{May 31, 2011}

I'm behind a bit, but will post pics from the missing days later. Today was yet another doctor visit in a different place, so I captured it for posterity's sake.

Taken with my iPhone using the Instagram app with the Walden (if memory serves) filter applied.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 29, 2011}

I've been attempting to sew a costume for my daughter's school project since about 5 p.m. What should have taken me about 10 mins. has turned in to an all night issue. I have no idea why the machine isn't working, but tomorrow I'll be looking for a large bag of safety pins to use instead of sewing it, then hand sewing the rest.

Taken with my iPhone using the Instagram app with the Brannan filter applied.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 27, 2011}

These could quite possibly be the cutest set of stitch markers I've ever seen. I mean how could I not adore them given they combine two of my most favorite things--coffee and knitting?! I will definitely be using these a lot. The seller, Bijoux Designs For You, is also incredibly nice to work with and has several really nice pieces (from stitch markers to jewelry) in her shop. Plus, if you like the ones I purchased she has another listing for them as well... ;o)

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 26, 2011}

{I had issues posting yesterday, so this one is coming in late}

The babies keep changing and today I had to laugh when they tried to hide from me while I snapped a few pictures. They all flattened out as best as they could, brought their wings up, closed their eyes and held as still as possible. The effect works remarkably well, I'll give them that.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 25, 2011}

I've got a feeling...somebody's watching meeeee...

{side note: I can't believe how fast they're growing!}

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 24, 2011}

One of these things is not like the other...one of these things just doesn't belong. Except in this case, I would soooo adopt her (him?) in a heartbeat! This little turkey showed up around 4:15'ish today and hung out with the guineas until after 8. It was tough getting photographs of her as I couldn't go outside w/out scaring the poor bird back in to the woods, so I was forced to shoot from indoors. I did notice, however, that she got a bit more brave when she realized I had thrown out some tasty food for the guineas. Granted, she didn't get anywhere near me, yet she no longer disappeared the moment she caught sight of me. Still, I wasn't about to chance bringing out the camera which meant I was left with whatever I could get from inside the house. I have named her, Lucille after the mother in Arrested Development. Not because she seemed rude, or drunk, but mainly because every time she tried to "make friends" with the guineas, they would get scared off and back away from her. I'm hoping Lucille comes back regularly so we can chat about ungrateful children and wine.

On to the pics...{click to view full size}

{May 23, 2011}

When I walked outside all three of the babies popped up, mouths agape, making little cheeping noises. I tried to grab a picture of them as fast as I could, but once they realized I wasn't their mama they quickly settled back down in to the nest. Maybe next time... Still, I love how the little one on the left is resting his/her chin on the nest all ready for the next feeding.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 22, 2011}

We've been watching Arrested Development with the kids during the evening for the past week. Ryan and I have already seen the series, start to finish, and seeing as how we're constantly making inside jokes using Arrested Development references, the kids were begging to watch it. We're trying out the HULU+ for the XBox this month so each night we settle in and watch a couple of episodes. Tonight we hit one of Ryan and I's favorite scenes involving bees...and beads. I rewound it so we could watch it again and the laughs were just as loud the second time as they were the first.

Taken with my iPhone using the Instagram app with the Brannan filter applied.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 21, 2011}

They're getting pin feathers and changing colors a bit!

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 20, 2011}

Switching it up a bit today as the baby robins pretty much look the same as they did yesterday. I planted this...tree?...shrub?...treeshrub?...last year. Despite being practically run over by our plow guy, buried under 6+ feet of snow for months, and molested by chickens, guineas, and ducks, it's come back. One of the things I like about this foliage are the delicate white and pink flowers that bloom in the spring. I guess it's the treeshrub's way of saying, "Suck it winter."

