Sucks To Be Me.... Especially After Picking Cashmere

Well, lots of hi jinks around here last night... before I tell you about cashmere I'll tell you all about the prison break last night....

We have been renting movies from Videomatica (which is an online video rental place) since Christmas and about every 5 days we get a movie in the mail which we watch that evening and then send it back the next day.  Lately we have been watching the series The Tudors and we have been really enjoying it... (though Daughter #2 gets grossed out at all the stupid sex scenes.... totally unnecessary for the telling of the story.) It's just too bad that they are not really sticking to historical truth. I am a bit of a history buff and my favorite era is that of the Tudors.  I know a bit and so the family keeps turning to me and saying, "is that true? Anyway, we were peacefully watching the tail end of season 2 episode 7 when Teapot glanced out the window where a prison break was ensuing. LLama, alpaca, and sheep were everywhere. They had been looking out of the paddock and I guess they were fed up with the fact that they were in a dry brown paddock

Dry brown paddock.

and there was tons of green grass outside...

Lovely green grass just out of their reach. Wish we could afford to fence more property... maybe next year.

one of the buggers had pushed at the gate until it popped open. They wouldn't even look at a bucket of oats.... not with all that green grass now in their reach.  Teapot had a few choice words... and then promptly put up some fence wire all around them between the house and shed, the shed and the the trees, and all through the trees, and then around the end of the cistern and down to the alpaca pen.

You can just see the fence wire with the red ribbons dangling from it in an effort to let everyone know not to decapitate themselves on the wire.

We herded the animals into the pen slowly by making them realize that they were fenced again though only with one wire and they could have gotten through quite easily if they hadn't been so dumb.... but thank God they were dumb. By dark we had them all back in after chasing two sheep around the yard about ten times.  I hate prison breaks... but Teapot has decided to put up a temp fence so that we can let them out on the grass. It will be a four strand fence that can come down easily but, with supervision, the animals will be alright. And the best part is they will get grass and I won't have to mow... how awesome is that.

Now as for picking cashmere... I spent the whole day indoors, picking hair out of cashmere... not a pleasant job I assure you... but necessary.  Today I will be getting the fibre ready for carding. My baggies are ready.... so it is just needing carding and then spinning.  Today I will be working outdoors which I am looking forward to.  Yesterday I even managed some knitted samples for the 150 hour project... it is looking good and shaping up quite nicely.

Cashmere before being picked...

What gets picked out....

Cashmere after it has been picked...

Cashmere in baggies ready for carding.... in 10 gram allotments. 2 grams of silk, 3 grams of cashmere, and 5 grams of merino.

My spun yarn ready for knitting.

Two knitted samples.... the one on the left was knit with a 3.5 mm knitting needle. The one on the right was knit with a 4mm knitting needle.... I will be using the 3.5 mm knitting needle... the gauge will be slightly off but I will make adjustments for that.

Teapot is away and off to FSJ for a day of meetings and won't be home till very late tonight... so we are on our own today, and with Daughter #1's arm in a sling, Daughter #2 and I will be working doubly hard feeding those animals and making sure there is no other break out.

So there you have it... I'm glad I will be carding today... I'm positively sicking of picking disgusting hair.

Feelin' Groovy

"Hello lamp post what cha knowin'... no deeds to do, no promises to keep.... life I love you." 

Yup you know what I'm up to again.... gotta love the music. 

Well, yesterday I took 250 metres of spun yarn for the 150 hour project off my wheel and it looks awesome.   I will be spinning a ton today again as I have to get this done. So it is all about the project in the next few weeks.  I'm down to the wire since there are only three weeks left before I leave... ack!  If I get this done it will be a miracle...

there's not lots to talk about today so I'll just post a quick update on Daughter #1's arm as i know there will be family wondering.  She is doing ok... there's still lots of swelling but it seems to be improving each day.  It is not as tender and we hope it continues to improve....

Tomorrow I might have some pics of that yarn I just took off the wheel.... for my spinner friends.

Things That Swell.... No Not That

Poor Daughter #1. She fell down at sport day on Friday, at the school and came home with her elbow looking like a softball. She couldn't move it hardly at all so Teapot and I felt she should go to emergency and have it checked.  It is not broken... thank heavens... but it is in a sling for the next little while and she has to ice it and take anti inflammatories.  The poor kid. I feel sorry for her. She looked quite miserable when she got home. So yesterday I took her with me when I went to get groceries. She wanted to go shopping and so did Daughter #2. We had a great time shopping though I did not find anything that I really wanted. Neither Did Daughter #2, but Daughter #1 found a few things that she liked. We went for lunch at a Chinese food restaurant and had a lovely day. Still it was quite dreadful for me after the first hour since my foot had doubled in size. This swollen ankle is starting to really worry me... I'm thinking that it is swelling for more than just treadling. After I am on my feet for a while things get really bad and it starts to look alarming. The weird thing is it is only in one foot so I'm pretty sure it is swelling because of injury. I'm just not sure what the injury is.  My father thinks that it might be a fallen arch.... but I can't remember doing anything to it.... so now I am thinking that this has gone on long enough.... and I guess I will have to bight the bullet and go to the doctor. Hmmm..... and what worries me most is how on earth I'm going to get through fibre week with a gimpy foot. Usually we walk across campus to our classes ... but I can't see how I'm going to be able to walk that far with my foot this way. Sucks to be me.... but then fibre week is still a few weeks away so maybe it will be ok by then.

Today I am going to be plying the first of my 150 hour project yarn... I'm looking forward to seeing what it will be like. It should be interesting.... but for now I am going to have some breakfast with the Daughters.... Teapot is away on a camping trip with the Junior Canadian Rangers.... and I am going to be taking very good care of my foot. In the meantime Daughter #1 has just come into the sunroom and said that her elbow feels much better and the swelling is down quite a bit this morning. I am so glad it is not broken... now if I could just sort out this ankle of mine.

Lost For Words

Poetry has always been a wonderful outlet for me... usually I express myself through poetry and art...but for many months the words that I love to push around into poems have escaped me. Usually poetry comes unbidden to my mind, but recently, in months gone by, whenever I thought of poetry, it somehow seemed forced if I tried to get something on paper. Daughter #2 has been taking art lessons from a local artist which I am happy to say has renewed my interest in all things art.  She has had some interesting exercises to complete for homework and I have been happy to watch with the feeling that I would really like to participate too. But I have not had time. With the 150 hour project looming I have had to make that my priority. Last evening, though, Daughter #2 brought home a book on drawing super heroes from the library.  We had a hoot looking through the cartoons and then I said I could draw the Daughters as cartoon super heroes.  Once I had finished the Daughters as super heroes, I felt the need to draw Teapot and moi as super heroes too... the results were hilarious...

