Thursday, March 31, 2011
Spring Cleaning... Yuck
The kitchen pantry needed cleaning... it had never gotten a door.... well, actually that is not true. We tried putting a door on and it was really small so we decided that we would put a larger door on... that never happened so now I've decided to switch pantries. The cabinets that I was using for dishes will now be the pantry for food, while the pantry for food will now be utilized by the dishes... and electric thingamabobs, like the sandwich griller and the blender etc. It's all very boring I assure you. But it is a perfect day for spring cleaning because the weather is changeable... one minute sun.... one minute rain. There's still snow on the ground but it is taking a really big cutting this week. The driveway is slush to the elbows and poop reigns supreme in my yard. Rubber boots seem to be the footwear of choice theses days. There's not much to do outside unless your happy to see soft gooy poop of every description and be wet to the knees. A week of this and my house will be spotless!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Back To The Main Event.... Level 4
My Lopi samples are done and I'm happy with them and the first worsted sample is also finished but looks like crap... but I think that was the point of the exercise... We have to do worsted samples and woollen samples from different preparations and do a comparative study... So that's what I'm working on today.... that.... and turkey dinner.
The turkey is in the oven and the parents are coming for dinner.... that is a mid-day dinner.
It's our Christmas turkey that we never cooked.... we ate the parents turkey instead. March and Turkey dinner... how weird is that! It will probably be the last cooked dinner for a while.... from here on in it will be barbecue all the way!.... but then you never know maybe I'll cook turkey on the barbecue sometime over the summer... that wouldn't be unheard of.
So that's it for this very spring-like end-of-March-day.... just wish that snow would melt faster.
The turkey is in the oven and the parents are coming for dinner.... that is a mid-day dinner.
It's our Christmas turkey that we never cooked.... we ate the parents turkey instead. March and Turkey dinner... how weird is that! It will probably be the last cooked dinner for a while.... from here on in it will be barbecue all the way!.... but then you never know maybe I'll cook turkey on the barbecue sometime over the summer... that wouldn't be unheard of.
So that's it for this very spring-like end-of-March-day.... just wish that snow would melt faster.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Our Little Guy
I think I can bring myself to talk about this now...
Yesterday was dreadful... the day before was dreadful too. We've known for a while that Tootsie was not himself... about a month ago Tootsie's breath began to stink... badly... and so I had a look in his mouth and discovered that his teeth were getting really bad. He needed work done on them before too long. I started to save money since usually it costs about $600.00 to get a dogs teeth cleaned. About two weeks later I had a look at his teeth again and I discovered that the gums were starting to rot. That was way faster than we expected. I started saving faster. Then he went off his food so I bought canned food thinking that his teeth were really bothering him and he loved it... for a few days...
In addition to all of this, Tootsie started to have violent shaking about 6 or 8 months ago and we just put it down to the fact that he was cold and so we let his fur grow out a little longer after all it was coming on for fall after a very hot summer.
Little did we know that something very bad was happening. Inside his wee body things were starting to get screwed up. It was because his Adrenal glans were no longer producing the hormones that made his little body function correctly. It's called Addison's disease... over the weekend it was clear to us that Tootsie was not feeling well. We thought that it was because he had taken a flying leap off Daughter #2's bed and had hurt his back again... he has been on medication for jumping and hurting his back before. Saturday he was very listless... Sunday he stopped eating and Sunday night he stopped moving around much and whined every time he moved. We called the vet first thing on Monday. By Monday afternoon we knew the worst.... that there was not a whole lot that the vet could do and his chances of bringing Tootsie back from the brink was very slim indeed. So we made the horrible decision to end his pain which he was so very obviously in... a tough decision but one that had to be made.
We miss him terribly because he always followed us around and went where ever we went.
Two dogs in less than a year... it has been a hard year indeed. And we will keep our dear little friend in our hearts...
Yesterday was dreadful... the day before was dreadful too. We've known for a while that Tootsie was not himself... about a month ago Tootsie's breath began to stink... badly... and so I had a look in his mouth and discovered that his teeth were getting really bad. He needed work done on them before too long. I started to save money since usually it costs about $600.00 to get a dogs teeth cleaned. About two weeks later I had a look at his teeth again and I discovered that the gums were starting to rot. That was way faster than we expected. I started saving faster. Then he went off his food so I bought canned food thinking that his teeth were really bothering him and he loved it... for a few days...
In addition to all of this, Tootsie started to have violent shaking about 6 or 8 months ago and we just put it down to the fact that he was cold and so we let his fur grow out a little longer after all it was coming on for fall after a very hot summer.
Little did we know that something very bad was happening. Inside his wee body things were starting to get screwed up. It was because his Adrenal glans were no longer producing the hormones that made his little body function correctly. It's called Addison's disease... over the weekend it was clear to us that Tootsie was not feeling well. We thought that it was because he had taken a flying leap off Daughter #2's bed and had hurt his back again... he has been on medication for jumping and hurting his back before. Saturday he was very listless... Sunday he stopped eating and Sunday night he stopped moving around much and whined every time he moved. We called the vet first thing on Monday. By Monday afternoon we knew the worst.... that there was not a whole lot that the vet could do and his chances of bringing Tootsie back from the brink was very slim indeed. So we made the horrible decision to end his pain which he was so very obviously in... a tough decision but one that had to be made.
We miss him terribly because he always followed us around and went where ever we went.
Two dogs in less than a year... it has been a hard year indeed. And we will keep our dear little friend in our hearts...
Monday, March 28, 2011
Too Many Sad Days Recently
And one more to add.... this one came so unexpectedly.... we will miss our little guy... our Most Awesome Little Wonder Chicken herder...
 |
| Tootsie 2005 - 2011 |
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Brilliant
Sometimes Brilliance astounds me.... but then sometimes Brilliance departs for other regions and I'm sure that I have been abandoned for good, but then Brilliance comes sailing into my life (usually I'm on the toilet at the time, which I'm told is the creative person best spot for Brilliant ideas) and once again I am amazed by myself...
A while back my guild had decided to start an Afghan project. The idea was that each individual member of the guild would look through their mighty stashes and use fibre that would be rejected for larger projects to knit 15 inch squares, which then would be pooled in order to find common themes among the squares. then one brave person would put a number together to make a lap afghan. After a number of these were made we would have a supply to give to members of the guild who might find themselves in distress due to a loss of a loved one or for deteriorating health... sort of like a prayer shawl ministry only not so religious but with heart and feeling.
The project went forward and at first there was great enthusiasm, with many 15" blocks being supplied. But over time it died a natural death... We were starting out the project with acrylic yarn and then moving forward and using wool or other natural fibres. I, myself, am not an acrylic person because for some strange reason I can't bring myself to purchase the stuff. But I went home with good intentions of spinning fibre or at least making some interesting striped concoction that could be used for the project. Months went by and this did not happen so when the decision to put them together came, I volunteered out of guilt about not having contributed one square.... well in my eyes, putting them together was just as good a contribution because without sewing/crocheting them together we just had a bunch of squares and no afghan at all... besides, nobody wanted to sew them.
I put one together and after that, I didn't have enough in a similar colour scheme to put another one together so I put out the call for more squares.
Meanwhile while all this was happening I was attending knit night regularly and all the knitters were ooohing and ahhhing over a scarf that my mother had given me for Christmas. The scarf was fuchsia which is not a favorite colour but it was cannily made up. So we all decided that we would go home and try making one up even though we did not have the pattern... how hard could it be?! Now the reason why this scarf was so interesting was because it was knit and woven at the same time. I can't show you all a picture of it because I loaned it to one of the Daughters and it was never returned. However, I and one of the other knitters did knock one together developing a pattern of sorts.
Now to bring both subjects together...
It was while I was sitting on the couch trying to put together the last of the squares that I had for the afghan project that I suddenly got a visit from Brilliance. (And I wasn't even on the toilet.) I would be able to make a 15" square quite easily using the method of knitting and weaving that was in the scarf...
I started in right away.
First I went digging through my stash... I would need a fibre that was somewhat hairy and had a lovely halo.... mmmm.... mohair would be perfect. I had several cones of mohair from a weaving project that I had completed a few years ago... I had bought a lovely dark forest green, and a lovely navy blue with flecks of other colour throughout.... I had also bought pink.... (we all know my feelings on pink so I won't bore you on that front). Perfect! I could use up the pink and have it out of my life once and for all! (I love killing two birds with one stone.) In combination with the Navy Blue it would be awesome.
Da da da da... da da da da da..... drum roll please....
It is absolutely inspirational.... at least I think so....
To hell with making a few for the guild.... I'm off to knit some more so that I can make a whole afghan and donate it to the guild.
Who knows what attracts Brilliance to your life.... I'm just glad she comes to mine....!
