Welll…It took me about 6 hours, but I got the grazing ark done.  It was my goal to get it done and get the pigs out on the grass yesterday…But it didn’t happen.  I got the ark mostly done by the time I had to run Nature Boy to karate.  Then after karate, I had to make dinner and then spend another hour or so putting on the final touches on the ark…..Maybe I can get the pigs in it today (though the forecast isn’t cooperating!).

K…so you know that I took pictures!

The raw materials:

The basic frame.

Caged in. (That hardware cloth is nasty, vicious, sharp stuff!)

A new use for Fiesta.

Getting up the walls. (See the Fiesta door?)

The finished ark.

The handles on the top is for moving the ark.

I am happy with how it came out.

It is heavier that I expected, however that is okay.  It will be good and stable.  Also, if you note the eye bolts on the bottom, it will be staked down (to keep away roving dogs).

So, all in all, yesterday was a productive day!  It was also miserably hot.   I mean up in to 90. <wilt> I know…to some of you 90 isn’t hot…But around here, 90 is blazing hot (especially with all the humidity).

One last thing to remember…..Today is chick day! I can’t wait to go to the feed store and collect our chicks!

We are having instant-summer here.  I guess the turning of the season jump started the meteorological cues that it is summer.  We are now having hot and super muggy weather. Ugh! I was enjoying coasting on all that May weather!  Sure, it was a bit cool…But it hadn’t gotten super sticky yet and I wasn’t minding that at all.

In other news:

We are waiting.

Our chicks come tomorrow and we are all set up and waiting for them.  Since they come tomorrow, that means they hatch today! We have been keeping track of when they were laid and when we are expecting them.  Yesterday, I dug out that old guinea pig cage, bleached the heck out of it and got it all set up for chicks.  Since the picture, I added the heat lamp and now all we need is chicks!

We got our first harvest from the garden yesterday! Fun!

Everything is growing nicely.

Dh snuck home early for work yesterday and whisked Nature Boy off to the opening day of the new Transformers movie.  I had to chuckle as Nature Boy had to get some Transformers to take to watch the movie with them!

I guess boys never quite grow up!

I have several projects to be working on around the house.  One is to build and outdoor home for our guinea pigs.  They are called grazing arks.  It will be just for the day time, but the piggers would love to get out and eat grass all day!  We zipped to Lowes last night and got some lumber.

Wanna know a reason I love my car? Eight foot long boards.

All I have to do is pop the hatch window and the boards come neatly home. 

Maybe today, I’ll be able to get a good start on this project!

Though I usually blog in the morning, I thought I might just blog now. We are in quiet time unwinding before bed….Not too much is going to change before morning…I likely can blog now.

I finished the purple soaker.  I am really pleased with how it came out. 

BTW, new thing…I am going to start recording the specs of my projects in my blog as I have not been diligent about it and then when wanting to check needle size at a later date when re-doing a pattern, I have been out of luck and left guessing.

So…the official write up.

• 1932 Ribbed Soaker (I followed the pattern as written <gasp!>)
• Size 5 needles, Lion Brand Wool yarn
• Knit panel 18″ 
• Finished soaker size: 9″ crotch to waist, 7.5″ waist/hip, 4″ leg openings
• Picked up 32 stitches x 7 rows to make leg cuffs
• I cord: size 6 needle, 20″ of cord to make tie
• Took about 3 days of moderate knitting to finish

What I liked about this pattern:

• quick, easy to knit
• love the squishiness of the ribbing
• looks pretty cute
• would be easy for beginner

Though not shaped for front and back, the elasticity of the ribbing allows ease to conform nicely to the shape of a diapered bottom in the back.  The front/crotch ribbing (in the high flow urine areas)will stay fuller.

This puppy is already packed up and in the mail to it’s new home.  I can’t wait to hear how the recipient likes it.

I am sooo in soaker mode right now! I am bummed too….Two of dh’s coworkers are having babies and neither is using cloth diapers (they both already have toddlers in disposable and aren’t switching).  I was hoping for a chance to knit up more soakers.  Oh well….I will knit up soakers anyway…I’m sure I will find babies somewhere!

The next pattern I really want to try is the Everlasting Wonder Soaker…but you have to pay for the pattern.

