Hot, Hot, way too Hot

What a terrible hot summer we are having.. oophs that reminds me… got to go change the sprinkler on the veggie gardens… be right back…(3 hours later)… forgot i had started this… read Louisa’s blog and she mentioned dehydrating cherries,… good idea, i had a bowl of soft cherries… hate soft cherries…like nice firm ones… so i cut them up, don’t have a cherry pitter… and put them in the dehydrators… filled the whole thing up…

L and i have been up early.. 5 am… and started butchering the meat birds… got 32 done yesterday and today… took longer the first day, as we weren’t into the swing, today we finished an hour earlier..so we are getting faster…not sure how as my hand was really sore.. well the thumb… put some emu oil on it, and that seems to help..nice sized birds… they are averaging about 4.5 pounds..very nice looking..they are only 7 weeks old… just have 11 left to do, lost 10 over the last 7 weeks..so will be up early again in the morning, but should be finished in an hour or so… and then just the clean up..it takes me a couple of weeks before i can eat chicken again…keeping 25 for ourselves and selling the rest to friends and family… will see how they like them…might do more next year…will get them earlier next year, probably in April and have them in the freezer in 7 weeks… then the summer is free…

Larry’s garden is doing well, we had beets and beet tops last night… things are a little late as we changed the soil in the boxes this year…. beans are blooming.. peas are getting there, cukes are flowering, and of course the zucchini are growing..I pick about 2 cups of raspberries a night… i need to start on the currants… have black and red ones, and i prefer the red jelly, but not enough this year… so will have to settle for the black… might try and dehydrate some as Mom really likes currants…the branches we put in for the peas to grow up have sprouted, all 6 of them… they were just plain old willows, but we need extra trees around here as we have to cut down the bug killed pines…sheep need shade, but they also like to eat them… got the fibre spun up for the show at the art gallery..got 600 yards from 250 grams… will take a picture as soon as my batteries are charged. 

My columbine as gone wild in their bed… they bloom all summer long..and smell quite nice too… better go charge the batteries… think i need to get some new ones, these ones don’t seem to hold a charge anymore…. have a great day, and drink lots of water…. hugs

What a beautiful Day

What a truly beautiful day… slept in this morning… both Larry and I were awake at 4 AM..not too sure why, but he got up about 5, and i stayed in bed, finally fell asleep about 6, and woke up at 8:30…it has been ages since i slept in that late… I usually phone Mom at 8, so i was a little late this morning… got my coffee and sat out on the deck and phoned her … it was a beautiful morning… finally got out and feed the chicks at 9, they are growing so fast… we have lost quite a few… about 5 or 6 in the last two weeks… no idea why… could be the heat…they don’t do well in really hot weather…that is the main reason i get them earlier in the year, usually about April, and then they are in the freezer by the end of June..but we had to wait for the new Chicken house this year… turkeys are doing okay… we have to get them moved soon… they are getting too big…

I have been picking raspberries from my small patch.. and there is lots left to ripen…  Larry’s garden looks good… he is too funny, he checks it out several times a day..also checks on the bee hive… yes Gail, i plan on checking out the Bee place in Cloverdale when i am down in August, will buy him a book to answer his many questions about bees, they also have classes during the winter, so i am hoping that he will go down and stay at Mom’s to take the classes…someone has to stay home to look after the critters…

Yankee bird is talking up a storm, he is out on the deck in his summer cage… a friend of ours (one we play cards with) started teaching him to say “ a card laid is a card played”..Yankee has got it down pat now, he even laughs like Dave after he says it… Dave has a very deep voice, and his laugh is very deep…so now Yankee says “a card laid is a card played, ha ha ha ha…”  makes us laugh every time he says it..we are not playing cards this weekend, so they will have to wait to hear it…he is trying to whistle the commercial for Toyota.. they whistle ‘what the world needs now is love’,he is working at it… neither Larry or I whistle so we can’t help him…

Well i had better go do some spinning, we are having a Show in the Art Gallery in October, and we decided to spin up skeins for sale..I am spinning some fibre from Andrea… ‘Paua’… pink, blue, green, and teal, and light blue… I don’t like to spin a mix, so i have separated it into colours… should be interesting when i ply it…this will be our contribution to “International year of Natural fibres, or what ever it is called..  have a great day….

