Showers of blessings and lots of rain

A lot has been going on here, including some big blessings.

I've had 'hay on the brain' for awhile, because we clearly didn't have enough and it isn't going to get any easier to find. There's a place at the bottom of our hill that usually has "HAY" and a phone number spray-painted on a sheet of plywood, so I decided to call. After buying one bale each of the two types the farmer has for the horses to try, I bought 55 more. The quality appears to better than the two 'off-brands' we bought earlier this year, the price is reasonable, and the location couldn't be much closer. Whew, what a blessing for now, and perhaps a good resource for the future (our favorite hay supplier is in his 80s and cutting back).

The remedial construction our next-door neighbors to the north had to have done is wrapping up, and last week they texted to say there was plenty of room in their huge dumpster if we wanted to get rid of anything. Boy, did we, thanks in large part to the shop project! Rick took multiple tractor bucket loads over, and our place does look better now – if you look past the multiple dead vehicles. 🙄 Hey, I'll take any improvements made.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from someone interested in buying a few sheep. I kept my hopes in check, as inquiries don't always, or even often, lead to sales. But this one has; I received the deposit yesterday. Hurray; three ewes are moving south next month, which will allow me to consolidate the remaining ewes into one group who should get along better thanks to who is leaving.

Sunday Poppy and I competed in our final agility trial of the year. We had a great time; the club that put it on pulls out all the stops, with personalized Christmas ornaments for each dog, a toy chest from which a gift for each dog can be chosen, a photo booth, and great raffle prizes. Poppy got three qualifying scores plus a first place out of four classes and a new chew toy, and I brought home a new ornament and a raffle prize!

Once again, some awesome volunteers in the Jenkins spindle-lovers' community on Ravelry organized and created a December fiber swap/fiber Advent calendar.

I so enjoy the daily opening, spinning, and plying of these small and varied fiber surprises, pairing them with different Jenkins spindles, even if it means less knitting time on my Dala sweater. The current weather is helping, though; it's been too wet to ride, so that means more time to knit and spin. Rick is also gone for a few days to the annual horse vet convention, and that gives me more time as well. But when he gets home, we are going to have to do some 'remedial construction' of our own; I noticed this morning that we have leaks over the daylight basement's sliding glass doors and the two east-facing windows on either side of it. 😳 It's always something!

That's it for now from . . .

Caps, clouds, and near-catastrophies

Squeezing in one last November post while the photos are fresh.

the last colorful leaves near the front door in yesterday's sunshine

Yesterday afternoon Rick and I took the dogs for a walk. I noticed several different 'textures' of clouds and kept stopping to take photos of them. We passed the place where I saw the magnificent Amanita mushrooms a week ago and found a couple, then noticed other kinds of fungi along our route and took photos of those, too. Look up, look down; there's beauty all around!

But there can be danger, too. There is a place along the road that has two big Great Pyrenees inside what I would consider an inadequate fence, based on how I've heard they can jump. They always run up and down the fence, jumping against it and barking ferociously at Poppy, who trash-talks right back while we keep to the far side of the road and hurry by. Yesterday, one clambered OVER the fence and raced across the road towards Poppy. Her harness has a sturdy handle on top so I scooped her into my arms and turned my back to the LGD, screaming for Rick's help. He worked hard to block the dog from getting to us until the owner ran out and grabbed the dog's collar. (Fortunately it showed no interest in Leo, who was still on the ground.) I probably burned more calories in those long seconds than I burned on the rest of the walk!

While knitting away on my sweater during a much quieter period yesterday, I noticed a dropped stitch . . . many rows down . . . in the colorwork yoke. I think it speaks to my maturity as a knitter that I didn't panic, I didn't rip back, and I didn't put it in time-out. After analyzing the situation, I laddered the stitch up, first on the right side of the fabric and then on the back side, until I could return it to the left needle where it could be knit together with another stitch of the same color to maintain the correct stitch count. I was very pleased with myself. 😊 The eagle-eyed might notice a slight tension difference in that horse, but fortunately it's on the back and not the front of the sweater. Oh, and I did finish the colorwork yoke tonight!

That's it for November from . . .

Giving thanks

'Tis the season. I hope all of you, no matter where you are or who you're with, take some quiet moments to count your blessings. All the problems, craziness, and sorrow will still be there when you're done counting, but it does help to think about more positive things for awhile . . . every day.  😉

Our Thanksgiving plans were late in the making (such are the complications of blended families), but in the end we gathered at my MIL's house for dinner yesterday. My contributions were homemade crescent rolls (a perennial request), one of Costco's giant pumpkin pies, and a rather impressive, if I do say so myself, salad of homegrown butternut, radicchio and escarole from a neighbor's garden, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, and feta. I took my knitting along for any down-time, but didn't work on it until we returned home. My short-term goal to get through the colorwork yoke before the calendar turns to December, and I think I'll make it. The horses have been revealed; I'm pretty tickled with it!

before the fancy salad bowl

Last Saturday night we were blessed by our son's thoughtful and generous joint birthday gift, tickets for all three of us to a Straight No Chaser concert at the Elsinore Theatre in Salem. I've been singing scraps of songs and grinning on and off ever since; it was fabulous, great fun as always. And I love that they encourage taking and posting photos and videos, so here you go:

I am thankful for getting some more medical stuff taken care of this year, since after my knee replacements my out-of-pocket obligations have been met. After five weeks of PT for my sciatica without resolving my symptoms, I was referred for a lumbar MRI and was able to get in for that right away. Now I'm trying to get into a pain management practice for a consultation (at least) and possible treatment (likely an injection) before the end of the year.

I am thankful for beauty. The sensory feast of fall is abating, but it is still lovely to me in its more muted phase.

entrance color, before the 'fall'

HUGE, beautiful mushrooms just up the hill, seen on a walk with Poppy

Mt. Hood, across the Willamette Valley, taken from horseback

all of these are from just one changing sunrise

I'm not counting blessings that haven't happened yet, but I'm encouraged by an email exchange with someone interested in buying three ewes. That would be a boon in several ways, including being able to merge the 'barn ewes' with the bigger group, and easing the demand on our too-meager hay supply.

Speaking of sheep, I've been swapping out tight coats for bigger ones as I can. The other night Bitta got a fresh coat, and even though it was after dark I snapped photos of her and Bauble mid-side. Considering that Bitta is black and Bauble is a black gulmoget, the photos turned out surprising well!

Thankful for the readers of this blog from . . .