Get real!

We had an utterly wonderful weekend! (you need to appreciate that I didn't say udderly). Jill and I went to Peters on Friday.

Saturday was wonderful. Usually it's all work.. but the weather wasn't cooperative for outside work. Instead, Peter made breakfast for us: bacon, shrimp omelet & wonderful, delicious coffee (I taught him how to make it a couple years ago). Then off we went to this delightful yarn & quilt store in Bellingham called "Lynda's."

Unfortunately Lynda is disposing of the yarn end of her business. Fortunately, all the knitting stuff, yarn included, was on close out. I scored. Unfortunately, I don't get paid until Monday and I've already spent next month's disposable income.

Barnes & Noble was our next stop, to get a book on spinning yarn. Kyle has access to gobs of raw wool (straight from the sheep) and he's going to bring me some tomorrow.

There is a goat farm not far from Lynden that sells cashmere goats so we HAD to make a stop there. I talked quite a bit with the owners of the farm. I'm sure they think I'm a complete goon from the city since I asked such stupid questions. I was standing there in inch-deep muck with high heels and actually asked "how often do you shave cashmere goats?" I new the word was shear. Honest I did. But "shave" came out of my mouth. The woman I was talking to looked at me and said, "Shear. we SHEAR goats." I wanted to crawl under the car, but the muck kept me from it. The adorable kid to the right was one of twins. He's for sale. Or will be in a few weeks. I realized I am SO not ready for goats! Plus, this kid will grow up to be a Boer goat - not the kind I'm looking for at all. Didn't stop me from falling in love though. He was very hungry and sucked on our fingers looking for satisfaction anywhere he could find it.

I think I've decided to start with two cashmere and two dairy goats. (breed of dairy goat as yet undecided). But my dose of reality is that I'm simply not ready for goats. Plus, there is no reason to jump right into the deep end of the goat pellet pool. I've decided to postpone the goat portion of my plan for a few months or maybe a year, until everything else is well settled. Goats are a HUGE responsibility and I'm not sure I want to jump immediately into that after I leave here. I will need to construct shelter and prepare pasture before getting them as well.

After the trip to the goats (and a nap) we actually did some work. My little house & garden here in Salem has an abundance of iris and strawberries. Peter has rescued at least 200 iris and over 100 strawberry plants from here. Saturday we potted strawberries.

But the day wasn't over yet. After tea with Peter's mom, we went to Aldergrove, BC for world famous 5-pin bowling. Peter won the first game. I slaughtered him on the second game. Not only did Jill get the first strike, she shared some of her personal issues with us during bowling. It was a very special family bonding time.

After bowling we drove around Aldergrove pointing out to Jill all the Canadian things. "Look Jill, Canadian Houses." "Look Jill, Canada has dogs!" "Look Jill, Tim Hortons!" We also stopped at an ice rink and watched some Canadian boys play hockey. "Look Jill, Canadian boys!" As Peter said, we "smelled" Canadian Hockey. Such fun.

And as always, it was very disappointing to have to get in the car and head home. I don't belong here. I belong there.

Life is great. I love my job. My kids are wonderful. etc etc etc!

I got up at 5:20 this morning to get up close and personal with my treadmill. I love to run. Not that I've worked my way up to running yet. But I did work up a sweat and raise my heart rate and kick in those happy endorphins. Other exercises tend to make me cranky. Running makes me happy.

After my "run" I was thinking. I was thinking that ones attitude can change ones environment. If you walk around with a black cloud over your head all the time you're going to get rained on. My work isn't perfect, but it's way better than working in a prison performing strip searches and cavity searches on criminals. My kids are.. kids. They'll figure it out. My bills will get paid. Eventually. My mom is in good hands. Demented, but well taken care of. The dog, cat, pig and fish are healthy. My cars run.

Life is good. no. Life is Great.

Last week my daughter got a job - volunteer to start with and getting paid in a few months. She's an assistant gymnastics coach, teaching pre-schoolers to tumble.

My son called today with the news that HE got a job. Full time work. Part time community college. I'm so excited!

I should get on that treadmill every day!!

Update

It's been a week and a half since I blogged. Nothing notable has happened. Or maybe, notable things, just not very exciting. Let's do a quick recap.

• My mom told me I didn't become human until I was 13. That's kinda funny because so many kids STOP being human about that age. In reality she didn't remember my existence prior to my teenage years. A little prompting and the memories started coming back to her.
• I learned a new joke: Q: When is a good time to go to the dentist? A: Two thirty
• I spent 4 hours toiling away on a project at work - only to be told that I was given the wrong information so it all had to be dumped.
• I've been sick and stayed home from work for 2 whole days last week. I never left the house. Heaven.
• I cancelled my gym membership and bought a treadmill - I've worked out on it every day I've had it, except one.
• Peter and I went to the beach on Sunday. I watched the surf and stacked rocks. It was very peaceful.
• I've begun my first "commission" knitting job. Someone saw my turquoise bag and wanted one for themselves. I'm not getting paid - but she bought the yarn so it's all good.
• Jill has joined the ranks of the employed. Sort of. She's doing volunteer work that will turn into a paid position in a couple of months. She's assistant coach at a gymnastics facility. She's teaching toddlers to tumble. What a fun first job!

