Happy Ending

“There are no happy endings.
Endings are the saddest part,
So just give me a happy middle
And a very happy start.”

~ Shel Silverstein

Winter has ended…happy or sad…it is over with and Spring is starting.  I wasn’t sure it was coming this year so I knit myself three more pair of mittens. At the rate we are going, I might still need them!  I also knit myself another pair of socks 

and some more dishcloths.

And what else is happening in the neighborhood?

#1 daughter, Sir T and the grandsons came up last weekend.  We (as in I am trying to convince them) are discussing Toddler O coming up and staying for a week in June…and a week in July and August , if all goes well and those darn parental units don’t miss him!

Today while walking to the barn a flock of geese flew over.

The bird song is getting louder.  I guess they are getting twitterpated (Bambi)

The deer are finally able to find food since the snow is melting.

My daffodils are coming up and a friend’s rhubarb is coming up.  Mine is still snow covered.

I cut down all the old blackberry canes.  I seeded four trays with tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, basil and parsley.

Looking toward shearing I bundled up what I had here and took it too a LOCAL!!!!! mill.  I am having some made into worsted weight yarn, some into fingering and the rest into bumps of roving.  I want to see how it all comes out.  She has been working on a lot of alpaca and is looking forward to working on some sheep.  It should be ready by the beginning of May.  I hope it all comes out nice as it is easier driving a short distance than packing it all up and finding boxes, loading it into the car (when I get to borrow it from my children) and shipping it out.  Yes I have a drum carder but there is not enough time to do barn things, house things, garden things, canning things, knitting things, spinning things and wash/card all those fleece.

I bought ten baby chicks to assist my aging flock…and an incubator to hatch out some of my own eggs to grow to fill my freezer.

#2 daughter is taking CNA classes and did her residency at an area nursing home.  They rate her on the care she gives and how she performs her job, feeding, bathing and dressing the residents, monitoring their food intake and any sores etc. and she scored a 96!  She went back Friday on her own to visit some of the residents that she worked on and found out that two had died since she left.  She took it pretty hard but is still determined to finish.  She takes her state exam on April 1.

And that about sums it all up.  Looking forward to warmer weather and mud season but fully understanding where I live there might be some more snow before Old Man Winter gives up.

Talking in my Sleep

"You think I am dead,"
The apple tree said,
"Because I have never a leaf to show -
Because I stoop,
And my branches droop,
And the dull gray mosses over me grow!

"But I'm still alive in trunk and shoot;
The buds of next May
I fold away -
But I pity the withered grass at my root."

"You think I am dead,"
The quick grass said,
"Because I have parted with stem and blade!
But under the ground,
I am safe and sound
With the snow's thick blanket over me laid.

"I'm all alive, and ready to shoot,
Should the spring of the year
Come dancing here -
But I pity the flower without branch or root."

"You think I am dead,"
A soft voice said,
"Because not a branch or root I own.
I never have died, but close I hide
In a plumy seed that the wind has sown.

"Patient I wait through the long winter hours;
You will see me again -
I shall laugh at you then,
Out of the eyes of a hundred flowers.

Edith Matilda Thomas (1854 - 1925)

The name of the poem is Talking in Their Sleep and like the apple tree, grass and flower I am waiting patiently through the winter hours.  The deer aren't as patient as they are having a hard time of it.  I finally caved and started putting some feed out.

Everything feels like these droplets of water…

suspended in time. The snow cover is the same, the temperatures are the same, the future forecast is the same. That being said, I am preparing for more cold weather yet also preparing for the inevitable thaw and return to gardening.

And I am knitting.  I finished the baby blanket.  #2 daughter had it all packed in a laundry basket of goodies and wouldn't let me take it out.  You can't see it in this picture but it is crib size and the way it is crocheted the blue is more dominant on one side and brown more on the other.

 I even had time to knit a pair of baby socks.  

I had to knit myself another pair of mittens as I left the last pair in Philly.   

I hope #1 daughter gets some use out of them.  I saw a pair of bed socks in Knitting Vintage Socks and liked the design so I knit them up and I am sending them down to #1 daughter. 

 I have another pair of socks on the needles for myself.  I saw a pin on Pinterest how to make stripes in ribbing without the bumps of the other color showing. 

