Spinning my Wheels and Running in Circles

Hello, my dear and loyal friends.  We are so harried right now with the Greenhouse season, and all the work that is falling behind faster than I can keep up with it (garden and yard).  The house is a mess, I'm always one dishwasher load behind, and we're almost out of socks and undies so I know it's been a while since I did laundry.  I check my e-mail and a new Rav Group I've joined because they are having a Fair Isle design challenge that I want to participate in this fall.  I am peeking into your blogs once in a while, but am having trouble commenting because I shouldn't be "playing" on the computer.  See you soon.  I have not really deserted you--call it a bit of a hiatus.  ( I wish I could have a hiatus from all the work).
♥♥♥

She's Ba-a-ack; on Autopilot and Sometimes Out of Body

I can't believe how long it has been since I shared my thoughts with you.  Where we left off was in terrible grief over Tundra.  She was taken to the Humane Society on Friday afternoon, and after being assessed as too old, and, having killed, was not adoptable.  She would be euthanized later that day.  On Saturday I got the notion that I should have got rid of the sheep instead.  I began a fantasy scenario, whereby she wasn't put down on Friday because the vet got sick, and because it was the weekend, perhaps she is still alive, and I could phone and rescue her.  I imagined this scenario all weekend, and phoned at the earliest moment on Monday--but alas, it was too late.  After the euphoria of the fantasy of the weekend, I was shattered all over again.  I couldn't put her stuff away, I imagined that she had run away and would miraculously find her way home.  After about 1 week of crying almost constantly, it began to get a little, just a little better.  I put away her things, and I avoided vacuuming in case I found Tundra-weed (Tundra hair bunnies).   But Tundra had the decency to not even shed in her last few days home--this loyalty made me cry again.  Now I'm still sad, but it's bearable.  I can now look at her last photos--she didn't like to have her picture taken because of the flash.  (And I'm crying again as I write this).

After it was too late, I thought of all sorts of alternate solutions, solutions that would not require her to be tied up (which I abhor--dogs tied up for great lengths of time).  Seriously, getting rid of the sheep and getting more Llamas instead.  I do so miss her.  At first I couldn't even interact with Daisy and Sparky, aftaid that if I bonded any more I might lose them, too.

So now, onto the rest of life.  Everything else is busy and interesting, and frustrating and satisfying.

A week later I was working in the greenhouse, when, just before lunch, I felt a terrible squeezing in my chest, and the pain radiated up my neck.  I got sweaty and clammy, so I asked Kubota Man to take me to the hospital.  They sure give you the royal treatment when you have chest pains.  The protocol is to take blood, start an IV, take an ECG, and then watch you for 6+ hours, at which time they repeat the tests.  When you have heart muscle damage, an enzyme is released into the bloodstream which indicates a heart attack.  While they have your blood they also test for pancreas and liver indicators, as these organs may cause similar symptoms.  All tests are normal, Oxygen levels good.  Discharged at 9 pm--only liquids, water, juice and jello--I was bored and starving.  I went home with these souvenirs of the event--since I was dehydrated, the nurse, who goes to church with me, blew 2 veins before getting the IV in. I had taken an aspirin as a precaution, so my blood was good and thin.  My battle scars sure got me a lot of attention in the next week or so.

In this same time interval my quarterly Sales Tax report had to be submitted, as well as the Income Tax.  These little bits of business were done after a long day of working in the greenhouse.  Since our Income Tax Reports print out at 24 pages (for each of us), I took the plunge and filed electronically, and went to the bank the next day to pay the tax owing.  I'm kind of nervous about the electronic filing, since each return filed in just seconds--24 pages gone in seconds?  But I got a confirmation page to print out, so I hope it's all OK.  This was all due on April 30, I did it on April 28.  And on that day most of southern Alberta froze over, with a huge snowstorm that closed highways for hours--we didn't get any storm at our place.
I managed to finish the Bamboo Socks in Summer shades (from Mary Maxim).

I also completed the embroidery on the Christmas Stoking.  I will sew them into stockings in the fall.

