Peak Holiday Weekend

It was a full weekend, starting with Robert's play, Alice in Wonderland, Jr., on Friday night. If you're a parent, you're surely familiar with that feeling of your heart absolutely swelling with pride? It may be from the first smile, hug, a graduation, or a genuine sign of kindness. Well, I sure had it the other night as we watched Robert sing and act with such poise, confidence and humor in his role as The Mad Hatter! The entire cast did a fantastic job, very professional for a middle school production. We can't wait to see Robert in more roles, as he has always been a big ham!Add to that a farm Open House (small but still requiring work, organizing, and time), cria watch, Paul's company party, cooking, and our Huber Christmas get-together and it was a VERY full weekend. We only just tonight FINALLY got the tree up!
It seems that we always end up listening to John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas, I don't know why! It's kind of bad when we all know the words to, "Please, Daddy, Don't get Drunk this Christmas", closely followed by "O, Little Town of Bethlehem."

I am REALLY looking forward to a week with not so many items on the agenda (other than the looming Christmas list and cria watch). I'm loading up on podcasts and looking forward to some studio time! Hey, if you've read this far don't forget to comment by Monday night on the Wednesday, Dec. 10th post in order to be eligible to win a pair of awesome alpaca socks! So far there are only 2 comments, and someone is going to win!

Buying Local

Yesterday afternoon was absolutely miserable- rain, ice, sleet, snow, wind- and I loved being out in it to go shopping in my "neighborhood". (Don't worry, Mom, it wasn't really treacherous). First, I went just around the corner to Woodford Reserve Distillery. They have a great gift shop, and I bought some bourbon balls, bourbon coffee, and other treats to put in some gift baskets for clients and friends.

Then I headed over to wonderful Midway to visit my two favorite shops there, Dragonfly Gifts and Soapwerks. I saw a few things (small, original chicken paintings) that I'd love myself at Dragonfly, but will forgo those for now. I bought some great stocking stuffers like peppermint lip gloss from Soapwerks, and love that all of Kathy's products are natural and handmade, many of which her two daughters from China have helped to make.

As the ice rained down harder, I crept over to Equus Run Winery and Vineyard. Since we're wine club members, I had a free tasting and confirmed that their Zinfandel is my favorite and best choice for other red-wine lovers on my Christmas list, especially the 2007 Reserve which is incredibly smooth and complex! Many bottles came home with me!

After that I picked up Mirian and we headed off to see the movie Twilight and do some additional shopping. (Okay, you're probably noticing that Twilight isn't meriting it's own review here!). I must admit that we did patronize the all-evil Wal-Mart, but hey! Where else could we get plastic fruit (part of the costume for Mirian's school costume next week), bread, a DS game, AND blue jeans? Either way, I am trying really hard to buy local and make as many gifts as I can this year. (That being said, check our farm blog for details on our Open House tomorrow!).

I just finished making chili using some of our own ground venison. I'm currently making the famous ginger snaps for tomorrow, this time with Country Rock Sorghum (produced by our friends, Curtis and Marti Congleton) and am also using our own eggs and some bourbon barrel aged vanilla I got at Woodford Reserve. Please come sample some tomorrow!

I'm really excited to go watch a local school production tonight... especially since Robert will be in one of the starring roles as the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, JR. More details about that to come! And who says I live in the boonies? Finally, don't forget the drawing- I'd love to send you some alpaca socks, whether you live near OR far! Just comment on my Dec. 10th post!

Maine Morning Mitts

A tiny bit of knitting therapy and some good rest are making me feel human again as I've recovered from our long weekend but ended up with a cold. I had hoped to finish these Maine Morning Mitts/fingerless gloves (more Christmas knitting) while on our trip, but there was hardly a down minute and when things did slow down each night, I crashed!

I recently saw these in Magpie Yarn, and learned that the pattern is available on Ravelry and here for free. Many of the Ravelry projects show it using Noro Kuryon (as is shown here), but I am realizing that many recipients may not like the fact that the two mitts don't match. I honestly think that I'll do the next pair (and I do feel sure I'll knit many more) in some handspun/hand-dyed yarn of my own.

I do think they make the perfect hand-made Christmas gift- little to no sizing involved, quick but unique, and something that anyone can use!

Don't forget to comment on yesterday's post to be eligible to win a pair of alpaca socks, shipping included. (I'll even ship to someone else, if you want to send them as a gift!)

I've hit 2,000- time for a Giveaway!

Blogging has been so rewarding for me, and I look forward to reading back over archives a few or even many years from now. Hopefully you'll find some of the information and posts helpful or interesting as well. One of my favorite things has been seeing where YOU, my readers come from. So far between both blogs (including www.seldomscenefarm.blogspot.com ) , I've had visitors from most states, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Sweden, Singapore, and Croatia!

