Oaks Day

This used to be considered "Louisville's Day at the Downs", but that doesn't seem as true anymore. My office was closed, as many are today since school is out. Handy that an inservice day is scheduled the day before the Derby. Same with the Friday of the St. James Art show. Coincidence?

Rachel Alexandra has just finished winning the Oaks in grand style. She was definitely impressive to watch -- and a very big girl. I'm really not a follower of Thoroughbred racing, except for maybe four races a year.

My Oaks Day was spent working with my dad putting down new flooring in my utility room. With the ugly carpet ripped up and some of the new plywood and flooring down, it's looking so much better already.

From new floor in back room

That's a trap door to the cellar that we're working our way around. My dad has made some nice trim that will go around both the door and the opening, to hide the edge of the flooring. It should look really nice once I'm able to find some stain that will make it about the same color as the flooring.

Breyer Models for Sale

I've decided to sell off the majority of my "herd". They've been boxed up for years. They are of various qualities, from like new to "body only". I'll post more pictures as I get them taken and uploaded. Please email for prices.
Breyer Sales List-Pictures

Christmas Commercials already?

Given, it's a commercial that I actually kind of like since it uses "Carol of the Bells", but Walmart is already airing holiday ads. And it's only days after Halloween!


On a more serious subject, I expect that many are like me and glad that the current election cycle is basically over. I'm a bit disappointed but I'm not entirely surprised at the outcome.



More meandering... I was looking through some old photos backed up on cds from old computers and came across one of the first pieces I ever knit. I'd taken a 2-hour "learn to knit" class at a used bookstore. We knit a scarf in Fun Fur (yikes!). What did I jump into next? Another scarf? Hats? No. I decided to knit a baby blanket. A big one. We'd only learned to cast on and knit in the class. No purling, no casting off. Thankfully, I had an old needlearts book from the 1950s and my mom to help me work through it. Anyway, the baby blanket. No pattern, just a whole lot of yarn and some size 9 circular needles. I'm happy to say though, several years later the "baby" is still using the blanket.






I also found a picture of the first piece that I knitted and felted. It fit better before it was felted ;-)

Wow, where does the time go?

It's already late on Wednesday and I'm not entirely sure where last weekend went. It's finally getting cold here, so I had to break down Monday night and turned on my furnace. I figured that 58 in the house was a little too cool.

I've been working on an interesting knitted-then-felted bag. I hope to take some pictures of it and get it posted soon. I hope that it looks as interesting felted as it does knitted up. Anyway, one of many holiday projects either underway or needing to be!

Back to reality Monday

Well, the weekend camping trip was fun. It was rather late by the time I got there Friday night, but dinner was waiting. Saturday my mom and I went into Corydon to wander through the shops on the square. She likes a place called The Christmas Goose, as do I. I got myself a German-made "smoker" to add to my nutcracker/smoker collection that I put out at Christmastime each year. Oddly, Mom didn't find anything. There was a fiber festival going on at the county fairgrounds, but we didn't quite make it over there.

Sunday was a wonderfully lazy day, mostly spent sitting around the campfire in the quickly-emptying campground. We were right outside of the horse camp area, so we saw lots of horse trailers coming and going. I walked Mom's dog down to that area so I could have a look around.

I headed back home early in the evening since Sunday was when I was to begin taking care of a friend's dogs. Such friendly girls, I almost didn't recognize them when I got to the house. I do believe they've been on a diet!

Over the river and through the woods to....

O'Bannon State Park I go. Time for a family "camping" trip this weekend. Why do I say "camping"? Well, because the RV that we stay in is only slightly smaller than my house. Or so it seems. It's pretty much all of the luxuries of home, except that it's on wheels. My parents have already headed West with Ragan, their dog, and will hoefully have dinner ready when I get there. I had to come home to get my "stuff" and the brownies. Homemade ones. My house smelled so good last night. Anyway, Mom & I will shop in Corydon tomorrow for a while, and I will head home on Sunday. Time for another round of animal-sitting, this time two Beagles for my friend Jennifer. Maybe some pictures to post on Sunday night. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Seven Things About Me...

Turns out that I've been tagged to share seven things about myself by the NobleKnits blog... So, here goes!
1. I recently took a class in blacksmithing (and I'm anxiously waiting getting to do it again).
2. I have approximately 150 model horses packed up in boxes -- they used to be my "dolls".
3. I have a terrible time concentrating on one project at a time -- whether for fun or work!
4. I learned how to drive teams of draft horses while working at the Kentucky Horse Park.
5. I have lived in Louisville, Kentucky my entire life and have never attended the Kentucky Derby.
6. I can spend hours wandering home improvement stores and never buy anything.
7. I get to learn how to spin my own yarn in January.