Daughter #1 as Spike Lady. She has an ability to jump really high and really far and can use any type of weapon.

Daughter #2 as  Lightning lady who can fly and uses lightning bolts to knock out her opponents.

Teapot is Flash Man who uses the light of the sun to blind his opponents and can run extremely fast.

And Moi as Super Viking Lady who can knock 'em over with a smack in the face with her boobs and can stir any water to turbulence with her duodent (not trident) and can slam her opponents with water and surround them so they are encaged in water and can knock them over by running at them with her helmet.

We roared with laughter at my renditions of us as superheroes and then went out for dinner.

After I went to bed and had slept for several hours, I woke quite suddenly as the birds were beginning their morning chirping in the early dawn hours.... which got me to thinking about poems... and suddenly the words that had not been with me for so very long, were with me once again. Needless to say that I got up right away before the words escaped me once again. I wrote it down and they rolled off my tongue quite easily. You can see them at my other blog ... just click on the link.

In the end I'm not sure if it was the hilarity that brought words to my mind/mouth but I am thankful for the words because I thought I had lost them...

I Am Woman Hear Me Roar

I am listening to Helen Reddy this morning.... "I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman. You can bend me but not break me, Cause it only serves to make me. More determined to achieve my final goal..."

I'm pretty sure that every girl should learn the words to this song by the time they are ten years old...

I think I'll go burn my bra now.... actually that would not be good because I might end up with a black eye. : )

Enough of that silliness....
Oh crap! Now "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" is on by Al Green.  Excuse me... I have to go sing into my mouse/microphone..... use your imagination........

(singing in the background....)

...... I've always been affected by the music I listen to.... my mood can swing from WOW to psssst in seconds depending on what I'm listening to... but then music can really get me going and doing cool things.... like I tend to listen to Aerosmith when painting.... and I listen to Diana Krall when I get down because she lifts me out of the dole drums.... when I'm driving I have a whole bunch of music that I like.
When I'm p'd off I tend to listen to "These Boots Were Made For Walking" by Nancy Sinatra, or "I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane" by Peter Paul, and Mary.... or Chantal Kreviasuk's version is good too.  Bon Jovi is always good for a pick up too.... love them... and Johny boy is always a heart throb.... (hottie in modern lingo).

Oh! Excuse me "Respect" just came on... where's that mouse again.....

(singing in the background....) 

.... Yeah.. well... anyway, I like modern stuff too. Smash Mouth is good and Nickleback, oh and Theory Of A Dead Man, and Uncle Kracker, and more recently Adele. All good music of various types....


Anyway.... today is a day of spinning so I'm trying to keep myself occupied while doing it... I was going to watch movies but somehow music entered my soul this morning and I'm doing that now instead.... spinning is going good though... I've got a bit done on the 150 hour project and last night I finished the stupid flax sample write ups which I've been stalling on for ages.  I have a few write ups left which I will do each evening in between the garden work...

Every now and again I look at the calendar and get really freaked.... it's all good right!?

Oh Petula Clarke is on with "Downtown"... mouse time and time to sing again....

(singing in the background....) 

If I'm not careful I'm never going to get anything done...... awesome.... Santana is on now.... love it.....

Well I'm off to spin before the day is gone and the calendar turns another page.... Do you realize it is almost June..... (squawk)! Ah... and it's 10: 15 already.... Yup I had better go spin.

I am woman hear me roar.... I can do anything........ 

All About Food

I just read through my last post which I posted without reviewing it.... which is obvious... somehow there was a whole two sentences that were lost somewhere in the publishing... what I had been saying was that the 4 elements have been involved in deadly storms of late.  Earth with the Australian and Jananese earthquakes. Air with the tornadoes. Fire with the wild fires in Texas and more recently in Alberta. And lastly Water with the floods in Manitoba and B.C. Daughter#2 seems to believe that this is significant.... especially since rapture day has just past.... are we on the last times on our wee frail planet.... I don't know!?  But I'm not giving up on my level 4 homework just because Jesus might come for a visit....I'm not holding my breath.

Meanwhile that has absolutely nothing to do with food, however, after also reading about the liver and onions that I had last night for supper my mouth began to water.... it was very good. Meanwhile as I write I am eating breakfast and I am having a corn and cheese omelette. (Stupid American spelling gismo on this machine... keeps telling me that I can't spell omelet/omelette right!) It too was very good and something that I haven't made in a very long time. But the eggs are farm fresh eggs that we got from a local farmer....they were so yellow compared to the nasty eggs you get at the supermarket.
Recipe:

Frankie's Corn and Cheese Omelette/Omelet

6 eggs
1/4 c. of milk
pepper to taste
handful of corn niblets
and 1 oz of cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese grated

In a frying pan and over medium low heat (for me that's a 4 on my stove top)  melt a little butter .... absolutely butter unless you have clogged arteries... then I'll let you use margarine. While the butter is melting scramble the eggs with the milk and pepper. Once the butter is melted pour the egg mixture into the frying pan. sprinkle a handful or two of corn niblets over the eggs mixture and then sprinkle the cheese over the top. While it is cooking, pop some homemade bread in the toaster and toast lightly. When the egg mixture is gelatinous on top, flip the whole omelette/omelet over in the pan carefully.... I have no trick for doing this successfully... though for some reason it always seems to work. Leave the omelette there for 30 - 40 seconds and voila the omelette is ready to be shared. I usually feed all four of us with that much. Served with toast this makes a hardy breakfast and eaten at 10 a.m. you can even skip lunch because I guarantee you'll feel full for hours. And it is simply delicious.

Lately the Teapot has been checking the bush for food.... "What!" you say? Yup, Teapot has found morels... and they are really good with pretty much anything.  Lovely with liver and onions and divine on top of an omelette/omelet.  We are very careful about getting the right mushrooms because around here there are also false morels which actually don't look a bit like the real ones except when they are first coming through the ground. When picking wild mushrooms make sure you have someone who knows what they are doing... because screwing up is not an option! Be careful not to pick morels if they grow in sandy areas as they like to pick up the sand as they grow and you will be eating grit for sure.

