LILLY PAD’S SUMMER VACATION-NEW KNITTING PROJECT-HOTEL SOAP

GREETINGS

The sun is trying to peek through the cloudy skies.  We are suppose to have scattered showers for the next few days.   Good for the gardens.  Then a batch of sunny and cool weather.

LILLY PADS SUMMER VACATION

 

Lilly Pad has been here for most of the summer.  Chris has set up a place for her on the window sill, with pillows.   This is the flight plan for many of the birds that live on the farm and Lilly Pad enjoys the show.  She misses Chris while he is away but I am spending time with her every day and she seems content with that.

NEW KNITTING PROJECT

Chores seem to consume my life and the things I love to do get pushed aside.  I have made a commitment to myself to spend time doing the things I love, be it Spinning, Knitting or Rug Hooking.  

This new knitting pattern is really an old one which I found in the attic a few weeks ago.  It was down at the bottom of a box in a bag.  It was something I had bought before I moved to Maryland and had just a little started.  Well I started a new tea cozy yesterday and I love working on it.

 

The pattern is making me do things I had done many years ago and forgotten how to do them (bobbles).  FUN.  I am planning to make the next one larger.

WHERE DOES THE SOAP YOU USE AT HOTELS GO

This is a question I have always wondered about its seems like such a waste.  But I have come across the Global Soap Project and am thrilled.  I am not sure what hotels are involved but kudos’ to the ones that are.  The soaps are gathered and sent to a place where they are sanitized and made into larger bars.  Then are sent to poor countries where just the basic hand washing will prevent many diseases that kill children.  Check them out they have a great web site which explains it all.

Since I have been writing this the sun has gone out and clothes need to be hung on the line.  Many thanks for reading my blog today, I hope you have a sunny day too.   Carole

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARLEY-LILLY PAD-MINNIE

Hello 

MARLEY AND ME

MARLEY

First let me say that I Love that little guy.  But he has become a danger on the farm, through no fault of his own.  I came to the end of my tether when we cleaned the barn and he rammed my knee hard so hard that I couldn’t get up and I screamed.  Luckily there was help in the barn.  It will take some time for this tired and worn knee to recover.  There are two choices when you have a sheep like Marley one is something I could never do and the other is to separate him so there is no physical contact.  Even though my barn is small I can do this and he will have his own outside area near the other sheep or I can leave him with the other sheep and just have another area set up for when I am working in the barn and when I will be away.   

 I have had other troublesome animals in the past and have two others now.  Angus is a difficult cat he grew up in a big family of cats but always wanted to be an only cat he chases other cats and surprises them but they have learned how to handle him either by finding a place where he doesn’t go or fighting with him.  The other is the rooster Hazel.  Thank goodness he is a Bantam and very small.  But he will attack you in a second.  It’s just annoying.   Roger one of my favorite sheep was rammy at one time.  He was sick as a lamb and needed extra care.  It took a little time  but a squirt bottle did the trick  with him and he was a kind and loving sheep till his death at age 17. No one wants a 300 pound ram chasing after them.

I have e-mailed a Shetland Sheep breeder in Vermont and am awaiting a reply from them but I think the course of action I will take will be the best all around.  He had a bad start in life, being abandoned by his mother and no contact with sheep so he couldn’t learn lessons that are very valuable to becoming a good sheep.  Living for a few years as a dog was the worst thing that could be done to him it encouraged bad behavior.  He will have a good life.    He will not ever be able to hurt me or anyone else again, and can be himself.  He will receive love and attention as he does now but I won’t be put into a position to get hurt again.

I am going to purchase an easy to carry squirt bottle and keep it near the door to the barn.  I will get in the habit of carrying it and that may do it for him.

LILLY PAD and MINNIE

Lilly Pad went home yesterday.  Chris’s Father and I met at Staples.   She had an enjoyable summer with new sights a bird fly way right by her window and she even caught a mouse while she was here.  I will miss her, she is an extraordinary cat, but she will be back on holidays soon.

 Her room will always be ready.  Minnie sits on the bureau every night waiting for Chris!

MINNIE BISBEE

Last night the temps dipped down into the 40’s and my hands got cold just being outside a few minutes feeding the hens this morning..  Next week we are suppose to have temps in the 80’s with humidity.  I hope all my green tomatoes ripen during that time I have hundreds on the vine just waiting!!!!!  Meanwhile I bought a half bushel of beets and will get them pickled and canned soon.

I hope you have a wonderful day and thank you so much for reading my blog.  Welcome  to all my new blogger friends.           Carole

SHEEP & SHAWL-MORNING GLORIES-MINNIE-MOM

Hello

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I woke to gentle rains today, we sure need them. The morning glories have overtaken the bird house.

SHEEP & SHAWL

Yesterday I had a full day.  I gathered up things to take to the new shop.  Its located in Deerfield, Mass. and is full of things for the wool lover.  All kinds of yarn and soon to be filled with local yarns and there are some very special yarns from Scotland which in limited supply.