A while back my guild had decided to start an Afghan project. The idea was that each individual member of the guild would look through their mighty stashes and use fibre that would be rejected for larger projects to knit 15 inch squares, which then would be pooled in order to find common themes among the squares. then one brave person would put a number together to make a lap afghan. After a number of these were made we would have a supply to give to members of the guild who might find themselves in distress due to a loss of a loved one or for deteriorating health... sort of like a prayer shawl ministry only not so religious but with heart and feeling.
The project went forward and at first there was great enthusiasm, with many 15" blocks being supplied. But over time it died a natural death... We were starting out the project with acrylic yarn and then moving forward and using wool or other natural fibres. I, myself, am not an acrylic person because for some strange reason I can't bring myself to purchase the stuff. But I went home with good intentions of spinning fibre or at least making some interesting striped concoction that could be used for the project. Months went by and this did not happen so when the decision to put them together came, I volunteered out of guilt about not having contributed one square.... well in my eyes, putting them together was just as good a contribution because without sewing/crocheting them together we just had a bunch of squares and no afghan at all... besides, nobody wanted to sew them.
I put one together and after that, I didn't have enough in a similar colour scheme to put another one together so I put out the call for more squares.
Meanwhile while all this was happening I was attending knit night regularly and all the knitters were ooohing and ahhhing over a scarf that my mother had given me for Christmas. The scarf was fuchsia which is not a favorite colour but it was cannily made up. So we all decided that we would go home and try making one up even though we did not have the pattern... how hard could it be?! Now the reason why this scarf was so interesting was because it was knit and woven at the same time. I can't show you all a picture of it because I loaned it to one of the Daughters and it was never returned. However, I and one of the other knitters did knock one together developing a pattern of sorts.
Now to bring both subjects together...
It was while I was sitting on the couch trying to put together the last of the squares that I had for the afghan project that I suddenly got a visit from Brilliance. (And I wasn't even on the toilet.) I would be able to make a 15" square quite easily using the method of knitting and weaving that was in the scarf...
I started in right away.
First I went digging through my stash... I would need a fibre that was somewhat hairy and had a lovely halo.... mmmm.... mohair would be perfect. I had several cones of mohair from a weaving project that I had completed a few years ago... I had bought a lovely dark forest green, and a lovely navy blue with flecks of other colour throughout.... I had also bought pink.... (we all know my feelings on pink so I won't bore you on that front). Perfect! I could use up the pink and have it out of my life once and for all! (I love killing two birds with one stone.) In combination with the Navy Blue it would be awesome.
Da da da da... da da da da da..... drum roll please....
To hell with making a few for the guild.... I'm off to knit some more so that I can make a whole afghan and donate it to the guild.
Who knows what attracts Brilliance to your life.... I'm just glad she comes to mine....!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Up And At Em
Teapot and Daughter #1 are home. Yeah.... they are both exhausted and so I am up this morning by myself, full of vim and vigor. Yesterday I managed to finish my first Level 3 sample again. I spun ginned cotton and it looks very nice actually. Now I'm going to work on the second cotton sample. I might just work on cotton because it is relaxing. Level 4 is put aside for the moment while March break is here. I'm into too many things that require timing, thought, and not mindlessness. Cotton can be spun fairly mindlessly. So I will work on that for the moment.
It's an overcast day and once again I'm craving sunshine. This has been the longest and most dragged out spring on the face of the earth... I DO NOT want wind. Wind will take the snow away too fast and I want it to just rot and melt down into the ground and replace the ground water which has been so badly decimated over the last few years. It might mean a greener summer and hay supplies that are more reliable, which would be a bonus after this last year... always, am I thinking of hay. Still a little sunshine would perk me up in no time... I'm sure.
Dex is definitely doing better. He's definitely sturdier on his feet. My lambs from last year are beginning to look healthy again. After a long winter, I need to get out in the barn for a day and give it a good clean out. While all year long we try to keep against the fecal matter that accumulates in there it does freeze in the cold temperatures and so by spring there is a dreadful build up... so I need to have a few good warm days where I can get in there and rake it all out. Nasty job, that! But there's nothing for it unless you want to tear down the old barn and build a new one every few years. Uhhh No! Sometimes I wish I had a little tractor. Then I could clean up poop no problem.... but then I'm sure you don't want to hear about poop this morning.
Well, it's Saturday morning and the coffee pot is brewing.... mmMMMmm... the smell of coffee is permeating the whole house... there's a pastrami on rye sandwich in the fridge with my name on it... for brunch, and North By Northwest is on CBC radio.... oh and cotton waiting to be spun... I just love Saturdays. And Sundays are good too.
Hope your weekend is great!
It's an overcast day and once again I'm craving sunshine. This has been the longest and most dragged out spring on the face of the earth... I DO NOT want wind. Wind will take the snow away too fast and I want it to just rot and melt down into the ground and replace the ground water which has been so badly decimated over the last few years. It might mean a greener summer and hay supplies that are more reliable, which would be a bonus after this last year... always, am I thinking of hay. Still a little sunshine would perk me up in no time... I'm sure.
Dex is definitely doing better. He's definitely sturdier on his feet. My lambs from last year are beginning to look healthy again. After a long winter, I need to get out in the barn for a day and give it a good clean out. While all year long we try to keep against the fecal matter that accumulates in there it does freeze in the cold temperatures and so by spring there is a dreadful build up... so I need to have a few good warm days where I can get in there and rake it all out. Nasty job, that! But there's nothing for it unless you want to tear down the old barn and build a new one every few years. Uhhh No! Sometimes I wish I had a little tractor. Then I could clean up poop no problem.... but then I'm sure you don't want to hear about poop this morning.
Well, it's Saturday morning and the coffee pot is brewing.... mmMMMmm... the smell of coffee is permeating the whole house... there's a pastrami on rye sandwich in the fridge with my name on it... for brunch, and North By Northwest is on CBC radio.... oh and cotton waiting to be spun... I just love Saturdays. And Sundays are good too.
Hope your weekend is great!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Weird And Wild
Once again it is overcast.... and Fanny has her eyes crossed.... I mean that is one tenacious ewe. She was bred on the 23rd of September..... dumb ass. It is now almost 6 months since then (gestation is 5 and 1/2) and she's as wide and she is long.... if she's not pregnant then she's got some weird and awful growth going on there. Meanwhile Dex is getting stronger every day. I think it is the oats that I'm hand feeding him, (so that the others don't push him off his food). Meanwhile, I let the dog out this morning as I do every morning, and she took off after some deer that were hanging out munching on my HAY! (Erg) One deer took off straight away and the other was limping... of course my dog did what comes naturally to her and circled... the deer was not happy. So I thought maybe he'd go off down through the trees if I went out with my pitch fork... (best laid plans of mice and men!)... the stupid thing jumped over the fence to run through the thickest snow there is... Erg. Of course with it having a limp it jumped the fence with not much success.... and there it hung with its hind leg in the fence.... stuck....! "Great!" was all that I could think... now what do I do? So carefully, and then more carefully, I approached the deer. It was down on it's side... not moving. So I grabbed a hold of its leg and shoved the wire this way and that way and managed to free its leg but not without scraping some of the hair off its leg first..... then taking Jiggs with me (who really was behaving admirably considering that there was meat on the ground not defending itself) I moved away and came in the house. We watched to see what would happen but the deer wasn't getting up... I was worried that it had broken its leg... and the alpacas kept wanting to go over and check it out. That worried me because I really didn't want it hurting them.... After 20 minutes of watching it, I decided to call the police.... so I did... (That's because the conservation guys are at least an hour away!) Usually the police respond. Anyway I talked to a very nice person... a receptionist I guess... who switched me to the Conservation office, (figures) and I told my story again. They would respond. I figured I had better get dressed so I went and had a quick shower and got dressed.... While I was in the shower the phone rang and they wanted me to go see if the deer was there still... and so I did. The stupid thing had finally gotten up and disappeared.... I was very grateful that it didn't have to be dispatched here. But I know that with it's bum leg and now the big scrape where I tried to get its leg out of the fence.... it is coyote fodder for sure.... The coyotes have been very active recently as I hear them every night since the full moon last week. This time in the year when the deer are emaciated the coyotes are always active.
So, that was my excitement for the morning.... now if the damn moose would just die... yes he's still around and yes, he will die.... but not by my hand. The poor old guy is covered in ticks... we've been able to get close enough now that we can see where it is riddled with them and there are bare patches of flesh all over him. Also I saw where he peed in the snow and he is passing blood. There is no doubt in my mind that he will die... no wonder he is eating the hay. He is probably too weak to do anything else.
God, living on the frontier is weird! and wild!
So, that was my excitement for the morning.... now if the damn moose would just die... yes he's still around and yes, he will die.... but not by my hand. The poor old guy is covered in ticks... we've been able to get close enough now that we can see where it is riddled with them and there are bare patches of flesh all over him. Also I saw where he peed in the snow and he is passing blood. There is no doubt in my mind that he will die... no wonder he is eating the hay. He is probably too weak to do anything else.
