Saxony Wheel, 1800's, amazing deal...only needs drive bands.... and

even still has a bobbin with old wool on it, I am so in love. See ya all in 2 weeks when the company goes and lifa calms down again!

Proof that I really do have a house in mid reno for those of you who were starting to doubt it

this ladder and I good friends, we are so close that I was willing to let it hold ( if only for a minute) my new knitting basket, wool ( some lovely mohair) and my recent spinning. The ladder is living in the bathroom today as I try to get the rest of it painted and the basket was a gift from a friend - she had it shipped from Shetland, it's made from sea grass and smells amazing

this is the tub to go in the bathroom once I get it painted and get the floor in... I refinished it over the last few weeks and finished yesterday, except for covering up the white enamel I got on the the outside

ignore the mess admire the logs.... the mess will go soon

but I think that I have enough Home Depot bags to wall paper a room - look there is furniture in the living room, i have to get it looking a little more like a living room this week

Happy news, the kitchen is finished ( well the floor isn't in but it will be soon. I put in the tall cabinet on the left on Sunday, it's even mounted to the wall. I am rather proud of my self

This was last weeks project, the knitting room! the floor needs to be painted ( not for awhile though) and all the bathroom stuff is living in it at the moment but it looks good and I am excited to have a room to store my wool and sewing stuff

with all the painting and house stuff my flowers are sadly neglected... the are blooming but they need a little TLC.

I am in the city running errands and really must get on it. It's hot here, really hot and running errands in AC seemed like a good idea. Then it is home to paint

Pirate parties

It's my favorite pirates* birthday, well actually it was yesterday (but I choose to spend time with him rather than blog). Pirate P is an amazing guy, he's witty and enjoys making me laugh so hard that I can't breathe. He tolerates my PMS (most of the time) and and enjoys spending time with my assorted crazy friends, even the knitters. He's a good listener and a compassionate man. He is a great Dad, friend and generally just super guy. He reminds me to live in the moment and be happy with what I have. So to the man who swept me off my feet**, Happy Birthday P.!

* to hear the pirate story you have to see him in person and buy him a beer, and it really is a true story, I met another of the pirates!

**He claims that I swept him off his feet but I think that he is the one that did the sweeping.

Bad, bad blogger that I am

I'm around, I'm alive and just a little busy trying to get the house to state where 8 people can live in more than 1 room. That and I am helping out a few friends with their little people and they are keeping me busy too. I owe some answers to some comments and emails, if you are waiting to hear from me I will answer eventually I promise

That being said I signed up for a swap... maybe not the smartest thing given my life at the moment, but it looked like fun! So here my answers

Favorite Color Swap Questionnaire

1. What are your top three favorite colors? Indigo, that lovely cornflower shade of blue ( like blue hydrangeas) and red

2. What crafts do you really enjoy? knitting, quilting (it's new but I like it) anything I can do with photos

3. What products do you really covet? hmm nothing that falls in the price range of this swap but I am interested in patterns for shawls

4. What other activities do you enjoy besides your favorite crafty things? SLEEPING ( there has not been enough of it lately), cooking and I developing a like for my garden - it dislikes me but I like anyway

5. Is there anything you collect? junk! I'm a bit of a packrat

6. What is your zodiac sign and/or Chinese zodiac symbol? Cancer/snake

7.What are your favorite

scents/smellsVanillala, passionfruit and lightly scented things

types of music and/or bandAnythinging but rap

authors I'llread anything but most adult fantasyasty bores me

animals? I have dogs and any baby animal is adorable

places to shop? stores - yarn usually

Season? sSpring /fall

yarn/fabric/paper/other craft supplies? it's all good

candies or goodies? i love sour things but not licorice , has it has flour - see #9

8. Do you have any wish lists? no

9. Are you allergic to anything? Gluten so if you send treats thay can't have flour in them

10. Do you have any pets? What are they? 2 crazy dogs

11. Please include anything else you would like your secret pal to know about you- anything that would be helpful in finding you little gifts that you will really enjoy. I will love whatever you send me because you took the time to pick it out for lil ol' me.

Gotta go, I got 15 minutes to get out of the coffee shop and to M and M's house.

