Life With The Crew

The Quiet Time

Now that the holiday season is over, the quiet time has begun.  And the cold has set in (at least a little bit).  It is the season of texture, not color.  

And so I guess it is fitting that my latest knitting project is of the same color palette.

We are starting our listening year off with the classic "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" on audiobook.  I remember that I read it in high school, but I didn't remember how good it is.  Always love to find a new story to share with my daughter and I love historical fictions!

Puttering with Ducks

We had a bit of snow this afternoon.  Nothing dramatic, just enough for looking pretty.  I haven't puttered with my camera outside for a while, so I took a break from my knitting and headed out to join the ducks.  It was just enough snow to hide their poop!

And if looking at these snowy scenes makes you a bit chilly, you might want to stop by my Etsy shop.  I'm running a 30% off sale on all wool items until tomorrow!

A December Day

The second day of December.  Five weeks ago my little lady fell off her pony and broke her arm.  The cast came off Monday morning.  It was so great to see her back in the woods again, wild and free, if still a bit cautious.

A moody sky, dried goldenrod waving in the wind, the death of a Monarch, beautiful turkey tails full of tiny details, and lots of late Autumn texture.  I hope your month started off happy.

If you've started your holiday shopping or are in the market for a spruce up to your own Winter wardrobe, consider visiting my Etsy shop.  I have a couple of new items, including this easy to wear red wool cowl.

 

Hello Autumn

Some scenes from the last week of September.  I cleaned out the garden and was pleasantly surprised to see that we have 5 medium size pumpkins that should ripen nicely by the big day in October.  My last ditch sunflower seeds planted in July came to fruition and are smiling sunnily.  I have white and deep purple dahlias that are just coming into their prime and the cosmos and zinnias are so cheerful in the late afternoon sun.  We are getting a handful of red raspberries each day and we harvested our first ever batch of sweet potatoes and have enough for three loaves of quick bread.  Not a bumper crop, but a good start.  My husband surprised us with four 5-gallon buckets of apples that he foraged from trees around town.  They don't look like much and most people would pass them by as wormy old things, but they were nearly perfect inside and made great cider!

My knitting has been a bit slow, but I did take new videos and photos of the items in my shop.  Check them out if you haven't stopped by lately!  We're getting into the 40's here at night, so it is officially SHAWL SEASON!  And it is always baby blanket season for someone!  If anyone is in the market for a gender neutral baby gift, this turquoise blanket is a beautiful color!

And here is a photo of the latest addition to our family (the horse, not the monster beside me).

This Shaya, the Haflinger.  She came from Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue in Maryland.  She is a pretty little lady with a quick step who will keep me on my toes. (My other little lady is wearing a mask because she was in a foul grumpy mood - too much traveling doesn't do a child good.)  My old Thoroughbred, Frank, is doing great for being almost 32 years old, but his current speed of choice is only the walk and I respect that.

Hope your last days of September go out with a splash of Autumnal color!

A September Friday

September is here!  We had a free Friday morning and so we hit the trails (on our bikes instead of on horseback).  After a quick stop at the park, we headed into the gamelands and had them all to ourselves (I love when school is back in session!)  We have been having a very wet end of summer, so the forest is covered with mushrooms and the mosquitoes are horrible.  I mean really horrible!  Our snack break was cut short because taking a bite and slapping mosquitoes was no fun, so we just kept moving.  Other than that, it was a great ride!  Blue skies and some interesting nature finds.  The fungus is white coral fungus - there were many clumps of it growing out of the ground in several areas.  

I've been stocking up my Etsy shop in preparation for the wooly weather season.  If you're in the market for a new wool or alpaca wrap either for yourself or a gift, please stop by!  I also have several smaller baby blankets in both wool and cotton.  

Have a happy weekend! 

 

A White April

There seems to be so many trees in bloom at the moment with white blossoms - one of them being this cherry in my backyard.  Love it!  It was at its peak the past couple days and now it is "snowing" in the yard.  

The other color of the month is green of course - green everywhere!  I have been puttering in the garden in between riding at the barn, homeschooling time, and adventures to see what kinds of birds and amphibians we can find in the woods around us.  After being in our home for 15 years, I have reached a point where the perennials are doing their thing and I don't have much to do except keeping on top of the weeds.  The yard could always use some updated landscaping, but the horse and pony fund is more important at the moment.  

Speaking of green, I still have this lovely "Sprout" green shawl for sale in my Etsy shop.

