Happy New Year!

Well, we've had our dinner - the boy's picked out their favourites: Scalloped Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, Caesar Salad and Chicken Kiev (which for many years the kid called "Chicken KF" because he thought it came from Kentucky Fried Chicken). We've got JP's favourite childhood recipe for dessert, it's called Nanny's Pineapple Dream which we'll dig into once dinner settles in a bit.

We will have a quiet night at home as a family and have a little bubbly toast at midnight. Everything's going well for us except my mom went into the hospital today and has been told she'll be there until Wednesday. The one thing she didn't want to do was to spend New Year's in the hospital and now she is. I wish she didn't live so far away so I could visit her easier. I am glad that she's in good hands though, and although she will be disappointed, she is being well looked after and that is the most important part. And huge kudos to my brother and SIL who live in the same town and have driven her all over the place and are looking after her doggy. Thank you.

Hope you have a safe and happy New Year, and all the best for 2008!

Thank you for being loyal readers and commenters, I am so grateful for the new friends I have made this past year - especially Cynthia and Jo-Ann.

Some completed projects

So here's my first completed project on the Knifty Knitter loom which I received as a Christmas Present - a hat. I made the pattern up as I went along. I see it's a bit long, good thing I can just roll up the rim!

I also completed this Crochet Christmas Coffee Cozy(here's the pattern). I used yarn in my stash, so instead of red and white, it's actually red and cream and the green I used is brighter than the pattern, but when it's all together it works, doesn't it?

Boxing Day Madness

Here's an update of my amaryllis, per yesterday's post. Five flowers are now open - isn't it gorgeous? And it's right on time too:

Now that the presents have all been opened, here are some photos of items I made:

1) This is a man's half apron for my brother as he is a wonderful cook, baker and chef. His initial is at the top (on his hip) and then our running gag, the name of a cookie - Snickerdoodle, is on the bottom. That was part of an on going gag, he wasn't expecting anything when he unfolded the apron. I embroidered the Snickerdoodle letters in multi-coloured thread as it reminded me of when he surprised me last September by writing the word in sidewalk chalk when my car was parked at my moms (we ambush each other with the word, seeing who can stick it in a conversation, or hide the word somewhere. Upon the unveiling of the apron, my SIL declared that I was the winner. I know my brother does not accept defeat, he just needs to work harder at getting me back.)

Because the apron was black, I used a white pencil crayon and freehanded the lettering - you can see a bit of my white line on the letter "S" but that came off before I sent it.

2) This is a set of pillowcases I embroidered for my brother and sister-in-law. The aliens were perfect for him and so adorable, but I couldn't find a good image for her, so I went with the cats. I really wish I could find a better image for her, when I do, I'll have to redo her pillow case. Also, I was too lazy and used the short version of her name - shame on me, I know. I know.

I think the rocket ship turned out perfectly , probably the best stitching I've ever done! 3) There is one other thing I made and sent out but it hasn't arrived yet, and I forgot to take a photo so as soon as it arrives, I'm hoping to post a photo of them.

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All the other items I made, I've already posted photos.

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I did threaten JP for the weeks leading up to Christmas that I was crocheting him a sweater vest and knitting him some socks. He just kept laughing and saying "please don't". I didn't.

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We did not go anywhere near any stores today, so we did not endure the Boxing Day Madness. But I heard that the sales really weren't that good, and some items were either the same as before Christmas or were only $5 off! That's not worth fighting the crowds. I think January ain't what it used to be, now that so many people get gift cards. It used to be that people spent all their money at Christmas and couldn't afford to shop in January. Years ago I remember getting a letter each January from the bank telling me that I could opt to not make that month's Visa payment to ease the burden. And so everyone was tapped out and stores really suffered in January. Now, so many people get gift cards, I think after Christmas shopping is alive and well.

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Today I knitted a hat on the Knifty Knitter I received as a Christmas present. It is a whole new skill to learn that's for sure. And I found the instruction book that came with it, was not very helpful at all. Good thing there are a couple of good sites such as Yarn Gear and Loom Knit

Merry Christmas!

It's a lovely day, and it's even become a White Christmas as it's been snowing lightly for the past couple of hours. JP and I opened our gifts this morning and have spend the day relaxing.

Two of the amaryllis flowers opened today - right on schedule. Photos to follow - just too lazy to post them right now.

Dinner's done and cleaned up and I'm working on my Knifty Knitter, which was a present from my mum.

Wishing you a wonderful and safe holiday.

Two more days to go

Okay, so all the presents are ready, the tree is decorated, the Snowman table cloth is on the kitchen table and I've baked a loaf of chocolate banana bread - which is not really a traditional Christmas baked item, but a household favorite. I also baked some sugar cookies and I have a batch of shortbread in the oven right now, which I have no idea how it will turn out, but since the recipe is from The Joy of Cooking, so I'm hoping it will be a good one.


