More Snow!

We had another snow, but with more blowing wind.

Would you like to go for a bike ride?

 

The trees are beautiful!

We had our first speckled egg yesterday!

Thanks for viewing my blog!  Blessings to you and yours!  Dawnie

Snow Again!

It is snowing again and the flakes are huge!  These look 1/2 to one inch in size.  I had to look up the largest snow flake on record.   On January 28, 1887, at a ranch by Fort Keogh, Montana, the recorded snow flake was 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick.  That is more like an iceberg to me.  LOL

Happy Winter Day!  Dawnie

A little of this and a little of that...........

It was such an unusual week.  We had 14.2" of snow.  I had a snow day!!! 

I purchased a few pair of slouch boot socks.  I special ordered them from Catherine Cole Studio---on Etsy.  I wanted to crochet around the top and let them peek out of the top of my boots.  These are beige tweed and were made with a lace pattern.  I crocheted a white mohair and silk yarn ruffle along the top. The socks were photographed on the snow since I had plenty of it available. 

Our chickens are not producing many eggs, so I save them until I get enough to have an egg eating night.  Most of our chickens are not old enough to lay eggs.  Also, the production is down in the winter time.  Tonight was an egg night!

Just to get you thinking about spring................

 

Thanks for viewing my blog!  Blessings to you and yours!  Dawnie

Kids

Sometimes kids will say something out of the blue and throw you for a loop.  Today my son thanked me for being there for him and for his upcoming graduation in May.  He started the subject off with, "don't cry mom, but I "  His father passed away 4 years ago and he must have been thinking and planning the future.  Sometimes he is so sweet!  You never know if you will get a nice comment or a comment full of colorful language.

Chicken Pictures

Valentine Basketball Homecoming

Yesterday I attended a basketball game between the students and the faculty from Chisholm Life Skills Center.  I was at the game because my son and his fiance were both nominated for Queen and King.  The game was so much fun to watch!  The Chisholm Life Skills Center has clubs and if you are a student and interested in playing basketball, you will play basketball as long as there is room for you in the club and you are physically able to do so.  Some of the students were very tall and others were very short.  Some were great players and others were not.  It is wonderful to see that all the kids in the club get to play.  The cheerleaders are not voted onto the squad by popularity.   It is the same way for the girls that want to cheer.   If they are physically able to do so and there is room in the club, those that want to be cheerleaders become cheerleaders.  One of the girls had to be directed on the way to face to lead the cheer.  It is so refreshing to see all of the kids support each other.  All of us have a set of talents unique to us.  Everyone should be encouraged to do what he or she desires to do and have abilities to perform.  My son was the first runner up or a Prince.  His fiance was crowned the Queen!

Thanks for viewing my blog!  Dawnie

Boot Buddies

Boot Buddies

 

(I think they are commonly called Boot Cuffs or Boot Toppers)

For my model, I used wool sock yarn and size 3 double pointed needles.  I did not worry about the gauge, but you may want to up-size or down-size your needles if you knit particularly tight or loose. 

Cast on 59 stitches.  Row 1 through Row 4:  Knit every stitch.

Row 5:  slip the stitch as to knit (you are making an edge stitch),

*Knit two stitches together, yarn over, knit one stitch.  Repeat this pattern from the *across the row, knit one stitch. 

Row 6:  slip one stitch as to purl, *purl two stitches together, yarn over, purl one stitch.  Repeat this pattern from the *across the row, purl one stitch. 

Repeat rows 5 and 6 until your piece is the length you desire, ending with a purl row.  I made mine about 5 inches, but they stretched a little when blocked. 

Ruffle Row 1:  slip one stitch as if to knit, knit in front and in back of each stitch across the row until you get to the last stitch, and knit the last stitch.

Ruffle Row 2:  slip one stitch as if to purl, purl each stitch across the row.

Ruffle Row 3:  slip one stitch as if to knit, knit every stitch across the row.

Ruffle Row 4:  Repeat Ruffle Row 2.

Ruffle Row 5:  Repeat Ruffle Row 1.

Ruffle Row 6:  Repeat Ruffle Row 3. 

Ruffle Row 7:  Slip one stitch as if to knit, knit the next stitch.  Slip the first stitch over the second stitch.  Knit the next stitch and slip the previous stitch over the second stitch on the needle.  Repeat this across the row until you have only one stitch left.  Pull the yarn through securing the stitch and tie the yarn off.   I personally find the bind off row to be easier to do when I slip stitch each stitch off of the needle.  Work the way that makes it comfortable for you.   

Finishing:  Fold the right sides of the piece together and use a tapestry hook or a crochet hook to seam the edges together.    If you use a wool yarn, I suggest you block the piece.   

I found that the Boot Buddy looked better when I wore it inside out and allowed the ruffle to overflow around the boot top.  I hope you enjoy your the Boot Buddies as much as I do mine.

