Another B at Boulderneigh

Last night Rick and Brian picked up Breezy, the 24-year-old pony that we looked at on Sunday. I rode her then and was not impressed (and was even less impressed when I realized this is the same pony one of my former students rode in lessons and had a tough time with), Brian rode her then and has been campaigning hard for her ever since, Rick and I have discussed the pros (none that I could see) and the cons (her age, her stubbornness, our lack of space for both another horse and the additional hay we'll need to buy, our son's decided lack of interest in all things horsey), and Rick made the decision to get her anyway. So now he's off getting shoes on her so she can go horse-camping with us(!); when we come back he gets to figure out where he's going to put her so she can have shelter from months of rain this coming winter. I predict extra work and expense for the adults, about 72 hours of excitement and interest on Brian's part, and a lot of lip-biting on my part to keep from saying "I told you so" ad nauseum.

At least I will have these to work on for awhile yet to help keep my frustration under control. I haven't had a lot of knitting time lately, so it will be nice to make some progress on this trip.

That's it for now from . . .

Here and there

Today we went and looked at a pony for Brian, and a couple I met at Black Sheep Gathering came to Boulderneigh to look at sheep and my sheep set-up (humble though it is). Neither we nor they took home any animals, but both visits were enjoyable and may yet "bear fruit."

Look who's getting bolder at Boulderneigh! Lucy 2 is now crowding right in there in the mornings to snitch her share of the lambs' grain. So intent is she that I was able to reach over a lamb and grab her this morning. She was pretty calm, and I put her in the sheepfold to forage in the dirty bedding a bit (she was able to leave of her own accord when she chose).
We are working hard at getting ready to go, and tomorrow is going to be jam-packed with more of the same, plus Brian's violin lesson, payroll for Rick's clinic, and grocery shopping for the trip. So in case I don't get another chance, let me wish all of you an early happy Fourth of July! I hope you take some time to appreciate all the blessings we enjoy in this great country of ours. Flawed though it is, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

That's it for now from . . .

Cool-hand Ham, er - Luke, uh - Brian

I don't know what inspired Brian while getting dressed this morning; perhaps it's our upcoming horse-camping trip where he'll get to see his best cowboys-and-Indians friends. He even ASKED if he could help clean stalls at the barn this morning! Then he had to walk out into the pasture to hug his horse. Even though Oliver has ruined Brian's confidence in the saddle with some of the stunts he's pulled, Brian is fiercely loyal to him. We're talking about going to look at a pony that might be a better mount for him, even though I don't know that that would improve matters and would just be another (expensive) mouth to feed.
Meanwhile, Lucy 2 (remember, everybody has to have a name around here) seems to be making herself more and more at home. I have no plans to try and catch her; it's fun having a "chicken at large" (Bronwen seem to think so, too!).

The concert yesterday was good! The man in the green suit had a jazzy style with the sax, harmonica and his tap-dancing, percussion feet. Jackson even got to go since it was a cool, cloudy day. He needs more outings like that to learn to "chill."
That's it for now from . . .

"Hey, it's good to be back home again"

Home sweet home.

My morning chores buddy.

Another "loose wheel" (Lucille) - an escapee from the neighbor's chicken quarters. She's been hanging out in the wooded lot with the lambs, drinking from their water bucket and cleaning up stray bits of grain. Guess we have a free-range chicken to eat bugs now!

Dinah, you're missing something!

Where did your ear tag go? And how?

The lambs seem to think I should sit and snuggle with them as much now that we're home as I did at the show. I obliged them for awhile the other day. This isn't a particularly flattering shot of Blackberry, but I love it still. He has such a beautiful head, with his dam's dark, expressive eyes.

Here he is doing his best bull elk imitation.

The McMinnville Downtown Association's Summer Brown Bag Series has started again; today we're going to see a tap-dancing sax player. (What? You think I made that up?) Next week is our biggest horse-camping trip of the year. The garden is growing and we're eating strawberries and raspberries from it now.

Enjoying everyday pleasures at . . .

I get by with a little help from my friends...

