Christmas Family Greetings

The great big fist of winter has hit
Time to get out the scarves, hats and mits.
I find this year I don’t have as much time,
To figure out Christmas poems that rhyme.

But I’ll do my best to give you a clue,
About all that has happened and all that we do.
The first big thing I have to say,
Is I became ‘redundent’ and lost all my pay.

The College disappeared and so did my job,
It didn’t surprise me I didn’t even sob.
Businesses are closing in our little town,
But new ones are opening so I just won’t frown.

I’ve started my own called ‘Ye Olde Batt’
I’m milling wool, so how about that!
I’ve bought myself sheep and alpacas too,
Well you all know me, I need something to do.

So I am a shepherd with my very own flocks,
We give vaccines, clip nails and shear off their locks.
When I studied Philosophy at good old MUN,
I never thought I’d be having such fun.

The kids are impressed and Mike too, I think,
I do have to say that he didn’t even blink.
I want 2 alpacas, is what I first said,
But then they’re so cute, it just went to my head.

We have 16 animals, I’m breeding them now,
And Mike keeps on smiling, but he wants a sow.
I exclaimed, “You want a great ugly pig?
They’re smelly and gross and nasty and big!”

You’ll have to wait till I write next year’s poem,
or follow this blog as I grumble and moan,
I’m sure if he wants, we’ll have one next year,
Then our small farm will be really in gear.

Even Leah has gotten in on the farm,
“A horse,” she says, “A horse in the barn!”
She took up riding, on Rosie the mare,
with lessons each week, she hasn’t a care.

She has a good teacher and just loves to ride,
She sits on that horse with the greatest of pride.
Her school work too is good we can say,
We enter the teens this year and I pray!

Both of my girls give me wonderful pride,
They’re lovely and polite I cannot deny.
I worry the teen years will be a bad shock
But so far so good, my daughters just ‘rock’!

Shellsea too keeps on doing so well,
Her marks are tremendous, her art is just swell.
She wrote a story that gave me such pride,
Her talent is growing and can’t be denied.

So from this farm as the year passes by,
This Season of Light with God, is a joy,
We wish you all now, the gifts He bestows,
Joy, peace, and hope, with blessings that grow.

Merry Christmas with love from the Nichols Family

Ta Da

Here are the final results of all our renovations.

Ok so I like the red floor and especially with the new rug.



I added a little conversation area in the corner with the Christmas villiage above it in the window.



The computer is tucked nicely into the corner.



We always decorate the rail of the steps... it makes us feel like Christmas is all around us.



And finally the new table fits perfectly under the steps with the kitchen close by.
Perfect! I'm all done. How perfect is that?

Sleep In Heavenly Peace

The house has been in such a turmoil lately that I sometimes think that we will never get back to normal. I think that even the cats and dogs are beginning to feel the same way too. The cats slink around and every time there is a scrape of furniture they dive for the nearest safe spot. Duff, our big Wolf/Husky has taken to sleeping upstairs at the top of the steps as she wants to be near us but not when the house is so crazy.

Add into the mix, one large granddaughter dog, and you have complete chaos. A few years ago Duff found herself pregnant after a romantic interlude with a Black Lab. When the pups were born, we found that we had difficulty getting homes for all the them of which there were seven. Hubby began to plead with our friends to take a puppy. And so the Buddha odyssey began. Buddha belongs to very good friends of ours and when they agreed to take one of the puppies we agreed that we would dog sit when they travel..... they are now in New Zealand and we are stuck for the millionth time with another large dog in our very tiny house. It is -32 degrees and you can't leave her outside since she has short hair. Now over the years we have developed a way of dealing with this particular problem. Buddha sleeps under the steps. She completely disappears down there. But this time when she came to visit, the new kitten was not sure what to make of this new big dog.

Buddha is a wimp and so the cats and Tootsie have taken over her bed in this chaos.

On Sunday after the Daughters had a birthday party which they attended, we decided that the Christmas tree was necessary to add to the mix. The chaos in the house, was almost under control and we needed to add a tree to the craziness! Having found no tree in FSJ to buy that didn't look like it belonged in the house of the sevin dwarfs, we felt that we had better go looking for the perfect tree. Daughter #2 insisted that we cut a Pine and so it was while I was scarfing down breakfast that my eyes landed on the half eaten by a moose Pine tree that Hubby has been nursing along for the last three years. This tree (and several others in our yard) had been nibbled below the deer line (as I call it) three winters ago when the deer and moose were starving. When spring finally rolled around the tree and several others looked somewhat like a giant Q-Tip. A long spindly trunk with a tiny tuft of pine needles at the top. In three years the top has grown to quite a size. When I peered through the gloom on Sunday morning I spied that tree and made the decision to convince Hubby that with time so short before Christmas, it would be a good tree for our Christmas celebrations. He was quite willing to cut it down since it meant he didn't have to go trekking through the woods in -32 degrees.

We cut the tree down and took it into the kitchen to thaw. This was a big mistake as it was frozen with a lot of frost on it and that melting frost makes large pools of water, which on a laminate floor will curl the edges of each individual board. I am not happy.... but the flooring will be changed in the spring when we take on our renovations to the house..... When we got the tree in the stand after the church pageant on Sunday night we dicovered that this tree was larger than we had imagined...... argh! After 8 hours of sleeplessness I got up in the morning to once again freak out the animals with another furniture move. By last night it was done. The living room will not be changed again. It all looks good, even if I do say so myself, as you will see in my next post.

Flax Seed Fruit Cake by anonymous

Mix in your largest bowl - 11 cups of chopped dried fruit and 6 cups
of chopped nuts. Options are: citrus peel, cranberries, dates,
currants, raisins, dried apricots, candied ginger and walnuts,
almonds, sunflower seeds. Drizzle over this mix - half cup of brandy,
liqueur, sherry or other powerful stimulant/preservative that will
soak into the fruit and nuts. Leave this half a day or more.

Gently boil 6 tablespoons of flax seeds in 2 cups of water, then let
sit - this makes the "glue". Slightly heat to make it flow nicely - 1
and a half cups honey. Add 3 teaspoons vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt.

Stir into the fruit mixture - 3 cups flour - I use half and half -
white and spelt or whole wheat. Add the honey mixture and the flax
mixture and stir with a BIG spoon.

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line 5 loaf tins with plain brown paper and
rub the insides with margarine. Pack cake mixture tightly in the pans
(they'll be only a half to one third full). Cover tightly with foil
and bake 1 hour. Then uncover and bake another 10-20 minutes.
YUM! These keep all winter in the fridge, wrapped in foil or in
brandy-soaked linens if we want to get back to the linen theme! They
cut well into non-crumbly blocks of energy food.

Happy Holidays!

Ginger Cake by Marjo Wheat

Prep time = 30 minutes
Total cooking time = 1 hour

125 g (4 oz) unsalted butter (I use margarine)
_ cup Molasses (I use Fancy)
_ cup golden syrup (I use water – less sweet)
2_ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp Allspice
_ tsp ground cinnamon
_ cup firmly packed soft brown sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
_ jar candied Ginger, drained

1. Preheat oven to 350∞lightly grease 8 inch square cake pan.
2. Combine butter, molasses, and syrup or water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the butter has melted. Remove from heat.
3. Stir the flour, b powder and soda, and spices in a large bowl, add the sugar and stir until well combined. Make a well in the centre. Add the butter mixture to the well, then pour in the combined milk, ginger, and eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and well-combined. Pour into the baking pan and smooth the surface.
4. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake. Leave in the pan for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

This cake will store well for up to a week in an airtight container, and improves if it stands for a day or two before being eaten.

