I never would have guessed.....

That my sisters and I would ever be interested in archery.


It all started when little brother Jacob got a small bow of his own. While it was on the small side, Meg and Em were still able to use it, and so they began working on their aim and dreaming of someday getting a bigger bow....

And me? Well, for the longest time I never could figure out why the girls liked it so much; Jacob's bow was entirely too small for me so I never tried it. I just watched them shoot this teeny thing and then go hunt the arrows down when they missed the target.

Yesterday, we went to a small archery place (Kutch's archery), because Megan finally had enough to buy a bow! She tried a couple of compounds and a recurve, finally deciding on a compound for her first. The owner of the shop ordered the bow that she liked and it should be here early next week! Meg actually hasn't tried this particular bow yet, so the owner said that if she doesn't like it than he'll just keep it and we can try another.

Ahem, while Meg was trying out the recurve bow, I hesitantly asked if I could try it. Oh boy.... I was hooked!! While I certainly never got a bull's eye (I never even managed to hit the actual target!) I really enjoyed using it. I tried a compound, but I loved everything about the recurve. It's definitely more challenging than using a compound bow, but that's one of the reasons that I like it so much. Because, once you've mastered a recurve, everything else is easy! I also really, really like it how they look like a "real" bow. Just a simple curved piece of wood with a string. :)

I'll bet you can't guess what I'm saving for now, can you? ;D With luck I will be the new owner of a recurve bow in three or four months!

Who would've guessed that we would've ever entered the world of archery?...... ;D

~Caitlyn

Fun at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival

Saturday, September 26th was a day that I will remember for a loooong time.

Emily and I, along with some friends of ours, all went to the annual Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, which is held in Canby. In all, we stayed 6 hours.... 6 Hours of everything fiber related..... From raw fiber, to yarn, to herding demos, to the sheep themselves! It was a blissful day.

We started the day out by watching the herding demonstrations; that was really fun! You could tell at a glance that the dogs loved what they were doing.



And Emily got a video!! The dog in here cracked me up. It was a red Border Collie, and his method, as you will see, was to crawl a few paces and then glare the ducks where he wanted them. I had heard about how Border Collies used their eyes to move stock, but this was my first time to ever see it!

Then began the actual shopping....

I looove these shades of yarn. Natural colors are always more beautiful than dyed, at least to my mind that is. :)

But I will admit that these skeins are pretty.

Ahem, my purse was a good deal lighter after I went home.... But you should see all the lovely fiber I got!!

This is my favorite picture that Emily got.

Art

Food for the eyes.

This was my favorite booth. Look at all those drop spindles!!

Art

Later in the day we wended our way to the animal barn. I met many a nice sheep there. ;)

Okay, so this fellow is actually a goat, not a sheep. He made me laugh. :D

I really like this little goat. Maybe someday I'll get my own Angora goats...

I mean, how could you not like a face like that?

I'm sure my friends think I'm 100% weird now; but I couldn't help but say 'how do you do?' to all the animals that I met. ;D

All the sheep there were so beautiful.... From the tiny Shetlands to the huge Wenslydales, you could tell that their owners really loved them.

But alas, all good things must come to an end. The drive home was fun too though, as we all sang hymns in the van.

T'was a very good day....

~Caitlyn

Just as He unfolds the rose....

I found this poem and liked it so much that I just had to share it with you all!

It is only a tiny rosebud,

A flower of God's design,

But I cannot unfold the petals,

With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers

Is not known to such as I,

The flower God opens so sweetly,

In my hands would fade and die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,

This flower of God's design,

Then how can I have wisdom

To unfold this life of mine?

So I'll trust Him for His leading,

Each moment of every day,

And I'll look to Him for HIs guidance,

Each step of the pilgrim way.

For the pathway that lies before me,

My heavenly Father knows,

I'll trust Him to unfold the moments,

Just as he unfolds the rose.

~Anonymous

~Caitlyn

Baking day

I love baking bread.....

~Caitlyn

The date is set.....

Finally, the words I've been dying to hear for over two years now:

"You get your braces off next time you come!"

Hurray! The date is set, and my braces will be taken off on November 4th! :D

~Caitlyn

At last, it's official!!

