Barbara's Spot on the Blog

Cat Bed

2010-06-26T23:50:00.002-04:00

I read in one of my weaving books that you should loosen the tension on the warp when not weaving. So I did.

I read that sometimes cats would find the weaving project a nice place for a nap.

So I covered it with the weaving shuttles.

The cat just shoved them aside.

I surmised that the warp wasn't loose enough and that if I make it really loose that the cat would find it too unsteady to sleep on.

I was wrong.

I had created a beautiful and very comfy hammock.

Strawberries & Cream or Pink Fluff?

2010-06-06T00:44:00.005-04:00

Maybe candy floss would be a more appropriate name to describe this celebration of the colour pink.

This is my latest weaving project and my second to put on the loom.

The photo is of the warping mill. It came with the loom (used) that I bought a few months ago.

It's a very simple system that helps when making a warp. It keeps all the yarns from getting snarled and helps to measure the length of each strand.

Once the yarn is tied on, the mill is turned around and around, something like a windmill, with an easy flick of the hand. My shoulder joints certainly like that idea.

The plan is to make 3 shawls one for myself, the others for my mother and sister.

Currently I'm in the process of "dressing" the loom (stringing it) which I'm fitting into the evenings in between various other chores.

When I'm not working on it though I have to tuck all the ends in and cover them to keep the cats from playing with this lovely bit of string.

This spring has proven to be especially busy with work, hobby beekeeping and gardening. I'm really wishing there were more hours in the day so I could do more. An energy boost wouldn't go astray either!

All are doing well, cats and Jeremy squirrel. He's living in his home made house which he really likes.

Warp and Weft

2010-04-17T16:14:00.005-04:00

"Weft goes left". At least that's how I remember it.

Here's my first official weaving project that is something useful.

Just in case you're not sure what it is - it's a scarf.

I'm quite happy with it.

The warp (the strings on the loom at run north and south) is a navy blue wool.

The weft is a denim coloured wool. It's roving from Northern Lights that I spun on my spinning wheel.

It was interesting to see the fabric's finished look as the yarns were combined to make the cloth.

The homespun is a much lighter blue so I can compare to see how much the navy of the warp changed its final appearance.

This project took me (a beginner) about 2 days to make.

That estimate includes making the warp, dressing the loom (stringing the loom) and then weaving the project.

(Photo - the weaving is done and the threads have been cut at the back of the loom, loosening the tension of the warp).

The happy dance at the end was only about 30 seconds :)

The only good part about our weather turning cold and more spring-like is that now I can wear the scarf.

Wishing and Wondering

2010-04-16T22:38:00.000-04:00

I was sitting quietly in the back yard on a warm and sunny afternoon. Spring was blessing us with a few unusual warm days and I've been very much appreciating them.

The children who live behind me were all outside and I could hear their laughter while they played. Some of the children must have gone inside and one child remained outside.

Suddenly the air was filled with loud singing. This child, I guesstimated to be about 6 or 7, had burst into a spontaneous made-up song.

I smiled.

Such unabashed joy and hope were so strongly felt that she couldn't help herself but to express it.

I remembered I used to do that too. I particularly remember one afternoon in the barn at Grandpa's that I sang Jim Jimmeny over and over (from the Mary Poppins movie). I sang it while I attempted to balance on the edge of the manger and walk the whole distance of about 8 feet with my arms stuck out sideways. I just loved that song.

I asked myself what had happened to me. To us adults. Why can't I suddenly burst out into spontaneous song? (Why do I feel I can't?) I guess I grew up. And I fear 'men in white jackets'.

But listening to that little girl I couldn't help but let go a few tears, remembering and regretting growing up maybe a bit too much.

Another New Hobby - Weaving

2010-04-15T10:14:00.000-04:00

Oh I've been busy!

Spring has sprung and all the little jobs spring up just like the tulips and crocuses.

My honey bees have been busy flying and I've been tending to them - spring feeding and taking their winter hive wraps off.

Between getting the taxes done, Red Cross training courses, a really bad cold and some other mundane must do's I managed to take weaving classes... and I purchased a used loom.

Her name is Fanny. She's a Leclerc loom made in Quebec and she's now resting, her maple wood polished to a high shine, in my living room. I think the loom was made in the 1970's, but I'll get more details on that later.

For now, I have a new vobulary, breast beams, beaters, shuttles, heddle hooks, and other parts of the loom. Then there's the different weaves you can make, the plain being a Tabby, the most common a Twill and my favourite so far, the most difficult called Broken Herringbone.

For the classes you learn to make four coasters.

Thoughts of coasters don't really get me enthused a whole lot but when I realized that the purpose behind the four coasters is to learn the four basic weaving patterns, I realized the method behind the (boring) coasters.

We used table looms for the classes and they're really nifty, portable too.

The final part of the class is the fun part and that's when you get to really make something.

I'm not big on table runners so I opted to make a scarf.

Hopefully my loom will be up and running in the next week or so.

I plan to make lots of blankets... maybe even some cotton curtains for my garage.

For the scarf I'm making in class, I'm using my own homespun wool.

How is your spring going? What projects have you been working on?

In the Lap of Luxury

2010-04-14T17:52:00.000-04:00

It took my Dad most of the day to design and make it.
I evicted Jeremy squirrel on a warmer winter day but I knew he'd be intent to get back into the garage. After all, he'd spent considerable time making a home there in the roof joist.

He'd carted dried leaves to use as bedding. He snooped through the garage and found plastic shopping bags. These he chewed up to make soft bedding.

Then he committed the ultimate crime and stole the curtains over the garage door window. I'm sure he couldn't resist the cotton fabric.

But Jeremy was chewing the wood, probably to make his home bigger and he couldn't be allowed to stay and create damage. So he was nicely evicted.

When Dad heard his plight he opted to help. If Jeremy could be happy with a home elsewhere he'd stop trying to get back in the garage.

So Dad made him a house. Not just an ordinary house. No, this house is lined in carpet and cut to size. There's enough room for a tubby Jeremy to sleep in a whole bunch of different positions.

I set the house up and it took about 2 days for Jeremy to move in.

Now he rests in the lap of luxury - scraps of sheep's wool, alpaca fibre, leaves, straw and best of all, the garage curtains.

On this sunny afternoon Jeremy was trying to sleep but a talkative neighbour next door kept waking him up. He'd poke his head out and lean out of his doorway to see what was going on.

I talked to him to ask him what he was thinking.

He sat back down inside his house and pulled the door closed - see the photo where he pushed the sheep's wool up to cover the doorway.

Alpacas & Ducks

2010-02-14T22:32:00.003-05:00

Last year's babies are still with their mom's at the Ziraldo's alpaca farm.

I dropped by for a visit and to help walk the alpacas.

[Sorry, this post from back in the winter didn't go live so I'm posting it now.... but since we've had such hot weather I can now view the snow thinking I'd like to stick my sweaty feet in it....]

We put halters and four of them and lead them down the driveway and around the house, making the circuit 4 or 5 times until they relaxed and got used to being lead.

It was a cold and windy day but it was still nice to get outside and get some fresh air.

As we stood at the fence the alpacas, though shy, couldn't resist coming over to sniff us, especially the alpaca scarf that I was wearing.

After getting home and looking at the photos I always struggle to remember all their names.

Their fibre is unforgettable. About 4 inches thick, you can part it with your hands and see the lovely crimp and the warmth of the animal underneath.

They certainly aren't cold outside in the snow.

The males must be kept away from the females because they would constantly be wanting to mate with the females, or fighting amongst each other.

They've got lovely eyes, that are very large and dressed with long lashes.

At the Ziraldos, everyone is well taken care of.

Even the ducks have a heated water dish and a home, er a dog house.

Progress ... at a Snail's Pace

2010-02-11T18:11:00.007-05:00

A few days ago I had an unexpected opportunity to evict Jeremy squirrel.

The day before I heard him gnawing on the wood inside and I knew that it was time to get him out. He wouldn't deliberately make trouble and do damage, but a squirrel's teeth are like a rabbit's and never stop growing. He's got no choice but to chew on things to file his teeth down and that can make for some real damage to the real estate.

I'd entered the garage when he wasn't in his nest and caught him by surprise. As I approached I climbed the ladder he was hiding behind which left him not much choice except to go down to the floor and then out the cat door.

I had been thinking how to get Jeremy into the new squirrel house that dad built for him. That way when he was evicted he'd have a place to go. The house was too big to attach to a tree and the ground was too frozen to have a pole put in. I did a little brainstorming.

This is what I came up with: The squirrel house stuffed with alpaca fleece, angora fibre combings and a few sheep's skin scraps I had on hand. Then I bungee corded the whole thing to the top of my ladder. Then of course I seeded the whole thing with peanuts, one on each rung of the ladder, a few on the stand and two or three lobed inside.

That should be a real luxury for a squirrel that was living in a nest of leaves and chewed up plastic bags... and one set of cotton curtains.

When I got home that evening, all the peanuts were gone. No one has moved inside yet, as far as I can tell without disturbing it. Time will tell.

Other progress is my knitting. The Heather Hoodie Vest is coming along but slowly - a row here and there in between other projects is about all I can accomplish. The pattern has cables and it's pretty easy to follow, no complaints.

I haven't mastered the technique of reading and knitting at the same time. At least not yet.

On the kitten front, Whisper has been adopted and the family is very happy with him. George is still waiting for adoption but in the meantime he's enjoying the other cats in his foster home.

I still miss them all very much.

The Heather Hoodie Vest

2010-01-16T19:06:00.007-05:00

I've always loved jeans and denim. I always will.

So it wasn't much of a stretch to fall in love with this roving.

These shades of gray and blue will go with just about anything. I just love the winter blue sky colour blended with the white and darker blues.

And we've had lots of the blue up in the sky lately while the ground is covered in snow.

It's Northern Lights roving called Icy Winter sold by the company Louet. It's sheep's' wool top and it's lovely to work with on the spinning wheel.

The project I'll knit with it is the Heather Hoodie Vest that was originally in the fall issue of Interweave.

I bought the magazine that it was listed in which I see is now sold out at Interweave. If interested, you can also buy the individual pattern on Ralvery.com.

I used to knit 10 sweaters a year and now I can't wear them. It's not just the weight gain, it's the hot flashes. That's where wraps and vests come to the rescue. They're not so hot and yet they keep you from freezing.

(I'm also currently knitting the February Lady Sweater with the roving Picasso from the same company).

The challenge this time for me was to spin it as a bulkier yarn. Most of my spinning lately has been for finer yarns for lace shawls so this time when spinning I had to relax more and let go.

No problem. A glass of wine can help with that too :)

How the roving is painted will often determine the appearance of the spun yarn so I made sure to show photos of the roving prior to spinning.

I did a double ply and my Wraps Per Inch is about 11 so it's not a true bulky yarn. Currently I'm knitting swatches to try and get gauge so that I can begin my project.

My spinning method is really a mix between worsted and woolen, but probably leans more towards worsted.

Before I spun my own yarn I never did gauge swatches. Instead I bought the yarn sold by the pattern company or I had the yarn store help me get the substitute yarn.

Now I need to check that the yarn I've made will work for the the intended project.

Picture here on my spinning wheel bobbin is the single ply of this yarn.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with. I don't even care that the cables in the vest won't show up so well with a variegated yarn.

I can see myself also making a shawl or hat from this yarn because the colours are so nice.

I never got tired of spinning this one.

Three Little Kittens and One Heart Lost

2009-12-29T01:11:00.007-05:00

Three little kittens and one lost heart. Mine.

Tragedy took their mother when they were three weeks old and then I stepped in as Mom. I didn't ever have children but these little fluffs quickly became my fur babies.

It's so true that kids change your life. Even my blogging decreased significantly while I played Mom.

They were sick. They got better. They got sick again. They got better.

The roller coaster went on it seemed forever. Finally, Whisper and George seemed to turn a corner and gained weight. Little Angel, always the tiny one, struggled to flourish. He didn't give up on himself though and never did we.

Last week though a couple other cats in my home got sick. Because cat illnesses can be so contagious we didn't want to risk the kittens getting sicker. So we moved them to another home.

It was a sad but wise move. Now the house is much quieter. The cats remaining are recovering with medicine and soon the house will swing into a routine, a much quieter routine.

I wonder what it will be like to not have my faucets licked right before I need a drink? How will I sleep without little bumps wondering around under the blankets at 5:00 a.m.?

My little fur babies have moved on and so must I.

I'll take a break from more fostering for a while, just to let us all settle down and to get any illness firmly behind us.

I'm sure the adult cats are sighing with relief.

Reports are that they are doing well in their new foster home. I will be fine too now that I have a lot more free time... it's just taking a while for the heart to remember to let go....

What the Heck?

2009-12-24T22:25:00.000-05:00

Okay. Remember the other day when I said the "truth is stranger than fiction and I believe it" statement? Uh huh. I remember it too.

So this one is going to blow your mind. Well, it blew mine.

It's Christmas eve and I get home from my usual work day. Finally I get to my emails and there's a message from my Dad. The subject: What Ever Happened???

I open the email and read.... then I sit back? What the heck? I went outside to confirm. Yep, Dad was right.

He'd been to my house earlier in the day to drop something off and noticed something not quite right. Something was missing.

If you look at the photo above you'll see on the left is a black metal pole. At the top of the pole is a wooden bat house. It's been there for about six or seven years. The pole sits inside the hollow part of an old lamp post - about 4 feet of which is still there.

The email was asking where my bat house and pole had gone, including the lamp post because they were no longer there.

I went outside and checked. Stolen? Whatever for and why? Prank? Seems like a lot of work for a prank.

The lamp post has been cut off at the ground. None of the parts appear to be around. Dad says people are stealing steel right now all over the city. Really?

That's just weird although I'd prefer to think someone valued my bat house and pole rather than just vandals running off with it.

We know it was there 3 weeks ago so this 'crime' is recent. I have to wait for daylight now to look at little closer.

Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Jeremy Squirrel - Who Exactly Is the Boss Around Here?

2009-12-21T07:30:00.002-05:00

There's a saying: If you can't beat them, join them.

We're hoping we've resolved the Barbara vs Jeremy debacle, especially since Jeremy was kicking my butt and winning the battle.

So I called Dad for help. He made Jeremy a Squirrel Condo, lined with nothing less than carpeting. It sits in my kitchen waiting for a couple coats of paint.

We're hoping that Jeremy will be so in love with the condo that he'll opt to live in it instead of inside the garage.

I just need to find some time to do the painting.

Saturday morning I slept late. I'd been on duty with Red Cross as a Personal Disaster Assistant. We are on call throughout the night and weekends in the event of a disaster in our city. It can be a huge incident like the flooding in New Orleans or it could be the pipes breaking in an apartment and flooding the occupants out.

Red Cross is there for those people who don't have insurance or a place to go. We'd had a call at 4:00 a.m. and when I got home I got a couple hours sleep and then had to work all day. So I was catching up on sleep.

Jeremy noticed that his breakfast was late that morning. When I finally showed up in my kitchen he was there outside the window. Waiting. He perched himself on the top of the trellis so he could do surveillance through the kitchen window to see when I finally got my lazy self out of bed.

He saw me. I saw him. He twitched his tail. He was sending me a message. Unfortunately, I knew exactly what he wanted.

I put my hat on and went out. I gave him some peanuts and watched while he stuffed sunflower seeds into his face like me with the chicken balls at the Mandarin buffet. I noticed he was looking a little bit heavy....

He was tilting his body a bit from side to side while sitting up. I've seen this before in older squirrels. I don't know what it is. It could be old age, neurological issues, or injury, but I have seen this balance issue with squirrels a few times in the past.

Don't worry. It won't slow Jeremy down. There was an old black squirrel years ago that had a balance problem. He lived for years laying down to eat his sunflower seeds. He was a little bit heavy too....

Maybe I'll put the new squirrel house inside the garage. That should make it more tempting for Jeremy.

Keeping in Touch

2009-12-20T00:12:00.005-05:00

Have you ever noticed how when cats and kittens sleep they are always touching?

Sometimes it's just a paw, like in this photo where kitten Angel is reaching out to touch the big old Tom cat while they sleep (he's not related to Tom in any way).

They do it with big old Tigger too.

I watch as the kitten starts off sleeping a few inches away. Slowly they maneuver themselves closer and closer until they are sleeping right with the adult.

It shares warmth. I think it provides the kittens with a sense of security too.

When the cats sleep on the couch next to me they always sleep next to my leg, or on me if they can. They want that touch or I should say they want to suck heat from me.

Because the kittens were underweight they'd feel the cold more and they wanted their mother. I spent a lot of time over the last 3 months cuddling with them.

You know you're a personal furnace for a pet when your cat is letting you know it's time for you to go to bed because he wants to. He wants me to warm up the bed for him.

Another point about keeping in touch, I haven't blogged much about the 3 kittens I've been raising. Their mother was hit by a car and died when they were 3 weeks old and I've been Mommy Cat to them. They had been pretty sick for the last while and needed to be medicated.

They were surviving though but not well enough to be thriving. So I apologize for the on-line quietness.

It was in part because I was so busy and in part because I feared there might be bad news. The last few weeks they've really turned a corner and are finally packing on some weight.

It was touch and go whether or not they would have one of the feline diseases which would mean they'd have to be euthanized... so I was worrying about them.

Two are healthy enough for adoption now and the little runt, Angel, just needs to put on a little more weight and he'll be ready for his new forever home too.

Soon I'll have an empty nest again. Well, not completely empty. What will I do without the poopy bums and dirty feet?

Like the great cycle of life, Whisper, is now at the 'interested in water' stage, just like Jay was a few months back when I reported on him. Now Whisper is fascinated with the sink and the shower. The cycle repeats itself and it's only a matter of time until he too falls into the tub :)

[George: Mommy opened the secret door to the furnace room --that place we were never allowed to go, and she let us play in there. So I snooped everywhere. Now I'm cleaning the dust bunnies from my whiskers]

The Curtains Caper

2009-12-12T00:10:00.006-05:00

They say that truth is stranger than fiction. I believe them.

The curtains in my garage, the ones that hang over the window in the small side door, disappeared one day. It was very strange. Who would want to take my curtains?

A few days later I found them. Jeremy had stolen them. And he never apologized either when I took them back. In fact, all he did was natter at me quite loudly as I prodded him with a pair of BBQ tongs. All I was trying to retrieve was what was mine in the first place.

You see, Jeremy is a squirrel. He's got the bushiest squirrel tail that I've ever seen. I'm certain he's quite proud of that tail. It would keep him very warm on our cold Canadian winter days.

For the last two years I have put sunflower seeds out and Jeremy has been a daily visitor. He's also quite brave around humans and he would often approach me quite closely. That's when he would natter, but in a nice way, and shake his tail. This would be his form of begging. He wanted peanuts. I would always give him some and he would try to stuff 3 of them in his mouth at once. Squirrels never seem to catch on that they can only really carry 2 at a time.

When I was in the garage Jeremy would follow me in and beg for the peanuts there. He knew that's where I kept them, sealed up in a container.

I went into the garage and after being in there a few moments I heard rustling. I got a ladder out and climbed up to where the roof joins with the walls. There's a space there and I bet you can imagine what I found. Yes, Jeremy. He had made a nest in the garage. I discovered he was making use of the cat door and was coming and going from the garage. He had obviously made lots of trips because his nest was full of leaves... and my curtains.

I evicted him, despite his complaints. A few days later he was back and I had to climb the ladder and evict him again. Then I had to close the cat door for the winter. I worried that stray cats would be cold so I made sure there were cardboard boxes and lots of straw in the old dog house so they'd have a place to go.

A couple weeks ago I went into the garage and again I heard that familiar rustling. I knew right away who it was. Jeremy had chewed the wood of the cat door and made a hole big enough to get back inside the garage again. I blocked the hole and evicted him. He was not happy.

He showed up in there again. As I drove the truck in I saw him sitting on the roof of an old rabbit hutch. He nattered at me like I was a big old meanie. I got the raccoon trap out and you can probably guess what I put in it. Yes, peanuts.

Two nights later I had him and took him out of the garage and released him. It was dark and he ran off into the night.

The next morning he wanted his peanuts in the back yard. I think I'm forgiven.

Then a week later I saw a poor orange tabby cat in my backyard, cold and starving. I put out food for him. It was cold too, -5. There was nothing I could do but open up the cat door in the garage so this stray would have a warm place to go.

I bet you know what that means.....

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake (Oh Yeah)

2009-11-12T19:21:00.006-05:00

Hate me now or hate me later.... but this one is so good, it's a real problem!

I didn't create it so I can't take credit. I'm simply posting it for you to enjoy... and so that I can find the recipe in the middle of the night ;)

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE:

- 4 tablespoons flour

- 4 tablespoons sugar

- 2 tablespoons cocoa

- 1 egg 3 tablespoons milk

- 3 tablespoons oil

- 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

- A small splash of vanilla extract

- 1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

The Babies

2009-10-10T23:55:00.006-04:00

I have lost my heart to this little minnie. We call her Angel. And she is one too.

