Tic Tock from the old clock

Growing up we had this beautiful clock that hung in the kitchen. I always loved listing to it as the pendulum would swing back and forth and made the soothing tic tock sound. I also loved the loud bong it made on the hour and half an hour. You could tell it was old because most clocks that chime or bong at the hour how a smooth nice chime. This was made way before than and the sound is very unique. I have always loved this clock. My mom told me that it had been in our family for about a 100 yrs. When she moved in to her home in Ocean pines Maryland she didn't have the space for this clock and it was put away in her closet left to collect dust. I missed hearing the clock and seeing it on the wall, but she said it needed to be taken in to get tuned before it could be used. So you can only imagine how excited I was a little over 2 years ago when she told me I could have it and take it home with me. Well of course what did I do but put it in my closet to collect dust. I kept staring at it wanting to get it cleaned up and restored. I called multiple places and a few I was not comfortable. Once place was over an hour a way and I was set on taking it there b/c the gentleman that was fixing the clocks worked in a museum in New york for 10 years. Well he never returned my calls so after having this clock for so long and really wanting to get it to work, I finally decided to call this clock repair place in Fort Collins. I felt pretty comfortable with him b/c he had over 20 yrs experience and he was certified by the American clock association for antique clocks. So this fall I took my clock in and asked him if he could clean it up and get it running again. After looking at it for a few minutes he told me that whom ever repaired it before did an awful job but it was still workable and he would have to rebuild it. It was very informative for me. He told me that they would use all the original pieces they just needed to be shaped and polished. So after 3 months we got the clock back and it sounds just the way I remember it sounding as a child and it brings back so many good memories. Since taking the clock in I have learned that it is a parlor clock. It was a clock that was used in a room of the well to do homes where upon entering the home you would be sent to the parlor when the entertained. I also learned that it dates back to the 1800's and that is so exciting!! Here are some pictures below. You will see that currently we have it on our mantle. We are not sure if that is where its going to stay but I love it!!




When we picked up the clock we had a 20 min lesson on how to use the clock. This is to prevent you from breaking the clock and having to bring it back in after you have already spent a ton of money. A few things we learned and I want to share are some myths about clocks. The first one is you can not over wind you clock. The more you wind it the better it is for the clock and it will keep the clock running. The clock will only wind so far and it will stop. If you try to turn the key you will not break the clock you will however break the key. Second the pendulum does not run the clock the clock runs the pendulum. There were a few more and I can't remember them all but those two are the main ones. Well that is all for now, I am going to sick back listen to the clock and enjoy the memories!!!

WIP update

Well its been a little bit since I have updated you on my knitting so I figured now would be a great time. Especially since I am trying to keep up with posting once a week. As in the previous knitted post I had started a sweater for my niece Olivia for a Christmas present!! I was able to finish that up and even complete a matching hat. I am really excited how it turned out, I think its adorable.


You really can't see the buttons all that well because the pink color blends in with the edging of the sweater, in the photograph, but they are cute flower buttons. Since I have finished Olivia's Christmas present I did not want to leave Jack out so of course I have started and I am more than half way finished his sweater. However, if I want it to get there in time for Christmas I need to work late tonight to finish and get it in the mail tomorrow. Its turning out quite nicely.

Of course I bought them gifts too. I didn't want to be know as the aunt and uncle who only give homemade gifts and nothing fun. We all know how much children loving getting cloths for presents.

Christmas Time at the Sours House

Our house if full of Christmas Joy and cheer and I wanted to share some pictures of our house all decorated. This year I had lots of help from Mom Sours which was wonderful. I did add some lights to the front bushes this year and I love it. The only picture I did not take is the garage door lights with greenery and bows. So for outside I have decorated the front with candles, lights, wreath, bows, and garland. I think it looks just right for our quaint home.

As most of you know we back up to a park and you can see the back of our house from the street so I like to decorate the back as well. Like the front their is a wreath, garland, lights, bows, and candles. I love how it looks. I can't take the credit though b/c Mom Sours came up with the idea a few years ago to do the lighted wreath with a bow and the draping garland. I just added the garland coming down the railing.