Then I almost forgot that I had newspaper articles to write--our local paper prints every 2 weeks, and I write a gardening article in each edition.  For one edition I wrote about the use of shrubs in the landscape, and one about some basic garden lore.  And re-design our newspaper ads, submit the proofs, and establish the advertising schedule in 2 newspapers.

My next embroidery project should be SIL's Christmas stocking--a golfing Santa, but I don't know where I placed the charts,so I started a 3-D stand-up cross-stitched nativity scene.  This is the cover of the kit, showing all 11 pieces.

I have finished stitching the Blessed Virgin, and am working on one of the Magi.

The Friday just past, was our local High School's Mother's Day Strawberry Tea, Bake Sale and Plant Sale.  We give them a lot of plants at a discount, then they sell them at their event, and then we allow them to return unsold plants, of which there are usually very few.  I had to get everything ready on Wednesday, since on Thursdays I teach religion and visit Mom in the Nursing Home, then go grocery shopping 35 miles away.  The kids come on Thursday afternoon to pick up the plants, then they bring back the remnants on Friday afternoon.  They did well again this year.

Now I'm all finished transplanting (except some late petunias which won't be ready for a couple of weeks.  We had to set up the greenhouses for May 1 opening, the trees, shrubs and perennials had to be brought out of winter storage, and all this is why I'm on autopilot. We are so tired, it feels like we are operating out-of-body.  My mind isn't in sync with what the body is doing--it's as if I'm watching myself doing everything.  These few weeks I am grumpy.

Now it's mostly maintenance and customer service, which is quite a job anyways.  On Friday the first shipment of new trees and shrubs came in.  They need to be inventoried, priced and put away.  The next shipment is coming on Tuesday.

I am hoping that this  picture of an unusual Mosaic Geranium will make you curious to visit my other blog Weed it and Reap

On Sunday I went to church, proclaimed Scripture, and the Knights of Columbus honored all the mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers with a carnation.  When I got home, all the kids had phoned to wish me Happy Mother's Day (we don't celebrate because we are far apart,and some have to work.), those calls just made my day.

  During this season, I have to really organize my time to be able to get away to church on Sundays, but we still have to work that day,too.  Also yesterday, I got to work in a flower bed when the other work was done. That was a joy.  All the pain and fatigue lessened when I was outside, saw the geese fly over, and heard the robins. 

I am truly blessed.

Mourning; Are you sure it's Friday, the 16th, not Friday the 13th?

We're totally in mourning around here.  Our grand-dog Tundra, who was adjusting so well to the farm, (and I was adjusting so well to a big dog) had to be put down today.  In the spirit of helping us, she began to kill lambs.  This is the age that the lambs become escape artists and leave the sheep enclosure to find the proverbial greener grass on the other side of the fence.  Tundra  would lie by the lambs and the lambs would graze around her (I observed this scenario).  Then the lambs would scurry back to their mamas except one, which went in the other direction.  Tundra latched onto its haunches and dragged it back to the fence, hurting it badly.  I yelled at her and she let go.  The next day we found a dead one by the fence.  Then on Thursday, as I was returning from teaching religion, I caught her again.  So I called my son, and he agreed that something had to be done.  I called the vet and they said that they hate to put a good dog down, maybe we could find her another home.  So we called the humane society, they assured me that their first course of action wouldbe to find her a home.  So my son surrendered her.  The procedure is that they do an assessment of her health and age, and some behavior testing.  They determined that she would not likely find a new home as she was very old (she did show signs of pain from arthritis), and because she had killed small animals, could pose a risk.  So the consensus was that she would be put to sleep.  My macho Kubota Man Jr. phoned me crying--good thing he had the sense to ask his sister to accompany him, as he couldn't drive.  I started bawling ,too.  His Facebook entries are breaking my heart.  I keep wanting to go and let her in, and  I can see her looking at me with an "will you please pet me?" look.