Hot Mulled Apple Cider with Cranberry by Renate Giesbrecht

1 jug organic Santa Cruz apple cider
1 cup Just Cranberry juice (it is straight cranberry, no apple or grape in it, nor any sugar)
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 orange, cut in slices
 
Heat all in slow cooker till hot. Serve in hand pottered mugs. Lovely!
 
Optional: add your own mulling spices, squeeze in some fresh orange juice, add fresh apple slices

Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread by Kim McTaggart

1 cup butter
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
2 cups flour
 
Beat butter with sugar until creamy.  Stir in seeds and zest. Gradually add flour.  Gather into a ball and chill for a while if sticky.  Roll and cut as desired.  Bake on ungreased sheets in 300F degree oven.

Easy Almond Wedges by Lauralee Life

1 egg - beat till fluffy
1 cup sugar
2 - 2 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup melted margarine
1 cup flour
Pour into greased lined round pan with oiled brown paper/parachment
paper/waxed paper. Decorate with whole almonds centered where you expect to
cut lines for pieces. Bake 350F for 30 minutes or lightly brown. Turn out of pan,
take paper off. Cool completely, then slice. Very quick, easy to make and
delicious.
(Recipe can be doubled)

Cavishe (great h'or d'eurves)

2 8oz cans of shrimp
pimento
red pepper
green pepper
1 stick of celery
1 sweet onion
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 package of flour totillas
pepper and salt to taste
paprika

In a large skillet bring a tablespoon of oil to heat. Slice the flour tortillas into strips or wedges. Fry for two minutes on each side sprinkling paprika and salt and pepper as you go. When they start to brown remove and drain them on paper towel. Continue until all tortillas are used. When finished store in a cookie can or plastic container. This will be good for 24 hours at room temperature and several days in a refrigerator.
In a bowl place finely chopped pimento, red pepper, green pepper, celery, and sweet onion. (Olives can be chopped and added too.) Soak shrimp for a few minutes in very cold water. Drain shrimp and stir into vegetable mixture. Pour lemon juice over this mixture, and let stand for several hours. Before serving fold gently. Serve in a suitable dish so that it can be dipped up onto the the tortilla strips. Enjoy.

How bad is that!

It is so bad that when I just read my last post I realized that I thought it was the 19th when it was only the 17th ..... my head is just not screwed on right..... that's what Christmas does to me.

The church pageant is tomorrow night and so we have been busy prepping for that. I spent the day shopping and so that is all finished... except I bought lots of paper towel instead of toilet paper.... so I have to go to the store Monday and do that. I'm pleased to say that there is no one else to shop for. I am still waiting for Hubby's gifts to come in the mail but at least I have a couple of things for him.

We are finished with the setting up of the furniture and painting the floor but we still need to decorate the house for Christmas.... we will be working on that tomorrow and Monday.

Hubby and I decided to have an open house on the 29th of December so I am going to have to start thinking about getting some cooking done for that. Tuesday will be my day for wrapping and cooking. I also have to get the Turkey for Christmas day... can't forget that or I'll be like Dave from the Vinyl Cafe.

I thought you might like to try some of my favorite recipes for the holiday season... I will post some here over the next few days.

I'm starting to feel more organized. As soon as the tree is up I will post picture of my little abode. At least I now know what day it is....

Meanwhile, watch over the next few days for yummy recipes that I will be working on.....

Insanity

It's the 19th.... aaaaahhhhh! When I last wrote here I was not sure the red would be ok. It is growing on me. I am slowly getting used to it and it is better now that the whole floor is finished. I just finished the floor today. I am waiting patiently for the floor to dry so that I can get the furniture back into place. That is my job for tomorrow. The new furniture looks great so far. It fits well in the house and we all appreciate the couch-like qualities of the corner dining set. I sometimes wonder if my head is screwed on right when I take on these insane ideas, like painting your floor a week before Christmas. But here I am proving to the world, my insanity by blogging about one of my dumber ideas. Hubby must love me to put up with all of my insanity. Speaking of Hubby, I am hoping that Hubby will cut the shelves for our Christmas villiage. I am hoping that then I will feel like I am starting to get things done.

I love my Christmas villiage. I made it when I was first married. I ordered the pieces from Mary Maxim. They were unpainted pre-cast ceramics which I painted.... of course I had to paint them in my own way and ignored the instructions...... there was lots of room for creativity. I would mix the paints up and create new colours, I would dab the paint on instead of making smooth strokes. I enjoyed every minute of making them. They have always been a source of pride. When we moved into our very small house we had no clue as to where we would put my Christmas villiage but it was a must.... and so it went up regardless of having room for it. Over the years it has been moved from one corner and set of shelves to another more appropriate spot as our house morphs. This year he villiage has grown to an impossible size and so we are puting shelves in the windows so that it can be both indoor and outdoor decoration.

We always deck the rails of the steps with garland and ornaments. Over the years we have collected so many ornaments and many of them have a lot of nostalgia attached to them and so, even though we say every year that we will alternate them year after year, when the time comes to actually choose we end up breaking down and using them all. Our house ends up looking like a Christmas bomb has hit. We don't put up our Christmas stuff until late but we are late taking it down too.

When we moved to the mainland we were surprised that people didn't know what old Christmas day was. Old Christmas day has as much meaning for us as does the 25th. We celebrate all over again.... but instead of celebrating by decorating, we do the opposite... we celebrate by taking down. We hang old stockings and give gift just like on the real Christmas. Some people know it as Ukranian Christmas but for us it is old Christmas day. Our tradition of celebrating old Christmas day started when the girls stopped believing in Santa a few years back.... I had alway celebrated it but not with gifts. The girls were so upset that Santa was Dad and me, that we felt something needed to be done to end Christmas on a better note.

Christmas has been odd this year. Normally I'm further ahead with this than I am this year. But somehow I've managed to let things get away from me. I panic whenever I look at the gifts that are coming in in the mail.... gifts from people that I have gifts for too. Only the gifts that I have for them are not in the mail, gifts that are not even wrapped yet. I've reached the point in the calendar year where I just don't care about dates any more. I've passed panic! It's all about us now. If I don't get all my away gifts in the mail till the 24th, so be it. I'm late. Big deal. It's the 19th and I am resigned to the fact that I will once again be the person that everyone shakes their head at because I just can't meet deadlines. But that is ok. because on Christmas morning I won't have any of those people to listen to.... now it is just about us. Once I get to this point I throw my hands up in the air and say "come what may!" Christmas starts to be fun. My family is so laid back it will be alright I think. Nine days left. Woo Hoo!!!!! Soon it will be all over..... Our family away will just have to enjoy their gifts on Olde Christmas Day instead. Maybe I can start a new tradition. How cool is that? Maybe I'm not so insane after all.

Knit Night

I just want to take a day and not talk about decorating for a moment. Last night I went to knit night and we had a good group of ladies out for that. There's L who is a Grandma and knits the sweatest little sweaters for her grandkids and is now working on sweaters for her grand puppies. Then there is P who is a new knitter and astounds me with how quickly she catches on to the different patterns she tries. She started out with a little square out of handspun wool that I had spun and given her for practice. Then she graduated to plain cotton wash cloths then on to neatly patterned wash cloths and then on to a scarf made with eyelash yarn.... not for the faint of heart that eyelash yarn. So then when I asked her if she wanted me to bring in a few easy patterns for beginner knitters she said her next project would be a sweater with cables..... good girl, I'm thinking.. jump right in. A and M were missing last night. : ( B dropped in and didn't have knitting but it is always good to have her as she is such a great one for keeping the chatting going. Then V had brought along her crochet and was working on bookmarks. They were lovely delicate things. Very pretty. The last young lady that was there was N and I was devastated to realize that last night would be her last time with us. She was in our comunity for a short time and just fit right in with the knitters. She is the person who brought the most devastatingly lovely sox and got me turned on to trying some. Last night she was working on another lovely pair of men's sox. (I think they were men's.) She was getting very frustrated with the pattern as it was a new style of heal that she had never tried and it was not working out to her liking. We won't get to see the finished item which is very sad. But I do wish her well and hope that she comes back to our little town again.... I don't know if that is possible though the company that she worked for here does move their people around so you never know. She is getting married in the summer so I guess a lot will depend on her future with him. But she is a spinner and I do hope I run across her sometime in that world. If you read this N all the best in your future endeavours.

