17 October 2009

Selling Something? Use A Kitten.

It amazes me that, with all the charming and unique animals we have the privilege to care for at Tuppinz Farm, the most popular by far has been the kitten we found under Jeff's tractor, Nellie, when we went to pick her up.

The video of little Yoda on YouTube has been viewed over forty thousand times.

It seems to me that advertisers who use sexy models to promote their wares are seriously missing the mark. If manufacturers are smart, you will see lots of commercials featuring tiny kittens during the Superbowl this year.




Did you see what Steve Leveen, president of my beloved Levenger, tweeted today?

SteveLeveen Tip to shoppers this season: retailers have cut inventory to the bone. Buy early from wherever you shop.


Knitters, you have been given fair warning!

To prepare for any global yarn shortages, I made a quick trip to Yellow Dog Knitting before the holiday rush (and winter road slush!) It was a successful Stash Enhancement eXpedition (subliminal, that phrase.)

You may laugh now, but when I am enjoying the luxury of full yarn bins while others are shoving each other out of the way of picked-over LYS shelves like so many Babushkas in pre-Perestroika GUM, who will be sorry then? (If you can't make it out this week, Yellow Dog Knitting ships for a very reasonable cost!)

So, let's see what we have here...



Trendsetter Tonalita (soft!) for a (soft!) similar-to-Noro (except soft!) take on the Brooklyn Tweed Scarf.



Drops Angora Tweed for a cowl. Word on the street is that Miss Michelle is going to be making a lovely cardigan out of this yarn also.



An assortement of Drops Alpaca and Drops Classic Alpaca (a little heavier weight) yarns for shawlettes and cowls.



Some Fabel Superwash for socks, cowls, and Baktus scarves. I am SO darn addicted to the Baktus pattern! It is just the greatest thing for a mind that needs some Zen time.



And some Karisma Superwash (love this stuff!) for Nordic socks. Which do you like, this, this, or this? All three are so cute, I may have to run back for a few more balls of Karisma; there was some lovely lime green, some red, and a gorgeous deep blue... Hey, since we're not having carpeting in the new house, I'm going to need lots of cozy socks!

I left with a very funny Yellow Dog Knitting tote, which made its hilarious debut at Sock Summit:



I have another of these totes from a previous YDK S.E.X., so... if you would like the chance to win one, just leave a comment below before I make my next blog entry! (And you never, ever know when that might be!)




Funny, seen on PolitiFact.com - we could all use a little healthcare humor about now. Go ahead, lighten up and laugh. It's healthy for you.




In a recent post I'd mentioned I've been into the color orange lately. The lovely Carrie wrote:

Hey, have you seen the website called How About Orange? http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com
It's a design/craft website.


Very cool site, Carrie - thanks for sharing!




I leave you with a view of Miss PaddlePaws (Otter) enjoying a lovely fall afternoon in front of the fire...



Looks to me like she has the right idea.

13 October 2009

Of Interest To Goatie Folks; House Progress

Shepherd's Notebook posted about a new site that discusses treatment for CL in goats.

This will be of interest to goat keepers, particularly those on hobby farms who have come across their pet goats at auctions, from unscrupulous breeders, or as rescues (hint: if you anticipate having a meat or dairy herd, do buy the very best stock you can afford, from a qualified breeder with a proven history of maintaining a closed, healthy herd.)

The website mentioned, CLGoatCare.org, can be found here.




The "top" for the new house arrived today (first and second floors, above the cement basement which was finished last week). It's already up - more is completed than even these photos show! Amazing.





They also filmed a commercial for Wausau Homes here today as the construction was going on.

I do hope the crew was paying attention to their hammers and nails, and not how they were looking on camera! ;)

12 October 2009

Yee HA, Back In Business

Yippee, something got fixed and my entry page is back to normal. Phew! Thanks to those of you who suggested WordPress - I did set a new blog up over there and it was indeed very easy to use. I'll keep it there, just in case Blogspot goes wonky on me again.

Summer on a farm - even a hobby farm - doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging, as you can imagine. Add to that new Facebook and Twitter accounts, and my life took a major detour as I caught up with friends old and new. Sorry - I have missed you and your wonderful comments!

We had many more hatchings of guinea keets than anticipated, the most recent being this week! We are inundated with guinea fowl. They really are the cutest babies - much more adorable than baby chickens. They're like little "scrubbing bubbles" that zip all over the place on their huge, bright orange feet.



We are still awaiting the shearer to clip the Icelandics and the Angoras, both of which must be shorn twice a year. We had snow this week, so I hope he gets a move-on, since I want the goats to get a decent growth on them before the truly cold weather sets in. At least they have a snug barn, and we have heat lamps should we need them.





