Snowbirds

This morning, I opened my door to see if I received a newspaper today and found this:

Lots of little birdie feet prints. Earlier I had shook out the remnants from my canary's food dish and I guess the birdies found the few seeds in the snow. So I put some more food out for the hungry little fellers.

And yesterday, we had some big birdies - a type of thrush I think that were filling up on the grapes I left on the arbour. My dog's also been eating them like crazy!

Snow day # 6 - it's warming up, getting close to zero degrees, with rain in the forecast. It was nice to have a bit of snow, but it would be nice to get back to our old routines as well.

There is this cute little rancher down the street from me. Through the years I've watched the couple take wonderful care of their home, with their name plate by the front door in script and admired the clean and tidy property. I've seen them both get new Volkswagens; driven by as various parts of the house came out and various parts went in for renovations; seen the beautiful Christams tree though the open curtains. Now I'm not making a point to look or stare, but I would often end up walking my dogs past their house and it since it was so neat and tidy, it was a nice view to look at.

But then one day, one car wasn't there. And then a sign was posted in the front window - according to a neighbour, they were getting divorced and he put the sign up because she was coming into the house and taking stuff. Then the 'for sale' sign went up and within 3 days it was sold. A month later it's empty with a new vehicle in the drive way.

Now instead of feeling happiness and hope for the family, the house seems to represent sadness. What once was, is lost. And how people can come and go, but the house still remains, now representing something different to someone else.

Toothpick Knitting

Okay this is the story. I was working on a project at the kitchen table while dinner was cooking. When it was ready, I pushed my project to the side and JP and I had dinner. After dinner, I rolled my yarn into a ball because the skein was falling apart.... any way...... he handed me two toothpicks and said, "here, knit with this". So I did.

After I smoothed the toothpicks out a bit, thing went quite well.......I wonder if I could bring that on an airplane

Oh the weather out there is frightfull

YUCK! It's super windy this morning, and blew snow up the the screen door in my back yard so I could barely open it for the dogs. I went out there in my PJs and rubber boots to kick away the snow. Schools are closed, some people have power outages. It's minus 10 degrees celcius, more if you like to count wind chill.

Well I complained enough about the rain, so I won't complain about this. I'm just not going to go too far for the next day or so. The kid's school is closed today so he's staying home with his mom which means JP doesn't need to go anywhere today - however, tomorrow is the kid's 8th birthday so we'll have to trek out to Surrey for that. JP will get his snow tires but on before then. Too bad he didn't listen to his intuition as he made the comment last week about doing it soon.....

This weekend I finished 3 projects. A scarf, a dog coat and a dog blanket. All are Christmas gifts so I'll have to show photos later. Feeling lost as I don't have a project on the go. I'll probably start some Christmas ornaments.

Woke up this morning...

Okay so I started out with a line from the Sopranos but it best described what happed when I did - 2" of snow! Small little flakes are still coming down. Good thing I don't have to commute for work or maybe a bad thing because I can't call in and say "Sorry, I can't come in, my car won't make it" And in Vancouver, that would be okay and everyone would just wait a day and then the snow would be gone.

I finished the scarf - glad I added the fringes. And I finished the dog sweater. Although I had trouble in the beginning with the Duplicate Stitch. And like other experiences with knitting and crochet. One day I just can't get it and one day I can. So at the end of the sweater I embroidered on two more spots and the duplicate stitch was perfect - I got it! So then I went back and tried to correct the previous spots which I have no idea how I screwed up.

Then after enjoying the happiness of another completed project, I picked up the amethyst boucle mitten I had started to go with a hat and gaitor for my mom, but then I recalled a previous conversation about a week earlier where she proclaimed "I don't wear mittens, only unlined leather gloves". So I ripped out the mittens and am now making something else with the boucle.

There was a patchwork dog throw I think I'll start, plus I really should get back to my mom's embroidery and finish those projects. Plus soon I'll have to start putting some new Christmas ornaments together, especially now that we have a full size tree.

It snowed! It snowed!

Okay, if I thought yesterday was snow, well then today certainly counts double! I got up at 6:30 to let the dogs out and found the whole house and yard blanketed with snow. This time it stayed on the ground. Now it's very wet outside, which creates a condition called 'slush'. Slush is fairly unique to the Vancouver (and probably Seattle too) area and it's actually kinda tough to drive in. Good thing we don't NEED to go anywhere today.

