Sock KAL

Apr26

Ok, I bought Wendy Johnson’s new book: Socks from the Toe Up. Some kind person on Ravelry decided to start a group based on this book. We are knitting a pair of socks each month based upon a different pattern in Wendy’s book. We get to practice one until June 1st when we offically start the first one. I’ve decided to start with the basic toe up sock pattern as I have never done a toe up sock pattern and definitely need the practice. I will start that this week. This KAL is going to last 23 months. So, with all I have going, do you think I can knit a pair of socks per month for the next 23 months? Should be quite the challenge!

Hey, where did the queen go?

Apr26

Keith went it and checked the bees. I mentioned before that we installed two packages two weeks ago. He needed to go in and make sure the queen was doing her thing. Well, one of them was not doing her thing. No eggs, no drones, and no brood. A sure sign the queen was not there, or sterile. The other was perfect. Plenty of eggs, drones and brood. So after a mild panic attack, we made some phone calls and located a queen, which happened to be my favorite knitter in crime partner. After a made dash to her house (1/2 hour one way). We came back and introduced the queen. They liked her! So hopefully, all will be well with that hive soon. Here’s some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Chickens

Apr26

Here’s a picture of our big chickens – enjoying the garden. I’m sure there are plenty of bugs for the eatin out there.

Here’s a picture of our baby chickens. They are now 2 months old. Aren’t they cute! This is the first time they venture outside. I’m sure they appreciated the 80 degree weather.

Our dog

Apr26

How can I forget about K. C. She has several very unique names: trash hound (she loves to carry around plastic bottles in her mouth). We also call her sap hound (because she follows me in the woods when I collect sap) and we also call her ball hound. She loves tennis balls; loves golf balls; actually she likes anything she can put in her mouth. She has a stash under the couch. She plays around with them and then they roll under the couch and then she wines and when she has no more, we lift the couch up and then it’s like a gold mine, she’s in heaven; she has so many balls to play with, she can’t decide which ones to choose. Yes I know, hard to believe there is nothing in her mouth.

Planting…

Apr26

Hard to believe it was 80 degrees on April 25th. I had a very productive 1/2 day. I dug out an old raised bed area to make way for new raised bed. With the dirt I removed from that area I moved it to one of the new raised beds to make way for strawberries. Yep, I’m going try growing my own. I’ve got 100 plants coming the end of this month, beginning of May so my bed is now ready for them. I also planted Larkspur under my grape plants. These flowers supposively repel Japenese Beetles. I also planted Borage seeds and nasturtium seeds. Oh yeah, can’t forget I planted three different kinds of lettuce seeds too.

Pig House is Completed

Apr26

Hooray! We finished the pig house. We should be getting our baby pigs on May 1st (next Saturday). Can’t wait – first time raising pigs; however Keith has raised them before. Will post pictures of the pigs when we get them.

Mountain of Wood

Apr26

During our slow time (if there really is such a thing), we try to find something to keep us busy and our teenage sons. Here’s a picture of our moutain of wood pile. Many hours of the boys’ cutting and splitting. We hope to have this dry by late fall so we can sell it to customers. We still have about a grapple load of wood to cut and split for our own use and for the maple syrup production next year.

Knitting

Apr14

OK I sort of put knitting on the back burning for a while – like 2 years. I decided I needed to start back up. My friend sort of prodded me along. She told me about Raverlry.com. What a place. I love it! Anyhow, soon after I joined in the fun I signed up for the Three Irish Girls group forum. They just so happen to be having a contest which I signed up for. They picked 20 people out of over 1,700 and I was one of them! I couldn’t believe it. So here is a picture of the free skein of yarn I won and the scarf that I am making out of it.