ON THE ROAD AGAIN...

Although all of you out there in the blogosphere probably aren’t going to notice (apart, perhaps, from noticing a decline in blog posts from mid-June to early August), this is what I’ll be up to over the next few months:

• April/May: selling one house in one province and buying a new house in another province;
  June/July: giving birth to our first baby:
• Two weeks after said baby is born: moving infant child, three pets, DH and some household goods to NOVA SCOTIA!
• That’s right! We’re moving EAST to Nova Scotia (told ya you’d be jealous, Renee). That is just ONE province shy of the real ‘home’, Newfoundland and Labrador. Believe it or not, though, it will still take two hours longer to drive to my parents house in Upper Gullies, Conception Bay South from Greenwood than it took us to drive from Cold Lake, Alberta (where we lived from 1996 – 1998) to Victoria, BC where DH’s parents live. Newfoundland is one crazy big island.

We are being posted to Greenwood, Nova Scotia in the beautiful Annapolis Valley. Although I likely visited that part of Nova Scotia as a child (Mudder? Fadder? Wanna answer that one for me?), the only time I remember visiting as an adult was in 1998. That was the year DH and I moved to Germany and we were selling our truck to my brother who was living in Halifax at the time (the one who lives in the UK now). Little Brother and I went on a bit of a holiday around Nova Scotia that fall and one of our stops was Greenwood. I wanted to stop into Greenwood to do a recce (‘recce’ is military speak for ‘reconnaissance mission’ when somebody goes in first to check out a situation). I’ve made it a practice to drive around any military bases I’m close to in case we end up getting posted there. It’s almost ten years later but the recce still paid off as I do remember this very pretty part of Nova Scotia.

So, if you sense a certain strained air in my posts from here on in, the above might give you a small indication of why…

Seeing as I really like the look of pictures on a post and I can’t very well take a picture of our posting message, here are a couple of ‘before’ pictures of our master bedroom, because we decided this was one of the ‘we have to…’ projects that had to be done before putting the house up for sale. This project is just one of, maybe, twenty projects on an ever increasing list. Unlike Yarn Harlot, I did not clean up the room before taking these pictures (well, not cleaned up apart from the fact that most of the furniture has been removed but that’s only because DH was faster than my camera finger). I rationalised this lack of attention to cleanliness detail by thinking that a messy room in ‘before’ pictures only makes the ‘after’ pictures that much more profound.

The following photograph is of the lovely big window in our bedroom that encouraged me to use a really dark green paint on the walls as the window provides enought light for the room not to appear too small (that window was one of the first big purchases we made in this, our first purchased home. Jeez, windows are expensive!):

The right side of the window. Note the 'almost shag' 20 year old original carpet. We are replacing the carpet with the same laminate flooring that we've used in our two guest bedroom and the basement renovations:

Ignore the laundry and move onto exploring the 'cheater ensuite' (meaning you can use that little door on the right, beyond the drafting table, to get to the main bathroom) and the 'walk in closet' (meaning you walk past them on the way to the bathroom):

Although you can't really tell from this picture,

the ceiling in the bedroom is spackled/stuccoed (is 'stuccoed' a word?). As in all of the other rooms we've renovated, with the exception of the hallway, DH has scraped the stucco off the ceiling. I don't like the stucco look from 20 years ago and there is NO way to keep it clean.

Renovation update: the carpet is gone, the ceiling has been scraped and sanded, the ceiling and walls were washed and primed, and DH already has coat one of Benjamin Moore's 'Guacamole' green on the walls!

SLAVE TO THE BLOG…

Must. Have. Something. Creative. To. Post…Must. Work. Harder.

I’d forgotten how motivating having a blog is. I’m constantly amazed by all of the parents with small children (e.g. Renee, Samantha and Elizabeth and…) who seem to regularly post about their FOs (Finished Objects). I’d give my eye teeth for a FO and my only child (apart from the three, four legged ones) is still incubating so I can't even use that as an excuse!

By the end of yesterday, I’d hoped to have two FOs to post. Actually, I have 5 but one of my projects (which I can’t completely post about because they are for Mother’s Day and I don’t want the recipients to get a preview! However, the following are 'teasers' of the projects in progress so you’ll know I’m not just joshin’ you) is the same project, only I made it 4 times so I’m thinking that that only counts as one project.




Despite doing the following yesterday:

• Going through and chucking more paper and assorted junk from our basement move in (the entire process could take months),
• Having a lovely meal out with a friend,
• Going on the first spring hike of 2007 with DH and Para the Border Collie (that mention should get me extra bonus points…see March 12, 2007 post) and
• Vacuuming the basement (we have someone coming in tomorrow to measure for new carpet on the stairs and in the living room and new vinyl flooring for the main floor and the hair balls around this place scare even me, and I’m used pretty tough with hair balls!).

Despite all of that, I was STILL sitting at my craft table last night, hard at work, trying to get another FO to post for those lovely blog fans out there who keep me going! You people are great – I very much need motivation to get any project to become a FO. I’m a little lacking in the whole follow through of a project, I must admit. I love to receive blog comments and, I know, it’s hard to get comments if you don’t produce the occasional FO.

It is unfortunate that I wanted the varnish on the following project to cure overnight (probably an unnecessary precaution for water based varnish that is quick drying but, as I’m butting antique fabric against the frame, I didn’t want to take any chances), or I would have posted this last night. Voilà! May I present a FO that even meets my fibre related standards!

WARNING - NO KNITTING CONTENT!

Well, apart from my very excited post Friday night, I didn’t get much knitting done over the weekend. I did manage to play with friends and have a great weekend with DH and the pets though!

I’m in trouble. Para has caught up on her blog reading and made it known that there have been NO Border Collie pictures posted recently. Then she started comparing the number of cat pictures posted to dog pictures posted…yep. Things got a little ugly. Here is an accusatory Border Collie.

Yes, I went shamefully into the TV room and played a game of tug with her after this. One can only hold off Border Collie charms for so long.

Here is a glimpse of what I’ve been working on recently.

I purchased the quilt block several years ago when I was antique shopping with my in-laws on a visit to BC. The block is completely hand sewn in a complicated pattern that I wouldn’t try. It’s interesting because it is completely finished on the back as if it was specifically made for framing.

Here is the frame for framing the quilt block. I won't tell you how long this has been sitting in a Michael's bag waiting for a piece of action...

And here is the freshly stained frame with coat one of varnish on it.

Stay tuned!

LOOKIE, LOOKIE WHAT I LEARNED!

This is what I did last (Friday) night. I’m so happy! Thanks, Renee, for your help! Renee really has an ‘in’ on those cables. I didn’t follow the OXO cable pattern exactly (as you cable experts will be able to tell from my picture above as I was watching Hook (LOVE that movie!) while I was knitting. However, with a little more concentration, I’m confident I can pull off adding some of these cables, and some knitting interest, to the middle panel of my baby’s blanket. All I need to do now is finish another 2.5 balls of yarn so that I can start the middle. The genius of the cable addition plan though, is that now I have something to look forward to!

Hmm. Probably not the most beautiful blog pictures I've ever posted. My apologies. We finally have our computer moved to the basement but don't have the scanner yet hooked up - both of these photos probably would have been better scanned.