In between things I've been making these little hats and have hung them in the tree. They are a fun quick project, although I think I'll try some in crochet as knitting in the round with so few stitches is a bit awkward. You can find the pattern here.

And one more thing I wanted to share:

Do you think my amaryllis will be open for Christmas day? It's very close,
I think it might just make it, don't you?

4 more days? Really?

Well, I think the crazy running around has just about slowed down. I just need to pick up a couple more presents - and I'll be done! Although we still don't have a Christmas tree or other decorations in our house... we do have this:

~ a Gingerbread house that JP and the kid decorated.

And here's a present I made for my brother for Christmas, which he opened early - Hedwig! I sent my brother an owl. See what's under his arm? I made a little paper envelope with a note inside....(I can't tell you what it says)

And here's the pair of sock's I'm working on:
I'm waiting for a computer guy to come by, and then I'm free! And then I'll be able to catch up on emails and blog posts and all that other fun stuff. In the mean time, I'm listening to Sirius Radio which has 2 channels of commercial free Christmas music - one which is replaying Christmas radio shows from the 50's and 60's which is really cute and rather fun to listen to.

And if you love looking at other people's old photographs (I do!) enjoy this eye candy. They have a special Holiday Gallery which is quite interesting to view. Try it out.

Edit: 3:50 - computer guy is gone! Yay! Now I can do what I want! It's shopping and decorating time! And definitely some crafting time.

Have you ever noticed....

that by the time you've decided to leave your job and move on, you're so spent at the end of each day that it's hard to put in the time for job search/research ?

Where have I been?

Hello. I realize it's been awhile since I've posted, longer than normal and I have a couple of reasons. First, I was madly rushing to finish some last minute Christmas presents as I had to get them off in the mail. Then, I've been tied up heading into Vancouver 3 days in a row, why? JP had eye surgery - so the first day was the consultation, the second day the operation and the third day was the follow up. It takes us about 2 hours to get to Vancouver so I've spend a fair bit of time in the car. And after the surgery I had to drive. We would go home first and then make another hour long trip to pick up the kid after school. That's a lot of running around and didn't leave much time for anything else. I didn't knit for 2 1/2 days! Last night I could've but after I made dinner and then washed up, all I wanted to do was just sit.

Today, it's been raining steadily, so I haven't taken the dogs out. Basically, I've been doing some knitting (socks) and watching some TV and that's about it.

I'll be back soon. Wishing you a happy holiday season!

15 more days!

So I've been taking my antibiotics for my sore throat and I am feeling better. The cold is gone and the throat doesn't hurt. And I have a bit more energy back too, although I'm still sleeping funny (but that's a whole other story).

I took only Jazz out for a walk in the snow yesterday. I don't know what it is about that dog, but she just love, love, loves going for a walk and the weather doesn't make much difference. Okay, she's not too happy when she gets rained on but I think she definitely prefers to be out there. Although about 15 minutes into our walk yesterday she slowed down a bit, right after she spent about 5 minutes sniffing the air - I have no idea what scent she picked up or perhaps her age slows her down now, or maybe her feet got cold? I did have her in a t-shirt, well it's more like a half shirt, so I don't think her body was cold. Perhaps she had some road salt on her feet. I'm not sure why she suddenly changed her mood, we went straight home after that.

So here's what I did over the weekend:
I finished making some Christmas presents which I can't show you for another 15 days!
I wrapped all the presents I needed to mail this weekend.
I wrote up all the Christmas cards.
I boxed up and mailed the Christmas presents (except I forgot one at home, and now I'll have to stand in that dreadful line up again!)

And now all the holiday crafts and presents that had to be sent out, I can knit for myself. Yay.

On Saturday we had to be in Langley and JP brought me to a store on Salt Lane called Knitopia. Apparently he had been in there a couple months ago when he was looking to buy me a wool winder (everyone say 'awwww' - isn't he sweet?) So the boys went to the German deli a couple of doors down to have a Reuben Sandwich while I shopped. Except, without my pattern books with me, I find it hard to buy wool so I did what a lot of knitters do in this situation - buy sock yarn. There is no pattern on the ball band with this yarn and it's quite a fine yarn, I started with my 56 Stitch, 56 Row sock but quickly realized it was going to be too small. So I've switched to another sock pattern. Since it's a self striping yarn, I 'm not going fancy with pattern - just stockinette as the yarn will do the rest! I'll post pictures when I've made some progress.

Hope y'all had a good weekend too.

This and That

I'm going to the doctor today because I still have a sore throat. My cold pretty much ended by last weekend, but I just can't get rid of this throat issue. I looked up "sore throat remedies" on Google, and the home remedies are pretty scary. Instructions like: take cayenne every 15 minutes until your sore throat is gone (can take up to 2 days) - what? people don't sleep? How does that work? And there were so many warnings: put Vaseline on your lips first and wipe off your lips and don't take too much because this is what happened to me.... etc. I think I'll just go to my doctor and get some antibiotics (and hope it don't hear "all bugs don't need drugs").

