How Interesting... I've Never Seen that Before!

Let me tell you about the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees..... oooooh.... and a thing about love!

Yes this was the weekend of luuuv.

With a grunt and what can only be described as.... weird..... I actually don't know how to describe the noises ... actually I can't quite describe any of it.... it was all too foreign....

Let me begin at the beginning. It's the season for shearing alpacas. So on Saturday we started. I decided that this was the year that Mishka (my only female alpaca) would be bred. Coal was the successful applicant mostly because he doesn't have any relation to Mishka that I know of. Breeding works better if there is very little hair in the way, so with that in mind Teapot and I got down to it and sheared, first Mishka, and then Coal. We have a little fold/paddock that we can close off from the other where a sick sheep or a nursing and worn out momma can go. If there's an injury or someone needs to go into solitary confinement for a while then that's the place for them. When we finished with Mishka we put her in there and then we went to work on Coal. It generally takes about fifty minutes to deal with one of those animals from the time you catch them, get the halter on them walk/carry/encourage/kick them to the table, where you use a wrestling manouver to flip them onto their side on the table and proceed to tie their head down as well as both front legs and back legs. At that point you take a deep breath and get the shears. We have a set of electric shears and Teapot welds them very well but there have been problems in past years as the alpacas like to roll in the dirt and a set of blades per animal is about what it takes to finish. As a point of reference one set of blades will do all of my sheep. Teapot works on the body starting from the tummy up over the side and then forward to the front shoulder and then back to the hip and bum. Then he shears along the back bone and up the neck which is where the problem begins. When the blades hits that back bone and neck area there is so much dirt from rolling that the blades go dull almost instantly. That is why I now buy a set of cheap scissors to work along the backbone and around the back of the neck. I also give my alpacas a doo on top cleaning up any missed wool around where the halter is. Gingerly we then untie all ropes and flip the animal over who really wants off the table by now and is having nothing to do with co-operating. Once on the other side Teapot again ties them down and the whole process begins again. As soon as the fleece is off I begin grading it and separating it into different bags. Meanwhile Teapot is now giving the alpaca a manicure. They have funny feet, it is not a hoof at all... it is more like a birds foot with a pad like a dog's and two nails sticking out. These grow constantly and twice a year need to be clipped. After that, if their teeth need to be cut, we do it with a dremel tool and a piece of leather to protect their mouth. I squirt water at the teeth while Teapot cuts them and enamel flies everywhere. After that we give them a shot for disease and a shot for parasites..... then we untie them and get them back on their feet, lead them back to their stall and then we all go for a drink before starting the next one. We do two a day as we find more than that is just too much.

This year instead of leading Mishka back to the far paddock with the ewes and lambs, we brought her over to the small pen. Then Coal got his work done at which time he was lead to the small pen too. Daughter #1 and I sat and watched (I felt like a voyeur). Daughter #2 who was too squeemish took off for the house. Teapot was doing other stuff around the yard but was able to see. Hmmm.....

Coal sniffed her nether regions and Mishka sniffed his and they did that for quite a while all the while circling each other. About five or ten minutes of this occurred and just when the other alpacas in their own paddock, were starting to roll their eyes because it was taking so long, finally Coal got his mind around the idea that this was THE FEMALE and jumped on her hind quarters.....

She laid her ears back and wasn't sure about this but automatically went down on the ground assuming the position.... (it's a good thing I knew they mated while on their knees) He got down to business and sat there with a glazed look in his eye making the weirdest noises which I can safely say I've never in my life heard before. He puffed out his cheeks, he groaned and grunted, he sighed and wheezed all at the same time. But there was no doubt that he was quite happy. She on the other hand was kind of looking back at him with a look that indicated a cross between boredom, indignation and curiosity. I don't think she was against it but she didn't look like she was particularly enjoying the process either. This went on for quite a while..... a good half hour. Daughter #1 and I got bored and wandered off, but Teapot says they got up for a bight to eat and then went at it again..... then that was it, except Coal was a little wobbly in the hind legs for a while. It was all over.... I went out a little later and Coal was nuzzling Mishka and Mishka was obviously in love with him..... but then today they were kind of stand offish..... well I figured the fire works were over and so this evening Mishka is back with the ewes and Coal is back with his very horny brothers..... You would never know that in the womb of that woolly white body lurks a miracle in the form of an embryo... well at least we hope.

So there you have it..... 11 1/2 months from now hopefully there will be a baby alpaca.... which is also called a Cria.

I can't wait...... It will be something else I've never seen.

Panic

Awwwwwwww!

Sheep need to be sheared..... they should have been done two months ago.

Alpacas need to be sheared.....

The big j.c..... that's all I'm doing.

Level 3.... oh dear.... I guess I'd better email the college.... I'm going to need that extension.

Arggh!

Birds, Birds, Birds....

They're everywhere.

