Signing off for a few days

I did get a lot of work done this week.  However, I am still behind.  We are having our floors redone and Dear wants to tear off all of the plaster in the living, dining, front entry, office, and possibly the stairs before the floor guy comes on Tuesday.  I hope we get enough helpers because I am a little concerned we will not get it all done.  When dear was in Iraq I did a similar project in our bedroom.  It took a long time.  I carried plaster down the stairs in 2 five gallon buckets.  It was heavy, hot, work.  I like doing it, though.  Even more exciting, we rented a 5th wheel camper for the week. 

  Well, my computer is is the office and we may move it to where it can still be used, but if not, I will be offline for about 10 days. 

For those waiting for fleece, I will be working dilligently on them those 10 days.  I want to get them all done before we move back in. 

Too much work and not enough action

I have so many things to get done.  My garden is huge (about 1/4 of an acre) and it needs weeding.  I sprayed it to kill the grass and that should help, but I need to get in there and pull the broad leaf weeds.  I also need to finish burying the potatoes.  I have 1.5 rows done and 5.5 to go.  It takes me an hour to do one row!  I need to put my netting up for the beans and peas, plant more peas, put in the stakes for the tomatoes, spread mulch around, and weed the grass out of the sweet corn areas.  I can't do any of that, 3 days in a row I have been grounded from working in the garden, because we had a really heavy rain and the garden is still wet (I have heavy clay soil and it takes a while to dry out.)  That is just the garden.  There is also lawn mowing, packing up everything on the first floor because we are having the floors redone, and sorting through fleeces.  I am feeling very lazy, I don't want to do any of it.  I would rather sit here and work on my knitting.

This is my Lily.  I am using Nashua Creative focus Linen.  It is a linen and cotton blend.  I wanted this to be a little more rustic and I want it done for early fall.  This yard is rough like linen but, like linen, it will soften.

Amanda's swallowtail is coming along, but I ran out of the hand spun I was using.  I picked up some more top to spin for this at the lamb and wool festival this year and I should get to finish it up after I get through all of the fleeces.  Fleece first, spinning last.  For the non-knitting / crochet crowd.  This will look 100x more lovely once it is blocked.  All knits look better blocked, but for lace, it is pretty much a necessity.

My reworking of Wisteria has gone really well.  I will have to spin up some more yarn for it, but again, not until the fleece are all gone through.  I added quite a bit of length to this sweater and knit a medium for the bottom and a large on top and it fits really nicely.  It is comfy, not fitted, and I can hardly wait to finish it so I can wear it this winter.  It will be a hot one.  The top came from my sheep and it is so soft it is hard to believe it is wool.  No itchy feeling with this sweater.

One of the things I really like about this sweater is the hand spun.  It is more softly spun in areas and it creates a lovely texture.  It definitely is not an off-the-rack look, nor does it look like a home ec project.  I love it.  I think it is my favorite so far.  I have tried it on and every time I felt so snugly I did not want to take it off again.

I also have to fix No-No's sweater.  It will only take me a couple of days, so I am holding off for a bit, hoping I finish some of my real work first.

Love / Hate

I have a love-hate relationship with people.  I always knew I did not like most people and I never thought about why.  There are so many fictional characters who I love.  What makes them different from real people?  I began thinking on this during a conversation with my daughter about her writing and how to make it easier for her.  #1's biggest problem is she always wants to be perfect, never wants to hurt anyone (even unintentionally), and never wants anyone to think bad about her, including her parents.  Most people would think that we are so lucky to have a child who is conscious of how her words and actions affect others, but it is not all that wonderful.  When people desire to be perfect, when it is a compulsion, it is not real.  When it is not real, we do not know these people.  I know #1 pretty well, but, I do not know her passions, her sorrows, or her joys and that is what I most yearn to know about her.  Who is she at her core?  It is painful to know that she can not allow herself to be herself around me.  I yearn so much to be able to love her, but this glass wall of perfection block me from getting to know her inner self.  She is like so many people in my life.  The desire to just get along with everyone is the thing I hate about people.  I have realized that it is not the people who I hate, it is their lies.  "Everything is wonderful, how is everything with you?"  People dress up their outside to mask their inside and it is all an illusion.  Yet, when we all sit down to enjoy our favorite TV shows or our favorite books, we love those people, I love those people.  They are broken, their lives are bare for us, their joys and sorrows are clear to us, there is no wall.  We love those people, mostly because they are living honestly.  Those fictional characters are more real than our friends and family.  I am truly convinced that when the lies and the small talk is tossed aside and people let us know who they are, we will love them.  We will love their honestly, bravery, quirks, and flaws.  We will be able to identify with their humanity and grow bonds.  Hopefully, my talk with #1 helped her see how her restraints affect her self-expression and my ability to love her the way she needs me to.  I want nothing more than for her to soar, to do that, she needs to free herself.  She has 3 days to write her paper, I am praying she shines through it.  

