GoatWorld

Leland (formerly Jersey) and Stanton are settling into their new home quite nicely. Last night after work I went and got them one of these -

I don't go to Toys 'R Us very often but boy, they've got some cool stuff there! Anyways, "The Kids" (haha, I kill myself) *love* their new picnic table. Goats really like to climb on things and it's important you keep them uh ... intellectually stimulated. Otherwise they get bored. And a bored goat is a goat looking for trouble.

Leland, the braver and larger of the two, was the first to scale the picnic table. Stanton soon followed him up and then in typical brotherly fashion they got into a shoving match to see who would be King Of The Picnic Table. Poor Stanton lost.

They're still rather skittish so I'm spending a lot of time simply sitting in their stall talking to them. Leland finally decided, after the excitement of the picnic table, to investigate this creature sitting in the corner. After a few tenative sniffs and a nibble or two on my t-shirt he began licking my arm. I like to think that means he loves me. In reality, he was probably licking the salt off my arm. Putting that damn picnic table together was hard work.

After work tonight, it's another Toys 'R Us run to get one of these -

From what I understand they had one at the farm and they love to climb up and slide down. Now THAT should be good for hours of entertainment.

Work Weirdness

I'm not a morning person. Not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, mornings are rare around my place on the weekend. Unfortunately, my place of employment seems to embrace the concepts of morning and since they so generously pay me, I must subject myself to their whim.

I usually roll in around 9:30. I'm generally awake by noon. But today, well the receptionist was out sick so I had to report for duty at 8 friggin' 30 to await the arrival of the temp. For an hour and a half I was expected to be chirpy and pleasant on the phone. I can barely remember my name that early, let alone where I work and how to transfer a call. Trust me, there was more than occasion when I picked up the receiver and drew a complete blank on what to do next.

Thankfully the temp showed up at 10 and I could relinquish my post. Knowing that the FedEx dude had probably come and gone I decided to wander back to Shipping to see if any fibery goodness had arrived for me. Blurry eyed, clutching a cup of coffee I stumbled into the warehouse and ...

WIDE AWAKE NOW!

Please Welcome ...

Stanton Ernest

And

Jersey Louis

In my continuing effort to become the Dr. Doolittle of the Bay Area, I present to you the latest additions to my family. Stan and Jersey are twin Nigerian dwarf goats. Right now they're the size of beagles but eventually they'll be about as large as a Labrador retriever. They are "wethers" which means they don't have their little dingle balls anymore. So no breeding but because they're SHOW QUALITY I can take them to umm ... goat shows. Maybe I'll win a ribbon like trek did for her socks.

They're going to have their own little stall at the same ranch my friend Traci boards her horse. I'm going to turn it into a goat playground with tires and ladders and a dog house for them to sleep in. I originally only wanted one goat but their owner says they're very attached to one another so who am I to break up a family?

Stan and Jersey with mom, Moxie

Why goats? Why not? They're much easier to handle than a horse and no one will expect me to ride them on a regular basis. Instead I'm going to train them to walk on a leash, ride in the car and maybe do goat tricks. If there is such a thing as goat tricks. And I'll knit little scarves for them. Which they'll probably eat.

I need to buy a truck. Heck, I need to buy a farm.

Pictures. Yes, Pictures.

I now own four card readers. Don't ask. However, I put on my very best poor pathetic technology challenged face today and coerced a co-worker into going out and finding me a computer. He came back an hour later with a quote for a desktop. A mere $275. Sold. I get it Wednesday. Which is about two days too far away.

Wilma is *not* amused about these hardware problems either.

In much happier news, there is new yarn in the house.

I purchased this from the very talented Carol over at Black Bunny Fibers. There's a KAL going on to specifically showcase her yarn so I jumped right on that bandwagon. I love this colorway. It's pumpkins and Thanksgiving and fall leaves all rolled into one. And it's squishably soft. It's so lucious I almost want to eat it. But I don't think I need quite that much fiber in my diet. I'm hoping it'll work with this pattern ...

This is Fiber Trends' Oak Leaf And Acorn Scarf. Which I've posted about a zillion times on my blog. I keep trying it in different yarns and so far nothing has worked. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that the Black Bunny is a winner.

Would anyone like a free card reader - I have a lovely selection. Seriously.

Hardware Headaches

There comes a time in one's life when one finally has to bite the bullet and acknowledge the fact that 1998 technology simply won't cut it in 2006.

