When Vegetables Go Bad...

Yeah, I know the hype, I've heard it all - 8 - 10 fruits or veggies a day, they're so good for you - well, not these particular veggies...

It all started at the grocery store, where I went in my bi-weekly (and futile) attempt to keep the young men of the household satiated...

yeah, I'll admit it... I started at the veggies - well, no, actually - I started with a package of bacon, which I dropped on the floor. As I bent to pick it up, the pocket of my raincoat (oh, yeah, did I mention the rain?) caught on the handle of the cart and r-r-r-i-i-i-p-p-p-ed...

sigh

okay, now to the veggies - a pyramid of yellow and orange peppers, on special... I know the boys will eat these, so I grab a couple of each colour - NO, not from the bottom, I know how to pick my produce, thank you very much

and the whole damned pyramid collapses anyhow. You know, you see something happening just before it does, and then it unfolds in slow motion? Um... yeah. And who knew just how many peppers they can fit into a pyramid?

Produce man comes running out, apologizing all up the wazoo - he was just about to rearrange them because he thought they might be 'tippy'. TIPPY???????

Okay, shake my head, remind myself that this is in fact real life and not a reality show, and get some locally grown zucchini. Grab a bag, and because I am so cool (and I am, ask anyone), I just yank it off the roll with one hand.

Well...

doesn't the whole roll snap off its holder and shoot down the aisle like a red carpet at the Oscars. Whole roll. Unrolled.

I start to giggle at this because, well, it's just too much, even for me. I can be klutzy, things can happen to me, but not in numbers. And not all in the same outing. Sure I'm tired. And PMS'ing (I know, I'm always whining about that one). But come on.

So, quickly find whatever else I need, and end up with a carton of fresh blueberries. Whose lid is loose. Which I don't realize until the bottom falls off and the floor is littered with little, rolling, blue globes.

I couldn't even laugh at this point, I was too shocked. Same produce man comes out again, sees me and shakes his head. I assure him I am done, not getting anything else, just going home now. He thinks that might be the best course, and then tells me to have a nice day.

Because, really, what other sort of day could I have?

Later I'll tell you about monsoon season here in Southern Ontario, and maybe have some pictures of yarniness to share.

But in the meantime, I say beware of vegetables - some day, when you least expect it, they'll turn on you. They'll jump on you, nay, attack you. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Newsflash....

(this is where you imagine the sound of a teletype machine spitting out a breaking story)

I am a boob.

I can be fun at parties, can dance in time to music, tell some jokes, appreciate others; you know, not bad company.

But I am a boob.

I frogged my Jaywalker socks, as per my last post, because the colours in the Perfect Day yarns, which I LOVE, were not striping as I envisioned.

So I frogged them, and started Knitspot's Shifty sock pattern, thinking it had been the number of stitches that interfered with the striping sequence. Well, I don't like this pattern either.


I actually preferred the Jaywalkers.

So in my quest to perfect the striping - pink, turquoise, brown, cream - one of my favourite combinations, in fact - I started to poke around Ravelry to see what other people are making with this yarn.

Guess what?

It's not supposed to stripe the way I pictured it in my twisted little mind. I actually had it right the first time. There are two bands of two colours each - pink/turquoise, brown/cream. It seems that the four colours stripe together in the toe.

Only in the toe.

So I am going to frog one more time, and then... well, I'm not sure. I know this has everything to do with a current lack of focus which seems to be pervading all aspects of my world right now. I'd like to blame it on summer vacation brain. Or hormones - hormones are the perfect scapegoat for so many things. But we all know what the real problem is.

I am a boob.

I'm so glad to be home...

Not! (Thank you, Wayne's World, which we have been watching much so far this summer)

I don't get to smell pine trees, or wake up to this, or watch a black bear cub ambling across my front porch while sitting inside having a coffee (I actually thought it was Charlie at first, and by the time my poor brain registered that Charlie wasn't with us, it had gone off in search of dirtier barbecues)...

I can't drive down the road for 10 minutes and see this


We can't pop into a canoe and find a view like this (these pics were taken by Tanner - he has quite an eye, it seems!)

There aren't a lot of these or these - at least, they're not as friendly around here...

