Barnyard Changes

It is quiet in the house. I've been awake for a while now and it is just starting to lighten on the eastern horizon. To the west there is still the dark-blue-of-an-ink-stain on the horizon. I can hear Duffy snoring gently at the top of the steps and there's a bat outside of the office window going mad after the flies and moths.Hubby is sleeping... at least I hope he is, and the Daughters are sleeping. All is quiet.

Yesterday, Hubby worked in the barnyard prepping things for the four new sheep to come on Tuesday. He pounded in two new fence posts and tightened fencing, he cut a new door in the barn and put in a divider so that it could be gotten into from the two different paddocks. Then the moment arrived when Hubby came to the house to tell me he needed mine and the Daughters help moving animals from one paddock to another. We let the sheep out onto pasture to graze while we opened the gate between the old garden where Honeydew (the llama) and Mishka (the female alpaca) and Greigg and Oscar (the ram) were. They entered the middle paddock with some encouragement from Hubby in the form of a smack on the rump. Daughter #1 closed the gate behind them and tied it tight. Woo hoo! Move number one done. Honeydew and Mishka, and the boys were quite perplexed by what was happening.... but let me tell you that Mishka and my male alpacas were getting to know each other in very short order now that there was only some wire separating them. Obviously keeping a paddock in between them had been a good idea. Coal, who is usually so passive, was trying his best to melt through the fence like butter. This was good because he and the other males were so busy checking out the cute female on the other side of the fence that we were able to sneak up on them and catch them pretty easily.

One by one, the alpacas were moved to their new digs. Phew! Move number two done! They are now in the paddock nearest the house with a lovely new shelter, under which they can hide away from stormy weather. Still Mishka was in the middle paddock which meant that all my boy alpacas were getting ready to try out their jollies. There was a total loss of male mind power.... like there ever was any (snort). I've never seen a hornier lot than those five male alpacas. I mean you could see them actually trying to figure out how they could high five each other in the battle for girl power. I think Coal was winning though. He wasn't wasting time on the other boys.... he only had eyes for Mishka.

We were able to catch Mishka fairly easily but Honeydew was quite upset by the whole process. She is not good with change. She kept going back and forth trying to figure out how to follow Mishka. Meanwhile Greigg and Oscar the ram got caught behind the barn in a little spot about two feet wide and couldn't get turned around because they just wanted to go forward but going forward got them stuck worse. Honeydew kept looking around going where did everyone go. She couldn't see rammalama-ding-dong (Oscar) and nuts-off (Greigg) stuck behind the barn. Greigg kept trying to get Oscar to move backwards but Oscar wanted Greigg to go forward.... neither one of them was going anywhere. We all backed off and let them figure it out for themselves which took a few minutes being (stupid... did say that?...) sheep. Eventually they managed to extricate themselves from their predicament and decided to check out the barn and surroundings.

Meanwhile Mishka was being led into the far paddock and was quite nervous about what was happening to her. But she survived and started to check out the poo left by her boyfriends.

Hubby went off to fetch a pail of oats and that was the downfall of the sheep. They enjoyed their half hour of freedom grazing on the grass while all the paddocks were being changed, and then back into the paddock they went,only this time it was a different paddock, carefully led by a bucket of oats. Now, all sheep have access to a barn... the barn has been divided so that the girls have access from the west side and the big paddock. Mishka has new friends in the form of the sheep and she also has access to the barn and shelter for the winter. The ram and Greigg have access to the barn from the east side and the middle paddock and even Honeydew can get in there on the most miserable of days.

Meanwhile the five males alpacas have rolling rights in what used to be our garden and they will get a new paddock in the spring. We have also built them a new shelter and though it is temporary, it will work for the winter. They also have fertilizing rights in the garden which is good because they tend to spread their poop more than Honeydew did and the Greigg and Oscar did.

