Sunburn Pain

We are having the most lovely weather right now, it's even made it up to 32 degrees. This is pure heaven for me. I love, love, lacey-heart-love the sun/heat. So there I was on Saturday busy refinishing a garden table sawing and sanding and painting under a canopy or so I thought.  Until later when I found out I had burned my back

It didn't hurt. Yay ! I'm usually pretty good with the sun.

But no, it was a delayed hurt. I hurt on Monday afternoon. And oh boy did it hurt. I couldn't have anything touch it. Let me tell you it was a rough night  and you know what made it worse? oh playing with the dog and having her nails scraped my red skin! WOWZA!!

Anyway, here's the table. I hope it was worth it:

Green w/white polka dots

And here's my sad dog, wanting to play, sorry that she hurt me - she didn't mean it: 

(holding her toy, sitting in an empty swimming pool) 

Sunny Gardening Weekend

Well I did get out there and garden on Saturday. In fact, I was out there for about 6 hours. And it was another glorious perfect spring day on Sunday too, so I was out for about 4 hours. Saturday I put together some pots an planted some seeds. Then I worked on edging some garden beds and tidying them up. I discovered some extra plants and some plants are missing - like a wonderful viola that should've been up by now and seems to have disappeared under a pile of fern leaves. The only good thing is that the viola likes to travel and I have found little plants in other parts in the yard so I hope they will be able to establish themselves.

I also moved two roses that may have been a mistake. One has been overgrown by the wisteria and couldn't even bloom since it was robbed of light and water - however, thanks to those wisteria roots it was IMPOSSIBLE to dig it out, so I used my fingers to get ahold of as much root as I could and pulled. I sure hope it can regrown in the new place. It'll be so much happier where I moved it.

And that's basically my weekend- almost all of it outside and almost all gardening. But I'm so very grateful for the wonderful weather - it's been a few years that we've had an April like this one. One more day of sunshine and then it's back to rain for the rest of the week. But I sure am looking forward to the Good Friday holiday! And Easter this weekend, I can't believe it's already time for Easter. It's just the two of us, but we'll make it special somehow

Fall Weather

There's lots of local talk about our record breaking September weather - for having the most amount of rain on the most amount of days. It definitely was a wet one. It felt like we caught up for all the rain we missed throughout the summer. And some days it was more like a monsoon that our usual fare.

But today it's sunny. At least so I am told. The morning radio hosts were talking about the glorious orange sun this morning, so I excitedly looked out the window, only to see..... FOG. We finally get sun but how would I know!? I kinda looks like this:

Welcome to Autumn in a Rain Forest! Sometime this afternoon I should get to see what all the fuss is about - hopefully the sun'll stay long enough for me to see it. How's your fall weather?

Photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dense_Tule_fog_in_Bakersfield,_California.jpg

Where have I been?

I've been to the mountain and back.

Last week I was away on business in meetings at Bear Mountain Golf Resort. Wowza, is it ever a beautiful place, and the weather could not have co-operated any better. What a tourism commercial. We had people from Western Canada and Ontario at the meeting and I think everyone wanted to return (or move) to Vancouver Island!

Travel-wise it was fantastic. For those of us on the Vancouver side, we have to take a ferry to the island which is about an hour and 45 minutes. That too was wonderful. And the ferries have much improved. They used to be so 'functional' but now they are quite well designed breaking up the sitting areas making them smaller to reduce the noise levels. And landcapes and ocean were superb - and that's coming from a personal who's seen it many times and lives here! British Columbia is a gorgeous place to be.

The craziest part is no one golfed! The events co-ordinator booked a whale watching expedition instead. The thinking was that everyone could be together and mingle since we are all so spread out across the country and you'd only get groups of 4 doing that for golf - but still, two beautifully designed golf courses at your door and no one from our group stepped on the greens. I did see licence plates in the parking lot from Colorado and California though - I bet they had a good trip up here too. If you eve come to Vancouver, you must plan a trip over to Victoria. I'm sure you will be glad you did. (No I do not work for the tourism board)

The weather this spring and summer has been stupendous and I am over the moon. Being a summer baby I just love the sun and hot weather, however, being an adult I no longer get to lay about for hours on end just being outside. Maybe that's why I appreciate it so much.

