A Shopping We Will Go

There is nothing like Sunday morning shopping, if you are able to look at shopping as a relaxing and enjoyable outing. I realise not everyone – such as my Mudder – is of the same ilk when it comes to shopping but even she might be convinced to go when I’m talking about book shopping. My friend ML and I went to Chapters this morning to take advantage of my 20% off anything (in a book format) special for Chapters members that was on today. Wahoo! Apart from purchasing two baby development related books, these two knitting books also made their way into my bag:


Itty-bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson (this purchase is totally Samantha’s fault. I have to admit to having looked at this book before, as per Samantha’s suggestions and gorgeous knitting results, but ended up putting it back on the shelf. I managed to hold off buying it until Samantha knit this "Candy Cane" hat (see her May 14, 2007 post) and posted it on her blog this past week. I almost died from the sheer cuteness and immediately added this book to my shopping list).

I also found:


Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding.

I’m not sure if I’m more excited about the cute baby patterns (sweaters, hats and booties to name a few) in this book or the fact that there are two nursing sweaters and a nursing shawl in it for mommies!

Now I have to decide between knitting this "Bunny Tail" hat (I figure I can use pink or blue ribbons around the wee hat ears after Baby is born)

or this Candy Cane hat, both from the Itty-bitty book.

I think either would be adorable on a newborn returning home from the hospital. I’m considering using the lovely Wool Gatto that Renée gave me and I think "Bunny Tail" would knit up nice and soft in that yarn.

I am still working on my wee blankie for Baby. So as not to bore you (I have to admit to having accomplished more in the way of frogging over the past couple of days than progressive knitting), I would like to show you one of the gorgeous gifts we have been receiving for the wee one.

This is called a Blueberry Hat and was knit by a lady who went to nursing school with DH’s mother and is now, as these things go, one of our friend’s.

Get this: it is hand-SPUN, hand-DYED, and (naturally) hand knit in 100% wool. It is lovely and soft and I cannot wait until our little blueberry is big enough to wear it! Thanks so much, D and J!

XXX Baking And XOX Knitting

I had a craving for chocolate cake last week. I am not a huge chocolate cake fan – I prefer vanilla or most other kinds actually. Chocolate cake, to me, is ‘flavoured’ with chocolate while a piece of chocolate is the real thing. I prefer the real thing.

As we gear up to move, we are also trying to use up some of the stuff in the cupboards. What to my wandering fingers should appear, but an instant marble cake mix, ready to prepare! Our oven regulates a bit high so I decided to make cupcakes rather than a cake. It’s a cake mix, right? It’s been my experience that instant cake mixes are pretty hard to mess up. Apparently not…

As this was a marble cake mix, I mixed up enough for the vanilla part and poured that into the cupcake papers in the baking tin. I then mixed the rest of the vanilla with the chocolate powder from the mix (truly, I was just following the instructions!) and poured the chocolate batter over the vanilla batter already in the baking tins. I guess the chocolate portion was heavier and caused a bit of a ‘volcano’ effect.

A very obscene volcano effect (I mean, really, what do these look like to you?).


I bet this experiment would be hard to replicate however, just in case, I may be cut off from making ‘marble flavoured’ anything until my child is at least ‘PG 13’!

Onto knitting news. I have said before that I’m a slow knitter and, at 182 stitches a row, this blanket does not seem to grow very often. I’m also a bit of a timid knitter when it comes to trying new things. It took me saying that I was going to work on the cables for the blanket on this blog last week to work up the nerve to try cables again. Remember I was teaching myself? I’m not scared anymore. In fact, the night before last, I noticed a mistake in my cables and, yesterday morning, took four stitches down four rows and fixed them up – all on the third try! I’m very pleased with myself.

Here’s how the Baby’s blanket is looking now.

Can you see the beginning of the OXO cable?


I probably should have started the cable pattern a little later as the bottom ‘X’ is cut off, however, I will know that for the next time I design something with this type of cable. Overall, I think these little guys (there will be nine OXO cables across the middle section of the blanket) will add much more interest to an, otherwise, pretty boring knit. Love those colours though – they will look great with my new stroller. Hmm. Perhaps that will provide another photo op another day?