God, living on the frontier is weird! and wild!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The Iceberg From Hell
So as promised the story of how I almost was killed by an iceberg...
Once upon a time I dated a fellow that was not Teapot. His parents had a yacht of sorts and we spent many weekends out cruising around the shores of Newfoundland. Behind the yacht, we always towed a small Boston Whaler that would act as a life boat if ever we needed it. It would take us hither and yon when we were exploring small inlets and bays too, but mostly we used it for picking up scuba gear after the guys had done their dives from the back of the yacht. The yacht that we cruised on would often meet up with other yachters and champagne breakfasts were often exchanged in the course of the weekend... other cocktails were often part of the weekend too. We had a hired hand to drive the yacht when drinking was part of the day... he never drank when driving so all was safe. Of course drinking in such circumstances required the very novel ice from icebergs.
Now if you know anything about icebergs then you will know that most icebergs hide the majority of their ice below the surface which means that the constant washing of the sea water makes them very unstable indeed unless they are grounded which means that they are actually so far in shore that they are sitting on the bottom of the ocean. If they are floating then at any time they will flip over and show a different part of themselves as a new portion becomes subject to the constant battering of the waves. Icebergs really are something to be steered clear of because when they flip it is like the titanic sinking and creates a undertow and will pull anything close by, under the water and take it down to the bottom. They always made me nervous. I have seen towering cathedrals of ice flip over in an instant with a crash that reminded me of something out of the"Poseidon Adventure". If a whale can give a boat a pretty good knock... and believe me they can... then one of these towers of ice can wipe you off the face of this earth with an ease and simplicity that is unspeakable.
One summer we had been out yachting every weekend for ages and each time we went out we passed a small bay in which there was an iceberg grounded. Slowly it was rotting away as the tides did their thing and broke it down little by little. Final we passed it one weekend and it was as close to shore as something so colossal could get... it was finally grounded after weeks of sliding in and out of this small bay.
Yachters have a voracious need to try the most crazy stunts in an effort to outdo each other so that they can pat themselves on the back for coolness. (Which resembled stupidity in some instances!) The father of the fellow who I had been dating was relatively sane compared to some of the yachters out there.... but being a heavy social drinker, he felt that some iceberg ice for their drinks would be awesome. And so he importuned my knight in shining armour to take the Boston Whaler in the small cove where the iceberg lay against the shore to see if there were any small growlers that we could pick up and put in the cooler.
Growlers are small chunks of ice that break off when and iceberg is battered enough by the waves that it flips... as the berg flips these great chunks of ice crack off and float away from the main berg... some can be as small as a dinner plate and some can be as large as a Volkswagon.... but generally they are not dangerous. The problem is that a berg that has grounded will have very few... a berg that has not flipped in a while will also have very few. The best time to get ice is when a berg has just flipped and is relative stable for a while.
Our goal was to take the Boston Whaler into the cove in search of growlers that had broken off the main berg. Not a difficult task except there was a bit of a sea on... waves were not bad but the tide was certainly there. The yacht was too large to enter the cove safely but the Boston Whaler was just fine for the task. The young fella and myself climbed into the Boston Whaler with the hired hand and headed slowly into the cove. The first thing we noticed was that the tidal waves were funneling into the cove and of course if you are aware of wave theory (I love wave theory) regardless of the area a wave takes up it has the same energy and the energy has to displace the same amount of volume. This translates to... the smaller the space for the wave, the larger the wave. The waves were pretty damn big in the cove. One minute we were facing the sky and the next minute we were facing the depths below us. However, we persevered knowing that once in the cove the waves would abate somewhat as the cove widened out fairly well. Still it was harrowing for a few minutes.
We could see the berg ahead and so we headed around it carefully staying fairly far away from it. By this I mean thirty to thirty-five feet. We could not see any growlers as the berg had been there for weeks and so we headed around for a second try.
Another thing you need to know is that you never circle an iceberg more than once because this will create waves too and will often knock a berg over if it has not been knocked over for a while.... but we felt fairly confident that that this berg was not going anywhere since it was so close to shore and surely was grounded.
After the second go round, we gave up on finding any growlers and so decided to head back out of the cove to the yacht awaiting us. That's when we heard it. There was the great sound of a horn waling from the yacht... a warning signal to let us know that we were not in a safe situation. This we had already worked out.... from previous trips. The lad I was with turned and looked over his shoulder and there high above us was the berg in the process of flipping....
We knew we were safe from the flip because we were far enough away from it.... what we knew we weren't safe from was the undertow that would be left by the vacuum of the flip itself. He gunned the engine and headed for the neck of the cove, which wouldn't have been so bad if the waves of the tide had not energized in the narrow opening, but once again we found ourselves facing the sky one minute and then the dark depths below us, only this time at speeds which were definitely not safe.
Obviously we survived or I would not be writing about this now.... but it was harrowing and scary. The berg flipped creating a huge undertow.... and then a backwash of waves rather a bit like a Tsunami. We did go back in and get the growlers that we wanted but I have never forgotten the sight of that berg towering over us... it so large and awesome.... us so small and fragile.
And there you have it... the story of one of my many life and death experiences.... but it was a beautiful day indeed.
Once upon a time I dated a fellow that was not Teapot. His parents had a yacht of sorts and we spent many weekends out cruising around the shores of Newfoundland. Behind the yacht, we always towed a small Boston Whaler that would act as a life boat if ever we needed it. It would take us hither and yon when we were exploring small inlets and bays too, but mostly we used it for picking up scuba gear after the guys had done their dives from the back of the yacht. The yacht that we cruised on would often meet up with other yachters and champagne breakfasts were often exchanged in the course of the weekend... other cocktails were often part of the weekend too. We had a hired hand to drive the yacht when drinking was part of the day... he never drank when driving so all was safe. Of course drinking in such circumstances required the very novel ice from icebergs.
Now if you know anything about icebergs then you will know that most icebergs hide the majority of their ice below the surface which means that the constant washing of the sea water makes them very unstable indeed unless they are grounded which means that they are actually so far in shore that they are sitting on the bottom of the ocean. If they are floating then at any time they will flip over and show a different part of themselves as a new portion becomes subject to the constant battering of the waves. Icebergs really are something to be steered clear of because when they flip it is like the titanic sinking and creates a undertow and will pull anything close by, under the water and take it down to the bottom. They always made me nervous. I have seen towering cathedrals of ice flip over in an instant with a crash that reminded me of something out of the"Poseidon Adventure". If a whale can give a boat a pretty good knock... and believe me they can... then one of these towers of ice can wipe you off the face of this earth with an ease and simplicity that is unspeakable.
One summer we had been out yachting every weekend for ages and each time we went out we passed a small bay in which there was an iceberg grounded. Slowly it was rotting away as the tides did their thing and broke it down little by little. Final we passed it one weekend and it was as close to shore as something so colossal could get... it was finally grounded after weeks of sliding in and out of this small bay.
Yachters have a voracious need to try the most crazy stunts in an effort to outdo each other so that they can pat themselves on the back for coolness. (Which resembled stupidity in some instances!) The father of the fellow who I had been dating was relatively sane compared to some of the yachters out there.... but being a heavy social drinker, he felt that some iceberg ice for their drinks would be awesome. And so he importuned my knight in shining armour to take the Boston Whaler in the small cove where the iceberg lay against the shore to see if there were any small growlers that we could pick up and put in the cooler.
Growlers are small chunks of ice that break off when and iceberg is battered enough by the waves that it flips... as the berg flips these great chunks of ice crack off and float away from the main berg... some can be as small as a dinner plate and some can be as large as a Volkswagon.... but generally they are not dangerous. The problem is that a berg that has grounded will have very few... a berg that has not flipped in a while will also have very few. The best time to get ice is when a berg has just flipped and is relative stable for a while.
Our goal was to take the Boston Whaler into the cove in search of growlers that had broken off the main berg. Not a difficult task except there was a bit of a sea on... waves were not bad but the tide was certainly there. The yacht was too large to enter the cove safely but the Boston Whaler was just fine for the task. The young fella and myself climbed into the Boston Whaler with the hired hand and headed slowly into the cove. The first thing we noticed was that the tidal waves were funneling into the cove and of course if you are aware of wave theory (I love wave theory) regardless of the area a wave takes up it has the same energy and the energy has to displace the same amount of volume. This translates to... the smaller the space for the wave, the larger the wave. The waves were pretty damn big in the cove. One minute we were facing the sky and the next minute we were facing the depths below us. However, we persevered knowing that once in the cove the waves would abate somewhat as the cove widened out fairly well. Still it was harrowing for a few minutes.
We could see the berg ahead and so we headed around it carefully staying fairly far away from it. By this I mean thirty to thirty-five feet. We could not see any growlers as the berg had been there for weeks and so we headed around for a second try.
Another thing you need to know is that you never circle an iceberg more than once because this will create waves too and will often knock a berg over if it has not been knocked over for a while.... but we felt fairly confident that that this berg was not going anywhere since it was so close to shore and surely was grounded.
