4-F is not going to happen... my intention was to work on that blog every Sunday but the thing is... I sit here and think about age and quite frankly I can't think.... I'm sure its a sign of aging!!! : ) So as a result of my lack of clarity of thought, I have deleted that blog and decided that for now I will continue to just concentrate on this one and Feathermist. I don't write on Feathermist much either these days, but really that is the place where I want all my creative diversions to go... like poetry and paintings. I haven't really had a lot of time for poetry lately or painting (though I'm still working on the Nude for Teapot's and my bedroom...) so I haven't been posting there either. But I will eventually. Right now all that's consuming me is level 4 and level 3 homework and of course the day to day grind of life in this little home of ours and when I write about that, I write here.
Teapot opened the last bale of hay... I have a line on more though so I'm not too worried. Evidently the price of beef has just bottomed out and so people are selling off cattle at astounding rates since it is more expensive to feed them than the farmers can get for the meat. So now there seems to be an abundance of hay on the market since the farmers won't be needing it to feed all the cattle they had.... at least in this area. Go figure.... so even though I'm down to my last bale of hay I'm looking at buying some and I've got a likely source for more... yeah... this is good news.
It has been snow on again off again for the last few days... after the chinook stopped blowing the colder temperatures returned and we are back to snow and blowing snow. I'm not sorry because every Chinook that blows means that there is less moisture in the spring. I really want the wet to stay around a while this year so that we don't have to worry about hay in the fall and maybe I can go back to buying hay from the guy that I always bought from.
Teapot has just finished building Dreamer (the horse) a nice shelter to go into when the snow is falling or the temperatures dip. It is good to see her using it and know that it was not a waste of time. It is not a barn just a little lean to type shelter where she can go if the North wind is blowing or there is sleet or rain. The business of farming keeps us going as we try to figure out the best way to care for our animals. I am contemplating getting rid of my sheep altogether and just keeping my alpacas though it is hard to consider. There has been a severe reduction in my sheep this last year that's for sure.I am down to two ewes and four lambs and two rams. One of the rams will be butchered, all of the lambs will be slaughtered and then I will just have two ewes and one ram until the lambs start coming again. But Teapot and I think that it is just too much work to keep the sheep. So alpacas and a couple of ewes that we can breed for meat lambs. That's it! Really this is quite a big decision for 2011.
So that's it for this very non-descript day.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Bare Naked Tree
Well, tis the season to lament.... boo hoo sob sob.... there's nothing more depressing than a bare naked tree...
It's over for another year and all the Christmas gear is in being put away once again.
Teapot is in the process of stowing away all the boxes and I have been cleaning up the bits of paper and bits of cardboard that were used in the stowing process. It will take a day or two, I'm sure, before everything is back to normal but that generally is how it goes.
The last thing we did before we took the tree down is to take our annual family photo in front of the tree...
I wasn't sure if I was going to post it since I'm feeling rather sensitive about how I look these days... overweight and getting older and showing it badly.... but in the end I might as well accept it and be satisfied that I'm willing to have my picture taken at all... unlike some people in my family!
So that's it for Christmas... and now.... I just can't wait for spring!
The last thing we did before we took the tree down is to take our annual family photo in front of the tree...
So that's it for Christmas... and now.... I just can't wait for spring!
A Few Pics For Those Interested In My Homework
Bison....
Fibre content: 100% Bison Fibre Preparation: rovings
Spinning Technique: semi-worsted Direction of twist: zzzS
# of Plies: 3 t.p.i. 5 & w.p.i. 20
Weight: 4.3 gm Yardage: 18 yds/16.4592 m
Count: 3.82 NM 261.25 TEX Suitable End Use: lace shawl
19 stitches 38 rows on size 3.5 mm knitting needles.
The picture just doesn't do it justice. It is soft and lovely... I'm very happy with this sample.
Spinning Technique: semi-worsted Direction of twist: zzzS
# of Plies: 3 t.p.i. 5 & w.p.i. 20
Weight: 4.3 gm Yardage: 18 yds/16.4592 m
Count: 3.82 NM 261.25 TEX Suitable End Use: lace shawl
The picture just doesn't do it justice. It is soft and lovely... I'm very happy with this sample.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
~O^O~
The above title is an attempt at making digital glasses.... why?... I have no idea.... just that my glasses are sitting on the desk in front of me... that's why!
I finished the Bison skein yesterday and it is very nice. I had hoped to have a picture ready of the lace square that I am knitting from my Bison skein but after school Teapot and I took the girls shopping for Twelfth Night. We didn't get back till late and we didn't have supper while we were shopping so we needed to eat when we got home. As a result I didn't get back to the knitting until later than planned and so I have a half knitted lace square. At one point I was making a Nupp (don't ask what a Nupp is) and I was trying to get a needle through 5 stitches and was cursing on it so badly that Teapot said I should go to bed. In my defense, it was really hard to get the needle through all 5 stitches at one time. In the end, I got out my rosewood dpn with the really sharp tips and that sucker (Nupp) was finished after that. Then I went to bed because I just couldn't face another Nupp and believe me there are plenty of them in the pattern I chose. I'll finish my sample today, then I'll start the Bison blend sample. I'm not sure yet what I will blend the bison with... maybe silk.... but the silk will need to be cut. Maybe angora.... but I'm not sure if I can use angora. Maybe I'll just use cotton. But enough about level 4 homework.
