I've been working on the railroad

1. Mix and stir, 2. Your turn, 3. Stir, stir, stir, 4. Glue, more glue

Celebrate

My Birthday was today, (50+++++++++ if you want to know) and my family - DH, Daughter and Son-in law, and my three sweet DGKids helped me celebrate in style. I had calls from my parents and son too!

First the day started with some of this:

I came home after a wonderful class (I do recommend Yoga for anyone looking to increase balance, flexibility and strength) and worked some on this:

Of course there were cards and flowers:

And gifts from the grandchildren, who have pronounced themselves ready to learn how to knit. The orange is grandson's FAVORITE color, and of course, the granddaughter picked pink (though she usually says green when asked for her favorite). Grandson says he wants to make a scarf, and granddaughter a blanket.

The evening was capped off by dinner out and I pronounced myself blessed. It was a perfect day.

Trains

I know, it has been ages since I have blogged here. I am embarrassed to even look and see how long it has been. Hope you all will forgive me. I guess it's a good thing I don't do this for a living, right?

Virginia has been having wonderful weather, and we have enjoyed having the windows open and not having to use the Ac. All that ended this evening, when we finally had to turn it on, today was almost 90 and tomorrow is supposed to be the same. We are having the Edicola's over for a BBQ tomorrow, so our Memorial Day will be full of fun and activity. I am sure some will involve working on the trains.

The trains are actually the most news we have to report. I'm posting a few pictures so you can see the progress. Things are moving slow, thought that is mostly due to parts and pieces for track (switches) that have been on back-order for over a month.

This piece of blank bookcase:

Has become a freight yard:

And the construction crew:

Has produced this:

Click on any of these pictures for a full size picture.

And the winner is!

You could have blown me over today, because I won first place in the Spinning Guild's Fiber Challenge. Remember, I have only been spinning about 10 months, and some of these people have been spinning for decades, and decades. Back in January we were each issued a 1 oz hunk of pink wool roving. To make a long story short, I worked on that roving, I dyed, I carded, I blended, ..... you get the picture I think! Today 21 of us brought our finished skeins to be judged. Seriously, there were some that were much more interesting than mine, or at least I thought so. Of course that may be because I have been looking at the stuff for months. I worked hard on the one page write up we had to have, and also on the final presentation - how it all looked. And who knows, maybe it was the candy? I tried to cover all my bases!

Only a mother would love this face

Mr. and Mrs. Mockingbird and the 2 little M & M's have left the nest. It appears that sometime yesterday evening they decided it was time to venture out. No worry, I guess, that the wind was blowing so hard even the cat wouldn't sit outside. So, we think they are in the hedge around the transformer in the front yard. We see Mom M in the bush chirping to someone who is answering. Our next question is, will she nest again and will we have M & M II. Have to wait and see we guess.

Newest Addition

Here's what's newest at our house.
Move your mouse over the picture and see who appeared yesterday. Mrs. M (Mockingbird) has been very busy. I don't know what happened to egg #3, there may be three in the nest. I didn't have permission to linger long.

Look Carefully - See that beady eye?

Mrs. "M" as she is know around here, is sitting on her nest inside the holly tree. Can you see her eye and beak? Click for a larger view if you have trouble seeing. Inside her nest are three small eggs, no bigger than those tiny wrapped chocolate Easter candies. They are brownish in color and speckled, as best I could tell in the quick peek I got while she was off looking for food.

How to build stomach muscles

This little guy has found a system, he does curl ups and grabs a handful (or paw-full I guess) and then leans back down to eat!

Pickles Scores Again!

A week ago Monday, before Easter was Bunco. I've been playing with this group for over a year now, and won once before, way back at the beginning, second prize. This month, I won first place! $30.00 to ad to my "mad money" which is basically used to fuel my bad habits, knitting, and buying gifts for small children. Anyhow, April must be my lucky month, because this morning I got an email from a knit blogger in England named Julie. I had entered a contest she had on her blog and won 2 books and some KnitPicks yarn that will be perfect for socks. So, I am a happy camper!

