What the heck? And Random thoughts....

It may look like an empty box to you, but it was a whole afternoon of sorting, filing and shredding. 

It may look like an empty box to you, but to me it's a sense of accomplishment.

It may look like an empty box to you, but to me it looks just like the other six boxes (that are still full of stuff that needs sorted, shredded or filed)  Oh, well.

One of the things I found in the box was a little grocery list - it read:

Velveeta,
Champagne,
1/2 & 1/2,
3 salad kits and
turkey. 

What do you suppose I was going to make with those ingredients? ? ? ? ?

 

My dad used to sing this old song to us when we were kids:  

On Monday was bread and gravy,
on Tuesday was gravy and bread.
On Wed. and Thur. was gravy and toast,
which is nothing but gravy and bread.
So on Friday I went to the landlord
and asked for a bit of a change
so on Saturday morning by way of a change
we had gravy w/o any bread.

That's kind of how I feel about green beans right now.  Don't get me wrong, I really love green beans, but I've had them for every dinner and several lunches for about two weeks - I'm ready for gravy without any bread. 

Have a great day! 

The Caturday Report!

 Hello Effurykitty & Effurybody!

It's the Caturday Report - a day late as usual - I keep telling Mummy that beans and kitties expect the Caturday Report to come out on Caturday - but she said she was busy and this was a good as you were going to get.

The big news this week was THE FAIR! 

 Mummy and The Shepherd entered some things in the NW Washington Fair, which happened last week in Lynden WA.  It was a beautiful week for the fair, in that it didn't rain, but boy was it hot.  Mummy & The Shepherd went out on Wednesday so she could do her "civic duty" and spin in public in the wool barn. It was so hot, that Mummy said she was almost as roasted as the yummy BBQ Roasted beef sandwich with baked beans that she had for dinner. 

She had also entered a couple of things in the Wool Show.  All items in the Wool Show must be made from handspun yarn and then hand crafted.

She took out the fingerless gloves that she made for her nephew Jason. 




 Here is the note that she put with the gloves: 

Class B – Items made from Handspun yarn

Lot 22 – Men’s gloves – (fingerless) 

I spun this yarn from a bump of plain red merino roving, but I knew I was going to use it to crochet these fingerless gloves for my nephew,  He is football coach for a small High school in Eastern WA, and their team colors are red and black.  While I was spinning the yarn, I added bits of black and white roving here and there to give the yarn a little bit of added zip!  I made the cuffs extra long to fit under his jacket.  Go Broncos!  





 
  
The other thing that she took out was a scarf that she just made.  She said that she hated the color of the yarn, but really liked how it worked out for the scarf because of the striping.  The scarf is right below the green and black sweaters.  The pattern is called "Mosaic's Scarf's Little Sister"  It was really fun to make. 

She got BLUE ribbons on both items. 






Here is a closer picture of the scarf that she took today after The Shepherd brought it home from the fair.  She got points taken off because, as you can see, the corner of the scarf curls up.  That's because she didn't block it.  That's because she didn't decide until 10:00 the night before things needed to be out at the fairground that she was even going to take anything out.  Pure dumb luck to get the blue ribbon, - well, actually, the yarn was well spun, and the crocheting on the scarf was very well done.  She thought she would get a red ribbon on the fingerless gloves because the seam was not straight, which the judge did comment on.  But again, she knew her yarn was well constructed  and the crocheting was very even.  

Here is the story that she put with the scarf:

Class B Items made from handspun yarn

Lot 21 – scarf

The fiber that this yarn is from was part of a “roving of the month” Christmas present from my sisters.  I love the soft cushy feel of Corriedale fiber and thought the yarn it made would be perfect to use for this little mosaic scarf for my co-workers to wear around the office this next winter (it gets REALLY cold in our office – last year I made them all fingerless gloves)   It is just the right length so it will not get caught in the shredder and it has so many colors that it will go with almost any outfit they might be wearing and keep them warm and toasty to boot.   The Judges liked her stories too. 

This is Rita's fleece - it got a blue ribbon too. 

 

As you can see, it has very nice crimp in the fleece.  Sorry, this fleece was sold last spring at the Wonderful Woollies sale - but if you are interested, I'm sure that The Shepherd would take your name for next year. 

The Shepherd took out two fleeces, but the Wool Barn lady would only let him enter on under his name, so he entered the other one under Mummy's name.  She got a Blue Ribbon too! 

They were beat out for best of show by a Romney ram's fleece owned by Mummy's friend Janet.  Oh, well, we beat her out last year. 

This is Eva's fleece - Mummy said it is so different from Rita's - soft and buttery, and hardly any crimp.  This one was sold last spring too - the ladies who bought them were nice enough to let The Shepherd take them to Black Sheep and to our Fair. 

Well, that's all I have to tell you for now.  Effuryone have a GREAT WEEK!!! 


XOX  Your Roving Reporter, Gracie

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More Olympic yarn -

 Here is some more yarn I spun while we were watching the Olympics -

It is a romney blend that I got from the Dawn's Custom Carding booth, from The Pines Farm.

I don't know where the yellow in this picture comes from, because you certainly can't see it in the yarn itself. 

