Thursday, December 31, 2015

Winter Desktops

Happy New Year!
Hope we get more rain and a snow pack.

This year I tried out these photos as desktops.
I like this one the best so far.
This is the one I'm using now.
I used this one to celebrate when it rained.
This one is just for fun on a cold clear day.
Very cold.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Still Snow, Still Decorations

Surprised to see the snow still around this morning.
And the Christmas decorations still need to be put away.


But I think I will leave them up for the rest of December.

Morgan got me up early this morning.
So, she got her breakfast early.
I'm going to have to watch the clock more closely.

The alarm for her breakfast
was going off
when I brought her in from her walk
after she ate.

Morgan is getting sneaky.
Or, just hungry?

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Sun And Little Snow


So I took a photo of the old oak tree.
I love the old tree.


Finally, after the snow and rain
most of the leaves are out of the trees
so my plan must be
to start raking them up as soon as the snow has melted.

That is the plan.
I think I should make sure I carry it out
before my eye treatments.

But it is cold
and I may wait until next month.

I guess I will just wait and see what happens.
?


The myrtle doesn't seem to mind the snow.
Amazing stuff.
It made it through the year without being watered.
I was sure it would dry up in the drought.
It must have very busy roots.

Monday, December 28, 2015

Yay! It Snowed Again!

And I slept in.
Everybody slept in.
Even Morgan.


The chickens got a treat today.
Half of the big butternut squash got left overnight in the oven.
So, it was decided that the chickens
deserved the squash.

The chickens didn't eat the last piece of butternut squash.
It wasn't cooked.
I was thinking it was too hard
for them to peck apart.
Maybe?
They are the last two chickens we have
and very old ladies.
I think they will enjoy the baked squash.
Hope so.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Christmas Tracks


Yesterday when Kristine returned from Christmas festivities
she noticed some unusual
tracks in the snow on the front  deck.


There is only one type of critter around these parts
that leaves those kind of tracks,
can leap over the deck railing,
and whose cousins hang around with Santa.

First time I have ever know them to venture on the deck.
Christmas surprise!

Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas Snowy Morning!

When I got up to feed Morgan this morning
there was still snow outside.


Not a lot of snow and it is icy crunchy snow to boot.
Crunch
Crunch
Crunch


But it is snowy!
And that is really neat!

Have a lovely, wonderful Christmas!

Thursday, December 24, 2015

White Christmas

Well, pretty close...
the snow might last in shady places 
until tomorrow.


But it is raining and hailing.


It was wonderful to wake up to snow!

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Winter Scarf And Hat

The scarf is almost finished.


Still have to work in the loose yarn ends.

Finished knitting on the scarf today. 
Just in time for some snow tomorrow?
Maybe?

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

More Christmas Tree

Photo this morning of the tree.


Still looks pretty dark up there.

Today it rained.
I knitted the day away.
Our good neighbor gave us a Christmas basket
full of homemade goodies. 

I would have taken a photo
but I was too busy eating and tasting
all the wonderful things she made.

Amazing how the busiest people
find time to make and do so much for others.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Lofty Christmas Tree

Kristine put the Christmas tree together 
up in the loft today.


Pretty neat!
Especially, since from the kitchen
you can see at least two trees reflected in the windows. 


This photo looks very dark when this size.
Click on it and the trees show up much better.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Quilts I Have Made


My first quilt was for Holly's wedding.
(she wanted beige)
(machine)

My second quilt was made by hand for Dolores.
(My machine broke)

My third quilt was made for Jean.
(machine)

