Oh For Goodness Sake!

As a sort of follow up to yesterday's post.....

My talented wood turning hubby was asked to start writing a column for the newsletter put out by his local wood turners group. It's a sort of "follow the adventures of a beginning wood turner" type thing.

Anyhow - hubbs was asked to submit some photos of his work for inclusion along with the article.

He submitted these photos which were then captioned by the editor of the newsletter.

First photo of some spinning tops:



Caption: "For the Kids!"

Second photo you will recognise from yesterday:



Caption: "For the Wife!"

For goodness sake! No explanation of what the mysterious shaft shaped object might actually be. But plenty left to the imagination I should say! Sheesh!

Ever Heard of a Nostepinne?

I hadn't until last weekend on Earth Day when I went with the family on a short tour of some local artisan's studios. There were two specifically fiber related studios so we pretty much hit those two and then headed back home.

The first studio was my favorite. It's called Kiparoo Farm. There were lambs and sheep of all sorts, some sweet little Araucanian chicks and a whole passel of plain old white chickens as well. So the kiddies were happy to bond with nature while I browsed around the store.

Here's a pic hubby snapped. Most of the really good stuff was around the corner unfortunately - but you get the idea.



Here's me with the really nice owner lady Annie. Please ignore my hideous sunglasses. I couldn't find my super cool pair that make me look like Kate Moss. ;)



And here's the bag of goodies I walked out with - some lovely gorgeous yarns, all different shades of greens, all different textures etc. I'm going to make a garter stitch wrap on some big needles. Just something to show off the yarn.



Here's the shop dog Ren. She's about fourteen years old and a real sweetie. My kiddos loved her.



I found out later that probably the reason that they so cheerfully left me to browse in peace was because they were outside, following Ren all over the farm filming her with their cameras. On the way home my son said, "I got some video of Ren pooping!! Hello YouTube!!" So I guess everyone had an exciting Earth Day. :)

Anyhow...(I sure do know how to make a short story long, eh?)...about the Nostepinne. At Kiparoo we saw a sign telling about Nostepinnes but they were all sold out. Annie explained that it was a wooden tool that you could use to wind yarn cakes. This site tells how that works better than I could. When we got home, hubbs and I looked Nostepinnes up on the computer, found some pictures as examples and then he scampered off to his workshop and made one for me on his lathe.



You can read more about how he made it on his turning blog: Beads and Coves. Not bad for a guy who has only been wood turning for a few months now.

PS - You are totally allowed to giggle at the fact that he mentions the word "shaft" twice in his post. I mean, come on, look at that thing! :)

Odds & Ends

Just some boring old updates here.....

I'm nearly finished with the Spring Things Shawl. I've just got to do the cast off. I've been leaving it for a few days hoping to find a time to do it when I wasn't feeling brain dead. Fat chance, eh? But I didn't knit that whole thing just to screw it up now! There was only one minor burp which merely proved to me that, yes, I do indeed need my glasses so that I can actually see the symbols on the pattern. (Sorry Susan!) Other than that - loved knitting it & will be buying more Sea Silk post haste.

Little blue chick is doing really well. I'm pretty sure he's past the toughest stages of being a baby. Nowadays he/she is doing a great job of begging his foster Mama and Daddy for food, even though he is also eating on his own.

I also bought some new nest boxes with a different design that I think will aid greatly in preventing the dreaded chick tossing. I can't wait til they get here in the mail so I can try them out. Well, actually I think I'll let the birds try them out. :)

Ron and Rosmerta's eggs never hatched and I took away their nest box for now. They did a great job trying to brood the eggs but I think they couldn't maintain an even enough temperature because Ron did a very poor job of building his nest. The eggs were pretty much sitting on the bottom of the nest box with very little insulation underneath them. Oh well - they are a young couple and that was Ron's first try at nest building. I'm sure he will get the hang of it.

I also started knitting Seraphim - the shawl by Mim of Mim Knits. I can't finish one shawl without having another one to jump right into. I think I'm having a "shawl phase" right now. Anyhow, as you probably know, there is a very large portion of stockinette in that shawl. I knit the whole thing on size four needles in only three days, got to the part where I needed to start the lace pattern and discovered I was missing one stitch. I missed a yarnover on the edging way, way down by the bottom. If you were knitting - Monday night, about 10 pm my time, you probably felt the huge disturbance in the force as I realized my mistake and resisted the urge to pull all my hair out. Instead I frogged furiously and cast on and knit about ten rows before I even allowed myself to think about it. Sometimes you really really need some knitting denial. :)

Since you read this far here's a little photo for you of how Henry spent Earth Day.



