So Sorry, but life got in the way

I have been busy, but haven't gotten much accomplished... I did muck out my bedroom... tons of shoes, and other stuff (crap) went to the food bank... ie.. a pair of slippers that had batteries in them, to keep your feet warm,  a cute pair of cowboy boots that i only wore once, (they were red), and it was tough getting rid of them, but they were a hand me down....a set of 4 pictures of exotic flowers that were still in it wrapping cello..that i really like when i bought them, but didn't like when i got home... one of those big body pillows that someone gave Larry...the closet sure does look better...

Well that was written a month ago and that was as far are i got... I am just getting over the cold/flu what ever ya want to call it..started on Tuesday night, and just starting to feel like i will live...only thing i did today was strip the bed and wash the sheets... of course Larry, Joe and Theresa all had it too... only Larry is still ill.. and of course you know what men are like when they get sick..  I would be so much better if i could quit coughing..I was so sick i even cx my agility class and you know how hard that is for me..
Got a lovely new laptop 2 weeks ago... so sleek and so fast.. bought Larry a wireless mouse..he complained that the old computer was slow, now he complains that the mouse moves too fast..just can't make him happy...
Dogs are all fine, although they miss being out with Larry..Yankee has learned some new words this month... first one being "abandon ship" "abandon ship".. and the other wasnt a new word, he just said it at the appropraite time... we yell at the dogs to leave the cat alone, one night Larry picked her up to put her outside, and as he walked by the cage, Yankee yelled at him "leave her alone"  we laughed so hard i almost peed myself..
Snow is almost gone, although it did snow in Kamloops about 18 inches last week.. not a flake here..
have been spinning up some lovely white blue faced Leicester, love that stuff.. I have done 2 pounds, now i have to find something to make out of it..promised my son's girl a shawlette or shawl depending on how i am feeling...  better go... i need to change the picture, but my mind isn't too clear today..

Okay i am still alive

Sorry that i haven't been writing again.... i have been playing Scrabble on FB, and love it... trying to keep my mind young, as i am getting old..will be 65 this year... Planning on spending my Birthday weekend with Toni, Melody, and Marie, and my agility buddies.  The BC Alberta Yukon Dog Agility Regional will be in Naniamo this June... so would love to go down to my Moms, spend the night with her, catch the Ferry over to Naniamo, spend the day with Toni and my spinny friends, and then volunteer at the Regional.. it is on for 3 days so will try to volunteer or a day or two...then head back to Mom's on the Monday, and then back to Merritt on the Tuesday.. talked to Larry about it today, and he said he was fine with it...
Our Christmas was very quiet, Matt was home from the coast and Joe and Teresa were here for the day, we had a home grown turkey and my goodness is was perfect.. moist and lot of favour.. Larry did a good job of feeding them..Larry of course had no idea what to give me for Christmas, he ended up buying me some Montana silver earrings (2 pair), very nice, i have tried for years to convince him that jewellery is always a good gift..

Wynn has been going great in her agility classes, we have been really luck this winter, only 4 dogs in our class and they haven't been coming so Wynn and I have PRIVATE lessons...works out good..i love it... going to put her into her first trial in April, the weekend after Desert Mesa Retreat, just one day, it should be fun.. i am really looking forward to taking her... Levi is doing okay.. although he does miss going to classes, I will take him when the weather warms up a bit.. it is cold for him to just sit and wait for us...
Just went looking for a picture of Kayda, the Min Pin..couldn't find any... she has finally decided that this is home.. although she goes wild when Matt comes for a visit.. she jumps into his arms, and he is over 6 feet tall.. she sticks to him like glue.. he does miss her, but he lives in an apartment now..the cold was very hard on her -30 for a couple of days..she was wearing her winter coat and i made a mohair sweater for her (hand spun of course), she looked like a football.. just out long enough to pee and then back in.. I had better get my camera charged up and that some pictures of all of them..

Larry is staying busy in the shop, rebuilding all his old motors and drag saws..this is a picture of one of the drag saws he rebuilt.. it was used for cutting logs into lengths before there were chain saws.. so actually they were the first chain saws..  oh ya, there's Kayda...
Better go, time to go feed the pack.. Kayda in the house, Levi in the back porch, Wynn, Dixie and Jackson in the shop... i promise i will be back soon.... S

