ROSIE DOES A COMPLETE 360

Sunday afternoon at Rosalie Park - Frank is working in the shed and Dale is reading a book (napping). Rosie, the Chocolate Taunting Temptress is basking in the warm spring sunshine on the driveway. All is calm and peaceful.  UNTIL ...

Frank whips the sliding door open and asks "Where's Rosie?". 

We both go into panic mode, because she's our baby. She's six years old, but we have had her only for eighteen months. She was a "free" dog who had had way too many puppies (25 in total) and is gun-shy so she needed a new home with no more Rosie-puppies, no guns, lots of room to run, her own pond to swim in, her own cats, and where she could suck the hearts right out of her new owners with her furiously wagging tail, big brown eyes and puppy ears. She's very gentle and well-behaved. We don't even have to keep the gate closed. Make that "didn't have to keep the gate closed". And she always comes when she's called. Make that "always came when she was called". UNTIL SUNDAY. 

Gate open. Dog not appearing. Frank checks the barn. I check the front yard. NO DOG. 

Then I remember something from Saturday. There is one house between ours and Becky and Colin's. The between house has new people (they are not really "new people" - they are our age, but new-to-us people) living there. They have been doing a lot of work - clearing the ugly stump forest and tearing down old fencing and trying to create a park-like setting (just like we are). And they have a pond. One that Rosie had been swimming in just the day before with her new best friend - Becky and Colin's Cain, the Chocolate Frog Dog. Swimming was followed by a bunch of ball-throwing and pats and running free and just good ol' fashioned neighbourhood friendliness.

Apparently Rosie decided that more fun was available than shed-working and book-reading and off she trotted. According to Becky, Rosie helped herself to a dip in the between house's pond then headed to Becky and Colin's for a dog-frolic with the Chocolate Frog Dog. 

I showed up with my stern dog-mom look, but realized she'd already had a great time and I could not say "bad dog" because she was just doing what she had done the day before. Rosie was having a great time with the Chocolate Frog Dog, Becky and Colin and another couple, C & W. The humans were very interested in a horse that was alone in the riding ring and were looking over some kind of chart marked off in squares. Turns out they were having a fund-raiser for their horse club and had sold tickets for each square. The idea was that the squares corresponded to areas of the riding ring and they were waiting for the horse to poop and whoever owned the corresponding square on the chart would win the pot. 

Becky asked if I would like to buy a ticket - she could lend me $20. She trusts me - what with just living up the street and all and they come here for G&T and Rumoli and we give the kids "little pops" (half-size Coke) and usually support her horse club fund raisers (beer & burgers, silent auctions, etc.) So I buy 4 tickets, have a cup of coffee, call Rosie and we head home. I am happy because we have great neighbours and I have our Chocolate Taunting Temptress trotting along beside me.

GATE GETS CLOSED.

Monday morning I get a phone call from Becky. Horse has pooped. On one of my squares. Thanks to Rosie, I won $360.

Love to my family and friends.

Kae-Lee with her "little pop", Rosie, the Chocolate Taunting Temptress

and Cain, the Chocolate Frog Dog (taken when we still had snow on the ground)

Life's a Peach!

Now for something completely different ... all about My Life! I have been married to the same great guy (Frank) for nearly 35 years. We have no kids, three cats (Josie, Cassie and Haffy) and a Chocolate Lab (Rosie). We are transplanted sort-of-retired city folk who choose to live in a rural area of Vancouver Island. We have learned that the very best eggs, chickens and turkey come directly from the farmer and John Deere tractors are pretty much a must-have on nearly 8 acres. 

Our property was once home to grazing animals that decimated a lot of the native growth which we hope to regenerate with native plants we brought with us from our former home in Lions Bay. We want to create a park-like atmosphere throughout the whole property so we can meander about with Rosie and a nice glass of red or white (bottled at The Mission - I highly recommend the Muller Thurgau and Amarone!) and realize how truly fortunate we are. We have a large pond and an island which is not accessible without a small rowboat. I don't "do" small boats so I have not set foot on the island, but Frank has created a secret garden using HIS stash of saved and repurposed items. He is a very talented designer and has envisioned and created some beautiful outdoor spaces. Of course, I added my two-bits worth and helped ...

We are privileged and (still) delighted to share our space with a lot of wildlife - deer, mink, beavers (well, maybe we could have done without the beavers who chewed down 6 trees when we first bought the house and which have moved across the street to continue their "damn" building), squirrels, river otters, jack-rabbits, various and assorted ducks, a Great Blue Heron, eagles, hawks, California Quail, Great Northern Flickers and the occasional pheasant. 