Lastly to do with food... Daughter #1 and I managed to get the carrots in the ground while Teapot carried on with moving soil over to the new raised beds for the beets. I am hoping that tonight I will be able to get the beets in the ground... then we will need a couple of days to turn the soil for the potatoes and maybe by Monday night we can get the potatoes in the ground.  We'll see how it goes after that. I am hopeful that we can get the last raised bed ready for peas and beans after that. My tomatoes will go into my barrels on the deck but I never have success with tomatoes... probably because I don't have enough room for more than a plant or two. Maybe next year we can work on the hot bed on the south side of the shed and have tons of tomatoes... oh the work that needs to be done... it's all about just getting it done, one day at a time.

Well, Teapot and the Daughters are getting ready to head out the door and I should go and get back to my spinning.  All's well that ends well....

Oh My

Another milestone (that being the May long weekend) has passed and I'm finally starting to sweat on the level 4 homework. Today I started spinning. It is looking awesome, better than I even expected.

That was yesterday and I kept getting interrupted... so I never did get to finish what I had been trying to say. Today everyone was back to school and so I got down to the 150 hour project. I have been spinning off  and on all day. My foot has been complaining some but I take a few minutes to knit another row on the most recent shawl and then I go back to spinning again.

The garden is not in yet but we are working on it each evening. Tomorrow I am hoping to get the beet and carrots in the ground. The potatoes will have to wait till next week as Teapot and Daughter #1 are away this weekend. I refuse to plant the potatoes on my own.... at least until the soil has been turned. It's too hard on me to do alone.  As for the beans and peas... that will have to wait till everything else is done.
It may be mid June before they get in the ground but that does not worry me since mid June will mean the peas and beans will be ready mid to late August... perfect timing in my estimation.

Aside from gardening and the level 4 homework, like everyone else I have been watching all the news and wondering what on earth is going on. Between the floods in Manitoba and B.C. and the fires in Alberta and in particular in Slave Lake, and now the tornado in Joplin, Missouri... I am in awe of what people can survive through. Daughter #2 has been going on about how it's amazing that Earth with the earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan.... and then as I said above all the 4 elements have been coming together to form the season of horror. There are no words.... just that I hope things settle soon.

I'm off to eat some liver and onions (which I love) for supper... yum!

Still On The Green Side Of The Sod

Well, I'm still here.... alive and kickin' Jesus didn't come for a visit.... too bad.

While everyone was waiting for the second coming Teapot and I got to work... we have been digging in the sh-- and dirt. I am putting in a fairly elaborate area of raised beds for beet and carrot and lettuce and beans and peas.We have always had a big garden since we moved to this house but as Teapot and I age and our knees and things start to creek  we felt the need to down size our garden area. We are taking about a third of our garden and we are going to keep it for potatoes... but we are taking soil and poo from the other 2/3 of the garden for my raised beds. It will be easier to back the truck up to the beds and water the plants than it is to water a huge garden. We will also be able to maintain the potatoes with a hose from the house, but since we have to haul water it is something that has to be well planned in order to get any yield worth mentioning. Since we've had alpacas and sheep we have had our animals in on the fenced garden area and they have fertilized it very well. There are some areas where there is three inches of old poo on top of he soil. Needless to say that since I have a bum foot and the only thing I can fit on my foot is a pair of crocs and since I don't wear socks, you can imagine my feet by the time I come in at night... suffice it to say that they are very dirty.

We have had two days of thundery weather and showers which have penetrated the ground. I am hoping this trend will continue well into the summer. Wet ground is so needed here. Teapot and I managed to find a little time for a slow (very slow) one kilometre walk down through the bush in the hot part of the day. Indeed, the Prairie Crocuses... (aka wood crocuses, or forest crocuses) are out in full regalia. There is no sign of any of the other forest flowers yet. Though there are lots of mushrooms on the forest bed. By the time I got home my foot was once again good and swollen so I got to take a break while Teapot carried on working on the raised beds. Once it cooled down tonight and my foot stopped swelling I had to have a go at digging again. And so the transfer of soil goes from the old veggie garden to the new raised beds.

Teapot just came in and it is time for a cup of tea and a few supper dishes to be washed. We are both tired and look forward to an early night as Bailey kept us up with some erratic bad behaviour.  (Just as I was starting to think she was settling in!)

Here's hoping your having a nice May long too...

Raptured!!!

It's a really good thing that I don't have TV... I really didn't know anything about it. I think I'll go dance naked in the rain since it might be the last time I get a chance.... boy, there sure are a lot of people out there who are going to be disappointed.... Oh look there's God now.....

I'd better get out there.... I think he came for me early!  It's because I'm so loveable.... right?!

Don't answer that!

Drat! And to think I just payed for my level 5 course.... I could have saved myself that money if I just had waited one more day. : {

Newly Risen

It is so sad that this year I cannot enjoy the forest as I would normally. With my foot in a bandage, I have had to forgo the pleasures of tramping in the woods as I normally do in spring. Combined with the fact that the snow didn't completely disappear until two weeks ago, this foot has really and truly limited my life. I do miss the flowers.  Teapot tells me that the Forest Crocuses are out in bloom and there are starting to be tiny Violets and Wild Strawberries in the grass. Generally speaking this is my time of the year to walk... and walking I am just not the way I usually do. Normally I walk on a trail that is a good three kilometres everyday. But with my ankle acting up I have been reduced to one kilometre a day on my own property, not entirely bad, but disappointing since the Crocuses and Orchids that grow around here only come for a short time once a year. And I'm going to miss it this year.... : (

Can't find them name for these wild flowers and I'm not sure if these are out but they will be soon.

Wild roses are just leafing out... no buds yet but soon...

These little orchids grow in abundance around here but they are just starting to come out and only last a day or two.

Forest or Wild Crocuses are all out in full bloom... I think the Humming birds are happy about it.

