Distance blogging from unfamiliar puter...oh the insanity!
well the camping is not going as well as planned thanks to rain. Almost daily showers and or thunder showers or just plain ass rain. Plus mosquitoes. Plus 5 AM turf wars between the squirrels and the crows. I think the squireels won. Its like a sylvan Westside Story rumble scene. I lasted a week and am now at my sister's place. NO SKEETERS!!!!! wooohoowooohoo
Adventures to date: fireworks in New Glasgow, Museum of Industry visit on Tuesday, Arisaig fossil hunting with my mom in tow Thursday and yes fossils WERE found which is super cool AND no rain that day!!!, Friday was the victorian lavender festival in River John at Beach Lane farm (www.lavendercanada.com) and wool shopping at Lismore Sheep Farm (www.lismoresheepfarmwoolshop.com) with Nanny again in tow, yesterday a rainy thundery day and the Pictou Lobster carnival parade.
I am hoping to visit the south shore this week and the boys want a trip to the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. Thank Gods Jessie is here to offer warmth, dryness, and msoquito free lodging!!!LOL
Send sunny tyhoughts our way PLEASE. There is more rain in the forecast but gosh summer has to hit sometime right? RIGHT???

Knocked Up

A very funny movie. Its funny because its TRUE!! The pregnant hormonal psychosis? Oh yeah! Men being dumb asses? Its a given. Paul Rudd? Seriously adorable. Seth Rogan? Delicious. I enjoyed my self very much, especially the part where the guys go to Vegas, get high on 'shrooms and go see Cirque De Soleil as a form of male rebellion from the straight jackets they feel their women are putting them in. Too funny. And also, very believable. What couple hasn't gone through these kinds of trials and tribulations.
The soundtrack is also very good. I give Knocked Up a thumbs up. Don't see it if you have no sense of humor.

Holy heatwave Batman!!!

Its hot. Sticky and hot...which in pastry is a good thing but in weather around me is a bad thing. I am scrambling to make all ready for vacation and as I do this I am coated in a drippiong sheen of sweat. No ...not a sheen...more like a cascade. A salty cascade of sweat. Even while sitting still humidity is condensing on my skin because my skin is cooler than the air around me! Must be my Fabulous Anatomical Temperature control (F.A.T.). All in all its icky. Its windy too and the wind is hot which if anything makes it worse. I have closed up the house and am willing the cold air from my bedroom a/c to fill the house. Indoors IS cooler than outdoors by a noticeable degree so its kind of working. Closong up the house helps with my pollen intake too. Holy sneeziness.
So, as I said I am scrambling. What am I forgetting?? I think frantically. Don't forget to wash sheets for the tent trailer! Does everyone have enough socks and underwear packed? Bugspray!? Should I bring extra blankets or are the sleeping bags enough?

Tonight I escape and go out with my friend Antonella. It will be good to get away from all the preparations. Tomorrow is pack up the tent trailer and we will collapse it in readiness for pulling out on Friday morning. My living room is looking like a camping goods store!

Sunday

HM arrived home this afternoon, glad to be home but glad to have been away on a wee guys trip. He found Vegas overrated but the Grand Canyon had him wishing I was there to enjoy it with him. He brought back bobble headed shark pens for the boys, and a t-shirt and earrings for me. I put the earrings on right away. Silver with coral and opal. Love them. He done good.

In the process of turning the heel on Sock Two of Teri's pair. Had to rip back a couple times due to A) went too far on heel flap and B) buggered up the short rows/ Now all is back on track again and the heel is mid-turn.

This afternoon we took a family walk to the depanneur for slushes and I got some little cigars from the shop next to the Dep for around the campfire while camping. I tried one while in Hawaii and kinda liked it but it was very strong (Panter Noir). I got a tin of 10 Panter Arome cigars today. They are supposed to be milder and more aromatic according the the salesperson at the Tabateque (tobaconist). I wasn't gonna but HM thought I should so I could have something to enjoy at night before bed. I am thinking maybe I should bring the Cointreau too. That'd be a nice treat at night. I like to sip Cointreau in the livingroom with candles lit and the fire going during the winter with noone around to bug me. Its a peaceful little thing thats makes life more enjoyable.

Not a picture person

The Lotus Tank from Knitting Daily ( http://www.knittingdaily.com/ )

I am not a snap happy camera toting picture taking person. What Mom forgot to take First Day Of School photos? (hand raised) What Mom forgets the camera on momentous occcasions and outings? (hand goes up again) I am just not that into it I guess. Or maybe I am so focused on BEING there that I forget to record for posterity. And so I forgot to take my camera with me last night to Effiloche and take pictures of Sock #2 in Montreal at a stitch n bitch. I remembered well after I got home. Duh.

It was a very French evening but thats ok. I just really needed out with like minded people. I miss AndreAnne at these nights. She hasn't been coming and its a bit emptier without her laugh and smile. It was my last night for the summer because we leave on Friday morning. I am getting anxious because there are so many things to think of that I can't organise my thoughts to even make a nice organised list. Today we will wash out the camper. Thats a good start.

I am feeling at loose ends without HM around. I guess he is kind of an anchor for me......also when the house and kids get to be too much I can ditch them into his care. Is that cold hearted? I don't think so because where my family is concerned my heart burns hard and bright but needs a break more often than some.

Turns out HM will not actually get home until sometime tomorrow afternoon. Am I impressed? Not really. My information on this trip began with return being Today....then oh with time difference and cosmic forces it was Sunday morning (inferred as EARLY Sunday morning)...NOW the intel is that the plane lands 11:30 AM Montreal Time. This is the part that is irritating me. The trail of False Information that leads to my expectations being let down. This is whats eating at me. I am feeling distinctly hard done by. For no real good reason except this.

I did however buy yarn last night. Call it being high on yarn fumes but I did buy about 87 dollars worth of yarny goodness in the forms of Berroco's Ultra Alpaca in two shades for Cam's eventual sweater...(I needed to make sure I got enough of the main colour in the dye lot to match what we'd bought earlier. Colour two is a nice contrasting heathered brown(?). Its brown but with plummy tones in the heathering...or is it the red and blue fibers creating this non-identifyable colour that goes SO WELL with what Cammie puicked out. The skulls and cross bones colour work he requested is going to look amazing.) ...AND Hempathy yarn. I deserve something off my needles don't I?? So the Lotus Tank from Knitting Daily ( http://www.knittingdaily.com/ ) will be knit in Hempathy, a hemp/cotton/modal blend of a light green colour that I have been drawn to over and over. I got a couple extra balls to make sure I have enough. This will be the first top for ME and my first lace endeavor. When the socks and shrug are out of my way I will be casting on The Lotus. I feel guilt, as usual, for a large expenditure but its easing with the balm of my IRE of a single parent weekend just before my single parent summer. The fact that the summer away is of my own choosing is not important.

Mental much??

Fatigue etc

The last few days I am way fatigued. I thought it was from the bad nights of sleep on the weekend, and while that brain fogging body slam of tiredness has abated a bit, I am still ready to snooze come afternoon. Then I thought maybe it was the allergy meds...jury is out on that one cuz i think i didn't take any today since it rained and the pollen is less. Today I am fighting it off. Back damn, you! Back I say!!! I WILL NOT nap. So I puttered instead. I washed the cotton sweaters in my recycling stash to ready them for ripping and got the moebius shrug back on the needles. It had slipped off in my suitcase. Holy dropped stitches, Batman!! Now it is all picked up and a pattern repeat done. At 40 inches it is still about 14 short and I am thinking what a nice scarf it would be instead because I am heartily sick of working on it. Its not hard, just tedious. Almost boring. sigh. What to do what to do...
The boys will come screaming in about 30+ minutes from now full of SUMMER VACATION! It begins today for us. Both boys passed to the next grade, did I mention that? I now have a 3rd and a 4th grader. Oh my stars, whats the world coming to?

