Delaney goes to Big & Rich!

Garrett, Delaney, Jackie, Bonnie, and I ran away from harvest to attend the August 1st Montana State Fair Concert! It was a quick trip to Great Falls. We left home at 5ish, arrived in town at a bit after 8, the concert started at 9, then it was a quick trip to Walmart before we headed home. I need a nap after arriving home at 3 AM Thursday. The dear girl had her first concert...I'm so thrilled for her, but I'm even more thrilled to be a part of it. Of course, that didn't mean the adults were actually sitting BY the teens...lol.



Hey, it was Bonnie's first concert too! Way to go, Girl!




Hey, this must have been the 'cool' part of the evening. This was the lowest temps of the fair, but with the number of people attending the concert, it was amazingly HOT. I"m glad there wasn't an after shot!




Cowboy Troy opened.



Oh my, whose bike?

July's Socktopia Socks

Nagini aka Dragon Scales.




Fawkes ready for some color.




Now this is more like it!




Bellatrix was a fast fun knit!

Yep, I have now knit all three of these! I only have one in my possession, but another reknit for pairs I can keep will be soon.

Emma's Socks

I can't believe I forgot to upload Emma's socks...what was I thinking? I started these socks July 4th, and they were finished and mailed by July 9th. They fit, but they are too warm to wear now!

Ravelry...

I"m getting closer all the time! (I checked this as I was waiting in the house for Garrett to get back from the field...honest!)


Found you!

* You signed up on June 7, 2007
* You are #7549 on the list.
* 589 people are ahead of you in line.
* 13634 people are behind you in line.
* 32% of the list has been invited so far

Although I had this many people in front of me last night...there are now more behind me. Golly, it seems as if June 7th was forever ago!

Fire...

These are the words we all hate to hear, but we heard them today. Rick needed me to flag ahead of the swather, so off we went down the Whitlash Road. He was to swath two rounds, then I was to flag for him coming back home. He had barely made one round (and I had barely read 2 chapters) when he shut down the swather, climbed into the pickup, and we raced over the county to get to the fire. To get a perspective, imagine going across Rhode Island to get to the fire...that would be an idea of what it was like...but I don't think you would have seen the fire as we did.



As we drove from the Whitlash Road to the Lothair Road, we found many other farmers headed towards the fire or towards water trucks. As harvest is upon us, we are not far from our filled tanks on the trucks. (This fire was started when a combine hit a rock...and the combine was by the Galata Road.)



About this time, we (Hubby and little ol' me) realized...we have no shovels! But Jake, who we had picked up down the road, had been told there was a water truck on the south side of this smoke/flames.



We headed for the truck, but found the flames were aching to jump the road...but as there was a loaded truck just a few miles on the other side...we went around on the left of the flames. We couldn't see much, but we were blessed with having no one ahead of us as we drove through the dense smoke.



Once on the other side, the blackness of the prairie spread for miles...and then the wind changed. Yes, blessings were everywhere.



Rick hopped on with another truck; I stayed with the pickup and stomped out smoldering cow pies; and Mark, Justin, Garrett, and Rick helped drown out the smoldering sage brush.



It was Garrett's (and my) first fire experience...I'll have to get his story written down also, but it sounds as if Mark, Justin, and Garrett were playing with the same wall of fire.

There were fire units there from Sunburst, Shelby, Chester, Eagle Creek, and all the farmers in the area. This is truly a wonderful place to live.

My Fair Results

Six items went in...and six blue ribbons came out! From left to right: Delaney's Lamb's Pride cable scarf; Felted purse; Socks That Rock picot edge socks - my pattern; garterlac dish cloth; Wavy Gravey hat; and a pair of mittens. I only wish I could have also entered in the State Fair in Great Falls.

Marias Fair Entries

Delaney had knitting, matchbox drawers, a diary, and a cross stitch as projects. Great Job, Girl!



Garrett was extremely pleased to see his chair (er...my chair) in the center with the best of show items. We are thrilled too!



Sweet Daddy D showed well in the market and Delaney did well in Showmanship. That was tough this year!




Garrett's group went in the ring first...that was when we found out how interesting this year's set of judges would be. The kids did well in their uphill battle!

Marias Fair Fun Time!

Can you believe it is that time of year again? Delaney has Sweet Daddy D, while Garrett has Avalanche. Together, they have two good looking steers!

Lace Anyone?

If we count our increases and decreases as positive integers and negative integers, just look at how mathematical lace knitting is! I have not done much lace knitting...sure I have done a panel, but a whole project is on my to do list. I came across this contest for a copy of Victorian Lace Today AND a skein of lace weight yarn. Wouldn't that be a perfect way to plunge into lace?!