After the second go round, we gave up on finding any growlers and so decided to head back out of the cove to the yacht awaiting us. That's when we heard it. There was the great sound of a horn waling from the yacht... a warning signal to let us know that we were not in a safe situation. This we had already worked out.... from previous trips. The lad I was with turned and looked over his shoulder and there high above us was the berg in the process of flipping....
We knew we were safe from the flip because we were far enough away from it.... what we knew we weren't safe from was the undertow that would be left by the vacuum of the flip itself. He gunned the engine and headed for the neck of the cove, which wouldn't have been so bad if the waves of the tide had not energized in the narrow opening, but once again we found ourselves facing the sky one minute and then the dark depths below us, only this time at speeds which were definitely not safe.
Obviously we survived or I would not be writing about this now.... but it was harrowing and scary. The berg flipped creating a huge undertow.... and then a backwash of waves rather a bit like a Tsunami. We did go back in and get the growlers that we wanted but I have never forgotten the sight of that berg towering over us... it so large and awesome.... us so small and fragile.
And there you have it... the story of one of my many life and death experiences.... but it was a beautiful day indeed.
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| After the bugger flipped. |
Three Nights Ago...
... I lay in my bed with no curtain to cover the window. The day had been mild and above me, outside the window, hung grand icicles, some as long and as large around as a man's arm. It was quiet and dark in the night and it hadn't begun to snow yet. In the sky hung the biggest moon I have ever seen. And lucky I was to see it, because for the next few days, it would be cloudy skies prevailing. But on that night, a rare, big, round, quivering moon hung in the sky, perfect in her crystalline beauty. It pierced my eyes even when they were closed, with a jagged edge so sharp it would give me no peace. And so I lay there, burdened with its beckoning.
And with its crystalline beauty came a night blue in it coldness. A heartless night, sharp and clear for those of us affected by its beauty. It pierced my mind, it pierced my heart and filled me with a longing for things untouched by man. For the sparkle of light in my eye. For magic. For the ethereal. For that which is beyond me. Indeed, for that which is beyond the means of the merely mortal.
All around me was this quaking pleasure of beauty sublime. The white of the snowy jacket enveloping the world, added to the favours of the mistress of the night. And there in the piercing light came the call of the wild... the call for which I was waiting. A howl so infinitely primordial that one could only respond in the recesses of the heart. But it filled me with the knowledge that I was not alone in my worship of the moon... an all encompassing moon, for which no one, no thing, can deny. Not even the tides of the ocean could deny this sparkling moon. Grappling my way to the edge of the sill, I looked out on a scene profound in it universal call. A scene, that not only took me whole through vision but through each and every sense, reached out and touched me. And for a moment, for just a simple moment I was the moon itself completely enveloped in its cold and beautiful grasp. And when it let go of me I lay back down on my soft warm bed and felt a tear well from my eye for I knew that the moon had given me a pleasure that was divine in it breathless blessing.
And with its crystalline beauty came a night blue in it coldness. A heartless night, sharp and clear for those of us affected by its beauty. It pierced my mind, it pierced my heart and filled me with a longing for things untouched by man. For the sparkle of light in my eye. For magic. For the ethereal. For that which is beyond me. Indeed, for that which is beyond the means of the merely mortal.
All around me was this quaking pleasure of beauty sublime. The white of the snowy jacket enveloping the world, added to the favours of the mistress of the night. And there in the piercing light came the call of the wild... the call for which I was waiting. A howl so infinitely primordial that one could only respond in the recesses of the heart. But it filled me with the knowledge that I was not alone in my worship of the moon... an all encompassing moon, for which no one, no thing, can deny. Not even the tides of the ocean could deny this sparkling moon. Grappling my way to the edge of the sill, I looked out on a scene profound in it universal call. A scene, that not only took me whole through vision but through each and every sense, reached out and touched me. And for a moment, for just a simple moment I was the moon itself completely enveloped in its cold and beautiful grasp. And when it let go of me I lay back down on my soft warm bed and felt a tear well from my eye for I knew that the moon had given me a pleasure that was divine in it breathless blessing.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Way Too Fr---in' Much Snow
I haven't seen this much snow since I left good ole Newfy. We are basically buried. (Actually that's not really true since the snow is not even up to the bottom of the windows and that used to be a regular occurrence when I lived back home.) Still it feels like we are buried since I've lost a toboggan under the drifts of snow that I usually use for hauling hay to the animals. And there is still snow in the forecast. Two years ago when we did our house addition, we started on the first of April and there was no snow left. I don't think that is going to happen this year. I'm even going to have to call a plow and see if I can get the driveways plowed again after this last dump of snow. And still there's snow in the forecast.
A quick trip out to the horse's pen this morning to bring her some apples and water for her breakfast, then up to the sheep's paddock to see if we had those lambs yet and Fanny is still hanging on, she is now three weeks over due. Still maybe she didn't take on the first go round with the ram. So maybe she will lamb soon. Hopefully not till Teapot gets back because I really don't want to be nursing her lambs or God Forbid I have to pull them... my hands just don't have the strength in them to pull lambs. Then it was up to the alpaca paddock to check on Dex. He's still lying around a lot and having problems with pooping. He's being very difficult about taking water... water would help, I know. BUt at least he's not keeled over on his side and he is eating.
Teapot gave me a nice long coat for Christmas... I do have to say that I love it. I wear it over my nightgown with my nice warm boots and I can do the morning chores without getting dressed... It is lovely to come in and put my feet up with a nice cup of tea and still be in my nighty... it is quite decadent actually. And like the Scotsman, don't ask me what I wear under mykilt... uhhh nighty! : )
Teapot has departed avec the camera once again so I am without a pic to post... so I'll give you another little taste of my life in the ancient past....
I'm off to do some work on my homework. Finally... oh yeah the PCSW newsletter is finally done.
A quick trip out to the horse's pen this morning to bring her some apples and water for her breakfast, then up to the sheep's paddock to see if we had those lambs yet and Fanny is still hanging on, she is now three weeks over due. Still maybe she didn't take on the first go round with the ram. So maybe she will lamb soon. Hopefully not till Teapot gets back because I really don't want to be nursing her lambs or God Forbid I have to pull them... my hands just don't have the strength in them to pull lambs. Then it was up to the alpaca paddock to check on Dex. He's still lying around a lot and having problems with pooping. He's being very difficult about taking water... water would help, I know. BUt at least he's not keeled over on his side and he is eating.
Teapot gave me a nice long coat for Christmas... I do have to say that I love it. I wear it over my nightgown with my nice warm boots and I can do the morning chores without getting dressed... It is lovely to come in and put my feet up with a nice cup of tea and still be in my nighty... it is quite decadent actually. And like the Scotsman, don't ask me what I wear under my
Teapot has departed avec the camera once again so I am without a pic to post... so I'll give you another little taste of my life in the ancient past....
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| At a friend's graduation... about 24 yrs. |
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| Gotta love those Newfy Forests. |
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| Pops and me in the garden. |
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| Hours of entertainment for Teapot. |
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| My grandparents who would be turning in their graves if they knew they were going online and around the world. |
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| My favorite dog and childhood pet. |
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| The iceberg that almost killed me. More about that next time. |
Monday, March 21, 2011
Really Tired
It's been a long day. No teapot tonight to cuddle with on a stormy cold night. He's on a bus headed for skiing with Daughter #1. I've hauled water only to find out that the water had drained away on the drive home because the gravity pipe dropped down below the level of the water and... woosh... out came all that water. I've fed animals though I do have to say that Daughter #2 has been an awesome help to me. I've run errands and dragged buckets of water to the animals. In the end it just makes me appreciate a good man.
I'm so exhausted I'm having trouble concentrating and tomorrow's another day.. I'm off for a few hours of sleep.
Good night...
I'm so exhausted I'm having trouble concentrating and tomorrow's another day.. I'm off for a few hours of sleep.
Good night...
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday...
Today:
1. FSJ for the last installment on the spindling course. All went well.
2. Dex seems to be a little better. Making sure he drank water from a baby bottle seems to have helped and then we gave him about three cups of oats last night. Then this morning Teapot got him up on his feet for a little while before he lay down but not on his side. He is eating hay though we are supplementing with oats. And half a bucket of water this morning. That's better.
Tomorrow:
Sunday.... ahhh.... relax and maybe spin.... forget that! I'm back to the PCSW newsletter. : (
Yesterday:
Yup that's all I've got today.....
1. FSJ for the last installment on the spindling course. All went well.
2. Dex seems to be a little better. Making sure he drank water from a baby bottle seems to have helped and then we gave him about three cups of oats last night. Then this morning Teapot got him up on his feet for a little while before he lay down but not on his side. He is eating hay though we are supplementing with oats. And half a bucket of water this morning. That's better.