(Actually, I got by with a LOT of help from my friends!)

Before I started showing my own little sheep, I enjoyed watching and learning and taking photos and lending a hand when needed. Now I must depend on those who are there to watch and learn and take photos, and who are willing to lend a hand when needed!

Since I had two ewe lambs and two ram lambs to show, I needed help in all the classes I entered. Shannon was going to help me, but with the Jacob show following on the heels of the Shetlands AND a booth to keep manned, she had to back out. Enter blogpal Denise!Denise and her husband came all the way down from Skagit Co., WA to take in the show. It is always great fun to meet blogpals in person, and Denise was no exception. And when Shannon told me she couldn't help and I asked Denise if she would be willing, she responded enthusiastically!
I couldn't have done it without you, friend! (Shannon may not have been able to help me show lambs, but she was a huge help by picking up some local second cutting orchard grass hay and bringing it to the show for me. Now I have enough, hopefully, to tide me over until I can get this year's crop in the barn.)

As I said in Monday's post, we didn't win any ribbons. The judge hardly glanced at Beau, Blackberry, and Bramble, but he seemed more impressed with Bronwen (above). She survived his cuts until she was in the top third of the class. Interestingly enough, another Shetland breeder told me that my sheep would do very well if I show at OFFF in September, where Rena Douglas will be judging. Since Rena is a well-known Shetland breeder and the judge at BSG admitted he sees very few Shetlands and is into "big" sheep, that made me feel pretty good! I'm not planning to show at OFFF, though, so will have to take her word for it. My sheep do look quite a bit different from the rest that were exhibited at BSG, probably because theirs are all basically from the same stock, while I have some AI genetics in my flock. Specifically, my lambs' fleeces are shorter (as are their "horns"!). But again, based on the compliments from the processor and the warm reception buyers gave my fleeces and rovings, I am happy with the direction I am going, even if it doesn't earn my sheep any ribbons.

Another blogpal I got to meet for the first time is this lovely lady:That's the talented Joan from Mud Ranch's Real Dirt. I saw her daughter first, and recognizing her from Joan's blog I called out, "Annie!" Isn't the internet a strange and wonderful thing? (And yes, even a little scary!)

Win, lose or draw, the group of Shetland breeders at these shows are a friendly - and helpful! - bunch. Little Boo (shown above with an admirer) got sick, and one of the other Shetland breeders helped me give him shots and even gave me a tube of Probios for him (Rick was supposed to bring home a tube for me the day I left, but forgot). Thanks a ton, Sandy!

The fun part about camping there was that I got in on more of the Shetland socializing.
Lois, the best mentor a Shetland breeder could ever have and a dear friend, wasn't able to bring her lovely sheep this year, but she and Brook did stop by on Sunday to say hi.

That's it on BSG '09 from . . .

Creative inspiration at BSG

While waiting for a few photos of showing Shetlands (I couldn't take them myself because I was, well, showing), I thought I'd share one of the highlights of Black Sheep Gathering - the Spinner's Lead class. This was held Saturday night and emceed by a crazy-funny lady who I think could make it in stand-up; what a hoot! This was my first opportunity to attend such an event, and I must say I have a new goal in life: to someday be a participant myself!

Here is the emcee with one of the entries. The mother of one of the girls knitted this shawl out of mohair, and it turned out gianormous - big enough for two! Note that the angora goat is also wearing a shawl; it was normal-sized, and stunning.

A great "Aaaah!" erupted from the spectators when this lady entered the ring carrying her bunny. It's a good thing it was cool that night, or that lovely sweater may have caused heat stroke!

This lady came all the way from PA with her lovely shawl, made out of Shetland and Blue-Faced Leicester. She should have borrowed one of our polite little Shetlands to lead in the class; this sheep wasn't the easiest to manage.

This lady utilized the natural colors of her sheep, making the shaped poncho from the lighter back wool and the scarf from the darker side wool.