Don't worry, he's not dead! Just found a sunny spot in the yard and made the most of it. :) He was filthy by the time he came back inside.

The rest of us spent Earth Day on a tour of "Countryside Artisans". But that's a blog entry for another day......

In the Mood For Something Comic?

How about a cup full of Society Finches?



I took this picture at night when the entire herd was piled up in one of the feed cups. This is how they go to sleep at night and I thought you guys just had to see this as well. They are really too silly! There are three feed cups in the cage but they all prefer to pile into one. I startled they guy in the middle and you can see he is spreading his wings and trying to regain his balance - all whilst stepping all over two of his siblings. If you look closely you can see them all - all sixteen of them!

But now you know how I ended up with sixteen of them. They are just too pathetic all crammed into a seed cup every night and so I broke down and gave them a nest box. Let this be a lesson to you! If you give four Society Finches a nest box you will end up with twelve more in short order. :)

Unlike Society Finches, Gouldians are content to perch at night. They tuck their little heads down and fluff up their feathers and they are off to dreamland.

Hege wanted to know why the birds get oyster grit. Well, it serves a couple of functions really. It keeps their beaks trim by giving them something rough to chew on. It's also a great source of calcium which they need for producing strong eggshells. It also aids in the break up of the seed they eat.

I try to give the birds a wide variety of foods to come as close as I can to what they could get for themselves in nature. In the wild state they could fly all over the place and get all sorts of minerals and such. So feeding birds just on seed is a very poor diet for them. Mine get seed plus a softer mixture called egg food. They also get greens and charcoal (which they love!). I supplement everything with various minerals and vitamins as well. They also have smooth and rough perches for healthy feet and a cuttle bone to help keep their beaks in shape.

Now you can see why this takes a bit of work! But just look at that picture to know why I bother. What a bunch of clowns!

You can click on the picture to see it larger.

Jenny Weasley

Thanks for all the nice comments on Minerva. I really love her too. She's a special little gal! :)

I'm trying to work my way through "introductions" for all the birds so you guys can get to know them - and not wonder who the heck I am talking about with all these Harry Potter names.

This is Jenny Weasley. She is a female Lady Gouldian - a little over a year old. She is the intended mate for Harry Potter because she is split to blue which means she also carries the blue gene. That amounts to hopefully lots of blue babies. So far though Harry and Jenny haven't taken to each other - but they are both young so I'll try again in a little while.

Jenny has a gorgeous red head and pretty purple chest that has a neat fade out effect near the top. Her body type is a bit too long and skinny for my taste - compare her to Minerva and you will see what I mean. But Jenny is young so she may fill in a bit more. And Harry has the body type I like so we will have to see what their chicks end up with.



Jenny is a yellow back but her color is a bit muddy. There is some green showing through. That's probably due to her genetics - in layman's terms I'd call it a "weak yellow" gene. (And believe me I don't fully understand genetic inheritance in Gouldian's either! It's very complex compared to most domestic animals.)



If you compare Jenny to Godric you will see the difference in their yellows. Godric is a "strong yellow" - which is probably why I get so many yellow babies out of him!

Minerva

Minerva is my ideal of a female Lady Gouldian Finch. Her body type is substantial without being too big. She is nice and healthily round looking. Her colors are super saturated and well defined. Plus she has a wonderful personality. She is quite like her son, Harry Potter. Both are curious and calm. You can see the intelligence in their eyes.

This series of pictures is typical Minerva. First she came closer, curious about what I was doing.



Then she gave me her curious look.



Then she hopped into the dish of oyster grit - just to make sure I knew it was hers.



It's that combination of boldness and stability that I think makes Minerva such a wonderful mama bird - and such a joy to watch!

Another Book Giveaway

I finished this biography of first lady Florence Harding a few weeks ago. You can read more about it here.

There is quite a bit that is of interest in this book. As I read it, I couldn't help thinking of the old adage "the more things change, the more they stay the same". The only difference back in Florence Harding's days was the absence of the mass media as we know it today. Undoubtedly, the Harding administration would never have been able to get away with what it did - if Harding could have even been elected! - had there been anything like the "journalism" of today. There are shades of our most recent presidents here - shady oil deals and cronyism and inept management (Bush), numerous sex scandals (Clinton) - and Florence's own work in aid of the war veterans can't help but remind me of the present day problems at Walter Reed. Throw in psychics, quack doctors, illegitimate children, single motherhood, drug abuse and the allegations that Harding was secretly of "mixed race" (which seemingly caused less scandal back then then it probably would even now, sadly) - and well, there's a lot to read!