Since I'm now at over 2,000 visits, I am giving away a pair of alpaca socks from Red Maple Sportswear to show my appreciation. I ADORE these socks, and know that you'll love them, too! If you win, you'll have your choice of the Classic Crew, Trailblazer hiking sock with alpaca, cotton, and therapeutic copper, or the Alpaca Copper Crew. Win them for yourself or give them for Christmas! We are having an informal farm Open House at the farm this Saturday and all Red Maple items will be 25% off, so come see them for yourself (though I understand it may be hard to make it if you live in Croatia).

In order to be eligible to win, please leave me a comment here that includes where you are from, and I'll submit the names to a Random Picker next Monday evening, December 15th. Keep in mind that if you receive my posts via direct email, you need to come here to the site to leave your comments. Thank you again, and good luck!

A Weird and Wild Adventure

I'm SOOO glad to be home all in one piece from our final alpaca event of the season (the Belleau Wood Auction and Carolina Classic Show in Concord, NC). It was exciting from start to finish! First, we brought along an extra pussy (get your minds out of the gutter now), MB's cat Stevie-Y, who had his leg amputated the week before. MB couldn't leave him to travel, as he needed a lot of extra care and bandage changes. Seems he used up several of his nine lives when some low-life shot him. I know that God must have a plan for Stevie, as he survived at least 3 shots- the one that eventually took his leg, another that pierced his ear, and a third that went cleanly in and out of the surviving front leg.

Stevie was a model patient and traveler (except for the time that he hid himself in the cupboard and scared MB to death), and we were glad to have him along! It's very inspiring how quickly he is adapting to his loss, and he was nimbly jumping around on counters and upon the bed, where he gladly kept my feet warm!
Because we were leaving so early on Friday morning, MB and Stevie came the night before and were going to stay in the RV. We were already hooked up to the trailer and ready to pull out from the barn, and had the RV plugged in to an extension cord for heat. MB called to say the heat was malfunctioning, and then quickly called again to say that she smelled smoke! We told her where the fire extinguisher was and Paul and I flew up the hill to find that the electrical panel had partially melted due to an improper plug-in. Paul eliminated the problem by turning off several breakers and felt we were safe to still take the RV, and MB and Stevie stayed in the studio for the night.

The auction and show were successful for us, and you can read about the details here. We were extremely grateful to get good prices for our animals in this unpredictable economy, and it was reassuring that the foundation we laid for our farm/alpaca business 14 years ago is serving us well through raising top-quality alpacas.
On the way home, we began losing power going up big hills and the warning light was coming on in the coach. We immediately stopped for the night outside of Ashville, NC and were very fortunate the next morning to find an engine service provider that could fix the RV on our 3rd try. It was a long and uncertain wait, but we were able to get home in time for me to tuck the kids in and crash before my usual bedtime. Above, MB is showing off the cria that we had along, Eye Candy, to the mechanics at the first RV repair place. Below, at the semi-tractor repair place, the alpacas got lots of weird looks as we let them out of the trailer for fresh air and to stretch their legs!Thank you, Lord, for another event that ended up with a good outcome and that I can chalk up to experience, once again!

Sweater Weather

I wonder how long I can keep up knitting a sweater a day? Okay, they are pretty small, small enough to use as an ornament, gift embellishment, or even for Barbie! (Guess who's going to be getting one?) You should have seen me sneaking into someone's room to try this on her!After listening to Susan Anderson's podcast with Christmas gift suggestions, I decided to knit a mini sweater from a book that I have and love, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. Then I just had to do another, and I was pleased with the way the variegated sock yarn (Trekking XXL) looked on the sweaters.
These were really fun to knit, and I enjoyed the construction which entailed knitting two fronts, two backs, two sleeves, and then joining together at the yoke. I wish that all sweaters were this easy!

Color for a Dreary Day

I was going to write about serious stuff like the topsy-turvy economy, how screwed up our priorities have become, how we've forgotten what Christmas is for, stuff like that. But, I decided instead to concentrate on something that makes me smile a little... handknit socks.
I found the pattern for these here, and originally intended to make a mismatched pair as shown on Faith's blog. I loved the way the first one I made turned out and really didn't think that the colors in the rest of the Noro Kuryon skeins would look very good, so I decided to try to match the second sock instead- I think it came out pretty well! I have a feeling that a certain 13-year-old girl for which they're made (ssshhh, they're for Christmas!) will love the bright colors and warmth of soft wool on her perpetually-cold feet. I should have enough from the two skeins to make myself a pair, though they will be completely different colors! The pile of yarn at the top is what I cut off after I cleaned up the ends. I did weave in the important ones at the beginning and end, and along the heel, but at color changes for the stripes I carried both colors for about 6 stitches and I felt that was likely enough to hold the new and old colors in place- anyone have any thoughts on that? Do you think the sock may be uncomfortable that way?

I have been knitting a ton, and we cocooned a lot this weekend and watched the Anne of Green Gables DVD's that my sister-in-law loaned us. Mirian and I cried in so many places, and of course I was ogling the gorgeous handknits throughout. What a great series! I can hardly wait to start on my next project!