There has been some of this since we got home, but the setting changes everything...

there was much playing of Monopoly - we actually had a week long game that ended with the 'Death Match on the final Saturday night - I lost quickly, and Ben was declared the winner with $180million, while Tanner was runner up with $43 million... not too shabby

somw swimming although it wasn't as hot and humid as I'd hoped - still, nothing beats swimming in a lake to me, absolutely nothing...

there was even some knitting, although for some reason I had a VERY hard time focusing... I started some Jaywalker socks with a skein of Perfect Day Yarns as my easy project. While I loved the start of them , I soon found that because of the number of stitches, the three colours did not stripe together and I was ending up with this , which just isn't the look I'm going for. I also started a pair of Marina Piccola socks using merino/sea cell yarn from Unwind - took me three times to finally get the pattern and sizing set, and I quite like them ... the yarn makes for fairly weighty socks, which surprises me, actually...

I also got started on a KAL with the Loopy Ewe using Dream in Color Baby - I am making the Lace Ribbon Scarf from the Spring '08 Knitty, and after 5, count 'em, 5 attempts, FINALLY got the damn thing to look like it's supposed to...


So we packed quite a bit into our week away, and still managed to relax and actually enjoy each other's company... hopefully that carries on through the remainer of our vacation, during what looks to be (of course, now that we're not on a lake anymore) a hot, hazy and humid spell...

So... am I glad to be home? Why don't you be the judge of that??

Oooohhhh, An Adventure

Well, if the dogs are at the kennel (they are), my mom has been enlisted to check in on our intentional rodent population (she has), and the van is being packed up puzzle-style (it will be), then we must be heading out on a trip...

and we are..

we are going up to "our" cottage at the Blue Spruce Resort on Oxtongue Lake, just outside of Algonquin Park for the next week... when we went last year, it rained every single frigging day and was COLD

the weather forecast for this week looks hot and humid, which, when you are lucky enough to have a clean sparkling lake in front of you, is what you want... not that I actually trust weathermen or anything, but when it suits my purposes, I believe them...

I believe that makes me a fair-weather friend???

Happy summer, see y'all in a week...

Isn't the living supposed to be easy?

You know, summertime and all that???

We have been bus-s-s-s-y since the beginning of last week, so let's do the time warp again (with thanks to the Rocky Horror Picture Show) so I can show you.....

last Tuesday (not July 1, the one before), both of my sons graduated from their respective grades, Ben in the morning from Grade 6, for which I found myself coordinating their afternoon luncheon (note to self: must work on my 'just say NO' skills this summer).

Oh, and the stars behind Ben and his teacher? Yet another instance of my spinelessness... I started with these , which were generously cut and donated by the father of a friend of mine - just scrap pressed board, nothing fancy

UNTIL some poor schmuck spends the better part of a weekend spray-painting them gold
,
tying ribbons into the pre-cut holes and then writing on the names of all the recipients (there were 44 in total)

and THEN, because, again, the 'n' word is not something that works unless dealing with the offspring in question (NO, I will not pay $75 for a t-shirt; NO, I will not buy you a Gibson Les Paul), same schmuck spends an hour pinning the stars to the backdrop curtain, then unpinning after the ceremony so the kids could get each other to sign the back and then keep them...

my spray-paint laden lungs and pin-scarred fingertips may never be the same... but I digress...

that evening (last Tuesday, not the 1st - still with me?), Tanner celebrated his graduation from Grade 8...

Tanner was surprised to learn that I fully supported his choice of attire (an Aerosmith shirt with a suit? TOTALLY), and I was reminded yet again that dark bras are better under dark t-shirts...

We shared the traditional first dance, which interestingly was held in the cafeteria, and frankly, you can't beat food service counters for ambience, during which I kept apologizing to the poor boy who was SO uncomfortable, and then he and his friends opted out of the remainder of the dance and came with me to Dairy Queen instead...

nothing says Happy Graduation like an Oreo Blizzard...

