You guys, I am so overwhelmed by all your kindness and your wonderful comments. I’m responding to all of them as I can. I find that if I write back all at once they tend to be generic and I hate that. So I’ve had kind of an awesome 2012 so far and it’s not even 33 days into the year! (Lets pepper this post with some goats shall we? It just makes everything better.)
1. My testers are JUST about done with my Coastal Waters Shawl which is turning out BEAUTIFULLY. They have worked so hard and so completely that this will be such an easy shawl to knit when I publish it. It is a study in slipped stitches and really fun and interesting!
2. I’ve just finished another shawl design that I’m pretty sure is one of the neatest things I’ve done because it was with out planning and just spur of the moment. I just really dig it.
3. I’m fairly certain that at least one of my goats is pregnant and that 3 of my sheep are which rocks my world.
4. I finally was able to string together 150 words for my Ariel synopsis to eventually put into an agent letter. It took the help of my wonderfully honest cousin, my best friend, and the Mr who spent a half an hour alone re-writing the last line but I think it might actually be what I’m looking for. If you’ve never tried to compress a book into 150 short words it’s pure torture. The first few attempts I had sounded as if they were written by grade school kids.
Through the eyes of the casual observer Portland may seem like just another city but just below the eco-friendly surface it’s a hub for forgotten gods, mythical creatures, and things that go bump in the night. Standing between these two worlds is the arch angel Ariel. Ariel is divine justice and keeps the peace between pantheons, creatures, and humans for as long as such things have existed. It is her job – and her job alone – to make sure that everyone who walks among humans follows the laws set down by the most powerful of her kind. Now someone or something is changing the game and setting its sights directly on the peacekeeper herself. Now not only is the lion of heaven in grave peril but the world itself.
Right now things are going pretty good and I’m pretty pleased with myself. I have some knitting to show you but I thought goats might be just the ticket 
3. Herman is still making funny faces and jumping all over ewes. I hope we’ll have some little red lambs this spring!
5. It’s been cold here in the mornings which is colder than it was last year but still..it’s December and NO SNOW.
6. I am trying to finish writing up Frankenfine and then I might be back to the real world. I’ve been lost in the land of farming and writing and now it’s almost Christmas and I don’t know where the time went. Soon it will be time for reflection and new years resolutions!
Aw My Mr. Dude. He does abide. You have to admit that anything along with his sweet bunny face is just adorable as can be!
Oops was not so happy about the adornment but I think that’s because it was a little big on him and kept slipping. In the end Charlie wanted it back and pulled it off everyone’s head until we put it back on him.
He loved it so much he wandered off to eat still wearing his tiara. Gotta love a goat that can accessorize!
Herman was not to be left out though.
In the end though I let them all get back to their dignified naked selves.
And Dude was merry!
Mr Wally knows he’ll probably never be subjected to such indignity because he doesn’t even like an ear scratch. He’s a sweetie face just the same though.
