duckies bathing......

in their water bucket
I got to get them a pond

they remind me of little japanese monks

they first plunge thier little heads deep in the bucket
then they take a bit of water and sprinkle it over their backs
I sat down to watch them
they do that a few times then beat the air with their wings

i think they are getting used to me

they love the wheelbarrow full of leaf mold/compost i gave them again today
they eat the bugs out of it
and the maple tree seedlings
as well as other sprouted seeds

they enjoy it so very much
i love to sit and watch them root around

when I go and get the wheelbarrow they run to the side of their pen and watch me fill it with leaf mold
then they rush to where i dump it


I wish my hens could do the same
this is just about killing me that my hens aren't safe out there as long as jackass is around

but the ladies do make a lot of noise

bernie said if jackass is gone
we will put the ladies in tractors for the day and they will come in at night
( i would miss them way too much if they were left out there)

i long for the day when my ladies can free range in our back yard.......hopefully on a farm
and my duckies can fly free
with the sheepies cutting the lawn and the goaties triming the underbrush
and maybe a nice little mini jersey cow and her calf happily grazing on fresh pasture

with jackass nothing but a distant memory
displaced by the lowing of my cows, the contented clucking and boop booping of the chickens.......
all the animal sounds

?

and with luck...... I get to put my stories in a book for folks to read all together
and getting back to being an artist

vi

jackass neighbor!!!

http://www.pahomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=17523

can we say........ fraud
money laundering
criminal activity
can we say district attorney
attorney general

yes i knew we all could

vi
ps: I sooooooooo wish I could have this clip
but i can't afford the 40.00 for this one

HERE there be DUCKIES

duckie have landed and names

justinius or justinian Cornelius
Octavius Honoria Hortensius
laetres Amalia Antigonus
Archidamus Cornelia Desdemona
Drucilla Eugenia Euphemia
Hortencia Lavinia Lucretia
Falstaff Lucetta Luella
Novella Octavia Odessa
Malvolio Olivia Ophelia
Pericles Proteus Rosaline
Sebastian Agamemnon Orsino
Clachas Deiphobus Diomedes
Menelaus Alarbus Lucius
Quintus barnabus


here are some of the names we been considering

I am leaning to falstaff for the boy
ha
that male duck
we got them home, opened the crates.....and he concernedly and what we thought was TENDERLY called her and went over into her crate

was it a concerned reunion of two lovers seperated for a day?????????????????????

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

it was a horny male duck who'd been interuppted in the midst of his nookie
and wanted to finish

( see what i mean about falstaff? and he is a bit.............ah......portly...unlike her)


oh man MEN!

now i am attempting to associate ME with treats
I want them thinking.........."OOHHHHHHHHHHH nice lady with big straw hat, what have you brought us today"

today it was apples
they apparently don't care for apples
they liked the whole grain bred though
I can't wait to start feeding them slugs


they make a weird sort of dog sniffing noise
like a dog on a scent trail.......and they wag thier TAILS
hahahahaha
no kidding
and they got BLUE eyes
way cool
they watch me
but really they aren't all that concerned that i may hurt them
they don't rush me when i got to give them water or food or something.........
I almost was afraid that i would need body armour but they are pretty good duckies
I hope to get pictures soon

oye

vi

sheepies sans fleece***

(baby sheepies don't get shorn)


baby goaties.......cause.......well you know!


gee I LOVE life on the farm


vi

no news from the sheepie front

it rained like crazy today so hopefully my babies are still 'clothed'
I hope to get out to the farm for the derobing such as it is
I was busy all day......
I had a LIST of stuff to do
one part of the list was to research cow breeds
hahahahaha
( we have to move first huh? )
well i discovered not only mini jersey but dexter.....
so that pretty much is where we are heading for milk cows
they are much smaller.... in some cases much less then half the size of a full grown cow
the mini jersey will give a LOT of milk however
and they will do it on half the feed
I am thinking I am not all that tall......so i shouldn't have too much trouble handling them
with bernie helping with the hard stuff?

with two cows......you get milk all year long
probably too much milk huh?
about 6 gallons a day on an average

and me.............I LIKE milk

ok so i also love cheese and yogurt

and of course ICECREAM............
ok let's see

I gave the hens a mix of cornbread and hard boiled eggs and some of the kitty glow vitamin powder
as henrietta still isn't as bright red in her comb as I like to see on the girls

I am also thinking of a high tunnel hoop house out back
for winter gardening....
we can make one pretty cheaply
even the BIG ones are only about 500.
I am thinking maybe 75. for the one I would like............
and the girls maybe able to go out there as well.....
jackass won't be able to see them..........or hurt them
the ducks can defend themselves............... the muscovy drakes can be quite a deterant
to a moron who is too stupid for words..........

