Home Sweet Sunshine

We are back from the Alpaca seminar. It was a long weekend. It is tiring to fly out for the weekend and be back to work on Monday. We almost did not make it due to flight delays. Every single flight we took this weekend was delayed. But get this the last flight although we were also delayed leaving we arrived 12 minutes early.



The seminar was very long and very educational. It started Friday night at 5:30. We got out at 9:00. Saturday it was from 8:00am to 9:00pm. Then we were there Sunday morning till 1pm before running to airport to catch the plane. The seminar was mostly about the business of alpacas and how to make a business out of owning them. This is smart because if you plan to quit your day job you need to have a plan as to how to provide for your self with out that income. We learned so much and also learned that some of the information we had already got from farms we visited were incorrect.



Chris and I are still very interested in alpacas and now we know where to start & what to do next. We plan to buy some soon. I was disappointed that they did not have any yarn for sale. The farm the seminar was at sells all their fleece to a buyer in California. The farm had 2 to 300 alpacas.



Blue Skies

While visiting the Northwest Chris and I could not get use to the grey skies. You can not tell what time of day it is. All day the same grey sky, so depressing. On Monday back home in New Mexico the sun came up and the blue sky was there. Even Chris said on Monday he was working on a patient and looked up and out the window and saw the blue sky, he could have cried seeing that blue sky and how happy it made him.



New Mexico gets over 300 days of sunshine, and I love every single one of them. Above is a picture of my sky this morning at 8:30am.

Heading to the Northwest

Thought I would give a last minute update before leaving for the seminar. The seminar is in Oregon. I will need to say good bye to the sun for a couple of days. Maybe we will bring it with us.

Felted Rose purse


This is turning out great. I would probably be much further along but I have been working on other things.


Surf & Turf Table Runner


I decided to make a table runner out of the TLC yarn. I am using a pattern out of my little box of scarves. It is the Chevron and Feather scarf pattern. I am just making it wider. I think it shows off the color nicely. I think this is the project I will take with me this weekend. I originally was going to bring my cashmere scarf to work on but I just can’t bring that wonderful cashmere onto such a contaminated airplane. If the ball of yarn were to fall and roll across the floor I might have a heart attack. 8)


Skirt Bad News

I ran into the fabric store to grab some more of the multi green fabric that I had run out of. Of course it was all gone. CRAP! My legs are short so I might see what it looks like with out the bottom tier.

I did find this fabric as an alternative just in case. This was on sale 40% off, can’t beat the price. I might make another one in this if the green one does not work out.


Have a great weekend.

Pointy Kitty

I thought I would warm up my sewing skills by making the Pointy Kitty. Hillary over at Wee Wonderfuls has made this wonderful pattern and has it free on her website. She makes the coolest things and I was so happy that she has offered us one of her patterns to try and make something ourselves. It took me a couple hours Sunday to make this Pointy Kitty. The hardest part I think is turning it inside out after it is sewn. I used a pencil eraser and also a knitting needle. I am pleased with my results.




Sew I Knit progress

After finishing the kitty, I tackled my skirt that I am making for the along. I am really challenging myself with this one. By choosing the multi colored stripe fabric it is making it much harder to cut out the pattern. I have managed to cut out all the pieces except for the last tier of the skirt. I ran out of the dark green stripe. I will need to go buy more fabric. I could start sewing the top but I think I will let it rest a bit. My brain is fried at the moment with sewing.

Surf & Turf Acrylic


I picked up this TLC 100% acrylic yarn in color Surf & Turf at the craft store when I was looking for felt to put on the pointy kitty. I am not taking the blame for this one.
I blame Amy over at Good to be a Girl. I don’t care for acrylic but I saw her Feb 17th post were she is making the bag from Holiday knits using this yarn. I love the color way and when I passed it at the craft store it was cheaply priced. Fortunately it is a very soft acrylic yarn. I thought it would make a great hand purse. But then I thought I was turning into a regular bag lady and have a ton of bags on my list and have made many. So I think I might make a table runner instead. Since it is acrylic, it will be easy to wash if it gets dirty.

Life Update


Since I let the cat out of the bag about Chris and me wanting to move to the country and live a more rewarding lifestyle, everyone has been so supportive. I want to thank everyone for their kind comments and e-mails. It means a lot to me. To tell you the truth I was nervous after I wrote the post. It is kind of like turning yourself inside out and letting everyone take a look.

We have been looking at houses the last couple of weekends and think we have found the perfect one. It is up in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico. It is only a 40 minute drive down to our dental office which will be a better commute than what we are making now to the office. It is an old Victorian Farm House on 5.5 acres of land. The property backs up to the Lincoln National Forest. The house was originally built in 1905. It has since been remodeled in the 80’s. Unfortunately the people that remodeled the home had horrible taste. The house will need to be gutted and remodeled adding central air & heat. The price is low enough to be able to remodel, thank goodness. Right now we are in the process of getting financing and getting the house inspected. If all goes well we might be looking at a closing at the end of March.