Well now.....

You Are Miss Piggy

A total princess and diva, you're totally in charge - even if people don't know it.You want to be loved, adored, and worshiped. And you won't settle for anything less.You're going to be a total star, and you won't let any of the "little people" get in your way.Just remember, piggy, never eat more than you can lift!

http://www.blogthings.com/themuppetpersonalitytest/">The Muppet Personality Test

Tuesday Photos

Moss Roses: These are a very old fashioned rose. They have a good fragrance but not like tea rose, more spicy and perfumey. The stems are covered in a sticky coating of "thorns" which are stronger and pricklier at the base but are softer and mossier as they approach the bud. Even the bud is coated with this mossiness, hence the name Moss Rose. This specimen is from the pantings at my mom's place and were originally planted by my grandparent's The Pooles. I call them My Nanny's Roses when ever I point them out. This plant was put in only last summer after our vacation in NS and has triple or quadrupled in clump size. They are low growing and spread very well. Almost too well.

In the close up, look at that fullness of blossom! They start out very pale while openning, get much pinker, and then faaaaaaaaaaaddddde until the petals simply drop off.
The picture of me is Cameron's using the camera this morning after I snapped the rose pics. Holy bedhead. See how happy I am that the bus is coming soon!!!? Just kidding. 3 more days of school.

Monday again

Not that I am complaining because thats the day my kids are at school ALL day. I send lunches and snacks with them in the morning and don't see them again until I go and get them before six pm. This is MY day off. And today is the last one I will see until August as far as I know unless someone takes pity on us and takes over for a day (like my sister who has already offered to have them for a sleep over sometime this summer).
I was so cryingly achingly TIRED this morning thanks to two nights of bad sleep and then insomnia struck last night. Sorry, no poems went through my head this time. It was knitting ideas in my brain and the frustration at how I don't know enough to make the ideas happen in yarny goodness. Oh well. After the kids went to school I had a 10 AM appointment at the nail salon and I did in fact get them off for the summer. So here I type with weird stubby fingers again instead of lovely tipped ones.
I took back the "too small" items purchased yesterday at l'Equipeur for exchange. I got the bestest shorts yesterday and today in exchange for the too small dressy ones I took back, I got 3 pair of massively reduced price bestest ones. SWEET! It cost me 83 cents extra but i say Wow! Lets Go For It!. I am well and truly shorted for the coming summer/s. So comfortable. No pinch, no ride up, no leg length issues.......I am happy.
Did some more shopping (Walmart and the Italian food place for supper fixin's) and then it was home for the CRASH. A 2 hour coma, I mean nap, on the sofa and now I am hard at it with laundry and fish tank cleaning.
Fish tank...so over it. Tired of the extra hassle of filters and feedings and cleaning. We are down to the final 4 fish and now I just wait..... Granted in two weeks its outta my hands so who knows what will greet me at the end of August, eh?
My finger is feeling a bit better and looks ugly. I will be glad when its lost that tenderness from having the nail savagely ripped off by the oven door. Its actually more like half the nail is missing ...looked worse at first because the long part was gone too, obviously. Only half the nail bed is exposed...TMI? Sorry.
ALLERGY SEASON is here for me and hard. I have been much worse so I will not complain because as of yet I am not a snivelling sick mess on the sofa. I merely suffer my grass pollen allergy right now with much sneezing and snorting and blowing of nose and rubbing of said incredibly ITCHY nose. So far eyes ears throat and roof of mouth are ok. My head is not ready for removal...but I will keep you posted. Like I said, so far so good.
This allergy began when I was about 8 years old. I still remember the day it began, playing War in the tall grass of a neighboring unkempt lot. I emerged from my "patrol" sneezing my head off with violently swollen eyes and a streaming nose, running to my blearily perceived mother in the group of adults, also blearily perceived through said swollen streaming eyes. I have had years where the reaction to grass pollen is so strong I am more or less a prisoner in the house trying to avoid exposure. Nothing works for total relief but right now Allegra D is my friend. I really hope I don't build up a resistance to it like the other antihistamines because this one is the best so far thanks to its added decongestant and whatever miracle drug that is different in it than the other ones. Allegra I loves ya. I am functional thanks to you. Although if you could kick it up a notch I'd be ever so grateful. Not quite giving the relief of the last couple of seasons (3...4..?)near as I can recollect. OR maybe I am finally over reacting to the different grasses here...dammit.
I think I will go get something to drink. Feeling dehydrated today. Must be all the mucous production.

REPOST ALERT: Sox Pattern

I needed to repost this so I could find it easier. Sorry for the repeat...but you know the rules (My blog...I am always right...blah blah blah). Oh! And I ripped 2/3s of my baby fingernail off tonight in a cooking accident..HOLY FUCK THAT HURT!! So..like...now its not totally old stuff in this post..HA! I will do anything to avoid redundency...redundancy...redun--- being overly repetitive.

4 needles, top-down method:


This is my idiot proof sock method that Barb helped me with by mentioning things I forget and trying to make it really complicated. Thanks Barb. I'm writing it down here so's I don't lose it and I worked it out so I don't need a pattern. As long as I remember the ratios and steps, I'll get a sock. ALL mistakes and wrong stuffs are mine. If you see a big glaring mistake, comment and I will edit. This formula assumes I have done my math to figure out how many stitches I need to make the sock fit the recipient in the yarn/needle combination I am using (GUAGE). The heel is a simple heel flap with no fanciness at all..plain ass stockingette. CAST ON desired # of stitches making them divisible by 3 ( or 4 depending on number of needles you are using (4 or 5) or ribbing you wanna work, GAUGE etc blah blah blah math ) KNIT leg as desired (ribbing, lacy, whatever) to length desired. HEEL FLAP is half your stitches on one needle worked alone until number of rows equals almost your number of stitches OR until it looks square( rows are longer than stitches are wide therefore something like 36 stitches by 31 rows in a sock yarn with 2.5 mm needles is grand heel flapping). Always slip the first stitch of the row.TURNING requires one to divide the heel stitches by 3. Knit or Purl (depending what side you are on) to the last 1/3 of the stiches, then k2to or p2to (depending which side of the work you are on)and TURN. Repeat. Continue this until you have no more row stitches to k or p 2to with.GUSSET requires you to pick up and knit stitches along the side of the heel flap, knit across the stitches that were held in reserve while you worked the heel, then pick up and knit the other side of the heel. Knit one round with the number of stitches you now have. GUSSET decreases as follows Needle One: knit to last 3 st, K2to,k1, Needle 2 knit, Needle 3 K1,ssk, knit to end of needle. Next round knit all. Repeat until you are back to the # of cast on stitches.FOOT is knit until it is the length of foot from heel to the base of the big toe.TOE decreases same as gusset but on Needle two you k1,ssk, knit to last 3 stitches then k2to and k1. Continue all decreases every other round until you have 1/3 or 1/4 of your cast on number of stitches left (whatever as long as you can divide it by 2.) The smaller the number the pointier your sock toe. Put stitches evenly on two needles, graft or kitchener stitch the stitches to close up toe, finish off all ends and sock is done. Now make another one exactly the same way.

Iiiiiittts Heeeerrre...........

HM got home with the boat this morning .... and then promptly ran back out for 7 AM tee time. LOL Happy Father's Day to all the guy's with kids out there!

PS: Her new name will be Lunasea.

So there I was.....

