Louie.... Louie... Oh Baby....

I have three beautiful daughters. Each one of them is very unique. Each have taught me through their own eyes and passions new ways to see my world. This is my youngest... She is without a doubt a throwback from both Seth and I's heritage. My mother was raised in Iowa on a farm. Seth's ancestors were farmers as well. soooo you see it comes to us honestly. She loves, with her very being everything and I mean EVERYTHING that has to do with animals. I'm sure that she will end up having her own farm , ranch whatever someday. At least I know she will always be around large farm animals in some aspect.

This is the ranch were we are fortunate enough to have found true friendship and companionship both for Allison and our entire family. Allison walks there everyday from school to muck out stalls and care for the horses that live there. She also takes care of her Ag project who happens to be named Louie.

This is Louie. He is a three month old Boer goat. He is adorable. Allison will be raising and caring for him until the Lakeside Fair on Mothers Day this year at which time she will show him and sell him at market. This is the day a few weeks ago when we went to pick him out. This is really a great project for her. She is learning ALOT.

Baby Louie. I think he's getting bigger already.

I have more pictures and stuff later for you.. Meet me here soon.

Blessings Sue

Random Ramblings

I've become, I think, the worst sort of "yarn snob" lately. I only want to knit with yarn that I have spun myself. I am finding such deep satisfaction in it. I'm sure this will pass, and so I am enjoying it while I can. This is some Blue face Leicester I spun up last spring or so. I dyed it calling it my nasturtium colorway. This is Allison's first fingerless mitt. She needs something to keep her hands warm while she rides. Her favorite color is orange so this worked out perfectly. We are having some "winter weather" here in sunny San Diego. This means that it has been raining off and on for the last few days. We even got snow in the mountains. This is Cuyamaca peak from our front porch. Trust me its not that close, I cheated, I zoomed. haha. Its about a 45 minute drive from us but I get to see this beauty from my window. How blessed. This is about the most snow I have seen in years. Yay!!

I love to read Henri J.M. Nouwen. He was a priest, psychologist and professor. He was also an amazing spiritual writer. He died in 1996 but his wisdom lives on.

Something about this mornings devotional has really stuck and I'd like to share. Of course I'm totally paraphrasing so.....

He says that small signs of friendliness can create much joy, and small disturbances between people much sadness. While "great events" of the day often don't touch us so deeply.

Think about it. You get a smile from the lady in line at the store when your late to get where you need to be. It lifts your heart. You receive a note in the mail "just to say hello" It makes your day. Someone rushes ahead to hold the door for you. You can't help but feel special. Your inner life is lifted up a bit, the grass greener, the snow whiter. While in truth a distant catastrophe has much less affect then a nearby mishap.
So how then can we "use" this knowledge. The way to someones heart seems always to be a quiet, gentle way.

(Oh yes, I love old bottles have I ever mentioned that.) When I take the time to be the smiler, the note writer, the door holder opener, It blesses me too. And we all win.

Just some things to ponder........

This is Sassy. She found just the right spot, the sun kept peeking out just long enough to keep her very warm and cozy between rain showers.

Til later then, Wishing you, your very own cozy spot in the sun!!!!! Blessings Sue

The Little Red Hen

Smug
-adjective, smug-ger, smug-gest
1. contentedly confident of one's ability, superiority, or correctness; complacent

Satisfaction
Sat- is- fac-tion -Noun
1. the act of satisfying; fulfillment; gratification
2. the state of being satisfied; CONTENT We all know the story, the one about the Little Red Hen ( and yes I know this is a rooster,but I couldn't find the pic's of my hen's, so " pretend it was a hen") Well...... Usually I think of this ever busy Hen when I'm the "only one who ever does anything around here" and feeling sorry for myself ......but not today....
Today I'm thinking about how "smugly satisfying" it is to see a project from the very beginning to the very end, all by yourself. She was the one who planted, harvested, ground, baked and yes finally ATE the bread.

Even though I didn't shear the little sheep that donated this fiber, I did hand-dye the roving. This by the way is the same colorway that i won a blue ribbon for at the San Diego, Del Mar Fair.

The darker picture is more accurate color wise. I have enjoyed every minute of this project. Dying the roving was the first step. Then I spun the fiber, (it's Blue-faced Leicester) using a fractal strip technique I learned about in a past Spin-Off magazine. I think I talked about this a while ago with some blue yarn I spun. Anyway it makes very beautiful yarn that "self" stripes and has a long run of the same color going through the whole skein. Very, very lovely. Fingering weight or "sock yarn". I then decided to make a pair of socks for me, using my basic sock recipe but this time I mad a short row heel with a heel flap. It turned out great and if your interested in hearing more about it just leave me a comment. Ill be happy to tell you how I did it.

I enjoyed the knitting part just as much, if not more because I was able to live with in the colors as they slipped through my fingers, stitch by stitch.

These cinnamon rolls are rather anemic looking but like the hen (uhh..rooster) picture are merely a representation of the hard working Little Hen's bread... hee hee ..get it... rolls...bread..hehee

And these nasturtiums are just pretty. I downloaded the wrong picture and since they are just to lovely to delete I thought you might enjoy them as well.

Finally getting some 'winter" weather here. I may rain... Yay!!!! WE need it for sure.

Until later then. I'm hoping you find something to make you feel smugly satisfied about and of course Many, Many Blessings, Sue