Internet

My modem was bad and had to be replaced, so I was offline for about 4 days.  Thank goodness it is back up.  Today I will email everyone who tried to get in contact with me.  Sorry.

Still gardenning

I am still working on the garden, but I will take some photos of the naked sheep tomorrow.  I had to give them a few days to not feel so bad about their hair cut before taking pictures. 

A garden, piglet update

First the garden: I got the squash, pumpkins, some beans, corn, collards, peppers, watermelon, onion sets, half of the onion plants, and all of the flowers in.  I am nicely burnt.  The kids helped with quite of bit of this stuff.  I still have the rest of the onion plants, some herbs, the tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, celery, turnips, parsnips, radishes....and I think that is it, to get in.  I have help coming on Monday for all of that.  I have so much out there that I had to expand the garden. 
I also decided to try the 3 sisters thing.  I planted some beans with the corn and the buttercup squash on the edge of the corn so it will grow into the corn and shield the ground from the sun and reduce weeds.
I also have to begin mulching everything so the weeds stay under control.
Some of my potatoes are up already.  I love that. 

Now for the three little piggies:  Peanut, Butter and Jelly are all doing well.  they have adjusted to life in the outdoors and love munching the grass and "rooting" around.  They also are such wonderful little piggies that I give them their grain mixed with milk.  They are so happy to be here.  I think they forgot about the over crowded, stinky barn they came from.

I was not able to work on sorting any of the fleece.  I will have to reserve some time tomorrow to go through 2 of them.  I will finish the gardening on Monday.  School is done on the 3rd so I will be able to do a lot more work outside.  Phew....

Peanut, Butter, & Jelly

We normally raise about 10 hogs a year for selling and our own use.  This year, however, they were too expensive for us to buy feeders ($80+ versus $20).  We were fortunate enough to be given 3 runts.  So, her are Peanut, Butter, and Jelly:

Just sheared

We were able to get our sheep sheared.  I have lots of fleece sorting to do the next couple of weeks so I can send off the fleece orders I have and get the rest ready for sale.  So far, all of the colored fleece and one white one is sold.  There are 7 other white ones and one suffolk hamp cross to sell.  The white merinos will be micron tested and sold for $27 a pound (sorted into locks, not just skirted) and the suffolk is $5 a pound (as pictured, just skirted).  Suffolk is a downy, medium wool.  It works great as quilt batts.  I have 3 suffolkX that I am sending to be turned into batts for either comforters or quilts. The quilt batts should run:
crib $10
twin $15
Queen $30
King $45
Comforter batts will be double that price because they have double the wool.

The suffolkX for sale has a very long staple and many colors.  I will post pictures of the other fleece, but here is the suffolkX and the 3 batts (the rolled ones) I am sending for processing.

Article from JAMA

Intellectualization of Drug Abuse
....
Here, I draw on my experience as a drug abuser who for years maintained a relatively successful career as a basic biomedical scientist studying the neuroscience of addiction and compulsion to present a cautionary tale regarding the extreme dangers of intellectualizing drug use. No matter how well versed one may be in pharmacology or the addictive process, the fact remains that severe problems due to drug abuse can arise almost instantly, and no matter how in control one may believe himself to be, these problems can lead to tragic and irreversibly life-altering consequences.