Where did summer go

Hi…. just where did the warm weather go… it stayed warm last night, but the wind is blowing today and the temperature is the same..cool…

Jesse and I went to our last  summer trial on Saturday in Kelowna, and boy was it HOT… we ran a team run with Denise, we did okay, but Denise and Pip messed up… but team titles are hard to come by, so we will keep working at it..then Jesse and i ran a Snooker run..that one is like the pool game snooker, a red jump then another obstacle, and then a red jump and then another obstacle… you have to have 37 points… and lucky for us we got 39 points… i was just happy we ‘Q’ed, i am not good at this game..bet i have run 8 games of snooker, and just haven’t had enough points…Denise wasn’t feeling good, and Pip hates the heat.. so we left early.this is PIP.. .and then on the way home, that @#$% SUV heated up coming up the hill out of Kelowna… so we stopped let it cool off, made it another 15 K and it heated up again… we finally made it over the top and then it was down hill all the way home… took us 3 hours for 1.5 hour trip… Larry has taken it in to get it fixed… they figure it is the radiator…we had a real hassle with it over Christmas, but we figured it was fixed… seem when we put the AC on that is when it heats up… hopefully they will finally get it fixed…i hate it when my transportation isn’t dependable…

Garden is growing, slowly, but finally growing.. beets are all tops, so think i will thin them and have them for supper… our new Neighbor brought down a bee hive last weekend and he was down checking on it yesterday, says it is doing fine… Larry spends hours watching them..think i will get him a gift certificate for a hive for his birthday… it will take a year or so to get it producing, but the fruit trees should benefit..I took bee keeping classes 35 years ago..and he keeps asking me questions that i have no answers too… so will buy him a book, and see when their bee classes are over the winter, and send him down to learn bee stuff…

We had a guild meeting at Andrea’s last week… we are having a show at the Art Gallery in October, so we had to make some decisions… (what a bonus having Andrea live in our Valley, we have our own personally store)…we decided to spin up some skeins for sale… and put them into 100 yard skeins, and then supply patterns for 100 yards of yarn.. only problem with October is that it is our retreat weekend..but there are a few girls not going so they will babysit the display that weekend…sun is finally shining so i will go thin the beets and carrots… talk to ya soon…….. silk

Happy Canada Day

This is ‘JESSE’  ADC  (agility dog of Canada) we finally Qualified in 3 legs of our Starters Standard… so now we move up to Advanced.., we have two more legs in games, Snooker, which i am not good at.. and then we have our Starter Games title..We went to Lavington, near Vernon, a truly lovely park.. huge Maple trees, and lots of green grass..we parked in a far corner under the Maples.. there were 6 RV vehicles of us camping out there..we had a good time.. spent Friday evening visiting, and then we all had a great day on Saturday, and the Dog O Pog O Agility group(organizers) had a pot luck supper on Saturday nite… we didn’t stay long, as none of us slept well on Friday nite, we never do the first night away..the weather was great, and we all did well…

We have had some sad news, oldest son and his wife are separating..they have been together 8 years, 5 married… a real disappointment..but it is their life… mind you he has phoned me every day since he made the decision, he must need someone to talk to… Youngest son Matt is coming up for supper tonight…3 hour drive for supper, can ya imagine… he is bring his cousin Kerri Ann for the drive..had hoped for a quiet day today… but it will be good to see them both..

Chicks and turkey poults are doing fine… growing like weeds, we will move them on Friday as Larry is away tomorrow… that means i have a whole day BY MYSELF… whoopee…not sure what i will do… just stay home and spin, knit and spin some more…better go and get living room vacuumed and the bath room cleaned up….talk to ya soon…….. Sheila

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..