The Heart Wants What It Wants

Emily Dickenson nailed that quote, I'd say. My life feels like it is in the middle of a big stall. I have plenty to do, many responsibilities to take care of, and time actually does exists to accomplish the tasks at hand. Yet somehow I find myself frittering away the time in the most inconsequential ways. So naturally, it appears that I need to start a new project. Because a striped sweater with remnant yarn from the Painted Bricks Cowl was something I dreamed of for the last year. The Flax sweater has been in my Ravelry queue since last January. But I felt so guilty starting yet another big project when there were so many other things to do, starting with four unfinished knits. 

So I decided to test the theory and lined up my yarn in the order I wanted to knit it, very mindful that I might be trading one time-frittering strategy for another. The colors remind me of a sweater I had on my Sears catalog wish list in the 80's. Retro-chic for the win.  And then Friday night I cast on...

Saturday was spent mostly knitting, and I got a decent chunk of the yoke finished. It is a DELIGHT to sit and churn through these rows! Let's not forget that I like to knit while my husband watches TV that I don't really care about. The pattern offers just enough to keep me interested, but also lets me drift into another sphere of attention if there is a good commercial on. Looks like the heart wanted a sweater, and it is now getting that new sweater. 

And... I have "help"... HAHA! China Cat is mostly interested in sitting on my lap sleeping, but we did enjoy some "recreation" while I was measuring the progress. 

Today I made a concerted effort to knit AND do some of things on the to-do list. But I flipped that list idea. Instead of making a to-do list, I made a DONE list as I was finishing each item. I have two big things to finish this evening/tomorrow morning, but there are 11 items on the DONE list. Listening to my heart may have just broken the spell on my procrastination. I'll keep you posted.

Stay safe, friends! Go do something that your heart wishes you would.  :-)

Happy New Year Visit

Fun little visit for New Years weekend!

Introductions…

Are you trustworthy?

 

The alpacas enjoyed sniffing someone else’s hand and cell phone for a change.

A former student who goes to university nearby finally was able to stop by to meet the alpacas. After feeding them grain, she had definitely charmed Moonstar.

 Hope you got a kiss this amazing for your new year, too! All the best for 2022. Mwah!

Toph Hat

I have to confess that I am scrolling way too long on my Instagram feed. My algorithm is favoring knit designers, test knitters, indie dyers, and other fiber creatives. My Ravelry favorites have increased exponentially. 

One fine day (Labor Day weekend) I decided to untether and actually knit one of my discoveries. This hat is called Toph by Woolly Wormhead, a designer who specializes in hats knitted vertically. 

  

I used DK yarn from Shady Grove Alpacas Moonstar, and used up another skein of DK Diakeito Diavoyage. 

My row gauge was a little tight, so the hat fits like a beanie. At first I was a little sad that there is no slouch, but I really enjoy the close fit and extreme warmth!

One obligatory shot with Moonstar and new side-kick, Peggy-O. 

 

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you are celebrating a joyful and safe holiday in spite of the COVID-19 Omicron variant. *big sigh* Here's sending you some positive vibes for negative test results so you can enjoy the egg nog!

Hello, Peggy-O!

In late September we visited the Big Pine Acres huacaya and sheep farm just outside of Lafayette, IN. We were immediately greeted by this fluffy ball of love: a cria that needed bottle feeding. He was generous with the kisses!

We also met a cria that was just a day old, with mom. They were both humming away a mile a minute.

Jolly the llama needed some petting as well. It seemed like every single animal on this farm was just delighted to interact with us. 

Jolly told me a few secrets. I'm glad there was no spitting in my ear.

At feeding time, I had the honor of giving the bottle. It was much trickier than anticipated due to the required angle of the cria's neck and combined with a bottle let the milk out very quickly. 

After looking over the stock and admiring the many coveted gray alpacas, The Farmer decided to think about which one we would get. He also requested a breeding for the mom of the bottle-fed cria above. 

And yesterday, she got dropped off! This is Sierra Mist, who was immediately nicknamed Peggy-O, because, you know, The Grateful Dead song name is a must-have at Shady Grove.

She didn't really want to get out, and needed a little dragging to get going.

But soon there was sniffing, spitting, exploring, and making new friends. She was super excited to get some grain!

We are delighted to finally have a gray alpaca and have a few fingers crossed for a gray cria next year.

As a special treat, the former owners gifted me a skein of gray yarn from another animal on their farm. Such a sweet gesture. The yarn is so so soft!

And as if these weren't enough amazing alpaca activities for one week, my colleague and office-mate made me this fantastic shirt on her new T-shirt maker. Big thank you shout out to Dani! I am so lucky to have so many wonderful people and animals in my life!

Good-bye to the Great Greta

Today is a joyful day at Shady Grove Alpacas (more on that in a while), which underscores the need to finally finish this sad post about our dear Greta. Greta was quite possibly the best alpaca mom, who also had to deal with multiple cria losses. As with many other moms, she stood on the sides while the crias were center stage to the action in the pictures. I regret making that choice as a photographer, because she was such an AMAZING mom. She always kept in touch with her babies by humming and sniffing them. When Greta had a cria, the barn was filled with music - my favorite!