....at 5:30 AM, mindin' my own business (sleeping) when HM bursts in barking "Dear!!?? Why didn't you tell me there was something wrong with the car??!!" . This of course startled me out of sleep to which I replied that there was nothing wrong with the car and he was crazy.
He was in an incredible panic/fume because he was supposed to be on the highway by then to Owen Sound, Ontario. He described the problem he'd detected...shaking and noise when driving. Didn't sound familiar to me and I driven said car a few times yesterday on various errands. I took it around the block and came back telling him he was nuts.
He took the car and me on the highway and sure enough...there was some wobblyness and racket. it seemed to originate from the back. Alignment? we wondered.
He went back to sleep (maybe...I know I did) and took the car for service later, still upset at missing his trip for the boat.
So there I was around 10 AM, sleeping again, when he bursts in barking "Dear!! I am SO MAD!!" I had my "uh-oh" face on at this so he hastened to add that it wasn't at me (whew). He took the car to the place where we'd had the new summer tires put on and asked for an alignment. they said they don't do it on Saturdays...WTF?? All this place does is TIRES. Thats it. No alignments on saturdays???? Which must be why they weren't aligned when HM had the tires replaced though they seemed to use a different excuse.
HM took the car to Canadian Tire. They performed the alignment and then told him that , oh by the way, the nuts on the rear wheels weren't tight!!!!!!! HOLY SHIT BATMAN!!!
So anyone in Terrebonne that might ever read this. AVOID " UNIPNEU" on Chemin Gascon. Bastards.
Needless to say HM returned to the place of purchase (1000$ spent thank you very much) and gave them an earful and will be laying a complaint at the door of the president of the company. How does a place that specialises in tires not tighten the lug nuts??? All I need is to be toolin' down the highway at my usual 120 km/h and have a wheel fly off for frig's sake. STUPID PEOPLE!!
Ok....so after all that HM calls boat guy and trys to make alternative visit time. Their schedules seem to conflict a lot so HM ended up going today anyways but may not make it home til tomorrow ( Father's Day). I requested that he find a motel and stay over rather than make the return trip tired because Father's day without anymore Father would suck pretty hard.
I'm glad he went because I still had to go FD shopping!! hahahahaha The boys and I hit l'Equipeur for some sharp looking dressy sandals (nice leather Denver Hayes brand) and saw this cool roadside assistance kit for a car so grabbed that too (WindRiver $12.99) and got me these sweet little cushy sneakers I saw yesterday and can't stop thinking about. They are a Pale sea foam green suede and mesh with white soles and memory foam insole. Sweet.
Then we hit GolfTown for a gift certificate. Then off to McD's because thats how I bribed the kid's to get in the car in the first place, then we cruised Wal-Mart for fine tuning our camping gear. Got a 3 drawer organiser thingy to hold our dishes and a big honking water jug. I think we are ready and good to go gearwise now. Now gotta scrub down the tent trailer and repack everything. Got almost two weeks to accomplish that.
What is your "Can't live without it" camping gear/meal/technique? What is it That makes your camping life better?

Its Friday

Aaaaaahhh. No early morning rush for 2 whole days. For me anyways. HM has a mission tomorrow which will have him leaving early early for Owen's Sound (or is it Owen Sound.....?) in Ontario with a cheque in his hot little hand. He's going to check out and most likely buy a 1986 MacGregor 25 swing keel boat. He's so excited he's practically prancing when he's home. Better not do that in public unless he want attention.
He has been corresponding with the owner who is, sadly, very ill and no longer able to sail. She's a pretty little boat in the pictures and has always been stored indoors for winter which is very nice. Poor thing will suffer in the change of ownership but hopefully HM will treat his true love better than he treats anything else he owns. (oil change?? Bahh.....)
The boys are both begging for sleepovers. Cammie wants Benjamin and Ben wants Julian. Since there is a language barrier I have said no because HM won't be here to make rules enforced etc. Maybe I should relent though because we only have a couple more weekends before we are gone for the summer.....
Daycamp is arranged for the boys in August when they come back here with HM after his vacation in NS. They each get a daycamp for the sport of their choice (Ben = golf, Cameron = tennis) and a week of sailing daycamp. Ben will thoroughly enjoy these. For such a difficult kid he loves daycamp and does make friends. Cameron on the other hand complains of no friends, boredom, bullies, air, sunlight, blah blah blah each and every time. Why send him? you say? BECAUSE the child must get off the sofa, we says. He always starts out wanting to go but then the reality of no sofa with constant snacking irritates him and he wants to stay home. Pray for my little potato will you? I will be too busy napping, drinking, visiting, doing grown up stuff without the kids back in NS for 2 whole weeks of solitude/adulthood.
Barb wants us (the 3 of us) for a few days and has offered the camp as incentive for coming down to the sticks and knitting with her. The big bonus here is A) Barb B) her kids C) I will PAY Matthew to babysit so we can run away and do grown up girl stuff if I must. It will also be nice to be on a farm again.
Ok..back to this weekend.... Its Father's Day! My dad's gift is upstairs waiting to be mailed today, late as usual. Hm does not yet have one. I really gotta figure out where Golf Town is. Or if there is a boating store somewhere in Montreal that I can get him a gift cert to.
Maybe I should be doing that NOW???
Teri's Sock update: Made mucho progress on the Metro yesterday. It may actually be time to check the foot length for when to decrease for toes. I'm becoming concerned about the July 1st finish date. Its the 15th of June now and I haven't finished sock one. How do other knitters get things done so frigging fast???? I could if I did NOTHING ELSE or gave up napping (Like thats ever gonna happen) I suppose but there is always something else to do.
Ok...time to Google....

Product Endorsement= Makes Kids Happy!!

(Product owned may not be as shown)

Today my youngest came home from school and promptly burst into hot sweaty tears. Seems that his bestest friend and in his opinion ONLY friend has not been spending any time with him at recesses and after 3 days of this my guy was very very sad. After he'd poured out his woes and tears and we talked and agreed that he was simply too cool for all those dumbasses at school (because, lets be clear here..HE IS!!!) a cure for the blues was struck upon. Snow cones.
Cam got "a similar to photo above" machine for Xmas 3 years ago. At first it was a major pain in my ass trying to keep a supply of properly sized ice cakes available. Since we moved I have dodged the sno cone bullet a few times but today I remembered that the special wee container was in the freezer and YES! I did have unsweetened koolade packets from my yarn dying experiment to make the flavoring. Instant joy in a little boy's heart! Once again the world was a good place and I, well, I was a very cool and smart Mom. Best part is that now he is 8 and needs almost NO HELP from me to do the whole thing himself. Suh-weeeeet!
This type shaver is just great. No electricity, kid powered, cheap and easy to make flavour....I just have to get some ice cakes made ahead in a freezer bag and all will be well. This was a seriously good buy (Grand River Toy Company 3 years ago. Now..?) and if you wanna be a cool parent, your kids would love one! One ice cake makes 3 snow cones OR two small bowls of shaved ice.
You may thank me later when you are the coolest parent ever.

