Faith and beauty

Sunrise this morning – the second anniversary of Rick's heart attack

An oldie but goodie to make my dad smile; he called Russell "one in 20,000"

Taken Monday, my mom's birthday – happy birthday, Mom!

Do-it-yourselfers

Yesterday we almost finished the basement ceiling drywall; all that remains is small piecework. Rick built some supports out of 2x4s that made the job a lot easier on our middle-aged selves. Next we can move on to laying masonry of some sort in the woodstove alcove. I have no doubts our masonry will look more professional than our drywall job! (Rick put himself through school as a mason, and we did the stonework on and in our house.)

In between helping with the drywall, I plied some spindle-spun singles I finished the night of Christmas, and cast on some bulky yarn slipper-socks for Brian. I knit 1 1/2 Duck feet during our AZ trip, but dropped everything fibery once we got home. With the arrival of Christmas, I suddenly wanted to bury myself in projects, a strange departure for this monogamous crafter. I am certain it is some sort of reaction to Russell's impending departure, a coping mechanism kicking in. After all, I can't spend all my time crying in this:

That's it for today from . . .

Travelogue #4: Festive finale

Besides various times of family togetherness, we enjoyed one more special outing before heading home to Oregon. Every year the Arizona Temple of Latter-Day Saints puts on a spectacular display of Christmas lights for the community. We spent a chilly evening walking around the grounds and taking in the sights.


Monday night found us home again in our own comfortable beds. Overnight company arrived Tuesday noon; needless to say they had to take us as we were since I was still scrambling to catch up on laundry and various other things that time away from home generates. We have made the final few preparations for Christmas. The weather continues to be unseasonably dry, with heavy frost blanketing the ground with white nearly every night and fog or sun during the day. Yesterday I snapped the photo below when I rode Russell down to get our mail. The Willamette Valley was socked in with a grey sea, Mt. Hood rising like a vocanic island in the distance.


Tonight the sunset below caught me by surprise; our east-facing property is more frequently blessed with sunrise shots.

City lights and soaring cactus are beautiful in their own way, but there's no place like home!

That's it for now from . . .

My printer ate my Christmas letter!

(or tried to)

I feel behind in getting out our Christmas greetings this year. The holiday season is zooming along; we've gone to all our usual Christmas parties already, and December 25 is just two short weeks away. This Thursday we fly to Arizona to celebrate early with Rick's family (he's on call for Christmas), and right after we get back my dad and his wife will be stopping by for a short visit. Before we know it, a new year will be on our doorstep - bam!

The chickens got clean sheets today, courtesy of my guys. Maybe the ladies will show their appreciation by laying more eggs! Today's production (above) is noteworthy; we've been getting an average of just one per day. We wouldn't be getting any if it weren't for Buffy and Muffy, our two Easter Eggers.

Right now Rick and Brian are out getting a load of oak firewood from one of Rick's clients. It has been cold, often grey, and unseasonably dry this month, great for getting a few extra outside tasks done. We are thankful to have plenty of wood; even with a fire going non-stop, the house is chilly and my hands and feet are often icy. That makes me want to huddle up, but I feel better (and warmer!) if I get busy and do something active - like ride my horse. The weather will turn wet again all too soon, so I'm riding whenever I can. Not just to take advantage of the weather, but to enjoy Russell while I can. He may very well be moving on to greener pastures before the end of the year. No! Not those greener pastures! But it's still hard. You can read more about that here.

That's it for today from . . .

Sublime

Believe it or not, it's been pretty much "dry" here lately, meaning water is not falling from the sky. There is moisture aplenty thanks to fog and dew and such, but fog is one of the things I love about autumn, along with vibrant colors splashed against both bright and deepest green.

Some of that green grows on rocks and tree trunks; this is a vignette from the wooded sheep lot (worth biggifying).

My Japanese maples come in various shapes, sizes and fall colors; I love them all!
The last photo was taken this afternoon. The weather today is exquisite! I'm off to ride my horse before company comes and daylight fades.

That's it for today from . . .

Sometimes the best-laid plans...

...WORK OUT!

After having to forego a picnic on the beach Sabbath, and coffee with a different girlfriend yesterday, I was getting a little worried about whether or not today's plans would happen. But hallelujah, a long anticipated beach ride with Wanda Jenkins came to pass! She arrived around 9:00, and after meeting the dogs and sheep we loaded up our stuff along with Russell and Breezy and headed down the road to Lincoln City.

