Movie and Knitting Day

Had to make one last trip to the Brown Sheep Company this morning - a girl has to when it's sold by the pound and not by the skein.  Can't tell you how much money that got saved, and ooo la la the luscious stuff that got bagged up for round #2.  When I got back, we were going to go fishing at Lake Minatare, but Bill had started watching old movies on TV and didn't want to move.  No problem!  So the only pics to show today is the project that had gotten started this week, and where it came to it's end  -  it got ripped out.  Yeah, I know, it's another blurry pic, rats.

Since no fishing was on the plate, that meant I could dig in my new stash!  Went to Joann's quick to get a different size set of needles and started a new handbag.  This yarn is heavenly and even though it's color is called Oatmeal, think the name of the bag should be "Sandhills Something-or-other".

Yeah, it looks like a big banana shaped thing, but just you wait and see.  Pretty stoked about this one.   Just look at the bulky softness that yarn is sporting!  OOOOOOOOOO, wow.

So we watched a couple more old movies, which was just plain fun to do together.  Decided to pick up and go see one more movie in a theater while we had the chance.  So we had a private showing (yep, we were the only ones there) of "Cowboys vs. Aliens".  Not bad, but not that great either.  Going to have to be pretty good to beat "The Rise of the Planet of the Apes" yesterday.

Plans have been made for the next 4 days.  We're moving out and onward bright and early.  Think we'll have to play iPad darts again tonight though.

Real Brown Sheep, Family and Apes

 Monday was anniversary day, and one of the most exciting days we've encountered yet.  The major excursion in Scottsbluff was getting to visit the Brown Sheep Company.  This is a textile plant that produces the Brown Sheep line of yarns and is set out in the country with beautiful bluffs as its backdrop.  We were a little worried though, because we could not see any actual sheep in the area.  But we wandered into the plant around 9:30 and immediately met one of the owners, Peggy Jo Wells.  After some quick introductions and telling Peggy what I do for a serious past-time, she dropped everything and took us on a personal tour of the manufacturing plant.  Exactly what we were looking forward to doing!

 We learned many things, along with the fact that they do not have sheep on their property any longer.  They get their wool from ranches in northern Colorado, have it cleaned (quite a process) in one of the Carolina's and then it all ships back to them for the rest of the process.  And what a process it is!  We got to watch all the steps taken from raw (clean) wool to the finishing touches for retail stores.  They produce over 1000 colors and every weight of yarn you can imagine.  Peggy gave us one of the most informative tours we've ever experienced.

After the tour was over, she re-read our sign in name and my business card and pronounced our last name correctly!  ZING!  We found out that her aunt was a Payzant from Schuyler and obviously that made us all relatives of sorts.  Now that NEVER happens, does it?  She excused herself for awhile to let us shop.  OK, to let me shop and Bill took care of some business things on the phone.  Felt like a kid in a candy shop.

 The bluffs behind the plant look rather hazy in this photo, but they were sharp to us.  This pic was taken from their front driveway - just to prove they were out in the country - and on gravel road.  Peggy said that there are people around here that still have no idea what they do for a living.  Really?  This company is huge and growing - internationally, too.

After Brown Sheep, we stopped downtown to see if someone could fix Bill's broken watchband.  Dropped that off and went to an antique shop.  Yes, just one.  That was enough for us.  We decided that we've been out of it long enough and the prices were obnoxiously high, that we'd had enough.  So antique shops got marked off our agenda for the rest of the trip.

When his watch was fixed, we ran downtown again to pick it up and decided to actually go to a theater to see a movie.  Something we never EVER do at home.  Walked the mall the theaters were in looking for something fun to take back to the grandkids.  There was nothing that shouted 'panhandle' to us, or cowboy/Western type stuff.  But the movie?  It was one of the best ever - the new Planet of the Apes.  We both laughed, jumped in our seats, and of course I cried at some of it.  We don't get out much.  :)

Here are four bags of FUN sitting in the back of the car from Brown Sheep.  After sitting last evening, discussing our day and  playing darts on the iPad, we decided to stay one more day here in the panhandle.  There could possibly be some trout fishing available for Bill to enjoy, and I'm going back to Brown Sheep and  pick up some things I left on her shelf yesterday.  I may never get this chance again and have to snag the opportunity when I can.

Thank you for reading - enjoy this very day!

Brown Sheep and Apes

The title is only a teaser to what hopefully will get written tomorrow.  The wi-fi here at the hotel is very unstable this evening and uploading photos has proved impossible.  

But it WILL consist of stories about Brown Sheep, and definitely apes.  

Where will we be tomorrow?  Who knows!!!

Etsy Treasury - Mary Poppins

I don't make it into the Etsy Treasuries very often, rarely in fact. But I got notice this morning that JewelsOfLuxury did a Mary Poppins theme Treasury and the carpet bag I designed was one of the 12 items listed. If you want to see it, you'll have to look quick as this grouping expires tomorrow evening. And while you're in Etsy, take a look around at all the neat things people think of to make!