The new ewes coming on Tuesday, will go in the big paddock with the rest of the ewes, and the new ram will have a spot with the boys in the middle which I feel is a better sharing of space. The biggest lot of animals are in the big paddock and the smallest number of animals are in the smallest paddock and the medium sized number of animals are in the medium sized paddock. That's fair... I'd say.

Anyway the barnyard was rather exciting yesterday.... Hey! Look at that... Mr. Bat has departed and there is the sun just coming up.... I must go have a look and see how all the animals faired in their new paddocks overnight..... hmmm... everyone is sharper than usual.... but I guess that is to be expected. At least none have made a break for it and there are none ready to jump the fences. I hope they settle soon.

Fire In The Hole!!!!

The flies are driving me crazy... the one thing about this time of the year that I truly can't stand is the flies that buzz around you and pester the daylights out of you. I walk around, perpetually, with a fly swatter in my hand. They crawl on the dishes in the kitchen and it bugs me.... I have to clean the dishes every time I want to use one. They crawl all over the computer and land on my legs just out of reach (see the fly in this picture) so that they tickle the hairs on my legs (when I forget to shave) and drive me clean square batty like I'm not there already.....

I wish I hadn't had to get rid of Waldo. She could have eaten five hundred of them....

Last night Hubby and I sat on our deck after the long fire ban was finally lifted and watched the glowing embers of our fire die late into the night.... it was lovely.... except the darn flies kept pestering me. Daughter #2 watched a fly streak into the fire and burn crisp in an arial display of complete stupidity and we all agreed that the little blighter deserved to croak in a ball of flames.

The flies are everywhere. You can't sit in the house without being driven insane with the stupid nasties crawling on some part of your body just out of reach. (see the fly in this pic?)

These are not bighting flies they are just little house flies that are too brazen for their own good. I kill them by the hundreds but it is like an oncoming never ending army of pests meant to drive the normal person to distraction.

What I want to do is dig a large pit and encourage everyone for twenty miles to climb in and then..... well look at the title of this blog.

I came up with a great idea.... you know those bug lights that zap bugs left right and centre when the are hung up and electrified..... well I always thought they were stupid. I mean they just zap bugs as five million more are attracted to the light of it and the bats get zapped too which you don't want since they eat bugs. While I was washing the dishes yesterday and going on and on about how there was no end to the little flies that I kept killing between drying the dishes, it occurred to me that if you put a bug light in the house at a strategic place and carefully place a trash basket under it, it would take care of every little nasty flying pest in the house and who cares about the ones outside.... I think it is a great idea..... I like it.

I'm off to burn my house..... uh... I mean burn the trim for my house.... like this...


and swat a few more flies.... sigh! (see the fly in this pic?)

Embarassing Recipe

I went to a birthday party tonight for a friend.... you know one of those affairs where you bring a salad and they provide the meat. Now Hubby and I never have tons of food hanging around the house at this time of the year. We are waiting for that all powerful first check to come in in the middle of September to restock our shelves. This is an annual event. Most people think that teachers make lots of money and while they do ok they do not get paid in the summer... at least this teacher doesn't. As a result taking food to an event such as the one we attended this evening becomes a real exercise in ingenuity.

I took beet salad.... I was embarrassed to take this concoction but take it I did. Now if you are like most people, around about now, you are wondering what is beet salad? Let me explain.

In Newfoundland every summer many small communities have what is called the annual summer garden party. Garden parties are like the biggest potluck you have ever seen. Every woman for miles will spend hours upon hours thinking about what grand and glorious recipe they will try out on unsuspecting recipients at the annual garden party. There is usually every kind of salad known to man as well as every kind of dainty sandwich and desert that could be possibly stirred, blended, ground, risen baked, fried, etc.... you get my drift.

At these garden parties there is a positive potato salad frenzy. Potato salads are a gourmet delight in Newfoundland where there are so many Irish cast offs that potatoes are a staple of the good Newfy's diet. There are potato salads with apple chopped in them... there are potato salads where there is mustard stirred into them... if you can stir it into the potatoes then it is to be expected at the potato salad table. (yes there is a table set aside for the potato salads)!

