A Blip on the Radar: October 2011

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Georgie caughted a baby rat!

He brought it in to show Mummy.

She didn't even screech!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Looking back into my October pictures found LOTS of pictures of pumpkins - pumpkins on the vine, pumpkins waiting to be made into pumpkin puree, pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins.

Last year we put about 25 or 30 1# packages of pumpkin in the freezer. I didn't bake as much this year so...There is still a LOT of pumpkin left - we have some friends who really like it though, so they will probably take a bunch - We've got snacks tomorrow at church, & I'm making pumpkin bars and pumpkin muffins - two more packages gone...

In October 2006 I went to San Antonio (all expenses paid) with our local Building Industry Association Membership committee -

It was a fun trip and San Antonio is a very interesting city. Doesn't hold much draw that I'd go back anytime soon though

The Grand Canyon in 2007 - probably one of the best vacations that we've taken - except maybe to Sequoia National Park -

Even though I'd seen it in pictures, they don't do the area justice - and there is just something about walking up to the edge of the canyon and looking over to the other edge - WOW is all you can say.

We also got down to The Shepherd's old home town of Tucson.

Mission San Xavier is one of his favorite places. It is so serene there. I always look forward to the visit.

In 2009 I got my Ashford Traveler wheel. I sure have enjoyed using it and creating some pretty nice yarns.

Our trip in '09 was over to Eastern Washington - the pictures were very much like the ones I had on my post last Sunday - things don't change very quickly over there.

Things are changing quickly here though - this year it seems like the reds are redder - the yellows are bright sunny yellow - and I just realized that we are less than 10 days away from November - Only two months until Christmas ! EEeekk! - BUT, I have my main Christmas presents for my sisters already - so I'm a step ahead of where I usually am this time of the year.

And it's only 2 1/2 months until my birthday! Another EEEeekkk! I will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of my 40th birthday this year. That's when The Shepherd and I started going out.

Why does looking back make everything seem like yesterday?

Saturday, October 22, 2011

The Caturday Report!!

Hello everybody - It's Me! Gracie, with the Caturday report!

First of all we sleeped in. The Shepherd had to go to work in his truck and do some yard things for somebody. It was almost still dark when he left - and it was raining!

But we sleeped in long enough that the rain went away and the sun came out. So Mummy got up and fed us.

We played Thundering Herd of Elephants for a while then we went outside to see what was going on - Mummy went away in her car - but she wasn't gone as long as she is most of the time - I heard her saying something about doing smelly laundry and errands. I was glad when she came home early. It was a good day - she found our favorite kind of stinky goodness at the Walgreens store!

Hope you had a good Caturday too.

Your Roving Reporter, Gracie

Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Squalicum Valley Artisan Faire -

Over, but not forgotten - I can't believe that it was almost a month ago that we did the Artisan Faire -

It was organized by our friend Lydia McCauley and a few of her very talented neighbors (click on her name to see a few more of the items that were in the show and to hear her beautiful music)

Squalicum Valley Artisan Faire - With a few invited special guests - - that would be The Shepherd and me, my friend Linda, who makes these adorable cut paper collages, and a couple of other ladies (I was never quite sure who was local or not)

Here is my yarn display (which was made to fit on a card table) with baskets of fingerless gloves and friendship roses just below - It worked just like I thought it would - although because of the placement of our table, instead of having yarn on both sides, I pushed the dowels most of the way to one side - and hung two skeins on each dowel. But that was the nice thing about having the dowels moveable - and the whole thing comes apart and is stored in a cardboard box about 6" thick, 12" wide and three feet tall, that will just fit in the corner of my closet (if I can ever get the boxes of stuff out from in front of it so I can get INTO the closet - but that's a whole 'nuther topic...)

And The Shepherd had his display of roving from our sheepies -

I sold a little over half of my yarn and gloves - he only sold the two bumps of black & white roving (from Wicket) - but I think he made some very good contacts - Roving is not really something that one expects to buy at a craft fair.

I also had my spinning wheel there, which elicited quite a bit of attention (also the fact that I was just about the first person that people saw when they came in the door)

All in all I sold enough to cover the costs of the new display, the new table for the roving display, the wire cubes that The Shepherd had his roving in - all things that we can use again. So I was happy.

There were lovely jewelry items -

And some knitted and crocheted items from a small yarn shop in Skagit county.