I bought a pattern for the first quilt,
but I made up the second two quilts myself.

~~~

Latest Quilts in the works...

Finished quilt (July 2011) hand pieced and quilted.
Self backed binding.


Now I'm working on finishing this top
and putting together
some Japanese fabric themed quilts.

Quilts need to be finished for Kristine,
then one for Kathleen and the kids.
And my sister,
and her kids,
and...



April 2013
Broken Dishes 
click on links to see more photos of the quilt.


There are more quilts to add 
and I will do that
when I have finished them.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Yay!!! It's Been Raining!

California is getting wet.


It is supposed to rain all week


Wow! The deck is even wet.
Almost all the way up to the house.

And there is the new screen door on the slider.
Ok, I know it is hard to see.
The screen door is all rolled up.
It pulls out sideways.
Pretty neat!

It has been a rainy sleepy day.
I took a nap.
It turned out to be for the afternoon.
Who knew?

It turned out ok.
Tom is getting hamburgers for dinner!

I'm going to go knit on my scarf...

Friday, December 18, 2015

60's Beanie

Well, Kristine says it looks so 60's!


What I really like about this hat
is that by folding the edge inside
the hat becomes much warner
in windy weather
and keeps my ears nice and warm.


Probably having the light purple show up 
in the dark purple isn't the way 
an experienced knitter would have done things.

But I like the effect.
And I had fun learning how to make the
knitted i-cord top loop.

Well, back to knitting on my Dr. Who
type scarf.

I think I have become addicted to knitting!

Thursday, December 17, 2015

10 Minute Scarf


Yep!
It takes me 10 minutes
or more
to get across one row.

I'm a beginning slow knitter.

This is a knit one stitch and
then perl the next stitch
all across every row.

Which means switching the yarn from
in front of the needle to the back
or from the back to the front
each stitch.

So, I'm slow.
But I really like the feel of this stitch.

And I'm enjoying listening to audiobooks
while knitting.

This is binge knitting.

Snow Dreams


My daughter sent me some videos
of snow falling in her backyard.

No snow here.
I have snow envy.

So, I comfort myself with this photo
of snow in my yard
in years past
and use it as my desktop photo.

At least my computer has snow.

This is late.
I went to sleep 
and missed posting yesterday.




Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Furry Wurry Throw


Kristine got a throw like this in blue
from her good friend.

Then Kristine went out
and bought this one for me.

Lucky me!
This throw is softer than
the softest plush stuffed animal. 

An early Merry Christmas.

It is very cold outside.
The leaves are all icy and crunchy
on Morgan's walk this morning.
Crunch
Crunch
Crunch

I'm going to go get my warm throw.
And throw it on me.

Smiles

Monday, December 14, 2015

Hat And Scarf

My hat


and a ball of yarn
that I am going to turn into a scarf.

There are so many scarf patterns out there
that I'm having trouble
finding a simple one.

I just want a scarf to wear to keep warm
out walking the dog.

No cables, etc...
I'm thinking a k1p1 rib maybe.
So I'm making test swatches.

And maybe an i-cord border?
Or how about the linen stitch?
Or...

There are so many choices.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Windy Flag

We knew that there was a storm coming through today.
Wind advisory, rain, possible power outages...
So I'm posting early
to beat out the possible no power threat.

This morning when I was walking Morgan
I noticed the wind.
Noisy rainy wind.
Usually the house flag just hangs limply.


But today it was flying horizontal!


And the tree tops were dancing!
I'm not walking Morgan under those trees
while they are dropping branches.


I tried to get some of the trees dancing
but naturally they calmed down when I was videoing.
I tried 3 times.
But it gives you an idea...
the trees bend much farther in stronger wind.

I came back to the computer to post this 
and I heard the wind start up
very loud crashing through the trees.
But I'm not going to get up again and try to catch it
in action.

The wind is great at pruning the trees
but I don't want to be 
under them while that is going on.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Looks Like Snow

Yesterday, morning I looked out the window
and I thought I saw snow!


But, Kristine told me later


that it was just leftovers
from the terrific hail that fell
the night before.

I went to bed early 
to hide from the thunder and lightening.
So, I missed the hail storm.

Must have been some hail storm
to have it still hanging around and making it
through the rain.

I am very glad we are having rain 
but some snow would be ok too.

We still don't have the tree up.
We made cookies though.
Somehow, cookies and Christmas
seem to go together.

Friday, December 11, 2015

Nature's Cleaner Upper

December 1st.
Dead leaves were still hanging on.


But.
this morning.



The rain and wind the last couple of days
have done a wonderful job
of clearing out
the dead leaves from the oak trees.

Which means that I can get outside
and rake my paths and the driveway
and not have them 
covered up with leaves again
inside of a few days