The Size Of Things To Come

Hmm, I seem to be averaging one post a week. Not good. DH, Para and I are headed off today for a brief camping trip (one night) in our VW van. We wanted at least one more camping trip with me pregnant, as opposed to breast feeding, and tonight is the night. With any luck, we will get in another trip before A) it gets too hot and B) Baby is born.

Speaking of Baby, we had an ultrasound on Tuesday morning. The good news is that Baby seems to be healthy and happy. The ‘bad’ news is that Baby is heavy! S/he weighed in at 5 lbs on Tuesday – the ultrasound technician said that that is 2 weeks ahead on the growth chart. If this keeps up, Baby will be over 9 lbs at 40 weeks! I am vewy, vewy scared…

The other really neat news about the ultrasound was that we were able to see Baby’s face. Isn’t s/he cute? No bump picture this week – I thought this shot was far cuter!

While we watched, Baby opened her/his eyes and mouth and even stuck her/his tongue out at us! It was amazing! The dark colour around Baby’s head is amniotic fluid and you can just see some hair at the top of her/his head, as well as a little hand. Baby was moving around a lot during the ultrasound and even kicked the technician. I just love those chubby cheeks (I may not appreciate them as much when s/he is on the way ‘out’ but, I love them now!).

My apologies for no news on the knitting front. We have been slowly collecting things for the baby (e.g. ordering a BOB Revolution Stroller , from MEC, and a Pogy travel crib – we will buy a regular crib in NS). Between shopping for Baby and driving down to Kingston (where I stayed for a couple of nights) to pick up Para, I have not had much time for other fun things, such as knitting, this week. However, I’m hoping to tackle some OXO cables on our little camping trip… news on that to follow.

We Went, We Bought And Sold, And...We're Back!

The past couple of weeks have been hard on a pregnant body. I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon and plan on taking it easy between now and then in an effort to get little round me feeling a little more me and little less like an ultra marathon runner on day three of a 1000 KM multi-day race!

Our trip to NS was very successful. We had confirmation of the sale of our house in Kanata (and a nice ‘SOLD’ sticker on the sign when we returned home!) and bought an even lovelier home in a town called Middleton, Nova Scotia. It is about a 12 minute drive from the CF base in Greenwood to our new home. As this is still a private home, I cannot post interior pictures (and I have lots!) however, here is are a couple of exterior front photos to whet your whistle.

The home is 54 years old and has been lovingly maintained. We are only owner three! The house has all of its original hardwood floors on the main and upper stories; has a secret room (!) off the bedroom that will become the nursery (how cool is that?); and has had many recent upgrades including all new windows, a main bathroom renovation and a new propane fireplace in the living room. I could go on and on. I am absolutely smitten and it may be hard for the CF to get us out of there in three years (the length of DH’s current posting there although, we’re hoping for longer).

We managed to look at 21 homes in the first three days of our house hunting trip. We were lucky in that the area is considered to be a ‘buyers’ market this year. We also managed a nap and good eating every day. However, the stress of selling and buying homes is hard on me so I sit here with a queasy stomach and swollen ankles – both of which will pass after a couple of days I’m sure.

We have also returned with a new mission. Operation Sell/Buy Home is now over. Operation Baby can now resurface! I am a little concerned about the lack of preparation for this baby but am confident we can rectify the problem within the next couple of weeks. We attended pre-natal classes on April 21 and 28th and both were very informative. Now, we need to start gathering supplies. Research on infant car seats and the myriad of other ‘requirements’ that you need for a wee one will now commence. I am very excited! Not that I wasn’t before, of course, but our successes over the past couple of weeks means that I can now hunker down and concentrate on our Baby instead of a hundred other things.

On our way back to Halifax on Friday evening, we went for a little drive near Lunenburg to a town called Blue Rocks, at the mouth of Lunenburg Bay. At risk of having Renée following us to Nova Scotia (I’m still half expecting a stow away to show up at the door near the end of July when we move), I'm posting a couple of pictures of Blue Rocks (including the first picture in this post) to show you some of the scenery we will be enjoying, come August:

And, here are me and the bump in Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia in week 33!

WE'RE ALIVE!