Friday night Jp and I walked out of the house to go to the grocery store and then realized we forgot our bags (they don't give bags anymore in many stores to reduce the waste and damage to the environment - do they do that where you are too?) so we turned around and headed back into the house. Just then we heard a crash and I see a pile of boxes I had in my office covering the floor. Poor Eco was under my desk, probably not sure what to make of it. First thing we did is call her to make sure she wasn't scared and that she could get out.

Although I'm not happy about the mess, I'm so glad that I was there when it happened. First because I wouldn't want Eco to be hurt by it, and two because if it had happened while I was away I might have felt that Jp was somehow responsible.

The bad news is that my weekend plans were changed as I dealt with this issue. Oh sure I could've just thrown the boxes back together and restacked them, but I decided I'd better deal with them since they were a mess and so I cleaned out my bookshelves and other areas as well. Day 3, almost done! I'm sad that I'm missing the sun, but so glad that the visual clutter won't be clogging up my brain.

How are things going for you? I must catch up in the next couple of days!

Gorgeous Long Weekend Ahead

When I checked the weather at the beginning of this rainy week, the forecast indicated we'd be stuck with wetness for several days. We endured days of weird weather - bits of sun, light rain, heavy rain, thunder, sun, mugginess  - sometimes all within the same hour. But late Thursday night I found out that glorious weather has been forecast for this long weekend (Happy Canada Day) - sun with top temperatures between 25-30 celsius. That's a good temperature to be in, not like the 36+ degree weather in places like Phoenix or San Antonio and so I am over the moon to hear about this wonderful forecast.

I thought I'd be spending the weekend in the house, maybe cleaning up my office/work room - but now I plan to be outside - clean up the garden, do some painting and maybe just kick back and relax as it is a long weekend after all.

This morning's 5:30 dog walk was heavenly - the weather was perfect - 18 degrees, a warm wind so early in the day?  I didn't want to come home. In fact I almost didn't, instead of being out for 30 minutes, it ended up being 45. So very grateful for this lovely, lovely weather.

Now off to work -for a productive day with minimal interruptions since so many people take the Friday of a long weekend off as well - and then time to enjoy the weather. I don't even care if there are mosquitoes, I'll put up with them so I can enjoy the warmth and sunshine! Happy Weekend to you too!

Sunshine Makes Me Happy

Oh what a lovely day it's been, sure it's cold (-6 degrees celsius) but the sun was out - loud and proud! I am so happy to see the sun, I can't even begin to tell you.

But when it's cold outside, it's cold inside and this morning it was only 16 degrees in my house, so I turned up the gas fireplace and dug out my biggest, thickest Scandinavian wool sweater - that helps a lot. It's up to 20 degrees now, that's much more bearable.

This afternoon I put on a big long scarf which I wrapped around my neck several times, a flannel baseball cap, ear muffs, a big puffy jacket and some polar fleece gloves and went for a nice dog walk. It's unfortunate that Jp can't come with me to enjoy the lovely weather and the pleasant dog walk... but he's just not that kind of a guy.

I expected the dog park to have more people but three or four can be just fine too. If the wind stops and you can stand in the sun, you can actually feel a little heat, but unfortunately the dog park was in full shade. Today's people were nice and the dogs had a pretty good time - Eco played with a mini Labradoodle called Pansy which was good for her. Many dogs overpower her and then she ends up spending all her time with the people. Today she chased it and played with it pretty good. Maybe because Pansy was only 1 1/2 years old, Eco was more comfortable with a puppy. The one man that was there said he thought the football games had something to do with so few people that were there - the rest of us weren't even aware of any football games. He told us to root for Seattle because they are the closest to us. And then for the Patriots later today because they are a better team. I don't understand sports fans.

Here's what my frosty garden looks like today: 

Did you have a sunny day? How did you spend your Saturday? 

September love

I must admit that we've had an absolutely fabulous August and September (so far). I can't recall a September that has been so dry and sunny and I am really enjoying it. Most years our tomatoes would just be nice and big on the vine by the end of August and then the rains would start in September and they would never turn red or they'd just split and then the slugs would get into them and into the compost they'd go. And the grapes would be just about ready and then the rains would cause them to stay sour and get mouldy and then I'm busy keeping the dog away from all the fallen ones on the ground.