THE END OF A BALL


Yes, Sir, there’s nothing like finishing up a ball of yarn. I suppose knitting should be about watching the fabric you’re making coming into being, thinking fondly about the recipient or the cause it’s being knit for (e.g. charity), about the intricate weave of colour of your materials and the play of pattern as it unfolds. Knitting certainly is all of those things for me. However, I have to say that there are few greater satisfactions for me on this knitting journey than finishing up a ball of yarn. I’ve even stayed up the past couple of nights to finish ball 2 of 10 just so I could blog about it! As you can see, the pattern is progressing. The only problem is, I’m getting a bit bored with my design. I like the look of the basket weave and the moss stitch but I’m just getting a wee bit bored with knitting it. Therefore, expect to see some exciting changes in the middle panel of this blanket after another ball or so. I figured Astra is easy to practice with so I may as well learn a new technique while I’m knitting this little blanket. The OXO cable from my Knitting Bible book looks intriguing but, as I have never knit cables before, I need to practice first and determine how difficult it is. Are cables hard?


A friend of mine commented that the blanket looks like it’s knitting up quickly. It’s not. I’m using 4 mm needles and Astra which means it’s not the fastest knit in the world. Nothing like Mission Falls! As I’m not the fastest knitter in the world, it will take me quite awhile to finish this project (and my long delayed and very pretty mystery WIP has to get done before month’s end). However, with all of the aeroplane and road trips DH and I have planned over the next two months, I’m sure to make some progress.

My beading class was a lot of fun. We made five projects in all: two bracelets, one ‘floating’ necklace, one necklace on a cord and a pair of earrings. I certainly learned enough to make some stitch markers and will be doing so soon. I would not have chosen most of the beads that we used but the class was about learning the different techniques – to hook you into buying more beads! I was pretty strong and only walked out of there with a few more beads to make some cool stitch holders. My friend and I may do another course for fun. It was a nice day out of the house.


On Wednesday I went shopping with a friend. Our mission was to find a dressy maternity outfit for an important event to be held for a very special lady on March 31st. My grandmother-in-law (DH’s mother’s mother) turns 90 years old on April 1st. The family is having a bit of a do to commemorate the occasion. DH’s mother comes from the beautiful Kootenay valley of British Columbia, from a small town named Creston. Grandma H still lives there on the family’s small hobby farm, by herself for the most part (although she is surrounded by friends), all year long. Therefore, at the end of the month, this auspicious event has managed to convince pregnant me to brave the airlines once more (I swore I wasn’t going to fly again while pregnant after my trip back from Newfoundland) and go for a visit.

Seeing as I spend most of my time in jogging pants or pyjamas these days, I really felt the need to upgrade to honest to goodness dressy maternity clothes resulting in Wednesday’s shopping day. I/we managed to get the main detail – a lovely blouse. I’m hitting another maternity store over the next week or so for some dressy black pants. I’m lucky in that, thus far, my ankles and feet have not swollen a great deal and I should be able to fit into my regular dress shoes although I will confirm that ahead of time, just in case. I am a little concerned as airline travel has historically made my ankles swell up quite a bit however, I will have a day or so to recover before having to get dressed up for the party so the ol’ ankles should have calmed down by then.
And here is yet another photo of one of my cats – Checkers – playing ‘dead’. I think she looks hysterical like this. We regularly see her in this pose when heat from the sun or our fireplace is involved. I’m learning all kinds of new cat behaviour with this little beauty!

KITTY CAT DAY!

I took this picture of Tobi and Checkers yesterday. Although they are not best friends, they are tolerating each other. This is the closest I’ve ever seen them together, on their own. Luckily, in her time ‘on the streets’ (as I have no information about what happened to Checkers before her adoption, I can only assume she was ‘on the street’ for at least a few hours!), Checkers did not learn how to scrap like an outdoor cat. Actually, with the way she fights with Tobi, I’m thinking it’s a good thing she was picked up by the Humane Society as there is no way she could protect herself considering how she fights: lots of pawing and no bared claws. I was worried she would beat on Tobi, who is eleven years her senior, so Checkers' inability to fight like a tom cat is wonderful, though likely embarrassing to the species.

To my and DH’s surprise, Tobi has become the dominant cat. That isn’t to say that Checkers doesn’t chase Tobi around the house on a regular basis. However, when Tobi’s had enough, Checkers is backing off and/or running away. Usually, Tobi doesn’t even raise a paw – it’s all in the facial expression. And, I must say, it’s a pretty ferocious face when she makes it! We never knew she had it in her and are both pleased that A) although not best friends, they do seem to keep each other company and B) no blood has been shed.

By the way, Tobi is having a bath in this picture. Maintenance is very important to this cat.

I thought it was time for a cat update seeing as other things seem to have taken priority in my blog posts these days! Now, if I could only get the time to recast on that cat bed project from aeons ago, I'm sure I'd find out that they would really enjoy it.

I'm off to take a beading class at The Sassy Bead Co. with some friends today. It's a three hour beading course and, apparently, we're working on five projects in those three hours. I really want to make myself some of those really nice stitch markers that I keep seeing online so this should give me the basic information I need to do so. I think I'm ready for an afternoon out. In other words, my food is packed. Now, if it would just warm up a wee bit for me to walk Para. I'm a wimp. I guess my blood thinned due to the gorgeous weekend we just had. It's -26 this morning with a -41 wind chill (I just confirmed those temperatures with Environment Canada so I'm not even exaggerating!). That's a bit nippy for even Border Collies who love walkies!

KNITTING SUPERSTITIONS

I was reading Lillian Beckwith’s book ‘A Rope in Case’ last week (I love all of Lillian Beckwith’s books. They are written about the Isle of Skye in/off Scotland in the 1950s /early 1960s and are both funny and whimsical about a way of life that was almost affected by modern technology then, likely almost gone now. DH’s family is of Scottish origin - the Outer Hebrides and the Highlands - so the whole country holds a bit of a draw for me. We've also had the opportunity to visit several times. These are a series of books that I just read over and over again), and noticed the following knitting superstition:

"Never cast on knitting on a Friday or you’ll not finish it."

I thought that was interesting and, I’m pretty sure at least one of the WIPs in the cupboard may have been cast on on a Friday. Hmm. I wonder can you counteract the problem by ripping a project out and casting on something new on another day? How far do you take this?!?

After seeing this superstition, I was wondering about other knitting superstitions and found a bunch online. They were pretty interesting and I’m glad I haven’t started knitting for Baby until now! Apparently it’s bad luck to start working on baby clothes for a baby that is not yet conceived. Did you know it’s also bad luck for a baby to wear green? For fear the fairies will take the baby away! Then again, to use a good Newfoundland and Labrador superstition, if you did knit something for a baby in green, I guess you could ensure the outfit had pockets and, as long as there are breadcrumbs in the pockets, the baby should be okay. Unless, the baby has to be old enough to throw the crumbs at the fairies and then run away themselves… Whew. All these new superstitious worries!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but we have been renovating our basement. It’s been an ongoing project for about three years. The length of time it has taken has something to do with starting the basement renovation and then throwing every other renovation project under the sun into the fray and getting them done before the basement. The time has come to move in down there and I look forward to posting pictures about the lovely new space shortly. I’m turning into a mole as the basement is fast becoming my favourite space in the house, only challenged by sitting next to the lovely gas fireplace in the living room with a good book/knitting project. I love the colour that I picked out for the walls, I love the light from the pot lights, I love the fact that I now have a finished laundry room, I love, I love!

