All that glitters...

So - I know. How often can one write "Ooops! Sorry! Long time no write!" and get away with it. It's not wasn't matter of laziness (I don't think) but more a matter to feeling I had nothing to say.

Imagine that! Nothing to say? she said.

I could say I've been in a funk (I have been) but who wants to read a blog about being in a funk? (not me!)

I guess we all feel funky from time to time  - I'm usually pretty oblivious to it all until I stop all my mindless "doing."  And then (once I stop doing) I have occasion to fall into the valley of the funk - I get funky!

Anyways I'm climbing my way back out. I've had a lovely few weeks away from work, done loads of Christmas baking, made some fantastic family dinners (imagine turkey dinner with all the fixings - wine biased short ribs with leek & mushroom risotto - Belgium waffles with fresh berries, whipped cream, bacon and freshly tapped Canadian Maple Syrup - now really can it get any better than that?)

We went to see Star Wars! In 3D!

We've had loads of snow and the sun is back out in all it's glory, so the winter walking is back on baby!

Well that's it for now - Happy 2016!

Okay - so I changed my mind...

I think they say it's a woman's prerogative. Probably a sexist historical catch phrase - but since I am a woman - and it conveniently fits - I'm playing it. (I could play the "It's Mother's Day" card - but that might be a minefield).

Old Guy on a bike - Vancouver Stanley Park

I was going to just stop blogging on here altogether, but after acouple months of exclusive blogging away on my crafty blog (yes I am still over there too) I realized this is where I've always talked about the other stuff.  The road trips, the Old Guy stuff. The what's in the garden and on the grill stuff? The adventures of Youngman I and II. Not to mention all the heady philosophical stuff like: Can shabby chic shams and pillowcases coexist with primitive steampunk dolls in the same guest room? The how crappy can my punctuation really get before I start getting blog complaints??

Don't get me wrong - I love my craft blog. It makes me feel like I'm being productive and documents my projects. "Whaddya mean I haven't been doing anything all day??? Did ya check my blog? I'm workin' my fingers to stumps!"

Anyways - so there you go folks. I am always sheepless at heart. And I'm baaaaaaaaa-ck!

On VA-Ca-shun!

A little birdie told me so...

Out-of-office-reply: 

sheepless is currently out of the office. I will return...

So good morning! Yes I am on vacation  f i n a l l y!  I tend to wilt in the heat so my prefernece is to take a bit of time in the spring and fall (and winter) rather than during the dog days of summer.

I don't like to repeatedly post my apologies about not blogging (perhaps because that implies I think that someone out there is actually reading all this hooey). After awhile even apologies can become meaningless in their redundancy. So lets just move along folks!

In terms of my blog I've been spending a good deal of my recent efforts trying to simplify things. I went through a brief period of time when "free blog"  meant starting new blogs. One for photos, one for cycling, one for quilting (which is now more of a craft journey blog) and lastly my general all purpose day to day stuff blog. I also tried to transfer all my old stuff from my typepad blog - which has proved be be daunting. I was a bit anxious about just cutting the cord (pulling the plug?) on that one - as it was my "baby". My very first real blog. But time moves on...

So the first thing I did was clean up my personal space in blog land (no easy task) and I am down to 3 blogs :

• sheepless snaps (set up for photos only)
• sheepless in suburbia - (here)  in which I blog about the day to day minutia that resides in my head
• stitch cat studio - which is my "process blog" for pretty much whatever is my "craft du jour" (more about that later).

I'm currently doing a "room reno" for all my stuff (moving once again from the underbelly of the house (in which I have loads of space - but no natural lighting) to the main floor (a little room with heart and big bright beautiful window). Since I am no longer hauling spinning wheels and looms all over the place I think the little room will actually work this time.

So... Stitch Cat Studio?  What the heck is that? Well that's what you get when you announce you want a cat - and the response is "only by death or divorce"...

The Old Guy apparently is most definitively not a Cat Guy. When I was a kid we had a big old second hand Tom Cat named "Clean Dreams" (presumably christened during a hippie haze induced state by his previous owners). My mother (who was also a self professed non-cat person) went from dismay to devotion in all of about 60 seconds when  "Cleany" turned out to be a prolific mouser and solved a whole host of problems. So having said that - I believe that it isn't so much that one isn't "a cat person" as much as a haven't found the "right cat" person. After all - if I only had a "purse pooch" as my understanding of what a dog is all about  - I would have to say I am not a "doggie person." And I already know that I am. 

Historically I've also been known to be a "birdie person".  My first "pet" (not counting the turtle I begged for when I was 7) was a little turquoise & white budgie named Fannie. She was a lovely bird and she lived with me in "my first real apartment." I was celebrating my independence. It was a "no pets allowed" environment. I guess birds didn't count as a pet. First designated as my "back up pet" until I could get a "real one"- she quickly evolved into my beloved "Fannie Bird." She would start singing "pretty birdie" as soon as my key turned in the lock. I did let her fly around unrestrained. She liked the curtains best. She never made a mess - except once (down the back of a friend's alpaca sweater). We had a very happy relationship and I was heartbroken when she died.  I never had another companion until "the dogs took over came along". 