September does have a special appeal to it for me - even though it's now been YEARS since I've been in school, September still feels like a time to start again, a time for fresh paper and supplies and for new goals in the 'year' ahead, hope for what lies ahead. And even last night when our dance group met for our fall classes, it felt like the beginning of a school year (even though it had only been 4 weeks since most of us saw each other) There were several new hair cuts and even some new hair colour and of course, many were tanned from summer vacations. And we were all so happy to be together and get going for the fall and planning for the future.

September has always been special to me as my parents shared the same birthday and so it was special in my mind because of it. It reminds me of bouquets of asters and dahlias and those lovely orange chrysanthemums. My mom now lives far away from me, but I trust by brother and SIL to tak good care of her, they always have very lovely presents for her and a lovely meal with a special dessert. I'm envious that I can not be there.

I really love the summer because I love the heat and the sun but for some reason when I fondly recall dog walks, I always conjure up images of the fall walks (often all the way back to walking my Old English Sheepdog when I was in high school). I think about being bundled up in my coat, boots  and maybe even a scarf and mittens with my dog happily enjoying all the different smells and the cool air. And turning a corner on the walk and being surprised by a tree that seems to have suddenly turned red (or yellow) overnight!  And soon it will be time for me to switch our morning walks to midday as it's staying dark later and later and soon daylight savings will mean we'll be completely in the dark (it's just easier to walk in the daylight rather than outfitting both of us with flashy blinky lights and reflective gear). The midday walks are also quite enjoyable, it's a nice break during the workday and sometimes we end up walking past the local elementary school around lunch time and many of the little kids run to the fence to pet Eco and of course, Eco just LOVES children and can't wait to say 'hi' to all of them.

Other than the hour or so before and after school as the kids noisily walk to and from school, most of the days are quieter and there seems to be a calmness in the air. Slowly one by one the hummingbirds and other birds start to disappear  - the geese honking as they fly south, sometimes in groups as big as 50 and sometimes they can be seen and heard for miles. And there are less and less lawnmowers or other sounds during the days. September just seems to have it all: warm, sun, rain, cold, frost, flowers, colour, empty trees, ending of summer, beginnings of autumn to winter. Sigh, isn't it a wonderful time of year?

What's your favourite part about this time of year? 

While the sun's shining

I'm still here - it's just the sun came out and we took a little trip and it's summer and I don't want to be on a computer especially after I've been on one all day for work - I want to be outside in the sun and in the garden. Unlike the boys in my house who keep saying it's too hot outside and stay indoors in the air conditioning... I hope you're doing well, I'll stop by as soon as I can.

Anything I've missed?

Just a couple of more days

I was asked why my background was so tropical - it's because I had a little tropical vacation and I thought you should too. So I thought I'd show you some more pictures from our trip.

Across the water we could see Cozumel, 

but we didn't take the ferry over there (not this time):

The ferry to Cozumel: 

And by the end of the weekend, I promise I'll change my banner and background to a more winter-like image. Sound good?

I'm ba-a-a-a-a-ck

Didya miss me? I missed you too. Well I have to be honest, I sorta did, and sorta didn't cuz I was here:

....sitting on the beach in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Yeah, that's what I said. Mexico. Suntanning and being hot in the sun and all that...

I ran out on you and spend 8 wonderful days with my toes in the finest sand I've have experienced drinking  Brandy Alexanders and Bahama Mama's and other silly drinks with rhyming names

I'll be stopping by to catch up with you in a day or so, I hope you didn't forget about me.

Today I have an extremely sore neck and shoulders. I don't think I'll be doing any work today, just to rest them a bit. I won't even walk Eco which is pretty rare for me to miss a day. I'm just going to do laundry and sit in the sun and read and hope my pain goes away. I feel kinda bad because it's going to rain again soon and I really should be mowing the lawn or gardening but just the thought of pulling out the motor is too much at this moment, but health comes first right?

I hope you're enjoying one of our first beautiful sunny spring days too.

