All the news that's fit to print

Sheep first (this is the Boulderneigh blog, after all!):
All the woollies are doing fine. Bramble is still keeping Nightcap company in the Ram-ada Inn:

The girls in the Sheep Sheraton aren't showing any signs of impending lambing so I suspect we're a month out from the first-bred older ewes' due dates. I think our church's annual women's coast retreat will land safely between the first set of lambs and the second set of lambs.

The boy band is co-existing peacefully in the wooded lot, growing beautiful wool. Dear deaf Benny didn't hear me approach this morning, so I caught some cute snooze shots before he woke up.

Knitting update:
I finished the owl hat but for the button eyes; so cute – and easy! I think it might be too short for its intended's taste, though, so I may be knitting #2 post-haste (there's plenty of yarn left over for another). I need to get back to the red fingerless mitts, too; I have to pick up stitches around the cabled band and knit the wrists, then add the thumbs.

Non-acquisition year update:
So far, so good! I had one little hiccup in January, when I spotted a bin of FitBit bands at the grocery store. I had worn out my basic black band so needed a replacement, but also spotted a pretty, patterned one in gray and white. I purchased both (for a grand total of $5) but realized the patterned one was an acquisition and returned it. Some of you might think that's a little silly, but I really do have more than enough of every thing, and this is a personal exercise in recognizing and being thankful for that. Besides, this new year is already smacking us with lots of unexpected, large financial challenges; every little bit not spent helps! Which leads us to...

Vet truck update:
This is a mixture of bane and blessing. I mentioned that the clutch had gone out on a trip over the hill and Rick had crept home in first gear. Once home he crawled under and investigated, but concluded it would have to go to a "truck doc." So he rented a tow-dolly to take it to the mechanic . . . only the tow-dolly wasn't big enough for an F350, so he had to call a tow truck. In the process of loading it, he and the tow truck driver discovered that the steering was non-functional – broken steering box. The driver noted that "Someone must be looking out for you;" amen! Now the big beast is at the Power Stroke specialist, who has diagnosed a host of heavy-hitting deficits. We're looking at $5000 minimum to get it back on the road, but considering the cost to replace it, we don't have any choice. Let's hope it goes another few hundred thousand miles (it has over 400K now)....

Heavey horse update:
Thankfully, my husband is a better vet than mechanic. ;-)  Lance is doing much better, and that makes my heart sing. After getting his immune system calmed down with dexamethasone injections, we're maintaining him with twice-a-day oral prednisolone. I'm hoping we can switch him to an aerosolized version or a bronchodilator, which have fewer risks of side effects.

Sports-mom update:
Brian played his last JV basketball game last week. The varsity team made it to the regional finals and won their first game Friday. Last night we attended game two. "Our" team lost the game; Brian and I lost our voices.  ;-)

That's it for now from . . .