With a Little Help from our Friends...

I did mention in my last post that there was more crazy busy times to come and we just came through a couple more of those days!

Just to back up a little....We did a complete tear off and rebuild of all our exterior decking twenty two months ago. This link  will take you to all the fun and games of the demolition experience!  The picture below is just a sample:

The rebuilding was done shortly after by professionals in the late summer and early fall of 2010. I did have a blog post on that as well but it seems to have disappeared off of Blogger! (I would not have deleted that!)

The fall rainy season started with a vengeance right after they completed the work so all the planned sanding and protective finish coat didn't happen.  The next summer, for various reasons, it didn't happen again. I think it was all about our attention  and money being redirected to the drilling of a new well and then  all the plumbing that goes along with that! A good reason, but still the deck needs to finished properly to protect the investment.

Various health and joint issues for both of us meant that kneeling, and a lot of bending were pretty much out for both of us and we would have to either hire painter to come and do it or simply learn to like the grayed cedar look.

Enter the Friends....

Lynnette and Ngaire had come to help with getting all the new cords back onto my Woolhouse Tools loom recently. This was amazing all by its self.... but when they were leaving that day, they also volunteered to come back and paint the decks!  No small feat as between upper and lower portions, it measures up as roughly 1400 to 1450 square feet! (just the size of it all has been an intimidating factor for Hubby and I).
They assured us that they had a system of the three of them working together in a 'tag team fashion' and they could get it done in two days and with two coats.

We were speechless at this generous offer.  There is only a short window of warm sunny weather to get it done before the rains fall again and so we booked it for mid August, amidst busy schedules for both families.
We crossed our fingers that the weather would hold and also not be too hot.

They arrived bright and early this past Thursday and got to work right away while we had shade around the house.  We had had the decks power washed by Colin and generally cleared off. We had lost all the grayed wood and were new cedar wood bright again.  Choosing a colour for the semi transparent stain was difficult as we did not want to go with the orangey cedar tones or the brassy yellow tones. We choose Behr brand  stain in terracotta and even lucked into a sale, with a mail in rebate! Out of ten gallons we bought, it was like we got two gallons for free.

The weather held and  were some of the hottest days this summer! They moved from place to place depending on the sun and worked in shadier spots as the day progressed. Being surrounded by tall trees was an advantage for once.

Here's Lynnette and Bruce working on the front porch.

Michael admiring his handiwork on the stairs.

Ngaire, being a garden faerie sitting in (and on) the marjoram under the stairs. Sorry for the fuzzy picture but its the only one I have of her working for some reason.

Here's Bruce doing the scary ladder work on fascia boards. (Not too bad for a guy about to have knee surgery in early October!)

The second coat went on much quicker and Michael started about 7 am the second morning! Its a good thing too as it turned out to be an even hotter day that the one before. They were done ahead of lunch time and  I had cold cuts and salads all ready to go. That was my main job ... feeding and refreshing the troops! I had made up a lot of salads and soups from scratch and even the ice tea was home made.

The decks still need some minor touch ups and some awkward spots need a second coat but it's minor stuff. There's even a gallon of stain left.  It has a 72 hour cure time so its sitting the time out and is even dog  free for a couple more days. It looks amazing!   (I must admit that we will now have to change the colour of the house fascia boards and belly boards to black and most likely even the window trims. The fascia boards  and gutters need replacing anyhow. Then it will look like we actually had a plan!   :)

We have all the hanging baskets back up again but keeping the decks clear for now. We look like we're ready for what is left of summer in grand style!

Emmatrude part 2: The Loom Faeries!

I spent two days under the loom pulling off cords and all the while I was thinking that they had to go back on in a much more deliberate, slower fashion with a designated spot for each. That was going to a much slower, longer job than the random pulling off of the cords!

After getting up and stretching, and getting blood flow back into some body parts,  I checked my phone for messages and there was the most amazing email there from my friend Lynnette. She and her daughter Ngaire were offering to come and give me a day of help with my loom! No arguments would do, none at all.

 I was gobsmacked!
What a wonderful offer!

Well,  I went straight into oiling the loom's wood right away. Fortunately, we had a few fine days with a light breeze and so I had all doors and windows open while I worked. It took two or three days from start to finish. Some sections of the loom 'drank' up the oil and soon it all glowed. It sat for well over 24 hours and then I buffed the excess off.

I had left the lower lamms in place so I started by re-hanging the shaft and heddles. The heddles took a bit of time to straighten out being somewhat tangled. Then I re-hung the first upper lamm and then measured six inches from the bottom of the shaft stick to the top of the first lamm. Then measured six inches from the bottom of the upper lamm to the top of the lower lamm. Now all other lamms will be hung to mirror this one!

I had everything ready and all the new cords handy. Time to call in the girls!  Lynnette and Ngaire had an early start to their day as they had a two hour drive to my house and they arrived at 9:30 am!  A cup of coffee and they went to work....

Ngaire attached the cords to the eye rings under the lamms in sequence and Lynnette threaded the cords through the large eye ring at the foot of each treadle and then pulled the cords through their individual spots on the peg board.

Slow work and very fiddly but two of them made much shorter work of it than I could on hands and knees going back and forth by myself.

We chatted, laughed, listened to music and talked about the memories that music can bring back to you from past days. It was fun and  so great to have so much energy in my studio!

My husband made us all a great lunch of salad and mini lasagna's and I had baked some goodies. A rhubarb coffee cake, with the rhubarb from our garden of course  :)

After lunch, they got back to work! What was I doing? Talking, laughing.... and I even finished weaving a runner.

Here you can see they are very close to being done.... and then, suddenly....

