OK so we all know that I never thought I'd see the end of it..... I don't even want to mention ITS name..... but while I've been all consumed with that black thing, I've been pretty much flat out, non-stop, go go go! I have managed to spin enough fibre for the Level 4 required dye samples. I've managed to make food for two meals while I'm away. I've managed to make a felted spindle bag for a fellow who is making a Navajo spindle for me and I'm working on the Madder vest for the fashion show..... (so MB, you had better be prepared to model it....). These are all things I wanted done before I leave and I"M LEAVING TOMORROW!!!!!!!
I can't believe that a full year has blown by and I'm heading off for another year of the Master Spinner's Program at Olds College.... I'm looking forward to it. But meanwhile I'm trying to pack everything I will need for a week of living in an apartment with food (we cook our own), and uncomfortable beds (I bring a big foamy and a fan), and spinning courses and dyeing courses. I can't wait..... no I mean I really can't wait..... I'm going to go bonkers waiting for tomorrow.
In the last week we have brought home Daughter #1's horse, which is in the sheep paddock and meant moving around all the sheep. We have fenced a large portion of our land, which meant pounding in 100 fence posts and feeding the five thousand.... or at least in felt like the five thousand. We have prepared for children's sleepovers (Daughter #2) and prepped for final exams (Daughter #1), and gotten Teapot off on a camping trip with his school kids. So now it is my turn. I was up till midnight last night cooking and spinning and today I'm spinning, sewing, cooking and picking up kids from school at which time I will need to make sure the animals are fed and Jiggs is walked (or at least thrown the ball for a million times), and all the while I will be packing and implementing a week for moi. You'd think I was going to a spa..... ha.... but I will be in class all next week and it is still a vacation!
So first chicken stew for the slow cooker.... then I will ply my skeins.... and then I will sew on a handle for that spindle bag..... and then I will cut out the back of the vest. A day of work?.... yeah.... but at least it's not the big j.c.
Woo hoo.... I'm done...
You're going to be sick of hearing me say that....
Woo hoo... I'm done.... (gosh that sounds nice)!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Da da da da, da da da da da.... Drum Roll Please
Ta Da!!!!!
The big j.c. is now complete....
This is the jacket front.....
This is the jacket back.....
This is a hand painted antler button....
This is a bit of the collar detail.....
This is some of the sleeve detail....
I am so relieved to have it finally finished..... but I frankly think it looks awesome.... I am very happy with the results....
But I never want to see the thing again....
WOOO HOOOO I'm done!!!!!!!!!!!!
The big j.c. is now complete....
This is the jacket front.....
This is the jacket back.....
This is a hand painted antler button....
This is a bit of the collar detail.....
This is some of the sleeve detail....
I am so relieved to have it finally finished..... but I frankly think it looks awesome.... I am very happy with the results....
But I never want to see the thing again....
WOOO HOOOO I'm done!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Busy, Busy, Busy
I really haven't had a lot of time this week.... the Big j.c. is taking all of my time. I have the lining finished and shall fit it in today. Hubby is bringing home the Polyurethane today and I will give the buttons a coat of that which will have to dry overnight. I will sew them on tomorrow and then I'm done..... if all goes well! If not then I will finish tomorrow and Sunday... either way I'm going to be finished this weekend. That's why I haven't been writing here as much lately.... I just want to get the Big j.c. finished. I have also been spinning fibre for the dyeing portion of my level 4 course... that I do at night when I am too tired to work on the big j.c.
I won't write today either as I have to get back to it if I'm going to finish but I will post pictures when it is done.
Woo hoo.... I'm almost done......
I won't write today either as I have to get back to it if I'm going to finish but I will post pictures when it is done.
Woo hoo.... I'm almost done......
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Nostalgia
Daughter #2 and I have been having a grand old time watching movies and eating. We decided to buy orange crush and vanilla ice cream and make floats, and we also bought pretzels and chocolate chips. Pretzels dipped in melted chocolate chips with orange floats is yummy. (I do realize that this will not help me lose the 25 pounds left that I need to lose before I head off to Olds in two weeks but I don't think that is going to happen now anyway, and if moms and daughters can't have an over the top weekend while everyone else is off having fun, then life isn't worth living!) What I have noticed though is that Orange Crush floats don't taste as good as they used to when I was little. So what I'm wondering is, has the food changed in flavour or is it my taste buds that are becoming decrepit?