I bought a new digital camera on Friday; an Olympus FE-170. It's very nice and I like it a lot. This new camera is so snazzy that I can download pictures right from the camera into my little computer. No card reader required. Or I could. If I wasn't using a Gateway Cow Computer, circa 1998. Because every time my computer tries to install the software to let me download pictures I get the blue screen of death.

So in an effort to avoid having to buy a new computer, I went out and bought a new card reader. Because now I'm using an xD card in my camera instead of the clunky old card that was in my last camera. Same problem. Load new driver software - BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH.

It's times like these that I *really* miss my ex-husband. Because he was a certifiable computer genius. He could make a computer do anything. When he was in charge of IT for the household my life went smoothly. Sure, there's the odd downside to living with a computer genius. Like having to buy a shoe rack because the server in your bedroom closet is taking up all the floor space. Or having a TV table with a laptop on it set up next to the toilet. But at least everything WORKED.

I'm about ready to give up. I have three card readers, two digital cameras and a half dead computer. And yet the only picture I have today is one I stole off eBay.

Why, oh why couldn't I have been born with feet that were a narrow width? I WANT THESE SHOES!

As The Yarn Spins

Here at Soap Opera Central, comment moderation has been turned on. I really hate comment moderation. I feel it detracts people from posting. However now that we've all had a glimpse into the way my brother's mind works it's time to change the channel. And there's been enough nastiness on this blog for the year. But just to set the record straight, I dated Paul Longworth when I was 15, not 14. And I quite liked riding around in a tow truck.

Can we get back to knitting now? Please?

One down, one to go. Koigu in the Yukon Leaves pattern. Would be nice if you could actually SEE the pattern. Alas, no such luck. It was fun to knit though, if you like lace. I did it on 1's so it fits well but I hate 1's. They make my fingers cramp and my shoulders ache. Will we see a twin for this little number? Undecided.

And waiting in the wings ...

Manos Del Uruguay for My So Called Scarf. I think these colors are amazing; I just hope they're not so dark that you won't be able to see the pattern. Kinda like the sock above.

Knitting Arts reorganized their Koigu display. Previously unseen colors are now prominently in view. I am doomed.

Postal Largesse

I knew you wouldn't believe it if I just told you what came in the mail today. So it's a good thing the batteries in my camera were new so I could take all these pictures. This all came in a box from trek in an effort to counteract the nastiness of the past three weeks.

Bubble bath, a journal and a book that will probably make me cry.

Four balls of Sugar 'N Cream and a wonderful reproduction of Dave's Garterlac Dishcloth pattern.

Soap, Frog Tree alpaca yarn (drool), hand lotion and a too cute stitch marker.

Gummy Bears! And my favorite tea!

And the piece de resistance - a trek dishcloth bag !!! (with more wonderful stitch markers, which I suspect she made).

All from trek. All in one box. All a bit overwhelming. I feel like I should fly to New Jersey and take the entire trek family out for dinner. Or buy them a new car or something. This simply goes beyond kindness. I'm sort of at loss for words. Unbelievable as that may seem.

However, I do have two words for the Anonymous Blog Troll who left such a wonderful comment for me. Bring it. Preferably before I finish tracking your IP. I'm in the mood for a good fight.

The British Are Coming

Hello, it's me. Back in California and you have NO idea how glad I am to be back home. I've actually been back since midnight Friday. Did I mention that you have NO idea how glad I am to be back home? I am. Especially after driving 15 hours on Friday. It's like the hounds of hell were chasing me. But we all know it was just the memory of my assclown brother.

So. I get home, my phone is disconnected which means my DSL is disconnected. My cablevision is also disconnected. And someone has a very stinky litter box. Fortunately there's still electricity so I can see to change the litter box. Wouldn't that be the first thing you did after driving for 15 hours, change a litter box? Clearly I wasn't thinking quite straight.

Saturday morning rolled around and I needed a little pick me up. Roses always do the trick. I often wonder why I don't buy myself flowers more often. These were only $9.99 at Lunardi's and they smell fantastic.

Shall we look at more British yarn bought in Canada? OK.

This is going to be an Irish Hiking Scarf. It's 45% wool, 25% Acrylic and 30% polyester. I'm not sure what the deal is but the majority of yarn shops I visited seemed to carry a lot of yarn that had some form of acrylic or other man made stuff in them. Alpaca is practically non-existent. Silk, same thing. It was a bit disappointing.

