It's Raining, It's Pouring...

It's really hard to complain. LOL! We work so hard outside on the nice days that a rainy day is a serious HAPPY-inspiring blessing. WAHOOOoo!!! Rain!!!! And we need the rain. All is good. I'm grateful!

Today I'm hoping to get the barn cleaned up a bit. Nearly all of that space is not used well and this spring, since coming out of the gluten-fog, my lil' ol' brain has been boppin' around thinking of all that I could do to make things work better around here. One thing is getting the garden tools closer to the garden! Thus to promote ease in putting the tools away after each use? What a thought! The other thing is to get the riding mower and tiller out of the weather. Seems prudent and we do have the space.

So... that's my work for today.

Perhaps the family members who aren't feeling up to going out to help me can shell walnuts from last years harvest. Or shell dry beans from the harvest that's been hanging in the barn since 2008. HA!

Giving It a Try

Long time, no post, huh? I was visiting with one of my favorite bloggers yesterday. Both of us haven't posted for a fair piece. We both miss each other. :) And since... well, I'll just start in.

These last few weeks have been... more odd then most. Mostly between my ears but also within my body. It's not a happy body. So... when my youngest adorable sister told me about her experience with going gluten-free, I figured why not give it a try. What have I got to lose?

(For those that worry about such things, I am jumping thru the usual medical hoops, too. And with the same attitude. Why not give it a try. I have a mental line drawn on how far I'm willing to go with any of this but... it's not extreme either direction.)

So... a couple weeks ago I started the gluten-free thing. And thus far, the apparent results have been good enough that I'm very willing to continue on! OHYEAH!

The first thing that I noticed was that my head was clearer. I was thinking, making mental lists AND following through. How strange! I haven't done that very well for YEARS!

This whole thing has also encouraged me to add other changes. One at a time, or maybe two. This week I added refined sugars and all things animal. I'm eating a plant-based diet, minus wheat, barley and rye and minus the refined sugars.

Sometimes I forget. And that's okay. It's the blowing it off with "this time will be okay" is NOT okay.

Yesterday we were invited to a big 60th birthday party. How FUN! On the way to it, I started to panic. OHNO!!! I knew what I was taking to the event, what I was asked to bring...my homemade gluten steaks. Won't eat those. I was told that there would be pasta pie (?) and lasagna, too. OHNOOOO! What am I going to eat!?

Well, it turned out fabulous! There were several LOVELY garden salads and I loaded my plate with that. We became involved in a fun conversation with some fabulous friends and... it was totally easy. THANK GOD! LOL! I'm so grateful to have an experience and a subsequent understanding that I will not starve. Ha! Fat chance!. ;)

On the knitting front, I've been working on a pair of socks. The yarn is some that I dyed a couple years ago.

 I've started and frogged (rip-it, rip-it) these things three times. Each with good reason and no regret.  This picture if from the first attempt. :)

The problem is that the time span between the first frogging and the second starting was long enough that I forgot why I frogged it and... I knitted it up the same way as the first time, all over again. DingDONG! So, this time I'm going to keep going, not getting distracted by a jillion other lovely knitting projects that need to get done or that I want to get done. Any time I want to knit, I will knit on the orangatan socks.

But!!! It's springtime! We have 1/3 of an acre that we're trying to turn into a seriously productive garden this year. I'm not getting much knitting done! LOL! Today I'll see if I can remember to take my camera out to take shots of our garden area. I wish I had thought to take one at the beginning of this effort. Then I'd have a great before shot to put with an after shot later. But, not time like now, huh?

ONWARD!!!!

It's Time...

It's time to tell the story. I don't know how to shorten this one up, it always comes out a long story, but I'll sweeten it with pictures and that ought to make it a bit more palatable. LOL!

A couple posts ago I told a bit of winning a "most glorious and generous gift". I didn't have the wherewithal to tell the story then. I was still completely flabbergasted. It was too unreal! I must be dreaming, right? :)

Well, here's the story. I think I can do it justice now.