Weekend Seminar

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Chris and I are heading to the Northwest this weekend for an Alpaca seminar. We have visited a couple of the alpaca ranches around here and think they might be great for our new lifestyle. So we signed up for a seminar to learn more about how to care for them and to provide a good home for them. The alpacas were actually Chris’s idea. He came home from work one day and he said one of his patients had just gotten a couple of alpacas. Of course I was completely interested, (tumbles of alpaca fiber dancing around in my head. Lets out a giggle while rubbing hands together MINE ALL MINE, Pulling self together as to not alarm darling husband of true nature and love of fiber). We are excited to check out the seminar and I will let you know how it goes.

Which Road do YOU Take?

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I look at my life as an endless learning adventure. The further I get in my life story it seems the more I learn about myself and who I am. I recently learned something about myself that I guess I never realized completely. Things I already knew are that I am a planner and a goal setter. It turns out every goal that I have made for myself I have accomplished. I set a goal and plan it out, then take the steps necessary to meet that goal.

I have always thought that reaching the goal was the prize where you sit back and enjoy what you accomplished. Turns out for me reaching the goal is where I hit the fork in the road and decide which path to take for my next adventure. If I look back on my life and touch on every fifth year since birth it reveals that you can not predict what my life was going to be like in the next five years. For me it is all about the journey, not the destination.


My Next Path

With all that said Hubby and I have reached a fork in the road. As some of you know we have a dental office and have worked very hard to make it all it could be. Turns out we have been very successful and could sit back and let this be our lives forever more and live very well. Of course I am not content with this and am bored with the thought of it. I think it is like that feeling that some men get with the whole ball and chain idea. I am fortunate enough to have married the right man and he is ready to try something else. Everyone grows and changes through the years you can only hope that your partner grows and changes in the same direction.

Hubby and I have decided to change our lifestyle. We decided to take the path that heads to a more rural setting. That’s right we are thinking of more a Farmer & the Dell kind of scenario. We are currently skipping down our new chosen path and are very excited about the journey we are about to take.

If there is any advice I could give to anyone it is to take that first step. If there is something that you have always wanted to do and have not done, what are you waiting for? You only live once. What is the worst thing that could happen? If you never try, you will never know.

Live with no regrets.

Joined a New Along

It is the Sew? I Knit along. Through out the year we will sew different objects. The first one is a skirt. The time frame for making the skirt is Feb 15th through March 20th. I have not sewn anything from a pattern in about 12 years. I sew things around the house but I just make it up as I go.

I chose this Simplicity Pattern #0593


Here is the fabric I chose to make the skirt out of.

It is the same fabric type as the orange skirt on the model in the picture. They had that color orange and also hot pink. I decided to go with the cooler colors of the multicolored greens. Hopefully it won’t be to tricky working with three colors instead of one. Can’t wait to get started and see everyone’s progress in the group.


Progress on the Felted Rose Purse


I am almost through the first row of rose’s motif. I am liking how the red and green really pop out against the contrast of the black.


Quiz

I have seen this quiz on a couple of different blogs. I thought it was cool and morbid.


You will sink in a mire. You like to think you're

normal, but deep down you really just want to

strip off your clothes and roll around in

chicken fat.


What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

My results made me laugh out load. What is normal anyway? Sinking into a marsh is a good story and not a boring way to go.

360 Days of Oscar

My Fair Lady

What’s on TV this month you ask? Turner Classic Movies channel is doing a 360 days of Oscar month. All month long they will air Oscar nominees and winners back to back. They are all linked like the Kevin Bacon thing. The first movie starting on Feb 1st will link to the next one they air by an actor or something and so on then the very last movie they air on March 3rd will link back to the very first movie.


Gone with the Wind

Dude I am so excited about this. No more sitting down and flipping the channels to find something to watch. A sure bet there will be something good on TCM. So take a look ahead at the schedule and see when your favorites will be airing so you don’t miss them. Great Idea TCM!


Casablanca

All photos found at Reel Classics website.


Diet Update


I started my diet in January like everyone else. I actually stuck with it and lost a total of 5 pounds. It does not seem that much until you do a search for 5 lbs and come up with a 5lb bowling ball.

It is a start and I am going to give this diet a good couple of months. Basically I am eating smaller portions and cut back on alcohol and sweets. Seems to be working. I did work out a little at the beginning of the month but it dwindled to nothing. I plan to start the work outs again this month.

The truth is I am not sure why we say we LOST 5 pounds. It makes it sound like I woke up and it was gone and I could not find them anywhere. I will tell you from experience it is not easy to lose weight you really need to make an effort and consistency is the key. I will be a trooper and continue on and take it one day at a time.