I am so glad I started knit night. I come home rejunenated and ready to keep going. I would miss it terribly. We have become a great group of friends and cohorts. Knitting is a good thing for bringing people together.

That leaves me. I was plying the red for my hat that has to be finished tomorrow. I will do the weaving today and the felting. I may even have to pull a late night. We will see. Tomorrow is the day of the great adventure into the world of Christmas for spinners and weavers. Our potluck and gift exchange is something I look forward to each year. I must remember to bring the camera and take lots of pictures. Decorating the house will have to be put on hold for now. The couch langours and the floor stinks, the fumes are overwhelming..... but oil paint is like that. It is about 1/3 finished. I will have to stay home on Sunday to work on it. Stay tuned....

Red!

Hmmmmm! Not sure about this!

New Skin And Other Stuff

After skipping a night due to babysitting problems, Hubby and I got back at the new skin for the couch, last night. Very quickly we were able to get the fabric on the back of the couch. I have to cut a fitted piece for the side of the couch today and then I have to start covering the cushions. That is my job for today. Hubby is picking up new nuts and bolts to replace older ones that were stripped. I am hoping to be finished with it by Friday. Perhaps that is wishful thinking but I am a wishful person. Meanwhile my art hat is progressing slowly. I have finished the spinning for it and now have to work on the felting. My art hat is for the annual gift exchange that the NPSW guild has. I should have had this done a while ago but just couldn't get inspired.... nothing like a deadline to inspire.

I have decided on a colour to paint the floor.... thanks to you who emailed me with suggestions. The floor will be a high gloss Fire Red. I don't think I will get time to be fancy smancy with it. Hubby has promised to get 1/4 round in half inch to finish the flooring in the kitchen so that things look finished. When will this all happen? Before Christmas? Stay tuned!

A New Skin #2

So Hubby and I didn't get as far as I hoped. The bottom of the couch is done with extra padding. The back has the extra padding, but not it's outer shell. So far so good. Hubby is not too thrilled with having to do this as he hates anything that smacks of building projects. But though I'm not gone on doing this so close to Christmas, I am glad it is getting done. I think we will finish the skeleton tomorrow and then I will have to finish the cushions. Once the couch has it's new upholstery it will be up to the new furniture that is coming on Saturday.

Next project before Christmas will be the floor. We have taken the carpet up three years ago with the intention of laying new flooring in the near future. Problem is, flooring is horifically priced and so two years have passed and still the flooring is not done. I, at one point, got the idiotic idea to make flooring of our own by making plywood tiles and wood burning them with vines. I have not got the satmina to complete 175 tiles. I did 49 tiles and stalled. So I have decided to keep the tiles done for my studio room when it is built next year. I just need 35 more tiles. The ones that I completed look really great. I just wish I could do enough for the whole house. But I'm a realist.

Meanwhile we have been walking on rough plywood subflooring in the living room... the kitchen has a nice laminate flooring on it and the front porch has vinyl tiles. A friend recently redid their flooring and so we are jealous. It looks great. They used vinyl plank flooring from Home Depot. We want that through our whole house. It looks like wood until you get down on your hands and knees and look closely. But who's going to do that? The laminate flooring in our kitchen is getting old and chipped and we were very disappointed in it's ability to stand up to the wear and tear of our family. The flooring in the bathroom is in bad shape too from a leak we sprung from the laundry area two years ago. So we want to do our whole house like theirs.

Meanwhile we can't afford it right now. Sooo.... I have to paint the plywood subfloor between now and Christmas if the new furniture is going to make a debut. One of the reasons I like living in a log house is because I don't have to change colours every few years. BUT I HAVE TO CHOOSE A CCOLOUR FOR THE FLOOR!!!! I'm not sure I can do that. I walk into those paint places and all those paint chips get me excited. I start to lose any sense of reality and then..... and then..... I just can't do it!

Ask me what my favorite colour is and I start to panic.... I love them all.... it depends on the day... on my mood... what the weather is like.... I just can't choose.

So, I chose green for the couch now I need to decide what to colour the floor. Help!!!

Getting A New Skin

I am giving our couch a new skin. We had gotten a great shaker style couch from a friend but the fabric was in sad shape. So my plan was to replace the fabric at some point in time. As Christmas creeped closer and I had so much to do I decided that I would just throw a great quilt over it for Christmas and ignore it till after the Yuletide season.

Daughter #1 had her 13th birthday over the weekend and I had promised her a day of shopping and a movie at the theater (that's a big deal in our house) and dinner after. So we headed to the nearest shopping mall to do some shopping. When we were done, Hubby and I wanted to look at TVs for a family Christmas gift. We headed to the nearest furniture store TO HAVE A LOOK. Shortly after we left with the agreement to pick up our TV with a new Dining set as well, next week. I came home and spent the next few days staring at my depressing living room trying to figure out what I was going to do to make the old suitable to receive the new. Thus, the new skin for the couch. This is what it used to look like... well it was the best picture I had.... I can't help my couch always having piles of wool.... : )


This is what it looks like now.

I am hoping to finish it in the next few days. Then I have to paint the floor. Yeesh!!! Is this insanity or what? I thnk I should take a picture of the living room now and the living room after I am done. It could be interesting.

Knitting...? I wish!

I have several projects on the go right now. I haven't finished the second Baby Surprise sweater and I am still working on the wristlets for Daughter #1, I have started spinning the fibre for Daughter #2's wristlets, and I still am working on the scarf from the workshop from several weeks ago. I even have a pair of socks on the go. So why all these projects? It's a bit of a long story.

I don't seem to be able to get the Baby Surprise sweater done right now, it is not inspiring me any more. So I have put it aside until after Christmas since other projects are taking priority with Christmas looming. The wristlets are the main priority right now and even the scarf seems to have been set aside because of the wristlets. The sox are a story all unto themselves. I have never knit sox before but one of the ladies who comes to knit night brought along a pair of sox that she was working on. They are lovely purple things with a pretty vine growing up the side and I was so taken with the lovely, fine, merino yarn which she is using, I felt the burst of an urge that I have not had before. Suddenly the need for socks became foremost in my mind. Now I am not crazy enough to take on those very fine lovely things that she was making, so instead I'm making lace ones that are based on the lace pattern that I am using for Daughter # 1' wristlets. In other words, I don't have a pattern!!!!

I guess I need to clarify that somewhat. I began my sock odyssey by borowing a sock pattern book called "Knitting Circles Around Socks" by Antje Gillingham. A wonderful book explaining how to knit two socks at the same time on two circular needles. I was intrigued, I was charmed, I was hooked. I took the book home to study closely. I copied one of the patterns and then I proceeded to knit a sock doing my own thing using four dpns and concocting my own pattern.

I'm a freak... I may have mentioned that.