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 19, 2011}

They're getting fuzzier and making little squeaking noises. Also, they're still very hungry.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 18, 2011}

And then there were three... Yay triplets! In the first photo you can see two of them waiting for Mom (or Dad) to return with a meal and in the second you can see all three snuggling. {Melt}

On to the pics...{click to view full size}

{May 17, 2011}

We have babies!! Two at the moment, still waiting on the third to hatch. I was so excited to see the tiny pink,  covered in tufts of fluff, "newborns" moving around this morning that I had to contain my squeals for fear of scaring off the mom (or maybe it was the dad--I learned that both mom and dad take care of them and we have seen the pair in the yard together). I couldn't wait for the kids to get home so I could show them the babies. After the parent-in-charge had flown off for some food, we peered out the window and ooh'd and aah'd as if we were looking in to an actual nursery. {We embrace our weirdness around here.} I decided to chance getting a photo but since the parents have been diligent about tending to the nest, babies, and egg, I had to move quick to get this shot. I plan to take a photo of them every day until they fledge and will use each one as my Photo of the Day so you can enjoy them as well. Side note, if you look right above the far right area of the egg you can see one of the babies eyes. Awwwwww!

Any ideas for names?

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 16, 2011}

This is the lone skein I purchased at the NH Sheep & Wool Grower's Festival. It was sheer luck that I came across the Dirty Water Dyeworks booth as I had no idea there were vendors in that portion of the fairgrounds (wonder who I missed last year?...). The kids and I had gone over to watch the border collie sheep herding demonstrations and just so happened to see the other vendor tents set up. After we watched the dogs and sheep for a bit we headed over to peruse the goods. As soon as I entered Dirty Water Dyeworks I fell in love with a sweet little shawl knit up with DWD's Bertha in Pixie. The dominant colors were various shades of green, yet there were also hints of blue and brown running throughout. Although I figured there would be none left in that colorway, I was surprised to find a single skein still left. I'm not sure what I'll knit with it but I'm hoping that the color turns out as beautiful as the shawl did. I will say that the woman running the booth, presumably the owner, was super sweet and very helpful. And the yarn is incredibly soft, too.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 15, 2011}

Yes, yes...I know...I took this yesterday. But come on...how can you resist that face (and also it's been raining like mad here so I'm stuck indoors)? Okay, maybe if you're not as in to sheep as I am you can. I can't, however, so you're stuck with another sheep photo. This breed of sheep (Tunisians) are my favorite breed--in so far as I know without 1.) ever having truly spent a lot of time around them, and 2.) not having a lot of knowledge on the various sheep breeds. Still, I get all giddy when I come to the "Tunis" and will linger the longest at their pen while I dream of having a flock grazing in a pasture by my house. What? You don't do that? You should, it will make you smile. ;o) I promise this is the last sheep picture I'll post for awhile. And by awhile I mean at least a couple of days.

Taken with my iPhone and edited with the Photoshop app.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 14, 2011}

The kids and I went to the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Grower's Festival this afternoon and, just like last year, we had the most fun petting and fawning over the livestock. Naturally my favorites were the sheep (although truth be told I go ga-ga over pretty much any animal) and I spent plenty of time loving on any who would allow it. Megan's favorites were the goats although sadly there weren't very many of them. Ian dug the bunnies, so I kept telling him to stick one in his hoodie. Alas, he's too upstanding to do that. ;o) We also thoroughly enjoyed watching the various types of dogs herding sheep around a large paddock. The intelligence, focus, and speed of those dogs is just amazing. One thing that surprised us was that alpacas make a sort of whining baby sound. There were two of them in a fenced booth that kept making the noise, almost as if they were talking to each other. I wasn't sure if it was an "I'm upset" noise or just what they do. I did take a short video of it and will post it later.

Despite being surrounded by literally tons of gorgeous fiber, I behaved myself and only purchased one skein. Course the fact I still have a huge bag of fiber just waiting to be spun, and plans to take spinning classes so I can actually spin the stuff, may have had something to do with my restraint.

