UPDATE: Lost horses claimed!

The horses had a four day holiday at Great and Small Farm and were claimed on Sunday night... leaving on Monday fornoon. They came from just a few miles away at a homestead which lays on the other side of a creek from the road- so not visible as you drive by- which might explain why no one could say they had ever seen these animals before.

It turns out the beautiful horse belongs to the Chief of Police. Currently I do not know if he knows his horse was ever missing because this other guy was supposed to be taking care of him... perhaps the reason why the lost horses were not called in and reported to the Sheriff was because he was hoping that he'd find the animal before the chief of Police found out... !? (maybe I'm reading too much into it)

Wild Horses.... not actual wild, or feral even... but currently lost... arrived at my farm sometime in the pre-dawn hours of the day. Causing a big commotion among our resident herd of four. A cute pair, I know they look like a mommy and baby, the big one is actually a he, and the little one is a pony. Spoke with several nearby horsemen, none of us recognize these animals. Call to the sheriff- no leads. (the sheriff has let me down in this way before- I once called in a different found horse, and the owner had called in a lost one... but the sheriff's office failed to make the connection that my found red mare with the white stocking was one and the same as the lost red mare with the white stocking)

Drought report- Horrible. Hay- scarce and expensive... and it's only September.

Every person I spoke with seemed delighted to suggest to me that these animals may have been purposely set free rather than to starve inside their pasture fence or face their fate in the market of horses being unloaded by all the people who can not afford to feed an animal twice it's market value in hay in a few months.

18 hours so far and no one has come looking.

A beautiful gift!

A swift!

I received a wonderful gift the other day, from a person who may not have even understood fully what a truly wonderful and appreciated thing this is. She's never even seen my spinning wheel, so she had no way of knowing that it is the exact color as my spinning wheel. The wood turning looks as if it was even done by the same craftsman. And this... the weekend of the community wide yard-sale... To think that she could have set it out and instead she set it aside for me. It's a very small delicate piece with a stamp on the bottom which says "Made in Italy" The woman who gave it to me, Ida, hails from Brooklyn and is as Italian as they come. I hope to find that there might be a little bit more to the story behind it.

For those who are not familiar with the job of a swift... I am sure you have seen cartoons of a patient old man with his hands held out while the old wife is wrapping a ball of yarn... if she had a swift he could be out golfing. It allows you to wind or unwind a large hank of yarn (for example for dying) without it becoming a tangled mess.

FIVE!

Wow the time sure flew by.

That little baby in my avatar is five.

(and yes, I'm wearing the same dress for our portrait)

We wrapped up a week long birthday celebration with a "Tinkerbell Tea"

Originally we'd planned to have it in a grape arbor outside, but due to my run of bad luck with thunderstorms and events I plan- after a summer long drought- we had a big storm 45 minutes before the party was to begin. The last time we had a good rain was way back in mid-July when I had planned a seminar to introduce people to AnySoldier. (There was even a thunderstorm at our outdoor wedding in 1995) Had I picked up on this trend sooner I might have planned something earlier in the summer and we'd have had rain when it could have helped! So the party was moved inside to Grandma's apartment.

Instead of floating around inside the leafy walls of grape vines of the arbor- the giant fern stood in as a Fairy environment and I think it worked out very well, combined with their little notes, the whole thing reminded me a lot of "the Chuckle Patch" from the Magic Garden (does anyone remember that show?) There were seven Fairy guests, and six little girls. (One special fairy is for a friend who could not attend) Each fairy had a note which told her name, her special talents and loves, who she was attending the party with and where we might find her in the future (in a tree overhead, dancing with autumn leaves, collecting raindrops from a rainbow... etc)

The fairies were a Dollar Store find- only a buck... but no wings. The winged porcelain dolls they did have were, frankly hideous... they looked more like trolls than fairies, so I got the ballerinas and took on the "figure out how the heck to make fairy wings" burden on myself.

