New Shoes!

New shoes were purchased today although not for me. The kids needed new shoes to get ready for the summer. Here in Canada kids have two pairs of shoes for school - an inside pair and an outside pair. In the winter the outside shoes are usually snow boots but at other times their outside shoes are just regular shoes. Having an inside pair of shoes prevents the kids from tracking all sorts of stuff into the classrooms.

J has just about worn out his outside school shoes. They have a hole in the side and he's just about worn through the heels to the soles. I took him to get a new pair of shoes to close out the school year.

The new shoes are lightweight and should hopefully last through the summer. We'll get him a couple new pairs of shoes in late August for school. His current inside shoes will become his "nice" shoes for over the summer since he amazingly kept them in good condition all year.

S also got a new pair of shoes. She requested shoes with laces instead of Velcro because she taught herself to tie shoes and has been practicing it at school. I expected her to pick the shoes with sparkles and glitter on them but instead she picked a rather simple pair (which were more expensive of course!)

She's very excited about wearing her new tie shoes to school tomorrow. I also had both kids try on their summer shoes. I was surprised to find that S's sandals, both her closed toe and open toe ones, still fit her. Of course J's sandals don't fit so I'll have to get him a new pair of those. I'll do that in another week or so.

In the knitting world, I finished a pair of gloves the other day because you know, winter is coming. I almost had to wear them yesterday since it was 8C/46F. On June 3rd. Yeah. Welcome to Canada. Anyway, here they are:

I'm not sure I like the buttons; they are pink the gloves are more a purple colour. I just placed them in the correct position for the picture. I'm thinking I may stop by the fabric store tomorrow when I'm out and pick up some different buttons. Who knows, I may still end up with the pink ones.

I've started two other projects in the mean time. One is a cool shawl made of a raw silk in a pink colour and the other is a long cowl. For the cowl I'm using my Sip-n-Stitch yarn, which is a bamboo wool blend. I'll take some in-progress pictures tomorrow since I just started the cowl and it doesn't look like much yet. I'll work on it tonight while we're watching Marco Polo unless we get our new fire pit going and sit out there for a while.

Today has been much nicer than yesterday. It was warmer and the sun was out which was a nice change from the cold, dampness of the past few days. J decided he wanted to ride his bike to school today so we let him. He met up with a couple of friends and they made their way safely to school and back home. He was tired when he got home but he had a good time riding his bike and plans to do it again tomorrow.

Tomorrow is suppose to be another nice day. I have some cookies to bake in the morning for the kids' Spring Carnival at school. After I deliver them I may have to go down to the RibFest they are having at the racetrack or else head out to the beach to our favourite seafood shack. If I don't make it out there tomorrow I will definitely get out there this weekend. I can't wait for one one their lobster rolls!

Tuesday is for Housework

Today has been a busy day. With S's friend coming over this afternoon I wanted to make sure the house was in order. Also, it just needed a cleaning. I cleaned all three bathrooms and ran the vacuum through the house. I also mopped the kitchen floor. Yeah, our visitor was only 5 years old, but her mom was coming to get her and I wanted the house to look presentable.

I also reorganized a few of my kitchen cabinets. I recently got an electric kettle and found that it was on one side of my kitchen (by the sink) and all my teas were on the other side, which just didn't make sense. I turned the cabinet above the coffee machine/kettle into a "coffee/tea station" and moved my baking things to the cabinet right behind where I do my mixing/'prep work for baking. I thought for sure I would go to the wrong cabinets today but actually I didn't, which tells me that things were in the wrong place before.

I did quite a bit baking today. I made a batch of mini blueberry muffins for S and her friend (okay, I may have eaten a few). I also tried out something new for me - yeast rolls. In the past I've made yeast-based bread, but that was usually in my bread machine. But S's friend's mom shared a 30 minute yeast roll recipe with me. The recipe can be found here. For my first time making them, they came out almost right. I think I didn't knead the dough enough before I let it rise the final time. I had to end up baking them an extra 5 minutes, probably because they were kind of dense. S was the only one who didn't like them. I think if they were lighter and fluffier she would have liked them more. I'll keep trying until I get them right because they were good.