These two were the comic relief (not that we needed it with the emcee cracking us up!). The man is none other than Ace, of Ace in the Hole Romneys and Yahoo Spinning list fame. His bag contained a wine bottle in a bottle "cozy" and three empty wine glasses, which he proceeded to fill for each of the judges. Bribery? The lady's entries were not spun, or really even fiber. The necklace is made from a "little package" found in the pasture after banding, and the little bag is made from a BIG package, apparently harvested from butchering and then tanned!

This vest was one of the most stunning pieces in the ring. She created this stranded design from a photo of her livestock guardian dog and sheep in her pasture.

This lady spun and knit a simple, undyed sweater; something that perhaps I could aspire to.

This is one of the Shetland breeders, modeling a natural-color Shetland cardigan she designed herself. I would have bought the pattern from her if she had one; I LOVE this feminine sweater!

Here are two entries shown together. I wish I had taken a photo of the BACK of the young teen's felted shawl; it had a beautiful purple flower in the center.

This lady sported a handfelted hat and a natural-color, asymmetric cardigan she designed herself.

This entry was by far the most elegant in the ring, and I loved the colors of her mohair scarf and hat.

I loved this pair's ensemble; classy and coordinated!

Another talented teen shows off her colorful felted vest.

This lovely lady is Shannon, who created my custom bag. As you can see, she is an artist with felt! Her young son Theron was also entered in Spinner's Lead with a felted scarf he made himself, but unfortunately the only photo I took of him turned out blurry.

Finally, another of our Northwest Shetland breeders and her lovely self-designed cardigan in both natural and dyed Shetland.

Inspired? Me, too! I think I'll go spin for a bit!

That's it for now from . . .

Back from BSG; summary and acquisitions

Here is the short version: We had a great weekend, my little lambs and I! The trip down and back was uneventful, the weather was perfect (on the cool side, just the way I like it), and my lambs were admirable ambassadors for the breed. I didn't win any ribbons or find homes for Beau and Boo, but I enjoyed being with other sheep people, met two more blogpals for the first time, handed out a lot of business cards, sold most of the roving I picked up from Aunt Janet AND the two fleeces I was going to send with her for processing, and made some beautiful acquisitions.

Shall we start with the acquisitions and their stories?

Before BSG, I had admired the felt totes and bags on Shannon's blog. (Shannon is a Jacob breeder and talented fiber artist that I met through Tammy last year.) When she told me she could do a custom design for me AND was willing to trade for Shetland roving, how could I resist? When I got to BSG, I was more than delighted with what she had come up with:When I picked up my roving, she chose 6 oz. of Brava's lamb fleece and 6 oz. of Browning's lamb fleece in payment.

When walking through the trade show to pick up my roving from Aunt Janet, my eyes fell on some gorgeous dyed roving of various blends. The vendor, Island Fibers, was kind enough to give me a sample of the two colorways I liked best. After spinning up both the merino/mohair and the merino/silk, I chose 8 oz. of the later:Luscious, luscious stuff!

Later, when I was walking back by with my bags of roving, the same ladies asked to see what was in the bags. After ooohing and aaahing over each of the three lamb fleece rovings I had picked up, one of them looked up and asked fervently, "Do you want to trade?" Again, how could I resist? Although they had sold the rest of the colorway I had purchased, I found the same merino/silk blend in another colorway, so I traded a pound of Braveheart's lamb fleece for a pound of this:
After that transaction, I continued through the trade show towards the sheep barns. Another vendor who was spinning commented about someone making a large purchase, so I told her I had had my fleeces processed and had just picked them up. I asked her if she'd like to see them; she did and promptly asked if she could buy a pound of Browning's roving!

On Sunday I finally had a chance to shop for a yarn (WPI) yarn gauge which I have been wanting for some time, and chose this silky-smooth number from Herndon Creek Farms.While we chatted I mentioned I have Shetlands, and the wife said, "Oh, I LOVE Shetland!" So of course I told her I had fresh roving and asked if she'd like to see it. She ended up buying 8 oz each of Braveheart's, Browning's, and Brava's lamb rovings. Her husband likes to carry local products and asked if I would be interested in selling wholesale, but at the rate my roving was disappearing, I figured I would do better to sell it on my own!

