where has summer gone

Hi... only 8 degrees here this morning, and we live in the warm part of the province...it was cold enough last nite that we had to cuddle to keep warm..and i have my own personal summers most nites, but not last nite... even had to put a heater on this morning, it was very very cool in here this morning, our neighbour even had her wood heater on this morning..and it isn't the first of Aug yet... we picked our cherries last nite...about 24 of the little darlings... and they are very good... Larry and I ended up putting up a chain link fence in the sheep pen last nite... they have really eaten up the pasture field, so we decide to keep them in for a week or so... and of course they hate that, and keep coming up to the fence,and stick their heads thru and the dogs hate that, and try to grab them thru the fence,,, so now the sheep can't stick their heads thru and the dogs can't grab them... it is too high, so we have to cut it down, or Dixie will be getting hung up on it...as she goes flying over it...i did notice that she hasn't been in there today... her and i are off to Agility tonite...one of these days everything will click in her pea brain and she will do as i ask her... Jesse and i had a good class on Tuesday, but we are going to have to have private lesson to get her to get more confidence on the teeter .... she goes as far as the middle (where it tips) and then she stops and wait for it to tip, and the idea is that she should ride it to the bottom at the end.... I am off to Langley on Tuesday, have Dr appt, nothing serious, but something that can't be handled up here...will be gone a couple of days... hate to leave Larry alone to do chores and stuff...we are hoping to get away in September, over to the Island, which he loves, and a visit with Toni and Rob...the guys haven't met yet, so we hope they like each other... Rob is a lawyer , a logger, and a rancher, and Larry has been a logger and a rancher, so here's hoping they can find something to talk about...

this is the lovely pewter cat that Dawn in Pennsylvania sent me, she was one of my herd of Cats... what a sweetie she is... i am going to put it on my new Joy bag, so that i will think of her every time i use it...better go and get the Chili started for supper... cold enough for chili, i am surprised we don't have snow.... take care S

summer in Merritt

HI.. another truly beautiful day... I have spent the last couple of days picking currants... picked 4 ice cream buckets of black and one and half of the red currants, and there are still lots left to pick... i think i have enough for me, so will open the bushes to friends...Dad got me bushes about 15 years ago, a friend of theirs didn't want them anymore, so dear old Dad dug them up, about 10 bushes, and replanted them for me..we have had currant jelly for years, a couple of years ago, i got mad at them as they weren't producing so i cut them right back to the ground and let them start over, they are doing great now...another year or two i will do that again... I love the red currant jelly...

this is the view out of our front room window... the brown trees are the bug killed, the green one in the middle will be brown by next year.. the needles will fall off the brown trees by winter... we are lucky that we have some fir in our yard and we have been adding trees every year...

this is one... a Stella Cherry, a self pollinating cherry... these are our first cherries, not quite ripe yet.. a couple more sunny days... only about 2 cups, but next year there should be plenty..

this is Easy Llama bring in the herd at nite...

this is Little Bit...she was a bottle baby we raised, her ears tipped over when she was a lamb and her ears froze off.. one of the really old girls... with a nice fleece that Toni just loves..
this is the wood splitter that Larry built... he did a nice job, and it works good, we will be able to use all the bug kill for fire wood.. better go throw the laundry into the dryer... that is one thing on our Honey Dew list, a clothes line...the list gets longer every day.....