Of course crafty readers I will tell you my solution: I got some iridescent crepe type fabric in a few shades and some white floral wire. I taped the floral wire to the fabric with wide packing tape and simply cut the wing outline- the upper wings are long and leaf shaped and the lower pair are smaller and rounder. The tape is clear- it prevents fraying and adds just a little stiffness. This will not hold up to regular play- but it should be fine for ornamental or decorative uses. I did wings and flowers for the seven fairies in under and hour. Composing their notes took a little more time.





One aspect of Birthday parties that always bums me out is that your precious birthday child inevitable turns bratty during the present opening scene- and all the other kids seem longingly left out. So we kept the presents to the family party and at the Tinkerbell Tea every girl got a gift. Each bag was tailored to her age and personality as well as her fairy's attributes (or was it the other way around?)

I was concerned that the bags may not have been perfectly fairly balanced in terms of whatever the heck it is that can make these things turn sour- but to my delight, each girl seemed to respond as if she had gotten the very best gift.

See ya (see ya!)
Hope you had a good good time...(na-na!)
Hope you have a good good morning, to ya
Hope we get to see ya again!
(Nah nah! Na-nana-na-nana-nah)

Anyone who is a regular reader here will know that I am a big fan of amphibians. A three minute video of the American Toad Amplexus? Comon!? I know. Here... wait folks please... hear me out. This Frogman is not like the others... really... he's a MIME! Please... just six minutes of your time- I know you will laugh. (Stay through all the credits)

***La farándula***

Parents caught out on the town: evidence posted on internet at MidwestLatino.com!

It was a great night for a martini and a cigar in downtown Cincinnati at the Havanna Martini Club. The giant band was smokin' and the dancers were hot stuff!

Are Salsa lessons in order?

My "Before" "Crying in the parking lot" and "Mustering up a smile" pictures.

I don't know if anyone really cares about the drama of me getting my hair cut. But here is the result... it's much shorter, and lighter in weight and color. Now that I'm home I should thank the sweet stylist named Rayanne (pronounced Ryan) who did the most gentle job with the foils and gave me a haircut that is "ponytail" friendly and probably won't look like hell with two inches of roots.

Never mind all that, I did literally leave the salon in tears because it was the cap on: "Let's highlight Sarah's inability to communicate or be heard by anyone" day. My hair is not anywhere near red or red highlights, and I don't seem to have any bangs to hide the deepening frown lines which now make my face look like I'm in pain all the time... and on top of all that, I didn't even get a blow dry. I actually came into the salon with pictures, so how I managed to not be clear enough is beyond me.

I guess she did find the line I was looking for when I said, I want to go from Christian Fundamentalist long, to sexy long. It's a nice haircut... it's just not quite the makeover I'd hoped for.

Update on the poultry-eating frogs: It's horrifyingly true! Yesterday my son's attention was drawn to the pond by our red hen flapping her wings wildly- when he got there he discovered her distress over one of her new chicks out in the water as if drowning. Before he could get something to scoop it out- a frog surfaced and finished what he'd started and dragged the chick under.

So it seems that the frogs are now making like crocodiles at an African watering hole! - going after the little animals who come down to drink.

The duckling update is that we are down to just one, the other succumbing to the affection of baby Angus. The remaining duckling, M&M, is growing fast and will soon have to find his place in the barnyard pecking order. He carries a name which is a little tougher than a little duckie deserves but when Fiona named him after her favorite candy, she didn't know it was also a rapper. A candy wrapper.

The other news is that I did pass the quality control check for producing the retrofitted shorts for "Sew Much Comfort" I received a package with all the supplies I need to make SIX new pairs of stylin' basketball shorts. That will be a lot of very satisfying work which I am going to get started on.... right now!

I had a birthday last week and I'm going to treat myself to a new hairstyle. Maybe next week I can post before and after pictures!