I remember growing up home in Newfoundland having ice cream floats that burst in your mouth with the most divine orangy flavour. When I was a little girl a part of the summer was going to visit my grandfather who lived in a little small outport in Newfoundland that was lucky enough to sport a sandy beach where swimming was actually possible and free of undertowes if one was brave enough to bare the frigid temperatures of the North Atlantic. Days were spent in glorious sunny splendour roasting your skin, fearless of the sun's damaging rays, building sand castles and diverting the brook that flowed down through the beach rocks cutting a meandering path through the soft sand. Or perhaps we would go gathering sea urchins that the gulls would drop along the cliffs above the beach. Occasionally we would brave the frigid cold water and the jelly fish for a swim or body surf in the waves that broke on the beach with ever ready persistence. It was a lovely way to spend the summer. In the memory of my very early years there was a snack bar in the parking lot that served the people who enjoyed the beach and there you could get any number of bars, chips, or pop, and of course my favorite was Orange Crush and Hostess plain chips, which as soon as you opened the bag, filled with sand and became gritty between your teeth. This did not deter us youngsters from munching because after an enthusiastic afternoon of play we would be so starved that we would have licked up the sand itself if it was flavoured. Part of our joy was the bottles in which the pop would come. Glass bottles were beautiful to behold.... and the chip bags were a paper covered in a tin foil which if you were like me and had bad teeth with fillings, would give you a delightful shiver up your spine if you happened to chomp down on a portion of the bag. By five in the evening when the beach was emptying of people my father would go to our car and return with the Coleman stove and a picnic basket full of food to be cooked on the rocks of the beach and we would have a pleasurable time wading in the seaweed while a supper of fish and potatoes with drawn butter would cook with mouth watering smells to encourage you to stay close in case your sibling made it to the pot first when my mother called that everything was ready. Around 8:30 p.m. when we were exhausted from the day's activities and dehydrated from an abundance of sunshine and sunburn we would pile into my father's car and drive the five miles with no seat belts to my grandparents house where I would have a cool but refreshing bath and wash all the sand that had managed to collect in the crotch of my swimsuit. Then in fresh babydoll pjs I'd crawl into a cozy bed and drift to sleep listening to the adults chatting amiably in the lower portion of the house. Next morning I would wake to the sound of crows cawing at dawn around 6 a.m. and begin the whole process again.
What happened to those times when flavours and smells and sights were so poignantly spectacular that you could never forget them no matter how hard you tried. Some people say that the flavours of food have deteriorated, but I think that as you get older things don't have the same profound impression on you. Still for two nights I have lay in bed and felt the cool breeze from my window and there is nothing as lovely as the sound of the leaves bristling in the evening breeze, a soft sound like the feel of a butterfly brushing your skin.
I wonder if when you die and your life passes before your eyes these are the memories you take with you into the next ..... place.
Not what you ate, but the flavour against your tongue. Not the fish that you caught but the sparkle of the light on the water. Not who you kissed but the touch of lips on your cheek. Not what you said but the whisper of breath against your ear. Not who you were with but the touch of their hand in yours. Not the ones you love but the feel of love swelling in your heart.
Like the mist of a damp path being evaporated before you on an evening walk, is nostagia. The memories of your life drift in and out of your consciousness. They are still there if you think about them.
In middle age I would like to have things leave an impression..... that will stay with me always.
It felt good last evening with my shoulder brushing against Daughter #2s as we watched our movies in the semi darkness of the living room while drinking our floats and munching on chocolate coated pretzels, even if they weren't as flavourful as when I was younger..... and even if it is not a long term memory for me maybe it will be one for her.
