Yarn Along - June

I decided if I was going to get back to normal regular blogging, I'd better have something ready for the Yarn Along.  That and I'd picked up a skein of Rhapsody in Hue's Equinox Farm yarn and I was dying to try it out ;-).

Melanie did a spring and fall colorway and I picked spring.  I'm not sure why, as I much prefer fall, but I was probably feeling sentimental about the redbuds, which were as beautiful this spring as they were when this picture was taken several years ago.

The redbud blooms might be gone, but the yarn still looks right at home with a backdrop of Johnny Jump Ups on the Wool House porch.

My knitting mascot for this project is Silke, a super sweet lamb from Little Cotton Rabbits.  I've been trying to purchase one for several years and finally got lucky (they sell out in a minute when she lists them!) last fall...winter...?  If I'd kept the blog current I'd know for sure :-/.  Anyway, she took the first frogging with great courage and luckily we haven't had any more trouble.

Melanie did half the skeins with Merino and half with Blue Faced Leicester.  I chose the BFL since I'm...all together now...a coarse wool girl ;-), but it's not coarse.  It's very soft and smooth...and I'll be happy to get back to some good old Texel or Jacob when I'm finished ;-).  

The colors are really pretty though and I'm having fun working with it.  I think she may have a few skeins left from the festival if case you are interested in knitting along :-).  

For my book...well, I listened to some really good ones over the winter and during the Iknitarod/Iknitaredux.  I actually have some Friday Flashback pictures to post from the epic journey, so I'll share that list then.  

For this spring?  Meh... I've only listened to one book that I've really enjoyed.  But I really enjoyed it.  It's the final book in a series of three.  I've listened to them all and loved all three.  They are The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect and The Rosie Result, but Graeme Simsion.  

I think you could listen to just the last one and not be lost, but why.  Start at the beginning and fall in love with all the characters and the last one will be just that much better.  They are cute and funny and the last one really makes you think.  Just brilliant.

Joining in with Ginny.

Flashbacks

The best part of maintaining a blog, at least to me, is having the verbal and/or photographic record of what you'd like to remember. The ability to be able to scroll back or look for a specific date or activity is priceless.  The lack of regular posts lately has been the biggest only disappointment in my blogging "career".  

Losing Abby last year was a blow.  Looking back, I'm happy I didn't do much actual blogging while she was with me.  Blogging takes time.  Frequently a lot of time.  During her short life I concentrated primarily on taking care of her.  Thankfully.  Enjoyably.  I'm glad I didn't lose any time to sitting in front of a computer. 

In the months that followed, I struggled to get back on my blogging feet.  Honestly, my own two feet were a struggle sometimes.  I'm not going to try to explain that because if you are reading this blog, you already understand.  I guess it's easier to break a good habit than a bad...and here I sit with a a year of nearly empty pages.

Instagram filled in a lot of gaps.  Frequently a lot of gaps.  It's so much easier to do a quick post right on the spot using just your phone.  You don't have to go inside and download pictures from your camera.  It's easy for people to leave comments, ask questions...  I have no idea what is going on with Blogger comments any more.  I'm so sorry.  I am as frustrated as you are.

For all it's trouble though, Blogger is still an important tool.  At least to me.  And I'm glad there are still a few of us fossils out here keeping our journals, even if they aren't daily.  They are treasures.  They teach, they inspire, they connect us to friends and family.  They cheer people up...and sometimes make them cry.  Life.

And when I'm old and senile and living in a nursing home, I'd like to be able to look back through my old blog posts and remember that in May, 2019, the locust trees were amazing.  The prettiest I saw.

Flashback - Honey Locusts

And a couple of new puzzles :-).

Springtime

It is pretty...

Biscuit and Muffin

And a new puzzle.  Enjoy!

The Young Eagle

Just to keep things interesting around here, this fell out of a barn nest a couple Sundays ago.

He was in a sort of secure location, so I left him, hoping his mom would figure out what to do.

When she didn't and he started doing this...

...AND THIS!   

...you know what I did.

He was far too young to be out in the world so I gave him some meal worms (that he gobbled up) picked him up, stuck him in a bucket with some hay, covered him with some netting and took him to the house.

We have two types of birds that aggravate the socks off us live in the barn - big annoying birds and small annoying birds.  I figured he was the small annoying variety, so looked up sparrows and what to feed them and a couple places mentioned dog foods that provided protein and he readily approved.

Fun fact, it only took about two days before he figured out the microwave (aka baba maker ;-) meant food and would start "baa-ing" just like the lambs do.  

I pulled one of the heated beds from the cat condo and set it under his bucket at night and that worked perfect to keep him warm, but not too warm.  After about a week, once his feathers started growing in, I picked up this awesome brooder box from a friend and moved him into it.  

I added some branches so he could practice perching and he grew and grew.

The first few days we had the cage on the house porch.  It was handy, but I worried that he wasn't getting to see other birds eating in real life. Then, on Saturday, he got super excited while I was feeding him - he liked to perch on the side of the bowl while I stuck clumps of dog food into his mouth - and he flew out the open door.

He flew (as Tim said, "like a wiffle ball") to the nearest tree, just out of reach.  Panicked and flew higher.  Wanted to come back down, but couldn't figure out how - up is easier than down apparently - so the next thing you know, yep, I'm up on the roof.