And frogs. Many frogs. Indigenous frogs and introduced frogs. We love to hear the indigenous frogs at night in the spring and autumn when, as we say, it's "frogging" outside. At times, the frogs are so loud they wake us up.

The introduced North Amercan Green Bullfrogs - not so much. The bullfrogs remind me of Jabba the Hut and sound like sick cows. Apparently if one is saving-native-habitat-minded, one can catch these frogs, put them in Ziploc Bags and then place them in one's freezer where they go into "permanent hibernation". 

I have some problems with this process. Firstly, the catching. These frogs leap into the pond at the slightest shadow or vibration. Secondly, the bank of the pond area can be extremely slippery. Thirdly, Beaver Fever has been caught by people (an 8 year old boy) who have purposely or unwittingly gone into ponds in this area. Fourthly, and I don't know about you, but our freezer contains tasty, appetizing food. Butter tarts. Lasagne. Pork chops. A 20 pound farm turkey. Apple pie and frozen fresh peaches from our trees. Frankly, I don't think adding dead - ooops - "hibernating" frogs stuffed into Ziploc Bags sounds all that appealing.

There's a local person whose name is Ketcham (not kidding) who will pick up the HagenFrogs and take them to Vancouver Island University for whatever it is university students do with frogs. (I don't want to go there - not VIU - the frog possibilities.) I was in Grade 12 when it was still apropos to dissect frogs. My science lab partners (yes I remember their names) decided that I was best-suited to do the dirty work. On the last day, before we had to say "goodbye" to Mr. Frog, I announced (quite loudly), that I had done enough dissection and it was someone else's turn.

In addition to the forest, pond, secret garden, frogs, cats and dog, we have 2 hazelnut trees, 8 apple trees, 3 cherry trees, 1 yellow-plum tree, 1 peach tree, 1 pear tree and 2 butternut trees. When I was very excited about rural life (and a few years younger), I planned to make tasty preserved jams, jellies, salsas, pies, sauces, etc. and would grab my basket (or "panier") (after hanging out laundry on a clothesline for that fresh, outdoorsy smell) and prance gaily about the orchard, singing folksy songs ... sparrows and bluebirds perched on my left shoulder, kittens, bunnies and baby bambis dancing and frolicking about my feet. 

Apparently, no matter how tasty and delish, the canned/jarred/bottled comestibles sit in sterilized Mason jars in the cupboard - uneaten. So, next year ... apples will be stored in boxes. Pears will be stored in boxes. Nuts - yep. Nuts to the nuts! Peaches will become smoothies and whatever is left from the fruit crop will be fed to the deer when it snows. I love being an earth-mom kinda girl, but I hate spending my time over steaming kettles and boiling cauldrons making stuff that no one eats.

I hope Ree Drummond at thepioneerwoman.com forgives me.

Love to my family and friends. 

Three-Dog-Day

We had a three-dog-day today. Dianne and her friend Mary came by on their walk with their dogs Rosa and Molly respectively. After they left, Becky and Kae-Lee came for a visit with their new Chocolate Lab Cain who just moved in with them yesterday. He is two years old and very rambunctious. Rosie is exhausted after a sunny, blue-sky play in the yard with her new dog friends. 

Official Gardening commenced today! Not only was it a sunny, blue-sky day, but it was also warm enough to spend some time outside doing yard work. Frank pruned the peach tree and the wisteria while I started raking amongst the trees.

We had our trip to Duncan this morning.  While Frank got what he needed at the marine aquarium store (and what he "needed" included two fish!), I wandered off to Fabricland, but left empty-handed. On the way home, we bought some halibut for dinner tonight and scallops for dinner on Friday.

I poached the halibut in water with a glob of Meyer Lemon Chutney and some lemon pepper and sprinkled spinach and asparagus with soya sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil and cooked it in the microwave. I had made extra Thai black rice last night, so I heated the leftovers and added a dash of chili oil. I put some fresh cilantro and Thai sweet chili sauce on top of the halibut. We both had two servings. It was delicious and colourful!

I added some beads to one of the trading card pieces last night. I will take more pictures of this experiment in a few days. In the meantime, this is a picture of the other side of my altered book.

MORE Excuses!

Today's excuse?  It's too tidy in here!

OK already!  Enough!  

My sewing room is now as tidy and clean (dusted, vacuumed, windows washed, Christmas fabric put away) as the rest of the house. I am afraid to go in there because I don't want to mess it up.

I have a plan (and the ingredients) for dinner - chicken breasts with a white wine/mushroom gravy, asparagus and rice.  While I was thinking this dinner plan through, I thought perhaps a dollop of Dijon. Imagine my surprise when I found a Rachel Ray recipe using almost all the same ingredients as my plan. I have made the mushroom gravy. I think this may turn out to be delicious. (Update:  It was!)

