HAPPY THANKSGIVING ! !

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Happy Thanksgiving from everyone here on the farm, snowy and cold that it may be...I have faith that the snow will soon be gone.

Wow, two posts in a row! (and "Looking Back Sunday")

Well, I made it to my class today. Most of the spinning part was yesterday and today was primarily knitting (and I don't knit), however Judith did spend some time with me on some questions that I had, and I got to spin some beautiful Bluefaced Leicester/silk blend and triple plied it (eeek) - (s-twist on the singles and Z twist on the plied) and the knitted mittens that everyone was making were quite nice.

So, on to Looking Back Sunday - These pictures were actually taken two years ago this week - but the game is still the same - Our church provides some of the pumpkin pies for the community food baskets - and for the past few years, we've been providing the pumpkin for those pies.


After the pumpkin is baked, I scrape it into my big yellow Tupperware bowl. Previous years I have used my potato masher to smush up the baked pumpkin - but this year - TA DA - I got to use my new KitchenAid immersion blender that Susan at Farmgirl Fare is always recommending.

Wow, it really lived up to her promotion! The first bowl had a few "stringy" bits - that thing really took care of them and pureed up the whole bowl in just a few minutes - It got a harder workout on the second bowl as although that pumpkin had been in the oven for FOUR (4!) hours, it was still a little bit "chunky" Way preferable to using a potato masher, let me tell you. So I'm pleased (I also got a chance to blend up the black bean soup that I was making at the same time - Yum)


As in years past, The Shepherd saved the best and biggest seeds. These are an heirloom Amish pie pumpkin and often weigh up to 20# - so you can get enough pumpkin puree for 8 or 9 pies from one pumpkin.






I portion it at 2 cups in a freezer bag and flatten it out for easier storage.

The Shepherd took all 30 packages that I did this past week up to church today - there are four more pumpkins for our use - pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie or pumpkin bars with brown butter frosting - (check my recipes for all these delectable treats)


And the weather report - it's about 26 degrees out now and they are forecasting more snow for tomorrow - I have a feeling it's gonna be a L-O-N-G winter!

'Tis a BIG disappointment...

Early last fall I signed up at my local yarn store for a class to be given this weekend by Judith McKenzie.

The class that I took from her last fall was so wonderful, I have so looked forward to this class.

But Mother Nature had OTHER ideas for me this weekend.

:-(




The class was "Spinning for Twinned Mittens" - Since I don't knit, I was just hoping to gain more spinning techniques from Judith.

This was our back door this morning -

It was 28 degrees out...






I know it doesn't look like a LOT of snow - but have I ever mentioned that I really HATE the cold (it makes my fingers, and knees ache) and don't do well at all with "slippery" - and as you can see from the previous picture of the ice on our back door - it was slippery - AND windy - probably sustained 20 mph with gusts to 35 mph.

No spinning class was worth that much to me.







But I am still very disappointed - I wasn't able to go to my guild meeting last weekend because of our church fundraiser auction. I was helping with the dinner and providing taco salads for 60 people - wasn't going to work with being gone all day to a guild meeting. So, there you go...





The only bright spot in the day (except for the brilliant sunshine that is) is that the wind has died down (some) and The Shepherd has dug the drifts out from around my car and in a few hours we'll be headed into town to go see Pearl Django, one of our favorite bands. Click on the link and listen to some of their music - you'll wish you could join us!

P.S. - I've been feeling guilty that I haven't been posting lately - so much to say, but not enough time - Sinda is hanging in there - our recent "game" is "Mommy, guess what I want to eat?" - often two or three different cans of cat food opened for her to sniff at and hopefully eat a little - we take each day as it comes.

P.P.S. - A little bit after I finished this post, The Shepherd asked me why I didn't see if I could go to Judith's class tomorrow - well I called and asked, and they said that I could come! Yay!

The colors of October

"Wait", you say, " October ended a week ago!" Well, yes, that is true. Although I had spend all month taking pictures of "the colors of October" that I wanted to share with you, I was busy putting together my church newsletter and just didn't get a "Round Tuit" -

This is the the final month that Sue from Life Looms Large will be hosting this "challenge" that has lasted all year and she has given us until the middle of November to finish up - I think that everyone is just really busy right now.

I have met many nice people and have seen such beautiful pictures from all over the world, I really hate for it to end - I'll have to keep an eye out for another one like it -





Looking for "the colors" of a month has certainly given me a new look at my surroundings.

