Monday, June 20, 2011

All Is Well... All Is Quiet

Well I knew this day was going to be busy. My intention was to get every last bit of my book work done for the level 4 homework by this evening... and that I did.  I am still knitting on the 150 hour project but for all intents and purposes it is written up as are all the other questions in level 4. I'm done except to finish the knitting and that's the fun part. Tomorrow I will get up, I will eat breakfast and send the girls off to school for their first exam and then I will pack my bags. And oh, what packing there is to do. But Teapot has promised to help. Then when evening rolls around he will take me to FSJ where I will lay my head at my friend's house before heading out the door early on Wednesday to help with driving on the way to Olds. Olds and level 5. Be still my beating heart.... I still have so much to get done. Each night I will be knitting my little hands off and God forbid I run out of yarn... I sure as heck hope not. My goal, then, is to get the blasted project done while there so that I can give it to my instructor for marking and not have to send it in the mail, after I get back home. Good luck to me..... right?!

So I have one picture to show... just one of what I have done so far on the knitting for the 150 hour project....
Please excuse the dog hairs that somehow got in the picture.
So that's it for this banana cake this evening. I'm pooped. I'm off to bed.... and it's only 11:00 p.m. It's a lonely bed tonight as Teapot is sleeping out at the school camp with a class of grade 3 and 4 students. Male chaperon and all. The Daughters have gone to bed ages ago and so have the two dogs with a look of disgust at me as I have been ignoring them all day. The cat keeps looking at me as though to say, "when are you going to shut me in with this kitten?" Well the answer is now. It's almost dark, the birds are whistling good night to each other... even the sheep are sleeping.  It's time for me to go too... and if I don't write tomorrow?... see ya when I get back.

AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

As I prepare for Olds
That's all for today folks...!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

It's A Conspiracy... I Know It!

I just bought some new clothes. I ordered it from catalogues, and online. The views are not always the best and therefore sometimes when you order something, and it finally arrives, you get a little bit of a surprise... that happened with me. I bought a lovely top that has a view of Venice on it and I really like it. But.... the top is covered in sequins. I hate sequins... almost as much as pink... almost as much as s--ks.  I hate them. I think sequins should be only ever used on Burlesque costumes for tight boobed cuties who don't mind showing their skin and flashing bright shining things in your eyes. (If I did that I'd scare everyone!) Why anyone would spend money putting sparkly thingys all over their clothes is beyond me..... ok, I can handle a few beads... but not sequins. Yuck!  So you can imagine my dismay when I saw my new and very pretty top littered with these shining little irritants. Everyone said, oh it's ok... you'll look great... and it is a nice top. Hork! (that was me making retching noises.)

Last night after I was so wiped from working on stuff for level 4 for hours... I might add, I sat on my bed and spent two hours cutting and picking off all these little sparkly icky things. Now my top looks lovely. But the whole time, all I could think about was the poor bugger in some third world country who probably spent hours sewing the darn things on. (And got too little pay for it too.) By the time I was finished (at midnight) I was just about cross eyed with fatigue.

Teapot and I figure there is a conspiracy going on. We figure that all the third world countries that sew on sequins have ganged together and are convincing the big clothing stores of North America that fashion should have women wearing sparkly clothes.... and it is all in an effort so that they can trace the movements of women via satellite.... I know that's what they are up to.... they just want us all to not know they are tracking us. In wearing shining clothes, we also illuminate what the men are doing too. They also want us to blind ourselves and everyone around us too. By doing these things they will be able to invade and take over our country while we're blind because they will have such clear insight into our comings and going.

And it's all due to sequins!

Get rid of them..... they are as bad as polyester..... I guarantee it!!!! ; }

Friday, June 17, 2011

I Stood By The Rail

I went to a party tonight. It was a going away party for a gal who had been working at the school for the last few years. She's leaving. The party was at the house of one of the school staff and his house is on the banks of the Peace. I mean right on the banks of the Peace.  The Peace river is a beautiful river but it has been cutting it's way through this valley for so long that in most places the banks are quite high... like 35 ft + high. So not everywhere along the banks can you see it unless you are right up to the edge of the bank. But this house tonight was at one of the low places along the river.  There was a long grassy lawn running right down to the edge of the river and I stood on the deck of the house and looked at the river and fell in love with where I live all over again. The Peace is like that. You walk away and because it is not always and completely visible you tend to forget it... Then you have an evening or a day when you spend some time on its banks and it sucks you in totally and completely and you wish for just a little bit that you could live that river in every part of your day.

