for the night is a good, old-fashioned way of keeping them warm.  I'm not totally sure how this works, only that it does.  They emerge in the morning, bright-eyed and ready to take on the day.  Maybe the act of digestion heats them up, I don't know.
Minerva Louise here is making sure I don't forget Her.  Giving me the old stink-eye to make sure I'm paying attention.

The ladies deserve the good stuff, I do declare.

Friday 14 December 2012

Looking for Inspiration

I don't know about you all, but I have issues with the holiday season.

All the shopping and spending and stress just does not resonate with me.  Not. At. All.

I do my best to make the gifts for my immediate family and hope that friends and extended family will be happy with warm wishes and a big hug.  I have no desire to step into the hustle and bustle and traffic.  But I do like to decorate, a little bit.  Subtle bits, here and there, to add a a little festive to our home.  Make it that much cozier, seeing as we are spending so much time indoors these days.  Which is trying for a family who is outside all the time in the warmer months.

So, where to go for inspiration??  Well, Soule Mama, of course.

We took a little walk in the backyard (with an entourage of curious turkeys), and collected a few little treasures.



Then we did a little crafting.

(We did a wreath too, but haven't got a shot of that yet.)

Thank you, Amanda Blake Soule, for being such a gentle inspiration when one needs a little help.

Saturday 8 December 2012

Countdown to Christmas

I'm starting to feel the crunch.  Not the 'hurry up and find a gift for so-and-so' so much as 'when am I going to find the time to knit stuff for everyone I want to knit stuff for??' crunch.  Cuz my fingers can only go so fast, and I can only do so much knitting in a day before I cause myself injury.  I know.  I've done that before.    I have 2 projects on the go: knee warmers for my crazy work-odd-hours man, and a cowl for my girl to match the mitts I just finished for her.  I also want to do a hat for my boy, with guitars on it, from this pattern aptly called "Harrison" (as in George, I'm assuming), with,  hmmm... 16 days to go.  Better get on it.

And then there's the sewing.

For the past several years (I've lost count), I've made new pj's for the kids to open on Christmas Eve.  They now expect it.  I even made summer jams when we spent the holidays in Mexico.  There's really no getting around it.  Thankfully, it's a really easy pattern, from Weekend Sewing, and I picked up the flannel for both today.  I've made them before and also used the pattern to re-purpose a T-shirt more than once.  I'm glad they look forward to a tradition that is home-made.  Amid all the hustle and bustle, and holiday commercialism, it makes my heart smile.

Saturday 1 December 2012

Is THIS December??


I know.  It's hard to believe, but yes, I took these pictures TODAY, December 1, 2012.  It got to 11C here today, folks.  I had to document it, it was way too cool.  Like Spring had come early.  All of us - animals included- enjoyed the fabulous weather.

Dog took a nap in the yard; geese and ducks had a swim in the pond (after pathetically trying to dive in their water dish.  They just do that.); I cleaned out the barn; hubby put up new fences.

Kids played in the barn with Beep.  Actually, that's not Beep.  That's her Auntie Madam.  We called her that because when she was a chick she had a black outline on her eyes that looked like eyeliner.  But Beep was there too.

If this is December, I can totally handle winter.

Happy December, people!

Weekend Reading

Books, books and more books.  OK. So I really don't have to tell you about Harry Potter; I'm reading 1 ahead of daughter, so I'm on "The Half-Blood Prince" and thoroughly enjoying it, for the 2nd time.  Meanwhile, she's panting in my ear as she impatiently waits for me to hand it over.

Then, there's book 1 of the "Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place" by Maryrose Wood, which I'm reading aloud to the children, and that we've read before.  But, we are desperately waiting the 3rd installment of the series, which seems to be terminally stuck in "cataloging" at the local library.  So we are refreshing ourselves with Parts 1 and 2 of the series in hopes that the 3rd book will be available, like, the second we're done.

And then, there's the book for me, recommended by my friend Signe from Patch of Blue: "Let's Pretend This Never Happened" by Jenny Lawson.  Oh. My. God.  Is this FUNNY!  And her liberal use of colorful adjectives (well, one in particular) makes it even more so.  It also makes it one of those books you don't leave around for your young reading-age children to investigate.  No.  You really don't want that.  I've only started it and so far it's making me laugh out loud.  It's a stand-up comic version of "The Glass Castle".  With a lot of extra fun words thrown in.

Happy Reading!