Nancy Rumbel was there with some vintage collectables, and items of "whimsey" - she also plays the ocarina (in addition to many other insturments) and sat in with Lydia when she played her music -

If you click on any of these pictures, they will biggafy and you can see some of the exquisite work that these talented people brought to sell.

These are my friend Linda's collages and greeting cards.

Linda & I played some music together too - We'd been practicing for about 6 weeks - she on banjo and me with my 12 string guitar. She did a short set alone, we played three songs together and then I played a half dozen songs by myself - I hadn't played in public for several years (with the exception of church) and I was nervous - but it went well.

These painted silk flags were some of my favorite items - and you have to look more closely at her felted people - I think I might have gone to college with the fellow in the red jacket...

This was Lydia's display of soaps,lotions and essences that she makes - She did a wonderful job of advertising and marketing the show - we had nearly constant traffic the whole six hours - something unusual for the first year of an event. We were also lucky that the weather was exceptionally nice (almost too hot) - but it certainly brought the folks out to see what we had.

Even thought we were both totally exhausted. I unfortunately decided the night before the show that I needed to re-measure/re-price all my yarn & was up until about 3:00 a.m. - and we had to be up at 6:00 a.m. to be out at the grange by 8:00 to set up - so I essentially got a three hour "nap" - but, I would absolutely do this again. I know my "pitfalls" and how I would change things for the future - in fact I even got an email from someone who was in the process of planning a small arts & crafts fair in one of the assisted living facilities in town. If I had more yarn spun up, I might have considered it, but I have a 4 oz. skein of yarn and 7 pairs of fingerless mitts to make and I still have to spin the yarn for several of them - so, I think I have my work cut out for myself without adding in another venue, don't you?

Saturday, October 15, 2011

The Caturday Report!!

Hello everybody!

(Excuse me while I attack this rather frightful corner - it's in my way - even my laser stare can't get it to move)

Well!! It's Caturday!

And, Mummy proclaimed that this week was our first birthday! She was told that we were born in October, but they really didn't know when, so, Mummy picked a very wonderful and good luck day for our birthday - 10-10-10!

Mummy, put that flashy box away!

Mummy got us a new toy when she went to the PetCo store for our foodies last week. She said that she refused to get us any thing with feavvers on it because she thought it would make us want to chase birdies - Well, that might be true -

So this is a plastic stick with a stretchy cloth string on it -

We like playing with it and sometimes tag team it

We got some very tasty stinky goodness for our dinner (I think she gave some to that floofy black kitty too)

I (George) like to sleep on Daddy's clothes - I keep them all nice and warmed up for the next morning.

Good night Gracie...

And I (Gracie) like to sleep on Mummy - It makes me smile to be next to her at night - especially if she moves her feet around - I can pretend that they are tunnel snakes and ATTACK them!

Good night George.

Good night and happy birthday to our two darling kitties - you have made such a big difference in our lives. XOX Mummy

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Oh, give me land

lots of land, under starry skies above,

Don't fence me in -

Let me ride through the wide open spaces that I love,

Don't fence me in. -

Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze

Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees

Send me off forever, but I ask you please,

Don't fence me in.

Trip to "The Ranch" 2011 -

Thanks to Cole Porter/Bob Fletcher for the great lyrics.

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Not quite Wordless Wednesday -

Well, mummy has really done it now!

She fed that furry black cat some of OUR food! Both crunchies AND stinky goodness!!!

I think The Shepherd is kind of mad at her. He likes only having two kitties (that would be US, me and Gracie) - and doesn't want that furry black cat to think that it lives here.

I think that the fur monster was REALLY hungry though - I heard mummy say that it's been hanging around the neighborhood since just before we came to our new furever home here and that's since July! She thinks that someone dumped it and when it finally came to our porch last night, it looked so hungry that she couldn't let it go without food. And it must have been too, because boy he/she sucked down the crunchies and then begged for more - mummy caved and gave it a can of stinky goodness that the sis & I had stuck up our noses at (well, the label said it was for Senior cats, and we are just kittens!) And it kept trying to come into OUR house! Through OUR cat door!

Then I heard mummy on the telephone begging (I mean asking) the kind neighbor lady to take this nice kitty. We'll see what happens...

Well, that's it for now! Your Roving Reporter, George