a day with the love of my life

Hi... another beautiful day, not too hot, and not much wind today... Larry and i headed off to Kamloops yesterday, he got tri focals a month or so ago, and he gets head aches from them, so we went to Klps to get them changed to bi focals, well the guys in the shop talked him into trying them again, so they re adjusted them, no head ache yet, but he isn't wearing them, damn him, now we will have to go back to Kamloops again, one good thing that did happen is that the Jimmy heated up again coming home, it has happened to me twice now, once last year, and when i was coming home from Olds,(in Kamloops though), anyway it heated up again when we started home, you know men, they never listen when you say something is wrong with the truck... so now he knows there is something wrong, we are taking it in tomorrow to get the radiator flushed and new coolant..i will be watching it like a hawk from now on...We did have a good day, went to one of the pub's for lunch, bought him a book that someone told him was good.... "talking to heaven" about one man's idea about religion, that we don't have to go to church to believe in God...that God is all around us, he seems to be interested in it...really strange as we are not religious folks, we just enjoy sitting on the deck watching the squirrels and hummingbirds on Sunday mornings... Have been working away on my "sivia harding" falling leaves shawl, the original pattern has beads on it... i didn't have any when i started so i stopped at the "bead connection" in Kamloops, apparently Sivia Harding buys her beads from there...i will add them after i finish the shawl... made a mistake last nite, and for some reason didn't count my stitches, would have found the mistake... missed a YO, so had to rip it back, i found it hard to knit as the colour is so dark... but the pattern is very nice..and it is for a special friend who will be 60 next year... so i have lots of time...I was checking out the black currants tonite, and they are ready, so tomorrow i will start on them... i can remember years that i didn't have any as the ducks had eaten them all as they ripened.. We are even going to start a "HONEY DO" list so that we get everything done by fall... take care and will write soon......... S

twice in one day

hi... i am very pleased with myself today.... i sold my first handspun shawl.... i make lots and give away lots, but today i sold one...the Wool Peddlar's shawl...Isobel and i made one the same time...couple of years ago, i always liked it so didn't give it away... but today it was time, and it was the right person, someone i knew, who would appreciate the work that went into it..and of course i FORGOT my camera so i couldn't even take a picture of it on her to show you... but take my word for it, it suited her, she is a blond who wears lots of browns, and the shawl was made out of merino and silk, in Raspberry....looked really good on her.... of course i was pleased with what i asked, but of course price didn't pay for my time... works out to less than 5 bucks an hour.... I had just been thinking i should make another one, out of Andrea's cherry red...make it a true Wool Peddlar's shawl... or maybe i will make one out of Shetland and dye red.... see ya later.......... S

another day in the sunshine

Morning... just getting ready to head off to the Baillie house for their 100th birthday celebration...must remember to take my camera so you can see the house and the spinners.... Don't know if you have noticed but i have a thingy on the side of the blog near the bottom that tells me who (no names just the home town) has checked out the blog....it is amazing, Australia, England, Wales(probably my cousin, Hi June) and California just to name a few...if you are from one of these countries, please send me a message and introduce yourself if you like... i would love to know who reads these ramblings.. Yankee the African grey was muttering away this morning, and we couldn't figure out what he was trying to say... finally figured it out... Larry has been trying to teach him to say
"Good morning, World", this morning he was saying "muck World", he practices, and after a few days, he finally gets it... He loves those "ice wafer cookies", the strawberry ones, bought him some yesterday, he only gets one when he says "cookie please" he just about turned himself inside out, and upside down waiting for a cookie... better get the truck loaded have to be out of here in half an hour.....yes, i will remember the camera..... see ya

summer spin in and dye workshop

had a great day at Andrea's yesterday, several of the girls wanted to learn how to dye, and dear Andrea (bless her heart), helped them... they had never done any dyeing before, so she had to start from the beginning with them... about 5 of us, hide away on the back deck and spun in the "sunshine"... till the sun got too hot, then we moved around to the front of the house into the shade..we had a very NEW spinner come yesterday... we met her at the WW knit in public day...and she was very keen on learning to spin, the other Sheila had an old,(we figured it must be 60 years old as Sheila has had it 20 years, and it was 40 when she got it...) traditional Ashford, i told her if she could spin on it, then she could spin on anything... by the time she was ready to go home, she had it down pat, i know it will come and go, but she is a natural...she is kicking herself now as she just got a full time teaching job, and gave up a Substitute teaching job, where she could have come to our Wednesday guild meetings... she figures she will teach full time for a year, and then go back to subbing... now isn't that a spinner after your own heart...I am enjoying my new JOY... it does have a burr on one of the hooks, and i have to find it, the wool won't feed in on that side...my poor Traveller is getting in tough shape all the moving around...so we will use the joy now for my travels...Larry has been busy building a wood splitter, just has to get the finishing touches on it... it looks good, we have so many bug killed trees, and we want to use them for firewood..guess i will have to help him when he gets it going... Gave Dixie a bath today, she was dirty, and is just starting to shed...so now she looks like she exploded... hair coming out every where...but she was really good, and only shook when she was all finished.. better get supper organized Dixie and i are off to agility tonite... hope she works better tonite....I should have taken a picture of her soaking wet... talk to ya soon.................. sheila