In my case, this intellectualization occurred on three main levels. The first related to my drug use patterns. I was a daily user of cannabis for most of the past decade, and an intermittent user of opioids, primarily via the intravenous route, for approximately three years. This use occurred while I pursued a career in basic science research, with a heavy focus on addiction. Consequently, I was intimately familiar with the drug abuse literature and psychiatric diagnostic manuals such as the DSM-IV. I was able to finish my doctorate and conduct research at a high level at the same time I was a regular drug user.

...
This is just a snippet from the article, the rest is equally interesting.

Garden count, so far

300 feet of peas and 400 feet of potatoes
300 feet of sugar snap peas should yeild close to 60 lbs
400 feet of potatoes will yeild what they yeild.  I am guessing about 500lbs.
I did not do it alone, I had 3 helpers.

My hands are dry and I am I going to soak in the tub as long as everyone is at Taekwondo.

Indiski times 2

I am working on a traditional Russian shawl.  These shawls are supposed to be so fine that you can pull them through a woman's ring.  They are also knit on both sides, so they are reversible.  I decided to do two at a time because working with the cashmere in cobweb weight yarn was very difficult.  The pattern is not readily seen while you are knitting unless you pin it out as I have here.  Mistakes can happen easily, so I wanted to make sure I was familiar with the pattern.  I decided to use some hand spun merino, from my flock, in a light fingering weight.  So far, I love working on the merino and I may turn it into a large blanket for my bed.  The cashmere has not been enjoyable at all, but I look at it as an exercise in patience.  I hope no one ever asks me to knit them a veil, or if they do, they give me 10 years to complete it.  This is brutal.  I know I want to have this as an accomplishment of mine and that is why I am working on it.  Age will not make this any easier.  Still, it is beautiful.

I have looked at this book and they have some good patterns for this type of lacework.  The pattern I am knitting from comes from Piecework.  This magazine is nice to look at, but I rarely find things I want to do.  I picked mine up at the library and the pattern says you can photocopy the charts, so I did.  The library is one of my favorite resources for patterns and ideas, second to Ravelry.

Rosebud's sleeveless Owls

I took the standard "owls" pattern and omitted all of the decreases and increases and short rows.  I cast on for the arm holes and left off the arms.  She loves it.  It is done in Blue Sky Dyed Organic Cotton.

The kids took pictures

Rosebud took a picture of my "forget me nots."

and one of my prickly bushes that have great color and a name that slips my mind at the moment

little man captured the black locust trees

and a magnolia that came from a rare tree my mother bougt me years ago, it's name is "Pinky".

Rosebud got the best picture of Edith.

The little man got a great picture of the Oak tree in the front yard.

and I wish I had a better zoom on my camera so I could do our pelicans justice.

Otis

I should get a cd of his music, maybe this one:

Walter and an Igor update

The little dear was out taking photos and he snapped a few of Walter for me.

Igor is doing well.  He has a little buddy to run around with named Tae (as in Taekwondo).  I tried to get a good picture of him, but he was not cooperating, maybe later.

Do you see it?

Knitting Problems and New Books

Some people have problems with cats playing with their yarn while they knit.  Not I.  I have sheepy problems.  His name is Walter.

I ordered a book from amazon in January and the publisher is finally done with it and I should have it in a week!  I have one other stitionary from them and I really like it and since I like knitting lace I decided I wanted this one too. 

"The Spider and the Fly" by Mary Howitt

From the middle child's literature class

Silly lambs

We were gone all day yesterday and when we got home our 2 bottle lambs were waiting for us.  They were so ready to eat that they followed us up the stairs and in the house.  We were carying things so we could not stop them.

I wonder where they learned that trick from?

Nostepinne

A nostepinne is an old tool used to wind balls of yarn into center pull balls.  They cost around $20 and up.  A wooden spoon is a common household item that can be used as a great substitute.  I got this idea from a You Tube video, but for some reason I can not get the code from that video to load here.

Here are the results of my nostepinne:

a little more than 850 yards, 165g, 5.8oz of handspun, 2 ply, merino from my flock. 

I think the spoon worked well, slow, but well.

Women's rights

The country that rapes their women before they execute them (they will not execute a virgin) and also places "tanned" women in prison was just elected to the Counsel on Women's Rights for the UN.  The US was silent, they did not protest.

