Christmas in May!

I had intended to post a blog yesterday but I was really busy running around trying to get errands done. And then by the time I got a chance to sit down it was so beautiful outside the last thing I wanted to do was sit at my computer. This morning has been busy too with packing up for our hockey tournament this weekend. There will be no blog for the next few days since I'll be out of town and I don't want to drag my computer with me. But before I go, let me show you my Christmas in May that occurred yesterday. :-)

When I came back home from getting the oil changed in the car, I found two packages on the porch. One was the yarn for my Once and Future King MKAL. When I ordered the yarn I ordered an extra set of lace-weight yarn because I was having trouble deciding which colour to use plus I found a pattern I wanted to do that used lace-weight.

This is how the Raven and the Fox yarn turned out. It is a 30/70 blend of silk and wool and should knit up really nicely. It has a nice shine to it.

The other colour I chose is Coral and Cream and it is also a blend of silk and wool but it has a totally different look and feel since it is a 50/50 blend. It has a more matte finish to it.

Those two were in one box. In the other box was my first shipment for the Sip-n-Stitch club I joined. Every other month starting with May I will receive a specially dyed yarn, some kind of tea, and a little goody. This month the tea is Marrakesh Chai and it is delicious! The goody is an adorable mug with the Unique Sheep icon on it, and the yarn is Sushi Sock yarn, which is a blend of bamboo and wool. The colour of the yarn is listed as Marrakesh, to go along with the tea.

Also, yesterday the latest issue of Sandman came out (finally!) and I swung by the comic book store to pick it up. I was also looking for the next book in the series that my friend gave me for my birthday. They didn't have it in stock but the nice woman at the store helped me pick out a couple of things to keep me busy until I can find book 3.

And after I went to the comic book store I was able to walk down the street and join C for lunch. The weather was beautiful so we were able to eat outside. Add that to the yarn and the graphic novels and it felt like I was having Christmas in May with all the fun treats! Let's hope the rest of the weekend is the same way. ;-)

Pampering and Knitting

Yesterday I did something I haven't done in a long time - I went and had a pedicure. I was waaaay overdue. It was fun to go and be pampered for a bit. I found a nice place not too far from the house where it's just the client and the owner. I chose a funky colour for my toes:

I will be going back in a few weeks to get a mani/pedi using shellac on my nails. I am very interested in seeing just how well the shellac holds up. I'm very hard on my nails - I can manage to chip long-wear nail polish in just days, including the new gel nail polish that is suppose to last 14 days. Last time I used it it lasted 3 days before it started chipping. I've heard good things about the shellac so we'll see.

Last week I went and had my hair coloured and trimmed and I forgot to share a picture of the new look. I went with a lighter base colour and added highlights. I'm always envious of my stylist because she can get my hair so straight. I can never reproduce it at home.

Today I had my first dentist appointment to start the night splint. Oh, what an experience that was. It's been years since I've had impressions done and they haven't improved it at all. The hygienist put the bottom stuff in and I immediately started to gag. It's that nasty oozy feeling that always does it. For the top she tried to make the stuff thicker so it wouldn't ooze as much but then she didn't get a good impression so she had to do it again. I did fine with the second top impression until it was time for her to remove it. Then I started gagging like crazy. I was a mess with my eyes watering and some drooling going on. At least I didn't throw up on her, although I will admit I was worried that I might. Everything after that was easy-peasy. In two weeks my splint should arrive and then I get to learn how to sleep with it in!

Tomorrow I get to take my car in for an oil change - wheee! It always seems to take longer than I think it should. I will make sure I take both my book and my knitting with me so I can keep myself occupied.

I finished my Game of Thrones Mystery KAL. It ended up being a turtlenecked shoulder warmer which is cool except for the fact that I ran out of yarn before I finished it. I still had 3 rows to go when I realized I would only have enough yarn to bind off. I double checked my gauge and it was correct so either I did something wrong or they shorted me on yarn. I have been reading comments on Ravelry and I'm not the only one who ran out of yarn. It's frustrating to buy a kit for a project like this and think you'll get enough yarn in the kit. I'm curious to see what the designer has to say about it.

 Here's what it looks like off and on:

I'm still waiting for my Once and Future King yarn to arrive. Hopefully it will be here tomorrow!

Go Take a Hike!

Today was yet another beautiful day. When spring finally makes up its mind to arrive, the weather here is awesome. It was a little windy and cool but the sun was out (for the most part). We decided to take advantage of this beautiful weather and headed out for a hike at a pond we discovered over the winter. There's a trail, Peggy's Trail, that goes around Mooney's Pond which was our destination.

On the way to the pond, we saw this guy on the side of the road:

I tried to get a better picture of him but he kept scooting off as we drove closer to him. At least you can see that he is a pheasant. It was the first one I've seen on the island.

Once we reached the pond, we started exploring.

An old beaver dam that is now a fishing area

We started out at what is called Anderson's Pool, which looks like it was once a beaver pond but is now a fishing area. There is a nice ramp and a fishing deck here to allow easy access to the water for everyone. We continued to follow the path to the main pond. Along the way I saw definite signs of spring...

Look! Leaves are coming out!

When we arrived at Mooney's Pond, we found a very nice fishing dock. No one was fishing at the time but later we saw a few people giving it a go here.

