Whoa, Yule flew by and it's almost the New Year. I'm still knitting the last of the Yule presents :) I would have been done in time except I punched a hole in my finger with the 2mm steel knitting needle. Not a huge injury but knitting was painful. Should be done them this weekend.

I don't like to make New Year's Resolutions. I figure that if you want to make changes in your life, you should just do it. That being said, now that the Holidays are almost over I figure it's time to get off my arse and go back to the gym. I know the gyms are blocked this time of the year. I might actually start going swimming for a change until the end of January.

Do you have any plans for the new year?

I swear that today is the coldest I've felt all year. You know when you get a chill and it's right down in your bones? That's how I feel. I'm actually too cold to even knit that much. I think going to the garden and digging up the last of the carrots may have induced this chill. I'm glad we went and got them though. I have a pork roast I'm planning on cooking up this weekend and those carrots will go quite well with it I think.

Still knitting away of Yule presents(when my hands aren't have numb from the cold,lol) but only have 2 left to finish. One is for my Mom and one for my GF. I knit my Mom's when GF and I are watching TV etc. and if my Mom comes to visit and GF is @ work, I knit on GF's pressie. So it's slow going anyways bc I'm always having to hide the projects.

I can't believe I went over a month without posting. eeep . OK, so what's going on ?

Winter has haphazardly arrived here in NL. We had a snowstorm that caused numerous accidents bc people seem to forget this is NL and every year this thing called winter happens. I even saw an accident where someone rear ended a salt truck. If it hadn't been dangerous, I would have gotten out of the car and took a picture. Almost all the snow is gone again, thank glod for that.

Still knitting away @ Yule presents. I've even been knitting something for someone I don't like and it shows. I just had to rip it back about 10 rows. I know it seems a waste to knit for someone I don't like but this person is the partner of a dear friend. It will make my friend feel good that I included his BF in our holiday celebrations.

I'm still sawing away on my fiddle almost everyday. I still sound like I'm killing a cat some days but it's coming along. I might take some lessons in the new year even.

Here's one of the songs I'm learning from a band called the Show Ponies. I can't say I play this well yet but I do love this song. Enjoy.

The wedding this weekend was verra sweet. A long time couple decided to get married after 14 years together. It was sweet and I was a little teary eyed. Their daughter was their flower girl, so cute. It was a great evening. I didn't take one pic. I didn't have any pockets and I didn't finish my little bag so I couldn't carry my iPhone , so no pix. I was too busy talking to everyone anyways,lol

I am NOT complaining but swear the weather this Fall has been better than Summer 2011. I still have roses blooming in my yard and I had to open the window in my bedroom last night as I was too warm under my duvet. I still have carrots in the ground and tomatoes and cucumbers growing in the greenhouse. It's awesome.

So, today the weather is soo miserable. It's cold and windy and raining full out. I'm having a cuppa and a couple of lemon creams on my work break. I'm working on a little bag to carry some essentials (fone,house key) to a wedding this weekend. Wish it wasn't so grey out, makes it hard to see the stitches.

http://youtu.be/1gX1EP6mG-E

I can't get enough of twangy Bluegrass music, especially Old Crow Medicine Show. So much so that I am trying to relearn how to play my old violin, Bluegrass style. I only ever played Classicial. Not that I'm knocking that. Playing music in High School was probably the only reason I graduated. I'm really looking now to play music that is closer to people, to people sitting around and playing just for the joy in it. Right now I sound more like a tortured cat but with baby steps, I might just get there,lol. I'm using this book http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/item/1883206480-item.html?s_campaign=Google_BookSearch_organic .It really is a great book.

I can't believe that this is almost the end of October. My plants, including my pumpkin plants , are still blooming. It's amazing. I'm really glad that the weather has been so nice so far. I'm really not looking forward to this winter. I'm still having issues with pain in my leg and hip and can't imgine what it will be like getting around in the snow/ice of a St. John's winter.

Thanks

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with my GF yesterday. It was just the 2 of us as my Fam was out of town and her FAM live in ON. It was nice though. She had to do 99% of getting it ready as I was working all day. I was soooo hungry by the time I finished work as I could smell the turkey cooking all afternoon.

