Happy Valentines Day

Del and Katie having a little snuggle time :)

Little Dude and Bailey will do anything for Kristy!

Bailey and Katie bug, two of my four 'grandpuppies'.

...and Alicia caught mid yawn last lambing season.

Mitts are done

Obligatory Snow Pictures

The planter is on the patio, the gazing ball is on a pedestal in the garden
at the end of the patio.

This is my driveway. I did not go out there with a measuring stick and see how deep it really was. I was too tired from wading through it to the barn several times a day to check on Oso.

Just a few of the pictures from around the farm and driveway before Matt came and got the tractor out to clear the driveway. Bless him, he obviously had to climb through all that mess to get here to help me, and he worked into the dark clearing me a path down the driveway. It was a huge job and I'm grateful!

Bringing Oso Home

I can hardly thank you enough, Herbert, for allowing Oso to come home with me! I'm sure you and your family must miss him as I've already fallen in love with this beautiful dog.

Here he is in the hotel in Gallup, NM. We didn't have a bit of trouble getting him to find a comfortable spot inside with us. He slept at the foot of the bed nearest the door and I can't remember feeling more safe on a road trip (unless it was the last time I had a maremma guard force).

It snowed while we were sleeping, just a hint of things to come!

Welcome to the blizzard of 2011 Oso! Thankfully we had a couple of wonderful young men who came to the farm and set up an emergency shelter for Oso when we all realized that the weather outlook had changed after we left on our trip. They fixed him a nice house that is well insulated with bales of hay and plenty big enough for me to be in there with him while he eats.
It isn't exactly what I had planned for his welcome home but it will have to do as this picture is just the beginning of the snow. When I went back a few hours later I had drifts well past my knees and it was still snowing.

Progress... ??

This is the beginning of the mitts.

I like the cable and ribbing, it matches the hat nicely. The only problem is,
I didn't weigh out the yarn and am worried I won't have enough to make
two matching mitts. So...

I ripped it out and started over by taking it all to my scale and
weighing, then dividing in two piles.

I'm all ready to go and I've swatched (ok, only if the
ripped out first attempt counts -grinning-)

Motivation

Today the miracle may be to simply complete the short 'To do..." list.
I've about got the mess cleaned up from our last snow, with a little
effort the last of the laundry and floor mopping will be done today.

Liz's new hat is done and I'm hoping to have enough yarn left over
to make some matching fingerless mitts.

Moving on

Little did I know when I was writing about changes, what was just around the corner for me at that time. I had been thinking of my husband's return to school, working towards completion of his Masters Degree and what that would mean as far as reducing the work load around the farm, changing our vision of what God had for us to accomplish...

There were other changes in store than what I had been expecting and after spending well over 30 years becoming one with my husband, I'm now learning how to be single again. My husband went on to be with the Lord. What I am sure of is the faithfulness of God, the love of my family and I know I am blessed with wonderful friends and church family. As for the rest of life's little details, I'm taking that a bit at a time.