I spent the day on the verge of tears, but held it together pretty well, only tearing up here and there and never outright blubbering, for which we were all grateful...

oh, and that same day, the school held its final assembly, during which I was presented with a lovely, thoughtful gift as a thank you for running a weekly lunch program for the past 5 years, and earning over $20,000 in total for the school coffers...

really, all I needed was Old Yeller dying in front of me to make the emotional rollercoaster complete...

since then there have been pool parties, bike rides, the latest installment of Woolgirl's sock club

I know I've said this before, but Jen puts together the most FABULOUS packages - look at the perfect, tiny froggie stitch marker in the middle of all that


There has been attempted (and aborted) warping

Maggie didn't know what the hell I was doing, but stayed right there watching me

and then yesterday, my young men were off on their first official summer expedition - three days of 5 males in this


I have never seen one so big up close before - 31 feet long, at least 2 1/2 feet taller than a city bus, 2 TV's and a FULL BATHROOM - their father is of the opinion that bigger is always better... at least, until he has to drive it down a tree-laden street, leaving the carnage of torn branches and shredded leaves in his wake...

I was invited to visit for a day, but I have no interest in seeing my boys playing Lord of the Flies

So, upon re-reading this, I think yet another lesson for me is to post when I think of it, and not wallop y'all with these occasional sagas... and maybe to enjoy a little quiet time while I can...

the living is easy... right???

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

to bring you this

and this


I was going to write about my new project, and my languishing projects, you know, the usual, but then not half an hour ago the sky went black, thunder ripped across the lake and, well, it hailed...



Ben offered to "model" the hail for me, but quickly realized, it's cold

hence the face...

so I am off to make my confession or something because I have NEVER seen weather like this in all my born days... we've had more thunder and weirdness in the past month than in my whole life... I think something bigger may be afoot...

and now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

Sandra.....

oh, Saaaaaaannnnnnnnddddraaaaaaaaa...


I hope you got into as much trouble as I did...

but I digress...

when last we spoke, we had suffered much at the hands of Mother Nature, and I was rescuing baby birds and righting tossed nests...

well, the robins had a 66% survival rate, for which we were very thankful. We found one of the little guys hopping around the yard - well, actually, Charlie found him - I saw Charlie sitting erect and completely still, paws outstretched. When I called him, he turned his head very, very slowly - like horror film slowly - and then turned back just as slowly - something moved, and he got up, tiptoed (I kid you not - my 100 pound dog was tiptoeing) and stretched his paws out on either side of whatever it was.

I couldn't get a picture of him protecting it, but this is what it was:


It eventually flew away, leaving poor Charlie bereft (empty nest syndrome for a male dog - go figure) - we think he needs a kitten.

The cardinals have, I believe, flown the coop as well, but I did get in there for a little peek


and in spite of the HUGE thunderstorms and hail we've been experiencing recently uh huh, hail - , Buddha is much happier with the weather these days


In knitting news, there has been some stash enhancing going on... just a bit, really...

Jenn of Woolgirl fame makes everything seem like a present, like a special occasion - it almost seems wrong to unwrap something so thoughtfully, so artfully put together. But then you do and you find this

samplings from the Unique Sheep, including another set of graduated colours to make more of these .

There has been the Art Walk Sock Yarn Club to enjoy (really, I see this as culturally enhancing more than stash enhancing - it's like going to a museum in the comfort of your own home)


There have been other interesting things going on - attempts at resuscitation followed by reckless abandonment and new loves...

but that can wait till next time...

CARNAGE

I woke up this morning to this:


Our robin's nest turned asunder, and initially, no babies to be found
.

I did eventually find two of the three babies, and thinking they were dead, tried to scoop them up very gently. Turns out, they were both still alive, barely, so I righted the nest and (never touching them, because I don't know if it's a myth or not) tucked them both back in, hoping beyond hope that their mom would show up.

She has. She's been in the nest with them since I put them back in.

Fingers crossed and good vibes...

Look who's moved in to the neighborhood...

We found them because Charlie was making every effort to climb up and into the shrub where the nest is - not sure if he wanted to eat them or snuggle them (he caught a bird a while back and we found it nestled between his HUGE paws, trembling, while he licked and nuzzled it), but there they were, with their mom in a nearby tree.

They grow fast

and like typical babies, all they seem to want to do is eat

and eat...

and as if that's not enough, we also found this last night, in a lilac bush right beside our dining table:


Mama cardinal sitting on, I think, eggs, with the dad always lurking nearby...

Gosh, and we were feeling sad that the mourning doves hadn't made their usual nest over the front door this year - now it's like a nature show in our own backyard...


We have finally been able to start eating outside, and the flowers? Oh, the flowers...


I love spring...