Early August happenings...

I took a moment to go through my phone pics to see what I've been up to lately... 

;)

Part of the basil patch was harvested to make some Pesto.  Paul, Cassie and myself are quite fond of Pesto... on crackers, on toast, on pizza.  When planting in the spring, I elected to plant an entire package of seed.  Heehehehe.... I don't think we need to do THAT again!  We literally have basil growing out of our ears.  Some friends were invited over to help manage the basil;  we still have LOTS left over.

Excitement in the mail!!!!!  KatieZ contacted me earlier about some cotton yarn she had in excess and wondered if I was interested in working out a deal.
?!?!?!!   Ah--yah!  Candance and I were both excited to tear into the box of goodies!

And later that day, while the girls swam, I elected to finish crocheting up some Crochet-top kitchen towels.

Also on the mail-front....
Cassie gandered out to the mailbox one day...

... to be followed home by her posse!

Some shifting of chicken houses needed attention due to the newest (and FINAL) hatchlings of the season.

Big Mama with our 22 youngest hatchlings (first week of August).  She is protecting them nicely in the ground brooder, which was NOT the original plan, BTW!
Nope, nope.  Originally, we were going to have her start brooding them in the house-brooder.
But..... it seems that another Mama was interested in even MORE chickens on the Skattebo ranch!



*forehead slap!*
Yes folks---there is a chance to have another dozen or so chicks on the property in another week or so!  And, I KNEW there was a reason for the dwindle in egg production in the upper coops!

Anyway, yah, so the house-shifting started!
We started by kicking Carlos (rooster) out of the 'new' coop in order to allow the 27 oldest chicks of the season to have safe access to their permanent housing.  Together with two other year-old hens, they are now housed.  (29 birds there).
Carlos and two other older hens departed the 'new' coop together and are now mingling quite nicely with our main rooster, Steve, and his posse of 9 hens.  So...., what is that?.....another 13 birds.  (42 so far).
Then, the 14 'teenager' that had been in the ground brooder were moved into the temporary housing that the older chicks HAD been in.  (we're up to.... 56).
At that point, we were able to move Big Mama and her 22 chickies into the ground brooder (78 now; I already counted Mama as one that belonged to Steve).
So... I THINK I've taken care of counting everyone..... add to that another dozen or so that the newest Mama will hatch.... Yah.  About 90 birds.  That's fun, right?!?!!?

Oh yah... one other little minor happening in early August...

I turned 40.  

Yarn ball winder?

Last night, I decided to do some research on a variety of yarn ball winders.  I YouTubed winders, and did a shopping search for prices.

It seems that of all the simple "home" ball winders on the market, the Royal ball winder was receiving the best reviews.  Prices I found on various websites ranged from $35.00 - $68.00 (crazy price range for the SAME model!)

I am always a bit reserved when it comes to actually hitting the "buy" button for just about everything I ever buy.  I'd love to have one -- it seems like a super fun and easy gadget to have available to take care of those deflated partially used yarn skeins.




Now, of course, I have balled up my excess yarns in the past -- but those pesky balls roll all over the place when working with them.  A tip that was shared to stabilize the balls from all of that rolling was to simply place them into a small bowl.  Done deal.  Ball stabilized.

A ball winder takes care of the stabilization because it makes a "cake" ball rather than a round ball.  And the "pulling" of yarn comes from the center, NOT the outside.

As with any search ..... MANY Do-It-Yourself sites flooded my search results.

AND,  some super straight-forward instructions on DIY Ballwinder were found -- of course I was going to give it a try.

Results....
 -- a center-pull ball of yarn..... that was just a wee bit too tight. 

Lesson learned:  Start winding looser, Amy!


Of course, just as with a new skein of yarn, after a bit of crochet, the center starts emptying  --- problem solved.

Naturally, when I tried my second ball.... the results were MUCH better because I started wrapping the yarn around the tube much looser at the start.

 So now...although I really really really still want a new gadget to play with....

I really don't need one.

{{And I can used the saved $$ to buy more yarn, right??}}

Oh my! 2 weeks gone by...

I don't think it'll surprise anyone that this has been the picture of my kitchen table on most evenings and every Sunday for the past few weeks.  I do wish I would get better at doing a quick, little check-in on a day-to-day basis, though :)

Cassie's volleyball season concluded with an all-day tournament last Saturday.  That alone is a symbol of how fast this school year is zooming by already!