Special yarns from Scotland

 

 

 

 

 

 

I brought down some salve, the small packages of fleece , and large packages of fleece, some cards of Lottie and some lavender.  It is a wonderful place to shop, there are books about crafts and some beautiful felted and woven pieces.  More to come. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a knit Nite on Wednesday from 7-9.  The website is http://www.sheepandshawlcom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris and Ricky

The boys are coming back for a short stay tonight and then they are off with their Father for an adventure of deep-sea fishing.  An annual end of the summer event for them.  I hope to get the chicken house done and set up before they leave and get some tubing on the Deerfield River too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOM

Mom is doing so well at her new place.  She has come back from the brink with the help of Mary the owner.    She still knows who I am although she is confused in time and thinks my Grandmother visits her often.  There is nothing wrong with that.  She is often in the land of happier times. I couldn’t wish for anything better than that for her.   I miss my visits with her and will see her soon.

MINNIE BISBEE AND LILLY PAD

Minnie has really flourished upstairs.  She likes company but is used to being on her own some of the day.  She now sleeps right next to me, it has taken her quite some time to trust, I just can’t imagine her life before.  Finding the perfect food for her is still a quest for me.  She is still way to thin.

 

Lilly Pad is still visiting, she really loves my Grandmothers Quilt..  She will be her a few more weeks, she is a delight.

Many thanks for reading my blog today and I hope you have a lovely day.   Carole

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WILD BLACK RASPBERRIES-LILLY PAD-COUNTRY LIVING-THE GARDEN

Hello,

Today is the worst day of the hot spell.  Advisories to stay inside are on the news its in the mid 90’s with the heat index well over 100.  Everything is still outside.  I will be glad when this heat wave will be over.

Wild Black Raspberries

These just showed up in the yard some years ago, I have left them alone in the spot near the road, this year the neighbors who picked them all last year have moved and there are plenty of them.  I seriously need to weed them and get them organized this fall.

   I am going to freeze what I have picked and enjoy them on my cereal on a cold winters morn and remember that I picked them on this very hot day.

Lilly Pad

Lilly Pad is enjoying the air conditioner as much as I am.

Country Living Magazine UK

I have been getting this magazine since the early 90’s.  I just love it and the world stops for me and I sit down with it and a cup of tea when it arrives.  My subscription ran out in December and  I didn’t have the extra to renew till the spring so my first copy came today.  Yes, its pricey to get here in the states.  But if I only could buy one magazine it would be this one.  You might wonder just why I love it so.  It’s about what I am about.  There is information in every issue about the things I love, sheep, farmers, chickens , dogs and cats, gardens, knitting projects Ireland, England, Scotland how to make jam, decorating , and on and on. I first met Emma Bridgewater’s pottery there and  was give a cup and saucer shortly thereafter, I treasure it.  Though I have just skimmed through this issue there is an article about one of my favorite places in this world, Donegal, Ireland a place where I feel more at home than anywhere .   Another article is about Calendula which I use in my salve.   You can pick up this magazine at most large bookstores in the states and in the EU and England at your local newstand or market.

So far the animals are doing okay in the hot weather.  The fan in the barn really helps the sheep.  I have fans scattered around the house for the cats.  Usually the downstairs of my house is cool but in this hot spell everywhere is hot.  Chris will be here on Sunday after a week of Boy Scout camp at the coast of Rhode Island.  Lilly Pad and I will be glad to see him.

Thanks so much for reading the blog today and I hope that you have a wonderful day.     Carole

SUSAN’S VISIT-FUNK SHUN-LILLIE PAD-THE SKUNK

Hello

Yesterday my friend Susan  stopped by for a visit.  We are like two peas in a pod, like the same things, did a lot of traveling me to Ireland she to Nepal, we love wool of any kind and our houses are full of it.  We had a wonderful day visiting here then we went down to Funk Shun where she is having some chairs done over by Christa.  Turners Falls has changed so much over the past few years, it certainly is an arts and crafts town now.  We are making arrangements to get together again so she can go to Cranberry Moon Farm and we can spend time in Turners Falls.  She was able to buy some things to take to Brimfield in July.

Lillie Pad

Lillie Pad has arrived.   SHe is quite shy and is checking out the bedroom where she will be staying  while Chris , his brother and Mother are in Montreal.

When Chris comes back he will be spending the week with me and Ricky will be getting ready to attend a summer session at Eagle Hill School. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Skunk

Late yesterday afternoon the skunk came out and went into the front hens yard.  Murphy was besides himself, scurrying the girls into the other part of the fenced in area.  Crowing and jumping up and down did little to deter the skunk from looking for grubs.   I got him out of there by squirting him and made them come in.   Today I fortified the area, I don’t think he can get in there again.

Minnie Bisbee is my computer helper.  Every time I get on the computer she is right next to me.  She is gaining back the weight she lost.  The kidney food seems to be helping her.  I hope her numbers come back up.

Many thanks for reading my blog and I hope you have a wonderful day.   Carole