Last night I knitted 3 more balls of the multi-blue kid mohair and found that it had turned my hands blue. I've never heard anyone mention that the dye can come off the wool. I'd expect that with home dyed yarn, but not commercially produced. I hope the colour doesn't come off on the clothing when this gift is finished. I guess I'll wash the finished product and see what happens. Any suggestions?

Snow?

Yikes, we actually had a hail/snow shower! Yuck. I don't like cold weather. Well cold and damp!

I've got so many little projects to do. Almost finished a dog sweater. And we bought our first full sized Christmas tree, JP and me and he even bought some decorations - usually we have a little 4' tree which means mini decorations. I think I'll have to get to work making new ones.

And the tree skirts! They wanted $35 for them, well I will have to get to work on that, and keep my eyes open for an after Christmas 1/2 price sale.

I started and frogged this about 4 times today, it started out to be a shrug, but it just didnt' look like I'd have enough yarn, so I 'd start again. Now we're down to a scarf:

(The colours are much more vibrant, the flash washed them out)

Yesterday I had a meeting in Richmond. Normally, I'm not too thrilled with Richmond meetings because it's a minimum hour and a half drive, however, this meeting was a block away from Daiso which made it more fun. My basket was filled with lots of things that came to $150! Yikes! Did I go crazy? Good thing I only get there once a year, that averages out to $12.50 per month, which doesn't sound as crazy. I did, however, buy several stocking stuffers, so that justifies a bit more of it.

After the meeting, JP and I picked up his son who had remembered on his own that dad was going to take him for Santa pictures. He was dressed in a white button up shirt and had a lovely grey v-neck sweater over top. His hair stayed neat (he said he used extra gel). And as a typical boy, he seemed a little uncomfortable with Santa, so smart daddy grabbed a baby rattle and made the kid laugh and an awesome picture was obtained!

Since it was a long day, I had asked my neighbour to look after my dogs. That was a big weight off my shoulders as it wouldn't have been nice for them to be locked inside for 12 hours, and the weather was too yucky for them to spend 12 hours outside. She said Jazz spent pretty much the whole day on her couch, and Maxx laid by the fire. Both were spoiled because I don't let my dogs on the furniture and I don't have carpet in front of my fireplace. I am so lucky to have a neighbour who could do that for me.

Amaryllis - Day 21 - wow! It's really growing, it's now about 7 1/4" tall
My birdie has been moved to a smaller cage for 'rehabilitation' - in this cage, I am able to put a perch that is just about 1/2" from the floor, and he's able to get up on it and eat. As well, this cage lets me give him a water dish with a cover and another small water dish next to his food. This was good because before he'd fall into the water and sit there until I rescued him, or go without water until I could give it to him. Also, when he loses his balance and rolls, this cage is smaller so he rolls less, which means less stress for him.

I didn't do any knitting or crafting done this weekend. In fact, other than getting groceries, cooking and reading, I don't really know what I did. Maybe it's good to take a break every now and again.

The rainy day blahs

Thursday went well, took my s-i-l to the shops she wanted and the weather actually co-operated a bit (meaning it wasn't raining while we were shopping in Vancouver). It did rain on the drive to south Surrey, but that was okay.
I was just pleased as punch because previously I thought my little old car mechanically couldn't handle the highway speeds, but I found it, after having new tires installed the day before, that mechanically it was fine, my old tires couldn't handle the speeds. So after new shocks this summer, and four new tires and a wheel alignment, my little car (whom I call Heidi) did very well. I was very proud of her.
I stayed overnight in my s-i-l's hotel room, with a gorgeous view. And went home on Friday. Due to the heavy rains, there was a boil-water advisory, so I didn't feel like showering in that yucky water - especially when it was clean at my house.
Today, the heavy rains and winds have started again. I'm not happy because that means more crazy hectic work. It just never ends and there's no one to help me, or no one to even commiserate with.
Ever have one of those days when you have to do a chore, and in the middle of it, you find another problem which makes that yucky chore even worse? Well that's what's happened today. And now it's just zapped my get up and go, I don't feel like moving, or talking, or really doing anything by laying in bed and watching TV. That's not good.

Storm in Vancouver

Well yesterday I was supposed to take my s-i-l to a shop she goes to every year when she is in town for a medical conference. However, we had up to 100 km/h winds and trees falling down everywhere and power outages covering just about every major (and not so major) routes, that I told her we'd postpone it. I feel like a chump but I was sure that if I had continued, it would have taken me over three hours just to get to downtown Vancouver to pick her up but then another 2 to get to the shop! After driving for about an hour and not getting very far, I pulled over, made some phone calls and went home. It was so windy, the police were pulling over semi trucks and telling them to stay over; semis were taking refuge under overpasses. 200,000+ people were without power yesterday, but thankfully, not us!

