Update: 9-6-18 #2

A little bit of cross stitching has been happening on the Cat Lessons by Lizzie Kate, though not nearly enough. I am hoping with the blanket done I will be able to get back to the cross stitching and maybe even some short socks that need to be finished. Here is where I am at on Cat Lessons: That row with the thread is the last row on this side. I have moved the Q-snap down and as soon as I am finished with that section, I will move to the top right and see how much I can get done. I would love to finish this and frame it for DD for Christmas, but we will have to see. I also need to get DS’s stocking back out and get my act together. Anyway, back to the above project, I am pretty sure that I will not have enough thread of one of the browns to finish the entire project. I think it is the darker brown, but whichever one it is, it is a specialty thread so when I get close to finishing/running out, I will have to place an order to 123stitch.com. Of course you know that a skein of thread cannot travel by itself so I am sure that something else will come with it as well.

And yes, I have not forgotten the chick! She is currently not on my happy list. We believe that it is a hen which is about the only thing she has going for herself at the moment. Approximately two weeks ago, we opened up the access between the main coop and the run that was connected to the brooder box. Mom and chick had been having daily access to the run and were anxious to go mix with the flock. It was time to make the change and chick was big enough to not slip under places and escape.

The first few days, chick took much coaxing to go all the way outside from the brooder box. She would run through the area in between and then stop just inside the coop. Since this was her only way to access the outside, we knew she had to learn how to get in and out. We mixed the feed so that she would get what she needed and after a few days, she seemed to do ok–other than she didn’t always like to go back inside at night. I wasn’t sure if it was because she and Mom were not allowed in by the other chickens until everyone else was in and then they had to walk the “gauntlet” between everyone to get to the brooder box or what that kept her from going inside some nights.

Last night it was after dark when I was able to slip out to shut everyone in the coop. A phone call had taken longer than hoped and so I got my headlamp and headed out. When I went to make sure that everyone was inside, guess WHO was not inside? Yes, chick had decided this was not a night to go inside. Mom was inside and called to her, but chick decided to hide and hope she would be left alone. She was just outside the brooder box with her beak tucked into her feathers trying to be as hidden as she dared. When I found her and poked her gently, she set up a squawk and a fuss and began running around the pen. Normally the chickens and even chick can be guided into the coop, particularly if the door is wide open and not just the “hen” door. She decided it just was not going to happen. For 30 minutes I followed her and moved her out of one hidey hole after another. She went by the door twice and just kept going. After the second time I decided enough was enough. If she wanted to stay outside then she could and we would just hope she did not get eaten. I left the “hen” door open and secured the gate. I do not know whether she went inside or not because when I went out early this morning to feed and water the chickens, everyone was outside. I will not chase her again tonight so if she decides to disobey her mom and not be guided inside, she will need to fend for herself overnight.

She is a pretty chick though it is hard to see from this distance. So far we have determined that she is part black Astralorp, but I am not sure what else she is. Her papa, the rooster, is a mix of all kinds of chickens, so anything is possible. We are hoping that eventually she figures it out. I do think that it is easier to get them all going where they should be when you have a whole group of at least four because they tend to follow each other. For now, we will just see if she can get it together. Next spring or late winter we are going to get some new chicks as this momma has an issue and only seems to want to let one egg hatch/live. We want to replace most of this flock as they are getting older and not laying eggs so much. That is a problem when we are feeding them garden food, pellet/grower feed (depending on chicken), scratch, cracked corn, and lots of cool well water. The garden goodies are especially good right now at the end of the season and they like them.

Pathfinders is going well with the new season. We start visiting clubs for inductions this weekend and will continue through the first of November. At least we do not have such majorly big events as we were in charge of last year. We do have to start planning for a trip back to Wisconsin next August for an International Camporee. That will be a three week trip and while we aren’t in charge of planning and implementing the whole event, it is still a big project as we will be helping teach at least one and maybe two honors. We also have to figure out how to get as many of our kids back as possible as it is a wonderful experience. DH and DS went four years ago and I am hoping to go with DH this time. Plans have to be made as to whether we will drive back and camp our way there and back or will we have to fly in and out? Time will tell. I know that right now I need to get my $195 ticket purchased for access for the week of activities and meetings.

