Water Conservation 101

So I haven't been spending as much time on the computer this year as I used to. Somehow I seem to have lost my interest in it. But every now and again I sit down at the computer and I write... but today I sat down for a wee read. I decided to catch up on all the blogs that I have been following and I decided to check out APOD as well. APOD is an acronym for Astronomy Picture Of the Day. I love checking in with this site every so often because it has so much information about our universe and what's happening in it. Today I had a look and checked back over a bunch of pictures from the past few weeks when I wasn't checking regularly. This is what I found...

Explanation: How much of planet Earth is made of water? Very little, actually. Although oceans of water cover about 70 percent of Earth's surface, these oceans are shallow compared to the Earth's radius. The above illustration shows what would happen if all of the water on or near the surface of the Earth were bunched up into a ball. The radius of this ball would be only about 700 kilometers, less than half the radius of the Earth's Moon, but slightly larger than Saturn's moon Rhea which, like many moons in our outer Solar System, is mostly water ice. How even this much water came to be on the Earth and whether any significant amount is trapped far beneath Earth's surface remain topics of research.

For me it was a bit of an eye opener...

I've always known how precious our water supply here on earth is but... wow we really need to keep in mind how quickly we can contaminate our water source so that everything that relies on water would be poisoned to death. I can't tell you how important it is for us to take that into consideration the next time we dump crap into our water supply. We may not have good potable water for long if we abuse the little (and I mean little) that we have.

Updates On Lots Of Things

The previous post took me a couple of days to finish since I had forgotten to bring my camera and was waiting for Linde to bring her camera to my house so I could upload the pictures from our Death By Chocolate party. So I thought I would update a few things today, which means two posts in one day. Just pretend that the previous post was post a few days ago cause that's what was intended.

I just received an email from my Level 5 instructor.... 93%... ha ha ha ha ha.... That's hysterical laughter with a whole lot of relief for those of you who don't know me...! It feels really good to know that it is done. I ended up deciding to spin flax for my level 6 dyeing day... yes, FLAX... from the I-Hate-Flax person. But my latest edition of Handwoven magazine came in and in it was the neatest tunic and transparent wall hangings woven with flax and then over sewn with wool... the linen gives the background plain weave on which to make a picture... I got a brilliant idea that if I woven flax... bleached it and then dyed it with indigo it would make an awesome background for fallen white leaves in plain white cotton for summer or plain white wool for winter.... (I'm thinking cotton for summer). So that's what I am spinning.

I am not weaving cause I've given up on getting anything done for June on the Shadow Weave project... that's my summer project.

I'm still knitting on the surprise shawl but that is coming only very slowly since Teapot and I have moved into the yard... gardening is now our priority. Four nights ago I lost all my tomato plants to frost... but otherwise every thing else is coming along nicely. Teapot has turned the garden and put in two kinds of potatoes and is as I write putting in the beans and peas. We are using the large red barrels that used to be on the deck for the peas and beans. After he finishes that he is going to put in a new bed for carrots and at that point we will assess how we are feeling and where we are time wise. Meanwhile I am up on the deck taking care of deckor (get it ha ha decor... deckor!!! Gosh gotta hit you over the head with that one!) I was late this year buying my annuals so I ended up with very little to choose from so yesterday I went to the local grocery store and blew a wad on petunias. Just petunias ... which is kind of not my style but petunias are showy and easy to care for and in a way I'm kind of glad that I didn't by more varieties and put them in earlier... for sure I would have lost some to the frost that got my tomatoes. So petunias it will be... as boring as that may sound... lots of colour though.

I've convinced Teapot to help me get things sorted out on the deck too... we are going to build that screened porch finally. So as a result I am planting and preparing the deck pots accordingly. There will be a lot fewer pots to plant flowers in and it hopefully will look charming while providing us with an oasis in the middle of summer. So far this is what I have done.

I still need a little something for the top of that log on the left.. but the wind chime has been painted and is looking pretty good. Once those flowers thicken up and grow I'm sure this will be lovely.

It was a lot of work to move those huge heavy logs over. And I think the whole thing looks pretty darn good.

I love the fact that the wee sheep looks like it could take out the gnome quite easily by rolling over. I can only imagine what the gnome is thinking! I still have to plant the square planter on the chair...and I need a couple more planters down in front of the rocking chair but that's how far I got yesterday before I ran out of steam. So today I have to carry on with that planter and around the corner to the side of the house where I am hoping at some point this summer to put a fountain since our fountain died last summer once the pump froze early in the fall.