Speaking of the snug barn, the Golden Laced Wyandotte chickens that Chef Jeff pasture-raised for the freezer are now having a lovely night's rest in the box stall, before their first (and only) car ride to the humane Mennonite butcher tomorrow. They had a week of feasting on cracked corn, carrots, and apples, as I spoiled them a bit. Perhaps I should have fed them garlic to pre-season them? Well, joking aside, they will receive a blessing from Chef Jeff before they make their journey. I hope we have treated them with the respect they deserved, and that they had very happy days here at Tuppinz Farm.

The livestock are all well. The dogs are all doing great.


Otter sleeps very soundly.


Molly stops chewing her cow ear to watch the big machinery pull up the driveway.

We did have to say good-bye to our wonderful kitty Max due to liver failure. He had never been a healthy cat since he first appeared here at the farm. The other four cats are all just fine. Despite our feelings about outdoor cats, we made the decision to move everyone but Abby out to the goat barn. There, they have two levels of room to run about; a large, heated bed; windows to let in sunlight; and no dogs to chase them. Boris and Otter were a little too interested in some of the cats, and the floorplan of the new house will not allow us to keep the cats and dogs separate any longer. Abby is older and keeps to herself - she will live in the studio and loft in the new house, in which the dogs will not be allowed.

The new house - ah, the new house. Did I mention the new house?

Suffice it to say, the old farmhouse in which we now reside is going to fall down soon. Literally. It will cost less to build a new one than to fix up this one, which in all likelihood isn't even possible. We also have five dogs living in this one - can you imagine trying to repair it? So... we have begun building a new house up on the hill and hope to move in in December.



The old farmhouse will be burned - not only to give students in the firefighter program at a local college experience, but also to get rid of all the awful karma, bad energies, and evil spirits which have clouded our lives for the past three years. I wish I could be excited about it, but the fact is, the experience of moving to a place where dishonest folk left so many very, very bad things really took a toll on me emotionally.

Thank goodness Chef Jeff has been up for the task of choosing counters, cabinets, flooring, and fireplace rocks! I never could have made a decision with so many choices, but he narrowed things down very quickly:



The interior will have a warm, Southwest feel to it. We will have geothermal heat, so the puppers will enjoy a heated floor in their rumpus room downstairs. I will have a larger studio in which I will be able to spread out my knitting, spinning, quilting, and painting, and I can hardly wait for that!

It has been a long and troublesome journey but I am confident that moving on up the hill will make all the bad mojo a thing of the past.




Crafting kind of went by the wayside as Chef Jeff's company underwent a "rearrangement" of sorts, resulting in much, much more traveling for him (and many, many more chores on the farm for me - ouch!) Absence - and doing without someone else to haul the hay - really does make the heart grow fonder.

I am almost finished with my Drops sparkly shawl A/K/A "Dixie Shawl" (Ravelry link) - just doing the lower edge border now:



I've done two Baktuses (Bakti?) thanks to the pattern suggestion (Ravelry link) from Professor Nannette. If you are looking for a relaxing, mindless knit that will result in something infinitely giftable and wearable, and will let you enjoy your favorite sock yarn in a new way, this is IT!


Baktus Scarves In Drops Fabel and Koigu KPPPM from Yellow Dog Knitting


I'm loving the Fabel sock yarn's stripes.


There are more colors here than meet the eye initially. Very pretty.




Things I'm Liking:

The color ORANGE.

This Swedish (or Norwegian?) shop's clothing - I wish I could get it here in the US!

I follow a number of Scandinavian blogs and I like their aesthetic. I'm a big fan of Carl and Karin Larsson, white rooms and white furniture with handmade accents, and the simplicity of the Gustavian style. I can't read the text of some of these Scandinavian blogs, but I enjoy them nevertheless.

http://miaslandliv.blogspot.com
She has many more great links in her sidebar!

http://posidriv.blogspot.com

http://shabby-roses-cottage.blogspot.com

http://kathrinesquiltestue.blogspot.com

http://blomsterverkstad.blogspot.com

http://maalaiselamaa.blogspot.com

http://angelattable.blogspot.com

http://mykindofblog.blogspot.com

http://whitecountry.blogspot.com

http://ljo-s.blogspot.com

And now I just realized that my RSS reader isn't working properly; those blogs have some new entries I haven't yet seen. Argh! If it's not one thing, it's your mother...

I'm thankful for Birkenstock Central, who restored my stinky old Birks and kept them out of a landfill!












And so, dear readers, as the chickens go off to market and the "top" of the new house arrives tomorrow by semi truck, we embark upon a new season at Tuppinz Farm - one of gratitude for abundance. We are indeed very grateful.

Have a lovely week! I'm off to listen to the new episode of Electric Sheep!

10 October 2009

Google Broke My Blog

Google seems to have taken over Blogger and my ability to post here is not going to work.

If anyone can recommend a good blog host that will work with Macs, would you please email me? I do still receive comments via this blog.

It looks ok on the outside, but man, you should see the mess they made of it on the inside!

Have a great day!