That is all for now. I am going to see if I can either knit on a short sock while catching up on some more Flosstube, or work on cross stitching.

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Update: 09-06-18 – Sigh

Good intentions to blog were just that! It was easier to spend time crafting than blogging. During the last nine weeks, I have been working on the Study in Texture CAL from the Crochet Crowd and Yarnspirations. With my focus mostly on finishing up the blanket, blogging was ignored. After all, no one wants to see a partially finished project, right? Especially if you crochet a little bit faster and attempt to finish it sooner. However, the 7th clue kept me busy and I thought I would never reach the end. Then, last night I dug in and not only finished the 7th clue but also the 8th which was just a picot row around the entire blanket. Today I have woven in the ends and it is done!

August 17 – 6th Clue 1-6

September 6 – Clues 1-8

This project was completed from Premier Sweet Rolls in two different colorways. The outer edge was a darker colorway with no white in it. The inner lighter section is only four skeins, while the outer darker section is comprised of six skeins. You can see in the top of the last picture on the bottom right that a bit of yarn chicken played out last night. Thankfully, I was able to complete using all but that tiny ball.

So a quick comment/complaint: This is not aimed at the designer in any way. When I originally started working on this blanket, I thought it would be big enough to cover the bed. It was using 10 skeins after all! As you can see, it is quite a bit smaller, though definitely lovely. The temptation is there to buy more of the darker yarn and make it go out farther, however I don’t have a clue how many skeins I would actually need, so I’m stopping at this point. It is big enough for a blanket on a sofa to cuddle up to read if you are NOT tall like DH and DS, but not big enough to cover the bed. I enjoyed the pattern and am looking forward to seeing if I want to pursue the fall CAL from the Crochet Crowd, or if I will stop for now and get back to other projects.

So what else has held me up from getting more done? Did someone say there were lots of blackberries and cucumbers to can? For the first year since we moved in (7 years ago), we have had cucumbers growing and producing like crazy. This variety is long and burpless. And best of all, no bitter ends even when it was hot and dry weather with tons of smoke blowing into our valley. So far I have put up 50 pints of dill pickles with four of them being an experiment. Those four have sliced jalapenos in them to see what they do for the flavor. I also canned 19 pints of peaches and 13 3/4 pints of blackberry jam. Numerous quarts of blackberries were frozen and I still have 8-10 of them to turn into jam. 3-4 of them will be given to my BFF to make jam from as she didn’t get any this year.

 

 

I am hoping to purchase at least four heads of cabbage in the next week or so and put up some sauerkraut. Even though I am the only one that likes it, I hope to at least make 12 pints for this next year. Following a friend’s advice, I will be adding fresh garlic to each pint as it tastes so very good!

Unfortunately,  while my beets grew well, they did not produce very much. I was able to pull, cook, skin, cut and freeze enough for one quart. I wish that we could get more seeds to plant for a fall crop, but by the time I would get them, it would be a waste of seed.

We also had a good batch of basil to dry and I am hoping for more. My holy moly papers as well as chiles and jalapenos are producing nice and big peppers. The ones below were sliced and dried before being turned into powder to season dishes and soups this next winter.

As summer turns into fall, the garden is slowing down a bit. Our tomatoes have actually set a bit of fruit and the ONE butternut squash plant is trying to take over half of the raised garden. There are lots of squash on it that we will pull in to store for eating this winter. DH even whacked a bit of the longest vine on it when getting rid of weeds just to try and keep it somewhat under control. Lastly, our bucket of sweet potatoes is still doing its thing, I think. We haven’t tried to harvest it yet and may find that there is nothing there, but that won’t happen until it gets a bit cooler. For some reason we have climbed back into the 90’s again. At least our nights are cool.

