lost blog

hi... i wrote a real whiney blog yesterday, and it vanished into......., heck who knows where it went...made me feel better writing it, but am annoyed it is gone... very cold all day... yesterday and today..went into the food bank today... not too busy, but it is after Welfare Wednesday, so every one's cupboards are full...up here they only get a week's worth of groceries a month, they can get bread and marg every week... some families have 5 kids and are expecting more... which really bothers me..and the men are fit to work, but won't take minimum wage jobs..

L and i will have been married 40 YEARS on Saturday... i just can't believe we have together that long..I went out and bought him a new wedding band today... wore out the original, lost the 2nd when he was in hospital for his heart surgery... I am on my second one.. it was this type of year when we got married, snowed that day... had our reception in the "Rose Garth" in New Westminster... what a beautiful house... does anyone know if it is still there.. I remember Mom and Dad complaining about the cost... about $1500.00 for about 100 guests and my wedding dress cost $80, and was the one and only one i tried on... it was a size 9, if ya can imagine... my skinny days... Larry was driving a transport truck at the time, so we took it on our Honeymoon and went to LA, and spent a day in Disneyland... we had a mixed load of fruit and veggies, and when we got back to Canada, the border guards couldn't find one box of spinach, so we had to unload the whole truck, just him and i.... what a pain that was.. Oldest son and his wife are taking us out for supper on Friday, that will be the only celebration for us... just another day..bundle up nice and warm and will talk to ya soon............ hugs

another sunny winter day

Morning, things warmed up a bit... only -9 this morning..spring weather... yeah right...I did stay home yesterday, the thought of going to agility did not excite me... and i really look forward to it every Saturday, but it was just too cold, "my 'get up and go', just got up and went..just didn't have the energy...i think because the cold cold weather just worn me out...Had our friends over for supper and canasta last night..he is a Newfy, and gets a magazine from Newfoundland, called the "Down Homer", they recycle it to us, just for the fun of reading it... every issue they have recipes, so i tried one for desert last nite... "sour cream blueberry cake", looked really really good, so i made it... and it sure didn't look like the picture in the book..so i will write to the magazine and see if they missed something, or i misread the newfy recipe...tasted good, just looked weird..very basic and not too sweet, but we decided it need 'whipping cream' ...

This is 'EASY', our very old llama...we got him about 15 years ago I guess... he was about 2 or 3 years old... he was young enough that he was still growing, he had a halter on, and it had grown into his nose, poor boy, so we doctored him up with 'icing sugar and Vaseline', an old timer cure-all...and it worked good... he is a real sweet heart, he loves people, loves to smell their hair, and gets right in their faces..He is too funny, he teases the dogs... runs up and down the fence with his head over the fence..just to watch them run...He chased a bear out of the sheep pen one year, that took them all a long time to get over it...they are funny creatures...they have to poop in a building.... him and the alpacas... his fleece isn't any good, so i just chuck it away...we shear him our selfs, as he is a bit of a goof, and the last thing we would need is for him to hurt the shearer, and the shearer not be able to work....he doesn't spit much although most people are afraid that they will get spit at...they only spit when they are really mad..first time we sheared him, he spit, but he spit over my head... he has been easy to look after and is fun to watch, think i will walk the pooches this afternoon the sun is shinning... and i need my vitamin D.... hugs

