OH OH IT IS JUNE

I haven't written for ages but it has been very busy around here. Honest it has just read on. Two of my Children had Birthday's in May, I still have to talk to my son as I haven't managed to wish him Happy Birthday ...................... brain dead ..................
phone the cell not the house!!!!!!!!!
I thought the lawn mower was stolen because it was GONE from the backyard where I keep it. I looked back there FOUR times just incase my eyes were seeing it but the brain wasn't connecting. NO LAWN MOWER.............. phone DH "SOME ONE STOLE MY LAWN MOWER." He only cares because I am upset. As far as he is concerned the grass doesn't bother him so why should he bother it. I like to mow the grass ( well most times I do) It brings back memories of my Grandfather on my Mother's side, Pop was what everyone called him. I don't know why ...................... I think I did know at one time but that information is filed away somewhere in my brain............ you know the scene at the end of the Indiana Jones movie where they store the box with the Ark of the Covenant in that humungeous warehouse never to be found again. Well that is kind of what my brain looks like. The information is in there just not sure which box. Any way back to the mower. DH is phoning around after checking out Craig's list and finds 2 possibilities. Saturday we are making arrangements to go pick up a lawn mower when DD Jill and friend Jamie arrive. Jamie laughingly says" I hear some one took the lawn mower?" "Yes" says I. he looks at me and tells me he has locked them in Bill's shop.....................hhhhhhhuuuuuuuummmmm ....................never noticed the lock on the door. Didn't think to look there as the last I knew the shop wasn't level enough to get the door open. FOUR TIMES I looked in the back yard and didn't notice the lock on the door. Mind you, in my defense I was looking closer to the ground for the mower. The lock is at eye level so who would look for a lawn mower up there.

Well now I have been working on the lawn but the back yard isn't all done BECAUSE THERE IS STUFF EVERYWHERE IN THE YARD. That man has three...... YES THREE ....... buildings to store STUFF in and it is all over the yard. When he bought the shop they had to move the garage ( made of 2X4's and tarp material ) off the drive to put the shop in close to the house.
I was away when they did all this so I come home and the Garage is beside my garden providing lots of shade .......... great.....
The STUFF from the garage is all over the yard, some is under a tarp and the rest is in Shelby's ply house .............OH OH TROUBLE COMING. Now DH is really in trouble. I tell him the garage has to go back where it was and yes there is room for it.
Shelby sees her play house full of stuff and starts giving me grief." Wait a minute this isn't my doing speak to your Grandfather." Shelby, hands on hips marching towards the house says" I am going to give him a piece of my mind".
Do you suppose your can do this too many times and after a while you have no more pieces left ????????

Well Jamie and Dwayne move the garage only the flat deck truck is in the drive so they fit the open end of the garage around the end of the truck. GREAT JUST GREAT. The garage is back where it belongs but there is only one minor problem. YOU CAN'T PUT ANYTHING IN IT BECAUSE THE TRUCK IS IN THE WAY AT ONE END AND THE OTHER END IS UP AGAINST BILL'S SHOP.
Apparently they can't move the truck until they fix the fence because they took a fence post out to get the shop in and now the truck is the only thing holding up the fence at that spot. Do you wonder that I am a little crazy.................

Let's see what happened next ? Oh yes 7 of us in the wee sock group on Ravelry had a "Spin-in in separate house together" only I went to Gail's so we were in the same house. We all chatted over the internet and Gail and I couldn't always remember whose page we were on so we sort of morphed together and they never knew whether It was Gail on my page or Gail on Gail's page or me on my page etc. We all had finger food for lunch and actually did some spinning. I am spinning some silk/merino roving mmmmmmmuuuuuuuuuummmmm it is yummy stuff in blues and green.

All the sweaters I have to re-cycle the yarn are taken apart and unravelled or are ready to unravel. I have some unravellers that help me out but I try to do the really fine lace weight myself.