But, very busy! I apologize for the dirth of blogging activity. So far this week, we've listed the house and have conditionally sold it - all in one day! We leave tomorrow for NS to buy the house we will be moving into in early August. Wish us luck and I will be back to blogging the second week of May.

THE VINYL GUY (CONT’D)

That title means, yes, it’s true. He’s. Still. Here.

Unfortunately, there was a bubble under the vinyl in the kitchen (caused by the sub-floor de-laminating – something it’s guaranteed NOT to do) and that had to be repaired so the nice installer is just getting to nailing in the ¼ round edging en route to finishing. Yes, it IS after 3:00 PM on Friday. A day later than he expected and he’s still working!

The last part of the job is for him to put sealant on all of the seams. Unlike how the floor previously looked with the ‘peel and stick’ squares and metal transition strips between every room, this installer has perfectly matched all of the joined seams. Therefore, there are only going to be metal strips transitioning between the vinyl and carpet on top of the basement stairs and from the vinyl to the carpet going into the living room. This technique really gives a better feeling of space and, actually, makes the vinyl look a little more like tile! It looks really good. However, the sealant takes about 3 hours to dry and is really smelly so the installer doesn't want me in the house when it's drying. The cats are barred up in our bedroom and Para and I will be taking the van to a walking spot and, maybe, a picnic with DH, while we wait for the fumes to go down.

Here is a ‘before’ picture seeing as I nothing else interesting going on in my life right now besides renovations and organising (and I’m sure you don’t want to see pictures of boxes!). Note the 23 year old original vinyl in the closet and the ‘peel and stick’ on the left. I thought the ‘peel and stick’ looked pretty good (it was here when we bought the house) until the new vinyl went down. The new stuff looks a lot better:


Here are sample photos of the sub-floor that the installer laid before the vinyl went down:


Later, I hope to have completed vinyl pictures for you when the job is done. No, no predictions on when that’s going to be. I’m way past the ability to predict anything now…

THE LAUGH IS ON US (or) ATTACK OF THE VINYL GUY

Not much happening around my blog this week, eh? Here’s why. Here’s what we did on Sunday night (DH did most of the moving, don’t worry. I more act in a ‘supervisory’ capacity these days).

As you can see, the refrigerator is in the living room (albeit, plugged in). So is our stove. No biggie, right? After all, the flooring will only take one day to install so that’s one days worth of take out and we’re ready to go. One day was how long it took to do the carpet…

HA! The nice vinyl flooring guy got here on Monday. By about 3:00 PM when DH called for a progress report I said, a little hesitantly, that I didn’t think the floor would be finished on Monday. Maybe Tuesday? DH got home and spoke to the installer (I was happily – and blissfully ignorant – camped out on the basement floor on my Thermarest camp mattress (we don’t have a bed or a couch down here) for my afternoon nap). When DH came down to nudge me, he says,

"Did you ask the installer how long it will take him to install the floor?"
"No." Came my muffled reply from the basement floor.
"He figures it’s going to take him four days!" DH says a little incredulously. I started to laugh and laugh! This type of disaster is so typical of us! The installer even said to DH that the flooring companies never write on the invoice how long the installation is going to take. We now know to ask next time!

Note: we were to have our first real estate meeting on Thursday evening. You know, the kind of meeting where you walk through your sparkling house, admiring the gorgeously decorated spaces while enjoying a cup of tea and the views of a nice green lawn without spring apples in the backyard. I refer you back to photograph number one. This is what our living room will look like at 5:00 PM, Thursday evening (Newfoundlanders call anytime after noon ‘evening’). The meeting was set for 7:00 PM Thursday evening.

Our meeting is now changed to next week giving me the weekend and, Lord knows, whatever other time I need to clean up the main floor. Did I mention that the weather was so bad for the past two days that the installer had to do all of his sub-floor cutting inside and that sub-floor for vinyl flooring needs to have the seams sanded down? You wouldn’t believe the dust. The worst thing is, my mother-in-law has me under strict orders not to be washing any walls (another Newfoundland spring ritual)…she didn’t mention dusting them though…

In the meantime, seeing as we can’t work on the main floor, we have concentrated on other areas of the house. The basement has only 4 boxes left for DH to look through and sort and then we’ll have officially gone through all of the containers in our storage area and organised/gutted them. I’m so proud of us! Not so the garage but, that’s another story perhaps worthy of blogging about.

