I am just popping in to say a quick hello. This last week and a half has been very crazy and VERY busy. Last week I was gone on our annual Christmas project week with my sister-in-law. But at the end of the week we had a Christmas craft fair to attend, so hence we didn't quite get all our Christmas projects done as we were preparing for the craft fair. I wasn't nearly as prepared for our annual week as I should have been. So I still have a lot to do before Christmas  Thankfully there is still a month and a half left in which to finish up my projects, maybe even start and finish some! Hmm. We'll see.

This past Sunday through tomorrow I am staying with some friends and helping out for a few days. They have a deer processing business and things get very busy during opening week. So I am helping with the children, making meals, keeping up with the dishes, etc.

Speaking of food, I'd better run. The menu for tonight is Mexican Chicken Chowder and cornbread and it smells amazing. The perfect meal for a wet, chilly evening such as this! 

Have a blessed evening!

P.S. The photo is from last weekend; Saturday night to be precise. I was on my way home from my sister-in-law and brother's home and had to slow down a few times to snap some photos as the sun set.

Inside Out:: One

Inspired by House Wren Studio, I have decided to do an "Inside Out" post every now and then. Mine may contain several pictures, not just the usual two. It seemed like a fun and inspiring idea that should help me blog more spontaneously, and might even occasionally get me out of a blogging rut; though that's certainly not to say I am in a rut every time I decide to do one! 

Inside:: My projects for today. I mainly worked on my rug hooking. That is to say, of the projects shown the rug hooking is what I concentrated on. I did not spend the whole day rug hooking however! Though I will be the first to admit, I am very slow at it. It is not one of those projects that I can just work on anytime. It doesn't work very well for watching a dvd, I have to always be looking at what I am doing and I miss half the movie. I haven't tried working on it in the car. Lately anyways I have been the driver, not the passenger, on many of the longer trips. But I DO work on it occasionally. And it makes teeny bits of progress each time. One of these days it will be finished and framed. And I DO greatly enjoy working on it. Though there are times when I wish I had chosen a kit with 1/4 width wool strips instead of 1/8 inch........

Outside:: The ladies were all in a huddle, fluffing out their "cowls" (as we like to call them), against the chilly breeze. Alas, they have ceased laying for the winter. I'm already missing the daily fresh eggs.

After The Rain

 A few weeks ago we had a wonderful thunderstorm that left everything drenched and covered in water droplets. I love to take photos after rain so I headed out with my camera to see what there was to see. Just as a warning, this post is rather heavy on the photos. Once I started shooting I couldn't stop......

Ripening mulberries

The bush that makes everyone sneeze. We don't know what it is called. Anyone have any ideas? It was given to my Grandma years and years ago by a lady who worked at a nursery.

Iris leaves

Day Lily.

Wet lake rocks on the railing.

Mourning dove, keeping the babies dry & cozy.

Old fashioned rose.

Ripening blackberries.

Painted Daisy.

Cornfield. Since this photo it has grown past my shoulder and almost over my head in some spots.

We have clay and this portion of the cornfield is the bottom of a gentle slope. It gets lots of water and grows VERY tall here.

Lichen on the apple tree.

Sunlight coming through the rain drenched leaves.

White pine.

Concord grapes.

Storm clouds moving off.

Field corn.

It was a beautiful storm, and brought some much needed rain. The soil is exceptionally hard when we haven;t had rain for awhile. Due to the lack of rain we were not able to till our garden until very late. We have planted a few tomatoes, but that is probably all we'll do this year. We'll have to depend on the Farmer's market this summer/autumn. Thankfully prices at the Farmer's markets are excellent, and it is supporting local farmers and gardeners.

Spinning Beaded Yarn With A Drop Spindle

 Two weeks ago I stopped into a local fiber Mill to check out the set-up and see how they processed their fiber. I was planning on placing a wholesale order with them and since I was in the area I figured it would be nice to check-out the mill. It is always fascinating to see the workings of a fiber mill. The amount of fiber they move through on a regular basis is simply amazing! While there I purchase a little bag of felting fiber. The staple length was long enough that I was able to card it up into rolags for spinning. I only had one color that   
I could not use. This one was set aside for needle felting, or perhaps for making felted soap.