There are Cowbirds in the paddocks with the animals. I generally don't like Cowbirds much, because they are really hard on Robins. They push the Robin eggs out of the Robin's nests and lay their own eggs and then leave them for the Robins to raise. Mind you, the Robins are really stupid if they don't realize that their eggs are no longer there. Lately though, the paddocks have been full of Cowbirds. The Cowbirds turn over the poop and check underneath for grubs and beetles etc.... it's a smorg of yummies for them. Mmmmm... my favorite poop covered beetles!

Then you have the Robins who fly about the yard and then hop along the ground looking for worms. They find very few around here so they must be doing pretty good with the Pine Beetle since there are so many.

After the Robins there are the Swallows. There are tons of them. We have a nesting pair defending their young from the peak of the shed. I like Swallows except they tend to carry parasites none of which you want in your home. So that's why if I see them making nests around the house I knock the nest down and force them to go elsewhere.... I know, it sounds cruel but there are plenty of spots around our property to make nests without using the house.

After that there are the Humming birds. There are Calliope and the Rubby Throated around this area. They are mad because I keep forgetting to put the Humming Bird feeders out and they want it. They keep coming to my windows and looking in as though to say..... Hurry up..... we want food!

There are all kinds of Warblers and Sparrows out and around that never show their faces. You only know they are around because of the amount of noise they make. I often wake at 4:30 a.m. for a short while and hear the birds singing outside my window. It is lovely to have windows that open in our house again after so many years of having a house where no windows open. This is my first spring in eight long years where I can experience the lovely songs of the birds and the cool drafts of the breeze through my windows.

My deck is beginning to look lovely as the flowers take hold and start to grow. So with birds galore and flowers in abundance how can I not enjoy the spring. The sun is shining and Jiggs needs her walk so I'm off to enjoy a little walk in the spring morning air.

Get out if you can and smell the roses... or whatever flowers happens to grab you.... check out the birds that are soaring around your home.... time is of the essence!

Embrace The Rain

Rain has a twofold importance this weekend. First of all it will cut down on, 1: drinking and driving yahoos, and what I have been saying all along, 2: dry forest and forest fires.

Finally after lunch, yesterday, Teapot was packed so I took him to the boat launch where he launched his canoe in the pouring down rain. Daughter #1 and I watched him paddle away to catch up with his friends who had passed us only moments before. All we could see through the fairly heavy rainfall were bright red and yellow of raincoats and canoes as they paddled their way to insanity through the torrents of grey rain. We watched till they rounded a bend in the river and then we headed to town.

For us at home, the rain meant that we would be having a May long indoors. We watched movies.... all day. Daughter #1 and I went to the movie rental place so that we could while away the hours of wet in comfort. At about 5 p.m. I realized that the critters would need feeding and Jiggs, who by now was starting to act antsy, needed a walk. I grabbed a fleece jacket and took off down through the bush. Quads have beaten the trails to mud and as I was hauled along by a crazy dog I was sure that at some point the hound would pull me off my feet and I would land on my ass in the mud. I was wearing my ever faithful Dawgs which were not providing a whole lot of coverage for my feet and don't have really good grips. I know that was insane... but within moments my jeans were wet a good twelve inches up, my shoes were squeltching and my hair was soaked and dripping into my eyes. My jacket was the best of it all but I knew it couldn't hold out against the rain indefinitely either. So I did what any good Newfy would do. I embraced the rainy wetness and went with it. Half an hour later of being dragged through the mud, I was wet from head to toe and Jiggs was happy to be heading home. Tootsie, who had braved the elements and the grass that was taller than him, also was happy to see home. I opened the door for Tootsie to go in with Daughter #2 and get towelled dry and then Daughter #1 and I went to do the dirty deed of feeding the sheep and alpacas. Jiggs watched from under the deck because I think she hates rain. We fed the animals quickly, though it did take a good half hour, and all the time the rain did not let up. I wouldn't say it was torrential but it was a good steady hard rain.

We were walking back to the house when we remembered that Dreamer (the horse) had not been fed. We would need to drive to the riding arena to do that. So leaving Jiggs cowering under the deck Daughter #1 and I jumped into the truck and headed off to feed and check the equine. It's Daughter #1's horse... I drive... she feeds....!! I sat in the truck in my wetness and watched through steaming windows as Daughter #1 quickly fed and watered her horse and jumped back into the truck. We headed home to a thoroughly wet hound and hot showers,fluffy towels, and dry clothing. The rest of the evening was uneventful but we sure enjoyed our movies.

The rain kept raining and then somewhere around 3 a.m. it turned off to snow. I'm glad to see that the snow has melted now, but it has been a nasty long weekend and quite honestly I'm not sorry.