If you're a stitcher, if crocheting or knitting is your cuppa tea, chances are good that you've heard of Ravelry.com. If you haven't, get over there and join! (http://www.ravelry.com/) It's like Facebook for stitchers, but it goes WAY beyond what Facebook has to offer. There are hundreds of thousands of stitchers from all over the world going to Ravelry. Unbelievable place.

One of the many features on Ravelry are the forums. There's a forum for just about every topic you can think of. Seriously. One Wednesday night at knitting group, Dicksie mentioned a new group started by Michael, one of her Ravelry friends. It was a warm, friendly place to share any and all projects plus whatever else... It sounded intriging so when I got back home that evening, I joined the forum.

POW! LIGHTS FLASHING!!! FIREWORKS!!!!

LOL! Just kidding.

But, it turns out that I was the 100th person to join the group! Michael hadn't expected to have even 75 members join. He was delighted! (as of today, there's almost 175 members!) Someone suggested that Arline ought to get a prize of some sort (an out-of-date, obscure book, as I recall. LOL!) Anyway, the next thing I know, Michael sent me a private message and is basically offering me "the half of his kingdom". Okay, okay, that's not what he offered but it certainly seemed like it to me. I was completely dumbstruck. SO unbelievable! No way! This can't be happening to me!?

But Michael was serious. He offered to send me enough yarn to make the sweater of my dreams. He offered a specific brand. Virtual Yarns by Alice Starmore... THE Queen of All Knitted Beauty as far as many of us are concerned. Her designs are indeed among my very favorites. I am completely inspired by her and her work. (http://www.virtualyarns.com/) And so, we talked back and forth, Michael and I, until we finally made a decision on what my "prize" would be. He would send me enough yarn to make this sweater in a cardigan modification.

Alice Starmore's Inishmore Aran Sweater

Made in this yarn... Alice Starmore's

Virtual Yarn Hebridian 3ply - Sundew

At one point I tucked tail and explained that I am "fluffy" and that I had no idea how much yarn it would take to cover this fluffiness. He responded with "I took care of it for you! Don’t worry. I assure you you won’t run out of yarn. Probably be enough to make hats, gloves, scarves, mittens, underwear, socks….." Underwear? Eeeeuuuwwww!!!! Don't THINK so! LOL!!

I told Michael that he was a PRINCE! What a gift!! What a guy!!!!

After it was all decided, I dismissed it. It was a beautiful dream. On with life.

And life goes on. LOL! Our daughter flew off to Peru. The rest of us (Sid, the two boys and I) took a short trip over to our favorite coastal get-away, Rosario Beach, just a bit South of Anacortes, WA. and then down to Seattle for a doctors appointment, the Museum of Flight and the Portland Zoo. FUN!

I started knitting another Alice Starmore sweater, using some yarn from my stash... Inishmaan!

A lovely knit. Not a bit boring, rather challenging, but fun!

And so, yes! Life went merrily on! LOL!

One Saturday after a long, sleepless night spent up taking care of Ben, who was having major seizure AND diabetes problems, I looked out the window and saw a BIG bag hanging on the inside of our driveway gate. HUh?! What's that!??

Inside the bag was two boxes. Huh?!!! I didn't order anything!? What!?!!!

Then I saw the postage in the corner of the packages...

ROYAL MAIL!?! I burst into tears. (okay, remember, I was a bit rummy anyway from the lack of sleep... but I think I would have bawled even with a FULL night sleep.!) The gift from Prince Michael!!! OHHHHMYYYYY!!!!

I sat down on the couch, all weepy and wet, stroking the beautiful packages beside me. I couldn’t open them. They were such beautifully wrapped packages. One big, one smaller. Both carefully wrapped with tiny striped brown shipping paper. Royal mail. Finally, in another fit of tears, I called my friend Dicksie.