what next

I think Karen and I should have a competition on who has the rottenest January... never did get the Jimmy running... had to have it towed into town... good thing i have BCAA... turned out it was the fuel pump... good thing it didn't die on me going or coming home from Kamloops on Tuesday
..and then the kids who are working for us, have gone on to better jobs, so we don't have anyone after the end of January.. and Larry won't be able to do anything for at least 2 months... and there are all the bills to pay...yuck... oh well, things can't be much worse..I bought 10 bucks of 649 tickets today... maybe, just maybe...
the Jimmy was towed into a friends shop, and after he fixed it, he very kindly washed for me... and guess what?? all the doors froze..except the driver's door, so his Lordship had to crawl over the driver's seat....the heat from the truck finally thawed them out... It was -19.5 this morning, that is -3.5 F...guess i am getting old, we used to take the kids out sledding at -25 F.. feed cows at -50F, calved cows out at -35F, guess we are getting spoilt..and old...
i have had enough of winter... i need spring and summer... the only thing that would make this the worse January in history would be if i started lambing...oh my god...I don't have enough pens to keep the ram away from the girls..oh well... the way my life is going this month, i won't be surprised..-10.7 right now...
I think i will call my agility instructor and cancel out on my classes tomorrow... Dixie would be fine, as she lives outside, but it would be tough on Jesse, as she only goes outside to do her business... and she has no winter coat...and it is just too cold for this old girl...
My modem died this morning, i knew it was thinking about dying as i had to unplug it and then plug it back in several times in the last couple of weeks, but this morning it died altogether, so i called Telus at 7 am...and after a few minutes of discussion, we made arrangements for the tech to come out on Monday, L and i went into town, and as we walked in the door, the Tech called and wanted to come out right then... who was i to say no... so he showed up, changed the dead one for a live one and we were away... i just had to call Bev, who waited all the month of December for one... guess i have pull... ya right..
take care... hugs

too blank blank cold

Morning... it is so cold this morning... it is -18.5 right now... got up at 5 am as the wood furnace was running and not shutting off...it was 60 degrees in here... so went outside to check the fire, and it was okay... but added more wood... came in to make myself a cuppa, and the water was frozen... our pump house is at the far end of the property and we usually put a heat light in there, but Larry forgot... so i got him up at 7, and we headed out at 7:30, I had to make a stop at the outhouse, so i started the truck and by the time i got back the truck had quit running, probably frozen fuel ... Larry figured he was going to walk down to the pump house... ya right... it is a short walk 5 minutes across the field, but can you imagine him on crutches and his peg leg going thru 18 inches of snow... so of course i volunteered to do it but i walked around by the road... 10 minutes there, plug in the heat lights and 10 minutes back at -18 degrees... we now have water, and they put the "herman Nelson" a huge kerosene heater under the truck... so things should be going soon...of course i have a guild meeting today with lots of things for the guild.... the joys of living in the country.. will write again as long as we don't freeze up completely... why is it the coldest winter in years the year he can't do his husbandly thing...keep me warm that is....giggle

Nothing exciting

Hi.. nothing exciting around here... took the dogs to agility on Saturday... Dixie is finally getting the idea, we raised the jumps to 22 inches so she needs to put on more speed to get over the jumps... she is listening better, and does what i ask of her..and of course Jesse is doing really well, flies over the jumps, thru the tunnels at top speed... I am putting her into one day trials, one in Feb and one in March..my first and her first... should be fun..

Went out for supper at friends place, played Canasta, and did we bet the pants off them..the guys that is... guys are just too funny... they just hate to loose, and sure get grouchy when they do...and then get really silly when they win...

I had bought myself a Woolee winder this fall, i do really like it, i can't believe how much more you get on a bobbin, but when i went to put it on my new 'lazy kate' from Dan George, the bobbins didn't fit..too big, so i whined and got Larry to build me one just a bit bigger..he almost has it finished...he even turned the dowels out of brass..and made the end buttons out of brass...i didn't expect anything so fancy, i just needed plain, but he doesn't like plain..

Finished the yarn up for Karen's 60 th birthday shawl, just have to find the right pattern... will ball up the skeins tonight..