I have decided that until we know what is going on with bernie's job...... we are going to get as much stuff going here as we can... the high tunnel hoop house is not only dismantelable.....
but it is so cheap we could even leave it and build a new on at the next place

ideally i would love to put a hoop house for raising broilers out on the back parcel of land
but of couse with jackass next door we can't
I would like to raise about 100 broilers and 4 turkeys
for the freezer

I been also researching microfarms
tiny farms that earn a living
it's pretty cool if you have a mind

anyway
I am waiting to hear about my bonnie and edmund

stay tuned

vi

Firsts...... and hopefully no seconds!

well my two sheepie babies are getting shorn
not my lamb arabella........she won't get shorn until august
but my bonnie and my edmund
I can't get there to see it
sniff
but I hope for pictures
Carole says this shearer is most excellant and there will be very little if any second cuts
my first fleeces from my beloved tunis sheepies

in other news
we are getting muscovy ducks (accent on the COVY)
a pair of white ones
they will be working ducks as well as pets......eatting slugs in the garden
the hens won't eat nearly as much as the ducks and the hens would gleefully EXCAVATE the garden.

so until we get the chicken palace finished for hens
the muscovy ducks will live in there until the domicile du caneton finished.....
hahahahaha
the home of the duckling........sounds better in french

anyway.....
we will need some names befitting a rather droll pair of ducks
I am thinking...... something out of dickens?
well I mined the romans for calpurrnia's name....... and thaddeaus......well.... you know

soooooooooooooo how about dickens for the ducks

any ideas?


vi
stay tuned for what I hope will be pictures of bonnie and edmund getting shorn

march 31, heritage day at kutztown

Sunday march 25, 2007.... Spin surprised the hello out of me!

ok so maybe turning 50 isn't going to be so bad?
I got the best friends in the world

vi

Arabella at 1 month

and typhoon's new baby at 1/2 hour old


edited to add
my friend Julie is a tarot card artist as well as the author of some stuff on tarot
I put a link to her site on the side.........(it says 'my friend julie)
I love her decks, and i love her
so please go take a look if you are into tarot ( which i am)
she's coming to the east coast next month and I hope to get down to see her

vi

mother nature has GOT to be kidding right?

I am about to turn the big 50
in about two weeks
so what curve ball does mother nature that bitch decide to throw me????

NO not that pink line thing THANK Goodness........or you all would be reading this with a ouija board after I threw my fat ass off a building..............


noooooooooooooooo
she sent me a period
and not just any period......
one of those bring you to your knees turn your brain into jello shooters periods

the kind where you explode and three days later realize it!
cause you can't stand or MOVE for three days

this is old age?
THIS is menopause?
please

I got the chin hairs......... I got the hot flashes and the night sweats

please please please don't make me have to BUY them damn napkins

don't make me suffer the cramps and bloating

I got enough troubles

I swear
periods are only for young broads........us old farts aren't strong enough to be laid this low

a bit of stiffness in the morning I can understand

oh man

so anyway this monstrosity happened sunday morning

last night bernie said to me
you are looking a bit better..........
( did I mention the duck bill thing too?)
today I can speak in coherent sentances for the most part............
although I still can't stand up that long

and bernie wonders why....sometimes I just don't get ANYTHING done

oye


vi

almost alive

In like a lion?