The quintessential, unavoidable, and very predictable salad is the beet/potato salad. And that is what I made for the party tonight.

I have always prided myself on the recipes that I use for potlucks and events where I have to bring something foodish to the party. I always try to find some gourmet delight that is a veritable proof of my culinary skill. I hoard recipes like some people hoard gold. Beet/potato salad is not one of them.... it is comfort food... it is a recipe (I say that tongue in cheek) that I simply use for the family. It takes no skill, it is not a gourmet delight, and no chef in his right mind would use it. It is simply too simple and totally.... well, yummy.

Tonight.... enter one beet/potato salad.... pink as petunias.... and simple beyond imagining.....

Smash hit.... who knew....

Frankie's Beet/Potato Salad
A bunch of potatoes enough to fill a 4 l stock pot, peeled, boiled, mashed and cooled.
Preserved beet in or not in vinegar.... diced. About 1 1/2 cups.
5 - 6 hard boiled eggs peeled and diced.
2 - 3 big globs of mayonaise or whipped salad dressing

Stir all the above ingredients together and smooth top... place a couple of sprigs of parsley for decoration.... chill and serve.

How easy was that.... they all think I'm some kind of super chef. How bizarre!

Turn Of Days

For a few days now I have been fighting what I call the Autumn Blues. Even though this is my favorite time of the year I know that what lies ahead is all doom and gloom. I'll be honest I hate winter. I hate the cold and I hate.... just hate the snow. I mean don't get me wrong. I can appreciate the beauty of the snow and how it looks at various times of the day. But when I open the door and experience the cold air, when I get up at 9 a.m. and it is still dark these are the things that make winter a miserable time of the year for me.

The other thing that makes this time of the year a time of the Blues is.... I, unlike most other women, like my Hubby home. I actually enjoy the man. Why I cannot say.... maybe for the same reasons that I married him... but you would think that after 17 years of marriage I would now think of him as a nuisance. Most women don't want their husbands under foot in their kitchens, but I like my Hubby in the kitchen... he can actually cook as well as I do. I like his company and miss him when he isn't around.
Actually being married to a teacher and having a man around a lot in the summer, I think, brings us closer together. We do things together and its nice to spend time with the man you fell in love with all those years ago.

I will also miss the girls when they go back to school. I like them and have a lot of fun with them. It gives me great pleasure to watch them growing up and school undermines my time with them. So you see even though the weather of autumn doesn't bother me, I actually like it, there are some serious disadvantages to autumn.

You will note that a few weeks ago I noticed the first signs of fall.... the grass had a golden look to it. Now I have started to notice that the trees are turning colour too. My tomato plants are starting to turn yellow underneath. the tops are still green and so are the tomatoes but underneath the leaves have turned yellow. As a matter of a fact all my flowers on the deck have a decidedly tired look about them.

So in honour of the Autumnal (love that word) changes I have decided it is time for a change to the Ye Olde Batt Blog..... I like the colours that I have chosen.

By the way...Reece is doing much better thank you very much....

Accident!

Poor Reece... she's had an awful night. We found my favorite poor wee lamb (the only white one that I got this year) under a gate which had fallen on her in the night. Who knows how long she was lying down with the heavy gate on her.... Worse, she's hurt! She has not been able to walk properly ever since we found her this morning. We plucked the offending gate off her wee limp body and at first I thought she was a goner, but we were able to see that she wasn't bleeding a lot and that the bit of blood staining her wool was from her struggle to get the gate off her and she had been rubbing and abrading her skin a lot. Then she couldn't stand up and was not able to hold her head upright and I still thought she was a goner. Hubby checked her over and thought she might have a dislocated front shoulder.... I'm not so sure. We tried standing her up and at first she wasn't able to bare her own weight and her knees kept buckling under her. But eventually she was able to get up and move around a bit She has been up on her feet and baring weight on all of her legs so I don't think she could walk with a dislocated shoulder. She stumbles a bit but as the morning is going on she seems to be getting stronger. I don't think that would be happening if she was badly hurt. We have separated her from the other sheep as I don't want her to get hurt or pushed around by the other sheep. Her legs seem to be getting stronger and I am hoping that she is just sore and a little stiff with maybe some muscle injuries that will heal with time.... she will have to be watched closely though. She is lying down now in a temporary pen with lots of green grass, and is eating all the grass that she can reach from where she lies. I will continue to keep an eye on her and hopefully she will improve as the day goes on. We'll see.

