Still Life with Yarn

If I could paint, I think this would be an excellent Still Life subject, except that my camera didn’t quite catch the light exactly.  The mood in the cafe last Tuesday was a bit more nostalgic, and the beautiful green colour of ShiBui showed to perfection.  Mrs R. plans a scarf with her three skeins.  Her ice cream sundae with fruit made up for the untangling work of the yarn ball she was doing.  The yarn is not an easy green to describe, and is kettle  dyed to make some pretty variations.  Not lettuce, not cedar, not too yellowy, not pea green, more edaname if anything.

The Scary, Zombie Laden Weekend, Plus a Black Cat

This is the second year I’ve gotten to enjoy Hallowe’en in my house and this neighbourhood that is full of kids.  Its a lot of fun to see all the kids running around in their costumes, so, so excited.  One little butterfly, it appeared to be her first Hallowe’en and didn’t have the hang of it yet, stepped right into the house when we opened the door.  Her mafioso father with his giant machine gun had to pull her back out and explain that you just stood there and got candy.  This year we bought a pumpkin to carve, and since we’re all about zombies, picked out a good gnarled out.  It looked good during the day, but better at night!

We added extra green marker for effect, and I tried to leave some stringy “brains” in behind.  I really, really, wanted to make a califlower garden out front, because they look like brains and that way we could catch some real zombies (A La Pride Predjudice and Zombies) but then Mr. J pointed out that was a waste of califlowers.

Instead we decorated the front window with our usual black cat:

And his sidekick “Chubby Tabby”.  They love looking at all the people running around, I think its Jack’s favorite day of the year.  All the little kids love it when they spot Jack. 

Well, I’ve gone and done it now, I cashed in some reward miles that I haven’t used in forever and I’m going to Stitches West in February.  This seems like an extremely good idea to me, as the best thing to do in February in Calgary is to get out of Calgary.  California seems like a great way to go.  My plan is to just go to the Marketplace on Saturday, and try and soak up some of the non -40 oC weather for a bit of a break.  As you can tell, I’m kinda of excited about the prospect as I’ve been catching up on the Stash and Burn podcasts and this event is a big thing in the lives of Jenni and Nicole.  Now I get to go and see it for my own eyes!

What Happens when you Retire

Do you think about retiring, about what you will do?  Do you see it as an endless bore, with nothing to do now that lovely, lovely work, the meaning of your life has been taken away?  Don’t laugh, I’ve met a few people that have told me that when they are forced to retire they will drink themselves to death as quickly as possible in order to end the boredom.  I personally can’t wait to retire, I see it as a time in life where I have the means to live a relatively comfortable life, and not have to make more money unless I really want to.  You see, I have the example of my parents, now retired for almost 15 (!) years.  Is it a bad thing that my parents are having more fun partying than I am? 

Dad is the hot blonde with the pink body suit, Mum is the hot chick with silver locks.  I know, if I didn’t tell you which was the woman and which was the man you could be confused!  Wednesdays are big nights on the island as it is karaokee night.  Dad’s signature song apparantly is “You make me feel like a woman” and Mum’s is “Ride a Cowboy, Save a Horse”.  Now that photo isn’t too bad you say, I don’t understand what the big deal is you say.  Well, how about this:

I know, Dad isn’t wearing any shoes with his lime green mesh pants.  Apparantly he broke them from boogieing too much earlier in the evening, but he’ll get some new pumps in Florida later in the year. 

Now I bet you can’t wait to retire!!

The Problem with the United States

This post was due to be written in the Denver Airport last Friday evening, initially as I was excited by their free Wifi, which turned out to be erratic and impossible to bring up pages with.  Sigh, the disappointment of free.  I had a bunch of time there due to a late plane in, then a mechanical problem on our plane.  I spent last week flying on planes that are due to be “retired” on Oct 22 and replaced by Airbuses.  Is it just me or does it strike fear into you when they announce that the plane you are currently sitting in is about to be retired because it is “old and difficult to maintain”.  Oh well, what can you do when you are strapped in 30,000 feet up other than hope if there is a problem the death is quick and relatively painless, so you might as well knit away.

I was happy to be leaving Sioux Falls South Dakota, or Big C*#K Country as an orange t-shirt proudly proclaimed.  Not that is anything particularly wrong with that part of the country, other than hunting season of pheasants (hence the t-shirt) began on Saturday and the airport staff were busy celebrating the hunters arriving in droves.  Everyone was wearing hunter orange hats, shirts, a lovely firearm officer was waiting to give everyone back their checked rifles lawfully.  I don’t have any huge beef against hunters, as long as they are controlling populations of animals that would otherwise have problems, and I don’t like it when people take pleasure from killing an animal.  I sincerely believe if you kill an animal for food you should instantly thank that animal for the sacrifice.  And you should feel bad, and you should use the whole animal, or as much of it as possible.  AND I don’t like hunter orange, it does nothing for anyones complextion. 

