Monday, October 26, 2009




Halloween and Pumpkins




I was looking through some work of mine and remembered a design I came up with a few years ago. It is a Jack-0-Lantern bookmark pattern. Fast to crochet using size 10 thread. You can find the pattern free on my website.
For Halloween, my son, Jesse, will be Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. He will have a flashing red nose. Christmas will reach us early LOL.




Friday, October 16, 2009

Addi Click Interchangeable Knitting Needles

At last some of these sets arrived for the store. I have to say that I am really impressed with them. The joins are so smooth and there are endless combinations of lengths and needle sizes. They aren't going to stay in stock long, that is for sure. I think I will get a set for myself too. They would be great for when I am travelling. All those needles in one small case!!!!! I love Addi Turbo needles as they just glide through the yarn. An A+++++++++ from me.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Snow, Snow, Snow

Woke up to a blanket of that white stuff this morning. GROAN.

It was supposed to be a day off for me at the Shelter. Then I got a call and realised that something was going on that shouldn't have been. So I had to clear all the snow from my van and head over there. There are 8 cute puppies that need caring for right now. I see it is snowing out again and I need to back there at 8pm to feed the little bundles of fur again.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Life has a bad habit of getting in the way of my blogging.

So what is going on here? Well there are now 4 dogs here. Fostering a dog that was found near death's door. He is doing great. It will be really hard to say to goodbye to him when the time comes. That could be a couple of months off yet though.

Hockey starts again tonight. Not sure how I feel about that right now. Jesse will be doing a speed-skating camp this weekend and I think he is going to be really good at it. Then we might have to drop another sport.

I am supposed to be coaching Indoor Soccer for the Under 8s. Finding it hard to get information from the organisers so we shall see if that ever comes to fruition.

Was happy to be asked to judge crafts in the local Fall Fair. Not too much was entered though so I was asked to bring some of my own work in to add to the crochet on display. Both of these dolls won 1st place ribbons a few years ago. I never time to crochet anything like that these days.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Happy Birthday Itsy

Well it actually took place on Feb 22nd. She is now 10 years old. I cannot believe how fast those years went.

I copied Paula's idea and gave her Beneful with candles on. She loved it. So did Kiah.



Today Kiah had her ears up a lot. It is really odd as they tend to stay up until hubby gets home and then they go down. She is clearly way more submissive with him. Kiah is now 5 months. If her ears are not up properly by 6 months, we might need to aid them a bit.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Kiah at 4 months and one week.

She has two rows of front teeth - which probably accounts for her starting to bite me again. One ear keeps going up and down so I assume they are both on their way up.


Sunday, December 21, 2008

Merry Christmas

Jesse singing in the school Christmas concert. He is in a white shirt. With the santa hat. All about brusing teeth in French as he goes to a French school (not immersion).



And at home somewhat more confident singing Feliz Navidad. THIS is how Jesse normally is.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

First Goal of the Season




Hay River Novice were due to play High Level on Dec 13th. The temperature went down to -30C so High Level cancelled. Some of the older Atoms made up a team so we could still have the matches.

Jesse #77 scores his first goal of the season. Brad shot and the puck rebounded off the goalie and Jesse put it in the net. One really proud mommy here......

Friday, December 05, 2008

Please Welcome..............


Mottopride Memories of Kizzie

Known to the Karp family as Kiah.

Born Oct 1, 2008
































Kiah was supposed to arrive on Nov 30. She was being flown from Edmonton International on Canadian North to Hay River. The breeder, Sandi, of Mottopride had her at the airport with plenty of time to spare and checked her in. We were ready for her. Then Sandi called to say she had heard from Canadian North that Kiah missed the flight. They wanted Sandi to come back and get her. It was impossible for her to do that due to circumstances. Canadian North then had to find a kennel for Kiah for the night. We were beside ourselves with worry. We needn't have been. The kennel called. They had Kiah in their home. Even sent us the photo below. She was doing great and I think Kiah just took the time to socialise a little more before she came to us.



A huge thank you to Perfect Place Kennels of Devon, Alberta for the care and love they showed Kiah. (Pic of her at kennel)

Kiah finally arrived on the plane in Hay River, Northwest Territories at 10am on Dec 1. She was fine after her flight. Honestly, I think most humans would have been upset after the ordeal she had but she was fine. And she is right at home with us. I call her NO BITE as she is typical puppy and has to bit everything and everybody. But talk about SMART. She has only been with us for 5 days ans she can sit, lie down, stay, come (although not constant yet).