So, yesterday being Thanksgiving and all,  I was really thinking about being thankful. What that means and how important it is. For me, I am thankful I have such a wonderful partner in life. So many people I know spend a lot of time fighting and being unhappy with their partners. I'm so thankful we take the time to try to be the most supportive that we can be to each other. No one is perfect. It's not always unicorns and flowers but I love my partner and she loves me and that's grand sure.

I'm thankful that both our families are supportive of us. Being LGBT sometimes means having to chose between living your life truthfully or having a relationship with your family.Thankfully, both our families are just fine with it all :)

I'm thankful of living in a country where I don't have to worry about being murdered or jailed just bc of who I love.

I'm thankful for having some really good people in my life, friends who don't care how crazy I can be ;) Friends who I can debate with and friends who always have an extra stitchmarker when needed.

I'm thankful for living in a country with good healthcare. I had some health issues this summer and had weekly doctor's appointments and several x-rays. Can't imagine what kind of state I would be in if we didn;t have free healthcare. I'm REALLy thankful that my injury to my hip/leg is finally healing. I felt so hopeless all summer and I finally feel there is a light @ the end of the tunnel!!!

What are you  thankful for this year?

back to work

So, I'm finally back to work. Sucks though. Still in a lot of pain so it's quite uncomfortable. Can't really do much. Late summer and fall has always a time to do alot of canning and foraging. No go this year. I can't even bend over to tie up my own shows, FFS! Grrrr. I haven't even been knitting that much bc it's hard to knit when you are horizontal on the couch with a pillow between ur knees.

I am going to attempt to pickle some beets this weekend. I just decided.We grew some nice beets this year and I want to be able to use them.They are easy to do and I know that Tammy will help me. She's been so good to me since I hurt my hip. She's best kind, my GF.

So, haven't blogged in almost a month. I feel like this summer has passed me by. It was one of the nicest summers in a long time, weatherwise, that I can remember. I missed most of it. I injuried my back/hip in July and have spent the last month hobbling around. Used crutches for the 1st time even. Didn't even knit. Anyone who knows me, knows I usually knit just about every single day of my life. I just couldn't do it, I couldn't stay vertical long enough.

I really need to take a new pic of the garden. Everything is growing like crazy. Picked zuchs and cukes yesterday and ate the 1st ripe tomato! I'm hoping I get enough cucumbers to make a bunch of dill pickles. I've pickled beets and other veggies but never made dill pickles before. Can't wait.

The gooseberries in the backyard are ready to pick and so are the handful of currants on the singular currant bush. Blueberries are in season but there is no way I will be able to go blueberry picking this year. I've injuried my hip recently and really can't doing anything that requires me to bend over. Sad really, the best summer in NL in years and I am laid up,grrrrr.

So, I haven't been posting much. Right now, any extra time or energy I have is going into our plot @ the community garden. This summer the weather has been great and the garden is showing the results. Our own sore point ( besides weeds of course) is that one of our beds has club root,grrrr. So all the broccoli and kale and maybe even the cabbage are most likely not going to make it :(

I've also been doing so light knitting. The Ravelympics start this week so then it will be nose to the grindstone for the next 10 days or so. Wish me luck.

I love working @ home but right now it is really,really hard. I can hear the trees in the warm breeze  coming in my window. I can see the sunny sky. I can smell the neighbours starting the weekend early with BBQ and Weed. I want to turn off my phone and go play in the sunlight.

One thing that I love to do is canning. I love having pickled beets @ Christmas dinner that I made. Hopefuly this year, my beets and cucumbers  will grow well and I will be able to eat them all year round. I found this great resource on-line today on the website Root Cellars Rock . It is a PDF of a canning workshop. The supplies for canning most fruits and pickles are not verra expensive and once you have them, they will last for years and years.

I've been spinning away for the Tour de Fleece this month. To tell you the truth, I have not been having great sucess with it. I'm doing well with the spindle:

 but am having issues spinning with my spinning wheel. I'm not sure why. I had always been pretty good with my wheel but had not  used it in awhile and seem to have lost my touch,lol.

So to self soothe, I have have signed up for a Stephen West Knit-a-long! I did one last summer and really liked the end product. It is supposed to be knit in fingering weight but I think I am going to bump it up to a light worsted weight instead. I like a larger size shawl.

This morning, I was amazed and overjoyed to see how many bees were in my garden.