It was a cool, grey day, with a mere whisper of a breeze. We wore light jackets and were comfortable. It's been several years since Russell and I have been to the beach and we don't know Breezy's history, so both horses were extremely reluctant to get anywhere near the water. The tide was coming in, though, so there was no firm sand to make the going easier for our mounts except at the water's edge. Eventually Russell was plodding along in the shallows, with Breezy following behind at Wanda's steady encouragement.

We played dualing cameras-

acted as horsey ambassadors -

and enjoyed watching a surprising number of these -
along with a seal and a couple of intrepid surfers.

It was a wonderful excursion, thanks in large part to Wanda's most pleasant company. Conversation was easy and uplifting, with lots of shared beliefs and experiences.

And just in case you were wondering, I also took delivery of a (yes, another) lovely Jenkins Turkish spindle. Photos later; my camera's battery died at the beach and is recharging. Now I must go and do the same (recharge, not die!).

That's my report on a wonderful day, from . . .

Sleep-walking

By 6:00 this morning I had driven my guys to the airport (1.5 hours away) and returned home. Even though I'd had less than three hours' sleep, I didn't dare lie down when I got home; I had creatures depending on me for turn-out, food and water. After chores I decided I'd better get Russell out for his rehab ride while it was still relatively cool. Since then I haven't been very productive, even though the house is trashed and needs a thorough cleaning, peaches need to be put up before they spoil, there's food for tomorrow to prepare, and I need to make a run to town to deal with some banking issues and run other errands. I will get it all done so I can enjoy the Sabbath rest, though. After church I'm going to the beach with a friend and her daughter for a picnic lunch (and maybe supper, too!) and a break from the heat; oh, I am looking forward to that!

Rick and Brian will be gone for a week. On the one hand that means extra work for me, but it also offers sweet solitude and the freedom to do a few things that a full-time mother/schoolteacher can't usually fit in. I just need to make sure that getting enough sleep is at the top of the list!

That's it for now from . . .

Home and home

I am home again from my trip home. Strange, isn't it, how we can have more than one home? I love NW Oregon; I have never lived anywhere as long as I have lived here and I can't see myself living anywhere else. But some of my earliest memories are of Kansas and my family there, and that is where I am deeply rooted on my father's side. Someday, I will inherit some of my family's land there, as my dad has, and his father before him. And I can see my ashes buried there, in the little country cemetary near my grandparents, great-grandparents, and other distant relatives.

It was good to be with family to celebrate my grandma's life and mourn her passing. It is heart-wrenching to wonder when I will see my cousins again, now that we don't have grandparents to bring us together. Yes, we will have to make intentional efforts, but it won't be easy or often, given how far-flung we are and how busy everyone is.

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I have kept my place in the Tour de Fleece while traveling; in fact, yesterday on the final leg of my flight home, I finished all of the fiber I took with me!
I wouldn't have made such progress if I had been able to knit more. But I was not a model air traveler yesterday. First of all, starting out in Wichita, KS, I had my hairspray can confiscated and tossed. I knew it was oversized but took a chance on taking it, since I didn't have a travel size option. No biggy; TSA ignored it in Portland, so I got it to Kansas where I needed it. Since only one small personal carry-on (like a purse) was allowed on the small regional jet out of Wichita, my big carry-on was gate-checked to Chicago. But when leaving Chicago (to fly to Dallas/Ft. Worth before the final leg to Portland - I kid you not), for the first time in my flying experience there was a gate agent asking everyone to use the metal rack to prove that their carry-ons would fit in the overhead compartment. Mine, stuffed with added items that had been my grandmother's, was too fat to fit. I didn't grab my knitting pattern out of the front pocket before it was carried off to be checked, forgetting that I was ready to start the lace section in the middle of my shawl. I didn't grab my reading materials, either; at least I had my spindle!

Today I will resume spinning my fiber from Corgi Hill Farm on the miniSpinner, and continue with Inky's roving - in between setting the house to rights, doing multiple loads of laundry, watering garden and flowers, and working with my animals. Russell and I need to resume his daily walks, and I plan to halter Sarai and Marta and let them eat some green grass to improve their leading skills. I've caught up on email; I may never catch up on all the blogs I follow!

That's it for today from . . .

News from Black Sheep; random photos

Yesterday I got an email from the lady who purchased Barrister. Her grandson showed Katie's handsome ramling in the Youth Show on Sunday, and they took Registered Medium/Fine Wool Breeds Champion Ram! Woot!

Encouraging progress in The Taming of the Ewe(s). Sarai (katmoget) practically frisks me for grain now, and Marta (gulmoget) has discovered the tastiness of grain as well (they get very little; it is a taming treat, not a dietary staple). This morning Marta ate a few crumbles from the pan while I restrained her with my arms; major progress for her. I've had halters on both of them, and will continue to work with them until they approach me willingly and lead politely.

