crazy people in our lives

Had our first guild meeting Wednesday... only 6 of us showed up... several are away, one just got out of hospital, one had cataract surgery yesterday...Andrea stopped by, she is leaving tomorrow for a cruise on an 18 passenger wooden boat from Ketihcan to Bella Coola.. 10 days, no cooking, and hopefully they will see the "spirit bear"...now to the strange people in my life... about a year ago, i got a phone call from a lady who wanted help to fix up a spinning wheel... anyway i invited her to a guild meeting, but was unable to go myself, turns out that she is 96 years young, anyway she never came back to any meetings, life just got in the way for her...anyway she phoned me couple of weeks ago, and she had some wool that she would like to have spun up... so i told her that i would mention it to the guild, and see if any of them would do it, plus i told her that we would have to see the fleece before anyone would commit to spinning it to her... so she has phone several times over the last two weeks, and in one of these calls, she mentioned it was from her father's prize sheep, now do you remember i said she was 96...so that fleece was really old, but she was sure it would be fine, that it was well wrapped up... so anyway she was going to bring it to the meeting , and then she phone back and told me that her car was getting fixed and could i pick her up, so that was organized, until this morning and she told me that she had just become a great grandmother and that her family was all excited, and that she couldn't' come with me..but could i pick up the fleece, so of course i picked it up, and when i did i asked her how old she thought the fleece was... it was from the 1950's so that make the fleece almost 60 years old..so i took it to the meeting and took it out of two orange plastic bags, a box and a cotton bag..and must to my surprised it looked okay... that is until i picked it up... and it was so brittle that when i tugged on it, it broke into tiny pieces..but what would you expect of wool at least 60 years old, it might even be older... so i took it back to her, of course she wasn't' home, so i just left it on the step... had a few things to do before i came home, but by the time i got home she had phoned twice... and the last message said, she thought the fleece looked really good..so anyway i called her back and left a message that it was brittle and nothing could be done with it... haven't heard back from her, so hopefully i won't..it won't be too bad if she was really interested in the meetings, and she didn't have such a whinney voice... Went to visit "Locket" Andrea's dog in the dog kennel down the road, and she is doing fine, i took her down to the river and threw a stick for her for half an hour... what a lovely dog...and very well trained... i am putting my two Monsters in the same kennel on Monday as we are off to the coast for 4 days, neighbour is coming in to feed the sheep and old dogs, but those two, Jackson and Dixie will just get into too much trouble if we are not home..so it is much easier to put them in the kennel and then not worry about them... we are talking the bird with us... Larry figures he will freeze to death here in the house, as we don't have any heat on yet, (we heat with wood), so will take him to Grandma's and all the neighbours will come to hear him talk, which he probably won't do with strangers around.... better go get my act in gear and get to town and then stop and walk "locket" on my way home... hugs

busy week

so sorry, i haven't been writing lately, don't know where the week has gone..We did a demo at the local Fall Fair this weekend, had a great time, love talking to the old guys who know all about spinning wheels...and the little boys who really want to try a wheel, and try to convince you that they know how to spin... it was really cold there on Sunday, had to go outside into the sun to warm up... Well I sold my old ewes and ram... to a woman who i know will look after them... 4 ewes and a ram...she had a cattle ranch for years, and does know animals, although not much about sheep...she has already sold Jack's fleece for next year...i will miss them, but the cost of hay keeps going up, and i never get enough for the lambs to pay for the hay... it is a losing venture... we will keep the Shetlands, although i am looking for homes for a couple of the lambs ..so if you want one, the price is right...Shetlands don't eat as much, so hopefully the hay will last longer... my plan is eventually to get rid of the sheep and just keep the llama and the alpacas...and buy mini bags of hay cubes for them... someday down the road... Youngest Son was up for a couple of days, he just bought himself a new bed, he had bought one years ago, but couldn't afford the frame, so he has slept on the floor for years, now he can afford a better bed, and of course you need a step ladder to get into these new ones.., but he does like it... I am still working on my stole for a birthday gift... so won't show it to ya until i get it finished and she had it wrapped around her... I have been skirting this year's fleece, they are really nice, i think the cold weather last winter really helps make them fine, and soft... Toni wants "little bit's" fleece, but if you remember Larry was here by himself when the shearer came, and he didn't mark the bags, so i guess she will have to have both of the white fleece, cuz i can't tell which one is which...Jack's fleece weight 12 pounds after a very heavy skirting.. must have weight about 15 or 16 pounds before...and of course it is a lovely fleece, a lovely shade of grey...it gets lighter and lighter every year... I washed a chunk of a couple of Shetland fleeces, and they are very nice too...I guess i will have to get my rear in gear and get them washed... i also have that "blue face Leicester" that i bought with Kerry at olds... it is a real beauty... i must email the lady who raised them, as i would like another one... well better go... Oh yeah, i remember what i was going to mention.... i bought some of the new Tide with Dawn Stain Scrubbers, and boy does it work good... first time i used it, i used it on Larry's coveralls, and it took out all the oil stains out, so much so that he even noticed it... wanted to know what i did to get them so clean, at the time i didn't know, but then remembered that i had used the new bottle of Tide, and since then i have noticed that it has really gotten OLD stains out of some of my work T shirts..and the whites seem much whiter...give it a try...oh yeah, i also bought some rubber balls that go into the dryer... don't know if you ever wash new blue jeans, but they always come out really wrinkled..and they have to be washed a couple of times to soften them up... well "Coopers"(jimmy pattison grocery store here in the Interior) had these blue balls, (they look like a dog toy), so anyway i threw the jeans in the dryer with these balls, and i was amazed at how NOT WRINKLED they were... the jeans not the balls... it has been a good week in the clean clothes department...

