Fire Season

Yesterday afternoon as I stepped out our front door, I noticed a little smoke rising up from Old West Ranch. Not good I thought. Within minutes it escalated into a major fire. This area is just about 3 miles to our east with tons of dry brush and fallen trees.



The fire and forestry departments started hitting the fire with everything they had - 6 water dropping helicopters which "gas" up from a special water tank at the end of our street and 4 flame retardant planes. Once dusk arrives, all air power has to stop. We watched throughout the night as the eerie orange glow hovered above the mountain. I think about 30 homes have been lost with over another 100 threatened.

Today it looks like the fire is burning away from us, but the copters are back refueling down the street and the fire department has made a staging area at the glider airport.

Pray for these brave men and women and for all the families in these areas.

A Tiny Give-a-way...............

I have a leftover sample from when I made the "Luggage Finders" for Skacel Yarn Company. Thought it would be fun to offer it as a give-a-way to one of our readers. Between today and Saturday, July 31, 2010, just add a comment to this post and your name will be entered into the drawing. On Sunday, August 1st, one name will be randomly drawn and I'll email that person with the good news and request their mailing address so that we can send this little item to them.

The "Luggage Finders" are free downloadable PDF patterns on the Skacel website. If you love to travel and hate trying to spot your luggage at the airport as it goes round and round, this little tie on mitten is perfect.

Good luck and I'll be waiting to hear from you.

Have a great day today!

Hot Off The Knitting Needles.....................

Here's our next design in the "Crumpet and Tea" collection. It's for Mrs. Crumpet's knitting bag. If you're like me, Intarsia knitting is my favorite. I like to refer to it also as "picture" knitting. The pattern is now available on our Etsy and Ravelry sites for $2.00.

Think I'll take a break over the weekend before starting some new ideas. Here's a hint of what's to come.....................designs totally for your dogs and cats!!!

Have a great day and be sure to include some knitting time.

I've Declared War on the Little Thieves................

Remember my brilliant idea of the stuffed animal from the thrift store? Maybe it wasn't so brilliant afterall. This morning I went out to water the garden and trees, and out jumped 4 ground squirrels from my apple trees. Little thieves!

This is war! Living up here on the side of a mountain, off the grid with no services but the ones you provide for yourself - you're on your own. I know what some of you are thinking, 'squirrel killer, small creature abuser.' This is war!

Twitter and Facebook have nothing on these little beasts. These guys have networking capabilities that exceeds the highest of human standards. One literally stands at attention (he's the lookout) and when he spots me in the yard, releases a high pitched frequency declaring, "warning, warning, the mean human is coming." Then the others scramble for their burrows. This is war!

I no more like this than you, but it's time for the big guns. I have no other choice, it has to be done. I'm heading to the music store to buy a new bow for my violin that I haven't played in 41 years! If I played lousy back then, imagine how bad it'll sound now. That alone should run 'em all out of town!



I'll keep you posted..................

Oh, be sure to check back late tomorrow. The next design in the "Crumpet and Tea" collection should be ready to post and place on our Etsy and Ravelry sites.

Have a great day out there!

A Money Saving Tip

Be watching the news headlines today - they just might read, "Thrift Stores Across America Overrun by Knitters in Search of Purse Handles."

My dear friend and mentor, Jean, gave me this superb suggestion...........don't buy expensive purse handles until you check out used purses at thrift stores. Needless to say, I rushed to the two shops in town that very day. Don't even give the purse a second look, but check out the handles.

Here are two sets from used purses and one is real bamboo! The purses themselves were in terrible condition, but as you can see, the handles were absolutely perfect. Each purse was $2.00! YES, two dollars! I'm not kidding, I paid all of four dollars plus tax - total for both purses.



Hope this inspires you to create some new totes. Enjoy this day!

Saving the World

I've come to the conclusion that it's knitters that will save the world. Well, maybe not knitters themselves, but all the handy dandy contraptions that we keep in our knitting bags, baskets and "fish tackle" containers. (Yes, that's what I use for all the little tiny gadgets that I can't live without)

Yesterday at the concert in the park, I was knitting happily away on a pair of socks when I heard all this crumbling and crushing of paper behind me. A very nice elderly couple had brought a bag of chips to munch on during the concert. (You have to understand first tho, that living at a higher altitude does something to potato chip bags - they self-inflate and will burst if not opened properly - can you imagine being taken out by a bag of chips? And I was certainly within the target zone) There was just no way this man was gonna get this bag to rip open without a major catastrophe. I quickly reached into my little tackle box and pulled out my tiny scissors and politely offered them to this nice gentleman.

He gladly accepted and made a small cut to release the "combustible" air, returned the scissors with a smile and a thank you and proceeded to enjoy his snack.

If you ever end up on a desert island, be sure it's with a knitter!

Teddy Bear on Guard

Why is it when you think you've come up with a brilliant solution to a nagging problem, that there's always someone out there who thinks you're nuts? Do you know how many scarecrows I've seen in the fields up here now? And are there any less squirrels amongst the apple orchards? HELLO - exactly! These little varmits aren't stupid. If they've seen one scarecrow, they've seen 'em all.

It's watch dogs that they're afraid of. Of course, that would mean that you'd have to have a watch dog that is awake, walking fence lines and generally on the ball - not one that seems to snooze the day away on the front porch while flys buzz around his face.

So, I decided to hit the thrift stores this morning in search of a scary looking stuffed animal - preferrably a dog. I managed to find one teddy bear dressed in winter attire. I asked Rick, "does he look scary enough?" One of the employees was standing within earshot and looked at me rather funny and felt obliged to ask, "do you want to scare kids with a stuffed animal?"

I'm a grandmother for heaven sakes! "No, I don't want to scare kids, I WANT to scare squirrels!" With that, she marked the price tag down to one dollar - no doubt to get me out of the store as quickly as possible.

I placed him under the tree and kept watch throughout the day. When my husband got home, I had him move the bear to a different tree - gotta try and confuse the little buggars, right? So far, not one squirrel has ventured into the yard and left with a green apple in his little mouth.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.