Taking a breath.

It's been a busy month here at the Knickertwist house and I've finally got a few minutes to take a breath and post an update.

One of my darling aunties came to visit all the way from Ireland.  We took her to a country auction which was an absolute giggle. Some more family came and at one point there were five ladies in the kitchen rolling gnocchi... again with the giggles. The only mishap was forgetting her bag at our house (with her passport inside!) and her having to drive the 2.5 hrs to get it before catching her flight.

We've got ourselves some cluckers. They've gone from this...

To this... 

...in just a few short weeks. It's amazing how fast they grow.

The chickens above are Rhode Island Reds. They are full of personality and are a lot of fun to watch. We're hoping a good portion of them are ladies and will provide us with some yummy fresh eggs. Any boys will likely meet the chopping block as we have neighbours who won't appreciate morning crowing. We lost our littlest bird to a cheeky fox that I had to chase off by yelling and banging. We've since added extra protection for our girls so no one else meets the same end as that poor wee fellow. 

Above is our second batch of chicks. These birds are destined for the dinner table and will be ready to 'harvest' in a an amazingly short time. Don't feel too badly for them because they'll live a grand life with fresh grass, good food, clean water and lots of space to scratch and roll around.

A local farmer was offering free wool so I decided to swipe some. I got two garbage bags full! I have absolutely no experience with wool and have been having a grand old time experimenting. It's amazing that the stuff on the right can be turned into the stuff on the left with just a bit of soap and water. The goal will be to dye some with the Big D during summer vacation and give needle felting a try.

Last but not least... our gardens.

This is part of our veggie patch. So far we've taken radishes, lettuce, spinach and rhubarb. There's loads of other stuff planted back there too... beans, carrots, sprouts, potatoes, raspberries, pumpkins, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, garlic (to name just a few!). We also have herbs like thyme, sage, bergamot, southernwood, wormwood, mint, mugwort and much more. I can't wait until everything comes in. There is nothing like food from your own garden.

Right now the whole place is blooming. Just look at these gorgeous iris' and poppies.

It's hard to believe that just a short while ago we happy the grass was poking through the snow.

Free Reading Offer

I'm offering a free reading tonight! Comment with a general topic/question and I'll pick a winner tonight.  http://t.co/lF2Voj6 via

Misery.

We've had to find Hunter a new home and everyone here is miserable. After waiting years to bring home a new family member and getting used to his romping about, we're gutted. It's far too quiet in the house today.

Why in the world would we give up such a gorgeous fellow?

Two acres. A boy to play with. Constant supervision. What could possibly go wrong? Two words, Black Locusts. Our property is dotted with these big Gothic looking trees and Hunter was forever picking up the twigs and bits of bark and eating them. The thing is, they're poisonous. We'd manage to trade the twigs for treats, or pull them out of his mouth but he'd still manage to swallow them. We quickly became concerned that our home was hazardous for the little thing. I couldn't live with myself if living here made him sick. So the very hard decision was made that perhaps we were not the perfect family for Hunter. I wish we were.

What makes it even harder was that Hunter was starting to get the hang of playing nicely with D over the past few days. The two were really starting to hit it off. Saying goodbye has been especially hard on the littlest Knickertwist. D was a very brave kidlet and said his "Goodbyes" and agreed that Hunter going to a safe home was the best thing we could do for him.

What a horrible lesson to learn at 8... that sometimes the very best thing to do feels like the absolute worst and sometimes it even breaks your heart :(

We've told his new family that if for any reason things don't work out he's to come directly back to us. I really hope he's happy and safe but part of me (the very selfish part) hopes he's a holy terror and they call tomorrow to bring him back.

Puppy Posts

You'll have to excuse the rash of puppy posts... I'm sure there will be a few as we settle in.

Our first days with Hunter have been pretty good. He's really bright and is picking up the clicker training well. He can sit like a pro, and we're working on "lay down", "stay" and "high 5". Yesterday he claimed an old fuzzy child chair as his bed and we placed it in his den. He surprised us all at 8:30 when he went in and snuggled down for the night. The whole night!

It hasn't all been sunshine and roses though. Hunter thinks that D is a big playmate and has been really nippy with him. D is completely freaked out. This is not what he thought puppy parenting was about. We're working hard to correct the mouthing and nipping. We're also tell D that Hunter likes him and is trying to play. We've explained that it's exactly like how he wrestles with me and often plays too rough. We're trying to get him to assert himself as a 'boss'. Poor kid, he isn't used to dogs that jump or sharp little puppy teeth. It's difficult because he's becoming more and more afraid of those tiny sharp milk teeth.

We'll work though it.

80% of the time he's just a big ol' tired pup.

Welcome a new Knickertwist!

We've been looking to add to our little family for a while now and today we welcomed a furry friend into our home. Meet Hunter, a 13 week old bundle of puppy trouble :)

Isn't he an absolute cutie-pie? He's had quite the day today and is currently fast asleep in his new 'den'. I'm sure we'll have loads of grand adventures together :)

The next wee house

I've been working on another little house in the wee hours of the night. I'm moving towards a sort of witchy gothic playhouse. She looks a bit of a mess at the mo' but here's a peek anyway...

You can see that there's quite a way to go with this one. The roof isn't done at all but I've got something a little different in mind for this one but I have no idea if it will work :P I suppose that the experimentation is half the fun!

Snobbery, Wrestling and Needlecraft

Long ago I wrote a thesis on snobbery (doesn't it look fancy?). The basic gist was that snobbery is usually the result of ignorance and the need/desire to feel superior to others. Anti-snobbery on the other hand is often expressed by those who have an understanding, appreciation and knowledge of the subject matter. My thesis dealt specifically with the wine world but these snobby rules can be applied to other topics... like wrestling for example.

Chris Jericho is on Dancing with the Stars this season. I adore Chris Jericho. He's really funny. He's charismatic. He's from Winnipeg. If you haven't heard of Chris before you're probably not a professional wresting fan. He's the best in the world at what he does! He's the man of 1004 holds! He'll save us all! Y2J!

Chris' appearance on DwtS has spurred an awful lot of snobby comments about wrestling and wrestlers. The depth of hatred some people feel toward this form of entertainment (we all know it's entertainment right?) is both laughable and disturbing. Anyway, in an attempt to combat the negativity I've decided to profess my love for those men in tights through craft. :P

When I was a wee gal (in the days of the very first Wrestlemania) I was a big wrestling fan. I'm not a hard core follower now, I only catch a bit of it here and there, but I do find myself quickly sucked in. The crazy story lines, the good guys and baddest baddies, the costumes, faux fur, glitter, explosions, muscles and high flying action to boot... really, its the perfect source of crafting inspiration!

So I've spent the last week or so stitching up some of my favourite old time wrestlers...

Andre the Giant

"Macho Man" Randy Savage

Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka

Sgt. Slaughter

And unframed and wrinkly...

Iron Sheik

Big Show - Okay he's not an old timer... sue me *lol

Stitching these guys has been a ton of fun. These are the first 'real' stitchy projects I've worked on and I'm sure I'll be doing more. Besides, I've got to get an homage to Jericho in somewhere (he did inspire this set of stitchery after all) ... and then there's Undertaker, he'd be fun to do... and maybe Kane... and ... oh, you get the idea :)