Meet Chip

I know - you probablly have heard enough about the bird, already - but I just have to share this with you.  The breeder took a picture of Chip this morning so I could share it with you on my blog - Thank You, Heidi.

Even since Monday, he has changed.  On Monday he had much less colour, but now his wings are nice and green - the white has appeared around his eyes, and one can see that he is going to have a pretty red tail.
But he is still so tiny, and kind of funny looking...

So here he is...

Isn't he the funniest little thing?

Chip and Dale!

Yesterday was a great day.  First of all the nurses and doctors that I work with honored all the paraprofessional staff by bringing in breakfast and presenting us each with a pot of tulips in the loveliest colorful hanging pots.  Thank you ladies and ggentlemen for the honor of working with you all every day.

Then it was work, work, work, BUT after supper last evening, Gary and I took a ride to see our soon - to - be newest member of the family,  Chip.  Well don't you know, the picture of the little conure that the breeder sent me, was not actually my bird.  Chip is a tiny little funny looking guy with no feathers.  He is all skin and pin-feathers, but with some imagination one can see how beautiful he will be once his colored feathers are all in.  He is only 3 weeks old so he has some time to grow beautiful, before we bring him home when he is about 10 wks old.

I was able to hold him and talk to him, and he chatted away at me for over 30 minutes.  The breeder was surprised he reacted so well to me - but of course I wasn't at all surprised, because it was meant to be.

So for the next 7 weeks we will visit Chip to handle and play with him, so he gets used to our hands and voices, and already I am looking forward to the next visit.  Next time I'll take my camera.  The breeder promised me she would email a picture of him as he is now, so I can share it with you here.

It seems Chip was all I needed to get my MoJo back because when I got home I started to design a blanket for one of our great-nieces.  When we visited my Aunt last year, she gave me a daisy loom.  She couldn't find the instructions for it, but don't you know I was able to find the original instructions on the Internet.  I have had the loom sitting on my work table for a year, thinking about what to make with it, and yesterday eve I started working on a square for an afghan.  I made a two-layered daisy with the loom, and then crocheted around it so it became a granny square with a daisy in the middle.  It turned out pretty cool.  I'm gonna try another one at lunch time today.  The plan is to make a nine-patch granny with the center square being a daisy square... we'll see how that goes and I will take pictures.

So on to Tuesday of this short week...

Have a great day everyone!

I'm in Love!

As you all know, I have been moping around since my beautiful little feathered friend passed away last month.  It has taken me all this time to get used to not being able to "talk" to my little buddy, and even though Churchill was not terribly noisy, I have hated the quiet place my house has become.

I have been watching  "Birds for sale" ads on Kijiji for a whole month now and I have even inquired to a few of them, but the problem seems to be that even though I want another cockateil - I absolutely can't stand the thought of one that resembles Churchill.

What to do?

Last weekend Gary and I stopped at a Pet Store to check out the birds.  They did not have any cockateils, only budgies and conures.  I played around with the conures for a bit, but they really didn't leave a lasting impression on me.

Then I started to read articles and visit websites on conures, and slowly my opinion started to change.  I contacted a local avery that raises both cockateils and conures and asked a whole bunch of questions.  This morning I received a lovely note back from the breeder with pictures, and OMG - the baby conure she has up for adoption is so darn cute that already I'm scheming on how I can get this bird.

He's not cheap, and I'm not rich - that's my first and probably my only obstacle.  I guess we'll have to see how this all pans out.  He won't be ready for adoption until June, so I have a bit of time, but I'm thinking he really needs to move into my craft room with me.

Here's the baby conure

How Highs the Water, Mamma?

24ft high and risin!  We are about to see the results of our abundance of snowfall this past winter, in another spring flood.  Our neighbours to the south in North Dakota are already under water and it is heading this way.  The Red River crested at Fargo on Sunday at 38.75 ft.  Next is Grand Forks, and then it's our turn.  I 29 from Fargo to the Canadian border is has been closed for several days already, and very soon our highway 75 from the border to here will be closed as well. 

This is I 29 North of Fargo ND

There are hundreds of little communities and farms between here and Fargo that Have been cut off of everything.  And the sad thing is this happens to some extent year after year after year!  Last year we travelled to Chicago around this time of the year, and although the Red was high, there was no flooding - this year is a totally different scenario. Farms, small communities and homes in out-lying areas of larger cities like Fargo, Grand Forks and Winnipeg have been evacuated due to flood waters.

It is expected that the Red will crest here in about 2 weeks time.  Sand bagging has been going on for weeks now, and still there is not enough.

I 29 between Fargo and Grand Forks.

Winnipeg is lucky to have a flood way.  In the 1960's The flood way was designed and built around the entire city.  It is basically a large ditch with gates, and when the Red gets high enough they open the gates and the water is diverted around the the city.  Sadly the communities around the city pay the huge price for keeping the city dry.  It's a on-going battle that I don't think will ever been settled, because when it comes down to it - no one can tame the Red.

Winnipeg also has the Assiniboine River running through it, which currently is over it's lower bank and it gaining control of the upper banks.  I live about 2 blocks from this river, and although it is not the threat that the Red is, it still has the potential for a lot of damage locally.

Our friends Bill and Deb and their family have been evacuated from their home in Fargo.  I wish them well, and hope and pray that their home will remain safe.  My thoughts and prayers go with everyone who is dealing with this monster.  Lets hope the flood waters recede quickly and damage is kept to a minimum this time.  Stay safe everyone.