It is about 12-13 WPI (wraps per inch) which converts to sport weight.  I think it would work well for a hat, that would be felted.  The yarn seems kind of scratchy to me - but so did the fiber - I should know better by now, don't you think? 

Stay tuned for exciting news about the fair!






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Blueberries!

FRESH FROM THE GARDEN - 

 FRESH FROM THE SPINNING WHEEL - 

FRESH FROM THE OVEN!!!









 My sister and brother-in-law have raised blueberries in Lewis County Washington for almost 50 years, since they took over his dad's farm.  His dad had been there for many years before that, and the berry plants were well established. 

She is often asked to bring a blueberry dessert to events and came up with this easy to make cobbler recipe.  I must confess that I had never made it before, but we have had a bumper crop of berries from our 6 plants this year and The Shepherd has managed to pick them before the robins have for once.  So I finally had enough berries to make this yummy cobbler. 

So I give you:      Wisten's Blueberry Cobbler

Oven at 375-400 degrees - use a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

Combine:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
A "dash" of cinnamon and
a "trace" of salt

Pour over and toss with:
8-12 cups of fresh (or frozen) blueberries that have been mixed with
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice and
1/4 cup of melted butter

Pour your berry mixture into the 9 x 13 baking dish and put in the oven and bring to "bubbly" - about 20 minutes or so until the mixture is juicy and the berries have begun to burst.

Take your pan out of the oven and add the cobbler topping mix below:

For the topping mix:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking power
2 Tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Combine with:
1/2 cup melted butter (don't have it so hot that it "cooks" the egg mixture)
1 egg beaten in 2/3 cup milk.

DON'T ADD THE LIQUID INGREDIENTS TO DRY INGREDIENTS OF THE TOPPING UNTIL RIGHT BEFORE YOU ARE READY TO PUT IT OVER THE BERRIES.

Drop in tablespoon-fulls over the berry mixture and bake another 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with ice cream.

I am going to try out this cobbler recipe with peaches and maybe some tart cherries - don't you think that would be good?  Or maybe peaches AND blueberries together.  Ah, the possibilities are endless - Thanks, Wisten for your yummy recipe!  

For more blueberry recipes got to my blueberry blog Something Borrowed, Something Blueberry - (yes, I know it's been a while since I put some new recipes on it - guess I should look for some new ones - there's only so many hours in a day, however)   

 Enjoy my little video of this cobbler HOT from the oven.  Wish you had "smell-a-puter?" 

It's Caturday!

Hello Efurrybody!

It's ME, Gracie, with this week's Caturday Report!

Don't I look pretty here by one of The Shepherd's pretty flowers.  I wish Mummy had pulled off that one deadish blossom right above my tail, - cheap help, what can I say?  

The big exciting thing that happened this week was the Great Mole Hunt.

The Shepherd came running in to the kitchen yelling "where is the camera?"  Mummy hurried and gave it to him and this is what he wanted to take pictures of:  
This mole hill popped up on the front lawn, right in front of the steps down from the deck.  Bella was quick on the site to open up the little bugger's hole.

She stared and stared, willing him to pop his dirty little head up so she could nab him, but, he didn't pop up.  

"What!  Bella!  Are you playing Whack-a-Mole" without me?"  George decided that he is going to get in in the action too.

Let's see if he can dig it out a little bigger...

Still no mole - a little later, Bella took a break and came in for some stinky-goodness, so I took a turn, but by then, Mummy had put the camera away so she doesn't have a picture of my great mole hunting prowess.  Oh, well - We like to kill-em - but not to eat-em - their furs are too full of dirt!

There's been lots of Olympics on the TV this week.  We say Concatulations!  to all those wonderful athletes for even getting to the Olympics, whether or not they got a medal.

See ya next week efurryone!   XOX  Your roving reporter, Gracie

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As a matter of fact

I do own the road.....

The Caturday Report & 800th post!

Hello Effurrybody!

Gracie here with our Caturday report and Mummy's 800th post!!  (Only one person guessed when it would be and that was Trish from our furrends at The Katnip Lounge! She actually guessed Friday, but Mummy & The Shepherd were busy watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics last night so it was too late to post anything when they got done. (Mummy said she'll have to think of a special prize to reward Trish for being such a good guesser.)  

Did you watch them too?  Mummy really liked the part when The Queen and James Bond parachuted into the stadium.  Mummy really likes The Queen and thought that Mr. Bond looked especially handsome in his tux.  She thought it was very brave of The Queen to jump out of that helicopter. 

Oh, Gracie, you & Mummy are nit wits, The Queen didn't jump out, that was a Stunt Queen.

George, you don't have to be so bossy - I'll bet you didn't know that Mummy was bringing home Peetsa for dinner - it smelled really good - all that pepparomi - but we only got stinky goodness for dinner.  Same old stuff - no peetsa for us.  Darn.  







Mummy sat in front of her string maker all night long - she announced that she was making her first "Olympic yarn"  I'll bet it is pretty -  like these lilies from The Shepherd's garden. 