Today Eric is working on making two blocks for the loom I am preparing for a class in June. I purchased an additional heddle for this loom in order to be able to weave finer fabric. The blocks on the existing heddle are too small, so rather than sand them and spoil them forever he'll make me a set that will replace the originals when I switch heddles. This way, should I want to do a looser weave, I just change the blocks. I am sure that is clear as greek, but believe me, it is going to work nicely. It would be nice if he had a band saw, it would make this all easier, but he doesn't, so in spite of a few problems, he should have a pair soon.

Egg hunting, 2007

I just got pictures together for a collage of Easter Egg hunting by the grandkids. Looks like they all had a wonderful time, don't you think? If you click on any one of the pictures you will be taken to Flickr, where you can see larger pictures.

A Home in the Holly Tree

A mockingbird has been diligently building a nest in the holly tree in our front flower bed. At first I thought it was going to be mighty uncomfortable, even for a bird. Lots of twigs and pointy sticks. Today I decided to take a quick picture, and what to my surprise, the nest has been transformed into a pretty cushy pad. It seems my dusty miller in the back yard has been appropriated to line the new nursery. I must say, they picked a nice soft plant to do the finishing touches. I wonder when we can expect eggs?

Silly and Eric make the news

Silly has been sending in ideas to the Pickles creator, Brian Crane. Too bad Silly doesn't get paid better. This is Eric and Silly to a T.

Happy Easter to Everyone!

Spring?

So, where were we?

I know it's been ages since I have had any real news or stories to relate .... and I can only report that there isn't much new here chez Cole's Point Way. But, here we go .....

Last Saturday I spent the day with a group of the Clothos Spinners at Maymont. We had been asked to demonstarte spinning for the crowds of children and their parents visiting the farm for Barn Days. There were lots of kids, and not all of them were children, yes, the Cashmere goats had three kids and they were adorable.

Monday was celebration day at Chuck E. Cheese for Zack's birthday party! Lots of fun, pizza and kids. Tom's parents Mike and Mary were there as they came for Easter and the birthday. The kids really had a good time with the games, and the closed circuit TV studio. Most of Zack's friends were there from pre-school and also his long time friend Owen. Maddie had friends too as some of Zack's friends have siblings her age.

During the past few months Eric has been hard at work on plans for his train platforms. He has finally finalized the plans and has been busy busy building. The following slideshow is a quick look at the results.

And finally, a short visit today from grandson #2 and mommy.

Happy Birthday Zack

Five Weeks Old!

Who is that handsome guy?

Spring Has Sprung At Last

.... and not a moment too soon.

Art Celebration

This clip was made from photos and videos taken last weekend when Eric and I took the grandkids to the Art Celebration at the Cultural Arts Center in Glen Allen. It's a bit long, so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy.

Ah, the sounds of Spring

Last night, just at dusk as I was sitting down to begin watching the news I could hear a noise outside. I opened the back door, and it was as if every bug, frog and what ever else outside in the wetland that is capable of sound had decided that winter was over and was celebrating. I could not believe the racket! The darker it got, the louder they were and you could hear them from the kitchen through the closed doors and windows. Of course, Eric and Silly are cosponsoring a "It is getting warm" party themselves, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Zack and Maddie came for lunch as Becky took Jake for a weigh in, and he had gained 3 oz since Monday. So all is well in the eating and gaining weight department. The kids agreed we could have Jake over, but he couldn't stay. So they are being a bit less possessive, but are still quite adamant that he is theirs.

Tomorrow is the Sewing Guild at Meadow Farm . We are beginning the rag dolls we prepare for the craft activity for Sheep to Shawl. In the afternoon I am going to go to The Cultural Arts Center of Glen Allen for their spring Arts Celebration and will take Zack and Maddie with me to see the puppet shows and other activities planned. Several of my Clothos friends (the weavers) will be there for a weaving demonstration.

We are supposed to have a total eclipse 5:44 pm of the moon tomorrow night! Cool.


This is a great cartoon, once again Silly kitten has been sending material to Rose is Rose, it's just too bad she doesn't get paid better for her work. Click to see a better view.