Every year for the last several, the weather has been absolutely yuck on the May long. It is not a bad thing. We live in a recreational area so the years when we have not had bad weather there have been accidents and that is a sad thing as every time I hear the sirens going out the highway on the May long someone has died. So all the rain is a good thing because it forces people to stay home instead of drinking and driving and doing stupid things while camping. Besides, all that rain means that my forest.... my ever loving forest, will be lush and green for a while yet when the sun finally shows its face again. So a good Newfoundlander like myself has to just embrace the rain and be glad that I am able to dry myself off again after getting thoroughly wet.

Hope you are having a nice accident free and lush May long too.....

It's Raining, It's Pouring

The old man is... no not snoring..... he's going camping down river today..... and it's pouring, and I mean pouring! We got a day earlier in the week when it rained quite heavily... then we had a day of sun, then yesterday I got up and it was raining again. It hasn't stopped. I'm really glad to see the rain. We desperately needed it. But Teapot is heading down the river today with three idiots..... ooops.... I mean peers from work who go fishing each May long weekend. I expect they'll eat yummies (two of the guys have wives that won't let them eat bacon) and there will be a beverage or two (the same two guys have a real love of good Whisky) and they can talk about fishing flies (you know the yellow whiz fly) to their hearts content. One of the guys is a retired fella and probably won't be around too many more years.... not because he's likely to croak but because his daughter who lives in NZ is about to have her first baby..... their first grandchild and if I know his wife (which I do) she'll be living in NZ once the wee baby is born. So I encouraged Teapot to go along with them and the Daughters and I will spend a lovely weekend enjoying the great indoors, while Teapot gets wet in the pouring down rain. But what's a little rain to Teapot eh!?

Meanwhile the trees which had stopped growing their leaves due to lack of moisture, have suddenly become green and lush. I gotta luv that! The grass is growing and "My Deck" is starting to look awesome again. We have been doing a little work in the garden this year in the evenings. We moved my two lilac trees to just out by the deck so that when they grow they will provide the deck with some beauty.... and a little shelter. I have planted almost all of my planters, and bought two new ones to add to it. I have bought a new fireplace since the rusted bottom was about to fall out of the old one. And Sunday, when Teapot returns, we are going to finally put in the steps for our new front veranda. Then once I finish the big j.c. (which is almost finished) and I get some more work done on level 3, then I will finish painting the deck which I had done 3/4 of last year. I will be able to check off one more job from my renovation list.

House renovations are on my mind these days.... we are 6 weeks away from the end of school and we are starting to think about all the things that need to be done on the house renovation that didn't get finished last year. I have tried really hard not to pester Teapot over the year while he was working at school, but once school ends all bets are off... I'm practicing how to pester without being an old bag, being an olde batt is bad enough. There's a lot to be done .... I look forward to making progress.

But first the rain..... and Teapot..... I guess I'm getting dragged into this whether I want to or not. I will take Teapot to the river with the canoe and his gear, and, no doubt, I will get wet.... still I can't complain.... rain is good... oh how green is everything around me. It's a good feeling to see all that green.

Rainy Day

I took a walk in the forest yesterday. It was a rainy day and so there was a lot of mist around and my feet were squeltching when I got home. The rain was fairly heavy... it pretty much poured all day and all night. The Crocuses are done after that amount of rainfall, mostly because it was so heavy. But the the Pussy Paws are doing really well..... best of all though, look what I found.....

Aren't they pretty? Calypso Orchids don't last very long and more often than not they are so short lived that getting an opportunity to view them in their natural place is next to impossible. I've found them before and tried to transplant them but it just never works. They grow where they grow and that's that. But when you find them..... oooh la la!

Enjoy!

Oh My!

Well she has turned 13 now. I'm the parent of two teenagers. Daughter #2 had her bitherday on the weekend. y youngest girl is now a teenager too, and while she has had a teenager attitude for a long time it is still a shock when you think that you are old enough to be a parent of two teenagers.... especially when you want to still be a teenager yourself.

For her birthday celebration, one of her friends came home on the bus on Friday and slept over Friday night. We did nothing but eat the whole weekend. We had barbequed pork chops and baked potatoes and veggies.... (D#2's choice) and then instead of a cake I had bought cream filled eclairs and they were deadly. We also had mini cheese cakes and chips and cheezies. They stayed up till 2 a.m. which was supposed to be in the tent trailer but it was a chilly night and so they ended up in the house. We were all tired Saturday morning because we heard them whispering until so late it felt like we had toothpick in our eyes to see what time it was when they finally settled down. Then Saturday morning we had pancakes and I started cooking because my guild was coming for the day on Saturday.

As expected Saturday turned out to be a busy day as there were thirteen on "My Deck". I had been planting new flowers until about ten p.m. the night before and I still didn't get it all done. So today along with the big j.c. I will have to get the rest of my flowers in the pots before they die. The d-mn cats have been peeing in two of my containers so I had to dump out almost all of the soil and replace it. Arggh ! Anyway, after all was said and done the guild brought food and once again I pigged out. We had a delicious day and a day of pleasure with spinning and weaving and checking out what everyone is doing. But oh we did eat.... lots.

