Taking Care of My Flock

When I left Illinois last week, my nieces scrambled to find some "babies" for me to take along. Cheyanne told me that I must take them everywhere I go and "pet them every five minutes." It's a big responsibility. I thought I'd post a picture of what the babies have been up to lately. They enjoy helping me in the garden. I had to put the unicorn in charge of the bunny, though, so he wouldn't nibble anything like his cousins did earlier in the season.

What have I done?

inMany of you probably know that I am not one to do things very spontaneously. I am compelled to consider all of the worst case scenarios and warn others against them. Well, today I realized that those parts of my personality, which probably drive other people crazy, actually work quite well for me. Unfortunately, I threw caution to the wind today and, well, you'll see...
Okay, so I've been knitting a cardigan for myself since last summer. I've finished many other knitting projects in the meantime, but the sweater has taken way to long. I finally decided to knit nothing else until I finished it. I had decided to make one size large than initially planned. Well, after running out of yarn and buying 2 more balls, I barely had enough to bind off and sew it up. Really, I have only scraps of yarn left. I put it on and, it is WAY too big for me. I was so disappointed, and frustrated, that I threw it in the washer (on hot) and let it go. Keep in mind, it was knit with yarn made of merino wool, alpaca, and silk. I thought it would be fine. Afterall, it was much, much too big. Besides, I'd felted a bag recently that took nearly 6 washings to felt. Well, when I took the sweater out of the washer IT HAD FELTED. Now, if someone else had told me they were planning to do this, I would have warned them to check it every 5 minutes so it doesn't felt too much. I wish I had followed my own advice.


I'm still hoping it will make a nice, and very warm, little jacket in the fall.

All Fired Up for Jam

It's jam time! Last year we made 5 batches. This year we got an earlier start and made 9 batches! Strawberry, cherry, raspberry-blueberry, plain blueberry, triple berry, and mulberry. The cherry recipe used blackberry liquor which we had to burn off. This caused a bit of excitement as the flames got MUCH bigger than expected and came way too close to the cookbooks! Watch the video...

Chicago Beam

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We took the train to Chicago again, as a family, to see the sights. The girls thought the giant "bean" was called a "beam." Can you spot me, my mother and father, Carmina, Ember and Cheyanne in the picture with all the people under the bean?

Music in the City

Last week I drove to Illinois and took the Metra to Chicago with friends to see the Pitchfork Music Festival Preview show in Millenium Park. With a cool breeze off Lake Michigan, it was wonderful! Some strange music and some good tunes. Lots of flugelhorns.

Bag Lady

iMy knitter friends here think I am a bag lady. It seems all they see me knitting is felted bags. They think I'll just keep making bigger and bigger bags and that perhaps the next project will be a sleeping bag. Not a bad idea...

Here is the latest one. It is the same patter I made earlier this year, only bigger so perhaps I can use it for my job. The pattern is the Sheep Tote from Fiber Trends.

Bountiful Harvest

I've been wondering around my yard and picking things to eat: Raspberries, snap peas, shell peas,broccoli...and today I picked my first squash of the season. I'm not a big veggie lover, but I do like veggies fresh from the garden. The peas from the pod taste like candy, they are so sweet.

We're Happy Together

We threw a 4th of July party weekend here at the cottage. Besides me, 14 people came and stayed for varying lengths of time. 2 sleeping tents, a shower tent and a porta-potty were hauled in. We grilled, ate s'mores, listened to someone play a guitar by the camp fire, picked cherries, went to the flea market, bought 50 pounds of blueberries, and played hard! Some people went tubing or water skiing. 3 of us women even swam across the lake! Thanks for coming! For those of you who couldn't make it, you're welcome anytime!

Life is Sweet

It is one of our favorite times of the year...when sweet cherries are ready for picking. It only lasts about a week and the trees are weighed down with so many sweet cherries. We picked at Fruit Acres in Coloma, MI. $1.99 per pound for sweet cherries and 75 cents per pound for sour ones. We tasted as many different sweet varieties as we could find and enough sour cherries that it took all afternoon to pit them. Thanks, Mom, for diligently pitting nearly all of them!