In case you do not know, it was Iran.  Yup, Iran is in the top 3 countries that come to mind when I think about killing women's rights. 

Politics over, back to happy things next post.

Vintage

Periodically, I like to check out what kind of vintage dresses etsy has listed.  Here are a few.  My oldest gasped when she saw the brown velvet one.  I think that means she really liked it.

More lambs and some gross stuff

Last week, #2 had a lamb and I could tell she was not done having lambs, so I hung around.  The first one was a beautiful, mottled girl who we now refer to as Mable (marble without the R, Dear named her).  As I was waiting, I could see she was having difficulty and I was concerned it would be another Gigantor and #2 may not be able to handle delivering it.  I could see a nose and a hoof, but not the other hoof.  It is normally best to let them lamb unassisted, so I waited some more.  A head popped out, but still only one hoof.  I called the vet and he told me I needed to reach inside and grab the other leg and bring it forward.  My arm and hand was clean and I needed to do this pretty quickly, so I removed my ring and slipped my hand inside.  (Note to self, keep elbow length disposable gloves on hand and close by.)  I was up to my mid forearm and I still could not find the leg.  I felt her pushing and with each push I loosened "stuff" and slowly slipped my arm out.  I must have done something right because the lamb came out.  I called the vet to let him know all was well and the lamb looked healthy and to ask him if I should start giving her antibiotics since I had my arm inside her.  He thought that was a good idea and told me the dosage.  So, for three days we gave her an intramuscular shot of penicillin.  She is looking great and so are her two lambs. 
This morning, Dear went to the barn to give Igor and Tae their bottle and almost missed a new little guy.  Yes, another merino ram lamb, ugh!  Princess had a healthy boy.  She looks like she is a very protective mother.  We locked them up in their own pen so they would not be disturbed and we gave her some fresh water.  Water is very important to a ewe that just lambed.  (Do I say, "a ewe that" or "a ewe who"?  Ewes are not people, but they are not things either.)  They are pretty thirsty right away and they need the water to help with their milk flow.  I will check on them again in about 15 minutes.
We also picked up our chickens and turkeys last Thursday.  The chickens are not doing the greatest.  Some of them are very strong, but we have lost a lot of them.  It is pretty annoying.  I will get some pictures of everything later.

Igor

Igor has lived a blessed life so far.  He is currently living in the barn, but before that he was our "dog".  He has oddly sweet behaviors.  When he lived inside, he would curl up on the floor next to my desk.  He does not like to face you when he pees and will often find a corner.  He always makes noise when he has to pee and poo so we knew and he did not want to lay on a towel he had peed on.  He likes to be held and will nuzzle your neck.  He is still odd looking and definately not a breeder, but he is very sweet.  I gradually got him used to the barn and the other sheep, but before that he would travel with me, even to Pilates.  He has found a friend in Tae since they both get the bottle and he has learned how to hide himself from the big sheep.  Thankfully, he no longer thinks the turkey will give him food, but he is very curious about everything.  We banded his tail and his testicles yesterday.  He did not like the feeling at all, but he was not in pain.  In a few days he will need to be vaccinated.

Brand New Ones

I went out to the barn to give Tae his bottle (my oldest named him and his brother, Kwon, because she is in Taekwondo) and I found these two new ones. 

Kanga gave us a sturdy and huge boy (the brindle face white one) and a normal sized girl.  I am very pleased with this outcome because I wanted a suffolk X merino ram to breed my suffolks to.  We chose two suffolks to breed to Pee-Wee.  Kanga was chosen because I thought breeding to a merino would give her a smaller lamb since she had the problems with retracted tendons.  She had the largest lamb I have ever seen, though.  I felt bad for her and I hope the lambing was not too bad.  For her first time, she is doing fabulously.  She has a ton of milk.  We will have to check her regularly so she does not get mastitis.  So far, they will not let her get away, they are very agressive about getting food.