The Robins are here!

You all must know by now that I am a bird lover.  Truthfully there are very few species of our feathered friends that I do not love, but my favorite by far is the Robin.

I have been fascinated with the Robin all my life, and every year I await the spring day when I first see the returned visitors.  That day was yesterday.  Gary and I were walking to the house from the car, and I heard one call.  I stopped so quickly that he thought my knee had gone out of place - that was until he saw me looking up.  Guess he knows me pretty well - because the next thing he asked was if I'd heard a Robin!

Sure enough as I stood there, one flew over my head, on his way to my neighbours crab apple tree which is still loaded with fruit from last years crop. 

I rushed in the house and hauled out my yarn stash and selected the softest yarns I could find, and started cutting 6 inch lengths for nesting material.  This morning while I was waiting for Gary to bring the van around to the front of the house I covered every little bush, fence and arbour I could find with brightly colored yarn.

I do this every year, and quite often I get to see my yarn dangling from some tree branch up high in a tree where it is attached to some nest or other.

Did you know that it is the female Robin who chooses the site and builds the nest?  It usually takes her 2 -6 days to build the nest, making an average of 180 trips a day with mud or grass (or yarn) during the peak building period.  I wonder what HE is doing while she is working so hard?  Singing - That's what!

So the next thing I can look forward to is Mr. Robin sitting in the tree outside my bedroom window, singing his heart out at 5:15 am... Can't wait!

Just one of those Days!

It was an interesting day on my street yesterday.  Just after I left for work in the morning, several fire trucks responded to a house fire at the end of my block.  To look at the house this morning, one would not even know there had been a fire, but sadly two dogs perished in the blaze, and two women were taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation.

Then later in the day as Gary was leaving to get me at the bus, there was a car crash right in front of our house.  Two cars going far too fast on a residential street collided on a corner that has stop signs on both sides of the street.  The one car spun out of control and hit the light standard in front of our house.  Had it not been stopped by the light pole, the car would have most likely hit my fence and maybe even our house.

No one was hurt in the accident but both cars had to be towed away from the scene of the accident.

I kept waiting all evening for the 3rd event - but thankfully it did not happen.

So I guess we can be glad that Monday is past us, this week. 

I decided that I would make a bear for my physio therapist.  He has been so great in helping me with my knee problems and in our conversations he has expressed so much interest in my handiwork, so I decided to do a bear for him.

I racked my brain trying to come up with something unique for the bear to hold, something that pertains to Ian's occupation.  Of course I have nothing physio or therapist related so I mixed up a batch of bread dough with the intention of creating something.

I decided I will make a crutch, so I have sketched a diagram to follow, and this evening I will give it a go.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

I have loaded quite a bit of stuff on my Etsy shop, and today I received an email from another Etsy user that she has featured my Baker Bear on her Treasury... Thank you Myra!

I will get a Wiglet added on here for the Etsy shop, just as soon as I figure out where to get one.

So lets get going on this day... have a great one everyone!

I'm not going to talk about it!

What a beautiful morning it is outside.  The wind is calm and although it is cool,  it doesn't feel too bad out.  As I was waiting for Gary to get the van and bring it around to the front, I had a few minutes to stand on the dry sidewalk and look around my flower beds, which are peeking out from a fast receding snowbank.

My Lambs Ears are completely exposed, as is my Box Elder, and my Lavender.  I can't wait to see the rest of the plants that hopefully survived the extremely cold winter. I am hoping that by this weekend I will be able to see the whole garden.  I moved a bunch of plants last fall, but truthfully I don't remember what I moved, where, so it will be interesting watching the garden unfold this year.

On Saturday I was outside with Molly for a few minutes and the geese were going over my house, heading north - now there is a welcome sign.  The next wonderful thing will be seeing my Robin friends, hopefully very very soon. The little finches with the big voices and beautiful songs are already here, so the Robins can't be too far behind.

All sure signs of the thing I said I wasn't going to talk about.... But you know - I think it's finally happening in my little corner of the world!  How wonderful is that!!!

Now I need to get out and take some pictures!

Country Woman and Me

On Monday I received an email from someone I didn't know in my private home box.  The subject line said "Your Country Woman Poem."  I was intrigued, but I never open emails in my private box from people I don't know.

What to do?

I thought about it for most of the day and decided that I couldn't ignore it, so I opened it to see what it was about.

Apparently sometime in 2005, I had sent a Christmas poem I had written to "County Woman Magazine" and asked them if they would be interested in publishing my poem in their Christmas Issue.

This email was from the Editor of the Country Woman Christmas Book, telling me that they want to publish my poem "Christmas Is" in this years Christmas Book.

I don't even remember sending the poem - but I emailed back and said yes, I would like that.

She informed me that the poem is too long for the space they have allotted for it, so they will edit it, perhaps change a few words and possibly even the title.  This is not the first time this has happened to one of my poems.  A newspaper did the same thing to one of my poems to the extent, that I didn't even recognize it as my work.

I'm hoping that this poem won't become alien to me like the other one did.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see.  Ahhhh... the joys of publication!

In any case I promise I will publish "MY" poem as I wrote it, here, at Christmas time.

I think I am going to get out my hook and some crochet cotton and design a lavish gown for Barbie (or one of her GF's)  I have a hankering to crochet this weekend, and since I have been told to stay off my feet and give my knee a break, seems like crocheting will be a good thing to do.

Enjoy the weekend everyone...