I'm such a slacker

You know you are a slacker when even typing random thoughts etc is just too taxing an ambition and this is why I have not been posting much of anything. That and my lack of typing has meant that I am making more typos to correct which pisses me off. Viscious viscious cycle this slackin' I must say.
Ok..so...its Wednesday (which I thinks should be spelled Wendsday or Wennsday because who the hell says wed-ness-day??) and its is again a glorious frikkin' day. I gotta tell ya its just been an amazing week sunshine and heat wise. A little high for me on the heat but still glorious. The pool has been in daily use since Saturday...or Friday night...I forget actually but DEFINITELY Saturday. I haven't gone in though. To much work getting in...getting out...I guess I'd rather sweat. For now.
Plans for the summer are just zipping right along. We pull up stakes on the 29th (I think) and park the tent trailer at Cranberry on the 30th for the summer. except for HM's vacation when we move the trailer to another campground for a week. Here's the thing though....
The weather back home has been the absolute PITS for the whole spring. Even now its cold wet weather on a regular basis. what the Hell??! I don't want to freeze my ass off all summer. I wanna beach and play and star gaze and camp fire and beach and play.... I do NOT wanna be freezin'. I just don't know whats gonna happen with that danged weather back there . This is my big concern these days. Nice to have so little to worry about ain't it?
SOCK progress: Teri Lynn's sock one of her pair is now past the heel. On the gusset as of last night. Yay me.. Yay sock! Looking very stripey and gorgeous.
SHRUG progress: Not much! Its still in my suitcase semi fallen off the needles which will require repair so in the suit case it stays. I just could not get it knit on in time for wearing to the gala evening in Hawaii and now it just waits until I can't stand it being unfinished. Its on the list for completeion after Teri's socks.
School is out NEXT WEEK holy crap. Father's day is Sunday...bigger holy crap. Gotta get a card in the mail TODAY. Better late than never. I'm always late.
So, Monday was the 13th anniversary of HM's and my wedding. How lovely. When he got home he found my parking ticket (recieved saturday during Worldwide Knit in Public Day) and when I got home he YELLED at me. Can you believe this??? A) its a frikkin' ticket not a murder rap and B) it was our anniversary. No yelling on the anniversary! What the F%^&?!!! We started speaking again today. Making up isn't so hard. I am right and he is wrong and thats that. Ok, so YES it is my 4th or 5th ticket since moving here (2years) but I had many ticket free years before we moved to Traffic Cop central. I am amzed at the thoroughness of the parking cops in this frigging city. Its like they have nothing else to do. Its only $37 dollars and its not like thats going to put us in the poorhouse right NOW Mr Buying a Frigging Sailboat Maybe This Weekend. Yes $37ses do add up but in the whole grand scheme of the world, is a parking ticket a YELLABLE offence? I think not. Its not like I ask for them. Its not like I want a collection to admire in my old age. Jeez louise. Anyways, chat has returned and thats a good thing. Because I am right and he is wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.
Vindication is sweet.

Photos

I have been getting comments from friends etc about No Pictures! on the blog. So now, I am putting the pictures at last. Its just so tedious finding the photos and convincing the blog to take them! But this I do for you because i loves ya.

Ok...Photo #1 Snorkelling off Makena Landing during the kayak trip. See that kayak? We wants it we does. We loves it... I mean WE as in both of us not in a Gollumy way...Though that may have some bearing as well. I am just covetous at heart apparently but seriously..these kayaks are awesome. Very stable, open topped, easy in and out. they rock. We can totally see us using them . More so than our former canoe Tippy Tipperson.
Photo Two has me holding two non dangerous sea urchins. The big red spiked variety are SO COOL. The red colour was used to dye fabric at one time and the spines dried for use as slate chalk. Bit of trivia for you...you KNEW I'd have some..
Photo #3 Us intrepid kayakers back at Makena Landing. On this kayak trip on Day one of our maui stay, we say the houses of Tiger Woods and Clint eastwood. We also came in close non-contact with Green Sea Turtles (Honu). Uber wicked cool.
Photo #4 has me at the bow of the catamaran Trilogy V on our last day in Maui. I'm wrapped in my sarong to keep the sun off. We'd had a trip out to Molokini to snorkel the crater. If ever you go to Maui you MUST book a trip with the Trilogy gang.
Look how blue the water is...its actually BLUER in real life. Amazing. Maui is like a fantasy world! It has things and stuff we never see back here except in movies or books or stores. If only the developers weren't making the islands too expensive to live on for everyone that should be there like native Hawaiians....

Myyyy Presssssciiiioouuusssssssssssss

Big honking amethyst with 3 diamonds in 14 ct gold.

Ok..this is a bad picture but trust me its awesome. In my opinion anyways. And here is the story.

We went to a charity gala last night on behalf of a camp for underpriviledged children and there was a silent auction, a live auction, and a band and wow. It was very outside my experience and was an absolute HOOT to suck back free liquor and eat proffered finger foods and just watch the rich of Montreal rub shoulders.

We browsed the silent auction tables a few times to see how the bidding was going on a few items.

Finally HM came back to the table and said that bidding had gone to rich for us on sevral things so i had my choice of 2 things to bid on. Guess which I picked??LOL

Valued at ....get ready..... $2,000.00.

And now its aaaaaallllll mine. My precious...we loves it we does......

Brain Fog etc

I'm feeling all foggy in the head this AM. Lack of sleep due to a late night and multiple wee hour awakenings by kids? Mai tai deficiency? What could the reason be??
So, as y'all know I was in Maui for a Manulife conference as my husband's companion. What you may not know is that while we had tons of fun and adventure my wonderful sister, Jessie, kept watch over the wee'uns and the 4 leggeds and the house. Oh my gods my house was so tidy when I got home.
Now, some might think that looking after this house would be no big. This is not so!!! This is the house that CHAOS built!!! Two wacky kids, multiple pets, rapidly reproducing dust bunnies, and surrounding it all is FRENCH! Oy Vay! This is not life as we are used to back in Nova Scotia not to mention Jess had to find her way around Terrebonne carting the kids to and from school etc. Plus, you know, Jessie has not had children around 24/7 for a few years and one does become accustomed to sanity, I hear. She loves my guys when they visit but a solid 2 week encounter??Ooooh I was worried about her. So, this being what it is, Mission Almost Impossible, My sister deserves a great big something or other for doing such an amazing job and coming through it with her good humour and love for my family STILL intact. That in itself is amazing. I would have been sitting by the door with my bags packed when the parents got home. Instead we were greeted with happy bathed kids, banners and ballooons, hugs and kisses, smiles and cheer and CAKE. Yay Jessie Audrey!!!!!!!!! You rock beyond rockin'.
Holy smokes.
If you go over to She Said, She Said you will see the pictorial journey of Sock, whom I casted on during my sucky flight from Montreal to LA. Sock is #1 of a pair for my neice Teri Lynn of the wild mad scrapbooking skillz. In return she is making me crochetted (sp) shopping bags. Sock is now larger than it was in the photos and will soon acquire a heel flap. Maybe in an inch or so.
I got UV Gel manicure in May if you recollect, in prepatation for Maui. I wanted time to be used to them and the whole process of touch ups etc. Its now been a month and I gotta say i totally love having fingernails even if they are fake. When they get done I have them quite short, just to the tip of my finger. A good practical length but they still look so much better than bitten to the quick raggedy fingers. So I have decided that they are staying until I gets tired of them. So there. Now I need a GOOD nail salon in my hometown area for the maintenence this summer.
Anyhoo, this is all I can think of today. I have to go to a thing with HM tonight. I hope I can stay awake.