Igor (eye-gore, as in Young Frankenstein)

Igor was born a few days ago to Evie.  Evie was a first time mom and, although she loved her little guy, she did not know it was her responsability to feed him.  He also liked to play dead.  He did not lay like normal lambs, more like dead ones.  He was taken into our home and given the stomach tube with colostrum and electrolytes every four hours Sunday and he drank from a syringe on Monday.  He has an odd look to him, one side seems smooshed and his eyes are not even, but he is strong and curious.  He now drinks from a bottle, although, he did think the turkey might feed him milk.  The turkey just sat on his head and he was stuck.  He wiggled for a little bit, and then gave up, waiting to be rescued.  Igore likes to take naps at our feet and follow us around outside.  He is very docile.  Obviously he is not a breeder, but we still enjoy him.

Lambs

Last Tuesday the kids had to go to the "big" town to take some tests for school.  I got up early to take Dear to work, fed the sheep, and made breakfast for the kids.  Before we left I checked on the sheep and noticed there was a new lamb.  I saw she was standing and looking strong and everything was fine.  I did not have time to investigate further.  The kids' test is a requirement for the school and unless they are hospitalized they are to be there.  They could be kicked out of the school if they fail to show for these tests.  So, we left.  I got back home 6 hours ater to find a very weak ewe lamb, so weak she would not get up.  I felt terrible and responsible.  I tried to get some milk in her and finally got her to stand.  She was very weak and I did not have any colostrum at home or electrolytes.  We left so the kids could finish their last day of swim class and test.  While they were testing in swimming, I went to the vet to pick up a few things for the ewe lamb and any others that may come along.  We were home about 90 minutes later.  Dear and I put a tube down her throat and got some colostrum in her and we monitored her.  After about 30 minutes of near death, she stretched and stood up.  She was baaing forcefully so I brought her to her mother.  I gave it about 15 minutes and she did not try and nurse.  We took her back inside and made sure she got the required amount of fluids, but after 12 more hours she would no longer open her eyes.  I waited until Dear got home to take care of her and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. 
Meanwhile, another ewe, Na-Na, lambed and had twin ram lambs.  I had been watching the barn and checking ever 1-2 hours for signs of lambing, still feeling terribly guilty.  When I saw the one lamb I quick got her into a pen with the help of all of the kids who were on a vacation from school because of the testing.  She looked like she was taking good care of her little guy and she had another lamb.  The lamb still had its hindquarters in her and she looked tired and as though she was done pushing.  I tore the sack open and cleared the lambs throat, grabbed the lamb and carefull pulled him out when I could tell she was having a contraction.  The umbilical cord of a lamb gets severed when it exits the birth canal so it is important to get to them quickly and get their mouth cleaned off so they can breath.  After I got it out of her I laid it next to her other lamb and noticed he too was a boy.  It is also important to get the lamb where the ewe is focused so she accepts it right after she gives birth.  If you do not, she may not reckognize it as her own and can even try and kill it.  Our merinos have never been rough with a foreign lamb, but the Suffolks are brutes and can be quite mean.  I then iodined their navels because bacteria enters there easily, stripped the waxy plug that protects bacteria and infections from entering the ewe's teats, and attempted to show the new guys were to go.  The ewe needed some quiet, so we left her in the barn for a little while.  When we returned, we noticed that the first ram lamb (easily identified from the iodine that spilled on his leg) was not nursing.  We turned him around so he could find the food and he turned back around to her front legs.  He was quickly given colostrum through a stomach tube and we hoped he would figure it out.  Nope, he is stupid.  Even after a few days, he still goes to the front legs.  Obviously we have been feeding him, every 4 hours.   
The little girl was put to rest that evning.  It took me a while ot get over the feeling of guilt, but I decided to focus on the lives saved.  I know we will have more lambs and some will die, I have to learn to deal with that.
We also had another ram lamb two days ago, but that is another story.

Wait, wait, wait

Our ewes are overdue.  Well, not all of them, but a few of them have gone past the 154 day mark and bagged up over a week ago.  2 of our ewes have dropped significantly and they all grunt and roll back their top lip when they sit.  Last night we even had 2 restless ewes licking their lips.  So, with all of the signs, where are the lambs?  I am getting alittle impatient, especially when everyone asks, "Any lambs yet?"  Oh well, they will come when they are ready, hopefully I will be here because it is the first time for 5 of them.