When I was getting his food ready, I'd say "cheep cheep" and he'd answer "cheeeep".  He'd also use that call to tell me when he was hungry.  I used "cheep cheep" and his "cheeep" to find him in the tree and eventually he was able to figure out how to land on the chimney where I was standing, I gave him some food and picked him up.  Whew!

Moving him to the Wool House porch was a great idea.  

Less (a little less at least) cat traffic, much more bird traffic, only one tree (that wasn't quite as TALL), morning sun (he's not an early riser and frequently would want to wait until 8:00 to really dig into breakfast) and afternoon shade.  

I put a feeder out front, scattered loose seed on the railing and in the birds came.  All sorts of sparrows, some his kind, some probably a little different.  They talked to him, he talked to them, I hope he watched them eating and drinking and yesterday afternoon I opened the door.

I felt pretty sure he'd fly around and then come back when he got hungry.  He did.  The plan was to feed him like that until evening and then lock him back up for the night, but then Tim mowed the lawn, scattering everyone and I feared the worst.  "Cheep cheep?"  "Cheep cheep?"  No reply :-/.

This morning I headed out, hoping for the best, but again, no reply.  I didn't give up hope though because, remember, he's not the early bird, and by 8:30 I'd found him!  All was well.  I tried to feed him again at lunch, but he wasn't interested, hopefully because he was full of bird seed and insects.

About an hour ago, when I came in to post these pictures (in the air conditioned house with the doors and windows closed) I heard a loud "cheeeep" outside.  Not uncommon because we have tons of these birds around.  "Cheeep".   Surely that's not him.  "Cheeep".  I'd better go check...and sure enough, he'd come to the house looking for me.  

"Hey lady, how about firing up that baba maker!"

I've never been so happy to see a little annoying bird.  I'll keep feeding him like that as long as he wants it, but hopefully he's well on his way.  At least he doesn't fly like a wiffle ball anymore ;-).

Tim named him The Young Eagle because I volunteer with the Young Eagle program at the Cynthiana Airport.  Perfect.

Visiting The Local Yarn Store

Karen (kbdoolin) has been here this past week. We've been lambing and weaving our butts off.  Well, mostly I've been lambing and she's been weaving (although I did get a warp for some dish towels wound and ready to thread up :-).  She wove a beautiful scarf from some handspun Rebecca Boone and Woolliam.  

The warp (long threads going from back to front on the loom - in this case Woolliam) ends that are leftover when you cut a project off the loom are called thrums.  I usually save back a few thrumbs for tying yarn skeins and toss the rest out for the birds.  Karen scattered hers in a nearby red bud last night and early this morning...

Within minutes the shelves were picked clean!

Yarn Along - I Thought You Finished That Sweater Months Ago

 The Maisie sweater is finally really done. It's been missing buttons for almost a year.  

I felt like it needed some wooden buttons, but couldn't find exactly what I wanted.  I tried painting three buttons - one with Hank, one with Maisie and one with a heart.  They were super cute, but didn't look right on the sweater.  

And then I won a beautiful wooden carved tree necklace.  WoolyMossRoots was sponsoring a giveaway on Ginny's blog - a delightful read every day, not just for the Yarn Along - and I won :-D. 

Possibly it was fate or maybe I just got lucky.  Regardless, in finding their website, I found the perfect buttons for Maisie's sweater.  

I love how the intricately carved Celtic knot so closely mirrors the cables down the sleeve.  And it's wood.  And handmade.  Perfect!

And then, like in all good knitting photo shoots around here, someone has to volunteer to help.   Eli.

And then when they realize they are actually being helpful...they leave ;-).  Eli...

Sewing buttons on a knitted sweater is as close to knitting as I've come so far this week.  I am listening to a nice story, An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor.  Some of the voices are a little irritating, but the story is good - might be better on paper ;-).  A short story I thoroughly enjoyed was The Tree Nobody Wanted by Tom McCann.  

I love reading/listening to Christmas stories.  Any suggestions?

Joining in with Ginny...

The Consummate Tour Guide

"See?  I told you it was cool over here!"

Two of my favorite trees.  See how they've grown side by side, each giving the other room by directing their branches to the left or right?

"Everyone having a good time here?"

I just love the soft colors and textures of misty days.  The perfect "filter".

It's pretty easy to hide behind B(ig) Willard ;-).

Heading home.

Sunday Stills - Fall Foliage

We really have had a gorgeous fall. One of the very best I can remember.

The pumpkins are from a friend's farm.  She set them out for us for the Hug A Sheep party.  I love beautiful pumpkins as much as I love beautiful leaves.  Thank you, Jessica!

We planted these two trees the first fall we lived here.  They came together from the same nursery and we were told that they were the same variety.  One stays green (on the left) while the other turns bright red.  Are there male and female trees?  

We just can't believe how big they've gotten.

Time flies!

I thought I was recording longer than 18 seconds, but 18 seconds is better than nothing.  While I was lining up different views for Ed's challenge, a silly mockingbird was singing his heart out.  Probably not for me, but it sure made it a fun 18 seconds :-).

For more Sunday Stills...

Sunday Stills - Brown

Browns...with a little hint of green. 
 

For more Sunday Stills...