Shawl

Two years ago when I was in EM's class for the Level 1 in the Master Spinner's program the instructor gave us a shawl pattern that was her own. We were challenged to go home and make one over the year and enter it in the following year's fashion show. I made one and promptly sold it. This is it...

It is the one on the left. Sorry it is not a better picture.

Anyway, I started right away knitting a new one and I decided this time I would use a stranded knitting technique and so it began. It has been an odyssey, I assure you, because even though it is still not finished, there is quite a story that ended yesterday... well,... sort of!

I have quite a bit of my shawl completed but not as much as I would like. This shawl, I feel is a real work of art. It all started when I was in Level 1 and tried on one of EM's shawls and felt that it was the drapiest and most lovely fitting shawl that I had ever tried on. I'm a big girl and finding things that fit nicely is often a challenge. (I get my biggness from my Dad!) So I can safely say that when I tried on that shawl, and it fit me so nicely, and it felt good and looked... well... great, I was enthusiastic to say the least.

I got right on it and did the Rainbow shawl in the above picture. Knit in a combination of Polwarth and alpaca, it was soft and lovely and sumptuous. But it also was pretty simple. I had knit some rovings that I had purchased from Rovings in Manitoba that were already varigated and spun it all single ply then I spun brown alpaca and in singles and plied the two singles together to get a nice two ply yarn that kept the look of the varigated wool rovings. I called it the Rainbow Shawl. However, I now wanted more of a challenge and so I embarked upon a new shawl in the same pattern but with a different take on it. I decided to knit a Fair Isle style shawl using the same increases so it would have the same drapey feel and using purple and white as the basis for my colour combinations.

I started in right away because I had some lovely purple and white yarn already spun and though I knew it wouldn't be enough to complete the shawl I thought I would be able to spin and knit at the same time. I knit about 18 inches when I ran into problems. Up to that point I had been knitting and changing my Fair Isle style every ten to twenty rows. It was looking lovely and I was pleased with it but I wanted more of a challenge. That's when I started to go through my old knitting magazines.

I have been a collector of Vogue Knitting magazines since back in the eighties when Vogue Knitting was still quite new. I keep them because many of the patterns are classic, adaptable, and clear. Vogue does a very nice job of printing patterns that anyone can use. I think it is by far the best knitting magazine on the market. And believe me when I say I have tried a lot over the years. Not even Interweave Knits comes close and that is saying something because Interweave Knits is awesome.

Anyway I digress.... In the
1990-91 winter edition of Vogue Knitting magazine there is a sweater pattern by Perry Ellis (remember him???) that has a divine city skyline in a two stranded pattern that I have always thought I would incorporate into something that I knit. It is lovely.

So back to the shawl.... I came up with the idea of incorporating that city skyline into my purple and white shawl. I went looking through my stacks of knitting magazines which at that time I kept in my bedroom. I found it after much perusing and getting sidetracked by other divine patterns that I had forgotten about. I then laid it on the headboard of my bed and promptly forgot about it because I went off to do something else..... have you ever done that? Yes... I thought so.