Today is the first day of autumn!!! Hurray!!!

~Caitlyn

September....

The goldenrod is yellow;
The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.

The gentian's bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges flaunt their harvest
In every meadow nook;
And asters by the brook-side
Make asters in the brook.

From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes' sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer's best of weather,
And autumns best of cheer.

By Helen Hunt Jackson

See Ewe Later!

Sigh, our sheepies finally left....

Not that they were 'ours' in the first place though, we were just borrowing them to eat our pasture down.

I never got around to blogging about this, but, two of the sheep left ('twas county fair time) and in their place, we were lent two new ones.

The first trio was Gabby, Sable and Freckles. While the second trio was Freckles, Calypso and Apollo.

Before we got "our" sheepies, I had always been told how dumb sheep were, how they wrecked your pasture and that they were very boring creatures

I found none of that true.

First off, these sheep were incredibly smart! I was delighted with their personalities and quirks. Gabby, Freckles and Sable always cracked me up. When they baaa-ed, they were in perfect harmony, Gabby being the lowest and Freckles being the highest.

Apollo was the little whether lamb, and he could melt a heart of stone.... He would slowly walk up to you with his little face cocked, and politely wait for you to scratch him on the chest. He always thanked you with a whuffle-y, bewhiskered kiss. I think I miss him the most.

Calypso stole my heart at first sight. Pure black all over, with a brilliant, white streak running down her face, Wild as a mustang and beautiful as a summer morn'. I tried everything to tame her, but alas, it was in vain. But maybe I like her better for all her wild beauty.....

As for wrecking pastures? I can report that, after having sheep in there for a whole summer, the grass is springing back up very quickly.

To my friend Andrea: you have created a monster! I am now a sheep fanatic!

~Caitlyn

I found the culprit...

I have been finding mysterious, inky splatters and footprints dribbled over some of my papers at my desk. They pitter-patter around the paper in crazy circles and splotches and suddenly trail off, only to reappear on some other paper.

Hmmmm...
I had my suspicions.

And then, when I was writing yesterday I heard a tiny little 'scritch-scratching' on the shelf.
Pop! Out came the culprit from between two journals.
Don't freak out, yet. He won't bite, on the contrary, he's really quite tame. :P
Let me introduce you to Mr. Samuel Whiskers, believed to be a decended from his notorious namesake in Beatrix Potter's story 'The Roly-Poly Pudding'.

He and I get along quite well. I actually like most rodents (except for rats and shrews and as long as they're not skittering across my bedroom floor. :P) and he doesn't mind me.

Above is him in his favorite alcove where I keep my pens. He's splendid company and is very cheap to keep. ;D
Just thought I'd introduce my little friend to you. :P

~Megan

It was just a teeny thing, but it meant a lot

Okay, so after reading this you will probably be certain that I am a very ridiculous person. ;D

But today, after a two year wait, I finally got to see my geese again!!

Are you still there? But maybe you already new I was an odd person. :D LOL.

Now for the story.....

To begin with, I love geese. Make that, I looooove geese! I haven't the foggiest idea why, but they are my number one top favorite animal (sheep being second, and rabbits being third). I begged my parents for years to let me buy a trio, and when I turned fifteen they allowed me to do it under one condition: The geese had to be friendly, gentle and tame. No hissing, chasing or any aggressiveness. Period.

So I did it! I bought three brown Africans, whom I dubbed "Shim (my gander), Hazel, and Amber (my girls). I spent hours with my geese, mostly just sitting in a corner while they clambered all over me. By the time they were full grown, it was like I had three faithful dogs.

They would come running whenever I called and loved nothing more than to sit on my lap and be stroked on the neck.... It's quite comical watching three, 15 pound birds try to sit on one lap. :D

Then the bad news came..... I had to sell them. :(

But at least the person who bought them was a vegetarian and assured me that they would never be eaten.

Two years passed..... I wondered about my geese.....

Then, by sheer happenstance, we passed by the place where my geese live, today. There, on the driveway, so big and beautiful, were my geese! :D

Emily finally elbowed me to be quiet because I kept on saying: "Oh there are my geese! Oh, look at them!"

It was a teeny thing, hardly worth mentioning I guess. But it meant a lot to me. I loved my geese.