Later after D#2's friend left, along came another friend for b'day party #2. Her second friend stayed up and watched movies all evening and pigged out on ice cream cake and chips and cheezies again. But this time as luck should have it they faded early, and Teapot and I were able to get to sleep earlier in the night. For this party Teapot made Cheese Blintzes for breakfast which I haven't eaten in many years. Then the Daughters (both of them) with D#2' friend, took off for a day of hanging out by the creek behind our land where they went swimming and wading in the spring water. Brrr! There is a great beach where there is a place to picnic and swim. Very nice. They got back at 4:30 and then it was quick showers before we all went to meet up with my parents for, what else?..... more eating! We went to a local restaurant for a meal and then back to the grandparents house for tea and presents. I'll be lucky if I didn't gain weight after a weekend like that. I did get on the scales this morning and no loss but at least I didn't gain.... but then I'll wait till tomorrow before I feel confident that I didn't gain for sure.

So today is Monday and I'm back to a normal schedule. It is overcast and we are all hopeful that there will be a good rainfall. We NEED the rain. DESPERATELY! A week of solid rain would be great about right now. Still there is blue sky around on the horizon and that is not necessarily a good thing as until that blue sky disappears there's a chance we won't get that needed rain today.

So I'm off to weave.... and work on "My Deck" before the plants fade from lack of water and soil.

I wish you all a good day......

Lament For A Forest

I walk each day in my beloved forest which sits on crown land joining ours. There are hectares of land in there where birds frolic, and mice and squirrels gather, where bears rummage, and foxes are furtive, where coyotes howl, and owls peer, but most of all it is a place where things grow. Always, the forest is full of shadows and green moisture, where rot and decay are good things, where moss is thick and spongy and a falling leaf or a buzzing insect is significant. It's a quiet place, a place where all things are gentle. In another life maybe I was a biologist. I love to get on my hands and knees and look under things in the forest. I love to lift a leaf and look at its back side. I like to pull up the moss and see the insects living beneath it. Sometime I will even sit on a stump and take off my shoes and feel the rich loam between my toes. The forest to me is life.
Yesterday, I went for a walk in the evening with Teapot and Jiggs and Tootsie the wonder chicken herder. It was a nice walk and I had remembered to take my camera along for the ride. I have been through there quite a bit in the last few days since Jiggs demands daily (and preferably hourly!!) walks. The forest floor is teaming with Prairie Crocuses right now and I have been meaning for several days to go and take some pictures of them. Last night I finally did that. They are beautiful with their soft coating of down. A little further along the trail there were tiny wee Violets beginning to bloom. I stopped for pictures again. Then I saw some Pussy Paws and took pictures of them too before moving on to a yellow flower that looks like some kind of grass.
It was while I was on my knees looking at the new blooms that I realized there was a problem. I looked all around me and realized the forest wasn't breathing or if it was, it was breathing very shallowly. No luscious foliage, no rich loam, and at a time of the year when everything should be bursting with life, somethings are not growing at all.

All around me had a dry brown look. I looked at Pine tree after Pine tree, at the decimation of all those majestic trees by the Pine Bark Beetle. Sometimes it is easy to look at the chartreuse green of the new leaves and feel that everything is ok. But it is not. Under all the dead leaves of last fall are dead Pine pins and where the sun would normally have a hard time filtering through, are streams of sunlight that are whisking away moisture at an unforeseen rate. It is fast becoming a waste land. soon the soft green light of the forest will become the harsh bright light of a pasture. I will miss the cool darkness and the soft light and quiet of the world beneath the canopy.

along with the obvious signs of forest death come the other more subtle deaths that we do not necessarily think about. For a few year I have been fascinated with the flowers that grow in our forest. The Prairie Crocuses are in their hay day right now. The Violets are coming. June is the time for the Wild Roses and the beautiful Orchids of all kinds that grow so quietly in rich loamy soil. There are flowers that I have not yet even identified... what about them? It is not just the Pine trees in the forest that the Pine Beetle is killing it is the lifeblood of so many species. And it is hard to watch.

In August they will come. The machines and the buzzing the axes and saws. The men with their heavy boots and the machines with their tracks will come and kill my friend the forest. I can do nothing to stop it, and probably I shouldn't try. The devastation of the Pine Beetle must, like a cancer be cut out. It is the only way to salvage anything but how can delicate flower petals survive the onslaught of boots and tracks?

