Oh dear....
Teapot is floored... he's floored because he read my 101 Things About Me and saw that I wrote, I like sex! He couldn't believe that I would actually put that out there. I had to laugh because he's such a prude... I mean it's not like I gave out details or anything and gee I'd be thought really weird if I didn't like sex! And that's all I'm saying about that.
Oh my....
I had a comment to me on #56. the person who made the comment is a local so don't expect to read the comment. We had a very long conversation about the word career. You see my reader said that in her view that what I do in raising my children and my spinning and knitting and weaving, is very much a career. That a career person is someone who loves very much what they do. But when I wrote #56 I was thinking of career in a very different context.... as in someone who gives up everything they love to follow a career path in order to be successful... or at least successful by most people's standard in this social age. I see people who go to work each day that are so driven by finding success in accolades or money that they have forgotten to stop and smell the roses. Those are the career people I'm talking about... I'm not one because if there is anything I believe it is that we should all stop and smell the roses.
Yeah so that's it about "career".
@$#$^%^*^&@!##!!#%$
Daughter #2 is being bullied. I lay awake half of last night thinking horrible thoughts about children who are the culprits of my Daughter's anxiety. This is not the first time. These same kids have been the basis for much anxiety in Daughter #2's life for several years. They have not physically intimidated her but they have been verbally bullying her on a regular basis for quite a while now. This year it has escalated to a new high and we are quite fed up.
Daughter #2 is a fairly sensitive soul and is moved to tears by pictures of dead animals (needless to say she has a very bad reaction every time we butcher a lamb). When these boys, who have been bullying her, started to to call her names in grade 4 we did what most parents do and told her to ignore it since they were jackasses and it would probably stop after a while. WRONG! They have continued to make her feel bad every chance they get and unfortunately this year it has gotten way out of hand.
Daughter #2 has had for several years a difficult time making friends.... or I should say keeping friends. She has over the years made many good friends but they have always had fathers who have been transferred in the end and so have moved away to other locals leaving Daughter #2 high and dry. Finally a couple of years ago Daughter #2 won a trip to Victoria for a historical fair because her history display was such a good one. One of her class mates also won. It was during their trip to Victoria that they became best chums.
About two weeks ago Daughter #2 came home complaining about a rumour circulating at school about her and her friend being lesbians. This did not sit well and for the last few weeks she has been fighting this rumour to the best of her ability. Yesterday I knew something was wrong when she came through the door very upset with red eyes. She had taken the bus home and these two boys who have been bugging her since grade 4 had proceeded to let everyone know on the bus that they thought that Daughter #2 was indeed gay. Daughter #2 was mortified...and really, really hurt by the fact that they would not only say such a thing about her but they would say it in such a public place and for all to hear.
Teapot and I are disgusted with this whole affair. The Principal has been notified not only on this but on previous accasions of bullying too. Daughter #2 has been goaded and provoked and bugged for far too long and we are at the point where its time to put an end to this. Before these two boyos have been called into the office and have had a talking to about name calling etc... I lay awake and all I could do last night was steam. I have never been so close to wanting to do something bad in all my life. The two boys in question are known for being complete shits.
Daughter #2 has been offered an opportunity to have all kids involved in the incident and all parents of said kids to get together where she can confront these kids face to face with the Principal and Teapot and I. She is thinking about this option. Let me tell you it is very hard for a kid of 13 years who is a sensitive and quiet gal to face such a situation and I'm not sure she will have the guts to go through with it. I'm not sure what I want for her. I just wish that she had some peace.... peace of mind and peace to go back and forth to school without being bugged by dickheads.
I am sorry to use such language but I'll be honest the language is mild to what I am feeling about the two boys that are making my daughter's life purely miserable.
Right now life sucks around here.... but I do hope, dear readers, that your weekend is proving to be better than ours is turning out.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
101 Things About Me
I saw this on another blog.... so yes I'm plagiarizing.... get over it...!
1. I am 5' 7 3/4" tall.
2. I am way overweight and think that it is inherited as I come from a long line of heavy set people on my father's side of the family.... yet I wasn't always overweight and I'm trying not to be now. But I've been trying for years and I just keep getting heavier.
3. After high school I went to college for two years to study to become a Travel Agent... I sucked at it and wanted out as soon as I finished the program and so wasted two years of tuition... I've always regretted those two years.
4. I have scoliosis for which I had surgery and had fifteen spinal fusions and a Herrington Rod in my back.
5. I've had three boyfriends over the years one of whom I married.
6. In my mid-teen years I was a prude.
7. That stopped when I became sexually active at 17.
8. I love sex... just like chocolate.... it's all very decadent.... (hope I didn't shock you).
9. I hate socks.... that's important.... I should live on a beach in a somewhat warmer climate so that I could walk around barefoot all the time.
10. Instead I have always lived in very cold and snowy places....
11. I almost convinced Teapot to apply for a position in Bermuda.... aahhh now that would have been the life... with bare feet.
12. I hate feet... I think they are disgusting and really wish I could never have anything to do with them.
13. Have always been artistic.... I started drawing at the age of 12 and never looked back.
14. I had a really awesome art teacher in high school named Robin Cook, who had a Master's degree in art. He taught me oh so much about art which I really didn't realize until later.
15. Finished my last year of high school in a school that I really couldn't care less about.
16. I worked at Suzy Shear for three years as a merchandiser and window dresser.... and loved it.
17. I can sing... well pretty darn good though I've never gotten any recognition for it even from my parents.
18. I have really lousy hearing...
19. I hate phones and especially having to make official calls to people I don't know... I much rather computers and email.
20. I love the feel of the sun on my face but I hate really hot weather and I hate humidity.... that's probably why I don't live in Toronto.
21. I hate city living and lived in a small city most of my years growing up.... I even lived in Toronto for two summers.... ick!