Last week we had four little blue swedish ducklings hatch naturally under their mother. Unfortunatly we lost two of them in two days- probably to the big bullfrogs (yes- a bullfrog can eat a newborn duckling!) So I had to make the sad decision to take the babies away from their mother and hand raise them at least until they were too big for a frog to swallow. So now, much to the delight of baby Angus, we have ducklings in the bathroom.

Ducklings love to eat their greens and you can put some fresh picked clover along with some water in the blender for a second, or snip up some fresh spinach with scissors, dandelion greens are great too... drop the greens in fresh water and the babies will dabble it up happily.

Fiona shows off the babies and her new "I did it myself" haircut.

We did a cute litte duckling craft. I smeared some washable children's paint in the bottom of the bathtub between some sheets of typing paper and let the little ducks track it all over- the little pit pat of their feet was so sweet, and their tracks made very cute stationary. The art in the project came in knowing when to remove the ducklings before they left any extras.

Patriot Indiana

July 4, 2007

Patriot Indiana is the only town in the Untied States named Patriot. It's a quiet river town in an oxbow of the Ohio river far from the nearest highway or bridge. Population in the 2000 census was 202. Despite the small size, Patriot has a big heart and puts on the best fourth of July parade they can muster which consists mostly of all the firetrucks, the ATV riders and some horsemen.

Today I decided to take my camera along so I could take some photos to make a CD to send to servicemen overseas. I wanted to share a little piece of our country with them and let them know how much we value our freedom.

It is really an amazing thing to watch the smiles light up when I told people what I was doing. I have never had an experience like this as a photographer- but the people just were so open and full of pride and love. I know my pictures are not technically perfect, it's just a little Cannon PowerShot... but I think the love these people have for our troops surely shines through all my exposure problems.

After the parade was over there was a dedication ceremony of a memorial park in town. The park consists of a gazebo, two memorial stones, the old school bell and many flagpoles which fly the flags of each branch of the armed services. The American flag on the center pole was raised by an Iraq veteran from Patriot (in the foreground in the gray shirt) who brought the flag home and presented it to his hometown two years ago.

I 'm just posting a few select photos here, the rest can be found in an Album on Flickr.

It was an honor to meet this gentleman, Russell Fitzgerald, a veteran of WWII. When I asked if I might take his photo to send to our soldiers stationed overseas, he removed his hat and nodded. He arrived in the theater in North Africa and then fought in Italy and France. I told him that I had lived in Italy and the Italian people still deeply love Americans for what you guys did.

I recently found out about an effort that I think is very important and special. It's called Sew Much Comfort and you can learn more about what they do on their website. Briefly- volunteer seamstresses retrofit and custom make adaptive clothing for soldiers who have been wounded. Store bought boxer shorts, T-shirts, basketball shorts- are all reworked so that they have velcro and snap openings on one side or both to make it easier to get dressed over braces, casts or halos. They also make pants with larger legs and a velcro side opening to accommodate a brace. These specialty garments are in high demand and not only are functional- the feeling of wearing real clothes and not a hospital gown is a big morale boost.

This first set I did has been sent off for quality control - hopefully I did good with these, their instructions are very specific about how it needs to be done. Hopefully then the regional director will have some advice for me how to manage the tax deductible donations end of getting new garments to retrofit. I'd like to make more of these basketball shorts, they say they are the item in highest demand because they are the most expensive item to purchase. These shorts were only $7 on sale... I don't think that's too bad.

A Meme from Joyce

#1 Is it about the finished item or about the process of knitting? Some of both? Has your focus changed one direction or the other over time?

For me it's a little of both. I think I used to be much more product oriented, but now I get much more satisfaction during knitting that it balances out. When I finally get the satisfaction of having finished a project, seeing it complete- I want to take a little break from knitting and then jump right in to the next thing.