Another project DH has been working on is our master bedroom (it was yet another item on the 'things we must do before selling the house' list). Since we purchased this house in 2002, we renovated two of the bedrooms and put down laminate flooring (the same type and dye lot as is in the basement). We also purchased enough to put in the master bedroom and here are the results:

Before (unlike Yarn Harlot, I did not clean up our room before taking these pictures. I didn’t get a chance to capture the big mess before DH had the furniture moved out. I figured saving images of our untidiness for posterity only serves to add to the overall impact at the end of the job (assuming the ‘after’ pictures include a neat room, of course). Note the 20 year old carpet:

During:

And, after!

These were taken just a few minutes ago, the cats are just checking out the new space. The duvet cover may need to be changed – I might get a chance to get out next week and look for a new one – and one of the wall pictures (another plate) is in the living room so that’s not up yet. There’s just no way this body can fit into the living room right now.

Regardless of a few touch ups (the need to re-paint and re-install the closet doors, new electrical plate covers and some telephone wiring) we think it looks pretty darn good!

Off to a pre-natal appointment…

WEEK 28 BUMPALUMP

As promised, here is a bump picture taken last week at snowy Lake Louise (neither DH nor I had ever been there in the snow before). Lots of people were out walking across the lake but, as you can probably tell, I wasn’t really dressed for a hike and we were trying to get to Calgary at a decent hour. You can also probably tell that my coat selection has become compromised – this green fleece is the only thing with the flex to go around my tummy. Luckily, pregnancy warmth had hit and I was quite comfy despite being in a dress with no long johns! Notice the shoes? It was spring when we left Summerland and turned into winter the closer we got to Calgary. Creston, too, had the tulips up and the forsythia blooming. Lake Louise and Calgary provided a bit of preparation back into the reality of an Ottawa "spring".

We’re still working like mad around here. I will post more renovation pictures soon. Our progress was somewhat challenged today by the alternator in the car dying. DH was out running errands when the battery light came on. Unfortunately, that meant quite the expensive trip to the garage and a change of errand plans (thus a delay in work) so we could get the car to the garage ASAP. Sigh.

Tomorrow afternoon we meet with the military’s move people and see when we can go on our house hunting trip (HHT) as well as determining other intricate details of our upcoming move. The excitement never ends!

To top is all off, DH just had a Dairy Queen craving so Para and I drove up to Dairy Queen (it’s a nice long walk in the summer but way too far to walk on a dark and rainy evening) to get us some ice cream. Turns out Baby likes ice cream and is still kicking for joy! His/her father’s child! And here we are, back at Lake Louise, with the ‘long arm shot’ provided by DH.

THE THINGS WE DO BEFORE MOVING…

The first thing we do is go to a par-tay! The party for Grandma H was fantastic and went off without a hitch. It was a great opportunity for story telling and, with about 120 people in attendance at the birthday reception on Saturday, March 31, we certainly heard a few stories. Grandma was a great sport and offered comment throughout the speeches. Congratulatory letters were read from the Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Premier, the local MLA and, the best one of all, was read from Creston’s Mayor. It was very touching and included a heartfelt thank you to a woman who helped deliver most of the current residents of the Creston valley! Even the ‘youngsters’ who used to live around Grandma’s family growing up, not only showed up for the big event but also got up to talk about all the trouble they used to get into and how Grandma H was there to help out in her capacity as a nurse! It turns out you have to turn 90 for some of these confessions to come out! DH’s mother and aunt put a lot of time and effort into each of the events and it really showed.

We had a great visit with as many of DH’s relatives on his mother’s side as we could. The weekend was something similar to a wedding in that you get to see everyone but hardly have the chance for a real heart to heart chat. On Sunday morning, the immediate family (about 20) went out for a birthday brunch before some of the travellers had to head back to their homesteads.

DH and I also took the opportunity to visit with some other folks in that mountainous part of Canada during the week: a retired CF couple that we know who have settled into their gorgeous home in Cranbrook; DH’s aunt and uncle on his father’s side in Summerland, BC; both of his cousins and their families as well as other friends in Calgary. Altogether, it was a great trip. My ankles swelled moderately but I was still able to get my ‘fancies’ on for the birthday event so the feet weren’t too bad.