The day she arrived we also had a vet's appointment booked for her and cat. Little did we know that two hours after getting off the plane, she would be travelling in the van to the vets.

There was a really sad part to the vet visit. We collected the ashes of Kizzie. The girls who work with the vet had decorated the box with flowers and a photo of Kizzie. It was so sweet of them. They don't normally do this evidently. I think they really felt our grief. And yes, we still miss her like mad even though we have a puppy in our lives.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Still Sad.......


Added after I posted this. Forgot to say that this photo was taken two days before she passed.

More than one month has passed since Kizzie left us. We all still miss her terribly. The cat still looks for her, our other dog still looks for her and her ears twitch and she looks around at the mention of Kizzie. A wonderful testimonial to her was when the neighbours behind us said how much they missed her too. They said they always knew when somebody was in their driveway as Kizzie would bark. She was not one of those incessant barkers as she was trained not to do that. She just let us know that somebody was there. I felt protected. I am constantly checking to see if doors are locked since she went.



I found this poem and it still makes me cry when I read it.


The Spirit of a German Shepherd Dog

was standing on a hillside
In a field of blowing wheat
And the spirit of a German Shepherd Dog
Was lying at my feet.

He looked at me with kind dark eyes
An ancient wisdom shining through
And in the essence of his being
I saw love there too.

His mind did lock upon my heart
As I stood there on that day
And he told me of this story
About a place so far away.

I stood upon that hillside
In a field of blowing wheat
And in a twinkling of a second
His spirit left my feet.

His tale did put my heart at ease
My fears did fade away
About what lay ahead of me
On another distant day.

"I live among God's creatures now
In the heavens of your mind
So do not grieve for me, my friend
As I am with my kind.

My collar is a rainbow's hue
My leash a shooting star
My boundaries are the Milky Way
Where I sparkle from afar.

There are no pens or kennels here
For I am not confined
But free to roam God's heavens
Among my Shepherd kind.

I nap the day on a snowy cloud
Gentle breezes rocking me
And dream the dreams of earthlings
And how it used to be.

The trees are full of liver treats
And tennis balls abound
And Milkbones line the walkways
Just waiting to be found.

There even is a ring set up
The grass all lush and green
And everyone who gaits around
Becomes the Best of Breed.

For we're all winners in this place
We have no faults, you see
And God passes out those ribbons
To each one, even me.

I drink from waters laced with gold
My world a beauty to behold
And wise old dogs do form my pride
To amble at my very side.

At night I sleep in an angel's arms
Her wings protecting me
And moonbeams dance about us
As stardust falls on thee.

So when your life on earth is spent
And you stand at Heaven's gate
Have no fear of loneliness
For here, you know I wait.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Kizzie
1997 - Oct 14, 08
Our loyal protector.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Season's Greetings


The Karp family would like to wish you all Happy Holidays!

Monday, September 24, 2007

Somebody Help Me Please!!!

I can't stop singing it!!!!! Press the button in middle to play. And if you feel like singing along with me, words are below. You have to hear the whole song as the very last seconds crack me up.

Weird Al - I bought on eBay Music Video



to the tune of "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys

Yeah
A used... pink bathrobe, a rare ... mint snow globe
A Smurf ... TV tray,
I bought on eBay

My house ... is filled with this crap,
shows up in bubble wrap
most every day, what I bought on eBay

Tell me why ( I need another pet rock),
Tell me why (I got that ALF alarm clock)
Tell me why (I bid on Shatner's old toupee),
They had it on eBay

I'll buy ... your knick-knack,
Just check ... my feed back
"A++" they all say, they love me on eBay

Gonna buy (a slightly-damaged golf bag),
Gonna buy (some Beanie Babies, new with tag)
(From some guy) I never met in Norway, found him on eBay

I am the type who is liable to snipe you,
with two seconds left to go,
whoa
Got Paypal or Visa, whatever'll please ya.
As long as I've got the dough!

I'll buy ... your tchotchkes, sell me ... your watch please
I'll buy (I'll buy, I'll buy, I'll buy...)