this is Dixie last summer.. with no coat....

lovely summer day

What a great day, about 80 degrees all day, with a light wind..a perfect summer day...just enough sun, then a few clouds to cool things off. Nothing to exciting around here today, did a load or two of laundry, and mention again to the Dear Hubby that i would like a cloths line, to save on energy, there is nothing i love better than the smell of clothes hung outside. I will keep mentioning it, and maybe by next spring i will have one... Larry was working on his loader today, making a thingy to help get the stumps out of the ground... we have a few bug killed trees and we want to get them down...then the thingy broke..so he is fixing it again.. we are lucky the pines in the yard seem to be okay, hopefully because we water the lawn a lot, we have unlimited water, 60 gallons a minute..we run the big sprinkler on the front field all day and nite.. the sheep sure like the front field these days, had a neighbour plow and seed it, and it looks great... we lose the lambs in the long grass.. we put the sheep down into the front field in the morning and then bring them back up at supper time..when we started a week or so ago, one of the wethers would not go with the herd, and came back up to the dry pen, finally decided to go on Saturday, now he leads the pack down. Jesse is still here, Joe was working and Kelly went to Lethbridge for a wedding with her mom, and we have agility tomorrow, so i will return her after class tomorrow, she decided that she likes to sleep with us, i don't care for her sleeping in bed, but old soft touch Larry loves to have her there..she wasn't feeling to well today, didn't even want to go and play with Jackson and Dixie..i would put her out and 2 minutes later she was yapping to come in... it will be quiet with her gone, the bird will like it better as he isn't allowed out when there are any dogs in the house...my friend never worried about her dogs and her African Grey, and they had a major trama there a couple of months ago, the pup and the bird love bananas, and Kirby the bird had a piece of banana and the dog grabbed the bird and the banana and separated the bird's bottom beak from his jaw bone, the vet wired it back on, it is a little crooked, but he is fine, eating and talking up a storm... we have never had the bird loose with a dog in the house..i am glad that we have always made it a rule

this is a columbine that has taken over my shaded flower bed, a huge mass of flowers in there..

this is Jesse coming thru the tunnel, don't ya love the smile on her face, the next one is her coming over the dog walk, that is 12 feet up, 12 feet across and 12 feet back down, and is 5 feet high...

Another agility day

Hi... well Jesse and I were off to another Agility Day in Kelowna yesterday, we had to be there by 7 or quarter past, so i stayed at my Agility partner's place, half an hour closer, we were up at 5, her hubby made us breakfast,which i found really hard to get down, that is just too early to eat..but what do ya say....but thanks...we had a good drive over, funny how time flies when you have someone to chat too...Denise and Pip and Jesse and I were running in a team competition, one handler and dog run 10 obstacles, and when they got back into their home spot, the second handler takes off with her dog... the first one, we screwed up, and so did Denise and Pip, but the second one, we all ran clean, and within the time allowed, so we Qualified... running teams is tough as one dog always seems to screw up... so now we move on to the Advanced level...which is harder... but we will keep working on it.... then we ran the Starters Jumpers course, and Jesse just flew thru it with no mistakes and no time faults, so we Qualified again, so then i had to move on right then and there, so her second run was an Advanced Jumpers, and she did really well, only made one mistake and of course it was my fault...but we had a really good day, but it was pretty hot, i had bought a couple of spray bottles with little electric (battery) operated fan on it, boy did they work good, all our group was using them, it sure helped in that hot hot sun, we did have a shade tent, and that really helped too, but the water was really helpful..i sprayed Jesse down just before we ran and that helped her stay cool...we didn't get out of there until almost 7 pm... and i was so tired, didn't sleep well at Denises, got home at 9 talked to Larry for half an hour, had a shower and headed to bed, with Jesse at my feet..and then i have fallen alseep 3 times today...and am still tired, i had planned on working on the garden today, but just didn't have the energy...
I have started working on a birthday shawl, i love the pattern, but am fighting with it... i even emailed the author, and it seems that i am not moving over my stitch markers...so will try again... the colour is Andrea's Royal Purple, and it really nice....Guild is meeting on Wednesday up at Andrea's, she wants to do some dyeing and so does some of the guild, i would like to, but i haven't gotten enough spun up of my Merino, only one more 100 gram bag and then i have to really think about what i am going to do with it...i have several shawl to make for next year, and might use it for that, but i love it, so might make something for me... well i had better go do something.... talk to ya soon.