I remember growing up home in Newfoundland having ice cream floats that burst in your mouth with the most divine orangy flavour. When I was a little girl a part of the summer was going to visit my grandfather who lived in a little small outport in Newfoundland that was lucky enough to sport a sandy beach where swimming was actually possible and free of undertowes if one was brave enough to bare the frigid temperatures of the North Atlantic. Days were spent in glorious sunny splendour roasting your skin, fearless of the sun's damaging rays, building sand castles and diverting the brook that flowed down through the beach rocks cutting a meandering path through the soft sand. Or perhaps we would go gathering sea urchins that the gulls would drop along the cliffs above the beach. Occasionally we would brave the frigid cold water and the jelly fish for a swim or body surf in the waves that broke on the beach with ever ready persistence. It was a lovely way to spend the summer. In the memory of my very early years there was a snack bar in the parking lot that served the people who enjoyed the beach and there you could get any number of bars, chips, or pop, and of course my favorite was Orange Crush and Hostess plain chips, which as soon as you opened the bag, filled with sand and became gritty between your teeth. This did not deter us youngsters from munching because after an enthusiastic afternoon of play we would be so starved that we would have licked up the sand itself if it was flavoured. Part of our joy was the bottles in which the pop would come. Glass bottles were beautiful to behold.... and the chip bags were a paper covered in a tin foil which if you were like me and had bad teeth with fillings, would give you a delightful shiver up your spine if you happened to chomp down on a portion of the bag. By five in the evening when the beach was emptying of people my father would go to our car and return with the Coleman stove and a picnic basket full of food to be cooked on the rocks of the beach and we would have a pleasurable time wading in the seaweed while a supper of fish and potatoes with drawn butter would cook with mouth watering smells to encourage you to stay close in case your sibling made it to the pot first when my mother called that everything was ready. Around 8:30 p.m. when we were exhausted from the day's activities and dehydrated from an abundance of sunshine and sunburn we would pile into my father's car and drive the five miles with no seat belts to my grandparents house where I would have a cool but refreshing bath and wash all the sand that had managed to collect in the crotch of my swimsuit. Then in fresh babydoll pjs I'd crawl into a cozy bed and drift to sleep listening to the adults chatting amiably in the lower portion of the house. Next morning I would wake to the sound of crows cawing at dawn around 6 a.m. and begin the whole process again.
What happened to those times when flavours and smells and sights were so poignantly spectacular that you could never forget them no matter how hard you tried. Some people say that the flavours of food have deteriorated, but I think that as you get older things don't have the same profound impression on you. Still for two nights I have lay in bed and felt the cool breeze from my window and there is nothing as lovely as the sound of the leaves bristling in the evening breeze, a soft sound like the feel of a butterfly brushing your skin.
I wonder if when you die and your life passes before your eyes these are the memories you take with you into the next ..... place.
Not what you ate, but the flavour against your tongue. Not the fish that you caught but the sparkle of the light on the water. Not who you kissed but the touch of lips on your cheek. Not what you said but the whisper of breath against your ear. Not who you were with but the touch of their hand in yours. Not the ones you love but the feel of love swelling in your heart.
Like the mist of a damp path being evaporated before you on an evening walk, is nostagia. The memories of your life drift in and out of your consciousness. They are still there if you think about them.
In middle age I would like to have things leave an impression..... that will stay with me always.
It felt good last evening with my shoulder brushing against Daughter #2s as we watched our movies in the semi darkness of the living room while drinking our floats and munching on chocolate coated pretzels, even if they weren't as flavourful as when I was younger..... and even if it is not a long term memory for me maybe it will be one for her.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Lickity Split
Holy Cow.... what a banana day! One left yesterday and got back today and is too tired to talk. One leaves tomorrow morning and I am packing lunch and supper for her and helping her get her stuff together. She leaves at 6:30 a.m. .... ouch! Then the other is leaving tomorrow afternoon and has to pack tonight when he gets home and it is almost 10:30 p.m. now! He left about a half hour ago to pick up one of the canoes. There are three canoes going and six fellows with several others doing the ferrying. We will all be so wasted by the time Sunday rolls around that I'm sure we're all going to collapse. Still it will be good when it is all over and everyone has had their adventure and life goes back to normal.... you see I'm quite a mother hen at heart.