new picture

How do ya like my new picture... it is a pin  that belonged to my Grandmother (who died when i was about 10)..Her brother had been in Africa during the Boer War, and he brought this pin back for her... our only family antique... the pin is made of gold... and it is real gold nuggets on the shovel handle and the blade... and the rope is gold, and i love the rivets ....
Life has been pretty boring around here since the spinning retreat... I can hardly wait for the spring retreat...we had a wonderful time, and everyone is looking forward to the 10th Anniversary in 2013... we need some good ideas on how to celebrate that...Toni came and spent the night, we had lots of good giggles..
Levi had a wreck two weeks ago... and we  have no idea how it happened... i found some blood on the deck and went to find him... he was in the dog house, someplace were he never goes.. as my Vet put it, he had degloved his penis... the skin was hanging off the end... he ended in the clinic for 4 days..it was surgery my Vet had never done before... but he is fine now... still try to keep him quiet, but he was jumping the fence with in a week... i would have thought that it would hurt too much to jump... he is going back tomorrow to get the stitches out...
Wynn did well with her first class at agility this past week... somewhere over the course, I hurt my knee, so i limped thru the run... by Sunday I could hardly walk, and have been gimping around all week... made an appt with the Dr for tomorrow, but the knee is back to normal to day, but will probably hurt it again on Saturday..we had two dogs drop out of the class, which i don't really mind as that leaves only 4 dogs in the class, where is normally 6 dogs...the woman who quit the class was a real drama queen... she was afraid that the dogs would fight.. one other dog and Wynn growled at her dog..but this way i get to run more... plus one woman is running 2 dogs, and then i get to run twice between her dogs... good class..
Larry got our back porch almost finished... just the inside needs to be finished..should have made it bigger...
I planted over a 100 cloves of garlic this week... just need to cover it with hay...hopefully that will help it keep from freezing...
Off to the food bank tomorrow... busy place these days...
I am almost finished spinning up some Merino and silk roving that i got from Smith & Ewe, in Kamloops at the retreat... very easy to spin, and a lovely pinky purplely colour...  got a couple of patterns that i am interested in knitting... anything as long as i don't have to SEW it together...  .. have a great day.... S
Matt is coming home next week...his birthday is on the 12 of Nov... my baby will be 31... he hated being 30, so i imagine 31 will be tough..  he just moved into a apartment from a basement suite..

Levi

Levi is now official retired from Agility Trials and training.  I know he is only 4 years old, but he just doesn't care for agility.  I have tried really hard to make him enjoy it, but no luck..My final decision was made at the 5 Star Trial,the beginning of Sept, he just wasn't interested, even the judge commented on his lack of enthusiasm

 . I think what helped me decide to retire him was training Wynn the past 4 months, she loves it and runs with great joy.  Levi was 18 months old when we rescued him from his 5th or 6th or 7th  home, it is always hard with a rescue dog, he doesn't know how to play with me or even the other dogs, and he has had so many homes you just don't know how he was treated.. It bothers me that i am giving up on him, but I am not giving him away, he is in his forever home, and he will spend the rest of his life on the Homestead with the rest of the pack..if he had had his way last night, he would have spent the night chasing bears... the dogs were wild and barking their heads off...Jackson barked for hours... Levi laid on the front porch and barked..he would have been gone if he had backup but Dixie and Wynn were in the house..

So now I will spend all my $$ and time on Wynn... wish i had a video camera and i would get someone to take a movie of her runs... last night i was messing up my share of the run... and the little witch was whining at me, telling me to smarten up and get with the program.. I had to laugh at her..she is so darn fast, we start the fall classes soon, in Merritt, so the gas cost gets cut right down.. i have to travel 90km round trip to get to the Summer classes on Iron Mountain..about 50 km round trip in the Winter... this is Wynn practicing her Zones. "2 on, 2 off" that is used on the teeter, the dog walk, and the A frame... front feet in the dirt and back feet on the obstacale..she has amazing " zones" .. She should be ready for trials in the spring...

this is the dogs water bucket.. filled with pine cones.. Larry must have emptied it 5 times.. he has a big orange box just full of pine cones..

These are the socks that i now own... the grey ones are made by the wonderful Sock lady, i asked for Grey as the main colour and every shade of pink she had... and of course she had to make them just a little wild with a dash of orange... very cool... and the green ones are one that Marg Sjorstrom made me for our FB exchange... she calls them Beaufort Sea socks.. fit like a glove.. will write soon.... hugs

finally summer

What a great September we have had... the weather has been wonderful.  Denise and I went to the Kamloops agility trial the long weekend, and we almost froze the first night, I got up put on my sleep pants, my socks and my sweater and was finally able to warm up..the days were beautiful, the grass was green (previous years it has been brown and dry and very slippery), but with the late spring and all the rain, I am sure they had lots of water in their well to keep the grass nice.  Levi was his putzy self all weekend,  the whistle would blow for over time and he would start running, or he would know that we were half way thru the course and he would start to run... even the Judge noticed it... so i made the final decision and I am retiring him at the end of September, I have paid for the month so will finish it... Wynn is doing fantastic, she has discovered that this new game we play is FUN...she is truly amazing, she does every jump with grace and a grin on her face, and clears it by miles...her weaves are getting awesome, last class she did 3 jumps in a row and made her entrance into the weave poles at a gallop...i was so excited that i stopped to reward her... she should be ready for trials by the spring.  My friends are amazed that she has only been doing agility since June..
I have been busy making jams and jellies... strawberry, raspberries, apricot, black currant, red currant, chokecherry (for my buddy Lynne, who can't pick berries and watch for grizzlies bears at the same time), and crab-apple jelly for my friend and my mother, and i just finished making "Lady Rose Relish" also for my Mom.. made half a batch and it still made gallons (well sort of)..wanted to do some black berries, but Larry is too busy, and it was his idea...  My crab-apple tree finally had some apples on it, so will make some jelly from them when they get a bit redder, and my Grannie Smith has some nice apples, so will do a couple of pies, and the DAMN squirrels have stolen my Peaches, i had about 24 nice peaches just waiting to ripen, the last time i looked there were only TWO left...little buggers...
Only a month until the October retreat, I will have to start spinning to make sure i haven't forgotten how..I also have a scarf that i have to finish for an exchange..got one done, just the final one to do...
Our truck is feeling ill today, Larry headed to the coast and it was running very poorly, so he came back to town and went with his friend... buying more JUNK...

