June 11, 2013

Accidentally Awesome

We bought a new house with 25+ acres (mule to be purchased later) in North Georgia cattle farm country and did so with the understanding beforehand that we would have to gut the kitchen, paint the exterior, paint all of the rooms, clean the carpeting, install all new lighting fixtures, add some plumbing and a water heater, put up some walls, tear out some carpeting, lay down some flooring, and hang doors before we could move in.  It sounds like a rat trap, but it's really just an old farm house whose previous owners were very ... interesting.  If you've ever done a home improvement project with a deadline, then you know how stressful it can be and how often you and your significant other might go a round or two about the schedule of improvements, especially when you pass the deadline by about three weeks.  Needless to say, it's been an emotionally and physically taxing last six weeks, and just getting the cabinets and counter tops to install a new kitchen was nearly the death of me (NO love left for Home Depot left in this house!!). We do have an awesome front porch that is soon to get a porch swing, plenty of room for the dogs and chickens to roam, a peach orchard, and we have taken the first steps toward all the business licensing for what is now officially referred to by the government, at least, as Cedar Hill Farm

Meanwhile, back at the business, I've been trying to conclude the body of my super-secret cabled top-down sweater and have been fussing over not being able to find just the right fit. This project is also fast-approaching a submission deadline that happens to coincide with what I expect to be moving day.  So while the right half of my brain was busy having an emotional crisis, the left side of my brain, in a super-sneaky ninja fashion, solved my sweater pattern dilemma.  I picked it up today to begin the bottom ribbing, thinking "let's just finish this sucker and call it good, even if it looks like crap!" and realized that I had subconsciously done the most awesome thing to the sweater as a consequence of getting the order of my cable rows reversed.  And now I am picking up my project and thinking "this sweater rocks!" but with all of the house insanity, it turned out that I missed my submission deadline after all. I keep thinking there will be another opportunity to market it, and then I remind myself not to be in such a hurry because, well, right now the pattern is only written for one size ... mine.  There's a lot of sizing that has to be done, and we all know how much I (gag) love to do the math.  Like I have told many a drama student in the throes of pre-opening night catastrophe, "Don't panic. It's going to work.  I don't know how, but it will all work out."

Unfortunately, I can't show you the sweater; but I can show you my amazingly large peonies and say that, as a perpetual peony killer, I'm pretty darn proud of how these have turned out, too.  I have great skill at killing certain plants, like dahlias and peonies, but this year these are pretty awesome! 


I also have a garden that is more like a jungle this year--only because I had intentions of moving most of it to the farm.  This picture was taken about two weeks ago and now the cukes have taken over the gravel and the tomatoes are 7 feet tall.


Funny story about the garden ... I mislabeled my seed containers and thought that I had 19 okra plants that sprouted and only one squash plant.  So I had Scout #1 plant the okra (and I was so excited to have so much prospective okra in the garden this year) and I planted another 6 zucchini and another 6 yellow squash, all of which came up.  Turns out, I had it backward.  Only one okra plant sprouted and now I have 6 zucchini and 26 yellow squash plants.  I hope that survive the drive to the farm, but it would be okay if some of those squash didn't make it. 

I've also managed, despite no more carpooling hours and most of my time spent packing, driving, and unpacking, to nearly finish a pair of basic ribbed socks in my Gypsy Sock colorway Outlaw.  It's a bit more pink than I expected, but who's to say that women can't be outlaws?  I also realized by the time that I got to the heel that I had wound one hank backward so the pair doesn't exactly match up.  In my defense, it's been a stressful spring.


I know that this isn't a fantastic photo, but I have a camera, a computer, a knitting bag, and a house full of boxes right now. 

Until next time ... Love the yarn you're with!

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