Onward goes the embroidery... nothing ever goes as fast as you would like it to. The big j.c. is still being worked on, with sewing tomorrow... then a little more embroidery.... then a little more sewing. It's coming along...... but now there is a boomerang. Olds College emailed me today to say that the level 4 students will require 182 yards of hand spun wool in a multiple of skeins for the dyeing room and this needs to be finished and labeled by Monday the 28th.... argh! So as I am writing I am waiting for Daughter #2's supper for tomorrow to cool as it just came out of the oven..... and I am waiting for several pounds of wool from Wingy's 2010 fleece to soak a little longer before rinsing the damn thing and setting it to dry overnight on the clothes line. I guess I will have to work on the big j.c. by day and the fleece by night. Then there is a vest to finish before I go to Olds (don't worry that was woven last summer) and a felted bag for a fellow who's trading a Navajo spindle for it (the flets done I just have to sew...... and all before Olds. So yes, "lickity split" is a good adverb for moi and what I'm doing, right now.
Shearing?!... what the hell's that?! Poor sheep they must be so hot..... oh well soon the little ones can be weaned and then there will be a few bullets in the head of the louder more obnoxious bullies. Lambs will be done in the fall.
I've decided to cull my flock as hay is at an all time high of $60.00 a bail..... at two and a half bails a month....that's $1800.00 a year... too expensive. Hopefully hay will be at a better price this year. And with a substantially lower number of sheep there will be less cost.
I've made some changes to my business future but I won't go into them yet. Soon though I will let you in on my secrets.
Anyhow, Teapot returns and the oven is dinging letting me know that I need to finish packing Daughter #1's meals... that fleece needs rinsing so I had better get back to it.
See y'all on the other side of crazy....
Onward goes the embroidery... nothing ever goes as fast as you would like it to. The big j.c. is still being worked on, with sewing tomorrow... then a little more embroidery.... then a little more sewing. It's coming along...... but now there is a boomerang. Olds College emailed me today to say that the level 4 students will require 182 yards of hand spun wool in a multiple of skeins for the dyeing room and this needs to be finished and labeled by Monday the 28th.... argh! So as I am writing I am waiting for Daughter #2's supper for tomorrow to cool as it just came out of the oven..... and I am waiting for several pounds of wool from Wingy's 2010 fleece to soak a little longer before rinsing the damn thing and setting it to dry overnight on the clothes line. I guess I will have to work on the big j.c. by day and the fleece by night. Then there is a vest to finish before I go to Olds (don't worry that was woven last summer) and a felted bag for a fellow who's trading a Navajo spindle for it (the flets done I just have to sew...... and all before Olds. So yes, "lickity split" is a good adverb for moi and what I'm doing, right now.
Shearing?!... what the hell's that?! Poor sheep they must be so hot..... oh well soon the little ones can be weaned and then there will be a few bullets in the head of the louder more obnoxious bullies. Lambs will be done in the fall.
I've decided to cull my flock as hay is at an all time high of $60.00 a bail..... at two and a half bails a month....that's $1800.00 a year... too expensive. Hopefully hay will be at a better price this year. And with a substantially lower number of sheep there will be less cost.
I've made some changes to my business future but I won't go into them yet. Soon though I will let you in on my secrets.
Anyhow, Teapot returns and the oven is dinging letting me know that I need to finish packing Daughter #1's meals... that fleece needs rinsing so I had better get back to it.
See y'all on the other side of crazy....
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Another Book
I just finished reading another book about two days ago. Generally I don't bother with book reviews on my blog.... it usually has to be an outstanding book to make me want to write about it anyway. Besides that's not what I want for this blog..... reviews on books can be found at any number of websites and if you are into that sort of thing, generally you will look it up at literary websites...
Having said that I have just finished a book that I debated about writing about. I love reading and a day wouldn't be complete without a chapter or two being part of my daily consumption.... usually at night and usually in bed. In the last few years I've had a hard time finding a book that grabs me and makes me wonder what is going to happen next. They are all too predictable and I generally get the feeling like I have read it before, which really is a bit disappointing. A few weeks back I wrote about a book that I read and was quite happy with called, The Help. It was a good read and I was happy to find something that I actually enjoyed.... then I went to the library two weeks ago and picked up A Fraction Of The Whole by Steve Toltz.