#2 How do you view mistakes? Do you think they give your project character? Is it important to have one, as my Aunt says, because only God is perfect? Or would you rip all the way back to row 5 of your husband's finished sweater knit on size 3 needles to eradicate a mistake no one else would notice?

I enjoy fixing mistakes, but ripping out is hardly ever a reasonable solution. I usually catch mistakes soon after making them. I love doing difficult laddering fixes, like if a cable was twisted the wrong way. I also enjoy fixing mistakes for other people. It's fun to save the day. I don't fix mistakes because I'm a perfectionist- I fix them because I can, and because I get as much pleasure from fixing a mistake as I do from knitting- so why miss an opportunity? .... a question like the one you posed- rip back to row 3 of a finished sweater? No I would never do that... but I might actually cut the yarn back at the mistake- pick out the mistake and use a piece of scrap yarn to graft a seamless perfect patch in that spot.

#3 Would you rather knit a project that is comfortable for your skill level, or do you prefer a challenge that requires you to figure out new things?

I love a challenge. I enjoy the thinking and the rewards. I feel annoyed when I encounter people who are afraid to try new things in crafts- knitting, fiber arts- are such a low risk activity- there is nothing to lose in failing- so why not at least shoot high for succeeding!?

#4 What is something you really want to make but haven't yet? What holds you back? Is it money, skill level, time, fear of the unknown or something else?

I would like to make a blanket that I saw in the Knitter's Almanac. It's a blanket of mitered squares which are grafted together to produce a magical effect she claims looks of having been knit from all directions at once. Her blanket is of one solid color- but I would like to try a variation on this with color.

First I would knit one mitered square so that I could measure the length of yarn needed to do it. Then I would create 12 individual pieces of slow shading yarn. (for a 3x4 block blanket, or 20 for a 4x5) Now you might be asking yourself- what is the point of grafting the squares seamlessly if they are going to be different colors? Well- I dream that the finished blanket would be rainbow tones- and the blocks would be two color families- a warm set and a cool set- but both sets would finish with a common color.

For example- one set would be *green blue purple red* and the other set would be *yellow orange red* So all the squares would have red edges and when grafted the red would actually produce a grid effect. I think the shading between warms and cools as well as the angles and perpendiculars would be pretty. I can't decide if I'd like to spin dyed roving or dye spun yarn- but I am fascinated by the idea of an individaul strand that is created to play a specific role in a piece of knitting. ...imagining the project shoe-box containing 12 wound cakes of colorful yarn radiating color out from their cores, arranged in a little miniature plump grid version of the blanket they will be extrapolated into...

Denali Dawn

I once lived for a brief time in a landscape with a mountain which rose above the treeline. It was in Austria and the Mountain was Otcher. One thing that was so striking about the mountain was that sunrise came so much sooner to the mountain that to the rolling farmlands in the valley. There was a brilliance and magic to see the beautiful colors reflected on the glaciers, to think of the silence and wind, the proximity to heaven.

It's been a while since I have posted any knitting, I've been working on this gift for a baby who is going to be born in Alaska this summer. This is the Jojoland yarn I purchased back in March. The colors of the yarn reminded me so much of the beautiful sunrises I've seen on mountains, I have named this one of a kind design "Denali Dawn" For a real picture of a the morning sun catching Mt. McKinley, check here. The beads are Czech glass and were all strung before knitting. there are even a few beads up at the "tiara zone" of the hood. What's an arctic princess to do!?

I used many of my favorite stitches in this sweater, the beaded smocking I learned doing "Crumpets" The lower edges are seed stitch to prevent rolling, the sleeves are very elastic mistake rib, the sides are seed stitch, there is a lot of braided cable, some calculated decreasing in ribbing to make the yoke, some calculated increasing to shape the hood, a tiny bit of linen stitch and lots of picking up stitches so there are no seams.
From the side view you can see that the cable runs from the wrist right up the outside of the arm- the textured pattern of the yoke is interrupted for the cable, which aside from changing color at the top edge of the yoke, goes on uninterrupted over the shoulder, and up into the hood until at the very end- the two sides of cable are grafted together.

