Exercise..... Never Heard Of It!

This is Monday and that means exercise. Mondays are my day to meet with all my senior friends and do a little stretching and a whole lot of walking. Monday is the day that I really have to force myself to get out of the house. I really just want to stay home and catch up on my work. I have lots of work to catch up on. My idea of exercise right now is climbing the ladder a million times as I try to finish the work on the eve of the house. Or bend and standing a million times a day as I weave o my tri-loom. It does not include kick boxing or the samba, or shoulder rolls or walking backwards. But that is what I am off to do in about ten minutes. I really have to push myself out the door especially since the muffler on our car died over the weekend and being inconspicuous is not an option. I rumble and roar down the road and when I put my foot on the gas to accelerate, the rumbling and roaring scares even me. (Although I do have to admit that I fantasize about dragons when this happens!)

Our old truck, which has served us well for the last 8 years is now reaching the age where upkeep is critical. Right now we need to replace the muffler, the high beam headlight on the passenger side, and the power steering hose. The timing chain is giving us trouble and soon we will need a brake job. At 169,856 kilometres this is to be expected. Problem..... we bought a horse and so we just blew $1000.00 on that. It doesn't bode well for repairs on the truck.... I did hope we could get through until next month. Oh well... we just won't eat..... yeah! That's what we will do... I could do with losing a few pounds.

I better go exercise.....

Mellow Yellow

I'm feeling pretty mellow this afternoon. I love Sunday afternoons when everything has turned out well on Sunday morning and I am just home from church and the whole afternoon stretches out before me. There is so much potential for a Sunday afternoon. Its the kind of day when anything is possible.

Today I watched Harry Potter with my kids. It doesn't actually sound like a big deal but it was lovely to sit there and relax and watch something without making any effort at all. Towards the end of the movie I put the roast in the oven and pealed fresh veggies from the garden for our supper. Yes it is work but the prospect of a lovely meal lays before us and that adds to rather than detracts from the potentiality of a great day. Mellow? Yes I am mellow.

Being mellow is more wonderful if you are in sink with everything around you. I look outside and just overnight I can see a visible difference in the trees. There is this lovely mellow yellow in the forest that wasn't there yesterday. Even though the temperatures are so nicely mild the trees continue their undressing as leaves that have already turned drop to the ground in the dance of autumn. The skies overhead are soft blue with smokey clouds that drift slowly from horizon to horizon. It is a day to be content.



9Z#$@%BDGFWK$W#q023-3o.... Ok so I just burned the vegetables.... not quite so mellow!!! Grrrr!

Changes

I'm pretty good with changes. I like them. Hubby berates me because I'm a furniture mover. I vacuum... I move furniture. I figure, if I have to move the furniture to vacuum the floor in behind by way of gettin all those nasty dust bunnies then when I put the furniture back I might as well put it back in a different spot. Makes sense to me. Hubby hates it.

Having the furniture in a different place gives me a lift. It makes the room feel fresh. I spend a lot of time in these room so I like it to feel fresh every now and again. Generally how I feel about all change. That is why when I chose the background for this blog I chose black and decided the colour of the links, the posts, the titles, all could be changed to suit my mood. By now you have noticed that I have changed the header. Maybe you even noticed that I am now able to include links in the blog. I have been trying for ages to figure out how to do that and there it was, all along, right under my nose. I think it is cool.

Getting back to changes though.... it took me all afternoon yesterday (with a few jaunts over to my tri-loom while things were uploading) to make the collage of pictures that you see where my title is.

I am asking my readers to please give me feedback on this since I'm not really sure if I like it. I'm a little worried that it is too busy. I was also thinking of just making some kind of graphic design for my heading.... problem is, I can't think about what Ye Olde Batt should have as a graphic design. So here's the thing... if anyone out there in web land has a suggestion I'm up for it. You can send your pictures to the Ye Olde Batt email at yeoldebatt@gmail.com or you can leave a suggestion in the comments at the end. I realize I may be opening a can of worms here but I am brave..... be kind to me???