Well, Bailey has been with us for two months and has she fit in..... I can honestly say I'm not sure about that dog... She is not a good sleeper at night and she has a tendency to cower for no apparent reason at all and is constantly trying to suck up to you all things that I hate. But on the other side of the coin she is a loving dog and loves to snuggle and is fairly obedient and comes when she is called and doesn't run away and twice when the sheep pushed open the gate and got out on the grass,she was really good and did not eat or kill any of them.... Jiggs either. So she has her good pointers and we are trying to remember that she is still very young and may lose some of those stupid traits that we don't like. she may settle down in time. We finally laid Tootsie to rest and built him a cairn last weekend.... (we had to wait till the ground was thawed totally). it was a sad day and Teapot and I worked on his grave which is beside Duff's with red eyes and very choked about losing our little guy... I still miss having a wee dog around the house that followed me everywhere... but then I have two big galloopers who love to romp around the yard with each other and make for some very funny times. I can't imagine this home without dogs and cats and sheep etc... I even miss the furtive chickens... sometimes!

I am off to work on the 150 hour project... out on the deck in this marvelous sunshine. I might not be able to enjoy the flowers of the forest but i'm not going to pass up this chartreuse green of newly growing leaves....

I love this chartreuse green of early spring and the first leafing out of trees... too bad about those Pines in the background...stupid Pine Beetle...

and this weekend I will put in my garden... I can't wait....

I'm off.... see ya.... and hope spring is full of new life for you too.

Out Of One Swirling Vortex And Into The Next

Ok so I've managed to kick the habit of online games for the time being.... but just as I've managed to climb out of one swirling vortex I find myself slipping into another one.... I love my lace knitting... and I didn't do the dragon scarf as planned... I just happened to pick up a lace knitting book and saw a shawl that I've always thought I would do but never have found the time or the right yarn... well, looking at that pattern sucked me out of the other vortex and sent me straight down this one. I started balling up the yarn while elevating the ankle yesterday and then out came the new knitting needles I purchased at the Environmental Extravaganza (giant garage sale). I should have kept picking cashmere.... but oh it was so pretty.... I couldn't help myself... and six inches in and 162 stitches later I'm hooked.  The pattern is the Fan Stitch Half Circle Shawl from Traditional Knitted Lace from Interweave Press by Martha Waterman.

This is it.....

Hope You can read backwards....

It looks better close up...

Of course pictures never do anything justice.... and this in particular.... especially me in the background with the hockey hair going on...

Hey! I look pretty good with the lower part of my face covered up.... I should wear a veil all the time... (my inner mind tells me that only a Burqa would do the trick)!

By the time I get this shawl knit I will have over 20,000 stitches on.... that is if I have the stamina for that. We'll see.  Anyway, I did not get a lot done once I got going on this... and that is all I want to do... not the level 4 homework at all.... I'm in big trouble aren't I?

But I'm not going to be able to work on it constantly because by the time I was finished last night my neck felt like it was going to fall off and my head was going to roll out the door like the proverbial meatball. (You know... On top of spaghetti... all covered in cheese, I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed... yep that was my head last night.) I am allowing myself to work on it only at night...(hurry night, hurry night)!

So now I find myself really wanting to work on one thing while having to work on something else.... what is wrong with me?! Argh!
(Don't answer that...)

Phssssstttt! Blowing Strawberries Is Really Quite Fun!

I seem to be taking an inordinate number of photos of my feet/foot for this blog... weird!

 The treadle foot is raging today so I'm picking cashmere for the 150 hour project.

Now that I have that off my chest I have to fess up... I have been caught in a vortex of my own doing this last two weeks. I have discovered the nasty,  time-sucking, adventure of Garden of Time on Facebook (it's a game) and have been playing far too much. (Teapot says that my need for furniture moving has caught up with me as I really haven't moved it much since the house reno two years ago... and Garden of Time is like moving furniture only in computer land... either way I'm stuck good and fast in this stupid vortex and I'm really trying to get out of it). I'm still getting stuff done... stuff that needs to be done but those dust bunnies are getting pretty ferocious again and I feel that it is important to put computer-land on the back burner for a few days.  I have decided to only do write-ups on the computer and write for my blog for the next few days. (No Facebook.... No Facebook.... I just have to keep telling myself that.)

On Monday, after the birthday celebrations at my parents house I walked out on their front steps with my new camera and promptly popped the battery cover by accident and then watched as the rechargeable battery for my camera rolled across the board it landed on and then down between them and onto the ground beneath the veranda. Problem... the space beneath the deck cannot be accessed without a hammer and nails so the stupid battery is a write off.... result.... I can't get pictures off my camera until I go to town next time and purchase a new battery pack.  : ( However, the pictures we took that day are funny and I will show them as soon as I can.

Meanwhile I've been planning a project that has nothing to do with my level 4 homework.... but it is something that I really want to do.... I've wanted to knit a lace scarf for a very long time. I finally settled on a pattern last night... I am going to knit the dragon scarf from the last Piecework magazine..... with... da da da da da drum roll please.... this....

I can't wait.....

I just felt that that Yarn Harlot and that Spindle Princess were having way too much fun.... so I'm going to finish something.... I can do this right?!

Anyway, I had better go back to picking some more cashmere.... my foot is swelling again... : (

Anyway, go blow some strawberries,... it really does make you feel better.... and it is even more fun if you can find a baby's tummy to blow them against..... it makes them giggle and barring that you can always try blowing a few on your husband's/wife's tummy.... they may not giggle but you'll get some strange looks that will make you smile... I guarantee it!

Hazy Daze

Well it sure has been hazy daze around here. The air is thick with smoke in our neck of the woods. I can't understand yahoos who think that this is a good time to burn grass... that ended over a week ago. Teapot has not been burning for days. To the east of us poor Slave Lake is burning. I can only imagine how the people of that community must be feeling. I see the pictures of melted cars and thank God that that wasn't us last week when we had our brush with fire. I think that having snow right up to the May long weekend is not so bad in retrospect of what's been happening. We have a long summer ahead of us and a dry forest to the side of us... a worry for sure. It looks like we will get rain today... and I am praying for that.... and that it will move to the east of us and relieve some of those people with fire threatening them in Alberta.