My other acquisition was this sock yarn (no trades involved :-):
Thanks to interested visitors to my area in the sheep barn, I sold Brava's skirted '09 fleece to one lady, and Dinah's skirted '09 fleece and the last 25 oz. of Brava's lamb fleece roving to another. All I have left from what Aunt Janet just did for me is a little dab of Browning's and Braveheart's lamb fleece rovings, and Braveheart's 09 fleece roving (which I picked up later). (I also have over 7 lbs. of luster longwool roving from a ram in my shearer's flock; let me know if you're interested in some of that.) I was thrilled with the reception my fleeces and rovings got, but the best part of all was the high compliment Aunt Janet paid me. She said (twice!), "Yours is the nicest Shetland I have ever processed." Who needs blue ribbons when you get that kind of affirmation on what your sheep produce?

That's it for the first BSG installment from . . .

Making peace with Bronwen, preparing for BSG

My little "sheepskin rug" has needed some extra training time. Things were getting worse instead of better there for a bit, but I'm hopeful Bronwen will be able to walk into and around the ring so the judge can see just how stunning she is (rat tail and all!).

In other preparations for the show, there were Brava's and Dinah's fleeces to skirt and Butter's rooing to pick through (from after she got sick last winter). I plan to leave these with Aunt Janet when I pick up the roving she has ready for me, saving shipping one way on both batches. I also had to remove a partially-filled bobbin from my Louet S17 and locate two empty ones so I could spin some of that roving in my free time at BSG - gotta promote those sheep, you know! Of course, I'm taking knitting, too; the goal is to finish these socks in time wear them (PLEASE let them be wearable!) to the Sock Summit:
Last night we got the camper on the pick-up so I've been loading it and the horse trailer today. The horse trailer seems like such overkill for hauling my little sheep, but it is what I have and I'm thankful to have it! As soon as Rick gets home this evening I'm loading lambs, bringing adult sheep in, and heading to Eugene. Talk to you after the show!

That's it for now from . . .

Honest Scrap award

Jenny Holden across the pond nominated me for the Honest Scrap Award some time ago; thanks, Jenny! (It took her awhile to acknowledge getting it herself, so I don't feel as bad for taking this long!)

The rules state: "When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!"

Finding the tone of the rules rather irreverent, I don't feel bad about modifying them a bit to suit my fancy. Since it IS called the Honest Scrap Award, I thought it more fitting to nominate bloggers who come across as honest rather than brilliant (not that these blogs aren't also brilliant, or that the blogs I don't nominate aren't honest!). The following bloggers tell it all, the good and the bad, yet don't leave you feeling down and depressed with their "realness:"
Nancy K. of A Shepherd's Voice
Deborah at Antiquity Oaks
Sabrina at Boston Lake Farm
Tammy with Musings from Fairlight Farm
Sharon, who's In Stitches
Adrienne of Knit and Run
Molly Bee in Molly Bee's Attic
Allison of A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Now for ten honest things about myself, even though I could probably come up with more interesting lies:
1. I prefer being cold to being hot.
2. I prefer sweet over sour or salty.
3. I prefer the association of old folks to that of kids.
4. I prefer quiet to noise.
5. I prefer reading a book to watching a movie.
6. My artistic style is realistic, but I wish I was more of an impressionist.
7. I NEED animals in my life.
8. I've never broken a bone or had general anesthesia.
9. I've been to the dentist more than enough to make up for #8.
10. I look forward to heaven more than I can describe.

I'll end with some comic relief.Now she's halter-trained . . .

Now she's not! I don't think I've had a lamb assume this exact position before. I call it "sheepskin rug." :-)

That's it for now from . . .

Wee

My thyme is blooming now; such wee flowers and leaves - but so aromatic!