22. I worked for a homeopathic drug dispenser for two summers while going to University... it sucked... I think all homeopaths, as a result of my experiences, are next to witch doctors.
23. I had an opportunity to try out for the National ballet when I was twelve... I found out that I needed back surgery and that was the end of that.
24. I love to paint abstract paintings with acrylic paints. I turn my music on really loud and go out on the deck in the summer and have a few drinks.... (when I wasn't allergic to it) and just start spraying paint all over my canvases/boards.
25. I'm allergic to alcohol.
26. I write poetry.
27. I had two miscarriages before I was finally able to carry a baby to term.
28. I had the names of my children picked out long before I ever had children... I won't say what the girls names were because I had girls and that would compromise their privacy.... but the boys names were Aaron Montgomery and Keegan Ezekiel.
29. The fibre arts never really interested me until a few years ago at which time I became a spinner first a dyer second and a weaver third.
30. I learned to knit at the age of 8.
31. I never really started to knit much until I went to college and then to help pass time in the residence I knit myself a mohair full length coat.
32. I love my family. All of them.... though my mother and I have a strained relationship.
33. Teapot makes me smile.... he lightens my heart... and I'm devoted to him.
34. I really don't know why he sticks with me..... but he does. So he must love me too. (That always surprises me).
35. I'm very proud of my two daughters. They are both smart and witty and full of fun.
36. I'm partially werewolf because at the full moon each month, I have an odd reaction... either I stay awake long hours or I just want to sit in the moonlight and stare off into space.
37. I was an Anglican lay reader for many years.
38. I dabbled in the Wiccan religion when I was younger.... it didn't work for me. Though I do believe that the earth, and the universe have a deep spiritual pull.
39. I love to hug trees.
40. I want to be cremated when my time comes and have a Manitoba Maple planted where my ashes lay. Somewhere near a water source so that the Maple will have a long life.
41. I don't think I will live to be really old.... I have too many heart and high blood pressure problems in my ancestry.
42. I'm not sure I really believe in God, but I try to because I think that God is the best option to explain the connectedness that I find in life..... it works for me I guess.
43. Christmas is a terrible time of the year for me.... I used to love it but now I don't... mostly because I do all the work and find that it really is just another day in which I don't get to put my feet up. I hate Christmas shopping.
44. I studied Philosophy in University and graduated with an Honours degree.
45. I love Turkey dinner.... it's my favorite meal...
46. I asked Teapot to marry me. It was an accident... but I'm glad he said yes. We were watching a program on TV and the Heroin said , "Would you marry me?" She was asking her best friend (who was a male) if she was the marrying kind... so I turned to Teapot and asked him if he would marry me.... in the same vein. He asked, "Is that a proposal?" I stopped dead in my tracks and thought about it for a few seconds and said, "Yes!" That stopped him in his tracks and then he took a few seconds to think and then he said, "yes!" Then we both sat there for a while in complete silence and complete shock... then Teapot said, "Did what I think just happened actually just happen?" and I answered "Yes!" Then for about two months no one would believe that we were engaged.
47. It was my Uncle Dick who got us actually focused on getting married for real. He made me go talk to a minister.
48. I lived on an native reservation for the first 5 years of my married life... they were hard years but they were very fulfilling years.
49. I don't think I'm a very good mother.... especially when the daughters were little... but I try my best.
50. I love back rubs.
51. I didn't always have a good relationship with my father but I do now... and I'm really glad of that.
52. I'm very opinionated about some things and turn people off with my strong opinions... and I am very sorry for that because I like for people to like me and am disappointed when I turn people off.
53. I'm dreadfully lazy.
54. I'm shy in a crowd and tend to keep my mouth shut... mostly because I'm not at all witty on the spur of the moment.... scintillating conversation is not my forte.
55. I used to lie a lot... now I don't... and I'm not telling if that is a lie!
56. I've never had a career and think that the whole work at a career thing is ridiculous... most people work to survive. If you like your work then you have a career of insanity.... (see there I go with my opinions again....sorry)!
57. I love cheezies.
58. I've discovered quite recently that I could really get into silk embroidery.
59. I love jazz music.
60. I think Diana Krall is awesome.
61. I also think Uncle Kracker is awesome. I wish he'd get off his a-- and put out another great album.
62. I am a royalist... I love the Queen and think Prince Charles is a misguided fool. But I can't wait for Prince William's wedding. I love to watch the royals though I'm not a fanatic, and buy magazines and books about it all... one thing though I do wish them all well.
63. I'm a Newfoundlander.... from 15 generations back... and proud of it.
64. I've traveled all over Canada. I've lived in a number of different places in Canada. I could spend my life traveling around Canada and never want to go further afield... Canada has a lot to offer.
65. I still have a Newfy accent even after living away from Newfoundland for almost twenty years... which just goes to show that "You can take the girl out of the bay but you can't take the bay out of the girl"!!!
66. I'm terrible shy. Though I try not to be... but I absolutely quake if I have to get up in front of people to speak... and suffer terribly from stage fright.
67. I love the ocean and thanks to boyfriend number 2, I spent a great deal of time on a 40 foot yacht.
68. I've had one of my poems published. I just wish I could get a lot more published.
69. I am not a good housekeeper and have better things to do with my time than race around cleaning up dust bunnies.
70. I love to watch spiders but have a terrible fear that they will fall off the ceiling of my bedroom and into my mouth.
71. I sleep on my right side.
72. I am an insomniac... but less so as I age.
73. I snore so I am told.
74. I've always wanted to hang glide.... but would probably sh-t my pants if I tried.
75. I drove across Canada twice in a two seater convertible... and it was awesome especially looking at the mountains as we drove along.
