Monday, November 22, 2010

Satisfying progress

A four-ounce skein of two-ply alpaca.

A cabled Christmas hat. (Both of the above still need baths.)

Coming right along; another Christmas keyhole scarf. Had several skeins of this yarn in my stash, and it's the perfect color for both my nieces (sisters of the above hat's intended).

Speaking of knitting, my boy surprised me Sabbath morning by wearing the sweater I knit for him two years ago. (It was big then.) It did my heart good. :-)

Sunday I put up my last batch of applesauce, with enough apples left over for some holiday baking. I think that makes 62 quarts of applesauce total, and 9-10 pints of apple butter.

While I worked inside yesterday, Rick and Brian worked outside. The henhouse got cleaned, wall-to-wall rubber stall mats installed, and fresh shavings added. The stall mats should be easy to clean (the vinyl flooring didn't last) and make the floor stronger and better insulated. They also worked cleaning up leaves and cleaning out gutters, and Rick added some supports to our barn roof. A couple years ago when we got hit with an unusual amount of snow, Rick spent almost five hours shoveling off the older side to prevent collapse. A lot of barns and arenas in the area were heavily damaged by the snow load.

I planned to get in a ride on Russell yesterday, but we got rained out. It's still raining today, a very cold rain - just a few degrees shy of snowing. (My MIL, who arrives tomorrow from Phoenix, will be thrilled - not.) Inside, the wood fire keeps things comfortable, and the dogs mellow:

Outside, the feeder full of black oil sunflower seeds is very popular!

That's it for today from . . .

8 comments:

Susan said...

Michelle, your pictures are wonderful! That fluffy squirrel tail is amazing! And, have you ever seen a more relaxed pair of dogs? Nice knitting, too.

Kelly said...

I'd love to get my hands on that skein of yarn, it looks yummy. And, seriously, 62 quarts of applesauce? Still making me look bad here Michelle. Maybe if I didn't have to work away from home 40 hrs a week, I could be more productive at home. Maybe. (grin) Love the hinder shot of the squirrel, his tail is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous skein! You are making satisfying progress.

Marie said...

Beautiful skein!! And Brians sweater is wonderful. What a great kid!
I love the picture of the squirrel. His tail is beautiful.

Dianne MacDonald said...

That skein of alpaca is gorgeous! And you are making serious progress toward Christmas. I feel like a real slacker!

Nancy K. said...

Wow, Michelle ~ your spinning is gorgeous.

Brian is such a cute ~ I should say handsome young man.

I WANT YOUR CAMERA!!!

Sharon said...

I love that skein, I love the hat, and I love Brian's sweater and expression. You have been a very busy girl! My job today was just to keep the wood stove going, which I was happy to do.

Karen said...

Thanks, the pictures are such a treat. It looks like it's pretty fun at your house!