Well march is doing it's thing

hot weather.......bitter cold weather
snow, sleet, ice....... freezing rain

it better be nice by my birthday as bernie is taking the day off
carole and kris are taking me out prior......
life is good

meanwhile
we cleaned the chicken's pens last weekend
now when we clean chickens we always use a particle dust mask.
I had picked up two new ones for us prior to this
the new ones were dust/mist/vapor
I ended up having a horrific allergic reaction............
bernie's ok
me......I went beyond trout lips to DUCK LIPS now
when it hits platypus beak......
i will go to the doctor

I taught yesterday and I am very thankful I don't have another class until the 23
as I think it is going to take that long to get normal looking again


oye
meanwhile............
arabella has some new little friends
two baby lambs born to hurricane the texel/bfl crossed ewe that is one of carole's flock
little violet is loosing her kid fat and getting all sleek and elegant like a nubian goat will

she is going to be bred this fall to mohava the new stud buck at lilac corners
my baby girl...
I will go through hell worrying about her delivering and her kid
carole will laugh at me as usual...
and comment on the size as well as the attachment of violet's udder
I will fuss and worry over her and feed her cinnamon raisin bread

bonnie and edmund are doing well as are the chickens
and the cats
and the roosters...........( they are married now......did I tell you all? my boys have WIVES.........multiple wives! well you know.......they are CHICKENS)

so it is apparently spring huh?
I am starting broccoili and onion seeds today
and maybe some peppers
I know that some time this month or next month we have to get out to the farm for manure
I would LOVE to be able to rent a dump truck to fill
and clean both carole's barns and monica's barns....... hitting kris' sheep shed on the way home
I want to make sure that the tomatoes are on 'hot bed's of raw manure
to keep them as warm as possible as early as possible
plus I need it for the worms..( you all should see the SIZE of my worms)


our annual skein contest starts this month
I am doing two grand prizes......
both tool kits for knitter/fiber people
they will have a ruler, folding scissor, stitch markers, emery, and probably a hand balm.
with room for the people to put their own crochet hook, waste yarn, pad and etc in there

the experienced one is going to be in teal blue and purple
the novice one in pinks and blues

I have to get up to odd lots and see if I can find a small tape measure and maybe needle gauge for each one

that will be next week i imagine

anyway..
I added arabella's picture to the side links
oh and............
does anyone know how to fix my template issue of smaller to miniscule sized archives?
I would appreciate it
ok

till next time


vi

can you all stand more BABY pictures??

sheepies and goaties oh my!!!!


there is little arabella.........and violet!
see?
hahaha
boy my little violet is sooooooooooo much like us........ that is her at the hay rack.....it's dinner time at the farm.





as you can see......our girl is happy and healthy....... she is bouncing around and you can't get a good clear picture of her



here are todays brand new saanen kids........that's jellybean thier momma
you all have seen her many times before
she had a girl and a boy

these little guys are so cute that I had to put two pictures in
they really say spring don't they? and they LOOK like bunnies! they also have blue eyes!

Lambsie PICTURES

this is carole holding arabella
cute huh?
she's about a week old here



a better picture?
there's bonnie being a good momma in the lower right corner


and


HERE'S BONNIE...............




a quick color/fleece note on tunis............

they are born red, and their legs and heads stay red..
they are allowed from a deep mahogany red to a lighter cinnamon red or tan
and their fleece after their lambs wool........turns various shades of cream

I would LIKE to breed for darker and redder faces and a pale cinnanom cream fleece
but we'll see what happens..........

vi

but arabella's lamb fleece is red........ and will be red if I can get her shorn in august
( carole said unless her daughter can shear, as the professional shearer won't come out for only one)

KNITTING content and arabella update

ok folks,
I had to write a short article for our local yarn store's next newsletter.
I did and since some of you won't get it......
I figured I would post it here for you all to read.

now on arabella.
I saw her thursday night.......she is double the size
and frisky, and curious, and adventureous
in short........she is everything a healthy lamb should be
I have tried to get more pictures but I am not sure how they turned out yet as the batteries are dead in my camera
I got to remember to do that later today or tomorrow

meanwhile
we are expecting a storm

so without too much further ado........
here is my short article

and my question to you all.....

WHAT IS IN YOUR toolkit????