Bins, butterflies and birthdays

Bins
I know it's quiet here, like super quiet... to really show you why it's so quiet I need a picture but I am blogging from home and that is not a possibility.... Sooo imagine if you will, one of those large green dumpsters that you see outside a construction site, now think about how big one of those dumpsters is and how much stuff you can insert inside something that holds 10 tonnes. Got a good picture of that in your head, right now multiply it by 2 and then you have the picture I need to post. Yes in the last 12 days or so we have filled not 1 but 2 dumpsters and I must say it has been a huge job. The first one was full of stuff that came from inside the house, mostly wood, drywall and flooring. The 2nd one was the remnanats of the stuff from in the house ( it did not all fit in the 1st one) , including the carpets that I pulled up this week and years of stuff that had accumulated in the barn. The house looks better, we are only 2 painting jobs aways from putting rooms back together and we almost have 2 guest rooms ready ( we have 3 but one is not going to be ready in time) Why the huge push to get it done? Well we have a great deal of company coming in August they are all only overlapping for the weekend of our party but it will be a busy place with 11 extra people in it (the kids are sleeping in tents) and then there is our party where only 150 of our nearest and dearest friends are coming to visit for a evening.

Butterflies
I have super abundance of butterflies in my yard and they are so beautiful! I am not sure where they came from or what I planted that they are so attracted to but everyday when I go outside there are a 4 or 5 of them fluttering about outside my front door in the garden, they are lovely to watch and marvel at. I have always enjoyed butterflies because I'm amazed by how something that can be so small and plain can become so beautiful. Between the birds, the frogs and the butterflies I am lovin country life - oh yeah and the fireflies too. Yeah and guess what else, we have tire swings! ( they aren't up yet but they will be soon, I love tire swings)

Birthdays
It's my birthday! P and I were discussing how life has changed so much in the last 12 months and if you has asked me last year were I would be this year I would not of said married to P and renovating a farm house. It's all good though, sometimes I miss the adventure of traveling but I am happy here in my corner of the world, happy and in love. What more could a girl ask for, I really think that being happy is the most important thing in the world.

Alright I must be off, P and I are going for a picnic tonight and since he is working today I have to get the food! Thank God for take out

welllllll, (like the well the from the BNL "Bryant street theater" comedy sketch at the end of their Rock Spectacle album)

If you don't know what the title is about I am not going to even begin to explain because I have broken my finger and typing is a bit of a process with only 2 fingers on my right hand that I can use effectively. To make a long story short let's just say that a ladder on a boat and I did not exactly agree on where it should be. It's broken and it hurts and sadly I has planned to spend this week painting and such because the house is slowly but surely nearing a state of temporary completion.

The house still has a long way to go but our carpenter has taken the summer off... so once we get the tiles in and the drywall painted we are stopping till the fall. Actually there is more to do than those 2 jobs but I won't get into it all now. My sad finger and I will do our best to paint and set up the living and dining rooms and then we will take a break.

The worst part of the whole finger thing is no knitting - at least for now as it hurts to much but I can spin in short stints and so I will finally get through all that roving that I got in California. When I get some batteries that work in my camera I will take a picture of the coolest wedding present that I got ( yes it really is only for me). It's a hand woven knitting basket from Shetland made from sea grass, it's amazing and I'm so in love.

One more thing, my fabulous older sister had her birthday yesterday and much to her discontent she's still older than I am. However, even though she is older she is a wonderful sister and frankly I don't think I could have one I loved more if I was allowed to choose one myself ( because you don't to pick your family) ... Happy Birthday C. ( who is sadly blogless, although between work and 2 demanding small people it's not like she has time)

CJ says I haven't updated this recently enough

Things are busy and I must say that since I am not coming into the city as often I am not blogging as regularly. I can blog from home but it is not very enjoyable as dial up is so slow! So know that I am around even if I am quiet.

P and I have been spending all of our free time trying to get the house under control, after 9 months of reno we finally have most things finished but there is still work that will be finished in the fall and I need to find someone to tile the kitchen/bathroom! Trust me this is not an easy task in the summer! Aside from the floors things are coming along. P started his new job this week and has decided took 1/8 of his million books to his new office - Yippee for extra space in the office.

