Raptured!!!

It's a really good thing that I don't have TV... I really didn't know anything about it. I think I'll go dance naked in the rain since it might be the last time I get a chance.... boy, there sure are a lot of people out there who are going to be disappointed.... Oh look there's God now.....

I'd better get out there.... I think he came for me early!  It's because I'm so loveable.... right?!

Don't answer that!

Drat! And to think I just payed for my level 5 course.... I could have saved myself that money if I just had waited one more day. : {

Newly Risen

It is so sad that this year I cannot enjoy the forest as I would normally. With my foot in a bandage, I have had to forgo the pleasures of tramping in the woods as I normally do in spring. Combined with the fact that the snow didn't completely disappear until two weeks ago, this foot has really and truly limited my life. I do miss the flowers.  Teapot tells me that the Forest Crocuses are out in bloom and there are starting to be tiny Violets and Wild Strawberries in the grass. Generally speaking this is my time of the year to walk... and walking I am just not the way I usually do. Normally I walk on a trail that is a good three kilometres everyday. But with my ankle acting up I have been reduced to one kilometre a day on my own property, not entirely bad, but disappointing since the Crocuses and Orchids that grow around here only come for a short time once a year. And I'm going to miss it this year.... : (

Can't find them name for these wild flowers and I'm not sure if these are out but they will be soon.

Wild roses are just leafing out... no buds yet but soon...

These little orchids grow in abundance around here but they are just starting to come out and only last a day or two.

Forest or Wild Crocuses are all out in full bloom... I think the Humming birds are happy about it.

Well, Bailey has been with us for two months and has she fit in..... I can honestly say I'm not sure about that dog... She is not a good sleeper at night and she has a tendency to cower for no apparent reason at all and is constantly trying to suck up to you all things that I hate. But on the other side of the coin she is a loving dog and loves to snuggle and is fairly obedient and comes when she is called and doesn't run away and twice when the sheep pushed open the gate and got out on the grass,she was really good and did not eat or kill any of them.... Jiggs either. So she has her good pointers and we are trying to remember that she is still very young and may lose some of those stupid traits that we don't like. she may settle down in time. We finally laid Tootsie to rest and built him a cairn last weekend.... (we had to wait till the ground was thawed totally). it was a sad day and Teapot and I worked on his grave which is beside Duff's with red eyes and very choked about losing our little guy... I still miss having a wee dog around the house that followed me everywhere... but then I have two big galloopers who love to romp around the yard with each other and make for some very funny times. I can't imagine this home without dogs and cats and sheep etc... I even miss the furtive chickens... sometimes!

I am off to work on the 150 hour project... out on the deck in this marvelous sunshine. I might not be able to enjoy the flowers of the forest but i'm not going to pass up this chartreuse green of newly growing leaves....

I love this chartreuse green of early spring and the first leafing out of trees... too bad about those Pines in the background...stupid Pine Beetle...

and this weekend I will put in my garden... I can't wait....

I'm off.... see ya.... and hope spring is full of new life for you too.

Out Of One Swirling Vortex And Into The Next

Ok so I've managed to kick the habit of online games for the time being.... but just as I've managed to climb out of one swirling vortex I find myself slipping into another one.... I love my lace knitting... and I didn't do the dragon scarf as planned... I just happened to pick up a lace knitting book and saw a shawl that I've always thought I would do but never have found the time or the right yarn... well, looking at that pattern sucked me out of the other vortex and sent me straight down this one. I started balling up the yarn while elevating the ankle yesterday and then out came the new knitting needles I purchased at the Environmental Extravaganza (giant garage sale). I should have kept picking cashmere.... but oh it was so pretty.... I couldn't help myself... and six inches in and 162 stitches later I'm hooked.  The pattern is the Fan Stitch Half Circle Shawl from Traditional Knitted Lace from Interweave Press by Martha Waterman.

This is it.....

Hope You can read backwards....

It looks better close up...

Of course pictures never do anything justice.... and this in particular.... especially me in the background with the hockey hair going on...

Hey! I look pretty good with the lower part of my face covered up.... I should wear a veil all the time... (my inner mind tells me that only a Burqa would do the trick)!