The fog rolled down the river about halfway through the evening and while the sky remained blue above us, the river fog in its ethereal beauty drifted slowly past, rising and lowering in a ghostly dance. It was simply beautiful.

There was a Bald Eagle that did a fly by... and lazily the water rolled on. How privileged I am to be able to stand by the rail and watch the Peace in all it beauty.

I miss living by the water.

But I will one day again... if I can.

Miracles Please

A miracle right about now would be lovely. Super powered typing fingers so that I can finish all write ups...

A winning lotto ticket so that I had money to pay for everything....

And a time turner so that I could get level 4 homework done before Tuesday...

Ankles and feet that don't hurt... so that I could finish that treadling....

40 metres of hand spun cotton....

Enough sleep..... 

I can't wait.... Tuesday can't come fast enough.... except for all that other stuff.

Pictures of the 150 hour project coming soooooonnnnnn!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Pussy

Go here and read this... then come back....














I am so totally a pussy.

I like my sleep!!

Why, Oh Why

So I just chatted with a friend and her thyroid is acting up... Another friend is having feminine issues... Pops is having another myalgia attack...  everywhere I turn health is at issue among my friends and family. I went to the doctor for my annual checkup and to find out what the dickens is going on with my Kankles (swollen ankles) and I found out that my blood pressure is up. Why, oh why do our bodies have their own minds about what's what. I mean... now that my kids are a little older and I'm finding more time for myself I am also finding that my body does not want me to do the things that I want to do. Murphy is involved somehow I'm sure!) Treadling.... I can't do that without going for hourly walks. I can't eat chips and cheeses anymore (which I love.. it's my snack of choice)... too much salt. Cholesterol is something I have to watch. And I have to lose weight. HAVE TO! Hmmm... : \

I am waiting for test results to come back from a bunch of blood tests and who knows what the heck I'm going to get from that. It's just not fair being in my mid forties and feeling like I'm 90.

Ok I've done my moaning for today.

It's a grey day... I am not moaning about it though since I was starting to notice that the grass was looking dry. But the rain came at the right time to green everything up again.  I have been talking to the farmers and they are telling me that already the grass in the fields are growing double what it was last year... so while it may not be a bumper crop of hay, at least we will have enough. Teapot has been fencing... I say that loosely because he has been stringing wire in and out of the trees so that our sheep and alpacas can go out of their paddocks and eat green grass without wandering out into the road. All is good. They are enjoying the opportunity to have much richer feed and at the same time the paddocks get a bit of a break.

Then in the garden the rain is helping too. I have carrots that will soon need thinning and I have beets that are up and growing. The potatoes are nowhere.... yet... not even in the ground. The deadline was yesterday... but I'm still going to plant them.. they may be small when we dig them up... but I don't care.  I just need Teapot to string wire so that the animals can't get to them.

Teapot is going to Australia.  He has been chosen for a trip with the Rangers. He is so excited... he found out a few weeks ago that he was on the standby list. So he sent off the documentation to get his passport. Then he started waiting.  On Tuesday I got home in the afternoon and checked the emails... and there was the confirmation that one of the people had dropped out and Teapot's name had been moved up on the list of people going. Jackpot! He's training.... walking fast every evening in a serious effort to get into shape before he goes. It is Northern Australia and it will no doubt be hot. He needs to acclimatize. He will be leaving on the 29th of July and returning on the 21 of August. That means that he will be gone for half of the summer... I will miss him dreadfully. But it is a once in a lifetime trip... and he deserves it. I told him to bring home wool.... he said no....!!! Damn! But I've got some time to work on him yet. ; )

Meanwhile, I'm working on level 4... and I have my extension... but I'm still hoping I won't need it... Hope springs eternal!!!!

