Let it Snow

Monday night I got to drive home from work in this:



Yup, that is the first real snow fall of the season. The roads were really good so don't worry. I also have some really good winter tires on the van and Paul had some winter tires put on the truck today. We got a couple of inches of light snow. Uh, for those of you that are not in snow country there are about 500 different kinds of snow. Light snow is the best to shovel but not good to make snowmen out of. It doesn't stick together well enough to make a snowman.

If The Giggle Queen reads this post she may correct me on my snow knowledge. I bow to her, she lives where it is way colder and much more snow than we do. She has also lived in Canada her entire life so she has a bit more snow experience than I do.

Tuesday morning was so pretty. The clouds lifted and the sun shone off the snow in a way that lifted the winter blues. It reached 7C, warm enough to open a window and get some fresh air in the house.



Today we are back to -5C so all the melt has turned to ice and things have gotten a bit slippery and not in a good way.

It is funny how natural getting stuck in the ice or the snow on the side of the road has gotten for me. I saw a guy driving a van get stuck pulling out of a parking lot today. Without a thought the two guys in the van behind him hopped out and gave him a push while he spun his tires for bit. I waited patiently behind them. A bit of pushing and the tires caught the pavement, the first van sped off with a thankful wave out the window. The two helpers got back into their van with great big smiles, I waved and we all went on with out lives.

The thing that struck me about the whole incident is how normal it seemed to me. I really do like living where we enjoy 4 seasons. Indeed I can't imagine living where I did not have snow for a few months of the year.

Wardrobe Malfunction

He wore them like this all day never realizing they were on wrong.

Made me laugh so hard when the kid got ready for hockey.



Ever have those days when you realize your underwear has been inside out the whole day and did not realize it until 3:00 in the afternoon? About a month ago I wore a new skirt to work and did not realize it still had the tag on it until after lunch. For the record the tag was on the inside of the skirt so no one but me realized the error of my way.

Happy Monday. I had better get back to work.

Up For Air

I have not fallen off the planet.

More like I have fallen in a few cans of paint. A few months ago we had the entrance way re-tiled. I love the new tile and it went just fine with the existing paint colour.

Paul however patched a whole bunch of spots all over the entrance way and then left it that way. I waited a couple a weeks to see if he was going to sand down the patches or open a can of paint. Nothing happened.

The walls did not paint themselves. (old colour pictured behind the cute kid)



I figured it was up to me to get the job done. Fine, I would pick my own paint colour and to heck with that Paul guy. I picked a pretty gray that goes great with the tile.



I love the colour but it made the entrance way pretty boring with all the neutral. You know how one project tends to turn into another. Well I am in the throws of the snowball effect as we speak. I decided we needed a pop of colour. I stripped the bench:



Then I painted/stained it:



I made the coat hangers the same colour red and today I painted the weight room the gray. I am having a picture that Jodie gave us for Christmas last year framed and I will put that up to add some more colour. I am looking for a small nude table I could paint to put a key bowl on and then I think I will be about done down there.

Then I am thinking of painting all the ceiling upstairs...and I bought new lights for the kitchen...and I have picked a paint a colour for the front room and the hall ways are looking pretty beat up and did you know the front bathroom is the only room in the entire house that has not had a coat of paint since we bought the place. The snowball effect...great.

Lanolin Soup

I washed some of the fleece over the weekend. I just wanted to give it a try and see how it would look washed up. I did not document the whole thing, I followed the technique the Yarn Harlot uses and it seemed to work well.

I laid the fleece out on the garage floor to get an idea of how dirty it is. My plan was to pick out the plant matter and then wash it, I did not pick out the plant stuff as there was so little in it. I was surprised at how little oder it had even when laid out. Not smelly at all.



I laid some of the locks out as the Yarn Harlot suggests. I weighed out 6oz. I will weigh the clean fleece when it is completely dry, I am curious how much weight is lost in dirt and lanolin.



I warned Paul and the kids I would be cooking a bit a sheep and the house might get stinky. Paul kept asking me when the lanolin soup would be ready. Funny guy.



