I woke up to snow flurries. Not a snow storm. Just enough to cover the ground.
It's flurried for most of the day.
I spent most of the day puttering around the house and knitting on my harvest Sweater. Now that the snow is here to stay I can feel myself switching into more of a hibernation mode.
Cozy days watching the snow, puttering in the kitchen, watching period dramas on BBC.
It was a pretty good last-day-of-vacation-before-I-have-to-go-back-to-work day.
Thanksgiving day was just the three of us. It was my first thanksgiving where everything came together nicely and was all ready to go at the same time.
We smoked a turkey in the new smoker.
It turned out lovely.
I haven't taken thanksgiving day photos in ages, so there's no photos of the food spread or the family. We got along and had food, and it was good!
We didn't do any Black Friday shopping, unless you count going up to the Fleet Farm and buying chicken feed that was on sale.
I did no shopping for crafts or gardening stuff.
I know! I'm as surprised as you are.
Thursday or Friday I decided to set up the small tree I purchased last year. Saturday I finished decorating it and put up a few Christmas things I have.
My husband said the star garland that I put on the table looked like razor wire. I have to laugh. It totally does! "Stay away from the tree!"
I also put up the angels that belonged to my MIL.
They look pretty good next to the painting of Furby.
Today I was half-listening to Chris XrossStitch while I was diligently working my day job. He is a flosstuber who announced last year that he was taking a break due to a cross country move. He posted his first video after his move back on Aug. 7. He said something about the necessity to check out for a while and hitting pause
Yup, that was me. Without realizing it, I hit the pause button on blogging and most social media things. Sorry.
Thank you so much to those who reached out to me about Furby. It means a lot to me that you did.
I still miss my girl. The house is so much quieter without her and her tv habits. In fact, I have the tv off a lot now during the daytime. I'm listening to more music, and even started listening to an audio book, at my husbands urging.
Since July I haven't watched a Fat Quarter Shop video on purpose. Youtube keeps auto-playing over to those channels. I unsubbed from both their quilt channel and their flosstube channel. Youtube doesn't care, and keeps starting those videos when I'm not actively paying attention. So, the Youtube viewing in general has gone down, too. I sometimes wonder if Fat Quarter Shop has noticed a drop in views since Furby's passing.
Then, when I wasn't looking, Autumn hit my neck of the woods. One day I looked up and the trees were changing. September went by in a blur. October seems to be doing the same. July and August each had a more sedate pace.
I've been in my own little world the last few months. There have been some changes in the household (obviously). I've got some things I have to be more mindful of, health-wise, and I'm missing my constant little feathered companion. My husband will probably read this and go "What about me?" Yes, he is my companion and the love of my life. He just wasn't with me 24/7 like Furby June was.
Needless to say, I perk up when it gets close to that time of the day when he's supposed to be home. How many others can say that after 25-some years? Eh? But I digress.
The changing of the season and listening to Chris' comments this morning was the nudge I needed to put virtual pen to paper.
Apparently I needed a preamble to say "Yes, I'm still here!"
I have some blog reading to catch up on. I'm practically non-existent on the Instagram and post sporadically on the book of faces. I've been doing a tiny bit of knitting and crocheting when I'm sitting out in the hunting blind.
Various projects have been started, paused and completed since I last wrote on blog post. This all will have to be stretched out a bit so I'm not overwhelmed by a long post.
In the meantime, I'll share a few photos with you that I took of the changing colors the last few weeks.
My sweet Miss Furby June passed away the morning of Sunday, July 2, 2023.
How do you write about the passing of a chicken? It's not easy when the bird was as special as she was to me and the family.
Furby hatched out in May 2020. She was in the last group of eggs we incubated for the season. The group we intended to keep for our own flock.
She didn't stand out in the group. She blended right in.
Then in early September we had a bird of prey attack the flock. I chased the hawk away and checked to see if everyone was all right.
One hen was laying there with her eyes closed. I thought "oh no!"
She was still alive and I couldn't see any visible damage on her. Just that her eyes were closed.