I never do anything by halves. I always jump in feet first and figure it out as I go along.... I think it is called FLYING BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS. I don't just fly, no, I manage to grab the hang glider with a broken wing and remember my helmet just as I leap into the great beyond. So here I am now trying to adapt the patterns I have to accomodate the yarn I'm using and the fact that my socks are on four dpns and not on 2 circulars as they should be all add up to aaaaahhhhhh! Oh hell, I'm smart, I know I can do this. It will all work out I'm sure.... They may just be too big or have the heal on the side but I'm sure I can do it.

The sock thing came of necessity this weekend when I locked myself out of my vehicle and then left the keys 93 km away. How did I do this..... suffice it to say that Hubby will not let me live it down. I have a very good reason... I was distracted by Pops (my father) who is in the hospital and I was distraught. It would take a whole other blog to explain.... all I can say is that it involved a scheme to save Hubby and me a tank of gas and me a long trip driving on roads that were dark and moose ridden, and a change in jackets.... let me offer you this advice as a lesson well learned. WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR JACKET MAKE SURE YOUR CAR KEYS ARE IN THE NEW WINTER JACKET POCKETS!

Anyway, the jist of the story is that my knitting was left in the vehicle all weekend until I could get the keys delivered to me. So what is a knitter to do, I ask? My method of fixing this problem was to go buy new dpns and yarn and start a new project.... enter sox.

WARNING: I don't suggest FLYING BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS, someone might get hurt!

Sheep again!

I'm tired of watching sheep do the dirty. The wrong thing to do is place the paddock for the sheep just outside your window. Though the fence that keeps them contained is 50 or more feet away from the house it is still there plain as plain sheep eating, sheep lying down, sheep eating snow, sheep going in the barn, sheep chewing their cuds, yes and sheep doing the dirty. It is breeding season and the ram is in the paddock with the ewes. Make no mistake, there will be lambs in the spring unless he is shooting blanks which I won't know yet. I almost feel sorry for the gals.... actually, no I don't. I've never seen a bigger bunch of harlots in my life. I think if they could wear fishnet stockings and lipstick they would. The ram, whose name is Oscar, is quite the gentleman about it and so he services them when need be and then gently nudges them to move along. He follows them around quite closely but I don't think he's overzealous. He just does the job matter of factly and without needing accolades. I think if I could personify him he would wear a bowler hat and carry a walking cane quite jauntily. He's quite British in his demeanor. He doesn't go from one sheep to the next either, just services one for the day and then on to the next. I'm not sure but it probably has something to do with the fact that the ewes are not all cycling at the same time.
It's all quite scientific and rather laid back. I wasn't sure what was going to happen when he went in the paddock with them.

So the sheep seem to be doing what needs to be done. I'm just getting tired of watching. I feel like a peeping Tom when I happen to look up from breakfast or making the bed and there they are going at it again. I'm thinking the paddock somewhere else would have been a good idea.

I have one wristlet finished but don't have a picture to upload today. My digital camera has decided to die on me.... actually it is the rechargable batteries. They won't hold a charge any longer. I noticed this recently when I replaced the batteries with freshly charged batteries right out of the battery charger and the camera turned on and then turned off right away. I remember thinking, "Well, that was rude!" Now I have managed to get the camera to last for the length of time it takes to take one picture, and I had better have everything set up so the picture is right the first time or else... you know, lighting and all that stuff. So this weekend while I am Christmas shopping, a new set of rechargeable batteries is on my list of necessities.

I took my wristlet to knit night and am pleased to say that they were met with approval. It is rather embarrassing though to go on about hating dpns and then show up with a project that requires them. Oh Daughter #1 if you only knew what I do for you. It is not my choice of colours I mean orange yellow and green... yuck! But Daughter #1 likes it and they are for her. Actually they are turning out better than I expected. I may make myself a pair. I just will use different colours. I've got some lovely polwarth rovings that I bought from Rovings. I think it is called Autumn Blaze. It is a combination of golds, roses and purples. Anyway, I am away for the next few days and so when I get back I will have batteries for the camera and then I will be able to post pictures of wristlets, scarf and who knows maybe even baby surprise sweater #2. Ambitious, I know, but maybe I can knit while at the conference. If a BC Hydro Engineer can do it, maybe I can too. Anyway, I'm off to get some breakfast. I wonder if there will be a peep show today!

New Blog to check out

Daughter #2 has decided to start a blog of her own.... it does a mother proud to see her spreading her wings and trying them out. Check out the links for Seashell's Artsie Smartsie Stuff.

Neeexxxttt!

Sometimes I feel like an assembly line. Finish one sweater and then start a pair of wristlets. Yep, out came my teeny weenie double point needles (2.75mm rosewood) and I cast on 42 stitches. 6 rows of K2, P1 and here we go with the next project. Today I will be finishing the spinning for my Noro scarf... is it a Noro scarf if you are not using Noro wool? And since I'm having numbness in my right hand and I'm getting a spinners nob on my index finger from pinching the drafted wool, having a break to knit every so often is a good reprieve from the numbness. So out come the wristlets. I think the next spinning project will be the blue merino/silk for Daughter # 2's wristlets. Daughter #1's are the ones I cast on for last night.

The pattern that I am using Is called April May (CMO125) from Cider Moon at www.cidermoon.com. Sorry the picture is not better but I don't have enough know-how with the camera to make it better with lighting and clarity etc... It is a parallel rib/lace pattern which I thought would show up in the varigated yarn I am using. The yarn is a hand spun (by me) polwarth/silk roving that I bought from Wendy Dennis in Australia. Very lovely, and quite addictive. I have another 200gm in green/turquoise/gold to be spun for myself after Christmas when things settle down. Daughter # 1's wristlets are orange varigated to yellow and then green. Green is her current favorite colour.

I'm also feeling the need to felt a bag which is already knitted. I started a sweater last year in a fushia (Yuck! I hate fushia...) and have two 13 x 13 squares. It would make a great purse or sachel, especially if I felted it. I will pick up the stitches and cast them off and then felt it today. I will also need to braid a handle and felt it too. (That won't happen today.)

So all in all, a busy day ahead for me. Make a plan and stick to your plan..... that's my new motto at least till Christmas..... neeexxxttt!

Boo hoo, sob sob!

I am not on my working retreat. I am at home. This is a big disappointment for me as I was really hoping to get lots of work done. I am gettng work done as I have stopped answering phones and am pretending to not be here, but I am not getting as much done as I would like. There are distractions and I'm not happy about that. Oh well, things are progressing but slowly.

I am continueing to work on the project from my workshop of three days ago. I have spun the 9 skeins required and am working on the scarf that the yarn harlot has on her blog called the Noro scarf. Mine will be hand spun as apposed to bought fibre and that makes a world of difference, in my opinion. It is a rib stitch scarf over an odd number of stitches and stripes from one colour to the next in gradual changes. I loved it and so I am on to that project. I shall be spinning the fibre for the in-between stripes.

Meanwhile I am still working on the baby surprise sweaters. Those I have relagated to knit night on Thursdays, but even those progress. I am almost finished two of them at the same time. Then I will be working on the wristlets for the Daughter for Christmas. In between I am trying to find time to work on the quilt.... yeah there's actually two quilts that I am working on. One is for our church raffle and the other is for our foster child in Peru. Neither one is a large quilt. But both need to be done soon. But I digress.

Scarves.... I finished two back in the summer for Christmas gifts.... yeah I forgot about them when I said the other day that I had nothing done for Christmas. Then I did get the baby sweater from our September workshop (I gave that one so there is something not right about not finishing the project you instigated in the first place) almost finished before I ran out of fibre and had to stop until I got a chance to spin more. So that is 7 UFO's.... see I really need a retreat to get some of these projects done. Ah well... the baby sweaters will wait till after Christmas, the quilts can be finished in a day or two, and the scarf is just spinning, I won't work on that until after Christmas... I just want to finish the spinning now, while the going is good. Next I need to get a hat done for a gift exchange. But that is a surprise.