Sadly, the vacuum cleaner is not working properly and needs to go to the vacuum cleaner fixing place.  A terrible state of affairs since I still have that one room to go and it is VERY dusty. Then, of course, the rest of the house will need vacuuming again ...  Happily, the vacuum cleaner fixing place is in the same mall as The Cactus Club ... and we haven't been there for several weeks for wonton and Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc!

I shall leave this blog for a while and return later - after I have created something.

Well, it turns out I did not create anything, but I brought out a piece of painted fabric/paper that I made this summer with my friend Becky.  I cut it into ATC size and ended up with about 20 cards.  I then started to put Kreinik braid and beads on two of them - until I jabbed the needle straight through the grown-over holes in my middle finger. I had forgotten how much that can hurt! I just packed all the paraphernalia up and put it away. Now my sewing room is back to where it was a few hours ago - tidy. I am beginning to think the creative switch that was turned on about 4 weeks ago has shut itself off again ... and I have not been for a walk for about four days.

I need to start taking pictures of things that I have made and putting copies in my altered book/ journal. The above is a picture one of the covers. It was made with pieces put together from a class I took with Pat Crucil (curved piecing) and with Barbara Shelly at the Thread Bear in North Van before we moved to the Island. I love it!  

I understand from a news clip that a Birmingham, England has eliminated the use of apostrophes on their road signs. I wish they had eliminated periods some years ago!

Prince Visits

Rosie's Boy-Toy Prince, making himself at home on our chair.

I was right yesterday when I said I would not be spending a lot of time playing with artsyquilty stuff. I made myself available to the painter (Frank) to provide ice water, tea, coffee, paint tray cleaning, sanding-dust vacuuming and preparation of really yummy wraps for lunch, and super-yummy roast pork, mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner. He made his own G&T and my V&T when he was finished painting. The final result should be just great, as the Creamsicle colours looks great with the oak furniture.

Anyway, I just settled into artsyquilty mode and had the iron steaming when Helen phoned to let us know that she had a large amount of leftovers from her dinner party tonight and if we liked, she could bring them for dinner tomorrow night. So I guess HER stash will be used before it turns blue and furry in the fridge.

One wall in the dining room is finished with the second coat of orange paint and three other dining room walls have been given their first coat of the vanilla-y/caramelly paint.  Tomorrow's plan is to fill and sand one wall in the living room and finish the remaining second coat in the dining room. No cabinets will be cleaned until ALL sanding has been done - I just can't face the prospect of cleaning them twice. As a matter of fact, ongoing sanding is a great reason to do NO dusting or cleaning ... and I am quite happy not to! 

I shall provide more ice water, tea, coffee, paint tray cleaning and hold the door open for HMc when she gets here with dinner!

Perhaps I should NOT have torn off the ugly wallpaper ... I shall think twice before I do it again!

More Excuses!

Another cold, crisp, bright blue Vancouver Island day! I walked past the farm on Cedar Road and stopped to watch the swans. There must have been over 200 of them in the field.  I really must (a) learn to use the new camera and (b) take it with me when I go for walks. The cel phone camera really doesn't cut it! 

My friend Kass says it must be a sign of aging that I have started this blog. However, even though she may be younger than I, she shops on the shopping channel, but she did introduce me to Winners, so I can't be too picky about her shopping habits. Our late friend Susan would not use the the shopping channel because both of us were night owls and she was afraid I would recognize her voice if she called in to buy something. 

The painting of the dining room will commence tomorrow morning. This means that I have to empty the china and curio cabinets (I was planning to clean them anyway ... maybe not imminently, but sometime ...). I think this project may well count as 'using the stash' in that the paint colour has been mixed with paint from previous projects. We have enough orange for several walls, including the sunroom and dining room. We bought a rich creamy, vanillay-caramelly colour for the remaining walls. I think it should look great.  Rather like a very expensive Creamsicle.

The downside is that I probably won't be spending too much time with my artsyquilty stash or this blog for a few days.

The First ArtsyQuilty ATC

Back again after skipping a day or so.  Had dinner at Dianne's last night.  She lives in a trailer and had never had more than one person over for dinner before.  We had wine, shepherd's pie and lots of laughs.  She sent us home with leftovers for tonight.  

Frank painted the wall in the dining room that I tore the ugly wallpaper from about a year and a half ago.  It looked better with the wallpaper gone, but it looks even better with a coat or two of paint!  Next project - two walls in the living room.  We have more orange in the house than most people find in their Christmas stockings, but both Frank and I like it and it matches our chairs. 

