This and That

I have two "older" sisters who seem to think that all I have to do is write for my blog, well here we go.  This is what has been going on.  Sit back and start reading.

I started my day early watching the moon set behind the trees.  Although it is a beautiful site nature gives us, I think I like seeing it in pictures better. Pictures, that someone else snaps that is.

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Then I did a little raking with just a ton of help. As you can see, she does love to help Ama.




Of course the boys had to get in on the action too. 

Not sure how much help they were but they did keep a close eye on things.

After we finished raking, we went for a walk on the trail through the woods. I wasn't really clear on the purpose of the stick, but I was told at one time that is was to chase porcupines. Now, has she ever seen a porcupine in the woods?  I'm thinking not, but that is the beauty of how a two year old thinks.

As we all know it is pumpkin season.  This year we relished in the pumpkin theme.

         We "growed up" pumpkins, we danced with pumpkins, we looked for just right pumpkin, and we walked through the pumpkin patch with PaPa.        

 After all that hard work a hot dog was in order.

Well, there you have it. Now you are all caught up on what has been going on here.

All A Glow....

Usually the three maples that we have around the front of our house turn a brilliant red, bright orange, and some yellow.  This year they decided that it was all yellow for them. I don't know why, I'm sure some enviromental guru could probably explain it to me.

 Do you think we might have some raking to do?  Looks like a job for the lawn mower.  I'm all for recycling.

The yellow of the leaves is so vibrant, it looks like the sun is shining constantly.  Which has been a very good thing because we have been socked in with rain for the last week.

When I would look out the window and see the yellow shining in, I couldn't help think of my Grandmother.  She has long passed by now, but I remember her saying when they painted her house a bright yellow that now she would always have sunshine.  Strange how unrelated things bring back memories.  You just never know where you will find them, I suppose.

If you look at this picutre really close you will notice a small rainbow in the upper right hand corner.

I guess the trees are our gold.  Hmmm.....who says your gold has to be monetary.

Are We So Different?

As the leaves turn and the days cool and become shorter , not unlike the bears and all other  hibernating animals, we too as humans go into hibernation mode.



We start slowing down, spending more time indoors, finding ourselves with more time for the knitting needles, and oh yes, eating.  Well, just like the animals we too have to layer up for the winter.  Don't we?

I must think so, because the other day I had the uncontrolable urge to make orange cranberry scones with almond glaze.  After which, my husband and I began the layering process. Hmmm....perhaps winter isn't so bad after all.

Talk,,,,Talk,,,Talk

It just must be something in the genes. One of my two year old granddaughters favorite things to do, is talk to PaPa on the phone on his way home from work.  As you can see by the photo, she feels quite relaxed with the task.

I wish I could still cross my legs like that.  Come to think of it, not sure I ever could.

These photos were not taken but just a couple of weeks ago.  Hard to believe that we had snow showers on Saturday as my husband was mowing the lawn.   There's just something really wrong with that whole scene. 

Peter Would Be Proud

We finished picking the garden last weekend. It was a nice day and we knew cold and rain would be coming our way. About all we had left were peppers and more peppers.

As you can see our peppers did quite well this year.  That's my husband hiding behind that one.  He was a good sport and held it while I snapped a few pics.

What in the world am I going to do with all these peppers?  I decided to freeze the sweet green ones to use later in cooking. That's an easy fix for them. Now on to the sweet red ones and ALL those semi hot ones.  hmmmm... 

How about some pepper jam?  This is the jam I came up with.  I roasted some sweet red and some hot on the grill.  I then peeled and chopped them, added some garlic, onion, fresh basil, vinegar, and sugar and viola' we had pepper jam.

Since everthing sits better on a "ritz" we decided to try some with cream cheese. yum..yum   That ended up being our dinner that night.   What do you think Tracey?  Looks yummy doesn't it?

Lace Project Finished and Dye Job Gone Bad

Whoo...hoooo!  The lace project is finished.  Now I can be in love with it again.  As far as lace projects go it was a fairly easy one and an interesting one to complete. I purchased the yarn at Stitches Midwest in 2008, from Brooks Farm Yarn http://brooksfarmyarn.com/    The yarn is called Acero, it is 60% wool, 20% silk and 20% viscose.  It was fantastic yarn to work with, no fuzz, slight sheen, and an almost heathered color.  The drape is wonderful for this project.  I was looking for a lace project that wasn't too "frilly".  I wanted something that would be a heavier weight.  I came up with "Ene's Scarf" by Nancy Bush.  Wonderful, Wonderful pattern. It is worked by casting on along the lower two sides and then decreased as it is worked up towards the center of the top edge.  The best thing is it keeps getting smaller and smaller, instead of the traditional shawl that just grows and grows.  The shawl pin is a great item  I purchased from http://nicholasandfelice.etsy.com/  It is light weight and still has enough gusto to hold any shawl in its place.  Check out their shop on Etsy.  They have wonderful items.

I finished another project the other day.   I recently purchased some hand carders. I had some roving from a day that the dye session had gone terribly wrong.  I thought, "hey, I might as well try them on something that really doesn't matter a whole lot".  Well, all you fiber freaks out there know that every piece of fiber can be saved one way or another.  After I had all my little rolags I spun it and went back to the dye pot.

As you can see, not a good mixture.  I got the idea to over dye it with blue, thinking that the green would turn maybe an aqua of some sort, the pink a purple of some sort and the white or cream would be blue.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Here it is now.  Much better I think.

WI Sheep and Wool Festival

We went to the WI Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend located at the Jefferson County Fair Grounds.  Kudos to the festival team for yet another great show. It is just a flurry of activies for groups of all ages.  Herding competitions, sheep judging, sheep shearing, fleece sales, classes, food, displays. and of course all the wonderful goodies for a fiber freak like myself to purchase.
Although I have a very hard time justifing buying anymore yarn or roving, I could not pass up at least one skein of sock yarn.
I purchased this skein from Happy Hands Hand Dyed Yarns, http://happyhandsyarn.com/  it was just irrestiable. Her colors are just fantastic, so vibrant and alive. She also has samples knitted for you see what the yarn will look like when knitted. When you walk into her booth you are greeted with friendliness and enthusiasm.

How could anyone restist that face?  Not sure that she is real happy being here. She's probably thinking, "haven't you ever seen a sheep before." 

 I turned my attention to the many, many sheep that were to be sheared that day.
When I looked over at the herd all I saw was skein after skein of yarn.  I found myself wondering how many skeins were there.

hmmmm.....I wonder if thearpy would help.  There has to be a twelve step program, don't you think?

Okay, tell me you don't see them too.