I have finished 2 pairs of fingerless gloves, Cory's twisted wrap , the secret MMario shawl ( I gave this to DH's Mum for her (0th Birthday), The second sock of "They are nice Grandma but I wouldn't wear them " is more than half done and I have the yarn ready for a felted bag KAL that starts the middle of the month.
I caught up one all my siggy blocks, DJ blocks went out to two friends and I am almost finished the second of four test blocks.
I need to finish the sample shawl and then do the one for my DS Janice. After that I am going to do one for me that Gail gave me the Noro yarn to make it.
Last week I did some work for a friend of Jill's who does market surveys and on the weekend we went to the Island to see Bill's family as Mum and Frank are moving into a suite in a care facility as Mum need more help than Frank can give. They are both 90 so I guess the move isn't unreasonable but it is sad. They get all their meals provided .......... maybe I will move in. Bill and i will be married 40 years this December and I was thinking the other day how tired I am of making meals. Its not so much the making as figuring out what to make. Let's see 40 years, figure I made at least 5 dinners a week ( Bill can cook and we did go out the odd time so I figure 5 is probably close), times 52 weeks times 40 years equals 10,400 dinners. No wonder I am tired of making dinner.
Back to the weekend ................. we had a great time with his family. We visited, played dominos, ate good food and drank wine. A good time was had by all. Then we loaded the truck to come home and I mean loaded. We came home with Christmas presents, Wedding presents, 12 framed pictures, an oak table made by DH's Grandfather in England, two teak packing boxes, a set of Shakespeare (38 volumes), a Tea set, the footstool we had made Mum and Dad for their 50th , binoculars, Dad's papers from the war and some other stuff. Now I only need to figure out where to put it. Cory and Aaron will take a lot of it because all the wedding presents are for them and so are the two big bags of linen.

Monday was unload the truck and then relax. Tuesday I didn't do much, Wednesday put things away, knitting in the pool hall last night. Tonight I may go to Knitopia but I am not sure yet.

Package in the mail

I received the nicest mail today ...................... there was my Wee Swap Package from Dragonyady with the cutest sock, tea, seeds and sheep. There was a siggy block from Claudia in Germany, and a family history package from my Sister
There was three tea bags but I used one already.


This is the little sock Dragonyady knit for me. She dyed the green yarn. I love the colours.


Here are my new sheep added to the herd, aren't they cute.

Family

Last night was a family night although we missed our son and wife. Everyone came over and we had dinner and then watched the video of Cory and Aaron's Wedding. Dinner was a Turkey Cory cooked with cornmeal stuffing ........... yummy....... I cooked a ham and made green salad and potato salad, Jill and Shelby baked a cake. It was a lovely meal and good company.
By the end of the evening Shelby was sitting on Aaron's knee so she has now accepted him as part of the family.
The Wedding was not your typical formal wedding but it was typical of our family. Lots of laughter and goofing off ( mostly by Aaron, the goofing off that is) ........................ no one in my family goofs off .....................
The dog still doesn't like Cory for some reason. We are not sure why but anyone she has taken a dislike to has been a woman so we figure it was a woman who abused her.
I did manage to get almost every chair in the house free of stuff ready for some one to sit on. The kitchen was clean and THE ROOM is still a work in progress. I am beginning to think this is a life time project.
I am getting some things accomplished. I have caught up on all the siggy blocks I owe people. They actually made it to the post office within 2 days of being ready.
Usually letters travel in my purse for several weeks before they reach the post office I think the difference this time is there were too many for my purse and they had to go in the knitting bag.
Talking about knitting DD #2 is slightly annoyed at me. I have finished her fingerless gloves but told her she can't have them until tomorrow which is actually today as I told her that yesterday.............. I have to show them off at knitting........... tonight.




I am off to Knitopia tonight for knitting. I haven't been for at least a month as I was doing retreats in March and then they didn't have knitting for a couple of weeks................... I still haven't finished the sampler shawl for the shop and am feeling a little guilty about that but had decided family comes first so been working on those projects. You know when I only work on one thing at a time it get done quite quickly but it is sooooooooooooo boring doing things that way.

I was bored once. It was awful and I hope it never happens again.

So I have one pair of fingerless gloves almost done, one shawl 2/3 done (shop sample) , two pairs of socks in progress , three shawls resting, one stole 1/2 done and I am eyeing some hand painted sock yarn from Gail ..................... that last one doesn't even count as a project ...... yet. Then in the quilting department there are three blocks to finish testing for Sandy, a baby quilt to finish , two wedding quilts to do , a duvet cover to make and my DJ and QD are resting. Plus I do believe there are several UFO's in THE ROOM. I would tell you I can't find them but that would be lying as I know where almost everything is in THE ROOM.............Yes I really do ........................ honest ..........despite the chaos in there I can find just about any thing I want. Mind you there was that thing I was looking for the other day and couldn't find but it doesn't really matter now because I can't remember what it was.
Don't you hate that when you can't remember things. It happens more as you age and although I don't do OLDE I must admit that I am aging. Thank goodness it is raining this week because my back is still sore from the gardening I did last week. I just can't do the hours in the garden I used to be able to do so I guess I will just have to do less but do it more often.

Well I NEED more coffee and should actually try to do something today. Mind you it is only 8:30 ......................yes I am up. I have been up since 7:00 ................... I have made coffee, cleaned up in the kitchen and read a few e-mails.......... I wouldn't want to do too much at one time........ LOL ................ Off I go for more coffee.

