Emptyknitster

John, a coworker of mine, brought his dog Harley to school. He'd been a stray that John and his wife took in. Harley turned out to be a great dog. He was so well behaved, great with the kids, but to me most importantly Harley had kind eyes and reminded me of my first dog, Bo. (Short for Little Bo Peep, I know very lame but what do you expect from a three year old?) My Mom and Dad took in Bo's mom, a collie that they soon found out was going to have puppies. They kept Lady long enough to produce eight very collie like pups and one Heinz 57 (Bo). Bo never had formal training but was the best protector ever.  At the time we lived on the Puget Sound and instead of a sidewalk we had a wooden boardwalk. The boardwalk was probably two blocks long, about three feet above the beach and made of wood. I learned to ride my tricycle on this boardwalk and every time I'd climb on the tricycle Bo would be right there ALWAYS on the side that had the three foot drop to the beach - to keep m...

It's been a rather productive rainy Memorial weekend.  The lentil soup is on the stove simmering and I've made some "Angel Biscuits" to go with it. Angel Biscuits 1package dry yeast 1/4 cup warm water 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar 2 3/4 cups floor 1/2 cup shortening 1 cup buttermilk Dissolve yeast in the warm water, set aside. Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Stir in buttermilk and yeast mixture. Blend thoroughly. The dough is ready to refrigerate or roll into biscuits. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead lightly for regular biscuits. Roll out and cut with biscuit cutter. Place on greased pan. Let dough rise slightly before baking at 375 degrees. Bake 12 minutes or until browned. If dough is cold let stand longer to rise. Dough will keep up to 5 days in a covered bowl in the refrigerator. I finished the Peasy sweater... I'm not a bit happy that it is too small! All that work and no one...

I had a little trouble getting home tonight....   A new stream had developed over Johnson Lane and the highway. I had to turn around, return to school, and take another route home. Even that new route wasn't pleasant but I made it! It has been raining for the last week and a half. Today we had a record setting amount of rain. Three and six hundredth inches in one day for this prairie is unheard of. Add that amount to what has been soaking the earth and we are way over normal for this time of year. The average rainfall in Eastern Montana is 1.92 inches for the month of May and we are now at 8.45. That's 6.53 above the norm. There's more rain predicted before the month is over!   It's so green it's beginning to look like Seattle and tonight's weather forecast is not promising any sun!

 Life isn't going to wait for us to get our acts together.   So get on living.   Enjoy what you have.   Love who you are with.   Hug and Kiss.   Laugh and chat.  Make ice cream and cookies. Be happy Well, this hit me like a ton of bricks! Thanks to nat*schofield for the wake up call! I HAD been doing a countdown to the end of school....10, 9, 8, 7, really it began about 25, 24, 23... Now, bring on the margaritas - oh, I mean ice cream and cookies!

We had a wonderful family move into our neighborhood years ago. Denise and I taught together and became fast friends.  Soon after she and her husband moved in, Keira was born and barely a year later Payton arrived. We love babies at our house , next door they had two and were a little overwhelmed. My gurls began beating a path next door and would grab either babe that was awake and bring her over for a visit. I am sure that my gurls are such good mommas today in part because they had "The Babies" next door to care for and love upon. I went to Keira's graduation party Friday night. It was also a farewell of sorts to Payton. She will be heading to Chile in two short months as an AFS student. There were unexpected tears as I saw these gals and realized how quickly time had slipped by. We hugged, reminisced, and took photos.... How great for our family, to have such wonderful neighbors that shared their treasures with us! Dirk, the girls dad, surprised me when he said, ...

  I love a rainy day and it’s been raining cats and dogs here, three inches last week and well on to adding 4inches this week. What a wonderful time to cuddle up with a good book. It is just a coincidence that at school we are reading a chapter in Beverly Cleary’s book Ramona Quimby, Age 8 entitled “Rainy Sunday” in reading.   I love Beverly Cleary books, perhaps partly because as a child I met Beverly Cleary at the West Seattle Public Library. My friend, Laurie Peterson, and I went with her mom and listened to Mrs. Cleary read an excerpt from her book and then I got her autograph. I had long forgotten the incident until recently when I was cleaning out a closet and I ran across my old childhood scrapbook. Looking though the scrapbook there wasn’t much of interest, an old newspaper article about a teenage neighbor that was crowned Miss West Seattle, a postcard from friend, that type of thing. But as I turned the page I saw in third grade handwriting; “signature ...

