Natural colors

Sunset last night.

Natural colors in a more subdued palette coming soon - fleece shots!

That's it for now from . . .

Don't shoot the messenger!

Yes, I saw crocus blooming in McMinnville yesterday afternoon. If it makes you feel any better, we're not that far into spring up here on the hill.

That probably drove away everyone who is currently surrounded by white. If you're still reading (and know me in "real life"), you'll get a chuckle out of this - someone thinks I have style!
Since Wendy has never seen my fashion sense (decidedly casual), I will assume she is complimenting my blog, and I thank her for that.

Here is what I am supposed to do as a stylish blogger:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

So here are seven things about me
• I never rearrange furniture. When I move into a space, I figure out the very best way to arrange what we have; why mess with it?
• I took piano, clarinet and accordian lessons as a child and teen. I still have a piano and an accordian, plus a mountain dulcimer. I can play none of them well.
• The first paying job I remember was ironing shirts for a neighbor.
• My car is almost always tuned to public radio; I rarely listen to radio anywhere else.
• I really like the TV series "Monk." I flatter myself that I have similar powers of observation and deduction, without the extreme OC behavior. Hee!
• That said, the only TV I watch on a regular basis is the local nightly news.
• I'm athletic and highly competitive; yes, even in my middle age.

I haven't recently discovered 15 blogs, so I am just going to list some blogs I think are deserving of this award, and why.
@ Romi's Studio - this knitting designer creates amazing things in yarn and metal; in other words, she is truly stylin'!
Antiquity Oaks - Striving for self-sufficiency is always in style, in my opinion, and Deborah is an excellent evangelist.
Camp Runamuck - Theresa is always creating something, whether it be beautiful spaces in her home, sewing her own clothes, weaving, spinning, or knitting.
Country Girl at Heart - Deb definitely has a sense of style, and finds such wonderful pieces at auctions to decorate her space. She's also an ambitious homesteader, growing her own food and fiber - even though she lives in a condo!
Crosswinds Farm - Corinne's animals may not appreciate her sense of style, but it sure is entertaining for the rest of us!
Front Porch Indiana - Beautiful old home, beautiful animals, beautiful blog.
Miss Effie's Diary - Miss Effie is the queen of shabby chic style and creative entrepreneurship - plus she has one of the most giving hearts I know.
Misses Peach's Meowz - I don't think there could possibly be a prettier blog or cozy cottage than those maintained by Karla and her very special feline(s).
Punkin's Patch - The crazysheeplady is amazing with paintbrush, camera and fiber!
sheep dreams - Dianne is another crafty Kentuckian I admire - goodness, that makes three Kentucky blogs on my list; four, if you count the person who gave me the award! Sounds like Kentucky deserves a "stylin' state" award! (Does that make up for only awarding ten blogs?)

That's it for now from . . .

Birds of a feather...

...do flock together!
All three of our Easter Eggers together in the henhouse; a continuum of color from white/gold to blue/gold.
Yesterday Brian and I cleaned out the chicken coop. Last night after Rick and I did chores, we clipped a wing on each of our six pullets and popped them into the coop, where the five older hens were already on the roosts. So far this morning there has been a minimum of squabbling; only Lucy shows any inclination to hen-peck and there are so many new ones to "put in their place" that none of them are getting too much individual grief from her. It IS interesting to see how the two new Easter-Eggers and the four Speckled Sussex tend to flock together!

This morning I finished spinning the sample on my olivewood Aegean. The two photos show some of the variations of color within the sample. Everything about spindling is attractive to me - the beautiful woods, handling the fiber, watching the slow kaleidoscope of a carefully-wrapped cop, the portability, the resulting yarn. And it's something I can do while sitting next to Brian and helping him with his schoolwork. I can also knit while assisting him. I've just come to the end of the second skein in my Oregon vest; I need to measure it to see how much farther to go before the armholes.

As for my ribs, they are feeling MUCH better!

That's it for now from . . .

In the garden

I'm actually a wee bit excited to type that, although I'm glad that the weeding and the watering and the weeding and the picking (and the weeding) and the preserving won't start for awhile yet.

Today I hauled a wagonload of chicken poop and shavings up to the garden, and noticed LIFE. The parsley I planted last year is a big, lush mound (tabuloui, here we come!),
rhubarb is pushing up through the dirt,
and the strawberries are soaking up all the sun they can.
The caneberries are still dormant,
but the blueberries are beginning to bud.


Katie is also starting to "bud"! She's the only one of the four ewes I bred who looks pregnant. Lambing should start in four weeks; I wonder how many I will get? I'll have to post a lambing contest in a couple weeks and have you help me guess. I'd better start thinking about prizes!

That's it for now from . . .