Resolutions

This year I have RESOLVED! to finish up all the fiber projects I have stashed away on my studio shelves. It's a common affliction for fiber addicts like me to have a number of different projects going; one may be simple knitting for times when we don't want to count and think, others may have complex colorways or repeating texture patterns for times we need brain work. This felted market bag fell into the former catagory of easy knitting. It was a one piece pattern from Wool You Order which entailed simple knit and purl stitches. I had started it about a year ago and lost interest as it just went around and around for what seemed forever! It was 112 rows for the body (the base another 42 rows) and then the straps were 170 rows each! Knit, knit, knit, knit, knit! One picture shows it pre-felted next to a regular sized book (which is a great read about one of our local veterinarians, Chuck Shaw and his large and small animal vet practice, A Country Practice. Available everywhere). The other picture is the completed project next to my loyal companion, Shelley, and wool lover!

Frosty views

It's 5 below here this morning and this is when our old house makes beautiful frosted window etchings. This one is very cool the way the long straight lines form a mountain peak behind the sheep, also a resemblance in the lines that outlines the state of NH and the lower frost resembles a snowy field or snow falling. Snow falling, that would be nice!

In the moment

Today on my morning walk with the dogs I stopped to look around and wanted to share this thought with you. As you travel through your day and the ones to follow, try to envision your life in small components; perhaps the snow flakes as they fall by your window, your child smiling as you walk across the room, the dog stretching out on the floor in warmth and comfort, making a phone call to a friend, even a hearty laugh. The small moments are the the riches of our lives. Add them up and they build our journey. The hard moments help seal the cracks. Love the journey, don't focus on the destination. Be thankful, be cheerful, push away the dark imaginings. Negative thoughts bring negative results. For today do and be your positive best and live!

In Memory of Mom

07/05/1921 - 01/19/2005

An incredible woman, mother and friend.

For the pets, please

As the temperatures across the country are plumetting into the single digits and below 0 with wind chills this winter, PLEASE give your dogs, cats and other domestic animals adequate shelter against the outside elements. NH law requires that shelter from inclement weather shall have an area within to afford the pet the ability to stand up, turn around and lie down, and be of proportionate size as to allow the natural body heat of the pet to be retained. This is the minimum an owner can provide.
Why anyone would own a dog and then tie it to a tree or dog house 24/7 is beyond my ability to comprehend. What inadequacy exists in the human heart to want to lord over an animal's existence in this manner?
Dogs, and cats too, are man's best friend and to allow them the warmth of our homes is the ultimate gift we can give them for their steadfast loyalty.
Look to your neighborhoods and make sure these friends to man have attention and care during these harsh weather conditions. If they do not, then report the owners to your local police department. Nothing deserves to be abandoned to the frigid, dark and loveless night, nothing.

Just lovely

The bottom picture is the view out our kitchen window this morning. We are having an ice storm, branches are starting to snap, the trees and fence lines are coated with 1/2 inch of ice, everything for that matter. But the generator is on the ready and we'll just hope that the trees can hold out against the burden. The top picture is the following morning, all survived and the sun is shining making the icy trees glimmer.

Sh-Boom, Sh-Boom

Life IS just a dream...Sh-Boom, Sh-Boom

Cheers!

On behalf of Long Ridge Farm, we wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2007! Wetherby