This close up of the back of the hood shows that the shoulder caps (peach) were actually shaped with lightly increasing short rows (bouncing back and forth picking up stitches off the blue yoke edge) to the neck- at that point the hood is knit as if it were a flat piece with either edge forming the hood sides which will frame the baby's face. I this knitting on little double pointed needles. I don't have a circular needle that small. Unfortunately one needle was a little bigger than the others and it did mess up my stitch tension some.

As I shaped the hood I had to have a lot of faith that the shape was going to come together- I had the work split onto 3 DPN's One in the center and one on each side with the cheek and cable. When I finally had enough rise in the hood and it was time to begin shaping the top- I reduced the stitches on the middle needle by 50% by K2tog. My plan was to nibble away at the remaining 50% by decreasing on each side at every other row. I knew that this would produce a triangular shape to the top center and I wanted one that was more round- so I decided to use the linen stitch for that triangle- because the linen stitch does not grow lengthwise at the same rate as stockinette- I thought it would bide me some time till I got all my stitches decreased. it worked... up at the very peak of the triangle- I simply quit knitting the linen section all together and slipped 6 which helped me round off that peak.

Then there was a matter of a big graft through the cable- but it was long awaited and enjoyed.

I wanted to add an underlayer to the gift- but could not find any jammies in the right shade of salmon pink to go with the sweater- (I was shipping with the sweater and all the needles hanging out of my bag) Finally I remembered this beautiful dye kit that I have been too chicken to try and I thought there was a light purple in it... so I bought some white onsies and white romper pants and dyed them "Wysteria" What a great match! Lucky me! I also made the little skirt- it's yellow chiffon with the prettiest tundra flower trim (the ribbon flowers are yellow warp with a purple weft poking out the edges in little spikes) Under the chiffon is a salmon pink petticoat with a white ruffle.

This whole project has been so much fun!

I have added some videos of some of my favorite animals from spring. These videos are not intended to be funny or exciting, they are quiet segments of real life.

Purple martins building nests and interacting as a strong community. At the start of the video you can hear the horn of a barge at the lock on the Ohio river miles away!


The bullfrog video was shot in the dark, so although the frogs are there, you won't see them. At about the 55 second point the chorus starts to get very intense, and then a rest, and another verse or two. They seem to build on a song and repeat the same patterns over and over. Turn up the volume. A biologist was once at our farm and could recognise the voices of six types of frogs. I would like to know all the voices too.


Never confuse frogs and toads again- this video records the high pitch song of a two day breeding frenzy of American Toads.



The chicks from this video are now Robin sized birds with feathers, but they still stick close to mother and all 10 are still alive. The weekend the toads are breeding their call is inescapable!



Speck shows his moves!

I have to do some extreme sewing this week and then it'll be dress rehearsal dance recital hell...ehh... practice week. Every afternoon- all afternoon with all three kids on "behavior pointe" in the windowless cinder block cell block cafeteria of the Rising Sun "school is on lockdown can't go in and out for walks in the sunshine"... the only thing sunny about that place is the name. My son is in two skits and there were no male costume offerings to suit the themes- so I'm on the spot. That's ok- I can handle it as long as I can keep everyone's hands off the brilliant white sailor shirt pieces at least until it's made.

Poor dance teacher- there has been a costuming disaster this year- the company who had her costume order appears to have taken the money and run. They are not returning her calls and she hears that hundreds of other dance schools are in the same boat- so at the last minute she had to contact another company and order ready made ready to go costumes... and wouldn't you know it- of the costume options- the only costumes (for all the skits) which they had left in stock were the blue. Usually a lot of interest is built into the mediocre dancing (did I just say that?)with an exciting variety of costumes... but the kids will almost all be dressed in some shade of blue, and dancing in front of a beautifully painted backdrop from last year of... a blue (sunless)sky. The stage at the middle school does not have any sort of lighting and it's lit with the most morose green cast fluorescent school lights. There are two lighting options- bright and dim. There is a chance that some lights may be imported- I pray. When the replacement costumes arrive- they will have to be fitted at the very last minute. I think I might offer to help with that- but I will need my mom's backup to keep the kids.

