WING

Did ya hear the purple birthday shawl hit the corner as i winged it off my lap… I have had it… i have been working steadily on the shawl for months..and for some reason the last week i keep making MISTAKES…damn yarn overs..can’t even knit a pattern row without making a MISTAKE… i decided to leave it in the corner and knit something easier… am knitting a very plain triangle shawl for my buddy who lives in the BUSH near Bowron Lake..no electricity, or running water… simple alpaca… and the guild has a challenge… a cowl.. for the Display that we are putting in the Art Gallery in October.. I wanted to make it out of some silk that i had Navajo plied..so have to ball it up and get started and give the purple monster a holiday…

the next day… never did get this finished yesterday… new meds i am on, make me tired the day after i take it…but they are making me feel better…got the cowl started, yarn isn’t great, as i was learning to Navajo ply..but i do like the colours… and will just have enough to make the cowl..

Jesse (grand dog) and i are off to another agility trial on Friday, we are going to Lavington..near Lumby, near Vernon…it is suppose to be the best trial all summer, and the weather looks like it will be good, not too hot, and no rain…they even have a huge pot luck supper on Saturday nite..hopefully we will get our Starters title this weekend.. took Levi to agility on Monday night and he is doing well, doesn’t like the tunnel too much… he goes in, turns around and lays down and looks at me…so we borrowed a squeaky toy, and he comes flying out of the tunnel looking for the toy…I think he will be good when he settles down and listens to me, which he does do, but he wants to play with the other dogs…it is a good class as all the dogs are the same height (which means they jump the same height) so we don’t have to change jump heights after every dog..and all the handlers have trained a dog before, so we can move along pretty fast..we have one more one day trial in Kelowna later on in July, and then none until September…there is a trial in Cloverdale in Aug, i am going to come down and take Mom and her buddy and youngest son Matt (if he can get the day off), to the trial and explain it to them… should be good for a laugh..i am sure i mentioned this before… anyone of my spinning buddies who would like to come too, are more than welcome..

better go, i am making ‘Caramel Corn’ to take with us tomorrow…and trying to everything organized for Larry… we had radishes and green onions out of his garden yesterday… carrots are finally up… we must have 12 rows of beets, he is determined that we will have pickled beets.. see ya soon………. hugs  Sheila and Jesse

 

Wild windy Day

Finally got the garden all planted..as i said Larry replaced the soil in the boxes..he did most of the planting, and isn’t really into planting… planted most things too deep… no sign of carrots, or lettuce… so i replanted them today… he wanted turnips, and lots of beets, so finished them off too… i also planted some bush sweet peas, which i just love…  makes me laugh when i look at the garden, for all the years he worked and i planted the garden, we never had a fences around the garden to keep the dogs out… first box he planted and the dogs ran thru, he put up a fence.. This is my buddy Clara..(card buddy), she is all dolled up for the Relay for Life last weekend.. here you can really see her great smile and laughing eyes.. believe it or not she is the manager of a local bank..we have so many good giggles together…

I had to go back and correct one of my blogs, Mom read it and she tells me that i am not 63, but 62, i know that, so i guess it was a slip of the fingers.. I talk to  Mom every morning, she is 83, and we started talking about 6 years ago when my Dad started to deteriorate..(he had Lewy bodies dementia), i would call her to make sure she was okay, she gets really bad migraines and i wanted to make sure she was well enough..She had both my boys there yesterday, Joe decided to go visit, and Matt was home with the flu so he came over too, so they all went out for supper and then a visit with the cousins… my poor boys have a total of 3 cousins (both sides of the family), and two of them are called Kerry, (Kerri-Ann)..They all  had a good visit, and Joe headed home around noon..

There is an agility trial in Cloverdale in August, and i haven’t been down to visit Mom for ages, so thought i would go down and take them to the trial, i won’t take the dog, but just Mom and her friend Ham and Matt, so i can explain to them how it works, and they can have a good laugh..somebody always screws up.. and we all laugh..anyone else who would like to met me there, i would love to see ya all…  take care and will write soon

Summer Day

What a beautiful summer’s day… sun, thunder, and showers, lucky no lightening..