Maui post:

We survived our trip though the exhaustion I seem to have incurred is threatening me once again with a nap. I was gonna post pics but the computer swallowed that post and rejected it so here we are, pictureless posting for now.
I must say one thing though....I was not terribly excited in a happy way to go to Maui. I mean, so many things and places are so totally over hyped! What if Maui was too? And then I'd be some kinda freak because I'd be all "I KNEW I shoulda stayed home.." and be shunned forever more by all normals. Lucky for me (and Maui) it tottally exceeded my expectations and then some. It rocked. It was so cool. The water? AWESOME!! The snorkeling? beyond awesoem. The food? " oh My God I'm in Heaven eatting an angel's grub this is so frikkin' good". the prices? EEEK. And Hawaiians have this thing for SPAM. Its on many menus. Very weird. ( save the Monty Python references...I used 'em all! walking the streets singing softly "Spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam..." squawking at Richard abruptly "But I don't LIKE Spam!!" then laughing maniacally as he shook his head and pretended not to know me)
Maui is a MUST destination and I would definitely go back and maybe for 2 weeks so that it wasn't so rushed. Seriously needed more beach time.
The schmoozing with mucky mucks and clients went better than anticipated as well. most a-holes were on their best behaviour and did not tempt me into bitch slapping them. I made new acquaintances and became closer to those I had. Now have one or two I can call friends!
It was wonderful.
Shrug? Not done. Dress? Awesome unless I bend and then you get full frontal cleavage action. One photog was warned "I better not see that show up on the internet under "Big Boobs in Hawaii" or something!!"
More later.....

T minus..uuuhmmmmm

Ok..we leave, like, really really early in the morning. Thats not a good beginning to a trip in my opinion. All doings should take place much later than really really early in my honest and much sought after opinion.
I think I am packed. I'm pretty sure. Pretty much. My sister even ironed my wrinked stuff. Not my face...clothes! And then I packed them. Again.
The cat box is cleaned, the fish tank is cleaned, the kids are hugged and kissed and hugged and kissed and threatened and hugged and kissed repeatedly.
The dress was picked up today...squee!!!!!!!!! Its a better shade of green that the swatch had been and I just really like this dress. Jessie even really liked the dress. Ginette said 'va-Va-Voom!" at me in the dress so thats gotta be good right? And with left over fabric Daniel made me a a wee simple evening bag, lined with the same lining as the dress. Cuuuutte!!!
Bad news? My feet are swollen with water retention (It was real hot today) and I have a new zit to keep Zit One company. How nice.
At Effiloche today, Jessie bought 3 skeins of sock yarn to keep me occupied after this summer's knits. Or during maybe...LOL
EVEN a skein of JITTERBUG! I have been wanting to knit with it but hadn't gotten around to buying some. Gorgeous colourway of electric blue and other vibrant colors. FUN!!!
Ok..so...I gotta go soak in the tub, shave my legs, pumice my feet and redo my toenail polish. Or maybe I could go watch Painkiller Jane with HM.....

Tuesdays May 21

Headlines: Transit strike in Montreal! New yarn shop soon in NDG! 3 more sleeps til Departure for Hawaii! Giant zit STILL here! Sister arrives Tonight ( Bells ring out and banners fly!)!!
I am starting to freak out a bit. Still much to do before leaving. Still need two tops for 2 year old skirts... as far as I know dress is ready for pick up today....mountains of laundry need folding....floors need mopping...shrug/stole still not finished but i added some inches last night...water still retaining, need to take more drstic action.....

gasp gasp gasp....... I think I need a paper bag to breathe into.

Progress...

The shrug was started a week ago..I am now at 20 inches. I reeeeeally need to speed this up!!!!!

More Saturdayness

HM bought his way out of the doghouse.
We went bathing suit shopping for our upcoming trip (the horror...the..horror) and after driving around Montreal for ages and visiting 2 ginormous shops of bathing suits we gave up. " I just want to try this one on St-Laurent", HM says, "its on the way anyway." But we really had no hope left that someone would stock a half ways nice bathing suit in size Circus Tent.
PAYDIRT! This shop, Paradis De Maillot. looked tiny but was huge!! It was the bestest selection I have ever seen and if i hadn't gained so much weight back, that little baby in the window would have been MINE. So cute...none left in my size. I tried on a bunch of suits and we decided on a brown and pink tankini. Needed a wrap too so went looking at those with the sales lady that took pity on me (love her!!). She thought I needed to try some more suits so off she went getting suits (One that I had seen as a one piece and liked ..turns out there was a two piece!). More suits were tried and another found that was good for me. Decisions decisions...
"You know", says I," if you were really interested in getting outta the doghouse you'd buy me both." That said I went into the room to get back into my clothes. HM's laughter and sheepish "O..k..."followed me.
So he's back in the good graces and I's gots me a two cute tankinis and a nifty gigantic wrap that Super Saleslady showed me how to wear 5 ways.
I think I remember 3.
Back home I ripped out those fugly bushes to make room for the rose bush I don't want. Then something baddish happened. I took a spell. You know...like old ladies when they get woozy for no reason, they "took a spell". I couldn't seem to catch my breath so I leaned against the front porch and focused on breathing (air is GOOD). That didn't works so well and I started getting kinda dizzy and my vision was not so great. Laying down seemed like a good idea so i layed on the porch and focused on breathing. My ears started to ring. Ben came to show me how many dandelions he had in his bucket thus far and he sounded real muffled, like he was far away. When I replied, I sounded far away too! Wierd and very not good. After a few more minutes of breathing, everything just kinda slipped back into sync, though I had a loud rushing sound in my ears and could hear eeverything very sharply.
Then I got back to planting that damned rose bush. Made HM fetch me my bag of top soil because I was kinda scared to carry something. Now he's all, "when we get back I am so getting you into a private clinic and you are getting thoroughly checked out!!" Yuck. They are going to say "Geez lady, DUH, yer fat and out of shape and sleep too much!"
Oh really??? I had noooooo idea .......
Thats a really big help...gimme some ice cream.

Saturday stuffs and possibly rants

Ok..here we go
Last night was stitch n bitch night BUT also the time for me to pick the colour swatch for "The Dress". And HM, out with a client golfing and havin' fun FORGOT. Now, that in itself may not be a big deal but the fact of the matter is my twice a month stitch night is practically the ONLY social life I have in the real world here in frenchland. So the fact that he so easily "forgot" is very hurtful to me. And yes I reminded him this week. So there is my rant. I am still very upset.
I took the kids with me because of this. They are sworn to secrecy about the dress on pain of lost allowance.
The dress, I can now state, will be a lovely medium green the likes of which I can't exactly describe. Bluer green than chartreuse..... greener than aqua...... So Difficult. But I think it will be nice...better than nice actually. And I pick it up Tuesday. Unless there is a problem. its gonna be so pretty.
So the ensemble is my pretty dress with the black Mobius shrug, black leather sling back open toed sandal with cork wedge heel, and we(designer and I) decided on pearls for jewellery. Its a very retro dress ('50's inspired) and the whole ensemble just says ladylike and classy. But NOT frumpy and grandmotherly. Luckily I have pearls...that when I wore them once my neice mocked mercilessly as being something grandma-ish.....repeatedly. She's real sweet that way.
That was all taken care of last night as well as lining fabric purchased....all with mini-hoodlums in tow. Ugh. NOT my relaxing twice a month social experience. I bought yarn too in spite...I got Cameron to pick a yarn for his sweater to be commenced after I finish Teri Lynn's sox. He picked some horrid colours...he's a guy so it was like he was just picking out whatever he saw first "This one! Ok...then this one..?" Finally he picked one I liked that wasn't too dark or neon orange. Its a tan like heathered Ultra Alpaca (again). I got two skeins to start with and will buy the rest after Hawaii. I am thinking that he will get a Zimmerman saddle shoulder sweater....very manly. Maybe with cables...OOH or another Zimmerman thats very cabley..
I have a scarf pattern that I am dying to try out, very lacy. I may make it as a shawl for my mom or sister. Or just as a very feminine scarf.... in something silky perhaps? Like Fleece Artist's sea silk? Thats another project lined up, plus my summer knitting of wool mittens and socks for this winter. Cha-ching...
Yesterday I bought a rose when I went to get a support for my peony...and I have buyer's remorse. Turns out I know this rose and don't actually care for it. That danged picture was so inaccurate. Roseraie de L'Hay...its that old purply rose you see at old houses etc. Red my ass!!! Its a fool proof rugosa rose that will grow large and strong and fragrant( very fragrant but not like a tea rose...) and THORNY...my grandmother had one. It gets huge hips and is low maintainence and will fill the space admirably. And I don't have the receipt...DAMMIT.
So today I will rip out the last of the useless ugly bushy bushes at the front of the house and plant this rose. May the fragrance bless Ben's room where it may provide some late afternoon shade in summer, eventually. At least its a purply colour and HM like that...as if I even CARE today. Bastard.
Anyhoo...thats my weekend in a nutshell, knitting, cleaning (jessie is coming tuesday night!!!), planting, and making HM pay. Whew...thats a full load!!!

