Just Fun

Jazzy and the B’Day Bag

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

I’m taking a brief diversion on what was to be a triple-play on “Writing What We Know” for a very good reason – I had a photo op.

If you have or know cats, you know nothing makes them as happy as a new box or bag. They find it irresistible. So having just that – a new bag – I offered it to her highness for exploration.

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First, let’s see if there’s anything inside. This might take a while.

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Next, let’s see if it has the right amount of room for comfortable sleeping.

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And, of course, let’s give Mom the money shot!

Never fear, animal lovers, this is a plaything for Jazzy under supervision only, lest she get her head caught in one of those pretty handles and set off to running with it caught about her neck, thus causing panic and overall, anything but the fun experience we’d been hoping for.

One day later? It’s already old news. There’s no forgetting – Jazzy’s a cat.

Show Me the Sheep

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

Each year in early September the weekend-long Annual Sheep and Fiber Show is held by the Garden State Sheep Breeder’s Association at my county’s fairgrounds. It brings sheep breeders from at least 4 surrounding states, but also a goodly amount of vendors  selling wool spun from their own sheep, alpacas and llamas as well as products made from that wool. There are breed exhibits of the animals as well as show competition and judging, but the big favorites are the sheep shearing demonstrations and the sheep herding demonstrations, (my personal favorite.)

Here are just a few photos of the event and of the animals themselves. Missing are the sheep herding demonstration, (too far away), and the thousands of multi-colored skeins of yard at the many vendors’ stalls.

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Handcrafted wooden knitting needles with delicious ornaments on top.

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These crocheted skulls caught my eye – very cute!

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These thick, gorgeous mittens were made from yak hair.

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A Suffolk sheep

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One of two llamas at the festival. Llamas provide a source of wool for spinning and crafts

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Some sheep had coats. I didn’t ask but I suspect it was to keep them clean until they were done being shown

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One of my small treats to myself is handmade soap when I come across it at a reasonable price. At one stall there was quite a variety and I picked up a few of these small-ish square bars in oatmeal-almond, (above), lemon pound cake, coffee and vanilla, and “Kiss the Cook”, a brownie-like aroma. Made of skin-soothing ingredients such as olive oil, and lanolin and sheep’s milk by some soap crafters, they were all heavenly. I’m now set for getting clean all winter long with a guaranteed happy smile. These soaps were made by Saratoga Suds `n’ Stuff in Saratoga Springs, NY.

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My favorite photo of the day. Sheep are very sweet animals, and this one exemplified their gentle personalities.

Are We Done with the Snow Yet?

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

FrostedShrub2Who wanted to hear reports of a possible 2-4″ of snow happening during the day? Or … according to some predictions, 4-8″. Neither are horrendous amounts, but can it just be over already?

Happy to say, all their predictions turned out to be wrong and this was a non-event in my neck of the woods; now it’s raining softly. But as it started to snow ever-so-lightly this morning, I took a couple of quick photos from the back porch. The snow had such a lovely quality.

See?

Yeah, that’s not it. I just had some fun in Photoshop because the snow, at that time, really was so fine you could barely see it. Although the dusting on the ground is pretty.

So I’m offering another quote on Spring ….

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.  ~Hal Borland

I don’t know who Hal Borland is, but I hope he knows what he’s talking about.