It has been chinooking here since New Years day. Last night, the wind was so high that I'm sure there were a few trees torn up by the wind. I never sleep well when there is high wind. But the temperature is high... usually at this time of the year we are looking at temperatures ranging from -30 to -15 degrees C, but this morning the temperature is a balmy +2 degrees C. The snow has been melting off the roof and is sliding off the tin roof and scaring the heck out of the kitten and the dog. (Tootsie the little dog who has been around for five years and the old cat whose been with us for ten years are old hands and don't pay any attention to the noise at all.) The snow comes roaring down off the roof and does sound rather like thunder so it does not help us sleep easily. There is ice everywhere and walking is treacherous. So mostly I walk in the house. (It is part of my get fit in 2011 regimen.) Last year I tried Tai Chi but lets face it Tai Chi on your own really is lame. So this year I'm just going to try walking.... The up side of this is that I don't have to learn how : ) Still walking outside will have to wait till there is not so much ice around.
Tomorrow I will post pictures of the bison.... and still there are no more rodents!
I finished the Bison skein yesterday and it is very nice. I had hoped to have a picture ready of the lace square that I am knitting from my Bison skein but after school Teapot and I took the girls shopping for Twelfth Night. We didn't get back till late and we didn't have supper while we were shopping so we needed to eat when we got home. As a result I didn't get back to the knitting until later than planned and so I have a half knitted lace square. At one point I was making a Nupp (don't ask what a Nupp is) and I was trying to get a needle through 5 stitches and was cursing on it so badly that Teapot said I should go to bed. In my defense, it was really hard to get the needle through all 5 stitches at one time. In the end, I got out my rosewood dpn with the really sharp tips and that sucker (Nupp) was finished after that. Then I went to bed because I just couldn't face another Nupp and believe me there are plenty of them in the pattern I chose. I'll finish my sample today, then I'll start the Bison blend sample. I'm not sure yet what I will blend the bison with... maybe silk.... but the silk will need to be cut. Maybe angora.... but I'm not sure if I can use angora. Maybe I'll just use cotton. But enough about level 4 homework.
It has been chinooking here since New Years day. Last night, the wind was so high that I'm sure there were a few trees torn up by the wind. I never sleep well when there is high wind. But the temperature is high... usually at this time of the year we are looking at temperatures ranging from -30 to -15 degrees C, but this morning the temperature is a balmy +2 degrees C. The snow has been melting off the roof and is sliding off the tin roof and scaring the heck out of the kitten and the dog. (Tootsie the little dog who has been around for five years and the old cat whose been with us for ten years are old hands and don't pay any attention to the noise at all.) The snow comes roaring down off the roof and does sound rather like thunder so it does not help us sleep easily. There is ice everywhere and walking is treacherous. So mostly I walk in the house. (It is part of my get fit in 2011 regimen.) Last year I tried Tai Chi but lets face it Tai Chi on your own really is lame. So this year I'm just going to try walking.... The up side of this is that I don't have to learn how : ) Still walking outside will have to wait till there is not so much ice around.
Tomorrow I will post pictures of the bison.... and still there are no more rodents!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Baker Street
One of my all time favorite singers has passed away. Gerry Rafferty.... I loved Baker Street.... I still do and as I write this I am listening to it...
It is sad when the old guys die... especially when you hear the canned music of today and then think about the real music of yesteryear... Gerry Rafferty was anything but canned or fake... This world has lost a little of it richness and I am sad that he is gone...
It is sad when the old guys die... especially when you hear the canned music of today and then think about the real music of yesteryear... Gerry Rafferty was anything but canned or fake... This world has lost a little of it richness and I am sad that he is gone...
Mwa Ha Ha Ha Ha... It's Dead It's Dead It's Dead!
A Vole.... I knew it wasn't a mouse.... after I got to thinking about it I knew it couldn't be a mouse. It ran funny like it hoppity ran instead of just flat out running. But this morning we got up and the blighter was in one of the traps that we had set last night before we went to bed. We have set the trap again because where there's one usually there's more than one. I wonder how much cat and dog food he's stolen and where he stashed it all... probably somewhere in the walls of this house. Yes this is a log house.... no he couldn't get into the log walls but the house has interior walls that are not log and the walls of the second story are 2 x 6 construction. So a little rodent could get into any of those spaces. Earlier in the fall we heard something in the roof above Daughter #1's bedroom so I suspect that we will have to finish this renovation before our rodent issues end.