In other soaker news…I totally frogged the red/yellow soaker and have it started back up in both a smaller pattern size and a smaller needle size.  It is a minor setback and I am making progress.

Yesterday was a nice day.  In the evening we went over to my parents’ and visited with my dad for Father’s Day.  Of course, we visited with my mom too.  

At our place, Father’s Day was spent in the pursuit of shared hobby.  Nature Boy and dh went off on a trip to the local gaming store and bought some gaming books and supplies.  They had a very good time! Then when they got home, they played a game for a considerable part of the afternoon.  I think they both had a good time just hanging out and doing something fun together.

It gave me lots of time to knit.   I have been cranking away on the purple soaker.  I got the body of it done…It is 52 stitches cast on and knit 2×2 rib on size 5 needles for about 18″

Then you fold it in half and sew side seams, leaving gaps at the bottom for leg holes.

My gaps are about 5ish inches.  Then you pick up stitches around the legs (32) and use dpns to make cuffs (7 rows).  I have only completed one cuff so far.

When worn, the ribbing stretches to give the soaker a conforming fit.  At least that’s the plan!

You can see, I have already picked up the stitches for the next cuff.  I need to finish that off and then figure out a waistband.  I am not going to turn this waist as sewing a waistband on ribbing does not much sound like my idea of fun.  My current plan is to knit I cord and run an elastic through it, weave it through the soaker to be a waistband and then sew the ends of the elastic and the ends of the I cord and it will be a closed loop waistband.  I am also open to suggestions. 

Once this is done, I will tackle the red/yellow one.  Tackling will likely involve frogging it as it is so much too big…..We shall see.

Other than that, I need to finish cleaning up my house today and figure out what to do about laundry.  We have high humidity and lots of rain the forecast….I don’t know that I’ll be hanging laundry outside for a while….I need to check and see if they have given us a better forecast!

Oh…and here is my knitting companion.  He likes to lay on the arm of the chair and keep my company while I knit. I don’t really mind it except that he insists on licking my arm!  It’s a bit….distracting!

To my wonderful husband….Happy Father’s Day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Oh dear…I got my letter…Now, I really need to apply myself to studying!

NATIONAL BOARD FOR CERTIFICATION IN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY, INC. (NBCOT)	

2009 AUTHORIZATION TO TEST (ATT) LETTER

You are authorized to schedule your appointment to take the certification 	

examination of the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.

Blog…Short and sweet:

• Parenting an adolescent is going to require some learning on my part
• It is another gray day
• The red/yellow soaker is knitting up huge
• Started a new soaker, all rib knit, in purple
• Watched Bolt last night….very cute and sweet
• Am acquiring a summer reading (and re-reading) list that I will compile and share another day
• Forgot my wallet when taking NB to karate yesterday….drove home on fumes….need gas today
• We got a hammock swing and hung it where the tire swing was
• Made a zillion appointments yesterday. Nature Boy: eye doctor, dentist, allergist. Me: dentist
• Waiting for a call from the vet regarding the gilded cat’s prescription
• Our weekend is filling up with busy-ness already!

I am really tired this morning.  I did not sleep well last night and just want to curl up and go back to bed.

Yesterday, it was sunny, windy and warm. It was a delicious day and I spent much of it outside! I also heralded the arrival of summer by putting up our canopy on the deck. Mind you, it’s supposed to rain now for days and it is just plain chilly this morning….But I am pretty sure summer is on its way!

Things on the deck are growing nicely.

Here is my Miracle Gro experiment.

Same plant, same potting set up. The plants are actually side by side (I just realized that meant I could have captured them on one photo!).  Do I need to tell you which one I fed?  Actually, the only one not fed  (of all my tomatoes) is the little runty one.  And this is the result of having only fed them once.  We are going to keep leaving poor runty un-fed to see what happens to the plants in terms of fruit production.  This is a fun experiment!

My yellow daisy is finally blossoming.

And my red and yellow soaker is making progress. 

Actually, it is coming nicely, but I think it is coming out big.  I think I should have knit it the next size down to fit the intended recipient.  Also, I forgot to size down a couple of needle sizes on the waist ribbing.  Actually, that’s okay on this one as I am going to turn the waist and run an elastic to see how that works, so the ribbing can be loose.

