Kid N' Ewe (& Llama Too) Fiber Festival

http://www.kidnewe.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1
great class listing this year

Lawn Ranger

Last Month, BigDog went to the Fall Classic Hunting Show at the local convention center. While there, he bought raffle tickets and signed up for any and all prize drawings. We were both kinda hoping for that $21000 hunt trip, but no......this is what he won:

This is a Hustler Fast-Trac, zero-turn radius, 54" cutting deck, 21HP engine LAWN MOWER..with a custom camoflage paint job.

Needless to say..the boy is stoked:

He was giggling the whole way around the parking lot.

And of course, there had to be the "Happy Couple of Rednecks" photo op:

I have found my next home

Now for that pesky little thing called "Winning the Lotto"


Otter: OMG...perfection!!!

@BECKY.....I Know!

@Susan.....I'll be opening it up for tours shortly after closing! (heh,heh)

@Otter....And the best part is that it was built within the last 5 or so years.

Rains over the Gulf

The rains have finally come to the Gulf.
The trees danced with joy in the outflow
Then bent their backs to the onslot of moisture.
Bullfrogs, freshly emerged from deep, damp soil
Sit stoicly under the cool drops.

Summer heat

So, I couldn't stand it-I had to have a pool. Who cares if it takes over the whole patio! Bigdog strung up a triangular tarp for protection/shade (damned doves). So with the big old oak tree, the house, and the tarp, there's no way to get a sunburn-just floating and relaxing.

First: the pool:filling

next:I couldn't stand it any longer

Bigdog and Whitedog-sharing a moment

Blackdog hiding from the "Big Bath"

Next: the 17hour brisket

Lastly: How I spent my summer vacation

Let Freedom ring

Yard Happenings

Life has been going at a fast clip since I got home from the wedding. I am trying to organize pictures to post later of the fun on the lake.

One thing I have been doing is digging out the area to put the pool on. I didn't last year and the pool could never be completely filled because a barely perceptable slant. I got my son to dig a part of it, but the rest is up to me. Nobody will help.

Yesterday I dug for about an hour, with frequent breaks because it is hotter than Hades out there. I did it in the morning when it was cooler. Sunglasses, do-rag, wipe rag, gloves (after rubbing a blister on the palm of my hand). To my delight, this morning I weighed 2 pounds lighter.....so went back at it. Being a 20ft square, it doesn't seem that I have gone far when I get a shovel and half width dug. The dirt is loose.....and am thinking it would have been a great place for a veggie garden (rats), but the hard part is the gagillion fist sized rocks.

This is the area to be dug...not all in the picture, but 20 ft x20 ft.

And this shows how much I got done yesterday. This morning it is a shovel and half wider. Great exercise.....wrangle the shovel as far down as possible by wriggling it between rocks, turn the dirt, bend down, lift rocks, toss aside....rinse, repeat. You can see the pile of rocks growing along the fenceline. I think this evening I will get out the level and see how much I have to go yet. May not be a whole lot as it slopes from the fence to the truck farm..that being the lowest part. I need to pick up some landscape cloth to put over the area before I set up the pool.

Ahhh....the pool. Looking at pictures of it makes me want to dig till I drop in order to get it up. This is where I want to be right now......

Cubedog: Me too. The advanced weather prediction is for a heat index of 126 on July 1. Man is my elec. bill gonna suck.....

Lost Worlds

Today we found a lost world. A complete eco-system:

All inside the bowl of the tree on the north side of the yard. All within a about 1 cubic foot.

SQUEEEEEEEEE

Just got out of the new Star Trek.
SQUEEEEEEEEEE!
SO worth seeing at the theater.
4 thumbs up (BigDog and I). Highly recommended.

Losing my buddy

This is Missy. She is 16 years old. I took this picture this summer when she was losing weight, but otherwise doing okay. Today is Mother's Day and I am keeping vigil. She is losing the battle for life and we have no idea what is killing her. The vet did tests and they came back fine a couple of months ago. I gave her a steroid pill this morning and she ate about a teaspoon of salmon and drank about a tablespoon of chicken broth. If she is still alive tomorrow, then I will take her in to the vet. It is time and I am finally able to let her go. I have been waiting for her to give me a sign that she is through. I think today she is coming through loud and clear. All the other pets know it too. Lucy was up on the cushion in the window with her for a while. Jack just came in to check on her. Tigger is staying outside.

