Squirrelly Adventures

Ripley the wonder dog let us know there was a critter in the basement in no uncertain terms: pacing back an forth, staring at the ceiling, racing to and from one room to another and panting excessively. 

We have an unfinished basement, and living in the country creatures can sometimes make their way in through cracks, crevices and doors that get left open when they should be closed. I suspected that we might have a squirrel down there given Ripley's behaviour as he generally demonstrates the above behaviour when the squirrels in the yard taunt him from their lofty perches in the trees just beyond dog reach.

I could not see or hear anything, but with Ripley's far superior sense of smell he was in the know. We went to bed that night and woke up to crashing and banging in the basement as bottles and cans from the recycling were tipped over. The dog flying down the stairs whining and barking and the scolding chitter of an upset squirrel added to the general chaos. 

Long story short, we cleared out the dog, opened basement windows and hoped like heck our squirrelly friend would take the easy way out.  A few minutes later, I saw a small furry body come flying out of the bush near our bird bath for a long drink and was hopeful that was our guy. 

Ripley the wonder dog agreed. A last tour and sniff of the basement confirmed that the adventure was over, and we quickly shut the escape hatches. Adventure over for the day, Ripley spent some time holding down his bed, making sure "it" did not get away.

July 14th, 2014

Back from summer holidays and thoroughly enjoying hanging out in our yard. The strawberries are bountiful this year, so naturally I had to make some Strawberry Rhubarb jam. The following recipe is by far one of my favourite. This recipe comes from an old Agriculture Canada publication that was revised in 1976. Not sure when it was initially printed. ;0)

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam (the old-fashioned way)

6 cups of crushed strawberries
4 cups of chopped rhubarb (1/2 inch)
6 cups of sugar

Wash, hull, crush strawberries one layer at a time. Cut rhubarb into 1/2" pieces. Combine fruit and bring to a boil (uncovered) and pre-cook for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Add sugar and bring to a boil again (uncovered) for 10 to 12 minutes until jam stage. 220 degress for those of you with thermometers, but I do the "drizzle the jam onto a cold plate" routine until the fruit looks like it is setting. This makes about 6 1/2 cups of jam, but if you are using 250ml jam jars you will get about 9-10 jars.

On a crafty note, I have been having far too much fun with Simon Says Stamp July card kit. Here

are a couple of the cards that I have created using patterned paper and stamps from the kit. Kristina Werner always creates these wonderful stamp sets for the SSS kits and they are awesome. 

Using colored and  ivory cardstock, I created  a set of cards for my sister. I ran the card 

base through my big shot after placing it in an embossing folder. I cut patterned paper into tags and stamped a greeting on a small piece of ivory cardstock. Flowers are made from stamped and punched paper from Stampin' Up Pansy set, and topped with felt flowers and buttons tied with embroidery floss. I found some coordinating ribbon from Michaels to "tie" things together. They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

After an extremely cold and long day of indoor recesses, I was gleefully anticipating coming home to a fire and some peace and quiet. Except Fergus our great dane, Ripley the deerhound, and our two cats have also been cooped up for several days as it has been so frosty. I walk in the door to the sound of the Blues Brothers blasting out tunes, cats chasing each other, and a squeaky tossed at my feet by Fergus who was determined to have a game of catch in the kitchen. The one saving grace was supper, which had been spaghetti the night before, was diligently being warmed by my husband who had converted it into a hasty chili. It is now blessfully quiet after the hoo haw upon my entry, but I am still waiting for the fire, as the wood box is empty and I do not want to venture forth into the Great Frosty to get it. ;0)

Just another winter day in the country, cold brisk wind, icy roads and my husband rototilling the ice on the driveway. Yes, you heard me, rototilling the driveway. After a number of freeze-thaw days, the driveway had literally become a sheet of ice. One of his experiments that worked surprisingly well. It broke up the ice so we and other visitors to our humble abode do not break our necks, and generally restored walkability in the yard. He was pretty pleased with himself, and we took a picture for posterity.

The Beginning

Blogging - what does it have to offer? Stream of conciousness writing, an area to showcase some of my crafty inclinations and thoughts about life on the acreage.