this is Jackson after spending the morning chasing squirrels, and boy do they tease him... he hates being hot, and plays with the sprinkler or his wading pool.

this is our Levi the Putz... enjoying life at home and not having to worry about agility... i will still take him to classes just so he gets to go out with me..he is such a tough dog, so stubborn and strong minded, just like the Aussies..

I am also getting a new back porch, I cleaned the old one out yesterday and threw most of the junk away...and it was just junk... I am trying to take something to the Food bank every day... trying to declutter this shack...works well... i start a pile at the beginning of the week and by Thursday I have a few things to take...
Yankee was been talking up a storm and adds new words almost every day... his latest is "give me a cold beer",(we never have beer in the house), Morning Dear, Kayda's a porkchop, do ya want to go outside, and of course tons of words that i forget... I must write them down...take care will write again soon    S

whoopee "summer"

For a while anyway... it hasn't been too hot... just right, about 27-28 all day, and cool at night.. been busy picking raspberries, and black currants..never had so many raspberries, Larry put some of the "good Earth soil" on the bed, and they have really produced, plus the bee hive has fertilized all the flowers.  If i had known that i was going to have so many raspberries, I would  have made "raspberry vinegar" my grannie's recipe... 8 cups of fresh raspberries, covered with apple cider vinegar for a couple days, drain, and add more raspberries... ya do this a couple of times.. then strain and boil, a cup of sugar for a cup of juice... boil and then seal in jars... you use 1/4 cup juice in a glass of cold water and ice... it is so good, although the first taste is very vinegary, but by the time you are finished the first glass you want more...Currants have been very prolific too... nice to have the hive of bees in the yard.... we don't own the hive, our neighbour does, he was away for a month, the bees ran out of room and swarmed.. wish we could have caught them, but they were way up the tree...he will learn.
We have agility in the morning tomorrow, Instructor just changed it to morning, and I love the morning classes, Wyn did fantastic last week... we ran a full course, and she only made one mistake...she is finally enjoying herself, she knows when i put my agility runners on, and gets so excited..but she is so fast, the poor little girl will have to learn to work away as i can't keep up with her, and Levi is doing well too, he seems to be running faster and listening better, we will be going to a Agility trial beginning of Sept. long weekend.. Our instructor is have an agility clinic up at her place the weekend before... i have never been to a clinic, so it should be interesting..the instructor is Kim Gurr, well know in the agility world..she is going to the World National Agility trials in Europe...
We butchered the meat birds last weekend..they were a little too big, but nice and fat... we also got 11 turkeys the end of June, and they are doing well too. boy do they grow fast..Larry had to pick them up as i was away that weekend, so he has been looking after them...
Friend of ours have a Cerebral Palsy  son, and he has found me on face book, and has been trying to talk to me every time i get on it... he gets really bored, and so when i talk to  him so he is happy..i also send him funny jokes of the internet, and he loves that too... he is 14, he rides on his Dad's motorcycle with him..
Had a nice fresh salmon up at Steve and Clara's last night... very good, I ate a lot more than my share, love Salmon... Larry doesn't care for it, so I ate his 2nds' too.   They have 20 or 30 chipmunks up there... they are too funny, wish we had some down here... we have squirrels and they drive Jackson wild, this picture was taken a couple of summers ago... but he does the same... he even tries to climb the trees, but those darn squirrels tease him until he is frantic..
Larry got another old drag saw, he has enough junk to fix until he dies... guess I am the same, only I have enough wool to last me more than one life time... haven't done much knitting or spinning this summer... i guess i should get started again... Spinning retreat is very full. with a wait list..I can hardly wait for October.. have to get something knitted up for the show and tell.... have a great  day.... S

Summer is finally here

Finally summer has arrived, for a few days at least... how do ya like my opening picture... it was one that went around the internet years ago... always made me laugh...  L and i butchered 12 fryers today... 10 more tommorrow and we are done... didn't take us long... but we plan on starting early as the flies were driving me crazy...