glad to be home

Hi... what a fast trip to the coast... left here Tuesday morning and had a crappy trip... from Bridal Falls to Annis road, it was bumper to bumper and took me almost an hour... so i was over an hour late getting to Mom's. Then off to Dr appt on Wednesday, right down to Burrard and Davies... what a trip especially when there is so much traffic... and the stopping and starting, especially seeing there is only 6 traffic lights in Merritt.. then youngest son Matt came over for supper so we went out for Chinese... went to Wong's on Fraser Hwy in downtown Langley very close to the Casino, so we had to stop there for an hour... had a good time, got to spend some $$ from Grandma...then on Thursday, we did a bit of shopping and out for lunch, went to "Milestones" and was very disappointed, they have changed their menu, they took away the pizzas and really raised their prices... i loved their half pizza and salad, so had their Spinach and artichoke dip instead, and it was terrible, not hot at all...that will be the last time i eat there... then we went looking for blueberries for a couple of friends here in town, and found a great place, price was a bit high, but the berries were HUGE...but they were happy with them...

I was glad to get home, i hate all the traffic down there, and no one signals when they turn... I did pretty good in Vancouver only had one bus blow it's horn at me... I have been knitting on a Sivia Harding stole, it has 40+ rows to the pattern, easy enough pattern, but i sure don't like doing so many rows, can't memorize the pattern with that many rows... and i have to count every pattern row, cuz i sometimes miss a yarn over... I went out and picked an ice bucket of Oregon grapes, going to make some jelly, but i need some apple juice for it, so will have to wait till i go to town next week....got red and black currant jelly to make too...i love the red...well i had better go get something done around here... have been watching the Olympics... want to watch the rest of the 3 day eventing,(horses)...see ya soon............... sheila

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA

150 Years... what a history BC has... i am very glad my parents moved here when i was in my teens.. Dad had been in the army and he retired when i was about 15, they talked about staying in Manitoba, my brother and i had a fit, we had visited our Great Aunt in Burnaby and we really like BC and were really delight to move here... we have been in the Interior almost all of our 40 years of marriage, and love it here..Larry would like to have a summer place on the island... he wants to own a boat, but i have to win a big Lotto before we can do that..I had a dream that i won the 36 million, but no luck...will keep trying... The number 2 son was up for the weekend... he was teasing the bird this morning, and Yankee told him to "Smarten up"... we almost peed ourself we were laughing so hard..Matt was trying to teach him to say "i don't want to live with Matt" and "Glenys, take me home" (she is my friend who loves the bird)... neither one of the boys want him...guess i will have to find someone to take him when we get old...We had a nice dinner out with friends on Saturday nite, fresh Crab... oh my it was so good...then Sunday nite, we had a family dinner, both sons and one daughter in law...and one grand dog... we had bar b qued spareribs..so good with homemade Bar-b-que sauce..
I am off to Langley tomorrow for a few days, haven't spent much time with Mom since Larry broke his leg, i will start going down more often.. I am really lucky that she has 3 friends that keep her active..they were off to a pancake breakfast at the Otter Co op with morning...if it wasn't for Ham, Grace and Doddie, she wouldn't be as active as she is... she does go out on her own, but just to do shopping. I will try to keep in touch while i am at the coast...just taking knitting and a book, as i will only be there 2 and a bit days..... see ya

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