Well, here it is, the sailor shirt finished. (from scratch, no pattern!)

The dance is a really nice tap routine, a salute to our armed services. I had to make the eagle on the patch up using just regular old zig zag on my machine- I don't have any sort of fancy embroidery program. I think it came out good enough for a stage... with dim fluorescent lights. Next up- The African Safari Jazz Cheetah!

Our pond is a nice size- and it grows a nice size bullfrog- that's for sure. When I was a kid we used to catch frogs and tadpoles tag team style in this swampy little shallow wetland creeks in New Jersey- back with the rotting oak leaves and skunk cabbage. Well- catching frogs here on the farm is not so easy when one hop delivers them to a sure escape in the deep bottom of the pond.

Country folks talk big about frog gigging- in fact our neighbor has apparently been listening to his dinner sing to him from our pond and today asked John if he could have some of our frogs, he said they sound real big... hah- don't we know it! Would you believe they even sell frog legs at Walmart? Do they sell frog legs at everyone's Walmart? I have yet to taste- or see anyone else eat a frog leg though, and I'll be fine if I never do.

Which brings me to our funny story today. The three kids and I were out on the pond in our canoe ...really- the pond is not THAT big.... but it's fun to paddle all around it and see the frogs in their hiding places and visit the red wing blackbirds in the cattails building their nests. I let the canoe drift right up to the shore and we cornered a really big frog- I was just thinking that we just might be able to reach out and catch him when - BONK- he jumped right into the canoe with us. He hopped around a few times from end to end and of course we all had some tippy canoe frog freaky giggling catch 'em if you can hilarity- and eventually I got my hand on him and we took him in and took his picture just so people would have to believe us when we tell them that we have some really big frogs here.

The little red hen has hatched ten beautiful chicks. Five are dark and five are light with stripes. She hid her nest in a back corner on the floor of the goat shed to keep those eggs from being collected for breakfast. A smart choice on her part, away from dogs and other predators. Unforeseen, was the recent cold snap which brought six freezing cold freshly sheared goats cramming into the shed to keep warm. Somehow this brave girl kept her eggs safe from all the trampling feet and kept up the incubation through several nights of sub freezing weather. A marvelous accomplishment!

In our local Amish community, their church rule is to not hang paintings or photographs on the wall. It is not disallowed though to have decorative useful objects in the home. So as a way of getting around the first rule, not of of rebellion of course, but just following the natural human desire for ornament- any item which could be hung on a wall (including the shelf itself) or placed on that shelf, like a clock, calendar, canister set or set of drinking glasses- will usually be chosen or painted for it's inevitable decorative value in the home.

A baby boy was born to some friends of mine who had moved far away. The baby's uncle who still lives locally contacted me and asked if I might paint a hunting scene on a gun-stock as a gift for the baby. He said that he has many nieces and nephews, but that baby John was the first of them to be named for him and he was so proud that he wanted to spoil the baby. I agreed to do the job, but was a little confused over how to proceed. There is not much precedent for hand painted gun-stocks and I didn't know how I would be able to protect my artists paints without changing the finish already on the stock. It presented a technical problem. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that wood burning was a more appropriate style for a gun and would not need any clear coat or change the finish on the wood.

I did this scene and inscribed the back and delivered the gun last night. Uncle John was thrilled and I was relieved that he was happy with the wood burning. He told me that actually he had wanted it wood burned but didn't know anyone who did that, so he just asked me to paint it.