Cubedog: I hope you know just how intently I am sharing your pain. Momma Kitty is trying like hell to take up Mz.Kitty's space, but just falls short. I love her for trying tho.

Fun week so far

The fever I ran monday, accompanied by joint aches, had me a little nervous. But I recovered without oinking by evening, so all is well. I think it was just a reaction from the allergy meds getting out of my system.

Yesterday afternoon I took a short nap and was sitting outside drinking some coffee and having a smoke, never knowing until I went in to cool off, that the power was out. The humidity has been in the 80% range the past week, so temps in the upper 80's has been very uncomfortable. I don't know how you get the "feels like" temp from that. The power was out for over half an hour and with a breeze blowing, it was nicer outside. They said a breaker had thrown and didn't know why. For us, that means this will keep on happening until the breaker breaks. That day will probably be on the hottest day of the year and will take a couple of hours to get it going. I think on that day I will just get dressed and go somewhere....shopping in the city or something.

For Bev.....my camera will not capture the intense blue of bluebonnets. I have rarely seen a photograph taken of them that actually captures the color. It is something that can only be painted or seen in person. And the smell....whoa....like lilacs in the air.

Today's picture is of one batch of iris that are blooming. I will have to post a pic of the yellow ones later. They don't stay with the plant long. I snip the stalks and bring them in the house to enjoy. I love it when a dark purple one and a yellow one are blooming at the same time. So pretty together in a vase.

I fold

Okay, you got rain, I got rain......so you had to have more rain and shut down half of Houston. haha. I fold. You win.
Of course, it has been so muggy here since the rain that I could have come to visit you and not noticed a difference in weather. The A/C came on the day it was 82 degrees in the house with 84% humidity. That was enough. But hey, I am proud to have almost made it to May before turning it on for the rest of the year.
The bluebonnets have loved the rain. They started blooming long ago, but have gone amuck since the rain. The burr clover has gone amuck also. I have got to drag myself out there and pull some of it up or I will have pet fur full of that stuff that they will pull off in the house....mostly in my bed.
Today a sweet breeze is blowing. It is nice and cool and blowing the humidity away. That's why it's sweet.
Have a good week!

Flood on the west end today

Looks like we are going to flood from one end of I-10 to the other. This is what we got this morning....3 inches in a few short hours. I prefer that over the length of a day...gives it time to sink into the soil, not run off it. This is looking out across father-in-law's drive to the pasture. That light color in the background is the dry draw that runs across the pasture. It was up and flowing nicely for a while. Kid and I need to trapse out there tomorrow and check the fences to make sure the water gaps are still up. Probably have to do some debris clearing.

And this is my road. I think I will dub it River Road. Hubs and I were discussing hauling up some giant sized flat rocks to put into the big holes that have developed over the years. Sure wish we had a ditch digger to cut some drainage ditches around here.
And this is the view from my front porch, across my yard (the part we call the lane), and across FIL's back yard. Water, water, everywhere. At least the pecan tree is getting a good drink. Maybe it will flower and produce nuts like crazy after this.

I hope your tornado watches and warnings are as unproductive as mine were.

Flash Flood

fire in the midst of flooding>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

<

In answer to Otter:

In the spirit of Adam Savage: I reject your guilt-trip and substitute my own.

Forget Waterboarding-Give the terrorists this pattern

I faced a daunting task this morning. I had to frog back from row 90-something to row 27...again. This is the 5th time I have had to frog this sweater right front. There I was, heading into the home stretch and this morning (of all mornings) I held WIP front against FO front. OH S#*&! Decision time. At 6 am my brain is not completely up to speed and I couldn't figure out where I had gone wrong or how to fix it.
So I sat there with the finished and not-so-finished pieces laid across my lap, coffee in hand trying to decide whether I should frog the FOs and find another pattern. Yep, I was seriously contemplating frogging 2 years worth of work.
With the liberal application of caffeine to sleep/stress/frustration befuddled mind, I finally figured out where I went astray. Exactly what I had done wrong on the first half...again...but in a different way.
Have I said how much I now HATE this pattern.
Now it is a matter of pride. There is no way in Hades that I am going to admit defeat to some damned Limey pattern.