This tree is right outside our kitchen window. It has been so beautiful and colorful for the past month, and today, with the storms that we've had in the past few days, it is almost bare.









October is the month when the Western Washington University college students return to town - well actually they come back the end of Sept., but the impact of an extra 10 or 12,000 more people in town really comes to the forefront in October.

This year is was particularly distressing as a young man (18 - away from home for the first time) who had only been here a week went to a couple of parties the 2nd of October and then simply disappeared into the night.

The community and his friends from the Seattle area searched for him tirelessly for ten days - there simply didn't seem to be any trace of him anywhere - unfortunately after two weeks, a dock worker found his body floating in the bay - a heartbreaking end to the searches. The medical examiner found no trace of foul play - just a tragic accident.


It brought back many memories of my first quarter at school - I had been to 4-H camp, and had spent the summers with my sister, but had never been away from my parents or home other than that - I can remember being horribly homesick - was it so bad that I wished my life would end? I think a couple of times I might have felt that way, but I don't know if it was cowardice or courage - I made it through that first hard month - then began to meet friends, many of whom were as homesick as I - we made it through the second month, the quarter - onward into our lives -


Anyhow - back to real time October - We had rain and we had a couple of weeks of absolutely lovely days - in fact a friend of ours went to Palm Desert, CA and Tucson, AZ during that week - it was rainy and cold there - sunny and warm here - ha ha...

In fact this first week of November has been somewhat crazy weather wise in the Pacific NW - it was almost 70 degrees one day last week - set new records for the warmest day on record for November.

The Shepherd (aka The Gardener) thought that his work would slow down - ie., no lawn mowing, after September - well it is November and he figures he still has about two more weeks of mowing - crazy - but glad for the work...



Our church fundraiser auction is next weekend - I have been busy spinning yarn for the silent auction - I thought this was particularly pretty - it is a merino/alpaca blend that I bought from a friends stash - It is sport weight - some of the lightest weight yarn I've ever spun - tempting to keep....






Soon The Shepherd will be getting his bonsai ready to go to bed for the winter - but not before many of them put on a little show of their own.















A lone gallardia that escaped the frost that took down the pumpkins and the rest of the flowers.










It seemed to me like the fall colors have been especially vibrant this year - even The Shepherd mentioned it the other night. The reds were redder and the golds - well, more gold...







forming a carpet of gold from our river birch tree -
So, today is the end of Daylight Saving's Time - winter is upon us - The Shepherd has put Violet, Pearl and Luna in with Vern and the spring lambs are enjoying being the queens of the barn - in fact he just went out to feed, so I guess I'd better get busy with dinner, as it's getting to be that time of the day.





Several people have suggested taking a particular tree or scene and photographing it from the same perspective every month (or even every week!) - I have a couple of favorite trees that I might try that on - hmm - that gives me an idea -

Now, off to make a little apple tart to go with that ice cream we bought last night at DQ...

Have a great week.

Happy Halloween!

The frost knocked the pumpkin vines down about 2 weeks ago - the big orange orbs have been moved into the greenhouse to "rest a while" before processing.

Several people have asked me about the buttermilk pumpkin pound cake that I made a couple of weeks ago. I'm sorry to say it was very disappointing. Despite having two cups of pumpkin in it , there was very little "pumpkin flavor" - and you couldn't taste the spices (until it had set around for a couple of days, and by that time, it was kind of dry...)

Better to make Farmgirl Susan's Spicy Pumpkin Muffins (BTW, I have started making it them with ONLY ONE STICK OF BUTTER - or 1/2 cup of margarine - which ever you prefer) - On her original recipe, she notes that you can do that for a "low fat" version of the recipe - I think it makes them taste fresher and they are not quite so greasy.

My other favorite Pumpkin Cake recipe is from the Cake Mix Doctor cook book.

Pumpkin Spice Cake
1 pkg (18.25 oz) of your favorite spice cake mix
1 pkg (3.4 oz) vanilla (or cheesecake if you can find it) instant pudding mix
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
3 large eggs
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a 13 x 9 cake pan or bundt style pan

Place the cake mix, pudding mix & pumpkin pie spice in a large mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk to blend all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center where you put your pumpkin, oil, water and eggs. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for one minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thing and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with a spatula. Place pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed and when a toothpick inserted int eh center comes out clean, 32 - 35 minutes for the 9x13 pan or 55 - 60 minutes for the bundt pan. Remove pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to tool for 1/2 hour. Frost with yoru favorite frosting or just dust with powdered sugar.