I have been gardening ( dug a new flower bed and planting where the tulips were) and putting together the monster barbecue that we bought. I really like to barbecue and we decided to go big as the sale price was great and it is a really nice way to cook.

I am helping out a few friends over the summer and playing with their munchkins during the day so I really must be off as they expect me soon. Spending a day in the park is always a challenge...

Oh yeah and I am working on my first toe-up sock but I must say that the progress is slow, not to much knitting time at the moment but I have got some spinning done, I have 2 very full bobbins of singles and just need to ply them - I love spinning!

Some of you will laugh and some of you won't...

Those of you out there who have actually lived with me/visited my house know that I'm not by nature ( and/or personal choice) a neat freak. I don't mind mess, chaos and generally can handle living in a pigsty most of the time. I usually clean when I have to because there are people coming over, I am procrastinating, or occasionally because the mess has started to drive me around the bend ( which happens very rarely).

It's Friday, I'm not working today and as much I am "dying" to cast on a toe-up sock ( for the first time) I feel the need to get the mess in this house under control. We have spent the better part of this last year renovating and currently the only room that we can actually use is our bedroom ( and even it has some work going on in it). All of the other rooms of the house are either missing pieces (like ceilings, walls or floors) or are being used for storage for the stuff that was in the rooms that are missing ceilings/walls/floors. So I am going to go and actually do something about the the mess, first I have to dust the vacuum off ( yes I know that is bad sign but the vacuum, like everything else we own is covered in dust from sanding and drywalling) and then I am going to going to commit to a few hours of getting something done so that at the end of the day I cast on that sock ( to take with me tonight to something we said we would go to with some friends...) as a reward for actually cleaning up so that more of a mess can be made next week.

* note to self* when searching the world for an appropriate partner, finding and then marrying someone who cares as little about cleaning as you do can be disastrous when it comes to the home you share...

ok an update in 10 minutes or less

Thanks for all the congrats for the wedding and such, we both really appreciate it.

There is no album yet, I am teaching this week but it will be quiet again after school ends.

I owe some thank you's to Jess and Mardel for the great treats that I got in the mail while I was away and I will take a picture of the wool, pointy kitty and other assorted green treats that i got ( the candy is all gone)

I got some great new wool in Victoria thanks to KIP day. As well as some great shower gifts that included wool and some books including the Harlots new book - I am rather fond of it

I am looking forward to the summer and the party we are planning, the guest list is up to 126 - just a few of our closest friends!

The knitter's are arriving ( for knit nite) and I think that is rude of me to type and ignore them so I shall be off for now but I will be back, hopefully sooner rather than later.

There will be an album soon, maybe this weekend but until let these captionless pics speak for themselves. It was an amazing day and I can't believe that it was a week ago already!

all done

treats

I heard last night that I have treats that came in the mail. Thanks to my colourswap and backtack partners, I havent's seen them but I am sure they are amazing! I am off to make wedding booklets, thanks for all your congratulations and such. I really appreciate it. I'll be back with pictures soon, I promise.

wedding prep steps 1 to 10

Step 1 - invite folks over to paint wine glasses for the wedding

Step 2 - continue painting and taking photos of wee people who do not want to be in the pictures

Step 3 - admire the handiwork of many fine artists

Step 4 - bake the glasses inthe oven and pray that they don't break in the process

step 5 - carefully remove hot glasses from oven and allow to cool

Step 6 - finish the skirts for the flower girls now that the length has been decided

step 7 - admire the finished and blocking wedding shawl (even though it is a bad photo)

step 8 - admire more of my moms sewing, I can't wait to see it on the littlest miss but she is not here till wednesday

step 9 - be amused by the ball of fluff that enjoys chasing his tail

step 10 - go glue some flowers so that I can post the next 10 steps before the wedding on Friday

I think I missed something

Everyone keeps asking me if I am stressed yet or nervous or my feet are cold as the wedding is just around the corner.