Let me say that I am first amazed that I was able to find a book that really grabbed me (2 in less than a couple of months.... I'm on a roll.... makes me wonder about my granny's old saying... things always come in threes.... I hope I'm able to find a third book that I enjoy as much). I would have to describe this book as wry philosophy. It is all over the place and so keeps you off balanced which is a good thing for me. I did find that it dragged a bit at the end, but otherwise was a good read. It was full of witty remarks that made me smile and some of the scenarios actually made me laugh..... though I would not say that it was a funny book, just that some of the depressing bits were lightened with humour. It was nostalgic, and wry, unpredictable and philosophical while keeping you irritatingly interested. I wouldn't say it was a pleasurable read but it was a pleasure to have read it. It was full of juxtaposition and while the characters were well developed it was a book where you disliked liking them.
It is not a book for everyone.... but it is worth a read if you are into different things.... if your idea of a good read is the next installment from Danielle Steele then this is not the book for you.... it would be like eating the darkest rye bread when your craving Wonderbread.
Anyway, hope you guys don't mind the book review.... but I do love recommending things I enjoy. So go ahead, have a slice of rye.....
Having said that I have just finished a book that I debated about writing about. I love reading and a day wouldn't be complete without a chapter or two being part of my daily consumption.... usually at night and usually in bed. In the last few years I've had a hard time finding a book that grabs me and makes me wonder what is going to happen next. They are all too predictable and I generally get the feeling like I have read it before, which really is a bit disappointing. A few weeks back I wrote about a book that I read and was quite happy with called, The Help. It was a good read and I was happy to find something that I actually enjoyed.... then I went to the library two weeks ago and picked up A Fraction Of The Whole by Steve Toltz.
Let me say that I am first amazed that I was able to find a book that really grabbed me (2 in less than a couple of months.... I'm on a roll.... makes me wonder about my granny's old saying... things always come in threes.... I hope I'm able to find a third book that I enjoy as much). I would have to describe this book as wry philosophy. It is all over the place and so keeps you off balanced which is a good thing for me. I did find that it dragged a bit at the end, but otherwise was a good read. It was full of witty remarks that made me smile and some of the scenarios actually made me laugh..... though I would not say that it was a funny book, just that some of the depressing bits were lightened with humour. It was nostalgic, and wry, unpredictable and philosophical while keeping you irritatingly interested. I wouldn't say it was a pleasurable read but it was a pleasure to have read it. It was full of juxtaposition and while the characters were well developed it was a book where you disliked liking them.It is not a book for everyone.... but it is worth a read if you are into different things.... if your idea of a good read is the next installment from Danielle Steele then this is not the book for you.... it would be like eating the darkest rye bread when your craving Wonderbread.
Anyway, hope you guys don't mind the book review.... but I do love recommending things I enjoy. So go ahead, have a slice of rye.....
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
2 Things.....
Round two of romance is going to happen this evening. Coal and Mishka will be put together for another hootin' and falootin' time. I guess they need several go rounds of hootin' and falootin' before she will catch.... eventually she will get pi---d off and hiss and spit at him and then you know she's finished with him. Then 11 1/2 months later.... well, you get my drift..... mind you nothing is for sure.
So the big j.c. ,.... yeah,..... nothing is for sure, alright.... I keep thinking, "well, this is it, this is the day I finish, but something always comes up and though things are progressing they are not progressing as fast as I would like. I have the sleeves done and sewn up and I am now proceeding with the embroidery work. There is a day's worth so my goal today is to finish the embroidery. Tomorrow my goal is to finish the lining and put it in. Then I need to put on the collar and do the buttons and button holes. Hopefully there will be no more interruptions this week. Wouldn't that be nice!!! But progress... well, at least I am making some.
So I had better have at it for today is a flyin' by.