finally home

Hi... got home from Olds on Wednesday about 8 pm... left here in the early hours on Thursday, had a good drive over, it is a long drive by oneself, but i listened to a book on tape and sung along with Don Williams, Willy Nelson and Abba..alternately between them... get tired listening to the book, and then get tired singing...anyway arrived safe and sound Thursday nite... i had forgotten just how beautiful the Rockies are... they are so huge compared to ours, and then heading out into the foothills..the sky is so huge out there... i am so used to have a mountain in view..the foothills were beautiful and green this time of year...I got into a Condo the last week before i left, and i was very happy that i did, I ended up with some awesome room mates, and we just hit it off really well...Barb from Cold Lake, and Caroline from Calgary, both were real characters, Barb is a designer of patterns designed for hand spun stuff, and Caroline was a student at Uof C, and a fantastic Spindlier... she taught a day class on spindling... very talent the pair of them... then the 4th roommate showed up on Sunday nite, Christie from Camrose, also a very talented spinner...My first class was spinning Stripes, the kind you make socks out of, it was a little difficult figuring it out, but i finally got IT...and then the 2nd one was Colour Blending which i really enjoyed... both were taught by Linda Shelhammer of Billings, Montana... the 3rd class was a 2 day course on Spinning silk...we had a wonderful teacher, Kim Mckenna from Langley... lucky for me, we were neighbours in the condos, so we spent quite a bit of time together, and as she didn't have a car, i took her down to the vendor mall and introduced her to the Roommates.. and of course we all hit it off ... I learned so much from Kim, even learned how to spin right off a cocoon, and then every single bit of silk they make.. one of my class mates and i bought a "Blue faced Leicester" fleece and split it, so we each got almost two pounds of wonderful fleece... i think i will wash it up and blend it with some silk oblong that i bought on Salt spring a couple of years ago... I had a great time there, and hope to go back next year, if they have courses that i would like to take, Kim is thinking of doing a 3 day dyeing workshop... would love to take that one... she is a very knowledgeable lady...and i was very pleased to met her....
While i was gone, Larry had 4 more lambs, one young ewe didn't want her baby, so he had to make her stand still so it could feed, isn't it amazing how men can do these things when we are not around... I called him every night, and i was amazed on how long he talked..usually it used to be 2 minutes, we are not into talking to each other every hour, being married 40 years, we don't need to check in with each other all the time.. I didn't buy much stuff, but what i did buy was worth a small fortune..i bought myself a "JOY".. i know i didn't need it, but i find my Traveller is showing travel wear..i also bought a pound of Finn, and a pound of Merino, alpaca mix, and 4 oz of Bamboo, and a shawl pin, that also does double duty as a cable needles... and two patterns from Sivia Harding.. and two skeins of wool/mohair for socks for me... roommate Caroline has a computer program that figures out what stitches you need for the size of your foot..and she is sending me a pattern just to fit me... so i will try socks again.... better go and put my chicken on the Barby.... hugs sheila