The ring of the doorbell a few weeks ago was kittens being delivered, three of them. There were four but one was adopted the night before so I was taking over as their foster mother.

Indeed, I really was taking over as their mother. These little ones, at the time 3 weeks old, had lost their mother. She was outdoors raising them (a stray cat, most likely a drop off) and she got hit by a car. Caring neighbours took her to the vet in an effort to save her life but they were not able to.

So she died and her babies, still nursing and three weeks old no longer had a parent. The neighbours called the animal organization and that's how I got involved.

Kittens are pretty sweet but these kittens are downright adorable. A little bit dirty and smelly, I did my best to towel them off to give them their mommy bath. I tell you Mommy cat does a much better job keeping kittens clean than I do. I felt like the parent with the dirty children. I've had a hard time keeping up.

I'm pretty sure that the littlest one, the black and white female, is the runt of the litter. She's a little underweight and I wish she'd eat more.

They all love a cuddle and want some time to cuddle with me on my shoulders. For the first two weeks they kept looking for a spot to nurse. My heart just broke for them because I knew although their tummies may be full, they were seeking that special comfort that nursing could bring.

They're seven weeks old now in the photos, and four weeks old in the video.

I've had them in a spare room for their safety and also as a quarantine. Normally the mom cat is tested for the contagious cat diseases and if she's found disease free then we can usually assume the kittens are healthy and fine.

But in this case there was no mother cat to test so we're having to wait for the kittens to be eight weeks old so they can be tested.

In the mean time, I'm learning to play mother to my little pride of dirty faced sweeties.

Cat Adoptions

2009-10-01T18:44:00.009-04:00

It happened so quickly. One minute I'm home doing my usual busy stuff and then it happened. The phone rang.

It was the animal non profit organization calling. You see, Jay's photo had been in the paper on Saturday and a couple of ladies wanted to adopt him.

Gulp! The baby.

They were also very interested in adopting Jay's bestest friend in the world and that was Whiz. This was fantastic news. Poor Whiz had lost all his best friends to adoption, including his sister, so it was time that he got to keep one.

I called the ladies and we set a time for them to come the next day. Usually when someone comes to view of the foster cats I put all the cats in the basement. That way I can contain everybody in the room and if gives each cat an opportunity to see and know that one of the cats is being put in the cat carrier and being taken away. It makes a huge difference to the cats for them to know the cat has been taken away and hasn't just disappeared.

Once one of the kittens was adopted late at night and none of the other cats saw the person come to take him. The next day his play mate went around crying trying to find him. So after that mistake I always make sure everyone knows that the kitty has gone to their adoptive home and ever since then, no more crying after a cat is adopted.

The ladies arrived and we went downstairs. I knew Whiz would be a bit panicked. He's a little shy at first and I knew he might hide but I had them all locked in the room so it was okay. But I underestimated Whiz. He went up the stairs and pressed on the door and somehow he got it to pop open.

That meant the scaredy cat was now loose upstairs where he promptly hid.

While the ladies waited downstairs I turned the upstairs upside down. I could not find him. I kept looking and it took me 20 minutes to find him. He was in the last place on earth I'd think to look, behind the curio cabinet and jammed into a 4" space at the end of a bookshelf.

I brought him downstairs where the ladies fell in love with his great looks. You see, they knew that Whiz wouldn't always be a scaredy cat. He was just nervous around strangers and once he got to know them he'd settle right in.

My frustration at not finding Whiz was quickly put in place when I realized that a power bigger than myself had better plans than I could think of. That 20 minutes with the ladies in the basement was necessary. It was just the right length of time for the ladies to meet and also fall in love with Beauty, Jay's mother. By the time I brought Whiz downstairs the ladies had decided that 3 cats would suit them just fine.

So in one day I had 3 adoptions! It was fantastic.

But boy was the house ever quiet. Everyone felt weird with the quiet. Gracie was bored and started supervising me and the other cats started sleeping a lot more. The young ones were gone.

But a week later, there was the doorbell and another cat carrier. But this time it was coming in and bringing kittens. Little kittens 4 weeks old. They had no mother and they needed someone to raise them.

Oh we've got noise now. Trust me they've got BIG voices :)

Look - BEFORE you Leap!

2009-09-01T18:50:00.004-04:00

I just have to share with you about Jay's absolute fascination with water.

I've learned that growing up kittens go through phases of interest. They paw at little bits of string and dangling things, then as they get more mobile they head to the bathroom.

I'll walk in and find half a roll of toilet paper pulled off the roll and dragged around the room. A very brief Crime Scene Investigation quickly proves the culprit: Tiny teeth and claw marks. The perpetrator: A black and white kitten, male.

Jay got a little "snip snip" last week and so he is now neutered. But he doesn't seem to mind. All he wants to do is play, play play.

His latest fascination has been a little frustrating and a little funny. It's WATER.

I can't turn on a tap anywhere and remain alone for long. Jay will show up. He started by pawing the stuff and shaking his paws. He progressed to licking his paws from there. Then my toilet conveniently won't flush on it's own so I had to take the cover off the tank.

This tank has become Jay's new play area. He puts his paws in the water, he drinks it and lately he's starting chewing and pawing at the parts inside--I think he's trying to work out how I make the water go by touching something in there.....

Soon he'll be flushing the toilet by himself.

I always put the seat down though because I don't want any cat drinking from the toilet bowl. It's bad enough that they eat mice and lick their bums and then come and lick my face.

Once I was cleaning the tub so I had about 3" of water in it. I had to leave for a bit and come back. I did have that little voice speak to me--you know that one that you ignore because you're busy but later you'll regret not listening too? Yeah, that one. Anyway, about 10 minutes later KER-SPLASH! Yes, Jay just had to investigate this water and in doing so he fell into the tub.

I have a new deep tub and in his panic he couldn't jump out. I grabbed him up and put a towel around him.

That was his first bath.

The other day he tipped over the water dish and I found a pond of water on the floor.

He also licks at the tub and bathroom sink facets, trying to catch the drips.

But the biggest laugh of all was last night. I was in the bathroom and Jay came charging in to play with the water. He jumped right up on the toilet seat .....except that I forgot to put the seat down.

That was Jay's second bath.

I think the third time will be charming :)

View of the Day

2009-08-14T22:56:00.005-04:00

The wet flower photos I took last week in between rain storms!

This is a closeup of a day lily just after a storm. We had many severe storm warnings last week.

But this weekend we've been blessed with SUNSHINE! That's right. You know, that round yellow thing up in the sky.

And it's been hot too. Hot enough to get you thinking about going to the beach along with 10,000 other people who are feeling exactly the same way you are :)

I had a sleepy, lazy day today. On my right slept Tom cat and on my left slept Tigger. I sat on my backyard swing for a few hours this afternoon and read some books and did some journaling. Most of the time though I just watched the birds and butterflies swooping back and forth.

Tom and Tigger have spent most of the summer outdoors and I've had a hard time convincing them to come in, even in the rainy weather. I have a roofed porch off the garage with cushions and that's where they can hang out all year round.

Tom and Tigger visited the vet today and had their shots. Tom weighed in at just over 16 lbs and Tigger at 13 lbs. No one could accuse me of not feeding them. If anything, they should probably be on diet food... shouldn't we all though?

I still have not done my back yard landscaping yet.

It was my plan to get most of it done this summer but the broken arm back in April kind of threw all my plans off schedule. There's always next year.

So my bags of soil and iron dragonfly will have to wait to be properly placed next year. I'm pretty easy about not getting it done. I wasn't completely set yet on how I wanted it so a delay will give me more time to think about it. I'd love a little pond.........maybe with an arched bridge....... Well, at least dreaming is free.

Most of my blogging this summer has been over on my other blog The Bee Journal

where I've been going on and on about my latest obsession: Beekeeping.

And here is a mystery that is solved, although I have no photographs of the culprit. Every year I'd find these perfect round holes in the soft leaves of my Red Bud tree. Now some people would be upset that some insect or creature had done this, thinking it was unsightly. Me, I thought it was pretty cool to see such perfect circles and all I wanted to know was who was doing it? And why?

When on my beekeeping course I learned that this is done by the leaf cutter bee. It cuts a round top and bottom and makes a perfect little leaf tube, and inside the tube it lays its eggs.

Just think, there's an insect out there that can cut a circle better than a kindergarten student and can fold it like origami better than you or I could probably do. Now that is cool.

Camping in Tobermory, Ontario, Canada

2009-08-09T00:05:00.000-04:00

For a little while that afternoon Dad pretended that this was his boat. He claimed to have servants and all manner of people to wait on him.

This photo of part of the harbour in Tobermory, Ontario, Canada reminds me a little of a few harbours I visited while travelling by yaht in Australia. There are indeed a few well off people in this world who can afford these expensive boats.... we're just not those people.

Instead, we camp. But we're older now so we don't tent it any more where we're on the ground. We use a tent trailer and enjoy the comforts of soft mattresses and, forgive us, electricity. (We even have a small microwave that we use).

Hey, if you're thinking this isn't real camping, you might be right, but I must tell you I've paid my dues by camping in all kinds of weather and in different countries. I've lived outside for weeks on end and have numerous times given up the soggy tent in the rain to sleep in the car. Today though tents are much better made than in my day. We also used to cook all our meals on the camp fire (if it rained it got really interesting - cold beans from the can). Often we'd use a coalman stove set up outside on the picnic table as well.

Our camp site just outside Tobermory called Happy Hearts came with flush toilets, showers and even a Karoke Night.

For meals, each family member gets part of a grocery list that when complete, ensures we have healthy meals all week long... although the Chili on the second night might not have been such a good idea. There were 8 of us after all and that's a lot of 'music' after the meal, if you get my drift.

Oh and we had a "Chippy" too. A chipmunk found us on day 2. We noticed he was already trained to come up on the picnic table and beg for food. We happened to have a bag of peanuts so we kept him happy.

Every year I usually spend some time each day painting watercolours. A few years ago this generated a lot of interest among the family members at the camp site. They wanted to try painting too. What happened then was that everyone was busy painting except for me.

This year I didn't get to paint either. I had new students to teach, my niece's friend who accompanied us and a young girl from the next camp site.

I save all kinds of photos of wildlife and insects and flowers which are the inspiration for these budding young artists.

We take it easy for the most part and don't make too many plans ahead. Our focus is to have some down time and to relax.

My nephew Codie and I scuba dive so we had planned a few dives on some shipwrecks just off shore. I have an underwater camera but it uses film so once I get the film developed I'll post those photos.

The best treat of all this trip was the weather. There was this blue stuff up in the firmament called 'sky'. We hadn't seen it for so long that many of us couldn't recall what it was called ;)

Making Pocket Stews to Cook on the Camp Fire

2009-08-07T23:26:00.003-04:00

I must have been only 10 or 12 years old when I learned to make pocket stew. My class was going on a day trip to a bog and part of the trip included a camp fire where we'd cook our own lunch. A man came to our class and taught us how to make it.

(Photo - my sister as she enjoys her pocket stew)

I'll never forget that field trip and the yummy stews. I have a camp fire in my back yard now and occasionally my niece and nephew come over and we make the stews.

Also, every year when we go camping its mandatory that Aunt Barb help everyone prepare their own pocket stew to roast on the fire.

Here's the recipe: Some people call them Hobo Stews.

Campfire Pocket Stews

1 Hamburger or Turkey Burger Patty
Chopped Carrots
Sliced Potatoes
Chopped Onions
Frozen or canned Corn
Frozen or canned Peas
1 can of Sliced Mushrooms
1 Can Beef Gravy (or Water – but gravy is better)
Spices such as Garlic Powder or Steak Spice, Salt & Pepper
1 Large Piece Extra Strong Tinfoil about 1 ½ foot long
Campfire long handled tongs
1 Plate that won’t melt with fire hot tinfoil
1 Package of peanuts in the shell

Directions:

1. Cut up all the vegetables
2. Make a patty from the meat (you can put onions right into the patty if you like)
3. Make a tinfoil pocket by folding tinfoil in half. Fold the edges over about ¼” once and then again to make a double sealed seam up the sides. It helps to fold the corners up too
4. Add the following to the tinfoil pocket:
5. Place the meat patty on the bottom (but it doesn’t matter if the meat goes on the bottom or the vegetables).
6. Add a good handful of each vegetable. You only need to add the vegetables that you like. It doesn’t matter if you put a little or a lot—put as much as you want depending how hungry you are. (Leftover pocket stew tastes great too).
7. Sprinkle on spices that you like (steak or vegetable spices are good)
8. Hold your pocket carefully and add 1 can of beef gravy (the campfire is hot and if you don’t add lots of liquid – either gravy or even water, it will become too dry and burn)
9. Fold the top edge down 1/4" once and then again to create a seal. The pocket should now be sealed on all sides and not leaking.
10. Handle the package carefully so you don’t poke holes in it. Place it on the campfire coals and let cook for 30 minutes (or the oven set at 350 degrees C for 30 minutes if it rains and you can't have a fire). Be careful not to puncture the package or the gravy will leak out. Sometimes holding it on a plate when putting in the fire and removing is easiest.
11. Check the meat to be sure it’s fully cooked before you dine.

Don’t forget to recycle the tin foil.

Oh, you were wondering about what you're to do with the peanuts? Well, they're for Chippy the chipmunk of course. He's a vegetarian!

Night Time Visitor

2009-07-17T21:57:00.005-04:00

It was not a dark and stormy night, but I had a lamp on in one of the spare rooms with the screen window open.

I was trying to catch any cool breezes to lower the temperature in the house.

The light usually attracts small moths which the cats like to chase from the other side of the screen but on this night I saw a large shadow hanging on the screen.

Of course I had to go outside to have a look.

A lovely Polyphemus Moth lay hanging on the screen - attracted by my light pollution.

Notice the lovely rose coloured markings on the wings. I did pick it up but was careful not to touch the wings.

After a few photos I put the moth back and then went inside to turn off the lamp. The light was distracting the moth from its real search, for a mate.

Let's Just Blame Barry

2009-07-07T12:25:00.005-04:00

It's Barry's fault. He writes an amazing blog about his experiences.

Unfortunately Barry has been recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer which he is bravely facing. Barry is blessing us though by sharing the intimacies of living, fighting and dealing with having cancer. We read daily of the blow by blow of the inside life of a person with cancer. His blog is life changing.

So why is it his fault? Well, he wrote about conversations (http://anexplorers.blogspot.com/2009/07/casual-conversation.html) and about how we say hello to each other. The question was about how do you respond if you have cancer and he described conversations of various people who had cancer.

This brought a wave of memories for me - some from a while back and a couple more recently. That's why it's his fault. He writes so well that he draws the emotions out.

I wrote about Bruce in the comments section of his blog - I'll paste that bit below. But what I want to tell you about is Bonnie.

Bonnie has cancer. I don't know her well. She works in my building for the same department but a different section. We have never really had many chit chat type conversations. Our only real connection has been when Bonnie came to take software classes that I taught as part of my job. She struggled a bit with the computer, so we would have some one-on-one time in class. She was a pleasant student though and I enjoyed having her in my classes.

She was off for a very long time. I didn't even know at first that she was ill. Word can sometimes seep slowly through a very large department but eventually I heard she was off battling cancer. Then I forgot about it. It's a not very kind thing, but it's true. Life and work and busi-ness and I didn't know Bonnie well so we didn't associate much. She just slipped from my mind.

Then she'd show up in my cubicle. She wanted to chat and she was staring at my very intensely, but in a very loving way. I caught this emotion vibe from her but I was clueless as to why she stopped to chat with me because we hardly know each other and then because of the look in her eyes.

She mentioned that she'd just been in to see the people in personnel and she reminded me that she had been off on sick leave because she's battling bowel cancer. Of course, then my memory returned. She told me that the doctors are calling her a miracle. She should not be alive, but she is. She pointed out her wig, mentioning that she'd lost all her hair. What I noticed was the love that was just spilling from her eyes.

What is remarkable is the polar opposites of our mental positions. My head was wrapped up in my work. I was in my professional workplace mode and was acting in that role as I'm accustomed to doing. But Bonnie, she had broken out of that mold, mind you by force, but nevertheless she had done it. Her life experiences had transported her to a new plane. She was operating on a spiritual level and that was what I realized was the look in her eyes. She was trying to connect to me the person, not the business professional. And I had to shake off the professional and be a person again so I could connect with her at that important human level.

It took a woman I barely knew with cancer to interrupt my "busy" day to show me how I was being caught up in stuff that quite frankly really didn't matter. I never used to understand that saying "in a 100 years no one will care" because I thought everyone would. But now I know better. I've seen things in the workplace that I cared deeply and intensely about be tossed off like yesterday's garbage. And I'm saddened to think that I would give up an opportunity to work on my relationships with others by chatting so I could run back to my desk to work on what would be garbage a few years from that day.

Barry stirred up my recent metamorphosis/change experiences where I've spent considerable time having a deep heartfelt look at things that I thought really mattered, only to find that they didn't. It was earth shattering and a revelation. I believe it's made me a better person, helped to refocus and re-balance my life and relationships.

When I ask people how they are I always stop to really listen to their response.

So, thanks Barry.

My Comments from Barry's blog:

I have about 4 stories I could share on this topic but I'll share just one and try to be brief.

At work, I'm the "busy person" - the one that doesn't stop and waste time very often chatting. I don't have a problem if others do it, it's just that I don't care for it. So the whole "How are you?" and answer, "I'm fine" would be my normal response - anything else can lead to conversation as we all know.But one day Bruce invited me into his office. He had a map out and he was very excited about planning his first overseas trip to France.

You see Bruce had really severe diabetes and a heart valve problem and had been on a transplant list. He got a kidney and it transformed his life - no more insulin or diabetes. I was so happy to see him well.I felt a prompting inside telling me, why not take some time and visit with Bruce, so I did.

We had a great chat as he pointed out the sights on his map that he planned to visit. I left his office feeling more upbeat than before - so I was glad I listened to the prompting.

That night Bruce had a heart attack and died. I can tell you EXACTLY how I would feel today if I had not stopped to chat and went back to my desk to work 'busily' on some ridiculous report that I don't even recall. That day I did something that was WAY more important.I have a happy memory of our last time together. :)

Tour of a Fibre Mill

2009-06-30T20:02:00.008-04:00

Last week I went with my friend Deb from Ziraldo Farms (http://www.zalpacas.com/) to Oil Springs.

She was going to this little village because they have a great mill operation.

I blogged about the alpaca shearing that I went to in April 2009.

After the shearing, Deb drove out to Oil springs to drop off the alpaca fibre for washing, combing, carding and creating yarn and rovings for spinning.

I remember seeing many mills when in England and Scotland as a child.

They were always housed in large warehouses with machines that went very fast.

And always at the end was a lovely gift shop full of the cloth that they had produced.

I especially enjoyed seeing the Scottish tartan cloth they produced.

This mill is much smaller in scale but the machinery is still the same today. In fact, the way that fibre is processined is still pretty much the same today as years and years ago.

The Edy's have a large alpaca farm with about 75 alpacas.

They have every colour in the alpaca rainbow and it was a real thrill to see them.

They run the mill alongside their own large alpaca operation.

They offer lovely yarns, roving and knitted garments that are inventive and absolutely lovely. You can check them out at http://www.alpacascanada.com/.

They had baby alpacas everywhere. Of course, it's spring and the babies have been popping out of mommy's since early spring. In fact, one little dark baby was born just a couple hours before we arrived.

All the alpacas have been sheared so they were ready for the heat of summer. Some enjoyed the shade indoors while others wanted to romp outside or nibble on some grasses.

Oil Springs is not far from Sarnia, Ontario and is actually a pleasant back roads drive. It's a nice time to relax and visit while driving.

I even saw beehives at an intersection of two country roads so we stopped for photos.

I think these hives may belong to Munro Honey in Alvinson, not very far away from Oil Springs.

There were more than two machines but the first photo is the machine that takes the roving and makes it into yarn.

The second photo is the machine that cards and combs the fibre.

Their mill processes all types of fibre, even dog hair!

(Pictured is the carding machine).

Growing up Kitten

2009-06-30T18:54:00.011-04:00

Every day there's a little change. First his tail started to get longer and then his body needed a few days to catch up to the tail. Then his whiskers grew in really long and he looked like a baby with adult whiskers. Now his legs are growing longer which is making him taller.

We've settled on calling him Jay, although he's had other names: Cutie Pie, Sweetie Pie and Mischiefer.

Both Jay and his mother Beauty, a lovely calico, are up for adoption.

I'm fostering them until we can find permanent loving homes for them.

Whiz, my other foster cat is in his glory.

Finally he has someone with boundless energy that wants to play with him. I reminded him of just that last night when Jay, acting in his mischiefer role, decided to pounce on Whiz while he was napping.

I'm sure Whiz had a few moments there when he regretted wanting someone--anyone of any age--to play with him.

The mommy cat, we call her Beauty, got spayed last week so she's been taking it easy this week and sleeping and keeping a low profile.

She's eating well which is good and hopefully she'll now gain some weight back.

Both Beauty and Jay were very sick when they first came here and for a while it even looked like the kitten wouldn't live.

