༺ Winter Is Here! ༻

Here is Colorado we have been having a calm autumn. Temperatures have been moderate and moisture has been minimal. Until..... last Wednesday!  Suddenly, the weather forecasts started calling for snow and bitter cold. Wow - the predictions were right!

What is cold for us here along the Front Range (the area running along the eastern side of the Rockies)? I would say it is what we've had for the last 4 days. Highs are about 8 degrees, and lows are dipping to 10 below at night. We have a few inches of snow on the ground, and the roads have ice patches - just enough to keep driving interesting.

While our house is pretty cozy and warm on the first floor, this kind of cold still finds a way to sneak in. I noticed our main door's dead bolt had white on it from frost. I snapped this picture of frost forming on the inside screws! They look like little marshmallows!!

At least these temperatures will get me in the holiday mood, and remind me to pull out warm clothes, hats and gloves.

Fingerless Gloves - Winter Must Be Coming !

It seems like every year when the weather begins to change and get colder, I pick up my knitting needles again. This year I decided to see how sock yarn would work for making fingerless gloves. Here's how the first one came out.

I'm using a set of #3 circular needles. I did use a set of #6 for the first two rows, however, to make sure the opening was really stretchy. They work up fairly quickly, and are a fun project to pull out in the evening for a nice knitting session. I like the wild colors too - that's so me !

Another project I can show is a cute sleeve I made awhile ago. It is for my Kindle, and I just made random patterns of knit or purl and some ribbing to see how I liked the sleeve idea.

Turns out it is the perfect thing for tucking the Kindle away. I used acrylic yarn in a fun tweed brown color. Red Heart doesn't seem to make this yarn anymore, which makes me sad. I used a sock making technique to start the bottom of the sleeve, so no seams were involved.

Soon I'll take on making socks when the snow starts to fly and winter is seriously upon Colorado once again.

Impressive Colorado Clouds

A storm rolled down the Front Range last night. There were tornado, flood, wind and hail warnings that we watched carefully. The clouds looked very powerful !!

Our area only got light rain and some wind. Towns further west got heavier rain and hail. I haven't heard of any tornado damage in the news, so Colorado survived these wild clouds.

Meet Pepper

Pepper has joined the pack!  She is about 10 months old, and a mix of blue heeler and border collie. Her coat has lovely grey/white/black speckles with large black patches. Here is a picture of her exploring the yard.

Pepper was living in town with a nice family, but wanted more room to run. We are able to provide space, so we brought her to the farm this week. Pepper took to the yard wonderfully and became friends with our dogs very easily.

Our other dogs Oz the doberman and Barney the chihuahua are getting to know to their new friend. We allow Barney to have his couch area fenced off so only he can get through. When he feels the need for a safe place, he can run into this room and hop up on the back of the couch. Oz is teaching Pepper that sitting on the spiral staircase is a great way to look out of the windows.

We are glad Pepper is part of the family now and look forward to teaching her the ins and outs of living in the country.

Bees and Butterflies are Happy

Colorado has been enjoying a nice summer growing season. The flowers and clover plants we have in the yard are doing well. Here are a few pictures I took last week.

Summer Haircut

Barney the Chihuahua has a new look this summer. I decided to trim his hair all over to make him more comfortable during the warm months.

He did very well sitting still while I cut his hair with scissors. I think it probably felt like a massage, since I pulled groups of hair up with my fingers to cut. It has been very helpful having his leg hair short, as now he doesn't pick up so many little twigs and sticks in the yard.

He's a real cool dog now !! Get it ??

Soap Making Is Still Fun

Summer time is a more difficult season to make soap for me since I have to wear a mask over my mouth and nose, plus gloves and eye protection. That can make a person a bit stuffy on a warm day. But despite that, I still enjoy the little science project called cold process goat's milk soap making.

As with many projects, the largest amount of time is spent on the preparation. I pull out my tupperware boxes full of stainless steel pans and utensils, check that I have enough of the ingredients, and prepare the kitchen for the job.

Here are my ingredients: Goat's Milk, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, and Lye.  In the past I have experimented with adding scented oils and herbs, but in the end decided plain soap is really my favorite to use. The other types are pretty, but pure bars are lovely and soft to use. My husband made the soap molds for me. I love them because they have removable sides so I can get the soap log out easily after it cures for a day or two.

I carefully weigh the oils and add them to one pan. Next I take the frozen milk cubes and put them in the other pan. Time for the gloves and face protection as I REALLY carefully measure out the lye and slowly add it to the milk.

After the lye has all been added and the contents of both pans are at about the same temperature, I pour the milk pan's contents into the oil pan. Here's where the science happens, as the ingredients combine and begin to form soap. I use a hand mixer and a spatula to continually stir the batch until it thickens up. The thick mixture, once it reaches what is called 'trace', gets poured into the soap molds.

