First time in my life

For the very first time in my life, i had stitches for an injury…i know at my age, you would think i would be more careful… Joe turned 33 (yuck) on Monday, and yesterday was his first day off… so he came over for his birthday supper… he wanted roast, roasted spuds, and Yorkshires..and we had garden peas/carrots, and beans, and i made him a chocolate cake…cooked the roast on the bbq…on the roisterer..so supper was ready, and i started to cut the roast… and went to cut the string holding it together… and the knife slipped and i cut my hand…about 1.5 inches below my little finger, well i bled like a stuck pig…it was only about an inch long,but i can say that i have never bled so much… and of course it won’t quit.. and was squirting… so Larry took me into emergency… (only the 2nd time in my life i have gone there ,nope i lied, the 3rd time..)..we got there at about 6 pm, I was the 2nd in line, and we didn’t get out of there until 8:30.. i would hate to have to go to ER down at the coast especially for something as simple as a cut …here our Drs take turns at the ER… so this one must have gone home for supper before he came down…it must have been 7 before he got there… the guy in front of me chopped his hand with an axe.. so he had a lot more stitches… only 3 for me…but never before in my life, even my boys never had stitches… a few trips to the ER. .Matt was riding his motorcycle up the hill and was looking back at his dust and he ran his knee into a tree.. and Joe too was there, but i can’t remember why he was there… hurt his arm i think… so Poor Joe had supper all by himself..don’t know what we were thinking about, but i could have driven myself into town… Larry could have stayed home, ate his supper while it was hot, and fed the sheep and dogs… but i guess he felt he had to look after me, as i looked after him for weeks, months and years…better go… Larry is going to teach me how to drive Joe’s Quad… hope i make it back alive…. Guess what, i made it back… only a short drive around the block… it was nice, it is a automatic, so i don’t have to worry about that..it is a beautiful warm night, with a very warm breeze..didn’t go to far, as it is Friday nite, and there is always lots of traffic on the road…i find it very hard to steer, but Larry tells me that the faster ya go the easier it is to steer… but 10-15 klicks an  hour is fast enough for me…. big chicken i am…

I am almost finished the birthday shawl for my friend, (our vet)…think i will really get it finished this week, it was her birthday last week… also found that another friend turn 60, so there is another one to do…  Jesse and I are off to a agility trial next weekend, just read on the “wild fire” site that there is a fire up there… hope they get it under control really soon…It is Larry’s birthday tomorrow… i bought him a digital camera that i gave him a couple of weeks ago, and a book on bees, and a jar of blueberry honey… if he is interested enough i will buy him a bee hive for Christmas..we will get it in the spring… i don’t eat much honey, but it is nice once in a while….  okay… better go do some knitting…. hugs

its me again

HI.. have a few minutes between batches of pickles…one more to do and then i just have to wash the floor… i can hardly move on it as it is so sticky..

Did 5 qts of dills, something i am not good at, but Larry wanted some, and then a batch of cucumber slices.. like bread and butter, but have onions and red and green peppers..

just went out and took a picture of a rose, a Don Juan climbing rose…just planted it this year… and it is lovely… i picked 3 for me in the house, and they are a lovely dark red, so thought i would go out and take one of the outside ones… and the colours is so different but the sun is shining on this one… they have a nice rose scent… hope it makes it thru the winter this is a lily that i bought, it was suppose to be pink… but was a lovely yellow, and the scent was very strong here is Jackson one evening as he and i were playing ball…the ball has a handle on it, he has had since he was a pup..loves his ball here he is cooling off after playing ball… he loves the sprinkler..it is a small sprinkler so he can stand over it here he is soaking ass wet..  we gave him another haircut the other day.. just shortened him up for the fall..will take a picture of him looking good… here is Larry’s garden taken a couple of weeks ago…had beans, peas, beets, cukes and pickling cukes… and spuds… but i was not happy with them… they were all mushy..anyone have any idea why or how to fix it… our new neighbour has put a bee hive down here… Larry loves watching them… we figure these are the young bees cleaning house.. this one is of the bees drinking out of the bird bath..they love it.. this is a little sparrow preening after a bath this is a picture of the smoke in the valley during the Brookmere fire… the wind has cleaned up the smoke, but there are a lot of new fires this weekend…  okay… enough pictures and must go wash the floor…. see ya

