It is cold out there, would you like to come inside for a cuppa Joe, tea, or cocoa? I'll put on a fire while you get your self settled into a nice comfortable chair. Together we'll look out the window toward the barn and the fields, with the woods off in the distance. From here I can see some of our trees, the old well pump out near the barn, and the large white expanse of snow covered lawn followed by some fifty acres of land planted this year with clover for hay.Do you see it all, out there beyond my window? Here, take your cuppa and have a sip. Now, let's have a comforting chat while that fire I put on warms the room and takes the chill off your toes and cheeks.Baby, it's cold outside. The past few days we have had close to zero weather, plenty of snow, and pretty powdery blue skies off and on. Wherever you are, you might be experiencing similar bone numbing temperatures and scenes. Brrr.My son tells me it was 80 degrees in Los Angeles yesterday and he was hosting a barbeque at his place; my husband's response was, "That's only 80 degrees warmer than it is here." Good point. Brrr.For some reason (or various reasons) this year is getting off to a slow start. There is much to look forward to, a number of things to deal with, and plenty of creative ideas are swimming around in my mind. This year there are new paintings to be made, new knitting patterns to be designed and published, many new blog entries to be written, new sights to see, and of course a new and very sweet baby to welcome into the world. I have decided to refer to our granddaughter as Sweet Pea here on the blog, in order to preserve her right to privacy and her annonymity.Sweat Pea. She will be here and huggable about mid-March and there is much to do in order to prepare. I am currently designing and knitting a little outfit for her that she will wear home from the hospital after she is born. This will be one of many designs in the "Sweat Pea" collection of patterns we will publish over time.A major change this year for the I Live on a Farm blog is that I have established a new blog titled The Knitting Blog devoted specifically and entirely to knitting. I felt it was important to do so because as my readership has evolved there are many readers who are not knitters and those who are very devoted to the craft. I believe the non-knitters would appreciate a blog that might mention knitting while not dwelling on it, whereas the knitters would appreciate more knitting content.In addition to Sweet Pea there will be a few other new things this year. Fortunately and unfortunately, an old bridge is being torn down and a new one built to replace it beginning this spring ... not too far from our house. The timing is unfortunate: a new baby in the house, a loud construction project going on nearby. We were at a town hall meeting last evening about the new bridge and when the men at the meeting learned we will have a newborn in the house this year, they all said she will have construction and machinery in her blood and will most likely want to operate heavy equipment at some time in her life. They were very sweet about it, and so excited. What an idea, little Sweet Pea.There is and will be a new, very large puppy in our home this year as well: an English Mastiff who is currently nine months old and already over 100 lbs. I am currently his wrangler, which is quite an adventure when we brave the cold and the deep snow at all manner of day and sometimes night. He is here temporarily, but long enough that he and I will be spending quite a lot of quality time together.The Mastiff and our Blu are getting the hang of being under the same roof together bit by somewhat annoying bit. They are both good dogs and quite intelligent, quick to learn, so I have high hopes for peace returning to what used to be a more tranquil home.Come spring we are going to do something else very new: we are going to plant a pumpkin patch. My husband and I think it would be great to create a very sincere pumpkin patch on behalf of Sweet Pea. If we can figure out how to grow a few pumpkins each year, by the time Sweet Pea is old enough to have a Trick or Treat, we will be able to take her out to her very own pumpkin patch to pick her own favorite pumpkin to carve and display.Our idea is that if this all comes off like we dream it will, each year we can have a little Sincere Pumpkin Patch growing and do a bit of a Great Pumpkin event of some kind. Who knows, if we become any good at all at growing pumpkins, little Sweet Pea could even have her own farm stand selling specially grown sincere pumpkins.This is a nice little dream I enjoy entertaining myself with. You will be kept in on the pumpkin growing adventure as the year progesses.I have another new adventure this year ... needle felting. At Christmas time, my husband gave me two needle felting books from my "wish list". After the holiday I gathered a few supplies and had a "stab" (pun intended) at it. I mostly wanted to make a little needle felted sculpture of our dear Blu and his Mastiff and Bulldog cousins, but I have also been inspired to make a little mouse as you can see above. I even had a go at seeing if I could make a needle felted version of one of my Thistleonian characters (see the white fleece character above with the blue hat and scarf on). I am pleased with the results of all of my experiments so far. I think it will be fun to create some little needle felted characters for Sweet Pea, along with floral and other embellishments for knitted items. Meanwhile, I have a little "Blu" mascott ... isn't he cute?Well, there you have it, some highlights of our year to come. Many other things will come up, some will fall away. There are bound to be surprises and discoveries, disappointments and ... well, we'll see what This Year has in store one day at a time.Hope your year ahead is blessed and prosperous.~firefly
It is cold out there, would you like to come inside for a cuppa Joe, tea, or cocoa? I'll put on a fire while you get your self settled into a nice comfortable chair. Together we'll look out the window toward the barn and the fields, with the woods off in the distance. From here I can see some of our trees, the old well pump out near the barn, and the large white expanse of snow covered lawn followed by some fifty acres of land planted this year with clover for hay.