I'm off to go for a short walk... and get my ankles exercised before I spin the last of my needed 150 hour yarn... why, oh why can't I just have my 27 year old body back with ankles that don't swell... it's just not fair!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Flat Out

Flat out is Newfy for not having time for anything.  And that has been what the last few days have been all about. I'm supposed to be working on spinning this morning... hopefully the last for the 150 hour project... we'll see! It' is coming along nicely though and it feels divine. I am looking forward to wearing it.

As for life and death... was talking to a lady who knows lots about alpacas and she thinks we should breed Mishka again this year but wait until August... we are thinking about it.

Meanwhile there's a kitty that is making it very hard not to love him.... yes him.

(we thought it was a her but more and more there seems to be other thing there. He sleeps in our hand and I have a picture to prove it.
Sorry the picture is so bad... I hate my new camera... it's not really all that good!

Meanwhile the slutty mother is already trying to prowl around for another kick at the can. She will be spayed as soon as the little one is weaned.

The ankle is not as swollen and I'm seeing improvement which really relieves me since I was worried that some of the swelling was heart related... but no... as the ankle feels better the swelling is not as bad. Obviously I hurt it.... I just can't remember doing it!! (Does that mean that I'm getting old.. or have I burnt out one brain cell too many with all the drugs I've taken over the years... hmmm!)

I've started walking again and I never realized that walking just 1 km each day could make me so stiff.  I can hardly sit down on my butt since it is what is stiff. Ouch! But I am determined to walk some every day.
 
So for now I am off to spin card and knit.... and maybe do a write up or two.

It's a beautiful sunny day.... maybe I'll spin out doors... hope you're having a nice day too.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Life And Death

Mishka (our pregnant alpaca) aborted her baby this morning. The fetus had not been growing for some time from the looks of the birth sack.  It was completely formed about the size of a very small lamb, but that was all... I would say that it stopped growing about late February or March. There it lay on the hay for us to find this morning. Mishka seems ok. Honeydew was standing sentinel over the dead fetus... so sad.

We will wait till next summer and then we will try her again... She will need time to heal.

Life and death seems so normal when you live on a farm. Animals come and animals go. While we have a terrible sense of loss when something dies, it is strange that the butchering process does not seem to bother us (alpacas are not included in this butchering process.. just sheep). It is almost as if our hearts harden against the ones we know must die for meat. Yet, there is such joy all around when babies are born healthy. As they grow, we pick the ones that will go on to become adults and those that must pay for the others in the form of meat that we can sell. I am not sure how we do it but there is a sense of resignation when something is chosen to be slaughtered for meat. But these two things are so vastly different from when something dies of natural causes... there is such a sense of loss... as if a good friend just died.

I think, the miracle of birth brings us closer to the sublime.... to God maybe.

While death just brings us closer to ourselves.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Slap Happy

Me (as I'm getting into the shower): Does this vast expanse of soft smooth skin get you all excited?  Do you want to touch it's velvety smoothness?

Mosquito (sitting on the screen outside the bathroom window): Buzzz.. buzzz.. buzzz buzz buzz.

Me (to mosquitos): ha ha ha ha ha..... sucka!

Teapot (from bedroom): You're weird!

Me: Slap! Sh-t... one bit me! Look there's mosquitoes in here!

Teapot: Serves you right for taunting them...

Me: (sigh) Where's the Afterbite!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Are You Back Again?

Sheesh.... your life must be more boring than mine. You can't get enough of my going on and on about spinning for the MSP at Olds...

If you're waiting for me to say something smart or sassy or even worth while.... forget it... I'm all out of cool things to say... for that matter I really have never had anything worth saying. Verbal diarrhea, yep... that's what spews from my mouth. And my brain... dead... it's dead. Just plain dead.

For heaven's sake go watch Seinfeld reruns.... anything is better than this mindless poo.

See ya tomorrow.... right?!