I had a dream last night that they all lambed at the same time and the 2 neighbor dogs were guarding pigs in the woods next to us (there are no pigs there in awake life).  One of hte dogs jumped the fence and took a lamb back to his side and ate it, I could hear the bones crunching.  I freaked out.  Then, I saw the neighbors walking towards me and I told them about it and told him how much it would cost them and he seemed OK about it and hugged me.  Then he asked if my husband was ready to give him his hir cut?  (I have had some really weird dreams lately)  I said he was up until 2AM with me observing and caring for the sheep (that part is true) and he said he would get his hair cut later when Dear was rested.  Then, I went to check on the sheep and their lambs.  The sheep were the size of rabbits and their lambs were the size of newborn bunnies.  I had to keep picking up the bunny sheep and move them closer to their moms because the moms were stupid.  After all of that, I woke up.

Nifty inventions

Last Christmas I bough a set of cake strips with a gift certificate from Williams and Sonoma. I have always had a problem with my cakes having a dome. When you want to layer the cakes, domes are not fun. So, I thought I would try the cake strips. So far I have baked 2 cakes with them and both have turned out perfect. I love these things.

This Commercial Bugs Me!

Watch this and see if you can spot what drives me up the wall.

Do you think she will remember how to find the area of a triangle? Do you think this is really tutoring? How about telling her WHY the area of a triangle is 1/2 bh? HMMM??? This is how I explain to my kids:

How do we find the area of a square? Base times height, right (we already went over how to do this and why it works)? Please draw a line from one corner to the other corner of the square. What shapes do you see? 2 Triangles!!! So, the area of one of those triangles will be 1/2 of what the area of the square was, right? Right. If they are confused about other types of triangles have them take 2 of the triangles and cut one in half and arrange it on either side of the whole triangle to make a rectangle. Still it is 1/2 the area of the rectangle. Now they will remember. If I just tell them the formulas, how will they learn? How will they figure out how to explore problems on their own? Hmmmm? I hate that commercial.

The 3 Day Baby Shrug

Whirligig (12-18months) was made using Cascade Ultra Pima cotton yarn in tangerine (my son picked out the color). It was a very fast knit with easy instructions. The photos are of the back side.
Shoulder. A lot of times I do not use stitch markers, they can be a pain, but this time I had to use them because I got lost where I was supposed to increase and I had to rip it out.

Bottom ruffle detail:

I really like the Cascade yarns. They are reasonably priced and come with great yardage. This yarn was comfortable to knit with, but very slippery. I have no idea how they got the cotton to shine like that, but it is very pretty.

The 4 Day Baby Sweater

I quick finished this sweater. I wanted it done by Sunday for a new addition to Church. Sorry the picture is not the greatest.

8 Year Old Son's 1st Crochet Project

My son has been working on a pink scarf for his cousin, he decided to add long strips as a neat design feature. I almost died laughing when I saw it. It is a thong! I told him we can not give it to his cousin, but I will save it for his future bride’s wedding shower.

I want one of these

We plan on getting this in April. My old piano is in very bad shape and not really fixable because it has plastic pieces inside that have degraded. I have not seriously played in over 10 years. Everytime I sat down to play I had little fingers messing with the keyboard. Now my kids are old enough and I should be able to play some. My middle child wants to learn as well.

Planting time

I received a package from Johnny's. This weekend the little man and I will clean out the back of the garage, chop wood (for the wood stove to keep the seedlings warm), and pot up flowers and vegies.

That large 5lb bag in the back is snap peas. We have a lot of shelling to do. Last year we tried a sweet shelling pea because they have more peas per pod, but they were not anywhere near as sweet as the snap peas we have grown in the past, so back to the snap peas. 5 lbs will plant about 400', but not all at once. I will stagger the planting by about 2 weeks 3-4 different times so I can get the shelling done. I will have help this year which should be lots of fun.

Friends of Knitters

When you are a friend of a knitter you can ask the friend to make a scarf to match the new coat you just bought. You may even get them to finish it in a week and with the pattern of your choice. If you are a particularly good friend you may get your friend to do this for the cost of the yarn.
My dear friend, I will have this with me for you at Pilates tonight. I hope you like it.

The home

This is an aerial view of the lake I live on.
And here is an older picture of the main farmsite.