ha!!!

I learned how to knit today! I'm pretty happy about it. Rhiannon spent a few hours this afternoon very patiently teaching me how to do the knit stitch (I thought that's what the whole thing was called), and...oh boy, I already forgot the names of all the other stitches! Anyway, my reasons for learning to knit has to do with kid goats, because I've read that they often need little sweaters when they are first born to get them nice and toasty. Some babies can be lost if it is too cold. Here is a picture of a kid in a sweater that neely hopes to knit one day:



In the meantime, this is what neely IS knitting these days! I know, it doesn't look like much at all, but it took a really long time to do, and I'm totally pleased with it. Rhiannon could make those in 5 minutes with her eyes closed, so I'm thinking that if I actually spend some time working on developing some skills, I just might pull off a sweater by the time the kids arrive. About 4.5 months. That seems doable to me!!



My friend Mark sent me a Xmas card that he painted, and I thought it was one of the nicest cards I've ever received. And one of the nicest cards I've ever seen~ I think that he could have quite a business going if he really felt like it. Mark was the one who did most of the foundational work on this place: electrical, plumbing, jury rigging everything that needed rigging, and then teaching me while he was at it. I learned a whole lot from him, and am very grateful that he was willing to work with me. He's since left the area, but his memory always lives on at the goat shui farm!



Doug, Justin, and Amalia are on their way to snowshoe in order to relieve some tension after what I hear were brutal finals. They'll be heading home for the holidays, and we won't see them again until January. We are tentatively planning our annual neighborhood snowshoe progressive dinner for the weekend before school starts. I think we'll have more than one this year. I'm really looking forward to it!