Blogs

I started this blog almost a year ago and I never thought how releasing writing a blog would be. Blogs are not for everyone I know because not everyone is able to sit down everyday and write or even every second day or even once a week. But for some it is a huge outlet. There are some amazing blogs out there in Web land and there are some really dreadful ones and there are some very sad and forgotten blogs out there but it is lots of fun to go surfing and find a real gem.... this week I found one of those real gems. It is call Ramblings Of The Bearded One

The Red Hot Chili Peppers said in their song Can't Stop that music was the great communicator.... but I'm afraid that they got it wrong. You see the great communicator of our times is the blog.

I've been doing a little research in an effort to get some Blog Statistics and it is interesting to note that there are no statistical information on the WWWeb that gives a true estimate of blogs worldwide. Some statistical reports give stats for their site but that only takes into consideration one site and there are hundreds of sites where a person can go to set up a blog. I found one what seemed a decent site for blog stats and this is what they had to say...

In September 2002 the New York Times reported that LiveJournal had signed up 690,000 users since 1998 and was currently gaining another 1,100 bloggers per day. It is unclear whether all 690,000 were (and still are) maintaining their personal pages and, if so, how frequently.

In the same month the Times claimed that Brazil was the "second-largest Blogger-using country" after the US, with up to 13% of the 750,000 Blogger users.

There are so many blogs that there is no possible ability to for one person to view all the good blogs on the web let alone identify the good from the bad which would mean following hundred of thousands of blogs. The likelihood of someone picking up your blog is huge. It would be like walking down a street and rubbing elbow with royalty.... highly unlikely. Yet people do find blogs of interest and they do follow them. It is amazing how one blog can capture the attention of millions of people. All it takes is someone saying, "hey I read a great blog at such and such a site. I'll send you the url.... that's it and off and running is the blog.

It's funny because it is likely that most people start writing a blog to vent a few things on their mind and maybe journal and improve their writing skills. the possibility of the unknown is so impossible that a blogger might not even take that into consideration. Yet it is that very reason that I like blogs. It's cool to be able to write and you can fool yourself into thinking that blogging is for you and you alone but yet its out there for all to see.

I know how hard it is to find information on my ancestors because over the years I have helped my Dad with his interest in genealogy. Our ancestors didn't have the internet to put their thoughts out there open to the world. We have so much more opportunity to connect with others than did our ancestors. I hate to be an historian of the future. It would be impossible to sift through the reams of information that are so close and personal.

I never met my paternal grandfather. He died of cancer long before I was born and I have always had a unexplainable curiosity about him. There are very few pictures of him and there are so many conflicting descriptions among my family members that it is hard to decide what is true.... I can only imagine how easy it would be to get to know my grandfather if blogs had been around during his life and he were a blogger.

I can get to know someone on the other side of the world just by following regularly, the writings of a blog that I just happen to hit by serendipity. It somehow makes it a much smaller world.... don't you think?

What Did I Do

That dull day that I had was so boring until right out of the blue I got a really neat email from a lady who wanted some information on the spinning of wolf fibre and weaving bookmarks with it. I had been using Duff's fibre to spin and weave bookmarks and she was interested... that got my juices flowing. It was just the kick in the pants that I needed. I got all fired up about doing things and so I washed a bag of Duff's fibre and then went to work on my 7 foot tri-loom. I had been having trouble with getting the start of my shawl on the tri-loom right and so had pulled it off several times and then thrown up my hands in disgust as I couldn't find my instructions to get me started. I went on the internet (gotta love that) and downloaded the instructions on how to get started and got right down to it. I haven't woven a lot since I had a meeting in the night but now that I'm going (and don't need the instructions to continue) all is right with the world.