So the big j.c. ,.... yeah,..... nothing is for sure, alright.... I keep thinking, "well, this is it, this is the day I finish, but something always comes up and though things are progressing they are not progressing as fast as I would like. I have the sleeves done and sewn up and I am now proceeding with the embroidery work. There is a day's worth so my goal today is to finish the embroidery. Tomorrow my goal is to finish the lining and put it in. Then I need to put on the collar and do the buttons and button holes. Hopefully there will be no more interruptions this week. Wouldn't that be nice!!! But progress... well, at least I am making some.
So I had better have at it for today is a flyin' by.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Motherhood Struggles
All year I have been watching as Daughter #1 becomes much more independent. Daughter #2 is growing up too. Daughter #2 will be going into high school next fall. This is her last year as an elementary student. I will watch her go off to her first day of high school just as I watched Daughter #1 do last fall. Both of them have had their ups and downs in school this year as they do each year, but I am proud of both of them they have done outstandingly well (knock wood).
Daughter #2 has, at the end of this week coming a camping trip to a nearby outdoor learning centre. She has gone there many times before, so I am not overly anxious about it besides it is only a half hour ride from our home and if anything should ever go wrong, then it would only be a short ride to go and pick her up.
Daughter #1 has, at the end of this week, a bit of a longer trip. She will be heading off with the Academic Ethics Honour Group for a trip to a location about 14 hours away. I am anxious. She is almost 15 so I am trying (really hard) to remember what it was like when I was 15, to go off with a group from school for trips of this nature. She will be having a grand old time at different venues but I'll be honest.... I can't wait till she gets back. Teapot doesn't seem to be worried at all and I know you can't hold on to them forever.... you have to let them go eventually ..... but I'll be honest.... it's really hard. 'What If' rears it's ugly head in my mind on a regular basis. It is easy for bad things to happen.
Being a parent has never come easy for me.... from my earliest struggles of being just about thirty and having had two previous miscarriages and worrying if I would ever have a child and for that matter if I was ready to have a child, to struggling with the idea that at some point I was going to have to pass something about the size of a good sized Honeydew melon through a portion of my body that didn't look like it could stretch that far, to sitting on the floor of the porch crying because preparing for a trip to the Doctor's office for a check-up was not going to happen after baby had spewed its guts over itself for the fifth time. None of parenting has been fun but I can safely say that having children was the best achievement of my life. Winning a Noble Peace Prize wouldn't have come close. Parenting has been the scariest, most heart stopping roller coaster ride I have ever been on while at the same time it has been the hardest, most exhausting thing to figure out more so than.... well I don't know what.
Two days ago a close friend of my family had a grandson die at the age of 18 in a car accident and it is at times like this that I reflect on my children and how much I want to hold on to them and keep them safe. You want to keep them close but in doing so, you are doing them no favours. They need to get out and see the world and experience things for themselves. You can't just keep them wrapped in a bow and sitting on a shelf to take down and hug when the mood strikes. That's not how it works. They are not yours no matter what you think.... you may have brought them into the world but as soon as that cord was cut they became their own and that needs to be celebrated.
So Daughter #1 will go off on her trip..... and I will think about the bus and an accidents and the tents and tornadoes and getting lost in the malls and being coaxed to go off with a stranger and never finding them again. I will think all sorts of horrible things but mostly I will hope... hope that my Daughter comes back to me safe and sound and that her life will be full of wonder and pleasant discoveries as she walks the same walk of independence that I once took.
Daughter #2 will soon be in the same position but in the mean time I will hold on a little longer as I won't be able to much longer.
I think I will go and give them a great big hug.
Daughter #2 has, at the end of this week coming a camping trip to a nearby outdoor learning centre. She has gone there many times before, so I am not overly anxious about it besides it is only a half hour ride from our home and if anything should ever go wrong, then it would only be a short ride to go and pick her up.
Daughter #1 has, at the end of this week, a bit of a longer trip. She will be heading off with the Academic Ethics Honour Group for a trip to a location about 14 hours away. I am anxious. She is almost 15 so I am trying (really hard) to remember what it was like when I was 15, to go off with a group from school for trips of this nature. She will be having a grand old time at different venues but I'll be honest.... I can't wait till she gets back. Teapot doesn't seem to be worried at all and I know you can't hold on to them forever.... you have to let them go eventually ..... but I'll be honest.... it's really hard. 'What If' rears it's ugly head in my mind on a regular basis. It is easy for bad things to happen.