There have been men in the forest. they are tying ribbons to trees and marking them with paint. I have been watching to see what they are doing and where they are marking because as luck should have it the people who are doing the tree cutting are trying their best to salvage what they can. There are areas where spruce live, there are areas where poplar live that will not be forested at all, and while this is a good thing I still wonder if the forest will ever come back. Will I still be able to find the pleasure of a cool morning walk with my dog on the trails. Will the breath of the forest be sucked dry. I take pictures of the things that give me joy, the flowers of the forest floor the trees which have become my friends. And I wonder.....

My Bonny Teapot

As most of you know Frankie is my nickname. (I'm not so free as to give out my real one online). Hubby gave me my nickname back when I first met him 20 years ago. I told him about my back surgery that I had had at the ripe age of 14. I told him all about the traction that I was in for eight weeks on a frame bed that was turned every 6 hours or so. The traction involved four nasty screws that went through the skin of my head and into the bone of my skull from which were rigged several pullies and a set of weights. Through my knees were pins about the size of a pencil and when Hubby saw the pictures of me lying in the hospital bed, which was the metal frame much like an ironing board, he said I looked like Frankenstein..... well from that Frankie stuck and I've been called Frankie so long now that I'm sure I don't know my real name. When Hubby happens to call me by my real name now it seems so odd that I can barely stand it.... yet my Mom and Dad still call me by my given name and I answer without blinking an eye. Some people, when they find out why I am called Frankie, won't call me it any more... but I like the name and I have a good story to tell.

For 20 years though I've wanted to come up with a nickname for Hubby. I think I have finally come up with one.

Hubby is renowned for his tea. He makes the best tea ever. Two years ago Hubby took his class on a class trip. While away, he bought for the daughters and me some very nice gifts, among which is a great teapot. I never knew how poignant that would become.

Last night I woke at 4:34 a.m. to a twitching, heaving, Hubby laying in the bed next to me (get your mind out of the gutter).... I knew right away that he was in the throws of a very bad dream.... so very gently I reached across and woke him with a little shake, then I stroked his back as he came through the fog of dreamland to the reality of our bedroom. When he rolled over to look at me, I asked him what he had been dreaming.

He put his head down on the pillow again and gave a great sigh of relief before saying.....

Hubby: I was fighting the devil to save you.

Me: Oh!? What happened?

Hubby: I told you to get under the blanket in our front yard and then we huddled there while the devil loomed closer and closer..... he was a big black cloud and it got really, really cold. I told you we had to think really good thoughts and the only thing I could think of was to sing......

Me: Well what did we sing?

Hubby: I'm A Little Teapot!

Me: : )

Hubby: The devil started to shrink and then Jiggs and I chased him away......


My hero..... I think I will call him My Bonny Teapot.

A Little Catch Up

Holy Cow! What a week. I haven't had time to breath. I'm up and out the door every morning at 8:30 sharp to walk the dog.... which lasts at least 45 minutes since we walk about 2-3 km each morning. She's a real handful as she has more energy than any of us in the house. We cannot let her off the leash at all since she won't come when you call her yet. She sleeps in our room by the side of our bed so we can keep an eye on her, and she is really good about that but at 7 a.m. she is ready to get up and go, go, go, and if you aren't.... well, too bad. She hardly eats any food but I gave her a big dish of deer meat the other day all nicely cooked and so yesterday was not good since she had the runs.... euuuck! She slept on the deck last night!

I've been playing catch up lately.... I've been working on the big j.c...... a lot, and I'm just about finished. I can't wait. I'll be so glad to see the end of that thing... I can't even tell you. The interesting thing is that I think I can make a fair bit of money making jackets of this type.... not exactly like this but similar indeed. Your first one is always a learning curve. You figure out all the things that are good to do and you figure out what not to do.... I had a lot more what-not-to-dos than good things. I am going to do more of these jackets but I need to first perfect a loom that will give me easier weaving. A rectangular pin loom similar to my tri loom would be awesome. You see, I would like to build a large pin loom and weave the body, but intead of woven sleeves, I would knit the sleeves for added interest. The sleeves have taken far too long on this jacket. I would also like to incorporate more colour and knitting the sleeves would allow me to do that in a way that would use stranded knitting elements. I love stranded knitting! I have to spin a little more alpaca today since I don't have quite enough to finish the weaving of the sleeves and then the sleeves go into the washer for fulling... and you better believe that I'm not leaving that washer for one little second.

Daughter # 2 will be turning 13 this weekend. I can't believe that I'm surviving and I have two teenagers practically. Yesterday we took the girls to town and went shopping for Daughter #2 's birthday gift. She wanted a new ipod and a stereo thingy (my description) for parking the ipod in so that she doesn't always have to use ear buds to listen to her ipod. Look out! We'll all be deaf after this.

This weekend I have all the spinners and weavers from FSJ coming for their annual foray into the wilderness. They always come to HH once a year and this is the once a year. I wish I had my animals sheared so that I could sell a few fleeces maybe. Oh well I don't think that will happen.

