The Estate

Dear Mom,
A long time ago, not at all very far away, a grand country home caught the eye of a curly brown haired girl, riding in the back seat, behind the driver, as her family took a Sunday drive through the country. That little girl was I.

I think the whole family loved our country drives. And probably all four of us kids were hoping with all our might that the drive might end up at Dairy Queen; but until we either returned home or pulled into the DQ parking lot, I leaned my head against the window and looked out and day dreamed.
On one of those summer Sunday drives, as we drove past a full spruce tree near the road, a remarkable number of rabbits shot out and scattered across the lawn of a large brick house. Daddy, who loved to tease, announced that this was where the Rah-bots live. The name stuck. For forty years I've thought of that house as The House Where the Rahbots Live. And for forty years I've admired that house. I still live within a few miles of that house.

The house has History. It is 150 years old and started out as the home on a 100 acre horse farm, Two Gaits Farm. Eventually, the home was donated for use as a rectory and then one of the parish priests purchased the home. The horse farm was sold off bit by bit and this grand house is now surrounded by the the newest sections of my neighborhood.

Not too long ago, as my hero and I were driving past - either heading to the hardware store or for a dinner out- I saw a For Sale By Owner sign in front of the house I've been dreaming of all these years. I grabbed paper and pen out of my purse and wrote the contact info down. I knew in my heart that this was an unrealistic dream, but I was going to make that call.
And I did. The house is way out of our price range and it needs a hefty investment of time and money to get it in shape, but in my conversation with the estate agent, I was told that there would be an estate sale to sell off the contents of the house. I noted the dates on my calendar, knowing that this may be my one and only opportunity to step inside that house.

The estate sale was impressive. I felt like I was in a museum, surrounded by fine antiques, depression glass collectibles and a barn filled with glass lamps and lamp fixtures. I didn't necessarily go there to buy anything as much as spend time in the house, satisfying so many years of dreams. I did manage to find an interesting solution for my laundry detergent. I've been wanting something prettier than the Tide box to keep the detergent in- something that would be fun and functional. What I found is absolute perfection! It is the vessel that would have once been used to empty a chamber pot!

This beauty holds a huge amount of Tide detergent and I keep a pretty little tea cup with a detergent level mark on the inside of the cup to scoop the detergent out and into the washing machine. I am thrilled with this purchase. I also found a delicate, petite-sized cake stand with a glass dome. Not necessary, but too pretty to leave behind.

What I really really REALLY wanted, but was intended for sale with the house, was this sign. I took a photo, knowing that my picture would be the next best thing to having it. I have so many childhood memories tied up in the name of this farm, and in this sign. And yes, it should stay with the house, where it belongs.

The Estate is still on the market. I won't wonder or dream about living there anymore. I am happy to stay here, in My Home, but I will be keeping an eye on The House Where The Rahbots Live, hoping that it can be a home again to someone who will love it. And maybe even to someone who dreamed all her life of living in a house just like this one.
Love,
Kim

Surviving the Storm

Dear Mom,
So far, so good. We've never lost power and we've all been home safe and sound throughout the worst of this winter storm. Everything is covered in a thick layer of ice topped with a dusting of snow. Bitter cold temps and high wind are in our forecast this afternoon, so we aren't out of the woods yet.

The thick ice in the street made the hockey players in the family happy, though.

Sooo, the Groundhog predicts an early spring. We are going to need spring temps to get rid of all that ice. Except I think the Groundhog just said that to help us cling to hope and our sanity. It has been a long winter and we deserve an early spring.

I finished another of my scrap yarn linen stitch scarves in the orthodontist's office on Monday. This is a little bit of vintage leftover yarn from an Alice Starmore sweater, a bit left from a Hanne Falkenberg kit and some sock yarn. It thrills me to use up leftover little bits and turn them into something pretty.

I've started the February socks. And can I just say that it was fun sorting through the brown lunch sacks for the one I marked "Feb" and then opening it to find this month's sock yarn? Silly little game to play, but it made me excited about starting this next pair of socks. When there is enough progress to photograph I'll share them here.

After reading about these slippers on Betz White's blog, I stopped everything and made myself a pair. 19 rows. Approximately 1 hour's worth of knitting per foot. Probably a little longer, because heaven knows I'm gonna get interrupted by a teen or a dog. I was able to successfully felt them in my front loader and they've been on my feet ever since. The project page for these on ravelry is full of some very lovely duffers with embroidery and buttons. I have/had every intention of doing that to mine, but that would mean I had to remove them from my feet first. Great stash buster- I can see getting addicted to knitting duffers and prettifying them.

I used some Lopi yarn for the soles and Cascade 220, doubled, for the top.
Time to heat up a bit of soup for lunch. Keep warm.
Love,
Kim

Where the time went

Dear Mom,
Wooo. I feel like I sort of lost a couple of weeks. They were a busy 2 weeks, though. Family vacay, a side trip to Amish country, 2 noisy days of dental hygiene for the pedodontist and 2 birthdays will do that to a girl.

I am now living under the same roof with two teens. And My Hero begins his 6th decade.