Otter: Okay, I just cannot believe you did it again. By now you should be able to do this pattern...correctly...in your sleep. Do NOT let that pattern win!!

Texas TEA Party

Yesterday I went to my first protest. I didn't do things like that as a teenager when it was wildly popular. This was one of thousands held all across the US to protest the indescriminate taxing that the government is doing.
The one I went to was held in Tom Green County. A large county with a city of around 100,000 that I don't think they count AF base people. It draws from a couple dozen surrounding communities. Being a smaller city, I was astounded to find that over 1200 people were on the courthouse lawn. It was a wonderful time of prayer, anthem singing, pledging to the Texas flag, and rousing speeches. I think we did exceptionally well. I had to leave a bit early as it takes me an hour to get home and Lost was coming on tv at 8pm.
The first picture is of when they had the sign holders go up front to the steps. This is only a small section of them.

Again, a small section of the crowd that was there. I took a movie or two to try to show just how many people were there, but my computer is being cranky and doesn't want to open them. Maybe I can upload one of them to Youtube....gotta learn how first.

Today I am so sore I can hardly move. I had spent the day shopping before hitting the protest. My legs are screaming at me, and my back is backing them up.

A promise of rain tonight.....WooHoo!!!

The Witch is Gone!

Ding dong, the witch is gone,
The Witch moved on,
The Witch is gone.
Ding Dong the Wicked Witch moved on!

There is a large moving van up at the neighbor's house. YeeHaw! It's official! I was so afraid that since they haven't been able to sell the place, that they would change their minds and stay.

I get crap in town about how nice she is. I tell those people that none...NONE.. of her neighbor's like them at all.
Gone is the voice that cuts through the air like fingernails on chalkboard. Gone is the brats that are perfect. Gone is the town gossip. Gone is the woman who thought she should raise everyone else's kids. Only thing is that no one has found out what lawyer they used to keep the perfect brats out of jail. But at least there will be no more animals tortured to death. Isn't that what they say serial killers begin at a young age?
And the pesky steers that they starved all the time are gone also! WooHoo!!
Got to go into town to do some banking and grocery shopping. It is going to be wonderful to drive by their house and see the van loading things. God is good.

New Shawl

Remember friday when I called you about both of us being blind? I told you I had a vision of what to do with some yarn I had. That evening I found the pattern I wanted to use and cast on. I worked on it all saturday and part of sunday. I am about the halfway mark now. I used the 5 skeins of Plymouth Confusion that I got at Yarntopia and 5 skeins of Trendsetter Madison that I picked up for $4 a piece at Tuesday Morning. I am loving this thing!! I can't put it down because I want to see what yarn is next in the Confusion. It is a simple garter back and forth, increasing at the beginning of the odd rows...which ends up being just one side where you also change yarns. I am trying to keep the different yarns used at equal amounts at a time. After 6 rows, you knit one, yarn over, across the row, then the next row you knit the knit stitches and drop the yarn overs. Lots of room for screw-ups....believe me! I have discovered that I don't like doing drop stitches with eyelash yarn...ugh. I am saving just enough of the Confusion to add more fringe than the new yarn beginnings have. Self-fringing, ya know.
Now I am thinking of a drop stitch shawl I saw in Knit n Style that would look fantastic in the skeins of Kollage Serenity I have. I am wondering if I have enough....or if I have something in my stash that would go with it well. This Confusion yarn has my mind doing flip-flops over the possibilities. I just wish I could weave yarn together like they did in the yarn changes in Confusion.

On an Easter Sunday afternoon.....

You would think you could crawl into bed with your dog and cat and get a nice sunday afternoon nap. You would think. If you don't have an asshat for a neighbor.