In the community garden , it's nothing but weeds,weeds,weeds. Spent an hour this morning weeding just 1 row. One row @ a time. I figure no one needs to see pix of that,lol.

Homestead Revival: Sizzling Summer Round Up: Timber Press!

Homestead Revival: Sizzling Summer Round Up: Timber Press!: Today, Timber Press is kindly hosting our Sizzling Summer Round Up give-away! Perhaps you're familiar with some of their earlier tit...

I'm not sure if anyone reads this blog but I thought I would post this link to the 59 cent campaign. Seems like a brillant idea. Just hope Harper doesn't keep my 59 cents for himself.

http://youtu.be/TQiSe00HOec

So today I had a full day before my day really started. I had to start work @ 10.30am but had a number of things to complete before then. The main thing was that I had to go to the St. John's Farmers' Market pick up my plant order from The Organic Farm. I just purchased some Tomato and Pepper plants. They have some great varieties I also had to go water my spot in the McMorran Community Garden and put my new tender seedlings in the greenhouse.

I also drove my GF to work so that I could have the car to run my errands. I think I was not quite on the ball when I left the house . I was chatting to a friend @ the Market and she asked me if I was trying to start a fashion trend. She told me to look down.

Yup, fashion trend indeed.

It may not look it but things are progressing nicely here in the community garden. Everything that needs to be planted, is planted. Things are sprouting and growing  including the weeds lol. Really the only things left are the Zucs and Pumpkins. Right now they are hanging out in the green house waiting to be planted out. Last year I lost my Zuc's and Pumpkins July 3rd to cold weather. So I'm going to wait another week and plant 2 plants of each outside keeping 2 of each aside in the greenhouse just in case. If the weather holds out and they don't die, then I'll plant out the others.

potato
onion
carrot
parsnip
kale
cabbage
broccoli
beet
turnip greens
lettuce
garlic
tomato(greenhouse)
strawberries
peppers(greenhouse)
Cucumber(greenhouse)

That's it so far. I do also have some rescued Rhubarb that seems to be struggling along. Someone ripped it out of their garden last year and threw it on the compost pile. So I rescued some plants for my garden. Since they really were ripped out, the roots were damaged. So if this year it just struggles along, that;s ok. I won't pick any of the stalks. I'll let it build itself up.

Sock mastery is coming along as well. I've started on another pair. I have finally gotten the toe up cast on mastered!!! Poor Amy from my knitting group must have shown me about 50x the other day. Turns out I was doing it backwards and that's what was messing me up.

Wow, the weather is so changing here. I know that the phrase of " Don't like the weather? Wait 15 minutes." is common here but yesterday was in the high 20's. This morning I was @ the garden, the sun was shining and it was HOT. I watered the bejebus out of the seedlings afraid they would die in the sun. Right now, 3 hours later, it's freeezing and overcast. I'm hoping they don't just keel over from the cold!!!!!

So far in the garden, I have carrot,onions,beets,peas,potatoes,parsnips and, thanks to my fellow community gardener in the next  plot, red cabbages. Tomorrow the kale, turnip greens,lettuce and broccoli will go in. This weekend, I hope to get the tomatoes and cucumbers planted in the green house. I'm so cautious about planting. I'm going to grow pumpkins and zucchini but I'm too afraid to put them out yet. Last year I lost the pumkin and zucchini plants to cold weather on the 3rd of July!! I'm just going to keep them in the greenhouse for another week or 2 and then listen to the local weather report everyday until the beginning of July. I've got some old sheets ready to cover them with if necessary.

PS:  5 minutes has passed since I started this post and now the clouds have blown away and it's sunny again. ARG! I love it here but this weather drives me around the bend!!!!

where has summer gone!

May was sooo promising. Warm weather, sunny days. Now!!!!!!!!! R D F. The only good thing about it is that I don`t have to water the garden everyday. I really wish that the Sun would come back! I don`t mind watering that much.

Good Glod! Almost 2 weeks without posting. It's been a couple of busy weeks, that's for sure. I still working away @ knitting socks. It's a little slow going but I am working on my 3rd pair this month :) Hoping to have them done by this weekend so I can start a pair with the wool I just got from Knit Picks.