Yesterday I headed into FSJ for a day of weaving on the guild's 36" floor loom. I finished a shawl yesterday if you can believe that.... a whole shawl! My back is groaning today as weaving takes muscles in your back that you don't normally use. Five hours of weaving is not really a good way to get back into the swing of things. Usually starting with a half an hour of weaving a day and then slowly increasing with 15 minutes each day gets your back into good shape for regular weaving but for those of us who don't own a floor loom and must use the guild's, we don't have the luxury of doing that. You go to the guild's workshop and you weave like a demon until you are finished so that the next person who wants to use the loom can do so.... it means for some serious aches and pains.

That just means that I should buy myself a floor loom doesn't it???

Today is a windy day and I look out the window here and am glad that there are still leaves on the trees. Some autumns we have had all of our leaves fallen by now. But for some reason this year, there are still lots of leaves and even better there are lots that are still more green than yellow. That means that we will have a somewhat prolonged autumn. I love it.

Knit nights began again after a lengthy summer break and it was good to connect with those ladies after such a long time. I did not bring knitting though. I brought along my rug hooking as I want to finish a few of the projects that I have on the go before starting any new ones. My rug is coming along nicely but I will soon have to put it away as I am starting to think about my commission for a jacket. As a matter of a fact I am weighting out the fibre to be blended and have piles all over my table as I write. These will blended on the drum carder and then spun over the next few days.

So there you have it a general breakdown on the activities of myself after falling out of the doldrums. Today is sunny with serious threats of cloud. Wind is blustery and too cold for outdoor activities. A good day to spin, weave, and plan for future projects.

Dull Days

Sometimes when things get overwhelming you want to sit down and do nothing. I have so many things that need to be done that all I want to do is just sit and relax with a silly no brainer computer game or a book where I can drift into another world. Even a movie where two hours could be passed lollygagging, as My Grandmother would say, would work. Inactivity is what I want. What I need is to burn my a-- off working like a Trojan.

I need to make bread.... but my bread maker is outside and there is no room on my tiny bit of counter that's left in my kitchen until Hubby installs the new counter.
I need to card wool but my carder is covered in junk and I don't want to pull all that junk off because I don't want to figure out what to do with it.
I need to spin some cotton for level 3 but right now my level 3 books have disappeared and I can't find them.... that's a really lame excuse.
I need to work on the tongue and groove siding on the outside of the house but that means climbing a ladder and going out where it is getting cold.
I need to take off the ship lap boards in our bedroom but that means energy.... something I don't have a lot of.
I need to make invitations to the Sunday school kickoff but I just ran out of ink in my printer.
I need to organize my church budget forms and other work and I'm just too plain lazy.

This is a day that is cloudy and uninspiring. What I want is a cup of hot chocolate, a fire in a wood stove, and a good laugh to lighten my spirits and give me a lift. Anyone want to come by for a visit?

If you can't drop by for tea or a warm beverage check here tomorrow to see what I ended up doing.

Horses And Wolves

Recently I read a magazine article that really ticked me off. Then I read another magazine article that was full of information that I found to be really informative. I think I'm about to get a little political here. (That's a warning)

The first article I read was in a sporting magazine that Hubby subscribes too. The Article in question is called Big Bad Wolves Pt 2. I was horrified to read in that article that there are those out there who still think of the wolf as a nuisance. They think that shooting wolves is an expedient way of helping their survival rates and that they are a deadly and dreadful threat to human lives. This article astounded me with its deceptive stupidity. I just felt I had to say something.

So here is what I have to say and please remember that I am no expert.... if the subject interests you I suggest you find out the facts. Don't take my word or the word of the author of the above article as fact. This is just MY opinion.