On the left, my new favorite "store bought" yarn. And not just because it has a cute label. This is superwash merino wool that is "anti-tickle." Says so, right on the label. I'm using it for the Streaming Leaves Lace Scarf pattern that I also bought in Canada. The scarf itself is about half done. It knits up beautifully. And the price? $4.49 for 123 yards. I wish I'd bought more. The manufacturer is "King Cole." As in "Old King Cole was a merry old soul, And a merry old soul was he." Probably because he was knitting with this.

On the right, it's a big ol' ball of acrylic. I couldn't resist the color though. I only bought 3 balls so it'll probably end up as a baby blanket for Project Linus.

And that's that. Let's put the nastiness of the past three weeks behind us and forge ahead. I have the day off today and then it's back to my job tomorrow. I can only imagine what my desk looks like. I wonder if I'll even be able to see my desk. Let's not think about that, shall we? Instead, I'm off to the Post Office to spend millions of dollars mailing out long overdue stuff.

Thank you to all my bloggin' friends for your support over the past three weeks. Unfortunately my mind isn't working quite right this morning or I'd write something really memorable and heart warming about how much you all mean to me. I'll get back to you on that, k?

The Dummies Guide To Executing An Estate

I read the manual the Notary Public gave me. I took into consideration all of the things it told me to do when executing an estate. And yet ... I decided to do it my way. I have learned from my mistake, perhaps you can too.

If you are executing an estate, even a simple one that has the estate split between say ... a brother and a sister ... make sure ALL the debts are paid before you start doling out the money. Even if say ... the brother ... wants his share NOW. Do not succumb to pressure. Do not assume that love is thicker than a $100 bill. Do not assume that everyone lives by the credo "Do unto others ..."

Because if you do this, then you won't have the unfortunate experience of walking into a bank to close out the account that holds your share of the inheritance only to find out that that money has been applied against your Mother's outstanding VISA balance. The same VISA that was used to withdraw multiple cash advances while your Mom was lying in her hospital bed.

And then you won't wind up with a negative inheritance and your brother a very healthy positive inheritance.

The Southbound Lane

No pics. Feel free to shoot me. Actually ... please ... shoot me. Put me out of the misery of trying to settle my Mother's affairs.

Here at April's Money Tree we've had a slight change of plans.

Tomorrow evening, after I have picked up my Mom's ashes and settled her final two accounts, I'm getting in my little car and heading back to San Jose. For good. There will be no return trip to Canada. My brother is taking ownership of my Mom's apartment and the care and feeding of Trouble.

And as he's doing that I will be striving to put as many miles as I can between myself and him.

There's your serving of dirty laundry for the day. Posting will resume when I return to the land of sanity. I'm fully expecting all of you Americans to welcome me back with open arms.

Well Spun Yarns

Saturday afternoon I decided to head South to visit Well Spun Yarns in Ladner. It's a lovely shop with a friendly owner. Although the selection wasn't huge there were a lot of yarns I wasn't familiar with. The lady who currently owns the shop is retiring at the end of the year so she's trying to sell off most of her stock.

Unfortunately Mrs. Sheepie wasn't for sale or I would have snatched her up in a heartbeat. I think she's quite adorable. And her tension is quite good considering she's knitting with hooves.

The Wall 'O Sock Yarn. Most of it was Fortissima which is OK but not great. No Trekking. Bah.

She carries a lot of British yarn and some surprisingly good quality acrylics. I may have to make a return trip when I start the next baby blanket. Of course I bought a few things, which I am sadly lacking pictures of. But that's OK because I don't like what I bought so some poor blogger out there will be getting it in the mail. It's lace weight yarn and I've decided I don't like working with lace weight yarn. Even if it is 50% silk, 50% wool. I no likey.

Ladner is on the other side of the river from Richmond. The sign over the door on this building says "Wharfingers Office." I didn't know what a wharfinger was but apparently it's the guy who manages the wharf. I'd manage the wharf too if I could live in a house like this.

And a big thank you to all the people who left comments regarding my Mom. It was a very peaceful moment with my Mom passing away with her favorite kitty, Trouble, on her bed at the hospice. I seem to have acquired Trouble since then and he has been a great comfort. If only he'd stop having sex with my comforter at 4am.

Rest In Peace

Juanita Dale Louise Monkhouse

Born: November 10th, 1935

Died: September 10th, 2006

Much loved Mommy and a friend to every furry face.