I must say that I'm not, I mean there have been a few things that have caused me some stress but nothing major. Nothing life altering that's for sure and as for my feet (as long as I am not downstairs in the reno dust without shoes on) they are nice and warm, really they are. Everything is just about organised, people are coming to the wedding, there will be food and drink, we will all be wearing finely crafted garments ( thanks mom) and I am knitting the picot edging on my shawl. I still have heaps of time before the actual day and I feel as though there is very little to do. There are a few crafty things that need to be done once I get home for the decorations and stuff but really there is not to much left.

I think this is the way it is supposed to be, calm and quiet. It is only one day and as much as I want it all to go swimmingly I know that there are things that are beyond my control ( like weather and small children) and I should just roll along and trust it will all fall into place. That being said the wedding is still 2 weeks away and there have been no major bumps yet and hopefully there won't be. Let's see how calm I am this time next week.

P is leaving for Texas on Saturday, I am leaving for Victoria on Monday the puppies are staying here, my poor girls. I think I will miss them more than they will miss me. I will keep posted on the lack of wedding stress and I promise there will be pictures when the 9th finally rolls around.

Almost there

So I am leaving for Victoria in a little over a week, I think I have most things under control and hopefully everything will go off without a hitch. There have been a few curve balls in the last few weeks like P getting a job ( which is great) but now he has to go to a conference in Texas next week. This means that all the stuff he had planned on getting done in the 3 weeks before the wedding has to be finished before he leaves for Texas next week. But, it will all happen and it is great that at least one of us has a job with a consistent income.

In other news, I finally got my contest results organised, Tara was the first to answer correctly and she gets some lovely peace fleece ( I saw her today but I forgot it at home so she will have to wait a little longer) and Grace ( who may or may not have a blog) name was drawn from among all those who entered, some treats will head her way soon.

I also got my colourswap package mailed out and finished my softie for backtack, I just need to take a picture and get it in the mail.

Dads, dogs, deliveries and dolls

Okay first things first, yesterday was my Dad's birthday. For some reason I was stuck on the fact that the 15 was today, not yesterday so he gets his blog entry today instead. So Happy Birthday Dad - a man who still tolerates... my crazy behaviour, my all hours phone calls ( the one from Korea at 4 am was the best), my requests for favours, picks me up and drops me off at airports and other assorted locations ( even ones half way across the country) and in 3 short weeks is going to listen to rant and rave as I try to get those last minute wedding things finished. he's a great Dad and as you can see in the photo a popular Papa as well

Dogs - sleeping on the bed - there is little room left for anyone else. Chud almost fills up the whole length, she is over 30 inches tall now.

Deliveries ( okay it is my wheel but I needed a pic) Cate sent the last of my wedding shawl wool back with Jo, I am off to pick it up shortly. I will keep you posted about my progress.

Dolls, I got these little beanies on sale and thought my niece would love them but their clothes sucked, so me and the polar fleece have been busy, the goal is to sew as few seams as possible while making it easy for a little person to actually change the clothing

Toronto and back... Again

Yes I did it again, a 28 hour trip to Toronto but as usual it was worth it. On Thursday I drove my friends Dad down ( a long story, he lives there but was here for a conference)
so that we could go to her convocation, she got her masters. It was a great day with great company and good Indian food. Then she had to work on Friday and so while I waited for the school day to end I had to find some way to spend my time. Any guesses as to were I ended up - Yes Queen St. W would be correct, I spent so long at Romni I had to move my car so I wouldn't get a ticket. I got to stroke some fiber, buy some treats for other people and look at all those great pattern books that have come out lately. After Romni and a Vanilla Latte I picked up Joelle and we flew back to Ottawa to go to my wedding shower. I number of my friends got together and had a wine shower for me - we had a blast, I forgot my camera - Tara had one but she is not allowed to post the pictures... we all had a great time. Sadly Joelle had to go back to the big city today and so I dropped her off at the bus and now I am enjoying a Chai latte and catching up on my email and such.
Last weekend P and I had to go to marriage prep class so that we can have a church wedding - don't even get me started about how I felt about being there, I could write for days about the absurdity of the whole situation - REGARDLESS I was there and I decided I would use my time wisely, so I knit. I played around with a few patterns for this wool ( I got it in CA in January) and finally decided to use a pattern I have done a few times, it's a slanted eyelet scarf pattern from Alchemy. I like the way that it looks and it works with lots of weights of wool. I took this picture last Sunday and it is about twice that size now as I worked on it at Joelle's convocation as well.
This the pillow I quilted, I need to sew up the edge but really lack the motivation, it's now quiet as bad as knitting seams but I just can't seem to do that last step. I made up the pattern from a few others that I found online, it is FAR from perfect but I like it.