So I brought her in to my house and set her up in a tote in the kitchen, so I could keep a close watch on her and see if she would make it. I thought I would do everything I could to give this poor hen the best chance of recovery.
For at least a couple weeks she was in that tote with her eyes closed. We hand fed her and we did our best to let her hear where the water was by sticking her fingers in the water and making a splashing sound. At that time I didn't know anything about feeding and watering a disabled bird.
In the midst of all this we had a family gathering to celebrate my Mother-in-Law's life, and everyone was cooing over this small hen in the box who was convalescing.
Then one day she opened her eyes and to our great surprise, she had both of them.
Her eyesight was next to nothing but she managed to figure out where her food and water was, and started feeding herself.
She spent the next several weeks in the kitchen, keeping me company while I canned, dehydrated and preserved the harvest. I always had a few youtubers on and eventually Furby decided she liked Kimberly of the Fat Quarter Shop the best. But she would tolerate a couple others for short amounts of time. If she couldn't have Kimberly playing, then she wanted Pat Sloan.
I eventually figured out a routine with her. Especially when she was smaller. In the morning I'd help her up to roost on the edge of the tote. When she was hungry or ready to get down, she would stand up and patiently wait for me to notice. If it was too long, she'd make a couple calls to get my attention.
She figured out how to jump up and down on her own, at some point. She seemed quite proud of herself. She'd hop down and turn around to see if I was paying attention. I'd give her high praise and tell her what a smart girl she was. Especially when she figured out how to jump up. No more having to wait for the chicken mom.
When her eyes fully healed we learned she had limited vision in one eye. The other eye showed obvious signs of not working. And when she was really curious about something or trying to figure something out, she always pointed her head so the one eye could have the best vantage. I always said her port side was her good side.
I did try to reintegrate Furby back in to the flock. By that time the rest of the flock had forgotten her and they rushed around so fast that you could tell Furby wasn't comfortable and stressed. The other birds would circle around her and peck at her.
Furby became my house hen, and a very spoiled one at that.
I would keep her by my side a lot. I'd move her tote around the house, from the kitchen to the living room. Her permanent spot was close to the wood stove, but where she could look out the front door.
Oh, and before I forget, I have to mention her ability to chime in her two cents into any conversation at just the right time. Seriously, it was spot on. So many times my husband and I would be chatting away and one of us would say something and Furby would make this sound like she was laughing, or adding to the conversation.
She also learned certain sounds, like when my husband would grab a can of peanuts. She knew what that sound meant. She would perk up, make a sound, and stare until someone made the right decision and threw a few of them in her food dish.
Today, when I was tidying up a space in the kitchen, I saw a container with just a few nuts left in it and started to shake the container and call out "Furby, do you want some nuts." Then I remembered she's gone.
I feel like I have a thousand Furby stories. Like the time she *really* wanted a bite of my son's fish. So she figured out to keep pulling something off the little table by him, so he'd be distracted and she could try and sneak a bit of fish for herself.
Or when we discovered she was a music aficionado.
Don't ever let anyone tell you chickens are dumb. They are so smart.
I used to bring her outside with me as much as possible. I thought it was pretty important for her to be out there and feel the sun and wind, and scratch in the dirt. Oh, and take dust baths. She used to let me know when she was ready to come back in to the house by climbing up on to the back deck and wait by the door. Sometimes calling out to me.
But her favorite, I think, was spending time out in the garden area with me.
I called her my little garden helper. She'd go and scratch up the dirt for me in the spring time.
The summer of 2022 she gave me a few health scares and I thought she was going to pass away. She developed an impacted crop and I did everything I could to get her better, including feeding her with a syringe. The day I decided I would try to relieve the impaction via surgery, the blockage was gone. It was a miracle!
I'm very grateful I was able to get an extra year with her. She was my girl, and my near constant companion.
We had three years with her. I was hoping for more. The last few months she started slowing down. There was a few other things going on and I figured my time with her was coming to an end.
Still, though, you are never really ready or prepared for when a pet dies.
