Give-Aways and Farm Life

For some time, I've been thinking of giving something away and that led me to other bloggers who had the same idea.

For example, Edward and Lilly are giving away an adorable hand made Christmas tree bird. I really like this blog as it has some delightful hand work.

Sew, Mama, Sew came up with a great idea - a give-away day but it was on 3 Dec. Doesn't matter to me though...it can still be give-away day and is...

I'm giving away a fabulous knitting book, A Fine Fleece, Knitting with Handspun Yarns by Lisa Lloyd. Clara Parkes wrote the forward and the book is filled with beautiful photos of lovely knitting patterns. A lot of the patterns are cabled, some heavily so, most are traditional, some with a twist and all designed to delight the senses both as reader and as knitter.

Please be sure and leave your e- or blog address; make sure you write it, for example,
appalmtngal at gmail dot com. Better safe than sorry, ya know.

Leave a comment and, if you blog about my give-away, you'll get two entries but you have to let me know your blog address where you've commented. Dave will draw a name out of a hat on 15 December, noon, and it will be mailed in time for Christmas. Having said that, let me hasten to add, it all depends upon the USPS as to whether it will be *delivered* in time for Christmas!

The aforementioned Sew, Mama, Sew also has a great Holidays at Home idea. One thing I love about giving gifts...most of mine are handmade or are tools so the recipient can make their own handmade gift. Handmade is simply better, imho, and gives more than just a store bought "something"; it gives the gift of ME...my time, my efforts, my energy, my prayers and as I make something for my friend or family member, I pour good thoughts and prayers into their lives and upon their heads.

Again this year our small quilting group, The Thompson Valley Circle of Friends, are making lap throws, baby blankets and maybe even a quilt or two for valley folks. There's always a lot of need and being warm in these frosty Appalachian mountains is foremost in everyone's mind. There's snow on the ground, a wind chill of around zero and a good time to quilt or sew. Church was called off this morning because of the heavy layer of ice; our congregation is older and there's no need for anyone to slip and, perhaps, break a bone. I took advantage of the extra time to take my time feeding my sheep and horses.

HayJ, my last stallion, was gelded on Friday and appears to be healing quite nicely. He's always wanted to be with the girls and now it's safer for all involved, especially me, to have him gelded. My hope is to have him trained to pull a Meadowbrook cart and he'll look **fabulous**...a black and white American Curly x Percheron pulling a black Meadowbrook! He's a gentle giant, about 18 hands, and weighs about 1800 to 1900 pounds. Trust me, it's better to not have a lot of testosterone about when a horse is that huge. This is HayJ as a younger stallion and the only thing that's changed is his size...he's much larger now.
The temperatures haven't been above freezing in days and any clothes left upon the line are frozen still. Oh, they still wave in the wind but I dare not get close enough to take them down.
I must wait until the wind stops or have my head taken off for my troubles. Evidence enough there's always work to be done, both on the farm and in the home.
Time to do something else; have yourself a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidaze.

Blessings ~ sunshine ~ give-aways ~ work for our hands ~ quilting ~ horses ~ sheep ~ dogs ~ cats ~ and human friends ~