and have to rake them all over again and again.

I'm old and lazy and now wait each year
for the wind and rain to 
clear out the trees
before I get outside and rake.

Acres of oak leaves out there.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Gingerbread House

At least the gingerbread house
has some snow.

So far we have had a lot of wind and rain.
Very noisy outside last night.
This morning most of the leaves are out of the trees.
All good!


This was a lot of fun.

That is some neat cake mold.

Sifting powdered sugar
over the house
was a lot easier than decorating
it with colored frosting.

A lot less calories also.

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

What? No Water?

Got a phone call this morning
informing us that the water would be turned off
due to a repair
that needed to be done.


Since they didn't know
 how long the water would be turned off 
I filled up everything I could find
with water.

Even the bathtub 
so the water could be used
to flush the toilet.

Ha!
Turns out that we were the only house
with water
while the rest of the houses
near us were without water all day.

When we lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains
having to deal with no water
was faily common.

Either drought or damage
to the well tank
would mean no water
sometimes for days...weeks.

I think I over reacted to the 
"no water" scare.

Oh well...
I had lots of water
for pasta and steaming veggies
for tonights dinner.

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Tree Dressed In Moss

Well, it does look like the trees
are dressed in a velvet coating of greenery.


During the hot. dry drought
you would have thought the moss was dead
if you could even see there might have been some there.


But it only took a few rains
and the moss came back to life.

I took these photos this morning
on my walk with Morgan. 

Not all the trees have mossy coats.
Usually, it is only the older, shady, biggest oaks.

Monday, December 07, 2015

Pillow Cover?

Well, so far it is a wall hanging.


A while back 
I gave some fabric and things away
because I wasn't using them.
Hate to see things not used
and go to waste.

A few months later
I received this lovely gift in the mail.

It is made from bits of
the items 
I gave away.

Pretty neat, huh?

Lovely lady made this
lovely gift.

Sunday, December 06, 2015

Gift Animals

Yesterday, Kristine brought me a gift from
her friend, Mary.


A bag of yarn
and a booklet with directions on how
to knit animals.

Well, this will certainly keep me busy.
When I tire of knitting hats
I can start up an animal
to work on in fits and starts.

Christmas tree is still not up.
Sigh...

Saturday, December 05, 2015

Christmas Decorating

Here is a photo taken by Kristine
of Tom and Bill 
decorating at Bill's house.


We still have to put up our tree.
Maybe we will put the tree up in the loft this year?

 Here is the beginning of a new hat. 
I did the German cast on with two different yarns 
and am continuing with them K1P1. 
I’m making it up as I go along.


Friday, December 04, 2015

Wood Toss

Gee, that sounds like a carnival game.


We got a load of wood delivered today
Oak and Madrone
tossed in the shed to keep it dry.


This was the shed yesterday.


I think we may need more wood
this Winter.
So there will be more deliveries.

Usually we have big piles of wood
on the property
drying out over the Summer.

But this year was so dry
we really didn't want all that fuel
laying around.


Thursday, December 03, 2015

Hats Under Fire!



Tom and Kristine are watching NCIS.

The wood stove is going great guns!

 Morgan came over and laid down near me

 when I sat on the floor to take the photo 

of the bag of hats spilled out on the chaise longue.

 Kristine says that Gibbs is shooting the hats! 
Ouch!

I like word play...
hats under the wood stove...
under fire from Gibbs...
I think that counts as
hats under fire. 

Thanks to LindaG for comment caps
but so far I am doing fine reading text on the computer.

Soon I will have cataract surgery
and that should/may
have a positive affect on the glaucoma?

I can still see to knit 
but the yarn loops are not always easy to see
on needles of about the same color.
But I can still make them out.

I find myself changing needles sizes
according to color 
to contrast with the yarn
instead of sticking to 
the size of needle I should use.
Works for me.

It would be nice to have
a set of circular needles in two colors.

A white set for dark yarns
and a dark set for light yarns.
Wonder if there is such a thing.

PS
The hats are intended for my daughter
and family in Idaho.
But if I can't stop knitting hats
I will donate them.
Or become known at that hat lady?

PSS
It's raining!!!
Yay!

Wednesday, December 02, 2015

First Slouchy Knit Hat

Beekeepers Hood?

Hmmmmm...

No pattern.

You can tell!


Just me knitting



and knitting



and not stopping.

Straight knitting
is 
Zen.

Well, maybe not
but it is relaxing and fun.

Wish I could see better though
'cause I'm not too sure what it really looks like.

I'm having way too much fun knitting hats.
So far there is a shopping bag full of hats.
I think I should maybe switch
to gloves and socks.

PS
Those are Morgan's meds
in the background.
Poor little ol 'doggy.