Memorial Day Parade

This weekend we randomly worked and 'be-laxed around the house. Until today. Today, my T showed off his skillz....

Did you know that Firetrucks are suprisingly roomy? And don't they R-O-C-K with the carseat motif?

So we drove to Way down to 'da Land today to participate in a parade, riding in the Firetruck for the first time. It was too fun.

The sun even made an appearance, and thusly Keely received a Sunscreen Mohawk.

It totally fits her, don't you think?

Naomi and Nana drove down for the occasion. The cuz' even posed for a posh picture in front of the truck. Ain't they cute?

Keely demonstrated her newly found balance. I've gotta admit, the girl's acquiring balance. Shiver me timbers!

We piled into the Firetruck for the trip down mainstreet.

In a Firetruck (this Firetruck anyway), a Siren is located via foot pedal on the passenger side of the truck. Fabulous placing, absolutely fabulous.

I meant to take this picture to show the girls' smiling, waving, and generally working the crowd. But man, what's up with the twinners facial expressions? Seriously?

But here, Keely got into it and by the end won everyone over with her never ending charm and graceful waving.

A nice, nice man with three Belgians and a Haywagon invited us to ride back to the parking area.

Given the rural-ness of this town, I'm sure that three draft horses making their way down Mainstreet isn't that big a deal. But, it was for us. And we rocked it, man.

Happy Memorial Day!

1 to Grow On

Startin' Summer off Right

Happy Memorial Day weekend, y'all!

Tonight we started off right...splashing in swimsuits, grillin' some goodies ...

eatin' our sandtoys.

What could be more beautiful?

As T's on call this weekend, we're hanging around the township. Everyone, be safe!

New FarM'nimals

We have a very special announcement. On Sunday, after the kitten discovery (more on that in a minute) T and I drove up to Sand Lake to look at a horse from a Craigslist posting. You never know what you'll find hunting a Craigslist posting. But, we took a chance.

And today I drove up to Sand Lake with the girls to pick up our new beauty. A is convinced she is hers, and her name is not "BJ", but "PJ". and when I call her "Beeg", she calls her "Peach". I'm pretty sure there's a speech impediment problem, but we're close enough to call it even. And, I kinda like "PJ" better than "BJ", so maybe it'll stick. So far she's doing great, although I believe we'll have some quirks to work out. For one, she's used to large stock type horse trailers, BuT we have a small 2-horse converted to 1-horse, so we compromised and she loaded and rode home I think fairly comfortably. At the barn I compromised and she turned her big booty around, coming out head first, rather than the preffered manner of backing out. She winnied to her new friends a little, but in all, she's been quite quiet. Later we'll drive over and introduce her to Cindy, after a much needed nap for the girls. Oh, and she may be pregnant. We'll see come Feb! (just kidding, we'll get her checked out before then).

*

The Kittens, as promised. On Monday, when 6 kittens were whirling, twirling, jumping, and banging around my dining room, I threw up my hands and called Cascade Animal Hospital. In reality, the kittens played SO NICE with the girls, and eachother, that we contemplated keeping them all for the barn. Then reality set in, I loaded up the Kits and drove to Cascade. They pronounced the kittens 9 weeks old, and in great shape. 2 were claimed before we left the Hospital! We took 2 home, so far they are "Jumper" and "Jumper". Yes, we have difficulty keeping them out. But they are A's kittys, for sure, and they are deeply in love.

Any kitten that puts up with my fiercely loving 2 year old can stick around for a bit. Seriously, keeps 'em both entertained.

FarMin Some'mo

This past weekend T and I toiled at the "pwopety" while Adalynn and Keely played at Opa and Oma's. Saturday we were pleased with our progress, and super excited about the prospect of working more on Sunday.

Saturday:

T drove the tractor out to the property. From our home. It was H-O-T. I just love my man on a tractor!

But, com'in on up the last couple of hills, the poor tractor started sputtering. I don't think it's been worked that hard in a while. So, he made it to the field, and then let it rest a while.

T said he really thought he was flying on the country roads, at 13mph...until a couple a big boy tractors passed him...really passed him...going really fast....

Thankfully, after a rest, it started back up. Good, good tractor!

We placed 15 T-posts, and mowed a good path. Then I ran out of gas in the mower (we're push mowing, it's actually working quite well to clear brush...), and we decided to ride double on the big tractor just for fun. PS. if you were driving on Kzoo Ave at approximately 8pm on Saturday night, please ignore the woman waving like a lunatic/pageant-ess from the tractor. She didn't know what she was doing.

Sunday (SUNDAY!!!) we began to drive from our home to the property. T asked if I wanted a cat, he'd seen one hiding in the log we'd just passed...only it wasn't just one...

There were 6 - SIX!!! - 8-10wk old kittens. So we tossed 'em in the back of the truck and took 'em home. And that was the end of workday-Sunday. T said this was God's way of saying we should'a gone to church. He may be right.

Weekend Wrap-up May 14-16

We filled this past weekend with activities. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera for half of them. Friday we traveled to my elementary school for the Last Ever Hamburg Fry, they are closing after this school year. Then Trav and I attended a Red Cross Fundraiser. Saturday (i actually remembered my camera - pictures to come!) mom, myself, Adalynn and Keely drove to Greenville for the First Ever Michigan Fiber Fiesta. Yummy, yummy yarn. Mmmmm! Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning we spent at the FarM, and Sunday afternoon at Grandpa and Grandma's for the Annual Dock Installation.