All this from Sigrun, who is really not a dog person.  I don't know which is the worst, the guilt for having her put down, and for sending her with my son instead of taking her myself, or the fact that my boy is so upset.  I know that there will be more moments.  When I clean the house and find "Tundra-weed" tumbling out from the corners and behind the furniture, or when I find a half-chewed rawhide treat.  My own dogs are no consolation to me about Tundra.  Except for the sheep thing, she was a good dog.  Tundra, rest in peace.

Our life Belongs to the Greenhouse

We've had a good Easter Weekend.  I went to Church for Easter Vigil on Saturday night so I could stay home and cook on Easter Sunday.  The tribe descended on us on Saturday night and Sunday Morning.  Much of the food prep had been done on Saturday, so it was just finishing touches.

I managed to get the living room all done--especially the parts where heavy furniture had to be moved back to the wall.  There are some short lengths of baseboards left to put on--which I still have to purchase.  At $2.39 a lineal foot, I didn't want to overbuy.  So one miscut, (in spite of measuring twice and cutting once), and I have to get some more.  Pictures next time.

Our greenhouse endeavours are posted on my garden blog.  Our newly-acquired grand-dog is enjoying the greenhouse and the many greenhouse-guard-cats.

Our dogs, Dazey and Sparky are as adorable as ever.

And now, an update on our lovely, unpredictable Alberta weather.  I had taken a tour of the garden and flower beds, and decided that it was almost dry enough to start rototilling (not planting till mid-May, but preparing) and digging in the flower beds.  On Thursday there was only this little snowdrift on the north side of the greenhouse.

On Thursday evening, and all night long (actually, a good part of Friday, too) a storm came along.  This is how it is now.  It wasn't very cold--just below freezing, but with the wind gusting between 40 and 60 mph it felt very cold.  Nice and snug and comfortable to work in the greenhouse.

My handicraft endeavors consisted of some alterations and mending, and lots of progress on the Christmas stocking.

I had an unfortunate accident in the greenhouse today.  I didn't see a rope (that DH uses to pull hoses in so they don't freeze at night), and was tired at the end of the day, hurrying without looking where I was going, the rope hooked around my foot--or, my foot hooked around the rope, and I landed hard on my knees, and bruised my elbow.  I saw stars and felt nauseated, and I was afraid to try to get up, in case I couldn't.  As I lay there I had lots of comforting kisses from the three dogs.  Then I got up, and went back to work.  Of course, DH had chosed just the moment before the mishap to go to the garage for something.  By the time I came back, I was back to work.  Praise the Lord that no serious booboos resulted.  We'll see how sore I will be tomorrow.

Till next time.  I promise pictures of the Living Room.

I Can't Believe I Missed my First Blogiversary

I forgot my own blogiversary.  Mind you, I have a lot of good excuses reasons for that.  We're getting busier in the greenhouse.  The renos are still going on.  I'm sure I will meet my spring goal:  to finish all the upstairs except the Master Bedroom (fall project).  I have only two walls left of the Living room, then the back porch, the remaining baseboards (on the walls that I still have to paint), and several miles rooms of wide crown moulding.  I've raised a lot of dust moving things around.

The Christmas stocking for Daughter #1 is coming along, there's progress on the wedding shawl with beads, and just for a lark, I'm going to swatch for a new sweater for Alpaca Man.

Kubota Man Jr. stopped by today to see us and to visit with his dog, who had to be retired to the farm, since he now has a job in Fort McMurray--3 weeks up, 1 week home.  While we had him for a while, we got him to castrate and dock the tails on the 6 new lambs.  Sadly, we found a new lamb drowned in a large pool of water.  The "fixing" is done bloodlessly, by inserting a tight rubber ring around the male lambs' scrotums, and alsy putting the rubber rings around the tails so they will fall off.  The tail docking is because sheep get their rear ends all poopy, and the long tails make the mess worse.  Then it is possible, even likely that flies may lay eggs there, and the larva may infest the sheep's flesh.  Also, breeding becomes more difficult.