I've also been plugging away @ our community garden plot. Tammy tilled it last Wednesday. It's the 1st time either one of us used a tiller. It was a little scary I have to say. Every now and then it would sorta take off on you. Hilarious. We started setting up the rows. This was the 1st one. More has been done but I haven't taken a pic yet.There's garlic and rhubarb down there on the left hand side far corner and on the right is our water barrel and our potato condo. Both empty for now. We'll be planting potatoes and filling up the barrel this weekend .

Whoa.....long time between posts. Still here, still knitting. I'm on a sock kick right now. Just ordered a pair of Blundstones. I bought a pair for Tammy for Yule and did so much research and heard such good things, I had to get a pair for myself,lol so I'm knitting socks to wear in my blunnies. All my store bought socks are low cut so I need some slightly higher ones. Weather here is nice. Some RDF but lots of nice sunny days too. Hope we have a great warm summer this year, I gots plans. Swimming in real water plans. Outdoor adventure plans. Geo-caching plans. We'll see how it goes.

Ok, the week of haiku was kinda a fail. I made up many haikus while falling asleep but had forgotten them by the morning. I am going to try to do a haiku bomb tomorrow to make up for it all. Well in fact it won't be tomorrow bc it is after midnight but you know what I mean. :)

Alrighty, it's the morning. Haiku Bomb it is.

winds howling outside
warm woolen comfort inside
want warmth outside too

waters a running
trickling dripping down the rock
spring is in full swing

needles click-clacking
making warmth from woolen fleece
adding love to work

crows caw neath window
murders outside looking black
shining feathers gleem

On the Knitting front, I've been wrapping up all kinds of projects. Working in ends,darning,fixing . I'm planning on making some socks. Several pairs I hope. Wanted to get all the little things out of the way 1st. I also knit some booties and a hat for a friend who just had a baby. They're verra cute. I'll post a pic after I have given them to her.

Seagull circling Angel like on pure white wings Distance belies truth Day 3 haiku, just squeezing in before midnight :)

Ok, day 2 haiku. Needles click softly Baby booties made with care Keep little feet warm Ok, a stretch I know. I figure that the process is what matters. I'm also going back to the gym this week. After all winter and my stay @ home job , I need to shake off the cobwebs. Wish me luck.

So, I decided that all this week I would try a haiku a day. Talking all day long Wishing for silences gone When will quiet reign? I know, it's crappy but working in a call centre DOES make quiet a precious commodity. Maybe tomorrows will be better,lol.

I really REALLY need to get a camera. My crocus have finally come up and bloomed. I wanted to post a pic and realized that I only have my crappy point and click. Our good camera died last year, ruined by a thunderstorm while we were out geocaching. On the knitting front, I finished Tammy's sweater. Just need to block it. I'm working on some toe up socks. They're only about the 5th or 6th pair I've ever made. I've always had a mental block about them. I'm determined to finish these this week and start another pair. I want to knit myself a few pairs before I start on a new sweater.

so last night I was working on the neck of tammy's sweater. you know, THE sweater. The sweater is all knit and assembled except for the neck. I have 2 rows left and then just the bind off. I left it on the coffee table. One of the cats knocked it off the coffee table and then threw up on it.......... this sweater is going to get finished ..........if it kills me.............which it might.

So, tomorrow is the opening exhibit for Operation Homespun:The Next Generation.

 Operation Homespun was a book that was complied in the 70's. It was complied because the authors of the book were afraid that with modern times, no one would want to knit with wool. Or even know how to. That these traditional patterns and charts would be lost to time. Miss Anna Templeton was a great advocate of keeping Newfoundland traditions alive, especially our crafting heritage. She was instrumental in the production of this book.

 The book was re-released  2 years ago. Never was I more excited about the release of a knitting book. I remember going to the NL book section @ the MUN Library and painstakingly photocopying every single page. Now, I do not advocate photocopying books/patterns. I will only copy a pattern to use as a carrying copy so I don't have to lug a book around. This book was not available anywhere. No one I knew had a copy. I searched high and low, could not find it. I had my name down @ all the used bookstores that if a copy ever came in it was mine. So of course the minute it became available again, I had to have a copy. I hope this book never goes out of print again.

Here's a pic of a pair of trigger mitts in progress that I made for my friend James with the (at the time) newly released Operation Homespun Book.

