I'm not the only one

We're moving right along on the coop (or, rather, Kevin is) and we should be ready for chicks/chickens soon, very soon. It seems I'm not the only one with poultry dreams lately, the pioneer woman has a funny little post about it only I'd like to think she's a bit more obsessed than I and I'm quite sure she has better pictures and some of real chickens although I can't see them on dial up and I haven't seen hide nor hair of the cable man or even Miss Utility to mark the phone and power lines and it looks like we just might never be able to get cable. But I digress.

I hope I'm wrong about the cable company and that they will really keep their promise to give us access. I've been wrong about many things in my life and most recently it was doubting the US Postal Service. Wouldn't you know those 12 little booties I tried to send to northern California turned back up in my mailbox today? They took a little detour through southern California and then another trip cross country but came safely back home. I'm not even going to venture a guess at how that happened.

I have some pretty river pictures for you from our little trip the past few days, but I first want to share one of the most exciting things I learned while my friend was in town with her two boys and her two big dogs. And that is, Sunny really needs a doggie companion. I'm starting to work on Kevin, don't you worry and I took a little stroll through petfinder.com today. There are some very promising prospects.

Piecing it all together

...new necklace in the shop today!... bigger pendant this time.

I've been gone and without time to post. I'm still trying to assimilate all the pictures and my thoughts. Seeing a best friend just a couple of times a year is a wonderful but difficult thing. Our times together are so brief yet jammed with as much depth and late night talks as we can possibly muster and I hate to see her go. I'm trying as always to get her to move back to Virginia. One of these years it just may work.

Take me out

Sitting on metal bleachers when it's 40 degrees with 20mph wind for an hour and a half seemed more like an endurance test than baseball practice. It was worth it though, in a mom sort of way, to see him stand up a little taller, walk a little prouder and nod to his coach with all the seriousness of a big leaguer. There are things a mom can't teach and for that reason, I'm thankful for baseball. I remind myself also that I'll be melting into those same bleachers come June.

The knitting came along, providing much needed therapy for shoulders and hands so tired and in knots from crocheting. A newborn sweater, the size of which takes my breath away and causes the baby memories to flood back in.

And in all the fun I was having, I missed a rare opportunity. Kevin called me four times to see if I'd eaten and if he could take me out on a date after practice. He gave up after the fourth time when an elderly man answered the phone.

"Where's your phone, babe?" he asked me when I came in.

"In my purse I'm pretty sure, why?"

"Because an old man answered when I called you. They cancelled bible study tonight and since my parents were lined up I thought I'd take you out. Seriously, where's your phone?"

"I left it in my purse in the car while I was watching practice."

"Doesn't do much good there, does it?"

"Oh I see...you called at 5:33, 5:37, 5:49 and 5:50. Maybe I have a stowaway in the car answering my calls."

We have this conversation often. Whenever I have my phone with me I get calls from telemarketers, which reinforces my belief that I only need it for emergencies. That's why it stays in the car for things like baseball practice. No emergency, no cell phone required. Anyway, I'd already eaten.

The baby bootie factory

...new style just added to the shop today...

I picked up some knitting needles the other night to take a break from the personal baby bootie assembly line I have going and it felt so foreign, making my blog title and Etsy shop name misnomers indeed. Things have been going really well this winter and spring, but with an increase in business there is also a greater chance for things to go awry as I found out they had on Saturday. It seems that one of the wholesale orders I sent a couple of weeks ago made it about 95% of the way to their destination and then vanished. 12 pairs of handmade booties, all organic, so much hard work, poof!, gone. I really hope the post office can find them but I don't really have my hopes up.

But as one yucky thing happens, other good things happen too, it's a secret right now but when/if it happens I'll be sure to tell you. So I'm trying to condition my brain to accept the bad just as freely as I do the good, because that's life. Yin/yang, light/dark, good/bad, happy/sad, it's all part of being here, right?

The chicken coop cometh

Start with one able-bodied husband.

Add an ulta-organized work trailer,

the likes of which Martha would even approve,

an old salvaged door from when we remodeled our house

and in six hours you have it,

the skeleton of the chicken coop with a papered-in roof.

I continue to be amazed at how much he can accomplish in such a short period of time, not to mention the quality.

Only thing I might have to do is confiscate that pretty doorknob for the addition when the time comes.

Small acts

There are no great acts, only small acts done with great love.

~Mother Teresa

I have this friend, whose life is a series of small acts (though I would like to think they're great). She's at it again, only this time we can help. It's simple, it's painless, it's little, but it's big. Won't you help?

Yes, that is a lady bug on my windowsill. I left her there for you.

The glamorous life

I've never been one to sit at a desk or a table to work. I'm a floor sitter, an on my bed sitter, if I'm on a couch or a chair I sit as if I'm on the floor with my feet up on it criss-cross some way or another sitter. Today I was sprawled over my bed searching for matching buttons working on another wholesale order that I hope to have out in the next day or two, listening to satellite radio on the T.V. It's one of the best parts of having to have a satellite for television, especially when the concept of "streaming" is a foreign one.

I found myself here after a very foggy, damp day where I don't think my brain ever really fully woke up or turned on and I decided that, well, at least I could sew on buttons and I knew I couldn't mess that up. I'm ready for the sun to come back out this weekend and maybe I can finish some of my gardening too.

While I'm here I might as well show you the new color scheme for our room. The change was long overdue. I'm perusing some artwork on Etsy and think I'll choose two or three prints like this one to hang over the bed wall. Pretty cool work, huh? I'm sweet talking Kevin into building us a bed too while he's working on the (I hope it pans out) addition. Think I'm pushing my luck?