Monday, April 19, 2010

The "Club"

I'm in. It's official.

I am a member of the Slocan Valley Thread Guild.

I'm pretty freaking excited.

I never thought I would be so excited to join a group of ladies three times my age....but oh the knowledge they have. When I told "JC" that I bought wool roving at a store in Nelson, she informed me that I wouldn't have to buy retail anymore....they have better sources! Oh JC, you had me at hello....sigh.

They own their own little building, which is totally adorable in a little dollhouse way, and inside is set up for dying and spinning, and there is a library of spinning information. I can't wait. The next meeting isn't until May though, so I better concentrate on something else until then! I'll have to get knitting on something fantastic to wear, since I already showed off my socks yesterday!

On Thursday, we got to see one of our favorite bands, Everclear! I couldn't believe they made a stop in our teeny little nearby town! Naturally, as we are as old as time, we both booked the morning off work to sleep in. Good thing. The concert was awesome, and so was my pillow.

So all in all, it was a very good week! Now, back to painting, we didn't get much done last week, and I have finally chosen the last color for my bedroom and the upstairs bathroom. It's called H2O for those of you who keep the Benjamin Moore Color Wheel on your bedside table.

Monday, April 12, 2010

New Do

I am quite pleased with my new haircut, so I am going to show it off on the www!

Yay! Pink!
Excuse the weird camera angles, I cleary do not own a tripod! Well, I guess I


do, but Madeline has trouble hitting the buttons on the camera.....groannnnnn.

Nice and short for the summer!

And since I have no new news since yesterday, I will share a picture of the lazyboys on a Sunday night!


Sunday, April 11, 2010

Cats with Knives

We were soundly asleep one spring night this week, when Dorian was the first to stir. Dorian was also the first to start raving like a lunatic. Then we realized he wasn't the only lunatic up that night. There was loud thrashing coming from the porch and my first thought was a bear. Or two. Maybe even three. Dorian and I rushed down stairs, while Madeline and Daddy rolled over and stretched out in the newly roomy bed. We turned the porch lights on and lo and behold, there was no bear, no raccoon, no dogs, no people and no deer. It was two cats. Not my cat, two huge tomcat looking freak of nature cats. And they were pissed. Going at each other up and down the porch. Earlier this spring, I had been hacking down some stubborn perennials with a big serrated knife I found in the garage, I had carelessly left it on the lower porch railing. And yes, you guessed it, one of these cats was wielding the knife! (Well, I'm sure they were before Dorian scared them). I definitely saw some paw fingerprints on the knife handle when I dusted it later on.

We eventually broke the fight up through the glass. We still aren't clear on what they were fighting for. Maybe for the love of Purla? Maybe they weren't aware that she is a really old crotchety lady? Maybe they were fighting for her condo? Who knows, they weren't that co-operative during our interrogation. What we do know is, a lot of fur was lost, Purla is okay, a knife was used. Charges have not yet been laid, Purla is considering the witness protection plan.

One of these suspects was spotted a day or so later, by Dorian, in the back 40. We let him give chase because less cat poo in the garden is better. And also the less cats I have to feed the better. We watched the cat circle the guest house and leap the fence and take cover under the neighbors deck. Dorian, as hound dog as hound dogs come, missed all of this, and spent a good ten minutes running in circles looking for the suspect. We had a good laugh, and continued egging him on. Where's the kitty!!!!! Find the KITTY!!!! He is definitely not nearly as agile as his sister/aunty, and didn't have a hope of even getting near the cats scent. I'm not sure we could even call it a sprint, it was more of a jog! Maybe a jog ten seconds, run for 5 seconds. He's in training with the running room, he said later.

There was other excitement this week....


The cowachin sweater is humming right along, I will probably get it done before I finish Tom's socks. It looks great. The model isn't so stunning, but it's a work in progress. Keep in mind, I am not making this for myself! Just have to finish the sleeves and the collar and then the dreaded part, putting it together and installing the zipper! Pooh. I always fear I will ruin the whole project at this point!


Here's the picture of the week, Dorian AKA Bubba. "Shrimp is the fruit of the sea."

Hey Bubba, how many ways can you eat shrimp???

Shrimp, shrimp scampi, barbacue shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp cocktail, pepper shrimp, lemon shrimp......

Monday, April 5, 2010

Happy Easter Monday

We had the pleasure of having a lovely visit from one of my forever friends for Easter! Unfortunately the Kootenay weather did not oblige and kept us indoors for most of the weekend, thankfully a little red wine and some yarn kept us fully entertained! Although she had a ten page paper to be writing, it only took a little arm twisting to force her to knit something for me! In a few short hours she made me this wonderful washcloth. The pattern does not show very well on camera, but it was very wonderful, and she even made little holes in it so you can hang it from a hook!
She is also a potter! One day we could share a studio and maybe even have that dreamy artisan sign outside our house on the highway. She made this gorgeous mug and gave it to me!

I gave her a quick lesson in spinning and she was spinning away in minutes! Good student and good teacher!

The other big event of the weekend was to visit the alpacas again. But they are all in the barns right now, as they are being sheared next week and if the fleeces are wet, the man will not shear them. So we said a quick hello, and didn't even take any pictures. It's always good to visit them and get a little reminder of what we are working towards!

Dorian wasn't quite sure what to make of his Aunty Jen, he even barked at her at first, which was a little shocking, so we had a good talk about that with our trainer yesterday afternoon. He turned the charm on later, we're not sure why he is having so much trouble with strangers. We wonder if it is part of living in the country and never seeing people very often. Lingy, however, just couldn't get enough of her, she was always sitting on, near, or in front of Jen! It was very exciting to be out of confinement AND have company! But she is back in confinement today, two more weeks to go.
Here's Dorian, what a sweet pea....
...or not....KILL THE POO!!!
Poor Maddy, resting, resting and more resting....

At least she can watch paint dry, there's lots of that going on!