I emailed Vivienne and Bill Hendrickson.... i was wonder how she was feeling, turns out Bill got appendicitis after the fall Retreat, and it turned out to be cancerous too... so they both spent time in Kelowna doing chemo and radiation.. can ya believe it... both of them...if you are interested in reading her email, email me and i will forward it on to you...
Better go... chilli is almost ready, and the homemade bread is almost ready to come out of the oven... homemade chilli and bread... how good does that sound..

one more day in the life of S

Just another day... very cold... but very sunny... had planned on going for a walk with the dogs yesterday, but an old friend of L called, and wanted him to meet him for lunch... and seeing L can't drive yet... guess who had to stop what i was doing and take him into town... i didn't want to eat with them as L and his friend were TRUCK DRIVERS and there is nothing worse that old truckers getting together, all they talk about is trucks and things from the past... so i called my girlfriend and we had lunch togethers.. in the same restaurant, just not at the same table..i made Larry pay for my lunch as i had to drive him in..and seeing it was a late lunch we had a light supper which was okay by me... i hate cooking some days... My hips have been really sore at nite, but the last couple of days i have been spinning at nite, and for some reason my hips are better during the nite, I am usually okay till about 4 am and then they start to hurt..if i lay on one side that side hurts, so i turn over to the other side and then that side hurts...so i flip and flop around from 4 am on... i end up trying to sleep on my back, and i can't sleep well on my back..but since i started spinning my hips are better, do ya think that might be the reason they don't hurt as much... or maybe cuz i don't have my feet up on the footstool...really weird... guess i will have to fool around till i find the reason why i am not hurting...

This is a picture of a couple of my Shetlands... I kept all the lambs this year, i got rid of the ram after shearing last spring, as he kept charging me, so i won't have any babies, but should have a bunch of nice fleece.. the black one in the pictures has a lovely fleece, the hardest thing to do is to keep the fleeces clean..

The owl was gone from the barn this morning, or he could have been hiding about the grainery, as it is dark up there...

This is Easy, our llama... he is a real character, he loves people, and people are so afraid he is going to spit..in the 15 or so years we have had him, he has only spit at us a couple of times... the first time we sheared him, he spit at me, but over my head.. and then when we vaccinated his buddy Phil,the GOAT, he is usually okay when we shear him, but when we miss a year, he does spit... last time we sheared him, we had him tied next to a post, and he was mad and green spit was dripping off the roof, doesn't spit at us, just around us...always worth a giggle or two....

look what i found in my barn

Went out to do chores this morning and i found this little guy in the rafters... Some of you may know that i had a little SwetWhet Owl last Christmas 2006 in my barn... he was there for several weeks, and then sadly one day i found feathers on the floor and didn't see him again... so this winter every time i go in the barn i look to see if there is on Owl in the barn... this morning i found this little guy... don't ya just love his eyes. I opened the grainery door, hoped he would go mousing in the grain...this afternoon I took my camera out, and of course got carried away... the owl, the Shetlands, the big sheep, the alpacas, and the llama and Jackson playing with a five gallon bucket... i will save them for the next couple of posts...okay... i put another one on for ya

This is Freddy... a rescue alpaca from Oyama, I went over to help Darlene Homechuk and her hubby with their shearing one spring, and a friend of theirs was there, and telling us that one of his two alpacas had been killed by a bear, and the last one was lonely... and he offered him to me, so we got him sheared and we loaded him into the back of the Explorer, and i brought him home... his fleece is terrible, but he is a nice boy...so i just get him sheared and use his fleece for dog beds...

We had a mini blizzard last nite, lasted about 2 hours and gave us 4 inches of snow.., wind and snow, a real dandy... we got a surprise this morning, our oldest son Joe came out with a loader and plowed the drive way and tidied up the yard...looks good now... thanks for all your kind thoughts about the old dog... you all made me cry... but what are friends for... Better go, oven is dinging... i have to get the "sticky buns" out... two loafs of bread and a pan of sticky buns...with my new mixer..... see ya

New Socks

Got my new socks yesterday, aren't they gorgeous... i love them.... the colours are wonderful...they will be my retreat socks..