I have always had a great respect for wolves and think they are a beautiful and thrilling species. I have had very little interaction with them usually in the form of hearing distant calls while I sleep peacefully in a campground. I am of the philosophy that the more diverse the planet's species are, the better and healthier our planet's ecosystem is. A few years back Hubby and I and the girls and our two dogs were hunted by a pack of wolves. It was the most thrilling experience I have ever had in my life. I will never forget it and I would never change it for one moment. We were never in any serious danger so that probably makes a difference. I do not hold it against the wolves that they were hunting us. The situation arose because they picked up the scent of our dogs after we had been hiking on a trail and so they followed that scent in to our campsite. We were in our tent trailer in bed and heard them coming, howling in triangulation for a good half hour as they moved closer. they were on the same trail that we had taken earlier in the day and since we were the only campers in that park at that time we knew they were after us. They sat around our tent trailer and probably hoped that they would be able to coax one of our dogs out of our campsite but since both of them were in the trailer with us and we follow very strict safety rules about putting food away in our vehicle where it can't encourage foraging from wildlife, we felt quite safe the whole time.

There are those in this world who believe that species such as wolves and coyotes and bears are nothing more than a nuisance because they prey upon domesticated beasts such as chickens, cattle, and sheep. They feel that the best way to survive and co-habitate is to hunt these animals and keep their numbers controlled so that they pose less of a threat to human survival.

This is where the other article comes into play. In my most recent Spin-off magazine there is an article about spinning wolf fibre and the author sites some statistics which I cannot find any problem with (and believe me I have looked). There she says that there were over 250,000 wolves in the US alone before European contact. By the 1960s that number had been reduced to around 500. With diligent care and a reintroduction of wolves from Canada the number has now increased to about 5000. Now if I have my numbers right then that is a mere 2% of the original population. To me there is something wrong with that picture especially when I read in sporting magazines that, and I quote, "True environmentalist/conservationists are hunters, trappers, and anglers, not the feel-good, save-the-world, haven't-got-a-clue crowd who have yet to realize that when they bought into the beliefs held by the protectionist regime, they added to the dangers associated with large carnivores habituating to human environments. A hunted wolf is a wolf that will successfully coexist with humans."

That just steams my pajamas. These hunter types who profess to be doing the farmers a service by taking out the problems of loss of dollars due to wolf/coyote kills of livestock are delusional. Yes wolves and coyotes do kill livestock,and God knows that given the opportunity a hungry predator will chomp down a human given the right circumstances. It is their way of eating and surviving. That does not give us humans the right to wipe out their numbers. Wolf hunts often run a muck and this species cannot re-assert itself to healthy numbers if not given the chance. 5000 compared to 250,000 is not healthy numbers in my estimation.

I am a member of a Yahoo group called Canspin and recently there have been discussions of spinning wolf fibre since the article in Spin-off magazine has generated many comments. Wolf fibre is not readily available as you can imagine. They will not stand to be sheared and so the fibre must be gathered from the wild where wolves dens are littered with sheddings or from wolves that for whatever reason are held in captivity. I am lucky to own a Wolf/Husky cross dog who still carries a lot of the traits of the wolf in her. She does not eat my lambs when they are out on the grass grazing, and as a matter of a fact, she paroles the perimeter of our property keeping watch over our sheep. She has chased away coyotes from our ducks when we had them and chickens even now. She has chased off foxes and cares for our animals as if they are part of her family. She has wonderful fibre to spin and though she is half dog she reminds me daily of how important it is not to lose wolves from the genetic pool of diverse species on this planet.

What it comes down to, in my opinion, is that wolves should only be hunted in extreme circumstances, where they are a direct threat to children's play areas....or when occasionally they become a constant nuisance (which is usually due to ill health). Farmers should not have the right to indiscriminately kill them. There are methods of keeping safe, herds of cattle and other livestock and these methods should be utilized fully before we get our testosterone flowing and start racing out the door with guns roaring to eliminate the threat of wolves.

Now about the title of this blog.... well you understand the wolves part.... but here's where horses come into it...

Daughter #1 has finally gotten her long wanted horse. We have bought a lovely 17 year old well broken mare named Dreamer for her. She is lovely. Daughter #1 is over the moon. Hubby and I are happy that she is happy.