I have hit the wall for my level 2 homework. I have checked through my notes and all blends need to be labeled in terms of % so I will have to wait on the blends until next week until I can get an accurate scale. I can work on the skeins that are not blended and so I will as of Monday when I have finished my scarf yarn spun. That's today.....

Remember what my Dad says.... "make a plan and stick to it". That's what I am going to do. Retreat????? I'm going to have mine anyway..... it's all part of the plan.

Christmas! Ack!

Just over 4 weeks till Christmas...... Oh My God! I'm shocked..... I'm panicked.... I'm absolutely terrified! I have nothing done. How did this happen? The only thing I've done is change the colours on my blog. I think I had better get with it.

I've worked on my Christmas poem and have that done I think. But I have only one gift ordered and I certainly haven't received it in the mail yet. What am I going to do? Well one thing is for sure... I am not going to let myself think about it too hard because I will start panicking. Ack! Oh I let myself think too long. OK I'm now hyperventilating.

When I think about baking... and gifts.... and decorationg.... and wrapping gifts... and keeping my house clean..... and... ok... I'm hyperventilating again! Why can't I be the cat and just enjoy napping under the tree when it makes it's debut? I think that being blissfully unaware of the most overwhelming time of the year would be a really lovely thing. Being a bear and hibernating through the season of light and joy would be wonderful. This time of year sees me searching for a dark cubby hole where I can wait out the next few weeks in private. I just want to hide. Maybe I could find an interesting hole that I can stick my head in.

I used to love Christmas but as the years have passed I have started to dislike it more and more. I have come to the conclusion that Christmas stresses out all mothers who have to see to the health and happiness of their children and husbands. We want Christmas to be wonderful! Full of surprises and interest. Problem is we forget about ourselves and so end up hating the very season that we want everyone else to enjoy. We work overtime trying to get it right but then we don't. Or at least I don't.....

By the time Christmas rolls around I'm usually sick. I usually wear myself out trying to do everything. Hubby is not much help. Last year he had a trip to Cold Lake in November and spent several hours in the West Edmonton Mall. I told him to do some shopping while he was there. He came home with a game.... that's it.... nothing else. The West Edmonton Mall is the biggest mall in Canada..... and he couldn't find anything. I knew then that I was in trouble.... I knew then that I couldn't ask Hubby again for help. I am completely on my own in this.

"Have a plan and execute that plan," my father always says. So I guess my next step is to put the plan on paper and then put the plan into action. Gees.... I feel like I am going into battle... like what is that all about?

Plan on paper... plan on paper... ok I guess I had better get on that..... in the meantime have a look at this:

The great big fist of winter has hit
Time to get out the scarves, hats and mits.
I find this year I don’t have as much time,
To figure out Christmas poems that rhyme.

But I’ll do my best to give you a clue,
About all that has happened and all that we do.
The first big thing I have to say,
Is I became ‘redundent’ and lost all my pay.

The College disappeared and so did my job,
It didn’t surprise me I didn’t even sob.
Businesses are closing in our little town,
But new ones are opening so I just won’t frown.

I’ve started my own called ‘Ye Olde Batt’
I’m milling wool so how about that!
I’ve bought myself sheep and some alpacas too,
Well you all know me I’ve got to have something to do.

So I am a shepherd with my very own flocks,
We give vaccines and clip nails and shear off their locks.
When I studied Philosophy at good old MUN,
I never thought I’d be having such fun.

The kids are impressed and Hubby too, I think,
I do have to say that he didn’t even blink.
It started out, with 2 alpacas, I said,
But then they’re so cute, it just went to my head.

16 animals later, I’m breeding them now,
And Hubby keeps on smiling, he’s holding out for a sow.
I asked, “Why do you want a great ugly pig?
They’re smelly and gross and nasty and big!”


You’ll have to wait till I write next year’s poem,
or check out my blog at yeoldebatt.blogspot.com
I’m sure if he wants there’ll be a pig here next year,
Then our small farm will be really in gear.

Even Daughter #1 is in on the farm,
“A horse,” she says, “A horse in the barn!”
She took up riding, on Rosie the mare,
with lessons each week, she hasn’t a care.

She has a good teacher and just loves to ride,
She sits on that horse with the greatest of pride.
Her school work too is good we can say,
We enter the teens this year and I pray!

Both of my girls give me wonderful pride,
They’re lovely and polite I cannot deny.
I worry the teen years will be a bad shock
But so far so good, my daughters just ‘rock’.

Daughter #2 keeps on doing so well,
Her marks are tremendous, her art is just swell.
She wrote a story that gave me such pride,
Her talent is growing and can’t be denied.

So from our little farm as the year passes on,
This season of Light full of joy is from God
We wish you all now, the gifts He bestows,
Joy, peace, and hope, with blessings that grow.

Merry Christmas with love from the Nichols Family

Spinning Takes Time

I went to a wonderful workshop yesterday. I learned how to do a three ply yarn and varigate the strands so that they went from one colour to the next seamlessly. Neat! We were supposed to spin 9 skeins in one day.... not huge skeins but 15 gms each. I didn't get there. I managed to complete 3 of my 9 and I have almost enough for my next one which I will finish tonight.... I might even get a couple done. I love when spinners get together because we have so much fun. Yesterday was no different and though there was a push to get it finished we still sat and chatted about everything under the sun.

I will be knitting a scarf with the fibre that I spun but I bought enough to do another project and so I may just use that to do something other than a scarf like mittens which I need desperately. My leather work gloves just don't provide enough warmth. At the workshop it was very inspirational to view all the things that people are doing.

I am off again tomorrow to spend some time on a working retreat and am expecting to get lots done. I will be back at the Master spinner's program again. I am working on the third section of my homework which is all about mohair. This is not one of my favorite fibres to say the least. I have spun one sample in just mohair and it was quite the difficult fibre to process. My next attempt will be a blend of mohair and Finn wool. I have that stuff prepared and found that though I put it through my drum carder to blend it, it still needed to be combed and dizzed to make a really nice preparation. So I will be preparing that and then a blend of mohair and cultivated silk. My last mohair skein must be a textured mohair skein. I will look forward to this one as it is much more fun to play in such a manner.

Between going to the workshop yesterday and the working retreat this weekend, I expect to get a lot done. Inspiration abounds if you just give it a chance. In January I am looking at booking a two or three day retreat at the local Lodge. It is simply a devine place for a retreat. If retreats help to get the work done then I'm all for it. I'm only too glad to take the time to spin if spinning is going to take up my time. What a wonderful way to spend a cold snowy day. Spin a little wool... look out the window at the hoar frost and snow on the trees, drink a little hot chocolate.... yeah, works for me.

The Master Spinner Rides Again

Finally I have gotten the incentive to get to work on my homework. I am consistently sitting and making inroads into the homework. Hurrah! All weekend I have been balancing yarns and mounting the samples in my binder with a write up for each one. My binder is starting to actually get somewhere and look like something. This gives me a sense of accomplishment and makes me want to do more, which is a very good thing since when I look at what is ahead of me I start to panic. But the goal is not to look too far ahead. I just need to put my head down and plough through it. Section 1 done... now on to section 2.

