Gnome, gnome on the range...

(Yes, I like puns... Ahem.)

I received some yarn from a friend, and have been trying to decide what to do with it.  I like the colors, but I didn't really have a project "in mind" for the stuff.  She was a friend of mine, and loved the Renaissance faire.  We would do goofy stuff there, and she had given me this yarn while at faire.

So, I have had it sitting in my craft room, just sitting, with me looking at it.  Not exactly screamingly exciting...

I happened to be on one of the knitting forums, the internet was sort of working, and up popped this gnome picture.  Then more, and more pictures.  I was intrigued.  They were cute, didn't look too hard to make... I would probably knit them, I gathered enough from the photo to make up one of my own...

I haven't decided when I will make some, but I found out, that several vendors, and others, hide things for children to find when they are at faire.  Considering that kids are all OVER the woods at the faireground, it makes them have a little more surprise. 

And that's when I came up with it.  I want to make a few gnomes for me, but...

I am going to make a few of them with a little tag, it will say something like, "Hi, I am a gnome looking for a home, would you take me in, and give me a name?"  And then hide them at faire, and see if any end up with new homes.


I think she would have gotten a kick out of it...

Leaping into projects...

On the left side of my blog, I decided (once I found it, eye roll, my brain is still on dial up, I guess...) a list of things I have knit.  I will also put other items, crochet, sewing, woodwork, etc..  I hope to put up photos, too, except for the hats I put on the list, I forgot to photograph them before I donated.  I will have to see if the gal still has them...

Anywho, that list is for this year, so I will see how long, or not, it gets.

Oh, and it's going to be for finished items only.  I have a terrible case of startitis, and I want to finish some stuff, before I make lots more. 

Sure I will.  😉

PICTURES!!! Trip with friends

 Husband and I went out a day or so ago, and I managed to get some pics, which I could actually upload!

I couldn't find my bird book, but I think this is the Common Loon.  There were a few of these about, and I think I saw about 5 bald eagles, and geese like crazy.  Big bird watching day!  I was lucky to get this shot, my camera doesn't do well with 'action' shots... 

Where we stopped for lunch, we had a bouquet near our table.  

Wild iris are blooming around here quite a bit. 

A goose couple that were not wild about our pacing them with the boat.

So they left.  I wish the water hadn't been lit so, I think you would have seen them better.

Our friends brought their pet, she wasn't sure about us until after lunch, 

she was given parts of our sandwiches, we were very much in her good graces after!

(And Happy Mother's Day, Mom!)

W is for...

Water.

Obviously, the drinking kind is important.

Let's face it, my tea would be a little less enjoyable if I had to consume it like a chew toy...

But, I love to be around water.  Rivers, the ocean, ponds, I even like listening to the itty-bitty attempt at a creek that runs off of our hill.  (A glorified ditch, but I don't want to hurt its feelings.. Heh...)  But the sound, the smell, just the feel of being near water relaxes me.

If pictures are worth a thousand words, here's three grand for you.  

K is for Kodak. (c)

Cameras seem to change more slowly than some technologies...

My Grandma M. had a Brownie camera.  Quite frankly, I don't recall her ever using it, if she did, I was fairly small, at any rate.  I like looking at some of the old black and white photos she has, with the pretty little scalloped edges.  Later, they became the clean, straight edges that my photos had.

The cameras I think of when I had photos taken were with the flash cube.  Oh, my, you didn't want to look into one of those things!  Even a quick glance was enough to have blue-green spots for a while, making it look like you had entered a disco somewhere.  Especially if it was a group gathering, pop, flash, pop, pow, flash.  And then REMOVING that little cube!  I think putting a finger on a red hot grill couldn't be much worse...

Family would take the requisite 4 pics, then wait to get the cube removed to take another four.  Sometimes, if someone was impatient, a hot pad would be employed.  I wondered if the camera would melt, if you took too many pictures.

(With one or two of my family, I hoped so, but it never happened...)

Then Mom got this cool rig, you took the photo, and it pooped out this little card, and I sat fascinated. A gloomy shadow formed, then took shape, then finally became a nice picture, all finished and ready for the photo album.  I took a few pictures that way.