I am most pleased with a ‘moving wall’ in the basement that DH and I (mainly DH) designed to go in front of the furnace. The whole wall moves out to allow access to the furnace for maintenance etc. When the wall moves back in, it is covered in cabinets for my yarn and quilting fabric! The wall is still a bit rough as DH is working his way around the room with the trim however, here is a sneak peak as I’ve already filled it.

The yarn stash – small but satisfying:

And the quilting cotton stash – only quilting cotton. My general sewing fabric needs it’s own wall:

This is the knitting that I’ve been working on over the weekend. It’s the Baby’s blanket that I ‘designed’ (with help from my LYS ladies) in Patons Astra, Colour: Fun N’ Games. The yarn is really pretty and I know it will wash well when the baby spits up on it. I had bought it before I started thinking about using only natural fibres on a baby. I know Yarn Harlot has some pretty strong opinions on this issue however, I am also a believer in using what is in my stash. Therefore, the next baby blanket will be knit out of the lovely Mission Falls wool is not yet in my stash but which I adore so much.

TOP ELEVEN SURPRISING THINGS ABOUT BEING PREGNANT (SO FAR…)

1. Although I’d read books and felt somewhat aware of some of the issues I’d be experiencing while pregnant, NOTHING prepared me for what ‘nausea during pregnancy’ was really about. I’m not normally a puker. Prior to getting pregnant, the last two times I remember throwing up I had mild food poisoning. I’ve got to be pretty darn sick to throw up. Even now, in week 23, I could go at any time. It’s amazing. I’m going about my business, doing fine, when all of a sudden I’m urging like a cat with a hairball. At least that’s what DH likens the sounds I make to. Apparently, I’m a little loud. Oh yeah, and apparently we need thicker doors on the bathrooms or DH is going to turn into a ‘sympathy puker’ any day now.
2. How sensitive my nose is. Smells such as fast food grease smells, any restaurant cooking smells, DH’s new deodorant smells, a change in dishwasher detergent for heaven’s sake (!) etc would send me running to the toilet.
3. My nose is so sensitive that I cannot currently knit with real wool. Honest to goodness. A smell I usually love almost completely turned me off knitting for nine months! Thus, I’ve developed a renewed interest in other fibres such as cotton and acrylic for knitting. Note: even though this issue deals with the same problem as Issue #2, I felt it deserved it’s own paragraph as this is a knitting blog and, in knitting terms, this side effect is terrifying!
4. How hard my belly is. Perhaps because my only experience with a large belly (my own!) prior to pregnancy was that large belly’s are ‘squoogy’ (that’s a new Patty-word for you). Not so my pregnant belly. Neither I nor DH can get over how taut my little belly is!
5. What feeling hungry really means. This coming from someone who, prior to getting pregnant, had to have a snack every two hours or so just to keep going. I’m a ‘grazer’ so I figured I would be prepared for pregnancy hunger. Although I score very high in ensuring that I always have snack food with me because that aspect I’m used to, I was not prepared for how ravenous I feel all of a sudden. Give me food, NOW!!! Unfortunately, if I don’t get food now, issue #1 rears its ugly head.
6. How absolutely tired I’ve been. It wasn’t so much that I fell asleep tying up my shoes. It was more that I couldn’t come up with the energy to find my shoes, let alone put them on. Or how I can only schedule one or two ‘activities’ into a day without having to go to bed for two hours. For example, dust the main floor (note: this is one floor of my house. I have three floors, including the basement, to dust/clean so this means that, just the dusting for housework, takes me three days. No wonder it feels like all I do around here is clean), go to bed for two hours. Vacuum any floor (one floor, no stairs involved), go to bed for the rest of the day. Not surprisingly, DH has almost completely taken over the vacuuming in this house. It’s only over the past week that I haven’t had to take a nap every day. Mind you, I did have a three hour nap the day before yesterday and still had a great night's sleep.
7. How my lack of energy has affected my fitness level. I ran a half marathon in May of 2005. I’m an avid runner and, when I was in school and despite the stress there, managed to get to the gym a couple a times a week. Now? Walking the dog has become my only form of exercise (besides the laundry. Hey! I have to climb stairs for that and that’s exercise with the weight I’m carrying around!) and that’s only on my good days. I finally walked Para her full regular DH walk today and I’ll probably be feeling it the rest of the week. I was up to at least an 8 km run three days a week in the fall before I got pregnant. Sigh.
8. How really and truly LARGE my butt has gotten. Enough said.
9. And, what a rip off, how small my bust has remained! I mean, all those pregnancy books about your boobs gaining POUNDS when you’re pregnant, kind of had my hopes up. I’ve never had cleavage. I figured, even with a gi-normous (another Patty word) belly, that this was my chance. Nope, nada. I’ve gone from a –A cup to a –B cup - a change so minuscule that the only reason I went out and bought new bras was because my rib cage is no longer 36" around. Pathetic really.
10. And how bloody hard it is becoming to get in and out of our little Mazda Protegé. Somewhere along the way, a woman was involved with car design. What else is that handle on the roof above the door for if not for heaving pregnant bodies out of the passenger side of the car? The steering wheel works nicely when I’m driving…
11. How truly amazing it was to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time and to experience the baby kicking and moving around in there. Truly, truly too amazing to describe. And, note, yesterday (March 1, 2007) was the first time I not only felt my belly moving from the baby kicking, but SAW my belly moving too!
12. To be continued…

FOR APRIL

This post is dedicated April over at Clandestine & Candour. It seems that, during my blogging break, April lost and found her original blog at Coffee Crazy Knitters. April is also the genius behind the Knit2BTied podcast - check it out if you haven't already. Sadly, April is taking a break from podcasting but is following her dreams in other areas so, three cheers for April!

Anyway, back in DECEMBER 2006, April tagged me for a '6 Weird Things About Me' meme and I still have not done it! My apologies, April. Recently, Renee also got tagged for the same meme and it reminded me about April's tag. I'll blame my tardiness on pregnancy hormones making me forgetful (can't wait to hear my excuse once the baby is born but I assume it will be something like 'late due to sleep deprivation induced coma'...).