Free Crafty Stuff & a Fish

Oh things are always just so much better when the sun is out - don't you think?

First I am absolutely enjoying all the birdies. The hummingbird showed up on Monday and so I quickly alerted my neighbours so we could all put out food and make sure the little guy has something to eat (well I'm hoping it's more than just one). What is in bloom right now? Tthe crocus and the primula... how can a hummingbird get much nectar from that?

Second, it's giveaway time - check out our friends at Sibling Craftery. I don't really want you to compete with me, but sharing is part of being an adult right? So I'll take the high road and tell you about the contest. Maybe you can tell others too, that'll make it more fun for everyone!

And now, I have a question for you. Do you know what kind of fish this is?

Nope - it's a "Shell" fish. (giggle). I hope you're at least smiling!

Zippity-doo-dah, Zippity-day!

I just managed to snap these two photos before the fog started to roll in again. Yesterday I got to see the sunrise and then the fog took over until late in the afternoon.

Unfortunately, without taking a long walk I couldn't avoid the overhead powerlines - but otherwise I think the sunrise was captured pretty successfully.

Did you have a gorgeous sunrise this morning too?

Sept 16 + 28 Degrees C = happy me!

Wowza! What gorgeous weather! It's such a shame I have to be inside for work! Days like this are incredible. Since the kids are in school and many people are at work, the neighbourhood is quiet. I mean Q-U-I-E-T, quiet! At times, there are no cars driving by and maybe not even a bird or a dog making noise. It can be completely still. See? There are some good things about living in the 'burbs.

Here's my sheep planter with a tomato plant, hmm, no flowers or fruit - I don't think it'll make it in time, but gardeners like me have 'hope-itis' so I'll wait until as long as I can, one just never know what'll happen in the garden.

It's very nature filled these days, for example this morning we heard a weird tapping noise on the house... so I went to investigate and there was a blue jay with a hazelnut in his beak, trying to break it on the peak of our roof. Squirrels, crows and jays all have their paws and beaks on the nuts right now, I find them everywhere. You should have seen our gutters - the birds were dipping them in the water (before we cleared the drains), it's pretty comical. They've got walnuts too. I'm not sure if there are trees around but I suspect people put them in squirrel feeders. Squirrels to me are just 'rats with good PR'!

And this time of year the spiders become really active. First of all, their webs become super strong. Have you ever experienced this? Their silk is so thick and strong, I've walked into the lines and have been able to back up without breaking them. And they cross yards. During my morning walks I've seen a strand spanning from a power line to a person's garden, it's just incredible.

This is the biggest spider in my yard right now, I wish I could have put a ruler near her (all spiders are female in my mind) to show you how big - her body is as big as a shelled peanut! I'm not kidding.

And speaking of big, look at this huge toad in my garden:

Nah, I was just pulling your leg... it's just a garden ornament. I was having fun.

I took three photos outside, look how very different the backgrounds are: blue of the house, red of the shed and green grass. Interesting isn't it? Well, I thought so.

Okay, break's over, back to work I go.

I hope y'all can enjoy this beautiful weather too. And if you're feeling sorry for yourself, look at these pictures from Hurricane Ike and perhaps you'll feel better about your circumstances...... those poor people.

Warning: high volume of knitting content

Sunday was another great day off (including our most excellent weather). I spend the early morning knitting and reading in the dewy garden but by mid-morning when I came in the house to check on JP, I saw he was watching Good Will Hunting and I stayed to watch the rest of the film with him - I really like that movie, plus it was a chance to get under the covers and enjoy the heat captured under the blankies from the best human heater a girl could have.

As I watched the movie, I knitted. I had just turned the heel on a sock, but I didn't like the holes on each side of the side gusset (never had a problem like that before) and felt the ladder at the bottom of the foot was too much of a weak spot, so I frogged and started at the beginning of the heel again. By bedtime last night I had used up all the yarn I had frogged - so basically I lost one full day of knitting progress. Well it's better to lose a day than have to deal with those 'error' and potential weak spots. Besides, it's not a race... is it?

Mid-afternoon we went to Costco for a few 'essentials'. Actually, we were good and bought all food stuff with the odd extra like zip-loc bags or dryer sheets.