76. I loved to watch in the rear view mirror, the autumn leaves swirling behind my convertible.
77. I drive a Dodge Dakota truck... that's falling apart... (well I am a farmer!!)
78. I raise sheep and alpacas.
79. I love dogs, tolerate cats (it's a reciprocal thing), and enjoy sheep and alpacas.
80. I owned a wolf/husky dog who I loved dearly... and miss dreadfully.
81. I try not to think about politics but every so often I get really fierce about it all.
82. I want to take cruise ship to Hawaii... some time.
83. I once spent two weeks in England and had a lovely trip... I love British History...
84. I have 3 children whom I support through Foster Parent's Plan and World Vision in Brazil, Peru and the Dominican Republic... and love each one.
85. I have made four quilts in my life... all of them were hand stitched. I never want to do it again.... but I will.
86. I have a dreadful memory.... so I'm told.
87. I am a dreadful homebody. I love my little house. It took Teapot and I a long time to find a home.
88. I tried to get a children's story book published that I had written a few years back and never succeeded.
89. I would love to write a really good book... probably a novel... and get it published.
90. I have a dreadful memory... did I tell you that...
91. I've broken a toe and a wrist but that's it for broken bones and quite frankly I hope to keep it that way. I broke my toe when I was 6 yrs old and put my foot in the driver's seat when my father was closing it.... it was a two door car. The seat cracked my toe. Then I broke my wrist the first time I put on cross country skies... Ok I lost control of them on a little slope and one foot wanted to go one way and the other wanted to go the other... it was not a graceful fall but evidently quite a sight to see.
92. I am a terrible writer.... but wish that I could be a better one.
93. In one of the anomalies in life I am good at cooking but hate to cook.
94. I am terrible at serving my good cooking and everyone always gets cold food at my house because I'm completely uncoordinated at getting everything ready at the one time.
95. I love colour.... and have a hard time picking my favorite.... (you may know that)... I hate pink.
96. I love to walk in the forest and miss walking there in the winter when the snow is deep.
97. When I was a kid I always wanted to be able to communicate with animals.... especially whales and owls... I still do.
98. I love to sit in front of the fire... summer or winter... I could be Cinderella actually.
99. I wish I had closer relations with my cousins... and my sister.... we've all just gone our separate ways over the years.... sad really....
100. I've really enjoyed meeting my followers and computer friends even if it is only a limited relationship...... thanks to you all....
101. It's really hard to think of 101 things to write about yourself.... really!
1. I am 5' 7 3/4" tall.
2. I am way overweight and think that it is inherited as I come from a long line of heavy set people on my father's side of the family.... yet I wasn't always overweight and I'm trying not to be now. But I've been trying for years and I just keep getting heavier.
3. After high school I went to college for two years to study to become a Travel Agent... I sucked at it and wanted out as soon as I finished the program and so wasted two years of tuition... I've always regretted those two years.
4. I have scoliosis for which I had surgery and had fifteen spinal fusions and a Herrington Rod in my back.
5. I've had three boyfriends over the years one of whom I married.
6. In my mid-teen years I was a prude.
7. That stopped when I became sexually active at 17.
8. I love sex... just like chocolate.... it's all very decadent.... (hope I didn't shock you).
9. I hate socks.... that's important.... I should live on a beach in a somewhat warmer climate so that I could walk around barefoot all the time.
10. Instead I have always lived in very cold and snowy places....
11. I almost convinced Teapot to apply for a position in Bermuda.... aahhh now that would have been the life... with bare feet.
12. I hate feet... I think they are disgusting and really wish I could never have anything to do with them.
13. Have always been artistic.... I started drawing at the age of 12 and never looked back.
14. I had a really awesome art teacher in high school named Robin Cook, who had a Master's degree in art. He taught me oh so much about art which I really didn't realize until later.
15. Finished my last year of high school in a school that I really couldn't care less about.
16. I worked at Suzy Shear for three years as a merchandiser and window dresser.... and loved it.
17. I can sing... well pretty darn good though I've never gotten any recognition for it even from my parents.
18. I have really lousy hearing...
19. I hate phones and especially having to make official calls to people I don't know... I much rather computers and email.
20. I love the feel of the sun on my face but I hate really hot weather and I hate humidity.... that's probably why I don't live in Toronto.
21. I hate city living and lived in a small city most of my years growing up.... I even lived in Toronto for two summers.... ick!
22. I worked for a homeopathic drug dispenser for two summers while going to University... it sucked... I think all homeopaths, as a result of my experiences, are next to witch doctors.
23. I had an opportunity to try out for the National ballet when I was twelve... I found out that I needed back surgery and that was the end of that.
24. I love to paint abstract paintings with acrylic paints. I turn my music on really loud and go out on the deck in the summer and have a few drinks.... (when I wasn't allergic to it) and just start spraying paint all over my canvases/boards.
25. I'm allergic to alcohol.
26. I write poetry.
27. I had two miscarriages before I was finally able to carry a baby to term.
28. I had the names of my children picked out long before I ever had children... I won't say what the girls names were because I had girls and that would compromise their privacy.... but the boys names were Aaron Montgomery and Keegan Ezekiel.
29. The fibre arts never really interested me until a few years ago at which time I became a spinner first a dyer second and a weaver third.
30. I learned to knit at the age of 8.
31. I never really started to knit much until I went to college and then to help pass time in the residence I knit myself a mohair full length coat.
32. I love my family. All of them.... though my mother and I have a strained relationship.
33. Teapot makes me smile.... he lightens my heart... and I'm devoted to him.
34. I really don't know why he sticks with me..... but he does. So he must love me too. (That always surprises me).
35. I'm very proud of my two daughters. They are both smart and witty and full of fun.
36. I'm partially werewolf because at the full moon each month, I have an odd reaction... either I stay awake long hours or I just want to sit in the moonlight and stare off into space.
