Milestones

Tanner turned thirteen on Friday. Thirteen!!! Where did it go?


I can see subtle changes in his face and body, even though he can't - but even as he's getting older, he still hugs and kisses me in front of his friends (awwwwww), and he is still absolutely silly
funny the games you can come up with when you realize your t-shirt matches the seat cover...

so we took Friday off and, as per Tanner's request, did the Toronto magic shop run, followed by a late-ish lunch at Gretzky's, where, in honour of the day, Tanner was presented with a really yummy chocolate puck and birthday wishes from Wayne himself (okay, it was really the waitress who overheard us talking about the birthday, and Wayne's signature was an icing sugar template, but come on, work with me...)

but a very satisfying outing, right down to the Holiday Inn strikers who were pounding drums and chanting so loudly we were compelled to cross the street to see what the hubbub was...

We still don't know what they were striking about, but it was very entertaining for the boys, and definitely not something we see in our little white-bread, well-behaved town...

actually, I love taking the kids into Toronto, because they are always fascinated by the hugely diverse population - we see the best stuff sitting on street corners, eating street vendor hot dogs and watching it parade past us... I still miss living there, although I truly love Burlington -

but I digress -

the birthday was a resounding success all round, with many new magic tricks and gimmicks received, Ben busy keeping the dogs entertained, and my baby becoming a teenager...

they all told me, you know, when they were babies, to enjoy every moment, because it would be gone before I realized it... I am so glad I listened, and was able to savour everything - first words, first steps - because it has passed in only the blink of an eye...

must stop blinking...

Happy (?) First Day of Fall

although I always thought it was September 21st - however, if it buys me a couple of extra days of summer, I'll play along...

I have waited all summer for my morning glories to show themselves - RED morning glories - with nary a bloom, until...

today, the first day of fall...

silly flowers...

Wow! Long time no blog...

and no good reason, apart from returning to routine (blech), trying to put the house in some semblance of tidy after a summer spent largely outside (pee-yew), and just general I-can't-believe-it's-the-last-day-of-summer malaise (sigh).

I have been knitting - of course - working on a brown ruffled shrug for Cindy at Apple Laine
That was an early-stage pic - I am much further along but my camera doesn't want to play right now...

I am also in the end stages of another Lake Placid pullover for Artisan Knitworks
(again, picture was taken earlier)

And I have three projects from the LYS, Spun, to finish for them.

But what about ME???

My poor little head is abuzz with everything I want to make for myself - NOW - and I keep finding more - I almost feel sick thinking about all the potential projects, and then I keep finding more, and feel even sicker...

I can't even try to list the things I am thinking of, because I really do get panicky and out of breath - for God's sake, it's knitting, it's supposed to be fun...

I did learn something interesting today which is non-knit related - I was pulling out a sweet potato vine from one of my front pots - it's done well, but is now deserving of a quiet burial...

know what I found at the end of the vine?

I really had no idea that you could grow potatoes on potato vines - I just thought that was the name of the plant - I was thrilled, so much so that I interrupted a neighborhood game of HAGS (hide and go seek - their acronym, not mine) to show my sons and their friends -

apparently their friends think I'm weird now - I gather they didn't before, which was yet another revelation.

But I think I blew it this time.

I'm on the front page!!

Well, sort of - the baby sweater I made as a sample for my LYS, Spun Fibre Arts, is featured on their website, with a real baby inside it - looks so much nicer on her!

Whirlwind Week...

Wow! So much happening, and when you include the fact that my stupid computer wouldn't recognize my camera till late yesterday, well, there's plenty to tell...

And what happens so that suddenly the computer no longer recognizes the camera? It's not like the camera got a haircut or put on a disguise... they've met many times before... I do not appreciate the temperamentalness (not a word, but I like it) of the thing...

but I digress...

we start with the Burlington RibFest from last weekend, which, according to the signs, is the biggest in Canada - it's held at our lakeside park, about three blocks from home, and apparently hosted over 145,000 people over three days - lots of ribs! I know I'm getting old, because I find it crowded, hot and loud (you know, I love Stevie Ray Vaughan as much as the next guy, but not blaring into my head through 18 speakers while being performed by a mediocre imitation). However, I do love the signs... they remind me of hot sauce labels, another favourite thing of mine...