What is a bummer is this. Since my car is older, I thought I'd be smart and book my car for some repairs and then get a courtesy car. That way I'd have a new car to drive all that distance and my s-i-l wouldn't have to sit in my old cold car. But phooey, the gods wouldn't have it. My car was ready within a few hours and then the storm caused us to postpone. So today, I will start the journey all over again, except with my silly old car! Unless I rent one. Dang, and here I thought I was being so smart. At least when I drive today, my car will have new brakes and new tires, and will have had a mechanical once over, so I am feeling a bit more optimistic.

I had also booked the day off work, but I've postponed that too. Let's hope everything goes well today!

I finished knitting the yellow project, I'm just going to sew on some backing fabric - I just need to dig through my stash for something suitable, so I'll have to show you later.

Then I started on a really cute sweater for my favourite schnauzer. It's really cute and easy to knit because the coloured areas are added in duplicate stitch - that means I knit the whole thing and then embroider the pattern on top. My only fear is that I'm using stash yarn for the main colour and am very afraid I'll run out - but I'm taking the risk anyway!

My canary is still doing pretty good. He's still eating well and moving about and I was sure I heard him chirp yesterday - that would also be a very good thing. I'm going to dig out a smaller cage since he doesn't need the big one as he can no longer fly. It's better if he is on a table where I can watch and care for him regularly, so I think that'll work out well.

On Friday night we were in Abbotsford and drove by a new Japanese restaurant called Ken Japon - it was excellent in several ways. If I was a mystery diner (which I have been), this place would have scored top marks for decor, staff, service and food. Even the bathroom was clean and well cared for. I've been eating Japanese food for over 15 years, long before it became trendy, and let me tell you, this was one of the best places. I can't wait to return, yum!

On Saturday after the Remembrance Day ceremonies, I put on my rubber boots and grabbed the ladder to clean the gutters which had been spilling over in our heavy rains. About 5 minutes after I started JP came outside to help. He did an excellent job - he had sturdy rubber gloves (which I did not, and the water was cold) and he had a scraper (which I never thought of either), which super cleaned the gutters out. Then while he was finishing up, I had grabbed a rake to tidy some leaves and to clean up some of the dead plants in the garden. While I was looking after some of the dead potted plants, he had picked up the rake and before I knew it he had almost the whole yard raked up. What a good helper! I am so grateful that he helped because we were definitely done in 1/2 the time. It looks great out there and when it rained on Sunday, I could hear the water travelling easily down the gutter to the downspout. Yay! No more overflows into the house!

Amaryllis - Day 14 (7mm)

Another yucky, rainy day which meant a brutal ultra busy day at work. I'm spent, worked overtime, and don't get Monday off for Remembrance day like many many do.
I'm going to leave the computer shortly so I can knit.

My canary, Mr. C or now Quasicanary is doing pretty good. He is recovering some and looks stronger although I suspect some hearing and vision impairment, hence his strange body movement. Like this, his head is actually upside down:

Plus, day 13 of the amaryllis bulb. No wonder they say this thing will be in bloom by Christmas!
I'm going to knit now. Maybe with a gin and tonic...

Why? Why? Why?

See this face?

That's a guilty dog, who now feels sorry for what she's done. Sure, at the time, she musta thought it was great fun. What fun for a dog!
Look what my lovely dog Jazz did..... that was a nice lovely ball of soft yellow yarn.
After all I've done for her - why? why? why? Can I ever wind this up? I'm part way through a row and left the room to talk to my brother who just returned from a harrowing trip.
This is how our pets repay us?
But I bet she had 5 minutes of fun unraveling my ball of yarn. A momentary doggie happy moment!

Where is she now. After me saying "bad dog" a couple of times, and her trying to suck up, she's disappeared into her crate until I act happy toward her - or feed her dinner, whichever comes first (well dinner, that's in 1/2 an hour)
EDIT: It took about 2 hours to untangle and rewind. It wasn't that bad, I was just more angry about the time I spent winding, when I could have been knitting.

Quasicanary or Canarymodo

Amaryllis Day 11: Canarymodo - that's a cross between Quasimodo and my canary. He's doing fine, eating and drinking normally - everything's good, he just walks like Quasimodo, is mute and can't fly anymore......