37. I was an Anglican lay reader for many years.
38. I dabbled in the Wiccan religion when I was younger.... it didn't work for me. Though I do believe that the earth, and the universe have a deep spiritual pull.
39. I love to hug trees.
40. I want to be cremated when my time comes and have a Manitoba Maple planted where my ashes lay. Somewhere near a water source so that the Maple will have a long life.
41. I don't think I will live to be really old.... I have too many heart and high blood pressure problems in my ancestry.
42. I'm not sure I really believe in God, but I try to because I think that God is the best option to explain the connectedness that I find in life..... it works for me I guess.
43. Christmas is a terrible time of the year for me.... I used to love it but now I don't... mostly because I do all the work and find that it really is just another day in which I don't get to put my feet up. I hate Christmas shopping.
44. I studied Philosophy in University and graduated with an Honours degree.
45. I love Turkey dinner.... it's my favorite meal...
46. I asked Teapot to marry me. It was an accident... but I'm glad he said yes. We were watching a program on TV and the Heroin said , "Would you marry me?" She was asking her best friend (who was a male) if she was the marrying kind... so I turned to Teapot and asked him if he would marry me.... in the same vein. He asked, "Is that a proposal?" I stopped dead in my tracks and thought about it for a few seconds and said, "Yes!" That stopped him in his tracks and then he took a few seconds to think and then he said, "yes!" Then we both sat there for a while in complete silence and complete shock... then Teapot said, "Did what I think just happened actually just happen?" and I answered "Yes!" Then for about two months no one would believe that we were engaged.
47. It was my Uncle Dick who got us actually focused on getting married for real. He made me go talk to a minister.
48. I lived on an native reservation for the first 5 years of my married life... they were hard years but they were very fulfilling years.
49. I don't think I'm a very good mother.... especially when the daughters were little... but I try my best.
50. I love back rubs.
51. I didn't always have a good relationship with my father but I do now... and I'm really glad of that.
52. I'm very opinionated about some things and turn people off with my strong opinions... and I am very sorry for that because I like for people to like me and am disappointed when I turn people off.
53. I'm dreadfully lazy.
54. I'm shy in a crowd and tend to keep my mouth shut... mostly because I'm not at all witty on the spur of the moment.... scintillating conversation is not my forte.
55. I used to lie a lot... now I don't... and I'm not telling if that is a lie!
56. I've never had a career and think that the whole work at a career thing is ridiculous... most people work to survive. If you like your work then you have a career of insanity.... (see there I go with my opinions again....sorry)!
57. I love cheezies.
58. I've discovered quite recently that I could really get into silk embroidery.
59. I love jazz music.
60. I think Diana Krall is awesome.
61. I also think Uncle Kracker is awesome. I wish he'd get off his a-- and put out another great album.
62. I am a royalist... I love the Queen and think Prince Charles is a misguided fool. But I can't wait for Prince William's wedding. I love to watch the royals though I'm not a fanatic, and buy magazines and books about it all... one thing though I do wish them all well.
63. I'm a Newfoundlander.... from 15 generations back... and proud of it.
64. I've traveled all over Canada. I've lived in a number of different places in Canada. I could spend my life traveling around Canada and never want to go further afield... Canada has a lot to offer.
65. I still have a Newfy accent even after living away from Newfoundland for almost twenty years... which just goes to show that "You can take the girl out of the bay but you can't take the bay out of the girl"!!!
66. I'm terrible shy. Though I try not to be... but I absolutely quake if I have to get up in front of people to speak... and suffer terribly from stage fright.
67. I love the ocean and thanks to boyfriend number 2, I spent a great deal of time on a 40 foot yacht.
68. I've had one of my poems published. I just wish I could get a lot more published.
69. I am not a good housekeeper and have better things to do with my time than race around cleaning up dust bunnies.
70. I love to watch spiders but have a terrible fear that they will fall off the ceiling of my bedroom and into my mouth.
71. I sleep on my right side.
72. I am an insomniac... but less so as I age.
73. I snore so I am told.
74. I've always wanted to hang glide.... but would probably sh-t my pants if I tried.
75. I drove across Canada twice in a two seater convertible... and it was awesome especially looking at the mountains as we drove along.
76. I loved to watch in the rear view mirror, the autumn leaves swirling behind my convertible.
77. I drive a Dodge Dakota truck... that's falling apart... (well I am a farmer!!)
78. I raise sheep and alpacas.
79. I love dogs, tolerate cats (it's a reciprocal thing), and enjoy sheep and alpacas.
80. I owned a wolf/husky dog who I loved dearly... and miss dreadfully.
81. I try not to think about politics but every so often I get really fierce about it all.
82. I want to take cruise ship to Hawaii... some time.
83. I once spent two weeks in England and had a lovely trip... I love British History...
84. I have 3 children whom I support through Foster Parent's Plan and World Vision in Brazil, Peru and the Dominican Republic... and love each one.
85. I have made four quilts in my life... all of them were hand stitched. I never want to do it again.... but I will.
86. I have a dreadful memory.... so I'm told.
87. I am a dreadful homebody. I love my little house. It took Teapot and I a long time to find a home.
88. I tried to get a children's story book published that I had written a few years back and never succeeded.
89. I would love to write a really good book... probably a novel... and get it published.
90. I have a dreadful memory... did I tell you that...
91. I've broken a toe and a wrist but that's it for broken bones and quite frankly I hope to keep it that way. I broke my toe when I was 6 yrs old and put my foot in the driver's seat when my father was closing it.... it was a two door car. The seat cracked my toe. Then I broke my wrist the first time I put on cross country skies... Ok I lost control of them on a little slope and one foot wanted to go one way and the other wanted to go the other... it was not a graceful fall but evidently quite a sight to see.
92. I am a terrible writer.... but wish that I could be a better one.
93. In one of the anomalies in life I am good at cooking but hate to cook.
94. I am terrible at serving my good cooking and everyone always gets cold food at my house because I'm completely uncoordinated at getting everything ready at the one time.
