WTF?????

Woke up to 4" of this stuff, two more have fallen since shovelling around 8am, and it is STILL coming down. No snow day for us, of course, which would have taken a little of the sting out...

I was so happy that the back yard had finally dried so no mud was being tracked in, and now we have to start all over again...

Spring, my ass...

Top Ten Tuesday

I thought it might push me to be a little more, um, regular in my communications if I tried something like a Top Ten list, although I'll be back in a day or two with a What I Did This Summer Part I post -

so, 10 Things I Like About Where I Live:

1. We are less than 10 minutes by bike to the shores of Lake Ontario, with real beaches and everything.

2. The Burlington, ON "core", where I live, has a small-town feel - we can walk/bike to the library, Starbucks, and the kids' orthodontist.

3. Our town is a relatively short drive to so many wonderful attractions: Niagara Falls (45 min); Toronto (40 - a zillion minutes, depending on traffic); Muskoka / Algonquin Park (2 - 3 hours); wineries (40 minutes in the Niagara direction, 3 hours to Prince Edward County); FABULOUS beaches (10 minutes down the street; 3 hours to Sandbanks and plenty in between).

4. Our house is two blocks from school, so the kids can and usually do come home for lunch.

5. Ours is an old, established neighborhood, with lots of huge trees and heritage houses, which makes it great for strolling.

6. The downtown core is being fixed up (perpetually), and there are cute shops, boutiques and restaurants all within walking distance.

7. In addition to Starbucks, there's a Coffee Culture and even a Second Cup within walking distance, so no caffeine hankering goes untended.

8. I like walking.

9. We live on a very quiet cul de sac populated by mostly boys, so it's always easy to get a road hockey game going, if you like that sort of thing.

10. I have followed the "smallest house in the best neighborhood" adage. Ours is a cute, small-ish cottagey thing surrounded by a few $1million+ properties. Put it this way: Thursday is lawn service day on our street. I cut the grass on Fridays.

So there you go, 10 reasons I love to live in Burlington!

A little pre-senile dementia, anyone?

According to the Journal of Neurology, knitting is one of 13 activities shown to reduce the risk of developing dementia by as much as 38%.

Given that, why am I having so much frigging trouble making a sock that fits? I studied pre-senile dementia in grad school, and well, I'm just wondering...

I finally figured out the Grasshopper pattern from last month's Blue Moon Fiber Arts kit

and I don't like it.

I don't think this has happened to me before, but I finished the sock, put it on, and I don't like it. For several reasons. The fit is a little baggier around the ankle than I like... the top is a little snugger than I like. But I think that the most likely reason of all (yes, I am quoting the Grinch a little) is that the pattern doesn't do justice to the yarn. The yarn, a silk/wool blend, is absolutely gorgeous and knits into the most beautiful fabric with a soft sheen. With the lace pattern, the sheen is lost.

So, I don't like it.

I started the second ball as a Monkey sock, and much prefer it. Of course, I got to the heel before realizing I couldn't pull the damn thing over my foot - too small... so I frogged and am using slightly bigger needles, and am finally making socks that fit!

I started these a couple of weeks ago, from the Pick Up Sticks sock club.
Again, beautiful yarn ( bamboo/wool/nylon),interesting pattern (see the shell motif at the right end? works with the pattern name - Beach - get it?) - but it doesn't fit. Too small. Only one size was given for the pattern and in my enthusiasm I didn't bother checking. And it's too small. So off to the frog pond with this one, too.

sigh.

However, I do like how you can take something like this:
,
add a little of these

and come out with this


The sweater is now done and ready for mailing to Artisan Knitworks... yay!

And remember the nest in our euonymous vine? Look who showed up...

The mom is in the middle, flanked by two babies! I can't tell you how much fun the boys and I have been having watching them, and talking to them - the boys so much so that they TRY NOT TO SLAM THE DOOR - this is significant progress, let me assure you!

So now I must try to get my brain cells back in order - I cast on a sock on June 21 for Summer of Socks, which I will post later, and am hoping, praying - actually, I'm measuring - so that it fits...

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...

The answer to a burning question...

Just how dumb are mice?

Mom and I had a discussion yesterday about this very thing, and I think I have the answer:

very.

I had two traps set up under my kitchen sink, as this seems to be where they congregate. I was wondering if a mouse saw one of his comrades in a trap, would he pause to think, hmmm, maybe it's not worth the peanut butter? Or would he think, oh, that happens to other mice. Or would he not think and simply act, go for the goods? Well, I don't know what thought processes transpired, but I like to think that perhaps there was an instance of tandem trap-jumping (like an Olympic suicide mission), because there were two this morning, side by side. Very sad, makes me scream every time I catch one, but ultimately, if they haven't been invited, they are not welcome.

Tandem trap jumping... little brown mice, holding paws and yelling 'Bonzai" as they leap for the peanut butter... can you see it?