I think it took the coming of the cold weather to settle me down so that I could get to work without wanting to be out in the fresh air. The thing is to keep my momentum up. Now that the sheep and alpacas are settled for winter (except Rammyboy who will have to be moved out with the other boys come December) there is not a lot left to do with them other than a 10 minute feed in the morning and a 10 minute feed in the evening, and, of course, the effort of putting in clean water every few days and also keeping the boys (alpacas) from chewing the necks off each other.

Sometimes it is nice to look out my window with a cup of hot cocoa after the rush of morning chores, and watch the snow falling gently, coating everything in a downy blanket. I love to watch the birds at the feeder on days like that. They seem so happy to gather their food as they call to each other in their never-ending relay from feeder to trees and back again.

Once Hubby and the Daughters are off in the morning that's when life begins. I settle down to an hour or two of spinning homework and then my mid-morning break of cocoa and bird watching then back at the spinning homework again. Lunch comes at noon and then back at it in the afternoon. A month of that schedule and there is a real dent in the homework. The results are a pat on the back.

If I stick with it I'll be done by April. I'm already starting to think about registering for next year's courses. Can't wait. I think that tomorrow I'll wash some llama fibre. I wonder what I can do for my project? Hmmm..... I guess I'll have to think about that.

Werewolves go OOOOWWWWWUUUUUU! .....

I am waiting for the hair to sprout out of my shoulders and the fangs to start forming. It has been so foggy and cloudy for the last little while that I had forgotten how close we were getting to the time of the full moon. Three nights... the night before, the night of, and the night after the full moon are usually nasty nights. I have little or no sleep for all three nights. Like what is with that?

I love the moon. I have terrible night vision so when the moon is full I really enjoy going out after dark because I can see for a change. Hubby's night vision is much better than mine and so when he walks in the dark he can walk just as quickly as he does in the day. I, however, stumble over every small rise in the ground and every pebble. It is quite annoying actually. But when that full moon comes out it gives me a mobility after dark that I don't normally have. I get a new sense of freedom that is intoxicating.

I can't remember when the sleeplessness started with the full moon but it has been as long as I can remember. I start doing strange things. I wander the house looking for something different to do. Knitting doesn't satisfy me and neither does reading. While Daughter #1 and Daughter #2, Hubby and dogs and cats snore peacefully, I rage around the house in a search for something that will grab my attention and keep me occupied during my moon-imposed wakefulness. Last night I decided it was time to do something about the faded wood burnings on my homemade dining table. I decided that reburning them was not the answer so I got out my indelible marker and redrew the chickadees, dragonflies, hummingbirds and vines that grace the circular surface. I finished it fairly quickly and started to feel somewhat droopy. So thinking I might be ready for bed I headed off to toss and turn in bed for the next few hours until the alarm went off. Today I have been dreadfully tired.

I know it is not just me with this issue. Other women friends I talk to say that they have the same difficulties with the moon. So what is it with us women I want to know. Why are we so affected by the moon?

I have to say there are some unlikely websites out there that encourage the frivolous of mind. These sites talk about outlandish things like moon boosting the telekinetic energy of the mind...... whatever that means. And there are other sites with equally outlandish ideas.

I would like a more scientific reason for why that beautiful full moon affects us so much. So far the one I like the most has to do with our makeup being nine tenths water and that the moon affects the tides.... I just want to know... are we tidal in nature.

Hubby says I am part werewolf. He keeps asking me if I get the urge to chew on raw meat. I don't know about that but that ball of white up in the sky that disturbs my sleep once a month sure is beautiful and I get lots done too. How bad is that.... I think I'll go have a snooze and prepare for tonight!

Remembrance Day

I, like thousands of other good Canadians, did the right thing this morning and got out of bed and dressed in something warm and headed off to the local Cenotaph to remember those who gave their lives serving this great country. My little town has a little over 1000 dwellers and about 10% come out to the Remebrance Day services each year. To me that is not really a good number. I would like to see 500 people out for the services each year. I think then that would be a number to be proud of. Remembrance Day did not always mean so much to me. For many years I saw it as a day off from school and an opportunity to stay in bed a little longer. I hated all those long boring TV shows that show black and white pictures of men in ditches running around with guns. It had no meaning.

On the wall in my mother and father's house is an old black and white photo. It is in a lovely old frame matted with an oval. In the middle is one of the only photos of my paternal grandfather. It was taken of him in his uniform just before he went overseas in the first World War. He would have been 16 years old. He enlisted underage by lying about his age. He was born in 1901 and so that would have put the picture being taken in 1917. It is a lovely old picture of him and I have often looked at it with curiosity. You see my grandfather died when he was 54 years old of liver cancer long before I was born and so I never met him.

I read the news each day and watch what is happening in Afghanistan and I think about the soldiers that are working so hard to make the lives of people I will never see better. They are building schools and hospitals and they are watching children die that cannot fend for themselves. They are watching old people not be able to get the medical care they need. They are seeing infrastructure of a country undermined by the terror of militant groups that don't have the right to rule with fear.

We are so lucky to be able to send our children off on a bus in the morning without the worry of our daughters being raped or their faces being burnt with acid in an unwarranted attack and our sons being stolen into becoming child soldiers or forced to become suicide bombers. We are so lucky to be able to walk into a clinic and get a flu shot free if we really need it. We are so lucky to be able eat a variety of foods and not just rice. We are so lucky to turn on a tap and get a glass of water and not have to carry our water for miles in buckets hanging from our shoulders. Our children and our grandchildren may not always have the luxuries we do. Our soldiers help to make our lives the way they are.....

Now that I have volunteered to help out with the Junior Canadian Rangers I have met many military people.... I pray that they stay safe. Especially Sargeant Lionel Paculak who is preparing to head over to Afghanistan as I write. I hope all our soldiers stay safe, as they fight to help those less fortunate than us. Maybe if we help them some day that will come back.... look at the Dutch who revere the second World War Canadian soldiers who helped them in the war. They are so grateful and we can only be glad we helped.

I'm proud of my grandfather for wanting to help even though he never wanted to talk about his experiences on the battlefield. It is good to be proud of someone who is fighting for the end of terrony. Take a moment and look up the soldiers who fight for us, who fight for others. You will feel so proud.....

The Fist of Winter has Hit

That swirling cloud mass that was threatening winter has finally reached out its fist and clobbered us with our first dump of snow. The sheep are looking mournful and bedraggled as they lie in the cold. I feel like I want to go out and lead them into my nice cozy house but then it would be horribly crowded and all that poop! Just kidding, but I do wish Hubby and I had gotten their shelters finished before the snow came. This will be our first winter as shepherds and so it is all new to us. We watch diligently for signs of ill health that may be weather and cold temperature related. I watch to see if their feed is enough by looking at their bellies and judging if this one or that one is looking skinnier. I'm worse than a new mother in my nervousness. But so far so good though they do look sad and pathetic. And it hasn't even hit -30 degrees celcius yet.

I have discovered that in the shock of no longer being in October but one week into November that I need new footwear for winter. My faithful old mules just won't do anymore.... Last spring after a trip where I was expected to stay in an army barracks, I discovered the reality of athletes foot. Never go barefoot in a barracks I was told two days in to my trip. To late. The nasty fungous had set in and so after months of trying to eradicate it from my shoes I threw them all out and stuck with my trusty mules that I hadn't worn until then. With the end of the athletes foot came a reprieve. The only shoes I now owned were my dress shoes, which managed to avoid the fungous, and my mules, which I have worn pretty much non stop except when I've been sleeping. So now the crunch is on me and I am shoeless for winter since my faithful mules have disintigrated to little more than rags. Out comes the catalogues yesterday and I spent the afternoon pouring over page after page of shoes.