95. I love colour.... and have a hard time picking my favorite.... (you may know that)... I hate pink.
96. I love to walk in the forest and miss walking there in the winter when the snow is deep.
97. When I was a kid I always wanted to be able to communicate with animals.... especially whales and owls... I still do.
98. I love to sit in front of the fire... summer or winter... I could be Cinderella actually.
99. I wish I had closer relations with my cousins... and my sister.... we've all just gone our separate ways over the years.... sad really....
100. I've really enjoyed meeting my followers and computer friends even if it is only a limited relationship...... thanks to you all....
101. It's really hard to think of 101 things to write about yourself.... really!
Phew!... Finally I'm Back Online
Yup... for two days now I have been without connection. For some reason, I think probably because of the wind, we had no access to the internet. I'm not sure that wireless connection is any better than dial up. Dial up is slow that's for sure, but unless you live where connections are really good, I'm not so sure that wireless is any better. Wireless here is faster but we have lost it twice in the last two months... so it's quite tiresome to go to write on the blog and discover that I can't.... especially when I have a good idea for something to write.... these days that doesn't happen too often.
We are now at a whopping +3 degrees!!! Far cry from those shivering -29 that we got just a few short days ago. while the rest of Southern BC is experiencing severe winter weather we are enjoying a rare pleasure of mid-winter balminess. Both the Daughters are off for a academic and work ethics honours trip for some bowling and some swimming... a good day to have wet hair outside.
I have been working once again on jewelry.
Two more necklaces finished and one more and a bookmark left to go. And I started a new shawl.... yup, I pulled out that eewww bright pink alpaca yarn that I skeined up a few weeks ago and decided to knit a shawl with it and then promptly sell it..... I am using the pattern of an ex-instructor of the Master Spinner Program at Olds college only I'm playing with it a bit.... and so far if you forget that it is god-awful pink then it is looking pretty good.
Still waiting for the contractor.... hmm... starting to get concerned that my renovations won't go ahead before Christmas.... that would really p--- me off. I'm being very polite and I'm not bugging him but it is starting to be a worry...
We I have finally decided on flooring for the house.... I was really waffling back and forth on hard wood flooring or that laminate stuff which I really don't like, but with dogs and cats as a busy part of this household, I thought perhaps that it would be practical.... We've I've decided that neither one of it will grace these floors mostly because hardwood wouldn't stand up to the running back and forth of the dogs and laminate is too.... well I just don't like it. I want quarry tile instead.... or at least something that looks like it... I've found what I wanted and it's not that laminated quarry tile stuff either. Home Depot carries a lovely product called Allure. They have lots of different designs but basically it is a recycled rubber product that is designed to look like tile or hardwood and believe me it is hard to tell the difference.... originally that is what we had decided to put on our floor but we couldn't get enough of the product in the colour and pattern that we wanted. I stupid like, had a friend pick it up for me and she didn't get enough of it so it has been sitting in the shed ever since. We will use it on the parent's place where new flooring is needed through the whole house. In the meantime, I have seen it (the hardwood style) on another friends house. It even has the knot holes grooved into the surface of the rubber so it really does have the appearance of wood. Well, I want tile and so I had a look at the tile.... and it is gorgeous
... so rubber that looks like tile it will be... There is one slight problem... our living room floor used to have carpet and the kitchen floor was built up to be the same height as the carpet was... this means that we will have to build up the living room and the sun room with a half inch of sub-flooring material. All in all, the flooring will cost $2000.00 dollars which will have to wait till after Christmas.
The whole house renovation will soon be complete... I keep telling myself this... but then I keep waiting for the contractor... hmmm....
That's a short update and since the connection on the computer has come and gone twice since I started writing this I'm thinking I should finish now before the whole thing goes ..... and is gone!!!
We are now at a whopping +3 degrees!!! Far cry from those shivering -29 that we got just a few short days ago. while the rest of Southern BC is experiencing severe winter weather we are enjoying a rare pleasure of mid-winter balminess. Both the Daughters are off for a academic and work ethics honours trip for some bowling and some swimming... a good day to have wet hair outside.
I have been working once again on jewelry.
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| For Daughter #1 for Christmas |
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| For Mother for Christmas |
Two more necklaces finished and one more and a bookmark left to go. And I started a new shawl.... yup, I pulled out that eewww bright pink alpaca yarn that I skeined up a few weeks ago and decided to knit a shawl with it and then promptly sell it..... I am using the pattern of an ex-instructor of the Master Spinner Program at Olds college only I'm playing with it a bit.... and so far if you forget that it is god-awful pink then it is looking pretty good.
Still waiting for the contractor.... hmm... starting to get concerned that my renovations won't go ahead before Christmas.... that would really p--- me off. I'm being very polite and I'm not bugging him but it is starting to be a worry...
... so rubber that looks like tile it will be... There is one slight problem... our living room floor used to have carpet and the kitchen floor was built up to be the same height as the carpet was... this means that we will have to build up the living room and the sun room with a half inch of sub-flooring material. All in all, the flooring will cost $2000.00 dollars which will have to wait till after Christmas.
The whole house renovation will soon be complete... I keep telling myself this... but then I keep waiting for the contractor... hmmm....
That's a short update and since the connection on the computer has come and gone twice since I started writing this I'm thinking I should finish now before the whole thing goes ..... and is gone!!!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
I'm Pretty Sure It's Not Just Me
I had a few moments this morning after getting breakfast to sit here at the computer and have a read and most of the blogs that I follow, have not put up a new post for a little while or at least have been very sporadic over the last little while. I'm assuming that there are not too many people who have a whole lot of time these days. With Christmas coming, I'm thinking that more than just myself are preparing for the season. Although I do have to say that yesterday I didn't do a darn thing for Christmas... I just knit all day. I worked on my scarf and as a result it is almost finished.