Friday

No school AGAIN today, being a Friday and all (last week? same thing). We have a scheduled inservice day AGAIN which makes this a FOUR day weekend. F-O-U-R. With my crazy kids..and it is not a good week for me ( them) to have this 4 day break, if'n ya catch my drift. Crankiness is lessened than say, Tuesday when all living beings were at risk of being homicided, but still it lingers just a bit. Short temperedness and lack of patience is the rule rather than maniacal homicide inducing snittyness. For which we are grateful. NOT grateful however for the most enormous chin zit ever. Painful and very much there for the Universe to see. Maybe visible from space. Trying not to interfere with it so as not to have a ginormous scab on my face next week.
By the Way, Barb and I started a new blog together about leaving a greener life. We rant, post discoveries, etc etc about how to lessen our footprint on the environment without going broke buying "green" inducing products. i still want me some solar pannels though, and a solar ROOF. How frikkin' cool is that shit, eh?? Being Green On A Dime. The link is over there -->. I bought magazines for my trip (sooo hard not to read them now) 2 on greeny issues etc and 2 on knitting. Harrowsmith, Organic Earth (both Canadian although Harrowsmith is now owned by an american company or something), Simply Knitting (free gift! Love UK craft mags) and Creative Knitting. Magazine buying is NOT green...all that paper and all and I have tried to lower my paper consumption by accessing the articles in Electronic format as much as I can. However, on a plane? Not so doable for me. Hopefully these and knitting will help keep my short attention spanned ADD self occupied and from annoying other passengers by fidgetting, sighing, snoring, and asking "Are we there YET??!"
I will be so glad when air travel is done and we can use some sort of quantum physicsy portal system. Getting there is half the fun??! Its not the destination but the Journey??! BULLSHIT. I just wanna get the party started ya know?
Also, when we get back, I think I will insist that we plant a couple of trees out of air travel pollution guilt.

YARN winders and ducks

Because the idea of a ball winder is so scary to Suldog, I thought I'd post a picture of one identical to mine. Perhaps I should call it a YARN winder just to forstall any misunderstandings and withering of nethers in sympathy with idea of ball winding.
This morning at about 6:30, HM woke me saying "Dear, come and see this!!" He sounded too cheery for another incident of cat poo in the tub so I staggered and lurched behind him to the patio doors where I was told to "Look!!"
And what should be swimming contentedly in the pool that HM has been killing himself trying to get cleaned and ready for hot weather but the mightiest purveyors of bird shit I have ever had experience with, DUCKS! A pair of Mallards. They were so cute!!! "Guddamm shitting ducks in my fucking pool!" HM growled unconvincingly in his accent. He wanted (halfheartedly) to go chase them away but Ben and I wouldn't let him. Its not like we will be out there in the water anytime soon so why not leave them alone. They flew off eventually, together. Ahhh spring!

Iced Tea Tuesday

Today i had a craving for iced tea. Not that sugary crap you buy at the store though. Its just tooo sweet for me. Also, I find black tea tends to get bitter on me. So here is my herbal iced tea alternative from what I had in the cupboard o'tea. Enjoy.

Fill the kettle and turn it on. While waiting on that assemble the following:
Messmers' Rose Hip and Hibiscus tea, 2 bags
Lemon and Linden tea, 2 bags (I forget the brand)
Cherry Almond Rooibos loose tea, one cup sized infuser worth
Put all that in a heat proof pitcher or something. I used my 8 cup measuring cup. I love that sucker.
When the water boils, pour it in the measuring cup/pitcher. Then go away. When you remember the tea, come back. It should be strong enough now and cooled quite a bit (I forgot for a loooong time). Now you have a choice... put the pitcher in the fridge to get cold (after removing bags and infuser), fill a big glass with ice and pour in tea, or grab a frozen freezer mug and pour in tea(my choice). Sweeten to taste with sweetener of choice. Imbibe generously.
Not only is this a nice sip/guzzle depening on your hydration level, but its good for ya. Rooibos is an herbal tea fro South Africa. it comes in flavors from specialty shops but you could use plain. its loaded with antioxidant properties rivalling those of green tea. Its is naturally caffeine free. Rose hips are a great source of vitamin C. Linden has soothing properties. The hibiscus is tangy! This tea is a reddish colour so its yummy, healthful, aaaannd PRETTY. Beat that Lipton.

Mother's Day Recap

You knew it would come..I am a Mother and Mother's Day happens to folk such as I and thus, it must be blah blahhed about. Here we go:
First of all, got the gifts a week early. And thats totally ok. I HEART MY PRESENTS! I used them on Mother's Day to wind my Bonsai ribbon yarn and everything.
Mother'sDay began with being woke up from a dead coma/sleep around 11ish in the morning by yelling little voices (not so little anymore actually..very BIG voices). They had to yell cuz I had my fabulous earplugs in since HM had woken me with his snores earlier. When I came conscious I was given breakfast in bed..toast, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and juice and coffee. Plus my favorite section of the saturday Gazette (comics). How nice!!!!!! I really have an awesome family!!
The boys had made gorgeous cards at school. Really lovely. They are in my bedroom.
The rest of the day was kind of business as usual but still a lovely day. I hope all the mom's out there had a nice day.
Speaking of all the mom's out there...What did YOU do for YOUR mom this year?? Think back to everything she had to do for you..not even HAD to do but CHOSE to do from love and also guilt. All the but wiping and tear drying...costume making, meals, birthday cakes, trying to keep Santa alive for you and dying those #$%^&%ing Easter eggs with you. Kissing and hugging you even when you were pretty much just a big walking ball of snot and phlegm. Don't even get me started on the breastfeeding and colic. What about money loaned or given? Education and orthodontia? Shoulders to cry on or and arm to lean on when you were feeling down and needed a hand up. Yes, maybe she's not perfect , what with being human and all...but that woman gave you everything she had to give including in many cases, space in her body to incubate. And not for like a day but 9 fucking months. Show some goddamn respect! I mean..Isn't that nice?
So maybe Mom drives you up the wall now that you are a grown up.....who gives a shit? She is THE MOTHER personified for you in all her glory and not necessarilly perfection. The love that woman holds for you is real and strong and can never be rent assunder because, trust me I have tried and that love just will not be rent. Still she feels the pull of the umbilical cord that attached you physically and now only emotionally. And she always will at some level.
I love my mom. VERY much. She makes me crazy and I am not always "nice" to her but I make her laugh and I call her many times a week just to hear her voice and the sound of that voice is always happy to hear from me. If I didn't have my mommy any more I don't know what I'd do. Sometimes, I still want to crawl into her lap except now she's all tiny and old and brittle and I am very large. She blames Dad's side of the family for that.
My mom colored with me, made me clothes and sweaters, taught me to knit, washed my clothes, became a Brownie leader because I was a Brownie, sewed her finger with the sewing machine by accident while making me a Barbie purse out of fake leather, showed me the natural world by going looking for Mayflowers and wild berries and now I pass that on to my guys. She cuddled me when I was sick. Let me sleep with her when I was scared. She loves me, not always the way I want or need, but truly and deeply. We've had screaming matches and silences, but always come back together with hugs and kisses.
I love my mommy. Always and forever.
The card is in the mail..really.