It was all finished! Understandably, they were happy and proud of their big job! What a pair of good friends... its enough to bring a tear to the eye.    Then they were on their way home. It sure was quiet here after they had gone.  We are sure lucky to have friends like this.

So is it done? No, there will be a Part Three as there are tasks to be done to set the cords for use but I can manage that by sitting on a stool at the back.

Time for an Ethan update!
He's two months old as of today. Sorry for the less than clear picture but its here because of the smile! The lovely blanket underneath him was from his other grandmother and she had cross stitched all those Winnie the Pooh characters on by hand.  Being Italian by birth, she is his Nona and I'm English, so his Nana.

Flights of Fancy

So, not much weaving has been happening here! Besides the necessary garden work, I was busy getting ready for some special company and then there's cleaning up after all the fun!  My Dad and brother came for a short visit and we had a lot of fun.  Good food, lots of stories and laughing... and best of all, lots of time to simply be together.

My Dad has a love of birds of prey and so when he heard that we have the Pacific Northwest Raptor Centre  just down the road from us, we were on our way! We lucked out and caught a bonus flying session in addition to the normal 30 minute show at 3:30!  We saw many birds in large outdoor pens either as recovering patients or permanent residents. By the entry we saw two kookaburras and two large ravens.  We slowly made our way down to the viewing area and saw Great Horned Owls, Red Tailed Hawks, Prairie Falcons, and a Vulture. Their enclosures have small trees and greenery in them to reproduce a natural look and feel but it still is a cage, so they are all given time to fly each day. Clearly the Vulture thought she was due to stretch her wings!

This youngster was first up: (click on any picture to make them larger!)

This is a young Bald Eagle or Haliaeetus leucocephalus  Not sure what sex this bird is until it becomes mature but it will assume the adult colours by the end of this year. The woman doing the demonstration wore a heavy gauntlet and judging by the talons on this twelve pound bird, good thing!

There is no denying that steely gaze and narrow focus when flying! The guide told us the birds more or less do what they want and they  shape the show around it. We were sitting on low benches just mere feet away from these free flying birds with just a little fence to keep people back. I wondered if I should move a bit further back? Dad sat right up front and was loving it! His camera was doing bursts of eight frames a second. The noise 'annoyed' some of the birds but it went well.

Next up: Harris's Falcon or parabuteo unicintus    These birds are used to guard airports and wineries against flocks of birds straying through or feeding on the grapes. They are super fast divers as the video link shows if you click on the latin name.

A beautiful bird, not native to these parts. She (or he) was a calm steady flyer and seemed to know the routine and which perch to fly to next.

Then this dainty killer! Peregrine Falcon or Falco peregrinus. It has a lightening fast flight and can dive at amazing speeds and can catch other birds on the wing. This technique was demonstrated by twirling and launching a lure for the falcon. Its a fake bird lure filled with quail meat. This one flew so close over my Dad's head that it could have parted his hair!

It all happened so fast that if you blinked, you missed it!

This is Phoenix and she is a Turkey Vulture.  It was not a good day for her! She finally got a chance to stretch her wings but she decided to be cranky instead and charged the lady's feet and legs. She was rather determined to teach her a lesson about something. They finally lead her off the field and let her chase the woman back to the pens! Talk about cranky!

Now here's my personal favourite, Elton!  He's a Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata) from south and central America,  and was simply too cute! He did the classic head weaving motion owls do to see better (their eyes are stationary in their heads) and the neatest little churring noises. When his portion of the flying demo was done and she motioned for him to come back to her from the fence post, he turned his back and ignored her. He liked being out and didn't want to go into the little stand by house.

Isn't he handsome?

Sunday, we drove north to Yellow Point, a peninsula just south of Nanaimo,  to check out a different type of bird!  "The Crow and Gate" kind!

It is an authentic British style pub out in the country side. My brother and I went there about 18 months ago and decided that we had to bring Dad there for a visit when his health allowed. This was the day! The day was bright, warm and not overly hot so perfect for touring the grounds and enjoying a meal. They have amazing gardens there and its all beautifully maintained year round. (Hubby and I have been there mid winter with fresh snow on the ground and a large logs blazing away in the hearths... picture perfect!) Lets take a look!

All this is what you see after parking your car! There's been a lot of work done here and it shows beautifully. They have a large pond on the property and encourage wild birds to nest there. Then next to the pond is their private residence:

We sat inside near a doorway out to the back garden and enjoyed steak and mushroom pies with crispy fresh salads.

We sat here in the corner and where the gent is standing is one of the two bars, where you order your own food and beverage 'Brit- style'. Afterwards, we went for a stroll through the gardens in the back of the building. They have a large outdoor patio for patrons there as well.

Here are some pictures of the gardens....

And my favourite... peonies!

We noticed a few years ago that the pub has some stained glass windows and one is rather special:

If you enlarge the picture you will see its an Airedale! We had heard their last dog, Hobbs, had passed away and they had a new pup this spring, then while out for a walk Bruce and Calli met the new Airedale by accident.  'Swede' is ten months old and quite fair. The two of them played like demons, lay on the grass to catch their breath, then did it all over again. A conversation later and we discover that they both have the same father! So they are half brother and sister and we are invited back for another romp on another day before the pub opens. It really was a Family Reunion weekend!

Calli, 15 months old

I'd like to thank my Dad for the use of the bird photographs and the special one of Calli.  The pub photos were taken by either me, or my brother, and flowers were taken by my hubby, Bruce. It was a very memorable time and over far too soon!  I'm still working on the clean up (three men in the house!) and hope to be back at the loom shortly.