That was when Amber stopped going in the cat quarantine room. She couldn't bear the thought that they might not make it.

But I told her that regardless of the outcome, it's our job to never give up on them. So we didn't. And they survived.

The kitten has also taken to playing with the bunny. Now this isn't a little bunny, this is a very large Angora rabbit, named Lexi.

Lexi is a bit strange and thinks that the kitten attacks are actually attempts to pat and groom her so she runs towards the kitten and encourages him even farther.... I think I've been so busy with projects lately that Lexi is feeling a lack of attention.

I was glad a few weeks ago to cut off Lexi's long soft fur. I collect the fur to use later to spin into Angora yarn for knitting. I also cut off Margarite's hair, my other rabbit.

(Photo of Lexi before the haircut).

Her hair wasn't long enough yet, but I knew she was uncomfortable and hot and I already had lots of her fur saved. This shorter cut hair can be used for craft projects or put out for birds for nesting material in the spring. Margarite was unusually cooperative with being groomed and having her hair cut off, so that alone showed me how very happy she was to have it removed.

And Tom is doing very well for an older cat. Unfortunately he still thinks he's young enough to defend the property and last night I saw another stray run away when I opened the back door--probably another drop off cat to the subdivision.

My New Babies

2009-06-12T10:48:00.006-04:00

It's now official: I am a Beekeeper!
So is my Dad and nephew Codie who have decided to join me in this hobby. Who wouldn't choose to get into beekeeping after seeing these lovely girls?

These are my new babies. And I have named each and every one. Well, not really but I'd like to except that it would mean I'd have the hive open for much too long instead of leaving my bees to get to work building honey comb and having babies.

(Click the picture above to enlarge so you can see how beautiful these girls are. There's a couple boys there too - look for the BIG eyes).

You haven't heard much from me lately on this side of my blog house because all my posts the last while have been on The Bee Journal blog.

Here's me--well my gloveless hands in fact--holding a frame full of thousands of bees. See how they are calm and stay on their frame - they don't want to leave the babies they are carrying for.

By all means, feel free to pop over to The Bee Journal blog for a look. You don't even have to read it. I give you permission to just look at the pictures.

But here's some info about bees which I think should make you sit up and go, WOW!:

Did you know that boy bees are called drones? Yes they are. And they don't do anything in the hive at all. They can't even feed themselves and must be fed by the worker (girl) bees. Drones don't have a stinger either so you can pick them up to say hello. Drones do have a valuable role as sperm donors to ensure the next generations of bees are healthy strong and disease and pest resistant so we can't discount them as useless.
All honey bees have 5 eyes. The two large compound eyes you can easily see are for day time vision. They have 3 little ocilliae eyes on the tops of their heads which they use to see inside the dark hive or at night.
Bees have 2 stomachs - one for eating and the other is a storage container where they put the nectar they collect from flowers. So when the worker returns to the hive she regurgitates the nectar into the honey comb cell. Then they fan their wings to blow off moisture and to thicken it.
Honey is an antibacterial and can be put safely on your wounds. That's why your sore throat likes it. This is ancient medicine which doctors are now returning to, especially to help people with ulcers, like diabetics, that can't be healed with anything else. But honey does it perfectly!
Bees also make a substance called Propolis which they make from a gummy sap they collect from trees and buds. Propolis is an even better antibacterial agent than honey and helps a lot with healing.
The pollen bees collect is the powder from flowers that the bees stick to the pollen pouches on their back legs. This pollen is the protein source that they need to feed their babies so they'll grow up strong and healthy. Sometimes we'll take a little pollen ourselves to feel better or to help fight allergies.
Bees are mostly responsible for the ensuring we have the massive amount of crops and fruits and vegetables that we consume. They pollinate these plants which ensures they put forth seed for next year. They also increase the produce of plants. Without bees we wouldn't have so much food, or even chocolate! (Don't forget cocoa plants need to be pollinated too).
Bees are the only insect in the world that create food for humans. It's a special God given gift and it's wonderfully sweet of them to do it. So next time you see a honey bee make sure you say hello (don't pick it up though) and say thanks.

I could go on and on and on about bees as you can see. In fact, I've written a children's fictional novel about honey bees which I'm hoping to get published. So I'll try not to blog your ear off about them all the time!

Back When Things Were Simpler

2009-05-31T00:43:00.008-04:00

Really, we've gone way wrong somewhere along the way.

Here's a photo of where I was standing at the bus stop last week. As you can see it is absolutely pouring.

Fortunately I did have an umbrella with me.

Unfortunately it was a small umbrella and I was getting soaked.

I'd also missed 2 of the 3 buses that go on this route, meaning at least a 15 minute wait.

As I stood there I watched car after car drive by. Cars with one person driving. And it just made me think of my childhood.

Those were days when no one would drive by you in a rain storm. Like the good Samaritan, people were more inclined to help than to go on by and someone would pull over and offer a ride.

But no one offered me a ride on this day.

Those were also the days when hitch hiking was relatively safe and most of us never locked our doors when we left home. Out at the farm when someone drove down the road, they'd wave as they passed by. If you were walking along, they wouldn't hesitate to stop and offer a ride.

I just thought it was really sad that as a human race we just don't help each other very much any more. We're all too busy and too afraid to stop.

On a positive note, my garden is becoming like a jungle after all this rain. My peonies aren't open yet so the rain didn't wreck them.

Purple is my favourite colour and this is my favourite iris. I get my irises from McMillen's Iris gardens in Norwich near Tillsonburg, Ont.

Have you ever stopped to look inside an iris? It's really so absolutely beautiful. It makes me think of church cathedrals when I see the light shining inside an iris. It's like a holy place.

I wonder, if someone had stopped on that rainy day to offer me a ride, would I have taken it?

Urban Jungle Cats

2009-05-24T21:07:00.005-04:00

Here's Tigger doing his urban jungle pose just for the camera. He's a good hunter and loves to catch mice. He eats them too. He hunts rabbits too, along with Tom so both cats now wear collars with bells.

Tom is showing his age a little bit more since his adventure/disappearance over a month ago.

He's recovered from starvation and is more like his old self.

In fact he's recovered enough that he's gotten into a few scraps with cats outside, landing himself a few good scratches around the neck.

I've been cleaning the cuts and a couple even got septic so I cleaned them out and I keep a steady eye on him. Maybe I check him too much because the last couple days he's run away from me when he sees me coming.... he knows it'll be a hot wash clothe on his cuts and that smelly ointment stuff.

Tigger is the male version of a diva. Whenever Tom gets attention he must have some too. If Tom is on my lap, then Tigger must be higher up and tries to sit on my chest.

He's a big suck and his favourite thing is to be scratched and admired. Next to that he loves children and dogs!

Mommy, who we are calling Beauty is a foster cat from our local animal organization http://www.animalert.ca/.

Her kitten, first named Clouseau, changed to Tarzan, changed to Monkey and now Jay is growing in leaps and bounds, literally.

It's hard to believe that two weeks ago he and his Mom laid completely ill and listless in bed with barely the strength to lift their heads.

I had to hand feed the Mom. She wouldn't eat because her nose was stuffed up with her upper respiratory infection--when a cat can't smell, it won't eat. Despite all my attempts her weight dropped and it was worrisome.

She was on medication paid for by Animalert and with that and lots of love from my niece Amber, she and the kitten pulled through just fine.

Jay is 5 weeks today and I'm now teaching him to lap up milk from a saucer.

He looks a lot like Tom but he's not Tom's kitten. Tom's been fixed for at least 4 years now.

Jay learned in one session how to drink milk from a saucer and I could tell he was feeling very proud of himself, and grown up. Mom joined in too.

His new best friend is the other foster cat Whiz. Whiz is the gentlest boy and a complete sweetie, but looking at the two of them together in play is like watching a Godzilla movie. Whiz is so much bigger than Jay.

But Whiz's heart's desire is to have someone, ANYONE, to play with.

So he plays gently with the baby and I know that in about 3 weeks this little kitten will give him a run for his money!

Oh, and me... I'm back to work on graduated hours, slowly increasing to full-time again. The arm is healing and I'm trying really hard to be patient with the healing process - I'm such a go-getter that this is a real challenge!

Stories Live on Forever

2009-05-11T23:30:00.000-04:00

We went to my sister's home for Mother's Day. We had dinner with her family along with my Mom and Dad. It was a pleasant time, as it always is, a time to share our news about recent events, review politics both globally and locally, talk about the environment and to share any good stories.

We had some really good stories this time.

(photo of our Border Collies - my beloved dog Sam and Dad's beloved dog Boots - now both deceased from old age).

I shared a story that I'd seen that afternoon on Animal Planet (love that channel). A cat had gone outside and wandered to a paper factory where it climbed in a drum. Workers closed up the drum and put it on a truck no realizing the cat was inside. The drum travelled across the USA (sorry I can't recall the name of the city it left from). Thousands of miles later it was in Chicago. From there it was put on a ship where it travelled through the Great Lakes, out the St. Lawrence River. Then it crossed the Atlantic Ocean. The drum was unloaded in France, put on another truck and taken to another factory. When workers there opened the drum they heard a meow. The cat was still alive and wearing tags with it's owner's contact info. Thirty (yes 30!) days had passed with the cat in the drum with no food or water!!! The cat was flown home first class and was happily greeted by its family and the TV news station.

Dad told a story about a man who walked his dog in the off leash park but his dog had climbed on a fallen tree stump close to the fence and then used that as a launch pad to hop the fence and achieve freedom. The man spent an hour chasing his dog and then gave up. Luckily the dog had tags and an hour later he got a call. His dog was found about 14 miles away. Talk about getting out for some exercise!

My brother-in-law talked about the problems with their dog hopping the fence at the back to chase raccoons wandering around at night time in the neighbour's yard. He's planning on creating an obstruction and making the fence taller.

Then I had to share Barry's blog story about his dog Lindsay (http://anexplorers.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-lindsays-poop-became-scientific.html) who ate a funny looking dog treat which it later excreted when they were on their daily walk in the woods. The funny part is what happened when some other people came along and found the poop. You must read this story. It's pretty funny. My family totally enjoyed this story and the laughter was very gusty. We're a family of animal lovers, dogs in particular and we're also faithful dog poop picker-uppers just like Barry.

Then I mentioned how I knew Barry - or at least knew him through his writings and reading his blog. I told of his recently finding out about cancer of the esophagus and the surgery, chemo and radiation treatments planned for the near future. We all nodded about that one and grew quiet and Mom and I made eye contact and she nodded too. No words were needed. She has been through this one with thyroid cancer and knew a lot about it.

On the way home I became meditative thinking about how I'd shared someone else's story and how it had created enjoyment for the listeners. They may well tell it to someone else they meet along the way. I realized how important our stories can be. At some point we will all pass from this life as the great circle of life takes us through our time here but the stories, the stories can remain to be told and retold long after we are gone.

I noticed too that stories don't just have their life on-line in a blog with followers. They can grow outside of it and find life in the oral retelling of a great tale.

May these stories live on forever to encourage others, bring insight, share knowledge or just give a good belly chuckle when it's really needed.

And now I'll share one of Dad's funniest stories which I hope you'll share and enjoy with your dog loving friends:

I was sitting at home when Dad came by. He had just taken my dog Sam and his dog Boots for their daily walk. He brought Sam into the house which was part of the normal routine but what made me lift my head from my book and take notice was that Dad was stomping his feet. I could tell from his tense body that he was pretty mad.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He turned and headed for the door. "Dad, what's wrong?" I repeated, realizing he was not just mad, he was furious.

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!" he said and left without looking back.

There was nothing I could do really. Obviously something had happened on the dog walk but if he wasn't willing to tell me there wasn't much I could do.

A few days passed and Dad was again returning Sam from the walk. He was in his usual pleasant mood so I asked him what had happened the other day to make him so mad.

Finally he was willing to share.

Boots had a life long habit of eating things off the ground, things that most dogs wouldn't eat. Any Kleenex the the floor became a snack and he'd often eat Kleenexes on the dog trail. It seemed any Kleenex would do. He'd eat bark from trees and if he caught a rabbit or a vole it was an instant meal for him (I was NOT present when he caught rabbits because I would have stopped him).

On the day in question Boots had seen a used condom on the ground and he was determined to eat it. Dad was equally determined that Boots would not eat it and thus ensued a struggle where Dad tried to prevent Boots from eating a condom, while trying not to touch it.

Trying to stop Boots just made the condom more desireable and, yes,

BOOTS ATE IT!

New Room Mates

2009-05-10T13:29:00.011-04:00

It's true what they say about words hurting more than broken bones. When I fell down the stairs I was very distracted. I wasn't feeling like my normal self. Shortly before that incident someone had been saying some pretty hurtful words.

It was done publicly in front of people I know. It reminded me so much of primary school. I do my best to respond with grace. I can't let myself stoop to that primary school level.

The broken arm is healing well, it just takes time. I'll be back to work on graduated hours as the arm permits and from there my issue will probably be more to not push to hard or try too much too soon.

Often I wear the sling just to make sure the arm is removed from use so I'm certain to rest it.

That's the hard part, giving up plans for spring in the garden.

It's a busy time of year for me that I look forward to it every year. I love working in the garden and getting my hands in the dirt.

A saving grace is that I also love sitting outside and reading books and observing nature and that I can do quite painlessly as long as I don't look at all the garden work that I can't do right now.

Photo - bags of soil from last fall and plans to finish the back yard with a curving path from the swing to the bench at the back. This is the view from sitting on the swing.

My niece has stayed the weekend and she's helping me with my new room mates - A mother cat and her only kitten.

They've been rescued from the city's animal pound and I'm fostering them until they're adopted. But first we have to get them healthy.

The downside is that they've been sick, really sick. Animalert had them at the vets where they got lots of care and now that Mom has improved she's in isolation with her kitten in a spare room at my place. She still has her meds which she gets twice a day.

It's that stress related thing--upper respiratory infection, gone bacterial so she needed heavier drugs. Her kitten is coming along but he's got the sneezes too. Unfortunately he got the illness from her but will also get the cure by being medicated via drinking her milk.

The problem with city animal pounds is the same as hospitals - too many sick people in one location and the germs just spread, despite everyone's good intentions. The down side is that it can often lead to the pound doing a kill because treating gets to be too expensive for the city budget.

It just makes me wish I was as rich as Croesus (the spelling may not be right but I mean that king that could turn everything to gold with a touch of his hands). I'd open up a huge animal shelter with the best of everything to help stop the spread of disease and viruses.

This brings me to tell you about Nancy. Nancy is a stray female cat that has been visiting my 'kitty corner' neighbour Mary. Mary has been feeding her for a while and has worked to tame her. Of course Nancy grew fatter, quite fat actually and we knew it wasn't just the food Mary was giving her. She was pregnant. Mary watched and kept an eye on Nancy and then she disappeared for a few days only to reappear thinner. We knew she'd had her kittens.

Mary did her best to find the kittens but Nancy had them well hidden so it took a couple weeks. Finally they were found, across the street in a rhubarb patch. Next to the patch was a plastic drainage tube which they crawled inside like a cage.
Mary brought them all home and put them in her basement bathroom. She planned to take Nancy to the vet and then she would keep her, letting her be a third cat in her home and then finding homes for her 5 kittens.

I got the call from Mary the next day in tears. Nancy is positive for FIV Leukemia and it's expected that her 5 beautiful kittens will be as well. Unfortunately the FIV would be transmitted by the Mom to her babies.

Mary managed to find a some friends who will foster these cats until homes can be found. Let's hope for a positive outcome for this small family.

There's never a shortage of need for a miracle.

Fuller Kitty

2009-05-02T11:33:00.006-04:00

Now what you might ask is a Fuller Kittie?

That, my dear reader is a term I've applied to this cat.

His name is Whiz. He's a foster cat with the local non profit animal rescue group I volunteer with called Animalert (http://www.animalert.ca/).

His name was Little Whiz but he's grown now and is just over a year old. He's a little sweetie that loves to play.

But occasionally we have had a little bit of a conflict.... over fibre.

Whiz loves fibre. He loves all the usual cat toys but his preference is string.

I had attempted to do a tiny bit of knitting last night - knitting Continental so left hand doing the motion and right hand just holding.

Thank God I could knit a little. It calms my soul.

So I set the knitting down because I got distracted by Vogue Knitting's latest issue - a gorgeous circular shawl.

I saw Whiz out of the corner of my eye but for some reason my warn-o-meter didn't got off.

I guess I thought this roving was somehow special, that Whiz would recognize it's importance to me.

WRONG!

When I looked up he had it strung out on the floor and HORRORS had chewed the yarn in half--This my 'nearly lace weight' home spun alpaca roving. The nerve of this cat not to just settle for getting it all gummy with spit, but to actually do some real damage.

I didn't need to discipline because my scream scared him off ;)

A while ago I noticed how this fine spun sheep's wool that I had left resting on my--okay what do you call this thingie? It's not a nitty-noddie....

It's an antique that I inherited from my grandfather but I've put it into active use (he'd be happy about that).

Anyways, I noticed how this yarn which was very tightly spun was somehow getting softer and fuzzier.

It seemed to be growing more and more fuzz each day. I hadn't done the 'fulling' process on this yarn yet. I wrote about fulling a couple weeks ago - see it at http://barbarasspotontheblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-full-spun-yarn.html

Then I came home to find several broken strands and I knew a little fibre monster had been playing with it.

The cat had in fact irritated and teased the yarn so much that he fulled it, fluffing out its fibres and softening the yarn.

By the way, is anyone looking for a cat to adopt?

Broken Bones Kind of Hurt Me

2009-04-26T20:13:00.006-04:00

I broke my dang arm. Darn it! Right arm too and I'm right handed.

I fell down the stairs at work and in order to stop a major face plant into the sidewalk I used my hands.

Unfortunately most of the force of the fall went up my arm and blew out the elbow.

Ouch.

So I went home to elevate it and do ice. I didn't think it was broken. I thought it was just pulled and strained. Either way I could tell from the pain that this was one of those 6+ week injuries--insert appropriate exclamatory swear word here--#$%^!!!

The next day I kept my schedule to go out of town with the family (see the bee journal (http://thebeejournal.blogspot.com/) for details) and when I returned I decided that it was best that I know for sure whether it was broken or not. That way if I used the arm I wouldn't make it worse.

A couple x-rays later and it was confirmed. Even the possibility of a need for surgery to fix it. For now it's a sling and Tylenol 3....

I have pretty big plans this spring and starting beekeeping next month is one of them.

Photo - Mom, Dad, cousin Ross and the dry high ground where the hives will go.

A bright spot in all of this is that I started on this journey to beekeeping alone. But I'm not alone any longer. Even before the arm incident my family were stepping in and taking interest in my new hobby. Dad has even attended bee meetings with me.

Best of all, yesterday he told my sister that "we" were keeping "our" hives on my cousin's property.

"We" sounds so much nicer than I.

Update on Tom Cat - He's Recovering Nicely

2009-04-15T10:27:00.003-04:00

His nose didn't feel right. It was much too dry. I knew something wasn't right there but I thought it best to observe him to see what was happening rather than poke and prod. I knew he'd been through trauma and he'd need time to recover.

A couple days later it became evident what was going on with his nose. The skin was dry feeling becuase it was dead. This dry skin began to peel away, leaving his wet and shiny black nose underneath. I recognized the symptom - it was frost bite on his nose.

Then after having a long nap all afternoon and cleaning himself he got up to leave and I noticed this stamp sized patch of skin sitting on the cat bed. It ws the top layer of his skin, covered in fur. It was dried and I could tell he'd peeled it off himself.... but from where?

I searched his body all over looking, looking, feeling him everywhere. He tolerated this, but I could find no stamp sized bald patch anywhere on his body. (Sorry I know this is kind of gross). So I left him alone. But my mind kept turning it over and over. There HAD to be a stamp sized patch of him that was bare of fur and flesh.

Then I realized there was one spot I had not checked, underneath his legs - his hocks... the part of the leg from behind the paw to the elbow. Sure enough, that whole length of his legs on both sides was very pink and red - freshly healed over with no infection, but all the outer skin and fur was completely gone.

I was thinking what was this? What would make the outer layer of his skin come off? A friction burn? Frostbite? I may never know, but at least the wounds were healing very nicely on their own.

I am left wondering if maybe wherever he got himself shut inside that he could not move well enough to keep himself warm - maybe he had to sit the whole time so his hocks were always on the ground. That may account for the frostbite on the nose - becuase he was unable to tuck his face into his own fur like when a cat curls up to sleep. It's all guesswork. I wish I had CSI around, they'd figure this out in only one episode!

All things considered, I'm now a firm believer that Tom is a miracle cat. He's eating more each day and gaining weight. He's also sleeping more restfully and not jerking awake every few seconds like he did when he first came home.

Thanks so much for all your prayers. They were certainly answered!!!

Celebrate Easter! Christ is Risen & we have EGGS!

2009-04-08T08:37:00.000-04:00

I started the hobby of decorating eggs when I was still a teenager (that means it was a LONG time ago).

The craft is called Eggeury and the decorated eggs are very similar to Faberge eggs.