I'm hoping to get the living room all painted this week, and the baseboards done.  While I'm watching the paint dry I will start some of the crown mouldings in the hallway and the kitchen.  I'll be really in the groove by the time I get to the Living room crown moulding.  I bought myself a new toy tool--an air nailer for the baseboards and crown mouldings.

No pictures,since I wasn't going to post today--but couldn't pass up the admission that I forgot my own blogiversary.  How could I do that, since I have met so many nice, interesting folks on the computer (and would probably have been finished the renos weeks ago if I hadn't been on the computer).

I have to make some confessions about myself:  I am addicted to Sudoku (the harder the better) and I love playing Mahjong on the computer.  The sudoku is one of the many kinds of puzzles I like to do--to hopefully stave off memory problems when I get older; the Mahjong--no reason, I just love it.

No Idle Hands Here

My horoscope for today said:  "Those home improvements that you are doing yourself--they have become a matter of urgency.  Get them done a.s.a.p.!"
I've been cutting and staining and varnishing baseboards.  Kubota Man did not want painted baseboards--he wanted real oak, so that's what I got--at $2.39 a lineal foot.  But they are soooo lovely.  Also varnished some doors, and finished the linen cupboard and broom closet.

Angel 3 of the Christmas tree skirt is finished--that means the embroidery is all done.  Just washing and sewing the lining and edging.  Fait accompli!

I'll try to do a better picture next time, or when the skirt is finished.

Madli's Shawl is finished, but not blocked (after the renos are done--no room).

Now I'm working on a shawl for a friend's wedding.  The beads are way more beautiful than the picture shows.  This is the Laurel Leaf shawl from Victorian Lace Today.  I am working double beads (Swarovski Crystals) into the spaces left where the edging is knitted onto the center part of the shawl.  The picture shows the beads strung onto the Kid Mohair (Kid Seta), ready to be inserted.  i am also making the shawl wider

than instructed, and 8 feet long, or till the yarn runs out.

And last, but not least, the Christmas Stocking I have started for Daughter #1.  The grandchildren have received their cross-stitched stockings, but the adult children's aren't all done.  Will post as they are completed.

Today I went to pick up another load of plants for the greenhouse, which all have to be transplanted tomorrow.  There will be greenhouse updates here ,tomorrow.

Post-Olympics Post

What an exciting time it has been.  Mind you, we didn't have much time to actually watch any events, but we caught up on the news every day.  I've always been proud to be Canadian, but my chest just busted these two weeks.  Mind you, I'm for everyone who makes a great effort regardless of where they are from.  On my part, I am of Austrian and German descent, DH has roots in the British Isles, I've taught students from all over the world...I consider the world a huge village (I know that's idealistic).

We've been quite busy in the greenhouse.  Most of my sharing for today is on my  (click on its title)Weed it and Reap garden/greenhouse blog.  Please visit me there.

On the way in from the greenhouse, I noticed my St. Francis (aka St. Francis of the Snow).  He is waiting patiently for spring, so I can keep him company in the garden.

For supper today, I made my most (one of my most) favorite soups in the world: 
Kale and Chickpea Soup
2 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 c. cubed sweet potatoes
1 large sweet red pepper, diced
1 box (900ml) sodium-reduced chicken broth, or homemade
3 c. water
1 -19 oz. tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6 oz. Old Fashioned ham (I buy a thick slice at the deli), cubed
3+ cups well-washed finely cut fresh kale (or spinach)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp rubbed dried sage

Cook onion, garlic, pepper and sage in olive oil, till onion and garlic are soft.  Add all ingredients except kale.  Simmer about 15 min. till potatoes are tender.  Add kale and simmer 5-10 min. till kale is tender.  The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp salt, but I pass on that because of the sodium content of the ham and the broth.

Oops, almost forgot:  Madli's shawl is finished, but I can't block it because of the stuff all over for renovations.  Angel 3 is almost finished on the tree skirt.  Finished one sock in Bamboo yarn, summer rain color.  Varnished Baseboards.  Will likely put the Linen cupboard together tomorrow so I can take the rest of the Living Room apart and use the spare bedroom again for storage.