Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Owling

Yesterday, our errand running turned into a National Geographic Nature episode.

We started off in Newington and picked up our picnic lunch at Stew Leonard's. Fun for kids while grocery shopping.

Then we took the ferry, and got the oil changed at Reynold's Subaru. Delaney thinks that a princess lives at this castle.

After we arrived at the in-laws, we saw an owl in a nearby branch. She kept flitting from branch to branch; but focusing on the fence. We thought that Poppy had left a rag or something hanging out while he was working. Am forgot our baby carrier at the dealership, so he had to make a return trip. As he drove by the fence, he noticed it was one of the baby owls! He was able to free its elbow from the fence and put it on the post. It was so amazing to see the intimidating posture of momma owl to Am. She kept snapping her beak and hooting.
After some more drama and another owl removal from the fence, we put the baby in a taller branch of a substantial mountain laurel. The whole time, the two siblings were observing – one from a branch where it could test its wings, and the other from the comfort of its home. I was surprised at how calm the baby owl that got stuck was and how patient the momma was. We observed the dialogue between the mother and the stranded owling; she seemed to be encouraging and instructing it how to get back into the tree. As for the owling out on the limb, she seemed to coaxing it out farther on the branch and stretch its wings. We kept chuckling at the baby observing from the safety of its home; it kept reaching its head out as far as it could stretch and looked straight down, as if to say, "We are awfully high up! I don't know about this flying thing…"

Of all the days not to bring a camera around, Am took these with his phone.

To top off an amazing nature day, a beautiful moon and the spring peepers.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

CT sheep and wool




Lovely day, lovely people, lovely fiber!

Friday, April 24, 2009

It/Tagged

Tagged by " Knitnut,Karen".

What would I do if I had all of the money in the world?

1.


Version 1: the unselfish answer
1. start a local organization to help senior citizens with doing their groceries, going to dr's appointments and staying social.
2. Donate like crazy to a whole bunch of organizations
local soup kitchen
local no freeze shelter
Save the Children
Cancer research
UN food program
the Waterfire in Providence, RI

Version 2: the selfish answer
1. Pay off all of our debt on credit, mortgage, student loans and cars.
2. Start education funds for the girls
3. Start our retirement fund.
4. Put $ away for caring for our parents
5. Buy a Lendrum spinning wheel
6. Buy land/house/barn up in VT and start a B & B. Including a barn to house my animals - sheep, llamas and chickens.
7. Go on a Disney vacation!

Thanks, Karen

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Our Go Green Committee at our hospital sponsored a tree planting today. Delaney got to help.



Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Blue hue

One of my favorite things about knitting is working with color. I fully admit to fondling skeins of yarn in the store, but the color is what captures my attention. I love using bright punches of vibrant color to spice things up a bit. Lime green, hot pink, electric blue, here I come. One of my favorite hand-dyers is Gail, the kangaroo dyer. She has an amazing eye for color and mixes beautiful tones with a pop. Her talent is evident in the subtleties of each of her skeins. She was gracious to gift me with the most beautiful skein of blue hues today. The colors in this one skein range from stonewashed denim, to carribean sea, to robin's egg. I love it. It will be a February Lady.



Friday, April 17, 2009

Today

Made a little quilt for Fifi.



Then we headed outdoors to start a bit more clean-up for our garden. Still have a long way to go, but little by little it will get done. We hung out with a neighbor and Baxter got to play with his friend too.

I am finishing up the last minute things for our hospital's Earth Day celebration. We will have a display for our employees about little things they can do to make a big impact on the environment, what our hospital currently does green. We also compiled "green bios" of members of our committee so our staff can see what its peers are doing. And…. The most exciting part is that we will be having a tree planting! Yay!