I keep forgetting to tell you what the  Yankee BIRD is saying these days…i was sort of watching a movie last week.. while i packed my stuff for the agility trial.. we leave the TV for the bird for company…  anyway, this kid on TV was talking very seriously to a Myna Bird.. and the bird turns to the kid and says”Birds don’t talk”, well i could hardly quit laughing, so we started saying it to him, and by Monday, he was saying “birds talk” and by Tuesday, he was saying “birds don’t talk”…as clear as can be..Larry says to him in the morning, “chuck him outside”, which he also says…he is so smart, we have more laughs from him… at least once a day he makes us laugh…he know which dog is barking and yells at them… ‘Jackson, shut up’..’Dixie, get out of there’(the sheep pen), and ‘Levi, leave it’(he is herding the cat).. this is our lawn mover, Larry has been redoing the garden boxes, they had terrible soil in them, so he has been mixing sheep manure and some compost, and he started by wheel barrowing it over, it was so heavy that he decided to use the wheel barrow attached to the lawn mover, works good.. I keep hoping that some one will give us a “Quad”… but no luck.. he won’t let me take his picture of him and his tractor.. this is one of our meat pullets.. they are so cute till they are a couple of weeks old, and then they quickly be come the birds from hell these are the turkeys, only 7 of the 11 we were shipped… there are 4 laying hen chicks in with them, they say to put chicks in with the turkey poults as the chicks teach the poults how to eat and drink.. the turkeys were strutting yesterday… nothing funnier that 5 day old turkeys pretending they are big birds..will try and get a pictures of them strutting..have to figure out how to use the video on my camera so i can show ya them running around.. we use red lights, keeps them from picking each other… they are really starting to eat.. won’t be long before they are going thru 20 pounds of feed a day…

Had the card buddies over for supper and cards last nite.. Clara  had walked in the” Relay for Cancer” all night, and she was worn right out…so after a really great supper if i do say so myself… steaks and chicken done on the ‘barby’ a huge bowl of salad, and new spuds, and the last loaf of home made bread, lemon flapper pie (lemon pie on graham wafer crust) for the girls and chocolate pie on graham wafer crust for the guys..we played one game of cards and everyone was out of here by 9 pm… which was fine…

I had a cortisone shot in my hip on Friday…it has been hurting since Larry broke his leg two years ago, (started when i had to stoke the fire every nite, the bending did it)..it got to a point where i couldn’t turn over without waking up with the pain… Saturday and Sunday nite i slept all night, and had no pain…what a relief… Dr gave me 3 shots in the hip, promised me no pain for 6 months..

The guild is doing the International Knit in Public day on Saturday the 20th, we had the choice of the 13th or the 20th, we took the 20th as we thought it might be warmer.. we love sitting under the huge Elm to knit or spin… i am working on two projects, will take the simple one so i can sit and knit and talk..and some for display…

We are getting a bee hive next weekend… our new neighbour up behind us, has 2 hives, and would like to bring one down here, as we have more flowers..should be great for next year fruit.  They planted 18 trees on the long weekend… he has developed a solar system, that waters the trees 3 times a day..as they still live on the coast, but want to get the trees started.. a very smart man…hope it keeps working for them..they are much better neighbours than the original owners..who did everything in their power to make life miserable for the valley..

A very lazy day today… Larry sat in the Sun and read his magazines, i did two loads of laundry and knitted… Levi and I are off to agility tonite..the new dog food has really made him feel better, no more ‘farts’ at night… well one night only, and that was the night he got into Dixie’s supper..it is amazing that it bothered him so much..

The golden showers yellow rose is looking great… will take a pic or two of it today while the sun is shinning… talk to ya soon..

Guess i should

guess i should read my last blog before i start a new one… but then i did turn a year old this week..CRS….(can’t remember sh#t)

is the disease of 62 year olds..

@#$% sheep won’t come in last night, so we just left them out and hoped the coyotes were away… early this morning 5 am, they started yapping.. Levi goes galloping down the hall to see if he could see anything..nothing of course, we were just laying there listening to the coyote and Levi jumps on to the bed..to look out the window.. Got a phone call from Lynn who is on her way home…she was kind enough to stop by, and we had a light breakfast at ‘Timmies’..and a short visit…it was great to see her again..

Went to pick up the chicks at lunch… 4 dead turkeys in the box.. so i flew home and gave them all a big drink of water..the lady in front of me in the feed store had at at least 10 dead turkeys and some chicks too.. chicks are sure a lot tougher than the turkeys…pictures tomorrow… i am really tired to day… think i will need a nap…. hugs

Birthday Week

HI… well i am a whole year older this week…Sunday the 7th… nothing special just another agility trial in Kamloops, in a Baseball park on the way up to Sun Peaks, or as the locals still call it TOD Mountain… we lived in the area many many years ago, and i find it very difficult to call it Sun Peaks..Denise and I left a bit later than normal as she had company, we arrived about 5 pm…found a level spot for the Van…got our things moved over to the rings..had supper and then had to run the “cash Steeple chase”..we didn’t do anything.. although our instructor won $85 with her poodle..Our agility group did really well… Jesse and I did get another “Q”… time is always a problem for us…she didn’t have much speed this time around…Denise made me a birthday cake, and we shared it with the others…

