'SIMPLY' Sunday

Nothing as simple as a good snack...



A Little Help Now and Then....

I have no problem admitting I love our critters...yes, even the chickens each have their own special personalities.  I also love my crafting and creating.  Over the years I have taken on sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, spinning and more recently wood carving.  Are you getting an idea of what my living room looks like?? 

I card some fleece and then pick up my spindle to spin for just a bit....and before I know it an afternoon is just about gone and I have a gorgeous full spindle to show for it.  I lay my knives out on the table, grab a chunk of basswood....and .....WOW where did the evening go??  And there on my table is a cute wooden Santa and...oops a big pile of wood shavings all over the kitchen floor.  Crap now who's going to clean that up???

I'm sure all of my creative pals out there would agree....what would we do without our creating?  How would we lose ourselves and relieve the stress of a bad day?  What would happen if, for whatever reason, we could no longer create?  This brings me to an awesome little cross stitch discovery I recently made...

EASY-COUNT GUIDELINE

What is it you ask?  Well, now that my eyes have, shall we say, aged a whole lot faster than the rest of me...I admit I have been frustrated with having to strain my eyes trying to count out stitches on dark coloured aida cloth.  This frustration actually was winning the battle and my cross stitch projects were sitting untouched in the basket of goodies at the end of my couch.  That is until the day I was flipping through a current cross stitch magazine and, once I had finished checking out the projects it had to offer, put it down on the table...and there on the back cover was an advertisement for a product that would solve my problem!

R & S Designs Inc. has this wonderful red thread (Easy-count Guideline) that you thread through your aida cloth BEFORE you start your cross stitch project.  It marks out the 10 x 10 stitch guidelines that are printed on your counted cross stitch pattern.  I will admit, this step takes some time, but once you've got it all done you will have no problem at all keeping track of your stitches while completing your project...no matter how dark the cloth or how detailed the project.  It even allows you to stitch colour by colour throughout your entire project!!

Simply go to http://www.rseasycount.com/ and order yourself a spool.  It is very reasonably priced and I am amazed just how much easier and quicker my cross stitching is going.  It would, of course, go even quicker if I would actually decrease the number of projects I have in progress at any one time...

We all can use a little help now and then...

Family Day

This weekend we are enjoying a Family Day long weekend and I put down my spinning and knitting, got out the camera and decided to journal our weekend together.

The weekend started with running kids around to sleepovers...and of course whenever someone new sleeps over at our house the girls just have to take them out to meet the critters.  Logan had to show how our Wellington loves giving kisses.  "Good morning Wellington". 

After all the kids were picked up, dropped off or brought home I decided to take some time Sunday morning to spend with our boys.

Of course, pictures aren't always so easy to take with this big friendly goof around.  "Wellington, please don't kiss the camera".  We got a nicer day on Sunday and all the critters on JADA Farms were having some fun outside. 

Vincent wanted to spend some time with Smokey...unfortunately all poor Smokey wanted to do was hang out on the fence in the sunshine.

My girls and I took off for a "girls' day' and went to the local arena to take in some skating.  Well they skated...I took pictures.  My skating was put on hold due to the mouse nest that Levi found in my skate...YUCK!!

Luckily, no mouse was actually found....YUCK...just evidence of him or her...YUCK....and my skates will be fine once they are cleaned out....YUCK!!!  The girls got a good laugh out of it though and you would be amazed how many Mickey jokes two little girls can come up with.  With our skating date finished, it was time to head back to the farm and have some lunch.

With the beautiful sunny day finally melting away some of the snow, our boys actually spent the entire day outside.  Apparently, to an alpaca, last year's grass is better than no grass at all!  I am starting to feel that need for the snow to be gone so I can spend some time sitting in the paddock with our boys.  Well....time to get back to spinning and some other projects....

'SIMPLY' Sunday

Since starting our blog, I have been lucky enough to find some amazing and inspiring blogs to follow and through those blogs I have met a couple of ladies I am lucky enough to be able to call friends. 

So where did the idea of 'Simply' Sunday come from.....simple...it is my version of "Wordless Wednesday", a wonderful part of two friends' blogs that show off their photography and give me a glimpse into their little chunks of heaven.  Where did the 'Simple' come from....that's easy...our aim is to have and enjoy simplicity in our lives.

So here it is....my first posting of 'SIMPLY' Sunday

Our Levi has 'simple' down to a science !!

If you want to check out "Wordless Wednesday" just click to go to Sheffield Alpacas or Loco Life of Lindy

The Colour of Inspiration...

While attempting to simplify life, I have realized that there are so many sources of inspiration.  Unfortunately, too many of us are too busy or too scheduled to take notice.

A perfect example....how many people who live in large cities really notice colour?  I mean real colours, the blue of a lake, the different shades of green in the grass or the vibrant gold of the leaves in autumn.  Since we moved to our little chunk of "country" in October, we were surrounded by those autumn colours and every shade of green you could imagine.  It wasn't until our boys became part of our lives that I really started to notice the real details of colours. 

At first glance, our Windsor looks white, but it wasn't until we had him on the shearing table and took a close look at that gorgeous fibre that we realized that our white boy was actually light fawn.  It wasn't until I learned to spin and first saw that light fawn fleece turning into yarn that I saw that shade change yet again.

This fall, I was surrounded by inspiration every time I stepped foot out my door.  It didn't matter where you stood on the property, we were shown all the colours and shades autumn had to offer and thanks to my spinning classes....I noticed!  And all I could think of was the colours of yarn I could someday create.