Well, as you know, yesterday was Daughter #2's birthday. She turned 14 and what a day we had. Lovely weather and a trip to FSJ to go shopping.  She got herself some jeans and a top and a book. then we went for lunch and bought a cake at the Bakery and then headed home. She had wanted to go to the pet store but I'm a little too raw with Tootsie's death to go purposely looking at pets. Besides it's really hard to get out of the pet store with just a few pet toys, so I turned her down on that one. Then Opa took us all out for dinner at one of the local restaurants. She finished her book just as she was heading for bed last night. Even Daughter #1 got in on the celebrations and skipped school for some shopping in town. (Yes, I know. I let my kids skip school.... well, we only do it once a year! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Working back from there.... Hmmm... Saturday was a lovely day with a visit from the NPSW. We had organized a trip, as we do each year, for all the gang to come and visit their sister guild here in H.H. (which seems to be down to just me and CJ at the moment). We had a lovely day spinning and prepping wool for a fibre challenge. What's that, you say?! Well, I had come up with this idea to challenge everyone to stretch their imagination and bring 50grams of spun of unspun fibre to throw into the dye pots that I would have going when they got here... then we would pass around a little bag of scraps of paper with individual challenges on them. The challenge is to create something with your fibre that accommodates what's written on the scrap of paper that you draw. So the challenges went like this.

Weave

Knit

Felt

Crochet

Stitch

one of the following...

Celestial

Boreal

Terrestrial

Oceanic

Spiritual

Climatic

So for example if you received Weave and Celestial then you have to weave something with your fibre but you also have to incorporate something that represents the word celestial. I'm weaving a star pillow. with Northern lights represented somehow.... I think... (can you tell that I was the one who got Weave and Celestial).

So there you have it... it was a fun day. Sunday was a day to finish the level 4 homework (except for the 150 hour project), which I did. All I have left to do is work on a few write ups today and then tomorrow I will begin the 150 hour project in earnest.

So here are a few pictures from the last few days.

The new lambs gamboling about with their step sister and their mom....

My first Bucle....

My spiral yarn...

Another kick at the can for flax...

Shades of Grey...

Hopefully I can remove the pictures from my camera of Daughter #2' birthday... and post them tomorrow...

Holy Smack! How Did It Get To Be Monday!

What a weekend.... It's been a busy one with the NPSW here on Saturday that day passed in a flash. Then yesterday our community had an Environmental Extravaganza and that took most of yesterday. Good thing I still managed to get my spinning done. All I have left is the 150 hour project which I have already done some work on.

Today is a special day. Daughter #2 turns 14 today. We are going shopping but she doesn't know it yet. She thinks I have a meeting in town and that I am dropping them all off at school... but I'm not I'm just going to kid nap her and take her to town for a day buying clothes. We'll be home this evening hopefully with an ice cream cake.

I'm off in about 10 minutes so I'll write here later with more on what's been happening.... and some pics of recent spinning... and maybe other pics too.

The Good The Bad And The Ugly

A Few Complaints:

1. Why is it that I'm the only one who writes a fibre blog and never finishes anything. The Yarn Harlot who writes a blog and writes books and can finish the delightful shawl is way beyond me... and then there's The Spindle Princess who writes a blog and hopefully one day will write a book and still finishes beautiful shawls and spins tons of fibre etc... (I'm sooo jealous!) What do I have to show... no shawl, that's for sure.

2. Why do I have to have carpal tunnel flare up at this time in my ankle... no, the swollen ankles are not from retaining fluid... no, the swollen ankles are from treadling too much. Like what's that all about?! Now I have to wear a tensor bandage for the next little while and avoid treadling.... hmmm... like that's going to happen.

More Cheerful Thoughts:

1. I'm almost ready to start the 150 hour project. I'm three weeks behind schedule, but I'm going to have my books complete by Sunday night.... except for the 150 hour project which will begin on Monday morning. Ha and then they think I'm going to stop treadling.... I don't think so!

2. I love my Bucle.... it's divine... I got it bang on, the first try.  I also really like my spiral after the 4th time trying. I'm finishing the shades of grey today and I'm about half way through that one. Tomorrow will be a day to celebrate dye... when the ladies from NPSW in FSJ will come for their annual foray into the wilds of the Peace Valley. More about that later.

Two for two... hmmm... I guess that's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick...

I'm just glad that Blogger is back up and I can write about it here. I will be offline tomorrow as I have the NPSW coming for their annual.... well you read that above. We will be spinning and weaving and dyeing and I have a special little bit of joy ready for them in the dye pot... with a challenge for all and a full year to finish the challenge... cool eh! I will be back on Sunday to tell you all about it..

In the words of The Yarn Harlot (and actually considering that I live in this valley and have a better reason to say it) Peace Out!

It's Raining... It's Pouring....

The Old man is.... off to work actually. Teapot and the girls got off early this morning as Daughter #1 is heading in to FSJ on the bus for a tour at the college there. She will be checking out several classes in an effort to get a taste of what college is like. She had to be on the bus at 8 a.m. We never woke till 7:30... it meant a very hurried breakfast this morning. But they managed.

As for me, I got up at 5 a.m. and spun and then boiled up my flax yarn. I'm scouring it and it has one more hour to go in the pot. Then one of my samples will have to go back into a pot of Javex water to bleach it. Meanwhile I managed to finish the spiral yarn and start the Boucle yarn.  Actually it is all going well... I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

I've been waiting for a day of rain. We have had beautiful weather all spring with only one day of rain a few weeks ago. The leaves have been wanting to come out on the trees but haven't had enough moisture to make it. I was so pleased when it started to rain last night. Already this morning the grass has turned green and you can see that the leaves are definitely a little larger. There is a green-ness that wasn't there yesterday.  It certainly makes it easier on the eyes.

I'm looking forward to going to the green houses and picking out my flowers for the deck.  We have also decided to put in an orchard. Just recently Teapot has been cutting down a lot of the old dead Pine trees and where our driveway makes a loop there were several. Over the years since we have lived in this house we have often complained about the fact that our driveway round-about is too sharp a turn. For larger pick-up trucks they can't make it without backing up and turning their wheel a little harder. We had often said that the driveway would have been better if the loop were just a little larger. A few years ago when the Pine started to die we noticed that if five particular trees died then when Teapot cut them down we could actually enlarge our driveway with very little effort. Last year the Pine Beetle attacked that stand of trees and by mid summer they were all red and dried up. Teapot started on the driveway expansion as soon as the snow started to melt this year. He has the trees cut down now and we are burning out the stumps. Next will come the three truck loads of gravel that we will need to make the driveway viable, and the larger loop that is formed in the middle, will become our orchard. We will have to fence it as the deer will nibble everything, but that is ok I think, as it will also let everyone who visits know not to drive on the new trees. This will also mean a trip to Dunvegan Gardens (the best greenhouses in the vicinity) for several varieties of apple trees and a cherry trees. We will have room for four or five fruit baring trees with what is already there. Already Teapot has planted Green Gage trees which are a type of plum and we also have a Dogberry (also known as Mountain Ash trees to you up-alongs) there too. I may even try my hand at a few grape vines in there and certainly some raspberry canes along the fence. That is our big project for this summer. The other small project is to get the tin roof on the electrical shed which has been sitting on the ground for the last two years.