Being a parent has never come easy for me.... from my earliest struggles of being just about thirty and having had two previous miscarriages and worrying if I would ever have a child and for that matter if I was ready to have a child, to struggling with the idea that at some point I was going to have to pass something about the size of a good sized Honeydew melon through a portion of my body that didn't look like it could stretch that far, to sitting on the floor of the porch crying because preparing for a trip to the Doctor's office for a check-up was not going to happen after baby had spewed its guts over itself for the fifth time. None of parenting has been fun but I can safely say that having children was the best achievement of my life. Winning a Noble Peace Prize wouldn't have come close. Parenting has been the scariest, most heart stopping roller coaster ride I have ever been on while at the same time it has been the hardest, most exhausting thing to figure out more so than.... well I don't know what.
Two days ago a close friend of my family had a grandson die at the age of 18 in a car accident and it is at times like this that I reflect on my children and how much I want to hold on to them and keep them safe. You want to keep them close but in doing so, you are doing them no favours. They need to get out and see the world and experience things for themselves. You can't just keep them wrapped in a bow and sitting on a shelf to take down and hug when the mood strikes. That's not how it works. They are not yours no matter what you think.... you may have brought them into the world but as soon as that cord was cut they became their own and that needs to be celebrated.
So Daughter #1 will go off on her trip..... and I will think about the bus and an accidents and the tents and tornadoes and getting lost in the malls and being coaxed to go off with a stranger and never finding them again. I will think all sorts of horrible things but mostly I will hope... hope that my Daughter comes back to me safe and sound and that her life will be full of wonder and pleasant discoveries as she walks the same walk of independence that I once took.
Daughter #2 will soon be in the same position but in the mean time I will hold on a little longer as I won't be able to much longer.
I think I will go and give them a great big hug.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Rice and Lamb
I never thought about it and I have to say that I felt pretty bad about it after, but last night I served Teapot Teryaki rice and lamb. Under normal circumstances this would have been good but poor Teapot... he could barely get it down. And he never said a word....
Queen, our merino sheep is an old girl and this year she lambed a twin.... twins are hard on a ewe at the best of times but this old girl seemed to be having a really bad time. We've been watching her and she really doesn't want to feed her lambs at all. However, she does let them suck every now and again just to keep her bag from hurting. The lambs are not thriving under these conditions. This week after Coal and Mishka finished dating in the solitary confinement pen, we put Queen and Zig and Zag in to the solitary confinement pen, that way she wouldn't have to fight with the others to get to the food. She seemed to be wasting away. Teapot got into the pen and trimmed her hooves which needed trimming and checked her bag for mastitis. All seemed well.... but it was as he was getting her on her feet that we discovered that there was more wrong than we were aware.
Teapot noticed that part of her wool was coming off in a flap..... this at the best of time is not good.
We had alway heard of a problem called Fly Strike. It is nasty and starts when a sheep gets a cut... the flies strike alright. They lay eggs in the cut and then when they hatch the maggots basically eat the sheep's flesh. It lifts the wool off the animal like a sheet and leaves a really raw patch underneath. The sheep languishes and will eventually die if not caught early enough.
Teapot got down to it and cleared away the wool and cleaned out the maggots the best he could and her poor flesh was terrible. We proceeded to shear the old girl and now she has a patch of raw bare flesh the size of a dinner plate.
I'm worried. I'm not sure the wool will grow back in that place..... which is a worry with -40 degrees of winter looming in the distance.
It was after Teapot came in from cleaning up the mess of maggots on her haunch that I served him a plate of lamb and rice! I had no idea that he would look at supper and think about the mess he just cleaned. Need I say more?!
Jiggs ran away this week. It was about ten in the night. She took off after Teapot scolded her for scaring Queen and her lambs. She disappeared into the forrest with her leash trailing behind her. I spent 1 1/2 hours looking for her and calling her and no sign of her and dark falling I felt that hopefully she would come home on her own. She didn't disappoint. Woo hoo! She is starting to know that our home is her home. It was almost midnight when she arrived at the kitchen door and though she wouldn't come for Teapot she did come for me. Good girl.