Most of the photos I took at that time were of my animals.  Which, didn't usually turn out too well.  (If I'd saved them, I probably have the world's largest collection of cat derrieres.)  I didn't take too many photos, it seemed like I had other things I wanted to do, and the one camera I took to camp was dropped in the water, (along with the owner), and ruined, and I just lost the inclination.

Much later, after I was married, Husband and I picked up a digital camera.  Other than the one I have is rather slow, I really enjoy taking pictures.  I don't feel like I am wasting film with a bad shot, and I don't have to buy reams of cubes to take pictures.  Kind of a battery hog, but I guess you have to have some method of getting from point A to B.   

But my animals still seem to be my major focus...

But not as many cat... butts, at any rate.  I am unsure if this is an improvement...

C is for Choke...

When I first learned to drive, Mom and Dad wanted me to have a sturdy vehicle.  This is how I became the proud owner of a 1953 Chevy pickup.  Now, starting this vehicle was a bit different than just turning the key.

You pulled the choke out, about halfway, then turned the key, tap the gas... Just a little!  Then you pressed the starter button on the right side, on the floor.  Always started for me, even on the coldest days.  Dad explained it didn't have a solenoid, so you had a more manual method of getting it to go.

But what I remember most is looking at the choke button.  It had scratch marks all the way 'round it.  I kept wondering about it, none of the other vehicles on the place had scratches all around any of the buttons... Hmm.  I asked Dad, whence the scratches?

Turns out, it was one of my female relatives, (right now, I can't recall if it was a great-grandma or auntie...), and she had longer fingernails.  Reaching for the choke, she would consistently tap her nails on the paint, digging in a bit each time.  Obviously, she drove it quite a bit, because there were shiny little edges on the sides, contrasting to the gray paint of the interior.

The truck also had vacuum wipers.  This was not the world's greatest thing, if you were going uphill, you didn't have wipers, the vacuum was too busy making the truck go.  But, man, oh, man, I thought the wipers were going to be torn off going DOWN hill!

That truck saved me and Mom, but from time to time, I still think of the bits and pieces that made up my time with it.  Odd how things remind you of family...

*******************

Since I can't remember if I have had any pics of late, here are a few...

I finally remembered to take a picture of my Iknitarod finish.  (And no, I still haven't finished the last hat, I have been working on a few other projects, even one for... GASP... Me!)  So, at least I have a good start for getting the stuff in by December... 50+ more to go... (sigh.)

Hope springing eternal in spring that I will get one of the hens broody.  There are 5 marble eggs, and at least the hens think it's a good spot to put more in... Hopefully someone will get the bright idea to SET.  Hmph.

Tried to get a close up of Chattanooga, but he kept moving, so this is the best one I could get... But he is turning into a handsome bird.  And finally figuring out how to do his job.  I was a bit nervous about having the two roosters, but they seem to have turned into good buddies.  I haven't seen them fight, except, oddly where food is involved.  Mon Ami eats ALONE!! 

Mon Ami, on the other hand, seems to know what a camera is, and will wait when he sees me holding the camera out.  I have a bird that likes paparazzi!

Here is some of the repairs we worked on yesterday.  Husband said there are about 3 or so more to do, but once they are up, the roof should be pretty braced.  Actually, the support brace on the right might get moved up some, Husband thinks it's too low, and might catch the top of vehicles...  Glad he's doing it, not me.

And I am so not in the perky department today... Last night, about one-ish, Husband sits up suddenly, sniffing.  "Do you smell smoke?!??"  I panic, and sit up, sniffing about.

No...

He sniffs again.  Huh.  Guess my nose must be off.  'Night.

And he was out again like a light.  I finally relaxed enough to get back to sleep about 4.  Juuusst getting into a good Z mode, and BOOOM!  

A huge explosion by the bedroom window, and every dog within a mile goes into terrified barking... 6:22 a. m.... I wondered if it was a transformer exploding, or someone with a shotgun.

We never did find out what caused it... But, that ended any attempted sleep for the morning.

And Sammy, the neighbor's pit bull, was STILL barking, about an hour later. Sammy will never have to worry about deep thoughts.  That dog better be glad he's a cute, lovable dingbat, because he is the biggest dork in this county.