For over a week though, the beads that I am using for more Christmas gifts, have been sitting on my dining room table waiting for me to get to work....
thus rendering the table completely useless for anything else. But I will finish that scarf today and then go to work on the beaded necklaces until such time as I can put the whole mess away. Besides the necklaces must be finished this week as one is winging its way through the mail to New Brunswick and another one will be for the NPSW gift exchange... and the others are for the Daughters for their stockings.
Once again it is excruciatingly cold out. -29 this morning, when the cat came in... he was covered in frost and was quick to cuddle up with the wee kitten... (who's not so wee anymore)...
I was rather shocked to discover a few days ago that in the downstairs bathroom (with the freezing gaping hole under the tub), my Christmas cactus was blooming beautifully...
I've always noticed that Christmas cactus' like the north side of the house and bloom beautifully there. When I moved into this house I was dismayed that there were no north facing windows. So when we renovated the house last year the first thing I did was put the Christmas cactus on the window shelf that I had designed for the downstairs bathroom.... doesn't it look lovely? It's postively inspirational.... and yes it is pink but pink flowers and pink sunrises/sets are ok in my book.
It is not snowing but -29 is pretty darn cold. As one of my friends said recently.... I went outside and froze my a-- off and then spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how I could get through the winter without going outside... (not exactly those words but I think I've got the gist of it!) So I have resigned myself to trying to keep my feet warm... I have only been wearing s--ks sporadically... today I've hauled out the Crocs and am wearing them in an effort to keep my feet warm... I'm still bootless.... and shoeless... except for a very old pair of warn out runners and a couple of pairs of dress shoes... I have perusing the Sears catalogues in an effort to find some winter boots that will please me... still no luck! Hmm..... the feet are complaining bitterly. I guess I will have to break down and haul out a pair of s--ks!
I have also finished another shawl.... I am pleased to show you all....
This is the same pattern as the one I showed here earlier in the fall but it is made with hand spun yarn as opposed to commercial.... and very pleased I am with it too. I wish you could all see the smile on my face each time I look at it...
So if everyone else is like me then it is no wonder I'm finding nothing new to read on any of my favorite blogs.... what are you doing? Are you prepping for Christmas too?!
Once again it is excruciatingly cold out. -29 this morning, when the cat came in... he was covered in frost and was quick to cuddle up with the wee kitten... (who's not so wee anymore)...
It is not snowing but -29 is pretty darn cold. As one of my friends said recently.... I went outside and froze my a-- off and then spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how I could get through the winter without going outside... (not exactly those words but I think I've got the gist of it!) So I have resigned myself to trying to keep my feet warm... I have only been wearing s--ks sporadically... today I've hauled out the Crocs and am wearing them in an effort to keep my feet warm... I'm still bootless.... and shoeless... except for a very old pair of warn out runners and a couple of pairs of dress shoes... I have perusing the Sears catalogues in an effort to find some winter boots that will please me... still no luck! Hmm..... the feet are complaining bitterly. I guess I will have to break down and haul out a pair of s--ks!
I have also finished another shawl.... I am pleased to show you all....
This is the same pattern as the one I showed here earlier in the fall but it is made with hand spun yarn as opposed to commercial.... and very pleased I am with it too. I wish you could all see the smile on my face each time I look at it...
So if everyone else is like me then it is no wonder I'm finding nothing new to read on any of my favorite blogs.... what are you doing? Are you prepping for Christmas too?!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Dull Witted Nitwit
That's me. Somehow -25 degrees this morning has turned me into a sleepy, thoughtless bore. I couldn't think of anything to say yesterday either. Sometimes its just plain hard to write about anything of value or interest. Teapot kept busy all weekend and Daughter #1 was involved with the annual craft fair. Daughter #2 and I stayed at home. She was nursing a sore throat and I was nursing a new scarf.
I found some yarn on Friday the was a lovely variegated but somewhat coarse fibre.... it would make a good scarf for on the outside of a jacket. I also found an interesting spiral scarf pattern in a book that I took out from the public library on Knit Night... I started knitting on Friday but by Saturday afternoon I knew it sucked. So I raveled it back. Daughter #2 said it looked like genetically modified lettuce!! That just made me want to rid myself of it altogether.... then yesterday morning I got up really early and googled scarf patterns and found this one...
Mine is not going to be exactly like this but close.... My colours are not moving from one shade to the next so well, mine has a lot more green and mine will have a blue trim... but quite honestly it is looking pretty good! At least so far....
Still, I feel rather like a dull witted nitwit. And it is cold.... brrr.
Teapot got down under the house since we wanted to deal with the problem of the crawl space before the really cold temperatures come. Teapot's intention was to add to the insulation down there and then he discovered that there is very little insulation in some places and there were spots where you could actually see day light through some pretty severe cracks. (Not concrete cracks just cracks between the boards). I figured there was a problem with the crawl space when we had the pump freeze up last year. Teapot did his best to fix the problem then, but this year he did more. With extra insulation and a can of expanding foam, Teapot spent most of Saturday afternoon under the house filling cracks and adding insulation in areas where it needed extra. We will see if it will make a big difference.... but we hope it will. Meanwhile he has dealt with the big hole under thebtub in the downstairs bathroom. Yes, there was a big hole there because of the plumbing for the old shower that used to be in there. When the tub went in the bathroom it covered the hole but not totally. It was left so that the new plumbing could be put in for the tub.... It was never sealed like it had been when the shower was there because the tub was a different shape. With the new insulation that Teapot put there, the bathroom is not cold enough to freeze the buns off a brass monkey from cold air seeping up from the crawl space.