Since my winter boots died last year I thought to buy them as well. What I discovered was that nothing is cheap anymore. The first pair of boots that I thought would do the job was $249.99.... OUCH! Like what happened to $79.99 and $89.99 for boots. I finally settled on a pair for the equally exorbitant price of $149.99.. that was enough!

While I was at it, I found a nice winter jacket and that was a little more reasonably price. I also found a pair of snow pants! Hay... I say... it was pretty easy to spend four hundred dollars in a jiffy.

Daughter #1 and Daughter#2 both need winter jackets too. So they will come next payday..... I think Hubby could do with new winter boots. Ok..ok...ok... that fist of winter hit in more ways than one....

Christmas! Oh Groan!

I received an email a couple of days ago that gave me a bit of a shock. Hubby's sister emailed with her usual annual request for suggestions and sizing information for Christmas gifts for Daughter #1 and Daughter #2. It was a shock to me that anyone was even thinking about Christmas yet. Christmas always seems to come as a shock as it always creeps up on me and I am left standing as the preverbial but dumbfounded elf. By the way, did I mention that I am in shock over the lack of time between now and Christmas? Shock...shock...shock....

Christmas has always been a problem for me, because I absolutely hate shopping. On-line shopping has made that problem a little better but honestly, I still hate trying to figure out what to get for everyone.

Now that we live so far away from most of our family it has gotten even worse. We now buy gift cards for everyone if they live where I have to send it through the mail.... why pay for postage for a gift. I'd rather spend it on someting that people can use rather than on getting it there in the first place.

Daughter #1 and Daughter #2 are getting harder and harder to shop for too. Their tastes are either sublime or rediculous. Take Daughter #1: she has decided to become one of the horsey set and so wants cowboy boots and cowboy hat this year. First of all Hubby says point blank 'no'. He's having western issues. I think he would be more satisfied if she would ask for a pair of logans and a sou' wester' hat. Then Daughter #2 is having Peter Pan issues and just refuses to grow up.... she has asked for a stroller for her doll. Once again Hubby says no. This was met with the rebellious look of a kid on the brink of teenagerhood. I expect I will have to drag her kicking and screaming out of her childhood and into her youthhood. She is a bundle of extremes right now... How can she want a pink frilly doll stroller and give such venemous looks at us. Pink and frilly vs. venemous viper... it just doesn't jell.

Some days I just wish I could sleep through the season of light. HA! Season of light my ass. It is the darkest part of my year and I wish I could be done with it..... Ba Humbug.

Each year at this time I sit in front of my computer and come up with a Christmas poem that tells about our year all in rhyme. Then I diligently print off 30 or so copies and send them out to people who in return, buy a cheap card and just put their name on it...... Frustrating if you know what I mean. I always figure if you are just going to sign your card and not even make the effort of writing a note, why bother. Put a little effort into it I say.

Christmas is the bane of my existence. People remember others out of obligation and not really out of love. What is the point? It all seems as if some giant snowball was pushed downhill years ago and the damn thing just hasn't stopped rolling.

I'm not saying that Christmas should be banned. I just want it to have more meaning. I want to stop buying lots of gifts for under the tree and buy one really special thing that has joy written all over it. Daughter #1 is sitting here as I write this and when we talked about her Dad having Western issues she said lets just buy one family thing and go on a vacation.... oh how I wish....

Vacations are not the easiest thing at this time of the year either..... how do I leave my aging parents to get through Christmas alone. No turkey dinner, no bright Christmas morning with the grand kiddies to visit.

The pressure is just too much. Now I remember why I think Christmas! Oh groan! Oh well I better start thinking about it soon or I'll be the elf with her pants around her ankles again....

Media and Me

I thought I would listen to the radio today just because I want to hear what is happening with the U.S. election. Problem is Hubby is not at home and so the reception sucks. We have come to the conclusion that Hubby is our antenna. Every time he touches the wire antenna the reception clears and every time he moves away from the antenna the reception dies, and all we hear is a crackling mess. Right now I have managed to get it to work because our cat is sleeping peacefully in the chair by the radio and so I was able to stretch the antenna to where he is sleeping and touch it up against him.... he seems to be doing the same thing Hubby does.... must be their attractive personalities.... With any luck Puss won't move and I will hear the news all day.

Living in a rural area has given us this problem. Normal connections for media related objects becomes a luxury. We have dial up for our computer, we don't even try to get TV reception, radio reception is at best, bad, wireless is available but it is hit or miss as to whether it would work for us. We have cell service if you stand upstairs or out on our deck, and our phone works just fine. Lately Hubby and I have been trying to decide if we have other options. For $70 a month we could have a satelite connection installed and then we would have radio, T.V. with over 500 channels (why anyone would want that I don't know), high speed internet, and as much cell service as we could want. We would be connected in a way that would jettison us into "like Star Trek time" as Daughter #2 says.

Media is certainly an interesting phenomena. When I want to connect with other people I don't think of doing it in person any more. I just turn on my computer and start emailing the people I want to talk to.

I have never been a phone person and what's more is I don't do well in a group setting. I don't think quickly and so I have never been considered witty. The computer allows me to overcome that particular problem by thinking about what I write before I hit send, post, or whatever. Email has been a Godsend for me because I am able to write as slowly or as quickly as I want and think as I do so. I can also answer those I want to and ignore everything else. I can be as witty as I want within my ability when I use my computer.

I like my cell phone. I like that I can turn it off and not be a slave to it. I can still get all the calls that come in just on my time instead of on someone else's time. Hubby and I are debating if we get the satelite connection perhaps we can chuck our phone and just use the cell. What is unique is that I am beginning to regard the cell as my business connection and my computer as my personal connection. Most of my friends I stay in touch with I do so by email.... most of the businesses that I need to stay in touch in I do so with my phone. I think it is great that I can turn off the businesses....

I also like my computer. It thrills me every time I turn it on and check my email especially when there is an email from someone that I like, even if it is a joke or a good wish for the day. There is so much interesting stuff out there and there are so many interesting people out there and all I need do is google. What can be better? With a click of a button I have the world at the tip of my finger.... how cool is that?

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Sometimes life feels like it is passing by in a blur. Take, for instance, this week. I haven't had a chance to blog here since Tuesday because I have had two trips out of town and I spent all day Thursday doing volunteer work. Time, from week to week, passes by in a never ending stream of busy-ness. I realized some years ago that this was not going to change. I kept thinking that next week would be quieter, but as time went by, and some weeks were quieter than others, they still steadily disappeared with an unerring scariness.

Friday was Halloween and Daughter #1 and Daughter #2 decided that once again they would hit the streets looking for an endless supply of candy. Livng in a rural setting, this is not the easiest task in the world since houses are separated by quite some distance. So, like any good rural dweller, we take our children (they aren't really any more) to the nearest town where they can join the frackous, and load up on goodies. We have done this for years. But being good parents and not wanting our kids killed or dragged off by some big kids, we would follow our children at a moderate pace and make sure they were ok. Till this year. Daughter #1, who is approaching 13 decided that having Mom and Dad in tow was dweebie and so she hooked up with friends and off she went. Daughter # 2 is having some difficulties right now letting go of her girlhood and so she decided not to hook up with friends as she didn't want to let go of having Mom and Dad in tow. So after school we picked her up and took her to Grandma's and Grandpa's for supper and then off into the depths of the night. We went to brave the ghosts, witches and storm troopers, not to mention the princesses, the taxi drivers and the vampires to seek the siren of the candy call.

I don't know about Daughter #2 but I was embarrassed! Hubby and I were the only parents dragging after an 11 year old kid as she went door to door. Most other parents were with 7 and younger kids. My 11 year old looks like she is about 13. It was scarier than Halloween night itself.