Email me if you would be interested in this book & as always, you have to promise to pay it forward. :)

Godric and Minerva's Chicks

I'm down in the dumps today because Neville has tossed all his chicks again. This time I wasn't able to save any of them. I took the one unhatched egg - which does have a chick in it - and put it under Ron and Rosmerta. So there is a slight hope for that one. But all in all a real bummer of a day. :(

So after the sad news from today and about the green baby I thought I'd perk things up a bit with an update with good news for a change.

Godric and Minerva's 2007 chicks are thriving so far. I'm looking at them with great anticipation, wondering what they will look like as they color in.

Here is Godric sitting with the chick I am calling #2.



What colors will this baby have? I know it has a yellow back and sometimes I think I see hints of a purple chest and possibly a black head. That would be an exciting combination - one I have not seen yet.



But looking at him through the camera isn't revealing any clues. So far baby #2 is keeping his secrets!

But look at chick #1!



Look at the purple coming through on his chest. Doesn't he look proud? I'm excited to see a yellow back with a purple chest. The other yellow backs I have, Ron Weasley and his brother Fawkes both have lilac chests (quite a rare mutation). So I am excited to contemplate the combination of bright yellow with the electric purple. Even though the electric purple is the "normal" color for a Gouldian chest I happen to have far more birds with either lilac or white chests.



So far none of Godric's chicks have inherited his white chest. I hope some of them will someday. But they may not if Minerva doesn't carry that gene as well.

Oh - and keep those fingers crossed - the blue baby seems to be doing well....

Nupps Schmupps

Who's afraid of the big bad nupps?

Not me.

Nupps are easy. And in saying that I mean that nupps are just as easy or just as hard as any other stitch you might be asked to do in knitting. They are really no "harder" than anything else.

And this is probably also an instance of how hanging around in blogland has really helped me with my knitting. On the one hand, I learned that nupps are often feared, despised and shunned. On the other hand, I learned a few tips for dealing with the dreaded nupps.

I'll share them with you!

First Tip - maybe obvious but it bears repeating - get yourself some pointy tipped needles. I used my Knit Picks Options needles because they are the sharpest tipped needles I have. They worked out fine for me but I probably would have appreciated having some of those new Addi Lace needles which are even sharper. (In fact, I think I'll go order some after I finish this post.) You really need the sharp point for digging under all - in this case five - of the sections of the the nupp.

Second Tip - splitty yarn will probably drive you into nupp despair. I didn't have this problem with the Hand Maiden Sea Silk so this is just an observation.

Third Tip - and this is probably the most important - when you are forming the increases that make up the nupp, make them VERY loosely. More loose than you would ever think you might need. This will help you to have the room to be able to get in under the stitches when you are purling them all together on the back side. It will also give the nupps a nice, fat fullness which makes them look good.

Another observation - let's call it the Fourth Tip - it seems like the middle stitch of the increases for the nupp (in this case the third stitch out of five) seems like it is the most difficult to pick up when you are purling them together on the back side. This may just be due to my knitting technique but I don't think so. So the tip here is - watch out for that middle stitch. Make sure you are actually getting under ALL of the nupp stitches. If you miss one it could get ugly. And chances are it will be that middle stitch that you missed.

So there you go - armed with these Four Tips, go forth and conquer The Fear Of Nupps.

Sure, nupps will slow you down a bit and you do have to pay attention to what you are doing but that doesn't make them "hard" to do. In fact, I kind of thought they were fun and a clever little technique.

As an aside here - I had a couple of emails asking me if I thought two skeins of the Sea Silk would be enough for the shawl. Well - I have completed through the first repeat of the second chart and I still have a little less than half of the first skein left. I think (knock on wood!) I'll be fine.

Chick Update

Well the two fostered chicks came out of the nest the other day and shortly thereafter the green chick died. :(

There seem to be two "danger zones" times for Gouldian chicks.

The first is - get hatched but don't get tossed. If the chick isn't tossed on the very first day it hatches then usually it will be okay.