The only difference is that the Faberge eggs were made of enamel, gold, crystal, etc., whereas the eggs in the craft eggeury are real.

So I will answer your question right now: YES, these ARE real eggs!

When I sold my eggs at art and craft shows we would have to answer that question about 500 times a day.

I even made up big posters that said, "Yes, these are REAL eggs!" just so I could save my voice from going hoarse.

But people would still ask it anyway.

We would smile because we knew they were asking because they were shocked and thinking out loud, "You can do that to a real egg?"

Yes you can, and much much more.

No one really knows when eggeruy started or who invented it but most countries have some type of egg decoration as a craft and many countries have a tradition of giving eggs as gifts.

The hobby started for me when my mother brought home a library book on decorating eggs (http://www.amazon.ca/Splendid-Art-Decorating-Eggs/dp/048625030X/ref=cm_cr-mr-title_ ).

At the time I was under 10 years old--and I don't remember much of this but my sister told me I carved door openings in a chicken egg and put a paper rose inside.

Then a few years passed and when I was looking for a craft to get involved in I remembered this book and went to the library and charged out that same book and took it home.

This time I actually read the book instead of just looking at the pictures.

From there I launched into my efforts to carve egg shells.

Unfortunately, early on all I had to work with were chicken eggs and they are quite thin and fragile. I used razor blades and a heck of a lot of determination.

The family ate a lot of scrambled eggs in those days as I practised but believe it or not I was quite successful in carving chicken eggs and then decorating them.

Soon we found sources for goose eggs (turkey eggs too but their shell is very similar to chicken eggs).

I used my trusty razor blades and completed several eggs - most of them sold many years ago but this is a photo of one, complete with a working drawer.

It's painted with blue enamel model airplane paint.

This was the way the author did her eggs in her book and at that time I just copied her.

Later, I dropped doing the painting because I just loved the perfect beauty of the natural shell.

People would always ask, "Where do you get the eggs from?" Usually someone with them would elbow them in the side laughing and say, "From geese!"

We got our eggs from Plattsville where there was a very large goose farm run by a Mennonite community.

I would buy the eggs after candling--this meant that the eggs were "Dudds" which would never hatch.

Candling is the process of shining a bright light behind the egg to see if it had a chick growing inside.

That way you'd save space in your incubator because there was no point wasting time incubating an egg that would never hatch.

I paid a good price for these candled eggs.

I would then bring them home (usually 100 or 200 at a time) and then I'd spend days, drilling holes in each end and then blowing the contents out, scrubbing them clean and drying them.

I did not collect eggs in the wild. Not only is that illegal, it's also immoral. I only worked with candled

Doing eggeury in Canada proved to be a difficult hobby because there was no one else in Canada that did it too so there were no craft shops that sold the supplies that I needed.

With research, letter writing and word of mouth I learned about sources for supplies in the USA and I was able to get the metal hinges and parts that I was not able to get in Canada.

But we were pretty resourceful and I learned to find parts by turning things like candle holders into egg stands and so on.

Later I bought a dremel tool and I carved the egg shells with that. Then years after that eggers started using air compressor drills that ran much much faster.

After that the craft really took off because we were suddenly able to carve the most delicate filigree cuts.

The drill is a dentist drill (sounds like it too) and runs at hundreds of thousands of revolutions per second. With a diamond bit, I could cut an egg shell like a knife through butter.

(See the difference if you compare the Swan egg cut with a dremel with a high degree of difficulty compared to the Rabbit Egg cut with fine and fancy scrolls).

It would take me anywhere from 4 hours to a 100 hours to complete an egg. In time I got faster and yes I certainly broke many while working on them. Initially, I would cry and get very angry, but I was learning to be tenacious and I kept at it.

Soon the tears dried up and if there was a crack, it just became a challenge to fix it. Yes, I could put Humpty together again!

The Ostrich egg shell is very thick - like pottery and very strong. The surface of the shell is shiny and smooth with lots of little pores.

The black egg is an Emu egg. The emu is a flightless bird, from Australia, that is very similar to the Ostrich although much smaller. Underneath the black outside of the shell is a gorgeous turquoise colour.

I've seen some beautiful aboriginal carvings done on emu eggs which display the turquoise underneath.

I would carve doors on many of the eggs and then glue hinges on them so that the doors were fully functional.

Then I would put glue along the edges and apply pearls, gold trim or even a bread dough rose trellis. Design ideas were unlimited which is probably why I loved this craft.

The heart egg is made by cutting two goose eggs at the 2 o'clock position and then joining them together with glue.

The inside was lined with red velvet, to make a jewelry box.

Finally, the blue egg is a Robin's egg - found on the ground with no nest in sight. It has tiny hinges so that the doors open and close. Inside is a finch egg, given to me by a friend that raised birds and on top sits a ceramic chick.

Of course my favourite time of year is Easter. It's a joyous time, a time to celebrate and have fun. I hope you have a great Easter!!! What are your plans this year?

How to 'Full' Spun Yarn

2009-04-07T15:23:00.001-04:00

After you finish spinning your roving it needs to be 'fulled'.

Okay, this one really scared me.

The directions went like this: Plunge the wool into hot soapy water and then pound it with a plunger.

This followed by, then plunge the skein into cold water to rinse it and then back into hot water again.

Then plunge it into cold water again.

Then take the skein and wring it in the washer (or wrap in a towel and squeeze the water out).

Finally, take your skein and SMACK it against a countertop!!!

Whack it on purpose I thought? The answer: YES!!!

And then hang your skein to dry.

These were instructions for the roving that I had just finished spinning for hours and hours so that I could felt it--I mean full it--on purpose.

I can't tell you how hard it was to obey these instructions. It just went against the grain and everything I'd been told.

With my wool, fresh off the sheep, I soaked the fleece and then carefully washed it, being sure to never run water over the fibre or to agitate the wool--all so I wouldn't felt it.

And now I'm being given directions to do exactly that!

If you're looking for a really good book on spinning, you might want to consider Judith MacKenzie-McCuin's new book, "The Intentional Spinner".

This is where she gives all the directions on how to work with the most popular fibres for spinning, as well as some of the more unusual and expensive fibres.

Her advice for the after spinning care for worsted spun sheep's wool and alpaca yarn is to 'full' it by following the above process.

Why? Because when the yarn is first spun the fibres are tightly packed and the yarn isn't very soft. Fulling relaxes the fibres and brings the fluffiness and softness back into the fibre. And, believe it or not, the fulling process actually makes the fibre stronger because it becomes more cohesive.

Notice from the photo the outside edges of this fulled ball of yarn how the soft fluffy fibres are standing out? That's what makes the yarn feel nicer on the skin.

I was really concerned about doing this fulling thing. I'd invested a lot of time and money on my fibre and I was worried that the skein would felt itself into a solid mushy mash once I took a plunger to it.

But I trusted the author's advice and decided that I would go ahead and follow it despite my misgivings.

And guess what? It didn't wreck my yarn.

In fact it did exactly what the author said it'd do and that is soften the yarn and make it more touchable.

And it didn't make the skein stick together in a mushy mess.

Whew!!!

I am also happy to announce that I have now spun a 2 ply alpaca roving at 20 WPI.

I've worked hard on slowing myself down and trying to make a finer yarn and it looks like I'm getting there one bobbin at a time.

My plans for this alpaca yarn, is to make a shawl for my Mother.

At first I had plans to make the Highland Triangle Shawl as shown in the photo taken from the knitting book, Folk Shawls.

It's on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.ca/Folk-Shawls-Cheryl-Oberle/dp/1883010594/ref=tag_sty_mn_edpp_ttl)

Now that I feel I've got a finer yarn I'm thinking I might switch plans and try to knit this shawl from the book Knitted Lace from Estonia.

This is the best lace knitting book I've seen so far. It's on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.ca/Knitted-Lace-Estonia-Techniques-Traditions/dp/1596680539/ref=tag_sty_mn_edpp_ttl)

It probably won't knit up fast, and it will mean a lot of chart work--in other words, this shawl won't be a sleep-along while I knit.

Zalpacas

2009-04-06T11:10:00.003-04:00

A couple weekends ago I went back to the Ziraldo's Farm (http://www.zalpacas.com/) to help with their alpaca halter training again.

Baby Evangeline was old enough to be with the older babies so she had been taken away from her mother and put with the other babies a week or so ago.

She did cry for a few days but then she settled in with her new friends.

We ushered them into a shed where Debbie and I put their halters on. I noticed right away how calm they were, especially Pumpkin.

They were learning the routine and becoming less nervous as a result.

I was most impressed with Pumpkin's progress. Not once did she lie down and refuse to move. She was very well behaved and walked along willingly.

Last time Pumpkin was quite the drama queen, throwing herself to the ground and rolling over. She even went so far as to stick her legs up in the air.
Baby Evangeline (the small white female) was a real sweetie and she walked along very well, taking everything in stride.

As we walked by the paddock the female alpacas came to the fence to greet us.

Tom Cat visits Dr. Kirby

2009-04-05T12:47:00.010-04:00

I do try to avoid vet bills. I'm sure you know that awful feeling... do I take him or do I wait a few more days? If I don't take him and he really should go then.... And around and around it goes.

(All photos taken after Tom returned).

With fostering and taking in strays I've learned a lot about caring for animals so when Tom came home Thursday last week after being missing for 17 days my plan was to observe him, love on him and fatten him back up.

But he wouldn't eat. The only thing that he wanted was milk. (I do know that cats shouldn't have milk but Tom obviously was raised on milk put out by some kind neighbour and he craves it, asks for it and won't stop meowing until he gets some). So I give in and give him a little dish in the morning.

I tried tempting him with salmon, with chicken--his favourites. He would put his mouth to the food but would not take it. Very strange. I worried that he might have a blockage in his mouth or throat or a tooth problem.

That's why on Saturday I packed Tom up in a cat carrier and took him to see the vet, Dr. Kirby. He gave Tom a needle and pills to help boost his appetite. He had no fever and we couldn't find any other body type issues. So Tom came home (no problem getting him in the cat carrier when LEAVING the vet's office). The vet said to wait until Wednesday and if his appetite didn't improve by then, we might look at doing some blood work to see if something else was going on. I agreed.

We figured that Tom was pretty shaken up from his experience. We don't know what happened to him during the time he was missing but I was very suspicious that he had been accidentally locked in a shed or garage with the owner then away on spring break vacation--I noticed he disappeared on a garbage day and reappeared after another garbage day.

His orange collar is very loose, indicating a really great weight loss. Still when weighed at the vet's office he was 13 lbs. Tom was a little bit obese after staying indoors all winter. Maybe that helped save him.

The vet said that Tom was an emotional cat. I swear this guy is a cat whisperer. Cats love him. And he gets them. He really does. This was the first time he'd met Tom and he nailed the personality pretty easily. Tom is emotional.

Years ago if I would rearrange his cat bed outside by winterizing it, he would get really upset and disappear for 3 days. Back then he was still pretty wild and didn't understand that I was changing the bed over to give him winter protection. I knew he was sensitive and got his feelings hurt really easily. But after a couple years with me doing this change-over he understood what I was doing. So he was a smart cat too, and he could learn new things.

Then there was that terrible day about 4 years ago when I brought Sweet Pea's broken dead body home. She'd been hit by a car and I was hysterical. I laid her body down on the ground in the back yard so that I could go in the house to get the phone.

I remember vaguely that Tom was there, and that tiny, tiny, warning voice that said, "Don't put the body down so that Tom can see it". But I was out of my mind with grief and my ears were deaf. I laid the body down. And Tom saw it. Then he disappeared.

He did not come home. After a few days we put up posters in the subdivision and I visited the local Animal Care to see if he was there. He was not to be found. The roads didn't show any more bodies which was a huge relief. But where was he.

We determined that Tom was freaked out or confused after seeing Sweet Pea's body. I think his confusion was because he saw me lay the body down--he could only have concluded that I did that to her.

Three months went by, then my neighbour Mary called very excited (God bless that woman!) and said she had seen Tom and that he was under her porch. I raced right over. I used a flashlight to shine in the dark and there he was in the back corner of her porch. I could see him clearly. But he would not come to me.

Nevertheless, I went home elated. He was alive. We knew he was eating because both Mary and I put food out for him. He was alive! And time would heal all wounds, wouldn't it?

A couple weeks after that night, I was coming into the back yard on my bike when guess who I nearly ran over? Yes, Tom. He started to run away but I called to him gently and then talked to him. He stood his ground. I got off my bike slowly so as not to scare him away and I put my hand out to him. He stuck his head up to be scratched. The sad past was set aside and we were together again at long last.

Since that night Tom had never been gone from home for more than one night. He was older and neutered, and content. He didn't need to go out and prove himself in the subdivision any more.

Since he came home, I notice his sleep is uneasy for the first while and that he shakes and jerks a bit. I think it's stress, like post traumatic stress syndrome. I'm releaved to see that he does settle into a good deep sleep after a while.

The cats are used to sleeping on pillows. This came about because my neice and nephew, myself too, would find the cat's claws would hurt the skin when they would sleep on our lap because they would nead our flesh. Tom has six toes and claws on his front paws and he's a deep neader (ouch!). So we put the cats on pillows to protect our flesh and the cats love the soft warm comfort.

Tom has taken to sleeping on my Taos Chunky Vest. I know it's warm and comforting so I won't take it away.

His purr is really deep and loud--loud, large and very, very soothing. It keeps us both calm and I'm forever grateful to have the chance to hear it again. :)

MIRACLE!!!!!! Tom Returns!!!!

2009-04-03T00:44:00.000-04:00

I was sick and ended up being home on Thursday. I slept the whole day, accompanied by my cats who would snuggle up to me in bed. Finally at 10:30 p.m. I got up.

Tigger lead the way to the front door. He wanted out. I opened the big door and then I heard it. That special beautiful and unique meow that I knew to be Tom's voice.

I flipped on the outside light and there he was in bold and beautiful black and white.

He came right into the house and I just laughed and cried. He was alive!

All the cats came to greet him and sniff him over.

There certainly is something to be said for prayers. They seem to really work. Seventeen days is a long time to be gone.

Tom has lost a lot of weight, at least 1/3 of his mass is gone. His orange collar is so loose around his neck you'd think someone loosened it.

I can feel the bumps of his spine down his back. He's pretty dirty too, and in the next few hours after being home he began to clean himself.

He wasn't starving when he came home, which isn't a total surprise since many of the neighbours put out food for stray cats (I'm one of them).

He's not eating as much as he should, so I'm not sure if he has other health issues happening. He's also sneezing a bit, and I've seen this before. It's a cat cold as a result of stress. I'll be watching him very closely just to be sure he's okay.

I guess I'll never know what happened to him or why he was gone so long. I just wish he could tell me. But either way, we've had a miracle here and we're very grateful to have him home.

Thanks for your prayers and good wishes!

The Joy of Life

2009-03-31T21:05:00.007-04:00

Tom cat is still missing and it's been 2 weeks today. My cat lady neighbour is very optimistic about Tom and has reminded me what a survivor he is. She thinks he's out there somewhere alive and wandering.

Maybe he met a nasty neighbour and is feeling a little people shy again. Either way, we both hope he comes home soon. (And I berate myself for not taking more photos and videos of him... what if I never get to see him again? He was by my side every night and day that I was home. To me it was as if he'd be around forever. I wish I'd appreciated him even more than I did).

We'd had some dark and overcast days and my spirit certainly felt pretty down. Then when entering the kitchen I saw this beautiful violet had come into bloom. Hidden away on the shelf this beauty grew secretly and in silence only to reveal itself in its glorious full bloom. I note that it had been there all along, I just hadn't noticed.

Death and threats of death seem to float very close by lately, threatening my loved ones. A coworker with bowel cancer, a friend with breast cancer, my own mother with thyroid cancer, a client just diagnosed with it and a fellow Canadian blogger, Barry (http://anexplorers.blogspot.com/), has just been diagnosed with this dreaded illness.

Many of us confess we fear it. Every pain or internal ache and it makes me think, "I wonder if I have cancer?" And I know I'm not alone in these thoughts. Finally I'm being pushed to appreciate what health I do have and to not take it so for granted. And I'll have a mammogram this spring as I promised my friend Anne who has recently fought breast cancer.

There's no shortage of things around to suck the joy from life and sometimes when I feel sorry for myself I make a point of remembering those people who are not as fortunate as me. I watched a show on the weekend that showed children under 10 battling cancer (one girl had no less than 42 weeks of chemotherapy) and she died. It was heartbreaking to watch and beautiful too. Beautiful only because sometimes those things that put us close to death bring out the sweetness of the joy of life. I remember this when my father-in-law died. He was a man who would not tell his children he loved them, not until cancer struck him down. As he lay dying it was very sad but beautiful how he let down the walls and told his children he loved them.

So it appears my prayer life is growing, praying for my fur babies and my family and friends. I just pray that the only thing sucked away is the cancer and all that's left behind is that beautiful sweetness and joy of life.

Wool Block in Angora Rabbits - The Real Truth

2009-03-25T10:30:00.000-04:00

The last two weeks have been kind of crappy. I'm sure you're familiar with life events that somehow all build up and happen at the same time. And then just to put the cherry on top, you get sick with a cold or flu just to make coping and dealing that much more challenging.

So Margarite was sick, I've had a cold, and my Tom Cat is still missing (I should have had children instead of cats, then at least they'd have a cell phone and I could call to ask where they are!).

Margarite, the older angora rabbit stopped eating a couple weeks ago. I had been monitoring her intakes and output and I noticed she was gradually eating less and less and her poops were getting smaller and smaller... and then they stopped--not a good thing for a rabbit.

I brushed her regularly, more often than the once a week that was recommended. The brushing is to remove loose hair so she wouldn't be consuming so much of her own wool when cleaning herself. It seemed all my efforts were in vain.

I had done quite a bit of reading on wool block on the interent and so I followed that advice.

I tempted her with fruits, gave her papaya tablets, which she would barely eat. Then when she stopped eating entirely I was forced to give her eyedroppers of pineapple juice and mineral oil in an attempt to give her fluids to get the blockage moved. And I cut off her wool to prevent her from ingesting more of her own long fibre.

It pains me to remember how much she hated being forced to take these treatments and how much it terrorized her. It was very upsetting for both of us. She pooped a little but her appetite just would not return. I just knew there had to be another solution so I went back to the Internet to find out what more I could do.

Then I came across the Rabbit Society's (http://www.rabbit.org/) web site with information from a veterinarian who also keeps rabbits. It describes the rabbit's digestive system in detail and what the REAL problem is when a rabbit's stomach has wool in it. It's a lack of motility of the GI tract and the digestive system (http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-7/gi.html) caused by a lack of moisture in her system. The solution was so simple to be ridiculous. HYDRATION through eating greens--VEGETABLES!

The problem isn't that much different than constipation in humans. The rabbit's stomach does fill with hair as it grooms itself and then she starts to feel full and stops eating. The more dehydrated the rabbit becomes from not eating the more tightly packed the hair mass becomes, perpetuating the problem. They need fluids and the best way to get them is through food they are craving - vegetables.

My rabbit, wouldn't eat anything except a couple nibbles on a banana or strawberry. When presented with greens she GOBBLED them. I gave her romaine lettuce, parsley and carrot tops. This was a rabbit who hadn't eaten in a week, who was being force fed! I couldn't believe how she began to eat immediately. Of course the poops followed shortly after she started to eat and her energy came right back and she began to act like a normal rabbit again.

She did have plenty of hay the whole time through this ordeal, but that wasn't what she was naturally craving. She knew what she needed and she had to wait for the dummy (me) to figure it out! She was craving the moisture and fibre that vegetables provide.

I hadn't been feeding them greens. My history with greens is a little scary - years ago we raised a wild baby bunny and when we gave it greens it got diarrhea and then died - so I was very nervous about giving greens. After reading more information on the Rabbit Society web site I relaxed, seeing that the issue of diarrhea is more with baby rabbits, not adults as long as the greens were introduced slowly. I've now turned over a new leaf ;)

If you keep angora rabbits, I highly recommend the Rabbit Society website - and definitely read the article about the lack of motility caused by wool in the stomach. I believe their information saved my rabbit's life and it definitely saved our relationship. I certainly was not popular with her for a few days there but now it looks like I've been forgiven.

I do believe that the eyedropper and mineral oil can be effective if necessary, but try the greens first before you traumatize your bunny.

Both rabbits are now enjoying a veggie diet, along with pellets and hay ... and there's poops a-plenty! And now I find I'm eating more veggies too because they're in the house. I think we're all going to get more healthy. All I need now is for Tom Cat to come home.

Tom Cat

2009-03-20T12:03:00.002-04:00

Tom Cat.

He used to be wild. At least he appeared to be.

I'd see him late at night when I'd come out the back door with some garbage or peelings to dump in the compost. He'd be near the garage where the roofed patio is coming off the garage. That was where the food dish was for the dog. He'd see me and he'd run out of there pretty fast.

As time went on he didn't run as fast--he knew I wouldn't chase him, squirt water from the hose or throw rocks at him like I knew others were wont to do. But he'd always run, sometimes pausing as he jumped to the top of the chain link fence - a quick look back at me (probably more for his own security) and then he'd vanish on the other side, his dark black fur swallowed by the darkness.