Had a good day yesterday, both dogs did well in agility, I am going to enter Jesse in a couple of one day trials one in Feb and one in March... i get nervous just thinking about it... Dixie still tries to do her thing, and not my thing..but we raised her jumps to 22 inches and she seemed to go faster... I also kept her away from Jackson, her play buddy in the morning, they usually play from 7 to 9 am when i leave, so yesterday they only got 30 minutes of play time... and she wasn't as tired...

Then i had to rush home and get ready to have friends over to supper and a couple games of Canasta...guys beat us one game and we beat them one game... we do get really cutthroat... but have lots of laughs..

Next knitting project will be Karen's 60th birthday shawl... really really late..just can't find a pattern that i like and that is easy for my lack of skill, and that has an easy graph pattern to follow...and then i have to go thru my stash of spun yarn to find the right one for the 'marshmallow in her coffee' friend.. i have so many patterns that i have saved after seeing them on the Internet that it will take me a while to find the right one... i need something to knit at night..

Thought i would go for a walk this morning the sun is shinning, but the trees are just whipping around, too much wind...and it will be a cold wind..so will wait till after lunch and lose the sun and hopefully the wind... see ya

finished projects

this is the 'Victoria Rose' fibre from Aurelia Wools, with the too tight cast off that i like the look of, if you look close you can see the too tight edging...the girl that i gave it too, said she really like the colour, so i told that was good as it was for her... plain but the colours looked good.









This is the magenta really bright yarn done in the Flower basket pattern... it looks much better than it the silk one.. you can see the pattern better.. i have also just finished a scarf out of purple silk done in the feather and fan pattern, have to get a picture of it and it is off to it's new home tomorrow.. 50th birthday present...
worn out cleaning house today, didn't get my walk in today, put on a pedometer today about 11 am, and since then i have walked 1500 steps in a mobile, just cleaning house and washing floors... will keep it on to see how many steps i do, doing chores...see ya

This is Gyp, taken 5 years ago... not very good Picture, but gives ya an idea what he looked like... sniff....

Sad Day

Had to put down one of our old dogs this afternoon... Larry had noticed he had a swelling near his penis...had to take him in to the vet, and that caused a major problem as he had never been in a vehicle or to the vet..and he didn't like anyone touching him when he was hurt... so i went to the vet today, and got some tranquillizers and a muzzle, came home, doped him up and took him back. The vet, an old time friend, was really good with him... he had a large lump in his belly that wasn't there last week, and as he was 15.5 years old, i decided it was time..
His story was a good one... our neighbour had hired someone to build a fence between us, and I heard them up the hill with their children, but after they left i heard a puppy crying, I thought that the kids had left their pup behind, but then things went quiet, so i figured they had come back for him... and didn't think anymore about it.. the next morning as i went out to do the chores, i found this little black puppy in the sheep pen... he was about 5 or 6 weeks old... so i brought him in, feed and watered him and put him in a wire kennel by the back steps and headed off to work. I called the boys when they got home from school and told them to check to see if the pup had food and water... all i got from them was "what pup"... they had both walked right by him...I laid the law down and told them that we couldn't keep him and that i would take him into the Vet on Tuesday as it was the May long weekend... I was working at the local Greenhouse down the road,and it was our busiest weekend, so fool that i am i went to work with orders to both boys that the pup was to stay in the kennel and they were not to play with it... Saturday was okay, they did as they were told, but Sunday, the man of the house was home, another big mistake on my part..when i got home for work that day, who is laying on the back step but this cute little black pup... and both boys yelling at me... " Dad said we could keep him as he will be a little dog"... that little dog weighted 70 lbs.. I insisted that i name him as i had gotten gyped out of the dog that i wanted... so i called him GYP...he was a good dog at times, he was the kind that just never grew up..a very athletic dog, always jumping.. I can remember going out to check the sheep in the dark and a set of grinning white dog teeth go flying by my head... he would jump on me all the time, even holding a stick won't stop him from jumping on me... he would jump over any fence on the place, so that made it hard to keep him out of the sheep pen, so we took to throwing pebbles at him..and with my arm, i never hit him, but it was enough to keep him moving.. Neighbour down the road had a couple of sweet little girl dogs, one a border collie and the other a chow chow... so there as more than a few collie/gyp and chow/gyp dogs around Merritt..it was hard feeding the dogs tonite, i wanted to put out food for him... he did live a good life, was an outside dog, a good watch dog, and i think having him around keep all the wild life out of the sheep pen... and he didn't suffer.. rest in peace old boy