There seemed to be a bit of confusion about who was pictured in my post yesterday. Since I name all my photos, you can usually get identification by clicking on a photo to biggify it; you'll see the name of the photo at the end of the string in your internet address window. Anyway, yesterday I showed each of the five lambs in birth order from oldest to youngest, with my little musket gulmoget at the end of the line-up. His facial markings have never been as bright as those of the other gulmogets; here he is the day he was born - a tiny surprise that arrived at least five hours after his twin brother!
The agouti gene has made his facial markings fade even more:There also seemed to be some question on pattern genetics, so for those who are interested I'll do a summary below. (For a more detailed explanation of these terms and much more, go to the Shetland Sheep Info site.)

There are only two colors in Shetland sheep (and all other Northern European Short Tail breeds), black (dominant, written BB) and brown (recessive to black, written bb). If a sheep inherits one gene of each color, genetically it will be Bb, but look black. White is a pattern, not a color - and the dominant pattern at that. In other words, if a sheep has a white (Awt) gene at the pattern allele, it will hide everything else, both color and pattern. (If it has two Awt genes, ALL its offspring will be white, since that's all it can pass on.) The next most dominant patterns are Agouti (Ag, or the greying gene), katmoget (Ab, also known as badgerface), and gulmoget (At, also known as reverse badgerface). These are recessive to white, and co-dominant with each other, meaning if a sheep inherits any two of these three pattern genes, both will be exhibited in that sheep (as in Boo, who is Ag/At). The most recessive pattern is Aa, which is "solid" or non-agouti. If a sheep has two Aa genes, it will be black or brown (it can also have white spots and unique shades of color like fawn, mioget, shaela and emsket; those variables are controlled by genes at other alleles).

That's it for now at . . .

Pokey things

Adding insult (jabbing their little ears) to injury (separating them from their dams), the lambs are now all sporting little white tags. I prefer the unadorned look, but now they can officially leave Boulderneigh and strut their stuff (or be drug through the sawdust :-) at the Black Sheep Gathering next Friday. As you can see, halter-training continues. It's actually going pretty well; no one is flopping on the ground and most are walking decently on the lead. Standing still and looking pretty for the judge is a whole 'nuther story....

I'm trying not to get too excited, but I'm thinking little Boo, now that he's sporting significant horn growth, may generate some buyer interest at BSG. He's got a good bite, very soft fleece, nice tail, and all the necessary "equipment," plus the still-novel gulmoget pattern (combined with Ag). A cute little package for someone willing to take a chance that he's not a half-poll (no local interest in polled Shetland genetics here yet).

I spent hours this afternoon chopping thistles. I did pretty well at eradicating the bull thistles last year, but I let the Canadian thistles get away from me and it's showing. Got everything from the barn east today, and my body is wondering what it did to deserve that. Think I'll sit at the computer awhile and do stall tags and sales flyers for BSG.

Here are a couple shots I liked from yesterday - Bronwen's fine behind, and Beau looking none the worse for his early weaning:
That's it for now from . . .

Memories

Although you probably have no burden to see photos of our extended family, I know you will indulge me in sharing a few from our trip. Although the occasion for travel was a McMillen family reunion, Rick suggested we go early so we would have time to see my grandma, too. We don't get to see her often enough, and since she'll be 99(!!!) in September, I jumped at the chance.

We took Grandma to Pizza Hut, one of her favorite places, and were met there by my uncle and aunt and their two grandsons (who are working on the farm with grandpa this summer). After stopping by Dairy Queen for dessert, we drove on out to the family farm near Otis, KS for a quick visit. I lived there briefly when I was very young, and visited many times over the years. John Denver's song "Matthew" reminds me of that place and time; I still choke up every time I hear it.

On our way back to MO, we stopped in Manhattan, KS, where we spent the first four years of our married life while Rick attended vet school. We took Brian through his dad's alma mater, and even located the first place we lived there - a little four-plex (we were in the bottom-right unit). NOT such fond memories of that place! When the two college students upstairs were visited by their varsity boyfriends, we called the antics that ensued "Monday night football." Our unit was burglarized while we were gone one weekend, and we were finally flooded out. After that we lived in three different rentals in the country, where we were much happier.