Knowing he was a stray I bought cat chow and would put it out for him so he wouldn't have to eat just dog food. I didn't own a cat at the time, only my border collie dog Sam. I could tell he was a stray. There's a certain body posture that a stray has; crouched, low to the ground, and they walk lightly on their feet, almost like they're in stealth mode all the time. That also means they're not relaxed like a house cat, a loved cat.

The term feral is often used but experience has shown me that 'scared' would be a better term for these cats. That's not to say that there aren't totally wild (feral) cats out there, because there are, but most didn't start out feral.

Time would pass and I would see this cat on occasion, sometimes he'd run out of the dog house in the night. There was straw in it and my dog certainly didn't sleep in it at night, only during the day time. The small garage door was usually left open in winter especially, not so much in the summer because raccoons would make a mess of the garbage. I knew that he could go in there if it got really cold, or any other stray cat for that matter. (We'd had a childhood experience with a precious cat running away from home and getting such severe frost bite that the tops of his ears which fell off. Ever since then, I can't stand the thought of a stray cat being out in the cold).

As my dog Sammy got older his hips began to bother him. I realized he needed a warmer place to sleep during the day other than his dog house.

Mom, Dad and I cut a doggy door in the small garage door so that it could be closed. That way it'd be warmer inside. Then I set up a straw dog bed in an extra large cardboard box and then put in a pig lamp. Pig lamp is the term I use - it's a heat lamp with a protective wire covering and my grandpa used to use them in the barn. He'd hang it over the piglets to keep them warm.

It took Sam a little time to get used to going through the dog door, but it wasn't long until he was spending a lot of time in there nestled in the straw. And at night Tom would sleep in Sam's bed.

I'd see the wild cat when walking in the subdivision and I realized he had quite a large range to cover. We'd nicknamed him Tom - as in Tom Cat. Early on when it was winter I could always tell when he'd come by because of the tale tell footprints in the snow. Tom's footprints were unique though - giant, because he is polydactael which meant he had extra toes. In fact, that was the first time I ever 'saw' Tom was when he left super huge footprints in the snow. I new I had a large Tom cat around.

As time went on Tom didn't run away quite so fast but I realized he was less and less afraid of me. Then one day he showed up under the heat lamp in Sam's bed and he did not, would not, run away. He was sick. Really sick. So I gave him food and water, left the heat lamp on and kept the dog away. I was even able to touch his head briefly, which he hated and shrank back from but he didn't run away. That's how sick he was. Thankfully, he recovered.

From there I worked on Tom, calling him by name, talking to him, and keeping a regular feeding schedule. In time, he would come and eat, walking by me as I sat reading outside. He knew I was a friend. When I said his name, he'd look at me. And he didn't run away any more.

Then I would touch his back. At first he shrunk away but it didn't take long until he allowed it and came to enjoy it and he loved to have his head scratched.

In time I knew I had to do the right thing and have Tom neutered. He was constantly in fights and coming by wounded--once with a terrible throat gash that got so infected I had to capture him and take him to the vet. He was getting older and I realized that by not having him fixed I was perpetuating the problem of feral cats in the neighbourhood. I was afraid to capture him and put him through this procedure, since to my knowledge he'd never been to a vet in his life. I had to admit to myself I was afraid he would hate me for it and I'd worked so very hard to gain his trust.

I did it anyway. It turned out he very badly needed tooth surgery too. The vet said, "Boy is this cat ever used to pain. He has broken teeth with bare nerves." So we got him all fixed up and he came home. And he didn't hate me. I had to keep him in the garage for a few days to recover and we had a great time bonding. I had to care for his neck wound and Tom really enjoyed the attention he got while I cleaned his wounds. And he purred. For the first time Tom started purring, very loudly. We became very good friends.

From there, Tom was introduced to the house... slowly... he was freaked out about the whole coming indoors thing at first, but being a smart cat, he caught on to everything really quickly. He loved coming in on rainy days and evenings. In time, he was allowed to stay in overnight and then as long as he wanted, asking to come and go as he pleased.

I started writing this last Friday.

On Tuesday this week Tom vanished.

Today is Friday again and Tom is still missing. This is very out of character with a cat who has slept by my side every night for the last two years.

My niece helped put up posters on my street and at the busy street corner. Dad and I checked the road for a body - hoping not to find him but needing to know if he'd been killed on the road.

No body, no Tom.

And I worry. Tuesday was a garbage day and nice weather during March break. Lots of parents are home and maybe gardening and cleaning up outside, maybe opening up their sheds and garages. I'm hoping Tom wandered inside and is just waiting to be set free. It's not really like him to wander into other people's buildings (that's something Tigger would do).

I'm missing him very much. Let's just say the prayer life has picked up again as I'm hoping my big little darling comes home very soon. If you're someone that prays, please pray for Tom. Thank you.

The Wagon Shed - Spinning & Knitting Supplies

2009-03-17T12:32:00.000-04:00

The Wagon Shed (http://www.wagonshed.com/) in Arva, Ontario, is a wonderful large loft over an old-fashioned wagon shed that has been converted into a shop that specializing in weaving and spinning lessons and supplies.

It's owned and run by Kassy Wells who has been a London/Arva resident for many years.

Thursday nights is usually class night and on entering the shop you can usually hear all the laughter of the women as they socialize while learning the time honoured craft of spinning and weaving.

I recently read a letter by the editor in the Wild Fibre's magazine where she talked about being at a writer's convention where she touched someone's knit sweater asking if they made it. She wrote about her faux paux, realizing that she wasn't with 'her kind of people'. She meant knitters, where admiring a knitted garment is an expected thing.

This is the type of ambience that Kassy Wells generates at the Wagon Shed, where you feel you are with your own kind of people.

She has an easy-going manner which really helps create a relaxed learning environment.

I think what I admire most about Kassy is her uncanny colour sense. She's truly gifted at selecting colours for weaving. Often Kassy will have two or more loom projects on the go, some custom orders and others to create wonderful blankets for sale. Her mother is a prolific knitter and contributes many baby garments and teddy bears for sale in the shop.

This is the shop where I got my lovely Louet spinning wheel which I just adore. I feel about my spinning wheel how men feel about their cars.

The stream of customers is constant. You'd think that being a shop located on a farm and just outside the city that you would be the only person shopping, but no, there are always customers and students dropping in at the Wagon Shed.

What I particularly enjoy is going to a place where I can meet with kindred spirits - people who love the fibre arts as much as I do. Even if I spin and they weave, we can still cabitz about our fibre choices and discuss the various benefits of different types of fibre.

Kassy regales us with tales of her escapades raising sheep and angora rabbits for their fibre. Meanwhile, horses are in the paddock out back by the barn.

I come for the companionship of knitters, a good laugh, and the fresh air. Secretly I'd love to see or get a whiff of a manure pile when out by the barn. Seriously, I miss my grandparent's farm more than words can say and the scents are an olfactory delight; they swoosh in my most happy childhood memories.

Kassy showed me some Northern Lights roving that she had spun.

Once spun this wool looks amazing, but we all confess that when looking at just the roving alone it's hard to image the yarn as lovely as it turns out.

I purchased a bag of this "Picasso" roving for myself to spin. I'm thinking about sock yarn. I've never made a pair of socks before but now that I've read so many other blogs and comments about them I think it's time I jumped on board and made some.

I would not have thought to dye wool like this Picasso - with little bands of colour repeated so often, nor so many colours. I would have used maybe only 3 colours, possibly 4 and I would have made the bars much longer, perhaps 4" or more between colour changes.

This roving makes me think of a coral snake on steroids.... but it looks gorgeous once spun and its not so clown-like.

Once home I added this roving to my stash. I figured it was time to sort the stash a little, organize it and get some of my wool in ziplock bags for storage.

(I'd seen a couple moths in the kitchen and was starting to panic. Then last night I caught one and looking at trusty internet sources I was relieved to find it was only a pantry moth - off to Home Depot for some pheromone bait).

I got a cardboard box of roving at a good price, most of it was ends and spread everything out on the couch to sort. It was around 4:15 on a Saturday and the local Post Office was closing in 45 minutes. I needed to pick up a delivery there so I just left everything and dashed.

I was back in 20 minutes with my delivery box and upon entering the living room I saw my mistake. I had left my stash unattended. Rule: Don't leave your stash unattended or others will come along and scoop if for themselves.

The other day my sister was over and she said, "Why are you letting the cat sleep on your new vest?" This is the Taos Chunky Vest which I am just finishing (need a button) and my sister was just admiring it a few days ago and tried it on.

Without looking I asked if it was Tigger? "Yes," she said. We seem to have a trend when it comes to Tigger and warm fibres.

"I didn't give Tigger the vest to sleep on," I said, "I just laid it on the couch to photograph it for my blog." The cats, Tigger mainly, really taking advantage of my woolens. Rule: Don't leave any wool or roving unattended unless you want it to become an instant cat bed. At least everyone in my house appreciates fibre.

I'm having a little trouble with keeping my spinning tension consistent when I spin day to day or week to week.

I may only spin an hour one night and then have to leave it for a few days. When I come back to it, it's like, "where was I? What gauge was I spinning at?"

Hopefully in time that will improve? If you have any experience with that, please let me know.

And here you can see the Northern Lights Picasso roving done up as a two ply. Not so clown-like now.

What was very interesting to watch is how the colours would mix. While being drafted the colours would blend and create whole new colours which I thought was intriguing.

Also, although each colour band was only about 2" it would stretch out when drafted so it went a little farther than I thought.

This is a note to self when I continue embarking on my own dyeing adventures.

This is the Way we Walk Alpacas, Walk Alpacas...

2009-03-15T23:15:00.002-04:00

Amber, my neice, and I were invited to assist the Ziraldo's with their alpaca halter training a couple weekends ago.

Of course we were excited to have the opportunity to see the alpacas.

I would be seeing them for a second time and Amber had never seen an alpaca before. So, on the weekend we set out for Thorndale, Ontario, to Ziraldo's Alpaca Farm.

I told Amber no less than 8 times to dress warmly. I had lots of experience with the weather in the country compared to the city. We were expecting some rain and after Debbie and I chatted on the phone, we decided to go ahead with the training date as long as it was just a light rain.

I do have experience with country weather. All those open fields, without any wind breakers, can create some pretty cold winds. Probably the first person to come up with the word wind-chill, lived in the country.

That's probably why most farm houses have evergreen trees lining their lane and around the house - they create a wind block in winter and shade from the heat in summer. I just can't tell you how much I enjoy hearing the sound of wind as it goes through pine needles--but mind, I'm referring to a nice summer wind, not a bone chilling winter wind.

Of course, fashion meant more to Amber than anything else--she regularly comments that beauty is painful--and she didn't even bring a winter coat. This did not stop her however from 'jacking' a purple tam hat that I had knitted that she found on the seat of the truck.

(Photo - Colin Ziraldo and Amber give the cat Rodney a little attention).

After discovering that she hadn't brought a jacket I was going to insist that she wear the hat. But it turned out that the hat met well with her sense of fashion and she happily put it on with a, "I love this hat. I'm going to wear it to school tomorrow". That, I believe, is a knitter's compliment, and her backhanded way of telling me, "thanks for the hat."

Amber had never seen an alpaca before but she had read my blog. It certainly peaked her interest so when she heard I was going she asked if she could go too.

I called my sister to just be sure it was okay with her. Ruth referred to our trip as seeing the llamas.

I had to explain so I told her no, alpacas were different than llamas; they were from the same family (camilide) but they were smaller than llamas. To clarify I said, "Like Ostriches and Rheas", and then she understood right away.

Being an egg decorating family who knew about birds, she immediately understood the size ratio when I used these birds to explain. The Ostrich from Africa is very similar to the Rhea, being a two legged flightless bird, but the rhea, from South America, is quite a bit smaller than the ostrich.

We started our visit in the house, having a nice chat and Amber was first introduced to the animals by reviewing their fibre.

The first cut fibre from the topmost part of the animal is the softest and the second cut is still soft, but not so much. We admired the different colours - all natural, and the different textures in fibre compared from one animal to the next. It's interesting how each animal has their own signature in their fibre--no two fibres are the same.

Then we headed out to the barn where the babies were.

Not little babies, but growing young alpacas who will soon be put with the older animals.

The larger white alpaca is Prince Caspian. (Sorry I cropped off his head in the photo).

The beautiful pumpkin coloured female is called (guess) Pumpkin.

The cute little brown boy (he's kind of hard to see against the black background) is Mr. Tumnus.

Mr. Tumnus' fibre is actually a wonderful black on the inside).

These animals needed to learn to become familiar with being lead and wearing a halter which was the purpose of the training.

We would take them out and lead them around so that they could become accustomed to this activity. It would make them easier to handle when moving them, loading them on trailers, or at shows.

"Alpcas go to shows?" asked Amber.

"Yes, I said," and they've won prizes." I pointed to the blue ribbon that the Ziraldo's had on their shelf.

We got the babies in the shed and then had to hang onto them while we put the halters on. That really meant they got a really tight hug for a couple minutes.

Pumpkin didn't like all this activity and immediately laid down. This is an instinctive behaviour, which actually made putting on the halter much easier.

The rain thankfully held off and we set off on our walk. We would take them down the gravel lane because the paddocks were getting pretty muddy after the winter thaw. (Amber did have boots because before we left London I did a quick trip back to her house so she could get some).

The littlest, Mr. Tumnus was the least afraid and seemed to take everything in stride.

Prince Caspian was a little frisky at first but he seemed to catch on pretty quickly and settled into stride.

Then came Pumpkin, the girl. She was pretty upset about the whole thing and kept laying down on the trail.

We had to nudge her to get her back up and pull her along.

Several times along the path she laid down and even rolled over, putting her legs in the air. This reminded me a little of a child's tantrum. To perserve her dignity, we refrained from taking photos.

On the final trek back to the barn Pumpkin wasn't quite so bad and we were pretty certain once she realized it was just a little outing she wouldn't be so afraid.

Amber and I both agreed it was a great way to spend an afternoon and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Later I ended up telling her to keep the hat. It looked way better on her than on me anyway. Just as we were leaving, the rain let loose and it poured.

P.S. There are more photos to follow. I had brought the wrong batteries for the camera and it died on me after a few shots. No problem though, because I had a teenager with me who had both a camera and her camera cell phone with her. So Amber was our photographer for this occasion. The only problem is now getting the teenager to email me the photos so I can post them. (She might be withholding them in order to blackmail a sleepover out of me)....

Beauty Treatment: The World's Best Hand Treatment

2009-03-14T01:33:00.002-04:00

As an Aesthetician, I've done more than a few manicures and pedicures. I've also tried various products to soak or rub on dry skin (herbal fusions, salt glows, mud, peppermint masks). All of these treatments either for the hands or feet are quite nice, but if you suffer from dry chapped hands, (men or women) or cracked skin then this is the best treatment you can give your hands:

Brown Sugar Manicure:

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp Olive Oil (you can substitute the oil with Grapeseed, Almond Oil, etc - or leave it out entirely)

This treatment is a little messy so it should be done over a plate, a flat-shaped bowl or if you're like me, I stand over the kitchen sink.

Directions:

Add the oil to the brown sugar and then massage it into your hands for 3 to 5 minutes.

When done, rinse your hands in warm water and pat dry.

Finish by massaging 1 tsp of your favourite hand cream.

To make this a spa treatment, I follow it up with a warm paraffin dip (I believe Sears sells a little electric paraffin warmer).

Your hands will feel incredibly soft. Seriously, try it and then let me know what you think.

Why does this work? The sugar acts as an exfolliant that gradually rubs off the dry flaky skin cells from the surface of your hands, but unlike sand, the sugar melts as you rub it in which is why it won't irritate your skin. It's that dry flaky skin on the surface that prevents the hand creams from penetrating to moisturize your skin.

Enjoy!

Teach a Man to Fish - Kiva

2009-03-10T01:13:00.000-04:00

I once had a gift shop owner tell me that she invested $25,000 to start her business. I remember saying to her that I thought that was a lot of money. She promptly informed me that "Well, if you aren't willing to invest a lot of money, you're not an entrepreneur."

At the time I was already running my own business, an art business and the reason why I was in her shop was because I was selling my art on consignment in her store. I could never figure out how that qualified me not to be an entrepreneur. In my mind, anyone who ran their own business was an entrepreneur; I didn't consider large investment capital to be the chief qualifier (I mean don't you find people with lots of money are usually the least creative?).

(This is a real pheasant egg in its natural green colour, about 1 1/2" in size with real dried flowers inside and a ceramic bird)

My business was home based - in fact it was bedroom based! I worked at a desk in my bedroom and I had all my craft related items in little filing cabinets on some shelves (and every flat surface in the room). I even took over the bathroom as my painting/glazing area and my family never said one word about the whole corner of the bathroom counter that was dedicated to my art.

Just typing that, I realize what an amazing family I grew up in. They weren't so traditional and rules driven about how things looked that I couldn't learn and experiment with my little business. At that time I was making and selling Apple Head Dolls and Decorated Eggs (real eggs decorated like Faberge eggs - I'll blog more on at Easter).

My mother and I always were at odds over clothing. She grew up in the depression and so was pretty much a spendthrift. My sister and I became competent sewers and we would make a lot of our own clothing. But blue jeans were always a bone of contention with my mother. You couldn't really sew a pair that looked like store bought and my mother always refused to buy me a pair. Eventually as I hit high school Mom relented and I was able to purchase cheap jeans. Then when in Australia I saw this most amazing pair of jeans and I just had to have them. I knew that Mom would never agree to the high price of $35.00. (photo - my sister and I - me on the left wearing the jean skirt that I sewed myself).

When thinking how I might earn the money for these jeans, my first enterprise was born. I started to make feather earrings. In the evenings and weekends I'd work away putting together fluffy dyed feathers on hooks along with beads. I designed them so that they could attach to any pair of earrings. I sold them at school for .50 cents or 1.00. In a couple weeks I had my money and my jeans. I was 14 years old.

A few years later, I started making apple head dolls. My mother was the carver who would make the doll heads from apples and I was the body maker, using my sewing talent to create clothing for the dolls. From there I got into making decorated eggs where I would carve real egg shells, paint them and put scenes inside. Dad found out about a local craft show and called them and the following week we had a table at the craft show and I was selling my crafts. I was 18.

(This is a goose egg shell carved with a high speed drill in a filigree design and then pearls were glued on top).

I continued selling my decorated eggs for many years. I sold them mostly at craft and art shows initially but as time went on, I did more and more store consignments. I was featured in many newspaper stories and was frequently on the TV news, especially at Easter.

As time went on I stopped making the eggs but it wasn't long before I was into another entrepreneurial activity, this time as an Aesthetician. I went back to school at nights to get my certification and then I ran a salon from my home. I converted my living room into a salon and for many years I ran this business on a part-time basis while I continued to work full-time. It got me through some hard times. I really enjoyed the work but I was getting tired from the two jobs so eventually I packed away my equipment. (I'll wait for my retirement to start up again).

Currently, I'm working on a children's book that I've written which I hope will be published and I maintain web sites for non profit organizations that I support. And then there's beekeeping which I plan to start this spring... but that's going to be 'just a hobby'.

I think an entrepreneurial spirit is something you carry inside that just finds its own way to express itself, whether it's investing in a gift shop, creating and selling art or, supporting a great charity.

Have you ever heard of Kiva? This non profit organization really gets me excited because it's all about entrepreneurs in third world countries. It works by people giving micro loans to these entrepreneurs. So it's not a hand-out--it's a hand up! Kiva is a non profit organization that specializes in micro loans to people in impoverished countries all over the world. The loans are given mostly to women, to help them set themselves up as entrepreneurs in their own businesses.

As a sponsor, I can go to Kiva's website (http://www.kiva.org/ )and choose who I would like to give a loan to based on a profile of what the individual plans to do with the loan. I'm a big supporter of women, and agriculture so I like to choose families who are setting themselves up to raise cattle or women who are setting up fibre related businesses. The loans really are micro - you're only allowed to give $25.00, however you can support multiple entrepreneurs if you like.

All the people selected for loans must go through Kiva's interview and approval process before their profile is ever posted on the internet.

This is my most recent loan of $25 to Munavvar Hakimova in Tajikistan who is starting up a tailoring business- you can read her profile at: http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=93762

The loans are paid back over a period of a time, usually a year or more. As the money is returned to my Kiva account, I can either take the money back or loan it again. Of course, I loan it again, a whole whopping $25.00!!!

What makes this so cool is that I am a partner in the loan along with other individuals from around the world, each of us giving the maximum of $25.00. Some loans are for $200 and others are for $2000. Businesses don't cost as much in third world countries as they do here.

Kiva was featured on Oprah a couple years ago and I've been a member since. They send me regular reports on loan repayments and keep me in touch with their progress. Don't you just love this entrepreneurial spirit? It's fabulous! Few things can make you feel so great as helping a person, a family, a village, to have a better life and education.

