Ah Ha!

For weeks I have been trying to figure out why the horse trough was getting so muddy in the bottom. I would clean it out daily and think 'surely the horses aren't this filthy that when they get water they make it muddy'.

Yesterday I discovered the answer to my question....



Oh - and I did get new yarn for the purse yesterday. Unfortunately the yarn store was closed (they are only open Wed-Sat) and - refer back to Aries and first born - I had to have something THEN so I got some Caron Simply Soft in 'Country Blue' from Wally-World. I love the color - not 100% thrilled about the quality of yarn - but it does show the pattern much better. I MIGHT swing by the yarn store today to make sure there is nothing else I like better (Logan is going to smother me with yarn one night). We'll see how that goes.

Tomorrow I am off to Rogersville for a week of fun with the family! See you next week!

A Difficult Decision

I have started working on a REALLY cute knit purse this week. I LOVE the pattern and it's a really easy knit, despite there being cables knit into it. If any of you are knitters out there and have been afraid to knit cables into your patterns - DON'T BE! There have been so many patterns that I have avoided because there were cables in them. I found this purse pattern and fell in love with it BUT it had cables. So this week I sat down and MADE myself learn how to do cables. Guess what? It's soooo easy!

However, now comes the reason for my title. I love the pattern. I hate my yarn choice that I chose. This pattern is knit with two strands held together of yarn and because I am an Aries and a first born child, when I found the pattern I had to start it RIGHT THEN! I dug through my yarn stash and found some really pretty wool I had bought back a few months ago on a shopping trip with my mom. I didn't have two skeins of the same color but I had two that I thought would look really nice together - a heathered purple and rose colors. Well, now 11 rows into this thing - I HATE it. Don't get me wrong, I love the colors on their own and I think I will save them for something like wool socks or a neat hat, but they just don't do this purse justice. I think it's the mixture of a light and dark color that I am not crazy for (and the fact that Logan keeps reminding me that I looks like an old lady purse :( ) and it's kind of hard to see the really neat pattern (which by the way, when it's finished it will look like a lotus flower - COOOOOOL!) so I made a difficult decision. It's going to have to be ripped out and restarted....

As soon as I finish posting, I am going to throw on some clothes and go see if the yarn shop is open (please please please) and pick out something that I know I will LOVE. I thought about finishing the purse with the yarn I already had and then giving it to someone I thought would like it but that's just not what I want to do with this one...Wish me good yarn luck - I will try to update later this evening if I find something I like!


If you look closely you can see my super-awesome cable - it's to the right of the middle. You can also see the gross granny-colors...

Guinea Attack!

Holy Cow it worked! As promised, here is the short video of our guineas on 'alert' call - this is right after we put the baby chicks in the pen and they were freakin' out! Normally both of them are squawking at the same time but this time only one decided it was an emergency - imagine this going on with both of them! It is LOUD!



By the way, that is Logan saying that the chicks aren't very exciting - they wouldn't come out of the chicken coop and still, 3 days later, won't really come out willingly. Gives a new meaning to 'chickens'!

I'm off to Chautauqua tonight to work the t-shirt booth until 9. I worked last night for the school for an hour and tonight I am doing a 3 hour shift for the church. The best part of all of this is the combination of 'fair food' and live music all going on while I am working. Hmm, what to eat tonight? Last night it was a chicken giro (which I proceeded to get half of it on my nice linen jacket - go me. I got it clean though!). Will tonight be Chinese, BBQ, another giro, or a bloomin' onion? Only time will tell!

Busy Days!

This is turning out to be a very busy and exciting weekend even though I'm just on Saturday evening! Yesterday we kicked off Wytheville's Chautauqua Festival, a week-long festival in the park in the middle of town filled with food, arts and crafts, and live music every evening. We went to the starting festivities last night with the hot air balloon lighting after dusk. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me (it was a last minute decision to go) but it was really neat to see 7 of the hot air balloons up close and the flames lighting the whole balloon like a light bulb at night. The balloons then proceed to further kick of the festival by taking off early Saturday morning and can be seen all over Wytheville.

Today, instead of spending the day at Chautauqua, we had another more important task at hand. We finally sold poor ole Brisco and he went to what I feel is going to be an amazing home for him. He will belong to a teenage girl who fell just head-over-heals for him and will spoil him rotten! She kept saying how much personality he has (oh, that he has!) and how beautiful he was. He went to live in North Carolina so we took him down to his new home today. It was about a 2 hour trip there and then 2 hours back so it wasn't too bad of a trip. So, good luck ole boy! I know you'll enjoy your new girl! (I was very proud of myself - no tears)

After we got home, it was decided that the 'old' chicks were ready to move outside. They are a little over 5 weeks old now and it's been very warm so they are finally 'outside' chickens instead of 'inside' chickens (personally, I love the chicks but I am SO ready for them to be outside! I feel like my house has turned into a barn). We are going to hang the heat lamp in the coop for awhile to make sure they stay warm at night and are comfortable. The 'young' chicks will be ready to go outside right before we go to the beach in July.