This is our horse shoe shaped potato garden. In the middle stand one of the strawberry boxes. There are about 8 Strwaberry plants in there.

The other 22 strawberry plants are in these boxes in the front of the house. I guess we really need to think about putting some siding on the house... hmm I wonder if we can suffer through another winter or maybe we should get to this in the fall. Oh for heaven's sake I have to get the flooring finished before i start to think about the siding... really!

Anyway the deck is calling and the day is calling and the sun is shining and the wind is whispering and the birds are twittering as they swoop past the window... I need to get myself organized before the day is over and I  wonder if Teapot wants help with the planting of the peas and beans.

I'm off ... till next time.. I hope your spring is blossoming into a lovely summer of lazy days and restful evenings. A little more business for me and I'll be happy to enjoy lazy days and restful evenings...

Women!... Sheesh!

Thursday night was the last day of knitting for the year... we had a party. For weeks we've been planning to have a Death By Chocolate party... We wanted to make things that were delectable... delightful and generally mind numbingly yummy. We succeeded. We had decided to have our wee party on the banks of the river at the house of one of our members... now this group of dynamic ladies are truly the odd people at their best.  Now that sounds strange I realize... but I don't mean that each individual is odd in and of themselves... just that we are all so different you would never think that we would come together so well... it is odd to have that much diversity among a group and have them get along so well. I can safely say that they have become some of my best friends ever... I love em to bits... cause they make me smile.We range in age from 47 (that would be moi) to 63. We range in income from those who have good solid jobs to those who are on fixed incomes. We range in religion from those who don't believe to those who aren't sure whether or not to believe to those who have very strong beliefs... to those of all beliefs. We range in self image from the those who care about it to the those that don't really give a shite any more. We range in yarn snobery from those who would never be caught dead with acrylic (blah ick ugh can you tell who the yarn snob is!) to the those who don't use wool... (out of their league). We range in everything we say and do.  When I first started the knitters group and saw who had come out for the initial meeting I thought... how in the world am I ever going to make this work... but over the years and even though we have lost a few members through attrition, a core group of us continue to faithfully meet each Thursday night come hail or cold or sun or lack of space to meet. At first I thought it was the need to get out of the house and exchange ideas on the craft we love so much. But I have come to realize that these women have become friends.... real true and good friends. We hardly see each other over the summer months at least not all together... but little friendships have developed outside of our group that make us all so comfortable together. We are great together and that is that. There is no jealousy or wariness that sometimes plagues groups of women... there is no envy or greed that also plagues women's groups... there is no criticisms or irritation. We just like being together.... 'cause we are all awesome.

Each one of us has talent... talent that's amazing.... we all make beautiful things.

This is the famous chocolate fountain...

This was taken before diving into the chocolate stuff... From left to right... Linde, Me (in the back), Valerie (in the front, Carol (in the back) and Marie (hiding behind the chocolate fountain)...

After diving into the chocolate stuff....

 It really was a fun evening and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to get to know these ladies... they truly have become some of the best friends I have.... even with all of their/our oddities. They're a hoot to know...

While I am ready to end with Knit Night for the summer now that gardening time is here, I do miss them and always look forward to the fun of our evenings together in autumn when Knit Nights will start again. And I am hoping to see them from time to time over the summer.

What Do You Talk About When You Go Out For Din Din

We went out for dinner tonight. None of us felt like cooking especially after we discovered that the chicken legs that I had taken out for dinner and Teapot had put into the fridge hadn't thawed hardly at all. It was rather irritating to have to come up with something else for din din on such short notice. so we decided that it would not be the end of the world to go to the little restaurant in town here for our supper. The restaurant that we went to is called On The Rim and is one of the best little restaurants for quick food in a small town where restaurants are not known for their ambiance. The lady who runs it is really a neat lady and she has one guy who works with her serving and helping in the kitchen... Teapot have even socialized with her on occasion when we happen to meet at mutual friend's homes. It was while we were finishing up our meal that we started getting goofy. This is never a good thing. Now this little restaurant has a balcony that overlooks the passing traffic... and that is where Teapot and the girls and I sat.There was no others out on the deck but it was a lovely evening and I thought it would be nice to sit out there for a change. It didn't take long for a food to come and we all started to eat with diligence.  But as our stomachs started to get full things slowed down and we started to laugh. At one point the Daughters dared Teapot to hang a moon on the passing traffic. We all hooted over that... and when the lady who owns the restaurant came out on the deck she asked what we were laughing about... and we told her. Surprise surprise... she thought it would be great for Teapot to bare his bottom on her deck to the passing traffic.... and double dared him....