There were over 80 people at the reunion; the George McMillen "clan" (Rick's grandfather) wore lemon yellow for the main event. Brian loved playing with his second cousins (younger) and first cousins (teenagers), and didn't want to leave.

There was a George Washington Carver National Monument near the family reunion in Missouri that I would really have liked to visit while we were there. Alas, there was no extra time. Carver was an amazing man in so many ways; did you know that in 1941, Time magazine dubbed him a "Black Leonardo"? Having visited the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry twice, I can think of no higher comparison. Brian and I will definitely be covering Carver's life and accomplishments in homeschool - maybe after enjoying a peanut butter sandwich for lunch!

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these." George Washington Carver

That's it for now from . . .

Going dairy-free

In less than 24 hours I've gone from the highs of shepherding to one of the lows - WEANING! (And yes, I am fully aware that all caps is equivalent to shouting, which is fitting given the din the ewes and lambs are making!)

Yesterday the lambs were being particularly independent, to the distress of their dams. Since I am taking the lambs to Black Sheep Gathering next Thursday evening, I decided there's no time like the present to wean them. On top of that, I took Butter to the sheep transporter for the first leg of her journey to her new home with Garrett in Minnesota, so why not upset the whole fruit cart at once?

I just got my micron test results back, and am probably a fool for selling Butter. She was the finest-fleeced adult sheep on the property, with an average micron of 24.4, a standard deviation of 5.6, and a comfort factor of 85.7. But in order to keep my two ewe lambs I had to make some room. Since I am least attached to Butter, and I prefer a longer staple, and she had a fully horned ram lamb, and Garrett really wanted her, she was the easiest to part with. Here she is, uncoated, tied up, and ready for a parting pedicure before leaving:
Missing the milk and Butter here at . . .

On horns and happiness

Yesterday afternoon I went out to the pasture to take photos of the three half-poll boys, who each have very different horn growth. Blackberry came right up, so he was the first subject:The bigger "bump" is the scur that broke off first; the almost non-existent one is the scur that broke off while we were gone.

Next was friendly little Boo. His scurs have had a real growth spurt, but at least they aren't curling back and in like last year's longer scurs:
Beau never came up for scratches, so I took this with a bit of zoom:I won't be surprised if they break off like Blackberry's have; we'll see.

It was a bit difficult getting good photos of Boo and Beau, because Blackberry was being an attention hog. His sister Bramble wanted some lovin', too; I concentrated on her and pushed Blackberry away when he got pushy. So he just laid down beside me and proceeded to chew his cud! Bramble then plopped down between my legs, repositioning herself every once in awhile. Such times are truly one of the highs of shepherding.(Bramble's fawn fleece)

We could have spent a happy hour cuddling, I think, but I needed to head to the house and change for dinner out with my DH. On the way out of the pasture, I snapped a picture of Inky (Kaleidoscope Holly Orchid), my loving duo's dam, and caught Dinah and Bronwen in a striking pose (click to biggify).
Thanks to my friend and neighbor who offered to babysit Brian as an anniversary gift to us, Rick and I were able to enjoy a romantic dinner at a local Spanish (NOT Mexican) restaurant, followed by dessert at Coldstone Creamery. On the way home the sky was beautiful, a lovely postprandial treat:
Oh, and the chickens gifted us with a rare eight-egg day!

That's it for now at . . .

Squeezing in a post

The welcoming committees:
Most of the year I dislike the large, out-of-place clump in our island bed. But the white flag iris burst into bloom while we were gone, and welcomed us home with its cheery white and yellow flowers.I think I'll dig it up and plant it along the wall in the stairway bed below, to help hide the concrete foundation while the Sunset maples grow.

The species geranium is a demure little plant; I love its lacy leaves and the color of its simple flowers!