Store cake, covered in the refrigerator for up to a week (if it lasts that long)

I only use good quality ingredients - Jello brand Pudding mix - Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus - and a good quality cake mix - your cake will thank you for it.

P.S. Sinda continues to rally - she is actually eating better (and more) than she has in a while - and she is getting spoiled with the "tuna fish water" that she drinks right up. Dr. Perry has been out of town for a week - I'll talk to him tomorrow about a course of action.

Hug a Sheep Day

I saw on Tammy's blog that it is National Hug a Sheep Day. So here is a picture of The Shepherd with one of his snuggly girls. It always pays to hug your sheep












- that way they don't give you the dreaded "laser eye" when you come in the barn!

A quick update

Sinda has started to drink water again and ate most of her dinner last night (well she ate about 2-3 tablespoons out of the bowl - which is a bunch for her lately) -

I realize that she is not going to "get better" but this buys us a little more time, huh? Thenks to everyone for their kind thoughts, purrs and purrayers. T.

Oh, dear......

Sinda here - I haven't been feeling particularly well lately - so Mom stuffed me in the PTU (Prisoner Transport Unit) on Thursday and took me to see Dr. Perry.

"Mom" here - Sinda wouldn't eat ANYTHING I put out - stuff she has been eating for years - chicken baby food, which she loves - she just turned kind of queezy looking and walked away - then I realized that she wasn't drinking very much water either - and had gotten very dehydrated (which kind of caught me by surprise because I watched her so closely all summer to make sure that didn't happen) - yes, you who've been here before know that her kidney's are failing.

Todd said that when animals get dehydrated, they sense of smell and taste goes off and everything makes them queasy, in turn they don't eat and get worse. He suggested that they do a Sub-Q re - hydration - actually, that they do two - so I left my baby girl at the V.E.T.'s office and "with a heavy heart", went to work - They did blood tests before and after the re-hydration and the numbers changed so much that he was really encouraged - and when I got her home, after first using the kitty box, she acted very hungry - so I made up some ocean whitefish with tuna and she chowed down. same Friday and Saturday she ate some chicken & gravy - so I was encouraged - but today again, she won't eat and doesn't seem to be drinking much water either -

She's 21 1/2 years old - I can learn to do the sub-Q hydration - but will she stand for that every three days? I practically have to call out the National Guard to give her a pill -

My heart and mind are not on the same page with this - I thought I was prepared, but apparently not.....

Well, here I am -

...sitting at the computer, at a quarter after 11 (p.m.) waiting for a Pumpkin buttermilk pound cake to cool so I can turn it out of the pan - If it turns out to be good, I'll give you the recipe - if not, I'll take it to work - those people will eat anything -

I can't believe that it is the middle of October already - I just did my "Colors of September" - (barely made it in September!) and now it's almost time to do the "Colors of October" already.

"Well, what have I been doing??" you ask...

Mostly I've been doing LOTS of spinning - I've finished a bump of Kathy Green's "potluck roving" for my church auction - & I'm working on an 8 oz package of superwashed Merino and alpaca blend to put in the auction as well. Last year I spent a lot of time spinning the wool, and crocheting a hat and set of fingerless gloves for this event (it is an annual event) and it only went for $25 in the live auction (the wool alone had cost $28!) but my silent auction item of 8 oz of handspun yarn went for $40 - well, that's a no-brainer - two sets of handspun wool coming right up - (I'll take pictures after I get it all washed up and pretty) - and spinning takes up my late night time that I usually use for blogging - something had to give - but I have lots of things to tell you, so keep an eye out for new posts -

Right now, I'm going to go try that Pumpkin Pound Cake!

The Colors of September!

Every month since last October, Sue from Life Looms Large has hosted a fun challenge - to find the"colors" of the month. I have not only enjoyed doing this project myself, but have loved reading and seeing all the pictures from around the world as other bloggers have joined in the fun.

Quite frankly, it has been so-o-o-o warm this month, that I was not sure if we were going to get any color but blue (sky) and green (grass) - but



last week, the sun went away and the rain appeared - and we had some real cloud bursts - mind you, not like they are having on the east coast right now, but for us it was a lot.












Even though this oak leaf doesn't have any real "fall" colors - I did like the pattern of the rain drops and the veins of the leaf







The Shepherd has been so busy with other people's gardens that we are a little lacking in the fall flowers this year - but, hey, what the heck - the bills are getting paid - and this pretty chrysanthemum decorates our back porch.












Of course my trusty sidekick had to come along and snoopervise all the pictures that I was taking.