Meanwhile I started the level 4 and after 4 years of spinning for the MSP you would think that I could get a balanced yarn without having to fiddle with it but Oooh noooo... fiddle I must! Thank heavens it only needs a little more S twist. I washed it slightly last night but I will wait till I've put some more S in before I give it a hard washing. If I can get it to work then I will move on to the second question today. I didn't get a chance to work on the level 3. I'm hoping that next week will not be so crazy as this one.
Why is this week so crazy you ask... well, it has to do with Twelfth Night celebrations. Twelfth Night is Thursday evening... and we do celebrate it, so we are preparing for that... shopping is involved but only a little. For us it is the end of the Christmas season... we hang our stockings once again and hope to catch Santa on his way home (thus the shopping). Friday we will have either another Turkey if we are up for that or a ham dinner.... this year it will be ham... and scalloped potatoes... and then after dinner is over the tree comes down and all the decorations go back into their boxes and while doing so we listen to the last of the Christmas carols. I have a couple of CD's that have music that is specific to Twelfth Night celebrations. When we go to bed on the 7th we are ready to say good bye to the tree and the season until next year. Actually I think I enjoy Twelfth Night celebrations far better than Christmas... it is a wonderful tradition... full of richness and history. The animals are supposed to kneel down to the star at midnight... of course I've never seen it and don't expect to in my life but it would be wonderful if something like that happened.
Meanwhile Teapot and the girls are getting ready to go out the door to school and I figure I should get ready to work on that skein of Bison.
Hopefully I will see no more of those pesky creatures.... It's dead, it's dead, it's dead....mwa ha ha ha ha!
Meanwhile I started the level 4 and after 4 years of spinning for the MSP you would think that I could get a balanced yarn without having to fiddle with it but Oooh noooo... fiddle I must! Thank heavens it only needs a little more S twist. I washed it slightly last night but I will wait till I've put some more S in before I give it a hard washing. If I can get it to work then I will move on to the second question today. I didn't get a chance to work on the level 3. I'm hoping that next week will not be so crazy as this one.
Why is this week so crazy you ask... well, it has to do with Twelfth Night celebrations. Twelfth Night is Thursday evening... and we do celebrate it, so we are preparing for that... shopping is involved but only a little. For us it is the end of the Christmas season... we hang our stockings once again and hope to catch Santa on his way home (thus the shopping). Friday we will have either another Turkey if we are up for that or a ham dinner.... this year it will be ham... and scalloped potatoes... and then after dinner is over the tree comes down and all the decorations go back into their boxes and while doing so we listen to the last of the Christmas carols. I have a couple of CD's that have music that is specific to Twelfth Night celebrations. When we go to bed on the 7th we are ready to say good bye to the tree and the season until next year. Actually I think I enjoy Twelfth Night celebrations far better than Christmas... it is a wonderful tradition... full of richness and history. The animals are supposed to kneel down to the star at midnight... of course I've never seen it and don't expect to in my life but it would be wonderful if something like that happened.
Meanwhile Teapot and the girls are getting ready to go out the door to school and I figure I should get ready to work on that skein of Bison.
Hopefully I will see no more of those pesky creatures.... It's dead, it's dead, it's dead....mwa ha ha ha ha!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Ack!!!
Peaceful quiet reigns supreme
Munching on my crackers and cheese... lunch
Sitting on the sofa looking into the kitchen...
A small black thing runs across my kitchen...
Chewing stops.... heart stops....
Brains kicks in as adrenaline courses through my blood stream,
All animals are acounted for... sleeping peacefully
There is an extra animal in the house... too small to be anything that I really want.
Unwanted small creature running across my kitchen... ack!
Mouse.
Clearly the cats are not doing the job that they should be doing.
Phone Teapot.... "Bring home poison please...."
Will put poison in the crawl space where the only creatures that will eat it are the unwanted ones.
Where there is one there are eight... superstition... but it has always been true whenever I've had dealings with mice...
Da--!! Now I've got to kill a rodent... and all our food.... where are the plastic containers that will seal it from the pesky little creatures...
I wish our cats were not so well fed.
Da--!!
Munching on my crackers and cheese... lunch
Sitting on the sofa looking into the kitchen...
A small black thing runs across my kitchen...
Chewing stops.... heart stops....
Brains kicks in as adrenaline courses through my blood stream,
All animals are acounted for... sleeping peacefully
There is an extra animal in the house... too small to be anything that I really want.
Unwanted small creature running across my kitchen... ack!
Mouse.
Clearly the cats are not doing the job that they should be doing.
Phone Teapot.... "Bring home poison please...."
Will put poison in the crawl space where the only creatures that will eat it are the unwanted ones.
Where there is one there are eight... superstition... but it has always been true whenever I've had dealings with mice...
Da--!! Now I've got to kill a rodent... and all our food.... where are the plastic containers that will seal it from the pesky little creatures...
I wish our cats were not so well fed.
Da--!!
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