Denial...

not just a river, but a state of mind...

no, today's post will not include reference to the passage of time, nor to the importance of the day (milestones all round)...

no, today we will simply reflect on what has been a most enjoyable, relaxing summer...

okay?

We will think about short trips to Sandbanks Provincial Park: about the best signage ever

(this gives one-stop shopping a whole new meaning, although I thought you'd want to hit the chocolates before the dentist, so he could repair the damage, whereas Ben thought the dentist first, for a clean bill of tooth, made more sense);
the best sand dunes and sunsets.

Let's think about the things that have amused us most this summer:
(best $80 bucks I've spent in ages - it's better than watching TV) (look at what they deem important enough for this bag... I was SO impressed!);

the things we've seen grow
(Ben's jalapenos) (honest to God, the yarn was just growing there!!!)
(this is the Sidelines Top in the Fall Interweave Knits in Dream in Color Classy, "Gothic Rose", and because of my utter obsession and devotion to it, it has grown to a front, back, and 1.5 sleeves)

what else has grown this summer, you may ask?


but like I said, denial is a wonderful thing...

What? could it be....

Well, if there are flowers, and chocolate (in an edible box, no less!), then it must be Valentine's Day!

Oh, and cupcakes... lots and lots of cupcakes...
I love the little hearts with the cheesey sayings...

I just hope kids in Grade 6 find them as amusing...

and in the midst of this, there is an FO to report - things have been slowly but surely wrapping up on several fronts, nothing major to show yet, but these:
, made from Duets sock yarn which my wonderful friend Kelly picked up on her trip to Seattle last year. I don't think she's made hers yet - we have matching skeins - but let's not pressure the poor girl, shall we?

I have started another pair of socks, which I am utterly infatuated with, but as my camera battery is in need of help, I'll have to post a pic later.

Funny, as I set up the socks for the shot, the dogs were just fascinated with what was hanging in the tree - they had paid no attention to the socks till then - wonder what they were thinking?


and happily, Maggie is well recovered from her surgery, back to being her usual perky self, and loving the white stuff, with which we have been more than amply supplied this year... enough already!!!

So I hope that your Valentine's angels are treating you all well today - I am not a big fan of the day, never really liked the fuss made over what is just a big commercial event... but when there are flowers and chocolate involved, wellllllllllll, I can sacrifice my principles a little...

that doesn't make me a bad person - just a chubby one...

New Books!!

Oh, don't you just love new books? The smell, the gentle crack of the binding as they are opened for the first time, the possibilities inside?

The sale prices???

Knitpicks is offering all of their books at 40% right now, and I figured I should take advantage to get some books which I have been eyeing for some time - hey, it's educational!

And it's supposed to rain and thunder all afternoon, the boys are cramming old Harry Potter books in preparation for Saturday's launch - I CANNOT WAIT!!! - so, really, it's destiny that I have a stack of books to peruse...

weeding this morning, between rain showers, and just wanted to share this flower, this coneflower, that has thrived so far this year - I've never seen this colour before, and am going to try to make cuttings so I can have them all over the place - I may need a sweater this colour...

Also, I think I figured out the macro setting on my camera, and had to give it a go...
Thank you for your indulgence...

My other project this morning was to dehair Charlie, at least a little - Maggie's breed does not shed, which is lovely, but I am honestly amazed that Charlie has any hair left...

so I read about "The Furminator" at Knit and Tonic - at this point I will try anything, I am so tired of picking dog hair off socks and clothes and furniture - well, I am amazed!
Almost half a pound - HALF A FRIGGING POUND - of undercoat from only half of his body! What's left is his black, silky hair, and the kaka is gone.

And he liked it, more than normal brushing. My sense is it's like someone with long fingernails scraping through his fur - when I get someone like that washing my hair at the salon, I get goosebumps, so I totally get it (no, I don't think that's weird... well, not really... maybe a little?) So I will finish him off now, and see if it does, in fact, reduce shedding as claimed. So far, so good...

now, to make lunch and read of things yarny...