The second is - get out the nest successfully. Gouldian chicks seem to be especially vulnerable at this time. They need to keep themselves warm, get fed and learn fly around without injuring themselves.

From my observations over time, these two foster chicks have exhibited subtle differences from the chicks that I have seen that were fully parent raised. The major thing I've noticed is that these chicks don't seem to be as good at begging for food. Godric and Minerva's own chicks are very loud and very persistent. In fact, after leaving the nest, the chicks would go so far as to almost harass their parents, following them everywhere and constantly begging.

The foster chicks seem much lazier and less robust. Even in the nest, their begging was less frequent and less pronounced. And now out of the nest, the blue baby usually only begs when Godric or Minerva happen to come near him. And his begging is more half hearted. If he gets ignored, the chick just seems to accept it. Godric and Minerva seem to be doing their best. I've seen both of them initiate feeding the chick so I don't think it is really their fault.

We had a power outage yesterday so I spent an hour or so observing all of the birds closely. The green chick had already died and I was very concerned about the temperature falling too low for the blue chick. I had taken away then nest as soon as the chicks had fledged (were out of the nest) because I didn't want to encourage Godric and Minerva to abandon the foster chicks to start a new clutch of their own. Fortunately, the power came back on before night fall so I was able to add a little heat lamp to help the blue chick rally.

Cross your fingers - so far he seems to be hanging in there. It could go either way at this point. I don't think he will really be out of danger until he learns to feed on his own. I just hope he will be tough enough to get what he needs until then.

Newbie Nupper

I have completed all of the repeats of the first chart of the Spring Things Shawl. I'm starting the second chart and am approaching the dreaded nupps. So many lace knitters have complained about the difficulty of knitting nupps that it seems like the very mention of the word is enough to send knitters running from a pattern.

The Spring Things Shawl offers the alternative of substituting beads in place of the nupps. I've decided to bite the bullet and go for the nupps - in other words...I'm too lazy to go out and find some beads. :)

Will the nupps be so terrible?

I guess we shall see...

Please Ignore the Big Pile of Poop in the Corner....

Do you see what I see?? Aside from the poop I mean!



Look at the little chick on the right - that's blue feathers folks!! Hooray!

Yesterday I snuck a few pictures of the rescued baby Gouldian Finches. As every frustrated yarn photographer knows, the camera often distorts colors, especially when the flash is used. But I have found that in the case of Gouldian Finches, the view through the camera lens is often very revealing. And this is a perfect example. To the eye, the chick on the left appears a drab olive green, the chick on the right, a light powdery grey. But when the flash bounces off whatever little color particles there are hiding in those feathers sometimes you can see exactly what color these little babies are going to be when they grow up.

Another blue! I'm so excited!

Spring Things Shawl

Hand Maiden Sea Silk in Glacier:



The Spring Things Shawl in situ:



The Spring Things Shawl in close up:



Ahhhh, Spring!

Blanket of Hope

These are the mitered squares that I sent to the Blanket of Hope:





There are four squares but only these two colorways. Both are Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport.

Book Giveaway

The other day on her blog Wendy Knits!, Wendy came up with what I thought was a great idea. She is giving away books once she has finished reading them.

I live in a small library - sure there are dogs and finches and some other people too, and a whole roomful of yarn, but mostly there are books. Tons and tons of books. I keep quite a few of the books I read but I "recycle" twice that many.

You know what really sucks? There are really no good used bookstores around here. I have to drive about 40 minutes into Virginia to go to a good used bookstore. Needless to say I don't make this trek very often so the "giveaway" books are starting to pile up. Besides, I have more credit than I can use at the used bookstore - and for me that is really saying something!

So I am going to take a page out of Wendy's book (harhar) and start offering some of the books I have finished here on the blog.

First up is:



Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk. Click on the link to read about it on Amazon. I thought this book was an interesting exploration on the subject of depression and especially how the public perception of depression was viewed so differently in the past.

Email me (link at the top of my sidebar) or leave a comment here if you would like this book.

I don't want anything in return - just consider this a "pay it forward" and do you own good deed when you can. :)

Ahhhh....Spring Cleaning

The blog not the house!

I overhauled the sidebar yesterday. Man that felt good! I was really surprised at how out of date my list of blogs that I read was. Tons of blogs that I have been reading FOREVER weren't even on there. Chris, Carrie, Mrs. Pao, Marina, Jessie, Laura...sheesh. I mean really, as if I could be happy in blogland without reading those blogs! There were many more which I added to list. If I comment on your blog but your blog is not on my sidebar list - it's just because I am an idiot, not because I don't love you. :) My eyes were seriously starting to get blurry by the end of the overhaul. I had to put on my glasses! Don't be shy - drop me an email if I have forgotten to list your blog.