And, since we’ve been home, the second thing we do before moving is put in new flooring. Here is our house's original carpet (the house is 23 years old) in the living room:

You’d think that when you hire people to come in and replace your flooring that they come in, do it, and leave. However, DH and I are cheap. This means some ‘sweat equity’ had to be put into the whole experience (saving us $ by doing some things ourselves). Therefore, DH moved all of the furniture out of the living room, (I pushed and advised) including a piano! Here is all of that furniture stuffed into the dining room (which has become a new cat playground...):

He also pulled up all the old carpet, screwed down the original sub-floor to get rid of the squeaks, and put down new sub-floor in the living room.

The same, less a new sub-floor, had to be done with the main to second floor stair case.

The basement staircase had a vinyl covering so he only had to remove the toe pieces and the carpet could be laid over the vinyl.

And here is the finished, carpet project.

Nope, I'm not showing you the finished stairs. See that vacuum? It's on it's last legs and I think the living room killed it before I could attack the stairs...

Next, we move all of our living room furniture back into the living room – and fill up the living room with the rest of the stuff from the main floor before the new vinyl flooring people get here on Monday!

More on other renovations, a new bump picture and knitting content to follow later this week. Whew! Blogging dedication takes effort!

I'M OFF!

I'm tearing around the house like a mad thing! I leave the house today at 4:00 PM, en route to Calgary for Grandma H's 90th birthday bash on Saturday. I will not be posting again until, at least, Easter Saturday.

Have a great week!

SPOILED ROTTEN - THE UN/CUT VERSION

I decided early on in this pregnancy that, if I made it to the third trimester (we’ve had problems in the past, enough said), I would treat myself to a pedicure during the final three months. Maybe even more than one as sandal weather is approaching (she says hopefully knowing full well she’ll complain about the heat when it does come. But, she’s sick of bending over trying to tie laces and slip on sandals seem pretty appealing right about now). I figured, correctly, that it would become increasingly difficult to reach my toes, let alone make them look pretty. Here they are in their blogging debut, 'looking pretty'.


I must admit that I’m using this pregnancy as an excuse to have a pedicure. I never make my toes looks pretty. I love playing with and wearing makeup but I’ve never been a girlie girl when it comes to nail polish on toes or hands. I’m more a ‘cut em when they need em’ kind of gal. I do not file my nails and I care little about cuticles or how you go about getting rid of them. I’ve had a manicure very few times in my life: when I graduated from high school, when I got married and today. It seems to me I may have also had one when I've stood at a wedding or two but, even so, we’re not talking a lot of nail care in 35+ years of life.


So, off I went this morning for a treat day. Toes, hands and some waxing on the ol’ uni-brow (my thanks to whatever side of the family it is I get that from…). A spa company in Ottawa has renovated a gorgeous old farmhouse just up the road from my house and this was my first time in the new facility. It’s gorgeous (check out The Spa’s website if you’re interested). With my three treatments, I managed to get around most of the facility and the owners have certainly done a nice job. The experience of having the treatments was lovely as well. I almost fell asleep during the pedicure. Spoiled. Rotten.

Para had a bit of a spa treatment this weekend too. This is "Para: the Cut Version (it turns out she’d been running around in the ‘uncut’ version of herself all along – eek!).

Every spring, DH decides that the dog needs a trim. She gets a very heavy winter coat and, along her hind haunches, the fur really mats up and seems to be very uncomfortable for her. However, normally I’m around to offer comment on the ‘trim’. This time I went to get groceries. This is what I found when I got home…It’s a good thing hair grows back.

This may be an indication of how dim the spring light has been here in eastern Ontario this year. This plant thinks it's Christmas!

THE LUCKIEST BLOGGER IN THE WORLD!

Well, don’t I feel special?!? Lookie what my blog friend Renée sent me! This lovely parcel arrived in the mail yesterday – I love snail mail – and what a lovely surprise it was!

• TWO balls of Lano Gatto Wool Gatto!

