Leftovers and Something New ...

I just got a sliver in the palm of my hand and thought, "Damn! I wish it wasn't the right hand."
It occurs to me that if I'm going to wish, mayhap I could wish a bit bigger ... like maybe that I didn't have a big, honkin' sliver in the palm of my hand at all!

Cory, Linda and I put her bed up on lifts. Here she is as her Great Woobie persona, in the Kitten Cave:



Yup, it's really that green!

One of the hens laid this (the egg, not the other stuff), the last day I was there:



We took bets on how many yolks. Cory did not win with 2.5. Unfortunately, it smelled funny, so we didn't eat it.

Mary and Robin brought back white grapefruits, picked from the aunt and uncle's tree in CA. We don't get white grapefruit in stores here any more. Apparently, people would rather have pink (good, but not as good as white) or ruby red (can't see why anyone would bother). What a treat!



And that browny-grey blob is a bitty skein of yarn that I spun with a drop spindle ... my very first yarn ever! I spun it on Monday and plied it and washed it yesterday. It's lumpy and bumpy and not very good at all, but I'm so pleased with it and with the process. Today, I'm thinking about knitting with it. There isn't very much of it at all. I'm trying to decide whether to make a little sampler swatch with it or knit it into a hat for B's Diner or Dulaan. The wool came from a sheep named Oreo. It's so very soft!

Drama ...

The drive home was a little surreal. I had the highway to myself until most of the way through Leduc. The roads were clear and dry 'til I hit 91st St ... then they were one big sheet of ice with the occasionall shallow puddle on top, from Ellerslie Rd. to Argyll.

I came home to find that Nina had had some drama, locked herself out, and broken a window to get in. I bloody hate drama.

Day Eight ...

... at The Hormone Ranch

Oats, apples, raisins, cinnamon, maple syrup, some with soymilk ... hot soymilk or soymilky chia for breakfast. Cory said the oats tasted different, but we couldn't figure out why. Ernie's the one who noticed that there were no chopped almonds in it. They each got a handful of raw almonds in a pocket. Everyone was well-rested and chatty this morning, everthing got done on time, noone was missing any last minute anythings. It must be Friday!

The dogs didn't come in at all, this morning.

It's another gorgeous day. The snow and ice are disappearing at a great rate. The snow that was in the weekend's forecast isn't anymore.

I washed floors and ran the dishwasher and did laundry and stomped around in the yard and visited the chickens and cat and horses and washed the eggs and had a shower and packed and started dinner.

Cory and Linda came home and computering ensued. I took Mary's vehicle to fill the tank, get peanut butter and a cucumber, and pick Ernie and his friend up from badminton at the school. We dropped the friend off at his house, then went home and finished making dinner - baked tofu and maki rolls. We finished up the chores and packing, relaxed a while, and then Mary and Robin got home (looking all relaxed, in spite of having spent the day travelling).

There was hugging and kissing and grapefruit picked a couple of days ago, stories and pictures and more hugging and kissing.

Welcome home!

Eggs: +11 for the day
Collected - 14
Eaten - 3
Discarded - 0

Day Seven ...

... at The Hormone Ranch

We decided, the boys and I, that we sure hope the rest of the world doesn't judge us by the crappy comedians that manage to get themselves on TV. We're funny when we make fun of ourselves. We're not funny when we make fun of the U.S. I got some knitting done last night, too.

It has been brough to my attention that I neglected to mention that Cory, Ernie, and Linda decided to eat vegetarian for the week I'm here, and that Mary and Robin are reading this. That's why there's so much about what they're eating.

They had breakfast burritos and hot soymilk for breakfast. Lunches made and packed, dogs and chickens fed, last minute "Where's my ..."s done, and onto the bus two of them went. Cory got a ride with his friend, since he had to be there early for some more prep for that Scottish play. I had a little mango and pita with peanut butter, raisins, lettuce, and a shredded carrot. I'm stuffed to the gills.

Two out, two in, then the other one out ... the poor dogs are banished to the back hall until they dry off. It got pretty soupy out yesterday and it was drizzling when they came in.



Blue sky and puddles

And then ...



Hahahaha!

It's been very bird-y out. This morning (after the snow), I saw four partridges on the lawn, and two hawks circling. The trees are full of chickadees and sparrows and those smallish, almost-black birds whose name I forget. Up 'til yesterday, everyone was tweeping and cawing and squawking and twerdalerping along as usual ... yesterday, they started to CHEEP and CHIRP and CAW. The birds know ... and soon, your stalling won't fool us anymore, Winter. Spring is on her way and it's time for you to go to bed!

* * *

Cory had fun in that Scottish play. Linda said it was good. When you buy bananas, it's hard on the peanut butter supply. There was very little homework today. We had Head Salad for dinner again. Ernie's been snoozing on the floor, in the chair, and down on the couch ... gonna wake him up for bed, soon. Cory went to bed early. I'm not far behind. It turned out to be a gorgeous day! The dogs are soggy, stinky and full of energy.

Eggs: -1
Collected - 10
Eaten - 11 (yikes!)
Discarded - 0

Day Six ...

... at The Hormone Ranch

According to babelfish, caliente is "it warms up" ... surprisingly appropriate.

Oats with apples, raisins, coconut, leftover coconut rice, cinnamon and maple syrup (and soy milk for some), and (soy)milky chai or hot soymilk for breakfast. Lunches made and packed , dogs and chickens fed, last minute "Where's my ..."s done, and onto the bus they went. Smiley, huggy morning folx, two chatty and one sleepy.

Showered, dishes done (hah! the one whole pot, spoon, knife and cutting board from the oats), yarn rinsed and hung up to dry, laundry started, and out the door to the city.

I stopped at home to check for mail (nothing interesting) and picked up a message from Rafe, so we met up at the grocery store after he ran his errand and I hit the gas station. We both ended up buying some perfectly ripe (some funny name that starts with an A) little mangoes ... free samples work if the product is that astoundingly good!

He wanted to show off his new toy, Wild Divine. I'm looking forward to seeing it in action when I get home. I've been drooling over it since he first showed me the site, ages ago.

Visited the chickens, cat, and horses, messed up the kitchen and cleaned it up again, folded an inordinate number of small clothes (my current theory is that she's been saving them up since Christmas for me).

Cory's staying at school today to help set up for that Scottish play tomorrow. Ernie disappeared downstairs to do his homework as soon as he got home.

* * *

Chili and the rest of Greek salad v2.0 for dinner. Linda had 4H, came home and crashed. Cory's havin' a chilling evening. Ernie disappeared downstairs again after dinner with his small mountain of homework.



Look at her ... you'd think she was personally responsible for the sunset.

Eggs: +16 for the day (uh oh!)
Collected - 16
Eaten - 0
Discarded - 0