The Spirit of Christmas
Mood:  lyrical
Now Playing: "The Christmas Song" by Perry Como
Carolyn writes how it is true to form that she is getting sick just before Christmas. Well, the same thing is happening here at our place. My boys missed the last three days of school, and now DH is showing signs of illness. I'm way behind on my Christmas shopping, and hope to finish it up this morning, wrap everything this afternoon and then go to my MIL's for dinner tonight, and my parents house tomorrow. But above all, I'm keeping in mind that my children are young and Santa is very much alive in their minds and hearts. This time is so short, and I love the look in the eyes of one of my boys when they see Santa somewhere, or "hear" him on the radio or in a song. Just the other night, while playing a Chipmunks Christmas CD (it isn't as bad as you might think, and the kids love it), Rudolph sings on the CD, and Nate, my youngest got so excited about it. It just makes your heart melt to see such excitment in their faces.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May we all remember the important things in life, and not get caught up in the stuff that isn't important, but tends to drag us down.

A holiday season with mixed feelings
Mood:  rushed
Now Playing: "O Christmas Tree" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio
I had a perfectly wonderful blog entry almost completed yesterday, and I hit a button on the computer and it *poof!*, disappeared. And it was a nice long entry too.

Christmas this year has seen a few ups and downs. The worst thing that has happened is that my friend Jimmie Londagin from True North Farm was killed in a farm accident a week ago Tuesday. It was such a shock to us all, as Jimmie was so filled with life, laughter and love for his friends and animals. Many people from the Sheep Thrills list came out to say goodbye to Jimmie. The funeral was held at the farm, in the fields that Jimmie so loved. While his time on that particular farm was so short, you could tell by just how many of the locals were there that Jimmie had touched with his friendship. While we all shed tears, we also laughed at some of the "new" lyrics we sang to "I'll Fly Away" and to the stories that people shared about Jimmie.

The funeral on Saturday reminded me of what wonderful friends I have though. Seeing Thrillers from far away, like Carolyn, ClaudiaLB, Catherine, Stef, Nancy and Shelley, and those that live closer, like Marcy, Deanna and Robin helped to put things into perspective. The lesson for the week, which unfortunately, had to be given by the Clue Fairy with her Clue-by-Four was "Don't sweat the small stuff....and it's all small stuff!"

Goodbye Jimmie. We'll miss you.

An unwelcome visitor
Mood:  vegas lucky
Now Playing: "A Christmas Festival" Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops
One thing about having animals is that they do require the regular trips to the barn for feeding, watering and general checks. On Thursday night, I made a trip out to the barn to give all the rabbits a treat of some carrots. Having made my way all the way around the barn, and was at the cage with Annie's kids in it, I'm giving them each a carrot, and I hear a rustling noise to my left. I look over (knowing that something is in the barn with me), and see a skunk trundling past me, less than 6 feet away! This little critter walked in through the door behind me, and out the northeast corner of the barn. Want to have a heart attack early? Watch a skunk walk right past you! As soon as he exited the barn, so did I! No more trips to the barn that night, and Winter (one of my bucks) missed out on a carrot break.

Last night I wasn't able to do barn chores until after 6 (again), and this time, my entire chant while outside was "Go away little skunkies, Go away little skunkies". The unnamed bunnies of Annie's are going to start responding to that if I don't start getting all of barn chores done in the daylight.

How cool is this???
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: "Silent Running" by Mike + the Mechanics
Today I'm out in Northampton on Pleasant Street, and crusing past, I see a new shop which has (drum roll please), FABRIC! Valley Fabrics opened their doors in July, and have a gorgeous selection of fabric! Everything from brilliant batiks, to crushed velvet, and handdyed Japanese silks. I was just about drooling while in there. When I was a kid and a teenager, I had quite the fabric stash, as I used to sew many of my own clothes in high school.
So, I had to stop in and check everything out. The owner seems to be striving to be different from the other quilt shops in the area, by offering classes that aren't your normal "lets make a queen sized quilt in 3 days" classes, but are offering classes on things like "Make a Japanese Kimono" or make a quilted handbag. She's even offering classes on making skirts and shirts!
My small purchase was this:
I'll show you later how my fabric knitted handbag is coming along. :) Oh, and that is Trina, Cal's cat. She just had to get into the picture.

Pictures, finally
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: "Dancing in the Sheets" by Shalimar
Topic: Various things
A long time ago, I had promised some pictures. Well, I'm finally getting around to uploading them.

First, my boys at Halloween. Spiderman and "an Army Guy" made an appearance.



Then, here is a picture of the bunnies from Annie's litter. In this pic, they are about 1.5 months old. And there is always one that thinks that anywhere else but in the cage is more interesting. Don't they look adorable? And notice the lovely coats on these kids!



And then this is the picture I took in mid-October of the view of the fall foliage from my barn. Annie, Cassie and Cosmos were able to look out and see this.

Tonight I plan to sit down and knit some. It has been ages since I've been able to do that, and I want to start on that sweater out of the Debbie Bliss book for Cashmerino. The sweater is just gorgeous looking, and hides a multitude of physical flaws. ;-)

Oh happy day!
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: "Wanted Man" by Ratt

We got the news this morning that my dad will be moving to the Soldier's Home this coming week! This is excellent news for us for several reasons, but most of all, it's because that is where my father really wanted to be when his disease progressed to the point that he couldn't be home anymore. While the nursing home staff, like the nurses, aids and social workers have been wonderful as are many of the patients, we feel that our father will be happier in a place where there are more men who all have something in common.