I spent the week working with one of my old co-workers from Utah, who has always been a good guy to work with.  He was one of the few people during my three years at the company in Utah who would talk to me, allow me to joke with him, and was always nice to work with.  He is very right wing, ultra conservative, and proclaims his belief in small government and low taxes.  So of course I have a great time teasing him, asking him if he’s really happy Obama got elected, if he is excited that more people should get medical coverage in the States etc. etc.  He’s a good sport, and generally gets that I’m just having some harmless fun to tease  him.  One day we walked over to the restaurant to get some lunch and I asked him “Do you know what is the problem with the United States”.  He immediately tensed up, wondering if I was going to make a crack about health care, gay rights, foreign policy, any number of things on which we disagree about.  I kept him in suspense, “This really bothers me, and its something really good about Canada”.  He was worried now.  I said “Its hard to find ginger ale here, in Canada you can get it in every restaurant, store, on the airplane, in the United States you have to hunt for it”.  He relaxed, and we went on to talk about the yumminess of ginger ale, its sweet by spicy taste, its caffeine free goodness.   Next time I’ll bug him about Smarties.

Transition to Fall

The transition into fall was very noticeable here, promptly on Sept 1 there was a nip in the air, and the chilly mornings were back.  The leaves are already being painted yellow in more noticeable quantities.  At knitting on Tuesday we all commented on how we still feel the need to move, or transition in the fall after so many years (half our lives or more) of starting school in the fall.  I myself have made big moves in the fall, from Boston to Salt Lake, and then to Calgary.  For many of us the fall is the time to pick up, and start anew.  This manifested in moving furniture, cleaning apartments, beginning projects, and feelings of coming awake after a drowsy summer of enjoyment. 

I’ve been in Calgary almost two years now, and feel firmly rooted here, and have no intention of moving.  However my restless feet are still twitching under me at times.  Do you know they need water engineers in Australia quite badly?  I’ve heard Kelowna could be nice to live in, people are hiring out there?  Such are my thoughts at times.  But figure skating will be starting next week, and I bought a cute little running skirt to wear, which I can’t picture running in, but will do quite nicely for a skating skirt.  I’ve been running, and doing lunges and jumps in the backyard in preparation.  Yes, pretty sure my neighbours think we are crazy, but they might as well find out now? 

Plans for the next month are abounding as well as my parents come into town, and my Aunty Ninja is already here for a little mini-reunion.  Since I have to go to a town near Regina next week, Cupar Saskatchewan, my parents are going to join me for a road trip, which should be fun.  I’m hoping I get 8 hours of knitting each way, but I may be called upon to share driving tasks with Daddio.  Local yarn store in Regina is Golden Fleece which I hear is worth visiting.

After that I’m heading over to Winnipeg for a conference, I hope to steal out one evening to visit www.ramswool.com, a famous Canadian yarn store.  I’m also going to knit a Pirate toque for a fundraiser, we’ll see how that goes over, maybe a hit, maybe a fail?  I do find that there is generally a special spot in Canadians hearts for warm toques, and since Winnipeg is so cold, perhaps someone will buy it at the Silent Auction. 

Then I’m off to Minneapolis, then to Ontario for the wedding, and that’s only just the beginning of October!  A bit too many trips, but a lot of knitting in cars and at the airport.  I hope to get a bunch of nice warm projects finished so that I can wear them!  It may just quiet my restless feet for the rest of the year however, because going on a trip is nice, but going home is much nicer!!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Fall photo from the mountains above Park City, three years ago:

The View from Mount Olympus

Taken on a January afternoon, with a bit of inversion, looking out over Salt Lake City.  Somewhere down there is where Margene lives, of whom I’m thinking of today!

Ahhhh, Les Vacances!

Finally, oh finally, I’m on vacation in exactly 40 minutes.  But I may leave early, I’m a rebel that way!  I am really looking forward to having a week off, and getting away from it all so to speak.  Mr. J and I are taking it easy tonight, then driving down to Fernie BC for some mountain camping at their provincial park tomorrow.  I’ve even convinced him to leave his laptop behind for a blissfully electronics free week.  We’re taking our bikes, hiking shoes, bathing suits, and relaxing chairs.  For entertainment I’ve got knitting, mais bien sur, books, games, cards, and each other.  I do so love reading by candlelight in the campsite, hopefully watching the campfire.  They are a bit dry over there, so campfires may or may not be allowed, we’ll have to see when we get there.  No cell phones, no laptops, no background whine noise.  Just wind in trees, birds, natural noises. 

For knitting I’m going to start a new sweater and see how far along I get.  Its going to be a camping sweater, big and warm so a good thing to knit this week.  I’m also bringing along my unfinished sock projects to try and clean some of those up!  I’m not forgetting there is a yarn store in Fernie either!! 