 For quite awhile now i have been wanting to try my handat spinning beaded yarn. I did a search online to study various methods of bead spinning. Everything I read was tailored to spinning beaded yarn on a spinning wheel. But I figured with a little finagling I could probably make one or more of the techniques work on a drop spindle. I picked the method that seemed easiest for using with a drop spindle. First I strung a small handful of 6/0 seed beads onto a spool of cotton quilting thread. The thread was going to be used as the core of my yarn. I set the spool of thread on my lap, picked up one of the rolags and began to spin, using the thread as my core. Every 10-12 inches I would pause in my spinning and slide a bead up the thread to the join where my rolag was attached, and then continue spinning. I'll have to include a photo of this in my next post concerning this yarn. 

 At the time of taking this pictures I had spun about two roalgs worth of Romney. I added that to the beginning of my yarn for another lighter color in the mix.

I am VERY excited to see how this yarn turns out! Seeing as this is a new technique for me, and that there was no beading directions for the drop spindle, I'm kind of winging it. and seeing what happens.. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. I am not sure if I am going to bead approximately half of my fiber and then ply my two ends together, or if I'll bead it all and ply it together, or bead it all and ply it with something else. I'll keep you posted!


Right now I am on a road trip, headed out of state to help our friends with the children while they are at a conference. Thanks to my new notebook, I am able to blog as we drive. Blogging on-the-go is a new experience for me, I find I am enjoying it. 


Any new techniques or tips you have learned recently? Be it spinning, knitting, crochet, or sewing....I would love to hear about it!
That's all for now. Take care my friends, and I'll be back with you soon.

The Heavens Declare The Glory Of God.

The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth His handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

~Psalm 19:1,2

Knitting In Literature

"What she piqued herself upon, as arts in which she excelled, was making candle lighters, or "spills" (as she preferred calling them), of coloured paper, cut so as to resemble feathers and knitting garters in a variety stitches. I had once said, on receiving a present of an elaborate pair, that I should feel quite tempted to drop one of them in the street, in order to have it admired; but I found this little joke (and it was a little one) was such a distress to her sense of propriety, and was taken with such anxious, earnest alarm, lest the temptation might some day prove too strong for me, that I quite regretted having ventured upon it. A present of these delicately wrought garters, a bunch of gay "spills", or a set of cards on which sewing-silk was wound in a mystical manner,were the well-known tokens of Miss Matty's favour."

--Elizabeth C. Gaskell, Cranford

Spring Is In The Air !!!

I went for a walk outside today to see if there were any signs of spring.

At first glance everything seems pretty much the same. Right now we are in that in between state where it does not look like spring or winter. Everything has a grayish, brown aspect, and there is mud everywhere.

But upon closer inspection there are little signs of spring popping up here and there. There aren't many things are growing in the flower beds yet. The sedum is coming up (pictured above) as well as the iris plants. And weeds.

I found a happy spot of moss out in the back lawn. Moss has such a way of looking so bright and cheerful on a gloomy day.

I tried to photograph the robins, but they were not too keen on having their pictures taken. They proved rather difficult and all I ended up with was blurry smudges that could be interpreted as almost any sort of bird to someone with a good imagination! I did get a nice shot of these bugs. I have no idea what they are, or what they were doing. They appeared to be chewing on the bark. Perhaps eating sap? I don't know.

It is nice to know that in just a month everything will be in bloom and there will be a riot of color where ever one looks. I am looking forward to the return of warm weather, and the chance to dig into the dirt again. We won't be planting the main part of our garden for 2 months yet, but there is lots to accomplish in preparation. We probably will be planting sugar snap peas soon as they like cool weather best.

Well, I'm off to eat lunch before getting back to my day. I have some knitting I'd like to accomplish before this evening. Our church is having a ladies get-together tonight where we will be knitting, quilting, scrap booking etc. I'm the one assigned to teach knitting so I need to gather my things together and make a bit of a plan this afternoon.

Cheerio & have a lovely day my dear friends!!!

It's A Snowy Day!

Making Valentines

I'm spending the afternoon with Grandma today. She wanted to make up some Valentine's so we pulled out all her card making gear and got to work.

A little bit of ink, a few sheets of paper, 2 colored pencils , some glue....

.....and voila...Valentine Cards!

I still have a few more to make, but that can wait until later this week.

What projects are you working on for Valentine's? Anything knitting or sewing related? Whatever it is, I'd love to hear about it!