Recently I posted a picture of my father and I at the Parthenon. I have lots of stories from that trip to Greece during the orthodox Easter in 1982. There were many sights we were able to enjoy directly related to the Holy Day, for example riding a train through villages and urban neighborhoods and virtually every home had a spitted lamb on an open fire in the yard. One night we had a view from roof of the hotel- of the beautiful nighttime parade of lights...worshipers descending the zig-zagging footpath of the Acropolis, carrying candles from the midnight service at the Parthenon to take home. Later, a flush of car traffic coming through the downtown streets, each car with a candle visible inside.

We had not anticipated that our trip was going to occur during their holy week because we had already celebrated Easter. Unfamiliar with the Greek Orthodox tradition we were not prepared for tourism snafus, like museums being closed or trains being canceled. Should I mention that our journey began with a missed flight due to my mother's inability to ever master the 24 hour clock in Austria? The resulting train adventure (without proper visas or provisions) through Hungary and Yugoslavia will get it's own page one day.

While in Greece we rented a car and made several day trips, one time driving to Epidaurus to see the famous Amphitheater from the 4th century. Unfortunately we arrived to closed and locked gates. The guard on duty made it clear that the site was closed for the Holy day. My mother said, using her only Greek,"Christos Anesti." (Christ is risen) to which the guard replied, "Alithos Anesti!" (He is risen indeed!") and he unlocked the gates for us. We had the entire Amphitheater to ourselves. It is true what they say about the acoustics, you could hear a person's foot shuffle in the gravel from the floor all the way up to the top. My father set up his camera on a tripod and took a giant panoramic scene in about seven shots. Here's one I found online- same ancient wonder- minus the gangly twelve year old from my father's series.
Panoramic view of the theater

This website has more pictures and information about the Greek Easter, she reminds me with her mention of wildflowers how green and lush Greece was at that time of year. It was also the first and only time I ever saw a field of poppies.

Here in Indiana, we enjoyed a puppet show at the historic Hoosier Theater put on by the Frisch Marrionette Company. Afterwards was the town egg hunt on the courthouse lawn. Our pretty spring weather had a shocking recoil the past few days, we had snow yesterday and freezing temps today. The winter coats, not blossoms are more indicative of the day's weather. The children were sorted into age groups and John took baby Angus to his first egg scramble. From across the lawn I tried to get a shot of my guys... and... is that really?... the Easter Bunny giving Angus a pair of bunny ears? (there is a person in a giant white rabbit suit on the other side of the fence)

Much to John's delight, in his first egg scramble- baby Angus displayed perfect gathering form...

Other fathers apparently were not as happy with their child's performance. This is a view of the four year old section... odd balance of girls, I hope that this does not present a problem in years to come. My Fiona is in this picture, she's the one in pink and blue.

Happy Easter everyone... all around the world- no matter how you celebrate.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Happier than two girls in a yarn store- with eight kids between us, we two knitting moms were happy to get out without any kids and enjoy a little afternoon out in Northern Kentucky! Here we are at Knit-on in Bellview Kentucky on the Ohio River. I picked out a soft wool fingering weight yarn in pastel baby tones. Jojoland "Melody"

On a completely unrelated note, I used to hate shopping for jeans- trying them on was such a chore- now with three kids- it's an impossibility. So I got up the courage to just order some jeans online from Old Navy. The jeans came in record time and are a perfect fit- what a treat to be able to order the "longs" because the stores never carry longs in sizes larger than 5 (it's like they think that tall women are not really larger people- they are simply short women stretched like silly putty) I'd be thrilled if it weren't for the dumb pockets... what's up with this?

Why BOTHER!? This is a pair of John's standard Levis next to my new Old Navy Jeans. The amount of seaming, rivets and craftsmanship that went into constructing these pockets are identical- what missing is about 1 or 2 cents worth of cotton muslin. For the life of me I can't figure it out... is it because pockets inside your pants might actually show up as an outline on your thigh when you wear your jeans super tight?