Oddly, Adalynn was the first person in the lake. And she demanded to stay in the lake for a good 1/2hr to 45min. Yikes! She's got Opa's blood, for sure!

Notice the boys wearing wetsuits? THAT'S BECAUSE THE WATER WAS COLD!!! Be sure, after her teeth started chattering and her lips turned blue, I coerced her to hop out of the water for a warm-up.

Boatin' on dry land. 3 girly cousins, whoopin' it up.

This, I believe, needs no explanation.

Later we threw the girls on the boat, this time in the water. Keegan can row, can't she? They've all got life jackets on, they'll come around to the house again sometime.

(just kidding peeps, they were closely supervised and tied to land.)

Look closely, on top of the light, and you'll notice 2 baby bird beeks peeping out from their nest. Seriously, seriously cute.

Adios, amigos. My baby's up, tearing up my new yarn. Happy Monday!

Sweetness, in a technical sort of way

Ready for Breakfast
Originally uploaded by FarMknits

Have I mentioned my new and groovy love affair with Flickr? So, we totally downgraded our internet. Uploading from iPhoto to Blogger takes ... oh, like 5 years and 3 days, not that I'm counting. I found Flickr, what I like to call "My Friend Flickr" because it reminds me of "My Friend Flicka" and I liked that book when I was younger. Anywho. So in iPhoto, with the click of a HOTbutton, my selected photos automatically and at an efficient speed run on over to Flickr. And I can even blog from here! Oh. The wonderfullness of something new!

(and why the chickens? because they're cool too. and they just wanted you to know.)

Hey Y'all ... Happy FRIDAY!!!

Elizabeth Tunic and Sunhat
Originally uploaded by FarMknits

We've been sick-o and nasty around here lately, but finally, feeling better. We hope that all our friends in TN are digging/bailing themselves out too! Remember, we've always got a room up here for you! And Tiff, I'm pretty sure I could even set you up with a job...just imagine the fun we could have!!
And what is a post without pictures? LAME-O. So Last weekend I knit this sunhat to accessorize Adalynn's Elizabeth Tunic. It's supercute, even if she does keep tossing the hat to the side.
Anyway. My snot-filled head is shutting down my thought process. Before it gets really bad, I'm going to head back to the needles. Smooches to all, and to all a GREAT FRIDAY!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

To all the mothers, on this day, we wish joy, happiness, and most definitely a "be laxing" day.

("be laxing" is copyrighted by Adalynn, inc.)

Adalynn's Elizabeth Tunic

I tested this pattern, the Elizabeth Tunic, for a sweet Mama who owns and runs Alligator Knits, a Hyena Cart store. A multitaskable yet captivating knit. Adalynn loves the twirlability.

Sarah, of Deviant Dyes, dyed the yarn for Adalynn's tunic. It's fabulously colorful and vibrant in person. She paired the light colored trim with the bright colorway.

My 'lil sunshine, even though a bit cloudy today, humored me with some pictures.

See the twirlability? We know, if A's still twirlin', she's still doing all right.

A Morning FarM Routine and More

On the days I work, I load Adalynn and Keely in the car and drive into town. Stopping briefly on the way to feed Cindy, then continue to a Nana or Grandma's house, depending on the day.

But on the days I don't work, well, this is when the magic happens.

We slowly open our eyes as the kids cuddle and jostle us awake. We eat breakfast, and T leaves for work, feeding Cindy on the way. We play a little, Keely returns to her crib for a morning nap, and Adalynn and I prepare to feed the chickens.

Adalynn loves to feed her chickens.

And she's good at it too.

The hens are ready, clamoring at their door.

Praying for yogurt, berries, or any miscellaneous kitchen scraps that may have found their way into their bowl.

Say 'hi' to Big Mama! She rules the roost.

Chickie bokeh, I think I'm in love!

This past workapalooza weekend T picked up 2 wheels for the coop which morphed the henhouse from a stable object into an all-out Eggmobile. The next addition will be swag at the bottom in the back to cover the small opening where the wheels raised it off the ground. The fire dept recently trashed old fire hose, I think it'll do the trick.

Also this weekend we constructed our feeble attempt to save our neighbors from our no-good-very-bad-dog-eating-double-teaming wolfdogs. While I'm worried they'll tear up the grass, I guess no grass is better than no house when we lose it from being sued due to a dog attack.

And I planted some garden plants. My poor indoor seeds are waning, turns out they don't appreciate being thrown on the floor. I'm crossing my pinkie toes a few tomatoes will rise through the darkness, and that the carrots, kale, spinach, peas and lettuce will take off. So far, nothing. But we'll keep you updated. Because we know, it makes your day.

Elton John LIVE!!

Us farm girls don't get out too often, but a couple of weeks ago we received a special treat when John and Rennae brought us to see EJ Live in downtown GR. T and I forgot/were not hip to the feather boas, kickin sunglasses, and crazy duds that walk around at Elton concerts.

Thank goodness they are good sharers.

Amazing concert, wow. The Man walked up on stage at approximately 8:04pm and played hard for the next 3 hours. Straight. Absolutely amazing.

Small intervals between songs allowed little stretching, fist pumping, and crowd thanking pointing before he returned to play another hit. I gotta tell you, this man can P-L-A-Y. So he sings a lot of hits. It does not even start to compare to his ivory clinking skills - AMAZING, really.

Yea, Elton. You rock it, man.

Here, this bow was for US. All about us, Elton was, forshizzle.