Our Saturday Jaunts

We use to do things as a family every Saturday afternoon. First stop was the bakery in Steveston Village. We would each get a donut and a pop and ruin our appetite for the rest of the day. Next, we would go down to another bakery in Vancouver and get baklava for each of us. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water! All that ooey, gooey goodness with nuts throughout. Oh, yum! (Maybe that's why I gained weight!) Sadly, both bakeries closed. That's what happens when you live in a city more than a few years. You see stores come and go and it's surprising. Not having lived anywhere more than a few years at one go I was shocked when this happened. But now I've seen change in the metropolitan area of Vancouver that I know it's just part of life. After all, things must change in 34 years! Including said family. This is what we looked like back in the donut and baklava days.

Circa 1992 in the summer in Walla Walla - the days of pigtails, dark hair and puffed sleeves.

Now, B and I go by ourselves as the kids are all grown and do their own thing on Saturdays. We still go in to Vancouver but bypass the bakery for a healthier option. Often we stop at Choices where there are, well, choices. Healthy choices. Last time we were there we picked up jalapenos to make poppers. Now, that's something I could eat a lot of!

 Just for your information this is how we start:

This is how we end:

Circa 1990

I Almost Caved

My neck is cold and I gave away all my turtlenecks. Is that a good enough excuse to make a cowl? I thought so. I found this on -line - willow_cowl - and wondered if I had yarn to make it. Then I realized that I had far too many projects on the needles to even think about casting on another. So I thought I would try to get at least one project a week done from the previous post and see if my neck was still cold. After all, it should be about May before I get these projects remotely close to being finished.

Here's some progress:



I combined two patterns: the "One Day Beret" and the "Baby Pin Wheel" blanket.
I would show you her face but she was brushing her teeth. I did take a picture though - for future blackmailing. After all, she was the one who wanted me to take the picture. And I never said I wouldn't post it.

The fingerless mitts are done as well. LJ wears them and I know they keep her warm at work. It's been -7degrees C (20degrees F) here and we have snow! So anything made with 100% wool has got to keep her warm.

I've been trying to incorporate walking into my daily schedule but since I've been sick since last year I haven't been able to. The girls wanted me to walk up to the mall (about 3 km away) but I only got as far as the corner. At that point I turned and walked home. So my walk was truncated to about 1 km. So all in all I've walked about once since the turn of the year. Keren, I need you. We could walk every morning.

Here's where we parted ways.

A Little Progress

We had Korean Beef for dinner tonight. At least, it's my variation of it. I dumped a splash of soy sauce in a non-stick pan and added about 1/2 cup of brown sugar on top. Then I mixed it around til the brown sugar was dissolved. Added sliced up inside blade steak (?), placed it on a burner and while it was cooking away I made some oven roasted veggies - broccoli, onions, carrots and green pepper. I was too lazy to put rice in the rice cooker so I popped a couple of potatoes in the microwave and nuked them. Add to the whole thing -potato fixings, a side salad and sliced avocadoes and I was done. I would serve it to company.

I finished another "One Day Beret"! This is in "Amazing" yarn in the Glacier colorway. I think this is the best yarn that Micheal's sells. At first I refused to buy it because it was/is so expensive but finally, I clued in to their 50% off coupons. Makes it reasonable. Where else can you get a beret for $4.99?

Laura's fingerless mitts are coming along nicely. Things come along nicely when you stay home all day when you're sick and can't really do much of anything besides knit or read.

Hopefully, I'll have them done tonight!

Finally, some progress on the sweater-scarf. Heidi's scarf is kinda so-so for me. I've enjoyed thinking up new stitches to add to the mix but the yarn is not fun to work with. I guess I'm using a needle that is too small for the thickness of the yarn. But I usually err on the side of small when it comes to needles because I like how firm it makes things. But it sure cramps the fingers!

California Fun - Catching Up

Two years ago I visited California around Amber's birthday and some of us ladies were able to go to tea! It was delightful! We had so much fun pretending we were ladies.

Mom and her lovely hat

Amber and her tea

Soothing Hot Tea

Gramma Sue and Amber

Preserving Gramma's Hat

In the Garden 

And on the Patio

With Bentley!

Give Him a Squeeze!

