@#%& Dog

Anyone want a 4 year old Bouvier really CHEAP.... yesterday the yard gate was open and Jackson the Bouvier and Levi took off barking up the hill behind the property about 3 pm, no sign of them at 3:30, so i went looking for them, I got back at 4:15 and there was still no sign of them, Levi showed up at about 4:30, but no Jackson..it was so unlike him, he has gone walk-about before, but has always been home with in the hour... so Larry went looking for him today, and found him about 3kms from here, and he was in an absolute frenzy.. won't come to Larry and just won't settle down..Larry finally settled him down and put a leash on him... I saw Larry coming home and thought the worst as he had only been gone 20 minutes..but he had a very wet, tired, excited dog... right now he is laying in the living room dead to the world.. I had called the neighbours to see if they had seen him, and Peg told me that there had been a bob cat around, Jackson has a very good nose so maybe he was out chasing the cat, he has been frantic about the squirrels the last couple of days, and it is a full moon tonight... so i am sure all things combined he lost his mind, and forgot about coming home... it was so unlike him... but i am glad he is home

January 25-2010

Just where does the time go... the older i get the faster time goes... again it was a beautiful day, no sun, but nice and warm, we woke up to 1/2 inch of snow, just enough to freshen it up... and cover all the crud on the lawn... 5 dogs do make a mess...We had a great guild meeting last week..spinning, laughing and just plain chatting.. I am still spinning up some wonderful very fine Merino that i had bought from Andrea, it was 17 microns, it was sent to Canada in error, they usually save the very fine merino for their own use... I figured i almost had it finished when Andrea gave me the 100 grams she had saved for herself..what a sweet heart... I have put aside my Glacial Green jacket, as i am having a bit of a problem with reading the pattern, I think i have it figured, but i wrote to the author, i did hear back from her, but she didn't really answer my question... so i will wait another day or two before i pick it up again.. so i decided to spin up the merino from Andrea on my traveller... I have been spinning my orginal on my Joy, which i take to meetings..both being Ashford makes the spinning very similar..i do love to spin fine.. I got the pattern for Toni's birthday shawl... can't tell you what it is as she does read this occasionally..now just have to decide what fibre to use...  I have got a few more shawls planned as some of my friends are much younger than me... one in her late 40's and one in her early 50's, so i have decided that they won't have to wait for their 60th birthday.. as i will be too old to knit by then...
Yankee bird is doing well... he has learnt to say "Larry's a geezer"... just as clear as can be... did i tell you that Larry and one of our card buddies have major disagreements when we play cards... and their favorite gripe at each other is "a card laid is a card played"..well Glenys' hubby taught Yankee to say " A card laid is a card played, Glenys, ha ha ha"  and it is so funny as the laugh is Dave's newfie laugh... very deep and definitely Dave's laugh..
Agility started on Saturday with me about ready to retire.. really bad first run.. dog wasn't listening and i was in the wrong spot at the wrong time..i am the oldest one in the class, one is a teenager,(19), and the other two are in their 20's, and then there is me... ancient...with a beginner dog.... the only good thing is that i sort of know what i am doing... i have trained 2 other dogs, so i am not a beginner handler, just one with a bit more experience.  But Levi is getting better, we worked on some weave poles today, and he is getting faster, but we both slipped on some ice, so will have to wait till all the ice is gone.. Jackson has been chasing "Squirrels", have any of you seen the movie "UP"... and Doug the dog says "Squirrel" that is our dogs... Jackson stands up on the tree barking at them... and the squirrels just tease the dogs, they come down to 10 feet, and chatter at the dogs.. went to feed the birds today, and the squirrels have been getting to my birdseed, they leave me all kinds of things, just like a pack rat... this morning there were 'pine cone' clumps of dirt, pieces of plants, piece of plastic, and some stale pretzels that i had put out for them...and hunks of rope from the outside parrot cage..I know most people hate squirrels, but we don't, we find them fun to have around.. Yankee calls the one who lives here, "Squirrel Mackie"  we do have a dog called Mackie, but Yankee put the two words together on his own...well better go do some spinning........... S

