Feeling Proud

I sort of had another post in mind for the end of last week, didn't get it done, and then something else happened that I thought was a worthy post, and I've dawdled on that one too.  Time to get 'er done!

Thought I'd show you some of the pansies planted out.  This is at the front door.  Here is my token Easter decoration, $2 last Friday at the thrift store.  I'll probably just leave the rabbit hanging out with the rock geese, the Scotty dog and the little girl, or maybe find a spot in the garden to put it.

The rest of the pots up the side of the house and driveway have some colour in them now, so it all looks a bit more inviting.  I really should wash the pots though.

David and his girlfriend were heading to a special event last Saturday.  It was at one of those fancy hotels in downtown Vancouver.  We aren't hotel people, so one of those places we'll probably never stay at.  Rooms at well over $200 a night.

Trying to find a decent place to stand....check for dog poop!

Melissa had been working, and then gone to her parents to get her dress and get ready.  Tucker hadn't seen her all day, and was desperate to greet her.  Tucker's method of greeting is to race and jump up and plant his often muddy paws in the vicinity of your waist.  Our fault, because as a pup it was just so much easier to pat him if he jumped up, instead of having to bend right over.  Of course we keep encouraging a correct greeting, but often his enthusiasm takes precedence.  

Larry wrangled the pups while I managed to get a few shots.

And then their dogs watched them leave.

The event was the Silver Ring Ceremony for the graduating Forestry students.  They receive a silver ring, (which they have to pay for) to be worn on the little finger of their dominant hand.  It has a raised maple leaf on it.

David was called up for a special award.  He's probably feeling a bit embarrassed here!

He was the winner of the Charles Larre Memorial Graduating Prize.  The prize is awarded on the recommendation of the Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry to the most outstanding graduating student of the Wood Products Processing Program.

That's my boy! Oh yeah, Larry's too ;-)

One week of classes to go, a couple of exams, and a decision to be made by tomorrow as to where he will be working.  Exciting times.

10-1-15-1-20-1-10-1 and Other Random Stuff

You are probably wondering what those random numbers are all about.  Well that was what Meredith and I had to do for our 10km training on Tuesday night.  I was dreading it, and so was she.  We've been plugging along, doing okay, but yesterday was a big jump.  So first we do a 5 minute walk, and then those numbers, so 10 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking, then 15 minutes of running, and minute of walking, then 20 minutes of running....well you get the drift.  Add on 5 minutes of a cool down walk at the end, and then some stretches.  The previous couple of weeks we had worked up to 4  x 10 minutes of running, so this week it seemed a big jump to go to 55 minutes total, and having to run 20 minutes straight.  We are so thankful for those one minute walks.   Anyway, it did turn out okay, we managed to get it done, and actually felt easier for the last third compared to the middle third.   Four and a half more weeks to go.

This twirly thing hangs outside our dining room window.  I should have taken a picture of the whole thing, but was trying to be artistic and capture the rain drops on the bottom part.  The twisted part is long and gradually gets wider and there is another piece at the top.  We had a few birds hit the window before I hung it up, but it's doing it's job and there have been no concussions since.  I bought two of the twirlers at the thrift store (of course), thinking I would hang them near the blueberries or the fig tree in the summer.  Funny, today I was in Dollarama and they are selling almost exactly the same thing there.  $2.50 each.  Oh well, I got two from the thrift store for that price.

We seem to have exchanged our white (snow) for wet (rain).  Just lately we have had a few dry days, but we are in for more rain in the next week.  Today actually got quite nice and warm, and I did a bit of outside work.  It is the perfect time to garden, but there is so much to do, sometimes it is hard to know where to start.

My favourite nursery was clearing out these little Tete-a-Tete daffodils, and the Hyacinths, for two pots for $1.  Flats of pansies were $5, and more recently, the pansies were 2 flats for $5.

And see the little kale plants?  These two little boxes had double the amount of plants in them.  Usually they hold 6 plants, and these had 13.  I really need to get them transplanted.   Is anyone else like me?  I always look through all the different boxes and pick the ones that that have the most plants in them.  Why pay for 6 when you can pay the same amount for 13!

Of course I should be seeding them myself, and I will be, but often I can't resist buying some.

  Since not much is happening yet here with Spring flowers, I decided I needed to make my own bits of colour.  The pot behind Tucker, and two more further along the wall, are full of colourful pansies now.

