Author: LDSVenus

Fall is Coming

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Funny  Note Pad

Ok, I was shopping at JoAnn’s Fabric store and saw this note pad and had to keep myself from laughing out loud in the store, so I had to buy it.  There are many days I feel like this. 🙂

Yes, Fall is coming.  Offically I think they said it was the 20th of this month.  But we went from upper 90’s (ambient temperature, not including the humidty that made it a heat advisory) a week ago this last Monday to 60’s on Sunday.   It’s back in the low 80’s and 70’s this week, so I know Fall is really coming.  I will enjoy the warm temps while we have them, Fall doesn’t usually last very long and winter is very cold and long here.

Remembering 9/11 2001 and 2012

/ LDSVenus

 

Twin Towers

Though it’s been 12 years now since this terroist attack,  we were attacked last year by terrorists on foreign soil at  our embassy and lost 4 Americans.  There are those who still want to hurt us, may we never forget this horrendous act of aggression on our soil and our embassy, so that we might always be free.

As we remember the 12th year since this heinous attack was perpetrated, may we take a moment to remember all those who died on this day 12 years ago and last year in Benghazi, and thank those who helped in the aftermath. I would like to salute those heroes on flight 93, and all those who, on that day, willingly and unselfishly sacrificed their lives to save the lives of others. I also salute those in our armed services who have given their lives and those who continue to fight, selflessly putting their own lives in jeopardy to protect us and others from terrorism. They are all heroes to me and I will never forget.

 

Yes, the Scarf is Finished :)

/ LDSVenus

 

1st Fleece to Scarf Done

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Ok, this Little Lace Cat’s Paw Scarf took longer than a week, but it is finished (I just knit on it when I had time, that is why I don’t make promises :P).  I took it to Church with me today, but the teen (my friend’s daughter) this scarf was knit for and her family weren’t there.  I can give this to her next week.  I was a bit surprised that the scarf wasn’t quite as soft as I had thought it would be for a lambs fleece, then it hit me, this is a cross bred lamb.  The rams are Suffolk and the ewes are polypay (the lambs are raised for meat), the polypay is a fine fleece and the suffolk  is considered a medium fleece.   So it only stands to reason that the cross bred lamb’s fleece would be a little coarser than a full polypay lambs fleece would be.  It’s still not too scratchy and should serve her as a nice warm scarf here in the midwest, where our winters get pretty nasty sometimes.

 

Polypay Ewe Roving – Spinning

.I have begun spinning the polypay ewe’s roving, which is what made me wonder why the lambs roving was coarser.  It’s soft and very easy to spin with very little vm (vegetable matter for non spinners) in it and no noils :).  Tho’ I have to admit, I severely skirted this fleece because of the way the roving came back on the lambs fleece (still full of vm and noils from not having skirted as well and not seperating the shorter fiber of the neck and legs out from the prime saddle part of the fleece).  Live and learn, and I think I did :P.  This when spun, will become a blue scarf for my friend that gave me this fleece. 🙂  I have two patterns picked out, but haven’t commited to which one yet, still have plenty of time to make my final choice.  Will post the picture and link to the pattern when I have made that final choice.

1st Skein of the Polypay Lambs Roving is……… Done :)

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1st skein polypay lamb roving

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I finally finished this polypay skein!!!   It’s been a while since I started it.  I should have finished it long ago, but I was busy (and maybe a little lazy too).  The picture on the left is just wound from the spool to the pvp pipe niddy noddy.  There are some really pretty wooden niddy noddys but this one suffices :).  It is a 2 yard wrap so if my math is correct I spun 258 yards which should be plenty for the scarf I will be knitting.  It is a sport weight (about 18 wraps per inch).  The picture on the right is after I used the red (Crimson) Jacquard acid dye.  She chose the red dye and I have chosen to knit my Little Lace Cat’s Paw Scarf pattern because the teen I am knitting this for loves cats.  I think she will like the pattern. 🙂

 Soon I will start spinning the next skein  from the Ewe Polypay fleece my friend gave me, and will make a scarf for her to thank her for the fleece.   That way they will have one, fleece to finished scarf, from both fleeces :).  I will post a picture of the finished scarf when I have it done, hopefully this week, but as I always tell my children, no promises, only that I will try.

