Hello February

 Hello! Happy February. I think it was just my imagination, but this morning I thought I smelled spring. The birds around here sure think it is, I almost got hit in the head by two hummingbirds. They were so mad they had lost all reason, they actually fell on the ground they were fighting so hard. Our cat and Polly the dog ran to the scene to break it up, and they flew off. This youngster, (above) is very brave. He or she freaks me out because it doesn't have any fear of me. It nests in my neighbors tree next door. The poor doves have forgot about this bird and have let their guard down and will soon be fast food meals. With all of the drama going on who needs T.V. 

I had planned on hooking a lot more than I did this week. Life just seems to crowd in and I never get to my hooking. I did also manage to dye some wool too. 

Just that little bit. It takes me longer because I had to order wool and then I had to dye wool before I could finally start. This rug is called April Showers by Debbie @ Whimsyrugs.com. I have had it forever. I did this one last year.

 

I think why I like doing this rugs is because its squares. I use to tell Ron I could conquer the world in squares. It works with my mind. I think it stems from making play houses as a child. Find a small place, hidden in some place no one else would think to see and there would be a hide out. 

I didn't have any purple so I knew I needed to dye some. Its always a happy day when I can dye wool.

I judge my state of mind that way. I also have never dyed a whole yard at once. I just do it in little bits so I get to do lots of different colors. I just wanted purple this time. 

It doesn't look very purple but it is, I am excited to cut it and see how it works with my other

colors. My next rug will be this one. When I saw it I fell in love with it. 

I loved that rug so much. A friend of mine for Christmas researched my family history. So much fun stuff. I could sign up for Daughters of the American Revolution. I thought that was so cool to find out all of this history. Ron's family goes even further back. When we go to Ben's house again, I am going to go find the grave yard that is close to him with one of those men. So that was cool. Most of my family were farmers so I think that is why this rug speaks volumes to me.  Here is the original picture.

I have thought of nothing but that rug for weeks. Its February now, so I should be getting notification for it to be shipped. 

So in a nutshell that is why kinda went on last week. I always look forward to February, we get our biggest storms and snow and rain this month. 

I hope you are all able to stay warm and safe. Weather has been pretty intense lately. We have an atmospheric rain storm coming. 

I wish you the best,

~Kim~

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Now I Am Back

 

Doesn't that look like a giant footprint? When we drive by here, I always think of some giant walking over these wonderful hills. Finally, Ron who I am so thankful for, figured out how to get my pictures from I Cloud. I would sit at the computer, for a solid year, and no matter how much voo-doo I tried couldn't get my photos from my phone to my photo editor. I bought a new phone, I think in October and it was for me just too much technology. Plus there are new/old changes to blogger and by the time I fought with everything I just gave up. One of my goals was I was going to start blogging this year. It may be the 25th of January but its still January.

We have used our travel trailer a lot. We took Polly with us every trip. She is a very good traveler.

I have never traveled with a dog before so that was a new experience but such a nice one. I am so happy I have her because I have to walk. It got really easy to not walk like I did when I had chickens and big gardens to take care of. 

On our way to visit Ben and Megan we had left really early to get to North Carolina and this was going over the long bridge over the Arkansas river. Little did we know that in two weeks, North Carolina would be hit with Hurricane Helene. We saw so many beautiful places, and now they are gone. It still makes me sad, and I do hope this new administration will not forget those people in Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, like the past one did. Wasn't last week a nice week?

 

 Polly

She knows she isn't supposed to get up on the couch, but I was doing something and she wasn't happy about it. Like right now I am blogging and she is ready to go outside. 

I don't think I ever showed this rug that I put on the wall behind my fireplace. I love this rug so much.

Thank you Saundra, for drawing it out for me. Dyeing that wool for this was hard as I saw colors in my mind that I didn't have recipes for. That rug was such a labor of love. 

I will stop for now, I am just so excited I can write again. I can't wait to go back to Tucson.

I have another grandbaby to visit in April. I can't wait. When this next baby comes, We will be grandparents of 15. I am so blessed and so thankful for all of the precious gifts that we have had the joy of being grandparents and that is just the oldest three. The girls are winning. We don't know what the next baby will be, so it will be interesting. Seven girls and five boys. 

