A walk in the Countryside.......

We love to do a little hiking up here when the weather's nice. These are the Tehachapi Mountains which we live half way up on.

Yesterday I was on the phone to an AT & T rep trying to work out my computer's air card issues. She was concerned about the signal that I'm getting and asked where we live. When I told her on the side of a mountain where there are no utilities whatsoever. She asked if we have to make our own power with generators and such. "Oh yes," I said. "Along with a wind turbine and 32 backup batteries." She commented that it must be very peaceful.

Life here is VERY peaceful, but living off the grid also creates its own headaches, too. Mostly for my husband (who happens to be a saint for putting up with all of this) because he handles all the emergencies! When you're off the grid, you alone are responsible for all the equipment. In winter, this can be very worrisome.



Looking to the north, you can see the town of Tehachapi and how the scenery changes dramatically.

Today is a "little wind" day, so definitely a good day to hang out laundry. In fact, I better get to it!

Have a great day!

Socks, Socks Everywhere....................

The sock order is coming right along. Here's one fresh off the machine.



Once the toes are closed up with a kitchener stitch, the socks are hand washed and placed on this drying rack.



Once they're nicely blocked and dried, they're ready to be boxed up. I'm about half way now on the order (60 socks) and am trying to make at least 4 socks each day. Will I make my self inflicted deadline of September 14th? Stay tuned.............

Our August sock give-a-way is almost up. Be sure to read the blog about it. If you have any trouble leaving a comment, just email me at Tehachapisockcompany@gmail.com and I'll place your name in the hat.

Hope you're having a great weekend.

Here We Go Again...............

One look out my front door this afternoon and I could see that the monsoon type clouds were moving in. Definitely not good. They always bring a chance of lightning strikes.



Two hours later I heard thunder and my phone rang. My neighbor said to look out my window and sure enough - 3 direct hits with lightning to our east near the road that leads up to Old West Ranch (where our last fire was). This time tho, they were spared and it was much lower and burning brush.



The lightning was coming straight down and looked like it was hitting the ground, but no other hot spots were erupting.



We also have a large fire burning way to our west here in California and a great deal of manpower and equipment is tackling that blaze. But, within an hour we saw the first copter arrive to water up. Soon a second followed.



And then soon after, the large bomber arrived and began hitting the fires with the retardant. It took a good 2 1/2 hours to bring it all under control, but we'll be watching again tomorrow because more of the same weather is forecast.

A little knitting news too: one of our readers wasn't able to leave a comment on our August Sock Giveway, so her name was placed in the hat. If you're having trouble doing the same thing, please just email me at Tehachapisockcompany@gmail.com and I'll do the same for you. Read that post to read all the details of this give-a-way.

Have a great evening.

The Tehachapi Mountain Festival......................

This weekend was filled with tons of activities during our Mountain Festival. What an event and people come from all over to attend. Our weather was absolutely perfect with a high around 80 today and a nice gentle breeze.



Today they also had the big Thunder on the Mountain car show that went along with all the festivities. Now I know why they call it that - at exactly 12 noon all the owners start their engines and rev 'em up for about 5 full minutes. With over 200 cars there, that was definitely "thunder on the mountain!"



I told my husband that I wanted to go in search of a 65 Chevy Malibu - my dream car! Right out of high school I searched for one but ended up with a 66 Malibu - the body changed that year, but I was still thrilled with the car. Today we found a 64 model.



Even this parrot enjoyed the show!



Lots of Thunderbirds were there and they were a real treat to see.

From there, we walked over to the park and checked out all the craft vendors and listened to some great music. I've decided to check if we can get on the list for next year's festival. Oh my gosh, that would mean making a couple hundred pair of socks during this next year!

Hope your weekend was as fun as mine.

The Tea Bag......

Thought I'd better give you a progress report on the next knitting bag - "The Tea Bag." It's coming along, slowly but surely. With the order that just came in for 30 pair of socks, I've had to limit my time working on it. Finally made it to the half way point on the front and am doing some of the duplicate stitch as I go along.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the "Crumpet and Tea" collection, Tea just happens to be a rather whimsical little sheep who always has cold feet. He is Mrs. Crumpet's companion and she happily knits him argyle socks to keep his feet toasty warm.

Shouldn't be too much longer and the pattern will be ready. I'll keep you posted..........

Serious Cranking Time....................

We just received an order for 30 pair of socks, so I'll be spending lots of time with "Doris." (for those of you who don't know who Doris is, she's our antique sock machine)

When we get orders like this, I always make myself a deadline. 30 days is good and that requires 2 socks each day. But, I always sneak in there another deadline just to add a wee bit of a challenge to myself. 20 days! That would mean making 3 socks each day. What will end up happening tho, is that I'll come in somewhere between the two deadlines.

So many knitters complain that they just can't get their projects done. It's all about goals. Do an inch a day, 5 rows a day - whatever. And even with that, your project will eventually get done.

I couldn't run this small (ok, micro!) business without setting strict deadlines. Believe me, it works. Try it on your current project that's just sitting in a lump staring up at you with eyes saying, 'finish me, finish me, finish me!'

Have a great day out there!

A Morning Outing..................

Yesterday we decided to drive over to Stallion Springs which is about a 10 minute drive from where we live. It's a perfect spot for retirees - they even have a covered bridge!



Then we stopped to take a peek at some of the alpacas at "Field of Dreams Alpacas."






Coming down we snapped a shot of the Cummings Valley. They grow lots of organic veggies there and some wineries are now popping up. Maybe we'll become the next little Napa?



We were almost home when we saw a sign for peaches. YUMMO! U-Pick a bucket for $10.00 - and were they worth it, too!

Have a great weekend.