I had to put stripes in this pair of socks just to check it out and it does work!  

 Why did I not know this before now?

I did clean up the greenhouse in preparation of the upcoming season.  I bought some peat pellet trays to start seeds and they are soaking/expanding now, later today they will be filled with tomato and pepper seeds...maybe.

And canning season has started.  While combining freezers I took out two small turkeys and cooked them.  I then made turkey stock and canned it…11 quarts and 3 pints.  There are several bags of rhubarb which might get turned into pie filling before the weekend is over.

So I guess things are moving along even if it is like molasses going uphill in February!

Winters Bite

“Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail” ~ Unknown

This year Old Man Winter has a full set of teeth

 

 and he is not afraid to use them.  Like a vampire he sunk his teeth in and is sucking the life out of people. 

He has been taking bite after bite of our area.  His cold fingers slipped down toward us in December and he just tightened his grip this month.  Most people are wondering if he will ever let go.  I see it all around and hear it on the news. The above average snow fall and below average temperatures are making people have less jingles in their pockets, more aches in their bodies and just mentally exhausted.  Mrs Cardinale might not mind it 

but Mrs Robin is getting royally ticked off!

I am trying to keep myself motivated.  I did our taxes.  I was able to finish the pair of socks after finding the yarn 

and even I knit a third pair. 

 If Old Man Winter intends to stick around my feet with be mighty comfy.

The baby blanket has 8 more rows and it will be done, just in time as the shower is Saturday.  Then I have two dish clothes on the needles.  A friend is making her daughter leg warmers and when I mentioned it to #1 daughter she decided that would be a good idea…aka get to knittin’ mom!  And then I got to think that she might be right, I could use a pair of leg warmers to wear while plowing through all the snow so that’s next on the list of things to do.

This weekend when we are due to actually hit average to above average temps I might just do something crazy and put in my chick order and get to putting some seeds in dirt. Oh yeah living on the wild side!  Three foot of snow coverage has to melt eventually.

Of course Old Man Winters tail just might wrap around to give us a whack also.  Getting back into the garden is like being a kid and waiting for Christmas morning...patience grasshopper. 

 

Poor Robin Redbreast

                                     Poor robin redbreast
                                      Look where he comes
                                 Let him in to feel your fire
                               And toss him of your crumbs
                                   ~Christina G. Rossetti

We haven't seen above freezing temperatures in a while.  Mr Robin arrived far too early not that the south is much warmer this year.  I don't mind the snow but the layer of ice makes it hard for the deer to walk through and dig through for food.  Now todays storm will just exasperate the problem.  I think I am the only one that doesn't mind the news of additional snow as everyone is getting cabin fever.   

Yesterday the sun shining on the snow was blinding but it felt so good when sitting  by the window soaking up those rays while knitting.  And boy have my needles been clicking away.  I continue with the dishcloths.  

So far I have had the yarn called for on hand...hope that continues to be the case as I need to get rid of some.  

Years ago I joined a Yahoo group called Holiday Mystery Gift.  It has changed over the years from only having patterns posted toward the winter holidays to having  a monthly list of free patterns.  This month they had a CAL for a spiral granny square which I joined.  It was to be a magic ball where you tie all your scraps together but I  just got rid of partial skeins by making this for a friends birthday.  She had been blatantly hinting for something to toss over the back of her sofa so it
uses her colors and came out about 46 x 68. 

 I only got a quick picture of it folded in half, after quickly finishing it as she was on her way over. I have lots more yarn to get rid of and that only took 5 days.  

I also joined this months sock KAL.  I need more socks so joined to force
my hand.  I had two skeins for this pair but must have packed it one away while getting other yarn out for the Afghan.  

So I grabbed another skein and started a second pair.   

Also on the needles a shell stitch baby afghan for a friend  of #2 daughters.

So  the weather isn’t discouraging my fiber pursuits but I do worry more about the animals.  Today my mind was kept busy trying to figure out how to get to the point that we are producing our own hay for our animals.  

 

 Everything used  by the chickens this year is ours that we cut and then raked by hand.  The fields are slowly coming back.  Hopefully this year we can put some away for the sheep.