Fall Favorites

I love fall time! I love the smell of fresh baked bread and the scent of the leaf filled outside air. I don't like the shorter days, but I do like gaining an hours sleep. I like snuggling under the covers. The scent of wood fires makes me remember happy childhood days. I like pulling out my sweaters. I love fall knitting, people give knitters less crazy looks in the fall, as they realize that winter will soon be here.

Puppy Love

My little brother is now an official dog owner. He put a down posit on his very own yellow lab. Isn't she cute! He hopes that she will become a friend and hunting companion and maybe one day a mother to her own litter of pups. She's only 4 weeks old and is still with her litter mates, but she already recognize him when he comes to visit her. Now all she needs is a name! Any ideas?

Home Again!

Hi all we are home again after being gone for most of the summer. While it was a fun summer of hard work and gardening, it is very good to be home. Sam's classes have already started and mine start this week. I'm totally pumped for my last year of counseling classes to begin! On our way back from visiting Maine, we stopped to look for yarn stores, and stumbled across a wonderful fiber store instead. Portland Fiber Gallery & Weaving Studio, http://www.portlandfibergallery.com/, has incredible products and deals, and a very friendly, down to earth staff. If you live in Portland, Maine check them out.

Hooah and Amen!

I was privileged to attend to very different services yesterday. The first was at my home church in PA. The age rang is diverse, though most of the congregation is 20 and 30 somethings. The dress code is from jeans to dresses. Tim's sermon started with a video clip from Pirates of the Caribbean and the remainder focused on 1 Corinthians 3. The fellowship was great!


Then last night I attended the new cadet worship service at the Cadet Chapel on West Point. The service consisted of Amy, myself, and about several hundred sweaty, tired, new cadets. It was the first chapel service I’ve been to where the worshipers placed M-4 weapons in the pews next to the kneelers. Instead of Amen, the Soldiers yell Hooah! The Chaplin, dressed in full battle rattle, preached a visual sermon on the armour of God. It was a meaningful and encouraging message to the worn down Soldiers.

It was awesome to participate in two very different services and feel the spirit of God so evident in each. I was struck with how ready the field is and how white it is for the harvest.

The Reason Why

I found this on a fellow knitter's blog yesterday. I am not sure who originally wrote it, but is spoke to my heart about the reason why God has us wait for things. When I am in the pain of waiting I sometimes forget that His plans for me are good. At that moment it does not seem good, and in fact the wait can seem cruel. But God is good. He has used and is using the pain of my own wait to make me more like Him. I hope this poem is a blessing to you while you wait on God and learn to seek Him more.

Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.

I plead and I wept for a clue to my fate....
and the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? You say wait?" My indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened?Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked,and Im claiming your Word."

My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign.
Or even a 'No', to which I'll resign.
You promised, dear Lord,that if we believed,
We need to but ask, and we shall receive.
Lord, Ive been asking, and this is my cry;
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
as my Master replied again. "Wait."

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
and I grumbled to God, "So,
I'm waiting...... for what?"

He seemed then to kneel,
and His eyes met mine...and He tenderly said,
"I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
I could give you all you seek
and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but
you wouldnt know me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.
You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair,
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in me,
when darkness and silence are all you can see.
You'd never experience the fullness of love when the peace of My Spirit
descends like a dove.

You would know that I give,
and I save, for a start,
but you'd not know the depth
of the beat of my heart.
The glow of my comfort late into the night,
the faith that I give you when you walk without sight.

The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
from an infinite God who makes what you have last.
You'd never know should your pain quickly flee,
what it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.

Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But oh, the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you.
So, Be silent my child,
and in time you will see,
that the greatest of gifts, is to truly know me.

Though oft my answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, "Wait."

Hick Fun: White(ish) Water Rafting

Mom and Little Sam had the amazing idea of taking the raft for a spin down the river. We've had rain almost every night for the past month, so the water was high and the current was strong. Sam, Little Sam, Kenny, and I spent about an hour blowing up the raft before the adventure commenced. We all gave ourselves headaches before we broke out the duct tape to the bike pump and finished filling up the raft. I am very thankful for simple inventions! Then we launched the maiden voyage, and promptly sprang a leak! Again, duct tape to the rescue! We completed two trips through the rapids before we spent some time swimming in the river. My favorite part was of course the rapids.

Mohawk

When my parents went away on vacation they left strict instructions that little Sam's hair must be cut short by they time they returned. We both agreed that by the time they returned his hair would be short, but they failed to instruct us on what to do with it in the interim. The following photos illustrate what resulted.

Before Haircut:

Interim Haircut:

Strawberry Picking!

Did I mention just how much I enjoy the summer? Last week I went strawberry picking and made two batches of jam. My favorite type of jam is strawberry-banana and you just cannot find that in stores!

Garden Photos

This is red lolo lettuce.

The green bean forest.

When I left my parent's house on Friday there were five pea flowers, I cannot wait to try the season's first peas! I've already partaken in radishes, spinach, chives, and lettuce. I love my garden!

How the Garden Grows: Sweet Peas

I love my garden! I've planted 4 types of peas (both shelling and whole eating), 3 kinds of carrots, 4 types of green beans, parsnips, turnips, 2 types of lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, 3 types of beets, 2 types of zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkins, Boston pickling cucumbers, 2 types of tomatoes, rutabagas, radishes, basil, dill, lavender, and thyme! Every day I check my plants, see what new seedlings are emerging, and my favorite to watch and help grow are the peas. I love helping them climb up the fence supports. As they climb they extend thin strands that seek out new support and as soon as they find it they attach by coiling themselves around. I love helping them grow up the right way and cannot wait till harvest. I've already harvested a slew of radishes: crispy, crunchy, and red. I am as happy as a pea in a pod getting my hands dirty every day tending my garden! Once my folks return I will use their camera and upload photos for y'all.

