A really good day......

Guess what I saw today??!! A BALD EAGLE!! I live in Central NY, so there really aren't too many around here. But I think they are making a comeback in many places. I was driving along the river here in town and I happened to glance over and there it was, flying low over the water. I didn't see it's head, but I did see the white tail feathers and the all dark brown body and wings. I was SO excited to see one in person, that I called my husband and neighbor right away!

Then my oldest daughter and I did a little thrift store shopping and Christmas shopping for family, then went to see "Enchanted" at the theater. What a GREAT movie. We both loved it and I will be buying this one when it comes out on DVD.
To top it off, we picked up some dinner at Arby's and now we're all just relaxing at home.

Hoping you had a wonderful day too!

I noticed this one day while in my kitchen. I have a round wooden table that is topped with a removable glass circle. The sunshine was coming in the window just right and made the hairline cracks in the glass glow like neon!

Is this cool, or what?? When I walk the kids to the bus stop each morning, I love to look at the leaves that have fallen on the ground. This caught my eye.

A finished project!

This was a request from my neighbor...a hunting hat. The orange is a Merino wool blend that I dyed before spinning. The tan is 100% undyed Alpaca from a male named Beau. He lives at Willow Creek Farm in Fulton, NY. One of my favorite fibers to spin!

The pattern is one I found online. It's called the Double Layer Hat. As you can see from the last photo, it can be worn with either color on the outside. This hat is very warm, no matter what fibers you use. You start to knit with double-points, then switch to a circular. You could easily make this smaller for a child by subtracting the number of beginning increase rows, stockinette rows, ribbing rows, and ending decrease rows. I used needles that were just a bit bigger than what was called for...only because that's all I had. But the hat fit my neighbor PERFECTLY! :)

I received another order for one of these...from my other neighbor! Better get started!

Latest projects

This is a scarf for my neighbor. It is handspun (by me) Merino wool blended with viscose fiber. The viscose gives the yarn a shine a softness similar to silk. I LOVE spinning this blend.

A dishcloth knit with cotton yarn. This pattern took a while, but I love how it made the yarn have a diagonal striping effect! Next time though, I need to bind off a bit differently to make the edge smoother.

This is a scarf that I'm almost finished with...hopefully today. The yarn is handspun by my neighbor's oldest daughter..she's 13. She's fairly new to spinning, so the yarn is a wonderful thick and thin bulky...which makes it fun to knit with! I had the yarn stored here, but there wasn't enough of one color to make something. I chose size 11 bamboo needles and I think they really show off the yarn well. I thought this would be the best use for the yarn...and it just is very her.

Cosmos

One of my favorite flowers. I planted these from seed this summer. They are still blooming, even this late in the year. I have cut many to bring inside for my table...they make me smile every time I look at them. This pink is one of three colors I have. The other two are white and a dark magenta. Enjoy!

Another trip to Beaver Lake!

Sean and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on October 25th! He took Thursday and Friday off work...so we could spend some time together. Friday was a beautiful day, unseasonably warm for an October day in Central NY...so we decided to go to Beaver Lake. It is only 15 minutes from here and it's a place the kids ALWAYS enjoy visiting. This time though, Cara and Brendan were in school, so it was just Caitlin that came with us. Here are photos I took...enjoy!

Dried fern leaves.

There were thousands of Canadian geese on the lake...it was very loud! They're just stopping here on their way south.

Fallen leaves and lily pads mingling together in the bog.

A very cool black and red maple leaf....

and an equally cool lime and red leaf. This is maple too, but a different variety I believe.

Caitlin and Sean. He was giving Caitlin's legs a break. No stroller this time!

A view from the lookout tower of the changing leaves.

Sean noticed this interesting tree. It is totally bent over horizontal and resting in the forks of those two smaller trees. It is not broken at all.

A bird's nest you would never see if the leaves were still on!

Caitlin attempting to use the binoculars! She kept looking through the wrong end though...it was very cute. She insisted on keeping them hanging on her neck, but every time she bent over to look at something, they crashed on the ground, or while she was walking, they crashed into her legs.