Poor Dicksie, she couldn’t understand a word I was saying or even who I was. I had to slow down, breath and try to calm down enough that she could hear me. Sweet Dicksie. She talked to me for a bit and then told me to go get a sharp object from the kitchen. Sounded like murder to me. LOL! To stab the boxes? Noooo!!! LOL! I did as I was told. (that’s what I’m learning from knitting. My friend Winnie started it. “Just do what you’re told, Arline. Everything will work out okay.”) And so, I went into the kitchen and got a knife.

Dicksie waited patiently, talking me through it. It seems rather funny now, but at the time…I was simply beside myself.

I carefully cut open the paper on the smaller box. I’ve never opened a Christmas gift that carefully, but I couldn’t hurt the thoughtfilled, tidy outer wrapping. I’m a ditz! What can I say. Finally that was done and I pulled the paper off.

Under the wrapping was a tidy, simple brown cardboard box. Not your ordinary four-flapped top box this time, no, but a box with a lid that lifts from one side after you undo it’s little front latch at the front side. It’s like a cardboard treasure chest.

Once the lid was pushed open, I cried some more. Inside was tissue carefully wrapped around the gift and sealed with a Virtual Yarns logo sticker. Dicksie told me, at that point, that try as she might, she’s never been able to just lift that seal off. The tissue always rips. Okay, that made it easier because it was just as she said.

And then…

OHMYWORD!!!! I really lost it. It was lovely. Beautiful. I had opened it while sitting on the couch by the window. The sun shown in on it and the yarn SPARKLED up at me. Sundew. Amazing!

Dicksie had me count to see how many skeins were in the box. It was lovely, all neatly stacked in there, all facing one way, twists matching. In the above picture, you can see the skein on the far left is off. Ha! That’s the only one I’ve taken out of the boxes and I can’t seem to get it back in there right. It’s all so precise. So neat. Carefully arranged, just like Alice’s designs. So, I slide my hand down the side of the box and counted the layers. Quickly doing the math… 18 skeins in the little box.

Ohmy! Now the big box!? Beloved Dicksie. LOL! She’s wonderful. Again, she waited and talked me through cutting off the paper wrapping, opening the little latches in the front of the bigger cardboard treasure chest and…

OHMYWORD!!! More! And much more STILL! I could see, under the beautiful white tissue… there was a big envelope. Quickly, I slide my fingers under the VY sticker seal and pulled back the tissue.

A card with my name hand written on it. “Open it!” Dicksie prompted. (LOL! Dicksie? Did you know!?)

I did as I was told. The scissors sliced under the flap and across the top of the envelope. Open.

“Read it, Arline!” LOL! I was completely incapacitated. Here's what was written on the card.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations Arline!

Here is your prize from Michael ____. He tells us that my friend and expert knitter Dicksie is going to help you with this project. I wish you both many hours of happiness and like yourselves we are fervently hoping that Michael is going to make a good recovery. His courage, energy and generosity are a great inspiration to us all at VY.

Best Regards,

Alice

~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are kidding me!? This is a dream, right? :) Pinchpinch. Nope. I’m awake. It’s real. A real, handwritten card from THE Alice Starmore?!!!

I figured out later how many skeins where in the second, bigger box, and I wept again. Michael was more than true to his word. He made sure I'd have enough to envelop my "fluffy" frame in Inishmore bliss.

Michael James is a Prince of a man. He is true to his word. There is enough of the most scrumptious yarn here… I could make Inishmore for a baby whale! LOL! Ohmy!

I cried over it all for a few hours. Now I just sit beside the boxes on the couch, every chance I get and gaze at it. I pull out that one skein and stroke it. So awesome. Such a gift. I’m unworthy, dumbfounded and blessed. “Happy” is trite. A HAPPYDANCE would be irreverant. While I AM excited, I’m breathless. There is time to savor it all. I’m busy with Inishmaan. Learning to read Alice Starmore patterns… and savoring every fiber and thought in this gift.