My squares have found a good home. They will be going to Knit Knack for her Blanket of Hope that she is making for a friend who has cancer. I can't wait to see the finished blanket!

Lastly, in bird news: I peeked in on the two "rescued" chicks that Neville had tossed. Godric and Minerva have done a great job raising them. I was very excited to see that the first chick looks like it will be green backed - the normal coloring for a Gouldian - believe it or not this will be my first green backed baby! I was even more excited when I saw the second baby - wow! It is definitely not green. It is a soft powdery grey. So I'm thinking either another blue or some sort of pastel/dilute. This baby is much lighter grey than Harry Potter was as a baby. But it's not as light as the silver baby (which I lost) from the first clutch. So - another exciting "wait and see".

Plus - Godric is doggedly brooding a clutch of three eggs! I had intended to take away the nest after these two babies fledged but I guess Godric had other ideas. Three clutches a year for a pair is okay - but I like to do less. Well - I had wondered why Godric was still hanging out in the nest so much with those almost grown babies - and now I know. I am a bit skeptical about the prospects of these eggs actually hatching under these circumstances but I guess we will see.

Also - Neville and Rowena are on clutch number two. I hope they decide to raise these ones rather than pitch them! Ron Weasley and Rosmerta are on their first clutch as well. These two couples share a cage - so we will see how that works out. No action from Harry Potter and Jenny Weasley yet. I think there won't be any eggs from them this year. They still don't seem very interested in each other in general. Dang. I may have to try them each with a different partner next year.

Hopefully photos of all of this activity later.....

Spring Things

It must be something in the air. Every year when spring rolls around the same thing happens. The daffodils start to poke up out of the ground, that crazy cardinal comes back and spends days tapping on the window, and I have a craving to knit lace. There is something springy about lace. After all the heavy woolen of the winter it's time to knit something light and airy.

This year my first lace project is:

The Spring Things Shawl by Susan from I'm Knitting As Fast As I Can.

I've been reading Susan's blog for a long time. This pattern popped up at the exact moment that my lace craving became to strong to resist. Serendipity folks!

There is also a knitalong for the pattern here.

I decided to go all out decadent. I bought two hanks of this Hand Maiden Sea Silk in the colorway Glacier.



I had been wanting to use Sea Silk FOREVER. I bought mine from Tidal Brook Yarns. They have a really great selection of yarn and also lots of kits that I am keeping my greedy eyeballs on.

Unfortunately, I'm not as crazy about this yarn in person. The colorway was a bit of a departure for me anyway - I'm normally an earthtones type person - so I was a bit worried that this colorway might be too pastel for me. In person, the hanks I got have much more of the silvery sea green color overall. I'm still using it for the shawl but I am suspending my judgement until I see the whole thing. I think it will be pretty - but just not really ME.

Oh well - the yarn itself is really nice. I will be using it again for sure.

Don't worry - I'm still finishing up Myrtle. I'm SO close to being done!! Woo-hoo!

Squares Looking For a New Home

Does anyone know of any group or person who is collecting blanket squares for charity or some sort of good cause? I've got a few squares I made for a blanket. However, I've decided to go in a different direction with that project so the squares are looking for a good home.

Ash is done!

I finished the sweater I've been working on for my hubby. In fact, I have finished so many things lately that I haven't had time to post - I could post a new FO everyday this week if only I could get around to taking some decent photos. The kids have been sick, I haven't been feeling too well and I've had a hellofa past few days - so I guess I'm just glad I have this sweater to show you!

You can click on any of the pictures if you want to see it larger.

The Details
Pattern: "Ash" from Rowan Magazine 39

Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton in Mocha Chocolate 212 and Blackcurrant 211.

Size: Men's Medium - I used the exact quantities called for in the pattern. 10 of the Mocha and 4 of the Blackcurrant - and I had some leftover.

Needles: Size Seven Knit Picks Options - I was able to get gauge on the first try for a change!

The Knot Patrol: Is very happy with All Seasons Cotton. I found only one knot in one skein. I think that must be a record too.