He dug two holes, put crap in them, covered them up, shuffled dirt from here to there, and restacked a huge pile of garbage. Asshat.
CUBEDOG: Ok, I will no longer complain about my suburban neighbors with their early morning lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and circular saws.

More retreat pics

This is a view of the meeting room from the back. Neither I nor Cubedog are in any of the pictures. We were scurrying around together taking the pictures.

I will post pictures of the B&B this afternoon.

2009 Retreat

Having finally recovered from the LYS retreat in Comfort, I have gotten around to down loading pics and getting blogs updated.

A good time was had by all, and though I haven't photographed the "booty" (not sure I want that debauchery chronicled) I do have pics of the most wonderful stitch n bitch -evah!

Sheryl explaining the breadth of magnificence of something she'd seen.

The room was huge and wall to wall stitchery. The view was best from outside, but I failed to get a pic of it. Otter?

I have pics of the retreat center...just haven't got them uploaded to Flickr yet (sllllooooowwww connection this morning), but if you're ever in Texas, driving I-10 and need a place to stay west of San Antonio, I can heartily recommend the Meyer B&B in Comfort, Tx. Oh, and plan to spend a day in town-wow, great shops!

Ode to April Fool's Day

I will not call
I will not write
No matter the bait
I will not bite

I will not tease
I will not joke
I will not torment family folk

With April first
I am done
When it come to jokes
My Sister won.

Otter: Thank you very much. I'll be here all week. Please don't forget to tip your waitress.

A Retreat Tip

You might want to make sure all the hothouse flowers know that it gets nippy in the hill country at night. And with a mild cold front going through, it will be in the 40's one night. Sweater weather! Pack appropriately.
See ya there thursday afternoon!!!

I'm an evil, vile, hate-filled person and I can prove it

You know the hibiscus scrubs that ring my yard. Scraggly though they have been this year, all it took was a little rain and they have burst forth in a riot of scarlet blooms. Each bloom is probably 6 to 8 inches across.
Last night, I pulled into the drive and as I was getting stuff out of the car, I noticed a car pull up at the corner, stop, and put on its flashers.
You can imagine I was curious. I continued to watch covertly and a young man jumped out. He took off his ball-cap (which he was wearing “doofus” style) and started heading my way.
You can’t believe the number of thoughts that raced through my mind in a split-second. But the most prominent one concerned a certain license that has yet to arrive.
He called out to me: “Ma’am? Ma’am, may I pick a flower?”
WTF?
“Sure, help yourself.”
I’m soooo vile I actually let a young man pick one of my sterling hibiscuses to give to his girl.
Then this morning, GEEEEZZZZZ. The NERVE of some people!

Otter: I am blown away that you were actually asked for the flower!! At least one kid in that city is being raised right.

I was driving to work, pull around an Expedition that was driving too slowly for my schedule. Continue on to the next light and said Expedition pulls up beside me; slowly.
He has the opportunity to pull ahead of me, but instead, pulls right along side.
I look up to see a man staring at me. Lets just say, as big as the Expedition is, he fit it to a “T”. He signals for me to roll down my window. Oh, this is good…in this city…..
Damn where IS my license….
Now, in the time I’ve lived hear I’ve come to distinguish many different accents. I can even tell a Brazilian from a “Valley” accent. I can tell an Eastern European from a German accent. But I still have problems distinguishing Caribbean Islands from African.
So whether this man was African or Islander, I can’t say. I can say, however, he wasn’t well versed on American history. I will call him FN (foreign national).
He wanted to inquire about my new bumper sticker. You know, the white one on the back of my black SUV: God & Guns Since 1776.
FN: Ma’am, what means “God & Guns Since 1776?” What is the meaning?
ME: Its to of the basic principles of our Freedom for over 200 years.
FN: But why GUNS & God?
ME: Because we had to fight for our Freedom.
FN: I understand the “God”, but not the “Guns”.
At this point I simply smiled at him and went back to my knitting.
I’m so vile and hate-filled; I didn’t tell him to read a damned history book about how America became free. I was nice, and tried to explain in the time allowed at a red-light. There just wasn’t enough time to tell him about the 2nd Amendment and how it protects us from Tyrants and Bullies both foreign and domestic.

