Phew!

I just finished my first in car driving lesson.

• I didn’t hit anything
• I didn’t drive into a ditch
• No one hit me
• No one flipped me off
• Three people did drive out and around me because I wouldn’t go over the speed limit
• I did a three point turn
• I parked on a hill beside a curb
• I learned all about my blind spots
• I tried very hard not to poop myself with fear.  I’m pretty sure I succeeded at that one.

Boy am I glad that’s over!  Now I just have to practice this week and get ready for lesson two in eight days.  I’m going to have a cider and a swim now. 

It’s gonna be hot!

Hot I tell you! Something like 30+ degrees all weekend. Sorry, that’s Celsius. I think that works out to 90+ in Fahrenheit. After the wicked cool & wet spring we’ve had it’s going to be quite the rude awakening. I shall be in the yard in the shade spinning and knitting all weekend. Tuesday is Canada Day which sort of made for a very annoying not long weekend so I booked Monday off and made a super size long weekend.

Hubby has been on a bit of a tear lately wanting to KILL ALL WEEDS! Snort. I told him to get a goat like Rose-Kim but he was afraid I’d get attached and want to keep the goat. He’s probably right. In keeping with his new mandate which we are affectionately calling the “Scorched Earth Policy” no weed shall escape. Example:

Dog in weeds under apple tree a couple of weeks ago:

Same spot now:

He’s been hedging and pruning and gutting all week long. The dogs are really enjoying it. Apparently, sticks = tasty.

And of course, after you’ve exhausted yourself with stick eating, it’s time for a little rest:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/2617864473_560afe5d09.jpg?v=0

Unfortunately, there is still this mess behind the garage to deal with:

Not looking forward to dealing with that at all.

The other neat thing this year is this forgotten, okay ignored flower bed. It’s beside the pool so we plan on putting a small deck over it and some stair up to the pool. That’s the excuse we’ve used for not doing anything with it for the last year. But look at it this year:

So very much fighting to be it’s most beautiful self. The butterflies and bumblebees that we get in there are amazing. Plants that hadn’t bloomed in years are giving a huge display this year. So pretty. I’m not doing anything with it until all the blooming is done. I don’t want to deprive any bees or butterflies of a meal. I’m going to move all the plants to different places around the yard so that they can explode again next year.

Overall I’m really loving the yard this year. Probably for the first time since we bought the house 13 years ago. Not sure what is different but I just really like walking around it and seeing what new thing has popped up that day or what is blooming or what new hole the dogs have dug, etc. It’s just kind of soothing. This is my favourite spot:

It’s shady and up a couple of feet. I see things that need weeding or taking care of and wander over and do that, then back here to sit for a minute and look around some more. Knit a bit, read a bit, pet a dog or cat. It’s all good. Now you know where I’ll be this weekend. What are you going to be doing?

My computer is still limping along. Actually, I’m still just avoiding buying a new one because I don’t want to spend the money! I really want a Mac but a new pc box would be so much cheaper. My monitor is good, I have a new wireless keyboard & trackball, so really, I should just suck it up and spend the money to get a new box and leave thoughts of a lovely Mac for another time. I did find a place where I can get a box built and still get Windows XP. There shall be no Vista on my system!

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot! I got a new job. Well, it’s not actually a new job, I’m going on assignment to a different department for 9 months. Best part? It’s only a 15 minute bus ride from the house. So wonderful. And, considering this piece of news, I’m really glad I won’t be taking Skytrain over the bridge anymore. Eek!

Uh oh

Corrupt hard drive.  Huh, that’s got a nice ring to it.  Doesn’t it?

Oh, I guess not.  Shoot.  Thankfully she’s limping along enough that I can get all my stuff (read patterns/music/photos) before we have to pull the plug.  I guess a new computer is in my future.  I’ve been thinking of a Mac for my next one.  Comments?  Thoughts?  Discuss.

On the plus side, I’m going to get so much knitting done while I’m copying my files.    Oh look at me searching for that silver lining.  Snort!

She’s feeling much better now!

Stella that is.  In fact, she is feeling so much better now that she will go outside and play all on her own.  Not afraid of anything.  Unfortunately, I had forgotten that one of the things she really likes to play with in the yard is this:

Two balls of Austermann Naturwolle (not a big deal), and over 700 yards of Kauni in colourway ET.  SOB!  She took no prisoners and I could save none of it.  She bit through it in so many places and knotted it so effectively.

I love my dog.  I love my dog.  I love my dog.  I’m just going to keep saying that for the rest of the day until I’m feeling it a little more.

Oh, and happy father’s day to all you dads out there. 

Squee!

Look,

Tee tiny carrot sproutlings!  There are also bean and pea sproutlings but they are so see I can’t even get a pici yet.  So excited!

And, I got a haircut.

I’m heading back to the gym next week so I was going for the oh so easy to care for number.  Oh, and Stella the wonder dog?  Yeah, she found a skein of lace/fingering weight alpaca/llama that I had spun and plied.  Not sure if she killed it dead but it’s not looking particularly hopeful for that little skein.  I couldn’t even look at it.  I just put it away until tomorrow or Sunday and I’m not thinking about it.  Luck for Stella.

Who me?

Have I told you that we had to put Stel on prozac?  Swear to God I’m not making it up.  Only I could get a dog that needs anti-anxiety drugs.  She was pacing, having mindless agression incidents, afraid to go outside, etc etc.  Turns out that the epilipsy can cause neurological problems in dogs over time.  Especially when the seizures get longer and longer.  Some of Stel’s last for 2+ hours.  Keeping in mind that those seizures are at the vet’s while they are giving her copious amounts of valium to try and get her to stop.  Last time they gave her four shots of valium and she still couldn’t stop seizing.  So, needless to say, she has some ‘issues’.  The issues were getting sort of scary and I was afraid to leave her alone with the other dogs and the cats.  The prozac seems to have made her so much happier.  She plays again, isn’t afraid to go outside, doesn’t wake up from a dead sleep and lunge across the room and grab Abbie by the throat, has stopped pacing, and generally seems so much calmer.  The other beasties still aren’t sure of her though.  They walk past her like they are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I can’t believe I have a dog on prozac.  So very par for the course in our house though.