A trip to help a friend last week landed me in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Donna knows me all too well and when she felt well enough for an outing, took me to her friend's tranquil farm for a little barn exploring.

Meet Gus.

I think he wanted to come home with me.

It was a perfect outing for both of us.

~~~~

Lots more barns to see at Barn Charm

To live simple and strong among kindred spirits is a joy.

Happily linking with Flowers for Leontien

Did you ever play 'king of the hill' when you were young?



Fly Over

The last flight of ' Discovery' as seen from our city apartment balcony.

The United States Capitol is in the bottom left corner.
The other speck in the sky is the fighter jet escort.

Goosebumps.

Team Cookies



Fire (again)

Less than two weeks after a fire at our shop, we are keeping an eye on another.

 

Those aren't clouds folks. The rest of the sky is as blue as can be. That is smoke from a wildfire that has been burning since Easter Sunday here in the Shenandoah Valley.

It's one of five currently in Virginia.

The smallest.

 'Only' 5400 acres so far.

We first noticed the smoke on that afternoon. Didn't think too much of it. But as day gave way to the dark and we made our rounds to close up the outbuildings, there was no mistaking the bright orange glow and spouts coming off the side of the Massanutten range, a good ten miles or so away.

No threats to human life or livelihood.

Most thankful for that,
and in admiration of the firefighters keeping people and homes safe.

It is believed at this time that the fire was 'human caused'

Seeing Red

There's nothing like a big red barn.

I pass this one quite frequently and love it.

 My barn is all white...as is every other building on the property except one.

This one.

Is was built by the previous owners as a chicken coop. I can see it directly out the window of my living room from the spot of my usual seat.

It was ugly and since changing the barn color was not an practical option...

.....I worked with what I did have.

And there you have it. A dreamer's version of the big red barn above.

Sharing with

Barn Charm

and

Rural Thursday Blog Hop

Catching Up on My knitting

With March having been such an unusually warm month, I haven't been too interested in holding wool in my hands or finishing projects designed for wearing in the cold. 

A few cooler days has got me going again in earnest.

I finished a shawl for my mom.

She loved it. The pattern is 'Entwined' by Deby Lake. The yarn is Mushishi.

Also completed is this fun little scarf.

'LazyKaty', designed by Birgit Freyer is a quick fun knit made with Noro Kureyon sock yarn that had been in my stash for years.

I am thinking it might make the perfect accessory for a Cinco de Mayo party next month should there be one to go to.

In the works (still) are two projects from Rowan's Cocoon Collection.

A vest for myself

and a tunic for my daughter.

Lastly, I would like to recommend 'Finishing School' by Deborah Newton to all you knitters out there.

Such a wealth of information all in one place, with great overviews of the 'whys' of seaming or blocking one way or the other on specific types of projects or fibers. As a knitter for over forty years, I was quite surprised to learn so many new tricks. The shoulder seams on the cabled vest were giving me a bit of a challenge and I was certainly grateful I had the book handy.  

Happy  Fiber Arts Friday!

Please visit  WonderWhy to see an amazing array of talent.

Many, many thanks for the kind thoughts on our fire incident.
 All is well and we move on to happy, even funny musings.

~~~~~

My oldest grandson Loves to come to our farm. When he can't do that, he loves to play farm.

It's a special treat when I see him to buy a new truck or tractor or animal to help grow that wonderful little imagination of his. On my last visit to see my loves a month ago we made the required trip the the toy store.  Along side all the farm animals at that store were a couple of figures, a male and a female busy with chores.

 Grandson immediately proclaimed that they were Marme and Papa.

Of course I bought them for him.

Last weekend we readied the vegetable garden for potato planting.

...and I found myself looking like this:

Sometimes bad things happen.

 Like my husband getting a call at 4AM from the Fire Marshall's office telling him that there is a fire at his business.

Our family's Auto Service Shop is only a block away from our city apartment. Thank goodness it took Fritz just a few moments to get there, but I can not imagine the fear that must have been in is heart as he approached the property to see the flames and smoke shooting into the air.

The business more than just a means of income to him. The shop was started by his father in 1964. Both of his brothers are partners with him. Two of our sons work there full time and plan to be part of the legacy into the future. My other children, and cousins have participated in the business' success.

According to the Fire Marshall, the fire started on an adjacent property by a discarded cigarette that had most likely smoldered for hours in fresh mulch before igniting.

The wooden fence that separates the two properties made for great kindling.

Three cars belonging to customers were engulfed and destroyed.

Firefighters responded quickly preventing more damage to the lot and numerous other cars.

No one was physically injured.
 The fire did not reach the building.

The task of putting up temporary fencing fell to the brothers and the boys.

Physical work is a great stress reliever.

The task of calling the owners of the burned out cars fell to my husband.

That was not a stress reliever.

I wonder if the careless smoker even has a clue of the damage done?

I took a different path from city to farm last week.

Such lovely sites to see:

John Marshall Highway, Rt 55, Virginia

~~~

Linking with Barn Charml

and

Out Door Wednesday