While in town yesterday we discovered that one of our tires was not wearing well and the rubber was about to separate so $600.00 later we had a new set of tires. We also need a wheel alignment but they didn't have the time to do that for us so we will have to get that done at another time. For a while now our car has been having power steering issues and so we have discovered that the power steering line has a leak and so that needs to be fixed as well. We also need an oil change which is long overdue. But the big surprise is that we don't have to do the brakes, which we really thought we would need to do. The brakes are still at 80% and that is good considering that we have over 180,000 km on our truck. She's a gem.... oh sh-t I think I may have just jinxed the brakes.

So there you have it. That's what my week has been about...... a little bit of catch up.... oh yeah and Queen had her two babies and we named them Zig and Zag and they are both butcher lambs. So I have 9 lambs for the butcher block in the fall. Anyone for lamb?....

Favorite lamb recipe.
Roast lamb (best with a leg roast) in oven in roasting pan with water (about an inch and a half deep) and use lots of onion.... roast in a 350 degree oven. In a pot on the stove bring to a boil, a little water (not too much), chopped rhubarb, sliced oranges, with some sugar. When it has boiled for about 20 minutes remove from heat and let stand. About half an hour before your lamb roast is done smother the rhubarb mixture over the lamb roast and continue roasting for about 30 minutes more. Remove roast and thicken gravy with a little flour water and stir into rhubarb mixture. Serve lamb sliced, with rhubarb gravy drizzled over it with rice pilaf or mashed spuds and vegetables on the side..... mmmmmm!

New Friend

Meet Jiggs....

She is a lovely dog.... lots to learn though. She's very gentle and has loads of potential. A little skittish as she started barking at the billowing curtains in my bedroom this morning after Hubby left.... I think she was hoping that Hubby was there behind the curtains. She's very lean and very strong and loves to go for walks and is a total mooch so we will have to curb that habit. We will have to teach her not to pull on her leash. We will have to teach her to come to her name when she is called because she sneaked out the door this morning when I was letting the cats in. She came back but only because I coaxed her with food. Mind you, she slept by our bed all night long and trusted us enough to come up the steps which at first she wouldn't dare attempt because they are open and are daunting for a dog. She has tons of energy so we will have to teach her to be gentle because when you give her a bight to eat she snaps it from your fingers a little too eagerly. She did jump up on the bed last night when I went to bed and snuggled right down with me with her head in my armpit, but she wasn't too happy with Hubby when he came to bed twenty minutes later, and Hubby promptly planted her on her own bed which wasn't in my armpit! But she settled down and slept through the night without giving us any grief. This morning we took her for a long walk down through the trees and all was good.

It looks like she will be happy with us and we will be happy with her too. Awesome! It's a win win situation I think.

Oh What We Learn

I started taking an interest a few years ago in my genealogy when my Dad started doing research into his family history. So far it seems that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. There have been many weavers, embroiderers, knitters etc... it seems in my family history. Dad was able to trace our family tree back as far as the time of William the Conqueror when one of my ancestors came across from Normandy with William the Conqueror as one of thousands of supporters and was finally made a knight under the the new reign. I really can't say a whole lot about it here since I hate using my personal information in such a public domain but I will say that there are some really interesting bits of history that I have come across over the last few years. Like.... I might be related to Spanish royalty way way way back, and that there are a few nasty backguards in my history.

One of the things that I discovered that really has no relation to me but does have a personal interest because of my fabric arts interest is known as The Bayeux Tapestry. When I heard of it the first time I was drawn to it and wanted to find out as much about it as I could. So, of course, I trusted my friend Google to find some information on this awesome piece of history.

The Bayeux Tapestry is a .5 metre by 70 metre embroidered piece of cloth that depicts William the Conqueror's activities leading up to and including The Battle of Hastings. It is breathtaking to see and is housed in Bayeux, France. It has survived almost 1000 yrs and is an amazing example of what was able to be constructed in the fibre arts.

Not much is actually known about the tapestry other than it is not actually a tapestry per se, but is an example of medieval embroidery techniques. It is on a linen background that was put together as panels and some of the panels are missing though we don't know how many. It has had a pretty tenuous past and at times was hardly likely to survive at all since it was almost cut up on several occasions.

We do not know who is the creator of the tapestry although there is great speculation that William's brother the Bishop of Odo was the commissioner. It was possibly made in Canterbury where there was a well known embroidery guild of some renown that may have possibly made it. It is a beautiful example of the pageantry of the time and was a blatant way of celebrating and marking the exploits of the new Norman king.

I am still doing research on this beautiful piece of history and am interested in finding out more about the embroidery techniques and fibres used in the embroidery. I downloaded a picture of a small portion from one of the panels of the embroidery to give you all a chance to see what it looked like, that is what you see above. If you would like to see more of the panels you can go here.

Have a look because it is awesome when you think about the people who actually worked long hours to spin the fibre for the cloth, spin the fibre for the embroidery thread, and actually pierced the cloth with their needles.