I have winners fromthe contest but I have to get moving, I will let you kno who you are later this week, I promise!

a few of the many pictures I have to share

The other day Chudder ran away and after chasing her through the front pasture for 20 minutes I caught, she likes to run ( that's putting it mildly) and although I am fairly confident that she would come home the traffic on the Trans Canada Highway might interfere in her plans. Anyway when she came in she was banished to her bed and Tai thought that it would be a great chance to play with some of the toys she never gets at anymore because Chudder takes them away from her.
She had a great time and rolled around for quiet awhile.
And then she put herself to bed because she was exhausted!
I have signed up for a few exchanges this month, as if I didn't hve enough to do. So this is an almost finished softie for backtack - with some of my now blooming bulbs that I planted last fall. I also signed up for this months colourswap and I got someone I already know via cyberspace, Jess. I have her treats but must get them in the mail, I must admit I strayed a little from the green theme but only a little.

This is your last day to get in on the contest, send your answers, it's not to hard!

okay

Okay, the contest question was a little hard but the answer does exist here in the blog. It doesn't matter though because I made it easier, I changed it in the orginal post so scroll on down.

That contest I have been talking about

I taught everyday this week, it's great that I am working but it takes away from my blog time...

Just a short post to tell you that I am having a contest! Hopefully all you quiet lurkers will particpate as well as all those people that I have come to know as friends. I can't believe that I have been blogging for almost 2 years, amazing how time flies.

Please email me the answer to the following question , replace the brackets withthe correct symbols - bagknitter (at) yahoo (dot) ca

**Edited to change question** because I think the last one was to hard!
What country did I live in when I started my blog?

No hints on this one as it is much easier.

There will be 2 prizes, one for the 1st person who responds correctly and second one drawn from the remaining correct answers. Prizes, a envelope full of knititng realted treats and goodies - I am not sure what exactly will be in them but it will be good

Contest closes one week from today on May 7th. Good Luck

Random ramblings

I had said that I would post after Easter and fill you in but to really do that requires pictures and that would have meant getting my camera out of the car this morning and taking them. I didn't, so I can't really fill you in properly but I'll do my best in a no pic kinda way

* The shawl is coming along, I am about 2/3rds of the way through, 5 or so more repeats.

* I am quilting a pillow for my nephew to carry in the wedding, it's got a butterfly on it. It's my first quilting attempt and I think that I am doing a pretty good job. It's basted together and I just need to actually sew and then design some funky quilting for the wings.

* I decided today to add thank you cards to the list of things that I am making myself, they are so much nicer that way.

* I also decided today that things like taxes can wait until after the wedding! They really won't care one way or another when they have to send me my refund, it's not like I owe them money.

* I have gotten a lot of the the little errandy things done like gifts for the bridal party, toys and games to keep the little kids busy during the reception,

* We picked up the rings today, I love them but mine is tooooo small. I am hoping that it is because of the ugly peeling swollen hand (a result of last weeks scalding, don't argue with boiling water, you will lose) that it doesn't fit and once it looks normal again ( my hand) the ring will fit as well. We had them made from rings we already had, we melted them and put them together to make 2 new ones. It was a good way to keep that which is precious to us both and always be able to wear them.

* I found out yesterday that one of my favorite people in the world is coming to the wedding and I must say I am soooooo excited to see her, it has been at least 3 years since we saw one another.

* I have also been spinning some great roving that I got in San Francisco, it needs pictures to do it justice.