What’s in YOUR tool kit
A tool kit in your knitting bag is compulsory. Believe me it will make your knitting life a whole lot simpler. A good basic kit doesn’t have to be huge, it can fit in about the length of a business sized envelope or a pencil case. Here is my list of indispensable tools that I just can’t leave home without:

1) Crochet hook or two, (or a double ended one) I have smaller one for sock weight or fingering yarns, and one larger for worsted. They are wonderful for dropped stitches or mistake stitches; you can ladder it up with this. Or do the chain for a temporary cast on.

2) Chibi, or blunt tapestry needle: I LOVE my chibi, as it allows me to run a lifeline, sew a bind off, mattress seams, weave in ends. And it comes in a cute little case.

3) Waste yarn, just a couple yards of a smooth dark solid color and a smooth light solid color, make this maybe a cotton or something that can slide easily. Some folks use dental floss, in the nice tiny little plastic boxes. Unless you are doing large blankets or afghans, about 2.5 yards of each is enough. I make tiny balls or sometimes wind it on a piece of rigid plastic or cardboard. Waste yarn holds stitches on an instep or where ever else you need it. Waste yarn allows you to knit in a tube and hold the place for a heel or a thumb.
You can use it with a crochet hook for a temporary cast on. See what I mean? You need this stuff.


4) Cutter of some sort for yarn, clover makes one, Clover thread cutter pendant, or you can get a nice pair of tiny folding scissors, I have even been known to carry a coupon slicer.

5) Needle sizer/gauge: you really do need some sort of measure with you, if not this….then a small retractable tape measure. ( my favorite is a sheepie)

6) Stitch markers: various kinds. These make life a LOT easier, get a special one to mark start of round. I like to use beaded ones when I can, lightweight ones for socks, heavier for worsted projects. Lace knitters, this is mandatory for you, one marker per each motif.

7) Postit notes: I like the super sticky for chart marking, also for making notes on your pattern without harming the original.

8) Pencil with a good eraser: well we all need to make notes right?
I make notes of where I left off, or if I altered stuff.

9) Emery board: get one that has a fine and extra fine side. This will smooth needles that are rough, and human nails that are rough. If you like to work with bamboo or wood needles like I do, you will occasionally get a rough tip. I couldn’t imagine having to either put down my knitting because the tip of my needle was snagging, or damage a really fine yarn.

Not necessary but kind of nice:
zip lock bag to hold your project
non-greasy hand balm or lotion
caps for your double point needles ( point protectors)
row counter
thermal gloves ( I really do like these occasionally)
a note pad
Yarn Yardage Guide ( you don’t need this, you CAN make notes to carry with you in your note pad)
Back up Xerox of your pattern

Shopping and putting together your knitting tool kit is a lot of fun. It doesn’t have to be very expensive, and as you can see, does not take up a lot of space.
I use small hard plastic pencil cases, small zippered tool bags, and an occasional drawstring muslin sack.
I hope you will enjoy this and have a wonderful time picking out a case that will make your knitting life easier.




ps for you chart knitters....... various colored highlighters are nice as well

til next time

vi here again

I been thinking

part of the fun of doing a tool kit is the containers....

so I ask you all...............

how low can you go?

how small can you go and get a full kit?

how tiny a cutter, how compact a case?

how INTERESTING a case?

I been thinking of some of the cases i have used in the past...............

i used clear plastic tubes with screw on metal tops

pill bottles

pretty and tiny decorative tins

( think sucrets or altod tins only pretty)

I dare you all..........

show me YOUR tool kits

the tool kit challenge is on..............................

( no prize or anything but it sure is fun)

and maybe if you can...........

a rough estimate of costs

so the newbie knitters amongst us have an idea

vi

arabella

ok she really moves FAST
I took 137 pictures of her and these are the ONLY ones that almost came out
plus it was COLD and the camera was slower then frozen dirt

we got BABIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A boy and a GIRL
updated 2/15/2007
we lost cupid the boy today
the final consensus was that he aspirated amniotic fluid at birth and got pneumonia
I didn't even get to see him in person.
we hope that arabella & bonnie will continue to do well

funny, but it doesn't SEEM like 30 years

but it is
we will be married 30 years tomorrow

we will be having a very quiet and private day at home
hahahahaha

bernie and i have been talking........
we've come sooooooooo far
we've gone through soooooo much together
and yet it doesn't SEEM like 30 years

I remember at 17 years...saying wow......it doesn't SEEM that long

but it is now 30 and still doesn't seem that long

It isn't a common thing to be so in love
that you would rather live in a hovel with the person you love
then a palace with anyone else--- and have it last.
but that is how we are. And that's how we've been for 30 years.
we would give up anything to be together
we have not had it easy at times
but we stuck it out and we stuck together

we now live in our little stone house in the woods with our cats and chickens..
we board our farm animals until we can move to our own farm

we live a quiet life of happiness together
we've forged something that is ours alone
I can't begin to put it into words

even though there are times as you all know when I get mad at him
and he gets mad at me, the core is untouched.