Images Of Richmond

Sorry, no fiber arts content today. I started the pink scarf in Paton's Classic Wool and ended up hating both the pattern AND the yarn. Way to go, April. So instead, more pictures of the little island I live on.

If I ever get my fat butt off the couch and walk half a mile down the street, this is where I end up. This is the Fraser River. Lulu Island is actually below sea level so to ensure that we don't have swimming pools in our basements there is a large dyke which runs around the entire island. This is a really popular place for those strange people who like the outdoors. Walkers, joggers, dog owners, bikers, they're all there. It's also quite well known by teenagers who like to drive up here at night and make out. I, of course, have no personal experience with anything of that nature, I've just heard rumours. Yesterday morning was kind of overcast, it's not always this grey in Canada. And look! No igloos!

Same place but with a boat! A tugboat to be precise. Pulling a barge! Try to contain your excitement.

Something you might not know about Vancouver - 25% of the population is of Asian descent. When Hong Kong reverted back to Chinese rule a few years ago there was a huge influx of Asians to Canada. Basically all you needed to enter the country was $250,000 which you would promise to use to start a business. This immigration has changed the face of Vancouver dramatically, particularly in Richmond. Many banks now proudly proclaim "We speak English!" A lot of the street signs are in both English and Chinese. And if you want good Chinese food, well Vancouver is the place to go. Or Little Kitty stuff.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to take a picture and drive at the same time? Fortunately, with a California license plate on my car people expect me to do stupid things like stop in the middle of moving traffic to take a picture of a median. So sue me, I like pink and purple. I also like a city that shows its civic pride by beautifying things they don't have to.

I Miss My Yarn

All my yarn is in California. Along with my beautiful swift that Valerie sent me and my ball winder. I feel like ... half a person. So I went to Michael's tonight because it was the only thing open and bought some Paton's Classic Wool, which is 100% merino. A 100 gram ball for $6.99 CDN, that's not bad. I'm kind of on the charity bandwagon these days in an effort to win points on my Mom's behalf with the Big Guy upstairs. I'm going to use the yarn to make a breast cancer scarf. Pictures tomorrow, really.

In other breaking news I quit my job at the House of Torture today but offered to work from up here until they found someone to replace me. Bonus points to the first person to say I'm irreplaceable. The HR Director wants me to call her tomorrow to "discuss my plans." Which I thought I'd made clear in my e-mail of resignation. Apparently not.

A very BIG thank you to Wendy for hooking me up with the Pet Relocation website, what an absolute Godsend!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Wendy!!!

Speaking of comments, all you yahoos that posted your suggestions about what do with my life, please to send me your snail mail address and please note whether you want a) roving, b) Canadian sock yarn or c) fish 'n chips. My little ol' e-mail address is Sakkasie@hotmail.com . Trek, don't bother sending me your snail mail, I already know it. Dave, I need your address for your roving. Valerie, I can't remember what you wanted in maple sugar, please to re-advise. Let's see, who else can I order around? Hmm, I think that's it. Oh and Lindy, your WAY OVERDUE package for the lace swap which came to Canada with me is going in the mail tomorrow. With my humblest apologies for being a sucky swapper.

Pictures tomorrow! I leave you with ...

A little word of advice from April The Caregiver. When attempting to feed your 70 year old mother a spoonful of raspberries and ice cream the phrase "Here comes the choo-choo" will not go over well. My Mother may not be talking a lot these days but she can still glare with the best of them.

The Republic Of Limbo

Who's excited about moving back to Canada?

Me!

But Lordy, this being in limbo is the suck. I'm sitting here trying to figure out whether I'll burn in hell if I just don't go back altogether. Which means I would somehow need to figure out how to pack my apartment and fly my cats up here without actually being there. Because Mom isn't doing too good today and I'm scared to leave her. She has tumours in her stomach and in one of her lungs and the stomach one was causing her serious pain this morning. I had to run and get the nurse so Mom could have a little more of that there morphine type stuff. My Mom is the kind of person who will never complain to strangers if she's not feeling well. But she'll tell me.

OK, so I can't make this decision on my own. So let's have a poll. In return I'll send you either a) roving, b) real Canadian sock yarn or c) fish 'n chips. Actually I'll send a prize to everyone who votes. Here's what you're voting on:

a) April should stay in Canada with her Mom and look after her. And somehow figure out how to move an apartment and three cats without her physical presence.

b) April should do the professionally responsible thing and go back to California and give the standard 2 weeks notice. Even though it's highly possible Mom might not be around in two weeks.