It Came, It Came!!!

/ LDSVenus

Unofficial Harry Potter Knits

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It came!  I indulged myself in a new knitting magazine.  I love Harry Potter and when I saw this book I was very excited.  It is called The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits.  After looking at it from cover to cover, I am very happy :).

Below I put a picture of  the inside part that shows the items it has, I hope that it will enlarge enough to get a look at them ;). 

Unoffical Harry Potter Knits – inside

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? 2013!!!!

/ LDSVenus

Dallas Cowboys!!!

.OH MY, it’s that time again.  They have started preseason a bit early with exhibition games but I won’t complain!! 

The Cowboy’s played the Dolphins on Sunday, but because it was Sunday I missed it.  They won tho’, 24 to 20.  🙂  They are playing the Raiders tonight, and yes I am watching.  The Cowboys are my favorite NFL team and the Raiders are my favorite AFC team, so it’s a delima about who wins.  They don’t play each other very often, maybe once a year in preseason or if they happened to play against each other in the Super Bowl, I won’t hold my breath lol, but it’s fun watching this game. 😉 

School will be starting for all the kids in a few weeks and then Fall will be here.  Been a nice summer and altho’ there are lots of nice things I like about Fall (cooler weather, Football, my birthday :P), knowing that cold Winter will follow is not one of the things I look forward to (did I mention that I am not a Winter person?).  Winter is cold and baren (except for the grey snow after it’s been around a while) and around here it lasts forever.  OK it has one good thing,  it gives me one thing I look forward to every year very much, SPRING!!

My New Favorite Cookbook

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LDSVenus

Ok I know I’ve been MIA from my blog for a little while.  Not sure why but last year was especially hard for me in regard to the 2nd anniversary of my son’s death .  I am feeling better and will try to be more diligent in blogging.

I hadn’t planned on posting a blog today but I found a cookbook I ordered last year sometime and realized it was a southern style cook book and might actually have a recipe for hush puppies, being a southern cookbook.  I had been looking for a recipe in the numerous books I already had and use often, but none of them had one.   It is the Southern Living Heirloom Recipe Cookbook.  Low and behold it has a hush puppy recipe.  The next page showed a Southern Cornbread recipe, this is when I realized I love this book.

My dad is from the deep south, my mom from the desert south west, that is important for the next memory.  My mom liked to make cornbread but she always put sugar in it.  My dad would tell her “that is not cornbread, that is cake”.  They don’t put sugar in cornbread in the south.  I have to say here that I never saw my parents fight, but this was a standing disagreement, lol.  Ok back to the book.  As I was reading the recipe (which does not include sugar), my memories, regarding my parents disagreement on how cornbread should be made, flooded back.  Then I saw the quote under the recipe by Mark Twain “The North thinks it knows how to make cornbread, but this is a gross superstition.  Perhaps no bread in the world is quite as good as Southern cornbread, and perhaps no bread in the world is quite as bad as the Northern imitation of it.”  At that point I burst out laughing, hahahaha.  I do love this book!!  It is filled not only with recipes but with much humor and memories from the author.

I miss my mom a lot, so many times I wish she was still around to talk to, I lost her to cancer in 2000.  I am thankful to have many memories of our lives as a family and to be able to see the love and humor that was a part of it. 🙂  You would love this cookbook, Dad :).

Memorial Day 2013

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Memorial 2012

For those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom!

I want to thank all those who are now serving or have served, in any of the branches of the Armed Services, for your love of freedom and for being willing to serve your country.  I give a special reverence to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, for what they loved, a free and safe country.  May we honor them in all we do and may we always keep this country free and safe.

(Tho’ Afghanistan wasn’t included on this older picture, please know they are included in this blog!!)