It gives new meaning to behind every good man there is an unseen good woman.

Love Those Lambs

Hubby: I just spent half an hour trying to catch that little white lamb of Fanny's.

Me: That's Umeko.

Hubby: Yeah well I don't know what it's name is but it just pooped on me.

Me: Ha ha ha ha ha hahahahaha

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful

And the fire is so delightful, and since I have no place to go, let it snow..... well you know the rest of that. Yes it is snowing. After weeks of fine weather, Sister Winter came back for a visit.... you know... it's that sister that always bosses you around and makes you wish you had never been born. Everything is white this morning including my stupid sheep and lambs. There's a nice heat lamp in the barn but nooooo they are all out in the snow getting cold. Dumb idiots! They mill around like they enjoy getting wet and their wee ones cuddle under the trees and generally look like they're miserable.

I've been weaving up a storm (no not a snow storm). I'm finished one sleeve on the big j.c. and am now working on sleeve # 2. The putting together of this thing should go fairly quickly once I get to that point. But it is looking pretty nice. I can't wait to finish it so that you all can see it. This morning I will get out my dye pot and have a go at dying the buttons. I am using antler buttons but am dying them black with painted plum coloured flowers. I want it to be beautiful. So on it goes.

I have had some complaints lately from family members who follow my blog, of not having enough pictures of the family.... that's because it is really hard to pin those gals down and so finally I managed a few pics.... they are weird but they are a great reflection of us in the morning as we get ready for school.....

Daughter #2 wears this hat alllll the time. It is about three sizes too big but she loves it so she wears it.

Tootsie loves to lie on the back of the couch and look out the window..... here's Daughter #1 with her head on him.... getting ready for school sucks for Daughter #1. She is not a lover of mornings... or school. Yeah this picture says it all......


"Could you please stop taking pictures of me......"

Daughter #1 manages finally to have a smile on her face in the morning.


And from here it just went down hill....




Bye bye!

Relatively Normal Bahaviour

I have discovered that it is without a doubt that sheep are dumb. The day that Ukelele and Umeko were born we had a ewe who was feeling that her natural instinct was to freak out about impending lamb birth and in an effort to avoid passing a bony bag of slime through her birthing canal she would like to steal a lamb from some other momma and take it as her own. Aha! Fanny was having twins she would miss one of hers.

This caused great anxiety in Hubby as he knew that when the inevitable happened and she bore her own, the one that she adopted/stolen would be denied and the real mother would realize the pleasures of only feeding one and said adopted/stolen lamb would have to be bottle fed by moi and Hubby which means late night feeds.... ouch! Hubby insists that this does not happen as he does not like his sleep being disturbed.... (neither do I come to think of it)! The antics were on to interfere with nature and have the lambs feed from the natural mother. For a while there it was like some kind of comedy show. Here's how it went......

Hubby jumped the fence when he discovered Queen licking the new born lamb. I'm quickly trying to enter via the normal way... by the gate.... Hubby picks up a stick and bats Queen away from the lamb so that Fanny (who is the real mom) can lick her baby and not be stressed about some fat old bag trying to steal her baby. Queen is now running around and around the pen trying to get back to the lamb she was trying to steal with Hubby chasing her and wacking her on the bum with a stick. I come along and he gives me the stick and insists that I should do this job while he goes and sets up a heat lamp for the new lambs. (New lambs born in the evening when it is cool (near 0 degrees) get a heat lamp in the barn). While he was doing this, and let me tell you it took a whole lot longer than it should have, I was having a face off with Queen who had now stopped running but was staring intently at the place where Fanny was now giving birth to lamb #2. Queen would take a step to the left and I'd move that way too. Queen would try a faint to the right and I'd head her off. If I turned my back for a second she'd run past me and I'd have to start wacking her again. Meanwhile all of the other sheep were baa-ing and making a general racket since Hubby was carrying something (a heat lamp) which must mean it was feeding time for oats and minerals. What a racket! I was roaring at Queen and generally trying to scare her off from Fanny who was trying hard to assert ownership over the lambs. The ram and withers were in an uproar and the alpacas decided they should fight over who got the best view of the general chaos in the far paddock. Once we got Fanny and her lambs in the barn which was the easiest part of all (just pick up the lambs, and it must be both of them at the same time, Momma will follow you anywhere. We settled her in the barn with the lamp and a gate across so she'd have peace and privacy and Hubby felt he should give her a bucket of water and sweet feed. Water of course because all nursing mom's need access to water and sweet feed because it will enrich her milk. Well that was when all hell broke loose. Sal who is half cow I think decided that no bucket would make it to the barn without her getting her head in it and so every time Hubby got in the paddock and headed for the barn Sal would thump the bucket right out of his hand. The air was turning blue and my job was to keep Sal from toppling Hubby and the buckets. I'm telling you Hubby must have felt like the mulberry bush because I was going around and around and around and around..... I almost fell down because I was getting so dizzy. I even tried going the other way but Sal wasn't having any of that. She just wanted the bucket of sweet feed.... I tell you those sheep are like the worst kind of druggy with a serious case of d.t.s going on. The whole gong show lasted a good 45 minutes and I'm sure the neighbours thought we were butchering them all in one go.

