For Sale CHEAP

YUP... i am about ready to sell this noisy little brat... usually by this time of year, we have moved him into his outside cage... but with the weather being so cold I don't like putting him out until the weather is about 17 C.. Wynn has a squeaky tennis ball that we play with, and guess who has picked up the squeak of the ball... yup his highness...almost drove me to drink this morning..so as of 10 minutes ago he is outside... and not saying a word of course... I think I will teach him to say "Please, don't give me away"...of course he can bark like all the dogs, so when they start barking, he barks too.. so now instead of 6 barking dogs, we have 12..and then he yells at them and tells them to "shut up", he knows all their barks, and yells at the right dog when that dog is barking..   I have a rotten cough for weeks, and he now coughs and sneezes like me... he also has Larry's smokers cough..He calls Joe the minute Joe walks into the house... "Joe, Joe".. and Joe answers him with "what do ya want, Yankee", and Yankee answers with  "Come here"..in a very commanding voice..it is hardly to believe we have had him 7 years...we do laugh at the fool...I need to win a Lottery, so we can build him a fancy outside/inside cage that he can live in all winter...
A bunch of my agility buddies are off to the Agility regionals in Abbottsford this weekend... I would have loved to go and volunteer, but we needed new tires, and the truck insurance was do this month, and with the price of gasoline, i decided to stay home... isn't it a pain when life gets in the way of FUN... Denise and I are off to a trial in Kamloops first weekend in June... so that will have to do....
Finished plying some merino and silk, and am hanging it out in the sun to dry... now i have two projects to get done... fancy scarfs, so they shouldn't take too long... everyone who has done the pattern say it is easy and fast...

Better get my rear in gear and get the invites to the Fall Retreat out this weekend... sure don't know where the time goes...  We got some Good Earth (composted bio solids) this week... what a beautiful soil... black, no smell... think that we should get some more... our soil is pretty crappy...(oops) guess we will be making it crappier... giggle... have a good day.... hugs

yippee... spring is here

Well, I hope so...hummingbirds are humming...bees are buzzing, grass is growing and the sun is shinning.. but there is a cold wind.. anyway the sun is shinning...
Nothing to exciting around here... got baby chicks coming next week...only 25 this year... still have about 10 in the freezer from last year... no turkeys this year...
My 10 year old crabapple tree finally is blooming, it has never bloomed before..we fertilized it, watered it good..but no blooms... so we are excited..  the other one (crabapple) is 8 years old and it isn't blooming either... apples, cherries, and the peach tree are blooming ... hopefully with the cold weather and the later blooming that when they do bloom fully we will get lots of fruit.. My flowering currant is blooming and smells so good.. a very strong spicy smell..  that really carries on the wind..

Don't ya love my Levi... very studious..he did well in agility last week... his weaves were so good, he had the dirt flying... it is the BC Agility Regionals in Abbottsford this long weekend.. would have loved to go and volunteer, but truck insurance is due, truck is in for repairs, and we are putting new tires on it... so i am very BROKE...and with the price of gasoline... can't do it... Denise and I are off to a trial in Kamloops the first weekend in June... it has been years since we have been there...and then another one the end of June...  Wynn starts her beginners classes next Monday, we can hardly wait..I have been putting her thru some of the obstacles at Levi's classes, actually between classes, and she catches on really fast, had her going thru the tire, and thru the tunnels... she will go anywhere for a squeaky tennis ball...she is so much fun... we have a good time together..better go and get supper started, will have a houseful again today...Joe and Theresa and the kids...  

Its coming, Spring that is

How do ya like that great picture of that turkey boy... he is a Royal Palm turkey... they aren't big.. toms weigh about 20 lbs.. and the hens about 14 lbs... we don't have the hens, bobcat got my 3 hens this winter..and these two are off to Pritchard on the long weekend.. to a girl who raises them...she only wanted one, but i told her the other would be used for dog food... and that changed her mind..so she will take both of them... giggle..
nothing interesting around here...  didn't sleep very well last night, so feeling kind of out of sorts today...I did work at the election on Monday... and that was quite interesting, made about $170 bucks, and then wrote a cheque out for my next agiltiy trial and that was $141.00, so i guess it was worth it..  Will be starting Wynn pretty soon... here she is learning what is called 2 on and 2 off... that means two feet on the ground and two feet on the obstacle..she has it figured out already.. she doesn't look too happy, but she is, really... Larry is off to the states on Saturday to pick up some more junk... another "drag Saw"..the saw that was used before chain saws..the hockey game is on so better go get my wheel out and do some spinning... I am meeting Donna tomorrow we are going out for lunch and make some decision about the retreat... Merritt has a very good Japanese restaurant.. the best i have been too... not many but this one is by far the best... have a great night... S

First day of May

first day of May, and I am still wearing my sweater..none of the trees are in bloom... one poor little lilac bush is showing a smidgen of colour, and my Manchurian apricot (at least 10 years old) has its very first bloom on it... went to take a picture of it today, and of course my camera batteries were dead..but they are beening charged as we speak   as i type..
Poor Levi and I had a terrible start to agility class yesterday... i walked the course several times, and then when i went to run it... 21 obstacles and i got lost 4 times.. it just didn't make sense to me....everyone was killing themselves laughing at me..then we broke the course down into smaller parts, and i finally was able to make sense of the course... and Levi ran it really well.. lots of speed and paid attention to me... until we headed for the last obstacle, (a tunnel which he does with no problems)... there i am standing with my arm out, pointing to the tunnel, he turned and looked at me, and went and sat in one of Maureen's chairs.. I kept insisting that he go to the tunnel, and he kept changing chairs.. he finally did the tunnel... and was very proud of himself...
Nothing to exciting this week.. although i did get my new watch from Heather, a picture to follow as soon as the batteries are charged..I have been spinning some lovely Merino and alpaca..almost finished plying it today... will finish to night... it is a very soft mauve colour... but i think i need more colour.. so will over dye it, and find a pattern.. still have two projects to get done, and then I found out at the retreat that there were a couple of my friends that i missed their 60th birthday...so will have to fix that.. We went to a 65th birthday party last night, they had live music in the garage... what a great time ... she was the very first friend that i made a shawl for... can't believe that it was been 5 years... she had been very sick, but she still uses it..  One of my friends mentioned that they have "An Annual 65th birthday party"... i love the idea..think i am going to use it when i get to be 65...take care everyone, and hopefully spring will show up soon... Wynn and I need to start our beginner agility classes... should be worth a giggle or two..

