Cancel that

I hate to write a post like this, but you should know about some upcoming meetings that we need to cancel. Monday, May 29, is Memorial Day. The Lockwood family will be gardening as fast as they can for Molly's Open House the next weekend. While I plan to collapse on the sofa in the evening with knitting needles in hand, I imagine some of you will have other plans. Let's cancel that meeting and then hold a meeting on the second Monday in June, which is June 12. School will be finished, grades turned in, and knitting will be ready to be knitted. Hey, has anyone taken up the Red Thread Project challenge? My hat is finished. I know, I promised pictures. . .

On Thursday, June 1, Molly graduates from high school. She would like the family there to watch her strut her stuff, so that poultry meeting is canceled.

Declarations and Premium Statements are due June 1 and June 15, respectively. Do you know what you are bringing to Fair?

Good catch, Lizzie

Dog 4-H met tonight. A good group of kids turned out, even though we seem to be missing a few :( C'mon Oliver and Jake and Ben. We miss you.

Lizzie had a chance to practice with Ashley. This went much better than with hyper Bo. We'll have to try that again!

On the way home, Lizzie and I were talking about upcoming end of the year school activities and we realized that we can't host poultry 4-H tomorrow night. Hope we can reach everyone to let them know. A good reason to check the blog often!

A Poultry Post

Julie Kenney forwarded to me an email from Kent County 4-H and asked me to distribute this information to all of you.

"There is much discussion in the media today about Avian Influenza, otherwise known as "bird flu". It is important that Michigan residents understand the real issues of this disease, what is true, and what isn't. To address this issue, MSU Extension Emergency Management has put together. . ." a website with a variety of links to information on Avian Influenza.

Ask Mr. Lockwood if he thinks any of this information will be a judge's question at the fair!

Also, there are some new guidelines that you should be aware of. Mr. Lockwood will go over those at the next meeting.

A knitting challenge

Julie emailed me recently and asked me if our knitting club would be interested in participating in the Red Thread Project (click on skip intro to get into the website). I had heard of the project, and I have been working (periodically) on a hat to donate. Initially I was concerned that our knitters don't have enough experience/knowledge to knit a hat, but after thinking about it, maybe you do. So I am challenging all of us, or at least the adults and the older knitters, to take up your needles in support of a good cause.

The Red Thread Project is collecting hand-knit hats to be donated to cancer patients. Cancer patients often lose their hair during chemotherapy, and receiving a hand-knit hat to wear during the process is a good way to feel love and support.

I'm using a top-down hat pattern. I am using some hand-spun yarn and as I neared the "ear" part of the hat I realized that I would run out of yarn before it was long enough to cover the ears. So I consulted my Knitting Over the Edge book by Nicky Epstein and found a great two-color pattern that I am using to help prolong my yarn supply. I think it will work perfectly. Pictures soon.

In other club news, Lizzie was the only member to attend the dog club last night :( Bo and Lizzie are having a little trouble coming together as a team. Are others of you struggling with feeling like you can be successful at this? Comment here about your concerns. Learning a new activity is hard work. But you don't learn anything if it comes easily -- we all learn from making mistakes. So keep at it. Fight the good fight.

Poultry club is meeting tonight at our house at 7:00. I have no idea what you will be talking about. But since we expect rain, I expect you will be meeting inside WITHOUT chickens. We've had chickens in the house before, shoot we even had a goat wander in once, but generally I like to keep those things outdoors.

See you there!