Above is my favourite ATC. It is made from fabric paper (white glue, muslin, torn white tissue paper), painted with two or three Golden acrylic paints (I forget which ones), a line of assorted beads, ending in a butterfly. The pink/mauve area is rolled to the back. It is made from orange (there's that colour again!) polyester chiffon, white painted (more Golden acrylics) Misty Fuse, Textiva, and turquoise metal foil with two dangly strands of more assorted beads, one ending in another butterfly and the other in an opalish oval bead.  Not only is this one my favourite so far, it is also my first and I have used it in place of my own photo, since it is so much better looking and is not fussy about lipstick and hair.

I played for while tonight in my sewing room, made another ATC.  I now have five lined up along the bookcase. They are fun to make and oddly enough, not all that easy, due to their small size. One of the Yahoo groups I belong to trades ATCs. I am not ready to put myself 'out there' just yet. I need to do some more experimenting which is fine by me, but may limit the amount of time I can help with painting the living room! I need to set up a photo-spot to take pictures since the ironing board is usually occupied by a cat.

I thought I was using my stash, but one of my three cats decided the spool of thread in the sewing machine was a cat toy, so she pulled the thread and emptied the spool for me.  I think she ate about a foot and puked it up on the cream-coloured carpet ... Also, one of my gold-leafing pens was dry so I had to throw it away.  I don't think that counts as 'using' my stash.  I have, however, used a few beads ... a bit of fabric ... some paper ...

This past summer, my friend Becky and I made fabric paper. Fun and messy, and definitely a warm, sunny day, outside on the table with a plastic drop-sheet, with a glass of wine project. Next warm, sunny day, I shall make a lot more. When I was quitting smoking, I bought a roll of rice paper, brushes and ink to try brush painting. I never got around to it, because I went back to re-teaching myself italic calligraphy (I am left-handed which makes calligraphy difficult - especially since the hand drags through the freshly applied ink).  So, while experimenting with something else a week or so ago, I used some of the rice paper. I am anxious to try it for fabric paper instead of using the torn white tissue that I used last summer. I would love to have some more of the fabric paper to help me through the long winter days - it paints beautifully (Golden acrylics) and can be sewn, both by machine and by hand.

I had planned to go to the surface design exhibit in Qualicum Beach with Marjorie, but Marjorie's fourth grandchild (a girl) was born last night, so we have put our road trip off until next week. Everyone is fine, including the grandmother!

Prince has been returned to his castle after two days of playing with Rosie. Rosie is exhausted!

PONDERING:  Five free hot wings with a 15-piece KFC bucket.  Five?????  How many wings does the average chicken have?

The Beginning

I decided at the beginning of the year that my life was so interesting that I wanted to be reminded of it regularly and the only way I could think to do that was to have a 'rewind' button or read about it after it happened!  

The person who makes my life the most interesting is my husband, Frank.  We have three indoor cats (Haffy, Josie and Cassie) and a Chocolate Lab named Rosie.  We also have two outdoor cats (Barney and Barnet) who moved into the barn earlier this winter.  We feed them, but hardly ever see them.

Anyway .... Frank had been called to Jury Duty today.  Turns out that his services were not required which is unfortunate since he recently took up knitting and calling out "guillotine" Very odd indeed, since he is of Dutch heritage.

And another anyway - my brain has been in  a creative mode for the past two or three weeks.  I really want to be spending my time in my brain, creating things to satisfy my soul.  I joined several Yahoo groups - but I don't yet know what contribution I will be making to these groups. Some of them - nothing.  Others - I am not so sure.  It looks like there are groups for almost any interest. 

My interests include fibre art, canvas work, mixed media, paint, glue, reading.  I have a whole room which I share with the cats' dish so Rosie can't get it, three sewing machines, a serger, a terrific selection of books and magazines in a rosewood bookcase (one of the first pieces of furniture we bought after we got married), a great collection of antique sewing notions and equipment, a cedar chest full of fabric, shelves of paint, pens, pencils, paper, Rubbermaid containers full of stuff, a cd player, a tv and my MacBook and I use Aunty Mary's wonderful teak desk as a sewing table. 

Tomorrow is a day that we should all remember where we were when ... like the Kennedys' assassinations ... John Lennon's death ... Elvis ... Chernobyl ... Vancouver bars and pubs will be open on Sunday .... mother announces that father is remarried and not returning ... and where one was when any other earth-shattering, life-altering announcements that change one's life forever are made.

Our friend Helen is bringing her Black Lab Prince over on Wednesday for one sleep so she can go to Vancouver and he can play with Rosie.

So, we (as in Frank and I) will be watching CNN all day tomorrow.