I still look at him and get shivery,
I wait for the sound of his key in the door when he comes home from work

he still can't sleep if I am not there
he tells me that on the rare occations when I am not here when he gets home,
that the house is so empty, as if the very life is gone.

tomorrow is 30 years of life, love and shared experience

I am not stupid
I do know just how very blessed I am


we both are


til next time

vi

who wishes you all a love like this for forever

Beings I am Italian

My cousin Anthony sent this to me, or more specifically his wife ( and I adore her) Patricia,
this is so very true it's scary.
And I loved it!!!
I sent it to EVERYONE and posted it at the Knitter's Review as well.
I am putting here for me to look at now and again



FRIENDS VS ITALIAN FRIENDS


FRIENDS: Move out when they're 18 with the full support of theirparents.

ITALIAN FRIENDS: Move out when they're 28, having saved for that nice house and are a week away from getting married...unless there's room in the basement for the newlyweds. ****


FRIENDS: When their mom visits them she brings a nice bunt cake and you sip coffee and chat.

Italian Friends: When their mom visits them she brings 3 days worth of food and begins to immediately tidy up, dust, do the laundry orrearrange the furniture. ****

FRIENDS: Their dads always call before they come over to visit them and it's usually only on special occasions.

ITALIAN FRIENDS: Are not at all fazed when their dads come over, unannounced, on a Saturday morning at 8:00am and start pruning thetrees with a chainsaw or renovating the garage. ****

FRIENDS: You can leave your kids with them and you always worry if everything is going to be ok plus you have to feed them after you pick them up.

ITALIAN FRIENDS: No problem, leave the kids there and if they get out of line the Italian friend can set them straight...plus they get fed. ****

FRIENDS: Always pay retail and look in the yellow pages when they need something done.

ITALIAN FRIENDS: Just call their dad or uncle and ask for anotherdad's or uncle's phone number to get it done...cash deal, knowhatImean. ****

FRIENDS: Will come over for cake and coffee and expect cake and coffee, no more.

ITALIAN FRIENDS: Will come over for cake and coffee and expect an antipasto, a few bottles of wine, a pasta dish, a choice of two meats, salad, bread, potatoes, a nice dessert cake, fruit, coffee and a few after dinner drinks...time permitting there will be a late lunch as well


FRIENDS: Think that being Italian is a great thing.

ITALIAN FRIENDS: Know that being Italian is a great thing.

FRIENDS: Never ask for food
ITALIAN FRIENDS: Are the reason you have no food.

FRIENDS: Will say "hello"
ITALIAN FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss.

FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
ITALIAN FRIENDS: Call your parents mom and dad.

FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
ITALIAN FRIENDS: Cry with you.

FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave
ITALIAN FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing and just being together

FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days! then give it back.
ITALIAN FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours.

FRIENDS: know a few things about you.
ITALIAN FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
ITALIAN FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds' ass that left you.

FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
ITALIAN FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, "I'm home!"

FRIENDS: Are for a while.
ITALIAN FRIENDS: Are for life.


also fast sheepie update............ bonnie's udders are nicely developed so it should be about a week now

Sunday is Bernie and My 30th wedding anniversary......
there is more news but right now that's all I can handle!!!

til next time
vi

Another fire another neighbor

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070117/NEWS/70117005
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articles?AID=/20070118/NEWS/701180371"

these folks lost EVERYTHING,including the animals. The town set up a fund we all can donate to to help


Cramer Family Assistance Fund
C/O PNC Bank, East Stroudsburg Pa, 18301

I swear fires are the biggest of all the nightmares


vi