Thanks to Ben for taking the pictures while I waited in a long, hot, crowded, noisy line for ribs and pulled pork... no diet food here...

We went from that to the first day of school, which I am still in denial about - I just can't believe it's already done, summer vacation is already over... 'fast' doesn't even begin to describe the past 2 months...

which takes us to yesterday, to the Kitchener Waterloo Knitters' Fair, which certainly helped to take the sting out of my back-to-school-blues (and I am not exaggerating, I find it most depressing - most other parents at school were smiling, and even dancing a little, as their children shuffled along in line - I came home and had a good cry, as is my annual tradition).

The Fair this year was the biggest yet, more vendors, several I hadn't heard of before (not that I'm so knowledgable or anything, but it's nice to find fresh meat), and the crowds? Well, my mom and I got there shortly after 10, and it was PACKED - hard to get close to anything, and it got worse over the 2 hours we were there. Amazing!

The basket guy from last year was there - remember him? - this year he was charging $18 rather than $15, and hardly anyone had one - moral of the story? Recognize a good thing when you have it, and don't get greedy...

I made a few select purchases, items which I've not seen anywhere else, which to me is the real point of the show. If I want to go to a LYS to buy something, I will - this show gives me access to the smaller independent merchants, who make things like this from Knitwerx, and this from Sheepstrings, which I think you have to get naked and roll around on to fully appreciate
and these, too, from The Black Lamb, where I also bought this pencil roving , with the owner's confident declaration that this would have me spinning successfully within two hours... I LOVED the owner of this place - didn't get her name, but it was 10:30 and she was apologizing to those of waiting in line that she hadn't thought to bring beer or tequila to make the wait easier...

couple of new patterns to assist with my destashing efforts, and finally, the piece de resistance, I picked up my Autumn Rose fair isle kit from Anne at She Ewe Knits
Since I had already paid for this, it does not count as a purchase made yesterday, so really, I was very restrained. And there was a lot of lovely stuff there. A lot. I fell in love with a Prism wrap at the Village Yarns booth - the colour, the yarn, the whole thing - until I overheard it being priced at $350.00 for the kit... I moved on. I slung a Namaste Everyday bag in burnt orange over my shoulder - it fit, looked fabulous, would hold a shitload of stuff, which is what I typically travel with - a shitload - but I couldn't bring myself to pay $80 for a bag - this one I am actually regretting...

there were kits, and buttons - oh, I did get three very cool buttons which I'll post later - but the big thing this year was shawl pins - wooden, pewter, precious stone - whatever you might have wanted was probably there... and there was more, so much more...

which brings us to today - rainy, cold, very fall-like (blech) - perfect for cleaning small animal cages and doing homework and playing video games (the boys), or knitting and listening to a new book and drinking coffee (me)...

happy Sunday!

The Boys are Back in Town...

...with apologies to Thin Lizzy...

Yes, we picked up the young men on Friday, after their week of magic camp, which was, by all accounts, a raving success! Tricks were learned and shared and improved upon, friends were made, showers were avoided... they both took a bath as soon as we got home (we are a family of bathers, even with our crappy little 1949 tub) and the layer of dirt each of them left in the tub? I haven't had my coffee yet, so can't get too graphic, but imagine your worst and double it...

Their biggest complaints were that the "mattresses" in the bunks were just hunks of rubber, and that the food was (a) in short supply, and (b) not as good as my cooking. Another perk about camp which I hadn't considered... newfound appreciation for home...


The weather was perfect for driving up, although I saw an awful lot of this
, which I am just not prepared for yet. Highway 11 is pretty interesting, really, with maybe the best billboard I've seen.
And thispedestrian bridge across the highway, which leads to this, mecca for hungry recovering campers. The food is only mediocre, but it's a traditional stop for those coming or going from northern Ontario, and is always jammed.

The dogs had been terribly unsettled all week, each sleeping on a boy's bed and looking around the house for them constantly, so there was much relief when we were finally all together again

and yes, Charlie does carry his bone like a cigar most of the time...

so the weekend has been a mix of sc#$%l prep and hanging out, with the piece de resistance being Ribfest later today... pics to follow, of course...