Emptyknitster

As the grandkiddos grow up it seems my visits are beginning to shrink! They have had a very busy summer.  Unbelievably Chloe went to visit her Grannie and Grandfather across the pond - ALL BY HERSELF! She did fine but it's hard for this Grandma to realize she is old enough to travel so far alone. Both grandkiddos also spent time back East with the English side of the family and then it was on to Northern California for just their immediate family to enjoy sometime together! I convinced myself that when they came for their visit with me they needed a bit of a rest! So off we went to the Public Library and checked out books, had The Chick come with her new kitten Zoey, and mostly just hung around the house. .Zoey loved her deck experience and The Chick added a deck to her "must have" list for a future home. We went paddle boarding a couple of days at "Lake" Elmo.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out it really wasn't a bad place to paddle.  Gra...

Recently I took a quick trip to the Stillwater. We were intending to play a little Bunco and just hang and relax with the gals. In the end hanging out and relaxing won - no Bunco was played! Artis, yours truly and Jinx   The Bunco Gals with Murphy - the three legged dog.   Switch-er-roo...Artis, Courtney and Jinx  We had a wonderful time at one of my favorite places in Montana.

Bro' Mike and wife came into town this last week. He'd shown and interest in my family research and wanted to sit down and take a look at what I'd found. My father never knew much about his father's family, not because Dad wasn't interested but my grandfather died when he was twelve and my grandmother just wouldn't talk about family to anyone. Dad's older sister told me a few things she thought were the dynamics of their family but she certainly didn't state them as factual. Dad often asked me to search for information about his family and to help him learn about his father. At the time I just didn't have any facts to hinge a valid search on. I promised Dad I would continue to look for that tiny bit of information needed to "break the case wide open" and so, from time to time over the years I have searched on internet trying to find anything that might get me started on a solid search of Dad's family. And in the fall of 2015 I fo...

I almost can't believe it..... The Down The Rabbit Hole Blanket is complete!!!   This blanket weighed 1,700 grams and there are 400 meters of yarn is each 100 grams so I knit 6,800 meters of yarn which is 6.8 kilometers. (Think I've aced the 5k Stash Dash!) I started this blanket three years ago and have been working on it ever since. It took approximately 4,230 hours to knit the 721 squares (Not counting weaving in ends or knitting the i-cord) at $10 per hour this is a $42,300 blanket. Am I crazy to be thinking about starting another? Hmmm, I still have leftover scrap yarn...

Jo is on vacation and left me with the key to the cherry orchard. I've only been slowed down by the mail. Unfortunately, there is an ingredient in the pie filling recipe which is worth its weight in gold in our town - Clear Gel. Both Jo and I checked and no one in town has this valuable ingredient. They could order it - but so can we and while waiting for this item to arrive I made some outstanding Amaretto Cherry Jam. Amaretto Cherry Jam 1 quart pitted cherries 1/4 cup Amaretto 1 t almond extract 2T bottled lemon juice 1 box pectin Several drops red food coloring Bring to a rolling boil and add: 4 1/3 cups sugar Stirring, bring to a full boil and cook for 2 minutes more. Pour into sterilized jars and place in a water bath for 15 minutes I had 12 pints of jam, and a gallon of pitted cherries marinating in Everclear in the refrigerator for ice cream sauce when the Clear Gel arrived. I went right to work and now have added 14 quarts of pie filling to the list. It wou...

Last Saturday I drove south to Cowley, Wyoming for "a family wedding -  well almost." The Wyoming Cowgurl and I have been friends for 38 years. Thru thick and thin we've stuck together and now we just introduce each other as "This is my sister - well almost." It was a perfect day for a Wyoming backyard wedding, not to hot, not to cold, but just right. The ceremony began at 7pm and as sunset approached the twinkle lights began to sparkle everywhere in the yard, beautiful.  Beautiful bride, beautiful MOB, beautiful Kynlee!

I'm a proud new kitty grandma.... Yesterday The Chick drove to Bozeman to adopt her new kitten. She is nine and a half weeks old (born May 11, 2016?) and a very playful feline I'm told!