ordinary extraordinary days

Our days are quickly rushing by... the days with our Montana girl.  Our house is always full of girly sounds but this past week it's been in stereo.  Lots of giggles and squeals.  Did you know that 14 year olds will still giggle and squeal at just about anything when they are in the mood?  We have nothing impressive on the calendar for her last days with us, just being together as they do what we always do making ordinary things seem extraordinary.  There is talk about her stealing Audrey home with her.  I've threatened to keep her.  Both of these seem like viable options... to them.

On the needles, my One Pound Baby Jacket is coming along beautifully.  I ran out of yarn once again, having to whip up another skein.  After waiting for it to dry I quickly used it up and now need to spin the last ounce and a half of the full pound.  It should be just about right.  All I have left is to bind off the front, stitch the hood to the back neckline and crochet around the front adding button loops.  I'm loving it!  

Blessings, Debbie

your guess is as good as mine

It was a beautiful day.  The trio of girls headed out to walk the town in their t-shirts and sunglasses! I thought they were crazy until I stepped out myself.  Just beautiful.  There was a moment around noon that the breeze began to pick up and I got nervous.  I thought, "here it comes."  But it really was just that, a breeze and nothing more.  In fact, it blew out quicker than it blew in and still we were warm in our shirt sleeves.  When I finally got the kind of curious that makes you check the weather station for a temperature I was shocked to know that we had done it.  We reached seventy degrees today!  

Obviously these photos are not from today but from this 'winter'.  You know, day before yesterday.  Can we all say it again?  Schizophrenic... nay, bi-polar.  This weather deserves psychiatric care but I'm not having it admitted while it's seventy.  I'll wait until winter.  You know, day after tomorrow...

Blessings, Debbie

heart surgery

This economy has really taken a toll on our hearts these past few years.  Living in a small town is wonderful. I can't say enough how much I love it here.  The thing is, when jobs get scarce there really is no alternative but to leave.  Many of our dearest friends have made this decision peppering our hearts with holes.  An airy heart sounds like such a pleasant thing doesn't it?  It's not.  We ache for our friends in a way that is sometimes very unpleasant.

For a little while Audrey's heart is going to feel a bit more like it's old self.  The Montana size hole is going to be full again... for a week and a half.  Mine is feeling a bit better for this visit too...  It's just that her mama didn't come and fully take care of my cavern.  Why does Montana have to be so big?  A Rhode Island sized hole would certainly not be so breezy!  Of course I'm only referring to the size of the hole... not the travel distance  for surgery.   ;)

Blessings, Debbie

the one pound baby jacket

My Blue-faced Leicester roving spun up as a fabulously soft, squishy bulky.  I couldn't keep from gently squeezing the ball each time I walked by it.  Now I caress and press this baby jacket as I work it.  I think that when it's finished I will dub it the One Pound Baby Jacket.  The yarn is so bulky that I can just barely fit 70 yards plied on the bobbin.  The first skein was in the basket for several days before I decided on this pattern.  It didn't take me long before I was out of yarn and I hadn't finished spinning more!  That evening I finished another and hung it to dry (it takes a couple of days because it's so thick).  Yesterday morning I wound the ball and finished the back and the right sleeve.  There's enough yarn to get a few inches on the left sleeve and I started spinning again last night hoping to get a third hank drying.  It was late so I had to stop with just the first bobbin finished.  Today I will do another and ply it.  Of course that means 2 more days of drying.  This is a fun (albeit scattered) process for me.

I've been re-reading Elizabeth Zimmerman's, The Opinionated Knitter.  She was the inspiration behind leaving this yarn natural instead of dying it.  I'm eager to try the Baby Surprise Jacket and the Tomten but this was a good starting point for getting an understanding of how much bulky hand-spun I'll need to tackle them.  

I up-sized the called for needle to a 10 1/2.  The bulky yarn and the bigger needle are giving me a jacket that I believe when finished will be a 12-18 month (luckily I have little bodies that will let me know).  It's wonderfully stretchy giving much leeway and the sleeve has Elizabeth's sewn bind off making them, too, nice and elastic so you can comfortably roll them back.

Well, I'm off to finish spinning the rest of the pound of roving waiting at the wheel.  Yup, the One Pound Baby Jacket!

Joining Ginny's Yarn Along

Blessings, Debbie  

the wind blew

The wind blew.  Hard.  It blew most of the day bringing in a night blizzard.  Once again the girls will be a bit disappointed.  We watched the flakes get bigger and heavier before going to bed.  I woke up early this morning to light coming through the window telling me it was either later than I thought or... it snowed.  It was early.  The snow was once again not more than an inch deep.  It will probably be mostly gone by the time we finish breakfast...  Schizophrenic pre-spring weather.  Just 2 days ago it was sixty five. Positively balmy for this time of year in our neck of the woods.  How are things looking in your 'neck' today?

Blessings, Debbie

chloe

Sweet and demure, 100 % merino homespun with mohair locks and a bamboo skeletal, digestive, circulatory... stuffing.  And she's modest.  Poor Chloe.  Erin made her a quick outfit since I wasn't moving fast  enough.  Next she deemed it, "not good for the girl to be alone", so she whipped her up a companion. Did you know that you could felt bamboo?  Erin didn't know that you can't.  It was a test in patience but the result is soft and sweet. 

this photo taken at 3:00 am with the main light off - out of consideration to those in this house who can sleep

Chloe has a little lamb!  Thanks Erin.


Blessings, Debbie

to save a buck!

I want to take a minute and share my praises of Grocery Outlet.  This is just in case anyone out there harbors wrong thinking about what is for sale there as I used to.  About six or seven years ago my two youngest daughters were taking ballet classes half an hour from where we live.  The class was an hour long and I decided to poke around what I considered the 'dented can store' for the first time.  I expected to see a lot of dents and missing labels.  I figured there would be a lot of no name 'ugly' food that would never find its way to my table.  What a pleasant shock to find that the opposite is true.  In fact, much of what I now buy there is the same as what I just walk by in the regular grocery store because of the crazy prices.  

The deal with this store is that you don't know exactly what you are going to find from one week to the next. Some things are standard but always discounted, while others are overstock and largely discounted.  when things are close to expiration the price is incredible.  I love to stock up on close to expiration items that freeze well.  This time I purchased mushrooms at $0.97.  They were in fine shape.  I bought enough to completely stuff a gallon sized zip-lock freezer bag.  When I need some for a stew or casserole I can just grab a handful and toss them in as is. 

The fun thing about the unpredictable inventory is that it lends itself to creative cooking... which I love. Remember that I am a recipe rebel?  It's always so much fun when the cashier hands you your receipt and tells you how much you saved.  My goal is to save as much as I spend.  This was a tremendous haul.  I saved almost 2/3 more than what I paid!  I still purchase most of my grains, sweeteners, nuts and seeds from the co-op that comes by truck once a month (I posted about it here) and I usually purchase the bread that I keep in the freezer (for no bake times) at the Franz bread outlet.  Between these three resources the only time I hit another grocery store is when the weekly coupons are worth my time.

Audrey no longer takes ballet and Erin's teacher is here now, so I would now have to figure gas into my spending. Luckily that isn't an issue as several years ago we received our own Grocery Outlet right in this here little town!  That's it.  I just thought I would share...

Blessings, Debbie