Chicks come tomorrow… I can’t believe the chicken house is all finished this is the side for the meat birds and the laying hens and this is the side for the turkeys it is so nice and clean, won’t be long until it is a poopy smelly mess, and the cute little chicks are the “BIRDS FROM HELL”  .. Lynne is coming thru tomorrow, so we are going to have brunch.. she picked up my bobbins for the Woolee winder for my Joy..i can hardly wait to use it all the time… i only got one bobbin when i bought it second hand..and the shaft is too long, so not sure if Larry can fix it or if i will just make do with some shims.. Levis is doing good… I finally figured out why he had so many homes, (we figure we must be the 4th or 5th one)… he FARTS…he sleeps in the house in our room, and the farts bring you out of a sound sleep… he also started messing in the house… so i decided to change his food, so i bought some very expensive food… 70% meat and 30% fruit and veggies… and boy does it work better… he did fart again the other night, but he had gotten into Dixie’s dinner… so now we have to pick up the food that they don’t eat..I think the grain in normal dog food is hard on his stomach…We are doing well at the beginners agility classes Monday nites… the first two classes, he just vibrated.. he was leaning against my leg, and i could feel him vibrate..this past Monday, he relaxed, didn’t vibrate, and laid down and just watched the other dogs..he does well over the jumps and A frame and the dog walk, the tunnels are a little tough as he wants to walk on them… Australian cattle dogs jump on the sheep's back to get across them to the other side to turn them..so i think that is why he does it.. he is starting to get himself into a bit of trouble around here.. but i try to make him listen..he wants to work the cats, but we try to keep him away from them… He is really fast over the dog walk… i just have to keep him under control…

Larry went into town to get the windshield of the Jimmy replaced… it was so pitted, and had two bad cracks in it..it will be so nice to be able to see out of it… only a 100 bucks deductable..we deal with CDI.. 

The Fall Desert Mesa is completely booked..was the end of May, and we had only sent out the invites the beginning of May… makes us feel good that it is so popular…the guild is having our International Knit in Public Day on June the 20th… we took the later date to make sure the weather might be a bit warmer..we are going to Bailee House… and will knit under the Elm in the yard… I haven't done much knitting lately, i have to get this stole finished, as i have two more to get done by Christmas…  well, my dear friends i hope i haven't’ repeated myself too much..old age ya know…  hugs 

A great Agility Day

I thought this day started off to be a good day, spent half an hour writing up a really interested (i thought) blog, and the @#$% thing shut down on me… and as much as i love the “window live writer”, it doesn’t save itself automatically , so here we go again…

Denise and I had a great agility weekend.. left Merritt about 2 pm on Friday… took her little ‘Pip’ over to Christina (our groomer who just moved over to Kelowna), had a very nice Chinese dinner and head out to the camping spot next to the arena.. a nice quiet spot, other than the coyote howling and the pheasant calling in the wee hours of the morning.. and our little ‘Jesse’ thinks she is a watch dog and she has to bark..so we had a terrible night sleep… and were worn out on Saturday, plus it was hot…Jesse and I did okay, we ran our ‘Standard’ course..which consists of jumps, tunnels, chutes, A frames and a dog walk…(about 18 obstacles) to ‘Qualify’, or ‘Q’, you both have to run the course with no mistakes, and with-in a set time frame… First run, we ran clean and with-in the time.. I was delighted as i have been struggling with this part for a year now…Denise didn’t do as well, as the heat really bothers Pip..(he is Jet Black)..at day’s end we went looking for a camp ground..found one, was a little tough but clean, we were able to shower, which was the best part…  Sunday we went to a 2nd trial.. right in the park by the lake in Kelowna… beautiful park, so we parked under some lovely Maple trees.. so stayed in the shade all day… Denise did better on Sunday, and ‘Q’ in one of the games, as did Jesse and i… ours was ‘Jumpers’… it is a series of jumps and tunnels, and you have a set time to run the course… which in this case was 48 seconds..again there were about 18 obstacles.. and we ran the course in 46.35 seconds, so for those of you who know me.. that was a grand run.. this is “Jesse” coming thru the tunnel.. don’t ya love the grin.. this is the finished Chicken house from 2 angles, pretty fancy for a chicken house.. there are two inside pictures.. this side is for the meat birds and laying hen chicks and the other is for the turkeys, can’t believe it is all ready to go and the chicks won’t be here for 10 days… that man deserves a medal.. these are two 45 gallon barrels of manure tea… can’t wait till they start to stink

this is Jackson.. his feelings have been hurt lately.. not getting the attention he used too.. this picture is of  my currant bushes,(about half of them) mostly black, with about 2 or 3 bushes of red..