August 5th was our first trip to the Purdue Animal Hospital. Our Bella had been taken here by our neighbors while we were away several years ago. Greta had not been doing very well all day, and she was not able to get up for most of the day. We were suspecting the deer parasite, and thought she was pregnant. It was right around the time she was supposed to have a cria.  

As usual, there was a new adventure in alpaca transportation... Yes, you are looking into the trunk of my Subaru Imprezza. We lifted and slid her right in, since she wasn't getting up. When it became clear to me that I could sit in the back seat with her, I decided to hold her neck up on the two-hour ride there. That is one heavy neck!!

We had to wait outside due to COVID restrictions while the vet did the tests. Greta turned out to have renal failure, heart disease, and was not pregnant after all. The vet suggested that we euthanize her, because she probably would not make it until morning. So we drove home alone. She lived a great life, and while 15 isn't as old as some alpacas get, it was safe to assume that we had lost an animal to old age. 

While I normally would post some pictures of her life with us, I decided to tag several posts that has her as a part of the action somewhere.  Do enjoy the past posts HERE.

Rest easy, Greta - 2007 to August 5, 2021

The Queen's Fireworks

Usually I spend my time at my mom's house helping out around the house and garden, even during a short visit passing through from one location to another. But at the end of July, we just celebrated a flower fireworks for the whole evening. Below is a 50+ year-old Selenicereus grandflorus, or Queen of the Night cactus, that she got from a friend many years ago. The flowers on this amazing plant open for only one night. It takes about three hours to get from closed to open, and then the blooms mostly close by morning. Since it is a sizeable bloom, you can literally see the bloom open. Typically, the cactus might flower once or twice in a season, one flower at a time. On this night, there were five buds ready to open. Four opened at once, and the fifth opened one night later. Four flowers at once was a first for this plant, and so so incredible to watch! The photos are shown in chronological order.

Late afternoon on July 30, four flowers have grown several inches during the day.

First signs of the white flower beneath the tan exterior leaves.

It's getting a little dusky. Time is around 9:00PM. 

All four flowers opening.

Just after dark, the blooms are wide open! 

Human provided for scale. Those flowers are ENORMOUS!

 

The next morning, the flowers have mostly closed again.

In a week or so, the finished flowers hang from the plant. 

Finally, the plant forms a fruit.

I feel a strong connection to this plant as well. It lived on my desk while I was growing up, much smaller back then. I don't think I saw it in bloom until I was in college. What a lovely night to share with my mom, who is very passionate about this flower! She invites the neighborhood for every flowering, but this night it was just us, and that was wonderful too!

Souvenir Yarn 2021, and Accompanying Destinations

I was judicious in my vacation yarn purchasing this summer - only one skein. But I visited quite a few places over the course of several weeks. We headed to Ohio to see my mom, motored to NH to vacation with my in-laws, side trip to Acadia to see a friend, tour of Vermont (Montpelier, Burlington, and Stowe), and finally headed to my brother's farm and B&B in the Adirondacks. A second trip took us to OH and PA to help our parents with a variety of chores. Enjoy the tour!

Notion Fabric and Craft, Montpelier, VT. No project for this yet.

Acadia National Park - one of many carriage road bridges

Summit on Sargent Mountain

Carriage road

Formal gardens near Asticou Inn

Local fare: popovers with blueberry jam 

More good eats: FRESH lobster roll!

On the deck of the pod near Asticou Inn looking at the ocean

Hunter's Beach, rocky and iconic Maine coastline

Fun tree

Lost River Gorge, NH

Waterfall in the Lost River Gorge, NH

Lady Slippers in Lost River Gorge

Founder of Littleton, NH farmed down the road from our VRBO

Cog train on Mount Washington

Seats on the cog train on the way up. The angle helps you stay in your seat on the steep grade. (They flipped the other way on way down.)

Cog rail

On top of Mt. Washington. A neighboring mountain still has SNOW in mid June!

Cairns on the Crawford Trail, Mt. Washington

Mt. Washington has recorded the fastest wind on earth. Buildings are chained down here to keep them from blowing down/away...

Maple syrup farm near Montpelier. No one has to carry buckets here: sap flows downhill in the tubes!

Capitol building of Vermont - not open to visitors yet

Nearing summit of Mount Hunger, VT

Summit of Mount Hunger. You either step up or step down the ENTIRE time you are on this trail.

Geological formation in Lake Champlain

Carlton's Prize Island

Motoring in to Burlington

Burlington harbor

Sunset over Lake Champlain

Covered bridge in Stowe, VT

Did you remember that the Van Trapp family settled in Stowe, VT? The youngest son brews Austrian ales. This tavern - still owned by the family - serves Austrian food and beer. Just up the road is the Van Trapp Lodge.

Sacher torte!

Sunset at my brother's farm

Sunrise and a peek at Lake Champlain at my brother's B&B

Fast forward to end of July - kayaking on Lake Naomi, Pocono Pines, PA

Handsome fellow in the Poconos

Good eating while helping the in-laws: eggplant steak 

And so I don't forget, HERE is the recipe for the most delicious rhubarb tart I made for the trip. (Rhubarb is one of my least favorite foods, but this recipe is YUMMY!) It has been a delightful summer of seeing family and visiting new places. Many shops and restaurants still have limited hours due to the worker shortage, but we're used to cooking most of our meals at this point! Hope all of you are safe, healthy, and vaccinated.