Almost November

Where has the year gone, only 2 months left until 2010… sure glad i don’t live at the coast and have to deal with the Olympics…I even decided that i won’t go over to Dream Spin on the island this year… as it is in Feb…feel sorry for the residents of Whistler..can’t even go shopping with out a pass..

Our Desert Mesa Retreat was a blast as usual, we had a lovely rain, lasted almost all day, we haven’t had a good rain for over 5 months…We had a full house as usual, we did lose 2 guests , Bev and Jean, they both had mini strokes a week apart and they live right across the road from each other… must be the water… giggle..  Our retreat Hosts, Carol and Horst are retiring in December, we will miss them, they have been really great to us the last 6 years…the new guests seemed to enjoy themselves, and plan on coming back..we love all the original guests, but it wonderful to meet new ones…The show and tell was wonderful as usual… the Merritt girls didn’t have much to show as all our stuff was at the art gallery… Marie did bring a shawl that i made for her for her 60th birthdaythis is the picture of it that i took when i was on the island last Feb.. ..i didn’t take any pictures of the retreat… too busy visiting… starting to look forward to the April retreat all ready..

I planted 120 cloves of garlic yesterday… the Garlic guy was here visiting Larry, and darn him, he won’t help me… he told me that they planted 6000 bulbs of garlic this year… last year they planted 4000 and got 600 lbs of garlic..he grows the Russian Red hard neck… i bought 2 lbs from him earlier and planted that… i love the hard neck stuff better than the soft neck stuff…

Levi and i were off to Agility on Saturday, it was the first time he had been in the roping arena, so i got there early to get him used to the smells and sounds and all the different dogs, which are all new to him… it is amazing that they really know that the dogs are different…we are now in a class of beginner advanced dogs… and he did really well, in fact better than some of the other dogs..one girl (woman) is running her daughters dog, dog is trained but the handler isn’t, and then there is me, trained handler, but untrained dog…i was really pleased with him, although he is a “Hard headed Aussie”…and is very stubborn… but we practice at home, doing jumps and weave poles… this is Levi the first day we brought him home… he is doing so much better, his nose was dry and rough, as were his feet, his nose is nice and wet and black, and his feet have softened up…and he has gained some weight, and his coat is nice and shiny..better take some new pictures of him… need to get someone to take some pictures of him on the equipment…

Larry is in town getting ‘gold’ snow tires put on the Jimmy… hope they last a few years..there is snow on the Coquihalla, so guess it is time..nice to have a half day to myself..  The new hens are starting to lay… had 8 eggs yesterday…love the pullet eggs… must remember to take a picture of them as they are so pretty…

Better go and start the laundry, and do some knitting, i am knitting the “swallow tail shawl”.. i hate the ‘nupps’ so am following Melody’s lead and using beads in the place of nupps, and i am very happy with it… should have it finished soon… can’t believe that i will have it finished 2 months in advanced… have several different plans, just have to figure out which one do do first… OH yeah… at the gift exchange at the Retreat, I got 30 grams of Quivit..from Louise…after the exchange she came over and asked me if i like it… now who won’t like Quivit..she asked me if i would like some more… and she gave me another 30 grams… and it is lovely stuff, very few guard hairs, and no veggie material…so i think as soon as i get my Traveller wheel back on Saturday,(it is on display at the Art Gallery) i will spin it up… no idea what to make out of it… maybe the “swallow tail shawl”… as i will need about 400 yards for the original… I doubled the size of the main part of the shawl i am working on now…should be the right size…okay… time to go get something done…. Bird is yakking up a storm…. one night he was saying “thank you Larry, thank you Larry…and then Larry said, You are welcome Yankee, and Yankee said…”Pardon Me”…right now he is yelling at the dogs… telling Dixie to Shut up…and then tells me that “Yankee is a snookie”…Yankee a big bird, what a bird, do ya want out… sure do love that crazy critter…. talk to ya soon……….  S.