As you can see I need to get some candles for the second floor and maybe for the basement window. I will look after the holidays and see if I can get a few for cheap. Now for the inside my fave. I love Christmas in my house b/c it adds to the house so much and makes it more cozy and warm. When you come in the front door I have my Rudolph village my mom gave me 4 yrs ago for Christmas. It looks much better when its all in one place but I don't have a place to put it all together, maybe next year.


Also upon entering the house their is garland with lights, pine cones, and berries draped up the stair way.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St Nick soon will be there. On the mantle in the living room I take the trimmings from the tree and decorate the mantle with greenery, berries, pine cones, and candles. You will also notice 2 stocking hung over the fire place one for Kevin and one for me. Some day when ever we are blessed with children there will be more.

Last but not least I have saved the best until the end the Christmas tree. I love our tree this year. Its so tight and perfect. I have actually had a few people ask me if it was fake. Its so beautiful. There isn't any thing else I can say about it. See for yourself!!!! Please excuse the other items in the picture.

Well I don't know about you but I am going to sit back, relax with a cup of tea, and enjoy the beauty. Merry Christmas to everyone!!!! I hope you have a blessed Holiday!!! Happy Hanukkah as well!!!!

Thanksgiving and wip

Sorry I have not written in a while. I have been extremely busy but things should start slowing down for me so I will be able to keep posting here more often. Any way, I have had some time to knit over the past few weeks. Mainly last week. I did finally complete my redskins thigh highs and I love them!!!!

I did fix one of my projects but I have yet to take a picture and I am not that happy with it. I think there is something wrong or odd about the pattern. I will be posting a pic on that very soon, its almost done blocking. In the mean time I have started a few projects. I knitted a chemo hat for my neighbor and friend Ala. I think it turned out very well it was my first attempt at lacing so I wanted to start with just a little bit and ease my self into lacing.




I will continue to work on lace projects that slowly get more advanced as I go, but at first I will start with larger needles and yarn. In addition to this I have started my first yoke sweater with a little bit of lacing. Its a Christmas present for my niece Olivia. I am also going to knit a matching beret to go with it. I hope to get the sweater finished this week along with most of the hat so I can start my nephew Jack's sweater.
In other news we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Sours family. Sadly I did not take any photos . We had Mom and Dad Sours, Steven, Sarah, Isaac, and Theo and we had a wonderful visit. Friday after Thanksgiving Dad Sours, Steven, and Isaac went to the Nuggets game and had great seats. They were 10 rows from the court and it was an exciting game. The nuggets won in the last 4 seconds of the game. I am sure it will be a memorable one. That gave Kevin and Sarah time to work on their dissertations, Theo to watch wizard of oz, Mom time to read, and me time to work on the project above. Saturday we all left the house so Kevin could continue working hard on his thesis. We went to the buffalo farm in Dacano and bought grass fed meat. We also visited the Harley store, the cheese import store (YUM), and the yarn store. I bought some sock yarn to make my grandfather some socks for Christmas, which I hope to start soon!!! Sunday mom and I got the outside lights up, the tree and trimmed it, and got the rest of the decorations up. I will be posting some pictures of that in the next day or two. I am so in love with my tree this year it is so beautiful .

WIP Update

I know I have not posted in well over a month. Sorry but I have been extremely busy. Too busy to knit even. Well I did finish one of the Redskins thigh highs that I was working on back in October. I am almost finished the second thigh high and then I plan on having a fix it week, where I finish and fix two projects that I previously had done. I will post those picks as I finish them. Other than that I have not knitted anything new.




In order to do this project I used the toe up method and I created a stocking to fit my leg. To do this I used this diagram below.
Measure the leg on postions 1-9. Follow the steps below in order to create the a sock or stocking to fit your leg.
Circumference
A: Thigh: __ inches x __ st./in. = __ stitches
B. Lower thigh measurement (optional): __ inches x __ st./in. = __ stitches
C. Knee: __ inches x __ st./in. = __ stitches
D. Calf: __ inches x __ st./in. = __ stitches
E. Ankle: __ inches x __ st./in. = __ stitches