This is an original pattern by Dawn Jones.  If you have questions or problems with this pattern, please email me.  dawn@custercottage.com

Happy Valentine's Day

A was telling us how hard she worked on her cleaning job.  She cleaned in a church.  She said she cleaned the sanctuary, the men's bathroom, the women's bathroom, and the un-sex bathroom.  (unisex) I just thought it was a hoot!  It was one of those innocent, naive, and blonde things all rolled together.  LOL  Thanks for viewing my blog!
Blessings to you and your family!  Dawnie

3 Color Shawl

Sometimes it is so much easier to make knitted or crocheted items using one color of yarn or one which has multiple colors in the design of the yarn.  I hesitated to place an edging on the shawl I am making, but it added so much to the beauty with three colors.  First, I knitted a plain shawl with a mohair/cashmere/wool blend royal blue yarn.  Once that was completed, I crocheted around twice on two sides with a double crochet stitch.  On the first row I made three double crochet stitches in each stitch, so there would be a ruffle.  On the second row I only crocheted one stitch in each of the previous row's double crochet stitches.  I used a medium blue mohair and silk yarn for the third row and I double crocheted along the two sides.  Along the final row, I used a pale blue mohair and silk yarn and I single crocheted each stitch and followed it with three chain stitches, thus giving the edge tiny loops.   I am almost done with the shawl, but I wanted you to see the difference between the use of two edge colors and with the addition of the third edge color.  When the shawl is tied on, it gives the look of a flower.  What have you been working on?

Blessings to you and yours!  Dawnie

It happened again!

For the second time, the neighbor dog tunneled under the fence and attacked my chickens.  The door was open to the chicken coop and the chickens were free ranging in my back yard.  They do not get to do this as often as I would like for them to.  The neighbor dog went into the coop after killing one chicken in the yard and damaging feathers on another one.  He killed one chicken inside of the coop and injured one which died soon after.  By this time my son grabbed the dog and held him off of the rest of the chickens.  I don't know how he was able to grab the dog by the collar and not be attacked.  The dog is a Huskey and weighs about 40 pounds.  I don't think she is fully grown.  All 3 of the chickens that died were under a year old.  The oldest one was a great egg layer.  We had tree trimming in our area today for Westar.  Asplundh was the tree trimming company and they were very helpful.  The same gentleman that moved the cone for me to leave my driveway this morning happened to pop his head over the fence to see what was going on.  He contacted the neighbor to come get his dog and followed it up with a 911 call.  (I did not know about the 911 call at this time.)  When the neighbor came to get his dog I informed him of the problem.  I told him that if it happens again, animal patrol would be getting his dog and putting her down.  (I didn't know if they would or not, but I was angry.)  I raised my voice when I was talking to him and I was standing in my back yard during the conversation.  Can you believe that he asked me to not raise my voice while I talked to him?  Not a, yes mam or I am sorry for your inconvenience mam, was uttered.  He sure as shit hasn't learned how to talk to his elders.  (Just a little side note here, I am about 5 foot 3 inches tall, almost 60 years old, and I am about as big around as I am tall.  I have an Elementary Education degree and I know how to give that stern look.  He is a clean cut, husky guy about 25 years old.)   I told him that I was in my yard where his dog just killed 3 of my chickens.  I had a permit for my chickens and he was in the wrong as the dog owner.  I went on to say that  I have lived in my home for 19 years and I had the right to raise my voice when he was having to pick up his dog at my house.  He did say he was sorry as he left-----he was about half way down the driveway when he did so.  

We have decided that Ruby Rainbow, the older hen, must have 9 lives since she has survived two attacks.

The police came and observed the situation.  They called Animal Patrol since it was out of their area of expertise and jurisdiction. When I talked to the dog owner, I had no idea that 911 had been called.  Animal Patrol came and the kids delt with them since I had to get back to work.  The lady visited with me on the telephone.  She was very kind.  She informed me that I could press charges and have up to two years to do so.  I told her if they paid restitution and made steps to take care of the fence so his dogs would not get out, I would not press charges.  I know and work with the parents of the dog owners.  The father came by and visited with my kids.  He basically said that you can't dangle a steak in front of the dogs and not expect them to eat. 

My daughter-in-law looked over the fence about 30 minutes before the chicken attack because she heard an unusual noise.  The father of the neighbors told me on the phone that her actions of wanting to visit with the dogs made them aware that the chickens were in the back yard and that is what prompted the dog to dig under the fence.  Why is it that people have to accuse you of something wrong when they are caught in the wrong?  The lady from Animal Patrol also asked us if we had a rooster because the dpg owners told her that they heard a rooster crow.  Wichita allows you to have chickens, but not roosters because they don't just crow in the morning.  It is common to think you have pullets or young female chickens and end up with a rooster or two out of a bunch.  We thought we had a pullet and over a two week period, he almost doubled in size and started to crow and LIKE the girls.  Big Buff now lives in the country where he can crow all he wants.  This is my second example of when caught with your hand in the cookie jar, you have to tell on all of the others that may have had his or her hand in the jar too.

I have photos and a video, but I don't think many of my readers want to see dead chickens.  The video actually shows one of the chickens loosing all of her fight as she wiggles and holds her mouth open.  I do understand that our society eats animals for meat.  We treat the animals well and then kill them and eat them.  We are not going to eat our hens.  Our hens are for producing eggs and of course we treat them well.  I think each egg is worth more than ten dollars.  Alomg with feed and water, we them organic flax seed, organic wheat sprouts that I grow, meal worms, and calendula petals.