OH what a beautiful day

HI... what a gorgeous day, above freezing, and i was able to have the front door open for a while today... so nice to have fresh air in the house... not doing any spinning as i am trying to get my jacket finished, almost got the back done, and then just the front to do... very easy pattern as long as i don't make a mistake... making a mistake on such an easy pattern makes me feel like a fool... but i am learning how to correct the errors without frogging it..
Levi and I had a good agility day yesterday, he is learning and is running faster although he still figures he know where he is going, he loves the A frame, the Dog walk and teeter... i got him to fly over 4 jumps and then thru a tunnel, and then the plan was that I would tell him 'tunnel' again as he was in the middle of the first tunnel, and he was to turn left and go thru another tunnel, but he does love the A frame, and he could see it as he came out of the tunnel, so he ignored me and headed for the A frame..then stood on top of it while i stood at the bottom... but he is learning... I feel that we aren't progressing, but my agility buddies come early to watch us, and they say that he is doing well... so i will try a couple of trials this spring.. and maybe only a couple of runs a trial... don't want to push him too hard... i need someone to take some pics of him so you can see him run..
Better go get supper organized, Joe is here for supper, we sure see a lot more of him these days since he and the spouse have separated..but i know he is lonely..we found the house a little crowded over Christmas with him and Matt hanging around for 4 days...it was okay when they were growing up, we got used to the extra bodies around, but now that they have been gone for 10 years, we have gotten used to just us here.. we live in an old mobile, would love a new house, but we do have a roof over our heads and it and the 10 acres are paid for... see ya soon

HAPPY NEW YEAR...  don't ya love my new picture... this is a pic of a Sewhet Owl, that lived in our barn a couple of winters back... should go check the barn to see if he has come back... might have to change it as it is really large.... hugs

Great Day but no Dinner

Dec 31... started writing Christmas Day, but never finished it... so here is what i wrote, then i will start over again..

Morning... had a lovely Christmas Day, Matt arrived Christmas eve... We were all up early, Joe had to work Christmas Eve, but they let him off early so he was here about 8:30, Larry and I had done the chores, so we opened gifts as soon as Joe got here... Lots of good stuff.. I got new boots that i wanted, and a fancy knife sharpener, an electric one that even sharpens serrated knifes.. and lots of gift certificates to WALMART... I know that isn't too exciting, but I wanted a pair of Prescription sun glasses and they are very expensive, but Walmart has a good selection of frames... so will end in to Kamloops soon to get them ordered..

 Dec 31.... We suppose to go up to friends for dinner... but as i was getting dressed, i decided that i wasn't feeling up to going out... stomach was quesey..so Larry and the boys went with out me... I was very disappointed, but would rather feel rotten at home then up at Clara's   so i had two pieces of raisin bread for supper... Matt's little dog drove me nuts, she is definitely a one person dog, and she was really stressed while he was gone... Matt and Joe went to Kamloops to a movie one nite, and she had calmed down nicely...
Anyway... it is hard to believe that tonite will be 2010... seems like it was just yesterday that they were saying the world would crash and burn when the clocks turned over to 2000...we made 10 years with problems...
We will be in bed by 11 tonight..card buddies will be over for supper tomorrow early, so we will play cards for a couple of hours, and then have a lovely Prime Rib with twice baked spuds, ceasar salad, brussel sprouts and peas and corn, and the a delious chocolate roll stuffed with REAL whipping cream and iced with a light chocolate icing..girlfriend had given me this recipe over 30 years ago with instructions never to let anyone else have this recipe... I mentioned it last time i saw her, and she can't remember telling me that, and that she didn't care if i passed the recipe on...all these years i had been so good not letting anyone have it..oh... guess we change as we get older..
Weather has warmed up nicely... Hens are laying very well, had 18 eggs one day.. i have a whole fridge of eggs... will take some to guild meeting, hopefully will be able to sell them all...
I messed up the other day and didn't drain the hose that we use to water the sheep well enough and then the prairie water tap froze, so Larry is trying to thaw it out...
Got my Finn all spun up... got 2500 yards out of a pound... now just have to decide what to make out of it... I have restarted the glacier green merino and silk yesterday...had to go up two needle sizes to get it the right size for my BIG hips...it is the feather and fan pattern done in a sleeveless jacket... hope it fits this time...
I got an email from a very good friend who taught me to spin 25 years ago... i h ave been trying to get Anja to start spinning again, anyway she told of me of this new lady that she met who is also trying to get her to start spinning again... are you ready for this... this new friend of Anja is known in their valley as "Rattlesnake Annie" and has run guys off her property with a 'shot gun'...  doesn't she sound like an interesting character... i would love to met her...
Better go and make up my baked spuds for tomorrow... we are playing cards early in the afternoon, so will have to have everything ready in the am... have a Truly Great New Year's Eve... please don't drink and drive...hugs 

