bear poop and other treasures

major busyness for wooly these days! first off- i haven't been getting much sleep lately. the dogs on our hill have been going off(barking excessively) all night long-mine included! i recently found out why. on my driveway is a big pile of:

bear poop!!! with lots of peach pits inside. at least we know the bears are getting some proper nutrition before their midwinter nap. just stay away from my chickens!! did i blog about the bear in the chicken coop? need to check on that. it was very exhilarating and scary.


every september liam gets very excited as it is time for the annual d'ville antique bottle and insulator show. it's his passion. i must admit i get a bit thrilled myself. as i always find all sorts of treasures. affordable treasures!!!! check out my score! below are some great old prints from Ca. Fish and Game, a Maxfield Parish print, and a whole collection of bird and animal prints by Jacob Bates Abbot. total score! can you see the postcard sized thing with an old english manor on it? it a sewing needle kit from england. it originally had 50 needles-i think half are still there. too bad the darning needles are all gone.

i just love old pyrex and enamel. i finally got a set of 3!!! been wanting these forever-but way too expensive at antique stores and hard to find in thrift stores.


and the cool thing is my buddy Birdsong just gave a one of the blue ones in mint condition with a matching silk and merino undershirt she found at a thrift store the other day . thanks bsong-that made my day:)-i am rich with treasures!!!

i also got these nifty enamel bowls-they look great for display in our craft fair booth.

the garden has been giving us beautiful heirloom tomatoes this year despite the weird weather. livin on homegrown tomatoes rocks!!!

i want to end this post with a thank you. many of you know we recently had a large forest fire close to home. too close to home. our road was closed and many friends were evacuated from their homes. i want to thank everyone- firefighters and all for an excellent job kicking ass on this fire and getting it contained so quickly. you all amaze me! some of our own local fire firefighters were away in other states fighting fires when their families were being evacuating. over 1ooo acres burned. i am so very grateful!!! thank you!!!

photo from yubanet. here's a picture of blue watching the fire planes fly over our house.

knit-alongs and other stuff

now that the excitement of our big forest fire is over-phew, that was close. too close for comfort. things are getting back to normal. trying to get organized for schooling and i've been knitting up a storm!

i'm relieved to have gotten the twin baby sweaters done that a dear friend commissioned me to knit for her brother's twin baby girls due in november. i was able to finish them just in time for a quick handoff at peterson's corner on her way to the baby shower-that was another close call with many issues of running out of yarn and trying to find new balls with the right dye lots. but i managed. the pattern was a sirdar pattern # 1816 made out of bamboo and merino yarn-oh so soft and machine washable.


now that i'm done with this commission i can work more on my knit-alongs-yes, i've joined more than one! insane i know-but remember i'm the queen of starting new projects but this way i may get them done:)

here's the progress on my Catamount sweater, i'm almost done with the second part:


while parousing around ravelry-i found a mystery sock knit-along using HAZEL KNITS yarn. i love hazel knits yarns! the cool thing about a mystery knit along is you don't know what the finished product will look like- you receive clues and your sock will unfold before your eyes as you knit. i'm a bit behind on this one. here's the beginning of my sock in the sweet crush color way.
i decided to do another project for the knit along as you can do numerous projects-by the same designer. melissa of "stick chick knits" is an awesome designer. check out her website. i decided to do the prickly fingerless mittens but only in one color as i didn't have another contrasting color and was trying real hard to be good and not order more yarn! i already had a skein of hazel's "olympic rainforest" on hand.

i think the mitts will still look awesome:


well, my back is troubling me again and i need to lay down-adios folks!

that time of year!

Yes folks it's that time of year again. it's the time when i post an image of a screaming woman. happens every year.

i post this picture because it's how i feel-totally overwhelmed! it's the time of year when i'm suppose to be organized, on top of things, ready to go-yes, it's the beginning of a new school year. don't get me wrong-i love homeschooling. it's just that...i have such good intentions of keeping up with things - just a little bit over the summer so when this time of year comes around again we are not hit with a mac truck. does it ever happen? NOOOOOO! and it's amazing how much is lost over those few summer months- now, how do i hold a pencil? what's 8x7? how do you spell...... it's like starting over. our brain is like a muscle-and when you stop exercising it-it get's flabby, out of shape-it loses power!!! so we gotta get our brains back in shape. i'm only schooling one now, but 7th grade starts getting hard and my brain needs a super workout!!! i need to get out of my brain fog. so here's to getting organized, blowing away the fog and doing it in a non stressful, positive, happy sort of way. wish me luck.

so proud!

i am so very proud of myself! i joined my first knit-along. i'm so excited as it might kick my butt in gear and i just may finish this sweater quicker than if i did it on my own. it's called the catamount sweater. find details here!

besides joining my first knit-along, the real reason i'm proud of myself is "STASH." yes, the whole sweater is being made by yarn i have hidden in a box at the bottom of my closet!!! RIGHT ON! i planned on going to the yarn store today to pick out some yarn for this sweater and i slapped my hand and said "wooly-NO! you will NOT buy new yarn for this sweater. you will shop in at your own yarn store(the closet)" and i did. check it out! here's my soon to be sweater:

i'll keep ya posted!