Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

It's a quote that's been running around my head now for a week. It's from a movie, can't remember which one but all I know is that when it was said, the quote was from a guy and it had absolutely NOTHING to do with the movie. The guy was beat up, drugged or something. It will come to me, but right now, it's just random garble in my head. Which happens when I finish up a semester of school. I get random stuff stuck in my head. I also have a severe case of ADD. It's gotten to the point where I'm CLEANING  and knitting dishcloths! DISHCLOTHS people!  There's not a thing wrong with dishcloths, really. It is just a symptom of my inability to concentrate for more than 2 seconds. I feel like a fish in Finding Nemo. One of 2 baby blankets I've finished in the last month or so. This one is interesting in that the yarn is a super-bulky yarn from Red Heart: boutique dash.  Ok, so the yarn is like spool knitted. I found a skein in clearance and started ...

Both of my professors are off at a conference this week. There is some online work to be done but it's not all that difficult. Ok, one test was hideous but...what can you do? I've had a few things on my list to do this week and they are done as well. I went to Goodwill and tried to obtain a dinner jacket for the hubbs, but the ones I chose were too small. I visited a classmate at her bar in a small town 40 miles away. She and her hubbs just bought it. They are in the process of fixing it up. We spent the time trying to puzzle out a good menu that would get customers coming in and returning. I left her with my Chicken and Dumplings recipe. Knitting is being done. Charity knitting as usual. My Lenten sacrifice is to reduce or stop cursing. It's moderately successful.  I've got a curse jar, and for every 10 or so pennies I put in, I have to knit another baby blanket and donate it to the pregnancy resource center. I'm not sure, but I think I'll be knitting ab...

End of Semester was Friday. I'm done working and schooling til the last week in January. With no money coming for that time, the vacation will be low-key.  The odd thing was how this weekend has played out after all that finals stress and stuff. I don't mean to put more pressure on the family, but apparently I do.  Saturday, I woke up all stiff and sore...especially in my back. As the day wore on, more and more of my joints screamed in pain. We were scheduled to meet Dave's parents about 2 hours away from home for a gift exchange. The ride  up and back were painful, but I wasn't going to beg out of this because of my pain. I took 2 ibuprofens and sucked it up. Dad, Dave and Mom As it was, the visit was good and thankfully brief. I got up about 3/4 of the way through and walked around a bit. It helped. A nap later at home helped more. Sunday found me uncommunicative and grumpy. I think that the entire semester of having to be 'on' and chatty with others ...

It's been 3 years since our last vacation, and Dave decided he needed one badly.  We trained up Alex and his friend Cody to watch the flock while we were gone and we headed off to Governor Thompson State Park near Crivitz, WI. It's a new park, situated on the Cauldron Falls impoundment. A very nice park, actually. Except for the rain. Seriously, it hadn't rained in Southern Wisconsin for WEEKS. No rain. the grass was brown, we really needed some! Up North, it rained for 3 days straight. A few hours here and there were dry but it was getting absolutely ridiculous. The first night we were there, we set up and went down to see if we could get cell reception and call home. I took this photo from the boat landing. Nice, eh?  Even the mosquitoes were pretty scarce. We called home, everything was fine and went back to fishing. There's been a fox stalking our flocks. Problem is, we've got a huge flock and the geese are actually bigger than the fox. they'll sto...

Taken one morning on my way to school. This is the Rock River in Janesville on River Road.  It was a foggy morning and the water was very calm. School is progressing.  Financial Aid is not. The final word came down that I will not get any aid this semester. I'm $500 in the hole for Calc and if I drop the class they'll add another $700 to it. Damned if I do, Damned if I don't. And they won't let me register for classes until I pay the $500. My only course at this time is to pick up as much money as I can selling stuff that I don't need, selling plasma and keeping expenses low.  And Dave is digging into his 401(k).  I'm less than pissed that it needs to be done, but what can you do? I've also applied for a credit card to put the $500 tuition on. That way I can pay off minimums, STILL register for next semester and pay it off with my grants next semester. Still not happy about that either. On a MUCH funnier note - Dave and I watch Duck Dynasty. M...