Fiasco... With Level 4

Well, I knew my dye samples were going to be different from the ones I did at the Blueberry... I am using different yarn with different stuff in it. But I do have to say that I was very disappointed in the results that I got yesterday. As a result I am changing my mind and doing something different for the 150 hour project. But it will be awesome. Wait and see. It's not that the dye results are bad it's just that the dye results did not give me the delicate colours that I required for the pattern that I was using, and that was the fault of the cashmere I think since the cashmere is slightly grey which turned the colours a lot more sallow than I expected. I'll be honest... I felt like throwing it all down and by bedtime last night I was in a panic.  I did go to sleep but by 3 a.m. I was wide awake again thinking what the hell am I going to do now.  I thought of shawl patterns and then it hit me... the perfect pattern for the yarn colours that I have.....

And that's all I am saying right now. Will I need an extension... I still don't want to admit to it but probably.

So today.... knit and spin and card some more... I can't say more than that since I need to work.

See ya....

Monday, June 6, 2011

Huh???

It's when I hear a new term in a subject that I think I'm pretty proficient, that I realize just how little I know.

What the hey is lever knitting... ???

Maybe I should get serious about getting certified in knitting after I finish with the spinning.

No really... I'm serious... anybody reading this that knows what lever knitting is... leave a comment if it's you... please and thank you.

Olds

It is June 6th and Olds is looming... (no pun intended ladies)!  I'm looking forward to it but I have to say that I am going to have to do some shopping.  I am hopelessly in bad shape for clothes.  I bought two tops recently and I have two old ones from last summer which are covered in pills... and then I have a pink top (puke, barf, ugh... blah)! I have two skirts one of which I discovered has a hole in it... from where the fabric is so thin that it has started to give way in the wash. I have another skirt that is ok. I have one pair of culottes that are ok and another which are fit for the garbage... that's it. That's all I own in summer clothing. The rest is jeans and sweaters. My closet over the last few years has gotten pathetically small. So yesterday I ordered some clothes from Added Touch and shoes from L. L. Bean... and then I remembered that there is a postal strike, so the likelihood of getting it before I head out for Olds is highly unlikely. This morning I got up and picked out $300.00 worth of new clothes with Olds in my heart. Two new tiered skirts, a pair of linen pants, two tee-shirts and a 3/4 sleeve frousy looking top thing. Now I have to order it and I'm having a hard time actually picking up the phone a dialing because ordering $300.00 worth of clothes doesn't really fit in with the budget right now. But as my Grandmother always said, "Well you can't black your ass and go naked... can ya!" (She had some great sayings!)

I just took another 250 metres of yarn off my spinning wheel and it looks lovely. I just have to wash it and then skein it into 50 metre skeins and then I can start dyeing. I still have lots of fibre left to spin. But I'm feeling more relaxed now that I've decided to ask for an extension... I won't need a very long one maybe a few weeks when I get back from Olds. My new goal is to have it ready before the dyeing retreat in July. As for the dyeing retreat... the emails have gone out and people are starting to make their plans... July 22nd, 23rd, and 24th are the dates for the retreat... if you want to join us let me know. You know how to get in touch. Just follow the link to the side there where it says contact me...

For this year's dye retreat I am going to do some nature dyeing if all goes well...

Anyway, you can see the way things are starting to go... planning for Olds and planning for when I get back. Gotta love Olds....

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Stuff

My Dalhia's got hit with frost!

I have seed potatoes to put into the ground.

I have resigned myself that I will need a little extension for level 4 so that I can finish the 150 hour project... It's taking longer than I had hoped.

My foot is not as swolen this morning... but then I am taking more anti inflammatories than usual.

It rained all night though we did have a nice day.... that means that Teapot and Daughter#2 are on the river camping in not such great circumstances... I don't know whether to laugh about it or cry... but then as Teapot always says, "when things get really stupid all you can do is laugh!"

I had a whole bunch a friends come by to visit yesterday and help make the day pass quickly.

Which also meant that I hardly got any spinning done.

Daughter #1 came home with her face painted and a pair of sunglasses that were a mile wide... I think she had fun.. : )

I got the animals fed all by myself with a bad ankle... I just did it very slowly.