6 Weird Things About Me:

1. I pick up things off the floor with my toes. Yes, strange but true. However, I'm finding that, as my belly gets bigger, this is one weird thing with great potential. It saves bending over and maintains a certain amount of flexibility. I also know of at least one other friend that does this so maybe this behaviour isn't that weird. Then again, it could be an indication that I also have weird friends...
2. I love children's books. For years, I've used my godchildren or other friend or relative's child as an excuse to head to the children's book section but, I have to be honest. Nine times out of ten, I'm going for myself. I love all kinds of children's books: picture books , chapter books, you name it. I think children's book illustrators are some of the most creative types of artists in the world! I am developing quite the children's book collection. It remains to be seen if I will 'share' with my own child or just create their own little library in an attempt to keep mine intact (thus putting my shelf of books over 36" off the floor!). My dream job would be to become a children's author.
3. I'm not crazy about the taste of alcohol. I might have a tablespoon of Bailey's once a year, or one cooler on ocasion but, normally, I don't have a drop. People must have a certain perception about Newfoundland and Labradorians because, when offered a drink and refusing, I often get funny looks. I just don't like the after taste of alcohol. Give me a non-alcoholic daiquiri any day! When we learned we were being posted to Germany for four years, DH thought "Good! With all the great wine in Germany, we'll turn her into a wine drinker for sure!." Nope. Didn't happen. On the upside, DH always has a designated driver (DD) and my DD experiences have allowed and taught me how to drive a standard/stick shift (something I think ALL people should be able to do as a safety precaution!) and to also drive some pretty nifty vehicles.
4. After thirteen years of living together, DH and I have just launched into the next phase of our electronic lives with the purchase of a television. Yup. Thirteen years without one. And, because DH did the shopping, it's a very large one (50" LCD projection) with lots of home theatre system parts. NEVER send a computer and electronic engineer into The Future Shop with free reign! It's a little scary and I'm concerned about the slippery slope we may now be on (and worry about my arse geting wider is only the start). DH and I love to watch movies and, up until about a year ago, were pretty content to sit with the laptop on a chair in front of us in the living room and watch the little 12" screen. However, we'd both been getting frustrated by the sound quality (what else can you expect from laptop speakers?) and, with a baby coming, I was a little concerned about the social implications of not having a television for a kindergardener. I don't mind being weird and missing out on some conversations about exciting commercials and reality TV shows but maybe my child won't like the idea. So, we have a television. For movies. We are still not hooked up to 'real' TV although I hear the NHL playoffs are coming and DH is a hockey fan...
5. I'm allergic to the sun and too much heat. For those who have been around me in high humidity and/or heat, they would likely argue that I'm a bear in those conditions! When we moved to Ontario, our two biggest needs for a house were 1) a fenced back yard for the dog and 2) air conditioning to ensure the continuation of our marriage. I'm that bad. Come May or whenever the heat hits Ottawa, I turn into a vampire and only come out at night. Part of the problem is that the combination of the sun mixed with my sweat creates a heat rash like no other. I won't go into the gory details but to say that the discomfort of it has almost driven me stark raving mad would come close to describing the experience. And, once I have a flare up, I'm like it for weeks. Unfortunately, it carries over to the winter too. I can't sit too close to the fireplace or I will get a heat rash from that! Similarily, I have to watch how many covers I put on the bed or under a cuddle quilt on the couch just in case my legs get overheated. Hey, you wanted weird!
6. Although I'm an avid swimmer, a lifeguard and a swimming instructor, I hate getting my face wet when I'm in the shower or taking a bath. I'll even stick my head out and wipe my face off if water trickles down my face from my wet hair. I cannot understand these soap commercials on television where the person in the shower is face on to and directly in or udner the spray of water (apart from the fact that the camera person is trying to hide the model's 'bit's' for family viewing so maybe the poor model has to go face first into the spray. You couldn't pay me enough to do that job).

It took me days to come up with this list! Isn't that weird? I could go on and on with this list but I needed time to make the best weirdness choices for sharing! Now that I've bared my soul, I'm going back to knitting...

A WEEKEND’S WORTH OF WORK

Not being a computer genius, I managed to fool things up badly enough on my computer on Monday to create a problem that resulted in me not being able to access either my email or blog yesterday. What a tragedy! It’s a good thing I married a Computer Engineer who was able to fix things up all nice last night for me.

I was pleased to to get the following fixed on my blog over the weekend. I (finally!) have a list of the blogs that I read most regularly – yeah me! And, the links work this time! Yeah me again! As I also gain a great deal of inspiration from other Bloggers blogs, Samantha inspired me to add a little baby growth chart to my blog. It’s a little small because of the size restriction of the side bar on my Blogger template but, if you click on it, it is readable and, I think, too cute for words. Thanks, Samantha!

Here are pictures of the two pattern purchases I promised from my shopping trip last week. Not surprisingly, both contain patterns for wee ones! The first is a cute little pumpkin hat from Fiber Trends. I’d always imagined that my little baby would have a variety of cute hats like this – pumpkins, lady bugs, etc . After all, you want high 'cute factor' when you're out and about with a little one (it might help increase global sympathy when s/he is screaming her/his head off in a store somewhere...).

The second item is Mission Falls’ Wee Knits 3. I have the first two Wee Knits books and really like them. This particular Wee Knits has a gorgeous baby blanket made out of cotton that I couldn’t resist. In fact, this whole book is dedicated to cotton. I will show you the pattern and yarn when that project gets started. My only comment is that, after working with cotton this weekend, knitting with cotton reminds me of…um…knitting dishcloths. I know, Mission Falls would probably shoot me if they found out. However, I really love the colours and the look of the finished knitted projects in cotton, as well as the fact that the fibres are natural. Still, that dishcloth feeling lingers…

At risk of embarrassing myself for my small knitting output in the run of a year (as compared to prolific people like Samantha, Renee and Yarn Harlot), here’s my first attempt at my little baby hat. Cute, no? Well, there’s a small problem with it. This little hat is not knit in the round and, as I’m using cotton, the bloody great seam that’s in the back is a bit too hard for me to be content about using it on a baby’s head. So, this is actually a picture of a baby hat: Part 1. After I get the sweater finished (it’s already cast on and a few inches knit up. Again, I’m not happy with how my increased stitches look so I’m going up to my LYS for some advice before posting a picture), I’m going to take out the hat and knit it in the round to avoid the seam. The jury is still out on what I think about Debblie Bliss patterns as this project is a first for me. After all, Debbie Bliss had planned that I knit this hat and sweater out of cashmerino which, I daresay, would have provided me with a lovely soft 'back of the hat' seam.

Yesterday, my friend H and I had a wonderful sewing day here at my place. We try and get together once a month to sew and chat. I’m working on sewing up wee little pressies for Mother’s Day and a couple of other events coming up shortly. In the near future, if I’m nice, I’ll post creative pictures that won’t give away any secrets to the recipients but still provide interesting blog content.











However, I did manage to get this project finished (the backing and tassel needed to be sewn on) and I'm very pleased with the end result. It's been a WIP for over 6 years and I'm so happy to have it finished that I hope the recipient won't mind that she may have gotten to see it online before receiving it as a gift!

BUMPALUMP

Okay, folks, here I am! Big belly, big chest (for me – ha!) and, apparently, a bit of a big hair day yesterday as well. This is five months worth. I just entered week 23 on Wednesday. Although you can barely see them, I just purchased the maternity jeans I’m wearing in this photo on Monday and I’m am in love. I’m into consignment stores for my maternity clothes and, thus far, have scored very well (see my black t-shirt in the picture as an example) for tops and one dress. However, I have been finding it hard to find pants that fit me at the consignment stores (something to do with the fact that my arse (can you say ‘arse’ on a blog?) is rounding out as much as my tummy). Now I have two pairs suitable for wearing outside the house. We won’t go into what I’m usually wearing around this place but lets just say I won’t open the door to strangers!