By the time I get this shawl knit I will have over 20,000 stitches on.... that is if I have the stamina for that. We'll see.  Anyway, I did not get a lot done once I got going on this... and that is all I want to do... not the level 4 homework at all.... I'm in big trouble aren't I?

But I'm not going to be able to work on it constantly because by the time I was finished last night my neck felt like it was going to fall off and my head was going to roll out the door like the proverbial meatball. (You know... On top of spaghetti... all covered in cheese, I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed... yep that was my head last night.) I am allowing myself to work on it only at night...(hurry night, hurry night)!

So now I find myself really wanting to work on one thing while having to work on something else.... what is wrong with me?! Argh!
(Don't answer that...)

Phssssstttt! Blowing Strawberries Is Really Quite Fun!

I seem to be taking an inordinate number of photos of my feet/foot for this blog... weird!

 The treadle foot is raging today so I'm picking cashmere for the 150 hour project.

Now that I have that off my chest I have to fess up... I have been caught in a vortex of my own doing this last two weeks. I have discovered the nasty,  time-sucking, adventure of Garden of Time on Facebook (it's a game) and have been playing far too much. (Teapot says that my need for furniture moving has caught up with me as I really haven't moved it much since the house reno two years ago... and Garden of Time is like moving furniture only in computer land... either way I'm stuck good and fast in this stupid vortex and I'm really trying to get out of it). I'm still getting stuff done... stuff that needs to be done but those dust bunnies are getting pretty ferocious again and I feel that it is important to put computer-land on the back burner for a few days.  I have decided to only do write-ups on the computer and write for my blog for the next few days. (No Facebook.... No Facebook.... I just have to keep telling myself that.)

On Monday, after the birthday celebrations at my parents house I walked out on their front steps with my new camera and promptly popped the battery cover by accident and then watched as the rechargeable battery for my camera rolled across the board it landed on and then down between them and onto the ground beneath the veranda. Problem... the space beneath the deck cannot be accessed without a hammer and nails so the stupid battery is a write off.... result.... I can't get pictures off my camera until I go to town next time and purchase a new battery pack.  : ( However, the pictures we took that day are funny and I will show them as soon as I can.

Meanwhile I've been planning a project that has nothing to do with my level 4 homework.... but it is something that I really want to do.... I've wanted to knit a lace scarf for a very long time. I finally settled on a pattern last night... I am going to knit the dragon scarf from the last Piecework magazine..... with... da da da da da drum roll please.... this....

I can't wait.....

I just felt that that Yarn Harlot and that Spindle Princess were having way too much fun.... so I'm going to finish something.... I can do this right?!

Anyway, I had better go back to picking some more cashmere.... my foot is swelling again... : (

Anyway, go blow some strawberries,... it really does make you feel better.... and it is even more fun if you can find a baby's tummy to blow them against..... it makes them giggle and barring that you can always try blowing a few on your husband's/wife's tummy.... they may not giggle but you'll get some strange looks that will make you smile... I guarantee it!

Hazy Daze

Well it sure has been hazy daze around here. The air is thick with smoke in our neck of the woods. I can't understand yahoos who think that this is a good time to burn grass... that ended over a week ago. Teapot has not been burning for days. To the east of us poor Slave Lake is burning. I can only imagine how the people of that community must be feeling. I see the pictures of melted cars and thank God that that wasn't us last week when we had our brush with fire. I think that having snow right up to the May long weekend is not so bad in retrospect of what's been happening. We have a long summer ahead of us and a dry forest to the side of us... a worry for sure. It looks like we will get rain today... and I am praying for that.... and that it will move to the east of us and relieve some of those people with fire threatening them in Alberta.