Tomorrow:
Sunday.... ahhh.... relax and maybe spin.... forget that! I'm back to the PCSW newsletter. : (
Yesterday:
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| I always did love dogs. |
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| Ok... that's just weird. |
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| Does anyone ever take pictures of me without my tongue hanging out?! |
Friday, March 18, 2011
The Damn Moose, Dex, And Some Sun On My Back
I was off this morning at 7 am sharp chasing a moose away from my bales of hay. I got him on the run pretty good and he headed off down through the trees that borders our land. That's when I discovered that my day was not going to be good.
Dexter is sick... real sick. I've put a call into the vet. It's not good. Dexter is on his side and won't get up. We've removed him to the barn but there he lies and there he stays. We've tried twice to get him on his feet. He stands for no more than a few short seconds and then he keels over again on his side. He's weak and we're not sure why. I'm working on it. We'll see. But I'm not hopeful.
There's sun on my back today and I've been busy between the barn and meds for Dex, and trying to get the PCSW newsletter finished. I'm so glad when I'm on the floor of the barn trying to coax his meds into Dex's mouth, that the sun is shining. It gives me the feeling that all is not lost yet. But I'll be honest, it's hard to keep smiling when you know that one of your animals is down and might not get up.
So here I sit once again behind the computer monitor and sometimes I wonder if I spend more time here than anywhere else in this house. I'll be glad when Teapot and the girls get home this afternoon and they can help take my mind off what's happening in the barn. I hate to see one of my animals down but an alpaca... somehow it just seems wrong. Sheep are butchered regularly so when we lose one it usually because they were born late or just weren't good eaters and were weak to begin with... if they die somehow it doesn't seem so bad. But Dex has always been healthy. Yes, I'm very much afraid that he is dying.
Every four hours for meds.... maybe we can save him... I'll let you know... meanwhile thank God for that sun today.
I'd better go and try him with some water.
Dexter is sick... real sick. I've put a call into the vet. It's not good. Dexter is on his side and won't get up. We've removed him to the barn but there he lies and there he stays. We've tried twice to get him on his feet. He stands for no more than a few short seconds and then he keels over again on his side. He's weak and we're not sure why. I'm working on it. We'll see. But I'm not hopeful.
There's sun on my back today and I've been busy between the barn and meds for Dex, and trying to get the PCSW newsletter finished. I'm so glad when I'm on the floor of the barn trying to coax his meds into Dex's mouth, that the sun is shining. It gives me the feeling that all is not lost yet. But I'll be honest, it's hard to keep smiling when you know that one of your animals is down and might not get up.
So here I sit once again behind the computer monitor and sometimes I wonder if I spend more time here than anywhere else in this house. I'll be glad when Teapot and the girls get home this afternoon and they can help take my mind off what's happening in the barn. I hate to see one of my animals down but an alpaca... somehow it just seems wrong. Sheep are butchered regularly so when we lose one it usually because they were born late or just weren't good eaters and were weak to begin with... if they die somehow it doesn't seem so bad. But Dex has always been healthy. Yes, I'm very much afraid that he is dying.
Every four hours for meds.... maybe we can save him... I'll let you know... meanwhile thank God for that sun today.
I'd better go and try him with some water.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Call Me Fickle If Ya Want, 'Cause... I Love the Colour Green.....
Happy St Paddy's Day to ye all! With St. Paddy's day upon us you couldn't ask for a better day for the green. So I say, "Top of da marnin' to ye!" Too bad there's no green out the door. Just white as far as the eye can see. That's the snow, and so it tis. Still, yesterday was the first day in ages that there was any sign of spring. The snow was melting off the roof and it actually got up to -1 degree. I am happy to say that it is sunny once again dis marnin'. The sun is rising over the 'orizon and is cheering me, and that's for sure. Along with that I had a little leppycaun come for a visit to me header this morning and so, being polite, in the hopes that he might part with a little of his gold, I asked him to come and stay a while... but the bloody ruddy ting is sittin' there as large as life with not a sign of the gold and look at those great fearsom hands about to grab the wee bugger and nip him into a cage. I'll have the wee bugger's gold yet!
Yes I know that the "look" of my blog has once again changed... I was not happy with the cut up look of the background, and so, decided to simplify. These pooffy things to the left and the right, remind me of cotton bolls and that's what I have used as my header background... spun cotton... and since I'm dying for a little green in my life... well thus the colour.
For the last few days I've been busy getting those mitten knitted for the person who requested them last weekend. And finally I finished them yesterday. Now I just have to pack them up and get the in the mail today. Also I have been working on the PCSW newsletter which will be ready to go out very soon... there's one more article to go up and an application form for the scholarship and a few other small items and I'm done. Then I can get back to my own work. I have been doing a little stitching on a Swedish Weave sampler so that I can put that in the newsletter. I've even dyed some yarn green for the Swedish Weave sampler (and you couldn't ask for a better colour today!)
But as a result it has been overwhelmingly busy and level 4 homework languishes. The other ting that's been going on is that the whole family has been gearing up for march break. The JCR trip which Teapot and Daughter#1 were going on was cancelled and then yesterday there was an email confirming that the trip would go ahead after all, and so they will be leaving for skiing in Smithers on Monday. On again... off again... and in this case, back on again! I'm happy for them though, as that will mean that Daughter #1 is looking forward to a trip that she has wanted to do for several years. It's all good.
But I need to get to the Swedish Weave sample and I might just try to catch a leprechaun and if I can't get the gold from him then I'll at least settle for one of these.
Oh! There he goes now..... I'm off then!
Yes I know that the "look" of my blog has once again changed... I was not happy with the cut up look of the background, and so, decided to simplify. These pooffy things to the left and the right, remind me of cotton bolls and that's what I have used as my header background... spun cotton... and since I'm dying for a little green in my life... well thus the colour.
For the last few days I've been busy getting those mitten knitted for the person who requested them last weekend. And finally I finished them yesterday. Now I just have to pack them up and get the in the mail today. Also I have been working on the PCSW newsletter which will be ready to go out very soon... there's one more article to go up and an application form for the scholarship and a few other small items and I'm done. Then I can get back to my own work. I have been doing a little stitching on a Swedish Weave sampler so that I can put that in the newsletter. I've even dyed some yarn green for the Swedish Weave sampler (and you couldn't ask for a better colour today!)
But as a result it has been overwhelmingly busy and level 4 homework languishes. The other ting that's been going on is that the whole family has been gearing up for march break. The JCR trip which Teapot and Daughter#1 were going on was cancelled and then yesterday there was an email confirming that the trip would go ahead after all, and so they will be leaving for skiing in Smithers on Monday. On again... off again... and in this case, back on again! I'm happy for them though, as that will mean that Daughter #1 is looking forward to a trip that she has wanted to do for several years. It's all good.
But I need to get to the Swedish Weave sample and I might just try to catch a leprechaun and if I can't get the gold from him then I'll at least settle for one of these.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Time For A few Quick Pics
Ok it's busy around here... I'm working on the PCSW Newsletter and trying to get that done before the weekend and also trying to get the last of those mittens done before tomorrow.. Just about finished. I have spent an exorbitant amount of time on line today trying to finish the newsletter and while I'm not quite finished I'm taking a quick break because I'm starting to see double.
Here's a few more old pics....
What a total goof I used to be.
Here's a few more old pics....
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| I'm in the red.... dressed for Halloween. |
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| Another Halloween costume... nobody knew me including Teapot. |
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| Gotta love that cheesy grin. |
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| I'm not sure what this was about but Oh my God! |
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| Maybe I thought it was weed! |
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| And 4 months pregnant. |
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| Pops and I celebrating the new year.... hmmm! |
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
A Little More Serious Than Usual
Big fat flakes of snow are drifting lazily to the ground... in all this peaceful beauty, it is hard to believe that a dear friend can have lost her husband when only a few weeks ago he was hale and hearty. It's hard to believe that one of my readers too has lost her husband suddenly. And though the peace of new fallen snow is all around me it is hard to believe that the horrors of Japan's recent disaster continues to unfold moment by moment. I, like most of you, have watched and listened to the news coming out of Japan and wonder how in the world they will recover. It seems too much some times, to turn on my computer and hear any more bad news. We rail against God or whatever might be your choice of belief systems. But in the end there is nothing we can do to change what has already come to pass. All we can do is go forward... focus on making what's left of our lives better than it was and appreciate what you have had, what you have now, and what you will have.
Japan will recover but right now they need time to look around them and find that which is lost... they need time to find their heart. They need time to find the lost photo albums of families washed out to sea. They need to think about the very real people who are lost... the wives, the husbands, the baby children that will not be there anymore. And we need to respect that and support them in whatever way we can... and mostly we need to listen to their stories so that the people who have been lost can be remembered and respected. It is no small thing to carry the memories of loved ones forward because it is the way that those we love live on. By talking about them and holding them in our hearts we carry them forward into the future.