Those are your two choices. Because frankly, I have no idea what to do.

Moving on ...

It's a baby blanket. Or it will be after I finish another 32 rows or so and do the six rows of edging which has ribbon woven through it. I started it last Friday and have lost track of how many rows I've had to frog. Little concentration problem goin' on here. My Mom said to me yesterday, "How come in crochet you have to keep taking the rows out?" She's a real kidder, that Mom of mine.

Roving & Fish 'n Chips

Today was yarn store day. I had read about this particular store on the Knitty board and decided to check it out. This little establishment has been in business since 1939 and is located on Main Street in Vancouver. Not only do they sell regular ol' yarn but they're also a raw wool factory.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with their yarn selection. They had quite a bit of Noro, some Canadian brands I didn't recognize and a small assortment of Berrocco, Elsebeth Lavold, stuff like that. However, they had a HECK of a lot of this stuff.

I think this is roving. Is that what wool is called when it's ready to be spun? I should probably know this but I'm a knitter not a spinner. This is 100 grams of, and I have no idea what this means, Colonial Top Corriedale. Hand dyed by Sun Bench Fibres in beautiful Chilliwack, B.C.. Did I mention I don't spin? No siree, I don't. This is for Dave, the delightful owner of Cabin Cove Mercantile. I thought maybe he would like a break from the ol' dye pot. The colors are much more brilliant than they appear in my horrible picture but you get the idea. Honest to God, they have garbage bags of roving lying everywhere. If I was a spinner I'd be in heaven.

I heart fish 'n chips. If I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would be fish 'n chips. Seriously. I love them more than CAKE. And woe is me, my Mom's apartment is five minutes from Pajo's. Which serves the best fish 'n chips on the West Coast. Trust me, this is something I'm an expert in. For $9.79 (GST not included) you can get the world's largest portion of cod and chips. I've eaten there four times in the last ten days. I now weigh 400 pounds.

And for all you boat lovers, and you know you're out there, here is another shot of my neighbourhood. My Mom lives south of Vancouver on Lulu Island (hey Dave, they named an island after your kitty!). The name of the city she lives in is Richmond, the area is known as Steveston. Steveston originally began as a small fishing village, located right on the Fraser River. Up until about 6 years ago, one of the largest canneries on the West Coast was in Steveston. On days when the wind was blowing the wrong way Richmond was one stinky place. The cannery was where most of the guys in high school got summer jobs. But by and large the cannery was staffed by Japanese Canadians. Which is why, when you're driving around Steveston, you'll come across the most elaborately beautiful gardens in people's front yards. I'll take some pictures - you'll see what I mean.

And finally, a very big thank you to all the wonderful people who have left supportive comments on my blog and written to me. This is no fun at all. One would think that God would make it just as joyful to leave this world as it is to come into it. He didn't. I'm going to speak to him about that.

Pictures ... Really

I was digging through my Mum's photo albums last night and came across some old pictures. Thanks to the wonder of scanner technology I present ...

Dad & Mum, circa 1955

Mum looks rather stern in this photo and Dad looks as stupid as ever. Back in the day, there were photographers who stood on the streets of downtown Vancouver, taking your picture as you walked by. My Mum has a ton of these pictures. And in all of them, she's as neat as a pin and never smiling. Mum hates having her picture taken so why she has such a collection of them is beyond me.

And looking as young then as I do now ...

My fifth birthday party, aren't you sorry you missed it? Check out those snazzy red shoes and jaunty pose. Paris Hilton has nothing on me. And surprise! There was television when I was a child! I miss Walter Cronkite.

OK, that's enough of a trip down memory lane for today, let's fast forward to 2006.

Wool & Wicker

This is the Wool & Wicker yarn shop in Steveston. I imagine it will become my new favorite yarn store since I've made the decision to ... move back to Canada. Now all my American friends will have a new source for Canadian sock yarn. Yes, there is such a thing. I'm heading back to California next Saturday and will give my notice at work, pack up a few things and return to Canada at the end of September. It's what my Mum wants and frankly I'm sick of the hot summers in Campbell. So it's back to the frozen North. But hey, at least I'll be able to buy decent bread again. I just hope I can get my Cabin Cove Mercantile yarn shipped to Canada. Pretty please, Dave?

OK, that's the post for today. Kinko's is closed tomorrow in observation of Labor Day so no post from moi.

Now it's time to go back to the hospice. This morning Mum told the chaplain to get lost. I need to do some damage control.