I've been busy trying to finish some last minute Christmas presents, I want to get every thing in the mail by the end of the week.

But the biggest thing I've spent my time on, relates to my 11 year old dog, Jazz. I was warned that the noise phobia issues would increase with age and they have. The list of things that scare her increase each year to include things like: loud motorcycles, air hammers and the wood pecker. But now she's started to bark at 5am (an hour before I get up) and continues a low growl until I get up to shut her up. She doesn't have to go to the bathroom but she does run around as if there's a cat or something outside. Maybe there is? Maybe a neighbour lets out their cat before 5am and the cat comes here every morning and Jazz can here it. Maybe she's crazy and imagines it.

The problem is that her issues become the whole house's issues and do get between JP and I. And I don't know how to stop them. The behaviour books cover common problems like dogs on furniture and peeing in the house, but they don't cover these types of issues. And so far the drugs the vet has given me don't help plus they cost a lot just to experiment with. Valium without a medical plan is an expensive little pill. And then I get into the issue of getting my dog too doped up. I don't want her to be stoned. The list of things I've tried is long and includes acupuncture and Tellington T-Touch and even aromatherapy. So far I have not found any animal behaviourists who can help me either -mainly because they are so far away - what's the point if the specialist can't see the dog? You'd think Vancouver would be big enough to have one, but I've asked several people and they tell me the closest person is in Victoria or in Washington State. So because of her age, the one option that continues to be presented to me is euthanasia. I have a really difficult time choosing this option when 80% of the time, she is a sweet and wonderful dog. which is why part of my time has been consumed with searching to find a solution/option/alternate.

Also on my mind - it's been 10 years since my father passed away.

Owlishly

Have you been to the site of Owlishly? Have you seen her amazing crochet creations? I think she does incredible work and check her blog on a regular basis.

Last week it was her birthday and she offered a free pattern to anyone who commented that day. I actually commented more for something on her blog, but was delighted when I received an email from her - but guess what? She couldn't decide on what pattern to give her readers, so she gave three! Incredible! She send the patterns in pdf format and they are wonderfully detailed with photos and instructions of her creations. I am so excited that I must get off my computer immediately and dig through my stash so I can start making these little sweeties. She included "Alexa" - an Amigurumi Bee Girl, "El Ciclon Panzon" an amigurumi Luchador pattern and "Sarita" and Amigurmi Mexican Doll Pattern.

A-mazing.

Dough-Nu-Matic

Looking for a gift for someone who has everything? I bet they don't have their own donut machine.....

Find it here. How many gadgets do people have filling up their houses? No wonder we need more self-storage?

Snow Weekend

So the snow kept coming until late afternoon Sunday when it turned to rain and now it's been raining all night and I feel like we live in a giant white Slurpee!

Normally, JP has snow tires put on his car, but sadly, his car is at the point where it's not worth it to repair so we'll have to find someone who wants it for parts I guess. It's a real shame as it's a nice looking car in good shape but a new transmission is just too much. We've had a rental for the past two weeks while he searched for a car to buy. The rental car only has all season tires, so it is not worth risking damage to it when you don't really have to go out, so we all stayed in for the weekend.

It wasn't so bad. And even though I hadn't picked up the weekly groceries, we still had plenty of food choices and other supplies. I was disappointed that I missed my Saturday shopping trip in Vancouver and spent the day cleaning up my work room ("office" if you want to stretch it). Sunday, I did some crochet and watched some TV and played on the computer. When the power went out, I cut out paper snowflakes by candlelight for some winter decorations and then read using a book light. The boys had spent their weekend playing video games and when the power was out they just switched to the hand held Nintendo DS Light. Just around the time that the kid uttered the b-word (bored) the power came on. Thank goodness we were only without power for about an hour, according to the news some people were without for several hours.

Earlier in the afternoon I took the dogs for a quick walk, and to keep them warm I put Maxx in hisi "ski" vest and Jazz just in a t-shirt (haven't found anything to fit her yet and haven't made her a sweater yet - she's next though!). Maxx followed me as we walked as I think it's much easier for him (he's 13) to walk in the tire tracks or my trails, but Jazz (who's 11) bounded through the snow as happy as could be. In some places it was up to 12 inches deep. She just bounced along. And when she saw people on the road, she happily ran up to greet them. What a snow dog!

I made another Amigurumi duckie - which one do you like better?

I. Am. So. Disappointed!

All week long I have been looking forward to meeting Cynthia and Carol and Miranda at a Craft Fair in Vancouver. But when I woke up this morning to let the dogs out, I discovered it had snowed all night and it was still snowing. The snow forecast for the city is not looking good today.

And since I live 'way out here' and don't have snow tires for my little car, I am not able to drive the hour and a half in to Vancouver! (Because then you still have to drive home.)

Wah! I so wanted to go today!