Saturday fun

I went to a fiber festival in Chelsea with some artist friends of mine and bought some wool rovings. All from Michigan. Lamb and alpaca.

Now I need to learn what to do with them.

After lunch with the ladies, I went home and saw...

a Gypsy reading a Chrystal ball.

You can see the ball is giving bad news to the customer.

Around here

We're taking many trips out to the coops.

The hens are enjoying the ramshackle run.



Trying to get a pic from the inside.

Pretty wants to be in a picture too.

Chubby (cheeks) is trying to stay warm.

We are getting low on firewood.

Sniffing fox tracks

Following deer tracks through the garden..

..to see that they were munching on unpicked beets.




Feeding the birds from a homemade Christmas present.

The garden tool shed is waiting for spring.

So is the duck nesting box.

The dock is waiting for summer.

We're havin a heat wave!

We are supposed to be getting temps in the 30's today and part of tomorrow!

Our winter has been extra cold (this is where I would normally add some crack about global warming, my @$$, but some are sensitive to that kind of humor so I won't).

Which means our fall woodpile...

...that was 2 rows deep...

...is now this. So sad.

Luckily we have some standing dead trees that we should be able to cut over the weekend, of course the temps are dropping back down by then.

I'm trying not to start belly aching about the winter since we have at least 2 or 3 months left, but I'm fighting a cold so my usual sunny disposition is hiding under a large pile of mucus.

I'm expecting guests Monday, so I have a lot to get ready. They will be staying a MONTH! More about that another day.

Guilt Free Doughnut Recipe

Take one handsome hubby

one 3 wheeler

2 laughing kids

2 sleds

some rope

If you like your doughnuts extra sweet add one medium sized dog and his laundry jug.

Add all your ingredients to an iced over pond and mix well.

Enjoy!

Embracing winter

We had a beautiful winter weekend, sunny skies, temps in the 30's, it is one of those weekends you are glad to live in Michigan. Two nieces and one nephew stayed over Saturday night so we had to break out the sleigh ride.

Here is my niece as she crashed and burned.

It doesn't matter how many times they fall and get their faces planted into the snow, they keep coming back for more.

The Banditos waiting their turn, attack, throwing snow on the passers by.

My turn.

To the left you'll see the dog who escorts you on the entire ride, kicking up snow and looking mighty viscous.

And when you tell the driver to go a bit slow so you can get pictures, he hears, "Go faster and try to knock the old lady off!"

Front view. Dog tushie.

Back view. Happy girl.

Side view. Dog who sleeps the rest of the day.

Banditos Attack!

That is a big hunk of snow flying at me. No respect for the camera or the woman who gave birth to you.

Me on our little snow hill.

Pup is riding too.

On our way down.

Gratuitous chicken shot.

I like how the windows looked like a mirror to the woods behind.


Best friends who want to play inside, NOT.

T-Bone will hop into any vehicle when you say "Lets go for a ride."

Shadow is trying to hide the stow away and take him home.

I hope you all had a safe, fun weekend too!

5 day weekend

The kids had a long weekend, thank you Goerge Washington. So we......

Stacked more firewood.

Plowed the driveway.

Looks good.

Can't have all work and no play.

Our version of a sleigh ride.

Our pup loves his frugal toy, it really is his fav. When one laundry jug is chewed up and ready for the recyle bin, a "new" one is ready for play.

I caught Bratty in the act.

Fresh from the factory.

For some reason the crotch in Hubbies pants is the first thing to go. I don't ask.

I just fix.

Not as good as new, at least not indecent.

I finished 3 more bags for the show.

Monday the girl and I suspected colds were in our future, so we ran errands, hit the library, I saw this hat and checked out the book, so during Idol last night I practiced the double crochet stitch on cotton yarn. Now I have a new dish cloth and the stitch mastered. Now the search for just the right hat yarn.

So my girl and I do have colds, she's home for the day and we both feel like caca poo poo. Good thing she got Sponge Bob DVD's at said library and I was productive this weekend so I don't feel bad about veggin.

6 more weeks?

We get at least 6 more weeks of winter here in Michigan no matter what Phil sees.

Grandparents weekend

We had a nice 3 day weekend. My mom and Step dad, who by the way is an amazing woodcarver and has blessed us with quite a few art pieces over the years, came over Friday afternoon. They had given our son a carving kit at Christmas with tools, books and wood. Wonderful gift.

Two of grandpas walking sticks in our entryway.

Grandpa showed our boy some techniques and look at his masterpiece.

For dinner I made Minestrone and garlic toast , mom made ravioli

and my girl made muffins. We then played ponytail canasta till the wee hours.

Saturday Hubbie manned the log splitter, and the kids and I hauled the wood on sleds through the snow and stacked it on the front porch. This was the tree with the ant invasion so when we found a piece with a cavern filled with ants, we took it to the chicken pen and the girls went crazy. I guess you'd have to be a chicken to appreciate the taste of hibernating ants. I love having wood to keep our heating bill down and the smell of the fresh cut wood greets you every time you open the door.

The kids and I then went to my Dad and Step mom's for dinner (Hubbie plays hockey).

My step mom cleaned her closets and let me and the girl take home "new" clothes and made a pistachio encrusted salmon for dinner which was deeeliiiishhh! We are a spoiled bunch. Then played a rousing game of clue that grandpa after we explained the rules to, proceeded to win the game.

Sunday morn, girl and hubbie cleaned her room, it needed it bad, they even sorted clothes and vacuumed the closet! I do have quite a man.

I felted my first bag. It should be perfect for my daughters water bottle and Chapstick carrier for soccer. It's great how you can take a poorly knitted object and it turns into something you wouldn't actually mind carrying in public. I had stitched the flower with some leftover yarn but it didn't show up as well as I'd hoped. I'm going to try to stitch over it again to have it show up better. Speaking of felting, do any of you ladies smarter than me know if you can felt other materials than wool, cashmere, etc... I am wanting to felt some sweaters that have weird combinations of yarns in them and hoped if the water was hot enough maybe they would work.

Also do any of you know if you start some water for tea in your beloved teapot you received as a wedding shower gift over fifteen years ago that you use on a daily basis, go down to the basement to do some sewing, forgetting about said teapot, boil the bajeebus out of your one and only enamel teapot for who knows how long till its bone dry and then some, is it safe to use ever again? I don't see any chips, but the bottom is kind of gray, I just don't want to be ingesting some weird metal every time I use it.

Oh it is in the 40's today and I'm searching the closet for some shorts!

Take care and squeezes from me.