I’ve disappeared for 2 weeks and the most important thing I have to say is Keurig  Withdrawals?????   Yup, that is all I can think about…. Two weeks of long hours and craziness and all I want to talk about is how much l love the Keurig!  I promise  to put those thoughts a way for now and get you caught up on the adventures over the past 2 weeks.

My adventures began with a trunk show at Yarntastic!

Setting up a show the morning after Thanksgiving was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I tried to start loading the truck after dinner on Turkey day….lol…. that lasted about 10 minutes and I was back in my recliner knitting away, or maybe it was snoozing away:)

I was full of energy the next morning and managed to load the truck in a half hour.  Set up went fast, and before I knew it we were greeting the first customers of the day.

My Baa Baa Huey Line had Center Stage.  The Baa Baa Huey Handspun Gradient Cowl samples adorned the Lady in White and JR  mannequins . Yes,  I did have pet names for the store props, seemed proper to call them something while dressing them:)

The Baa Baa Huey Handspun Gradient Shawl was worn by Miss Birdcage, I even let her borrow my favorite shawl pin.   I enjoyed showing customers the fiber from start to finish. The non-yarny types were truly amazed that a pile of grey fiber could be made into something so pretty and useful.  It was nice to introduce people to the wonderful world of wool:)

My Bam Huey line of handspun yarn, and hand dyed fiber took over one of the front windows.  Anne Hanson’s Sonnenblume that I knit up in sunflower colors using Bam Huey Lace stopped many people in their tracks.  The bright colors lured more than one window shopper inside to take a closer look.

It was a long, but fun week at Yarntastic!  Owners Lesley and Dave were great to hang out with.  Someday I will talk the shy Lesley into having her picture taken, but for now she will be a woman of mystery!  Dave kept me in coffee, but  this isn’t where the Keurig comes in, that’s later.  During the trunk show some extra work came up at our bakery, so I was needed to help out more than expected that week.  Many days I was up for work at the bakery at 4 am.  I would finish up in time to be at Yarntastic at 11am and stayed there until 7pm, or 9pm.  LONG day.  Let’s just say that coffee was needed!

The week finished up at Yantastic! on Thursday night, and I was packed up and back home by 10pm.   Now I had to get packed and ready to go farm sit in the morning.

My friend Kathy has Llamas and I get to farm sit for her/vacation at her house, when she needs to leave town.  Kathy has had several  what I would call “gentleman’s farms” over the years .  These are in the 5 acre range, just big enough for a few hobby animals and a nice garden.  The new owner of one of her former homes was in need for a house sitter and  asked Kathy if she knew anyone who might be interested in the job.  Guess who got the job!  Steve, the new owner was pretty happy to hear the property comes complete with experienced sitter.

It was fun to get to stay there again.  It was funny when I would reach for the spice drawer and it now has silverware in it,  or when I kept trying to put garbage where there wasn’t a garbage can anymore.  There aren’t  any Llamas on the farm now, but there is a lovely home for 14 wild kitties.  The Llama barn has been turned into a cattery for these kitties who previously had to fend for themselves.  They now have vet care, a warm home, plenty of food, and a great kitty window to lounge in.  There are several kitties in the house also to take care of along with 2 elderly dogs and one little Princess that rules the roost.  Here is where the sweet little girl spent much of her time during the week.

We had some crazy cold weather during this week, and broke some record cold temperatures.  Unfortunately that also resulted in many  broken pipes in the area.  When the city of Portland is having problems with water mains breaking due to the cold frozen ground, I guess I can’t be too surprised I lost a few battles with freezing pipes in the barn. The kitty barn is kept  warm, but the pipes were in another part of the barn.  The pvc pipes didn’t have a fighting chance against a week of below freezing weather.  Fortunately  all the house pipes are fine.  I’ve been saying we are due for a cold winter around here and boy are we getting it!

Now comes in the Keurig!  Part of the deal to get me to house/farm sit is that you provide me with food and coffee…lots of coffee.  I hate shopping, and I love to eat!  Steve did excellent in the food providing department.  This was just the “dry goods” table.  The fridge was full as well:)

I like a well balanced plate….ok I admit it I like to play with my food, can’t help it I’m part kitty cat <^..^>

I have heard of Kuerig machines, but never got too interested in them , then Steve  introduced me to his Kuerig machine,and said use it as much as you want. It was so simple even I didn’t have a problem using it.   Oh how I miss it’s blue glow from across the room!  Each morning the soft blue light guided me to the kitchen, in just moments I would be rewarded with a purrrrfect cup of rich coffee.  Every time I needed you dear Kuerig machine, you were there, ready to make me happy. Oh how I miss you……… Many times a day I stopped by for a quick pick me up, and at the end of the day you lulled me to sleep with hot coco…..oh how I miss you Kuerig…..

I contemplated saving up and purchasing a Kuerig, but I know I could not control myself and those little packets of yummy coffee would take up our entire food budget.  So for now I will fondly remember the Kuerig and look forward to the next farm sitting adventure:)

So that is where I have been and what I have been doing for the past two weeks.  I just about have things caught up and back to normal here at home and the bakery.  This coming week is all about spinning up some custom orders  and dyeing fiber.  Check back in a few days to see what I am working on and an update on the progress of Mr X’s Sweater!

Happy Knitting and spinning,

Cheryl <^..^>