birthday hats for the snow





Since I have tried to write this blog three time already and haven't got past a few words I will make this short and sweet. My brothers birthday was last week and a I knit him the best men's hat ever. I have knit almost every man in the family one. They're warm, easy and fit everyone I'll add the pattern another time. Well, Happy Birthday D! What better time to take a winter hat's picture then in the snow, which doesn't happen here too often. And yes we have been having our fare share of fun in the snow!



Who needs a sled.



Ready to hit the slopes!



Our palm tree in the back yard looks even more strange with snow on it.

A Showman is Born!

We have been done with fair for a few weeks now, but I just haven't gotten around to sharing a few really sweet photos. I am the 4-h co-superintendent of the sheep barn @ the Kitsap County Fair and Stampede, along with my mother who is the other co-superintendent. It is a busy job that requires us to live at the fair all week. I love it! I have always loved the fair and have only missed one since I was 10 years old when I started showing my sheep in 4-H. I even made it the two years I was really pregnant with each of my sons, who were born in Aug and Sept (the fair is the last week of Aug), the youngest was born the Sunday of fair.

Anyway, this year was a whole different kind of experience with

two little ones with me all week. Thanks to my mother, I could not have done it without her.

My oldest got to show his first sheep in a show called Lads and Ladies Lead. It is not a costume show, but instead it is to display wool as a functional material to wear and to promote the wool industry. We had a great turn out in contestants this year, it is open to all ages and garments. Whether the outfit is knit or sewn, second hand or commercially bought, there is a category for all. I didn't have any of my own sheep at the fair, so my son borrowed the cutest Shetland ewe, she was the perfect size. I was amazed at how well he walked her around the arena, he is used to sheep, but not leading them around on a lead. He won his category and Grandma won for her hand sewn, green vest of Pendelton wool he wore. It sure was a lot of fun! We also had fun with some silly photos of daddy and the boys with Uncle Burt ( a dummy we take to fair every year). He is a really popular guy, everyone loves to get their picture with him (and of course he is stuffed with wool and has a great hair piece made from wool).

A Cake To Remember

Happy Birthday Boys!

My boys have their birthdays with in weeks of each other, so to make life a little easier on myself and my family we gathered their birthday celebrations into one smashing day. I know this won't go over well every year, but since they're 1 and 3 they don't have much say or care.

And of course we were doing two in one, it had to be good. The whole family was invited and we did a BBQ on the deck and totally lucked out on the beautiful weather.

My three year old is really into trains, especially "Tommy" (Thomas the Tank Engine), yes we are on a nickname basis we know him that well. So I had a simple and sweet idea, to incorporate a vessel which uses locomotion, into the commotion, in the form of a train cake.

What you see was not my first idea. Note the 30+ individually decorated cake pieces, hand laid candy track surrounded by coconut grass, all laid out on a 2 X 4 foot board covering the whole dinning room table.

My mother had come home the week before with a cake pan with 9 individual train car cups, what fun! It looked like a great idea. After baking 4 pans worth of snickerdoodle cake the morning of, just to get enough for the party (not counting the practice run to make sure I could get the cake out of the pan) By the way, on a side note, for situations such as these baking spray with flour in it (yes it exists) is worth the small investment. I and many others (Thanks everyone!) were busy decorating each train car with frosting and candy as guests trickled in.

It turned out great, better than I had expected, each person and child could pick the car they wanted and it took every kid there to help blow out the candles. I can tell you this though, it most defiantly will not be repeated every year.

with out the bucket

It has been a long time since I have posted a blog. It could be the busy, almost summer, days or the hideous illness that plagued our family for a week and a half or it could be the lack of interesting things happening in our lives. Well, I can tell you for sure it is not the third option, we have so many things going on that I couldn't get them all up. So I will start with geoducking without the bucket. If you have never goeducked before it is a lot of fun and a lot of work. Goeducks only reside in the Pacific Northwest and in a small area of Alaska coast. Their a large clam (bi-valve) and are buried in the sand about a meter down. Now, they cannot move as their foot is too small to move their mass. They can weigh upwards of 8-9 pounds and are a delicacy that go for a heft price.
We geoduck in front of our house when the tide is low enough. Usually we use a goeduck can (a sturdy metal tube about a meter in length, open on either end with handles). You locate the goeduck, dig a trench around it without disturbing it too much and then push the can down around it as far into the sand as possible. You start digging out the sand from the center until you can pull out the creature. The can is essential to keep the sand from continually falling in to the hole.
We usually have the can, but this time we didn't and Ty was determined to dig one without the can and on his own. He said he probably moved about 3 yards of sand from the hole and it took him over two hours. Needless to say, Gavin and I went back to the house half way into the adventure to take a nap (it was that exhausting to watch and Gavin was covered in sand). But in the end he came out victorious and made a couple of friends too. I love the picture of Isaac, it's one of those that you cherish for ever (not that you don't cherish every picture of you kids). We had geoduck fritters that night. The tide was well on it's way in when they were finally finished.

frog friend

Well I am not going to say much today, too sick. I think it is just wrong to be sick when it is sunny out, illnesses should not be able to live during nice weather.

 All I have today is a friend we keep finding in the lavender starts every day we water. Isaac wasn't sure what to do with this green lavender lover, it seems it was ok on his knee, but not his hand. 

Isaac can run with the biggest of our farm tenants, he isn't afraid of the big sheep or llama, but doesn't particularly like small creatures yet,  but I am confident he will grow to love them.

back to the grind stone

Hi everyone, we are back from a wonderful extended weekend in the San Juan Islands. It was great! There was an abundance of good weather, good food and good company. It was just the boys, Ty and I exploring some different parks and beaches, taking some great walks and having a very fun picnic at the park. It was just what we needed. I now feel rejuvenated and ready to jump back into the garden, preschool and the beginning of summer. Yes that's right I said the beginning of summer, it is right around the corner. Can you believe it is already mid May, how did that happen? I still have so many things to get into the garden and so not enough time.(Gavin caught a cozy nap under the picnic table during lunch until his brother discovered his  fun little fort.)

I definitely don't have time for many projects with summer on her way, but while we were on the many ferry crossings it takes to get to the islands I did manage to finish another wire knit bracelet. This time I went with a green color pallet and a different clasp, I think it turned out nice, I am going to add it to my Etsy shop, which is slowly growing.

wire knit bracelet

It is amazing how everything else can go out the window when gardening season starts. I can see how blogging rates might spike during the winter months, but I'm not ready to quit just yet, I think I need to get into a routine of blogging after the boys have gone to bed (yeah, we'll see if that ever happens).
I also needed a project to show everyone, not that I don't have something going constantly, but I wanted something finished and without roots and dirt attached to it.
And here it is, Ta Da... I finally made it through a whole wire bracelet, it took me a few goes but I got it and I put it on Etsy. By the way, you might notice my new Etsy shop link on the left, it took me a while but I finally got that up and running also (I feel pretty accomplished today). We will see what comes of it. Wire knit bracelets are surprising easy (as long as you don't let a two year old get a hold of it and you make sure you are have enough beads and wire). I already have another one in the works. They are just about as close to instant gratification as you can get with knitting and a little bit brainless so I can even do them with little distractions running around.
Speaking of little distractions, I had to add a few pictures of my farm boys and our farm fashion when we are gettin' stuff done , are they cute or what! Bye for now.