more retreat pictures

I will try again to download the pictures from the retreat..just look at the concentration on these three... Lou, Linda and Glenda...

This is Sue and  Renata... these two do production spinning..you can feel the heat from their wheels

Bill and Hanlo, two old friends catching up

Isobel modeling a shawl i made..i just saw a big mistake in it... damn..and i traded it for a watch with a beaded strap... guess i will have to email her and tell her i will take it back... this poor shawl originally was white with hot pink beads where the nupps should be...(I hate nupps)...after washing it and blocking it, i found that the colour of the beads had run, and had stained the wool..i was so stressed that i cried..decided to over dye it in Lavender ... turned out better although I can still see the pink stains..but looking at the other picture i took of it... i found a big mistake... of course no one but me can see it...

Levi and I had a good day at agility today... he was better than the others in some things of course... worse in others... I decided to jump him at 16 instead of 22... and he seems to run faster.. We have added another mutt to the pack.. Matt's Miniature Pincher   Kayda.., now Wynn as her own private live toy... they love to play togethere... she is here for a month or two... poor Matt isn't spending the time with her like he should.. that picture is when she was a pup... will take some new ones of her....  have a great nite...S

Desert Mesa Spring Spinning Retreat

Well, the Spring retreat has come and gone, and was really great fun this year... there were 37 of us, and a few drop ins..the food was great... a bit of Philippine food thrown in for good measure..a chicken and pork stew, and their very delious spring rolls were to dye (die) for..we had new cooks in the kitchen, and they a great job... although she had a fit when she realized that she had not thawed out the hamburger, I told her to take a breath and send hubby to the store for some fresh burger...so dinner was a little late, but we were all fine with that.

We had a goofy bunch of spinners this year...this is a picture of Martha.. wearing dread locks and a beard made by Gudie..

And this is the before pictures... Martha has a delightful laugh, makes everyone smile.. this is the friendship blanket that we made for Bishop David, he was badly beaten in Kamloops in October 2010..he was a very special friend to the spinners and came and had lunch with us several times over the years... one year he brought his vestments and they had little pulls, so the weavers among us fixed them..they were lovely hand woven silk..                                                                                                                                      

 this is too weird... i didn't type the last paragraph in Capitals... were did they come from

This a very warm and very well done ear flap hat by Wendy V

These beautiful socks are by the famous socklady, Lynne... aren't they beautiful  

these are very interesting flat top toques by Carol a very new spinner.. this blog drives me nuts...i have a terrible time getting the pics were i want them.. will write again soon with more pictures of the retreat... S

Cold, cold, cold

Whoopee... next weekend is the Spring Retreat... I can hardly wait... we have 35 guests, and Donna and I...
 i like the spring retreats as the smaller group makes for lots of laughs and eavesdropping...I am finally feeling better... cold/cough/bladder infection/sinus infection all seem to be gone.. thank goodness..
Levi and I had a tough weekend at the Cloverdale Agility Trial...there was something wrong with him...Friday nite we did run a very poor Steeplechase, but Saturday was awful... for the first run he won't leave my side, so i tried to run with him, but he went around the first jump, tried several times to get him to go over it... no luck, so i excused us and left the ring... same thing happened for the 2nd run.. except this time he went thru the jump... twice... so i excused myself again...I spoke to the Judge, and she thought that i did the right thing leaving the ring, she thought he might be limping a bit and suggested that i take him to dog chiropractor who comes to these trials, of course she wasn't there on Saturday..i think he wasn't feeling well as several times i found him quivering in his crate... so we tried again on Sunday, and he went thru the jump again, I then tried the weave poles which he did, but he won't take the next jump.... so I excused us again, and went to find the Chiropractor, she had time to look at him... she ran her hands over him, and felt that he had several spots that need adjustments... so $40 bucks later she had him adjusted...there were several spots that he turned his head to her like she was hurting him... I scratched him again that day... and was very lucky that the manager of the trial gave me a 6 run credit for another trial.. I took him to class yesterday and he seemed okay, although I had him jump 16 inches instead of the regular 22..   damn agility and Dixie have taught him to jump the yard fence..so now we can't keep him in... i was wondering if jumping the fence might cause the problem and he does sometimes twist his body as he jumps...
Nothing else too interesting... Food Bank is full of laughs.. some of those native men are just too funny... they love to make ya laugh... I am now Secretary/treasure of the food bank... we are changing a few things..and plan on going to Kamloops to see how they run their food bank..
I rescued the shawlette today... the one where the beads ran and made my white shawl spotted with pink... I over dyed it with Lavendar... and it looks good..still a bit of pink on it... will take it to retreat for show and tell... I am hoping to get the shawl from Denise, the multi colour one.. not sure i will see her this week though.
Well I had better go clean up the kitchen...and get my wheel out and do some spinning, working on some alpaca and silk from Barb Eslake..very nice to spin, although the colour is too soft for me... might over dye it, the lavender was lovely... have a great day