Northern Needles

Ok, let’s all happy dance together now! Wahoo.

A couple of years ago I got together with Tracy Kreger of Stitches’n'Stones (check out her stuff at http://www.stitchesnstones.com/ ) and we worked on some designs together. She managed to get a magazine to buy one and it’s finally published!!! It’s a christmas pattern so they had to wait till the christmas issue but it’s finally here.

So if you get a chance to pick up a copy of The Cross Stitcher Christmas Issue be sure to check it out.

Now that are birds have moved on, one of Lisa and my greatest joys comes from the squirrel that has taken up residence nearby.

We have taken to leaving out peanuts for him as a treat. Next time I go to town I’ll have to look into squirrel food. Sunflower seeds, corn kernels…something.

Well someone has been spreading the news and the other day a magpie arrived looking to get into the action as well.

Well pull up your lawnchairs ladies and get ready to watch the show. Squirrel and Magpie have become competitors and he who collects the most peanuts wins. And they aren’t above a little sneaky playing either. Between the chattering at each other and the sneaking up on one another and giving chase I don’t know who’s winning. Magpie has even tried carrying two peanuts in his beak but his beak just isn’t big enough. Watching him try over and over again is just so funny. Finally he throws them both to the ground and stares at them for a while. Contemplating is he? Oh yes, there he picks the bigger of the two and off he goes. Squirrel on the other hand can carry more then one at a time.

I was worried that the big wind yesterday took down Squirrel’s home but there he was this morning demanding his nuts. So off I went and filled up a little margarine container. Not 20 minutes later Mr. Magpie arrives and this time with a friend. Wonder who’s coming for dinner tomorrow?

Sigh, who says I do nothing all day?

The alarm went off at 10 minutes to 7 am wednesday morning. I get up and turn on the furnace to get the house warmed up before getting the kidlets up.

Poof everything goes black, power off. Wake up hubby and everyone, find candles, try to find Vaughn’s work clothes and Jennifer’s school clothes.

The wind is howling fiercely but when I opened the door to let the dog out it was a warm wind blowing in…and I darn near can’t get the door shut again.

Everyone dressed and teeth brushed, power still off. Vaughn gets Jennifer bundled up in the van to take her to wait for her bus at the end of the driveway (500 curvy metres away). She gets on the bus, he goes off to work.

About 9 am the sun starts to rise and I can see trees just whipping around, crawl back under the covers with Lisa as the power is still off.

Around 10 the wind dies down so we venture out to survey the damage. 2 large trees came down just missing our trailer (we live in a mobile home) and just missed our power pole. Lots of debris scattered everywhere so Lisa and I start collecting and dragging it together so we can use it in the wood stove or in the fire pit. Through the trees I could pick out about 6 trees that were uprooted and leaning against other trees. So hubby will have to go in and cut those down. Until then the bushes are off limits to little girlies.

Take a walk down the driveway, 4 trees are down across the driveway, one so big Lisa needs help climbing over. Get out to the road and survey the damage their. Our nearest neighbour is out on the road cutting up a few trees that came down and landed on the road. We walk along our property line along the road and find 2 trees are uprooted and leaning across the power lines. Come back to the end of our driveway. Someone came by and we gave him our address and asked him to advise the hydro company so they can come get those trees off the power lines.

All day you can hear chain saws going from the neighbourhood. I took out Vaughn’s chainsaw and after reading the manual for about an hour I decided to chance using it. I got it started (first time ever!) and got 3 of the trees cut up enough so the driveway was cleared off. The 4th tree was too big and the chainsaw quit working (found out later it was out of gas but what do I know about such things).

Jennifer got off the school bus at 3:30 and couldn’t believe all the trees. She said she saw lots on the road too. Turns out her school was on emergency generators and only half the lights worked, etc. so they had long recesses and lunch break outside. Luckily the chinook brought with it warm weather as it was 12 C. Yay.

So after more clearing, I get the ol’wood stove started as it was getting dark and cold. Vaughn got home about 7:30ish with prepared food so we didn’t have to cook anything.

I helped him get the last tree off the driveway. He asked who I asked to get the other trees off. He couldn’t believe I did it myself!!! “You used a chainsaw????????” He was amazed.

Unfortunately the last tree was huge and I had to try and hold it down while he was cutting. As we got to the end of the cutting it let go and nearly took me right off the ground with it! I just didn’t have the strength to hold it down and the cut edge came up and caught Vaughn on the cheek. I thought I killed him but he was ok, it just looked bad last night. Today it looks much better.

The hydro guys came by at that point to take down our trees on the line and they told us there were over 50 trees down on power lines in our subdivision. They figured we wouldn’t get power back until Thursday afternoon.

So early to bed for everyone and lo and behold the power came back on in the middle of the night. Wahoo!!!!

This is the second time we’ve lost power b/c of the winds in the last month. Eeek.

Whitehorse is in a bowl along the river so they didn’t get any winds at all in town, just us on the ol’mountain did.

So that was my day, how was everyone else’s????

What a fun day!!! We celebrated our Thanksgiving yesterday as we dedicate the actual day of Thanksgiving to couch and movies and left overs.

First up on the ol’ movie menu is the new Spongebob dvd my girlies got. Spongebob Scaredy Pants. This could be a long day.

Yesterday we had company over. A fellow worker of hubby’s and his wife (whom I hadn’t yet met). It was a wonderful visit. And did we eat! Deep fried turkey, bbq’d beef roast on the rottisserie, garlic mashed potatoes, corn, peas, cranberry sauce, buns, huge salad. Unfortunately I forgot about the stuffing and the gravy. Oops…of course no one noticed till the second helping so it wasn’t crucial..lol.

And for dessert pumpkin pie with whipping cream, apple pie with vanilla ice cream and cranberry/pecan tart.

After a full day of outside fun, including our bonfire, and a full meal in our bellies we had a hard time staying awake past 9:30. Even coffee didn’t help.

So once the company had cleared out we were all asleep within about 15 minutes give or take a minute or two.

However, that means I have a mountain of dishes to do today but what the heck, we can eat with our fingers…over the sink.

So we had a great day, lots of laughs, lots of food and made new friends. What a perfect thanksgiving. Now I’m off for a nap.

One of the pros of living at the top of a hill, everything is downhill so easy to walk to.

One of the cons of living at the top of a hill, you have to walk back uphill.

A friend of mine Suzee-Q, and I decided to get in shape and take a walk together several times a week (thus get a nicer shape for ourselves). Unfortunately she lives way over there….over 1,000 km away, so we have to be inventive.

Our idea? Pick a time to walk everyday and do it. Since we both have doggies to walk the same route everyday is just fine. So taking our cameras we’re taking a picture when we reach our “spots” to prove we made it. Of course once you have the camera in hand there are so many wonderful things to take pictures of.

Yesterday was the first day and boy was I winded. That hill is steep, it’s been a while since I’ve been down it on foot. Of course with a 4 y.o. and a happy doggy in tow, just makes it feel that much longer.

My walk photos I’m putting in my yahoo album that you can see it here.

Just peek in the Walking, Walking album and you can join me on my walks.

We’re not up to the do it every day point by any means. Our goal is 4 times a week that way we don’t feel bad if we miss a day, like today, it’s nearly noon and I’m still in my jammies. Gotta love Thanksgiving weekend, who needs to get dressed? lol….besides its rainy, foggy and cold. I’ll wait for a day with sun.

How can other kids compare???? Little girls are the best. Hugs and smoochies girlie.

Ever feel like that? One lone brightly coloured ball just waiting for something fabulous to be created. I have potential!