The soap mixture begins with a yellow tint, but as it hardens up it turns more of an oatmeal color. At this stage it just needs to sit still and cool down. It hardens up enough after one day to allow me to remove the sides from the molds. After two days, I remove the bottom of the molds and slice the bars into their final form.

Now comes the time for patience. Handmade soap needs to be rotated frequently to allow air to circulate all around the bar. This cures the bars and helps them get harder as they lose some moisture. My bars go through this process for a month. I use shelves to keep the bars where I can see them so I remember to rotate them around every day or two.

It is really fun making handmade soap, and even more fun using it. People tell me the bars are good for regular washing, as well as being used like shaving creme. These bars will be in the shop later in August once they are cured.

A Visit to Rocky Mountain National Park

Colorado has so many beautiful places to visit, including nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, near Estes Park. We had a fun road trip last week, driving up to the park through Loveland and along the Big Thompson river.

The road in the park takes you up and up, then gives you views of where you have been.

We continued further until there was snow on the mountains. The views up this high are spectacular !!

Moving above tree-line, we came upon the largest herd of elk I've ever seen in the park. They were right next to the road!

Next we came upon three beautiful bull elks with full racks on their heads!

Our day trip to the park was certainly fun !!

What's Happening in the Yard?

Besides lots of watering, here's a sample of some sights in my backyard.

First, much to Barney's annoyance, our Western Meadowlark friend walks boldly about catching miller moths.

He enjoys catching bugs and in the process always gives us a nice show. I think there is a nest or two nearby in the grasses. I love the strong yellow color of this bird. He really has an attitude!

Barney sits in front of the window and talks to the birds. Sometimes he slaps the window, letting the birds in the yard know he's watching. One time we were outside and the Meadowlark was visiting at the same time. Barney walked close to him and the bird hopped away. They kept doing it this for a few jumps until the bird flew away. I guess he wasn't too scared of a dog not much bigger than he is.

Our other bird adventures involve chickens. We got a few chicks earlier this spring, and now they are starting to lay eggs. The early eggs are quite small but soon will be larger. Here's a picture of the third egg we found.

Finally, here are some pictures of the flowers in the yard. The clay pot has one basil plant, still recovering from the recent hail, and some zinnea flowers just sprouting up. I love zinneas and collect their seeds each fall to replant the next year. And who could forget the wild Black-Eyed Susan flowers. We have them in abundance and let them grow where we can since even weed flowers are good for bees and other creatures.

Flowers Make It Better

People are resilient, aren't we? After a hail storm, what do we do? We trim back what has been damaged and start anew. Our corn couldn't be saved, so there are fresh seeds germinating in the ground now. The tall clover looked wind whipped, but now it is straightening out and reaching for the sun again. Hope brings out action, I suppose.

I've been crocheting flowers every day again. This craft goes well with listening to the news, or enjoying an audiobook from the library. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to create soft flowers. Here are a few I've worked on lately.

Hail is Cruel

It could have been worse. They were predicting winds of 60 miles per hour. That would have erased the poor garden plants completely. Instead, we just got the hail and a little bit of rain. While the moisture was welcome, the hail did a fair amount of damage to the young vegetables in the garden. I hope they can recover !

I think the tomatoes got the biggest beating. Their leaves got ripped to bits! The pepper plants lost the pods they were developing. We were able to collect some that weren't too torn up.

While I was snapping these pictures, a nasty red ant got into my shoe. I haven't been bitten by our ants before and will plan to wear socks and sneakers next time I venture into their world! Ouch !

If only the storm had done something about our Miller Moth infestation. This year is the worst we have seen. Luckily they don't bite!

Spring is always interesting on the plains. Next to arrive are flying ants and mosquitoes !! I think I'll stay inside and crochet !!

On a more cheerful note, Barney the chihuahua is all grown up now. He'll be two in September.

One of Barney's favorite pass times, besides hanging out with me, is looking out the patio window and fussing at the birds in the grass. I guess he considers the yard his domain !!

Here is what Barney looked like before I gave him a spring haircut:

Making Roses Again

It has been a long time since I last crocheted anything. Maybe I needed a break, or maybe I needed new inspiration. Whatever it was, I recently picked up my #2 hook and made a bunch of roses.

These are my favorite size to make - using two strands of #8 spools of embroidery thread. They are delicate and sweet. I sometimes put them in the bouquet wrap I also created.

The design of this bouquet wrap works well with tall stemmed flowers. I like to wrap crocheted rose stems and a few front accents in a tulle circle, then insert the group into the wrap. I tie a ribbon around it at the neck to secure everything and make it pretty. I've even hung charms from the front too !

If you would like to check out more rose arrangements, come on over to my etsy.com shop. I not only have rose stems and arrangements, I also offer the rose pattern so you can create these flowers at home.