These two ridiculously cute lambs (one ram, one ewe) were a mere 9 weeks old. Their wool was thick and soft and their pink noses totally did me in. I met their owner, a lovely woman, who told us the mother had died shortly after giving birth. The lambs have been bottle fed and hand raised by the family, thus making them extra friendly. We chatted some more about keeping sheep, then I finally said goodbye to the little darlings (to say I could have stayed with them all day would be an understatement). Naturally it just made me want them all the more...naturally.

Taken with my iPhone and edited with the Instagram app with the Hefe filter applied.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 11, 2011}

I couldn't resist putting up another photo from Eric's baby session. This one has "Future Heartbreaker" written all over it! Look at that devilish little grin of his--love it!

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 13, 2011}

Friday the 13th wasn't very good to me. Ian had a doctor's appointment today at 1:40. At 12:30 I got up to do some work and realized that I needed to pick Ian up from the high school in about 30 mins. Problem is, I hadn't showered or eaten lunch yet. Ensue mad dash all over the house. Showered, fed, dogs put up, I rushed out the door to my car. I should note that I had not driven my car in about 2-3 weeks as I've been driving our new (to us) Jeep given to us by my amazing dad (THANKS DAD!!). However, the Jeep was at my dad's today so he could do some service stuff on it. Yesterday I told myself, "Self, when your husband comes home for lunch tomorrow you should totally start your car while he's here to make sure it runs. That way, if the battery is dead, he can jump the battery and all will be right with the world." Given I had forgotten to both shower and eat, as well as forgotten the appointment, you can see where this is headed.

Put the key in the ignition, turn it, it makes a noise but it won't catch. Three attempts later I'm now on the phone with my dad who is telling me he'll be at my place in a few minutes. I call the doctor's office and let them know we'll most likely be late. When my dad arrives I tell him I don't think the battery is dead as I can roll my windows down, etc., so he has me pop the hood. "Laura," says my dad, "You might want to come look at this." Tentatively I walked towards the front of my car. Looking down I see tons of paper, leaves, feathers, and other random pieces of material all neatly formed in to a large nest. Needless to say, it was the last thing I expected to find resting on my battery...let alone in my car. Course, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised given the mechanic found a large nest in my air filter when I had it serviced last year. Apparently my car is prime real estate for the critters of our woods. Sigh... I was just glad there were no mice babies in there as I would have felt bad for disturbing it.

As we clear out the nest and start charging the battery my cell phone rings. It's the doctor's office and they're telling me the day is incredibly booked. If I can't get Ian there within about 5-10 mins. of the scheduled appt. time, they won't be able to get him in. Rather than chance it I opt to reschedule.

I still have to clean out the rest of the crap the rodent brought under the hood of my car, lest I risk a fire while I'm driving. Lovely. I wish I could figure out how to keep these guys out of my car, but for now I'm planning to start it at least every other day and let it run for a bit in hopes of deterring them. We'll see how that goes...

Taken with my iPhone and edited using the Photoshop app.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 12, 2011}

I tried to post this last night but Blogger was down--go figure. Anyways, this pic is of my laptop with one of my favorite sites displayed...Ravelry.com. If you're a knitter or crocheter I can't recommend it enough!

Taken with my iPhone using the Instagram app with the Poprocket filter applied.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 10, 2011}

Today is Miss Lexi's 8th birthday! She's been sung to and spoiled pretty much all day...and man is she loving it. Not only did she get bits of scrap food here and there (something we don't do often to keep their tummies normal), but she also indulged in one of her favorite things--sugar snap peas. Both of our dogs go nuts for the outer shells and end pieces, so while I scrape out the peas for me, I pass along the rest to the dogs. Their tails could hardly contain their joy as they chowed down. Tonight Lexi will get some chicken "jerky" to cap off a love and food-filled day. Needless to say, she's had a very good birthday!

Taken with my iPhone using the Instagram app with the Earlybird filter applied.

On to the pic...{click to enlarge}

{May 9, 2011}

Not sure what type of spider this is, but he/she hung out by our front door for awhile then disappeared one day. I kind of miss seeing him/her.

