Take Joy!

Another Order for Banana's Costume Shop

Eliza's school is having another circus—and, rather than be a clown again (because that would be too easy, right?), she's going to be a lion. And guess who is requested to make a lion costume? To be mailed, and soon, for the circus is on the 19th—apparently Eliza was worried that I wouldn't be able to make her costume.

So I spent most of yesterday morning at Hancock buying golden lion-colored fleece and a pattern (which was, of course, not one of the ones on sale. sigh . . . ) and various notions. (It wouldn't have taken me long ordinarily, since I knew what I wanted and where it was, but my visit happened to coincide with a bus trip by some school's home ec class, all of whom were making spring dresses.) Then to AC Moore next door to buy yarn for the mane, since Hancock is in the midst of restocking theirs and they had pretty much nothing. THEN to the grocery store and post office, and home!

I spent yesterday afternoon cutting the costume out (remembering, this time, to lengthen the body by 2" and the legs by 6"—she's still in a pattern size 4, but she's 4'2" tall. All her growth is going up, not out!); I bought extra fabric, so I had enough to cut a costume for Bella also, and a stuffed toy lion (Vogue 7760; I haven't made anything from it yet, but it was 75% off last time I was there. There's also a rabbit, pony, dog and cat, and they all look pretty easy.)

Now to clean off my working space so I can sew this weekend . . .

Kali and Ocie Share A Bed

. . . sort of. Ocie is bound and determined to sleep there, regardless of whether there's any room for her!

Check out The Friday Ark for more critters, sleeping or awake, sharing or not . . .

Feeding Time!

Here we have John feeding (or, in one case, attempting to feed) small orphaned goats.

Valentine loves her bottle! She still has to be caught, but once in hand, she drinks and rubs her head against John's coat, and acts as if goat milk replacer (which smells really odd, by the way) is just the greatest thing in the world!

Bootsy, on the other hand, wants nothing whatsoever to do with drinking from any old bottle—here he is in a typical pose, mouth firmly clamped shut. (His other common pose is mouth wide open and yelling bloody murder.)

He'll drink a little bit, but not much, and he doesn't look at all happy about it, does he?

Maybe we need to remind him that Valentine is drinking her milk, and she will grow up to be a big strong goat and if he doesn't drink his, he will be small and puny and unable to annoy other goats with any success . . .

Links You Might Like

I'm a week late posting this link, but go and read Jane's sermon on the woman at the well; it's an extraordinary piece. (And the rest of her blog, including the pictures of Miss Maya Pavlova, is well worth reading, too.) Her 1999 book, When in Doubt, Sing: Prayer in Daily Life, is being reprinted (this year, I think) and is one of my favorites, much bookmarked and underlined and highlighted . . . .

Thoughts on War and Peace at Adventus: just that, several short quotes and a much longer (and bitterly ironic) one from Dwight Eisenhower.

Did you wonder where John Edwards' supporters went? Here!

Casaubon's Book has moved—Sharon's new blog is here, and her latest post is about 'getting things done with children who can't (or don't) help'. It's a subject of which I have no need at the moment (thank heaven!), but you never know about the future, and I like her ideas.

Here's a very interesting post at Full Circle—Sia's thoughts on a pagan work ethic, doers and organizations.

And a couple of lists: a list of sewing and craft blogs at Suzical, and the first installment of Sharon B's list of textile art blogs here.

And now I'm going to retire to the kitchen and do some lamb sausage patties to store in the freezer (ground lamb on sale at the store this week!) and bake a couple of loaves of bread, and then work on some embroidery I'm doing for a bag pocket (this one). It looks like it's going to be sunny and warm this afternoon—maybe I'll go and work on the side porch where I can watch the cats and enjoy the daffodils.

(Thank you, everyone, for your condolences. I'll be answering comments individually soon, but for now, we really appreciate your thoughts. Valentine and Bootsy are drinking from bottles—her with enthusiasm, him only because he has to!—and I'll try to get a picture or two this afternoon when John feeds them.)