There is a reason for blogging. We express our opinions and sometimes they are misguided and if mine have been then I apologize, but in the end, if a forest fire swept through and wiped me and my family out there will still be this. A little bit of me... a little bit of us, for someone to carry into the future. There but for the grace of God, go I. There are those of us who will get mad and we will rail and some of us will say stupid things in the face of a disaster, but in such turmoil and loss it is hard to keep our heads. Eventually though, sense will return and that is the point at which we need to look around and be the best that we can be. And then and only then will we reach out to those around us, and find the heart of humanity... the good that I believe is in all of us.
I am going to go now and knit. I am going to knit a counterpane from Piecework magazine that Grace Coolidge probably never thought that a woman many miles away and many years into the future would be reading about and knitting. I am going to do that because it is a good morning to remember those from the past... and to be thankful I am alive. With all that peaceful snow falling, I think it is a good time to reflect on life, and memories. And I will listen to the stories from Japan on CBC radio, and I will think of my friends and their lost husbands. I will make peace with the world around me by remembering those who are gone... and I will pray for them... and I will pray for us...
They've got it over, and we've got it to come.
Japan will recover but right now they need time to look around them and find that which is lost... they need time to find their heart. They need time to find the lost photo albums of families washed out to sea. They need to think about the very real people who are lost... the wives, the husbands, the baby children that will not be there anymore. And we need to respect that and support them in whatever way we can... and mostly we need to listen to their stories so that the people who have been lost can be remembered and respected. It is no small thing to carry the memories of loved ones forward because it is the way that those we love live on. By talking about them and holding them in our hearts we carry them forward into the future.
There is a reason for blogging. We express our opinions and sometimes they are misguided and if mine have been then I apologize, but in the end, if a forest fire swept through and wiped me and my family out there will still be this. A little bit of me... a little bit of us, for someone to carry into the future. There but for the grace of God, go I. There are those of us who will get mad and we will rail and some of us will say stupid things in the face of a disaster, but in such turmoil and loss it is hard to keep our heads. Eventually though, sense will return and that is the point at which we need to look around and be the best that we can be. And then and only then will we reach out to those around us, and find the heart of humanity... the good that I believe is in all of us.
I am going to go now and knit. I am going to knit a counterpane from Piecework magazine that Grace Coolidge probably never thought that a woman many miles away and many years into the future would be reading about and knitting. I am going to do that because it is a good morning to remember those from the past... and to be thankful I am alive. With all that peaceful snow falling, I think it is a good time to reflect on life, and memories. And I will listen to the stories from Japan on CBC radio, and I will think of my friends and their lost husbands. I will make peace with the world around me by remembering those who are gone... and I will pray for them... and I will pray for us...
They've got it over, and we've got it to come.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Will Ya Still Love Me When I'm 69
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| When I was 18 yrs old. |
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| When I was 22 yrs old. |
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| When I was 27yrs old. |
Sunday, March 13, 2011
A Little Green With All That White
As I look out my window today, I can see snow all around.
I was peaking through my most recent pictures and saw that the cotton that I spun a few weeks ago looked so soft just like the snow outside. There are tracks in the snow from where Jiggs drops her nose into the snow and scoops up some into her mouth. It leaves funny imprints in an otherwise pristine surface.
Teapot is burning trees that are dead from the rampant Pine Beetle kill and while most of the trees are red there are some that are green still, and so I decided to change my blog to reflect the view from my window and in so doing ridding myself of that dreaded pink. Besides... St. Paddy's Day is coming and what is St. Paddy's day without a little green?
While I've been watching the horrible events of the last few days in Japan, Saturday has come and gone. My spindling class of last Saturday gathered once again yesterday, full of vim and vigor for the next installment on our spindling class. This time I had Teapot with me to drive and I enjoyed his company making the drive fly by. He went car hunting again while I taught the class the intrigues of spindling. I was pleased to see that most had finished their homework and had vastly improved. I even had two new student join the fray. They've invited me to come again for another day to check homework again next week and to trouble shoot any questions that might arise, so once again I will be traveling back for another day of spindling next Saturday.
Daughter #1 enjoyed a sleepover with her friend at her friend's house. Daughter #2 enjoyed having her friend here last night. It is easy to see that this is the last week before mid term break. Neither one is feeling overly energetic as is the usual case the week before any break. We all find ourselves winding down to a well earned time from obligations, homework, and getting up early in the morning. I think even Teapot looks forward to a week and a half of pleasure. We are all disappointed that the JCR trip which Daughter #1 and Teapot were to be on has been canceled. They will not be going skiing in Smithers though the powers that be are trying to work it out so that the JCRs can go skiing at Powder King. I hope it will all work out for there are some very long faces on those thwarted in their skiing expectations.
Today I am working on a pair of mittens which are a request from a family member who needs nice warm woollen mittens because he lives even further North than moi. I hope to have them knitted by Tuesday at the latest so that they can go in the mail and I can go back to my homework. With all the cold of the last few weeks, I am sure that Fanny, my best breeding ewe, has been keeping her eyes crossed and her legs crossed in an effort to wait till the warmer temperatures of spring arrive before dropping her lambs. She looks rather pathetic as her pregnancy takes its tole on her energy and she spend much time lying down or standing very still.
I am finding it hard to believe that spring is near.... it is still too cold to think of spring adventures when winter still seems to knock daily at my window. Knitting mittens still seems like a timely project though with mid March looming I wish that I could be thinking of more spring like activities. Is anyone out there planting their seeds yet for transplanting in the not too distant future? My cotton seeds await their soil, and I begin to think of that lovely mound of soil in the yard that will be my new garden area in a month or so. I look forward to beets and carrots and potatoes and peas. Each morning I hear the chickadees singing their love songs. It is the only time of the year that you hear them trilling in such a way. I await the first call of the returning geese but I think this year they might be late since the snow is still deep and they can't even feed on the fallen oats in farmer's fields. Still the yellow canoe shows it head through the snow
and I know that a trip down river will bring the pleasures of watching returning water birds in the not too distant future. The kingfishers may already be here since the river never freezes with the dam changing the river's flow. It is hard not to get ahead of myself with the grey of the sky turning to the brilliancy of sunshine outside. But then the snow is so very bright. I am sure that it is for that reason that the sun looks so charming. For now though, there is bread to be kneaded and mittens to be knitted, and still the smoke of Teapot's fire drifts slowly past my window.... I wonder if he is ready for a cup of hot chocolate....
I hope your Saturday is calling to you with spring like qualities.
Here comes Teapot through the kitchen door.... I think I'll put that kettle on.
I was peaking through my most recent pictures and saw that the cotton that I spun a few weeks ago looked so soft just like the snow outside. There are tracks in the snow from where Jiggs drops her nose into the snow and scoops up some into her mouth. It leaves funny imprints in an otherwise pristine surface.
Teapot is burning trees that are dead from the rampant Pine Beetle kill and while most of the trees are red there are some that are green still, and so I decided to change my blog to reflect the view from my window and in so doing ridding myself of that dreaded pink. Besides... St. Paddy's Day is coming and what is St. Paddy's day without a little green?
While I've been watching the horrible events of the last few days in Japan, Saturday has come and gone. My spindling class of last Saturday gathered once again yesterday, full of vim and vigor for the next installment on our spindling class. This time I had Teapot with me to drive and I enjoyed his company making the drive fly by. He went car hunting again while I taught the class the intrigues of spindling. I was pleased to see that most had finished their homework and had vastly improved. I even had two new student join the fray. They've invited me to come again for another day to check homework again next week and to trouble shoot any questions that might arise, so once again I will be traveling back for another day of spindling next Saturday.
Daughter #1 enjoyed a sleepover with her friend at her friend's house. Daughter #2 enjoyed having her friend here last night. It is easy to see that this is the last week before mid term break. Neither one is feeling overly energetic as is the usual case the week before any break. We all find ourselves winding down to a well earned time from obligations, homework, and getting up early in the morning. I think even Teapot looks forward to a week and a half of pleasure. We are all disappointed that the JCR trip which Daughter #1 and Teapot were to be on has been canceled. They will not be going skiing in Smithers though the powers that be are trying to work it out so that the JCRs can go skiing at Powder King. I hope it will all work out for there are some very long faces on those thwarted in their skiing expectations.
Today I am working on a pair of mittens which are a request from a family member who needs nice warm woollen mittens because he lives even further North than moi. I hope to have them knitted by Tuesday at the latest so that they can go in the mail and I can go back to my homework. With all the cold of the last few weeks, I am sure that Fanny, my best breeding ewe, has been keeping her eyes crossed and her legs crossed in an effort to wait till the warmer temperatures of spring arrive before dropping her lambs. She looks rather pathetic as her pregnancy takes its tole on her energy and she spend much time lying down or standing very still.