Handsome rams Bunker and Blake. (Cadbury will not be turned out with these big bruisers!)

Working on a two-egg omelet?

Oreo has a major sweet tooth. She snitches the horses' or sheep's sweet feed whenever she can; here she is licking watermelon juice off a plate!

The sign of a happy woman. This weekend Rick gave the okay to start hand-walking Russell again. But after stacking six tons of local grass hay in the barn yesterday afternoon/evening and doing chores, my knees were too achy to face it. Rick told me to get on, and he watched how Russell moved. The verdict? He is moving normally, so I can RIDE Russell for his short daily constitutional! Another woot!

That's it for today from . . .

It's true! I do believe it's blue!

Yesterday when I picked up CLEAN eggs, thanks to my guys cleaning out the henhouse and adding a layer of gravel to the chicken yard, I could tell for the first time that there is a distinct difference between Muffy's and Buffy's eggs:I was so excited! One is green, and one is definitely more blue! WooHoo!

Here is today's haul:I picked up the two on the left from under Muffy, the darker of the two new Easter Eggers. After she left the nestbox, I found the two on the right. So Buffy, the nearly white EE, is the exalted layer of blue eggs.

And now, a short video for your viewing pleasure. Being the only lamb so far at Boulderneigh isn't keeping Barrister from the races:


That's all the excitement for today from . . .

A two-egg day?

Probably not, since Morgan hasn't laid in months, but one can always hope!

As for my horse, all hopes were dashed last night when Rick examined him. If you want to, you can read about it here.

There's lots of soggy kleenex at . . .

Enjoy it while it lasts, ladies!

Today started out sunny and warmer than the past few days. That is about to change. The meteorologists are predicting snow to 1500' Tuesday, snow to 500' Wednesday (that would include us here on the hill) and possibly up to 4" of snow on the valley floor Thursday! That is a significant snow event for this area at any time, much less the end of February.

I would have gotten in a ride on Russell today while the weather was good, but he's lame. :-( Have you seen the tongue-in-cheek customer service sign that says "Today is not your day; tomorrow doesn't look good, either"? Apparently when it comes to showing my horse, "last year was not my year; this year doesn't look good, either."

That's life at . . .

Weekend progress report

We are back and I am practically giddy with anticipation over sleeping in my own comfy bed tonight instead of on a summer camp bunk in a sleeping bag! But I did get in a lot of quality spindling and knitting time while visiting with and listening to the group from our church, and even had time to read some from both the books I took (having two "WIP" books is something so rare for me that I might need intervention!). Above: the Oregon vest, now into its second skein; plying merino/silk on the left spindle, and spinning polworth on the right spindle.

This evening while Brian and Rick watched the second half of the Super Bowl, I went down to check on all the animals and chickens and see if riding was do-able with my sore ribs. The verdict: grooming, tacking up, walking and rising trot are tolerable; canter is not. Rick thinks I may have cracked a rib, but that's simply too inconvenient a possibility. Russell and I are supposed to compete in a dressage show in four weeks, for goodness sake!

That's it for now from . . .

Saved by the ball

(of yarn).
Last night I started a swatch and this morning I did another. I am now set to work on the Oregon vest this weekend; hurray!

You might think me an old fuddy-duddy for all the indoor activities I'm assembling for our "family snow camp" adventure, but I have my reasons. #1 - it doesn't sound like the snow is going to be much fun; mostly slushy yuck. #2 - last night while going over chores with the person who will be doing them for us while we are gone, I tripped over the blade attached to the tractor and crashed into the hitch, badly bruising my ribs, shin and both arms. The miracle is that I didn't hit my head; I think my guardian angel protected me! I remember thinking as I went down that I was going to do a face-plant into the back end of the tractor or the three-point hitch, and I still can't figure out how I managed to land and get the bruises I sustained and NOT hit my head or face on anything. At any rate, I'm pretty sore and bouncing down a hill on an inner tube would be torture.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. February is going to be a flurry of extra activity here. The henhouse has to be stripped and rebedded; pullets need to have their wings clipped and be moved into the henhouse; the sheep fold (especially the pullet corner!) needs to be stripped and readied for lambing; fleece samples need to be taken before shearing on the 15th, then fleeces will need to be skirted; Russell and I need to keep working so we won't embarrass ourselves at our first show in two years - all while keeping up with homeschool, home business, home-making, etc.

That's it for now from . . .