You should see this Kiva video about a woman in Nepal. You'll be amazed to see how one small loan of about $250.00 impacted an entire family and a village: http://vimeo.com/3323701?utm_source=jg&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=jg%5FKiva+Newsletter%3A+Changing+Lives+from+Kathmandu+to+Kabala+%28230280221%29&utm_content=barblindberg%40rogers%2Ecom

Thanks for reading this blog and I hope you consider a Kiva loan too. Unlike the gift store lady who put me down and criticised my home-based entrepreneurial ideals (she went out of business a few years later by the way), Kiva is a hand up to people who are trying really hard for a better life. You just can't beat that kind of sponsorship in my mind and what a great way to encourage another person in their entrepreneurial dream.

Spinning: Now I've gone and done it!

2009-03-07T07:56:00.002-05:00

I think my days of slubbing around with fibre are nearly over. This is my second time to knit the Alpaca Scarf using the Razor stitch but this scarf is very different than the first one.

With the first scarf my wool Wraps Per Inch (WPI) came in as 8 - rated as very bulky. I love the scarf but I must say that it is heavy - using up at least 8 oz of alpaca. I like its heaviness and coverage. It's certainly warm which is what I needed.

I started this second scarf while I was on the train on my way from London to Toronto. I had actually just finished spinning the roving and stayed up late the night before to get it plied. Then I dampened the skein and hung it over night.

The next morning the skein was still damp but I used my ball winder to make a ball. Then I rerolled the ball loser while riding on the train. I was concerned that the fibre was wound too tight by the skein winder and I didn't want to overstretch it while it was damp.

I didn't do the book thing this trip. There's something about being on the train that just makes me want to look out the window. All the other times I've taken the train I take books to read and I end up not even cracking them open. I didn't even knit the whole time because I just wanted to watch the passing scenery and write in my notebook. The notebook is a way to vent, record my thoughts and inspirations.

I remembered different times when I've taken the train. A couple years ago I wanted to see Body Worlds. The exhibit was on display at the Science Centre in Toronto and I told my family I wanted them all to go for my birthday. My sister and her kids were certainly game and we planned to attend. But it was winter time and Dad was kicking in his two cents worth about driving that "killer highway" - meaning the 401. You see we'd have to pass through that especially bad strip between Ingersoll and Woodstock where there's been a particularly high number of winter accidents. Dad would not let up when we insisted we were driving and he bought us all tickets on VIA Rail. We booked four seats together and the kids quite enjoyed it. My sister had never taken the subway in Toronto before because she always drove. I was the opposite and always took the subway. I reassured her that that subway was safe and easy to take. So she left me in charge of the inner city transit planning.

The train trip was great and we enjoyed the relaxed time to chat and catch up. I showed them how to get to the subway and we got on. My nephew Codie was sitting beside me on the left and a young gentleman sat on my right. When the young man on my right got up to get off at his stop something fell from his pocket onto the seat. Both Codie and I leaned forward to look. Having quick reflexes I shouted to the man, "Hey, you dropped your--"then I looked at what had fallen onto the seat.

Now I'm sure you've all had the experience where in a nanosecond you have fifty trillion thoughts and they go so fast it's like a whole day's conversation and observation in milliseconds... well that's what happened. I looked at the seat, at the little plastic package about 1" by 1" with the white powder in it. At the same time my lips were about to form the word to kindly let the gentleman know what had fallen from his pocket--this was transected by the thought that I can't shout "cocaine" on the subway--or maybe it would be best if I refrained from shouting cocaine on the subway.

At any rate, the young man heard the first part of my sentence and raced back, grabbed his drugs and ran off the subway. Then Codie leaned over to me, "Was that cocaine?" I sat there hoping his mother couldn't hear me, since I had reassured her so much how safe the subway was, "Yes, I said."

By the way, Body Worlds was AMAZING and if you ever get a chance to see it you should.

On this trip home from Toronto I was alone so not distracted and no incidents on the subway. This left me time to relax. It wasn't long until I got a terrific inspiration. While sitting on the train waiting to leave to go home and I was just staring out the window. The train was inside the giant shed area where they sit to load and unload passengers. Then suddenly I saw a movement up high on the metal beam. Half the wall of the shed was made up of plastic-like windows and sitting on a beam in front of the window was a raccoon.

He was having a good stretch and a grooming session. I smiled, clever thing. The beam would be a great place to hide and it was under the roof, offering a dry spot and out of the wind too. I watched when a few minutes later the raccoon started to walk the beam, but I noticed its gait was hitched. That was because this particular raccoon had only 3 legs. He was missing a front paw. So on the way home I was scribbling away in my notebook a whole story scenario that involved this raccoon that I would use in my book. The fact that I saw it in Toronto is amazing and so perfect for my children's story line in my second book that I was almost giggling all the way home. How could it be that this great thing, this great idea was just handed to me? Of all the things to see while in Toronto, this was exactly what I needed. I've named the raccoon Simon and I hope his life is long and all his garbage raids are successful. Truth is indeed strange and now I'll write it into my fictional story (I'm writing and illustrating a children's fictional story about honey bees and some of them go on a trip that takes in Toronto).

For this second scarf, my spinning is more a bulky weight with a WPI of 10. The lace shows up more in the stitch with the more delicate yarn and the scarf is about a third the weight as the first one. And it's used about half the amount of roving to complete.

What I'm noticing is that I'm improving. My spinning is becoming finer and more consistent. It's not totally there yet, but I can see the difference and measure it in the WPI. Previously all I could make were slub yarns which I really like. Now I'm wondering if I'll still be able to make slub yarns or have I gone and done it and spun myself out of them? I hope not, well at least not entirely.

But I'm now eyeballing lace weight yarns with thoughts of doing a lace shawl so I will need my spinning to improve for that......

The Forced Knitting Diet

2009-03-06T00:10:00.015-05:00

We blame Dad for the most part.

My sister and I call it swimming in the 'gene pool'. Obesity on both sides of the family along with shortness, thin hair, and unfortunately on Dad's side of the family, arthritis and bad joints. And Dad, said, "Sorry, but we can't put you back."

Over time, my lifestyle, activities and Dad's bad genes were catching up to create some painful consequences.

It started with a bursitis type pain in the shoulder that would come on when I was knitting--and I was always knitting. I would rest it briefly but unfortunately my high pain threshold was getting me into trouble. You see, with an 'A-Type personality' I'd work through the pain and wouldn't stop.
Sometimes a good work ethic can be a real pain, literally a real pain!

The body does talk doesn't it? It let's us know when we need to make a change or stop an activity. The problem was that I had trouble listening. I thought I could ignore it because the issue would go away. I guess for a while it did but of course nothing lasts forever.

I was in my early thirties when it started to become evident that I wouldn't be able to knit any more. The bursitis pain got so bad it would not go away, even after I stopped to rest. I even put away my knitting very reluctantly for a couple of months only to find when I returned to it months later the pain would return immediately. So months of rest didn't make any difference.

I wrestled with this for quite some time. You see, I loved to knit. It was a real passion for me. I couldn't believe this hobby was being taken away from me and I kept trying to come back to it only to find after a few rows or a couple hours that the pain would come back, faster and deeper, taking longer to leave.
So very reluctantly I quit knitting. It was very frustrating to be so obsessed and then not be able to participate in what is probably one of the healthiest hobbies in the universe. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't upset.

At first I kept my Knitters magazine subscriptions going and I'd even buy wool and patterns to tuck away in my stash for 'some time later'. I guess you could name that the 'denial phase'. Then after a couple years I would take out my knitting and start a garment, only to discover after a very few rows that the pain hadn't left at all. it was only hiding, waiting for that repetitive movement to reveal itself again.

I'd wait another two or three years and try again, all with the same results. Eventually I let my magazine subscriptions discontinue and I stopped going to yarn stores entirely. It was just too hard to face this severe a restriction--this total diet. Like an alcoholic staying away from the bar or a Weight Watchers' dieter staying away from The Mandarin buffet, I stayed away from knitting and pretended to myself that I was never a knitter. It was easier to forget. It helped to stave off the pain of losing an awesome hobby (torn from my cold, numb painful fingers would be a more accurate description!)

I even bought a knitting machine, a good one. I used it too and it worked very well, but it was cold metal and a handle to push back and forth. I missed the feel of the fabric through my fingers, the whole tactile experience of knitting was missing. And then there's the portability, taking my knitting to the doctor's office or on the bus. The machine just didn't fit the need, the craving.

Then over the next ten or so knitless years my life and career changed dramatically and I became a web developer and software teacher, working a great deal on the computer. This too began to create havoc, but with my hands and arms. I learned to use voice recognition software and had all kinds of ECG's, MRI's and CAT Scans, physio therapy, chiropractor and massage.

In the end they said I had a really small spinal canal and with age, genetics, etc., I was "at risk". They were reluctant to describe exactly what at risk meant, but I can only presume nerve damage or at worst partial or full paralysis. So I learned to curtail my other hobbies such as gardening and web site design. I got out of chat rooms where I'd be typing away for hours and avoided the computer whenever I could in the evenings because I was on it so much during the day.

Then I saw a copy of Knitter's Magazine (1999). It was the commemorative issue for Elizabeth Zimmermann (1910 to 1999) showing her Mitered Mozart cardigan. It was LOVE at first site. I had to knit it. I just had to.

So I made a plan. How could I slip this whole knitted cardigan by without my right hand finding out about it? What if I did only 2 rows a night? It might take forever but at least I'd be knitting.

I had to order a copy of the magazine from the publisher because all the shops were sold out. Then I went to the local yarn store (http://www.londonyarns.com/) and ordered the wool. Now the wool for the cardigan is made by Mission Falls (http://www.missionfalls.com/home.php), a Canadian company that creates awesome patterns and yarns.
I was so happy. I would knit again. The rules would be different but I would be knitting again. I started the cardigan and got most of the back done before right hand started to really react, getting stiff and numb, and the shoulder was beginning to squabble. I realized it was probably too much straight speed knitting--all garter stitch and if I had fallen in love with an intarsia design I would probably have knit slower.

But we don't always get to choose what we fall in love with.

The sweater was put up frequently while I rested and slowly a few years crept by. Every now and again I would get it out and knit again... same results. But at least I'd learned not to go so far to a painful level.

I must have complained to someone about not being able to knit and they suggested that I learn European knitting because it used primarily the left hand. At that time my right hand was most problematic. In fact, my right arm and hand was so problematic I was in the process of becoming left handed by doing most tasks with my left (I bet my brain had fun growing all those new neural pathways!).

I got my books out, my Knitter's Companion, and learned how to knit European. WOW! What an economy of movement. It's remarkable. I don't think all those English style knitters out there realize how much less movement is required to make a stitch when knitting European. Sure my tension was a little loose, but I WAS KNITTING!!! Also a change to circular needles helped because they were more ergonomically shaped for the hands.

So, I mitered on happily and rested when I felt the signals. I could switch off too from left hand to right hand knitting--the heck with tension--I was just grateful to be knitting!

Now I know I'm on a permanent knitter's diet. I realized that it's better for my 'I don't want to stop just a few more rows' personality if I knit small projects. That way they are finished before I cause myself too much trouble.

Despite everything I'm grateful. I'm grateful for the little bit I can do. And I LOVE the groups and blogs. This provides me with another way to connect with knitters and hang out with knitters even when I can't knit. God bless Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot (http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/) for her books - I have almost all of them - and her blog and I can SO identify with everything she says :)

Even if I can't knit whenever I want, I can at least connect to a community of knitters and I know they understand exactly how I feel.

Angora Bunny Update

2009-03-04T22:03:00.001-05:00

This is my older baby Margarite. She's an Angora rabbit and she's around two years old. I've had her and Lexi for a couple months.

She LOVES to be petted and brushed. In fact, it's part of our nightly ritual that I come in the Rabbit Room every hour or so for a little scratching and brushing.

If I get behind and spend a little too long without visiting, she thumps in her cage. I don't mind it at all. Actually, I'm kind of glad they do it because it reminds me that they're waiting for me to come and visit. I do get caught up in my hobbies and time can go by without me noticing.

The rabbits can thump in the morning too when I'm up and moving around (just once or twice, so not super demanding). This is my pre-coffee state and I'm not one to spend much time prepping before I'm out the door to the bus. So the fact that the rabbits remind me they're waiting for their morning feed and quick pat really helps keep me on schedule and reminds me not to forget about them.

Margarite's hair is growing back from her last hair cut. Her previous owner gave me a bag of her fibre which I've been spinning slowly on the hand spindle.

I've spun a little bit of Lexi's fur on the spinning wheel but I find the fibre short and the spinning wheel a bit fast.

I'm not one to give up, I've just got lots of other projects on the go so I'll have to get back to that one.

I love Margarite's agouti brown and gray colouring.

I hope to let Margarite's fur grow out pretty long before I cut it... watching to ensure she doesn't get wool block though.

Using the same theory I have for my cats, instead of setting the rabbits up so that they're out in a rabbit run all the time - which at first they'd enjoy but after a time would become boring. Instead, they have large comfortable hutches that they're in all day and then I let them out in the evening. I opted to not make runs, but instead to rabbit proof and give them the whole room - meaning more room to manoeuvre and get exercise. Because of that they have to take turns which is why I visit every hour or so, to switch them out... Lexi back to her cage with some sunflower seeds and Margarite comes out for a time.
They head straight for the kitty litter when I release them and they enjoy sitting in it for a while. This has made cage cleaning much simpler. I swear that Lexi saves her pee for the kitty litter at the end of the day because her tray in her cage is not full of wetness from urine.

I'm SO glad I read up on rabbits and therefore knew that rabbits can have red coloured pee - it can actually look like blood, but it's not.

If I had seen that before reading about it I would have freaked out! Their pee also has a lot of calcium in it which is why there can be calcium marks on the catch tray of their cage.

Lexi's fur is already growing back from bunny's first hair cut and it's not looking so uneven. Hopefully when we do the next cut I'll be more relaxed.

Now, in case you don't know what this look means, I will tell you - it's the look of PURE MISCHIEF!

Lexi is the little bunny, the baby, and she's about 10 months old. She's a little mischiefer. I might have to rename her. She regularly climbs to the roof of Margarite's hutch which I have set up as the grooming station.

Up there is all the grooming paraphernalia - safety scissors and brush, which our little mischief bunny picks everything up with her teeth and drops them to the floor.

Then she grabs the little rug I put there and she pulls it back and tugs on it. (photo of Lexi on top of the hutch).

If I stand still at any time when she's out of the cage she circles me. Literally like circling the wagons.... it's hilarious and I will try to post a video of it for you to see... it's a little blurry so I'll retake and re-post in the near future.

Why does she circle me? She wants to be petted and brushed. She loves for me to pick her up and put her on top of the hutch for a grooming session.

Mind you, she's not keen on having her tummy done, or letting me trim her toenails but for anything else she'd lay there for hours.

If I'm giving Margarite extended attention, this little minx will thump and grunt in frustration. She definitely knows when she thinks it's her turn.

I'm totally enjoying the bunnies and their very different personalities. They're very friendly and not just these quiet little animals. They are both real characters and really enjoy interaction and fun.

Knitting: Past Projects - Black Floral Intarsia Sweater

2009-03-03T13:39:00.001-05:00

It seemed like the more complex the floral pattern the more I was drawn to it.

This was a sweater I made a few years back, again a Pattons design. The design in the pattern book was done in off-white, but I opted for black so that the flowers would show up more. I figured if I was going to do all that work, I wanted them to stand out.

I have a large collection of plastic bobbins to wind batches of wool on while working with all the different colours. A few times when I didn't have enough I even resorted to making my own from cardboard.

Sometimes the bobbins would tangle and I'd have to stop and take a minute to unwind them. It certainly was not a project to work on if I was really tired.

This sweater is a lunch hour sweater. It was knit entirely while I was on lunch each day, sitting in the cafeteria.

The pattern was too complex to be done on the bus where I would have to count stitches and watch my row carefully to make all the colour changes.

Every day, people would watch me while I knit. It makes me a little uncomfortable to draw attention--I don't want to get into conversation when working an intarsia pattern so I'd always look for a back corner or out of the way spot in the cafeteria where I could hide from my co-workers. Less talk meant more knitting, and usually a more peaceful lunch hour.

I enjoyed each and every stitch. I particularly enjoyed the anticipation of the finished project almost as much as seeing the sweater complete.

I splurged on a black leather skirt to wear with this sweater. I figured I'd put so many hours into it that it deserved to be showcased with leather.

It wasn't long after knitting this project that I would no longer be able to knit, making this project that much more important ... but that's another story.

Knitting: Past Projects - Soft Pink Cardigan & Sweater

2009-03-02T14:43:00.000-05:00

My third Australia knitting project was with Pattons wool.

Pattons was very quickly becoming a favourite with me because I liked most of the patterns they offered in their books and their scrumptious yarn.

This wool cardigan is so soft it's like cashmere and it's truly a favourite. I love its elegance, its length and pearl buttons. This sweater exposed me to doing cables for the first time--confession--I used an unbent paper clip as my cable needle until I purchased one.

My cable needle has recently gone missing so I had to make myself another one from a paper clip.

I hope it's still the same today, but at that time there were knit shops almost everywhere in the suburbs and city of Melbourne. The knit shop would put all the balls I required for my garment aside and I would only have to pay for the wool as I needed it. IMAGINE THAT! I hope it's still that way today, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.

My knitting style at that time was very unique. I would jam the end of my straight needle into the crease of my thigh to hold it steady like a spear and then I'd knit on it.

I was embarrassed with this self-invented technique because it drew attention so I practised putting my needle into my arm pit instead and held it there.

This next project with the same wool and Pattons again was actually knit once I was back in Canada.

I brought the wool home in my suitcase. I took my knitting with me to work while here in Canada. I would knit on the bus, and in the cafeteria. I knit at home too at nights.

I learned to knit faire isle with both the left and right hand, using the drawings in the pattern book for direction.

My knitting got noticed by my coworkers and a few of them actually took up the hobby and knit some garments. They would come to me with dropped stitches to get help to fix it and their questions on interpreting stitches and patterns.

I seemed to gravitate a lot to intarsia knitting - floral motifs were often a favourite. I did have pretty strict rules. I wouldn't knit just anything.

The garment had to really appeal to me in some way. I knew if it didn't the project could easily fall into the never finished pile at the back of a closet.

I also didn't knit for other people--as in, gee, I've noticed you can knit... can you make spend 200 hours making this complex sweater for free if I buy the wool? No!

My time was at too much of a premium for that. Besides, I had a stash that I was working through and at least 25 to 30 projects waiting in the closet.

Knitting: Past Projects - My First Knit Project

2009-02-28T13:54:00.007-05:00

I was never one to start out with easy projects. I guess I enjoy a challenge.

My absolute very first knitting project was a red sweater that I knit for a teddy bear. We were living in Melbourne, Australia at the time on a one year teacher's exchange program.

I was in school, grade nine, and my father had arranged for our family to exchange our home, car, and his job for one year with an Australian family.

Knitting in Australia is big business and almost all women at least knew how to knit even if they didn't. I had learned to knit some time earlier from my father and had not really taken off with it in Canada. Young girls and teens are generally not taught to knit. In fact, I think they only learn it if they happen to connect with someone who shows them, maybe a family member or friend, or if they take classes (and God bless those people who pass on this craft to others).

I was inspired to pick up knitting needles because of the others around me that would be knitting. I had no pattern, but used my knowledge of sewing to create the pattern myself. Of course nothing was on paper, the whole pattern being in my head (actually made up as I went along would be more accurate). It didn't turn out too bad .... I can be certain of this because the bear never complained ;)

After that my Mom bought me some brown and gold wool and asked me to knit her a hat. She had a pattern and it was pretty basic and easy. I finished that project, our wonderful year in Australia came to an end and my parents forced me on the plane back to Canada.

Years passed and I finished school and got a job, but I would always remember Australia. It was a life-changing experience for me and I longed to return. Ten years later I took a leave of absence from my job and took a year off to go back to Australia. My brother had returned many years before and had made it his home. I planned to stay with him. I had a work visa so I could work a bit and take time off to travel and visit with my school friends.

Of course, once back in Australia I was reintroduced to wool and knitting.

Many women knit on the subway or train on their way into the city to work. My brother's girlfriend had many hand knit sweaters and patterns. It didn't take me long to pick out a sweater that I liked. I decided I would make it.

The wool is mohair and the pattern used the seed stitch. I believe it was rated as easy and the pattern certainly didn't give me any trouble. The only mistake I made was I forgot to change needles after the ribbing to the larger size (like I don't STILL do that all the time now!!!!). Being a perfectionist, I painstakingly ripped out the rows of mohair and restarted on the right size needles.

The white trim is cotton. I wore this sweater with a white blouse and white skirt in the cooler summer evenings. I'm glad I kept this project from so long ago.

My second sweater was also mohair. Going with my success on the first project I opted for another pattern that really appealed to me.

This one was a little more complex, incorporating stripes, so a change in yarn colour, and the use of intarsia, using bobbins to knit with different colours in patches.

