Witchhazel Goes Camping

Before we see what Witchhazel is up to,
this is one of the things that we accomplished this week.

When I say we, actually what I mean is Simon, lifted out and moved the hydro pole with the help of the forklift. I was absoloutely no help, running around worrying about it hitting the house !!

Anyway it didn't and the guy we sold it to has it at his place and we are glad to see it go from in front of the window.

Yeh, no more hydro pole !

We had another camping trip to Dinner Rock. Here is another sunset shot.

Good job beauty is never boring, as we have lots of shots of this scene !

And here is the lovely Witchhazel. Although she always comes with us, usually she is stuck in the motorhome, bringing us good luck and that sort of thing.
I thought it was high time she came out, so here she is, magically flying around Dinner Rock on her broomstick.

She was made for me by my friend Mave. She is very sweet and not a bad witch at all.

Here are a couple of shots of the camping Buns.

And last of all, this building that we pass on the way to and from Lund. I finally got a couple of pictures of it.So that's it for now.

Math Magic

I've been missing from Blogland lately.

That's because we got a new desktop and it's taken a while to get it all functioning, (at least at a basic level).

Anyway I'm still aways from posting some pictures but in the meantime I thought I'd amaze you with what I learned today from my work colleague, Graeme.

He told me about CASTING OUT NINES.

there are many references if you ask Mr Google, here is just one of them that explains the theory of CASTING OUT NINES a lot better than I can.

http://www.jimloy.com/number/nines.htm

My bookkeeper side came out when I found out what a great tool it is for checking calculations and it's a great day when you learn something useful.

Camping at Dinner Rock

We managed to squeeze in an overnight camping trip last night. We wanted to go to Dinner Rock, but were a bit worried it would be full at this time of year. However when we got there we were pleasantly suprised to get the PRIME SPOT !

We have a great fondness for Dinner Rock as we were camping there when we decided to move to Powell River. Of course it is also famous for the tragic wreck of the Gulf Stream, which you can read about here,

http://divermag.com/archives/sep98/pacific_rpt_sep98.html

We all had a very relaxing time. Here is Tika, waiting for someone to light the camp fire.

And of course, we couldn't go camping without the Buns.

They quite enjoy running around "free" on the picnic table. In actual fact they are both wearing harnesses and dog leashes just in case they make a mad break for freedom by leaping off the table.

I got a chance to practise with the new camera. As you can see I figured out how to do black and white. This is the same shot of Dinner Rock as the top one, but in black and white instead.

Very atmospheric !

We came home this morning after a very nice trip.

The Other Flock

I just thought I'd show you this picture of our smaller, quieter flock of sheep. As you can see it's a fair sized flock. Truth be known there are actually a few more larger sheep around the house in many guises, ............plates, cups, teapot, mugs, stuffed ones and several pairs of pyjamas, to name a few. Next thing we'll be overflowing with rabbits too, I just know it's only a matter of time.

I took this picture of our cute bobbing bird the first day we got the camera. Isn't he sweet ? He sits on his perch and the breeze moves the sail at the back which in turn makes his head bob ! I bought him from my friend Jackie in Coombs, who sells other birds like him on behalf of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. You can read about what they do here, http://www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/

So, from bobbing to bobbins,

I've been doing a bit of spinning. Thought I'd just show you these two.

We had a Periwinkle jaunt out to Saltery Bay this afternoon, so here are a couple of shots.

We found this smaller, secluded beach and spent a pleasant time down here.
That's it for today, I'm off to wash MORE fleece !

First Shots

...........with our new Canon camera.
Just curious to see how the novice photos will look.

A hydranga in our garden. The lovely PomPom. Always our poster sheep !
Saffy Sally
And the dynamic duo.

I really like it so far. Now off to read the tome that poses as a manual, double tome coz it's in french too.

Camping Critters

Despite the fact that we have been particularly busy lately, we managed to sneak in an overnight camping trip last Friday.

We went up to Okeover, a provincial park. Here's a link, in case you want to have a look.

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/okeover/

Here are The Buns. Depsite being the smallest members of our family, somehow they require the most stuff to bring. I think they are just contemplating what to say on their holiday postcards... oh no, they are eating the local Okeover bushes instead.

Here is Tika, doing what she does best. She's had years of practice.

Of course the spinning wheel had to come too ! (As yet I don't have a name for her, my other wheel generally goes by "the contraption") . Anyhow, she's very pretty, and spins like a dream.This is the wheel that our friend Dave found and bought for me at a garage sale in North Van. for $10. Amazing !

Here's a pic of what I did while we were there. I spun up the light singles and plied it with the reddish/pinky yarn for a 2 ply. The light one has some angora and llama mixed with some soft romney, so the whole thing is very soft.

And just to continue with the red theme, here is a patch of flowers I found that had this vibrant coloured foliage. Not sure what the flowers are but the colour is lovely.As always, it's good to be home again.

Pastures New

The day after the terrible incident of losing their fleeces, we took the ewes down to their summer pasture.

Sounds simple.... but not quite so easy.

Simon and I finally corraled and lifted all the girls into the truck and off we went.

It's just down the road to our neighbours who have this lovely pasture.

It might take them a while but they'll do their best to get through it !Here they are taking a break, before the next munching shift.

We wanted to wean the lambs a couple of days before they went to their new homes. After a WHOLE DAY of bleating, the lambs woke up the next morning and appeared to have forgotten all about their Mums. They seem pretty much OK here don't they ?

So finally, after the vaccination booster shots, foot trimming, deworming, ear tagging, paperwork recording the lambs were ready to go.

Here are the dynamic duo, Rolo and Opal, ready for the trip to Shambala Farm.

Simon and I loaded the lambs into the truck and got the first ferry over to Vancouver Island. Here they are at the ferry terminal. It's very nice, you get preferential treatment if you are carrying livestock, so "Thank You" to BC Ferries for that. Here are Smartie and Wurly in the line up.And another shot of them all. They were very calm and well behaved on the journey and managed to keep people entertained in the ferry line up.So everyone is settled in their "pastures new", which incidentally I looked up and means this,

"if someone goes to pastures new, they leave their job or home in order to go to a new one."

So it's very quiet at Periwinkle Farm these days. We managed to manhandle the rams down the road and the flock seem quite content in their luscious pasture and don't miss us at all !

The rabbits are going to have to step up on the entertainment factor.