Home again, home again

jiggety jig...



in spite of rain every day, and an average high temperature of only 65 frigging degrees, we had a lovely week away...
we lucked into a fabulous cottage, secluded, big, comfortable, with a wonderful picture window looking onto Oxtongue Lake.

We managed to swim, canoe and kayak whenever there were sunny patches, and worked in a couple of hikes as well
The boys are actually standing beside a beaver dam, near which we saw a baby beaver scampering across the top of one of their huts - just so cool!

There was wildlife:
Yes, some of them are stuffed, but the question is... which ones??

Lots of reading, and board games, and knitting, and no fights or squabbles to speak of - I was chatting with another gal staying at the same place who had been there for 2 weeks - same icky weather, but her three kids don't get along, and none of them read, so she was really looking forward to getting out of there. Makes me even more thankful for my young men, I must say...

Funny, I don't see how much they look alike normally, but when they paused in front of the window like this, I had to make them stop for the photo - I am shocked at the similarity!

My almost-done Monkey socks enjoyed breakfast on the deck, and I made progress on my toe-ups in the 'Regiment' colourway of Twisted yarn - is this not one of the neatest colourways ever? I am seriously in love with these socks - yarn itself is springy and so soft it feels like I'm knitting with roving...


Before we left, I got myself a gig knitting for my new LYS, Spun Fibre Arts, which is making me very happy indeed - I completed a felted tote bag from Louet Riverstone in Chunky and then while we were away completed a tank top in Nashua's 'Cilantro', which is just wonderful to knit with - soft and stretchy, lovely on the hands

I am also doing some work for Cindy at Apple Laine, whose yarn is a dream to knit with - I have made socks with it, and they wear like iron while being incredibly soft and springy - wool/mohair/silk - lovely, lovely stuff - I am taking my time with this one to make sure I get it right, and also because I am genuinely enjoying the process... fortunately, this is not a deadline project, so I can indulge myself


Charlie has had a bit of trouble of late - he gained 5 pounds in only a month, and we finally figured out he has hypothyroidism, so he started on supplements and lost 10 pounds in two weeks. Needless to say, I am eyeing his supplements with a renewed interest...

then he got a bug bite, which he proceeded to nibble and gnaw at - he chewed his tail raw, ripped the hair off until it looked like a hunk of raw meat in between black tufts of fur - stomach-turning... so he spent some time decked out in a collar and wrap, which didn't help that much. I did find out that he follows me constantly and closely, much more closely than I realized. I have circle-shaped bruises on the backs of my thighs to prove it, too - every time I stopped walking, he would plow into my back with his cone - so we lost the cone pretty quickly...

and now we are home, and it's summer vacation, my favourite, favourite time of the year - I am an aberration among my friends, but I love having the boys home, and wish the summer was longer...

wait... what's that I hear in the distance? Is it the call of the wild? Ohhhh, no, call of the pile... laundry, that is...

Catch up time

Amazing how fast time whips by! I start every day with every intention of writing and updating, and then that day morphs into the next one, and so on, and so on...

so, it was a wonderful, beautiful weekend here, not only because of the stellar weather, but also because of various birthday celebrations:
Charlie turned 6, (hmm, hard to capture the essence of an all-black dog - trust me, he's adorable), and I turned somewhat more than 6... no pics, don't want to scare anyone...

Maggie watched the various festivities as only a true lady would, legs crossed and all - she actually lies like that much of the time, when she's not sprawled with utter abandon all over "her" couch... and praise the lord, her hair is growing back in...

I made a lovely vignette, a la HGTV, in my front foyer with birthday roses:
, and then thought I really should show the whole picture, which is so much more representative of life here:

I mean, hey, where do you keep your goalie pads?

I scored some excellent birthday gifts, including an authentic Montreal Canadiens jersey with Yvan Cournoyer's name and # (12) on it, courtesy of my sons,
and this:

he's RAKING - Ben was raking, and raked for a good hour with me... the weather was so nice I was actually enjoying raking and de-pooping the back yard... well, as much as one can enjoy that sort of thing...