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| That's her in the middle watching me take her picture. |
I am finding it hard to believe that spring is near.... it is still too cold to think of spring adventures when winter still seems to knock daily at my window. Knitting mittens still seems like a timely project though with mid March looming I wish that I could be thinking of more spring like activities. Is anyone out there planting their seeds yet for transplanting in the not too distant future? My cotton seeds await their soil, and I begin to think of that lovely mound of soil in the yard that will be my new garden area in a month or so. I look forward to beets and carrots and potatoes and peas. Each morning I hear the chickadees singing their love songs. It is the only time of the year that you hear them trilling in such a way. I await the first call of the returning geese but I think this year they might be late since the snow is still deep and they can't even feed on the fallen oats in farmer's fields. Still the yellow canoe shows it head through the snow
and I know that a trip down river will bring the pleasures of watching returning water birds in the not too distant future. The kingfishers may already be here since the river never freezes with the dam changing the river's flow. It is hard not to get ahead of myself with the grey of the sky turning to the brilliancy of sunshine outside. But then the snow is so very bright. I am sure that it is for that reason that the sun looks so charming. For now though, there is bread to be kneaded and mittens to be knitted, and still the smoke of Teapot's fire drifts slowly past my window.... I wonder if he is ready for a cup of hot chocolate....
I hope your Saturday is calling to you with spring like qualities.
Here comes Teapot through the kitchen door.... I think I'll put that kettle on.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Fecking Shite Again
Fecking Shite = Earthquakes followed by tsunamis!
And I say a prayer for all those who have lost someone today.
And I say a prayer for all those who have lost someone today.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Fecking Shite
Fecking Shite = Flax
I've finished the flax and it looks like an ape spun it.... actually that's an insult to the ape. It looks more like an elephant had at it with it's trunk! But I don't care at this point. I'm finished and the tips of my fingers are raw to prove it. 6 skeins of line flax and the worst time I've ever had spinning anything. After watching YouTube videos on how to spin flax and reading and trying, and reading and trying again, I'm putting the flax away and never looking at it from this day forward, that is, if I can get away with it. It was horrible... it is horrible. It looks like rope and rough rope at that. I'm likely to get very little in the way of marks but that's fine by me.
I have never in my life had such a swearing fest as I have had in the last few days doing these sample... I don't know if the rest of the Bast fibres are like this and I'm not readily wanting to find out either!
So now I have to boil up these babies and finish processing them and one of them has to be bleached.... and while I'm doing that I'll be washing wool for Lopi and working on worsted and woollen samples.... and relishing spinning something I love.
I also decided that I just couldn't live with that godawful pink background anymore so while I'm trying to be satisfied with some pink, I think the black is a good background.
Oh yeah... I'm still waiting for lambs... and spring... neither is on the horizon yet... just one blasted moose still yomping away at the hay.
I've finished the flax and it looks like an ape spun it.... actually that's an insult to the ape. It looks more like an elephant had at it with it's trunk! But I don't care at this point. I'm finished and the tips of my fingers are raw to prove it. 6 skeins of line flax and the worst time I've ever had spinning anything. After watching YouTube videos on how to spin flax and reading and trying, and reading and trying again, I'm putting the flax away and never looking at it from this day forward, that is, if I can get away with it. It was horrible... it is horrible. It looks like rope and rough rope at that. I'm likely to get very little in the way of marks but that's fine by me.
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| These are my line flax samples and if you click on the photo you will get an enlarged version and you will also see how coarse and ropey it looks. |
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| By comparison my tow flax sample look positively soft!! |
So now I have to boil up these babies and finish processing them and one of them has to be bleached.... and while I'm doing that I'll be washing wool for Lopi and working on worsted and woollen samples.... and relishing spinning something I love.
I also decided that I just couldn't live with that godawful pink background anymore so while I'm trying to be satisfied with some pink, I think the black is a good background.
Oh yeah... I'm still waiting for lambs... and spring... neither is on the horizon yet... just one blasted moose still yomping away at the hay.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
25 Years Comes To An End
The last mission of the Discovery Space Shuttle has come to an end. A sad day indeed. And it is all the sadder because our friends to the south are hard pressed to be the innovators and forward thinkers that they have always been. President Obama saw fit last year to end the Constellation Program which was to take the place of the Space Shuttle program. Obviously this economic recession that most of the world finds itself in, is detrimental to the people of the United States in more ways than one. We tend to think of people out of jobs and declaring bankruptcy, but the loss of innovative ideas like the whole Space Shuttle Program has come to be its most serious collateral damage for those of us who looked to the US for leadership in space research. The Endeavor will make a trip to the International Space Station in April and then the Atlantis will make a trip in June. There are no other scheduled trips.
Space Shuttles are amazing transportation devices. I have watched over the years the many missions of each and every one. I have to say that I looked on the Discovery's last mission with sadness in my heart. Here are a few pictures....
The most important legacy of the Space Shuttle Program is that for the first time in history we have been able to see the planet that we call home as something onto itself. It is finite and it is ours. It's blue beauty is fragile and that is what the Space Shuttle Program has been able to drive home to us over and over through the awesome pictures the astronauts have been able to take of our planet. I love this last photo since we see the horizon of the earth in the background of the ISS. Very cool.
It is with sadness that I watch the Space Shuttle Program winding down. Manned returnable space vehicles are the legacy of the US and NASA combined efforts to lead the way in space engineering. There is likely to never again, in my time, be as rigorous a program as this. I am proud to know that it has been during my lifetime that space research has been so forward thinking. That is not to say that NASA will not persevere with space travel programs. Currently they still have a space probe on Mars and one on the way to the outer reaches of our galaxy. But manned missions for the US are at a stand still. Let us hope, that if nothing else, the wars that torment the world and suck dry the funds of the US will come to an end so that the money that is wasted on killing each other returns to higher minded things like research into space craft.
For now we must look to the leadership of countries like Russia and India to watch the space programs that they have if our knowledge of this great universe and our place in it is to continue.
I would love to be able to get to the Smithsonian to see the Discovery at some time in my life, which is where it will be retired for those of us to view.... those of us who dream of seeing this planet in all its roundness and blueness, unhindered.
Space Shuttles are amazing transportation devices. I have watched over the years the many missions of each and every one. I have to say that I looked on the Discovery's last mission with sadness in my heart. Here are a few pictures....
It is with sadness that I watch the Space Shuttle Program winding down. Manned returnable space vehicles are the legacy of the US and NASA combined efforts to lead the way in space engineering. There is likely to never again, in my time, be as rigorous a program as this. I am proud to know that it has been during my lifetime that space research has been so forward thinking. That is not to say that NASA will not persevere with space travel programs. Currently they still have a space probe on Mars and one on the way to the outer reaches of our galaxy. But manned missions for the US are at a stand still. Let us hope, that if nothing else, the wars that torment the world and suck dry the funds of the US will come to an end so that the money that is wasted on killing each other returns to higher minded things like research into space craft.
For now we must look to the leadership of countries like Russia and India to watch the space programs that they have if our knowledge of this great universe and our place in it is to continue.
I would love to be able to get to the Smithsonian to see the Discovery at some time in my life, which is where it will be retired for those of us to view.... those of us who dream of seeing this planet in all its roundness and blueness, unhindered.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Knee Slapper
I was sent a joke that cracked me up. I'm going to print it here though I don't usually do that but there is a story behind my posting this joke here and I'll tell you all about it after you read this.
Tap on the Shoulder
A true story from the pages of the Manchester Evening Times . . .
Last Wednesday a passenger in a taxi heading for Salford station leaned
over to ask the driver a question and gently tapped him on the shoulder to
get his attention.
The driver screamed, lost control of the cab, nearly hit a bus, drove up
over the curb and stopped just inches from a large plate window.
For a few moments everything was silent in the cab. Then, the shaking
driver said "are you OK? I'm so sorry, but you scared the daylights out of
me."
The badly shaken passenger apologized to the driver and said, "I didn't
realize that a mere tap on the shoulder would startle someone so badly."
The driver replied, "No, no, I'm the one who is sorry, it's entirely my
fault. Today is my very first day driving a cab.
I've been driving a hearse for 25 years."
You may have already heard this joke but it struck me so funny because the first guy that I ever went out with, long before I met Teapot, drove a hearse for his father's funeral home!
LOLOLOLOLOL it just cracked me up.
Tap on the Shoulder
A true story from the pages of the Manchester Evening Times . . .
Last Wednesday a passenger in a taxi heading for Salford station leaned
over to ask the driver a question and gently tapped him on the shoulder to
get his attention.
The driver screamed, lost control of the cab, nearly hit a bus, drove up
over the curb and stopped just inches from a large plate window.
For a few moments everything was silent in the cab. Then, the shaking
driver said "are you OK? I'm so sorry, but you scared the daylights out of
me."
The badly shaken passenger apologized to the driver and said, "I didn't
realize that a mere tap on the shoulder would startle someone so badly."
The driver replied, "No, no, I'm the one who is sorry, it's entirely my
fault. Today is my very first day driving a cab.
I've been driving a hearse for 25 years."
You may have already heard this joke but it struck me so funny because the first guy that I ever went out with, long before I met Teapot, drove a hearse for his father's funeral home!