• Baby theme stitch markers (go to FroggieMeanie to see them - March 22, 2007 post. Try as I might, I cannot get a decent picture of these little markers. Renée’s superior photography shows them off to perfection!);
• A lovely book (I’ve already read it and love it. The illustrations and story are great and, I really enjoy the textured parts of Bee) for baby and I and
• A very nice knitting based card from my pal, Renée!
  

My son, I am one lucky, lucky duck!

Renée is somewhat responsible for me starting my own blog last summer. I really enjoyed her blog and wanted to comment on one of her posts when – lo and behold – I tried to register to make a comment on blogger and ended up with my own blog! Renée is a very patient and generous Knitting ‘Jedi’ Master and has done her best to keep me from the dark side of knitting (I think that means synthetics – remember the old Phentex slipper yarn/stuff/what was it anyways – ewww!). Renée and I are both Newfoundland and Labradorians too so we don’t need to translate certain words for each other, as we sometimes do with those around us (e.g. squish).

Thank you very much for the continued welcome to blogdom, knitting expertise and motherhood, Renée! I shall not forget you when I move to the land of Fleece Artist and Baadeck Yarns!

WIP KNITTING CONTENT!

I’m one slow knitter. Look at this! It’s a 3 month old sized sweater and it’s still not done (nothing to do with the other 99 WIPs around this house but, I digress). I started it immediately after finishing the matching hat but wasn’t pleased with how my increases looked. It turns out that I should have been using a cable increase so I learned how to do that on Tuesday, up at my LYS (thanks, Louise!). Here it is with the increases very visible.

The sweater is knit in one piece so I am now working on the sleeves, in anticipation of soon being able to shape the neck. Although you can’t see it from the original pattern picture I posted ages ago, this sweater even has pockets! I had decided not to put them in but, on second though, how cute is a sweater with pockets for an infant??? Very cute, I think! Besides, as this is a very plain sweater, I think the pockets will add a bit of interest.

It’s been an ‘at home’ couple of days. Embarrassingly, I didn’t leave the house yesterday. Why? Because I had NO pants to wear outside! Therefore, I sat in the basement most of the day alternating between knitting, hanging laundry, putting laundry in the dryer, washing or folding laundry. Sitting in my PJ bottoms and one of DH’s T-shirts, I might add. The laundry is almost done now - I’d let it go a bit long, apparently. It only got really embarrassing when DH called yesterday afternoon and asked if "I had my clothes on yet." I could hear one of his co-workers in the background going "la, la, la, la’’ and could picture him covering his ears so he didn’t hear too much more of that conversation!

And here is a picture of our friend’s dog, Maggie. Maggie arrived this morning. She will be here for a few days while her family is gallivanting in the US (Boston area). So far, she has already managed to play in the back yard with Para, eat some snow (what’s left of it), have a couple of short naps on her bed and wander and sniff excessively. Maggie doesn’t have cats at her house so this house sure smells interesting. Checkers was just down checking Maggie out but they generally seem to be ignoring each other with no ill effects. Maggie really tries to make friends with the cats and, historically, has approached Checkers (Tobi is too much of a timid cat for this) with her tail just a-wagging. She doesn’t understand that cats don’t respect tail wagging as a form of introduction!


As you can see from the patterned legs in this picture, I haven’t graduated to real clothes yet today either…

Lookie What I've been up to...

Nope, not knitting. I’m quickly realising that Baby doesn’t much like sewing. Well, to be precise, Baby doesn’t much like the bending Mommy does when she sews, cuts quilting fabric, trims quilt borders, etc. I’m sure all you babies out there (and those of you who used to be babies) can sympathise. Therefore, I’m not knitting in a desperate attempt to get some quilting done before Baby learns to squirm any harder in protest and do both of us damage. Thank goodness for the protection of amniotic fluid…Baby likes knitting therefore knitting will occur when sewing becomes impossible.

I am going to tease you again today. Remember I said I was over at H’s sewing on Friday? Well, I’m working on yet another pressie for someone who may occasionally look at this blog. Therefore, I can’t blog full pictures. However, I decided I would live on the edge and give you a sample of what I’ve been working on anyway.

I’m even giving you a link to the pattern because A) the recipient doesn’t know who s/he is yet and B) the colours I’m using are so crazy different from the pattern page that it almost doesn’t even look like the same quilt top.