My space bar is sticking today…..Very annoying.

K…I think I am going to go find some cereal.

Oh…Wait….I was thinking about Facebook yesterday. I wonder what people think of using the Facebook IM utility?  I have used it with folks I know irl, but sometimes some of you, whose blogs I read and that I occasionally email, are on Facebook.  I have thought it would be fun to pop up and say hi…But then…I don’t know….Is it different to be a Internet Friend than an IMing friend?  I just don’t know……Thoughts?

Yesterday, it was gorgeous here. Sunny, breezy, warm, not humid….<sigh>  I got the garden all weeded.  It looks much better.  Today, I am going to weed the perennial bed and figure out how to mulch the strawberry bed.  I need straw!  I also told Nature Boy we would go to Lowes and get a hammock swing and replace the old tire swing with the hammock swing.  Then he (we) can have a nice place to go out and read and enjoy some nature!

K…So, I have the pictures that show the barn board on my parents’ other shed and how pretty it is vs. the OSB skeleton on the new shed.  These pictures are of dh and I being silly.  Dh wanted to get into the old shed to measure the frame and stud differences on the front wall.  He kept trying to open the door, he pulled and he pulled and kept exclaiming there was no way to open the door because it didn’t clear the eves.  In this picture, he is trying his best to look baffled and trying to pry the door open with the crow bar.

Then…Miraculously, I had an idea.  Maybe if the door doesn’t pull out it pushes in?

Poor dh! He had been literally thwarted by the door for 10 minutes! <giggle>.

Hopefully, you can see how pretty the barn board siding is!

My dad has also made some gates with the siding.  Here is the one outside their blueberry/strawberry bed.

It is just lovely!

Oh…And while getting these pics, I found some fun ones from when Nature Boy wandered around for a while with the camera on Sunday.

From the ladder:

From reaching his arm way over head:

A self-portrait:

Fun stuff!

I think also on the agenda for today is mowing.  I also need to take some pictures of my amazing Miracle Grow experiment.  The side by side comparison floors me!

Well…I need to start up laundry and water my deck plants and otherwise get at my day.  It is supposed to be hot today, so I want to get things done this morning.

We went back to my parents’ yesterday and peeked at the chickens! 

As you can see the coop is built.  My parents have an identical shed in their yard that they have faced with old salvaged barn boards.  The plan is to do the same with the coop.  I didn’t think to upload a picture of the other shed….I guess I’ll save it for tomorrow.  It really is cute with a window and the barn board siding….

As to this coop, the chickens are safely inside enjoying the accommodations.

They are in a temporary pen in the coop until my parents have time to get the coop all divided up like they want it on the inside.  The chickens don’t seem to care, they look plenty happy.

Our chicks come in a week and a half.  That means in a month or so, we’ll be building our own coop.  We are building it very much like our former coop.  (We have had chickens before).  Our old coop looked like this:

Our new coop will be slightly smaller than this coop.

Chickens sure are a lot of fun!  (Remind me that I said that when it is January and twenty below and I trudging down the yard through 3 feet of snow to feed and water the chickens!)

So, today is the first official day of summer vacation.  I have all sorts of plans of what to do with Nature Boy, but he says that this week he just is taking off to relax.  I am “allowed” to start doing projects and fun things with him next week!

That’s okay though, I started my own project yesterday!  You’d think for someone who belonged to knitting blog rings, you might see a bit of knitting content from time to time…..(And as for the quilter blog rings…..I have no excuse! I must pull out my gfg again!)

Voila!

A little something on the needles.  It is a soaker as I have stumbled across a new baby to knit for! I am knitting the waistband right now, which is a contrasting waist band.  The main color is some of our hand dyed yarn. (Oooh!!!  See…There’s a great summer vacation project!) But I’ll keep you in suspense for a couple of days!

I literally have not knit since…..Mid-April…..If not earlier.  <gasp>  It’s a wonder the world has still been spinning on its axis!  I must say, it was wonderful to have a person in mind, a project to knit and the soothing rhythm of the needles. <sigh> 

I love to knit!  (But you knew that, didn’t you! )