A few days later when I had time for knitting I went to get the magazine which I had laid on my headboard.... (it is a bookcase headboard) that's when all hell broke loose. The magazine was gone. Now my house is ruled by the goddess Chaos, and losing something is not the end of the world.... usually a few days later it turns up in another most obvious place. (Remember Hubby's truck key that I lost after returning from Olds last month..... we never found it but we did find the set of house, car, school, and other keys that he lost two years ago!!!) see what I mean. Eventually, things turn up. But this was a horror because I wanted to knit that pattern and I wanted to knit that pattern NOW!

Well I didn't knit that pattern and all year through the Level 2 (last year) the shawl languished in my knitting bag collecting dust. Every so often I would pick up the knitting bag and think, I should just get on with it.... I don't have to knit a cityscape on this shawl... I can knit anything. but that cityscape haunted me and I knew I would regret not knitting the cityscape of my dreams into that shawl. I turned the house upside down looking for my Vogue Knitting magazine with my cityscape pattern..... I pulled out my bed and looked under it. (This is no small task since it weighs an elephant!) But I did not find that magazine.

Spring came and the infamous reno began... we cleared the top story of the house and still there was no sign of the magazine. I lost hope. This time I really had lost something. I could only think that it got picked up with other papers and went out in the recycling.... I even emailed Vogue to see if I could get a copy of the old pattern... they didn't respond (they need to beef up their customer service if they want it to be as good as the magazine is)! By this time I had begun to despair if I would ever knit my cityscape. I lost hope. I was defeated..... well... not quite. I just needed some graph paper and a pencil and I would do my own cityscape.... but it wouldn't have a bridge alight with faerie lights.... and it wouldn't be... well... just perfect.... (sigh)!

I didn't have the heart I'm afraid, to come up with my own cityscape, and so I thought that maybe I should just carry on in Fair Isle x's and o's, drifting from one pattern to the next. I got out my Fair Isle patterns and my graph paper but there it sat not being enthused over.

Yesterday, I decided to clean the living room... I mean clean it really good. Under the steps are a set of cabinets that can be moved and manipulated into many shapes and sizes. They can be stacked, or put side by side. They can be separated and moved to any part of the room. We keep catalogues and books and liquor and gift wrap in these cabinets. I hadn't cleaned out the catalugues in over a year and so the task lay on my shoulders to go through the catalogues and get rid of everything out of date. I started in and was surprised to discover that Hubby had been shoving my Spin-off magazines in those cabinets..... and among it was... low and behold.... Vogue Knitting from winter 1990-91 Perry Ellis Cityscape pattern #19... woo hoo!!

Shawl here I come!

What Makes You Feel It Is Good To Be Alive

It is 4:30 a.m. and I can't get back to sleep. Our dog, the chicken herder which just happens to be a Shi-tzu, woke me up with a kiss about a half hour ago because he was thirsty and wanted to go out. I forgot to fill the water dish before I went to bed and so our other dog, the big one drank all the remaining water and left none for the little dog. I couldn't get back to sleep and so I started thinking about why it is good to be alive. Here is what I think....

It is good to be alive...
when you smell the rich brown smell of the soil after the first real spring rain and the trees are starting to grow and the grass is starting to grow and the air is warm with the richness of life. Some call that ozone.... I call it creation.

It is good to be alive...
when you see the sparkles of the sun on water as it flashes and wavers with the movement of the earth and the air.

It is good to be alive...
when you wake in the morning with the soft warmth of a puppy dog kiss on your forehead, and then with a snuffle and a sigh the puppy snuggles into your body and you both go back to sleep.

It is good to be alive...
when you walk through the forest and you hear the crunch of the leaves beneath your feet and you smell the ripe smell of berries fermenting from the first frost of fall. Colour surrounds you with rich oranges, browns, and golds and you see your breath for the first time that year.

It is good to be alive...
when you feel the swell of the ocean and the thump, thump, thump, of the engine, beneath your feet as the boat you are on rises and falls on the tide that is bigger than any living thing but feels alive beneath you.