Speaking of The Shepherd's Garden - can you guess what this is ?  No, it's not a watermelon - it's a zucchini!  They are best when they are about the size of a baseball - otherwise they get all mushy inside and hard skinned.  There have been lots of fried zucchinis for dinner in the past couple of weeks.  

And here is a little video of Mummy and me taking a walk down the driveway last week.  She wanted to show you how pretty it was.  I hope you enjoy it!

You all have a great weekend, and stay safe out there!

XOX  -  Your roving reporter, Gracie! 

Thingish Things...

"It's just, Eeyore," said Piglet. "I thought your Idea was a very good Idea." "Pooh began to feel a little more comfortable, because when you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a thing which seemed thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it." From the House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne










My sister sent me that quote last Saturday night to wish me luck - I was giving a church service on "Choices" on Sunday morning at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship with my friend Tracy Spring We had done the service originally in May at our church in Blaine, but I had to re-write it a little bit.

I talked - Tracy sang her wonderful songs.  How could we go wrong?  And, the service went well - and The Shepherd & I got to see a lot of old friends.

I thought the pattern of the "throat" of that petunia looked like the pattern of George's fur. What do you think?















I've been spinning like crazy getting ready for the Squalicum Valley Artisans Faire in September.


This is some Blue Faced Leicester that I got at Black Sheep.  I plied with silk. It gives the yarn a very pretty luster.










I still have 6 ounces of the wool left and some of the silk - I'm not sure how I will combine the balance.  It will be good for a scarf or a hat - it's very soft.

Just out looking around the garden.

And who are you, my pretty? 

Our new addition -

Since The Shepherd  didn't find any sheep to bring back from Black Sheep Gathering to keep company with Sandy, he went looking locally and our friend Nancy had just the ticket.

And I got to name her -  This little lady's new name is Stella.  

Walking on the lead was not going to work, so The Shepherd scooped her up and off they went to the pasture and her new friends.  

Isn't she a cutie?  

Surprisingly there was a minimum of "bashing" and setting up pecking order - she just seemed to fit right in.   Since she hadn't been weaned yet, there was a fair amount of crying and carrying on the first night. 

And the "peanut gallery" wanted to know what all the carrying on was about -.

Nosey old ladies...

Here we are, a week later and it's like she's been here all her life.  She will make a nice addition to our flock. 

Welcome to Marietta Shetlands, Stella. 

Looking back Sunday -

It's been a while since I did a Looking Back Sunday

Even though I'm "looking back" - these pictures were taken in 2009, these incredibly fragrant flowers are also blooming right now in this year's garden.   







The perfume from these beautiful lilies floats in through the kitchen window night and day.

The only difference this year is that the bloom stalks are about two feet shorter!  The Shepherd says it is because the bulbs are too crowded - he is going to dig them out in the fall and replant.

I would like to take a stalk to work, but I think we have some people who are sensitive to strong fragrances. 

I can't remember the name of this one - but it is related to the Stargazer lily - the one that started it all.  It's also very beautiful and very fragrant! 

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. 

PS - I'm getting really close to my 800th post!  Any guesses when that will be?

The Caturday Report!

Hello efurrybody! Gracie here with The Caturday Report!

It seems like all that goes on around here has to do with The Salt Mines.  Mummy has spent a lot of extra time making up for going on vacation.  Heck, what's the use?

But they have also changed her job a lot, so she's been having to so a lot of extra thinking.

 So, I try to take her mind of her problems by giving her new ones and chewing on her feeties.

One thing that happened last week that she didn't tell you about (I think she was busy telling you about her new sheeps furs...) was George's & my GOTCHA DAY! .  We have been living with Mummy and The Shepherd for a whole YEAR now! 






Mummy took this picture of Georgie and me on our very first day here and we still look like this a lot.  Snuggled up to each other - It's nice to have a good brother









 Another reason that Mummy didn't have time to tell you about our Gotcha Day was that she and The Shepherd went up to Blaine last Sunday evening to see their favorite band, Pearl Django at the opening of the Blaine Jazz festival.  It was a fun concert, with lots of teenaged kids from the Jazz Camp that went on last week in the audience.  Nice to see people enjoying "real" music.  

We've been lucky to have fairly "nice" weather here in the Pacific NW. (although we had lightning and thunder boomers yesterday!!)
It went from cool and cloudy before the 4th of July to warm and sunny afterwards.  I think that all those booms and fireworks scared those clouds away!  I'm sure glad that they are not making noises around here any more.  Those booms late at night scared me, Georgie and Bella sometimes.




The sheepies are growing and growing.  The Shepherd calls them his "snausages"  I think that has something to do with having a chubby tummy - he calls me that sometimes too.  But Mummy calls me "Princess Grace"  I think it is because I am so beautiful...









Here's one of the few recent pictures that Mummy could find of Georgie.  He has been kind of shy lately.  I think all of the 4th of July noises got him skittish.








Anyhows, that's what's been goin' on - not a whole lot else to tell ya.  I hope your summer is going great.  We feel bad for all the people who have been suffering in the heat, and count our blessings for what we have. 

You take care and have a wonderful week!


XOX, your roving reporter, Gracie