Such a gift.

Thank YOU, Prince Michael. Thank you, Dicksie. Thank you Virtual Yarns. And thank you, Alice Starmore.

I will never be the same. I am touched deeply, at my very core.

Thank-you.

P.S. You must know that all the pics were taken AFTER I settled down. LOL! I didn’t even think about it until afterwards. But I wanted to be able to share the bliss.
Onward!

Jessie's Trip

Our darling Daughter flew out of the country for a week plus in Peru on the 14th of March. She went with friends and classmates from the parochial high school where she goes to school. She went, had a great time and came home. HA! In between she fell in love with Peru and I was a nervous wreck. LOL! It's one thing to have your teenager a few hours away for a week, but a totally different matter when they're half a world away. Here's a few pictures from her adventure. I'm SO glad she was able to go. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all those who helped make this trip possible for her.

It may look cuddly but Jessie says sloths aren't cuddly at all.

One of the little Peruvian girls that Jessica fell in love with

Jessie and her friend on their way down the Amazon River

Now she's home and back in school. Life goes on. LOL!

HappyDAZE!

Today was a kick of a day, let me tell you.

Darling Daughter was/is somewhere between home and her final destination in Peru. I could get all freaky over this but am deliberately choosing NOT to.

Sister #3/Dea called this morning to let me know that Sister #4/Lia was having a BAD day. Her dog, the one that has lived with my folks off and on (mostly on) for the last few years, has been so very sick that she finally decided to have him put down. Serious bummer. Called Lia. So sorry, Darling. So sorry. And Momma & Daddy. I know you all loved Leo. It's sad. I'm proud of your courage, Lia.

:: Rest in peace, Leo ::

Then the phone rang again. Another friend bearing tidings that were NOT happy. Spent time, off and on the rest of the morning and early afternoon talking to dear friends who are in various unpleasant situations.

*SIGH* I really love my friends and family.  It's hard to watch and not want to wave my non-existant magic wand and make it all better. Bummer. But... I can and am there for them, as they have and will be there for me. That's what it's all about, right? ;) An ear, a shoulder, a caring heart...

This evening I found out that I've "won" (long story) a most glorious and generous gift. Really-truly. I feel as if I've been offered "half of the kingdom".  Talk about a HUGE beautiful delicious and delightful cherry-on-top of this day. WOW! THANK YOU, Michael James!

:: Looks like I'll be able to make this afterall! ::

It's been a day. I got a lot of the work done that I set out to do. The studio did get some attention. Hurray! Tomorrow... LOL!

Tomorrow is another day.

HURRAYYYYY!!!! Bring it on! Just bring it on.

ONWARD!!!!!

And They're Off!!!

Sid and I took Jessie up to the local "International" airport this afternoon. We stood around and watched while she checked in and went through security. Our airport has a big THICK glass "cage" that everyone that has gone through security waits in. It's nice because we could see and visit via our cell phones and text messages. LOL! Funny! We waited about an hour plus before they boarded the plane, then we went out to the parking lot and waited to see her plain lift off.

16 girls, 1 boy and several adults. Lots of luggage. Each person took a carry-on, a bag/purse, a check-in and then one BIG HUGE trunk that was pre-packed by the gatherers of such things. Mostly backpacks and school supplies for the children in Peru. That's about 21 trunks of stuff that won't be coming back up when they return. Nice.

And so, she's gone. My darling daughter has been away for a week before. She goes to camp in the summer. A week each time. But this time it's for 10 days and it's a LOT further journey. She'll have a great time. She'll make new friends within her fellow traveling school mates. She'll get to see how other people in other places live. She'll get to go up and down and up and down... LOL!... in airplanes.

I'll be praying for her safety. I'll be praying that she has a wonderful trip and comes home soon. Mostly though, I'll miss her. Really-truly.