The new wee kitten doesn't like it's mom licking its bum which she does regularly.... it must hurt like hell to have a sand paper wipe. Yuck... sorry ( had to include that)!

Twinkle is going to meet her maker... she gurgles really loudly just like her mom used to do and disturbs the peace of the neighbourhood.

I wonder if my garden will ever be finished.

It's Sunday morning and I am going to go and spin... yeah!

I'm also going to listen to CBC.... I like Sunday morning. Does anyone remember Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt?  I used to love that show.

But then CBC on Sunday morning is not too bad. There's all kinds of good programs.

Hope your Sunday is lovely... and you don't have frost... and you're not all alone and you have good friends.

All good things for and all good day.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Hee Hee Hee

Snow.... camping.... hee hee hee! This should go on record as being the worst possible camping trip ever... it almost makes me want to laugh except that poor Daughter #2 is going.... but I don't mind one little bit that Teapot volunteered to chaperon. Hee hee hee!  Sometimes staying home with me and helping me to have a more exciting life is the better option.... don't you think?

Don't answer that... ; (

?!WTF!?

OMG there's white stuff falling from the sky....

One Endeavour After Another

Well, with the Endeavour back on planet Earth, life gets back to normal for the Astronauts that directed that vehicle.  Once again it is sad to see a space shuttle retired. Here are some pictures of the last 16 days... and the Endeavour's endeavour....
The Endeavour's launch at the Kenedy Space Centre in Florida.
Into the wild blue yonder....
Love this pic with the space shuttle coming through the clouds.
Look how fast the planet is turning.... : )
Coming home for the last time.
We are seeing the end of an era.

As for my endeavours.... it is positively freezing out and I can't believe that it got so cold so quickly... a very brrry +4 degrees C. I have to get my buns out on the deck this morning and finish the last two barrels of flowers....but the freezing temps are definitely not encouraging me to get out there. Poor wee plants though look so cold in their little squares of plastic... I really have to grab a jacket and get them in the soil.  I might even cover them with some plastic till we get through this cold snap.

Then.... back to the 150 hour project.... and a day of spinning without a break... really!

I hope all your endeavours are going well!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Up To My Elbows In Poop.... And Loving It

It's been a lovely day that turned into a blustery grey evening... but did I care.... noooo... I have been up to my elbows in poop... and soil. It's been wonderful. All day I've been working on "My Deck" and planting all the annuals for my potted deck garden.  I still have two pots left to do but it is now raining so I'm in until the rain stops unless it doesn't... and then I'm in until tomorrow. I have my carrots in the ground too, and Teapot almost has the area for the beets, beans and peas ready. Potatoes.... well, I'm not sure how that is going to happen, but I'm hoping that we'll get time next weekend. Teapot and Daughter #2 are going on a camping trip down river, this weekend, with the work ethic and academics honour kids. Daughter #1 was supposed to go... but with her arm in a sling she's opting not to go canoeing since paddling would be dreadfully difficult.  Instead she is going to be in a Run for Cancer research in FSJ.  Me?.... I'm spinning for the 150 hour project.  This weekend will be the make or break... by Monday I will know if I will require an extension on the level 4... we'll see. (I'm thinking that an extension is very likely.. urgh!)

Squeeky (the cat) had a f---ng kitten,  (just one thank God) night before last. I didn't do anything nasty to it either.  Suffice it to say she almost had her kitten on my chest. It was only when I realized that the hunching up she was doing was not exercises but an effort to push out a kitten.  It was then that I figured maybe having Squeeky on my chest and stroking her might not be the best idea at the time. I promptly got a box for her and a nice clean towel and figured that maybe she would be best off by herself... I went to bed and slept, while below Squeeky passed her evening suffering the consequences of being a slut. She has been a good Mom and with some luck there has been someone willing to take the wretched thing when it is old enough... Damn Cat! Hi ho, hi ho, it's to the vet we go... in a few weeks.... when we get rid of this blasted kitten. Argh!

Well, it looks like the rain has stopped so I am off to finish my deck planting.... hope you're having a nice day where you are.... and to my Aunt A.... hope you are feeling well soon... walk on, oh Steel Hipped One.