Farewell my sweet little Furby June. The chicken mama misses you.
While getting ready for this blog post I decided to look up the last time I posted finished objects.
1. It's been a while
2. I was trying to track down the wrong tags. I almost labeled this one WIPs #6 for 2023, or something like that.
Oops.
It's been a bit of a week. It went fast. It dragged. I felt behind on all the things.
And now I feel like I may be coming down with something.
My son has been sick this week, and was complaining of a sore throat earlier this week.
Guess who is feeling a bit of a sore throat? Yup. This girl here.
Fingers crossed the vitamin C I took will knock it out before it gets a hold.
The weather this week has been a bit odd. The other day I broke down and made a fire in the wood stove. My husband said "Really?" when he came home and I told him what I had done. I was cold! It was *not* warming up in the house and I had opened the windows early in the morning, thinking it was going to warm up a lot earlier than it did. My feet were like ice that day.
Anyways, I'm sure the weird temperature fluctuations aren't helping anything.
*clears throat* Okay. On to the finished objects I promised.
Vanilla socks are done! Another project that had been on the needles for what feels like forever.
Project Name: Vanilla socks
Started: Jan. 7, 2023
Finished: June 1, 2023, or thereabouts
Designer/Source: My own pattern
Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn
Colorway: Mexicala stripes
Colors: oranges, red, purples and a smatter of blue and white
Required Amount: Two skeins of sock yarn. 100 grams
Needle/Hook Size: U.S. 1 (2.25 mm)
Gauge: beats me
Made For: Myself
Dye Lots: WL238520
I think I'm going to put a bit of a pause on vanilla socks, and get back to basics.
"What?" you are probably asking.
The last pairs of socks I've made have not been my best work. I seem to have lost something.
Soooooo ... I decided to look up sock classes on craftsy. I have a membership there and came across a class by Lucy Neatby. I'm going to do a remedial (to me) class.
I decided to pick up some acryllic worsted weight yarn and I'm going to work through the class and use that yarn to make some bedroom socks.
The other thing I finished is my February Month to Month.
Floss: Using called for Classic Colorworks fancy floss
Colors: Black, pink, red, teal, green
Needle Size: 26
Made For: Myself
I am very happy to finally have it complete. It's going to go into a finished object pile until I decide how I want to FO all of the pieces in the series.
In other crafty news
Last night I started back up on my snowflake cross stitch.
Using patternkeeper to keep track is on this chart is great. I'm bouncing around the grid with the same color and it's so much easier.
I put in just over 100 stitches. Last night I was scrolling through the Facebook and a group or page had something about a stitch-along and the notes said if the stitcher stitched 200 stitches a day, it would be easy to keep up and finish the stitch-along on time.
I thought "What? That's a lot of stitches," and figured the person would probably have to really dedicate their time to the project. Then I saw how quick you can do 100 stitches.
With that in mind, I'm thinking if I put some dedicated time to this project, I can get it down sooner than later.
I'd also like to pick "Edna" back up and work on her, and get it finished.
I felt like I was starting to pick up steam before I decided to put it away. Evenweave kinda kicks my butt.
Recently I switched up the hashtags I am following on Instagram and was reminded that Tour de Fleece is just around the corner. I've been working on the same wool for the last several tours.
My problem with spinning is that I don't have a good dedicated spot for spinning. The chair I usually sit in when I'm in the living room isn't very comfortable for the sitting position I need to be in when I'm using the wheel. What I have been doing is bringing out a kitchen chair, setting it up near Furby, and leave it like that for a while.
I've been meaning to sit down and write since Sunday. Things keep coming up and distracting me.
How on earth did it get to be mid-June? I feel like I've barely got anything done and the month is half-over. Oy!
I'm still trying to figure out this whole having a graduate at home. For those of you who have strong-willed freshly-graduated kids, you may understand what I'm currently dealing with. The whole wanting to be an adult, but still wanted to be a kid thing. I'm not gonna lie, it's been a struggle. I've read about this whole "dirtying-the-nest" thing, but reading about it doesn't fully prepare you.