I carefully followed all the instructions. Thank God for the great illustrators of knitting books. I was able to figure everything out all on my own, by reading the books and looking at the illustrations. Of course I sometimes experimented and if it wasn't right I was willing to rip it back and start again.

I was quite happy with this cat sweater, both front and back. I liked it so much that I knit the same sweater again for my sister in pink and white mohair. She still has the sweater too.

I wore this sweater a fair bit in winter but I must admit I did find the mohair to be very warm.

These sweaters have stood the test of time and I still enjoy them today.

Knitting: Hat Projects - My first Handspun Hats

2009-02-27T22:19:00.008-05:00

I created three skeins of my own handspun and dyed it a purple/blue colour. This fibre was made from Francis the sheep's wool.

I bought the whole fleece, smelling like a barn and washed it, carded it by hand, spun it and then dyed it using blue and purple Kool Aid (see my earlier blogs for 'how to' details).

I wanted a really warm hat that would not let me down on cold and blustery days while standing at the bus stop.

I'm a real wash and go person so I'm always leaving the house with wet hair. I needed a hat that would keep my head warm despite the wet head.

I also wanted something to cover my ears like a head band and I wanted extra room at the top so that I could have my long hair up in a comb and not have to remove it to put the hat on. This hat pattern from Tahki-Charles fit the bill perfectly.

Being a beginner spinner my fibre was pretty bumpy and woobly. I didn't mind that, knowing these would be my early works and that in time my spinning would even out and improve.

Neither did I want to leave my early works in skeins which I knew would eventually find their way to the back of a closet, forgotten and never used. They needed to be made into a garment of some sort so they would be put to use.

I used a double strand of the two ply yarn and to make it even bulkier I added one strand of the Rowan Plaid yarn. For the top of the hat I just used the Rowan Plaid (a three ply of purple, gray and white).

I've been wearing it for a few months now so it's certainly been given the test of time. Now to point out some features that wouldn't be obvious on first glance. You may see some spots that are a little more rouge/purple than mauve. The dye took that fibre a little differently than the sheep's wool. That's because those spots are a different fibre.... but what fibre you ask?

It's Tigger's hair. Tigger, my orange tabby cat. I have been saving his fur from when I comb him and when I was carding the sheep's wool I carded in some of Tigger's fur. Although his fur is naturally orange, it took the dye amazingly well.

I plan to do more experiments in future with Tigger's combings. He's a very willing contributor and lines up with the other cats each night for his brushing. I can't use the carders with him around because if he hears the "scritch" sound of the carder he comes running. He thinks they're giant cat brushes made just for him.

I liked this hat so much that I decided to make another in the white alpaca roving. I needed a white hat to go with my white scarf. I used up the last of my larger spun (WPI 8 Very Bulky) Alpaca yarn that I made my scarf with.

I wore it today for the first time and I found it very warm. It's interesting how the fibre is warmed up by body heat.

I notice that when putting on the alpaca hat it is warm instantly, even though the fibre is much lighter than the wool. The wool hat takes a little longer to warm up.

Wool is warm even when wet, so I'll have to wait and see how warm the alpaca is with wet hair.

I suspect that since alpaca is supposed to be considerably warmer than wool that it's probably still warm when wet.

Currently I'm knitting the Razor shell scarf for a second time, this one for my sister. My spinning is very different this time and the yarn is much finer.

Knitting: Mmmm Just Like a Dessert, it Tastes Like More!

2009-02-15T22:54:00.000-05:00

I visited the the Ziraldo's Alpaca farm(http://www.zalpacas.com/index.html) again today to bulk up my stash of alpaca roving.

I always enjoy the drive out to Thorndale. For most of my life we would drive through Thorndale on our way to my grandparents farm in Lakeside. We don't own the farm now so I appreciate the excuse to drive out that familiar route again. It sure brings back lots of happy memories.

I was already taking orders for more knitted garments from the family. Word was out that there was really nice alpaca roving available!

These rovings are soft and very yummy. The chocolate, caramel and vanilla swirl is a delicious mix that looks like a dessert--and who can eat only one dessert? That's why I had to get more of this roving after I spun this skein. Who needs chocolate and caramel to eat when there are these flavours available to spin?

This blend of rovings spins very well. I try to draft all three pieces as I spin, otherwise I just let the yarn create itself as it will.

I am thinking I will make a wrap or shawl with the fibre. I might experiment with knitting a few swatches to see what it looks like with different stitches.

The Alpaca Lace Scarf is nearly complete.

All I have left to do is sew in the loose ends and then block it (now that I'm a near professional knit blocker having done it once before!)

Actually I think I'm inventing my old technique again and that is, wear the garment immediately and keep wearing it until it blocks itself into place...

I totally enjoyed this project from the relaxing time spinning the roving into yarn while listening to classical music to the actual knitting of the scarf.

If you asked me what I loved about it other than it's warm, I'd have to say it's the little imperfections in my spinning - parts of the roving where the size adjusts a little. These are all records of my journey to becoming a better spinner. It reminds me of my early art works when I carved and decorated egg shells (I'll blog on that for Easter - stay tuned!). It's the little imperfections of those early works that I look back on now endearingly. It's those very things that stand out now as important and meaningful, not the perfectness which isn't that memorable!

My sister has tested the scarf and has claimed one for herself so I'll start spinning again tonight - any excuse to have to spin something will do for me.

The stitch is the razor shell stitch and I quite liked how quickly it would work up.

Most of the scarf was knit while I rode the bus to and from work.

I did struggle at first to remember the pattern first thing in the morning. I'm usually a little bleary eyed at first. After all, I'm a night hawk and I don't have my first coffee until after I get to work. After a few dozen rows I was doing the pattern by rote.

It took me a minute to practise so that I could do the Yarn Forward manoeuvre properly.

I didn't know how to do yarn forward with a left hand movement at first. Whenever I do a pattern that requires a fancier stitch I would revert from Continental to English knitting so I could do things right-handed. But this time I took just a moment to figure it out and it's quite simple once I trained my hands and brain on the stitch while knitting Continental.

I've learned to knit with the Continental style so I use my left hand more. It's amazing how much faster and less awkward knitting Continental is. I wish I had learned it much sooner! Originally I knit the English style where the right hand would be in play more than the left.

When I was a child, it was my father who taught me to knit and pearl. When he attended school during WWII, all the children were given the project to learn to knit so they could knit granny squares. All the squares were then sewn together to make a blanket and the blankets were then shipped overseas for our soldiers during the War.

The scarf is 5' 2" long. I wanted it long enough to wrap around twice so I just kept knitting and trying it on until I felt it was long enough. That way if I get caught without a hat again I'll have enough extra that I can cover my head.

I've looked up yarn weights and gauges in my Spinners Magazine. The Alpaca Lace Scarf took approximately 4 "bumps" of alpaca (8 oz) and it looks like my Wraps Per Inch (WPI) is 8. That would mean my yarn is a "Very Bulky" weighted yarn, which is what I was aiming to spin.

Here's a little chart on Wraps per inch to figure out the weight of your homespun yarn:

WPI 18+ Lace

WPI 16 Fingering

WPI 14 Sport

WPI 12 Worsted

WPI 10 Bulky

WPI 8 or fewer Very Bulky

If you've lived in Canada for any length of time you know what it's like to find yourself hatless in a bone-cold chilling wind-chill. It's not a pleasant experience. That's when you turn up your collar, wishing it was bigger and fluffier, and you lament that you opted to buy the more fashionable winter coat that didn't come with a hood.

Tonight I'll start spinning more of Miss Muffet's roving so that I can knit the same scarf for my sister--as a teacher she has to do yard duty. Talk about bone-chilling... and then there's the cold weather to deal with ;)

Love Comes in Many Different Ways - Happy Valentines

2009-02-14T19:52:00.012-05:00

After the tragedy of losing my beloved cat Sweet Pea I was devastated. I was very fond of her and she had come along at a particular time in my life when I needed a friend.

Somehow she knew what my need was and Sweet Pea brought her own special gift of love that helped me through a difficult time.

(photo of Sweet Pea - she was a short-haired tortoiseshell)

Losing her fueled an ambition to pay back cats in kind and I opened my home to foster cats. At the same time, I visited the local Animal Care & Control to see about getting a cat for myself. It was a very difficult thing to do, seeing all these cats in cages. All of them begging to come home with me. There were so many cats there and they were ALL very nice.

When I arrived I wasn't thinking of getting a kitten. I had a more mature, but fun aged cat in mind, say a cat around 2 or 3 years old.

The little gray kitten sat in her cage watching us. She was completely quiet and unmoving.

She wasn't afraid, I could tell from looking at her that she was just curious. The other cats were jumping around and very excited and they had drawn my attention first.

But when her eyes met mine it's like something happened. She was beautiful with gray fur and once I took her out of the cage I could feel how plush and thick her coat was. She felt like a GUND stuffed toy, soft and huggable.

(photo - baby Gracie with Tigger)

I named her Gracie.

Gracie - Gray because of her colour, Grace because of grace's importance in our lives, Grace because it's my niece's middle name and "ie" because that includes part of my nephew Codie's name too.

We brought her home and let her tour the living room. She snooped into everything and then later settled to my bedroom (under the bed).

I let her stay under the bed and moved some of her food and litter close by. I knew she'd need to den for a few days to adjust from the stress.

She'd been at Animal Control for five days, which isn't very long but it must have been a stressful eternity to her.

(How I wish people would realize how important it is to spay and neuter their animals to prevent the overcrowding at humane societies).

The next day I woke up and went into the kitchen. I took her little dish and put a small amount of dry kibble in along with some warm water. This would make a mash that kittens like to eat.

A little while later I came back to the kitchen and looked down at her dish. I couldn't believe what I saw.

(See the photo - I have recreated what I saw because at the time I didn't take a picture, I only sketched what I had seen):

I don't think Gracie could have left a message any more clear than that. It said it all.

Happy Valentines everyone :)

Keeping Indoor Cats Happy

2009-02-13T21:49:00.013-05:00

If you're like most of us, you're a cat lover with at least one cat and probably a full time job as well. That means there's a great deal of time each day when you're away and your cat is left to entertain itself.

Let's face it, being indoors every day, day after day, can get a little tedious. Even the most lazy cat can find it boring.

Since I'm a foster Mom for stray and abandoned cats, I've got lots of experience with dealing with a clan of cats and keeping them stimulated and entertained. Below are some tips and ticks that I've learned over the years:

1. The best and cheapest cat toy is a cardboard box. You can cut holes in it that the cat can paw through. They'll play and sleep in this box for hours. A paper bag can be used but I suggest you cut any handles so it doesn't entangle your cat. Never use plastic bags.

2. Cat nip. You can grow cat nip in your garden (I believe it's a member of the mint family). Cats love to eat and play with the leaves of fresh cut cat nip. All pet stores offer cat nip toys which can help enliven your cat's day. Cat nip has an analgesic affect on your cat (pain killing) so it can help them if they're suffering any pain or stress.

3. Cat beds are really great for cats to have their own place to sleep, groom themselves, and relax. Cats absolutely love having a perch or cat bed in front of a window.

Cat beds can be purchased at pet stores, or made by folding a towel, blanket, or old sweater and placing in a quiet area. Pet stores even sell perch beds that easily attach to the sash of your window.

4. Cats do enjoy TV and some cats will actually sit in front of the TV and watch, pawing the screen on occasion. There are even bird videos available that you can play on your VCR or DVD when you're not at home. But you can go even better by providing a window space with a perch. Cats watching out the window is the best kind of cat TV and it provides endless amounts of entertainment for them.

5. Switch it up - you'd think that rearranging furniture or their environment would scare or frighten your cats but I find it has the opposite affect. It creates something new and fresh out of the same old boring place and can re-engineer their excitement. Once I left a mattress on it's side in the hall for a few days (I was rearranging furniture). I left it a few days longer just to give them something to play on. They climbed on it and ran behind it and had lots of fun with it.

6. Close off one room or an area during the day. I discovered this by accident and it works wonders for the cats. I close off the basement all day long. During the day they only have access to the main floor. When I get home from work I open the basement door. It's like a fur pile to the basement. They play and run around down there for hours on end. It's like it's new for them every day and because it's "forbidden" during the day, it makes it more exciting for them. In some ways it's like getting to go outside.

7. Offer cat scratching equipment. I have the usual cat brushes and the cats will actually line up for their turn being brushed each night - it's funny to watch the kittens try to butt the line.

In winter, their skin gets so dry that they want extra brushing. I provide a bottle brush toy that I bought at a pet shop. They rub themselves on the bottle brush bristles and they and love it. I love that it's self-serve.

8. Free and cheap toys - paper balls thrown around make great light toys they can bat with their paws. String is good but DO NOT tie it to anything. I have seen a cat get a tied up string wrapped around it's neck and then it panicked - something I plan never to see again (I rescued the cat and it was fine). A really good toy are the soft covered hair elastics. They're cheap and cats love to carry them around in their mouths and bat around with their paws.

9. Cat scratchers - the cardboard cat scratchers that you can buy in pet stores are very popular. What is also very popular for cats to scratch is a tree stump or a piece of wood.

10. Kibble hunt - each night before bed I call out "TREATS" and they all come running. This is an absolute favourite. They know what Treats means. There's a good reason to have this habit. Sometimes you will need your cats to come to you and this is a very effective way to get your cats to come to you right away. I purchase Whiskas (which is really like junk food for cats) and I throw handfuls of it here and there around the room. The cats hunt around to find the pieces. By morning all the bits of food are completely gone.

11. Cat Grass - you can grow oats either purchased from the pet shop or bought at a grain store. This provides cats with a healthy greenery that they will especially enjoy during the winter season.

12. And finally, get your cat a cat. Two cats are much better than one, especially if you're busy. If you are your cat's only companion then he or she expects a lot from you and will be wanting all your attention. If your cat has a buddy, he has someone to keep him company when you're at work or too busy and someone to share life's events with.

Bunny's First Hair Cut

2009-02-12T23:21:00.010-05:00

Lexi was getting pretty fluffy. She is nine months old and her moulting time would soon be approaching. Her hair was growing quite long and so I watched her food intake and poops carefully to make sure she wasn't developing wool block.

Wool block is caused by too much fur in the tummy. The rabbit can feel full and then stop eating.

They can't throw up like a cat with a fur ball so you feed them well, giving them hay, etc., to help keep the system moving.

But Lexi had stopped pooping and wasn't eating so much. So I started fretting. I flurry of emails later with Shannon a http://www.farfelu.ca/Farfelu_Rabbitry/French_Angoras.html

(God Bless that woman!) and I realized it was time for bunny's first hair cut.

If you visit the Farfelu web site, you'll see Lexi's mom Crystal a white French Angora and her father Cadbury a gray/brown Angora.

I used a pair of safety scissors and trimmed Lexi's fur. It was my first time too and I'm not sure which of us was more nervous--I think it was me! I brushed her when I was done and she gratefully hopped around the room.

I'm sorry to say that she did look groomed by a screaming amateur. She looked more like a fluffy stuffed Gund toy rabbit in need of a wash by the time I was done. Thankfully after she groomed herself her fur smoothed out more.

The day after the grooming, Lexi started acting really hyper. She'd run around the room and do a little hop kick-flip with her back feet, and then she started chewing on her hay and running around the room with hay in her mouth.

She looked like a dog with a bone it didn't want to let go of.

She even grabbed the cuff of my shirt and tugged on it and kept her teeth on it and shook it like a dog.

I thought she was mad at me for trimming off her beautiful hair. At least I thought that until later when I discovered she had pulled some of her hair on her tummy and was building a nest.

All I could think was BABY BUNNIES BABY BUNNIES!!! After another flurry of emails I learned that Lexi was feeling the spring weather and the call of nature.

By the next day she had relaxed and was her normal self.

Tonight I went into the rabbit room and found her ON TOP of the rabbit hutch. She had climbed onto the chair next to the hutch and from there climbed to the roof of the hutch.

This is one mischievous bunny! She's back safely in her cage now, eating carrots, and the chair has been moved away from the hutch.

The pile of hair is soooo soft, soooo fluffy.

It feels like what I think a cloud should feel like. Lexi must have gotten excited to have it removed because now she won't be so hot.

I'm looking forward to spinning this fibre into yarn. I've read that the first coat from a baby is better for felting, so I'll have to experiment with it.

Spinning: The Long Dog Days of Winter

2009-02-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

Sammy was the first dog that was my very own. He was a Border Collie. When I moved out of my parents' home into my own place many years ago I bought him from a farmer just outside of London. He was a plump tubby butter ball of a puppy. And he was my very own dog.

Anyone that has owned Border Collies knows the saying, "On the seventh day, God created Border Collies."

Sammy was a wonderful, energetic and highly intelligent pet, my fur baby, my friend. He learned all the words related to the things that mattered to him. When we switched to spelling O-U-T, etc., the dog learned that too. Then we went to sign language and he learned that too. We gave up trying to outsmart him.

I discovered one day that he also was listening in to phone conversations to find out what was happening in the home. When I mentioned to someone that "Grandpa was coming over", the dog would go into a frenzy, rushing to the front door to wait for Grandpa.

He LOVED Grandpa who took him for walks along with his own dog Boots (picture - Sammy on the left and Boots on the right). Sammy quickly progressed to using the telephone. When Grandpa would call we'd put him on speaker phone and he'd tell Sammy himself that he was "Coming over". This would cause Sammy to bark like crazy into the telephone and then when we hung up he'd run to the door, wondering why Grandpa wasn't there instantaneously.

He was a great dog. He lived 16 1/2 years--a very long time for a dog.

Years ago I had read in the newspaper about sweaters knitted from a dog owner's fur combings. Intrigued, I started a bag saving Sammy's combings back when he was little. And I had saved his combings for most of those years.

He had long hair and he would shed like crazy in the spring so he contributed a lot. I knew that at some point I would have to ask someone to spin his fur. I was not a spinner yet, and would not be for many years but I saved his fur anyway.

This long and cold winter has truly been too cold for a dog to stay outside, let alone any other domestic animal. I keep myself busy indoors with my hobbies, spinning and knitting most lately.

On the weekend while ploughing through the back of the closet for something kniting related I came across the bag of Sammy's combings.

It looked the same as the day I combed it off him. I took it to the wheel and tried spinning it right away. The experience was very surreal. As I spun and felt his fibre slide through my fingers I remembered him, happy moments, ecstatic moments, extremely sad and unhappy moments. We had weathered through them together. He had remained a constant friend and I loved him very much.

I don't know what I will do with the fibre once spun. What I do know for sure is that I needed those moments to reconnect with Sammy, with our past together. I know he's in dog heaven right now and one day I'll cross that rainbow bridge and we'll meet again.

Read about the Rainbow Bridge:

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

- Author unknown

Knitting: Confessions of a Blocking Virgin

2009-02-09T20:57:00.008-05:00

I had a date on the weekend and I kept it. No procrastinating or getting out of it. I had made a commitment.

I first confessed that I was a blocking knits virgin. I took Dr. Phil's advice that I couldn't change what I didn't acknowledge.

So I confessed. Never mind my hiatus from knitting for over 10 years (that's another story). I had been an obsessive and passionate knitter for years and yet I had never blocked.

(Photos of the Eliott Bunny Vest in progress).

I'm particular about my knitting. I'm patient and I want it to be right. I don't fuss over it, and I've never ever cried over my mistakes--my theory on that is how can you cry over something that can be fixed???

I'd rip back row after row if necessary and in one case when I didn't want to rip back, I bought more wool and started again. But that piece didn't have an error. I just didn't like the colour combinations. That piece is now in use as a cat bed so nothing gets wasted.

Knitting is so forgiving. You CAN start again. You CAN fix it. It's not like a bad hair cut or fabric cut the wrong way. Now those are things that can be very challenging to fix.

I admit that I had gotten away without blocking. My garments always turned out the way they should and although (another confession) I'd never done a tension guage/swatch, all my knits fit me fine.

But now I'm making my own wool from rovings and I'm substituting other wools in patterns that appeal to me.

This has brought me face to face with the two things I had avoided to help resolve disasters - tension swatches and blocking.

I got out my Knitters' Companion book (LOVE that book by Vicki Square) and I looked up what to do.

I'd read about it before numerous times over the years but I always mentally glossed over the thought that I should actually do it myself.

You see, I'd gotten away without doing it. I did notice though that my knitted garments always hung and looked better after a wash. The washing seemed to settle the fabric - so I knew that blocking wasn't some extra task dreamed up to occupy more of my time.

(Pictured - Taos Chunky Vest in progress).

I used this puzzle like soft flooring material that I use to sit on when doing floor exercise (like that happens often--NOT!) I found it worked really well as a nice flat soft pin cusion.

I put my knits inside a wet towel and set the whole thing in water to get them nice and damp and then did the pinning out.

I will confess that I didn't get too busy with the tape measure. I focussed mostly on making sure the two sides were close to being the same... so I think my first forage into blocking was pretty light.

Now I'm thinking since I'm really out of the closet I should seriously consider a tension guage, especially since I had to reknit a garment twice because I was too lax about doing one.