I AM HIGHEST BIDDER! now
(Junk keeps coming in the mall, from that world-wide garage sale)
(Hey a Dukes of Hazard ashtray),
oh yeah ... (I bought on eBay)
Wanna buy (a PacMan Fever lunchbox)
Wanna buy (a case of vintage tube socks)
Wanna buy (a Kleenex used by Dr Dre, found it on eBay)
Wanna buy (that Farrah Fawcett poster) (Pez dispensers and a toaster)
Don't know why (That kind of stuff you'd throw away) (I'll buy on eBay)
What I bought on eBay ....

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Heat and Crocheting

It has been very hot in the north of Canada. We reached a melting 30c last week. Jesse and I visited the pool a lot to cool down. Then we had a huge deluge of rain which flattened my corn and broad beans. Jesse was heartbroken to see his sunflowers down in the mud. I tried to get on the garden to tie them up straight away but just got stuck in the very sticky mud.







I did manage to finish a crochet design - needed a fan blowing on me to keep my hands from getting too stitcky though. These are so easy and quick to crochet. I made both in a few hours.








I have finally got a new template for my blog. Things like this take a back seat to Jesse and work and I had been wanting to change it for ages. I also changed the comments from Haloscan so all previous comments have gone I am afraid.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Happy Canada Day!

I took the plunge and offered to organise a float for Hay River Figure Skating Club. It took Ron and I two weeks to get it together. Of course it rained on Saturday just as were had planned to decorate it all with our silhouettes, streamers etc. This morning was just as bad so we fighting the wind to do it all. Here is a pic of us minus some balloons that we lost to a huge gust of wind before we even started the parade. It also rained before the parade began and our streamers took a beating as the did the photos of famous Canadian skaters that I had along the side but the same happened to other entries. Just after this the rain stopped, we added some more balloons, more skates hopped on and we we had great fun.

And not only that, we won first prize of $175. I am hoping figure skating will allow me to donate that to Sophie Call (principal at Ecole Boreale where Jesse goes to school) and Angela Cole who are getting ready to leave town and work in an orphanage in Tanzania. It is a dream of mine to do something like that. My wish is that they can give the money to the orphanage.

Sorry about the bad pic - hubby took it. The two adults on board are Sherri (Acting President), Me bending over (acting Vice President), kids are Gracie, Paige, Georgia and Mikey. Jesse was around the other side with Meg.


CLICK FOR BIG PIC

It was pretty tiring for the past two days but the look on the kids faces certainly made it all worthwhile.

Friday, June 15, 2007


More fun with the Camera



Look what's been hovering around my house lately. It has been around a lot in the past week. Kitties watch out! Although it doesn't look like it from this angle - it is a young bald eagle.










This is a young crab apple tree in my front yard - right outside my office window. We even had a bee visiting while I was snapping away.
















I had just been watering my hanging baskets. It is rare that I grow baskets as I am often away a lot in the summer. We plan to be at home more this year so I went crazy and planted about 6. Huge fan of petunias. My favourite flower is Lavatera

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Playing with my new camera


I am the proud owner of a Pentax Digital K10D. Very, very, very nice camera with lots of bells and whistles. I used to have a Pentax film SLR - not quite so many bells and whistles but also it didn't let me play around and just delete the pics that didn't work out. Digital is VERY forgiving like that. I can't imagine having to scrap that many pics on film. $$$$$$









My wonderful cat, Cinders. She is a very timid little thing due to her past experiences. I got her from the local SPCA. She doesn't like going outside much but she will if I am out there with her. Her favourite thing to say is "mitmit". We haven't worked out what it means yet.








Jesse taking a well earned work-break. He has had this tractor since he was 2 (and he is 6 on July 3). It is still his most used/loved toy. He was clearing gravel from the ditch. The snow-ploughs pushed masses of gravel into our ditch this year. Not good for the mower!

Friday, June 01, 2007

Missing him..........

Dad would have been celebrating his birthday today, June 1st.

Lots of tears here this morning. I expect my sister and Dad's wife are finding it really hard today too.

My dad passed away in March. It affected me far more than I envisaged. I hadn't been back to England for 10 years. Was just planning a trip at Easter but he passed away before I got there. He didn't know I was coming.

Love you Dad!

Here is the smiling face that I miss so much. Click for larger pic.

click for larger

John Tyler - comedian, gardener and drummer and a great Dad!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Not been up to blogging...

Sad event in my life in March and I don't really feel up to talking about it yet.

So here is something that I am curious about instead.