Teapot will also be working on the paddocks that he started last year for the animals... there are two new paddocks that have not been used yet. One has fencing wire around it the other has two sides done but requires work on the other two sides. I'm also concerned that the fencing is just straight wire and not page wire. The sheep can fit through the fence and worse the dogs or coyotes could get in, no problemo. So it is not really good enough for them... however the alpacas will enjoy being out there.... and we'll just have to bring them in at night. I might put low page wire there later on, when I can afford it, but that stuff is really expensive!!

See what a little bit of green does to me.... I get all excited and start planning..... hmmmm ; |

In the meantime... It's raining, it's pouring the old man is snoring..... oh for pete's sake.... no one is snoring in this house.... well maybe the cat.....

Three Posts In One Day... Weird!

Well, when I've got something to say, I say it I guess.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

I just finished the second lot of flax samples and to be honest they are much better than the first ones.  I discovered a little secret... the Fiddle Fiddle technique (this is a highly technical technique... my tongue is pretty far over in my cheek right now!) really works well when you're trying to make a join in flax. It really helps to make a linen yarn smooth. So I fiddled and fiddled and my new yarns look quite nice actually... I also realized that less is more when spinning flax. Always remember.... go thin.

That's it I'm done.... I've nothing more to say at this time... except I'm off to try another spiral yarn... the last one fell apart when I washed it.... argh!

A Little Something To Say About A Book I Just Read

Remember Clan Of The Cave Bear? I do. I saw it on TV years ago and that's what turned me on to this series. I loved it. Then Valley Of The Horses came out and I loved that one too. Then out came The Mamoth Hunters and I figured I had found the best writer of all time. All great books. That's where it ends. The series steadily went downhill from there. The last installment of these books just came out and even though I've been disappointed in the last two I decided I'd give it a read and see if it had improved and returned to the awesome writing of the first three. NOT! OMG this was worse still. While J.M.A. is got great ability to describe that does not make a writer. Her plot line never really got started until the last two hundred pages. I slogged through the first part of the book in the hopes that at some time the story would actually start. It did but I was so disappointed with it when it finally did that I kept thinking that no wonder there will be no more in this series. As I turned the last pages I just sat there and thought, "well that was pointless."  If you are thinking about reading it.... well I'm not one to tell you what to do but I'll say this... find a better book because almost anything would be better.

It's almost as if J.M.A. started writing the books because she had a lovely trip to France to see the caves that she describes in the book and then decided I had better write a story around my descriptions. Problems is she didn't seem to be able to bring the story together. Instead of spending so much time on descriptions she should have paid some attention to the actual story. 1000 pages of description of cave art while very enlightening and is cool, but it makes more for a text book rather than a novel. The main characters story lines were .... well, quite honestly lame. The ideas behind them were excellent... but J.M.A. just couldn't pull them off. The story lines were pathetic and contrived. I realize that a novel is a contrived thing but the story lines at least should seem realistic or at least explained for the time and cultural conditions... but they weren't.  I really don't want to give away any story lines because I know that there will be a bunch of you who will want to read it no matter what. But sadly I do have to say that it was a big disappointment. I kept thinking, well that was stupid! When Ayla received her call, it was ok... but then she confronted Jondalar when she found out he was cheating and that was pathetic. There was very little emphasis put on the relationship between Ayla and her Daughter, and then J.M. A. dragged in some characters from previous books which had no real reason for being there. Their story lines kind of just drifted off. Then there was a scene where Ayla was convinced to consume a root for the purposes of experimentation. It turned out to be life threatening and there was a whole vision scene which never got talked about again but it would have been nice if J.M. A. had expanded on that a bit. Then there was the whole knight in shining armour thing when Jondalar came rushing to Ayla's rescue which was more than lame. There was no real reason for her to come back from the brink of death since Ayla's and Jondalar's relationship hadn't even been resolved at that point.

I'm sorry to say that I don't recommend this book... spend your time more wisely... it's just not worth reading, unless you like long winded descriptions of pre-historic cave art.

Top O' Da Marnin' To Ya

I've been working on Flax samples. Trying to catch up and get them done and out of the way. I still have a little bit to do today to finish them up but three days goes by awfully fast and I figured I had better get back here and let you all know I'm alive and kickin'... or on the green side of the sod as my Pops would say.

All is well on this home front...
Lambs..... check. Bouncing around like bean cakes.
Forest fires... check. Out and not a bother any more. We even made the CBC news.
Mother's day... check. A fine day to share with my family.
Hay.... check. We have enough to go on with for now. 2 bales and one more coming.
Swollen ankle.... check. Gone down though still a little swelling there. Hopefully improving.

Ok so what did I not write about out of that. Lambs... well you've all seen them by now. Fanny in the end popped them out like there was nothing to it. The only thing I can figure is that she must have gotten pregnant right before the ram left the pen for the winter and even then she would have been a little overdo. Still, she had them and all is well. The story on their names goes like this.... the day they were born two of my friends from FSJ were visiting and one of them said that Fanny looked like she was going to have them at any second. That night they were born so I had to call one of my friends and let her know that Fanny had finally given birth... we were talking about names and she suggested that Rene was a good name which just happens to be my friend's name. Worked for me... so I named the lambs after my two friends that were here and predicted Fanny's imminent birth. Rene and Linda are great wee lambs though they are not always sure about Honeydew (the llama) and look up at her like she's a serious giant.