Now that all those colours are gone and everything is laying under a blanket of white, where could I find inspiration???  That's easy...right here.  Since starting our blog, I have been lucky enough to 'meet' fellow spinners, fibre artists and alpaca owners....and, might I add, some of the nicest people who I now consider my friends!  These ladies have encouraged me, taught me and shared their skills with me.  Who says "SIMPLE" can't be "COLOURFUL"

So "simple" now includes the love of creating hand dyed yarn with Kool Aid...and remember that gorgeous yarn I won a few weeks back??  Well not only have I been practicing my dying but I also have been getting a little more courageous with my knitting.  I now am the proud owner of a new handknit cozy alpaca cowl.

Everyone should have a little 'colour' in their life!!!

THANK YOU LINDY!!!

Today is an awesome day!

Since becoming an alpaca owner and learning to spin the gorgeous fleece into yarn, I have been amazed at the talents of the people I have come into contact with.  Spinning, weaving, felting....it seems there is an endless list of uses for alpaca fleece. 

So today, a typical Friday, I came home looking forward to visiting with our boys during chores and then spending the evening trying my second attempt at dying some yarn I had hand spun earlier this week.  Our King, Windsor, has supplied us with such gorgeous fleece and I have been thoroughly enjoying spinning and dying the yarn I have created.

Mom's Beautiful Boy

Windsor, at first glance, appears to have beautiful white fleece....but no.  His wonderful crimpy fleece is actually a lovely, soft light fawn.  Absolutely gorgeous all on its own.

Yes it is as soft as it looks

So, this evening, while my second attempt at dying lay soaking in a pot absorbing all that wonderful cherry Kool Aid...




I sat opening my mail....specifically the large envelope that arrived from Kentucky.  And here I sit, with my toes snug and cozy in my new alpaca socks, writing my blog and trying to narrow the endless online supply of knitting patterns to just one item to make with my newly acquired alpaca yarn that I won recently.

Lindy's Beautiful Yarn

Now if you will excuse me, I will be spending the rest of the weekend creating with this wonderful yarn.  As for Lindy, thank you so very much for choosing me as the winner of your giveaway.  Since starting to follow your blog, I have been impressed by your photos, your creations and your ability to tell the story of life on your farm.  Now that I actually have these two skeins of your gorgeous dyed yarn I am even more impressed and wish I could spend a weekend with you learning even more about this art.

Now...what to create????

It May Be Freezing Outside...But It's Kool Inside

The original plans for today were some of the usual.  Chores, art class for the girls, groceries, laundry...like I said, the usual.  I even thought I would spend some time outside playing with my camera and getting some shots around our property.  However, with temperatures hovering somewhere in the 28 below range it didn't take long for those plans to change.  Children who have been sniffling and coughing lately were relieved of chore duty and art class was not attended. 

Today is one of those days that is so cold you can actually see the air.  Honestly, there is almost a faint fog hanging in the air.  So cold that even the critters are giving looks this morning that screamed "SHUT THE DOOR" when we walked into the barn and rabbit hutch.  So Andy and I finished chores, came in to warm up and agreed that it would definitely be an "indoor activity only" day.

We are a family that loves history, old family tales and all things antique.  Andy long ago told me the story of how his Grandpa made his own meat pies and sold them to take care of his family.  Recently, we found out that his Grandpa started making these pies in his tiny local grocery store and how he had people lined up waiting for his pies.  Unfortunately, like so many family tales of the past, the famous family recipe was never written down.  So after talking with his aunt and borrowing some of his Grandpa's original mini pie pans from his dad, Andy got to work today trying to duplicate the secret family recipe.

Trust me, this first attempt tastes every bit as good as it looks.  So with my tummy full, I turned my attention back to my fabulous stock of fleece.  This fall I found myself constantly noticing all the beautiful autumn colours and thinking how I would love to try my hand at dying some of the fleece that our boys gave us.  Then, just when these thoughts were being replaced with thoughts of what cozy things I could make from all the fleece I have been spinning....my friend, and fellow alpaca owner, who lives in Kentucky posted pictures of her first attempt at dying fleece with Kool Aid.  I found myself feeling inspired....and at the grocery store stocking up on Kool Aid.  Today seemed like the perfect day to hang out in the kitchen over a simmering pot of Kool Aid and try my hand.

We are very fortunate to have our Windsor.  As self-proclaimed "King" of JADA Farms, Windsor has supplied us with the most wonderful fleece.  His fleece is so luxurious, that I found myself feeling almost guilty.  What if I messed this up?  So for my first attempt I used only a small amount of the yarn I had recently spun.

After a bit of indecision, Sydney and I finally chose cherry Kool Aid.  I was still feeling a bit unsure due to the fact that Windsor is not a white alpaca, he in fact has beautiful light fawn fleece.  We diluted the Kool Aid into the pot of water as per Kaylen's link and in went my yarn.

I don't think I have ever followed instructions so closely.

This final rinse was the worse part.  What if the water wasn't the right temperature?  What if I ended up with a felted mess?  But after all was said and done, what was once my king's natural light fawn fleece had been transformed.

 

Who knew this...



Could be turned into this!

 Now that it has started to dry, I have a beautiful faded pinky coral colour yarn and I can't wait to make some more.   Hmmmm maybe some purple?  Thank you Kaylen for this link and all the other wonderful information and photos on your blog.  Click here to see Kaylen's wonderful creations.

As for those plans to get some shots with my camera....well I did get manage to get one or two from the warmth of our little farmhouse.




Well I guess the icicles are loving these temperatures!