It doesn't sound like he REALLY understands english. Not enough to grasp an abstract concept like "fighting" for freedom.
There’s never enough time…..
But I guess I’m just an intolerant, bigoted gun & God clinging red-neck a$$hole, Southern white Cracker.

Last Fall

Last november, cubedog and I went to Boerne, Texas for the Kid n Ewe & Llama too Festival. We met some great people, spent a wad on yarn, fiber, drop spindles, and a triangle loom, and a Buffalo hide. We spent two days in town having a wonderful time. Including the time spent in the motel room with yarn spread out on our beds....oh'ing, ah'ing, and trading. Okay, there may have been some yarn wallowing also.
Somewhere I know I have to have a picture of cubedog with the llama's pictured here, but I can't find it. Yeah, yeah....I need to organize my pics. Anyway, while cubedog was making nice with the long necked critters, one got a little too friendly.....he tried to nip her boob! Having gotten a little more intimate with the boy than she expected, she was compelled to buy some of his fleece.
This is the culprit....Masquarade.

This is his buddy Cinnamon.

I have a feeling that if we can do it, we will make the festival again this year.

CUBEDOG:http://www.kidnewe.com/

Saturday Evening

Have you fallen for the media hype? Do you follow Al Gore's every word despite his gigantic carbon footprint? Then this isn't the place for you.
But....if you have kept your wits about you and realize serious scientists aren't jumping on the global warming bandwagon......then turn all your house and yard lights on saturday night at 8:30pm for an hour. Heck, turn on all the tv's and radios too. Your children have been brainwashed at school, so you may have to explain to them how they have been lied to. Personally, I am sick of hearing about how horrible humankind is. All the save the earth propaganda is started by people who want to wipe mankind off the earth. That blows me away. God gave the earth to man, not animals.
Okay, rant over.

San Juan Sonora?

The buzzards have returned. There are 4 of them at my place, soaring like eagles in the heavy winds. It is always fascinating to watch them when there is wind turbulence, such as a thunderstorm brewing. They take to the skies and glide fearlessly higher and higher. I love seeing them revel in their flying and gliding abilities.

Hello Spring

I have bluebonnets blooming in my yard! The first harbinger of spring in Texas. Well, besides for the buzzards returning....like the swallows of Capistrano. Sorry for the poor focus. The dog wouldn't get out of the picture, so the camera focused on his neck hair and t he rocks.
Welcome spring....sure wish you lasted longer than a couple of weeks around here.

ps....just made a run into town and discovered that the mesquite trees are leafing out. That is the definative sign down here. They only get caught in a freeze about once every 50 years or so and that happened last year.

Veritas/Aequitas Duex

dis·crim·i·na·tion
Pronunciation:
\dis-ˌkri-mə-ˈnā-shən\
Function:
noun
Date:
1648
1 a: the act of discriminating b: the process by which two stimuli differing in some aspect are responded to differently2: the quality or power of finely distinguishing3 a: the act, practice, or an instance of discriminating categorically rather than individually b: prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment

mi·nor·i·ty
Pronunciation:
\mə-ˈnȯr-ə-tē, mī-, -ˈnär-\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural mi·nor·i·ties
Usage:
often attributive
Date:
15th century
1 a: the period before attainment of majority b: the state of being a legal minor 2: the smaller in number of two groups constituting a whole ; specifically : a group having less than the number of votes necessary for control 3 a: a part of a population differing from others in some characteristics and often subjected to differential treatment b: a member of a minority group

Veritas/Aequitas

Truth & Justice

And Shepherds we shall be.
For Thee, My Lord, for Thee.
Power hath descended forth from Thy hand,
That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command.
So we shall flow a river forth to Thee
And teeming with souls shall it ever be.
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Santi.

More later

Vanity, thy name is Tom

Yesterday morning I was sitting outside drinking my coffee. I kept hearing a sound of something hitting heavy metal. It took me a while to find what was making the noise. Two turkey toms had discovered the bumper of hubby's pickup. They were enchanted with the toms looking back at them, or they were trying to intimidate them. They never gobbled or made any other noise...just pecking at the turkey in the bumper. I ran inside to show hubby and get my camera. Just as I got the camera on and ready, one of the toms shot off a display at the bumper. The flocks of turkey that practically live at my house are an endless source of amusement.