OH OH

I guess I didn't get back to label photos or write about the retreats .................................... Let's see what excuses can I come up with :-
1) my daughter eloped and got married in Mexico
2) the weather has been so nice I have been working in the yard and garden and have been too stiff and sore to type.
3) I have been busy doing housework - scratch that one. If you read this blog you know I don't do house work. Although I have been clearing off chairs in the living room.......... just in case someone might want to sit in one of them This was good until DGD came and left stuff every where.
4) would you believe me if I said I was working at organizing THE ROOM ........................... hum ....................... probably not. (Actually I did organize the sweaters I have bought for recycling into yarn as I have a friend who knows some people who will unravel them for me.)
5) I have been spinning - well not really............... spinny maybe.
6) I have been madly knitting to finish projects. ( This one might be good except the only thing I have finished is the shawl from the pattern I am testing.) I do have about a dozen UFO's some of which are slowly progressing.
7) I have been too busy looking after dogs as we had DD dog while she was getting married. How many of you would believe this one???
8) I have been doing dishes and laundry but I doubt you would believe that has filled my days.
9) I am too lazy to write on my blog?
10) I am just bloody minded and didn't feel like it?

Well there are 10 excuses ...................... pick which ever one works for you.

Should I go back and label the photos or just leave them be. Most people can figure out which is the spinning retreat and which is the quilting retreat.

Oh I thought of another reason I didn't update my blog. I have been hand piecing quilt blocks that I need to send to a couple of people. I only have 2 more to finish.

I am sitting here is my rocking chair, wrapped in the shawl Sheila made for me, listening to Julia's Harp music and life is good.
Here is a couple (or5) photos of the Bride and Groom.

too tired to add much

I am home and recovering from two retreats. I will write more tomorrow and add titles to the photos.

dying

Silk that is. I don't know if you remember me talking about the day we made a mess at Iris' but when we were cleaning up there was some dye left over. We put some wet silk batting in plastic bags and added dye in varying amounts. No measuring so of course the results can't be repeated ........................... LOL ............................ I really don't mind this. I like surprises as long as they are nice ones.

Iris tells us to take the bags home and leave them somewhere warm for 24 hours .................. OH OH Iris e-mails .......... there is no soda ash in the dye so it won't set ........................ A week later I manage to remember to buy soda ash .......... add it to the baggies, leave by the heat overnight and this is what the result was:




Now there was still some dye in the bags so I thought OKAY I can dye some more silk............ Right ............................... NOT REALLY .................. I forgot that there was a limited "life span" for these dyes. So what I got was anemic celery, pathetic pewter, baby puke yellow and insipid orange.




I NEEDED A COLOUR FIX SO .............................. food colouring and vinegar gave me this:



Now I am wishing this silk was nice enough to spin .................... except for the wishy-washy stuff that is. Oh well I will have to find some thing interesting to do with the lovely colours.

So WNK at the pool hall was fun. There was 9 of us and a wee one. I worked on the BLACK fingerless gloves for DD #2 . Fortunately there is no pattern just 4X2 ribbing. I really dislike working with black as I really can't see it well any more......... So what colour do all my children choose for the projects I am making them ???.................. Well BLACK of course ............. it is nice that 2 out of 3 of the future in-laws have chosen colours. Liz likes red and Aaron likes blue.

No knit night at Knitopia but I met Gail there about 4:30. She hadn't been to the sale so found some yarn she couldn't live without. I paid for the yarn Lynne had put aside for me, after I shared some of the yarn with Gail and Doris. Doris bought a lot of cotton yarn. (I was really good ............... honest ............ I only spent $10.00.)
After all that shopping Gail offered to take me for coffee so we went to McBernies and chatted until 6:30.

Friday,I stayed home other than going for groceries. I did make some more stitch markers and did some laundry.
I have almost finished the shawl I am test knitting , then to finish the sample shawl. It will be nice to have these finished so I can start another shawl or maybe even finish one that has been resting.
Whoops, my turn to go for the coffee, back in a moment.

Okay I am back with coffee and a sandwich. DH didn't want a sandwich so is going to look after himself. I am glad I married a man who cooks.
We are watching "Clear and Present Danger" on TV and critiquing the continuity and the foolish things the characters do.
Like Jeff Foxworthy says " don't they listen to the music" ............................... they always play "scary music" when something bad is going to happen.

Well I should really go and do some ..................... are you ready for this ............................ are you sure ...............................
I ..... yes I ... am going to do some housework. We need clean clothes although people might pay us to put clothes on if we go out naked. On the other hand we might get arrested which wouldn't be good so I am off to do LAUNDRY.