I wish you all of the best, I will track down the rugs I did last year.

I guess because I couldn't upload pictures, I just didn't take pictures of them. I would 

finish them and just put them in the closet. 

Have a delightful day, we have our first rainstorm coming. Yay!!

~Kim~

 "Be the person your dog thinks you are".

 

The New Year, 2025

 I thought I might try to write a blog. Its really like sitting down and doing something I am so unfamiliar with now. I want to say thank you to sweet Lauren for checking on me. I really never thought I would ever take a blogging break that lasted a whole year. 

I am good, and happy and loving having Polly my dog. My family and my extended family are all good. 

As soon as I can figure out how to get pictures out of the cloud and onto my computer I will be back to blog more. 

That is next on my agenda. I have been hooking and dyeing wool and all of that stuff I enjoy, I just can't show you and you know how important it is to show you pictures. 

I just wanted to say hi and its all good. I have missed you all.

Kim

Happy 2024

 Happy New Year! Since I missed so much of 2023, I decided to start fresh. I hope this finds you on this  first day in January in a wonderful place.

I have sat down to write posts. Lots of posts. Which I then delete. Sometimes they sound to snarky, or to whiny. Today, I will just write. Because I do miss blogging. 

What is my takeaway from 2023? Was it a crazier year that the three years that preceded it? No, I don't think so I think anymore life is just full of surprises at every turn. 

I was thinking what were my favorite things of 2023? Getting a travel trailer was a favorite and using it and staying at our out of town kids houses. Getting to visit with our grand children for longer periods of time. One of my other favorite things was going to Arkansas and staying at the Ron Coleman mine and digging for quartz. Even though, I got dirtier than I have ever been in my life, it was fun and I look forward to doing it again. 

Life threw some curve balls. Lots of curve balls. Things I didn't even begin to understand. But as John Bunyan said, from Pilgrims Progress, " I am on the bottom, and the ground is still firm. 

Today I was looking at my Kindle and I found that in 2023 on the Kindle I had read 131 books. That doesn't count the other stacks of books I read that were real books. I am pretty proud of that. I listened to 20 C.J. Box books. My favorite book character  right now is Joe Pickett. I call them Men romance novels. Big guns, hunting, fishing and lots of action. I wish it didn't have so many curse words in it, but being a girl and all. One of my favorite pictures was this one.

 

So when this showed up on my Facebook. I just had to snap it. Nate in the book has a 454 Casul. So when C.J. Box got one from Freedom Arms, I was so excited to finally see one. Tell me, isn't that an awesome handgun? It even has his name on it. I sew or hook listening to these books. Go figure. I don't fly fish, I don't hunt, and I don't live in Wyoming. I never even killed a chicken to eat. The last time I fished, I was cleaning the fish and she was full of eggs, and it made me so sick, I never fished again. So no clue why I am such a big fan. Speaking of hooking.

My two latest projects. The winter house is called Christmas Cabin by Therese Shick. Wool'n Gardener.

The one above it is called, Friends, by Crow Creek Farms. I bought both off of Etsy. 

Today, on Lauren's post, she said, a hookers resolution is not to buy wool. I had to laugh because last year, I bought patterns. Lots of patterns. I suppose so I could listen to Joe Pickett. So no new patterns until February.  Speaking of Lauren. She sent me the most wonderful bag. Every time I get my hook out of it I think of her. She sent it about the time I got sick. So I never said, to her Thank you so much for it.

Lauren is so faithful and she continues to always bless my life. Her wonderful blog is, Rugs and Pugs.

Yeah, so I won't go into being sick but I got sick on October 6th and didn't get well until Thanksgiving. So I lost a few months in there. I think now, our entire family was sick from August, until December. 

Well, just a bit of things. I will have further updates hopefully not months apart. Ron is going to school right now. So it feels like we are always doing something now. 

I wish you all a wonderful New Year, 2024. Who knows what the future holds. 

~Kim~

" Lord, give toe me a quiet heart

That does not ask to understand,

But confident steps forward in

The darkness guided by Thy hand."

---Elisabeth Elliot---Keep a Quiet Heart.

" Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6