Do you see it all, out there beyond my window? Here, take your cuppa and have a sip. Now, let's have a comforting chat while that fire I put on warms the room and takes the chill off your toes and cheeks.
Baby, it's cold outside. The past few days we have had close to zero weather, plenty of snow, and pretty powdery blue skies off and on. Wherever you are, you might be experiencing similar bone numbing temperatures and scenes. Brrr.
My son tells me it was 80 degrees in Los Angeles yesterday and he was hosting a barbeque at his place; my husband's response was, "That's only 80 degrees warmer than it is here." Good point. Brrr.
For some reason (or various reasons) this year is getting off to a slow start. There is much to look forward to, a number of things to deal with, and plenty of creative ideas are swimming around in my mind.
This year there are new paintings to be made, new knitting patterns to be designed and published, many new blog entries to be written, new sights to see, and of course a new and very sweet baby to welcome into the world. I have decided to refer to our granddaughter as Sweet Pea here on the blog, in order to preserve her right to privacy and her annonymity.
Sweat Pea. She will be here and huggable about mid-March and there is much to do in order to prepare. I am currently designing and knitting a little outfit for her that she will wear home from the hospital after she is born. This will be one of many designs in the "Sweat Pea" collection of patterns we will publish over time.
A major change this year for the I Live on a Farm blog is that I have established a new blog titled The Knitting Blog devoted specifically and entirely to knitting. I felt it was important to do so because as my readership has evolved there are many readers who are not knitters and those who are very devoted to the craft. I believe the non-knitters would appreciate a blog that might mention knitting while not dwelling on it, whereas the knitters would appreciate more knitting content.
In addition to Sweet Pea there will be a few other new things this year. Fortunately and unfortunately, an old bridge is being torn down and a new one built to replace it beginning this spring ... not too far from our house. The timing is unfortunate: a new baby in the house, a loud construction project going on nearby. We were at a town hall meeting last evening about the new bridge and when the men at the meeting learned we will have a newborn in the house this year, they all said she will have construction and machinery in her blood and will most likely want to operate heavy equipment at some time in her life. They were very sweet about it, and so excited. What an idea, little Sweet Pea.
There is and will be a new, very large puppy in our home this year as well: an English Mastiff who is currently nine months old and already over 100 lbs. I am currently his wrangler, which is quite an adventure when we brave the cold and the deep snow at all manner of day and sometimes night. He is here temporarily, but long enough that he and I will be spending quite a lot of quality time together.
The Mastiff and our Blu are getting the hang of being under the same roof together bit by somewhat annoying bit. They are both good dogs and quite intelligent, quick to learn, so I have high hopes for peace returning to what used to be a more tranquil home.
Come spring we are going to do something else very new: we are going to plant a pumpkin patch. My husband and I think it would be great to create a very sincere pumpkin patch on behalf of Sweet Pea. If we can figure out how to grow a few pumpkins each year, by the time Sweet Pea is old enough to have a Trick or Treat, we will be able to take her out to her very own pumpkin patch to pick her own favorite pumpkin to carve and display.
Our idea is that if this all comes off like we dream it will, each year we can have a little Sincere Pumpkin Patch growing and do a bit of a Great Pumpkin event of some kind. Who knows, if we become any good at all at growing pumpkins, little Sweet Pea could even have her own farm stand selling specially grown sincere pumpkins.
This is a nice little dream I enjoy entertaining myself with. You will be kept in on the pumpkin growing adventure as the year progesses.
I have another new adventure this year ... needle felting. At Christmas time, my husband gave me two needle felting books from my "wish list". After the holiday I gathered a few supplies and had a "stab" (pun intended) at it. I mostly wanted to make a little needle felted sculpture of our dear Blu and his Mastiff and Bulldog cousins, but I have also been inspired to make a little mouse as you can see above. I even had a go at seeing if I could make a needle felted version of one of my Thistleonian characters (see the white fleece character above with the blue hat and scarf on).
I am pleased with the results of all of my experiments so far. I think it will be fun to create some little needle felted characters for Sweet Pea, along with floral and other embellishments for knitted items. Meanwhile, I have a little "Blu" mascott ... isn't he cute?
Well, there you have it, some highlights of our year to come. Many other things will come up, some will fall away. There are bound to be surprises and discoveries, disappointments and ... well, we'll see what This Year has in store one day at a time.
Hope your year ahead is blessed and prosperous.
~firefly