Chillin' Sunday

Father's Day was pretty relaxed this year! After getting the house as immaculate as possible for the open house the realtor planned (and no one showed up for) we shoved off to our oldest daughter's home for some fun, sun, golf, and even some Guitar Hero! Here is DGD#1 who was showing off in their neighbor's pool. If you make the picture bigger by clicking on it, you can see the monster smile she has on her face!
DGS#1 played hard, but knows when a chaise lounge looks like a better plan. His neighbors have a Wii and he was really just biting at the bit to go in and play instead of being with us. I sure don't blame him!
Since the WWKiP day kinda was a bust for me this year I brought along my knitting knowing we'd probably be sitting outside most the afternoon. I gave it a shot, but to be honest it just felt weird and almost kind of rude with the little kids around. So there were 2 rows completed and then put away. Abby grabbed my camera and got the shot that Bill must see me sitting in 90% of the time - needles, yarn and a cable needle in my mouth. Precious, huh. Sheesh

You can probably see that there were no 'dads' to be found in these photos. That's because the men went golfing and got home just in time to see Tiger Woods' last shot of the day. Golfing is quite a challenge for DH yet, but was so grateful he was invited to go. Just doesn't know if the eyes are good enough to get back into really playing the game anymore. And we're talking about a guy here who golfed as much as possible back in the day. SO glad he gave it shot, and so is he.

After realizing how tired we REALLY were on the way home, we didn't even stop for dinner or pick anything up to eat. But we did watch the movie we'd rented and both made it through the whole thing without falling asleep. That just shows how good "The Bucket List" was. It would be a good one to actually own.

Movie Time

I can't remember the last time we actually rented a movie or two, but I've been wanting to see a couple for awhile now and splurged today and rented some. So guess what I'm going to be doing while watching?????? You got it! I'm a-gunna knit! Duh

Here's what's on tap for my movie picks:

1. Sweeney Todd - A Tim Burton flick with OH YEAH Johnny Depp

2. I Am Legend - with Will Smith (I hear it's scarey so I'll just knit harder)

3. Enchanted - the chick flick that both DD's have said is very cute and a must see for me.

So see, I was nice and got 2 out of 3 that we will both watch. Just got a little selfish on the third one since I wake up too early when only infomercials are on. This will be a HUGE treat!!! And it's still cheaper to rent 3 movies than for DH & I to hit a theatre for one flick. No senior citizen discounts yet!!!!! LOL

I listed two more things in the store today. They aren't my favorite creations by a long shot, but they are completed and listed and OFF my plate. But I think I'll do another shamrock scarf in a kiddie version - bright color. Could be a lot of fun for some little person - or just plain fun for me. :)

Weekend Updates

Good morning to everyone! Here it is Sunday again with no blogs all week, not keeping y'all updated on things that are happening around the zoo. Have a cup of coffee (here's my new favorite cup I got from Sue on her latest trip to California) and sit back.


With all the recent eBay-ing I've done in trying to get rid of stuff' around here, it's been very interesting to find what is worth trying to sell, and what stuff isn't worth even a penny. It's been very informative and educational, sometimes surprising and sometimes disappointing. But such is life, a rollercoaster as grandma says in "Parenthood", one of my favorite lines and moments from that movie.



In cleaning up photos on the computer and the camera, I came across this silly one of Jack after Halloween. Looks like it is his costume to be a platypus. Poor guy, you'd think he lived in a house of pranksters. But he is the most forgiving and loving dog that he may have been laughing right along with us, just enjoying a silly moment.

Updates on projects which have sat too long unattended, hoping that just posting in public will help me get moving and get them completed.


This is going to be a market bag from a knit-a-long I'm involved in from the BagStyle book. Yes, the fiber is hemp, but there is a little wool in it so it's not as scratchy as all that macrame' cord we all used to use for hanging plants! Remember those days? YIKES!




This is the update on Kodiak's sweater (the shop lab). He didn't get it for his hunting trip with his dad last week, but he wasn't mistaken for a deer and came home safe without his Safety Orange gear. All that's left is the ribbing around the whole perimeter and ribbing for his 2 front legs.

This is the Formal Boot Bag, from the same KAL for BagStyle, that is in the final stages. Need to keep sewing (ick, by hand) the band around the center and get a good idea for getting a good lining going with plenty of pockets and pen holders. Wish I didn't mind the hand sewing so much, it might have been done by now. :) But it is getting there and will probably end up being a Christmas present.

The Brea Bag is ready to have the same done to it, sew it together and get a pretty lining into it. Shawna really likes this one, so she may be getting this for Christmas. This was an incredibly fun pattern to knit up, but can you tell I can get the knittin' done, and then stall on the hand sewing of stuff? What can I say, but that it's not from NOT having enough coffee around! LOL



There was a movie on last night that I'd been meaning to watch for awhile now, called "Facing the Giants". After having a week as we'd had this past week, yes - a rollercoaster, this was the perfect movie to watch to get things back into perspective. I would highly recommend this to anyone who not only enjoys football movies, but to anyone who has maybe lost vision, hope, perspective or deals with fear. This is one movie that should be in our home video libraries.