Turkey Hunting

Little Sam, Patrick, my Daddy, and I all went turkey hunting together last week. Though we didn't get anything, we did have a bunch of fun stalking turkeys and calling them ever closer to us. Somehow those silly birds knew better then to come on our side of the fence! It was my job to call them, here turkey, turkey, turkey!

Too Much Studying!

Tyler State Park

Bowling with Family

My parents and little brother came to visit last weekend. We all went bowling and did awful, but had a blast! I love bowling and I love my family, so it was a good combination. Here are some of the highlights.

My dad strangled Sam after realizing that Sam put his name on the score board as "Old Man".

Here's Little Sam bowling... and then there was one.

One of my favorite moments was Mom's victory dance.

Knitting Lessons

Our neighbors and good friends had us over for dinner on Easter Sunday. Their daughter, Avalon, has been asking me to teach her to knit for a while. So I brought over some knitting needles and a ball of yarn for her to practice with. As I was teaching her, her older brother Josiah watched intently. I asked him if he would like to learn. He said yes. So I ran home and picked up another pair of needles and yarn. Then I had two knitting pupils on the couch with me sandwiched in between them. It gives me such joy to teach others my craft. I'd say my pupils look quit promising!

Saturday Easter

Sam and I cooked all day on Saturday to prepare our Easter dinner for his family. We made chicken and matzo ball soup, vegetable curry, sage roast lamb stuffed with mushrooms and spinach, mashed potatoes, and couscous with saffron. It was quite the do! We were blessed that Nita was able to come. She will be moving west soon, so we will not be seeing as much of her as I would like.

Wet Felting

My little brother Samuel learned how to wet felt in art class this month. He told me all about the process over the phone and I made him promise to take pictures for me when he finished his project. He came down from New York to visit me this week and he did better then pictures. He gave me a beautiful, colorful, hand felted and designed purse! It is too cool! The purse is mostly green and greenish blue, with a purple and a red streak running through it. He also used a drop spindle to ply the yarn for the handle. Needless to say I am quite impressed!

Merino Makes Me Smile!

This is the blue merino roving I purchased the other day at my local yarn store (LYS) The Twist Knitting and Spinning in New Hope. I am trying to spin it up quickly, so that I avoid vastly different weights as much as possible. This is a pleasure to spin and I am looking forward to knitting it up!

Knitting: Finish Objects

I finished a few hand spun knitting project this month. I cannot even tell y'all how much I love spinning. I can do it for hours, which is good because it takes hours to make all the yarn I need! This is hand spun from a scrap of merino bamboo roving. I couldn't’t let such loveliness go to waste. So I decided that a choker would keep me warm, look cute, and use up the little bit of roving I had. I love being thrifty! It was a dream to spin and feels wonderful right against my neck.

The pink socks I made from mystery wool that I washed, carded, spun, and dyed myself. This is not the softest stuff ever, in fact I would not use it for anyone other then myself, but it has taught me a lot about the process of spinning.

Nature Walk: Loving the Little Things

After sitting at my computer working steadily and not so steadily for several hours I decided to talk a walk with my camera. These are the favorite types of walks I take, as I get to search out hidden treasures, which helps motivate me to exercise.

After the darkness of winter, even grass looks beautiful.

I love the way that the darkness of the tree contrasts with the blue grey of the sky.I am not sure what either of these two things are, but I think they are pretty cool!

Some pretty little flowers:

And a mail box in the sky on a telephone pole, which always makes me smile whenever I see it.

Calling Congress!

Every day as I listen to the news I feel like pulling my hair out! Our country's leadership are destroying the United States and enslaving our future generations through debt. Today I called two of my congressmen from PA and told them to vote against increased spending. When everyone seems to be drinking Obama Kool-aid, I am not sure if they will change, but at least they will hear the voice of reason and be accountable to it.

Spring Break

For Spring Break I petted a shark, a sting ray, and a jelly fish! Yeah, no kidding, I really did. No matter what they say, those jellies still sting a bit! Sam and I went with our dear friends the Montgomery's to the Aquarium in Camden. Events like these become even more exciting when you are looking through children's eyes. My favorite parts, besides the liquid petting zoo, was the jellyfish display and the swimming hippos. There was this big cylinder with jellyfish floating up and down like an enormous lava lamp. Jellyfish are very beautiful creatures.

Campaign pledge?

I resent that ribbing from my readership, though I cannot defend myself against it. I will strive in the future to update more frequently, as often as my high paced adventures allow.

Sincerely,

The Editor

Yarn Dealer

I just got back from the Twist Knitting & Spinning! Where I was just going to pop into, and see if they had any sales. Sam laughed in doubt when I told him that I would be only twenty minutes.

Well I would have only been twenty minutes unless the lovely yarn store owner, and yes she is truly wonderful :+), came over to help me as I inquired about the least expensive roving she has in stock.

We got to talking and she asked if I wanted to try some to spin. How could I refuse? Then she asked me what I have spun so far, cheap mystery wool, some lovely fawn colored alpaca, and a merino/silk blend that came with my wheel. She then went from roving bag to roving bag picking up various samples of wonderful wools, set me down at a wheel, and let me test spin them all! Wonders of wonders! I was in heaven.

I was able to test spin blue face Lester (BFL), corriadale, a special island sheep, merino, and a merino/bamboo. It was so educational to try all the different types of wool at the same time.