I was FINALLY allowed to open the box from Kelly, which Ben hid in his closet - funny I didn't spot it because I'm the only one who goes in there... look what she picked up on her trip to Seattle:

'Duets' sock yarn, in the most wonderful fallish colours - and of course, yellow and orange and brown are my favourite colours - thanks so much, Kel! I am going to let you select a pattern, okay?

There was a tragedy in the midst of all the sunshine and rainbows. My old barbecue died. It had done well, several years of hard work -I probably use the barbecue more than the oven, all year round, through ice and snow and sleet and hail, etc. - so, after much consideration, I made what I hope will be a long-term investment:
- mine has a copper coloured cover, and is just beautiful! I'll put in a picture of it when it's not raining...

the inaugural grilling was last night:
It will NEVER be this clean again, I fear, so I thought something for posterity would be appropriate...

and look, Ma, no knitting! Well, not true, tons of knitting, as always, but I don't think sweater pieces or an 11" chunk of navy blue bamboo stocking stitch qualify as watchable knitting... but there was some fun stuff in the mail today...

this month's installment from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, which is 85% wool, 15% silk, and just mouthwatering , as well as the monthly selection from the Pick Up Sticks club:

So now I think we're updated - I will put up pictures of my actual knitting next time - oh, and on Saturday I'm off to the Knitters' Frolic, hosted by the Downtown Knitting Collective in Toronto - I am really looking forward to this, as I am taking a drop spindle class in the morning, and checking out the vendors afterwards... think I'll manage to avoid temptation? Think I'll admit I have enough yarn, and just walk on by?

Think again...

Finally.... SPRING!! and other observations

It's gorgeous out here - 18 degrees Celsius by my thermometer - just think, two days ago I had the heater on in the car because I was chilled... and in another two days it will probably be hot enough for people to complain about it -

welcome to Spring in southern Ontario!

I have lilac buds: - I swear they weren't there yesterday! And I'll bet that by Sunday they will be out in bloom... any takers?

So, in keeping with Wendy and Julie of Samurai Knitter fame, I am going to share a shot of my fridge, in all it's chaotic glory:
, with a couple of close-ups of things that always make me laugh out loud:
(either the card or the screwy pic of my kids)


Please note that the white cupboards and Holly Hobby wallpaper in the kitchen were here when I moved in - they are NOT my choice, and are, in fact, the bane of my existence... dogs? boys? WHITE and CUTESY? Please...


Julie also pointed out on her blog that CNN is running a poll about preferred leisure activities, and knitting is one of them. When I voted this morning, it wasn't even in the top ten, so let's see if we can change that - go here, and let's see if we can't mess with their statistics, shall we?

Another observation - when Maggie had her now infamous "this is SO NOT a retriever" haircut recently, the gal who trimmed her asked if I wanted to get her nails painted. I almost fell over laughing, then realized she was serious and was struck speechless. She assured me that everyone gets it done, Maggie has nicely shaped nails (???!!!!), and she had a shade of red that would work well with her colouring.

She's a DOG, for God's sake - I don't get my own nails done, never mind my dog - but she had filed Maggie's nails in preparation for colouring:

is it me, or are things just getting too weird?

And in response to your comments, there is a birthday coming up here this weekend - Kelly very kindly sent a box with a big note on it telling me not to open it until the actual day. So Ben took it and hid it somewhere. And I don't know where. And I know there's yarn in there. And really, it's killing me.

Miss Scarlett, the bamboo is developing a wonderful drape, but is fairly splitty to knit, so I have to pay a little more attention while working. Given that it's navy blue stockinette for 11", this is quite a challenge.

And yes, my passport picture was almost exactly as I described - my mother saw it and laughed hysterically - my own mother - so you know it's bad... and I'm stuck with the thing for 5 years.

And finally - Sanjaya is gone!!! I have NEVER watched a reality show, have actually prided myself on being 'above that', until this year when the boys begged me to watch American Idol with them. I am hooked, utterly hooked, and Sanjaya has become a thorn in my side... hmm, maybe I'm a little overinvolved.

But he's gone, and the sun is shining, and it's the weekend, and it's going to be beautiful - so all is right with the world...