I made a mistake yesterday. I went to my LYS. Yes, I’ve been avoiding it. I’m very paranoid about this baby and have only just begun picking up small things here and there as I was afraid of jinxing the whole experience. Anyway, I decided to get my little pregnant body up to my LYS and go looking. I ended up buying yarn for a baby outfit. Naturally I didn’t just buy yarn and will have to post a picture of the two patterns that I also bought yesterday.

Here’s the Mission Falls cotton that I bought for a little baby hat and cardigan. The baby is due in June and I’m knitting it small in hopes that it will be suitable for summer and/or early fall.















Here is the book that I’m using for the hat and cardie pattern.









Here is the pattern. Isn’t it too cute for words? The yarn called for in the pattern is a Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran so my version won’t drape quite as well as in the picture but I’m hoping that it will be nice anyways. I hope cotton isn’t too harsh for little baby skin – what do you think?




I have got to be one of the loosest knitters on the planet so here is swatch number one, a full ½ a needle size smaller and…







Here is swatch number two, a full needle size smaller than the pattern calls for, which turns out to be just right for me.

The other thing the helpful ladies up at my LYS helped me with (thanks, Joanne!) was to design a baby blanket. I had seen one that my aunt did for her grandson and really liked it so asked here for the pattern. However, either she sent me the wrong pattern (sorry, Aunt J, I’m sure this is my fault) or, more likely, the pattern that I received from her just doesn’t match what I remember it looking like. Either way, I’ve decided to make up my own pattern using a moss stitch border and a basket weave interior. I love the look of more lacy baby blankets but am afraid that I’ll get our baby’s wee fingers tangled up badly/hurt in those holes so I’m going for a more ‘solid’ option. I will also post a photo of the Patons Astra yarn I’m using for this blanket. I just love the colours and am hoping Astra is good for washing due to ‘spit ups’. Wow, the things I now have to start thinking about when I plan a knitting project…

I’m still having some problems with the new blogger. For example, it ‘forgot’ my profile picture in the transition and I only just got that back yesterday. You may also notice that the link under ‘blogs I read’ (which is FAR from complete) doesn’t work yet. Any hints in that area would be appreciated. However, I LOVE how you can download more than one picture at a time AND more than four pictures on a post so there is some silver in the cloud!

Now that I've realised that I can post more than four pictures at a time, I may have gone a bit overboard in this post. My apologies but I was having fun playing! Off to walk the border collie and knit a hat!

PUTTERING AROUND

Yes, I know, I’m a bad blogger. So negligent in fact, that Renee had to send me a comment to check and see if I was okay. What a sweetie! You gotta love this knitterly blogging community when a fellow blogger blogs to check up on you!

Just three days from the end of my wonderful Newfoundland trip, I ended up in bed with a very bad cold – cough, fever (only to 100.4 F so not too serious – just serious enough to make me miserable), aches and pains. I even tried to change my flights from departing on a Wednesday (Feb 7th) to the Saturday but was not able to do so. As much as I was enjoying having my mother take care of me while I was sick, I had a doctor’s appointment and an ultrasound on Monday the 12th and didn’t want to miss/reschedule those. I managed to make it back to Montreal from St. John’s without my ear drums hurting too badly on the 7th as planned and DH was at the train station in Ottawa to pick me up after my very early flight. He brought me home and put me to bed for the weekend.

During my doctor’s appointment on the 12th, I learned that if you’re sick enough, you can be given antibiotics when you’re pregnant. It turns out I had bronchitis! And, it’s amazing how much better I felt after even one day of taking antibiotics. I’m only just starting to get my groove back now after my week of medication but my energy levels are steadily going up, although I still sound like a seal when I cough,. Hurrah! I think I’m back.

Before I left to go home (to a Newfoundlander, ‘home’ is always Newfoundland and Labrador. Where I live now is ‘where I live now’), I made a goal of finishing sewing up my sweater so that I’d get at least a couple of weeks wear out of it before my bump got too big (not to mention the opportunity to show it off to friends and family). It’s official: my bump is now too big. Here is my dress form (was I ever that small?) modelling the completed product. I started this sweater in May of 2005 so it is embarrassing that it took this long to complete. However, it is complete, perfectly wearable, and I love it! I also learned from A to Z about knitting from this project so now feel confident to go ahead and start many other ones without ‘sweater fear’! I am very proud.



And here is a little glimpse of the bouncing child incubating inside me. No guesses on the gender, please! We don’t want to know until the big day so all bets are not to be forwarded this way. Feel free to keep your own tally and let me know how you did afterwards!


Thanks for caring, Renee!

POOR HAND

For any of you aware of the love between Newfoundland and Labradorians and a good game of cards, this will not be an uplifting story. Since I arrived home a week ago, 'tis been a wee bit starmy. Starmy enough to cancel flights, close schools (such as the university) and cancel the city bus line. You know, a bit blustery. And what do you do when it’s blustery (besides knit)? You play cards!

Two of my family’s favourite card games are Queen’s and School (my husband and I love Euchre too which is somewhat like 120’s which we also play at our house sometimes). Therefore, Mudder and Fadder and I have had three games of Queen’s and Mudder and I had one game of School since I’ve been home. I’m almost ashamed to admit it but it appears that I’m losing my card playing touch.

In the fall of 1993, I lived with my grandparents in Gander Bay while I completed my first social work placement at Social Services in Gander. During that 3 and a half month stay, my grandmother – the ultimate card shark – and I played an innumerable number of card games. Seeing as I was staying for so long, Kathleen (my grandmother) and I decided to have a School tournament. Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away in May of 2005. However, it is because she is not longer with us that I can now share this story. I won the School tournament. No question about it, I absolutely smoked her! When it came to School that fall, I was unbeatable. Naturally, I was sworn to secrecy so can only now talk about it. Kathleen had a certain reputation to uphold, you see. It is also interesting to note that we also quickly switched from School to Queen’s where she was having better luck beating me that fall.

Kathleen would not be proud of me right now. In the three games of Queen’s we’ve played here this week, I’ve lost all of them. Badly. Very badly! In the game of School Mudder and I played last night, we did have a good close game but I still lost. Obviously the time has come for my husband to retire from the Canadian Forces so I can move back home and re-hone (is that a word?) my card playing skills. Excuse me, I have to go somewhere and curl up in the fetal position until I’m feeling less vulnerable….

I'M MAD!

When I tried to publish Renee's comments (thanks, Renee!), Blogger forced me to switch to the 'NEW' blogger against my will! Hmpf! I'm not sure how I feel about this lack of control! I'm going to be playing with this new system to see what I think so please bear with me.

BIG NEWS FROM NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR!

Big News Number One:

Renee is going to be so jealous! She might have in-laws visiting from Newfoundland and Labrador but I decided to GO to Newfoundland and Labrador instead of entertaining company. Ah. The familiar sounds of home. Dad with the compressor running in the garage doing God knows what, Mudder puttering around at the family tree(geneology), little Gicker (my nickname for my little sister) hanging out in the living room until she has to go to work and Dali the dog whining at the door to get in or out.