~Caitlyn

14 Years of Living

Well folks, I officially turned 14 yesterday. Ha, ha, ha! I am now officially able to have coffee whenever I want! ;D


Mom took us girls and a very dear friend into town to just shop (after all, what else do girls like best?) and have a lunch in town.
We had some terrific soups and sandwiches at 'The Sage' for lunch and then went to all those fun stores like Boersmas, Jo-Ann's, the Knitting Basket, Goodwill, etc... Lots of fun. :P
And what better way to end a birthday than to have pizza and strawberry cake?
Sometime before dinner Dad mysteriously told everyone but me to go up into the sewing room. Sometime later Em beckoned me up with Carver shouting "Hu-prise! Hu-prise!"
With eyes closed, Em lead me in. I opened my eyes, and beheld...

A writing desk!! A writing desk of my very own! How cool is that? Dad picked it up from it's hiding spot at a friend's house a got it up in the sewing room while we were gone. Lucky for everyone else, I didn't look up when we came home, as it was quite visible from the sidewalk below the window. :P It's a little worn, as it did come off Craigslist, but it's still great. I'm sure it won't take too long to fill it up with my myriads of notebooks and journals. :P

I also got a fancy new pen and an Mp3 player. :P And the grand finale of the day was staying up until 11:00 playing Skip-Bo. I think we would have played a lot later than that if Mom hadn't intervened and stopped our endless game. :P LOL. It was a great day.

~Megan

Days of future passed.....

One of my favorite things about Oregon is when the weather is like today......

An overcast, sleepy sky, with gentle raindrops falling hither and thither, like liquid crystals.....

Everything is damp..... The very air holds the essence of damp earth and plants....

Inside, we have a cinnamon scented candle burning, there's a warm apple pie on the counter waiting to be eaten and we are content to stay indoors....

These kind of days evoke pleasant memories..... red maple leaves, baked apples with honey drizzled over them, watching Charlie Brown movies, going to the local pumpkin patch.....

I've seen lots of days like this, and yet, each new one is welcomed with eagerness.

They are reminiscent of days of future passed.

Days I have seen. Days I will see. Days I might never see....

Life is beautiful....

~Caitlyn

Warning: the following may make you laugh.....

Have you ever read the warning labels on the items you buy? Dad found a huge list online, of ridiculous warnings that are actually on the items. Mom, my sisters, and I read through these last night and were laughing so hard that we all had tears streaming down our faces. :D

So I thought I would share them with you.... I will warn you though, there's a lot, and they will make you laugh.

Liquid Plummer Warning: Do not reuse the bottle to store beverages.

Windex: Do not spray in eyes.

Toilet Plunger Caution: Do not use near power lines.

Dremel Electric Rotary Tool: This product not intended for use as a dental drill.

Arm & Hammer Scoopable Cat Litter: Safe to use around pets.

Bowl Fresh: Safe to use around pets and children, although it is not recommended that either be permitted to drink from toilet.

Endust Duster: This product is not defined as flammable by the Consumer Products Safety Commision Regulations. However, this product can be ignited under certain circumstances.

Hair Coloring: Do not use as an ice cream topping.

Wet-Nap Directions: Tear open packet and use.

Dial Soap Directions: Use like regular soap.

Stridex Foaming Face: Wash May contain foam.

Hairdryer: Do not use while taking a shower.

Zantac 75 :Do not take if allergic to zantac.

Sleeping Pills Warning: May cause Drowsiness

Christmas Lights Warning: For indoor or outdoor use only.

Bic Lighter: Ignite lighter away from face.

Komatsu Floodlight: This floodlight is capable of illuminating large areas, even in the dark

Fire Extinguisher: Caution: Non-Flamable

Earplugs: These ear plugs are nontoxic, but may interfere with breathing if caught in windpipe

Mattress Warning: Do not attempt to swallow

Matches Caution: Contents may catch fire.

Pepper Spray Caution: Never aim spray at your own eyes.

Auto-Shade Widnshield Visor Warning: Do not drive with sunshade in place. Remove from windshield before starting ignition.

Fix-a-Flat WARNING: Do not weld can to rim.

Rain Gauge: Suitable for outdoor use.