It is good to be alive...
when you open the door to go out and the sun is shining on the frozen air and there are millions of crystals surrounding you that sparkle like magic faerie dust.

It is good to be alive..
when you walk into an empty church and the silence is profound.

It is good to be alive....
when you smell a baby in your arms and they are clean and soft and fresh and new.

It is good to be alive..
when the first buds of the trees pop open and there is that beautiful chartreuse of spring in the air.

It is good to be alive....
when you hear the pretty voices of the birds when they start calling to their mates singing spring into being.

It is good to be alive....
when you hold the hand of your grandfather.

It is good to be alive....
when you lie on a trampoline with your children and stare at the clouds and listen to them talking about the shapes that they see.

It is good to be alive...
when you look at your husband (or wife) and know that the last twenty years feel like it has only been a year or two and you want the next twenty or more to slow down.

It is good to be alive...
when you know that growing old with this man (or woman) is what you want to do with the rest of your life.

It is good to be alive....
when your children give you a hug.... just because.

It is good to be alive...
with steaming hot chocolate in a mug, watching snow fall softly outside your window, blanketing everything in undulating white.

It is good to be alive...
when a butterfly lands on your arm and you don't breath because you don't want it to fly away, and when it does you feel privileged because you have been chosen over the beauty of a nodding flower.

It is good to be alive....
kissing in the pouring down rain.

It is good to be alive....
when you fall asleep at dusk in your lawn chair and wake up to the crystal white of the moon shining on you and your book is still in your lap and you don't feel cold because someone wrapped a blanket around you while you slept.

It is good to be alive...
when you haven't seen someone for a long time but the warm camaraderie of good friendship prevails through warm hugs, friendly chat, and happy silences.

It is good to be alive...
when the sun turns early morning fog yellow and the dew is heavy on the grass and sparkles brilliantly.

It is good to be alive...
when the crackle of the fire you just lit is magnetic and you want to watch the flames all night long.

It is good to be alive...
when the sun, low on the horizon, turns the tops of the trees pink, while everything else lays in the shadow of the earth.

It is good to be alive....
when you wake up with an arm and a knee slung over your body and you feel a bit like a Christmas present... all wrapped in love.

It is good to be alive...
when you have just read a good book or watched a good movie... and you wish it could go on for a just a little while longer.

It is good to be alive....
when your Dad hands you a twenty and says, "spend it on yourself," and you are 40 years old.

It is good to be alive....
when a bubble gum bubble pops and you have to spend twenty minutes washing it off your glasses.

It is good to be alive...
when you drive down a country road in a convertible and the poplar leaves that have fallen onto the road because it is autumn, swirl in the wake you create as you drive by.

It is good to be alive...
when you walk along a beach for miles and miles and then when you have gone a long way you turn around and see your footprints stretching out behind you.

It is good to be alive...
and write your name in the sand and watch it wash away with the next wave.

It is good to be alive...
and smell roses, or lilacs.

It is good to be alive....
and taste homemade bread still warm and fresh from the oven, smothered in butter.

It is good to be alive...
when you wake at night and hear the cry of coyotes (wolves too) a long way off but close enough to be thrilling.

It is good to be alive....
when an owl swoops past you and the only reason you see it is because you happened to notice movement out of the corner of your eye... but you didn't hear a thing.

It is good to be alive....
when you buy something leather and it has that new leather smell.... like a new car.... or a new leather coat.

It is good to be alive...
when you finish something you have worked on a long time and you are happy with it.

It is good to be alive...
when you crawl into bed a night and your back sighs with relief after a long day of hard work.

It is good to be alive...
when you remember all the times you had a really good belly laugh.... and you want to laugh till you cry again.

It is good to be alive...
when you write about 40 things that make you feel good to be alive and you have only just scratched the surface.

It is good to be alive...
when you go back to bed after you have been up early in the morning and the bed feels warm and comfortable and welcoming.

Bye bye!