two days in a row

What a surprise… two days in a row… took Levi to agility last nite… he sure wasn’t with the program… there were only 2 of us, so we tried putting the jumps up to 22 inches which is the height he will jump when we start trialing(i hope)..and he just didn’t want to jump that high… i had to cheerlead him thru all the jumps… the A frame, dog walk and teeter were fast, but not the jumps, so we put it back down…i wonder if 22 inch jumps is hard on his shoulders as he is a stocky dog..it will be at least a year before we can put him in a trial unless he really figures it out…. Woke up at 4 am, with a stiff neck and a headache, got up and took some Tylenol, but never did back to sleep..took Jesse up to classes, but felt spaced out… and didn’t think i could run her, so the instructor did… she did okay, but i just had to come home..so cancelled my lunch date with Clara, dropped Jesse off and headed home… crawled into bed and slept for an hour… feel some better, but still a little spacey…got 10 pounds of beets done, only 3 qts… still have 10 pounds left to do… thought i would get more qts.. so i guess that i will have to leave the ones in the garden until they are bigger… better go get the other beets cooking… talk to ya soon….

Well Hello…. been a long time

It has been just too long since i had a minute to sit and write… don’t know where the time goes, but it flies, guess cuz i am getting old..

Just got back from the coast, left on Wednesday, and returned yesterday… wore my Mom out… she slept like a log the first two nights i was there…Thursday we were on the road from 10 am to about 3…i decided i needed to buy a good set of dog clippers, we had used the old set of cow clippers that we have had for a 100 years..18 inches long and weighted a ton, we used them on Jackson when he got his spring hair cut, and we used them again on Meg,(old border collie) last week… we used the alpaca head on her… and i hate to tell ya this, but i cut the end of her tail off…1/8 of an inch and boy did it bleed…we finally had to cauterize it… and she was so good..and she feels so much better… her hind quarters were all matted…i felt terrible, but it was an accident… anyway these new ones should be better, then we had to go into Cloverdale… and pick up my final cheque for my inheritance… they had sent me a cheque weeks ago, and i deposited it and when they decided that they gave us too much money, so they wanted 400 bucks back… i never got a letter about it, so i just waited, and i went into the bank on Tuesday, and the damn Notary had put a stop payment on the cheque, and they had overdrawn my acct by way more than i had in it…i was not a happy camper… anyway i called them when i was down there, and she had my cheque ready… to this date, i still haven’t gotten a letter about the mistake…i thought a Notary was suppose to make things easier… it took over 18 months to get our money..i sure won’t ever use a notary for my huge (giggle) estate…

Also went to Costco for a few things… and then of course we had to go out for supper… and oh my goodness the casino was right next door..so we spent an hour there… i played for over an hour on 20 bucks… that is fun…

I made supper for Mom’s friends while i was there… they never get to eat at her place as she finds it too difficult to do… so i made them chicken and spuds and spinach salad and frozen cheese cake… it was good… then on Saturday i took 3 of them to the agility trial..they seemed to enjoy it, and of course several of the dogs really goofed off.. one little Wheaton terrier had a great time, tugging on the chute, digging holes, and charging around the ring, and back and forth thru the tunnels..and of course won’t come back when he was called..at least he had fun..then we stopped and picked up some blueberries..they are huge this year… and very tasty…I left the coast a little earlier than i planed as there was a transport accident and they said the road was single lane.. so i left about 9 am, and then stopped at Wisbeys for veggies… they have such good prices… bought 5 lbs of peppers for 3.50… nugget spuds for 1.98 for 5 lbs..and 20 lbs of beets for Larry…that should be enough beets for him… so this morning i am cooking beets and washing jars, i decide i would also make a batch of blueberry jam…just for a change… also plan on going out to pick chokecherries for some jelly.. well i had better go and throw the laundry into the dryer… (i have been trying to get Larry to put me up a cloths line…) have a great day….

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