Happy Hanukkah to my dear Jewish friends!

Happy Hanukkah to my dear Jewish friends!!!

http://vimeo.com/7971216

On a snowy, blustery day...

My plans for a Christmas shopping trip to Billings, MT with Mom were cancelled today... due to the cold... snow... and ice!

It's a great day to stay home! Sip on hot cocoa... sew... tape... mud...

I'm finishing up some breastfeeding pillows that are heading east to new Moms in the Newton, MA area.

Remember recently I posted about finding my Lutterloh system? Well... so far I've made a new night gown and a T-shirt. I bought some light weight denim the other day... will possibly make a dress... or pants... ah... the choices are endless! Let the creativity flow!

Still need to decide on a Christmas party outfit.

Sewing!

I recently found my Lutterloh pattern making system. I'm so excited! I need some new clothes... and I really DON'T like clothes shopping... plus... making my own clothes allows me to be creative!

I bought my system in the early 90s and just subscribed to the annual supplement to bring my patterns up to date!

Last night I made a patter and sewed up a nightgown! Took a couple hours start to finish!

Now... I really need something special for the Christmas season... and Christmas parties! I think that I've picked out the pattern...

What I really like about my Lutterloh system is that my patterns are custom made to fit me! Yeah!!!

Just found this wonderful blog all about creating Lutterloh patterns!

The Goat & the Beagle... Stan's story

Don't you just LOVE Facebook? I DO!!!

My FB friend Stan shared this awesome story about a Goat & a Beagle... it's just SO Wyoming and funny!

So with Stan's permission to share it... here goes:

I was driving to work, like any other day. As I was coming into [town], going east and of course watching out for [our town Police Officer], I noticed a brown pygmy goat walking west on the highway with a beagle. Not only was the beagle walking beside it but it looked very much like the beagle was herding the goat for it to stay on the highway. I looked past this interesting duo and saw a flatbed pickup parked on the next intersection. In my mind I thought, OH...he's the owner and is trying to get them both into the truck and I will help him. So I whipped around and parked on the shoulder, opened the door and without even calling them they both hopped into my car. With the beagle and the goat in the back seat, I noticed the driver of the flatbed turn the corner towards me and I was thinking he was going to park and retreive his unusual pair. But instead he waved and headed down the road. Now what????? I had a beagle and a goat, both about the same size in my backseat and they were probably asking the same thing, now what? So I sped home, wondering what I was going to do. Thankfully I had just finished a pig pen and thought the goat could stay in there. After dropping the goat off in the pig pen and dropping the beagle off at the house, I thought, OK, my deed is done for the day. About 9:30, I get a phone call from Amy. She tells me the goat got out of the pig pen and was running down the county road. Some local rancher picked him up and took him to a lady's house up the road. Later on that night, after work, I went to pick up the goat. She was locked in a dog cage, jus big enough to stand in. I brought her home and after putting a few more planks on the pig pen, now probably three times the height of her, thought this was for surely tall enough. Well, I was wrong and after three weeks of trying to get the word out about this goat and beagle, I still was pulling my hair out about this intersting situation.

Finally, someone called about both of the animals. Someone came for the beagle and then a call came for the goat. I went down to get the goat, which we called Billy the Kid (get it? Ya, I'm dumb) and the goat was gone. He managed to get as far back as possible, run and dig his tiny hooves into the edge of one plank and jump out of the pig pen. From there, he was gone forever. With my tail between my legs, I had to go home and call the people back and explain their goat is no longer there and has run away.

So the lesson is, if you ever see a pair as interesting as a goat and beagle walking down main street, just let them be. They probably know where they're going.

Out with Mom today...

I'm so blessed to have my parents nearby! They moved to our little town here in Wyoming 2 years ago... all the way from New Hampshire!

Mom and I are escaping today!!! For T-Day shopping... and well... just... because!!!

Got to run and put my list together!

Question????

What's your favorite fixings for Thanksgiving? More later....

how to eat an elephant...

I'm just back from a walk with my Katie girl along the canal.

It's a day full of promise with blue skies with a hint of white clouds... still... the mountains are capped in white and the birds are flittering about.

Today I'm back to mudding the boys' bathroom. I've got to move forward every day to make some good progress...

I keep reminding myself...

How do you eat an elephant? ONE BITE AT A TIME!

And so... with one swipe of mud at a time... I inch toward my goal of walls... ready to paint...

Well, I'd just better get to it, right?

My Katie girl is BACK!

Katie (beige) & Fluffy (black)
Charlie (little white fluff ball at 4 weeks old)
Emma (approx 8 weeks old)
My Katie girl... my shadow!
So... off we were heading to Billings this morning when we got down the street near the house we were renting... when a cat looking just like my Katie girl crosses the street and stops in the yard looking at the truck.

I jump out of the truck to see if it was my Katie girl who has been missing for 3 weeks....

She was very timid. Missing her collar... and wasn't so sure about me : (...

We turned right around and brought her home and put away the kittens to give her some space. As soon as she entered our new home... downstairs she went... straight to the food bowl. YUP! That's Katie alright!

She's a little thinner, but in very good health. I think that someone had her all this time. She was lost... went back to the old place... and someone (who??? I don't know!) took her in not knowing how much we were missing her!

So... now we have 4 cats! Yes, I most certainly must be the... Cat Lady....

With our youngest son (almost 12) to watch over all cats... off we went to Billings.

On the Walmart list:

Cat Food

Kitten Food

Cat litter (Feline Pine is my favorite!)

and... an addition litter box!

It'll take a while for all of our cats to get adjusted to one another....

I'm so very very very pleased to have my Katie girl... my shadow... back!!!!