Gratuitous Flower Shots

Lovely colour coordinated tulips....
Same type of tulips, different spot
My magnolia that I planted last summer...WOOHOO

Now look at this..the rhododendron and tulips TOTALLY match. I did not plan this. i thought the tulips were going to be a different kind of purple..Serendipitous gardening at its best. ;oD

Because I must

Talking to Barb this afternoon on the phone prompted this posting. I have FINALLY started the shrug for the trip to Hawaii. Both of us were getting very concerned that i hadn't even come up with a pattern yet too. Rest at ease now, it has commenced and it will be all that and a bag of plantain chips with its fabulosity! If I do say so myself. Which, I do.

Barb wanted to SEE what I was describing to her so I snapped this picture after the first pattern working and just before the second fight with elongated stitches. So here it is Barb!! Just liek you ordered, I mean, requested ever so sweetly. The stitch pattern is from Wendy B's Dream Swatch over at Knit And Tonic. The white wool at the bottom of today's work is because I needed to do an Invisible cast on a la Zimmerman. (new technique for me) This will allow me to remove the white wool to access live stiches in the black Berocco Bonsai bamboo ribbon yarn I am using, when its time to construct the Mobius (Zimmerman's book Knitting Around ). Thats what the shrug will be essentially. A Mobius scarf around my upper arms . Can you visualise that? I can and I am at least a foot taller and 60 pounds lighter and tanned. I look so chic.

Eat your heart out, baby.

Thursday :3 things to make me haaappppy

#1) All praise and hail the entities of transportation because the Metro in Laval is FINALLY done. WOOHOOOOO Twice I have used it now instead of driving on the island and I must say "Metro! You Rock!!". Timeliness is a bit of an issue but the joy ofA) not dealling with the traffic downtown B) saving on gas and emissions C) no hunting for parking and thus, no tickets and D) much knitting time whilst sitting on the train make the worries of time small potatoes. I gets on in Laval, 15 or 20 minutes from here by car, and then all my traffic stress is gone. Most excellentay.
2) The amazing Sheila Ostroff of The Odyssey Zone ....she is a blessing and a miracle and all things wonderful. This is Ben's therapist and she is just so lovely I can't express her wunnerfulness. She totally "gets" him and stuff comes out within minutes that we have no idea the child is even thinking. He is happy there and LOVES his time with Sheila. 2 new strategies came out in the 1st ten minutes today: Ben is seated too far back in the class for a kid like him (4th seat) and susceptible to the distraction back there. Being closer to the front will help him maintain his focus. Also, when he feels he is getting angry or frustrated he must count backwards from 20 rather than counting to 10, so he can help himself get a better grip. Also, when the other kids are picking at him and won't stop he can hold up his palm and tell them to talk to the hand because the ears are not listening to them instead of yelling at them and hitting to get them to back off. ALL of this in the first 10 minutes together. Then I left and they spent 1/2 and hour on stuff, then I came back.

3) Montreal Knits: I went to a gathering last night, met new folk and saw people I had met before. It was just so great to sit back with treats and chill on the terrace in the fresh air last evening. Love love loved it. Met a"famous" knitting designer of amazing knits ( love the NDG sweater in the summer 2007 Interweave Knits) that I had not met other nights, and had some good laughs. REALLY good laughs. We heard and shared stories and gossip, attracted no small amount of attention from non-knitters and flirtatious attentions from sock desiring males at a neighboring table...LOL. the night was summer soft but full of Spring's promise. I really like the NDG area.
Today, I was totally wiped because of being out past my bedtime and having to take Ben into the city this morning. Comfy blue couch had my unwavering adoration for the afternoon until it was time to collect my boyses from school. NO SCHOOL tomorrow!!! Woohoo!

SOX Simplified: 4 needles, top down

This is my idiot proof sock method that Barb helped me with by mentioning things I forget and trying to make it really complicated. Thanks Barb. I'm writing it down here so's I don't lose it and I worked it out so I don't need a pattern. As long as I remember the ratios and steps, I'll get a sock. ALL mistakes and wrong stuffs are mine. If you see a big glaring mistake, comment and I will edit. This formula assumes I have done my math to figure out how many stitches I need to make the sock fit the recipient in the yarn/needle combination I am using. The heel is a simple heel flap with no fanciness at all..plain ass stockingette.

CAST ON desired # of stitches making them divisible by 3 or 4 (depending on number of needles you are using (4 or 5) or ribbing you wanna work, GAUGE etc blah blah blah math )
KNIT leg as desired (ribbing, lacy, whatever) to length desired.
HEEL FLAP is half your stitches on one needle worked alone until number of rows equals 1/2 your number of stitches OR until it looks square. Always slip the first stitch of the row.
TURNING requires one to divide the heel stitches by 3. Knit or Purl (depending what side you are on) to the last 1/3 of the stiches, then k2to or p2to (depending which side of the work you are on)and TURN. Repeat. Continue this until you have no more row stitches to k or p 2to with.
GUSSET requires you to pick up and knit stitches along the side of the heel flap, knit across the stitches that were held in reserve while you worked the heel, then pick up and knit the other side of the heel. Knit one round with the number of stitches you now have. GUSSET decreases as follows Needle One: knit to last 3 st, K2to,k1, Needle 2 knit, Needle 3 K1,ssk, knit to end of needle. Next round knit all. Repeat until you are back to the # of cast on stitches.
FOOT is knit until it is the length of foot from heel to the base of the big toe.
TOE decreases same as gusset but on Needle two you k1,ssk, knit to last 3 stitches then k2to and k1. Continue all decreases every other round until you have 1/3 or 1/4 of your cast on number of stitches left (whatever as long as you can divide it by 2.) The smaller the number the pointier your sock toe. Put stitches evenly on two needles, graft or kitchener stitch the stitches to close up toe, finish off all ends and sock is done. Now make another one exactly the same way.

Monday Monday....

Yesterday I got my Mother's day gift early. WooHoo! A swift and a ball winder. Now all my unwound stash is wound up in lovely tidy center pull balls. Much less tangled.
Another beautiful day of sunshine and balmy temperatures. Tonight Cam and I took a bike ride to the park and around the neighborhood and it was just lovely. The birds are very very busy in this neighborhood wherever there are half decent trees.
My friend Nancy has quit her job at the salon and openned her own wee shop at home. She has the sink and everything. Very cool. Ben had his hair cut today and I made my pre Hawaii appointment for the 21st.
18 more sleeps til airplane time.

Its a lovely tell yer mother kind o'day!

