Magical Things

Wow! Ya'll sure know how to make someone feel better. I was all set to pout for an eternity until I realized that (duh! This happens to you all the time because, you're, uh - ALIVE) it is really just another way that I'm being pushed to live fully. So, I dyed this and read my supportive comments and then I got over it. On the left is some cobweb 100% mohair lace and on the right are some of my handspun Cotswold singles. The colour, of course, is a red of the hateful sort (horns and a forked tail, anyone?). It says to me, 'lowneck sweatah'.

Honestly, I did knit something. Sometimes I think I am some big liar extreme and that I can surprise and shock people. So far, only the shock has ever actually happened. I am more likely to tell you about a lie I told Sister MT to get out of trouble in 2nd grade and still feel bad about than I am to actually pull off a surprise. Apparently, I am being taught this, yet again, since I cannot photograph my big surprise (though I am taking plenty of pictures) and now it is just getting humiliating. You'll just have to trust me until I can give it another try. It's a vest, my own design - brown with a slightly flared bottom, sheaf stitch fitted rib and, well, top part. Nough said. But, I have farm stuff to offer in its stead. It seems a little magic has been happening around here. Meet, Broody. Every year since her first summer, Broody as gone, well, broody. The first summer I said, "Silly girl, you're too young to be mama". But, she hatched three little chicks. Two drowned in a rainstorm and the other became a friend to our sow until midwinter when she accidentally rolled over on him (he slept on her back - it was so cute) and squashed him. Nevermind the fact that our beloved rooster of 3 yrs. passed away in her second summer so her eggs were not fertile, she sat for 30 days on a nest and pecked us violently when we tried to remove her stinky eggs. This year, our neighbor came to the rescue and gave us some of his hen's fertilized eggs (we haven't had the heart to get another rooster, yet) and Broody did it, again. Only five chicks and she seems to have them pretty well under control while she sits in the shade behind the compost bin. Awe.

Last weekend we brought home another couple of things we bought from the neighbor - meet Madder (the red one, yes) and Dottie (she has spots, too). They are really cute, now, but when they get older they will drool and be generally lazy and grouchy. Trust me. Still, none of us can resist spoiling them when they are so sweet and cute. Madder definitely has the temper of the two, and she is real bossy about stealing the table scraps. Ahhh! It feels so good to NEVER throw any food away! Pigs are great for that. A dog may enjoy a meat scrap or a piece of cheese, but he or she will be very selective about it. With the pig, scrapings from dinners picked through by three different picky things and a potato with some sour cream still clinging to it, mixed with leftover milk from cereal or a stray piece of candy (that's like gold) that fell on the ground so had to be forcefully offered up - all mixed together with someone's pickle from yesterday (found on their bookshelf) is just what a pig needs to start her day off right. Go figure...

And, because I know you're sick of reading me three days in a row, I part now with my fancy new twig prop that hubster made me last night for my stitch markers. If you're at the frolic this weekend, come by and see us. If you're thinking I lied about the vest and will be knitting like a banshee all weekend to try to pull off my master deception - all I can say is - you'll never know. Bwahhaa!