Amaryllis Day 10: Yesterday I found a tea light candle with the gel 'wax' in a plastic cup. I have no idea where it came from. I lit it and things were fine. But JP has been bugging me about leaving candles unattended so I made sure to stay in the room and keep a watchful eye. Good thing too because as it got near the end it smelled different - I thought it was just the wick. Then all of a sudden, the flame jumped from the wick and lit the plastic holder on fire! Holy Hannah! Now I've got a 1" plastic disk on fire and melting! So I quickly blew it out, and threw it in the garbage (ensuring the fire was out of course). But when I picked up where it had stood, I realized that the bottom had become really hot and damaged the wood of my antique dressing table! Aluminum tea lights never do that! Lesson learned: never leave a candle unattended.

Me: (thinking about my poor ailing canary) Do you think they can x-ray birds?
JP: Only once.
Me: giggle
JP: well I'd think that the lead sheet would probably do more damage...

Day 9 Amaryllis Progress: about 4 mm overnight

Day 5 canary update:

He actually seems to be improving. He has strange head movements but his eyes are open and he's eating and drinking well. When I pick him up, he's got some fight left in him and tried to peck at me - that means he's feeling better. But he doesn't make a sound and doesn't sit on a perch except the one on the floor.

WIP: dog sweater and mitten - both knitted.

Anxiously awaiting the new Adorn magazine which should be on magazine racks today! I loved the first issue, can't wait to see all the projects.

I posted a photo on the piano sweater on Craftster - lots of great comments. That makes me feel good too.

Monday Updates

1. Yay! I finished the piano sweater for my mom. I sure hope I haven't made it too small but I have a plan if it is. I'll mail it today, so I'll know later in the week.


2. My canary is still hanging on. It appears he's had something like a stroke. It seems that one side of his body's not working too well. He's getting around pretty good now and he's eating and drinking very well. He's even sitting on the perch I laid on the bottom of his cage. I put him on a heating pad for the night and cover his cage to keep him warm, but during the day he seems to be fairly active. (The photo is taken from the top of his cage, he sits on the floor with his head turned to one side) I'd take him to the vet except there are very few small animal specialists and my experiences with vets and canaries have never been successful.

3. I made this mitten yesterday. The pattern said "ladies one size" but gave no measurements. I wish people would learn that not everyone is petite. I happen to be tall and have small hands for my size, but they're still bigger than this. I adjusted the pattern and started again. I'll finish the larger set and then I'll make the right hand of the small mitten and I guess I'll just keep it for any last minute Christmas presents for a smaller person. (I know you can't tell from the photo, but I thought I'd show the yarn anyway - it's a purple boucle)

4. Amaryllis Bulb - one week after planting and look what we have! A teeny, tiny growth!

5. Our rainfall warning continues, another 30mm of rain for today. The street drains are beginning to fill up and not take any more water meaning the roads aren't clear and there are big puddles. What a yucky day! You have NO IDEA!

Rain, rain, go away

It's been raining pretty hard yesterday and today. Blah, I'm not a fan of the rain. Let's just say my job gets very hectic during the rainy weather. Yesterday at work was insane!

And on Friday morning when I got up, I walked in the kitchen to let the dogs out, feed the fish and feed the bird - but my bird was not there. Upon closer inspection he was huddled on the floor of his cage. It appears he's had a stroke. I woke poor JP up and asked him to help me - for support and for care. For several hours I held the bird in my hand or lap and tried to get work done, but after conversations with my brother and my mom, I agreed that it might be best to put the bird in his cage again and provide for him as best I could.

Saturday morning came and the little guy's still fighting. He's got good moments and rough spots. But he's eating seeds and lettuce and even drinking water. I've put him in my bedroom on a stool and removed anything in his cage that could harm him and I'm keeping a close eye on him. I don't think there's much else I can do but make him as comfortable as possible.

We survived!

Yay! We survived Halloween! Or rather, Jazz survived Halloween; not without doing damage to her crate first though:

I'm surprised she didn't loose another tooth pulling the metal like this!

She was freaking out because of the fireworks and it was only 5:30 when I gave her 1 Phenobarbital (Maxx's epilepsy medicine is a downer). Half an hour later I fed her dinner and gave her normal Prozac and 2 more Phenobarbitals. I also put my little ghetto blaster in the room and turned it up to mask some of the firecracker sounds. Within 1/2 an hour she was very mellow. Almost too mellow. I was afraid for her. I left the stereo on all night in case the kids were out late and she made it through the night. It's a tough choice, risk her health with a heart attack from being so stressed, or risk her health with sedatives?

The good news is we are all safe and happy this morning, she's back to her normal self and I hope the kids burned off the majority of their supplies so things can go smoothly at least until New Years! (the next time fireworks are abundant).