FOG

Darn it, I hate fog... woke up to very foggy morning... don't mind it during the day, but really hate it at night... I feel like i have been dropped into a hole, the tempature has sure risen.. +2 this morning... can't believe the change.. 
I am off to Kamloops this afternoon for eye tests, 2 pm appt, but that means that i have to drive against the lights coming home after drops... oh well i can always put my sun glasses on... should be a quick trip... no shopping to do.. only one gift to buy... and it is an easy one, a gift certificate for the youngest son... he is so picky with his clothes that there is no way that i can buy him anything that fits or that he likes, so the family has decided to buy him gift certificates, that way he buys what he likes...he has very expensive tastes..
The hens are laying really well... think we have 17 hens (one died yesterday, she has always been sickly) and we are getting 14 eggs a day... we started feeding them hot mash which they just love...helps keep them warm..but Larry's chickent house is nice and toasty warm.. almost too warm...
Got a Christmas present from my cousin in Wales(we have never met in person) a cook book with Welsh reciepes, funny book, one half the page is in Welsh and the other half is in English... what a strange language (welsh that is) some very interesting pictures...
Oldest son Joe is off to the coast today, going to spend a few days with Grandma..I was talking to youngest son the other day, I guess Joe is driving him nuts, Matt says he likes it better when Joe wasn't talking to any of us..(pre separation days), but I keep reminding him that Joe is lonely now..he works 4 days and then has 4 days off..so he kind of moves in on  us on those 4 off days..I imagine he will be here over his Christmas days off..We are going to friends for dinner on
Christmas day... Joe wants us to stay home, but for years we never saw him but for a few hours on Christmas day, so we started sharing dinner with friends who were also alone..and it has gotten to be a tradition, so he will have to come with us... I will cook a turkey on Boxing day so that we have left overs...i will have to get Larry to cut one of the turkeys in half, they weigh about 24 lbs... too big for us... well had better get dressed and go feed the chucks...

MINUS -20C

Minus 20 C... sounds really cold but it is actually only -4 F... I can remember in our early marriage, we managed   -45 F with no problem... we had no running water so that meant no flush toilet so that meant putting on the pants, boots, parka, hat and gloves just to go for a pee at 2 am... lucky for me in those days I was much younger and my bladder much stronger so those night trips were few and far between.. That house had been a grainery at one time, it had wood shavings as insulation and cardboard (painted blue) on the walls... having a bath was a real chore... we had an old cast iron bathtub in a back room with no HEAT...so we plugged in a heater, and fill up as many buckets that we owned (about 6  i would think) we would have to go down to the hand pump, fill up two buckets at a time, pack them up thru 2 to 3 feet of snow, put them  on the wood stove, crank up the stove and wait a couple of hours.  By the time the water was almost boiling, the tub room was at about 30 degrees F..just around freezing.  you have got to remember that that tub was cast iron and it was cold... so now we had to move really fast...empty the buckets into the tub... the buckets must have held around 2 to 3 gallons, so you were looking at about  12 to 15 gallons in a tub that probably held 100 gallons, so you had about 4 inches of boiling water in the tub... it was too hot to get into, so then you had to rush down to the pump, pump two buckets of water, rush back up to cold tub room, very gently add the cold water and hope you didn't put too much cold in.. of course the cast iron really sucked up the heat... you had to have everything ready, hop into the tub, wet up, soap up and rise as fast as you could.. never washed my hair in the tub...took too long... so always washed it in the sink...We feed 150 cows a day while we lived there, and we went snowshoeing every weekend, no matter how cold it was..We lived there for 2 winters, and of course the spring that we left there, the owner put in a real bathroom...with heat... Summers were great up there, we rode on the cows almost everyday... cut firewood and sold it, dug earthworms for the fishing camp, and generally had a great time...

Gave my agiltiy instructor her 60th birthday shawl on Friday nite, and she was very happy with it...i was really happy with the beads.. It is the Swallow tail pattern..the fibre is superwash BFL.. which i really love... the colour was a bright pink that i didn't like so i did up a light blue dye pot, and overdyed the bright pink, then i was happy with the colour...

Sorry but i can't  download anymore pictures..dumb program... i really like the MS Live Writer, but it is acting up and keeps putting my new blogs in March 09 ... weird.. I emailed them a couple of weeks ago and still haven't heard from them...  better go and get my act in gear... even feed the wild birds this morning.. they weren't out of feed, but like to see a full feeder... see ya soon............