happy birthday johnny!

i've always been to honored to share my birthday with johnny cash. my family asked me what i wanted to do for my b-day and i told them i want to knit, spin, dye and write my blog and listen to johnny. oh yeah-and eat some good spicy mexican food. we drove to town during the torrential down pour and had lunch. we are home now and i'm settled in for "my" time. i plan to start my fiber challenge project i made for myself. if anyone would like to join in please do. i was looking at the book "dyeing to knit" by elaine eskesen and found a cool project for all my tiny balls of yarn i've saved over the years. it's on page 110 and called the maine bounty sweater. yes, i know i can't believe i'm starting yet a new knittng project. but i have to go where i'm inspired. and when i'm excited about something i can't think about anything else. the problem is i get too excited way too much and i have too many unfinished projects. but here's a pic of my box of balls-this could be fun fun fun. although there is the issue of all those ends to sew in.-i figure that's a good project for knitting group-or other times when it's hard to concentrate. i also have some blue faced leicester soaking for some dyeing. the rain is thick, kids are playing, johnny's playing strong and my birthday homebrew is tasty. life is good. happy birthday johnny-hope you're havin a rippin time where ever you are.

all my fault!

well, i guess the big "mama" herself had to put me in my place- was i being smug? i didn't mean to rub it in.-sorry everyone-today's snow storm was all my fault.(see previous post) my neighbor's plum tree was in full bloom-oops! but i must say the kids and i loved it! a big old madrone tree fell and almost smashed my garden fence.

i really wanted to spend the whole day knitting and spinning-it would have been so cozy! but the house is a wreak and i needed to get some chores done. damn chores- always interrupting my creativity. i did manage to dye some green fleece-getting ready for st. patty's day! while i was cleaning i found some real old roving and spun up a quick ball-it was the ugliest thing i have ever spun. but my youngest happened to like it-said he liked depressing colors. i said i would make him some socks or something out of it. i was thinking of giving it to the cat. if i'm brave enough i just might take a pic. tomorrow.

this snow fall was the kitten and chickens first snow. they did not share our enthusiasm. a lot of confusion. only one egg today. they did manage to find a small bare patch under a live oak-that they could still scratch about in. scratching in snow just wasn't doing it for them.

lucie is the black hen. she is a black australorp-our best layer. we call her lucie the lucky. she was the only survivor out of 8 hens after "the" disastrous dog party. then we got hazel grace and ruth to keep her company. they are partridge rocks. they were a month old when we got them. hazel was crippled and everyone told us she would never walk right and put her out of her misery. after we had her for a week-giving her lots of love and some special chicken vitamins(looks like tang!) she was running and jumping! glad i didn't listen. i love my girls!

happy shoveling!

creamy foam

no, this is not a latte. i am about to enjoy one of hubby's lastest homebrews called rebelation '07-ooh la la! check out the foam on this thing- looks like a guiness. mmmmmm! sorry you can't share one with me-it is oh so good. tastes very good after beginning the tortuous project of digging up all our raised beds and laying down hardware cloth. yes! gopher warfare has begun. i've tried the juicy fruit gum trick, flooding the holes and those expensive battery sound devices-and i'm not sharing anymore! get your own garden! gee, was that a cheeze it commercial? power of the media-gads! for 2 summers i've watched my bean plants disappear before my eyes(shovel stabbing does not work either), my potatoes munched and my cucumber and melons destroyed!-no more garden devastation. so, bed by bed i'm gonna dig em up and cloth em down. whew! what a job. look what i found deep in the beds as i dug it up. several of these babies-an entrance, exit and an escape route. grrrrrr! gee a little TNT could be fun.

after digging about 2 feet down i nailed in the hardware cloth. this one bed took me 2 days-and it is the smallest one! our potato patch will be hell. well-here's the finished job-aint she a beauty? busted my finger open twice in the same spot with the hammer. good thing i knit the english way! normally i wouldn't be working in the garden in feb. winter in my neck of the woods usually consists of rain, rain, and more rain. gee did i mention rain yet? maybe a few snowfalls-but it never stays long-much to the kids dismay. seems like all you folks east of the rockies are getting blasted with a real winter-just like the old days. while you all have been busy shoveling the white stuff-i've been digging in the garden with no coat on! (can you say global warming?) i actually had the audacity to complain how hot i was.-i know-go ahead and spit at the computer. really it's okay. now, i'm not trying to rub it in or anything but i thought i'd leave all of you folks with a promise-a positive image to get thru the day. after all, ground hog phil did not see his shadow. this is what greeted be in the garden the other day.

electric lime

gee, i guess i'm going thru some kind of color phase thang. i just can't get enough of this electric lime chartruese color- a resurgence of my favorite girlhood color. this is my lastest knitted piece i knit for etsy. baby sweaters are my mostest fav thing to knit-they are cute and quik to knit- i'm an impatient knitter- i need instant gratification. now check out the color of my chicken coop below:

my then 8 year old boy and i built this coop last summer. i love building! i just wish i'd taken wood shop in high school-but girls were not "encouraged" to take such a class when i went to school-in fact chemistry was poo pooed too- every time i asked a question the responce was- you don't need to know-you are a girl. arg!!!!!! i'd love to clean that guy's clock now! anyway-i'm getting off the point. this small 4x8 coop took me all fricken summer. it took a little too long-if i'd had finished it sooner the chicken massacre dog party would never have happened.

so now check out the color in my latest dye job. i hand painted the merino fiber and then spun it. oh yea! gotta love it-my favoite color-electric lime.

opps!oops! sorry for the blurr!! i have a kitten on my shoulder.

welcome!

yeehaa! i finally got this blog up and running. (i think, i hope-we'll see) seems like weeks that i've been trying to figure this techno jargin out! please be patient-as i'm learning as i go. this is a view from my front porch. it's so hard to believe sometimes. welcome to my little piece of the world. i live on a small homestead with my hubby, 2 sons (15 and 9), 1 dog, 2 cats, 3 free range chickens and a garden. in the future i hope to have fiber sheep and goats. but i have tons o work-barn building(we do have preying mountain lions) and fencing-ohhh! fencing is a bitch! if i can only truly learn to operate that" come along!" we have viscious deer here-so my garden fence needed to be strong and tall. our "rosie rebel" women work trade group managed to get it done-but wow! i have great respect for fencers.

in my blog you'll find my monthly "chicken chronicles" article that appears in my local paper, my fiber adventures and all the groovy and not so groovy happenings in my world- fiber, knitting, spinning, lists, homeschooling, sustainability, overcoming my musicical fear of not being able to play banjo, gopher wars in the garden, loving beer, hating intolerance and captital letters. oh yea-and livin life in the foothills.