We are no closer to building a shelter for Dreamer now than we were last week which was our intention. With the insulation taking a whole lot longer than we expected, it just didn't get done. Maybe next weekend if the temps don't drop to -40 degrees, we will get Dreamer's shelter built.
We have agreed that there is another job that is necessary this year. Our old black cat Midnite is getting old old old.... and he still goes out at night... with the temperatures dipping down so low we are thinking that it might be necessary to build him a little shelter too. I wish he would go into the barn with the sheep but since there is a large door that doesn't really get closed (that way the sheep can come and go as they want) it doesn't really provide a whole lot of warmth.... just shelter. We either have to put a cat door into the workshop or we have to build him a cat house. I am not pushing Teapot to get that one done since there's so much other stuff to be finished.... I may have to keep the wee bugger in on the nights that are -25 or so...
Anyway, I am waiting for the contractor.... hopefully this morning.... he did say that he would call me and give me two days to clear the sun room before he came.... but I have realized that he has my old phone number.... I will call him today... if he doesn't show up. Teapot is gone for the day..... very reluctantly... he did say he would like to stay home and have a warm morning with me and several nice cups of tea.... I like that idea... I wish he could have stayed home with me too.... oh well, the best thing about Christmas is the fact that he will get to stay home with me.... for two whole weeks... I'm really looking forward to that.....
There's something cozy about a cold winter day with nothing to do but knit.... hope you're having a nice winter too....
I have to go check my head now.... I can't believe I said I like winter......!!!!
I found some yarn on Friday the was a lovely variegated but somewhat coarse fibre.... it would make a good scarf for on the outside of a jacket. I also found an interesting spiral scarf pattern in a book that I took out from the public library on Knit Night... I started knitting on Friday but by Saturday afternoon I knew it sucked. So I raveled it back. Daughter #2 said it looked like genetically modified lettuce!! That just made me want to rid myself of it altogether.... then yesterday morning I got up really early and googled scarf patterns and found this one...
Still, I feel rather like a dull witted nitwit. And it is cold.... brrr.
Teapot got down under the house since we wanted to deal with the problem of the crawl space before the really cold temperatures come. Teapot's intention was to add to the insulation down there and then he discovered that there is very little insulation in some places and there were spots where you could actually see day light through some pretty severe cracks. (Not concrete cracks just cracks between the boards). I figured there was a problem with the crawl space when we had the pump freeze up last year. Teapot did his best to fix the problem then, but this year he did more. With extra insulation and a can of expanding foam, Teapot spent most of Saturday afternoon under the house filling cracks and adding insulation in areas where it needed extra. We will see if it will make a big difference.... but we hope it will. Meanwhile he has dealt with the big hole under thebtub in the downstairs bathroom. Yes, there was a big hole there because of the plumbing for the old shower that used to be in there. When the tub went in the bathroom it covered the hole but not totally. It was left so that the new plumbing could be put in for the tub.... It was never sealed like it had been when the shower was there because the tub was a different shape. With the new insulation that Teapot put there, the bathroom is not cold enough to freeze the buns off a brass monkey from cold air seeping up from the crawl space.
We are no closer to building a shelter for Dreamer now than we were last week which was our intention. With the insulation taking a whole lot longer than we expected, it just didn't get done. Maybe next weekend if the temps don't drop to -40 degrees, we will get Dreamer's shelter built.
We have agreed that there is another job that is necessary this year. Our old black cat Midnite is getting old old old.... and he still goes out at night... with the temperatures dipping down so low we are thinking that it might be necessary to build him a little shelter too. I wish he would go into the barn with the sheep but since there is a large door that doesn't really get closed (that way the sheep can come and go as they want) it doesn't really provide a whole lot of warmth.... just shelter. We either have to put a cat door into the workshop or we have to build him a cat house. I am not pushing Teapot to get that one done since there's so much other stuff to be finished.... I may have to keep the wee bugger in on the nights that are -25 or so...
Anyway, I am waiting for the contractor.... hopefully this morning.... he did say that he would call me and give me two days to clear the sun room before he came.... but I have realized that he has my old phone number.... I will call him today... if he doesn't show up. Teapot is gone for the day..... very reluctantly... he did say he would like to stay home and have a warm morning with me and several nice cups of tea.... I like that idea... I wish he could have stayed home with me too.... oh well, the best thing about Christmas is the fact that he will get to stay home with me.... for two whole weeks... I'm really looking forward to that.....
There's something cozy about a cold winter day with nothing to do but knit.... hope you're having a nice winter too....
I have to go check my head now.... I can't believe I said I like winter......!!!!
Friday, November 19, 2010
A Little Communication Goes A Long Way
I've been working on other things today and though yesterday was a calm after the storm with sunshine (albeit cold temps) today we are back to light snow fall and grey skies. At almost the end of November Christmas is baring down on me with a vengeance and so I have work to do. November means the publishing date for the PCSW newsletter is near (and I am not putting the link here at this time since I am not quite ready to publish the new newsletter, so it is a page that is unfinished and you wouldn't get to read much anyway). Still, I have been working on it for most of this grey and cold day. In addition to the newsletter a friend came by with her resume and was wondering if I would be able to help her with clearing it up and also helping her write a cover letter. She has been out of the work force for a few years and I was happy to help her though I do have to say that I am not fresh as a Daisy in that area either. But we worked through it and hopefully she will get the interview... the rest is up to her. Between writing cover letters, and articles for the newsletter, and keeping up my own blog it seems that communication is a large part of life these days and has gotten me to thinking about other forms of communication.