Nope, I'm not dead.  I bought a wool fleece off a farmer on Ebay.  Four pounds of wooly goodness.  I've been washing and spinning up bits of it all week.  About 500 yards of fingering weight cream colored wool has come off my spindle. I happen to go off in my own little world with a fleece.  I totally immerse myself in the process of washing, drying, carding and spinning.  I find it very calming. In fact, you know in the Harry Potter movies, where Harry is being taught how to produce a Patronus charm and he must remember a very happy moment? This is one of mine. The other one involves snuggling with my honey on the couch watching the Packers. At the time I had sprained both my ankles and could not go anywhere.  My ass was planted on that couch whenever I was home for like,  4 months.  When there's no where you can go, and nothing you can do...you accept it. Dave sat near me while I had both ankles under ice packs watching the Packers pla...

Ducks and geese do this thing after they've been resting for a while.  They stand up, extend one wing and then lift the corresponding leg.  It's a ballet move if I've ever saw one!   

There are just some days where you have to take everything that goes wrong and find the good in it.  Like watching a juvenile female goose suck water out of the leak in the hose.  I've been meaning to fix that hose, but haven't gotten to it.

I wake up every morning and get out between 5 or 6 every morning to 'release the hounds'.  This is the shot of the back 40 this morning as Sissy and her Posse were out grazing. We put the 2 goslings I hatched in the incubator with her 3 babies yesterday afternoon.  I had them out with the ducklings in the pen, but the ducks were beating them up.  So I thought to put them with their own brothers and sisters.  Sissy looked at them, said, "Honk" and led them all away. I guess the adoption is complete then! I've made these little pockets out of wool roving that was on sale as yarn for $1.00 at the fabric store.  When baby ducklings first hatch, they like to burrow under stuff to make them feel like they are under mama's wing. I cannot walk around with baby ducks under my arm, so I invented these little pockets.  In the nursery, I put the pocket on it's side and the ducklings snuggle inside and sleep. It's funny to see naught but a little yello...

Lockdown is a term used to indicate the last 2-3 days of incubation on a poultry egg.  The eggs are not rotated any more but left in the position ideal for hatching.  The humidity is raised to help thin the shell and the warmth stays the same.  This week, we have 10 duck eggs due to hatch.  The first 4 are seen here.  I see internal pipping with the top left one.  That means that the duck has started making a hole to the outside. They all rock back and forth from time to time. It's getting crowded in those shells, and they want out!  We stand there watching for movement, excited when we see them rock back and forth even a little bit. BUT, onto Knitting and Spinning. This is the start of the Tree Roots Scarf by Kristi Holaas.  The yarn is the real story on this scarf so far. In search of yarn/fiber to become my Easter present, I happened on these skeins of Martha Stewart Wool Roving at JoAnn fabrics on clearance for a buck.  Now, I took a...

It's like 6 degrees Fahrenheit outside with a wind chill of -30 degrees Fahrenheit.   NO Animal gets outside today...well except for me to do chores. African Geese can get their knobs frostbitten. So we made the decision to keep them in their enclosure today.  I went out and got them fresh food and water and plugged in a radio to keep them less bored. They're listening to country music. But let's talk knitting, shall we? Or at least fiber play.  Some new things off the needles: Not really all that new, but I've been working on my sock leftover blanket for about 5 years.  I'm currently working on straightening it out.  The right side needed another row added down to the bottom and the left side needed another row added to the top. That squares it up, so I can keep knitting it longer.  Right now, it is about 4 1/2' long by 3' wide. A Pair of fingerless mitts I have been working on for almost a year now.  You know the S...

Sounds like fun doesn't it? Kicking pools.  Except I've been doing it for a few weeks now because of the ice. The pools are used for the geese and ducks.  They're just kiddy pools, but it gives them a chance to bathe and get clean.  Apparently the pools also play a crucial role in mating for both ducks and geese. That happens in the big pool There's a larger pool that's deeper and more uh...mating friendly over by the house.  In this picture, Buddy is in the blue one, Percy is in the pink one and Ron is in front.  Now wait for it............. Up pops Sissy! Isn't she adorable?!?! The interesting development over the last two weeks is that Sissy and Ron have bonded.  Geese are one of the animals that chooses a mate for life. I checked the forums on this and it's not a hard and set rule that the ganders won't go astray, but they do have their favorite gals. Ron likes Sissy.  Oddly enough, Ron is not our biggest gander and he does bully Percy on ...

It's the usual stuff that keeps me away from blogging: family, fowl and knitting.  The family is good; in fact my Son was selected as Member of the Month at the Y. When he decided on joining the Air Force, he was 40 pounds overweight. Now he's down to the last 10.  That's pretty good! The funny thing? that's a 3x shirt he's wearing. Now it looks like he stole it from a hobo.  Not dissing hobo's mind you.  Fowl: Yeah, freaking fowl.  Geese are getting big and getting feathers. They are in a cranky, tetchy mood.  One of the goslings, Sissy has taken to chewing on her siblings' tailfeathers.  It's annoying them and awarded her her very own cubby next to the rest of the flock.  She can see and hear them, but she can't nibble on tails. Sissy was hatched with her left eye deformed. We suspect that she can see movement, but not clear movement.  Other than that stupid tailfeather thing, she's our most lovable goosie. She likes to be held an...