Taken with my iPhone and edited using the Photoshop App.

{May 8, 2011}

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there! Hope your day has been filled with lots of love, laughter, and relaxation! Having said that, here is my gift from my adorable daughter, Megan. She loves to paint and worked really hard on this one. To say I love it would be a huge understatement! This is Mt. Hood at sunset and I'm planning to frame it and hang it in our front room.

Taken with my iPhone and edited using the Photoshop app.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 6, 2011}

Crummy photo tonight as we were in some serious low light...tres romantic. Ryan and I went to The Common Man for dinner and I snapped this pic of the killer oil lamp, my water glass, and part of the menu. Even after editing it in various apps it still looks awful, but it's late and we're about to watch a movie so this is it.

Taken with my iPhone and edited using TiltShiftGen, Photoshop, and Lo-Mob.

On to the pic...{click to enlarge}

{May 5, 2011}

New favorite item from Mrs. Meyer's...Honeysuckle Hand Soap. The smell is divine, the scent lasts forever (seriously), and it actually makes me hands nice and soft. If only they had a bar soap in this same formula. I would buy them by the ton!

Taken with my iPhone using the Instagram app with the Toaster filter applied.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 4, 2011}

If you look real close you'll see the little surprise I got today when the robin, who has made a nest right outside our front window, took off. Two tiny, beautiful bright blue eggs! The nest is in a small evergreen tree about two feet off of the ground, and although we don't use that door very often, I'm worried that we may disturb her too much. Or maybe she's seen all of the other fowl running around and figures we're pretty cool bird people. Either way I took this photo from inside the house so as not to bother her. I really hope she hangs around to hatch, care for, and raise the babies. Would be awesome to be a witness to it all!

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 3, 2011}

Nothing super special tonight, just the lamp that sits next to me so that I can see. Apparently the older I get the more light I need (and I still squint from time to time). This shot is of the base of the lamp which has a "rustic" patina to it. It's small thus allowing it to fit perfectly amongst the chaos. I dig it.

Taken with my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app with Alfred Infrared "film" and the Robo Glitter "lens."

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 2, 2011}

This is Geraldine Hazel Conley...otherwise known as my MeMaw, or paternal grandmother. When my mom found out she was pregnant, my dad's sister also learned she was pregnant as well. MeMaw told them both, "I don't care which one of you does it, but one of you better give me a granddaughter." My mom had me and my aunt had my cousin John. MeMaw got the best of both worlds. She and I were super close and I adored the hell out of her. Many days were spent either picking strawberries (and eating them) out of her garden, or running through the woods surrounding their log cabin. She made the best fried chicken ever, had an incredibly impressive garden, was a hard worker, and loved her family dearly. I could go on and on about my grandmother, but suffice to say, I learned so much from her and miss her terribly.

Today my dad gave me a book containing many items that belonged to my grandmother. Inside I found three photos. Two of them were of my grandmother as a young woman. The other was of her dressed as Santa holding me, around age 2. I look unsure of who the person is under the beard, but you can't miss that huge smile on her face hidden under the white fluff. I'm not sure how old she was when this photo was taken, yet that sparkle in her eye never faded.

Taken with my iPhone using the Lo-Mob app with the 30's Contact filter applied.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 1, 2011}

I love a good pot roast, even though my daughter really can't stand the stuff. Because of her aversion I don't make it very often but when I do...yummmmm. Tonight's version was pretty good although the meat wasn't marbled enough so it wasn't as tasty as usual. I always add in some parsnips as it's the only vegetable in the pot we all agree on. Carrots and onions are added in for taste, although the kids and I eat those as well. As a side I make mashed potatoes, another big yummmmm in my house, and let out a little sigh of content whenever I take the first bite. nom nom nom.

Taken with my iPhone using the Lo-Mob app with the Photocard II filter applied.

On to the pic...{click to enlarge}