******

Knitting news: A new knitting source just went live a few days ago, check out Popknits

Book Review: I received this book from Vicki Howell and wanted to share a book review. Men Who Knit and the Dogs Who Love Them by Annie Modesitt and Drew Emborsky(The Crochet Dude) is an excellent source for all knitters. The designs are great - there is a good variety of styles - hats, socks, sweaters for the men and sweaters, toys and beds for the dogs. There are plenty of nicely patterned pieces to avoid the (often) boring task of one colour stockinette on a large back piece.

What I liked the most was the instructions. There are plenty of very detailed instructions, everything from marking and reading a chart, to colour work, to knitting a tube with two circular needles. And all patterns seem to be written very well - I can't really verify that until I've knitted through the pattern , but from what I've read they seem to be complete and succinct.

The dog sweater sizing chart is most helpful because dogs shapes vary so much and many patterns don't really recognize dogs larger than a Yorkshire Terrier. There are plenty of doggy sizes for each pattern which is a great help.

Even if you're not a man who knits, but you know a man (or dog) who'd like to receive your knitted creations, this would be a good choice to buy.

whoosh! another week gone!

Have you been wondering where I've been?

Well, the weather has been so incredibly awesome, and we had so few warm sunny days this spring/summer that I decided to enjoy the last of them. I've left all my outside chores until this Saturday and plan to rest and relax on Sunday (how old fashioned!)

So after work this week, I've either read or knitted listening to podcasts, sitting in the warm sun! Oh the luxury!

I did have to go to JP's nieces' birthday party Tuesday afternoon, which couldn't be avoided. You know, family obligations - that kind of stuff. But otherwise, it was pure indulgence.

I started a new novel, and I started the baby kimono sweater which I should be done today, so I'll show you photos tomorrow. I've done the laundry and the dishes and all that kind of stuff inside, but some of the big stuff I figured I can do during the 5 months of rain we usually get. Saturday, I'll weedeat, and mow the lawn and tidy up the yard, and maybe lay more cement (not concrete) and work hard all day to make up for it!

What are you doing to enjoy the last few days of sun and warmth? I hope you're able to get out there and indulge like me.

What a glorious Sunday!

To all of those in Vancouver (and area), didn't we have the best weather this weekend - Sunday in particular? It was so nice and warm - I even got a bit of a tan! I think there were many of us outdoor fans that felt ripped off by our lackluster summer, but I'm pretty sure September's great forecast will help our spirits a bit. (If you're not in the Vancouver area, I hope you had good weather too - tell me about it. )

My garden didn't do that well this year, which may be a combination of my losing interest and the poor weather we had from Spring all the way to August. Many plants didn't yield very well at all. Flowers didn't bloom or haven't yet and those plants that did produce, gave small crops, such the pears tree - which is not good for Jazz as she would eat 3 a day and yesterday she spent time staring up into the pear tree and hopping up to the lower branches, but there just isn't any left. I've told her there aren't any left and I've picked her up to show her, but she's still hoping for one more. Poor dog. Maybe I should go to the store to buy her some? (Oh JP would love that! Not!)

Since the weather was so glorious and it was a weekend, I decided to enjoy my Sunday and do the things I like, so I read and finished a novel and finished knitting my Monkey Socks. I was going to give the Monkeys awaay but they are a bit tight for the recipient, so I'll just have to keep them for myself. Everybody say 'oh no' (oh no). And JP made us the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever! Yum-my.

Sun + reading + knitting + tummy full of cheesy goodness = a great weekend!

BTW, I took this photo with the awesome tripod JP gave me for my birthday and the self timer on my camera. Otherwise, how can I take a decent sock photo right?

Oh, but back to knitting - now that all my UFOs are FOs (finished objects) I can start on a new project, so I grabbed a new skein of sock yarn from my stash - this one came with a pattern, but it's for stockinette, and after the wonderful pattern in the Monkey Socks, I'm not ready to go back to plain stockinette, so I may have to be brave and try a different pattern and hope that I have enough yarn. Although so far, I believe every pair of socks I've made, I've had a small ball (about the size of a plum) left over.