In the Middle

A quick drop-in here at the middle of the month.  As is expected, March is a little of this, a little of that.  The snow is gone from the backyard finally, but the lakes are slow to lose the ice.  Having a difference of 30 degrees between night and day makes it difficult for knowing when to blanket the horse and pony.  Being chilly isn't going to kill them, but I think that if I was 93 years old, I probably would like a little something around my shoulders in the middle of a 30 degree night.  (Frank is 31, which in "horse years" is 93.)  But the grass is getting greener every day!  One of our chickens is a loner and has been jumping the fence and going on walkabouts in the yard.  She didn't bother doing it all winter, so she must be able to see the salad bar on the other side and decide it is worth the effort!

Below are a couple of photos from last week - in the game lands and at Shaver's Creek.  The stone foundation is from an old homestead that is now part of the nature center's trail system.

I've been knitting as fast as I can, trying to get my Etsy shop stocked before gardening season comes and I'll have to be outside more.  I have two new baby blankets in the shop in Spring colors and all of the alpaca items are 30% off.  My shawl is always at hand when I'm sitting inside - I don't know how I kept my neck warm before I became a shawl lover!

Pretty in Pink

Happy Friday morning everyone!  As I write this, the world outside is filled with green - grass, leaves, bushes, trees, ferns - a sea of green!  The red and gray squirrels have been squabbling at the feeder.  My daughter has been birding in the backyard and saw a Common Yellowthroat warbler - I'm so proud that she can accurately identify birds (and gets excited about it!)  The woodstove sat idle for two days, but was brought back into action last night and I am wearing my alpaca sweater.  I just finished listing my newest knitting project in my Etsy shop.  It is a pretty pink cardigan for toddler girls, size 2T-3T.  It is made with O-Wool's organic cotton and organic merino wool yarn, which I just love!  

And here is another dose of pink - the first Pink Lady's Slipper orchid that we found in the woods this week.  Have a great weekend!

Snow Squalls, Seeds, Stories, and Sweaters

Today was a great day and the past week was productive!  For the past three weeks, we have been doing Sunday family mornings at the barn and ending our ring work with a trail ride up the hill and into the woods.  With each week, the new pony gets more used to being a little girl's pony instead of an adult eventing pony.  Kermit's worse habit is having roaming lips - that includes grass, clothing, and whatever else is in reach.  I am not used to such a grabby horse (my own horse is a well refined gentleman TB) and Kermit's soft loose lips are both amusing and annoying.  However, he is very tolerant and lets the small person on his back move all around up there, doing around the world, riding without stirrups, attempting to ride without reins and stirrups...

It was a productive week in the garden, despite the snow squalls.  I was lucky to get my seed order in at High Mowing Seeds before they shut down new orders until the end of the month.  My potato order from Wood Prairie Farm way up in Maine near the Canadian border arrived super quick!  And I was able to place a pick-up order at my local flower shop for onion sets, so the garden is filling up pretty quickly.  Greens, spinach, potatoes, beets, carrots.  Because the Winter was mild, I had some carrots over winter and their leafy green tops bring some cheery green to the otherwise bare garden.  The garlic crop is already 5 inches high and it looks like most of the herbs survived.  Comfrey is taking over my yard!  I knew that it spread when I planted it, but the extent of the spreading is crazy.  Oh well, it is good for the soil when it decomposes and it gets very pretty little blue flowers in early Summer.

On the knitting front, I completed an open front cardigan for girls size 4-5T with an owl design.  I used O-Wool's Balance yarn, a mix of organic cotton and Merino wool and I am now a convert.  I don't like straight cotton - too crunchy for my liking - but this yarn is very soft with a nice drape.  If you're interested, it is listed in my Etsy shop.  Also, I sent out my first custom order and received a positive review, so YEAH!!

There are of course changes that we are dealing with, but overall, life is good.  We have chickens to play with, great audiobooks for free (Alice in Wonderland and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm were two from this week), horses to ride, and woods to explore.  I hope you are able to find something good in each day.

 

Two New Things

I have been knitting like crazy lately, but not for myself.  There will soon be a new member in the family - the furry family that is.  As of April 1st, we will be the proud owners of a furry white/muddy pony named Kermit.  He has very kind eyes, is steady and stable, and will be the perfect match for my not so little babe to grow up with.  

Good ponies aren't free and money trees don't grow in Pennsylvania, so that is why I have begun selling my knitted items on Etsy.  My newest listing is for a 100% wool baby blanket in a pretty coral pink color with white picot trim.  The blanket is the perfect size for a baby stroller or carrier.  

The first of March is here, but it isn't quite Spring yet and it doesn't feel like it considering that this was one of our coldest weekends of the whole Winter.  But the light is longer and stronger and we know by the flurry of shedding pony hair that Spring will be here soon.

My Etsy Shop:  Warm in Wool Designs