Caitlin standing next to an uprooted tree. She thought that was fascinating!

Pretty, waxy leaves changing color. I love the two colors contrasting...

My kids...at the bus stop.

My children are hams....what more can I say!??! Cara is growing up so fast...and she's going to be SO tall...just like her daddy! She will be 9 in January.

Silly girl...her daddy loves this photo!

Grinning kids...gotta love smiles!

Harvest & Frost

Last Monday the kids and I took a trip with my friend, Kim, to Beak & Skiff Apple Farm in Lafayette, NY. We picked about 17 pounds of Empire and Jonagold apples...the kids loved that experience! And we purchased apple fritters and fresh cider...yummmmm!!! We did get caught in a short rain shower...with some thunder and lightning in the distance. Do you know how difficult it is to hold and umbrella and keep three children under it at the same time???!!!

On our way back, we stopped at a pumpkin patch and chose the pumpkins in the photo above. The kids were VERY excited about choosing their own pumpkins.

Yesterday morning, while waiting at the bus stop, I noticed the dewdrops on these rose petals. I've never seen this before, so I had Cara run back to the house to grab my camera. As you can see in background of the next photo, it was foggy. It's been warm here the past few days...in the 70's...which is not really normal for this time of year in Central NY! You won't hear me complaining though....I LOVE this weather and I am NOT looking forward to snow and cold again.

I was able to plant my spring bulbs yesterday! My MIL and I went in together on bulbs from American Meadows (online). I happened to find their site when they were having an awesome sale...50% off all the spring bulbs! I chose fringed tulips, a big bag of mixed tulips, a big bag of mixed pink daffodils, daffodils that are white with a green cup, double daffodils that are a blend of bright orange and yellow, and purple Alliums. I am really looking forward to seeing all the awesome colors in the spring.

I love the color of new rose leaves....above and below. The dew seemed to brighten the colors. The dew on the red leaves almost looks like ice to me.

Caitlin...
Enjoy these photos of Caitlin I've snapped over the past couple weeks.

A neat visitor!

I almost grabbed onto this very cool praying mantis....as you can see, it's on one of my clothespins. It's about 2 inches long....and I'm so glad I was able to snap such clear photos of it. There have been a couple of these in my flowerbeds this year. The first one was very tiny, maybe an inch long. It was chilling on my Cosmos.

I need a home!

I showed up at Amanda's home Tuesday morning...I can't stay here permanently though(thought Amanda really wishes I could!). I am very, very friendly, soft, and I love to snuggle! I'm young too...still small and still playful. If you can give love me and give me a home indoors, I would be so thankful! Please e-mail Amanda at whirlwindyarns77 @ yahoo dot com .
(Amanda thinks I am a neutered male, but not positive.)

My DH and Caitlin....sound asleep.

This is about the only time I can take a photo of my husband....he does NOT like his picture taken. :( Caitlin has been very snuggly with him lately...just adorable.

Growing fast, isn't she??!!

Here's Miss Caitlin, now almost 32 months old! She was pretending to be Superman the other day...her latest cute thing to do. :) Though she doesn't say 'Superman', she says "Supeman", totaling leaving out the 'r'. Simply adorable...makes me smile every time I hear her say it.

She was just being a total ham that day...I snapped a lot of great pictures.

Amazes me how big those eyes are! And how dark!

These two were taken about a week earlier. She has been taking naps again a couple days a week....and that day she fell asleep while watching a movie at about 7PM. Makes me giggle to see this picture. Her hands were tucked neatly behind her back.

Here's Brendan looking out over the lake. There were many ducks out there between the wall and the shore.

Joshua and Cara climbing down the rocks to the shore.

A view towards the lake from the park. You can see how dry the grass is...we need more rain!

A sailboat anchored just off shore. See the darker water? That's seaweed! The water out past the wall was so pretty....a lovely shade of blue-green.

The lighthouse....and the waves splashing over the breakers. You can walk out at least to the higher breakers...in the front right. The rest going out the lighthouse is much lower, so even if it's a little windy, it's just not safe!