They didn't quite know what to do when we first introduced them to the coop. Little 'Brownie' took the lead for adventure Eventually they got brave and peered outside via the coop-window. The little yellow/orange chick even decided he was going to try out the grass. It didn't last long however and soon ran back inside.

The guineas didn't quite know what to think - I took a short video of the guineas on 'alert' call - but can't get it loaded - I might try again later in the week.

So, there's all of the latest news on the farm. This week I will probably be picking peas until I am sick of them - there are close to a million on the plants and then Thursday I am off to good ole Rogersville for a week of fun. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

A Message from Gabby

Dear Readers,

Sorry my owner hasn't written in awhile - she 'claims' to have been busy this week with cleaning out those yummy-looking chicks' boxes and then taking all of us animals today to get something horrible called a 'rabies shot'. She even had enough time to sell a horse today (Brisco) and make sure he got a lot of those 'shots' too. But does she have time to sit down and write about all of this? Noooo. I'll make sure to nibble on her later and tell her she had BETTER write on this blog thing or there will be consequences...Back to my nap now.

Sincerely,
Gabby

Sick Knits

Fever...chills...headache...sounds like a miserable winter illness huh? Nope - that was my week this week. I don't know what I caught but it knocked me out flat for most of the week - Tuesday night through Friday my day was spent either curled in a miserable ball in bed or curled out on the couch when I could stand light and noise. I have the feeling I caught something at the pool but there is really no telling. So that is why I have been M.I.A. for most of the week with posts.

While I was sick I did a little bit of knitting when I could stand to do something. Since I didn't have a lot of energy I needed something easy and taking a pointer from my mom and her new knitting class, I did a few dishcloths - just something kind of mindless that would help me pass the time on the couch (while my house WASN'T getting cleaned)

The first is a cute little watermelon dishcloth - I plan on going back and sewing on 'seeds' and I still need to weave in my ends on this one

The next is the 'classic' knit dishcloth and I added a little crocheted loop on the end so I can hang it up to dry.

So nothing exciting, but what can I say? I was near death. I am in search of something new to start. I have a sock pattern I am toying with but I don't know if I feel like starting a sock quite yet after the last 'sock'. So I am off to search patterns and watch the rain moving in - thank goodness. Our garden needs it!

Sock-tastrophy

Ok, it's really not that bad. The sock looks REALLY good - one done...But I don't know if I will be doing it's mate. I learned a difficult knitting lesson this week. If a pattern calls for size 3 needles and worsted weight wool, you can't use size 2 needles and sock yarn and expect it to turn out the same size. DUH! I don't know what in my brain made me think it would. The yarn-shop-lady assured me that everyone uses size 2 needles when knitting socks so I believed her...and the yarn was on a good buy (bargain bin!) and I didn't have enough wool at the time (do now). Let's just say this sock won't be fitting my size 9 boat...

I will do this pattern again - it was so easy and the sock turned out beautifully. It has an after-thought heel which means you knit the whole sock without the heal and then go back and 'unzip' the yarn where the heel will go and knit in the heel just like you knit the toe.

I will see if my sister-in-law can wear it and if so I will finish the other. Otherwise, I have a good test sock!


This is the sock before I put the heel in - the white yarn is where I 'unzipped' it and added on the heel.


Appy inspects my finished work and ponders if it's for her.


Tah-Dah! Finished and not bad for my first sock if I do say so myself.

Green Thumb

Even though it is hotter than blue-blazes outside, surprisingly our crops are growing their little hearts out! Here is a little 'taste' of what we've got going on right now -



Cherries! These are the only cherries we'll get this year but I think for that tree's first year producing it's super! Hmm...now what to do with a handful of cherries? Not enough to make a pie or jam - I am thinking mixed in with vanilla ice cream! Yum!

The other trees are doing very well also except my peach tree has 'peach leaf curl' which I can't do anything about this year - I'll spray in the winter and I think the spots on the apple trees are 'rust' spots which will also have to be sprayed when the trees are dormant. Live and learn - especially on a farm - but the fruit is still doing well despite the afflictions!


Perky Peaches!


Awesome Apples!


And one little pear!

The garden is soaring along - in the picture you can see -from left to right- black beans and bush wax beans, onions, peas, and corn. Tomatoes are behind everything and despite getting off to a pitiful start, are starting to take off (finally!). Hidden in the rows I have green onions, radishes, collard greens (for Logan - yuck), and spaghetti squash and watermelon. The peas are flowering and we should have peas before too long!



And finally in the green-grows section is my herb garden - yes MY herb garden. This is my garden project and has been every year since I have been married. This year I have basil, both purple and sweet green, chives, thyme, rosemary, catnip, lavender, and oregano. The chives and rosemary are having a hard time taking off and might need a second seeding (or the easy way and go to Lowe's and get already established plants - shhh - don't tell anyone!).



In other 'Morrison Farm' news, it's been a rough week with the chicks. A handful have caught a respiratory infection and thanks to my wonderful husband are now on antibiotics. Sadly, we lost 3 of the new chicks - hopefully, fingers crossed, no more. I am not good at being a farm girl when it comes to animals. Trust me - these are not going to be eatin' chickens - haha.