Relax...

He didn't do it.

But for a moment I thought he might!

So what do you talk about when you go out for dinner.... I bet you don't dare people to bare their bottoms.... : )

A Comfortable Place For Your Ass

I realize now that the reason that I have been having trouble sitting at the computer and getting my homework done as well as blogging is that my lovely old blue wingback chair which I always used to use in front of the computer is now gone. I have an antique dining room chair which is hard on the butt and i can only last about 20 minutes before I have to go find something more comfortable to sit in. I am missing my time in front of the computer and wish I could find something in the garage sales around here to plop my butt for better and less hurried computer time.

Speaking of a comfortable place for my ass.... I thought I would include pictures tonight of the sunroom as it stand now.

It doesn't look a bit vinyl does it.

Today was a get my back better day and no alpacas were sheared due to ouchiebackitis. But I did continue to sort and organize things for the sunroom. The office looks like this....

See how uncomfortable that chair looks... no wonder I don't spend time here much any more.

For all intents and purposes the office is finished. Next room we worked on getting in ship shape order was the sun room/living room. I have basically divided the sun room into two sections. There is the office part of the sun room and there is the living room part of the sun room. The living room is partitioned off from the office by a set of book cases. So as you will see in the following pictures we still need to cover the back of the book cases with a piece of paneling.

The bookcases behind my chair really do look awful.

I still have a bit to do with sorting out the art work.

You can see that the couch still needs to be cleaned up... and the door behind the couch is the one we will remove during the summer.

So that is as far as we have gotten. Today was a more restful day and because i had a bad back when I went to bed last night I realized that maybe it was right to take a day off from pushing furniture or bending over an animal trying to shear it. Tomorrow though... now that's another story. Alpaca #2 here we come.... hmm I wonder if I can start on the flooring in the dining room.

What A Busy Weekend

This was a weekend to be proud of.  Friday I came home with the new flooring and between Teapot and I... mostly me... we got about half of the sunroom finished. Then yesterday after I got home from the NPSW meeting Teapot finished the job and I swept and cleaned up. Saturday was a really warm day... lovely summery weather and perfect for a community garage sale which Teapot was heavily involved in helping out with... there was a pancake breakfast in the morning and he helped put away tables and chair afterwards... busy busy busy. Meanwhile I had planned to take the ladies from my guild out to one of the HH members house for the day. Stupid forgot her camera though, so no pictures. (Actually, I Anyway we had a lovely day out there and I sort of got a sun burn... but not a bad one. We never got home till almost 5 p.m. The food was great and the ladies were great too. Today we planned to shear the alpacas.... well at least one. More than one a day is just too hard on the back. I wanted to get Mishka done since she is breeding we hope and I wanted to make sure that she was done early enough that we wouldn't stress her or her baby. We caught her, led her to the table, rolled her on her side, and got to it. Teapot sheared and I trimmed with scissors all around her head and eyes and ears. Then we did her shots and trimmed her teeth and toenails. It was a tough job and it was starting to get hot by the time we finished.  She looked great with her sparkling white wool showing. We let her out into her summer paddock and then watched as she promptly went to the dirtiest part of the paddock and lay down and rolled in the dirt! Ergg! I'll try to take pictures tomorrow.

After the shearing was done and we had had some lunch it was time to tackle putting the furniture back into the sun room.   Well as usual whenever there is furniture moving to be done... it turns into a big fiasco. Finally Teapot went for a bike ride and I moved everything around the way I want it... What I have decided means some structural changes.

When we built the sun room I was convinced by the contractor to put a door in the sun room... I have fought with it ever since.  Some how I just haven't been able to fit the furniture into this room with the door there... tonight Teapot and I made a decision to make a few changes.  He's not happy with the damn door either and so we have decided to put a garden door into the dining room instead and take out the door at the end of the sun room and put in a window there instead. I don't think we can afford to do it till the fall at the earliest and maybe not till next spring. But we will do it... in the meantime that means that the dog run will have to have a few changes made.... not a lot though. We will have to put a light weight gate on the front verandah and fence it too and use the front door to access the dog run until we can put in the garden door.