This weekend has been windy and chilly. Years ago, when we lived closer to town I would plant my flowers on Mother's Day. Now that we live on the highest point in Yellowstone County there is a two week delay. I did dig in the dirt a little, and plant a pot of grass on the deck for the kitties to sit in. After last summer's gigantic mucking out of the house it just needs a little "spiffing up." I decided to get the cleaning underway before school is out. I cleaned the kitchen, cupboards, pantry, walls and floor this yesterday. Yes, one room complete! I have every intention of cleaning the living, dining, and family rooms next weekend... we’ll see. It would be a great jump start to the summer. I also had some time for knitting. I finished the last pair of socks that I'll be doing for awhile. I need to be starting the Christmas sweaters for the kiddos soon. Pattern: Donna's Easy Socks Yarn: Kroy, (Because I used Kroy yarn, I needed to be very careful. ...

Over a year ago I knit a sweater for a dear friend's new babe. That little guy is growing like a weed and the sweater now fits!  What a cute little guy. He was at the house last month, settled right in and thought I'd make a pretty good gramma!

My great-grandfather owned a store in Virden, Illinois called G. P. Cheney and Co.. He moved his family to St Louis and ran a store for a short period of time before finally moving Lyons, Colorado in the late1880's. In Lyons he owned and operated a quarry. Tonight I did a little snooping on the internet and really scored!  Grandfather and his family lived in Noland Precinct, Boulder Co. Colorado. My great-grandfather is listed as a stone dealer and Grandfather and his brother operated the quarry according to the 1900 Census. I began searching quarries in the area and added my grandfather's name. The search took me to a section at Denver Public Library filled with photos of quarries and miners that worked there. The very first photo is one of a group of men. The photo is entitled Noland Colorado Band, 1892.  (Correct names + correct area + correct occupation + correct era = MY Grandfather!!)  There, in the front row is my grandfather and his older brother! ...

Two teachers in the knitting class I taught in March are inspired. At an early morning faculty meeting one of the new knitters showed me a magazine photo of beautifully cables fingerless gloves. She wanted to know if she could possibly aspire to knitting the gloves. Hmmm... I remembered recently seeing a very nice pair of reading gloves at my blog friend Andrea's . No cables but something that a couple of new knitters would be able to conquer.  At Easter the California Dreamin' Gurl said she'd like a pair, but she wanted them knit a little longer.  I quickly started the pair on mitts, "Just to see if they were a go for the new knitters."  I finally finished the mitts today and think that the pattern is a hit, easy to follow and easy to modify. Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts Yarn: Less than a skein of Plymouth Yarn Galway, Colornep Colorway: Gray Needles: US size 5 Also, during the Easter visit Chloe told me her favorite book is The Secret Garden . It ...

This morning we were honored with the presence of an Olympic athlete. Joan Benoit was the first gold medal winner in the woman's marathon at Los Angeles in 1984. Joan Benoit told the students about how life has changed for girls in school. When she went to school there were no sports activities for girls and she had to wear a dress everyday except for "Field Day". This brought back memories for me. I too, had the same rules. The only “sports” that girls could participate in were dance or cheerleading. It wasn't until the year after I graduated high school in cold Montana girls were allowed to wear long pants to school – and never shorts.  She spoke to the kiddos about finding what you are passionate about, setting goals, and then persevering. I sat listening and I realized how I’m going through this process right now as a grownup. I’m beginning to look toward retirement and lately I’ve been thinking about some new goals. I 'm pleased that the goals I’ve been...

Last week I was delighted to hear - a fourth grade teacher at our school was having a G-I-R-L! Knitting for little girls is so much fun! My little gals aren't quiet so tiny anymore and lately all the babies at work have been boys. I immediately started planning:  Pattern: Summer Chills Cardigan Yarn: Cascade Pacifica, 40% Superwash Merino Wool/60% Acrylic Color: Baby Pink   I had been admiring this pattern for some time and I've just been waiting for the announcement of the arrival of a little girl. The babe in the pattern photo looks just darling! The sweater is knit in cotton yarn however, and I don't like knitting with cotton. It's not easy to knit and I don't feel like cotton is as durable as other yarns. Besides the baby is due in late August (hot, hot, hot, in Montana) and she will quickly need some warmth for the chilly fall days. Also, I don't know if this new little momma has an understanding of yarn and the care that each type of yarn may need so...

Wild Purl's is a great yarn shop to buy yarn, needles, and patterns. BUT most importantly, Wild Purl's is a place where everybody knows your name ! Making your way in the world today Takes everything you've got; Taking a break from all your worries Sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to get away? All those night when you've got no lights, The check is in the mail; And your little angel Hung the cat up by it's tail; And your third fiance didn't show; Sometimes you want to go Where everybody knows your name, And they're always glad you came; You want to be where you can see, Our troubles are all the same; You want to be where everybody knows your name. Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead; The morning's looking bright; And your shrink ran off to Europe, And didn't even write; And your husband wants to be a girl; Be glad there's one place in the world Where everybody knows your name, And they're always gla...