Vango (named for Vincent Van Gogh) was born a black boy (meat) on Saturday sometime during the day when no one was looking. He slipped out of his momma's butt with neary a to do and that was that. Queen is still waiting but learned that perhaps stealing a lamb was not going to get her out of the inevitable..... she didn't try to steal that one. She is the last ewe that we are waiting on. So far we have five lambs, 2 white girls and 3 black boys.

Saturday was spent doing chores in FSJ, as we prepare for shearing season. I picked up the blades for my electric shears which were being sharpened for another season of cutting. One set of blades for all the sheep and a set of blades each for the alpacas. Sheep have grease and so keep out all the dirt. Alpacas roll in the dirt and when the blades hit the dirt they go dull in two seconds flat. I wish I had an alpaca shower where I could wash them and then shear them clean.

Meanwhile we have found ourselves a dog. Her name is Jiggs. She is a Siberian Husky cross. She is much smaller than Duff but has similar colouring. She has a pointy nose like a coyote and is about the same size as one. She has a very quiet nature about her and she is a little aloof until you pick up a squeaky toy and throw it for her.... then she loves you. We spent an hour with her on Saturday afternoon and felt really lousy when we had to leave her at the SPCA. She will be released to us on Thursday after she has been spayed. She is 11 months old. I am looking forward to bringing her home.

I still miss Duff terribly and can't talk about her without crying. Hubby and I discussed bringing a new dog home and feeling slightly guilty about Duff. But I said that just because you bring home a new dog doesn't mean that you love the old one any less. I don't think Duff would want us to be lonely for her. We are an animal family and our family feels incomplete without them. Cats, dogs, alpacas, sheep, I even miss the chickens and wouldn't mind having my ducks again. So here comes Jiggs.... real soon.... this should be interesting. I wonder if she will like us.

I don't have pics of her yet but I do have pics of Ukelele, Umeko, Vango and me at the historical fair last Thursday.... so here you go... I'll try for better pics tomorrow......

Vango and his momma.....

Umeko and Ukelele with their momma.....

This was my demonstration......


Look how interested those kids are..... I had lots more come along later in the day....

I'm off to bed after a full day of weaving.... I'm bushed.

Ukelele And Umeko

Ukelele is black and a boy so more lamb chops in the fall but Umeko is female and white. Born last night, they are both happy and healthy wee lambies. Queen who is a pregnant ewe tried to steal them from Fanny, who is the mom, so we had quite a hassle trying to get her to leave Fanny and her babies alone. We finally had to put her in the barn with her babies last night so that Queen would leave her alone. Queen, I expect will have to wait a day or two till her own baby comes along but the mothering instinct is certainly strong in her.

I have been a busy lady over the last few days. On Thursday I went to our community school for the historical fair. I was demonstrating spinning and weaving. The kids, as you can see, were more than interested and all day I had small groups of kids coming by for an opportunity to look at, touch and feel, and learn about all things fibre. By the end of the day there was quite a line up to try my hand cards and learn how to card yarn... a lot of the kids wanted to try turning my spinning wheel but I had brought my old wheel along for them to see and it is not east to treddle so I felt that I wouldn't let them try treddling. I showed them different kinds of wool fleece and I showed them different kinds of spindles. It really was quite awesome. At one point Daughter #2 came through with a little girl from kindergarten and stopped and had a chance to have a little look too. It was nice to see my girl in her element teaching the little girl about what I was doing. I was really proud of how nice and thoughtful she was of the little kids.... even one of the teachers commented on how good she is with the little kids. (er hem, I taught them everything I know : )

Yesterday I took a drive south for an hour to do a little grocery shopping for fruit and veg that was actually edible. Our grocery store here in town never seems to have top quality produce. It was nice last night to eat salad for supper that didn't have brown tips on the leaves of the lettuce that needed to be removed. It was nice to get good red peppers and tomatoes that were not starting to shrivel. I even bought black berries and raspberries. Ahhh delicious!

Today we are going to FSJ to have a look at a dog that Hubby is interested in. The dog that I mentioned the other day is gone to someone else but we will see if this one would be ok. I also will pick up blades for my shears since I need blades for shearing and shearing season is upon us. Hubby and I talked about the fact that shearing time is here and I need supplies for that so that is another job to be done.

I had better get back to getting ready to go because everyone else is almost ready and once again I am not. I'll post pictures of Ukelele and Umeko tomorrow.