I feel so much better except for an excess of mucus but hey! No pain, no fever, no "I think I am dying!". Definitely well-er. And about time too!!!!
I spent most of my day poking around in the gardens. I soaked newspapers in a bucket and laid them on the grass around my (small) Magnolia bush and then dumped bags of soil. Voila...flower bed. Eventually. I did the same thing in the Fall and planted bulbs...today's fun and games enlarged that. I woulda kept going but I ran outta newspaper. I have a vision for that front yard and grass is not part of it. I will keep picking away at it until all that is left is beds and path. mwahahahahahaha
Yesterday I planted the Wisteria and moved that shrub. Then we went to Canadian Tire and I got some fleabane (gets purply flowers) and beardtongue (has purply flowers) and a creeping thyme to do some ground coverage near the front walk. Eventually. Very small right now.
Today removed the rest of the fugly bushes in the back yard and PRESTO had a place for clematis..if i had some to plant. So, Ben and I went baaaaack to CT and got two to grow together and be friends. Duchess Of Edinburgh gets yellowy white double flowers and Ville De Lyon gets fabulous reddish pink single flowers. Won't they look stunning against brick?? Eventually?
I dug up my Blossomtime rose and moved it to this newly bush free zone as well. It kept getting broken by the dog last year so maybe it will have better success here.
Tomorrow I may get some strawberry plants and change the veggie beds to strawberry beds since I will be away and not here to tend vegetables. Just might be a plan. Also have more cone flowers to dig up and divide but nowhere to put all the cone flowers. needless to say, with all of these projects going on the back yard looks like shit!! LOL

Friday May ummmmm 4th..yeah thats it

The good news is that I kinda know what day it is!Woo Hoo I am feeling quite goodish this morning but for the cough (less painful but still gross) and congestion (More Allegra D please) and this bizarre series of sweats I keep breaking into. Seriously, who breaks into a SWEAT sitting in front of the computer...besides porno surfing pervs I mean. Although I WAS surfing yarn and knitting sites so maybe...just maybe...That my porn? Hmmm......
It is yet another GLORIOUS sunny day and I really must get out . I must plant poor Wisteria, which involve hauling out a spirea and relocating it before Wisteria can take its place. The relocation also involves hauling out some FUGLY ornamental grass clumps the previous owners had put in. I'm sure they served some designy feature but for me they just take up room that something pretty could have used. If I ge4t REALLY jiggy widit I may lay out lines in the grass for bed enlargements/enhancements. That may be way too ambitious though. I'm sweating again just typing about it.
I got the aquarium a new filter finally. An Aquaclear 30. Did a major cleaning too and poured the first bucket of fishy poo grossness on Ben's clematis. Its unfurled more leaves in gratitude. This resulted in about 1/3 to 1/2 water change so now that water in teh tank is less discoloured from the big driftwood log, which also got cleaned. The 2 loaches are very happy...or freaked out..its hard to tell but seriously, they are my favorites in this tank. They are cute, looking similar to clown fish, and they are zipping around all frisky and funny , up and down and all around. They make the Angel, Betta, and bushy nose look so boring and staid! Yesterdays aquarium housekeeping resulted also in me breaking the light fixture so I have a lamp shining in now.
So how about Grey's Anatomy last night? I'm not so sure I'll be tuning in to the Addison character's spin off...I dunno. Love some of the actors (Tim Daly is yummy as is Taye Diggs, holy moley) but the Addison of the spin off is, I dunno, a bit of a dink?? It was too Ally McBeal only in a medical center rather than a lawyer's office.
And what IS Derek's problem anyways????? Becoming seriously Less McDreamy with his whiney ass angst. Killing off Susan kinda sucked and how is Thatcher grey even capable of taking care of himself because every scene has him seeming somewhat retarded. I think it sucks that George is leaving. He was one of my favorites..... ARGH! I hate when they mess with me shows!!!!
Cinco De Mayo (did I spell that wrong?) is TOMORROW! Happy Belated Beltaine also, I have been very inobservant of the holy/holidays. Did nothing for Beltaine which sucks. There was a public ritual but we were too busy here for me to feel that i could just take off and go. Which is tupid...maybe I was just too tired or sick of the back biting on the community's e-list. Anyways, I stayed home.
So thats Friday in a nutshell. Betterish, sunny, gardening?, maybe some light grocery shopping.....
Have a margarita for me!

Thursday

I still feel bad. Body aching but that could be from lying in a prone position for the better part of two days. I have a dentist appointment today as does Cammie. His is actually an orthodontia consult. Yay! More retainers!
Nothing has been done except a book being read and about another inch on sock number 2. HM came to me last night and said there was a thing Friday night, did I want to go with him? UuuummmNO??!!! But you won't be sick by Friday....How does HE know?? I am horking up painful yuckiness and its an effort to get into a hot tub to ease the body chills and aches. And I have nothing to wear to a dinner dance charity thing and no way am I going shopping feeling like this. I don't even want to get dressed but the dentist office frowns on pjs and house coats. Bastards.
There is a big difference between when HE is sick and when I am sick. If he is actually sick enough, I take care of him. Fetch him things to make hime better like medicine and juice. This does NOT happen when I am sick. I am left to rot. Occassionally a poke (or stupid question) to see if I am still alive. Nothing fetched, no back rubs, no "There there", no "let me run you a hot bath".... Stupid man.
Its a lovely sunny day today. I want to garden but just looking at it makes me tired and wheezy. Oh my Gods...I am whining so MUCh. Time to stop because I am disgusting my self!!~

Alive

I'm sick for real. It didn't "disappear" over night which sometimes happens with me. Tats ok though because I actually feel better now that its decided what to do. Chest, throat,ears..all irritated and phlegmy with a deeeeeep voice. LOL
Also, I feel better because my sister is back from her trip halfways around the globe(Maui and New Zealand)! She has been gone for two weeks and I felt like part of me was missing. Got new nails..gotta call Jessie..oops she's not home. Ben has a therapist..must call Jessie..oops she's not home...
Honestly I call her so much, her trip without the phone ringing was probably a HUGE relief for her. But I missed her SO MUCH!!!! Only 3 weeks until she is HERE in my home for 2 weeks. She arrives a few days before we leave for Maui and is staying to look after the kids and house while we are gone. Then she'll be here for a few days after we get back. Hopefully she will get to visit her friend Nathalie while she is here too which would be awesome for them.
I got to hear about how beautiful the weather was and the nice things she got and the fun she had and it was so excellent. sigh.
Also, I forgot to mention that this past Monday was my parent's 58th wedding anniversary. FIFTY EIGHTH!!!! Holy snap. I forgot to send a card but I did call.
Ben had a fairly good day at school yesterday. we are trying a new checklist system for him to keep his temper under control. He got 5 outta 6 yesterday which is great!! Yay Ben!
Thank you to picperfect for her well wishes about this virus. Its nice to hear from someone so far away! Ain't the 'net cool????

Me am sick

Woke up fine. Spent morning as lazy slob as per usual. By lunch was starting to feel not right. this continued. I bought KFC for the kids for lunch because the very thought of preparing anything and facing the universal "I didn't want THAT" was just not good. Apres lunch I tried to look at trees at Rona. Could not get home to my big comfy couch fast enough. Crashed for nap and woke up worse. Throat, chest, nose...all feeling the onset of something. Went to pharmacy for zinc loz...losz...losengeses.
Pray i wake up tomorrow with it GONE. What mother has the time for illness??
What I learned from my compost tumbler today: HM is a dumbass. Oh wait I knew that already. But this is just another instance. I went outdoors, sick feeling and all, to dump out the contents of my tumbler (mother's day gift 2006 ) so that I could finally dump in the contents of my new to me compost bucket/pot thingy That I got at the comptoir for a buck. Someone had swept up firewood mess from the front stoop and put it IN THE TUMBLER!! Big freaking chunks of bark and wood and stuff. When my compost is DONE!!!? I am very very very not happy and am trying to train Monkey to pee in his shoes.
After picking out as much of the junk as possible/probable for me (not a whole lot), I ended up with THREE big buckets of compost. Sweet. My All that Jazz rose says thankee.
This years batch has commenced. Huzzah.

WTF?

Alison Grace Proteau -- [noun]: A human transformer (Robot in disguise) 'How" will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

One down.....

And one to go. The yarn is OnLine 6 ply on 3 mm needles. That pink colour is NOT pink..its a terracotta shade. Most of sock one was done in car while on trips.

I cannot get the Kitchener stitch toe graft right. Argh. Need a demonstration in person because instructions and diagrams are NOT cutting it.