I'm still trying to spend a bit of time in the sewing room each day.  I've made nearly 60 bibs now, although I still need to go through them all and cut off stray threads and weave the ends of the serger chain in and out of sight.  That's about 50 bibs more than I started with last year ;-)

Here's Tucker, as I look from the kitchen window.  At least this time he is chewing something appropriate, sort of.  The end of an old bone, if I recall correctly.  It seems like every day he eats something he shouldn't.  Sometimes I look out and he is running around madly with a plastic plant pot in his mouth, before he lays down and tries to eat it.  He needs to be supervised most of the time.  He's a little stinker, and a lot of fun, and a lot of work.  

We will enjoy him while we can, as David has only two weeks left of classes at University, and then will be moving in the near future to wherever his job will take him.

Tucker is 6 months old next week.

Well this sure isn't much of a post, but at least you know I'm still alive and kicking!  

And Round Dancing on Wednesday nights.  Oh my.  We come home exhausted and sometimes, okay, most of the time, feeling frustrated at our inabilities to remember the steps.  Oh well, we are still sticking it out, still speaking to each other.  

Unfortunately a fellow and his wife that Larry used to work with, quit.  In her words 'we want to stay married'. 

She 'got it' much better than her husband did, and the frustration just became too much.

I understand how she felt, it's a familiar feeling some nights.

Dip back, maneuver, two right turns......

Waiting on Spring

Well this post has been moldering away in the 'under construction' section for too many days, so since I made the effort to load the pictures, I might as well finish.  

We have had a winter to remember, although most of us would rather forget it.  Snow started at the beginning of December, we had a few clear weeks, or days that added up to a few weeks, in the last three months, but to summarize, we have just had TOO MUCH snow.

Last Saturday, it felt very springlike.  We has some sun and puffy clouds and a breeze, and it wasn't particularly warm, but it felt like Spring.  I cleaned out two chicken coops, Larry did some pruning, it was a nice day to be outside.  I was on my own with Jake and Luna as we took our late afternoon/early evening walk, and I heard my first frog croak from one of the ditches. 

Ah Spring!

And then the next morning, Sunday. there was snow on the ground.  Some places not far from us got snow on Saturday as well, but not us, we were enjoying Spring!

It wasn't a lot of snow, and it mostly melted as the day went on, but it was enough to make everything wet, and it wasn't very warm of course, so not pleasant to be doing many things outside.

And guess what, we have woken up four more mornings. to snow on the ground, including this morning.

It's getting to be such a drag.  The weather forecast is now just for rain in the next week. Not sure if that is an improvement though.  So much clean up etc to do outside.  Then all of a sudden we really will be in Spring, and the weeds will be going wild and there won't be enough energy in a day to keep up.

What would we do if we didn't have the weather to complain about!

When we were in Oliver a couple of weeks ago, I did make a visit to their thrift store.  I got myself a pair of Sorel snow boots for $3, and this little book for 50 cents.  It's kind of fun to look through, although I'll probably never make any of the recipes.  This is the second edition from 1945, so it's 72 years old.

There were a couple of clippings in it, this one was dated from 1962 on the back.  I make a ginger pear jam almost exactly the same as that clipping.

The writing on this clipping makes me think of Larry's mother  and some of the recipes she had written on a scrap of paper.  She had lovely hand writing, a bit similar to this, but nicer.  Larry has nice hand writing too,  the best I've seen from any man, and much nicer than mine.  I usually try to get him to write in any cards we send.

I got a kick out of this chapter, all one page of it!

And this one, on the preparation of your poultry

Since it's not been nice weather to work outside in, I have managed to get a bit done in the sewing room.  These are baby bibs, made out of flannelette.  They are double layered and two sided, and mothers have told me they like them because they pull over the head and the babies can't get them off.

As requested by a reader, here are some of the aprons I make.  A simple design, some with pockets, some without.  These two have pockets.  The pocket is a bit hard to see on the top one, as with the bottom one, I was able to match the fabric exactly.  Always fun when I am able to do that, but most of  the time it doesn't work out that way.

The children's aprons are a smaller version of the adults, with no pocket, and fun, kid appealing patterns I hope.

And speaking of kids, my grand puppy is growing up!  32 lbs and just over 5 months old now.  He's a smart cookie, and I've been having fun teaching him a few tricks.  One of these days I'll video some of them.

He's been on a few Land Rover adventures already. No, he doesn't ride in the back, he travels safely in the cab, where he can puke on the seat.  Yes, unfortunately he gets a bit carsick, but does seem to be getting better.