As far as Thanksgiving went, we had a lovely day. I picked my dad up at the nursing home and brought him home. My mother and brother Luke, who is home from California, cooked a 20 pound turkey, made stuffing, mashed potatoes, garlic broccoli, baked sweet potatoes, and Luke's special cranberry relish, which is wonderful! They also baked a coconut custard pie and a lemon meringue pie. I baked a pecan pie and pumpkin pie the night before. And we found that brining a turkey is really work the extra effort. The dinner was enjoyed by all. :)

Today DH and I are spending the day getting caught up on household chores, while we stay home with our two boys. DS1 has an eye infection, so we are housebound until Sunday, when he's no longer contagious, and DS2 is fighting his own cold.

Trust me when I tell you this; you really want to drain an above ground pool when it's much warmer. Brrrrrrrr! Hot chocolate anyone?

Web's haul
Mood:  bright
I'm developing Carolyn's sleep schedule it seems; 4 a.m. is becoming my normal wake-up time, much to my dismay. Although I am getting a lot accomplished in the early morning hours, like laundry.

On Thursday, after our delicious lunch, I did get over to Webs for about an hour. My haul consisted of two bags of their "KFI Cashmereno", which is, according to Webs, the same thing as Debbie Bliss' Cashmerino, but just marketed under another name. Web's has this for $44 per bag, which is about 1/2 the price as the DB label. So, I picked up two bags in a lovely dark purple shade, and the DB Cashmerino book, which has two sweaters in it suitable for this yarn. I also bought two skeins of a dark purple glitzy/eyelash style Berroco yarn for a scarf; either for my niece or myself. I love the color, and the Berroco book #221 has a perfect pattern. My last purchase is a very cute sheep doormat which now resides in our family room.

Today I'm off to go help my friend at the craft fair she's selling at. Carol builds beautiful bird houses, and this is her biggest show of the year, and she's shorthanded. I'll be over at Smith Vocational if anyone wants to stop by and visit with us. :)

Yummm! Bread!
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: "Fantasy" by Aldo Nova
Topic: Daily musings

I'm a carb addict. I love my pasta, bread, sugar, fruit, ice cream, whatever. And was pleasantly surprised to see that a Panera Bread opened up in Hadley. I've been eagerly awaiting this, as my curiosity was peaked when I heard it was not only a bakery, but a cafe too. I *love* eating out!

So yesterday, I suggested to my Mom that we head over to see if Panera was open, and I was thrilled to see that it was. My lunch consisted of Asiago bread with roast beef and horseradish sauce, tomatoes, lettuce and red onions. And I couldn't resist a drink that had peaches and tangelos in it. Fabulous lunch! I'm hooked. So hooked that I had to go back today, and buy two other small loaves of bread (yesterday I purchased a killer sourdough loaf); Sesame Semolina and Kalamata Olive bread. And two orange scones, which I was able to try yesterday, and found it heavenly.

I've found a new place to indulge myself. Heaven!

Nothing inspires
Mood:  hungry
Now Playing: "Joanna" by Kool & the Gang

Due to all the time I have on my hands right now, I thought I might do some knitting. Of course, even with my ever increasingly large stash of yarn and rovings, I couldn't find anything I wanted to work on. The *only* thing that appealed to me was the thought of going to a yarn store, and perusing the pattern books, buying new yarn and needles. I need new stuff like I need my gallbladder back! But, the trip to the yarn store wasn't about to happen, as my youngest son Nate was home sick from preschool yesterday with a cold. We settled in for watching Nick Jr. on tv for a while, until the thought of watching anymore kids cartoons had me leaving the room.

The next thing I decided to do speaks of just how bored I really was; I spent two hours on the floor of my office, going through piles of papers, filing some, and tossing the rest. Deanna and Marcy have a good idea of just what this means (I don't allow *anyone* into my office because it is such a disaster area!). However, after spending this much time sitting and bending over (gently), I was ready to finish. It's cold in my office, and I felt like I had accomplished something, even if it wasn't fiber related.

Maybe today I can take a trip out and do some fiber shopping. This weekend here in Western MA is a big one for small craft fairs, and the huge Old Deerfield Craft Fair at the Big E in West Springfield. I don't know if I'm up to walking the whole fair in W.S., but doing a few small ones would be nice.

I'm back from the hospital
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol

I wound up in the ER on Monday morning, deathly ill (again). Had the gallbladder taken out on Tuesday morning. Home to Mom's on Wednesday, and today, I'm back at my own home. I missed my kids, husband, animals and house very much.

I'm taking it easy; trying to put the pieces back together after having felt so sick for so long, and wondering why none of my original doctors caught this in the past 10 months (you know it should have been when *every* nurse that took care of you, plus your two new doctors ask "Why didn't someone do an ultrasound on you months ago?").

But, hopefully the pain is all over now. I'm recuperating, and taking it easy. I'm tired, but glad it is over!

Give me a week or so to get back to feeling like my old self, then I can get back to taking care of business. :)