Dear Friends

As I lay trying to sleep last night, a couple of phrases kept running through my head; draconian measures and scorched earth. But I'm not particularly eloquent and I was merely a follower, reader, backup singer to this whole debacle. One of the front line insiders can say it so much better. So I direct you to her blog:
http://elliejaneknit.blogspot.com
Judge for yourself.

Goodby My Friends

"join Ravelry-its fun" they said
"You just have to join Ravelry" they said
Well, today dear friends, Otter and I were banned from Ravelry.
Why?
Did we engage in flame wars? Did we engage in horrible attacks on the owners? Did we troll other boards trying to make trouble?
No, no, and no.
We associated with the wrong people. that was it-guilt by association.
Can someone tell me when it became banning offense to have friends that disagree with someone?
Oh well, so much for my block-a-month CAL. Guess I'll just have to finish that one on my own.
As for keeping track of my LYS events? Back to the old fashioned way of a actually talking to people. I will miss my far-flung friends. It was nice to meet y'all.
Shewhomeasures-I hope everything works out for you.

Your account has been suspended until further notice. Please direct inquiries to Craig at legal@ravelry.com.

Nice huh?

Otter: gee...I didn't even get an addy to email. Just Forbidden!

I truly believe that monday morning there is going to be an Oops posted for a large portion of us. This is a warning to lockstep with the libtards. Any joining of groups not approved by the trolls will result in permanent ban. The new terms of service was not something I agreed to when I joined and now they deny me access to my personal information...such as the link to this blog. That is not legal, as well as the property (patterns) of others who were locked out. Thus, the oops will be put up late sunday or sometime monday.

Ravelry was a time sucker. I spent too much of it there. I made some wonderful friends, but not much else that I can't get elsewhere. I had been spending less time there lately anyway.

A Quote For Today

A family is a unit composed not only of children, but of men, women, an occasional animal,
and the common cold.

Ogden Nash

Dammit-not again

Sometimes I really wonder how I lived this long.
Last night I went out to feed Bandit kitty. Not like climbing Everest or anything. No, not especially Daredevil worthy. Simply take bag of cruchies out across patio, up on deck, shake out approx. 1/4 cup of said crunchies in dog inaccessible spot, return to house. Nope, nothing particularly dangerous there.
O wait, it IS me doing this and of course, being me, I had to turn it into another Olympic sport.
I'll call it "Sidewalk Skeleton".
I was in socks and the first manuoever involved catching the ball of left foot on the edge of the sidewalk about 3 feet from the backdoor. Next came a Michael Phelps worthy face plant to the sidewalk followed by the skelton slide diagonally across the sidewalk, ending with a "Hail Mary" body block to the fence. The trick is to loose no skin to the face, nor grip on pack of smokes in one hand and bag of cat crunchies in the other.
As I write this, it sounds way more graceful than it felt at the time, or than it feels now.
Wish I could get 'collision coverage' on my body.
BigDog bought me a massage for Valentines Day...he gave me the card early, cuz "You might be needing this."
Ya'think?

Otter: I can't believe....no wait.....I believe, but am astounded you took such an easy route this time. Not using stairs or a roof.....taking it down to simple....a sidewalk. I applaud your creativity on such a simple act.

Ahhhh-city traffic

From the land of neverending traffic and the people that gave us:
Car-B-Que: car fire
Gawker Block: traffic slowing down to stare at a wreck (Ooooo-pretty lights)
I bring you......
Highway Snot: traffic congestion
and new in.......
Trickle down Wreckanomics: accident starts with one or 2 cars and escalates to multiples
Its kinda sad when something is so prevalent that it rates its own Sniglets.

Otter: I will quietly whisper about being in town the other day and having to sit at an intersection for a whole minute while about a dozen cars went by before I could turn onto the road home. oops.
Every time that happens, I talk to myself about how rough the traffic was in Houston and if I could drive there, I can handle Podunk at rush minute.