I think I mentioned that I ran out of yarn making my GoT cowl. I had posted about it in a discussion thread on Ravelry. Yesterday evening I received a private message from the designer apologizing for the shortage of yarn and offering to send me another skein so that I could finish the pattern as written. That meant a lot to me, that she would offer to get me more yarn. I declined because my cowl is already done and honestly, I like the way it turned out. Mine is unique. :-) I thanked her for the offer and told her that I appreciated that she was willing to make things write. Good people do exist in this world.

I finished up a different cowl recently. I used Handmaiden's Sea Three yarn, which is a blend of silk and seacell, which is made from seaweed. It is very soft and should be warm in the winter. I just discovered that this yarn is discontinued, so I'm glad I was able to make something I like with it. I still have enough left to make a hat or a pair of mitts. Of course as I was taking this picture I discovered I managed to cross some cables in the wrong direction, but you won't be able to tell that when I'm wearing it. Also, I hid those mistakes when I took the picture.

The lighting in this picture isn't the best - the yarn is actually a little more purple than it looks here. I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow if there is some sun. It's suppose to be cold (8C/48F) and rainy tomorrow.

I am working on a pair of gloves right now - you can never start preparing for winter too early around here. I'm also working on a new shawl I'm making with 100% eri silk yarn from Belfast Mini Mills. Now that it's June, Belfast Mini Mills is open every day. I may have to make a trip out there in the next day or two to see what they have for this season. I'll do my best not to buy any yarn...no promises though!

Weekend Recap!

I'm back from our weekend of off-island hockey. It started Thursday with a ferry trip over to Nova Scotia. There are two ferries that shuttle people back and forth - a big one and a smaller one. Normally the big one is running but this time it was the smaller one. It had a nice observation deck on top where the kids played and ran around. It was windy but I do better with the wind blowing on my face. We went down below for a snack and I could feel the ferry rocking which messed with my vertigo. Going back out on deck helped a lot.

Once we arrived in NS we found our hotel and had some supper then it was off to bed for the kids. Friday the tournament began and J had two games. Both teams were really tough so J's team was 0-2 at the end of the day. We had a pizza party that night and the kids went swimming, which honestly, was all that mattered to them at that point. Saturday we had two more games and those games were more evenly matched but still no wins, which summed up the whole spring season. There were some tears at the end of the last game but once they got back to the hotel and into the pool they forgot about being sad and had fun.

Saturday night the team stayed up late and watched part of the Ducks-Blackhawks game. C was down with J and he said the kids burst into song when the American anthem came on. The Canadian kids knew about half the song which honestly is impressive. That is not an easy song to sing. They had a great time cheering and goofing around and the hotel staff was very patient with all the rowdy 10 year olds running around.

Sunday we came home, again on the smaller ferry. The weather wasn't the best - it was rainy, chilly, and very windy. I stayed inside as long as I could but it started getting really warm with everyone inside. Between the heat and my vertigo acting up, I had to go out on the deck for a while. I found a sheltered spot on the leeward side of the boat and hung out there. I was joined at various times by other people feeling a bit queasy from the rocking of the boat. One mom and daughter I know have problems with motion sickness, so they braved the chilly weather to keep from throwing up. It was nice to have company outside. :-)

Today I had to head back to the dentist. I got a call on Friday that somehow the impression they made of my bottom teeth was broken in transit to the lab and they needed to make a new one. At least this time I figured out how to keep from gagging on that nasty plaster stuff (although just thinking about that stuff makes me start to gag). It only took about 10 minutes to get it all done, so that was nice. I'm hoping this time they won't break it!

I also went out today and bought a scale for weighing my yarn. After the Game of Thrones cowl debacle, I wanted to know if they gave me the right amount of yarn and my gauge was off or if I was shorted yarn. I was suppose to have 300 g of yarn for this project. My finished project, which I ran out of yarn making, is only 290 g which tells me I was shorted yarn while I know others received over 300 g of yarn (they posted their weights on Ravelry). I suppose it could have happened to anyone but I will think twice before I decide to participate in other MKALs using that company's yarn.

This afternoon was a good one. The weather was cool (hello, what's up with that? It's June 1!) but the rain held off so the kids were able to play outside. We yard-hopped from one place to another until it was time for supper. The newest family on the block has decided that they are (probably) going to buy the house they are renting, which is awesome. They have a daughter S's age as well as two younger boys. They fit into the neighbourhood nicely so it will be awesome having them stay around for the summer. It's shaping up to be a fun one!

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!