Done Socks

Purples and blues are some of my favorite colors to work with. If I really believed what they say about color I may be worried. If your favorite color is purple, so they say, you are probably a 14 year old girl and living in a fantasy. Blue? I'm not quite sure but Navy Blue is a color that you can hide behind. Maybe it means you're dignified and regal? A combination of the two probably means I want to hide and be a princess in a fantasy life. Hmm. I don't think so.


After that I like pastels. Then I like deep rich colors. Now, is there any color I left out? To tell the truth, I really like to work with all colors.

And since April's birthstone is a diamond it's appropriate to have an "all color" project. Diamonds, as you know, refract all colors. At least my diamond ring does. I enjoy holding it up to the light and watching the colors swirl and sparkle. I have no idea what my ring is worth but just because it refracts all those colors I think it the best. I don't know what makes a diamond valuable and I really don't care; I like mine.


This scarf is a project from the past and I only show it to let you see what inspired me to change my pattern for Chuggy's surprise-which is no longer a surprise. (I figured that I would rather make something that someone liked rather than surprise her with something that she didn't like. Besides, surprises are over rated.)


I started out making a cardigan sweater in a straight stockinette stitch. Since I knew I wouldn't want a sweater that accented "broadness" in the wrong place, I didn't think she would either. Off it came from the needles. Next, I thought maybe a shawl would be better and thus tried my hand at this pattern stitch which is the same in the scarf above as well as in my Jaywalker socks from yesterday.


Yes, I liked it much better but would she wear or even need a shawl in a sunny California desert? There was only one way to find out. After a call to the desert I found out a shawl she would like but I could tell that a cardigan sweater would be much more appreciated.

Hmm. Now to see if I can find a pattern that works with this design. Dare I make one up? Kind of a leap in the dark and into unknown territory. I like a challenge. What do you think?

Three Down, One to Go!

Yep, she passed. Heidi has her driver's licence. Now my days to chauffeur my girls to the barn are all but over. There may be times when I need to help out but they will be few and far between. It's already been a relief. Just this morning they were up, out and off to the barn with only a phone call to figure out which van to take. Next week should be easier since the plan is to import their already bought VW Rabbit.


There's a progressive program here for getting your driver's licence. First, as in every other place, you have to pass a written test. That allows you to display a huge "L" on the back of your vehicle. A lot of kids have a word they use to say what it stands for but the DMV says it stands for "Learner". And for the next little while, is it two years? you practice driving. Sounds like what most DMVs require. Next you take the road test and if you pass you get to display an "N" which stands for "Novice". (Most kids have another name for that too.) This is where Moms everywhere start to sweat. That's because your child now has the power to drive without you calling out directions from the front passenger seat. If you're a praying mom, you start to pray even more.


A Little fortification before the actual test.











One more try at parallel parking. Yes, I mean parallel parking. We do that in a parking lot here. The examiners don't even want you to attempt getting between two parked cars and on the test will have you parallel park behind one parked car.
The coveted "N" sign.



The police don't really care how you display the "N". They just want it displayed.

You have no idea how great this is for me. It seemed such a big hurdle for her to get over and now that's done, I feel such a relief.

LJ is next.

Of Sisters and Bugs

I got a call from Kedge this AM and since I'm a school teacher at heart and by practice I have a lot of patience. (Having kids helps too). She was having difficulty getting links on her page. This is the result of her lesson.

https://www.paypal.com/
http://www.onetitaniclady.com/
onetitaniclady
https://www.paypal.com/
one titanic lady


Hopefully, she took notes.
Go check out her blog.

In other news... The warehouse and its showroom are coming along nicely. We've got all the shelves (bookcases) in the warehouse and all the racks in the showroom. The racks are almost full and we're adding product daily. We've had some long days but hopefully that's all coming to and end. Whew! I'll know what it is to once again cook a meal for the family! And maybe we'll have some clean clothes. And just maybe I'll get those cobwebs out of the corners!

That reminds me of the gnat/fruit fly infestation we brought home from meeting. They seem to be under control at the moment, but for a while we had these little bugs all over the kitchen. Several friends of mine had the same problem and gave me advice on how to get rid of them. Both said to block your sink drains, keep your counters clean and set a trap. I set two traps. One trap had juice and yeast and the other trap had juice and honey. My yeast trap didn't work too well. The other trap attracted the flies but they only stayed for supper and flew off again! What worked the best was using the vacuum cleaner. We kept it out for hourly use and (just in case) kept a piece of plastic wrap over the end. (B thought that the flies flew back up the pipe and we kept getting the same bugs back again. I say they multiply rapidly.)