July's Socktopia Socks

I am currently knitting away on Fawkes, but I was lucky enough to be a test knitter for Momma-Monkey. Here is my version of Bellatrix! This was Run Like Hell from Scout's Swag...just beautiful yarn.

7-7-07 Wedding Congratulations!

We had the pleasure of experiencing the happiness of Dru and Stacee. Delaney and I headed down to Helena early Saturday morning, Rick came down later on his Buell, and Garrett worked at the fair grounds in Shelby. The wedding was at the park, but I got to set up the cake at the hotel...thank goodness for AC! Here was the finished product.

Happy 4th of July!

We have a new toy, which we tried out at Tiber Dam/Lake Elwell. (Since our celebration was in the middle of the week, we stayed close to home.)





Delaney fell in love with this watercraft! Next time we will take more fuel and a float tube. That way the two kids can play at the same time.





The boy and girl would have easily gone longer on the water...next time they will be prepared!



Even Rick got into the fun...it was a good investment!

Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap Arrived!

This adorable Snowy Owl flew from the box but was convinced to allow itself to be photographed. As you can see, it also allowed itself to be included with other photos...I believe Dolly (her name on the tag) really likes to be in the picture.






Check out this gorgeous bag! Oh, and that yarn, it is AMAZING! I looked at the site to see how beautifully it stripes. I am so lucky!






Now for the rest of this great package. The pattern was Feather and Fan, how did you know I had been wanting to try this sock? Cheryl sent Blood Pops and Bertie Bott's Beans. So far I have been able to keep the kids from them, but I'm not certain how long that will work. The stitch markers are crystals...wow. Oh, and I"m not done yet! There was also a gorgeous knit keychain, a lip balm, and handmade chocolate/almond soap. Wowsa, I'm so impressed!

Cheryl, you are the best!

Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap Arrives!

An adorable owl brought this fantastic bag full of goodies...Thank you Cheryl! Now I just need to find where I put the camera to get photos and descriptions...I'm in AWE!

Tessellations...a future project!

I'm linking to another post...Geeky Knitting Okay, it is all fixed now, so it should work!

June 30th Wedding

The kids were a huge help...Thank you both!





Even the air-conditioner decided to work after the cake was delivered. That was a good reason to smile. This was an exciting weekend...but the cake did turn out well!

Thank you Louise!

I really should have taken photos of the beautifully tissue wrapped packets Louise sent to me in Montana...but somehow my inner child took over and began emptying these packets before I thought about the photo. Just look at the delicious tea AND the fabulous Teavana mug/brewing system. That thing is way cool! The little sheep is a tape measure in disguise...how cute is that?! Dark chocolate...you were way braver than I was...you will just have to keep in touch with me so I can send these Bronco bars your way when the weather calms down.

Did y'all see the Salted Nut Roll and Nut Goodie? They are made in Louise's home town! These swaps certainly make our world a smaller place. There were also kitty cat stitch markers...but I can't seem to make the digital camera take a close up image, drat. Then we are on to the YARN!



Isn't this skein amazing? It is Dream in Color - Smooshy sock yarn. How could I not love this stuff? Now, you may notice there is an empty space in the upper picture...that was because I knew there was another skein of yarn, but as I got the pakage last Monday, and I had to go across the mountains for a memorial service for my brother...well, when I came back on Thursday, I couldn't find that skein for ANYTHING. I wondered if I had taken it with me (things were a bit of a fuzz), so I cleaned out the vehicle, unpacked the suitcases, and still didn't find it. Next, I started house cleaning and looking in all the semi-normal places I could have placed this beautiful skein. The hubby just let me be, he probably thought I just needed to release steam over the family events...which I did, but I was avoiding even thinking about that by looking for this yarn. Finally, I moved my husband's motorcycle jacket...and there this lovely was!




That is the jacket behind it...the velcro had grabbed it so when I picked it up from my dining room table (I don't think he would have put his jacket on his mother's table...but I won't pick on him too much) it stuck and I couldn't see it. Luckily, I made him hang it up...and there was the yarn!

Thank you so much Louise ! I'm so very lucky!

dobarah

Senior Pictures are in the plans

Somehow, time has flown by, and we find ourselves looking for places for these pictures to be taken. I need to remember my 'good' camera the next time we go hiking, but perhaps a few of these will be okay.

Try these socks!

I like the look of these socks: Matrimony Socks. The perfect June Socktopia sock!

Dish Rag Tag Participant!

I'm so thrilled to have joined this great swap before the halfway point of 200 was reached. It will be great fun!

Also, I see my Socktopia button has gone AWAL. I'll have to fix that!