How does the time fly so that one Halloween you are escorting your very young daughters as their energy flags and they wear themselves out going door to door, to escorting your almost adult daughter because she can't let go of her little-girl-hood?

Finally, once my feet were soaked, I followed at a more discrete distance in the truck but Hubby didn't seem to notice that this was an issue. He, blissfully ignorant of the stigma attached to following and kid who looks big enough to be and adult, carried on with her. At one point she hooked up with a bunch of kids from her class. Hubby should have let her go and come back to the truck but did he? I'll let you answer that.

She had fun, so she says, and that is what counts, but I do have to wonder about how to get past this problem. Next year she will want to go again and I pray that she won't have to go alone, because Hubby will want to follow along again..... and that's the scariest thing about Halloween!

It is hard watching them grow up. It is hard to realize that Halloweens and Santa Claus and Easter Bunnies are a limited time offer. Your kids move on and eventually you and Hubby are left at home on Halloween night reminicing about the "good old days".

I have been thinking about how I can ease the Daughters into the next phase of their growing up, because it is not easy for them to give it up either. Next year, maybe we can have a costume party for them. Living in the country you can do that because you have the space for them to be inside and outside. We could do up the big shed dripping with scarey decorations and have a murder mystery where they have to act the part of the character they draw out of the slime bowl. We could have scarey themed witch hunts, where they have to go into the creaking woods and locate certain items in teams of two or three. But at least Hubby and I would be done with giving our kids a bad reputation! Waaaah! I want my little girls back!

Obsessive? Compulsive?..... Yes!

Wow! How did that happen... My last post was Saturday and here it is Tuesday already.... where did all that time go?

I spent my day in obsessive and compulsive behavior. I have been working on my Masters Spinners homework. Ra ra sis boom bah! I am really pleased that I am actually making an effort to get my work done but right off the batt (no pun intended) I realized that getting started was not going to be easy. The first project I started to tackle was to spin a worsted yarn from a fine fibre with a worsted preparation. Easy eh? Ah... no! I am now working on my fifth attempt to get a good sample and I am nowhere nearer to having what I think is good than I was when I first started. I could swear that I am a total beginner if I were to look at my samples. Not one of my samples will get full marks. Everyone of them sucks. Problem is I am now running out of the fibre that my instructor provided and so I am beginning to resort to trying a different fibre instead, and I don't like it nearly as much.

What is a body to do when one begins to obsess over something that should only take a short time. I could really be at this until April and still not have what I think is acceptable. And this is only the first question.... arrgghh!

I remember when I was in college, and then university, when I was right out of school (a long time ago.. well not THAT long). I would be given work to do and I never obsessed about it the way I am obsessing now. What has happened to the free wheeling, relaxed person that I was? When did I become annal over my work? And most importantly, why am I never satisfied?

I have been reflecting on this and have come to the conclusion that when I was younger I had nothing to prove. I was young and so had all the time in the world to prove myself and my abilities, but now I am looking back at the years behind me and see that too much time has past to just let things slide any longer. If I am going to make an impression, I had better get on with it now. If I am going to make a name for myself hadn't I better do it soon? I mean I am 40 something.

My grandfather's motto was, "there is no time like the present". He was absolutely right. When I decided to take up the Master Spinner program, I had been out of school for many years and all I wanted to do was be the best that I could be. I felt there was 'no time like the present". It was all about my interest and being really good at what I do. But suddenly I am possessed by the idea that I might be the next Judith MacKensie McCuin or the next Elizabeth Zimmerman. Has there been a latent desire to be a perfectionist just waiting till middle age to burst forth from me? Is that what is driving me to this mindless frenzy of perfection? Am I obsessive and compulsive?

I just want a 5 out of 5 worsted skein from a fine fibre... is that asking too much? I don't know but I'm getting sick of asking myself all these questions.... Hark! is that the call of a baggie of merino I hear? Perfect grist... perfect angle of twist... perfect balance.... there's got to be a way.....

Everything works out in the end.... I think!

Today was a busy day. Today actually started last night! Our power went off, last evening, and so we were left to make our way through the evening hours as people did years ago.... with no computer or anything else that required electricity. By 9 p.m. we all felt that bed was our best option. (No wonder they went to bed early years ago.) Hubby had informed me earlier in the day that he would be going hunting for elk and so would require a very early morning. An early bedtime seemed to be the best solution. By 9:30 p.m. we were all settled under our quilts and peacefully on our way to la la land and listening to the wind rage for another night against the solid log walls of our home. The wind raged alright, as it had for the last few days. No wonder we had lost our power, there was a tree down across the lines between here and the nearest town.... Now while our log walls might be solid enough, we do have an issue with our tin roof. It is solid enough but, as anyone who has a tin roof knows, it rattles mightily in a heavy wind. There were times when it sounded like a 737 was about to land on our roof and then the tin would rattle till it sounded like our roof might take off like a kite. Our peaceful night was turned into a wakeful, noisy, disaster. At 4 a.m. I was no longer "sleeping" but lying and waiting for the time to pass till I could get up. Hubby's intention was to leave at 6:30 and so a 5:30 wake up call was in order.

When Hubby crawled out of bed, I'll be honest, I was somewhat relieved though, I must say that I was extremely tired. I followed him downstairs and lit candles as the power had not come back on as we had hoped. I knit on my Baby Surprise Sweater (E.Z. The Opinionated Knitter) until Hubby went out the door. Then I headed back to my bed to shiver until my blankets warmed me and I gently fell asleep.

At shortly after 8 a.m. I awoke to my kids slamming out the door to feed the sheep. The wind was still raging. I was grateful that Daughter#1 and Daughter #2 had enough initiative to do my chores for me.... that was great! But I faced the day resolutely knowing that my sheep needed their fall shots and our yard needed to be winterized. The first chore was to tie down the tarp that was whipping about brutally in the wind. This was quite a feat as anyone who has handled a large tarp in hurricane winds will know. Once the ropes were secured for that I cleaned out our tent trailer (thank heavens the wind had not destroyed it). Then the girls helped me to collapse that and secure a tarp over it for the winter. Hubby was home by then as he will not hunt in the middle of the day. We had a quick lunch and then I filled all the needles for the sheep's shots.

The lambs were easy. We were able to coax them into the barn and corner them. Each one had a shot of Tasvax 8 and a shot of Ivomex. Then we entered the other paddock and started to corral the adults. They were a little more warey as they seemed to know what we were up to. Greigg, my Shetland x was most warey and most wiley. We had tried capturing him earlier in the summer and discovered that he can jump three and a half foot fences with ease. So in trying to catch him this time we weren't taking any chances. Hubby discovered how hard flipping them is once you have caught them. The needle went into the soft flesh under the fore leg and since the adults only required the one shot, it was done quickly. A quick check to make sure that general health was good and off they went. Six sheep besides the four lambs got their shots yesterday and it was my first time as doctor to the sheep.

The afternoon ended with taking down the Daughter's trampoline. A day that I approached with serious misgivings, had turned into a productive one. Even my Baby Surprise Sweater is coming along.

Days that are productive make you feel good. There is nothing better than getting things accomplished... you feel like a success. There is a list a mile long with things that need to be done. The barns are still not finished, and they will be a priority over the next few weeks. There is a cloud in the sky that is still like a fist about to deliver the first blow of winter and I expect the hammer blow is going to come soon. The forcast is calling for snow this week so we are racing against the onslaught of winter to get the shelters built for the animals. In between are obligations for other activities like chaperoning and medical trips for the aging parents, (two this week alone).
But one day of success has given me the confidence that we will make it in time..... yee haw!