Does anyone else have any suggestions? These bugs seem harmless but I don't want my kitchen to be the latest breeding and feeding ground for fruit flies.

Bocci

We had a crowd over by default. The kids were playing volleyball at the park and ended up at our house. This game looks like a lot of fun. I don't know. I don't play but from the sounds emmanating from the back yard it sounded like a riot of some sort. Just a friendly competition between the guys and the gals. The gals gave up and came inside to read, knit and fix dinner.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVE!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!!!

YOU DON'T LOOK A DAY OVER 80!!!!!!

You Can Pass Me the Checkbook

This has been a very eventful day and it's only 11:30. Mum called this AM. Aunt Ruth had passed away. Go here for a piece on her life. It's a very nice tribute to a wonderful woman.

While I was searching for my dental office's phone number, they called. I told them to cancel tomorrow's appointment. I'm too busy--but I said there was a death in the family. We have our web designer coming tomorrow any way and I wanted to get out of going to this dental office. They were/have been really pushy. And I don't like to be pushed around.

I'm planning on leaving in about 20 minutes to pick up Teege at the airport. He said he gets in "around one". So that's when I plan on being there. "Around one". (It's an hour away.)

We've had customers in this AM and they take up so much time and space.

We've had several long distance phone calls--nothing to do with Aunt Ruth. One was a suggestion about pricing in our catalogue $US vs. $CND. Another was a question for B. The other was about a fax machine that doesn't work properly. And B and I are trying to get an order together for Aristo.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to fill some internet orders for CTP (or at least, write them up), fax Jailgy a pattern for an afghan that she asked for, work on Da's pamphlet and one for B as well (formatting). Whew!

I usually make lists of "Things to do Today". This is my list.

Sisters

"If your sister is in a tearing hurry to go out and cannot catch your eye, she's wearing your best sweater." Pam Brown

I found this somewhere on the web and thought, "This person must know me and my sisters." I had a very similar situation happen to me on the way to school one day. I was driving and passed my sister who was walking. She wouldn't look at me. I knew she wasn't mad but as soon as I saw the top she was wearing I knew why she wouldn't look! It would have been better if she had smiled and waved. I may not have noticed at all that she was wearing my peach t-shirt with the brown trim. Imagine that. I still remember after 35 years! What I don't remember is why she was walking and I was driving.

mexican dinner slideshow

We looked thrilled to be here, don't we? We really are. You see, it's just that in Canada a Mexican meal costs an arm and a leg. It tastes good but the price is a way too high. I think the mind-set is that of an upscale restuarant or that of an "experience" and thus you're charged accordingly. We're in a store on Granville Street in Vancouver and this is as authentic as it gets here in the NorthWest. This is better than we experienced in Kelona where they charged for chips and salsa, gave you white linen napkins and had candles on the table. Actually, we can't get enough of Mexican food and can't wait to get to CA again for a real treat.

Sure Return

I'm finally back! (Much to your joy, I'm sure.) We had a great time in CA but it seemed so short even though we were gone for almost two weeks.

It was our normal CA trip: down to Burbank in a straight shot-- 26 hours, which included a roadside stint of two hours while we tried to figure out how to get chains off our tires. (Arrgh! We had to put on chains for slush that lasted for two miles, maximum. They even had inspectors out to make sure we put them on.)

We took in the Conference for three days...very exercising, encouraging and profitable.

Out to the beach for the day,

and then to Hemet for the rest of the trip.

"Fun" at Target with the sisters.




We stayed at Gramma's this time and were in and out daily before she even had time to catch her breath. It looks like Auntie's had it.

Believe it or not, I had time to finish three projects! The little orange hat is not exactly how I want it so needs a bit more work.

The booties turned out perfectly. I just love to work with variagated yarn.

There really are two of these socks. It's just that I gave them away before I could get a picture of the pair.

When we left CA we were starting to get sick but still had enough energy to "discuss" hot topics and issues with some of the kids. I tell you, 22 hours (the time it took to get home) is enough time to discuss anything under the sun.