Forest fires. Almost. Last week on Thursday I'm sitting in the living room working on flax when I hear the fire trucks heading out the highway. Usually this is significant since we lose lots of people in accidents on the highway between here and FSJ, and if the vehicles involved catch fire then our volunteer fire department gets called out. It wasn't till later by about an hour or so that I noticed a very hazy sky which turned out to be of course smoke. The smoke seemed to be coming from a source quite close to my house! Alarm bells went off in my head and I thought I had better go and investigate.  I took a walk down through my property and discovered that there were several fire trucks and whole pascal of firefighters working diligently to keep a grass fire getting into the trees. In particular the trees of my next door neighbour's house and the crown land to the west of us. It was quite a shock to see fire so bad that close to us.  One of the fire fighters who is a close friend of the family came over to my fence line to talk to me. He let me know that if it got into the trees that I would be evacuated. Well I kept my fingers crossed and took faith that these boys who were friends and neighbours were doing their best to keep the fire out of the trees. All I could think about was, "how in the hell am I going to get out of here without a car or anything." and,  "What will I do with all of my animals." I stood there all afternoon watching and waiting as the fire flared up in the wind and then died down and then flared up again and firefighters dragged hoses and poured water all around the perimeter. Finally Teapot came home from school and we walked around the fire area at one point we caught flames starting to lick up a tree and almost reaching the branches. teapot grabbed some snow and put those flames out and then we saw a quad coming checking the tree line and putting out hot spots as he went.  As evening came on the wind died down and slowly out went the fire... though there were logs burning for two days afterwards. I'm glad we didn't get evacuated. Here's a little map to give you an idea of how the flames went...

You can click on it to enlarge it.

Mother's Day was spent on the deck enjoying sunshine and family... and I didn't spin one darn thing.

Hay we picked up the second bale and have one more to get... that hopefully will be enough to see us through to the summer and the new hay season and hopefully it won't be so bad this year. Hopefully hay will be more plentiful.

Swolen ankle... or ankles... yeah not sure what that one is about. It has been a little bit of a worry as heart issues are prevalent in my family and for the first time in my life I'm completely out of shape and needing to walk and get my self in better shape. It also could be because of damage to my leg from falling through the floor in the winter and doing some pretty bad damage to my leg since on of my legs was swelling worse than the other.So now it is diet time in earnest and get myself in shape in earnest and... crap.... I might as well face it... I'm getting old. I have to get off my arse more and stop spinning long enough to go for a walk... right?! Right! (sigh) Well spring is here and the trails are finally clear so I will be walking more now... let's hope that helps.

Today is a fine morning and the grass is turning green though the trees have stopped their growth since there hasn't been rain in ages and the snow has melted and there's nothing for them to grow on... I see I will be praying for rain daily again this year. I think I could move to a wetter region easily.

Rain please come soon....

What A Day!

Yesterday was a busy day here for me. I headed out the door in the morning with Teapot and the Daughters and never got home till after four o'clock. I had been asked by the museum committee to help judge the Heritage Fair at the school. I was on my feet all day talking to kids about their history displays etc... It was quite interesting talking to kids from grade 3 to grade 7 and what their concept of what history is. At one point I walked up to one station and the girl, who was about 12 years of age started talking about Paul Brandt.... "PAUL BRANDT," I thought, "How in the hell is he a historical figure!" Then I wanted to start laughing when she told me that he was born in 1972!!! My reaction was, "Ulp! Am I that old?!" It is quite interesting to see how kids think. Then last night was the Peace Liard Juried Art Exhibit and you will remember that I had a couple of paintings in that. I didn't win anything... which I wasn't really expecting... I knew that my art would be a step away from what normally appeals.... normally people pick realism and pottery and occasionally they'll step out of the norm and pick some kind of print or a sculpture.... but I was hoping that the judge would make some kind of comment as they usually do.... but evidently that is not to be due to the amount of time it would take to do everybody's art work so I'm not going to get any comments or feedback on my work. D-mn! That's why I put it in the show in the first place. However, I did hook up with another lady who finished art school at Emily Carr and she and I critiqued each other's work. Then we had a discussion on how odd balls are a cog in the wheel. Then she told me about making a paper wedding dress in art school and breaking porcelain and putting it back together as a woman gluing herself together.... I liked that one. We discussed ideas about art and what art means to us... it was quite interesting actually. When Teapot and I left we met another gentleman who is here in HH to open up a new restaurant for the community and so we got into a good discussion about food etc.... and what would be good for this community. Another favourable moment for the day, as in the end, I agreed to sell him some lamb... not for the restaurant but for him personally.  So I came home last night completely pooped and with no samples finished for my level 4 homework.

Speaking of level 4 a good friend came to my house this week for a day of spinning and had a look at my book. She suggested nicely that I might want to redo my flax samples. ARGH! I thought that was behind me.... and then she said its my attitude that's keeping me from getting flax right. I have to love my flax... I grabbed a bag of flax which I promptly hugged, but it was all fake because I HATE FLAX and that ain't ever going to change... but flax samples here I come and I'm at it again and actually I'm seeing a little improvement from the ones I did back in the winter. Still it is holding up my work on the 150 hour project. I'll be glad when everything is done and I can really start on the 150 hour project in earnest. 

So today I am off to buy hay. Then I'm going to Mudder's and Pop's place for lobster luncheon, in the effort to celebrate Mother's day which is not till tomorrow but the lobsters came on a plane from down east yesterday and needed to be cooked and eaten quickly.... you can't cook lobster that died in transit... not healthy at all. Then I'm going to do some more work.... and maybe tomorrow I'll go for a picnic.

So shower and hay first.... and that's an update on my life.... what's happening in yours?!

FINALLY... After Many Long Weeks!

Born last night at about 10:30 p.m., introducing.....

Rene is on the left and Linda is on the right.

The only stupid thing I did was put down wood chips in the barn before I realized that I should put hay down and the stupid mom has wood chips all over her wool. But meanwhile the lambs look healthy and they are sweet....

Dear O Dear O Dear : (

What on earth are they thinking about.... I won't say any names because the last time I used the name of the pres to the south, I was monitored for several days.... (sorry about being so stupidly cryptic)! Bodies... preses... and stupidity... unfortunately, seems to be the norm these days. The one who has been hiding... and died recently.... was a man that many respected and loved, and in many eyes around the world is deserving of a respectful burial... why don't they just leave well enough alone and treat the body respectfully.... he might have been heinous, but not everyone feels the same way that our southern neighbours do...  And it would go a long way to showing Christian ideals and kindness.... not to mention head off some other problems that might arise.  I'm quite honestly sick of the double standard... if the shoe was on the other foot how would we feel?

I think I'll go turn off the radio for a few days till this all calms down.

A Whole Heap Of Mess

Whoa... sometimes things just get away from me and it always seems to be when I'm hard at work on my homework.... which I have been for the last few days. I look around me today and I'm wondering who planted the bomb in my life and when did it go off.