But back to Stitch Cat Studio. I was looking for a new name for my "process crafty blog" and as I was perusing the blog-o-sphere I realized that lots of studios and offices have cats. Big cats, old cats, little cats, long hairs, short hairs, tabby's you name it. Lounging on quilts, snuggling into balls of yarn - sunning themselves in the glory of your sewing basket. 

Of course they don't show them jumping from bookcase to bookcase like the banshee from meow hell or doing their business in your stash (which I have heard of)... ugh! It was at this point I realized that while yes I do want a cat - perhaps what I really need is a "virtual" cat. And so  Sheepless Quilts was revamped and is now Stitch Cat Studio.

After all it is only fitting - I am sheepless in suburbia because I have no sheep. Therfore I am stitch cat in my studio - because I have no cat!

Happy Birthday to the Queen...

... in which we take a long weekend and eat cake!

Upstairs Downstairs 

So what am I up to? Well Old Guy is out of town for a high school reunion. It's a bonus weekend of sorts in that pizza brochures and burger menus are once again emerging from the nooks and crannies of drawers and Bordeaux cherry ice cream swimming in Nestle's Chocolate Quik Sauce can be freely eaten and in copious amounts. I'm on day 3 of a cottage cheese and Miss Vicki's potato chips binge extravaganza. This has all come at a most inopportune time as I am supposed to be training for a 10k race next weekend.

It was with great sadness that I finished watching my Upstairs-Downstairs DVD collection (Christmas present) - so much so that I actually watched all the Bonus features which included cast and crew interviews, plot development, musical score information etc etc... I just did not want it to end! Funny when I started Season 1- I thought "oh gawd this is dated..." but as the story unfolded and drew me in... it seemed the perfect period piece for my hexagon quilt hand sewing project.

I'm not sure this happens to other people but I always seem to find myself watching shows in which someone is knitting (ie Mrs Bridges in "Up & Down" - as us groupies call it). I watch her technique. I replay it backwards and forwards to see if it's the "real McCoy" or just fudging. By the end of Up & Down I saw that Ruby's quilt was a hexagon quilt - just like I was making! How special is that?

Well time for Saturday morning chores (really how can I call these chores?)

• pick up my starter heirloom tomatoes from my Tomato Guy
• meet 2 good friends for coffee and knitting talk
• pick up my BRAND NEW sewing machine!

Come home... and... hmmmm -  the world is my oyster. Cottage cheese and chips anyone?

Happy New Year (belated)...

Listening to History - Bill Woodrow (sculpture)

Good morning! And welcome to my first second official "Judi Day" of 2012.  I'm hoping they won't necessarily all be like this one, as we  "roll in"  the New Year with carpet installers arriving shortly. The house is in chaos. 

***I wrote this last Monday and didn't get it posted on time... if I scratch the whole thing and start over, I anticipate another entry that doesn't make it to the blogosphere  - so I'm just going with the flow.***

New Years Day was spent moving, dissembling, tossing and of course the annual renegotiation of space (which is a premium commodity in our abode).


" I'll trade you -  your room with the window for my room with more square footage."
"But you have a hole behind the door..."
"...Leave the door open perhaps?"


One thing I hate about moving all "this stuff"... is it becomes glaring apparent to all - that I have alot of stuff. Spinning wheels, looms, sewing machines, knitting yarns, weaving yarns, and all the infinite accessories and tools that go with each endeavor. And of course, the ever expanding library of books. I am a book sucker. I love books. Mine are mostly "how to" or art books of every description. When they're tucked away in bookcases they aren't so obtrusive, but as they creep out of knitting bags, and onto tabletops and counters and bedside floor space they become more obvious. When they need to be moved upstairs, downstairs, from room A to room B... well let's just say statements like "something must be done!" hang heavily in the air like the smell of bacon on a Sunday morning.

Having said that - I love my books. I like looking at them, holding them, adding little stickies to pages to remember anticipated projects perfect for handspun yarn or the orphan skein rescued from a bargain bin on my travels. As I write this I realize I have always been more of a person who is just as excited by the idea of the project (the imagining of it) - than a person who needs to sees it to physical completion to be satisfied. A project or idea can dance in my head for quite awhile and the vast majority need never evolve further than being a theoretical stitch on a needle; or a fibre of thoughts ever spinning.

(One week later: still climbing over books and magazines and buckets of yarns, and boxes of fabrics...)

If I'd only known....

From Christmas past...

Last year I wrote the following optimistic little ditty ...

"...I also decided to make the boys Christmas stockings this year. I've been threatening to replace the plush Teddybear stockings I bought the Youngmen when they were Babyboys (21 and 23 years ago)  - but I just haven't gotten around to it. I suppose tacky plush teddy's hanging by their necks on the pseudo yuletide hearth is a vision I'd like to erase from their memory now while I still have the chance - that way when we all end up in therapy it won't be something that comes up..."