The quilt design is called ‘Magic Tiles’ and was created by Kathleen Bissett. It’s a lovely, quick (if you sew every day. It takes a bit longer for those of us with several hundred – yes, that’s hundred – WIP’s on the go) quilt. I started this project with my Aunt J in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland…um...last Christmas (that’s 2005, not 2006). She had taken a class on how to make this quilt top and completed the most gorgeous quilt. Therefore, last Christmas when DH and I were home, my aunt and I had a sewing day. Well, she was entertaining and making supper while I was playing in her sewing room with her sewing machine, rotary cutter and cutting board. She did come down to supervise every now and then though. Today I finished sewing on the first of four outer borders. I’m making my quilt a little larger than the original. I’m a little stuck at this point as I now need to go to the quilt store and - gasp - buy more quilting fabric to finish the project.

After I finished sewing on the border for Magic Tiles, I cut this stack of material for another, new project.

I have to admit that I don’t really care for cutting material for quilting at the best of times. I’m a perfectionist and I never get a perfect cut. I’m enjoying this process even less now that I have a big belly. However, I’m trying to cut in small increments as H and I get together again this Friday and I want to have some new fabric to sew up for our latest ‘together’ project. Cutting in small increments also helps to keep Baby happy (see paragraph one).

I purchased this fabric in Hindeloopen, The Netherlands during our time in Germany. I really wanted to make a blue and white Dutch quilt and am finally starting it. I’m blaming the timing strictly on H (sorry, H!). Ever since H and her sweetie moved to Ottawa (from Germany, where we met. Her OH is military too), we’ve been talking about making this quilt together. Not only did she have the same idea for a blue and white quilt but, we had even chosen the exact same pattern for our project, ages in advance of ever discussing it! We do not have the same fabric, though, so our end results are going to be very different.

The pattern we’re using is called ‘Peppermint Swirl’ by Lynette Jensen of Thimbleberries (from her ‘The Thimbleberries Book of Quilts’ book).

The swirl of the pinwheel blocks reminded both H and I of windmills – thus the inspiration for a Dutch quilt. Forgive the picture – our scanner is still not hooked up from our upstairs to downstairs move.

Off to putter!

BLACK AND WHITE CONTENT

Para visiting Battle Harbour, Labrador.

I did not get a chance to post anything yesterday as it was a sewing day with H. I got lots done and, eventually, will have a really lovely project to show you. Instead of a fibre related post, I decided I would post about our best friend.

Para and I visiting the Cape Anguille lighthouse near Port aux Basques, Newfoundland.

I received a comment from Mrs. H regarding our Border Collie, Para, and decided to do an exposé on our puppy. I am very aware that, with a new baby being introduced into our home within the next few months, our little Border Collie may begin to feel a little left out. Therefore, I’m trying my best to spoil her rotten now and hope to do so just as much as after the baby is born (luckily, doing as little as lying on the floor with your arm over her counts as ‘spoiling’ to Para. And I’m sure I’ll be tired enough to want to lie on the floor with her on a regular basis!). Between cuddles and regular walks, she’s pretty easy to please.

A stick is always welcome for this Border Collie. On a hike near Battle Harbour, Labrador.

WARNING: Skip this post if you aren’t some kind of extreme animal lover…

• Para is a pure bred Border Collie, bred by Jackie Parkin at Besslin Border Collies. When she was 10 weeks old, Para made her first aeroplane trip (certainly not her last) to Goose Bay, Labrador to live with us.
• Para is the truest of Scottish doggies as she was born on January 25th – the same day as the Scotland’s national poet hero, Robbie Burns.
• Para is 12 years old but someone forgot to tell her she is getting older as she still acts like a five year old dog. She is having some trouble getting her back end up and down these days, so she no longer has to ‘sit’ for treats. Other than that, when we go on a walk, you’d never know she gets stiff in the morning!
• Para never outgrew her ‘teething’ treat of ice cubes and is the first being in the kitchen if she hears the ice cube tray being cracked. A very healthy snack that’s great for her teeth!
• Para’s name is Scottish Gaelic and actually means ‘Pete’ in Gaelic (Like Para, DH is of Scottish descent). However, we thought that name sounded kind of feminine so, chose it anyway. Her nicknames over the years include ‘Paragraph’, ‘Parawara’, ‘Parascara’, ‘Parapaint’…I’m sure you get the idea. Because of the human names in the house, the three of us are collectively known as ‘The Three P’s’.