I got in on Tuesday and it was a good thing I did. Yesterday was a very blustery day indeed. Everything in St. John’s was closed down – even the university. I attended Memorial for six years (long story resulting in one completed and only a few more credits required for another completed undergraduate degree) and it only closed down for weather two or three times that I remember. So, that’s how stormy it was here yesterday. In fact, we’re still waiting for the plow to come in and plow Mudder and Fadder’s driveway! Dad was out yesterday and shoveled quite a bit – including being up on a ladder pulling the heavy, wet snow off the roof. Dad really needs a seat belt for such activities (to say the man is accident prone would be like saying fish like swimming in a little bit of water) but didn’t need an ambulance service at the end, for which we are grateful.

I’m home for two and a half weeks. I came home on Aeroplan points so ended up flying from Montreal instead of Ottawa and saved myself 10, 000 points for my next trip in the process. DH dropped me off at the train station in Ottawa on Tuesday morning and, I must say, the whole process was rather painless. I had a two hour stopover in Halifax where my friend L was kind enough to deliver sushi (vegetarian for me – you will find out why in the next section as I love fish sushi!) for supper and a chat before I had to go through security again –very nice! Our relationship over the past several years has been restricted to airport visits so I’m always thankful when L can get away from her busy schedule and fit me in.

Big News Number Two:

One of the reasons I wanted to visit Mudder and Fadder and the rest of the family and assorted friends right now is because I wanted to fly before I got too big. Yes, Elizabeth guessed it, we are expected our first baby on June 27th. I’m into month five now and we’re feeling a little bit more comfortable telling people, thus the ‘coming out of the closet’ on my blog! We’ve had problems in the past so this secret has only been in the open over the past couple of weeks. We didn’t want to jinx anything and had some test results that we wanted back before we made the big announcement. Therefore, I'm counting on all of you knitting mothers out there in the blogosphere to offer all kinds of helpful advice! I know I can count on you! It may be a busy summer if we also end up moving however, I'm not going to worry about that until March when the Canadian Forces cuts their 'posting messages' (CF term for the letter we get telling us the next place we will call 'home').

Off to try and convince Mudder that we need to go for a walk on the track. Mudder and Fadder are spitting distance from both the track (Trans Canada Trail) and Conception Bay (the waves are splitting the rocks down there right now - I listen to them to put me to sleep at night) so we have great access for walks right along the water. Yeah me!

DOWN THE LITERARY PATH

Wow, two posts in two days. I’m on a roll! Soon to be stopped by going home this evening and facing the reality that is my house. I still have Christmas to say ‘good-bye’ to. Eek!

I was thinking ‘what, exactly, did I do over the holidays?’ as I’m usually involved in many crafty pursuits which was not the case this year. Instead, I realized that I have enjoyed a LOT of reading and thought I’d share my list. I was lucky this year in that I enjoyed all of the books I read. I am an avid reader but, in my ripe old age, have given myself permission not to finish a book if I’m genuinely not enjoying it:

Marley and Me by John Grogan – do not read this book if you get migraines from laughing and crying like I did (yes, I got the migraine too)! An excellent read for any animal lovers out there – make sure you have a box of tissues handy as I cried from laughing so hard at the beginning of the book and then was in tears again at the end of the book. Thanks for the loan, C!

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse – Thanks to my mother-in-law, I was able to borrow this book for a great read. If you like theories about the Holy Grail, secret societies and strong women, you will like this book!

The Birth House by Ami McKay – A wonderful Christmas present from my parents (I grew up in a home where Christmas really isn’t Christmas unless you receive a couple of great books – thanks Mudder and Fadder!) and another strongly female character driven read. It involves women and midwifery using homeopathic remedies and is set in Nova Scotia. This book is about one woman who fought against a ‘testosterone dominated medical’ system as well as lived in a society where women were ‘seen and not heard’.

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage – Hmm. There is definitely a female theme running through my list this year. Another excellent, and fast, read. The first person character is a young black woman who is HIV positive and who decides to leave the big city and go home to visit for a little while, en route to a new beginning in another city. I really enjoyed this one too – thanks for the borrow, ML!

Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin - I also enjoyed one of the Inspector Rebus books by Ian Rankin over the holidays. I really enjoy this mystery series and, if you like mysteries, this may be a series for you!

And...

The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence - This is a book written for, probably, 9 - 12 year olds. I love children's authors and hope to write my own children's book someday so am always in the market for a new children's book. This is an interesting read for children interested in ships and mysterious happenings. It is a dark plot and I wouldn't recommend it to a child who is easily frightened. However, I did enjoy it. It's the first of a triology.

I’ve only included the books that I started and finished over the holidays for this list. I do have a couple of more books started (I usually have several on the go and read whichever one I’m in the mood for at that particular point in time. Call it ‘changing the channel’) but have not yet finished so they did not make today's cut. And, yes, I am a fast reader.

If you're interested, maybe I'll create another list like this in the future. TTFN!

GREETINGS FROM KINGSTON!

Hello, my friendly bloggers! I know. It seems as though I’ve dropped out of the blogosphere. I’ve been busy enjoying everyone else’s blogs (Renee’s, Elizabeth’s, Kate’s and Samantha’s to name a few) but been sadly neglecting my own. This is partially due to the fact that I have no interesting knitterly photographs. None. Zip. Nadda.

I have been blessed to have DH home for holidays for two weeks – he just went back to work on Tuesday. When we weren’t visiting or Christmas/New Years carousing with friends, DH has been working away in our basement. We (that’s the royal ‘we’ – DH has done all of the work down there with some help from friends and that list doesn’t include help from the friend he married) have been trying to get the basement renovated for many years. The light at the end of the tunnel is near. I will have pictures of the wondrous event…when I get back to Kanata. I am, you see, gallivanting around Kingston for a week with a friend of mine so can’t post pictures as I left my digital camera at home. Bad Patty!

So far, we’ve visited Wool-Tyme in Kingston and many, many downtown shops. Visiting Kingston wouldn’t be complete without lunch at Pan Chancho’s so we did that yesterday (hurrah for carrot, lemon and thyme soup and hummus sandwiches!). I’m hoping we will go again… I have no idea what we’re doing today but can’t help but look forward to what will likely be another exciting afternoon.

And, how about knitterly progress? Again: none, zip, nadda. I have only knit a couple of rows since the New Year started. I have been concentrating on trying to complete WIP’s in the cross stitch format. Therefore, 2007 may see some other than knitterly projects on this blog as my cross stitch WIP’s have developed into quite the nasty pile. You wouldn’t believe the attitude from that side of the house! Nothing but complaints about ‘crossing to the other side’ and how using ‘one needle instead of two’ is superior. I’ve just got to whip some of these projects into completion submission!

Wish me luck…

TREE FLASH

Okay, à la Renee and Allena, here is my tree flash. Like theirs, mine is artificial. We bought it on sale two years ago with, as per DH's specification, already wired in lights. It took me 5 minutes to put up this year without DH because, as has happened so many other times this fall, he wasn't home to help. We had an artificial tree about 10 years ago but lost it in a sewage flood in our military quarter (long story) in Cold Lake, AB so it took us all that time to replace it. Artifical works best for me because I like to put up my tree around the 25th of November and leave it up until Old Christmas Day (January 6th - Newfoundland tradition or at least MY family's Newfoundland tradition). Real trees are looking rather, shall we say, naked, by that time?