LOLOLOLOLOL it just cracked me up.
Monday, March 7, 2011
I Took Sunday Off
I really did. Usually I spend Sunday catching up on all the things during the week that I didn't do. But not yesterday. Teapot had report cards to finish at school and so he was gone all afternoon. The Daughters were busy finishing assignments that needed to be done for today, as a result, I found myself at loose ends. So I finally decided to ball up those skeins of yarn that I had dyed during the retreat at Blueberry. This got me thinking about that Counterpane pattern in the last issue of Piecework. I had been planning on knitting that counterpane with the yarn that I had dyed and I had spent a week looking for the darn magazine that I had gotten just after Christmas. I still can't find it but a good friend in FSJ had copied the pattern for me so that I wouldn't have to keep being frustrated while looking for it. Eventually I will find the magazine but for now I have the photo copy. So I started knitting and this is what I've go so far...
I am working my way up through the colours. So far it is looking just as I had hoped.
So I need to back up a bit and talk about this a little. The 150 hour project for the level 4 of the MSP is looming over me and so I had decided quite some time ago what I wanted to do. I wanted to knit this...
in a blend of Cashmere, Merino, and Silk. But I want to use percentage dyeing in order to make the petals in the pattern look like actual flowers... in order to do this I need to carry the colours from pale lemon yellow to darker peach, with gradual changes in the colours as I work up the petal pattern. I will be using percentage dyeing, blending fibres, and Cashmere which was one of our new fibres we learned about this year. It is important to use the knowledge you've gained in these types of projects and this suits the criteria fairly well.
Now what does this have to do with a counterpane pattern in the Piecework magazine? Well, I got the brilliant idea that if I needed to dye my wool I would not want to blow it and spoil a whole bunch of my hard won hand spun Cashmere blended yarn if the dyeing didn't work. So I ordered some Gems yarn which is a merino, lace weight yarn sold by Louet.... and while I was at the Blueberry I had a little test try of my dye. I do realize that a Cashmere/merino/Silk will take the dye differently but it is better to test with this first before I commit myself to colours that might be wrong.
When I finished dyeing this yarn I had a bunch of fibre that was useless for my 150 hour project but quite lovely to be used in a project... so since the counterpane pattern has a leaf motif in it I thought I would give it a try and see how it looks using the methods I will be using for my 150 hour project.
That's what I did yesterday.
I needed a day to sit on my arse and do nothing other than watch my needles click away, feel the sunshine on my face after a week of snow, and listen to CBC. It was a lovely afternoon.
Saturday was bad and good all at the same time. I almost died but I had a great spindling class. Having almost died, it meant all the more that Sunday was appreciated fully.
Dieing was not something I wanted to do, so I didn't do it, but it almost wasn't up to me. I left Saturday morning on roads that were less than spring-like (that's an understatement) for my class of spindling students in FSJ. I was traveling along about 20 kms less than the speed limit, and about halfway there, when a driver in a car coming toward me, decided that her side of the road was not good enough and so crossed over to mine. She obviously was busy talking to her companion and either didn't see me or thought that her SUV was bigger than mine and would have a better chance in a head on collision. She did not move over till the last possible moment. We missed but it was by about three or four feet at most. It was horrifically scary. She swerved at the last minute when she finally decided to put her eyes back on the road and not on whoever was distracting her..... and I thought she might end up in a ditch but she didn't and I was able to carry on unscathed.... Still my knuckles from that point forward were extremely white and my teeth will all need to be resurfaced since they were grinding the rest of the way there. I hate winter driving and avoid whenever I can.
The rest of the day turned out well except I was so uptight driving home that I had a serious case of white knuckle syndrome again and every vehicle that came toward me meant that I was slowing down to about 40 kms on a 90 kms road... I'm sure I ticked off every driver who had the misfortune of catching up behind me.... because every one who did passed with frustration in their moves, and all the ones who were coming toward me looked at me like I was some kind of strange weirdo that shouldn't have a drivers license. But all is well, that ends well. I'm home and I'm safe.
As for my spindlers... it went well except that my two newbies didn't show up, so I was teaching a class of students who at least had some experience. They all went away with smiles on their faces and yarn to practice on till next week. It was a real privilege to teach them. Here they are learning how to card rolags after having spun pencil rovings of various grist.
We all went for lunch afterwards and had a lovely time. Next week I will go back and teach them plying techniques and how to choose a spindle based on fibre and weight of yarn that they want to spin. I also told them I would show them support spindling... hopefully to wet their appetite for another course at a later time.
I'm off to shower and spin flax... finally.
So I need to back up a bit and talk about this a little. The 150 hour project for the level 4 of the MSP is looming over me and so I had decided quite some time ago what I wanted to do. I wanted to knit this...
Now what does this have to do with a counterpane pattern in the Piecework magazine? Well, I got the brilliant idea that if I needed to dye my wool I would not want to blow it and spoil a whole bunch of my hard won hand spun Cashmere blended yarn if the dyeing didn't work. So I ordered some Gems yarn which is a merino, lace weight yarn sold by Louet.... and while I was at the Blueberry I had a little test try of my dye. I do realize that a Cashmere/merino/Silk will take the dye differently but it is better to test with this first before I commit myself to colours that might be wrong.
When I finished dyeing this yarn I had a bunch of fibre that was useless for my 150 hour project but quite lovely to be used in a project... so since the counterpane pattern has a leaf motif in it I thought I would give it a try and see how it looks using the methods I will be using for my 150 hour project.
That's what I did yesterday.
I needed a day to sit on my arse and do nothing other than watch my needles click away, feel the sunshine on my face after a week of snow, and listen to CBC. It was a lovely afternoon.
Saturday was bad and good all at the same time. I almost died but I had a great spindling class. Having almost died, it meant all the more that Sunday was appreciated fully.
Dieing was not something I wanted to do, so I didn't do it, but it almost wasn't up to me. I left Saturday morning on roads that were less than spring-like (that's an understatement) for my class of spindling students in FSJ. I was traveling along about 20 kms less than the speed limit, and about halfway there, when a driver in a car coming toward me, decided that her side of the road was not good enough and so crossed over to mine. She obviously was busy talking to her companion and either didn't see me or thought that her SUV was bigger than mine and would have a better chance in a head on collision. She did not move over till the last possible moment. We missed but it was by about three or four feet at most. It was horrifically scary. She swerved at the last minute when she finally decided to put her eyes back on the road and not on whoever was distracting her..... and I thought she might end up in a ditch but she didn't and I was able to carry on unscathed.... Still my knuckles from that point forward were extremely white and my teeth will all need to be resurfaced since they were grinding the rest of the way there. I hate winter driving and avoid whenever I can.
The rest of the day turned out well except I was so uptight driving home that I had a serious case of white knuckle syndrome again and every vehicle that came toward me meant that I was slowing down to about 40 kms on a 90 kms road... I'm sure I ticked off every driver who had the misfortune of catching up behind me.... because every one who did passed with frustration in their moves, and all the ones who were coming toward me looked at me like I was some kind of strange weirdo that shouldn't have a drivers license. But all is well, that ends well. I'm home and I'm safe.
As for my spindlers... it went well except that my two newbies didn't show up, so I was teaching a class of students who at least had some experience. They all went away with smiles on their faces and yarn to practice on till next week. It was a real privilege to teach them. Here they are learning how to card rolags after having spun pencil rovings of various grist.
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| MJ learning how to card properly... she's charging the card. |
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| MA also learning the same thing. |
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| DS is learning how to flick card locks. |
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| NC had two drop spindles that she worked with. This one had no hook and was a bit of a challenge. But she did really well. |
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| And this lady is another of the Master Spinning Program and needs no help spindling... she's there to help if I need it. |
I'm off to shower and spin flax... finally.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Oh What I Can Do With My Head
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| I've been sucked into a cartoon. |
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| It ain't easy being green... |
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| "Ahhhh... My head's exploding." |
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| I always wondered what it was like to be a fish. |
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| Cyclops maybe? |
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| Didn't I see this in a cartoon one time?! |
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| I can't take it anymore maybe I should just pull my head in like a turtle. |
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| Surprise! 2 heads. Oh there's just too much of me. |
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| I think I was in one of Picasso's dreams. Or maybe it was Salvadore Dali. |
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| Hm... If I really looked like this I'd have to go kill myself. |
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| Didn't Helena Bonham Carter look like this recently in Alice in Wonderland? I think I should go pluck my eyebrows. |
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| Brian Mulroney syndrome. |
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| Angelina Jolie's lips just wouldn't work on me. |
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| Ok.. that's just freaky. |
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| Help!!! I look like a shark. Hmm... I wonder if I have all the teeth too. |
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| The evil one. I just need the horns... oh sorry they're there you can't see them but I can feel them. Mwa ha ha! |
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| Ah... thanks girls I'm back to normal now... well, better than a putty head anyway. |