And last but not least...Happy birthday today to my wonderful, hardworking husband who even though it's his birthday will still be out working in the garden, with the horses, tractor, or whatever else he can get his hands on after he gets home from work.

Adjusting

Summer has officially hit Southwestern Virginia. Hot...and more hot...but not as hot as some places for sure and at least we don't have to deal with the humidity (side note to my Maryland Cousin - do you not feel it anymore? We about died in BA last weekend and that was in the evening! The mountains have soften us I believe!).

Along with summer comes adjustments for me. Being a teacher, I WELCOME having almost 3 months off and it is for sure one of the highlights of my job (yes, of course, the main highlight being educating the youth of America but come on - snow days AND summer? hello?). Anyone who has ever worked for an extended period of time and the all of a sudden NOT worked knows this feeling, whether it be a teacher in the summer or someone with an injury or retirement. It takes some major getting used to suddenly not having a schedule anymore.

So, here are some ways I try to keep myself busy until I fall into my summer routine. First I know there is the chore of cleaning the house and I take more on in the summer because yes I am home and I can do it so I don't expect Logan to pitch in AS MUCH as non-summer months. Of course he still has his tasks that I 'don't do' like taking out trash and recycling and cleaning the mudroom usually falls to him since 99.9% of dirt and mud in the mudroom has come from either him or the dogs. I figured out last summer that if I make myself a schedule, I am much better at doing what I am supposed to be in the house -

Monday - laundry and folding and putting away laundry (I love doing laundry and hanging it and even don't mind folding - BUT I HATE HATE HATE putting up clothes)

Tuesday - Kitchen cleanup and mop kitchen floors

Wednesday - Clean bathrooms and floors

Thursday - Dusting and windows

Friday - Vacuum and general picking up of 'junk'

Now, does it always work out this way - no, not always. I try to stick to my schedule pretty close and try to get my tasks out of the way first thing to make room for 'fun' stuff but it doesn't always happen that way. This really helps though so we are ready to do things on the weekend and I don't have to worry about ending the weekend with a messy house like it so often is during the school year. I will never win prizes for Good Housekeeping and Martha (Stewart) would often be disappointed with me but there is more to life than living in a 'model house'.

On a few last notes, let me say a big CONGRATULATIONS to my good friend Rita who graduated yesterday from police academy! I drove up to Salem to watch her graduate and am very impressed :) She graduated at the top of her class with a lot of recognition of her very hard work. Now, don't pull me over when I am flying up the interstate (Mom and Dad - I would NEVER do that - ignore that comment).

And finally, I forgot to post about the new, NEW baby chicks - we got the last batch in last Thursday right before we headed up to Maryland for the weekend - they are my little light Brahmas - they all look the same so I just grabbed one for the picture.



And a look at the 'big chicks' who are going on 3 weeks old now and have been moved to a smaller box since there is only 5 of them and so they wouldn't bother the babies!



Cleo says 'Don't worry, be happy - and have a wonderful almost-Friday'!

Dear Orioles,

We need to have a talk. For years I have been there for you. Years and years and years. I have stuck by in the good times and through tough times. I watched milestone moments happen with Cal, and embarrassing moments as of recently with steroid allegations, but Orioles, we're becoming a laughing-stock. I have tried to overlook it and pretend it wasn't happening. Gladly I would wear my O's hat with pride and when asked what team I was pulling for never did I hesitate to mention your name. But this weekend might have pushed just a little too far.

I had strong hopes for you this past weekend - especially with the amount of money I laid down to see you play at beautiful Camden Yards. Yes I know you were playing the Red Sox - suddenly every one's favorite team now that they won a World Series (hey - where were you fans 5 years ago?) and they were expected to win, even at an away game. I still stood up for you. But Orioles, did you notice the amount of fans at your stadium on Saturday? Let's say, 75% BoSox fans, 25% Orioles fans. I was beginning to wonder if I made a wrong turn and ended up at the wrong stadium. It was humiliating! Yet there I sat, your faithful...

You started off strong and even held a lead for most of the game but, Orioles, you got lazy - especially when the other team was playing even more lazy you didn't take the opportunity. You let 2 home runs go in a row! You made history by letting Mr. Ramirez hit his 500th home run in your stadium - could it not have waited? At least it wasn't a slaughter game, ending with a simple 6-3 loss.

Orioles, something's got to give. I can't keep living in a take-take relationship. Every now and then you need a little give. Regroup boys - you can do better...

Sincerely,

A Desperate Fan


What a beautiful park! Camden Yards with Charm City in the background.


Me and my sister-in-law Kelsey at our seats - awesome seats at that! Notice she is pulling for the evil Red Sox - this trip was actually for her birthday so she could see them play (and unfortunately win).


The Oriole Bird makes some friends.


Hmm...I still look happy at this point...


Logan was such a trooper for not being a baseball fan - 4 hours of baseball was about his limit!