Enough said. We will quickly move on. No good will come from dwelling on either of those facts.

We spent a week in South Haven, MI for the family vacation this year. We were joined by My Hero's brother, Eggbert, and his family. The house we shared was cosy, but just right. The guys played golf or tennis every day, we spent hours on the beach, and ate way too much food. I knit only a fraction of what I packed, but I did spend some good hours spinning.

I didn't, but should have lost weight. To get to the beach we had to negotiate these steps. There were 150 of them. ONE HUNDRED FIFTY STEPS. Not a problem on the way DOWN to the beach. But getting back? Let's just say we didn't want to forget anything, and on day 2, we decided to leave our beach chairs piled up in the sea grass until we packed to come home.

We found sea glass, skipped stones, built sand castles and buried the Young Man (at his request, and after he dug the hole).

Things were very relaxed.

 Don't be alarmed!!! These are candy cigarettes.

I visited 2 yarn shops and a fiber farm, and came home with more knitting projects than I had packed. A lot more. I wish I could buy time.

At Needle in a Haystack, in South Haven, I purchased the yarn and pattern for this shawl. I visited Lizzie Ann's Wool co. in Holland and found too many things.(I'll blame it on all the great shop samples they had.) That's the thing about visiting yarn shops. There is so much yarn and so many ideas, that no one shop can have it all. Visiting new shops gives a knitter the chance to see new things. Or new to her anyway. For example, The Grabbit is not a new pattern, but I had never seen it. Lizzie Ann's had a shop sample and the Young Lady and I were drawn to it immediately. It is one of those "why didn't I think of it?" things. So, I bought the pattern and yarn for it. I also brought home the yarn and pattern for this A-line tunic and this Rowan pattern book. I stopped myself before I bought any yarn to make the sweaters I want in this one. Like this one:

 and this one:

I also like this model's hair style.

My Hero drove me out to Marr Haven fiber farm, near Allegan, MI. and I brought home a couple of cones of her gorgeous wool and a bat for spinning.

Because, really, how could I not? I wish you could reach into your monitor and feel how soft this wool is.

We also sailed on the Friends Good Will, a replica of an 1810 schooner that fought in the War of 1812, was captured by the British, recaptured by the Americans and later burned by the British. It is the sloop that Admiral Perry refers to in his famous quote, "We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop."

We were treated to some beautiful sunsets, warm water and sunny days.

There is no place like home, and despite everything good about our trip, I was ready to get back home. I am still catching up and need to get in gear before the in-laws arrive on Tuesday (TOMORROW!!!- trying not to panic now) for a short visit, and it is time to start thinking back to school- they start way too early, on August 10th, and I never thought I would say this, but I am NOT ready for them to go back.

Love,

Kim

It's gonna be loud

Dear Mom-

The Cul-de-sac Fourth of July Celebration Preparation started a couple of weeks ago.

And he has plenty of fuse.

Boys.

Love,

Kim

A Wedding, More Knitting and an Unexpected Gift

Dear Mom,
The long drive to and from the weekend wedding destination offered plenty of knitting time. We had terrible driving conditions on the way up on Friday evening- it rained the entire drive- and I tended to my knitting to avoid getting nervous and making My Hero even more tense than he already was. When it got too dark to see my knitting, it was time to help navigate unfamiliar roads.

The wedding reception was well underway when we arrived. Now, there are times when it is glaringly obvious that my children favor one side of the family or the other, and when The Young Man immediately disappeared to join the crowd on the dance floor, I didn't have to stop to wonder where that came from. It wasn't from me.  The Young Lady joined me with the quieter out-laws.

When family pictures were taken, the patient photographer needed to take several of the boisterous group. When it came time for a "just the outlaws" picture, she only needed to snap one because we took our positions, smiled for the camera and held still.

I was able to knit some more over the weekend and then a little more on the drive back home. (When I wasn't dozing.) I think the fact that My Hero left his voice in Detroit at the Red Wings game making it difficult for him to yell at instruct the other drivers on the road, along with listening to football on the radio, made the ride home a tad more peaceful than normal and I kept nodding off.

I did finish these mittens and the hat to go with them, though.

I am tweaking my hat design. I started another, in a fingering weight yarn. We'll see how that goes and then I may offer the pattern.
I purchased the buttons for the mittens at Skeins on Main, a yarn shop my soul sister-in law, Cheryl, took me to on Saturday morning.

On Saturday, another outlaw, as if he didn't have enough to do what with just having hosted a wedding and all, asked me if I would like some raw wool from his sheep! I was struck speechless. He misinterpreted my condition, thinking that I was trying to find a polite way to say No Thank You when in fact so many happy thoughts were scrambling in my head and fighting to be the first spoken that they were jammed up and nothing would come out! I did find the words, and brought home this:

Processing, or having it processed will be a learning experience. I will document the progress of the bag o'wool here on the blog. If I am successful, there is more wool for me if I want it!

I must be off- today the weather calls for homemade soup and bread for dinner, and I need to make a quick trip to the grocery for ingredients.

Love,

Kim