Length:
1-2: __ in. x r/in. = __ rows (__ decreases)
2-3: __ in. x r/in. = __ rows (__ decreases)
3-4: __ in. x r/in. = __ rows (__ increases)
Knit plain for one or two inches between 4 and 5.
5-6: __ in. x r/in. = __ rows (__ decreases)
7: Heel flap = __ rows ( measure from bottom of heel to narrowest part of ankle -- usually three to four inches).
8-9: widest part of foot (where toes start) to end of toe: __ in. x r/in. = __ rows (__ decreases)
9: Length of foot: __ in. (from toe to heel flap) x r/in. = __ total rows

Grass-fed beef

WARNING THIS POST COULD CAUSE THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS: EXCESSIVE DROOLING AND OR EXTREME HUNGER. Well as most of you know Kevin and I had ordered a slab of grass-fed beef( 1/2 of cow). We finally picked our meat up on Saturday, organized it, and put it in the freezer. The hanging weight totaled 235 lbs and you lose 8-10% of that, so all in all we have a ton of meat. It was a great investment since it came down to $3.50 per lb except the sausage was a little more since we had to pay for the extra processing.

This is what it looked like before we unpacked it and organized it.


The first group pictured below are our array of roasts and briskets!!! These will come in handy when it comes to the crockpot.


Next we have the liver. Sarah, if you have a good pate recipe bring it with you when you come at Thanksgiving. I am not a big fan of liver but I am willing to try a pate.
We have plenty of ground beef to go around. There would have been more but we chose sausage instead. I don't think we needed 70lbs of ground beef. In the plastic bag is dog bones so if anyone who has a dog is interested let us know.


This is my favorite part and excited me the most. Below is our 4 ribeye steaks, 1 beef cross rib roast, and 1 beef standing rib roast. Yes prime rib. You can't beat prime rib for $3.50lb. Yum!!!
We indulged in 2 of the ribeye steaks and they were delicious!!


Now we move on to the stew meat and beef soup bones. The bones are on the right and we are excited them to make some delicious soups. We wish we would have gotten a little more stew meat but we are very happy with it. We have learned that the beef stew meat is such a better quality than lamb stew meat. We made an Indian dish with it.


If you didn't think we had enough already we still haven't gotten to the sausage and the steaks. We chose 4 different types of sausage: Chorizo (spanish sausage), Italian sausage, German sausage, and Brats. They only came in 10lbs so yes, we have 40lbs of sausage. We grill a lot of these when we entertain so they will come in handy.

Last but not least the fabulous steaks!!!! We have tenderloins, NY strip steaks, round steaks, misc steaks, and many more. Each package include 2 steaks, so as you can see we have plenty. They are in different rows of the different types of steaks, but since Kevin organized those I can't name all the cuts we have. Anyone want to come over for steak?


Surprisingly we fit all the meat in the freezer. Its packed but keep in mind there is still 1 duck, 2 whole chickens, and 2 large lamb legs. If anyone is interested my mom bought this freezer from Sears 3 yrs ago for $150.00

We are pretty happy with our purchase, now we just need to have more people over for dinner to share the wealth!

knitting update

Sorry I have not posted any knitting items lately. I know I have been slacking a little bit. I did manage to finish the two little sweaters I was working on. They are so cute!!!
I wish I could see what they looked like on. I did manage to finish the bolero I was working on, however I seriously screwed up some where. So I am currently trying to find away to fix it so its wearable. I will update you on that soon. I have been working on another project. Well, as most of you know I love the Redskins!!! I do not own any Redskins apparel so I decided to start knitting my own. The first thing I started was some Redskins thigh highs to wear under skirts in the winter. I started with a pattern on knitty.com, but that was too big. Below is the picture of what I had done so far.
I have skinny little legs so I needed to find a pattern that worked for me. After much research I found a site that told you how to design a thigh high to fit your legs by taking certain measurements. This was very helpful in making a design for me. I also decided toe-up was the best way to go about doing this as you can try the sock on as you go. I have never done toe-up before but I find it very useful. Below is a picture of the thigh high so far.
I expect to finish this in the next night or two. I am actually further along then the picture. When I finish I will take a picture of what it looks like and take pictures as I start my next one. I will post a step by step how to design thigh highs for yourself.