next day

Monday... really cold today... -11.5 this morning, and didn't warm up too much today... started the laundry, which i hate... don't hate the laundry, its just putting it away..started working on the year end for the business... also which i don't like...took the dogs for a short walk... so icy..so it was a real short walk.. I did finish the 'Victoria rose' shawl..took a couple of pictures of the edging which i really like for a mistake....will put them on the blog after i give it away...Started knitting a silk scarf for a friend's birthday, purple silk in the feather and fan pattern... looks good...again will put pictures on the blog when i am finished it... nite nite...

January 06-08

It is really hard to believe it is 6th of January already, where does the time go..it was a nice day yesterday, up to 5 degrees above yesterday...did agility yesterday, i love it but it kills the ole bod...although i am feeling better today than i usually feel... maybe cuz i have been walking everyday for the last week... it is so icy on the road..i take the dogs with me...and they love it... they head for the gate everytime i go outside to do chores... i am having a terrible time with the ice around the gates... can hardly open them...so cleaned out the stove and put the ash down on all my paths.. hopefully it will keep me from falling on my pratt...that is all we need is for me to break something important...
Finished my 'Victoria Rose" shawl... it was just a plain knit with an increase at the beginning of the row, two in the middle and one at the end... i cast off too tightly, and it made the edge curl... but i think i like the effect... i have got it soaking in the sink, so will block it soon, and take a picture of it when it is dry...very plain, but interesting with the yarn.. now i have two scarfs to finish before...before, before i start something new..unless i get bored with the scarfs.. one will be that wonderful 'Chinese red' silk and the other will be silk too, just not sure what colour..the red is a project i started at 'Dream Spin' at Lake Cowichan, i made a deal with one of the spinners, she also bought the silk there, and we challenged each other to have it finished by the next retreat in Feb... and the other is for a friend who just turned 50...she is the kind who will really appreciate it.... think i will go for a walk.... take care.... sheila

another day

Hi... nothing new and exciting here... rain, snow, more rain and more snow...I have been knitting the shawl... finally remembered the name of the fibre...Victoria Rose?? i could never find anything to put with it so i had 600 yards, hope there is enough, not enough for a fringe, but i don't like fringes and i am knitting it...... one of our guild had a breast cancer scare just before Christmas, turned out to be a cyst so will give her the shawl as a gift if i like it when i get it off the needles.... I have been knitting shawls for all my friends as they turn 60, i have run out of friends turning 60 that is, so decided to starting knitting shawls for all the older friends...haven't forgotten ya Karen... yours is next...i know not everyone uses shawls, but i find that if you throw it over the back of your chair it is there if ya get chilly..
Off to agility tomorrow.. I have been walking every day this week, so hopefully it won't be too hard on the old bod...we were suppose to go out to a 50th birthday tomorrow nite, but Larry isn't in to spending a nite on his crutches with people he doesn't know..
The '&*(%' bird chewed on one of my 'Denise' needles and chewed the end off..and of course it was the 40 inches one that i bought extra... so i asked Larry if he could fix it... and he is feeling so guilty with me doing everything that he couldn't say no... which he won't anyway... anyway he fixed it good.. cut the end piece out of the cord and heated the cord and put the end back in...so now my 40 inch is about 36 inches..it will do...
We will have our first guild meeting next week.. funny how you miss the girls.. we only see each other twice a month, but i do look forward to seeing them..and seeing what they have made .. hope everyone is well....... hugs sheila