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Wednesday ~ August 3rd
Photo courtesy of xavierrudd.com
At the Calgary Folk Festival we saw some great acts including Steve Earle, Sarah Harmer, Iris DeMent, Arrested Development, but my favorite musician was Xavier Rudd. He plays everything from the didgeridoo to the slide guitar while singing about humanity & the environment ~ I highly recommend checking him out if he's ever in your part of the world. |
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Sunday ~ August 7th
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Monday ~ August 8th
Just saw Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. I had heard bad things about it, but I thought it was excellent! I found it kept a fast pace & was very gripping! I also think Ewan MacGregor makes an excellent young Obi-Wan Kenobi. On the same vein, a friend sent me this Star Wars spin-off about organic food, it's also quite good.
I'm still working on other projects, but will try to find time for a new bead set auction so please come back to visit. |
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Wednesday ~ August 10th
Photo courtesy of the daily dose
"If you hold on to the handle, she said, It's easier to maintain the illusion of control. But it's more fun if you just let the wind carry you." ~ StoryPeople |
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Friday ~ August 12th
Good day!
No beads today & probably none for a little while. I've been in a bit of a bead funk lately, which is o.k. I guess as I should be focusing my attentions elsewhere right now. I'm still trying to work on beads here & there though & if something great happens, I'll try to offer a set on ebay...
Tonight we are hosting a dinner for our "Gourmet Club". 3 other couples are coming over to dine. It was supposed to be an outdoor bbq celebrating our province's centennial (we Albertans love to bbq ~ who doesn't?), but it's freezing out so perhaps we'll have to make do indoors. Do you want to see the menu? Here it is:
Celebrating 100 Years~ An Albertan Meal ~
Wild Mushroom & Rosemary on Traditional Bannock
Butternut Squash Soup with Blue Cheese Cream
Blackberry & Orange Mixed Salad with Honey Vinaigrette
Bison Tenderloin with a Blueberry Port Reduction Served with Wild Rice Pancakes & Prairie Vegetables
Rosehip & Daisy Tea
Bread Pudding with Alberta Rye Whiskey Sauce
Yummy! I already made the soup, late last night & sampled it, delicious! As I was making it, I watched a story about the "Grizzly Man" on Primetime. It's about this guy, Timothy Treadwell who spent something like 13 summers up in Alaska living with the grizzly bears. I had never heard of this guy before (am I living under a rock or what?), but boy was that a disturbing piece, at least how it ended for him. Needless to say, I had some scary dreams last night and am glad to be awake & safe! I guess "Grizzly Man" the movie opens today in theaters. It's pretty fascinating, I think I'll go see it, but first, has anyone seen March of the Penguins? That's next on my list ~ oh, oh so cute!
Another question ~ this goes out to my fellow glass bead makers. Do you have a good dichroic glass source? I'm in need of one. If so, please email me at carrie@beadtree.net.
O.k. I better get cooking. Thanks for stopping by! |
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Tuesday ~ August 16th
Well the gourmet dinner was a success. The best item on the list was definitely the soup. I thought the Bison with the Blueberry Port Reduction was also very good, but I don't think I would make wild rice pancakes again. They were interesting to try, but a little bland. Everything else went off without a hitch...well I can say that now but there were a few tense moments with the cooking.
This coming weekend is the "All Girls Camping Extravaganza". If you weren't visiting here last year at this time, it's an annual camping trip to Jasper that I partake in with a bunch of other girls. This year, however, we decided to forgo the whole camping thing & for the first time in 8 years, we are sleeping in CABINS! Oh what luxury! Tamye rented a slush machine for Margaritas & Belinis & I think a couple of the girls are planning a spa afternoon for us. There will also be a lot of jokes, games & the obligatory night out at the bar to request really cheesy 80's songs to dance our butts off to. So my job right now is to make 16 matching bead necklaces that we will be wearing for the entire trip, when I'm finished I'll take a photo to show you all. |
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Wednesday ~ August 17th
Heartbroken...
And here is why...oh by the way, I warn you, if you're eating right now, do not click on the link as this might be a bit much for you. Wait until you're done...trust me.