Yep, I know, there are a LOT of ornaments on this tree. Most are handmade but, not all. I've been creating and collecting for years. And, yes, I could be considered slightly fanatical about this time of the year.

Here is the culmilation of my cake decorating classes - four finished already! I even have a cute little completion certificate with my name on it! Yeah me! This is my first attempt at roses and, although they bear a striking resemblance to 'hen and chicks' I think they also make a mean 'old fashioned rose' look. And, old fashioned roses are my favourites - you can't beat their scent!

And if this isn't cute, I don't know what is! She still gets into moderate trouble (take for instance she is standing right in front of the monitor right now - argh!). Otherwise though, she's a real treat to have around.

I managed to get my Christmas cards FINISHED today. None of them will arrive before Christmas but at least I should get them in the mail before the big day. I've been trying to get cards out for years and this is the first in many. I'm very proud (and apologise in advance for all of the people I forgot to send cards to. Shame me by writing and I'll write back!).

Off to think about supper...

HURRAH!

The cleaning is done…for another week. It’s all sparkly for the company (who always says not to even bother but I’m like that. I like the house cleaned once a week whether it needs it or not and it always needs it!). A homemade sauce for chicken and fresh bread (I LOVE my bread making machine! Thanks, In-laws!) are on. I’m just waiting for DH to get home to add the chicken to the sauce and make a salad and some basmati rice. We might be going to a movie tonight with our friends/company, S & ML. Life is good.

‘Casino Royale’ seems to be a popular choice for a movie but I just watched the trailer for ‘Eragon’ and I’m in love! I love science fiction and fantasy and I think I’ve found a new fantasy author – yeah! I checked out the book site and it turns out the author was born on my birthday! Wow! And only a few years younger … (like 13 and, yes, now that you mention it, that does make me feel old!).

The Christmas lights are lit and the only one complaining here today is our doggie Para who has not yet had her walk and is MAD about it. Look at this face! She’s all grumpy! Betcha never thought you’d see a Border Collie pout before!

Here is a ‘before’ picture of the quilt that I mentioned earlier this week. Progress to follow (none made yet. Heck, I was cleaning!). My aim is to get it finished over the holidays.

I started this lovely little quilt in the winter of 2002 when we were still living in Germany (DH is in the Canadian Forces – we’ve lived in some very neat places) and was desperate to start quilting again. I had taken quilting lessons in Cold Lake, Alberta, our posting before Geilenkirchen, Germany, so felt comfortable getting this far. Unfortunately, I had started more quilts than I had finished in Cold Lake so this was as far as I got with this quilt before feeling I needed more education. Since we’ve moved to Ottawa, I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to take many great classes from my LQS (Local Quilt Store which is, incidentally, right next to my LYS!) as well as through the Ottawa Valley Quilters Guild. Armed with this knowledge, I know I can finish this quilt. There are two motivations: 1) it will look gorgeous and fit perfectly above our fireplace and 2) it’s a Christmas quilt; it will look its most gorgeous and fit most perfectly above our fireplace at Christmas and not February!

Wish me luck!

COMMENT CONTROL

I knew it was a matter of time but this blog managed to last six months before I had to do this. Sorry folks but, all posted comments will now go through me before being published on this blog. I received an anonymous posting this morning that I didn't appreciate (the content could have been much worse but it was not appreciated just the same) so I've has to enable some 'comment control'. Therefore, no more anonymous blogging meaning that you will have to register with blogger to add a comment. My apologies as I realise it was easier the other way but I guess I can blame the 'anonymous' ones out in cyberspace for ruining our fun!

Onto brighter and better things: I'm housecleaning! We have friends coming for the weekend and I want the house to sparkle. Actually, I am trying to make Thursday's a regular cleaning day as I want the house clean for the weekends when we're more likely to have 'drop in' company (love that!) and I HATE cleaning on the weekends! Leftover feelings from when I was working full-time I suppose.

Once the 'have to's' are done (cleaning and dog walking) I intend on moving onto the really fun things: quilting a Christmas quilt! Blogging information on that WIP to follow! Off to clean (can you tell this is a pep post to get me motivated???) :) .

CHRISTMAS FO!

You know, I still haven’t gotten back into knitting. It’s sad really as I have so many projects in the living room staring me in the eye and complaining. However, I can have really refined selective hearing and am ignoring the seductive sound of ‘Australian wool and silk mix in a gorgeous green colour combined with an Australian sweater pattern all for me’! I must have nerves of steel.

I will continue with the Aussie trip in my next post. Today, however, I wanted to share an FO with you! At least, I think it should be considered an FO but DH would probably classify it in the ‘make work’ project. Here’s why: this is a photo of a lovely little cross stitched pillow. I finished the cross stitch around 1995, seeing as that’s the date on the cross stitch itself. I seem to remember it took me ages to make the actual pillow as per the pattern in the magazine (say, 1996 or 1997?). I love the cross stitch itself but I have never had much use for the pillow. It was too small.

When I hauled it out of the 17 odd (no, I’m not exaggerating!) Christmas Rubbermaid containers this year, I decided that I needed to do something with it. The poor thing always gets ‘stuck’ somewhere because, as I said, I love the cross stitched picture, but the pillow just wasn’t useful.

So, I decided, ‘self, you’ve got to do something with this – it’s a shame to sigh over it every year and then stick it somewhere for the sake of having it out’. I decided to make a small wall hanging out of it instead. Here are the cute little buttons that I covered for the hanging tabs and here is the completed piece. I will take another picture when I find the perfect little black wrought iron holder to hang it from. Now I should go back to getting those Christmas parcels out…























We’ve been going to Christmas parties galore so I thought I would introduce DH (his blog debut) when he was looking particularly handsome this past weekend. This picture was taken in our living room on Saturday evening before we left for DH’s work Christmas party.

THE LAND OF OZ – CONT’D

After getting into our hotel room and having a shower, DH and I went on a 2 hr plus cruise of the harbour. It was very nice. As the weather was so nice, people were out in their boats like crazy! The boat we were on had to keep manoeuvring around the sail powered boats (engine power gives way to wind power on the water). I was amazed by two things – how large Sydney Harbour actually is (over 155 little coves and inlets on the harbour – innumerable beaches) and how water based the city is. You can commute by ferry and many people do. Australians LOVE to be out on the water.

The boat trip ended (I got sick as I always do on any boat bigger than a trawler therefore there are no blog approved Patty pictures from this particular trip as I’m green in all of them!) and we were both pooped. I’m ashamed to say that, rather than more exploring, we went back to the hotel and slept until the next morning.


The next day we went for a walk
around the Opera House.
Here’s a picture of me with the Harbour Bridge in the background. As a tourist thing, you could pay and WALK over the bridge. My fear of heights made me hyperventilate at the thought! The exterior finish material of the Opera House looks like dragon scales!