With Christmas hard upon my heels, I am beginning to think about Christmas cards and letters. I have always been a faithful card and letter writer but I find it aggravating at best to spend hours of my time on cards and letters for people and then when I get cards in return, more often than not, they come with a signature that lets me know they are still alive but nothing else. Even worse are the cards that come three days after Christmas that lets me know that they hadn't intended on sending a card at all but felt compelled once they received mine. There seems every year to be more and more of them. Last year I got quite disgusted with the whole Christmas card scene and on principle only sent out five to those who I knew would respond .... and then they didn't. So this year I am turning over a new leaf and not writing cards at all. I will send a quick email to those on my email list and the rest can "suck it..." (very Christmassy attitude isn't it...)!
My friend in FSJ says that this attitude stems from a growly older bitchy thing that happens to those of us that value time and effort and (maybe more importantly) are nearing or have passed the 50th birthday.... I'm 45.... so maybe she's on to something. I think that as we get older we pick the family and friends with whom to continue a relationship based on who show signs that they give a damn about you because they are interested in you as a person and not because of familial bonds or a strange sense of loyalty and that it is reciprocal. (My father calls this the bridge burner syndrome.... because once you lose touch with a person it's usually because there never was a real sense of friendship and then you burn your bridges with them in the end.) Neither Teapot nor I are really all that clued into family... and I'm not really sure why that is.... I know that I'm walking on thin ice here as some family members follow this blog but its not to say that I am impartial to them but that if there is not a reciprocal relationship then it isn't much worth persuing... I am thankful for those of my family and friends that have stayed in touch with me... it means a lot.... even a short email occasionally is a wonderful way of knowing that they are alive and well and still care about you and vice versa... (and it doesn't count if it is a forwarded email of some joke or cartoon).
Each year I write a long poem about my family (husband and daughters and dogs cats and parents) and how we have been doing over the last year and it has always been fun. You can see an example here.... I didn't do it last year and that was because there was so much pressure put on us for Christmas, that I just couldn't think of anything to say.... but this year I'm feeling a little more "in the mood" and I think it is because I have shed so many of my hats (as lay reader for the church, school planning council member, secretary for the NPSW, actually I've been sheding lots of councils and groups) that my brain doesn't feel.... how did I put it last year.... oh yeah, like "I've had a bowel movement on my own head and then sat there wondering how that happened". At the end of writing the poem I contact all family members and send out the poem to them or at least give them the blog address so that they can come in here and have a look... some read it but a lot just dump the email because they don't have time to read it or whatever.... they're the ones I just can't be bothered with anymore. (I just read everything I've written here and it makes me sound terrible I know! Oh well, just think of me as the family fire breathing dragon....)!
In the end, what I'm trying to say is that a little communication goes a long way.... leave a comment... email from time to time, drop us (Teapot and I) a card with a short note on the fly leaf... it is all good... and you know what?.... that's the best Christmas gift anyone could give me.... I don't need gifts, because a kind word works wonders.... mostly because in this day and age of fast paced lives... a kind word is a gift!
And if you do?... I promise it will be reciprocated...
With Christmas hard upon my heels, I am beginning to think about Christmas cards and letters. I have always been a faithful card and letter writer but I find it aggravating at best to spend hours of my time on cards and letters for people and then when I get cards in return, more often than not, they come with a signature that lets me know they are still alive but nothing else. Even worse are the cards that come three days after Christmas that lets me know that they hadn't intended on sending a card at all but felt compelled once they received mine. There seems every year to be more and more of them. Last year I got quite disgusted with the whole Christmas card scene and on principle only sent out five to those who I knew would respond .... and then they didn't. So this year I am turning over a new leaf and not writing cards at all. I will send a quick email to those on my email list and the rest can "suck it..." (very Christmassy attitude isn't it...)!
My friend in FSJ says that this attitude stems from a growly older bitchy thing that happens to those of us that value time and effort and (maybe more importantly) are nearing or have passed the 50th birthday.... I'm 45.... so maybe she's on to something. I think that as we get older we pick the family and friends with whom to continue a relationship based on who show signs that they give a damn about you because they are interested in you as a person and not because of familial bonds or a strange sense of loyalty and that it is reciprocal. (My father calls this the bridge burner syndrome.... because once you lose touch with a person it's usually because there never was a real sense of friendship and then you burn your bridges with them in the end.) Neither Teapot nor I are really all that clued into family... and I'm not really sure why that is.... I know that I'm walking on thin ice here as some family members follow this blog but its not to say that I am impartial to them but that if there is not a reciprocal relationship then it isn't much worth persuing... I am thankful for those of my family and friends that have stayed in touch with me... it means a lot.... even a short email occasionally is a wonderful way of knowing that they are alive and well and still care about you and vice versa... (and it doesn't count if it is a forwarded email of some joke or cartoon).
Each year I write a long poem about my family (husband and daughters and dogs cats and parents) and how we have been doing over the last year and it has always been fun. You can see an example here.... I didn't do it last year and that was because there was so much pressure put on us for Christmas, that I just couldn't think of anything to say.... but this year I'm feeling a little more "in the mood" and I think it is because I have shed so many of my hats (as lay reader for the church, school planning council member, secretary for the NPSW, actually I've been sheding lots of councils and groups) that my brain doesn't feel.... how did I put it last year.... oh yeah, like "I've had a bowel movement on my own head and then sat there wondering how that happened". At the end of writing the poem I contact all family members and send out the poem to them or at least give them the blog address so that they can come in here and have a look... some read it but a lot just dump the email because they don't have time to read it or whatever.... they're the ones I just can't be bothered with anymore. (I just read everything I've written here and it makes me sound terrible I know! Oh well, just think of me as the family fire breathing dragon....)!
In the end, what I'm trying to say is that a little communication goes a long way.... leave a comment... email from time to time, drop us (Teapot and I) a card with a short note on the fly leaf... it is all good... and you know what?.... that's the best Christmas gift anyone could give me.... I don't need gifts, because a kind word works wonders.... mostly because in this day and age of fast paced lives... a kind word is a gift!
And if you do?... I promise it will be reciprocated...
Thursday, November 18, 2010
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