It has been a busy week with the big j.c. progressing. The sleeves are finally done and I am starting to sew everything together. Shearing has also been a time consumer this week. We are almost finished the alpacas and will get them done today. There are still a few sheep to be done but they are being butchered in the fall so will not be requiring thick fleeces for the winter.... I'm not worried about how late it has gotten for those animals.
Dexter is the latest alpaca to receive his haircut. He looks very different. Here's before....
This is Dexter after the shearing.
Another week ahead of shearing and the big j.c. and the countdown to Level 4 is ticking off day by day.... I have received word of my official extension on level 3.... I have till the end of the summer to finish my work. But I still get to do the level 4 course. I will not be allowed to do that next year.... level 5 is a whole different ball park. I do have to come up with a thesis topic for this year. It has to be approved before I can stat and that has to be finished by the time level 6 rolls around. I have two in mind but am having a hard time choosing which one I want to do..... I wonder if they will let me do both.
So there you have it..... what's happening in your neck of the woods?
Queen, our merino sheep is an old girl and this year she lambed a twin.... twins are hard on a ewe at the best of times but this old girl seemed to be having a really bad time. We've been watching her and she really doesn't want to feed her lambs at all. However, she does let them suck every now and again just to keep her bag from hurting. The lambs are not thriving under these conditions. This week after Coal and Mishka finished dating in the solitary confinement pen, we put Queen and Zig and Zag in to the solitary confinement pen, that way she wouldn't have to fight with the others to get to the food. She seemed to be wasting away. Teapot got into the pen and trimmed her hooves which needed trimming and checked her bag for mastitis. All seemed well.... but it was as he was getting her on her feet that we discovered that there was more wrong than we were aware.
Teapot noticed that part of her wool was coming off in a flap..... this at the best of time is not good.
We had alway heard of a problem called Fly Strike. It is nasty and starts when a sheep gets a cut... the flies strike alright. They lay eggs in the cut and then when they hatch the maggots basically eat the sheep's flesh. It lifts the wool off the animal like a sheet and leaves a really raw patch underneath. The sheep languishes and will eventually die if not caught early enough.
Teapot got down to it and cleared away the wool and cleaned out the maggots the best he could and her poor flesh was terrible. We proceeded to shear the old girl and now she has a patch of raw bare flesh the size of a dinner plate.
I'm worried. I'm not sure the wool will grow back in that place..... which is a worry with -40 degrees of winter looming in the distance.It was after Teapot came in from cleaning up the mess of maggots on her haunch that I served him a plate of lamb and rice! I had no idea that he would look at supper and think about the mess he just cleaned. Need I say more?!
Jiggs ran away this week. It was about ten in the night. She took off after Teapot scolded her for scaring Queen and her lambs. She disappeared into the forrest with her leash trailing behind her. I spent 1 1/2 hours looking for her and calling her and no sign of her and dark falling I felt that hopefully she would come home on her own. She didn't disappoint. Woo hoo! She is starting to know that our home is her home. It was almost midnight when she arrived at the kitchen door and though she wouldn't come for Teapot she did come for me. Good girl.
It has been a busy week with the big j.c. progressing. The sleeves are finally done and I am starting to sew everything together. Shearing has also been a time consumer this week. We are almost finished the alpacas and will get them done today. There are still a few sheep to be done but they are being butchered in the fall so will not be requiring thick fleeces for the winter.... I'm not worried about how late it has gotten for those animals.
Dexter is the latest alpaca to receive his haircut. He looks very different. Here's before....
This is Dexter after the shearing.
Another week ahead of shearing and the big j.c. and the countdown to Level 4 is ticking off day by day.... I have received word of my official extension on level 3.... I have till the end of the summer to finish my work. But I still get to do the level 4 course. I will not be allowed to do that next year.... level 5 is a whole different ball park. I do have to come up with a thesis topic for this year. It has to be approved before I can stat and that has to be finished by the time level 6 rolls around. I have two in mind but am having a hard time choosing which one I want to do..... I wonder if they will let me do both.
So there you have it..... what's happening in your neck of the woods?