a whole week has gone by

Where has the time gone... it has been a whole week since i last wrote, don't know why other than life has been boring and i don't think you need to read about my really boring week..I have been trying not to go to town too often, with the awful price of fuel...although i do go 3 times a week, last week it was 4 times...went to Agility with Jesse on Tuesday and meant to do my shopping then, but i had a weird tummy and came right home and went to bed for a couple of hours...had company coming for dinner on Sunday so cleaned house all week, took Dixie to agility Thursday nite, and then went shopping on Friday, and then went to Baillie house to sit and spin under the huge old tree... it was a great day, warm and we all (6) sat under the shade... had a good visit, we need to catch up... First guild meeting will be 10th of Sept...will be good to see everyone again... We played Canasta on Sunday... 6 of us... the women really beat the men.... and we loved every minute of it... Larry and i went to Kamloops today... he had gotten tri focals, and he really didn't like them, so we took them back and they are going to replace them... We also went to visit friends... they are both 86, and Elsie had a stroke about 18 months ago, spent 3 months in the hospital, and then the last year in a Seniors Residence..make me laugh as she always looked after her hubby, Danny.... she did everything for him... he had no idea how to do anything about the house... with the stroke, she hasn't been able to talk, so he does all the talking... and he is really looking after her now... he even left the farm about 30 minutes out of town, and moved into a Senior Apartment complex right behind the Seniors Residences, and he goes over to her every day, and is with her from the time she wakes in the morning, he brings her back to his apartment, takes her back for lunch and then back to the apartment again ... anyway Danny wanted to take us out for lunch and he wanted to go to Denny's, I was driving and had no idea where it was...we get to the corner and Danny tells me to turn right..and Elsie points to the left...so anyway i turned right... and we are heading out to the airport, it had been years since i had been there, so i had no idea if there was a Denny's out there.. so anyway we figure out that we are going the wrong direction and we head back into town... Danny tells me to get into the right lane, and Elsie points to the left Lane... so by this time i figure that Elsie knows where she is going..so i follow her directions... and Danny keeps telling me to get into the right lane and that i will be sorry if i don't... well what do i see on the left a couple of blocks up, but Dennys'.... of course we won't let him forget it..she can't talk or write, but she does know where she wants to go... her family calls her the "Mule" as she is so stubborn... Elsie is one the most important people in my life, when we left the coast 38 years ago, she was the Mother that i left behind, she taught me so many things... gardening, canning, cooking,killing chickens, and turkeys and quilting, anything i wanted to know i just had to ask.... she made the very best cottage cheese... and of course as live goes on, we drifted apart, although we would phone each other a couple of times a year...neither her or Danny have changed, they still look the same... Danny does have a hard time as he has to do all the talking, and he won't let Elsie out of his sight... I would love to take her for a walk, just the two of us, and tell her about what i am doing, about the kids, and the animals, but Danny won't let me... so we both have to sit and listen to his old stories... next time i think i will insist that her and i spend time together..I know he loves her dearly, but so do i and i need time with her...
Picked a saucepan full of Convoy cherries,(plum/cherry cross)... just enough to make half a batch of jam..... well i had better get the coffee ready for morning, agility again tomorrow... not too sure how many of us will be there tomorrow... well, good nite.... will write again soon.............. sheila