Here is the washed fleece:



I was surprised at how clean it was. Portions of it are still a bit dirty on the tips. I did not separate the locks very much when I placed them in the pot. The part that are still a bit dirty were in the middle of my bundle, I think if I had spent a bit more time loosening up the fiber before I cooked it that the middle would have faired better. I may wash the portions I am not happy with again.



The good news: none of the wool felted during the washing process. Whoot!

Remembrance Day

We took the kids down to the park for the Remembrance Day service. It was quite moving. I must be getting mushy as I get older, I got all teary eyed a few times during the ceremony.

The Canadian Flag at half mast for the day:



Wreaths are placed here in honor of those that have gone to war for our freedom.

It makes me long for peace in this world.



The local pipe band is a class act:



I cold not help but notice that the leader had hand knit kilt hose on. Either someone loves him very much or he is one heck of knitter. I apologize for the fuzzy photo the man was on a mission



One of four Sentinels that stand over the service and the wreaths there is one from each branch of the service: Army, Navy, Airforce and one from the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)

The words on the monument behind him read, "We Will Remember Them."

Sheep for Ewe

Blogger is a fickle mistress. An hour ago it would not let me post a picture apparently now she has changed her mind. I won't look a gift sheep in the mouth and will carry on.

A picture of pretty girl, don't ewe think so?



A bit of flora to warm you up. (I was going to throw in another really bad sheep pun here bit I don't want to ram to many down your throats) I am done with the photo class it was so worth it. The last class we played a little with photoshop and learned enough to help me with my photos. Here is my before:



Here is the same picture I after I mucked with it. I could have just posted the after photo and you would have thought I was a vastly improved photographer. I figured there was no pulling the wool over your eyes and I should just post them both.



I have patient who raises sheep to train sheep dogs. I am not sure what uses the sheep other than training purposes. When she shears the sheep she sends the fleece to a place in Vancouver that pays her by the pound and she does not care where it goes from there.

Sometime ago she raised a few Romneys. She had a Romney fleece that she had saved for years. She said it was to nice to send to Vancouver but she was not quite sure what to do with it as she is not a spinner herself.

When I started spinning Paul mentioned it in passing to her. She came in to me see and offered the fleece to me. She told me I could have it for nothing if I could make good use of it. She would mention the fleece every time she came in for care, months went by and I thought nothing of it.

Now she is selling her home and acreage and purging all her stuff. She came in on Monday and told me she found two more Romney fleeces in her basement and wanted to know if I could use all the fiber. I replied that if she wanted to get rid of all of it I would see that it found good homes and I ensured her that it would be spun up with love.

Today this came home with Paul:



Holy sheep shit batman that is a lot of fleece.



Cute 4 year old added for scale:

Halloween

Before I show you a couple of Halloween pictures let me show what Sebass spotted in the tree across the street:



I think this is the largest wasps nest I have ever seen. I have posted a picture of the back of it as well. It is pretty cool. I love the way the built it right around one of the small branches of the tree. I don't know a darn thing about wasps, are they in there sleeping for the winter or do they die and build a new one next year? I really wanted to give the thing a nudge until a mental picture of me running down the street with a swarm of angry wasps chasing after me stayed my hand. I took a few pictures and beat feet. PJ wants to ask the neighbors if we can have it for show and tell.



I was at work while Paul and the kids carved the pumpkins. I was sad to miss it, I love the smell of carving pumpkins. I only took pictures of two of them. The third one was not feeling well and threw up its pumpkin guts all over the front lawn. I think it is unkind to take pictures of people or pumpkins while they are eating or vomiting.



Sebass was a vampire for All Hallows Eve. In this picture he looks spooky so it is my favorite. Q was a police man and PJ was Snow White. They were out the door so fast I did not get pictures of them. I think Kathryn got some and will post them if she gives me copies. (Shannon the BE meet the stones worked great to make his eyes all sunken and tired looking)



And one more happy pumpkin. I think he is laughing at the vomiting pumpkin that is in front and to his left.



One more thing: one of the kids made the sports page click here to see who it was.