Chez Davis

The planets must have been in alignment:

1) I signed up for Ravelympics (seriously)

2) my sister is visiting for the first time in 3 years, sees the knitting and asks for a lesson (from me?)

3) Syd sees all the knitting, wants to participate, and the next thing you know….. she’s donning this.

It’s been a good day!

Update: original FO here, here and finished here.

Playing with g’s iPhone

…if your car breaks down on a busy freeway?

I was asking myself this yesterday when I flew past a stalled SUV on the right shoulder of the freeway yesterday.  The driver and his two passengers (a woman and child) were all sitting on the concrete barrier between the freeway and brush “NEXT TO THE CAR”.  It looked as though there was a steep drop off, not passable or traversable safely.  The traffic had slowed down due to another accident, but it was probably still moving between 40-50 miles per hour.  They did not appear to be using their hazard lights, nor there were no other cars on the shoulder or evidence of an accident.

I immediately felt uncomfortable for them and thought they were all at risk of being hurt.  But perhaps they felt otherwise?  I googled the topic and found, not surprisingly, a range of answers.

AssociatedContent.com

Video Jug - if it’s night time, get out.

Spike Helmick: Retired CHP Commissioner - recommends getting out

AAA of Southern California - stay in the car, unless you are in Virginia where they use the shoulder for driving. Then it’s better to get out.

What you would do?  Would you wait for help in the car?  Would you get out of the car?

We have a weed issue in our back yard.  Granted, it is the way-way-back part of the yard where there is a lot of shade and rarely sun (even on a sunny day)…probably causing the problem we have with invasive ivy and creeping brambles.  It almost looks like a spider web of shooting prickly vines that keeps even the kids from venturing through there; one wrong step and the stuff will wind its way around your leg, in its sticky-thorny sort of way.

So, where’s this going?  Weed problem is SO BIG = within 2 hours of serious de-weeding, ALL of our green bins are filled for the week = THIS IS GOING TO TAKE ALL SUMMER!  There has got to be a better way.

So, per usual, I resort to surfing blogs for inspiration and discover DigginFood (by Willi Galloway).  She is a local gardening expert and frequent guest on our local NPR morning show.   She posted about visiting friends who have rented some goats to clear unwanted weeds.  GOATS? Seriously?  You bet!

Please meet Emily (white and brown back) and Suzy (white ears) named by Syd of course.

  

We are renting these gals from the Goat Lady and they will probably stay about two weeks.  They are both Nubian dairy goats, which I guess means that either they have been or could be working dairy goats, producing goat milk for a farmer.  Not sure what that means for the weed munching abilities, but so far, so good.  They seem to like what what we have a lot of.

Results: Still too early to tell, but the neighbors have been great (even meeting new ones as a result) and the poop has been, well…poop. That is actually a benefit; I am getting eco-friendly fertilizer,  gradually and randomly spread over my yard, along with the weed removal.  Not a bad deal.

This is not quite a “before” pic. I think Emily and Suzy had already been working 24hrs before I thought to take this pic.  We’ll keep track of their progress.

Here are just a couple of stills from a KOMO news report about 60 goats that were brought in to clear a corner in Seattle for construction. This is what the goats were able to do in 2 days!

    

Should have posted this before, but just getting around to it now. This is in the middle of a semi-typical late afternoon game of “chase me down the hallway”. Everyone has fun!

Notes:

Exhibit A on the left: pattern from Blah, Blah, Blahhhg using leftover yarn from purse, sans the cherry.

Exhibit B on the right: pattern from One Skein Wonders by Leigh Radford, using left over yarn from blanket.  I have to admit, such perty pictures swayed me to try Radford’s pattern first.  However, after 2 attempts (different yarn, different needles) I gave in to the plumper version which, upon completion, looks more like a knitted cupcake to me than Radford’s.

Cupcakes (all in this household, and those gifted) serve also as a baby rattle/toy: a small to-go sauce container+lid of dried lentils inside, held together with painters tape.  Works like a charm.  My BPD loves his…which incidentally, looks more like a blue sea anemone (see sample left).

I have the best looking kid in the UNIVERSE!

Seriously. My apologies if you thought your’s was cuter.

BPDs cheeks may be chapped from the serious drooling (teething) that he has had to endure. AND he may have a baby pimple or too….but he is still the CUTEST kid in the universe. ‘Nuf said.

I know, I know…enough with the camera phone already! But jeeze…it’s so easy. peasy.

Happy Saturday night!

Waiting for gymnastics to start.

Have a great weekend!