I have managed to finish two of my binders for the level 4 homework but there's a whole pile of samples that haven't been written up and are just partially labeled, and on top of that they are sitting in a tangle on top of my binder. It's a mess and every day I think I will get to that work and straighten it out, but it never seems to happen. Just as I start to get on top of things they get away from me again.  I have three samples left before I get to the 150 hour project.  I thought I'd have them done too but that doesn't seem to have panned out.

Then there is my house which has so much dog and cat hair drifting out from under the couch that even the dust bunnies are starting to complain that they are getting fat. And Murphy, who's been living under the china cabinet for the last 6 months, is starting to shriek in fear.  I only did spring cleaning a month ago and you'd never know that I had pulled out all the furniture and wiped down the log walls... every thing has a nice coat of dust all over it. It's scary how housework never is done... a very unforgiving task.

We won't go near politics.... that's just a whole heap of mess that I'm not even going to try to address.

Am I going for level 5.... your guess is as good as mine.... it all has to do with money at this point. Car?... forget it till the fall! On and on I could go... it's all a mess that I just can't face right now.

So yes, my life at the moment seems to be a whole heap of mess... with no end in sight. Sucks to be me! Arggh!

Politics

Scary!

Ever Lovin' Romance.... The Cultivated Kind... The Kind That Makes A Family Grow

I find myself this morning with reflections of romance on my mind.... (and no it is not because of the Royal Wedding).  I find myself in a bit of a situation. This weekend coming up is Mother's Day, and that has some meaning in this house. Maybe the meaning we give it is different from yours... but it does have some significance here. A have a little rant about to happen... so if you're not up for it you may want to direct your blog reading in another direction!

I find myself having done something that I don't regret at the moment but may in the future.... nah I don't regret ever sticking my foot in my mouth... I try to look at it later with humour.... but I really try hard not to regret it.

A few weeks ago an email came to us letting us know that the Mother's day weekend would be a wonderful weekend for a campout for the Junior Canadian Rangers here in Hudson's Hope. I totally disagreed..... well at least for me. What a stupid time to have a campout. The very day that mother's want to be made to feel like they count for something... This email made some derogatory remark (which was a bit of a cop out if you ask me... a bit of a lame excuse if you ask me) about the best gift you can give any mother is a day to herself.... aaaah WRONG! That might work for a mother who has spent the last 8 months changing stinky diapers and avoiding barf on her clothes. Not me. I like my kids.... I like my husband. I like spending time with them.

Some clarifying:
You can love people and not like them.... for instance (nope that won't work.... lets try this again). There are people in my life that I love but don't like.... how can that be you say.... well love involves a depth of gratitude in some instances... love involves obligation in some instances... you can love people because of their connection to you but not really like the type of person they are. Are you getting my drift? Perhaps you love a person who is connected to you in some way but not like them because they have a particularly negative outlook on life. Maybe you dislike them because they undermine your self confidence but you still love them because you owe them a depth of gratitude because they have a connection to you.  For instance... supposing you were in a plane crash and there were only two survivors, of which you were one, and the plane crashed in the forest and you had a broken leg and you had to rely on the other person to help find your way back to civilization. You could come to love the other person because they support you and help to save your life. But then supposing after all was said and done and you made it back to civilization and you found out that that person was a dog kicker or had some other equally heinous nasty quality.... you would love them but not like them. So you see you can love someone and not like them at the same time. (I realize this is a somewhat lame example but I really don't want to go into greater explanation since I don't want to drag in any mud personal or otherwise here.)

I happen to like my family.... I also love my family. The Daughters, I love because I'm a mom and I just naturally love my Daughters... I can't imagine what life would be like without them or if I lost them and I can't even think about that since my heart constricts and and I start having trouble breathing when I think about my children not... well we won't even go there. Like any mom I want the best for my children... and I hate to see them suffer... this is love I think. Likewise Teapot is the love of my life... he is my sun, moon, and stars.... What's nice is that in addition to this I like them too. Daughter#1 has a lot about her to like. She is smart and funny, pretty, helpful and can really fart to contend with her father and takes great pride in that.... (I hope she doesn't read this) and Daughter #2 is sensitive and hilarious at times and very smart  as well as pretty too.... she's also is willing to comb my hair and paint my toenails.... gotta love and like that.  Teapot is interesting and funny and down to earth, well grounded, active, likes a lot of the same things that I do, has a positive attitude, willing to listen and supportive.... I could go on and on.... all very likable aspects. We work at our marriage. We spend time together as a couple and as a family. It hasn't always been perfect but no family life is... we've had our bumps along the way with health and teenage blues.... adjustments for likes and dislikes that we don't share but for the most part our family loves and likes each other.

Back To Original Topic:

Since both Teapot and Daughter #1 are involved with the Hudson's Hope JCR (Junior Canadian Rangers) I knew when I received that email that there would be some conflict... so to head off any disappointment I decided to have a chat with Teapot and establish feelings before any promises were made. I talked to him about Mother's Day and asked if he really wanted to go on the trip. He said no... so at least we were on the same page.  So we ignored the email and carried on about our business making our own plans for the Mother's Day weekend. It involves cooking lobsters and maybe a picnic if weather permits and possibly a trip for hay. Maybe even a sheared sheep or two.

This morning we get another email requesting help with this great JCR campout weekend because it is all planned and there are kids coming from all over the place not just our community and they don't have enough chaperones/Rangers to help out. 

My nostrels began flaring!!!!

First of all I was pissed off that they would word the email as an obligatory thing... they assumed that Teapot would fall in with this idea and that it would be all great... and being the nice guy, Teapot would feel bad that they don't have enough chaperones/leaders and go on this campout weekend.....

NOT!

I sent an answering email and this may be where some small amount of regret may come in... I worded it thus...

"Teapot is NOT going. It is MOTHER"S DAY... and I am the mother of his children. We have stuff planned so he will not be there... Find someone else. F"

My only regret is that Teapot may be thought of as pussy whipped and I hate for anyone to think of him that way.

As I said, I like spending time with my family. We have an obligation as two married people to try to remain friends as well as lovers. I do not want to wake up some day after my children have grown up and moved away and see the man lying next to me as a stranger. I want to be able to look across at him and know that he is my friend and confidant. I want to be able to say that I like him.... and I want to look at my children a like them too instead of resenting that they took everything out of me for the supposedly best years of my life without giving anything back.  I want a real Mother's day where I am happy to have those that I love all around me careing for me just as I care for them. Is that too much to ask?

JCRs be damned... you can't have them.... they are mine.... at least for this weekend.