Whew. That's over. I was suffering from a form of writer's block. Big white space.. what do you write about? Now that's over. Tomorrow I shall tell you all about another conversation I had with Mom and perhaps I'll mention happy endorphins and I'm still reading about raising goats. I'm getting very excited about the future.

Hidden treasures

The most wonderful thing happened today. I have a photo at work of my dearly departed dog, Loki. He was a gorgeous standard poodle. We got him in 1988. The photo was a very cute one of him as a puppy but it was somewhat damaged. A co-worker begged, BEGGED me to let her take it out of the rickety old frame and see if it could be salvaged. Against my better judgement I agreed to it. Behind the picture of my beloved Loki was an even older photo. Preserved by it's location in the frame. I think this was taken in 1983. I think.

Mutella-Sportwolle Staufen-Wolle

I don't know exactly what that means but I went second-hand store-ing yesterday and found three hanks of the stuff for 49cents a hank. It's not the prettiest color and I later found out it means wool (I was pretty sure it did) but what a score! I'm certain I shall find some perfect use for it. I also bought three sets of knitting needles and an etui. I did not pay over 49 cents for anything.

I started a project Thursday night and finished it this morning. It was an exercise in learning new techniques. It was the first time I made something in pieces and then had to assemble it. Can you see the bumps in it? Those are knots that I had to learn how to make. The pattern called for chunky wool yarn (something I just can't find locally) so I tried using two smaller strands together - a purple and a white - yet another technique I had to figure out. I think it came out very nice. I just have NO idea what to use it for.

My house needs cleaning though. I wish someone would come and do it for me so I can concentrate on my knitting and not be so distracted by the chaos and clutter surrounding me. The laundry is piling up, the dust & dog hair are getting deeper and someone keeps dumping junk mail in a heap on the kitchen table.

I did get away from the knitting and the cluttered house today. Jill and I went to Ikea. 3 hours of wandering around in a daze in a maze. A person could get lost in that store. It was awfully fun. I bought a wire whisk. That's like going to Costco and only walking out with a bag of potato chips. It's unheard of. But, in fact, we also bought a plastic grocery bag holder/dispenser and a bookcase for Jill's room.

Yesterday I took mom out to lunch and to get her nails done. She's still looking for small trees in her food. You know.. the community trees. And she's still telling amazing tales.

Recently her 80-something year old friend Dorothy has gotten pregnant through some experiments (and some midnight rendezvous in a field). She also recently purchased the facility my mother lives in AND she's apparently turned to "working the night shift" (wink wink) in order to support all of her babies because the daddy to all the babies is a deadbeat. I asked my mom to think about it carefully and to decide if it was really possible that Dorothy had babies right now. My mother's reply in defense of Dorothy was "if Dorothy wanted to do it, she'd find a way!"

I Can't get enough!

I told you I'd be back when I got this felting thing out of my system. I lied because it is NOT yet out of my system - and yet I'm back. My new lovely yarn arrived last week and I knitted. I knitted late into the night. I knitted at work. I knitted on the train to Peters. I knitted at Peters. I felted at Peters. My bag is done. I want to make another!

Before:



After:










But anyhooo.. I said I knitted on the train to Peters. I went up on Thursday and just came home today. I think there is some sort of time warp... or problem in the space/time continuum (who remembers Dr. Who on the Public Broadcasting station?).. or some weird thing where time goes at least twice as fast up there in the north. I was there for 3 full days and 4 nights, and I feel like I had to turn around and go home just after I got there. It's not fair and I want a do-over!

Of course.. it's not like we just sat around playing board games. There were sticks to pick up, gardens to prep, weeds to pull, kittens to play with, movies to watch, knitting to knit, waterfalls to see, restaurants to try, dishes to admire (I found out I like Spode), tea to drink, yarn stores to explore, wood to chop (okay.. I just watched Peter chop wood.. he's such a lumberjack!) petticoats to try on (not so lumberjack'ish), sunsets to admire and so much more.

And while I was having so much fun up north I left my children to watch each other. When will I learn? Although, they did pretty well - uh - until they caught the gas bbq on fire and burnt it up. Fortunately they managed to put it out before the pergola went up in flames. I think my 19 year old needs a babysitter. How weird is that?

And then there is "no-news" Mom news:

Mom news has been scarce recently. Mostly because there just isn't much to report. She is settling in nicely to her place. She seems mostly well-adjusted and happy as can be expected. My wonderful Uncle Art and Aunt Carmela asked that I include even "no news" news so they can be kept abreast of things. It turns out they want a tea cozy too! How exciting! Now I have a reason to keep knitting.