Out in the vegie garden, the corn is gone, the pumpkins are going wild and the asparagus weed looked so pretty covered with raindrops.
















Finally the colors are starting to creep into the yard - the katsura tree is starting to turn it's leaves make the yard smell slightly sweet.











The Japanese maples on the porch are a blaze with reds and oranges
















The rose hips are like sparkling jewels hidden in the blue foliage










The Bishop's Children dahlias that were planted from seed have finally decided to put on a show.









It's also time to start evaluating fleeces - this is Wicket's fleece - it is going to be wicked fun to spin - hope I get a chance at it...









I think this is either Ruby or Robin --- (unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the head that went with the fleece...) but this is going to be a lovely fleece and it is staying closely to original color - gonna be pretty!







And one little lone flower left over from summer - I hope you enjoyed my Colors of September - I almost didn't make it this month again - working on my church newsletter til all hours of the night...but it's done and I only have my spinner guild one left to do.

And guess what? I'm signed up to take another class from Judith McKenzie - but it's not until November - so you'll just have to wait to find out about it...

Back into the swing of things

And what have I been doing with all my time, you ask? Well, here's some of what I've been doing...

Some of you may remember that my big spinning & crocheting project for last year was Sophia's Sweater.

Well, last year right after my birthday and just before my spinner guild's Spin-In, I found out that my boss's wife would be having twin girls this summer. (They were born in July and you can see pictures of them by clicking here.)


So I got the idea that I would make two more sweaters for "our new girls" - (and by the way, I did clear it with the mom and dad before I did all this work on "wool" sweaters - yes, they said they would love to have them)

The Spin-In gave me a wonderful opportunity to look for some fiber to make these sweaters and I found just what I was looking for at the Sunset Fibers booth - they had all this gorgeous Corriedale fiber - I picked one with bright primary colors (above) and one with lavenders, pinks and greens - (little did I know at the time that they were naming one of the girls "Violet" - could this be more perfect for her?)


The rainbow yarn will be for Annie's sweater - I kind of panicked when I was about half way through spinning the rainbow yarn and was afraid that I wouldn't have enough (I really MUST start writing down how much yarn these projects take!) - so I plied part of it with white Shetland - I think it will make a nice contrast band on the bottom of the sweater and on the sleeves and hood - If I have some left over I'll make some boots or something.

If you click on the picture of the yarn for Violet's sweater, you will be able to see that I plied part of it with grey (Shetland of course).

They had the girls at our company party last week. It is astonishing how fast they are growing. I'm planning on making these in the 18 month size so they would be ready for next fall - but I want to get them done soon so they can use them next spring if they want - better sooner than later, huh?

The Corriedale, by the way was wonderful to spin - almost as much fun as spinning Targhee - there was also an article in the last "Spin-In" magazine about spinning specifically for crochet - Right now, I solve that issue by plying a little more tightly than most people - but I'll try it out and let you know what I think.

For your viewing pleasure -

Boy, haven't we all been there? I'll be back soon, I promise!

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The Colors of August!

Wow! August is almost past tense!

I have put together some of my favorite August scenes from our garden.

The Rose of Sharon bush/tree right outside our back door is heavy with bumble bees this time of the year - luckily they are more interested in the blossoms than they are in me.







One thing about August is that you can always tell where our drainfield is...








The corn du Jour is Mirai - a Japanese hybrid - it is better than dessert! (and it doesn't even need any butter - and coming from the "butter girl" that is saying a LOT!)








Dahlias are my very favorite flower (unless you count Zinnias, and Asters, and - oh well, maybe all flowers are my favorites...)

Dahlias come in so many different colors and styles - These are "Bishop's Children" that The Shepherd grows from seed.











I barely caught these pretty little daisies before The Shepherd (aka the "yard guy") mowed the pasture....












Pink Lupine, also grown from seed - there are purple ones and red and white ones so far - and half of the plants haven't bloomed yet! .










These California poppies have become one of our favorites this summer - there are as many colors as there are plants and he planted a bunch of them. Hopefully, next year they will come up from seed (and still be such pretty colors.











The garden has been so stressed from the heat, but these petunias on the front porch don't seem to have minded it too much.













These cone flowers just look so happy in the bright sunlight -










while this fern looks cool and collected in the dappled sunlight by our front door - this summer has been just a little slice of paradise...

Now for more visions of August from all around the world go visit Sue at Life Looms Large. Thanks again, Sue for letting us all find the beauty that is around us to share it with all of you.