So, as you can see from the picture, Maggie is not too happy right now. She had surgery yesterday & has a drain in her stitches & a stupid cone on her head & she is pouting in the saddest, little corner of the basement & won't budge for nothing. You see, our neighbors across the alley have this stinky, old cat that comes into our yard & uses it as a litter box & if my cats happen to be sitting in our yard, she chases them! I have ran after that cat something like 20 times in the last year, trying to scare her out of our yard, but she still keeps coming back. Last week the little jerk came prowling into our yard & swiped at Maggie and chased her into our house! When I caught up to Maggie she was very frightened & missing a bit of fur & there was a little mark on her skin but it looked fine & no blood was showing. By the weekend this little area became a bump & by Monday morning it was black & Maggie was licking it constantly. The vet took her in on Tuesday, but by then the wound had abscessed. Poor Maggie. They offered to surgically remove it & sew her up that day. When I came to pick her up last night I couldn't help but tear up. She looked so helpless & scared and well, really pathetic. When I got her home she tried walking with the gigantic, ridiculous cone on her head (which has to stay on for 2 week), bumping into things like a pinball in a pinball machine. She was freaking right out & after running under the bed she managed to lodge the cone into a corner & pull it off her head. So I had to lock her in the bathroom for 2 hours to try to calm her down & let her adjust to the cone. "They" say it takes about 1 to 2 hours for a cat to get used to it - yeah right. When I let her out of the bathroom she freaked out again & was smashing into everything & managed to get the cone off her head once more. So, we cleared a bunch of things out of another room & had to lock her in there overnight. This morning when I went to check on her she was so confused & still struggling with the cone. She steps like one of those prancing horses, with her paws reaching straight up & down & after about 4 steps forward she starts to wiggle backwards trying desperately to get the piece of plastic off her head. It's awful! As well, I have to force feed her pills & wash the wound 4 times a day & I'm supposed to leave tomorrow for my camping trip... So I'm still trying to figure out what to do & I'm trying to make arrangements, but I feel kind of guilty leaving her. Has anyone out there gone through this & knows it's going to be o.k. Do any of you know how to get a unwelcomed cat out of your yard (without killing it). If so please email me some advice at carrie@beadtree.net. The neighbor's cat was back in our yard yesterday & if I could have caught it, I think I would have punted her as far as I could.
On a happier note ~ here's some fun kitty things to see:
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Thursday ~ August 18th
Here's a photo of the "All Girls" necklaces! There's 21 there (we only need 16 + 1 for a girl that can't make it), but I guess I got carried away...in fact I made about another 15 beads so that I could pick the very best from the batches. The photo is rather dark because it's so darn gloomy outside & has been for the last 3 days. I hear it's going to warm up for the weekend though - yeehaw!
Maggie is still very miserable. The cone is bringing her down. I decided to leave today anyway since Chris has offered to take care of her while I'm away. Perhaps it's better this way as I have a hard time seeing her in this state. She's really laying on the "how could you do this to me" face.
Have a great weekend. I'll be back with stories later next week. |
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Monday ~ August 29th
Porcupine ~ Calgary Zoo
Hey, remember me? Sorry I've been away for so long. It's just been a very busy stretch and there's been no beads out of my kiln either so I don't have anything exciting to show you. I haven't even been working on the book, but instead, I've been trying to finish up my Master Gardening program requirements. I took the course back in September 2003 and had a year to finish my practicum and plant identification but I sort of put it off and focused on the Bead Tree and our new house and well, time sure does fly! So I called my teacher up recently and asked if I could finish it up this summer and he agreed that I could. That's what I've been up to. I just finished my plant identification assignment (in total I think I put over 100 hours into that sucker!) and I still have 35 hours of practical experience to finish (out of 80) so I'm almost done! This Master Gardening course has been at the back of my mind ever since & it's really important for me to finish.
As for Maggie - she's doing very well. She had her stitches removed on Friday and she's no longer wearing the cone so she couldn't be happier. Thanks to everyone for your advice about the bully cat next door. I ended up getting a cat trap from the pound and in less then an hour after putting it out, the cat was in it! I notified the neighbor's daughter since they weren't at home and she said she would let her parents know what happened. Haven't seen the stinker since...but I'm waiting.
The All Girls trip was awesome as usual and so nice with the cabins. We'll definitely be sleeping in cabins next year - no more roughing it for us! I drove home that Sunday and picked Chris up for his "Birthday Getaway". We headed to Calgary to see John Fogerty (from Creedence Clearwater Revival otherwise known as CCR). Him and John Mellencamp were in concert. John Fogerty was incredible! He's such a fun guy to watch - just has an amazing vibe on stage. Mellencamp was o.k. too, but for us, he just couldn't compare. The next day I took Chris to the Big Rock Brewery for lunch (his favorite beer "Grasshopper" is made there) and then we went to the zoo. I have loads of photos but I just don't have the time to put them up right now as I need to get back to work. So, pop in from time to time and hopefully I'll have some news to share. Thanks for stopping by! |