I  love you, Jessica May! I truly-dooly do.

The Studio Challenge

Jessie and I snapped about 300 pictures today. LOVE digital. We deleted out the ugh ones and have a full and over-flowing 100+ left. HA! Nope, I'm not putting them all up here. Not hardly. But in the middle of all that snapping away, Jess went into my studio space and began taking pictures of the little bits of beauty. Here and there and...

:: baskets containing the parts for a couple quilts ::

:: a big jar full of tarnished SILVERware ::

(came with this house)

:: a little pillow that Jessica made for years ago ::

:: part of my brass collection ::

:: apricot-pineapple, blueberry and strawberry jams ::

:: part of my collection of "sticks" ::

:: never enough colored pencils ::

:: wooden thread spools ::

:: art books ::

:: a wee felt bear that Jessie made years ago ::

:: Jessie's pincushion ::

I came in and noticed that she was going around being VERY selective. Now there's nothing wrong with being selective. I mean, discretion is a GOOD thing, right? Well... that got me thinking. And here's what came out of that!!;)

We decided to take big pictures. Really-truly pictures of what the studio REALLY looks like. It's my studio, the place where everything that I could ever need to make anything I'd ever want to make. All the supplies are there. And there's a bit of Jessie's stuff. And there are cardboard boxes, empty containers purchased to help contain stuff, yarn, books, patterns, canning supplies... We don't have a garage or anywhere to store stuff that's not in use. No attic, no unused space in the basement. AURGH! So, everything that doesn't have a place finds it's place there, in the studio. All that makes it nearly impossible to move through the room, let alone be creative. Hate it.

So, here's the deal. We took pictures. These are the before pictures. When Jessica gets home from her mission trip to Peru on March 24th, ten days from tomorrow, I will have it clean or nearly. Organized, orderly and things thrown away, given away, donated... whatever. 10 days. How much can a motivated artist/mom get done in that amount of time? I guess we'll see, huh?

Here's the UGLY truth. ;)

:: Come on in, I'll show you around ::

:: standing in the doorway, looking right ::

:: Still in the doorway, looking straight ahead ::

:: looking a bit to the left ::

:: inside the room turned fully to the left ::

Okay, that's enough torture. :) I won't make you walk that narrow path. Can be dangerous! Anyway, you get the picture. What I'll do is post daily before and after shots. This has to happen and now is the time. Let "The Studio Challenge" begin!

ONWARD!!!!

My Baby Girl

Reminiscence Thursday

This week has been full of thoughts and doings for Matthew (his 14th birthday) and Jessica (her trip to Peru...flies out on Sun.). And so, here are sweet memories of them. ;)

:: Matthew's 6th Month Portrait ::

LOL! This picture always makes me laugh. Matthew LOVED that G-button. Sid picked it up at one of his computer conferences and brought it home for the kids. It became the "Good Button". If you're good, you get to wear it. Ohhh, how he'd prance when he had that big ol' red button on his chest.

:: Playing with the swing ::

"Grandma's Little Preacher"

:: Jessica's 6th Month Portrait ::

:: And Now She Toddles off to Peru???"

:: Here's lookin' at You! ::

:: Two Cutie-Pies! ::

:: Backpacking with Dad ::

And this is for David. ;) You've come a long way, Son!

Happy Birthday, Young Man!

I've been sick since the weekend and not feeling energetic enough to do much but sit, lie around and sleep. Today I picked up my knitting again and my camera... Loveliness! I think I'm on the mend.

And today was SPECIAL day. It is our youngest's 14th birthday. Anti-climatic for him, to be sure. Mom is sick. No birthday cake, no big surprises. But I'm a believer in the concept of celebrating for the days before and the days after, any time in the month and we'll make it happen.