* The bulbs that I planted last fall are up, not in the order I thought they would come up but I am not complaining, I think the tulips will bloom before the snowdrops at this rate though. These too need pictures to really see what is happening as does the all the painting that I have been doing in the house. The house is happening, slowly but surely


and last but definitely not least tomorrow is my Mom's birthday and since I am at the cafe now and they have high speed she gets her Happy Birthday a day early



Happy Birthday Mom, a woman who is single handedly outfitting myself and the rest of my wedding party in custom made outfits, who always candy in her purse for a crying kid ( yes my mother gave me candy when I was sad and I turned out just fine!), who puts up with my constant worrying and hasn't disowned me yet, who encourages me to spread my wings and fly even if it means that she won't see me as often because flying takes me far away from home, who is a great woman and great mom. I love you and hope you have an amazing day.

Blogger is about to go down, I gotta go!

I loves me a contest!

Kat is having a contest and I just had to enter!

List 5 places that you have knit other than home or a knitting store.

1. On a 2 day boat trip down the Mekong river in Laos
2. On a 26 (straight) hour bus ride in Vietnam
3. The subway in Seoul, South Korea - I got lots of strange looks here
4. At Cabbages and Condoms in Bangkok and on the night train from Bangkok to Chaing Mai - it's a toss up both are good ones
5. In Rhinebeck NY at the Marriott Hotel with Tara, Cate, Sara and Jo

Edit - I just came back and added in the links, now you can see the pictures of me knitting in some of those places, I don't have one in Seoul or onthe bus but you'll just have to trust me.

Happy Easter

When it rains it pours in my world! I have become super busy with teaching work which is great but takes away from blogging/knitting/wedding prep/painting time and thus I am trying to shove everyiting that needs to get finished into some very busy weekends! It will all get done, it always does. The next week looks calmer, so I'll be back to fill you in on the last 2 weeks some time after Monday.

Aside from being busy I had a fight with a pot of boiling water this week, the pot won and I have a very sore and very burnt right hand which makes typing a little challenging. It's slowly healing and hopefully will be back to normal in the next day or two.

Have a good weekend everyone.

If your squeamish or a vegetarian you might not want to read this one.

Dear Resident wolves and coyotes of Conc. 2A

This is your neighbour, the one from the farm with the vast woods and fields which you seem to love so much. I have a request, a small request really and if you could do your best to try to fulfill it I would really appreciate it. I am aware that there is a cycle to life and that you being carnivorous depend upon other species of animals to provide you with your next meal. I love that you hunt at night and usually do so deep in the woods so that I am not a witness, you are usually very efficient and don't leave a trace of your activities.

Today I encountered a small problem, as I was walking the dogs this afternoon I discovered that you have not been so good at cleaning up after yourselves lately. Could you please refrain from leaving anything in the fields which my dogs may find appealing. Please remove all evidence of your evening activities and deposit them deep in the woods where we never tread and where the dogs can not sniff anything out

I appreciate your consideration in this matter and trust that you will do your best in order that we maintain a peaceful co-existence.

Yours Truly
Ms. J and her dogs

shhhh, don't tell

I should be painting, shuffling junk, umm I mean boxes, vacuming and or cleaning the kitchen. See I have heaps of useful things that I could be doing today. But, I would rather read blogs ( glad to see that everyone is alive and well) and generally waste time. I mean I am wearing my painting clothes, I have paint on my hands and the paint can is open with the brush laying across the top... waiting for me. Do I want to paint the rest of the kitchen, no I don't. I mean it is only primer and I am still going to have to paint it and actual colour at some point. I want to waste my afternoon doing nothing productive in preperation for my evening out, alone. Yes I am alone this weekend. P is in Montreal packing up his mother's house, it's a long story and that I won't go into. Let it be said that Quebec law regardingthe probating of will's is a pain!

So, because P is not here I can sit and play online all day and not have anyone else need the computer, why would I want to continue painting. Life is good and painting can happen anytime but awhole afternoon othe computer, a rare occasion that I believe I should cherish and remember fondly as it may never happen again.

Aside from painting the kitchen life is good. Wedding plans are coming together. P is almost finished school and I have some days as a supply teacher booked over the next few weeks... hopefully it will lead to a job for the fall. I can't imagine how great life would be if both of us managed to have jobs at the same time - then we could pay someone to paint and vacum and I would not feel like I had to so it on Saturday.

My catholic guilt is kicking in, I am off to paint.