Okay. ...
Last week I was on vacation. Which basically meant I didn't have to go to work. My hubby and I spent the week together, catching up on some things that needed doing.
We butchered the meat birds, re-stacked some wood that tipped over, and cut and make a new wood round.
... what else ... I don't remember. How sad is that. Mostly I was trying to decompress and relax when we weren't doing homesteady stuff. Yes, I did do some work in the garden. No, I still haven't recorded a video or taken many photos out there.
Wait, I take that back. I do have a few things to share with you.
Remember all the pepper plants I started back in February because i was so eager to get things started?
I have a big jim pepper, or two, growing. How fun is that?! I have never had peppers this early.
Yesterday morning, before work, I was out in the garden, weeding and marveling at how fast the weeds spring up, and I spotted this little fella on one of the milkweed plants.
I was excited to see this monarch caterpillar. I shared it in a Facebook group and people excitedly told me how to best care for it. Some people were lamenting how they haven't seen as many as they used to. Truthfully, I don't know if I'm up to caring for a caterpillar in the house. I don't usually see many birds over in that area of the yard. It's usually butterflies flitting around.
I mentioned the weeds. Well, the weeds has started coming in the garden and I want to knock those down before I take any other photos or videos.
One of the days we decided to take a walk through the back 20. It was nice to see all that green after the longest winter in recent memory.
Then we came across an area I don't frequent too often because it's kind of swampy.
We were tiptoeing on the moss, and trying to not get our feet wet when I said "Hey, look at that flower.
I've never seen a flower like this before.
I learned these are lady slippers orchids and they are not that common.
My hubby and I are in awe that there is a spot on our land that meets the requirements for these flowers.
My SIL came up for a short visit and we had a great time. She also brought her new puppy with her and he was adorable. He was so busy and wriggly that I didn't get any good photos of him in action.
When he was fast asleep he was usually out like a rockstar.
That face, though. He looked like a little teddy bear.
The chickens didn't know what to make of this creature and my young barred rock roo was on the alert and always trying to figure the puppy out.
Furby, when introduced to the puppy, was nonplussed. (I think I'm using that word correctly). She wasn't too impressed.
Yes, my Furby June is still around. She's three years old now. I can't imagine a time without her. She's given me a few health scares last year. She's getting close to middle age for a chicken, I suppose, and she's starting to slow down a bit. As much as a pampered house chicken can slow down.
Furby still loves watching Kimberly of the Fat Quarter Shop, but she doesn't caterwaul nearly as much if that channel isn't on. Furby stares out the window more now, and gets upset when she sees the other chickens in the front yard, or when they climb up on the front stoop and stare at her. One time she got so upset that she threw up. Apparently she doesn't want them on *her* lawn.
I took a video yesterday of the birds hanging out near the garden area, and Furby was over there, too. She wasn't really with the group, but she was kind of hanging near them.
I got some new glasses! I'm not used to taking selfies, and I feel so awkward taking photos of myself.
They are awesome! I can see! Well, I can always see, but now I can read smaller words more easily and it's not such a strain with the cheater-readers when I'm looking at the computer screen and bouncing back and forth between it and something I'm typing up for work. I've tried using them while I cross stitch and I think I still need the magnification of the cheater readers for seeing those small holes in the fabric.
What else ... Well, this is Wednesday, and I try to stick with the #WIP Wednesday.
I'm still plugging along on my February Month-to-Month. I'm so close to being done!
This one feels like a slog.
Why? Cause I'm pretty sure I've been working on it FOREVER. Now that I'm so close to the end I keep making errors and having to rip out.
Ugh!
Do you see the circled part in the photo?
I'm supposed to stitch some roses and fiddly bits in that area. I keep messing up.
See photo below. Seriously, how hard it is to stitch some roses and fiddly bits? It's usually at the start of where I started stitching that the error happens
Finally! Success! I got the roses done. All that is left is the fiddly bits.
