Sweet Maggnolia

Bluegrass Classic

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Warning: Another long post!

From Wednesday evening to Saturday afternoon, our family of three have been ‘vacationing’ in Kentucky. We went to experience the  Bluegrass Classic Sheepdog Trials and a Fiber Fest in Lexington. I love traveling and enjoy seeing new country, yet being the extreme homebody that I am…let’s just say that I was ready to go home long before we actually left. Familiarity lends great comfort to me in my everyday life, and spending my day in a quiet manner relaxes me…but driving through a big town everyday, living temporarily in a small room with a sinister television set for company, and fast food most of the time wore me out.

We first crossed the Ohio River…

…then we arrived at the grounds where the trials were being held…way off the road on lots of acreage

…just one of the many dogs that trialed

…a handler shedding the sheep

…some ewes just feel the need to jump as they entered the pen

…then we stopped by the Lexington Cemetery and we could not have stayed too long there. It is the most beautiful cemetery with the oldest of graves mingled with the newest. The Todd family, as in Mary Todd Lincoln, is buried there, along with Henry H. Halley, John C. Breckenridge, and a sailor who died aboard the Maine in Cuba. We took hundreds of photos but I uploaded only a few.

…charming Madison on the river

…back home again

…a new hobby which I am seriously thinking about taking up

…and the beautiful sunset that we watched as we made our way back home

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Enjoying Life

Friday, May 14th, 2010

For the past few weeks I have been either outside with our new square foot gardening, inside doing schoolwork, or going to piano lessons as the spring recital draws near. My pieces will be Somewhere in Time by John Barry and the Hungarian Dance #1 for 4-Hands by Brahms (a duet with my teacher).

An exciting new addition to our homestead is our square foot garden/raised beds. I can hardly remember a time when we didn’t have a garden or plants growing on the patio, and  each one  was full of weeding, watering, hours of harvesting, etc. With our new system, aka Raised Beds, it is much more relaxed and enjoyable, plus they look adorable. I tidy and organize most of my life into right angles, so with our uniform and clean garden…I am in the organized gardener’s bliss.

Step 1: Ye Plant

Step 2: Watch ‘em grow…do you see the organization?

And last but not least…my very own row of taters! For some reason, growing potatoes makes me happy. I’ve sat down and thought about it and I’ve come to no conclusion about why this happens

So, how’s your garden doing?

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Mother’s Day-Socks-Garden-Recital

Monday, May 10th, 2010

I suppose a good place to start would to apologize to my dear mother for not posting a tribute to her on my blog for Mother’s Day like so many other dutiful daughters. I mean, she has done so much for me and I can’t bring myself to leave what I’m doing and take a moment to honor her with words? However, I think that a day late still qualifies in the range of acceptability. The day of I did make a card and surprise her with a gift (infrared thermometer). So…Happy Mother’s Day…Mother!

And, a few pictures would suffice for explaining what I’ve been up to lately…and perhaps the largest post I’ve ever had:

Blocking

Gardening….

The potatoes are to the left and the other two rows are going to be beans

And our square foot gardens are coming along nicely

Spring Recital…went well…these are my recital feet (see profile)

Some of the family

And for laughs…the dog is really annoyed at having her picture taken…as you can tell

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Infant’s Sock Update #2

Monday, April 5th, 2010

The first sock is completed, and I must say that it turned out very sweet and rewarding. It took no time at all make and I am already on the second sock, hopefully to finish it up within the next couple of days. I was surprised at how easy it was to make, with only a few points where I had to stop and think…I like that kind of knitting. It was also surprisingly quick, with less than 24 hours of work spent on it I would say.

The decrease for the heel and toe was interesting.  We picked this pattern out of a vintage sock book and Mom said that the pattern was around 1909, so the technique may have been a little different, but it worked.

Onto the next project!

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Infant’s Sock Update # 1

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

My last post had a picture of the Infant’s Sock that I was going to do for 4-H and my hope chest…but now I have  pictures of my own. I started it on Thursday and then yesterday I worked on it some more. It is a  lovely pattern that reminds us of lace. The pattern called for size 0 needles, but we only had 1′s on hand, so it is a little bigger than its intended size.

Here is a closer look at the pattern…so pretty. Stay tuned for more updates!

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