Biker Dude

Yeah, that would be my itty-bitty baby on a great big two-wheeler.  He hasn’t quite gotten the hang of it, but we have discovered that if he goes left from the driveway instead of right, there is just enough of a slope so he can coast and practice balancing.  He can get it once in a while, so one of these days it will just click and off he’ll go.  If he get frustrated and the bike starts gathering dust, we may get him a pair of training wheels.  “Wheel” see!  ~snort~ (I’m glad I amuse myself).

We got the bike at Dream Bikes up in Madison, which was pretty awesome.  We got a really nice used Trek for not a lot of money, and at-risk kids are getting jobs learning how to rehab, maintain, and sell bikes.  Miss Bean is lobbying pretty hard for a bike, too.  She’ll need training wheels, I’m pretty sure.  Being mama’s girl, she’ll probably need them until she’s a teenager.  Okay, mine really weren’t on that long, it just felt that way.

ETA:  Yes, that is Beeb in the middle distance and Bean is on the trike with a friend in the far distance.  I don't think it biggifies enough to make that out though.

Whatever happened to gray?

**Note: Brief pet peeve rant ahead.  Feel free to skip it if you’re feeling cranky already.  I have posts with pictures coming up very soon, I promise.  They already exist as title and picture.  They just need, well, those word things**

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like a good clear black and white issue as well as anyone.  I think we can all agree that putting kittens in the microwave is bad; refraining from such behavior is good*.  Black and white.  Easy-peasy.  Everybody happy.  Well except for some psychopath who wants to microwave kittens, but I digress. 

The problem is, real life is rarely that clear-cut.  Unfortunately there are just too dang many folks out there that can’t be bothered by messy details like gray.  It especially bothers me when it becomes Us vs. Them.  Or, add in the anonymity of the interwebs and hop on the crazy train.  Don’t get me wrong, I am always up for a good, well-rounded argument based on crazy little things like, well, reality, facts, or logic.  And while I obviously think that I’m right about everything and everyone should agree with me, I also concede that world would be pretty boring (and probably more than a little frightening) if we were all alike.

Bah.  I truly hope the raw milk bill passes the Wisconsin Assembly and that Governor Doyle signs it promptly.  (And no, this isn’t just about raw milk…I could fill up the entire internet with example after example, but I’ll spare you the agony). Then maybe I can pull my head out of the current events stream for a bit and focus on things that really matter, like cute two-year-olds who love “Indy Done (rhymes with stone)” and “bye-kulls” (Bug got his first two-wheeler, more on that later, I promise) and sweet five-year-olds that bring me dandelion bouquets and clever seven-year-olds who uses his sword fighting technique to play germs and macrophages (Cowboys and Indians is *SO* 1950’s).

*Oops.  Must be crabbier than I thought.  I had “bad” and “good” swapped the first time around.  Glad I caught it before I hit publish!

Sheepies, Tie-dye, and a little gratuitous yarn pr0n

First, a better picture to clarify the whole nekkid sheep thing.  This is Mrs. Shearling, with wool (L) and au naturel (R).  There is also a new addition to the flock:

I would like to introduce Vegetarian Sheep.  I didn’t have my black yarn at Late Night last week, so he didn’t get a face right away, but I have since decided to keep this way and name him Vegetarian Sheep.  He is a special little guy made just for those vegetarians who love the great taste of mutton, but refuse to eat anything with a face.  And a group picture of the whole flock:

Abrupt change of subject…

Miss Bean got a tie-dye kit from the Easter bunny, so she and I tied and dyed this week.  She had a pack of five T-shirts and we did all five.  All three kids wore them yesterday and again today (the one Beeb is wearing is on it’s second day, but he has another one underneath, so we are treating it as an accessory)

She had a great time doing them and is already hankering for more tie-dye.  I have a feeling that an order from Dharma Trading may be in our future.

And last, but not least, Bean and I had our weekly girl-time at the Sow’s Ear last weekend.  They had eggs (with discounts AND chocolate) hidden around the store and we spent a pleasant afternoon knitting (me) and drawing pictures (her) with a couple other of our “girls,” Dale-Harriet and MollyBees.  Between the discount and my accumulated loyalty points, these little lovelies came home with me

I have a super-secret stealth project in mind for the light brown, but the green will just be a pet for the time being.  Both are Malabrigo worsted and VERY soft and cuddly

This post is rated PG-13 for brief ovine nudity

MollyBees, it’s all your fault.  See what you started?

Yeah, it’s just two now…but that’s how it all starts.  Innocently at first, but before you know it, I’m down at the Ear offering to trade plasma for just one more skein of natural DK weight.  And look…you can shear them too:

The mama, Mrs. Shearling, is at the left and the baby, Lambert, is on the right.  Mrs. Shearling is DK weight bare from Knit Picks.  Lambert is a wool-silk blend of bare fingering weight, also from Knit Picks.  I believe that his great-grandpappy was a silk worm.  Not sure of the logistics there and I’m afraid if I conjecture, I may lose my PG-13 rating and get upped to R.