Floss: Using called for Classic Colorworks fancy floss
Colors: Black, pink, red, teal, green
Needle Size: 26
Made For: Myself
This weekend I decided to download patternkeeper to an older kindle fire I have. It took a bit longer than I thought it would, but it was easier than I thought it would be, if that makes sense. The tutorials I was seeing were for newer kindles. I came across a website that explained which files I should use, based on the kindle model and with OS I was using.
Finally, on Sunday night, at 10:45 p.m., I successfully downloaded patternkeeper.
I haven't done too much with the app, yet. I'm kind of just messing around right now with importing charts and seeing how they play with the app.
I did import the snowflake chart I was working on and marked the stitches I've done. I think the app is going to help a LOT with this chart and another full-coverage chart I want to start very soon.
Oh! Before I wrap this blog entry up I wanted to share something really special!
My SIL is a bit crafty, like me, but her focus is on painting and drawing.
When she came up last week she surprised me with an early birthday gift.
Several months ago she asked my hubby for a photo of Furby.
This is what she made for me.
Isn't it wonderful?!
This is the photo she worked from. I took this of Furby March 2022.
The painting my SIL did is so bright and full of light. She did such a nice job. I'm still trying to settle on a spot in the house for it, so it can be seen a LOT. In the meantime, i've got it sitting in a spot where i can admire it when I'm sitting in my spot in the living room.
This type of blog post is for when I have a lot of little things I want to share, or when I feel the need to catch up.
If we were having coffee ... I'd say ... it's been a while. More than a month.
And what a month it was. As what usually happens when I try to do a round up catch-up, I've forgotten half of what I was going to write about.
Let me start with the biggest thing that happened.
We got a tractor!
A John Deere!
It was an adventure driving up to get it. It was one of those things where my husband had been keeping an eye on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for tractors for sale. Long story cut short: One morning before work he saw this gem listed on Facebook and declared it was *the one.*
After getting in touch with the owner we headed off to the U-Haul rental place, then back on the road and hours to go to get it. We drove up through the U.P and back down into Wisconsin. Bought the tractor and then back up through the U.P and into Wisconsin to get it home. It made for a long day but so worth it.
If we were having coffee ... I'd put my mom cap on and do a kid update. My son got to go to two proms. One at his school, and one at his girlfriend's school. They are a cute couple and they had a blast.
Speaking of the boy ... he's now a high school graduate! We are like a week post-graduation and it still seems surreal.
If we were having coffee ... I'd share a quick blather that I have started putting the garden in.
Last weekend my hubby rototilled the garden for me, and we expanded the garden just a bit.
A fresh, blank slate. Full of possibilities. I didn't take photos of it post-planting. That will be rectified soon.
I had my helpers out there, too.
Furby was helping till the soil and adding fertilizer.
My hubby was setting up the expanded area, and laying down mulch.
If we were having coffee ... I'd share about something really cute!
A barred owl has moved into the back twenty. I hear it calling often when I go to tuck the birds in at night. There has even been a few daytime sightings of it. It's so pretty. The one day it was peeking at us between tree branches.
One morning last week my hubby was out in the back yard, taking care of some things. He practically came running back to the house, opened the door and said "you got to come out right now."
I threw some shoes and a jacket on and followed him.
What did I see? A baby!!
It was so freaking cute! It was just sitting there, staring at us, and then it blinked one eye.
We both wanted to pick it up. We were good and did not. Mama was in a tree, nearby. She kept calling and vocalizing, so we knew she was keeping an eye out.
If we were having coffee ... I'd share that crafting and what not has been almost non-existent. You already knew that, though. Because of my no writing for like month. Then with the weather being a heifer, there wasn't much for me to write about on the gardening front, either.
Luckily, my eyesight has improved. It no longer hurts my head when I try to work on my cross stitch.
I've been doing a lot of pondering this last month about my crafting hobbies. Back at the beginning of the year I wrote a list (A LIST!) of all the stuff I wanted to work on this year. I even wanted to do Maynia again. Then life things happened. Boo! In my head I'm trying to work out how to rectify this so I'm a bit more productive in the second part of the year. We'll see how that goes.