I can’t tell you how good it will be for me to spend a week in the mountains, in the trees, sleeping in a tent breathing all that fresh air.  Riding my bike around the single track, hiking out to some cool viewpoint, this is my de-stresser, this is how I reboot, revitalize, recharge.  I promise to take lots of photos, but I’m doing my best to unplug from life!  When I was in university we delighted in going on two week canoe trips, and in Ontario/Quebec you can do this and see NO ONE but each other for all of those two weeks.  The beauty of those trips, the lake to ourselves, the loon calls, the stars reflected on the still surface of the water, the fire we made ourselves, cooking our dinner, grilling some bannock.  Our rules were pretty simple but important; no watches, only simple schedules, no negativity.  The no watches rule helped us forget about time, and made us cue into the world around us to know when we should camp, have lunch etc.  As an example of why we did this; a sister of a friend letting us know that packing up that morning took over an hour, and we should try and do better the next day.  I almost clocked her and threw her watch in the water.  By the end of the trip however she has calmed right down, and was into the rhythm of the trip, and she was a different, much nicer person.  She had fun!  She let go a bit, and dug her feet into the earth, and exhaled. 

See you on the other side, and enjoy your last week in August!

Friday brings the Weekend at Last

Which makes me very happy, I’m looking forward to the break, and spending some quality time at home.  Perhaps I’ll finally do the work in the garden I’ve been meaning to do since it stopped snowing (which is only really 4 weeks ago now).  Plus there is some good bike racing action to be had this weekend, and maybe even some warm weather.  Next week I’m back here:

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

MSRide and Charity Sale

Or in the sub-title: one busy weekend!  We had wonderful weather for the garage sale, and really good traffic flow due to the huge neighbourhood garage sale that was going on.  Over 175 homes participated!  We sold a tonne of stuff, but didn’t have much luck with the higher priced items.  Overall Mr. J and I raised $650 to donate to the MS Society, $341 of which was from the sale. 

Sunday was just as nice, and we had a great ride.  There were people participating on all types of bikes, of all ages, and of all sizes.  The lady who most impressed me was a Mum with a two month old baby, at each rest stop her Grandma would bring her over to breastfeed!  Now that is dedication on the part of her Mum! 

Next year Mr. J is looking forward to riding both days, which I think is a capital idea! 

I’m down here in San Diego now, and enjoying the Water Treatment Conference.  For me this is such a great chance to see so many old friends and co-workers, and make some new contacts.  I love catching up on all the gossip, and finding out how everyone is doing. I am however finished my socializing after a busy night last night, and tonight I’m taking myself over to Little Italy for a nice quiet meal.  Last night’s socializing involved a reception on a boat in the maritime museum, and a tour of a Russian sub (adroitly handled by me in my dress, somehow I managed to fit through the tiny hatches without revealing any secrets to the guys).  Photos tomorrow!!!  Now….food!

Also a note: The Western Canada Oddball Blanket Society is having an online auction to raise money to become an official charity by selling some items.  Check it out here!  The Thorpe hat made by me is made with Manos del Uruguay, and is slightly felted to be super warm.  The little baby hat is made with superwash wool.  Just don’t bid on anything I”ve got my eye on!!!

Weekend Wrap-up

I think it goes without saying that Stars on Ice was fantastically incredible and I loved almost (sorry S. Cohen) every minute of it.  Even the 14 year old girl next to me repeating “that’s stupid” couldn’t ruin how wonderful the skaters were, the extremely high quality skating and routines, and how much obvious fun the skaters were having.  Plus I ran into what seemed like half my figure skating club at the intermission!  The downside is that my feet are itching to skate, which could happen in July if I sign up for summer skating, or next fall which seems more likely. 

My diet has taken over much of my life these days, which I was warned would happen.  Its been a bit hard to keep up, as there is so much food that I’m supposed to eat.  To date I have yet to eat everything, especially the calories from protein.  Its so hard to get myself to eat that much protein!  The big change in my diet this year has been the introduction of organic free range chicken, and organic free range bison which I’ve been buying at the Calgary farmers market.  I think I’m actually enjoying the bison, which is from an Alberta farm, butchered locally as well, and is a beautiful animal.  I also think its more suitable to the land here than cows, but that is a whole other issue (I don’t like cows just so you know).  However there have been many positive side effects from what I have been able to do in two weeks; weight loss, a huge boost in energy, muscle mass gain in a big way, and the ability to fit better in my pants.  The weight/fat is definitely coming off, and muscle is forming in its place.  In fact, I have to work out a lot simply to make room for the next meal.  Its a lot of eating to get down 6 meals a day!!  The other day I actually made my own body heat, which for those of you who have seen my giant parka that I wear in the winter, knows is a new thing for me.  The basic diet is pretty simple.  For example my lunch is 6 oz of chicken, which I baked in spices, 3/4 cup rice, and 1/2 cup mixed vegetables.  Morning snack is non-fat yogurt, an apple, afternoon snack is whey protein shake.  My evening snack (which is really hard for me to get down, and I haven’t been eating very regularly) is 1.5 oz cereal and skim milk.  I feel like eating has taken over my life, but I seriously don’t have any room leftover for snacks like (sniff) cookies.  I did blame my bad mood today on lack of chocolate, but it could also be due to it being Monday. 

This weekend was also about the charity knitting for the MSRIDE coming up in June.  I’ve almost finished two more hats, just need to put the embellishments on the top.  I also dug way down in my rubbermaid contain of yarn and fished out anything else that could be suitable for making little items, and have them all lined up and ready for production!