Fishing dock at Mooney's Pond

We started on a nice, fairly level gravel path that lead around the pond. There were a few bridges along the way. This was the view from one of the bridges:

There were also quite a few overlook/fishing docks along the path that provided nice views of the pond.

Look! There's no snow on the ground! Hiking through the woods is so much easier when the trail is free of snow.

A snow free path!

There's a fungus among us! :-)

As we walked along, there was a lot of Spanish moss all over the ground. S had picked some up to play with as she hiked. She decided that it looked like Big Foot's snot. Yup. Her story: Big Foot ate a moose and it made him catch a cold. So he sneezed snot all over the woods. Ooookay.

Big Foot snot...according to the 6 year old.

There was a nice bridge at the far side of the pond. This is looking back up towards where the fishing dock is located. The view was really pretty.

We stopped at another overlook on our way back up to the start of the trail. J wasn't feeling his best today and decided to take a short nap on the overlook railing.

There's a story that goes with the next picture. In upstate NY where my in-laws live, there's a nice walking path that we like to take the kids on. Along the path there is an old tree that has been ravaged by woodpeckers. Every time we are on the path with my father-in-law he points out the "woodpecker tree". As we were hiking today I saw this tree and it made me think of the woodpecker tree in NY. So this picture is for my father-in-law and his favourite tree.

After hiking the entire trail we headed back to the car to get the fishing rods that we brought along. As we walked down the trail, I managed to snap this picture of cuteness. C was holding J's hand and it was adorable (at least to me it was).

C did some digging under some rocks and managed to find some worms for bait. He got the fishing poles set up for the kids and they gave it a go. J was trying very hard to wait patiently for something to nibble his hook.

S had a good time too. She kept hoping a fish would come nibble on her hook too but no luck!

I managed to get a picture of J casting. He only put it in the tree once so I think that's pretty good.

We didn't have any luck at this spot so we headed back up to the fishing dock at the main pond. Still no luck there! It was really windy at the pond and the current was strong. We'll try to find a better place to go fishing next time!

We came home after fishing and had some lunch and then some quiet time. Then we decided that today needed ice cream. So we headed down to a dairy bar. Hot fudge sundae - yum! This little guy decided he wanted to hang out near us. In the almost two years we've lived here I've only seen a handful of these cute little red squirrels.

We finished off the day with a yummy meal done on the grill. All in all it was a great day!

Saturday is for playing!

Today was suppose to be a rainy day but ended up being sunny although it was chilly. The kids had fun playing outside most of the day. J was invited over to his friend's house for a BBQ and lots of hockey and had a great time. He played hockey for a good 6 hours today. He will sleep well tonight!

This morning S had a friend over for a while and then we went out for lunch for curry - yum! S had her usual grilled cheese and I tried a different kind of curry today. It was good but a bit spicier than the kind I usually get. It is fun to try new things!

When we got back S went back outside to play with her friends and I took the time to do some house cleaning. I got the more public areas of the house clean - the living room/kitchen/dining room as well as the kids' bathroom. While I was doing that the neighbourhood kids were busy bouncing from house to house. They finally ended up all heading home around supper time. It was a fun day for them.

I finally got around to blocking my Outlander shawl. It turned out to be very long and rather skinny. It will make a good neck wrap in the winter.

I also finally finished my Citron shawl. That thing was a royal pain in the arse because of the sheer number of stitches involved. I like how it turned out but I will not be making it again. When it was laying out on the blocking mats J and C both commented on how it reminded them of a slice of watermelon. I think I'll call it my Watermelon Shawl from now on.

I got an email the other day that my yarn for my next Mystery KAL is on it's way to me. I checked the tracking and it cleared customs so it should be here in a few days. I can't wait to see the yarn. I had picked out a colour called The Raven and The Fox. This is what it looks like on the website:

When it arrives I will take a picture of it and compare how it looks. This will be my first time working with lace weight yarn from The Unique Sheep. I'm excited about it. Of course I have to wait until July for the MKAL to start. Booo!

Photo Blog Thursday!

I finally got my pictures off my camera (yeah, I used a real camera and not my phone) and onto my computer. I was amazed at what I found on that camera - pictures from a few years ago before we moved! It's been a while since I've used this camera. But I did get some pictures to share. I have some sunset pictures that I want to share too but I need C's help to edit them so they will probably be up in a day or two. For some reason it won't let me put two pictures next to each other so it's a long post. But here we go:

The ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia

Looking back at PEI.Yes, that is snow on the water's edge.

Fishing boat coming back in to the harbour.

The harbour at Margaree Forks

One of the beaches along the Nova Scotia west coast

Walking on the beach

Fishing Cove along the coast of Cape Breton

Cape Breton Highlands

Coastline of Cape Breton

Cool rocks at the bottom of the cliff

Cape Breton Highlands

Cape Breton Highlands coastline

The Bog where moose can be seen (but we didn't see any)

Moose track

Hiking in the snow. In May.

Checking out the stream

This tree growing around a rock reminds me of one of our favourite hikes in northern New York

A rapidly running stream in the woods

The first waterfall

The second waterfall

At the bottom of the waterfall gorge

Making a muscle

Cool dead tree we found in the woods behind the cottage

Hopefully I'll get those last few pictures edited and up in the next day or two. :-)