I'm also planning on making a Baby Kimono sweater for a manager who's expecting a grandchild around Thanksgiving. Which isn't so scary because it's American Thanksgiving, not the Canadian one! That buys me about 6 more weeks which should be plenty of time to get a baby sweater completed.

And so, after dropping the kid off yesterday, we did a little shopping, and then went to our favourite Chinese restaurant, and then we were home just in time for Mad Men - I like that show, and it's the only show I sort-of plan my schedule around.

I hope you had a lovely weekend too. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Halloween anyone?

Can you believe it's time for Halloween crafts? Oh I know the stores are selling Christmas items too but I was just a wee bit surprised about the crafts - check out Martha Stewart's Halloween Workshop (already 20,000+ people have signed up!) and if you're a big fan there is also the Halloween Craft of the Day.

Right now I'm still enjoying the flowers in my garden and the wonderful warm weather. I'm wearing tank tops, flip flops and white shoes (not all at once) and I just don't feel like thinking about all things black and orange. There are times when we need to think ahead, and times when I think we should be in the present. To me, summer is one of those times where we should be in the present!

I'm going to fill up the kiddie pool and enjoy the beautiful clear blue skies, fragrant lilies and the warm sun on my skin while sipping on something with ice in it. And maybe do some knitting while I'm at it - socks for when it gets cold again!

Back to normal

JP's luggage was delivered at 12:30am yesterday all the way out here - we were probably his last stop. I did get an email from my neighbour the next morning asking what happened as the guy kept his van running and dragged it up the driveway waking her up. (oops - what can I do about it?)

Andyway, we're so glad it's back - better to happen at the end of a trip, although it shouldn't really happen at all! 100% perfection expected people! I'm not just happy because I get to do more laundry (just kidding) but because in that suitcase there were some presents for me! And he teased me about them from the time he landed until the time he gave them to me.

From the House of Blues, he brought me this gorgeous studded embossed 'tattoo' leather clutch purse :

and this studded T-shirt:

It's all so rock and roll... even for a jazz lovin' gal! Those little studs on the t-shirt are sooooo bright, I wish I could have conveyed that on the photo - they almost look like little LED lights are in there.

Pretty cool presents aren't they? Oh I also got a shot glass from his conference and a cute key chain from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (sorry I forgot to take photos). I've made many a business trip and travelled many times with co-workers and unless they went shopping at mid-night they didn't bring anything back for anyone!

And to make things even better - summer is here! I'm so happy, I love the heat! Well, as long as I don't have work in it, or have a nice event like a wedding and arrive all sweaty or something..... anyway..... yesterday my thermometer said it was 32 degrees Celsius, but I worked at my desk until 4 and then we went to Costco and didn't get back until 7:30. boo, I missed out on all that weather. But, I am so proud of us- we didn't buy any frivolous items there - no books, DVDs or magazines or gadgets - just food! Isn't that great! Good food - good tasting and good for you too.... lots of veggies, oranges and other basic food items (okay some 7-layer dip and tortilla chips crept in there but that's not so bad)

Today it's also 32 degrees and as soon as I'm done work I'm going to get out there and enjoy - hmm, do I weed the garden or just sit and enjoy? ...............................As I was waiting for the photos to load, I decided that I won't work in this glorious heat - not today anyway.

Is the heat a joyous or cursed moment for you?

~~~~~~

And finally, if you are interested in some summer reading and would like to read a well written commentary, you may want to read this from The Slack Daily (blog).

Another FO

Ta da - I finished the scarf - the one that I invented. It's got a p3,k1 rib, and then a crocheted picot border. I'm still on the fence if I like it or not, but so far I think I will keep it as it is. I'm starting to warm up to it - which is funny, because that's what a scarf is supposed to do.

Look everyone, it's sunny this afternoon. Can you believe it? We've had such crappy fall weather - but today it turned sunny and it's supposed to stay for the weekend. Yessssss!

And here is my impression of a Tim Horton's Smile Cookie.

No really, this is the impression the cookie left on the bag... almost as good as the cookie.

Isn't that just the most fun a food wrapper can give you? Oh, so his smile is a bit crooked - who's isn't?