Cooler day in the country

HI..another great day, warm but cloudy all day, and a few showers that lasted a whole 2 minutes... but sure makes it smell good...nothing new or exciting in my life... i have been knitting like crazy, trying to get a shawl done for the October retreat, my show and tell...haven't done any spinning as it is just too hot... we are going to Baillie house on Saturday, so will take my new JOY, i really love the idea that it is in a bag, NO DUST on it... and very easy to pick up and go, and not lose my flyers and bobbins if i don't carry it right... Thanks to Lynne, Sharon and Karen for letting me know that they read this garbage..just over 2 months left till Desert Mesa Retreat... i can hardly wait... I have got someone out to look at the old ewes and ram on Friday...hopefully she will take them, and i will have 5 less sheep...and then i just have to figure out how to get some of the Shetlands to Toni... i had a real brown lamb this year... and i mean brown, went to take my camera out to take their pictures today, but the batteries were dead... she is a lovely dark brown, we thought she was black when she was born, but is a lovely chocolate brown now...i have a nice selection of colours now... I also got my Oregon grape jelly done on Saturday along with my black currant, L really like the Oregon grape, a friend is getting me a deer for the freezer this year, and i love the Oregon grape jelly with it...like i said nothing exciting in my life, although i do have an agility class tomorrow with Jesse, hope it doesn't rain.... see ya sheila

great squirrel hunters

Here is Jackson and Dixie trying to stare down a squirrel, the squirrel was really angry, just chattering at them... they must have sat there for an hour staring at the squirrel... Nothing to exciting today,yesterday, i made apricot jam (2 batches) and one red currant jelly, which didn't set, so i have to reboil it... darn it anyway...and i have been getting the juice out of black currants today... and it is really hot almost 90 degrees, L changed the thermometer back to F... rest of the Dressage is on the tube this afternoon, it is nice to watch, but i prefer the show jumping, only thing i really don't like about that is that you have to have money to do show jumping.. got to go shower and get supper ready for an early one, agility class time has changed to nite, so have to leave here early... see ya soon............. sheila

100th Blog

100 blogs, can't believe it... what have i talked about for the last 99 blogs..please if you read my blog on a regular basis, please send me a message..I would like to know who reads it... nothing exciting to write about today... Jesse and I had a good class yesterday, we had to laugh one of the girls, who works at the local vet clinic hates grasshoppers and the area was full of them..and every once in a while she would squeak... even her dog didn't like them.. I made 2 batches of apricot jam this morning, and have started on the red currants.. tried to find a recipe on the Internet, and Google must be down, as i can't get into anything but my email and the blogs.. will try again before i jump in with both feet...i have 20 cups of the black currants... made some phones about Hay for the sheep yesterday, the guy i usually use has put his price up again, i think it is time to get rid of some of the sheep... especially the old ones...and some of the old Shetlands, if anyone wants them, you can have them...just come and pick them up...big sheep 4 ewes and a ram are from 4 to 10 years old, and the Shetlands are 5 to 3 months old... my choice to what you can take...i do have some favorites.... anyway have a great day........... sheila

Hard to believe we are almost in the middle of August, where did the summer go...it was really cold here yesterday, Larry started the fire last nite, it was very cool here this morning, but the fire did help... Had a spinner friend come over and pick the last of the currants... they pick over 2 ice cream buckets, so that is a total of 6 ice cream buckets of the black and one of the red... and they were huge, like blueberries in size...i had to see fruit go to waste, a friend has a crab apple tree that is just loaded, also a pear tree, last year we made pear/ginger jam and it was really good, Mom really likes it, so will make her a batch as soon as the pears start to fall... you have to use green pears... the other one i really like was a apple/orange marmalade... very mild and it did set well.. I have to start on the currant jelly on Wednesday, i need to buy some more sugar and certo tomorrow...Jesse and i are off to agility tomorrow, we missed last week as i was away... she will be bouncing off the walls by the time we get there... she loves it so much...and Dixie, well Dixie is a 'free spirit", I read an article in the "clear run" magazine that agility types read, that you have to accept what you have, and enjoy what you do together, and not to get too upset, my instructor says that if anything, Dixie will make me a good handler, as i have to be on my toes with her all the time... i am going to take extra lessons with Jesse, as she is very slow on the teeter..and we will never qualify if she doesn't get more comfortable on it.... time for a shower.... talk to ya soon sheila