So this year, I pulled out the stocking fabrics, the batting, threads and pattern pieces and began to stitch. I had wanted to quilt parts of the stockings, and I wanted them to be a little larger than the plush bears. Well they are bigger- way bigger - as in ginormous. And not in a good way. I think in my enthusiasm to finally make the Christmas stockings which I had always envisioned over the years, I may have over compensated. So much so, that both Youngmen are somewhat appalled. To make matters worse - there is a whole "anti - new Christmas stocking" backlash in the yuletide air. I've been advised that they "like" their tacky plush teddy bears "thank you very much!"- with ragged hats, threadbare droopy bow ties and saggy bellies that get stuffed each year with chocolates, candies and magazines. 

I do realize that Christmas isn't "all about me" but I was somewhat taken aback when I offered to cut off detach their fluffy little plush heads and stitch them to the new stockings as a compromise. This suggestion was met with unanimous horrified derision. 

And so my elaborate handmade Christmas stocking family heirloom has once again been stifled. 

Another sheepless Christmas begins...


(If you are wanting all the process details of making the dratted stocking please click here).

And now for an amazing culinary feat...

Today is Day 1 of my annual mid November "week off". I generally use this as a week to begin my winter preparations. As in - wash the summer clothes and pack them away; bring out the winter wear (which was a bit easier this year, as it seems the winter jackets, mitts, hats,scarves and boots never made it downstairs last spring - which makes me wonder where the spring stuff went) and of course make soup. And soup ... and hopefully more soup.  

I found the video below on the Dinner With Julie (our local CBC celebrity chef) blog as I was searching for a tasty Christmas pudding recipe. I got myself a little sidetracked while looking up Wensleydale cheese which I had (in a moment of adventurous spirit) bought at the farmers market on the weekend. A quick Google search took me to Wikipedia. The Wensleydale was recommended with cranberries, and from there it was a quick jump to Christmas Cake and pudding... and you know how it goes...

But I ended up at Julie's (did I mention she has an ultra modern slow cooker give-away going on? Which of course I entered) and lo and behold here was an amazing video on "How to peel a head of garlic in less than 10 seconds".

 So ... what does one do when they have 6 loads of laundry in process, 27 pairs of sandals to give the nod or chuck for next year, a Dutch oven full of carrots,onions and curry bubbling on the burners, Inspector Lynley mystery blaring on the audio and a block of Wensleydale cheese looking for a purpose?

You stop and smell the garlic...


... and yes it does work. I tried it. It was amazing. And it was in less than 10 seconds. I counted.

Bike 101 all done...

My hands hurt (every single joint and digit) my elbows, knees, back, even my rib cage. After endless scrubbing, my nails are still encrusted with bike dirt and grease. I think my bike still works. I'll never begrudge my bike repair guy another nickle...

The Grey Goose - in bits

On Day 1 we pretty much worked on the rear end of the bike. I removed and reapplied my rear wheel at least 30 times. I was proficient. I removed the wheel, pulled off the tire, deflated - re-inflated the tube, and learned the difference between schaeder and presta valves. (Consequently I have gone to MEC to buy a few valve converters and a new tire pump) . We learned how to break our chains (on purpose) and how to use a nifty tool to put them back together (need to buy tool). I learned how to fix a flat and how to use those 2 little wrench things that look like beer cap flippers - and why I do need 2).

I did a "grease transfer" of the bike chain, gear sprockets, derailleurs, and the chain stay (that's CSI talk for all the greasy gritty sludgy crap on the bike was transferred to me). In the afternoon while everyone was replacing their brake cables, I was truing my rear wheel. Truing a wheel is an extremely zen type experience and once I got going with the little "tweek here" and just another little "tweek there" it was extremely difficult to stop.

 Day 2 - I was behind. At this point we were really getting into the knitty (oooops) nitty gritty. We pulled off the crankset (this almost killed me) disassembled the hub, removed, inspected, washed the ballbearings - degreased - regreased and reassembled.

By midday I was constantly 3 steps behind in a 2 step process. I was desperate for a Venti triple ANYTHING! I longed for Day 1 where my only worry was "did I put my tire tread on backwards?" But I persevered, and by the end of the day I was back on my bike with a "Basic Bicycle Mechanic Certificate" in hand .

Happily riding into the crisp autumn sunset with swirls of fallen frost laden leaves crunching under my tires...

Clunk-ity... clunk-ity ... aaahhh crap!

Moving on over....

So - sheepless (which is moi) has decided (after much deliberation) to move to blogger. When I first started blogging - back in the old days (2004) I started on blogspot. But then I wanted something else (not sure what) and moved to Typepad - which I've been very happy with overall (over the years). But... I have to pay for that service. And I didn't mind when I was emoting ad nausea - but I don't seem to say much these days.

But moving is difficult! Especially when I have 6 years worth of "heavy thinking" invested over there ie: "Life is a Fridge Magnet".

I've spent alot of time redesigning the old blog over the years. I pay extra to have the little perks of building my own "themes". But most recently when I had to upgrade one more time to move my banner to the centre of the page... (which I did momentarily) - and spent an entire morning trying to figure out the CSS or CCS HTML custom editing doohickey - I still couldn't move the $#&* thing.

And that's ... when I moseyed on over here. So we'll see how it goes. I have lots of myself over there but I'll slowly copy it. Some of it's worth saving - and some of it ... not so much.