Dreaming and Counting Sheep

2009-02-02T00:56:00.000-05:00

Have you ever thought about something so much that you just see it everywhere you go?

Currently I'm seeing sheep absolutely everywhere that they are not. I see them in the mosiac pattern of marble in the bathroom. I see them in the drifts of snow in the yard. I see them in the dirt marks on the floor. And I see them in the frozen ice on the window.

Tell me I'm crazy, or do you see it too? This sheep is special because it's even inside a pen.

I hope this is a sign. A good sign. I'd love to have sheep :)

Otherwise, just call me crazy.

Let it snow!!! Let is snow!!! Let it snow!!!! So we can knit!!!

2009-02-01T00:50:00.017-05:00

If you live in the northern part of North America then you're already aware that Canada and some parts of the USA have had tons of snow. Even England had lots of snow.

This time of year I rely on the Weather Channel to keep me up to date on road conditions. I felt some relief when the weather man announced that we're finally in the time of longer days of sunshine. He reminded us of the warming effect of this extra sunshine.

The cats certainly understand this. A long afternoon of very bright sunshine through the window the room is much warmer and the cats all gather to bask in this sunshine. This same effect thankfully will melt the snow or ice off my car if I leave it in the sun.

My nephew Ben from Australia was here all last year. He was using the truck that I currently have. I discovered why the truck's washer fluid wouldn't come out. It was because someone had put just plain old water in the washer fluid tank. Now, no one raised in Canada would do that!!! My Dad was gracious and said that Ben probably bought washer fluid without antifreeze, but I had to add the comment that in Canada they don't sell the washer fluid without the antifreeze. Ben probably did what all Australians do. He grabbed the garden hose and topped up the tank when it was low. Imagine living in a part of the world that doesn't use antifreeze. How strange :) Now I'm trying to think how I'm going to get it to defrost......

At the same time that I keep thinking I'm so tired of winter, enough already I'm reminded that cold weather means wearing the woollies and that means knitting and making more and more woollies because it's so cold. I've got my drop spindle at the office and I've been spinning Margarite's angora fibre.

After all, it's very uncomfortable to knit with super warm fibres in the middle of summer! By then, all you want to deal with are silks, cottons or maybe (just maybe) acrylic.

The Ziraldo Alpaca Farms white roving from Miss Muppet the alpaca is spinning up like a dream. I'm loading my spindle with as much as I can fit. Right now it's one ply, but I'm hoping by week's end I'll have made it into a 2 play. After that I'll happily be knitting on the bus to work and during lunch.

Now for my knitting confession. I have never blocked a knit in my life. I do lay out my knitted garment once it's washed and put it into shape, but I've never done a proper blocking. But I guess you can call it a New Years Resolution or just that I've finally had a sincere knitting ah hah moment. I have decided I will join the ranks of people that block after knitting.

Unfortunately, at the moment that new decision is slowing me down. I have two garments on the go that both require blocking before I can finish them.... so they'll have to wait for the weekend when I can give this whole blocking thing the proper time it deserves (and probably a little Internet research so that I can be sure to do it properly).

Tigger curls up on the mostly completed Taos chunky vest (waiting blocking before finalizing). I'm not certain if he's lying there as a fashion statement because the colours look so good next to his fur or if it's because it's warm--probably both reasons.

This is a blue "Elliott Bunny Vest" from Stacy-Charles. I have a free pattern for this vest. If you want a copy emailed, just leave me a comment with your email and I'll send it to you (I couldn't find a link to it on their site).

I've substituted Rowan Plaid and Tufty yarns instead because I had them on hand and I've been looking for a project to put these two yarns together.

This garment too is awaiting an infamous blocking session with me this weekend.

The angora bunnies have really settled in and now are both housed in bigger cages. I couldn't stand the thought of them being in a small cage all day without much room to move--how incredibly boring. I do try my best to create some entertainment and excitement for them, along with a regular routine and periods of time out of the cage to hop around. I do similar tricks with the cats to help keep them from getting bored (I'll blog on this very soon sharing my tips and tricks for indoor cats).

The rabbits LOVE attention and being groomed and they quickly become jealous of each other if one is getting more attention than the other. I'm certain they can keep count of the time so they know when the other one is getting more attention.

I wonder if it'll snow tomorrow? Mostly likely. Yeah!!!! Knit--knit--knit.

Knitting: My Taos Chunky Vest

2009-01-31T23:20:00.011-05:00

Some yarns are just beautiful. Beautiful to look at. Beautiful to touch. Beautiful to slip through your fingers under a little tension as you knit. Then some yarns are not only beautiful but they have a story to tell.

This Taos Chunky Vest is a project I had wanted to do for a while. I waited and waited, mostly because of the cost of the yarn. Finally, I was ready to place my order on-line at Tahki Stacy Charles.( http://www.tahkistacycharles.com/dyn_prod.php?p=L08-TAOS&pb=L08-TAOS-003).

The order was then picked up by Janis who promptly mailed me my package of wool. As soon as I got home I poured the wool out on the table and just enjoyed the feast of colour for the eyes. I took pictures right away.

I waited patiently to start this project. I had wanted to make this vest for a while and it was an investment of wool, money and time. I was plesantly anticipating knitting this project.

Beautifully dyed, I had to unwind at least one ball to examine how the wool was dyed, transitioning from one colour to the next.

I noticed it had a fine black thread that it was plyed with, giving the spinner in me some ideas. I could try doing that myself.

I held off on plunging into the knitting. I wanted to draw out the sensation. The waiting, the anticipation.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot (http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/) talks in one of her books about how yarn and knitting is so much better to buy than other things. She even calculated out the cost of enjoyment per hour and I have to agree that when you add up the anticipation, the selection, the actual project itself, hour per hour, you get your money's worth when it comes to buying and knitting with wool.

Finally I started my project only to discover I had a few balls of the wrong colour. This ended up being a bit of a delay while the supplier shipped me more wool.

Then disaster struck! I lost my bag of knitting. Not only did I lose half the balls of wool for the project, I lost my knitting and my brand new 6.5 mm circular Addi Turbo needles and the pattern (even my back up photocopy of the pattern was missing)!

I looked for days. I did the usual, checking most likely spots and then widening my search from there. Nothing!

I checked at work, at home, everywhere I could think. I even called the bus company to see if I somehow left my knitting on the bus. No luck anywhere.

This loss was topped off with more really defeating days at the office and I then dragged myself home to once again check and re-check. I didn't just want to find my knitting. I needed to find it. This was supposed to be my fun stress releasing project. Something that I had looked forward to doing for months!

I considered the cost of starting over rebuying everything to be prohibitive. I sent Janis a dejected email to say I had given up on the vest and I didn't think it was meant to be. But Janis was more clever than I, she emailed back to say she was praying. Praying I would find my knitting. I had prayed too, albiet very briefly. But now I had a partner in this, praying from miles and miles away. I felt like I had help. She said if it was meant to be, I would find it. I agreed and finally let go. I let go of my frustration over it, my need to have this wool, the project, the whole shebang. I felt a whole lot better after that. It may have been gone, but I was moving on.

As I was entering the hallway a few hours later I had a thought--what about the coat tree? Could it be hanging there? I checked and indeed it was! There, under a sweater, was my shopping bag with my half knit project inside. I was estatic. I had to email Janis right away and thank her for her encouragement and prayers.

It may seem like such a small thing, God helping me find my silly knitting, but often isn't it the small things that we finally lose it over? His help with this small thing was like a huge reassurance and comfort--and a reminder that the world may be full of people, but I do matter. It reminds me that God puts people in your path for a reason, sometimes for a reminder. Thanks God.

The knitting project is progressing very nicely. I'm enjoying it, but I've got something more important brewing inside now. I needed help and God was there and that's way more important than anything else.

Ziraldo Alpacas and Great Roving

2009-01-26T22:16:00.000-05:00

On Saturday the weather finally cleared and the truck was running so I was finally able to make it to Thorndale, Ontario to see Ziraldo's Alpaca Farm (http://www.zalpacas.com/).

Debbie and her son Chris were very accommodating and willingly showed me around their farm, introducing me to their alpacas.

They have 13 beautiful animals. They all approached us, probably hoping for some grain, but they stayed to look us over.

Their fibre is so lush, thick and warm that they can stay happily outdoors in our cold Canadian winters. They do have a shelter area that they can go to to get out of the rain or wind, but for the most part they enjoy being outdoors.

Fancy is the small gray alpaca in the front and she certainly lives up to her name. She lead the pack down the snow trampled path towards us.

This experience has clearly put a new delineation into spinning and knitting. Now I was not only spinning from roving and knitting a particular fibre, I was actually meeting the animal it came from. I realized that these knitted garments once they were completed would forever be linked to the name of the animal. "I'm wearing Miss. Muppet today" will be my phrase to describe my knitted wear or I'm going to make a scarf from "Pumpkin". I really like this linkage, how it's personalized and full of meaning.

The animals were curious and gentle. We didn't try to pat them, they would be too shy to touch, but they were certainly curious about us. They did not spit, and I'm told they would only do that if were had irritated them in some way.

These animals not only produce wonderful fibre for knitting and felting, they also produce great poop. Their waste makes for great compost and is sold as well because it can be put straight on the garden without burning plants. (I just wish there was some way I could keep an alpaca in my back yard).

They say that you can't really breed for colour. Genetics plays a role of course, but genetics can't really be controlled. The same way we don't know if our children will have green eyes or blue, the colour of the alpaca coat is often a surprise and a delight.

The roving and yarn were absolutely delicious! Soft and warm, luxurious and a pleasure to touch. The colours were all natural--as they should be--and a real feast for the eyes.

My first project will be a white scarf and hat, made from "Miss. Muffet's" fibre. This winter has really been a boon to the knitter and her quest for warmer fibre.

Snowstorms usually signals late buses and standing at bus stops for long periods of time waiting in the freezing cold. These warm fibres are invaluable on cold blustery days.

Fancy treads into deeper snow in order to investigate Rodney the cat more closely. Rodney took it all in stride but moved a little quicker as Fancy got too close. He wanted to see the visitor too. (Rodney probably could tell I was a crazy cat lady from one glance or sniff).

Of course I bought roving to spin on my spinning wheel.

The colours are so luxurious and the caramel, chocolate and vanilla together are just scrumptuous! I can't wait to be knitting this fibre.

And I thought I'd try my very first pair of alpaca socks. The socks are incredible! I don't think I'll ever wear another type of sock again. I relucantly took off one sock for this photo and then promptly put it back on. They are very cozy and warm and my feet love them, especially with this particularly cold Canadian winter we are having. I've never knit socks before, but now that I have roving, anything is possible.

I met the babies too, named after characters from the Narnia Chronicles (Mr. Tumnus, Prince Caspian). Beautiful white, pumpkin and brown coloured animals. Be sure to check out their web site to see photos of baby Evagaline's birth at http://www.zalpacas.com/Birth.html

You can see their lovely fleece and how thick and dense it is. The crimp is highly valued as well.

I had a marvelous time and really enjoyed meeting the Ziraldo Farm alpacas. The Ziraldo's are wonderful people to do business with and it was a pleasure to visit their farm and get to know them. I look forward to lots of spinning days ahead and more pairs of alpaca socks.

Mmmm... cozy!!!

More Fur Babies

2009-01-25T21:13:00.010-05:00

I have two new babies - Fur Babies. Last week I purchased two Angora bunnies from a lady who was busily growing her human family and therefore couldn't manage the extra work with the rabbits so she put them up for sale. I felt pretty lucky to find them.

They are both girls, the older one is Margarite. She's an "agouti" which as far as I've been able to find out means she's a gray/brown colour. I think she's marvelous. It's taken about a week for them to settle in and for me to learn their personalities. Margarite likes to let me know if her bowl gets empty. She thumps her cage floor. I can hear it from other parts of the house and I know that she wants more food. I discovered yesterday when I groomed her for the first time (they are to be brushed weekly) that she loves to be brushed and today when she was out she was butting against my hand, asking to be scratched. She loves sunflower seeds and I give them to her as a treat after she's had her romp.

The other rabbit is the baby. Her name is now Lexi and she's 8 months old. She's a lilac (gray/blue) angora. She's pretty fluffy still with her baby hair. She's a little imp. She hops around the rabbit room investigating everything.

While I was doing a little construction on Margarite's cage she was there the whole time sticking her face in, trying to chew the wood, investigating all my tools. It was quite funny.

I bought a Ware Premium Rabbit Hutch which I put together and I put Lexi in it as her new home. She seemed to like it and was very excited the next day, and spent a lot of time hopping up and down her bunny ramp. She also loves her dark hiding area which she didn't have before in the smaller cage she was in. In the picture she's nibbling sunflower seeds from a footstool. After I groomed her I gave her a slice of apple which she really enjoyed.

Lexi learned to use kitty litter in less than 5 minutes. I was really impressed. She's continued to use it faithfully. Now Margarite, being a little older is taking some convincing to be consistent, but I'm patient and we're working on it together (what that really means is that when she pees on the floor, I clean it up and try to remove the smell with bleach or vinegar and hope she doesn't do it there again). Today we had no accidents so I think we're heading in the right direction.

I have a spinning wheel, but for some reason I'm really enjoying spinning Margarite's fibre with the drop spindle. Maybe its the slower pace of the spindle, but I find it very relaxing and rewarding. Of course, the spinning wheel always waits so maybe knowing I have that option helps me be more patient.

I really wanted sheep, but living in a subdivision means I can't keep them so the rabbits are my little sheep. Keeping sheep in a subdivision reminds me of my visit to New Zealand in 1976. Back then, many homes kept a sheep on their front yard, anchored to the ground by a rubber tire. The faithful sheep trimmed their front lawns of grass, fertilized it with their poop and provided wool for knitting, all from one humble animal. You just can't beat that kind of environmental action! I'm not sure if it's still that way in New Zealand today. I certainly hope that it is.

My Treasure Collection: Oriole

2009-01-09T18:03:00.006-05:00

In my china cabinet are many little treasures. I have figurines made from pottery, glass and china and even some bread dough figurines. Mostly the cabinet is filled with eggs—real decorated eggs. (That’s another story for another time).

One of my favourite treasures that I keep in my cabinet is birds’ nests. I collect them. Just to clarify, I only collect the nests from the ground where they have fallen or retrieve them from fallen branches.

Why do I collect bird’s nests? That’s a very good question. Here are my reasons: They’re totally cool! You can learn so much about the intriguing habits of a creature by looking at their homes (God forbid if anyone came into mine or they’d wonder what kind of messy creature lived inside!)

Here's an example of what I've learned from birds:

The Oriole:
My second favourite bird is the oriole. I regret that I don’t have any personal photographs of the bird that I can share…. (this spring I'll make a point of taking some and will post them). I don’t have a zoom lens on my camera and the digital camera I’ve been using is so slow to click that you could go back in the house, brew and drink a whole cup of coffee before it takes the photo. But I digress…

This oriole nest was found on the ground after a severe thunderstorm. It was found at the beginning of fall, so the birds had long since raised their young and left the nest. I’ve kept if for years as part of my cherished collection of treasure.

People talk about bird’s brains – yes they’re pretty small—but birds can do some amazing things that I could never do (or at least not as well as them). Notice how this bird has taken the plastic strips that some careless human has tossed on the ground. They have used them as the foundation of their purse-like nest by looping the plastic over the branch to secure the nest.

The oriole’s nest hangs from tiny branches way up high in poplar trees. When the parent bird goes inside, their body weight causes the nest opening to close up completely, creating a safe and warm haven inside. The nest is constructed entirely by weaving and knitting, which the oriole instinctively knows how to do. It took me many lessons and much ripping back before I successfully knitted a garment. This bird does it with no training and hangs upside down, dangling from very high heights while constructing it!

Every spring I cut and leave out pieces of string and yarn (ATTENTION KNITTERS) – this is a great use for those stray bits of yarn. I read about this trick in my favourite birding book titled 525 Ways to Attract Birds to Your Backyard. It was during the second spring of laying out the yarn and string that I was in the back yard when I turned around and there, right in front of me was an oriole, beautiful bright orange and black and it was taking the string that I had left out for it. The bird looked over several pieces before it finally chose what it thought was the perfect string to use. It plucked it up in its beak and flew off. It was one of the most thrilling moments I can recall. I thank the author for that book which has paid itself over and over in the joy of backyard bird watching. Of course, I was so busy with my jaw hanging open that I never got a photo. I even forgot that I owned a camera.

So what did I learn from the oriole? They’re pretty smart. They can knit and sew and tie knots with anything from found bits of long grasses, string and yarn….and plastic! And they’re innovative, taking a manmade piece of plastic and incorporating it into their nest design. Their brains aren’t obviously stuck on thinking “I can only use grass”. They are able to see things outside the box, to think of plastic strips and extrapolate a way to use them. That’s a very inventive and uninhibited way to think in my opinion—pretty high end stuff for a small creature with a small brain.

I noticed that when the nest fell, it was not as a result of a failure of the bird’s nest construction. It fell because the branch broke in the storm.

To further attract this beautiful bird to my yard every spring and summer (they migrate down south for the winter) I put out two oriole feeders made up with 3 parts sugar to 1 part water. Every year the birds come regularly, usually about every 20 minutes and more often than that if it’s a rainy day. The oriole feeds on insects so if we have many days of bad weather with no flying insects, the bird will go hungry. In fact, the first time I saw an oriole in my yard was during a very rainy summer. When outside I turned around and saw an oriole trying to feed from my hummingbird sugar water feeder. I raced right out to get a proper oriole feeder. Also, I observed the bird eating peanuts that I had put out, using its beak to break them up into small pieces—this is not their normal fare. Obviously the bird was very hungry and needed some protein.

I sit here now and I ask myself why I never took pictures as I sat outside each summer and watched them come and go from my sugar feeder. If I had taken photos I could personalize this message by showing the proof. Maybe I wanted to keep this treasure all to myself for a while?

But what good is treasure if you don’t share it?

Crazy Idea: Vitamin tablet

2009-01-06T21:49:00.008-05:00

This idea has been rolling around inside my head for a while and so I'm releasing it on the universe. After all, I need to free up some space in my brain for other more important thoughts.

I'm sure you're familiar with those little sticky labels they put on our fruit and vegetables? How many of them have you accidentally eaten? Maybe I'm the only person who does the lazy rinse under the running water. I do try to turn the fruit around and get the whole thing washed but I admit I am a 'you must eat a peck of dirt before you die person'. So it's no surprise that frequently when I'm eating my apple I look down and see ... Remember that saying, "What's worse than seeing a worm in your apple?" The answer, "half a worm." Well, I keep looking down at my apple and seeing half an inspection label.

The glue isn't water soluble which would solve my problem but I guess it'd wash off too easily for the inspection people.

For the longest time I gave up and thought, oh just eat the silly label and stop complaining. Then I had an idea. Why not make this label even more useful. If they put vitamins in it then at least there'd be some benefit to eating it because I'm always forgetting to take my daily multivitamin.

How to make a Environmental Fruit Fly Trap

2009-01-04T19:58:00.009-05:00

I don't like to use any kind of household aerosol sprays indoors if I can help it but every summer and mid winter I seem to get a bloom of fruit flies in my house.

Some of these fruit flies are pretty aggressive. I wonder if they're from the Amazon or somewhere very tropical where everything grows bigger and more dangerous, like an amazon spider that grows as big as a plate? You might think they're tiny but they have big glowing red eyes. And for the trivia buffs out there (I know this because my group won $100.00 because we knew this answer) the fruit fly sperm has the longest tail compared to it's size--even longer than the tail-compared-to-size of a blue whale!

It probably doesn't help that being a green person I have a compost container in the kitchen for my fruit and veggie scraps, and then it probably adds to it that I don't empty the container as frequently as I should. Also because it's winter and we've had heaps of snow, the thought of trudging through deep snow to the back of the garage with a big stinky pail is very unappealing. Yes, I would prefer the stink than to lug the pail through the snow.

Here's my green environmental fruit fly trap instructions:

Have a glass of wine (red is preferred). Now guard your drink because the fruit flies might want to fight you for it and depending on how hungry they are they might even try to dive bomb between your fingers when you cover your glass with your hand.

Finish the bottle of wine--it is kind and polite to share, so you may want to offer a glass to someone other than "me, myself and I". Be sure to leave a few drops (about 1 or 2 teaspoons) in the bottom of the bottle--you must resist the urge to drink every drop!

Add 1/4 inch of water to the wine bottle.

Set the bottle on the counter and leave it overnight.... or for a couple days. The fruit flies will hone on the wine bottle like a magnetic compass and will go down inside and drown in the fruity water. (At least they'll die as happy drunks!)

Periodically you can return to the bottle, put your thumb over the opening and shake hard. Why? Because the shaking helps to quickly drown any that are climbing on the sides or still swimming around.

After a couple days, pour out the water into your garden or compost heap outside. And voila! No more fruit flies in the house.

I should mention that these instructions work equally well with a cup or glass with a piece of fruit or tomato in it, but wine is much more fun to drink and seems to attract this insect like, well, like flies.

Oh, and don't forget to recycle that wine bottle too. Cheers!!!