Catching Up

Well I checked and it is only a week since my last post. I have been so busy it feels like two weeks. So lets review.

Last Wednesday I went to the sale at Knitopia for maybe 2 hours (give or take an hour) and purchased many balls of lovely wool yarn at $1.00/ball ........................ yea you read that right. Don't you love a sale like that. I know Lynne didn't make any money on me just cleared some space. You really can't tell that she cleared any space because more stuff came in from the storage unit. You could go every day and see different yarns. So that night at the Pool Hall I showed a sampling of what I bought (there was too much to take it all) Believe it or not DH sent me to the sale , NO YOU CAN"T HAVE HIM. Socklady Lynne joined us for the evening. It was very nice to see her again. She and Gail were going to the Whidby Island Spin-in. I was supposed to go as well but had to go to DD stagette inside, but that story is coming.

This brings us to Thursday:
Kim and I had coffee in Ft Langley and I was 1 hour late.................... darn #*^# Ferry. I don't know why all those people have to take the ferry when I have to be some place on time. If I had been thinking I would only have been 1/2 late because I would have taken the free-way. If I had been more together I would have read the time correctly and not have been late at all. Do you ever have one of those days when you get up ................. look at the clock and think ....... OH 7:55............. I have time to have coffee, eat breakfast, read my e-mail , get dressed and be in Ft. Langley by 9:30. Well maybe your not going to Ft. Langley but you know what I mean.
Kim and I had a lovely visit and caught up on what we had been doing for the last 3-4 years and promised each other to stay in better contact. Then we both had to go ........... she was teaching a class and I was helping teach 8 year olds to knit at DGD school. That was fun and I get to do it again this Thursday. I think the plan is the children make a scarf for Mother's Day. Shelby was doing very well as I had already taught her to knit......... her Mother and I both asked her not to brag about how many rows she had done........... secretly I was very proud and I did tell her later.

Thursday evening I was at Knitopia for fibre night (knitting, spinning or rug hooking your choice of activity) and I just happened to browse through the yarn I hadn't seen the day before. Sharon bought most of the Briggs and Little that was there
and I was very restrained and only bought a few balls of $1.00 yarn.

Friday was quite Bill and I spent some time together and I had a nap in the afternoon as I was still recovering from the sinus infection. Does anyone else find that antibiotics "knock the S#$% out of them?????????? It sure does me.

Saturday:- I think I did some dishes and laundry, worked on my knitting, and went to Cory's stagette. We met at Bailey's Pub for drinks and then went to the Gourmet Hide-a-way ( actually the downstairs lounge - the upstairs requires more formal attire) had some food and the plan was to go on to Shooters. I didn't have my medication and developed A STUPID SINUS HEADACHE AND AN EAR ACHE AND HAD TO GO HOIME. I WAS HAVING A GREAT TIME. Anyway here is one not very good photo of me with Cory and three of the girls that were there. I think there was about 12-15 of us. It was hard to keep track as some of the girls came and went and came back. I didn't know all of them and couldn't remember all the names. They on the other had just called me MOM so didn't have to remember my name. They did think Cory had a COOL MOM.





Sunday- Shelby had spent the night. After breakfast she and I went out and worked on her playhouse. We put up some curtains and shelves. I will have to remember to take a photo as soon as DH MOVES THE TRUCK OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE YARD. We have always had different views on what a yard is for. I think it is a place to watch children play, garden, relax, entertain friends ( when the weather is nice unless they are friends you don't want any more). Bill on the other hand thinks it is a place to store parts and park vehicles. I am bound and determined to win this time around and NOT have vehicles parked on the grass. He has a drive way to park vehicles and 2 YES TWO shed to store STUFF.

Well that brings us to today. Oh yes my car doors work when the weather is nice. I mean really they do. Yesterday Shelby went to get something out of the car for me and opened the drivers side door ................ NO PROBLEM...... Today it is nice and sunny again and the driver's side door opens just fine. IT DOESN"T LIKE THE RAIN............................ only I would get a car that doesn't like rain.
I went to Inge's 65th Birthday party at my FORMER work place. It was fun and I saw some of the people I have missed. It was interesting though. I told Bill I was going to a party at the Hospital, before I would have said at work even though I had retired. ............ I guess this means my brain has finally realized that I am retired from there........... nothing slow about me.
It is now 5:17 am and I am going back to bed. My asthma has settled down and I should be able to get some more sleep before I have to getup and do some house work around here. The cleaning fairies just don't seem to be doing their job