Rain rain go away...

Finally success. I have successful not killed a plant. My Rhodo is in bloom!

And there are lots more blooms to come.

I manage to get out there and snap a few shots in between the torrential downpours that are neverending around here.

Well, I have just spent three days trying upload some pictures. I give up. You win rain. You've broken my soul.

May Short

My, we have a lot of catching up to do!
Yesterday I made cinnamon buns for the first time. Big mistake. BIG ONE. There are none left today. None. I will not make that mistake again. Unless I have exactly 12 people in my house the would like one each. My icing kind of melted because I was really impatient, but warm melty icing on a fresh warm bun, good lord. Have mercy on me.

Two weeks ago, I attended my first meeting of the Slocan Valley Thread Guild! It was a wonderful evening! Everyone was very kind and welcoming, exactly as I knew they would be! I made a new friend even! There was a girl just a little younger then me, and I'll give you one guess what her name is. One hint : starts with a J. And my list of friends with the same name as me grows by one! She is an encyclopedia of knitting and spinning information and very talented! I am so excited to meet her, but then my happiness was crushed when I found out she is leaving in a few short days for the rest of the summer! But we did manage to get in one spinning and knitting date yesterday, my living room was yarn and fibre from one end to the next and it was heaven!

Last weekend I went to Vancouver to meet up with my mom and my sister and spend some time crying over pretty white dresses. I did manage to weasel in a trip to the yarn store (and Ikea of course, oh and Pajo's of course). It was a great store, we got to have a little tour of a hundred year old carding machine that was bigger then my bedroom! Surprisingly, there were very little safety checks in place, so we were thankful it wasn't running! The drive belt was longer then a car! And the drums could have easily carded an arm into some nice quilt batting! They actually use it to this day! It was crazy! Of course I bought some yummy fibre and a new bobbin for the Louet! And I persuaded my big sis to put a zipper in the cowichan for me, it would be all finished, but the collar doesn't line up, so I have to do a little reworking.

My new knitting friend convinced me of the good that comes from swatching what you spin, so I spun a little, tried her new technique of thwacking! And knit up some of my new fibre! I'm glad I did, I can see I need a little more twist, but all in all I think it looks pretty good so far!

Today we finally saw a inkling of summer, so we quickly mowed the jungle, aka lawn and planted the majority of the garden. It was even warm enough to get out the swimming pool and Madeline gave Dorian some swimming lessons. We also bought Dorians first life jacket this weekend, it's really nice, but the one strap covers up his little dong, so I will have to do a little sewing. Dusted off the patio furniture and cleaned the porch! Phew, starting to look good out there. It even looks like we might get a bloom out of the Rhododendron we planted last year! I was very jealous driving around Vancouver, they were in full swing there, so I have been talking very nicely and I can see a little smudge of pink under one of the buds!

(PS mom, I set up the little bistro set over by the hammock, looks really cute there!)

And the may long weekend comes to a close for another year...

Happy Mothers Day!

To all the human mommies and all the fur mommies. I guess fur mommies are still human, so that didn't make any sense. Happy Mothers Day anyways! Hugs and Kisses especially to my mom! Dorian got me up nice and early around 6am! I think he was excited to give me his present, some really nice fog! So I followed him outside and we took some pictures. It was a little unsettling, so early, so quiet, and possibly some rustling of a wild animal somewhere out of sight!

Apples in the mist...

The Saskatoons are in full bloom! I am so excited. When we moved into this house, I couldn't believe my eyes in the spring to discover I had saskatoon bushes growing right in my own yard! And if we venture out behind the property to the power line right of way, there is an endless amount and us and our buckets! The first year we couldn't get enough! But last year the crop was really poor and I don't think I got enough for even one pie. It was so disapointing. When I saw the flowers in bloom yesterday, it was very exciting. I don't remember there being so many flowers the other years! It's going to be a bumper crop! Pie anyone? Perogies? Jam?

Countdown to July begins!

I finally got started on the paint in the bathroom, Benjamin Moore H2O. I have only done one wall and to be honest I am not to happy with how the color came out. It was not the calm soothing spa like blue that I was going for. It was more of an Easter Egg blue. But when you buy Aura, it's an expensive pill to swallow, so I am going to carry on, maybe it will look better when it is all done and the tape is down. If not I will paint over it. I took the picture of the corner, so you could all remember the minty hospital green it was before. I'm not sure if this is any better!

Oh, and that rustling I thought I heard earlier....

I'm not crazy after all!

Green Sleeves

We spend our first good evening working in the yard last night! Weeding is in full swing, and the lawn has been mowed twice already! My seeds, ordered back, waaaay back in January, have finally arrived. If the rain stays away we will rototill and plant this weekend!

The pups were so thrilled to be running around outside all evening, especially since Ling has officially been released from bed rest! Dorian stopped to smell the tulips, in between barking insanely at the lawnmower. I tried to get a picture of their green paws!

It almost appears that Dorian is no longer the little brother! He actually is still a little bit smaller then her, with a slightly larger head!
Here's a better shot of Madeline holding up her green hands!

Sort of!

We spent hours outside! When we finally came in, exhausted and thirsty, we realized it was only 7:30! My goodness, we need to work on our gardening stamina! Well I should say me, Tommy continued mowing the weeds for another couple of hours. It worked out well though, I had some knitting to do!

I finally finished Tommys scappy socks, meant to use up little bits of yarn leftovers. I don't think I actually used up any though! They fit a little weird because of all the different size yarns, but hopefully they will get better after a few washes! The sad part of these socks is that they were almost completey knit during work hours, which tells you just how busy we were in April! Yikes, good thing there's yarn to get a girl through the day!

The cowichan is on the home stretch, just the collar is left to be knit! Hopefully I will finish it off this week!

Today is our last puppy training for the summer. We could have continued on with agility, but with Maddys knee and that fact that classes are moving outside into the heat, it is not a good option for us. So we are taking a well deserved break! We did pretty good, we made it to level four obediance in one year!

And one last exciting news! I am finished paying off one student loan! FINALLY! One more to go!

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.

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!

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......