On to travel knittng. I finished the two-up-on-Magic-Loop wristwarmers:
Then cast on and finished both the gift knits I took with me. One is for a reader of this blog so if you really want to see a photo you'll have to ask me to email it to you. The other, the black moebius shawl, still needs to be seamed; here it is as a rectangle:
On the flight home I pulled out my newly acquired 2.5mm x 120cm Addi Turbo circs, two balls of yarn and the instructions I had printed out, and made the acquaintance of Judy's Magic Cast On. Yes, I'm knitting socks toe-up, two-at-a-time on Magic Loop! My eyes aren't bleeding thanks to reading glasses, but this project is obviously going to take me awhile!If I can finish them by Sock Summit, I'll be happy.

On a more personal note, 25 years ago this morning Rick and I tied the knot. We're halfway to our 50th anniversary!

That's it for now at . . .

Travel and family and knitting, oh my!

We are home again safely and as most of you know, catching up after a trip is a monster of a job. I haven't even downloaded my camera yet, so you'll have to check back for photographic evidence. But in case you are curious, I left with one WIP (work in progress) and the supplies for three more projects, and came home with three FOs (finished objects) and a new WIP. We saw a few relatives on my side of the family, visited Rick's vet school alma mater, and saw a bunch of relatives on Rick's side of the family. We had a travel fiasco on the trip out (not too happy with American Airlines and will probably NEVER use Priceline again) but survived it, and an uneventful trip home last night. Everything at home was in good shape thanks to a competent "chore person" (animals) and a rare thunderstorm with plenty of rain just after we left (plants). The lambs have all grown in a week, and Blackberry lost his second scur while we were gone.

Back to catching up at . . .

The hardest things to leave....

....are my animals.

Oh, and I'll sorely (in both senses of the word) miss my bed, too.

'Bye until next week from . . .

Travel knitting

"I'm leavin' on a jet plane...." Yep, tomorrow we are taking a trip. After flying to Kansas City, MO, we will rent a car and drive to Holyrood, KS to see my 97-year-old grandmother, then drive back to Joplin, MO for the first ever McMillen family reunion, then fly home again from Kansas City on Monday. All that flying and driving should give me plenty of knitting time (hurray!), so this is what I have lined up:
Two-at-a-time-on-Magic-Loop wristwarmers out of the rest of Brian's Encore sock yarn.

Black mohair moebius shawl (Christmas gift).

A gift project that shall remain a surprise.

If I get to them, two-at-a-time toe-up socks on Magic Loop from this lovely heathery green wool/acrylic. I had this cone in my stash, and realized when sock fever hit me that it should make dandy footwear. I've wound up two 58-gram balls of it to take with me.

That's it for now from . . .

A fresh look inside and out!

Happy June, everyone. We actually have some clouds today moderating the unseasonable heat and bright sunshine that dominated the month of May. It is a refreshing change . . . I am definitely not a sun worshipper!

Anyway, along with the monthly blog background change, my flower beds have been transformed as well. I've managed to keep up with weeding a few of the smaller beds, but all the bigger beds have gotten terribly overgrown. Realizing I was never going to catch up, I got the name of a couple fellows who did some weeding for my friend Kathleen, and they came out today. I handed them the tools and a pitcher of ice water (and at the end, some money, of course), and they handed me beautifully clean flower beds, ready for the addition of a few more flowers and shrubs I picked up recently. Even though there really wasn't room in the budget for a "splurge" like this, it is SUCH a relief to have it done! (Now if I can just keep up with the weeding from here on out....) Before and after.

After.

Before and after.

After weeding, then after planting the "Amethyst in Snow" Centaura, a couple "Goldmound" spirea and a couple "Blue Star" Lithospernum, and a dozen small dahlias. Since this is the first bed you see when you drive up to our house, I was especially glad to see this one ship-shape.

They cleaned up some other areas, too; I'm sure you get the picture.

Back to tails for the end of this post. This morning I took photos of the Three Gulmusketeers' tails. They are quite different than those of Brava's twins, although sired by the same ram. Bronwen's (top) tends more towards a rat tail like her dam's, with wool only the top 1/3, which I don't mind even though it doesn't meet the breed standard's description. Blackberry and Bramble have wool on the top 2/3, although their darker "stripe" makes them look more haired than that.

That's it for now from . . .