Happy Independence Day!

Today's pic came from our 2009 vacation.  We call it, "Great American Vacation II" and it was a trip to Great Sand Dunes Nat'l park, Mesa Verde, Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. All in 2 weeks.  This picture is taken at Mesa Verde. After going through one of tours to a site, we stopped at a park on the mesa and ate some lunch.  This picture was taken at the edge of the mesa looking towards another site. Mesa Verde was very fun and educational.  I recommend it to families with kids around 10 years old. Younger kids won't grasp the significance of the site, and it's just hard to maneuver around with a toddler. Archaeology is one of my interests, and pre-Columbus native America does capture my attention. There is a museum at the top of the mesa that is must for anyone visiting the sites.

Randomly chosen from my family file folder, I give you: My Kayak.   And my sandals, and a plastic bag and my paddle.  Beached at some small island off the Chippewa River last summer. Dave and I selected a week alone as our 'honeymoon' and we camped out at Brunet Island State park.  We were fortunate to get a campsite with water access, so we put our kayak and canoe in on Monday and took them out on Saturday.  Each morning we'd get up, get coffee and breakfast and head on out. Dave would fish in the canoe and I would explore on my Kayak. It was like 102 degrees Fahrenheit that week; never got below 80 at night and the only time it was cooler was when it poured on Wednesday. It was best to get out on the water early, beach them at 1 through 5 and go back out after the sun starting going down. Dave has bad luck with Brunet Island. Both times he's been there they have experienced tornadoes.  The first time with his ex-wife.  They ended up spe...

Random Monday: The day I close my eyes and click on a picture from my 'Family' album. Do you realize how hard it is to actually take  a picture of the moon with a digital camera? It's crazy hard, especially if you don't stabilize your arms on something. According to the pic, this was taken 7/20/2010 at 8:34 pm. It's a nice juxtaposition of the light on the clouds with the light on the moon.

I did reasonably well for a person who ignores her blog for months at a time. So I'm going to go random for today's effort: 1. Saw the remake of True Grit.  My Dad's a huge John Wayne fan and I've sat through the original dozens of times.  I don't like Glen Cambell's take on Le Boeuf.  It's 'dandified' as I say.  Matt Damon played the role better. The remake was excellent. It's a talent of the director to set out the story without allowing emotion. He just sets the scenes and lets the audience emote. Jeff Bridges played an excellent Rooster Cogburn, but Hailee Steinfeld, who played Mattie was excellent in her role. 2. We missed the last part of Harry Potter in the theatres again.  No spoilers please. I'm thinking I've got to go buy it so I can sob piteously in the privacy of my own home. 3. River Tam, the scarf is done and as a present to the world it is free.   If you are on Ravelry, the link is  HERE . My friend Kerri dyed it in...

This is Tyler 'Spud', our youngest kitty.  He's a spud all right.  Today he's been hanging out on my lap while I spend the day resting.  My asthma started up last night and would. not. stop.  At 3 am I found myself on that same recliner struggling to breathe while I coughed up a lung. So any effort to do something well, productive went out the window at 3 am. I've decided on a project diet when it comes to knitting: no more projects started until the ones I've got on the needles are finished.  Two out of 9 are finished but there are three sweaters in that queue. 

You ever have the problem when you flip back in the recliner that it's just too far back for your head? I get that all the time. After too many large pillows that just make my head too hot in these summer months, I've devised the dogbone pillow. The design is pretty simple: Take a tube and make the ends puffier than the middle. I took some yarn that I spun up in a wool/cashmere blend from WoolyRhinoceros and spun it to a fingering-type yarn (also could be called sock-weight) Want the pattern? Here it is: Dogbone Pillow by Ruddawg Designs Yarn: Handspun wool/cashmere blend in yellow : fingering weight Needles: Size 4 double-pointed needles Other items needed; Stitch markers (10), yarn needle, scissors. Gauge: We don't need no stinkin' gauge. It's a pillow for crying out loud! The wider ends keeps the pillow in place and keeps your shoulders from shrugging and getting sore. The pillow can be stuffed with whatever is good for the knitter...