Today was a day of strange contrasts. Memories of the wee baby in my arms followed by the reality of a man child who is too big to sit in his momma lap any more. What he likes now as opposed to what he liked a few years ago. Now he wants a long board and unicycle. He loves history (same as me!) and math (NOT me, but like his dad)

This morning, we sat side by side and watched a documentry series on Auschwitz. When his dad came home from work, he went downstairs and watched "Hogan's Heros" with Sid. How's that for contrast!? Reality and comedy. How does that work?? Weird contrast. Strange and in my mind, wrong. I did a wiki-search and discovered that 5 of the actors that were in "Hogan's Heros" were Jews who were either in the concentration camps or escaped from Hilter's men. Interesting and more interesting.

So, the photos!!! 

Our fabulous 14 year old, taken this morning while we were sitting together.

 Happy Birthday, Boogie! ;)

 

My current knitting project.

Garter-Stitch Blanket designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann

This shot explains what I'm trying to do. LOL! Thus far I've knitted one "A" and I've past the first corner of a "B"... I've got a long way to go before I finish the two "A" units and the two "B" units and... I want this to fit on our queen-size bed with a nice drop over three sides, so I figure it's going to take at least 4, if not 6 of these four piece units to do the job. LOL! I'm in for a long haul!

It's interesting that I've gotten a lot of knitting done today since I wasn't busy click-click-clicking on my virtual farms. LOL! No surprise. Onward with that! I've not been tempted in the least to take it back up again.

ONWARD!!!

Virtually Crazy

Over the last few weeks, I've been VERY busy. Extremely busy. I've planted corn, clover, lavendar and wheat. I've plowed, fertilized and planted apples, nuts, apricots, roses, and sunflowers. Busy, busy, busy. I've acquired a flock of sheep, a few cows, some chickens, a goose, a peacock, a cat and a pet mallard. I've built a horse barn, purchased a bed and breakfast and four guest cottages. I've put up miles of white fences. Yes, INDEED these last few weeks have been extremely busy. And...

Extremely crazy. Yes, in those busybusy moments, I sorta saw the insanity but... on I went working away, collecting cash and coins and building and planting and hoeing and...

Virtual farming. Not even close to real... I mean, what sheep do YOU know that eats wheat stacks, hulls and all?! Not!

It's *click* *click* *click* of the mouse and things happen. It only takes a few hours from the time you *click* plant to grow a crop of carrots to feed the bunnies and the a few seconds later the bunnies are ready to be sheared, their wool goes off to a fancy machine that "weaves" it unto sweaters. WHAT!? I'm a KNITTER You don't weave a sweater! You KNIT sweaters. But *click* *click*, things happen. Virtual wealth accumulates.  Your farm grows, you buy more "land" and more and more and...*click* *click* *click*. "Just a minute, Honey, I need to finish harvesting these oranges..." "Oh, dear! I forgot to get the bees to pollinate before I harvested the clover! And now I won't have honey to use with the fruit to make fruit jams..."

Okay. ENOUGH! No more virtual farming. Enough. The end. Finished. Done.

In my real world, I need to get well. I've been sick for several days. So, sleep, drink, rest. No staying up feeding the cows to get the milk to make the bread... No. In my real world, my daughter is leaving the country for Peru in a few days. She needs help getting ready. In my real world there's always laundry and dishes and bread to bake and shall I mention the REAL weeds and the REAL garden that needs prepared for the REAL seeds that will NOT be ready for harvest in a few hours? :)

Back to reality. Reality is a pretty neat place. I've got several creative project going... painted and embroidered dishtowels (for ME!), a big huge knitted blanket for our bed, sewing...endless creative reality.

Reality is a great family! My husband is a sweetheart. I couldn't ask for more or better. Our kids are fab. My parents are super, my sisters... they are my friends AND my sisters.

Reality is sweet. Reality is quiet and calm and busy and not... No, I'm not emassing a fortune. That's a fact. But hey! Who cares! I'm having a BLAST in my REALITY!

Bye-bye virtual. Hello reality!

ONWARD!