Fall in Rocky Moutain National Park

Andy and Marsha Costello stopped by for a visit on their travel around the country. They came through Colorado on September 18th-22nd. We had a wonderful time. On Sunday the 23rd of September we took them to Rocky National Park and the Aspens had already started changing to their beautiful fall colors. Not like most trees aspens can be yellow, orange, red, and brown. They go through such an array of beautiful colors and are so magnificent to see. If you ever get the time, you should visit Colorado in the fall just to see its beauty. Below are just a few of the many gorgeous pictures we got from that day. I am ashamed to admit that this was my first time in the park in the fall. I now know what I have been missing.

Kevin, Andy , and Marsha not realizing I was getting their picture next to this aspen.

This is a picture from bear lake. You can see the different colors of the aspen. Its just so amazing that one tree can go through so many different colors.

We are considering enlarging and framing this picture and the next one. They are just so breath taking!!!



This is one of many elk we saw. We were fortunate to see a male buck with 8 points and he was bugling. The males bugle during the month of September as it is mating season and their beautiful sounds attract the females. Then they prove their manhood by head butting each other. Its pretty neat to see.
Kevin and I at bear lake with fall colors in the background.
Marsha and Andy at bear lake with the fall colors in the background.

I will be posting some knitting pics tomorrow and then some meat pics. We finally got our cow on Saturday. We received a lot of yummy steaks, roasts, and other goodies.

This years Garden

Our garden is almost finished for the season but it has been plentiful this year and for that we are thankful. These are pictures taken in the spring just to get an idea of our garden size and how much stuff we had in the garden.

Below are just some of the pictures of our harvest. These pictures are not nearly all the we received from our garden.


Some of the things that we harvested that you do not see in any of these pictures are, cantaloupe, one pumpkin, and cucumbers. All in all I would say we had a pretty successful season this year. Especially since it has been a very hot and dry summer.

football and cook fest!

So I have dedicated Sunday's to church, football, cooking and knitting. Today we went to our neighborhood broncos football kickoff game. Last year was the first year the neighborhood put together this fun party. They have free food, free beer, broncos cheerleaders, give-aways, and games. We didn't take a picture this year with the cheerleaders but last year we did so I will share those with you.
You know Kevin enjoyed this picture!!!
What a great time!! Today was awesome and we one the best prize after the 2nd quarter of the game. Our number was picked to win 2 Broncos tickets to the Kansas Broncos game on November 14th. We were both so excited!!!!

When we got home it was time to cook. I didn't have time to take pictures but in the next day or two I will post some pics of what we harvested from the garden so you can get the idea of some of what we cooked. So my goal is to cook a bunch of food so we do not have to cook every night we get home. We get home late many evenings and we both are too tired to cook. So we harvested 20 chili peppers from our garden and I made a chili relleno casserole, with spanish rice, and refried beans. Then we roasted an organic duck from the csa we belong to. Yummy!!! None of this was for dinner though. In honor of football season we made some yummy wings and beer. I will update you on my knitting in the next day or so and I will post some pics of our garden, like I have been promising.

Fourmile Fire

Well if you all have not heard there is a large wild fire in Boulder county. The fire is located in the foothills and mountains. The last update was that it was 7100 acres and 63 structures/homes have been burned,with 3500 people being evacuated. We had a large plume of smoke over our house from the fire, which started yesterday. Kevin and I were able to get some pictures of the fire from our porch, keep in mind that we are far away from the flames. This should give you an idea of how high the flames must have been.

This was shortly after the fire had started, about 12 noon so about 2 hrs after the fire started and the winds were blowing about 45 miles per hour.


This is later in the after noon you can see the clouds moving a little more north. We had to keep our windows closed until about 5pm b/c the smoke was over us for most of the day due to the high winds. This is a view from our front porch just to give you an idea of how far the smoke was traveling east.

This is just before sunset. You can see how much the fire has spread since earlier. The earlier pictures are when the fire was 2200 acres. This picture and the next one are when the fire was 3500 acres. This is a picture after dark. It is not a good picture but I wanted you to get an idea of how big the flames were to the point that we could see so much of them from our deck. Just a scary thought.
I didn't get any pictures today because you can't see the mountains due to the thick layer of smoke blocking them . Since yesterday the fire has moved more north, north west, and north east. So we really can't see too much from the house now, even though the fire is larger.