Levi and I are off to agility classes tonight.. sure glad we don’t do much in the beginners class… he was sure glad to see me last night.. you would have thought i had been gone for a month instead of 2 days… We are off again on Friday to a 2 day trial in Kamloops, on the road to ‘SunPeaks’… I have a friend who lives up there, so i called her this morning and begged a shower for Saturday night, and she very kindly said we could…

The Fall retreat is FULL already… seems to get full faster every year.. i am sure there will be some cancellation as there usually is… oophs… better go, it is our coffee time.. i go out and spend a half an hour with that man of mine… have a great day…

Belated Mother’s Day gift

One disadvantage of living so far away from one’s Mother is that you can’t spend the day with her… my friend Glenys has the same problem, so we decided to make a flying trip down to the coast on Tuesday last week, pick up her Mom, and then my Mom, and take them out for lunch, which we did… we ended up at the Olive Garden in Langley, had a good visit and a great lunch…Olive, Glenys’ mom is a real character, 91 years old and a real sweetie.. very bright and intelligent… she has a hard time getting around, but is very easy to talk to… her and my Mom Violet got along really well… i had to laugh at Olive she told Mom, that Mom had a happy face… I have never thought about Mom that way before..they both seemed to like each other..Glenys never did find the shoes she was looking for…but we had a good trip, although it did tire me out..i left home at 8 am, and got home at 7… and most of that time was driving.. in traffic that i am not used to… but it was a good trip..

Took Levi to our first agility beginners class on Monday, and he didn’t do too bad…considering that i have only had him 3 weeks, he was interested in the other dogs, and didn’t want to pay too much attention to me… but he finally relaxed, and wanted to play with his toy..he did want to bite my hands as we were going over the jumps, but i got the water pistol out and gave him a shot or two, and he quit biting..I figured out why he has had so many homes… we must be his 4 or 5th..he POOPS in the house…and has very bad gas…i feed him about 2.5 cups of food every nite, and i think the other night i must have cleaned up about 5 cups of poop, so he is not getting anything out of his feed… my son Matt feeds his little Min Pin ‘Orijen’ and he says she poops like a rabbit now… so i bite the bullet(the stuff is expensive) and bought him a bag, and started feeding him a cup in the morning and one at night… no mess last night, and NO GAS.  Have Jesse this week too as we had classes for her yesterday, and then we are off to two trials on Saturday and Sunday in Kelowna..she is always good, DIL told me that Jesse was sick for 2 days after our last trial, which explains why she did so poorly that weekend…i have put her on the ‘Orijen’ too, as she has bad breath..

Hopefully Denise my agility partner will be feeling better, she has very high blood pressure, and it was ‘stroke’ high for the last couple of days, she ran out of meds, and was having a tough time getting it back down..will call her later to day to see how she is feeling…

We have a huge flock of “Evening Grosbeaks’ this spring… there must be at least 50 of the little noisy birds..they are even using the bird bath..I fill up the bird feeders every other day… the humming bird feeders get filled every night… we must have at least 20 of those little darlings..

Larry has the chicken house finished, will get pictures of it today..and so ahead of schedule, he has two weeks left before the chicks come on the 11of June.. I have been thinking that he should build one for a little guest house..Mom might come more often if she had more room..and Toni and Isabel could come up before the retreats..and I think Matt would like to have his own cabin… will get Larry thinking about it…  although we would also like to put an addition on this mobile…just enlarge the living room..to make it a dining area and living room… and add more cupboards to the kitchen… I am so short on storage space..I don’t think i will ever win the LOTTORY..sure would have loved to win the 49 million..I am great at sharing…

I have been working slowly on the ‘stole’ for my friend and vet Liz, must not have been paying attention as i screwed up some where and had to ‘frog’ it back a couple of rows… also got the BFL superwash dyed… originally dyed it Magenta, but it was way too bright, so i added a bit of blue, and it is much better now… will also get pictures of it and the green merino and silk (from Isabel)(this one is for me… a lovely little jacket the pattern being the feather and fan) ..I am also taking the alpaca shawl i am working on for Heather to the trials, as it is just a plain knit so i don’t have to think about patterns..

I am off to Kamloops tomorrow, Dr appt and a bit of shopping… I was terribly upset yesterday, was out checking on my fruit trees, and my Ambrosia apple(loaded with blossoms) lay dead on the ground..Larry looked at it, and said it had heart rot..and we had had a terrible wind..or the dogs might have hit it… so i am going to look for a new one tomorrow…i love that apple… my Granny Smith apple tree is very scrawny, but is loaded with blossoms… will pick off some little apples when they show up…the weight will break the tree…. better go and get packed for the weekend… take care…