It's too dark to take pictures of what I mean until tomorrow but I promise to write a better post about it all tomorrow. In the end I got most of the furniture placed but I will have to do the finishing touches tomorrow.

Until then I bushed and I stink so I'm off for a nice soothing bath before bed.... see ya!

Chuck It All For A Quickie

I know what you are all thinking... no not a nooner kind of quickie... god you lot sure have your minds in the gutter.

No the title of this post is that because I chucked everything this morning for a quick trip to town... and why did I head off to town.. Oh yeah! I went and got the new flooring. Oh yeah! Like how long has that been in the offing.

I actually have enough flooring to do the whole downstairs. (I don't need to do the upstairs since that has nice pine flooring and because there's no serious traffic going over it I find that the flooring up there can stay just the way it is. Downstairs however... sucks. Teapot and I decided to get rid of the cream coloured Berber carpet when we got Tootsie back in 2005. We've lived with the floor as subfloor style plywood ever since.... which let me tell you is gross, nasty and any other like adjectives that you can think of.  I went so far as to paint it red a few years ago and even that has worn off and looks blah. So a few weeks ago I went into Windsor Plywood in FSJ for a couple of sheets of plywood for the wood burned tiles I am making for the ceiling in the sun room. While I was there I had a quick look at the flooring.... and so I fell in love. There before my eyes was a laminate (not wood) flooring that suited exactly what I wanted to do in our house... and nicest of all was that the price was right. It is a vinyl/recycled rubber stuff that looks gorgeous. Really! I know most people will go, "Vinyl!... Yuck!" But really what they can do these days with that stuff is amazing and for us with dogs that barf periodically and cats that hork up fur balls and they all leave deposits occasionally. (Jiggs generally doesn't and Narmie's pretty good but piss Bailey or the cats off and they get mad mad mad and leave a lovely little package smelly beyond belief.) And the amount of mud and dirt would just ruin wood flooring over time not to mention their toe nails. So vinyl is our best option. And what's best is this stuff is awesome to lay... you need a rubber mallet and a saw. Like, that's it. If I was capable of cutting the darn furnace vents out I'd have the sun room done this afternoon. Really! Me. By myself.... it's that easy.

Have a look and see for yourself...

Now is that not pretty real looking?

Yesterday I finally got a day to sit out in this beautiful sunshine... well in between thunder storms... I even got a bit of a tan. Nice! While sitting on the deck I had the opportunity to watch a swallow. They have been hanging around and usually each year, they find a way to nest somewhere in the eves of the house... sure enough while I was sitting there a wee barn swallow came and disappeared in under the eves of the house. Somewhere in the roof there are a bunch of nestlings being hatched into the world. Then today I had the opportunity to watch a pair of geese try to lead their goslings across the highway... they got scared and headed back the way they came because of the traffic.  But it was so cute watching that long line of little goslings innocently following their mom and dad.

When I went to town last week to celebrate my friend's birthday, I noticed that she had a wee canary in a cage in the kitchen. I asked her about it and she said it was to brighten her life in the depths of winter... I suppose she has a point. The sweet little thing was flying around and chirping like crazy. Bird song is always a pick-me-up don't you think? Still, I felt bad for it since it looked so caged... so unfree. Birds are supposed to zip through the air aren't they? I'm just saying... I'm not sure I could cage something that needs so much space to fly just for my own gratification. I don't mean to be judgemental... I'm sure there are lots of people who love their birds.... (there you go back in the gutter again: ) but I think I can safely say that I am not one for caged birds as pets.

At the time we were discussing her canary she told us how it was not good to give it tap water... I asked why and she said that it was because of the chlorination. Evidently the guy she bought her canary from fed one of his breeding pairs tap water and they died because of the chlorination in the water. This in and of itself is disturbing since we drink that stuff... but then I got to thinking about it once I was home and I began to worry about all the times I've made hummingbird food from tap water.... I mean how many hummingbirds have I inadvertently killed over the years.  So from now on it is distilled water all the way in my hummingbird feeders.

So there you have it a little bit about chucking it all for a quickie and some more about everyone's favorite thing.... birds..... now you're all back in the gutter again ... aren't you?!

Well I can't be resting on my laurels today... I have flooring to get to... see ya later...