RCA Television Remote Control: Not Dishwasher Safe

Pine Mountain Fire Logs Caution: Risk of fire

Triops Fish Food Warning: Not for human consumption

Home Depot Treated Lumber: Do not consume

Hair Dryer Warning: Do not use while sleeping.

Camera: This camera will only work when film is inside.

Superman Costume: Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly.

Air Conditioner Caution: Avoid dropping air conditioners out of windows.

Slush Puppy Cup: This ice may be cold

Nabisco Easy Cheese: For best results, remove cap.

Hershey's Almond Bar Warning: May contain traces of nuts

Heinz Ketchup Instructions: Put on food

500-piece puzzle: Some assembly required.

Beach Ball CAUTION: It is not a life saving device.

Chainsaw: Do not attempt to stop chain with hands.

Sears hairdryer:Do not use while sleeping.

Bag of Fritos:You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside.

Bar of Dial soap Directions: Use like regular soap.

Hotel provided shower cap in a box:Fits one head.

Tesco's Tiramisu dessert: (printed on bottom of the box) Do not turn upside down.

Packaging for a Rowenta iron:Do not iron clothes on body.

Sainsbury's peanuts:Warning: contains nuts.

Korean kitchen knife:Warning keep out of children

Helmet mounted mirror used by cyclists:Remember, objects in the mirror are actually behind you

New Zealand insect spray:This product not tested on animals.

Blanket from taiwan:not to be used as protection from a tornado

Infant's bathtub:Do not throw baby out with bath water.

Package of Fisherman's Friend throat lozenges:Not meant as substitute for human companionship.

Disposable razor:Do not use this product during an earthquake.

Bottle of shampoo for dogs Caution: The contents of this bottle should not be fed to fish.

Curling IronWarning: This product can burn eyes.

Hair Dryer:Do not use in shower.

Hand-held Massaging Device:Do not use while sleeping or unconscious.

Pair of shin guards made for bicyclists:Shin pads cannot protect any part of the body they do not cover.

Aim-n-Flame fireplace lighter.Do not use near fire, flame, or sparks.

13-inch wheel on a wheelbarrow:Not intended for highway use.

Novelty rock garden set called "Popcorn Rock":Eating rocks may lead to broken teeth.

A toilet bowl cleaning brush:Do not use orally.

A birthday card for a 1 year old.Not suitable for children aged 36 months or less.

Heated seat cushionWarning: Do not use on eyes.

Microwave Oven:Do not use for drying pets.

Electric Cattle Prod:For use on animals only.

Can of air freshener.For use by trained personnel only.

Silly Putty:Do not use as ear plugs.

Rat PoisonWarning: has been found to cause cancer in laboratory mice.

Portable stroller Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage.

Sign at a railroad station: Beware! To touch these wires is instant death.Anyone found doing so will be prosecuted.

Shipment of hammers: May be harmful if swallowed.

Manual for an SGI computer.Do not dangle the mouse by its cable or throw the mouse at co-workers.

6x10 inch inflatable picture frame: Not to be used as a personal flotation device.

Small print from car commercial which shows a car in the ocean:Do not drive cars in ocean.

Credit card statement.Payment is due by the due date.

Box of Pills: Take one capsule by mouth three times daily until gone.

Instructions on the packaging for a muffin at a 7-11: Remove wrapper, open mouth, insert muffin, eat.

Can of black pepper.Instructions: usage known.

Bag of cat biscuits: Simply pour the biscuits into a bowl and allow the cat to eat when it wants.

Car Manual:In order to get out of car, open door, get out, lock doors, and then close doors.

Toilet brush:Do not use for personal hygiene.

Furniture Wipes: Do not use for a baby wipe.

Bottle of bathtub cleaner: For best results, start with clean bathtub before use.

Box of household nails: CAUTION! - Do NOT swallow nails! May cause irritation!

Microwave popcorn, packaged so that the directions cannot be read unless you open the plastic and unfold it Direction #1: Remove plastic.

Woolite carpet cleaner:Safe for carpets, too!

Box of Frosted Cheerio's: The logo, "Tastes so good this box never closes," is located just underneath another announcement: "To close: place tab here."

Hose Nozzle: Do not spray into electrical outlet.

~Caitlyn