Well, as you know, yesterday was Daughter #2's birthday. She turned 14 and what a day we had. Lovely weather and a trip to FSJ to go shopping.  She got herself some jeans and a top and a book. then we went for lunch and bought a cake at the Bakery and then headed home. She had wanted to go to the pet store but I'm a little too raw with Tootsie's death to go purposely looking at pets. Besides it's really hard to get out of the pet store with just a few pet toys, so I turned her down on that one. Then Opa took us all out for dinner at one of the local restaurants. She finished her book just as she was heading for bed last night. Even Daughter #1 got in on the celebrations and skipped school for some shopping in town. (Yes, I know. I let my kids skip school.... well, we only do it once a year! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Working back from there.... Hmmm... Saturday was a lovely day with a visit from the NPSW. We had organized a trip, as we do each year, for all the gang to come and visit their sister guild here in H.H. (which seems to be down to just me and CJ at the moment). We had a lovely day spinning and prepping wool for a fibre challenge. What's that, you say?! Well, I had come up with this idea to challenge everyone to stretch their imagination and bring 50grams of spun of unspun fibre to throw into the dye pots that I would have going when they got here... then we would pass around a little bag of scraps of paper with individual challenges on them. The challenge is to create something with your fibre that accommodates what's written on the scrap of paper that you draw. So the challenges went like this.

Weave

Knit

Felt

Crochet

Stitch

one of the following...

Celestial

Boreal

Terrestrial

Oceanic

Spiritual

Climatic

So for example if you received Weave and Celestial then you have to weave something with your fibre but you also have to incorporate something that represents the word celestial. I'm weaving a star pillow. with Northern lights represented somehow.... I think... (can you tell that I was the one who got Weave and Celestial).

So there you have it... it was a fun day. Sunday was a day to finish the level 4 homework (except for the 150 hour project), which I did. All I have left to do is work on a few write ups today and then tomorrow I will begin the 150 hour project in earnest.

So here are a few pictures from the last few days.

The new lambs gamboling about with their step sister and their mom....

My first Bucle....

My spiral yarn...

Another kick at the can for flax...

Shades of Grey...

Hopefully I can remove the pictures from my camera of Daughter #2' birthday... and post them tomorrow...

Holy Smack! How Did It Get To Be Monday!

What a weekend.... It's been a busy one with the NPSW here on Saturday that day passed in a flash. Then yesterday our community had an Environmental Extravaganza and that took most of yesterday. Good thing I still managed to get my spinning done. All I have left is the 150 hour project which I have already done some work on.

Today is a special day. Daughter #2 turns 14 today. We are going shopping but she doesn't know it yet. She thinks I have a meeting in town and that I am dropping them all off at school... but I'm not I'm just going to kid nap her and take her to town for a day buying clothes. We'll be home this evening hopefully with an ice cream cake.

I'm off in about 10 minutes so I'll write here later with more on what's been happening.... and some pics of recent spinning... and maybe other pics too.

The Good The Bad And The Ugly

A Few Complaints:

1. Why is it that I'm the only one who writes a fibre blog and never finishes anything. The Yarn Harlot who writes a blog and writes books and can finish the delightful shawl is way beyond me... and then there's The Spindle Princess who writes a blog and hopefully one day will write a book and still finishes beautiful shawls and spins tons of fibre etc... (I'm sooo jealous!) What do I have to show... no shawl, that's for sure.

2. Why do I have to have carpal tunnel flare up at this time in my ankle... no, the swollen ankles are not from retaining fluid... no, the swollen ankles are from treadling too much. Like what's that all about?! Now I have to wear a tensor bandage for the next little while and avoid treadling.... hmmm... like that's going to happen.

More Cheerful Thoughts:

1. I'm almost ready to start the 150 hour project. I'm three weeks behind schedule, but I'm going to have my books complete by Sunday night.... except for the 150 hour project which will begin on Monday morning. Ha and then they think I'm going to stop treadling.... I don't think so!

2. I love my Bucle.... it's divine... I got it bang on, the first try.  I also really like my spiral after the 4th time trying. I'm finishing the shades of grey today and I'm about half way through that one. Tomorrow will be a day to celebrate dye... when the ladies from NPSW in FSJ will come for their annual foray into the wilds of the Peace Valley. More about that later.

Two for two... hmmm... I guess that's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick...

I'm just glad that Blogger is back up and I can write about it here. I will be offline tomorrow as I have the NPSW coming for their annual.... well you read that above. We will be spinning and weaving and dyeing and I have a special little bit of joy ready for them in the dye pot... with a challenge for all and a full year to finish the challenge... cool eh! I will be back on Sunday to tell you all about it..

In the words of The Yarn Harlot (and actually considering that I live in this valley and have a better reason to say it) Peace Out!