BUT LAST SUNDAY..... I crocheted the day away!  

((and sadly paid for my lack of AP-Statistics prepping throughout the week!)) :p

The "hexagon flower" units were wrapped up late Sunday evening, and then I started connecting the motifs together a little bit on most evenings this past week.

Today, I finished connecting 28 motifs; the recommended amount for the Kaleidoscope Challenge given out by Mikey from the Crochet Crowd.  HOWEVER, now that it is together (with loose ends still needing my attention), I will make another 22 motifs (2 more rows each of 5 and 6 motifs) in order to make this closer to a throw-size.  Even Candace said "it's too small;  even for ME, mom!"  :)

Ah yes..... and one day this week while walking through Shopko, I came upon this lovely sight!

I didn't dare take a picture of my cart after the damage I did to this bin.   And in all honesty, I hit up the store twice that day;  the first time Paul was with me, so I only did a little damage.  But later on that evening, I brought the girls with me.  I couldn't BELIEVE how empty the bin became from my afternoon visit to my early evening visit!  I guess I wasn't the only one who loaded up.  This picture was taken after my 2nd dig.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5...

That would be then number of months that have gone by since the last of the "white stuff" disappeared for us in Northern Wisconsin.  Even though we all enjoyed the excitement of the first snow fall today, it's still waaaaaay too fresh in my memory about the OVERLY LONNNNNNNG winter we had last season!  *sigh*

And darn!!!!!!  I'm kicking myself for having my lazy night a couple of days ago!  I SHOULD have gotten my bum outside to pick the last of our tomatoes in order to give them to MIL.   We had our first hard frost over night for the past two evenings, so...... they're done/gone/damaged.  I suppose they still COULD have made up some great sauce/juice, had I picked them yesterday, or evening today.  But..... I guess it is what it is.  I have plenty of juice and whole-tomatoes stored away for my family AND for the inlaws.  It's still easy to kick yourself about letting anything go to waste, though :\

Aran throw progress and Cassie off to camp

It's a Slow Stitch Sunday over at Kathy's blog, and I'm getting some time in to the Aran throw before the day has to completely get started. 

As promised, I stopped crocheting the bobbles after the first two colors, and replaced those with triple-crochet stitches.  It makes the color bands a bit larger; growing the afghan a bit quicker, and much less frustrating.  The bobbles certainly ARE adorable, and they will return on the 'other side' as I near the finish line to keep some symmetry.  

And ohh......that Judy L!  She's been posting about yarn lately.  Being such a newbie to yarn, and already feeling the difference between the Caron Simply Soft I used in Slanted Shells and the Red Heart Super Saver yarns I'm using now, I started doing some self-educating on yarn weights and such...

At least now I know what WPI stands for!  But what still gets me..... BOTH the Simply Soft and the Super Saver yarns are "4/Medium", but they feel so different.  The Red Heart Super Saver clearly says "worsted" on the label;  the Simply Soft doesn't.  Does that mean it's a different type of 4/Medium yarn ???  The feel between the two is SO DIFFERENT.  The Super Saver feels so coarse as compared to Simply Soft.  Hm.  Am I missing something else?  Judy D (in WA) gave me some reassurance that the Red Heart will soften after I wash it.  Maybe 4/Medium yarns differ brand-to-brand just like 100% cotton differs.  You quilters know what I mean!  There are some cottons that feel soooooo lovely, and others that feel nearly like sand paper!

Anyway..... my yarn education (and Judy L) lead me to Ravelry.com.

Oh!

Dear!!!

People talk about Pinterest.  Psht!!!!!  For a newbie to yarn/crochet projects.......Oh Lordy!  Ravelry takes addictions to a whole new level!  LOL

And now that Caitlyn has had her time with the Slanted Shells, a new project is in the early stages for her.  I'm not sure if you can follow the link unless you are a Ravelry member, but here's a potential project for her:  Super Fast and Easy throw.  Gotta love that name, right??  LOL

I have another hour and half before I really have to get the day moving.  Cassie is scheduled for a week long Science and Technology camp for girls entering 7th grade.  The camp is two hours away, so we'll need to leave by 11:00 to get her to registration by 1-2PM.  She's excited!  This will be her first extended length camp away from home.

I'm hoping your Sunday is enjoyable and relaxing!