If you have made it this far, thank you for your patience with me. There will be at least one other post as an update on one cross stitch project and the baby chick.

Update 08-15-18: Not Quite Finished?

If any of you were patiently reading the rash of previous posts, you probably caught on to the fact that I didn’t really talk about what has been happening in the first part of this month. In an effort to catch up and possibly even become a bit more regular with my posting, several decisions and steps have been made.

1. A reminder for each Tuesday has been put on my calendar to give serious consideration to writing a quick post. Fingers crossed that this might help me to be more regular.
2. My crafting calendar has been reviewed and the following should catch me up through last night.

The first week (August 1-4) of this month continued with finishing up knitting more dishcloths to try and get rid of some old cotton yarn. I still have 2-3 more of the old balls to knit up into generic dishcloths and then can ignore that for awhile. I did buy some Premier cotton yarn when Joann’s had it on sale recently.

The top left is where I was teaching DH how to knit, so I had to knit his way which is very different from how I knit. He has the working yarn in his right hand, while I work with it in my left hand. I can knit his way, but it was VERY slow at first. I fought to not instinctively use my left hand when I picked it up to work on it. You will also notice our favorite sodas–DH likes Mountain Dew and I like Pepsi though I rarely drink soda as the carbonation and I don’t get along. The top right is based on the Textured Knit Dishcloth by Yarnspirations. My favorite is the bottom one which is the Diagonal Stitch Dishcloth also from Yarnspirations. I prefer using the variegated yarn for the bottom one as it plays well with the pattern.

During week two of August (6th-10th), I was busy with canning, Lesson 5 of the Study of Texture blanket, Cat Lessons for People by Lizzie Kate, dishcloths, and dabbled a bit on the second Toe-Up Footsie sock. This included canning 7 pints of pickles on Monday and 21 pints of peaches on Friday. Unfortunately I haven’t taken pictures of the canning, but it is all on the shelf awaiting winter.

This week has kept up the pace with Monday being dishcloth knitting, freezing of 2 1/2 quarts of blackberries which will be made into jam later in the fall when it is cooler, canning of 8 pints of peaches and 14 more pints of pickles. Tuesday I started on Lesson 6 of the Study of Texture blanket and canned 11 more pints of peaches.

Plans going forward are:

• Finish Lesson 6 of Study of Texture blanket this week.
• Start and finish Lesson 7 of Study of Texture blanket next week and do the same for Lesson 8 the following week–the final week of this project. Each week is taking longer as the blanket is growing bigger.
• Complete more on Cat Lessons for People
• Take pictures of progress
• Finish last balls of cotton yarn into dishcloths for future use.
• Pull out DS’s Christmas stocking from bin and get myself in “gear” 🙂
• Finish second Toe-Up Footsie and pull out another sock WIP to work on
• Continue canning and freezing from the garden

So that is a pretty big list which is incentive and doesn’t include Pathfinder work, Pathfinder Bible Experience work, family obligations, and study/registration/FAFSA completion for DS and I for different programs/schools/levels in January 2019. Oh yeah, it is going to be busy, but no big Camporees to plan and facilitate next month and no big Bible Experience/Pathfinder Coordinator events to facilitate next March. Those duties are transferred to another conference (Oregon) and we just have to up fundraising on our Pathfinder Lodge at Camp IdaHaven and prepare our team and conference Pathfinder clubs to make appropriate plans and fundraising for the International Pathfinder Camporee next August in Oshkosh, WI. Thankfully we aren’t in charge of that event for 50K+ people for a long weekend in a small area. But it will be fun to finally get to attend this.

Never fear, the busyness will not stop but just shift in different directions. If you have read this far, thank you for being brave and hanging in there with me. You are the reason that I keep writing this, though I have to admit I enjoy writing and this is one outlet for me to do so.

Thank you for your likes and comments. Your prayers and support for all we do is also greatly appreciated! Until next time, let’s hope I can get all the things done and be more regular with my posting.