Relaxing at a rest stop in Quebec en route to our summer holidays in Newfoundland and Labrador.

• We have never worked Para on sheep or other livestock. She is a household pet. As DH is in the military and we move often, we knew it would be too difficult to keep up the herding practice with livestock. Additionally, I am not quite ready for my own sheep. However, Para gets a nice long walk every day (we wanted an active dog to encourage us to be active and she has certainly kept up her end of the bargain). That, together with lots of indoor play (tug, fetching the ball and games of hide and seek!), she has not displayed any destructive behaviour that bright Border Collie’s sometimes invent. That being said, she does love to dig outside…

Para and DH in a photo op after a sandy hike on Cape Breton Island.

• Although she has never been formally trained, Para does her best to keep Mother Nature in line and has worked really hard to develop her Border Collie herding instinct. She has the Border Collie ‘stare’ (also known as ‘the eye’) down quite well. She herds any birds from our property or camping sites – no landing rights at all when the Border Collie is on patrol! Squirrels are the same. She will stand and ‘stare’ at squirrels in our back yard for hours. She also herds our cats. As you can imagine, the cats do not like this behaviour. However, Para is a real tattletale and if she feels one of the cats is up to something she should not be, Para finds us and whines and then runs back to the crime scene hoping we will follow and catch the nasty creature in the act.

Para and DH on Saddle Island, Red Bay, Labrador visiting the Basque Whalers archeological site.

• Para is a bit biased. For example, in our house one of the cats is the ‘evil sister’ and one of the cats is the ‘good sister’. Tobi, for example (the tortie coloured one), is Para’s good sister. Even if Tobi is clawing at the couch (which Para knows darn well the cat should not be doing) and we discipline Tobi, Para is right there looking at us as if to say "What’s wrong? Surely Tobi couldn’t be doing anything wrong?!? Not Tobi?!?" Now if it’s Checkers, our new black and white cat, misbehaving, Para is the first one in, driving her away from whatever she is doing. Para used to also herd her other ‘evil sister’ – our cat Nala who passed away a year and a half ago.

Para and I on the beach in my favourite area of the world: Norris Point in Gros Morne National Park overlooking beautiful Bonne Bay, Newfoundland. Woody Point is barely discernable across the bay.

• Para is quite used to flying and has logged more airline points than a lot of Border Collies her age. For example, she has flown from Goose Bay, Labrador to Edmonton, Alberta. From Edmonton, Alberta to Frankfurt, Germany. From Frankfurt, Germany, to Ottawa, Ontario. And a few other flights when we were visiting family and friends (e.g. from Goose Bay to Toronto, etc). Most of these flights were a result of a military posting message and occurred a few years apart. We have always tried to take Para on any of our holidays, even if it’s meant flying her. We hope to drive to Nova Scotia with her for our move this summer and I’m sure she’ll be much happier about that. She is always fine when she gets off a plane but does seem happier to be with us and we’re certainly happier having her right next to us. We will also be driving in our 1988 VW Westfalia camper van and Para LOVES to camp!

Para always has a ball at the ready. Camping along the beautiful Saint John River, New Brunswick.

• Para is a wonderful companion and my right arm. She follows me everywhere and even tells me when it’s time to go to bed. If DH goes to bed first and Para thinks I’m up too late, she will come over and stand and stare at me and sigh. If a couple of sighs aren’t effective in getting me to come to bed, she gives a BIG sigh before lying down to wait for me!
  

Ten wonderful things about my dog amy be enough to inundate even my most faithful of blogging fans with. Hopefully Mrs. H isn’t regretting asking any questions by now!

PS With this exposé, I may just be out of the ‘dog house’ with regards to Para’s complaint of over abundant cat information being posted on this blog. It’s now time for a cuddle!

Happy St. Patty's Day! It's the day to celebrate all of the great 'Patty's' of the world!