We then walked along the water and past the Gardens and visited Mrs. MacQuarrie’s seat where this wife of one of Sydney’s first Governor’s sat and waited for her sailor husband to come home. Here’s me on her seat and here’s the view we got from the point just in front of this group of rocks – well worth the little hike!

That afternoon, we flew to Adelaide (about an hour flight from Sydney on Quantas) where we spent the next 9 days. DH went to his meetings every day while I combined sleeping in with touring – a very nice combination!

I really enjoyed my cake decorating class last night. It was night one of Course 1 so it was an information giving and demonstration night. There is only myself and one other person in the class so it’s almost private lessons! Apparently, the class would go ahead even if I was the only one registered. Now I have homework! I have to bake a cake and ice it (using the Wilton ‘secret’ Butter Icing Recipe) as well as mix the icing for the four colours I’m using in a rainbow cake (I think I have an attachment to rainbows…) for class tomorrow night. There are two classes this week because Christmas –eek – is in three weeks. Next week and the week after, I only have class on Monday nights.

Off to bake a cake and more house decorating!

AUSSIE NEWS

Since I’m not feeling particularly creative these days, I thought I should ‘re-start’ the creative blogging juices by talking a bit about our trip to Australia. I will add some pictures to make this December blog a little more exciting, and hope to blog more frequently than I was able to in November.

First of all, I would not recommend a trip to Australia unless you’ve going for 2 or more weeks. I do not normally mind travelling and am not scared of aeroplane trips (unlike my mother) however, I found the whole down and back travel to Australia awful. The trip itself was fantastic but the travel was very tiring.

From Ottawa, we first flew to Vancouver – a 5 hour flight – not bad. We then waited for SEVEN hours in Vancouver. DH (he’s converted from SD (Sugar Daddy) now that I’m no longer in school) is from B.C. and his parents and sister were going to visit us from the island. Unfortunately, the wind was up and the ferries were cancelled so, instead of a mini reunion, Pete and I hung out at the Fairmont Hotel at the airport. It’s very nice, here’s how to visit in cyberspace.

Being the true designer that I am, I had to take some bathroom pictures as their bathrooms are stunning. Check out these sinks! AND, all motion controlled. You walked in the room, and a fawcett would start! We would have MUCH preferred to spend the day with family, however.

After a fight through US Customs (we had a 1.5 hour stop over in Honolulu and, despite the fact that our luggage wasn’t even hitting the ground, we had to go through Customs) which I won’t go into detail about because it still makes me mad, we settled in for a 6 hour trip to Hawaii. The flight wasn’t bad but having to get off the plane (they were refuelling) and go through security again was a bit of a pain. I can’t say anything about the Hawaiian landscape because both times we were there it was 1:30 AM and dark but nice and humid and warm. They also have many places in the airport that are completely open air with just the roof and the fresh breeze blowing through. Very nice.

The next leg of the trip was 10 hours worth of flying drama and we staggered into Sydney at 7:30 AM South Australia time. It was a beautiful bright sunny day and our shuttle bus driver told us the first nice day of Spring! Australia has had the coldest spring on record for over 100 years and we were there to experience it!

Our hotel room wasn’t ready so early in the morning and, we were told, the view from our allocated room was worth waiting for, so we went exploring the Sunday market in The Rocks area of Circular Quay, a short walk from the hotel.

Here’s Patty after 30 odd hours of flying, no shower and little sleep, in Circular Quay. The gorgeous purple tree just to my left is called a ‘Jacaranda’ and Australia was full of these beautiful blooming trees. They were amazing and my favourite new Aussie word.

And here’s the view from our hotel room. Worth waiting for?

I’m now off to run errands. I’m getting a ‘pre-Christmas’ gift from DH and am starting the first of four cake decorating classes tonight at Michael’s. I can’t wait!

TOP 10 REASONS IT’S NICE TO BE HOME

10. Greetings at the door from happy pets!

9. Our own car that drives on the correct side of the road with the steering wheel on the left (not a rental that drives on the wrong side of the road with the steering wheel on the right).

8. Canada Post delivered my prize from the Knit2BTied contest – thanks, Aprilynne! I love the sock yarn! Photos to come.

7. I recognise all of the groceries in my cupboards.

6. My own washer and dryer!

5. My own bathroom!

4. Flannel sheets.

3. Regular Internet access. Yeah, Elizabeth! You’ve started your own blog! I’m so sorry I hadn’t noticed before. Call it ‘homeworkitis’ defined as the inability to see outside ones own reality of desperation long enough to celebrate the successes of anyone else. Check out Elizabeth’s blog at The Transplanted Knitter.

2. Reunion with my knitting stash. Not that I’ve knit in forever. I think I’m experiencing knitting burn out! I have even re-started a cross stitch that I probably began 10 years ago in hopes that, this year, it will be ready for Christmas. Rather than knit. Go figure. And finally, the top reason why it's so nice to be home...

1. I’m in my own house and Christmas is coming. I’m currently cleaning in anticipation of putting out my first Christmas decorations (I’m a bit of an addict) this week. Well, that’s one motivation. The other is that a family member not usually living in this house may stop by later and we trashed the house when we came home despite that fact that our house sitters did a marvellous job keeping the place ship shape while we were away.

TOP 10 REASONS WHY IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO BLOG

10. Fitting 3 weeks worth of school work into two weeks was a bit harrowing (meaning: hellish). I could barely concentrate on eating let alone compile creative thoughts for a blog! It’s a weight loss plan I wouldn’t recommend for the faint of heart.

9. See number 10 for already discussed school cramming. It also created a desperate allergy to a computer, which lasted for weeks. I finished school on Thursday, November 7th and left for Australia the morning of the 8th.

8. Internet connection rates at the hotels we stayed at in Australia were ASTROMICALLY expensive. Even my mother had to wait a whole week before hearing whether or not we had arrived in Australia (she and Dad are galivanting around the UK so don’t feel too sorry for her).

7. School cramming created huge burn out. Therefore, no creative thought for two weeks of holidays in Oz. That means: no knitting either.

6. Was sleeping off jet lag for many days.

5. Am now jet lagged again from the return trip so coherent thought is still a novelty and only occurs in fleeting spurts and starts.

4. I was punishing myself. On my last night here before leaving for Australia, I walked into my LYS close to closing time only to realize that The Harlot was there. I had no idea. I hadn’t heard anything. The fact that my head had not been above the dining room table and homework for weeks is no excuse! I was so ashamed. I missed her entire talk. I HAD YET TO PACK TO LEAVE IN 8 HOURS FOR 30 ODD HOURS OF TRAVEL. I bought the yarn I went there for and, with head down, slunk away. I didn’t even say ‘hello’ to The Harlot. It still hurts when I think of it.

3. I still haven’t unpacked. We got back Friday night. However, we did drive down to Kingston last night for an overnight to pick up our doggie and only just arrived back.

2. I have been involved in some major soul searching over the past several weeks and, when I’m like that, I find it hard to concentrate on anything else. Therefore, the blog and all other electronic correspondence (emails, telephone calls) have suffered.

1. One of my major soul searching decisions has resulted in me taking a year off school. It’s for a really, really good reason. One that I will share with you in a couple of weeks, if all goes well.

Miss me?