Some mods:




I didn't really like the original collar which sort of stood up and called for a short zipper. There's apicture in a previous post if you just scroll down abit. Knowing I would have probably never gotten around to sewing in a zipper, I instead just did a single crochet up the sides of the v-neck, picked up stitches and knit an inch of ribbing.

I have a notorious phobia of knitting with cotton (witness the all cotton Log Cabin Blanket which nearly knilled my knitting soul!) - but I LOVED working with this yarn. It is certainly my cotton of choice. It has fabulous stitch definition and a drape to die for.

Just look at this cute little cuff.



Not too drapey and not too stiff. This sweater is about as "just right" as a sweater can get. I know hubbs loves it. All Seasons Cotton is perfect for that comfy sweater feeling.

The sweater hasn't been blocked yet. However, I have ordered a Wooly Board (!!!!!) and I'm going to give it a light blocking on that whenever it arrives.

When I was done knitting this sweater I couldn't decide what to knit next but I didn't want to lose my current momentum. Whenever I find myself in this situation it is really best for me NOT to start a new project. Unless something is calling to me "knit me, knit me" - which nothing was. In those cases anything that I do start will usually end up not satisfying and being quickly cast aside - which can mean a total kiss of death for the whole project.

So instead I was sensible and picked up a sweater that was almost completely finished but has been languishing in the UFO Hall of Shame ever since I started this blog! I picked up "Myrtle" by Jane Ellison from Noro Knits -



- of which everything was already knit and just waiting to be put together. So you will be seeing another major FO again real soon!

The Tea Tiger And Why It Is Essential To Own One

If you drink tea you absolutely MUST get your paws on one of these!



It's called the Tea Tiger and I'm here to tell you it's the Holy Grail of Tea Drinking. It is the most absolutely perfect tea delivery method (otherwise known as a tea cup) ever invented.

It brews the tea. It keeps the tea warm without burning your fingers. It doesn't get that funky tea stain. It's easy to wash. It has a mesh guard that keeps the tea leaves from getting in your mouth (and all over your teeth! - super handy if one must drink tea in public, say at work). It's microwaveable. It has a screw on lid so it won't spill. It fits easily in the cup holder of my car.

And - as if that's not enough. It's beautiful too. There is a hologram - yep, hologram - of a tree on the lid. I think it's a cherry blossom tree. And there's a pretty little cherry blossom and some chinese writing on the side. So functional without being too modern looking.

Can you tell I LOVE the Tea Tiger?

It is available here - at the Strand Tea Company in Oregon.

My sister bought mine for me and I swear it arrived on my doorstep the very next day. Inside the package were some super yummy tea samples - all consumed since last Friday when the Tea Tiger arrived. There was also a tea catalog and several sheets of really cool info about the different types of teas.

Fast forward to today.

I'm on the phone ordering tons of tea and having a lovely conversation with Jack, one of the oweners of Strand Tea. Turns out, Strand Tea is a sort of "mom and pop" company - started by Jack and his wife - that has just grown and grown. I love those kinds of companies. Especially when the people that own them are as nice as Jack.

For instance, a portion of the sales of every Tea Tiger goes to support Tiger conservation in India where Jack goes every year to buy his tea. Pretty cool huh? He was also really interested in hearing all about the online knitting community and all the socially conscious things we all do. (And there really are tons of things we do aren't there? I was actually surprised at how much once I started telling a "muggle" all about it.) :)

Well - okay - enough ranting. You know I don't usually push new products on the blog, I just wanted to share this with you guys because I know alot of knitters out there are also die hard tea drinkers.

Oh and also - the box that the Tea Tiger comes in is so pretty! It was almost a shame to throw it away!

And say hi to Jack for me when you order one. ;)

New Blog

After some prompting by Melanie got me thinking I decided to start another blog that will be just devoted to my finches.** I will still be posting about them over here and will be cross posting to my other blog as well. But this way all of you finchy fans out there can get a quick "finch fix" anythime you need one. You know me, I aim to please. :)

My new blog is called: Color and Song: My Life With Finches

I've cross posted all of my old finch posts so now I am good to go for the future.

**You know, come to think of it, Melanie seems to always be getting me to do things. What is up with that? ;)I'm barely keeping myself from joining The-No-End-In-Sight-Ripple-Along. I don't think I can hold out much longer....I was, after all, a crocheter long, long before I was ever a knitter. Plus I do have all that Elann cotton in my stash...Excuse me, I've...um...got to go...um..take a look around in the craft room. Send help if I'm not out of there in a week or so.. :)