It's Winter....Yay???

It is indeed, officially, winter. I was quite excited when my daughter informed me of this - the twenty degree temperatures and 25 mile per hour winds hadn't tipped me off. The craziness of December is almost over - just the food dilemma remains. We're preparing to snuggle into our drafty abode and ride out January - while waiting to see if the kids develop chicken pox.

We've stacked up on books - my 10 year old and 7 year old are into the Harry Potter series - as evidenced by jumping children throwing spells at their siblings. We've had to institute a few rules....1) no unforgivable curses and 2)you may NOT use knitting needles as wands. I'm pretty sure more rules will be added on a regular basis.

I finished and mailed the baby kimono and hat to my great nephew yesterday. It's not perfect - but it looks pretty good AND I finished it before he was 3 weeks old - I'm pretty excited! Yay, Me!

Our chickens are laying beautiful brown or green eggs! We're getting about 5-6 eggs per day - from eight hens. They free range in our fenced back yard - with only occasional escapes. We're talking about adding a few more chickens - but will have to screen in the back porch or something. The amount of chicken poop piling up is starting to be alarming. We figure we'll have to cut the grass twice a week next summer, after all that fertilizer!

We're busy with Mid Shore Life Magazine - and looking for more local submissions - if you're on the eastern shore. It's been fun visiting local places and writing about them.

Happy Holidays, my friends. May the new year bring peace, joy and abundance -in all things.

Namaste!

Knitting? Kno Problem!

Ok, here's the thing. It takes awhile for my talent to catch up with my imagination. (think...millennium) I can visualize something quite clearly - producing it...well, that's another story.

Case in point: I have been actively attempting to knit a baby hat and kimono for my nephew's new son. I've been working for over a month, the baby arrived yesterday. There's a small caveat - I don't knit. Well, I've made lumpy scarves - but that's it.

No matter. THIS child would have something lovingly created by my own hands. I was in California in September, saying goodbye to this child's grandfather, my brother. David succumbed to the cancer invading his body just a week later. This child will carry my brother's name - and his heart. I'm so very, very happy about that.

But...I still need to finish the kimono. I did manage to learn how to knit in the round (on four needles!) and made a darn cute baby hat! The first two went to my girls - they would only fit dolls. (I'm hoping this babe's head isn't overly large!)It's the kimono that's giving me issues. It didn't help that last night the dog splashed my "It's a boy" glass of celebratory wine onto the unfinished garment. My wonderful husband helped me get out the stains - through my sobs. (note to self: don't knit and drink - I had to remake the top of the baby hat for that very reason!)

So....It's only halfway done - the easy half. I'm not sure I even understand the directions for finishing the neckline - let alone have the talent to carry it off.

I WILL finish - and it WILL fit! Right??????

Namaste.

The Un-Runner has been Sighted!

It's been a long time....getting from there to here! (from the title song of Enterprise, in case you wondered)

I've been pretty busy lately - but not on the Un-Runner blog! Sorry! My writing workload has been focused on www.MidShoreLife.com - our new website for promoting life on the Mid-Shore! Please check it out - we're really working hard on getting it together!

On the homefront - we have eggs! Five of our eight chickens have found there place in the universe - and the others are taunted daily with the promise of "Chicken & Dumplings"! Our eggs are mostly shades of brown, with an occasional green egg from one of our Americana hens! The hens are a hoot - they follow us around the yard, pecking at our shoes. Sometimes they gang up on the back porch and start screaming for corn. I'm giving them vegetable scraps & bread crusts along with the corn as treats - but they really prefer the corn!

Now....about the eggs. I've been buying free range organic eggs from the Amish Market. I really didn't think our eggs would taste any differently. I was wrong.

O.M.G.!!! I had NO idea eggs could taste this good! Maybe because they free range in our back yard? The yolks are dark orange red - cheddar cheese pales in comparison.They really are incredible! I had no idea. I'm SO glad we got chickens!

Who knew?

I'll still be posting family stuff on this site - but please, please, PLEASE check out www.MidShoreLife.com frequently - most of my non-personal musings will be on there!

Thank you - and Enjoy!

Namaste!