Today I was reading a blog I frequent, I'm Mad and I Eat and saw that her tag line is "Santorum doesn't know he's the Antichrist". I nearly spit my latte over the screen. It's true that I am in Canada so American politics doesn't usually impact me directly. Some aspects of foreign policy may filter down to my day to day level but in general it doesn't. BUT. I can't help but worry about Rick Santorum. He scares me. It's not even his extreme right wing aka social conservative politics. It's just he really seems oblivious to it all. He REALLY doesn't know he's the Antichrist.

This was our weather for the last 2 days. A beautiful sheath of ice over everything. Made for some slippery walking conditions and driving down the road when a huge piece of ice comes adrift from power lines was quite scary. Still, all in all it wasn't a bad Sheilah's Brush. Hopefully spring will be here soon.

I am so not a morning person. Everyone who knows me, knows this. That being said I work morning shifts @my job so that I can get it done as early as possible. Now that the clock has "sprung" forward and the days are getting longer, I'm actually enjoying getting up in the morning. I've even been going to the gym in the mornings before work. It's been awhile but I am determined to go. Having a desk job makes it easy to turn into Jabba the Hut. So I'm gyming it up. Wish me luck ;)

Thank Glod the super freezing cold temps are over for now. The sun is shining and it's +6 outside. WOOT! I know spring isn't really here and in fact , Sheila's Brush is exactly 2 weeks away from today. I can't help hoping that for this year, all the major snow and cold weather is almost done. I can already see the little tops of my crocus bulbs shooting up some little green bits but I think they are rushing it a bit.

Did you LOVE the film Up? Well I did and I found this awesome photo series. National Geographic decided to recreate the house from Up flying away on a bouquet of balloons. Isn't it amazing? Go check out the website. That ain't no toy sized house!!

Bord av gamla golvplankor

I really,REALLY love this table. Makes me want to run out to a lumberyard and pick up some wood,lol.

Lately, I am completely obsessed with decorating blogs. I really liked the images on this one today. Clean lines, neutral colours and verra little clutter. So different from my home right now but I'm feeling the urge to make changes. Maybe it is Spring, even though it is so cold here Spring feels a long ways away.



I know it is only February but I feel like Spring is on the way, WOOT! The days are noticably longer, the cats are shedding and the crocus were starting to sprout(until they got buried by snow again). I cannot wait.

On the knitting front, I am almost done my GF's sweater. I know,I know - I should have been done long ago. I blame it on angry birds and dwelling gawker,lol. I'm about 1/2 way up the sleeves. I knit some alreadt today and if work stays it Sunday slow pace, I'll definitely get some more done today. I'll post a pic when I am done.

http://disqus.com/forums/fromscandinaviawithlove/httpfromscandinaviawithlovetumblrcompost15295383243/trackback/

I'm really into design sites right now. I love this site, From Scandinavia With Love and DwellingGawker. I want/need to change up our bedroom and am getting all kinds of inspiration from these 2 sites. Dwelling Gawker is like the most incredible mix of ideas from all over the world. It is design PORN.  Very nice to look @ but most things shown are unrealistic for my apartment. I love From Scandinavia With Love bc it is more realistic. Some rooms are just styled rooms but others are actual homes. I get inspired by both.

I think that next weekend when I am off I'm going to do a little purging. Baby steps. I did get rid of some things already but I have a definite sock addiction :) I need to get down to half in the amount of clothes and accessories I have.
On the last but not least Yule present of a sweater for my GF I have the front and back done. Have to ball up some more yarn tonight after work. Then it will be the sleeves which should not take too long. I'm hoping it will be done by Friday. WOOT. Hope she likes it!

It was my birthday this past Saturday. Had a lovely time. Had some friends over and my GF made me a Red Velvet cake. It is such an awesome cake but it only gets made on my birthday. It is so rich, with all the buttermilk, whipping cream and mascarpone cheese. It's such a treat but a lot of work. Tammy is an excellent baker so it always comes out so well.

On the knitting front, I have completed all the leftover Yule presents EXCEPT Tammy's Sweater. I am making progress on it though. I have finished the front and am 1/2 thru the back. Then the sleeves and the dreaded sew up and it will be done. I'm hoping to have it done by next week. I want to make myself a new sweater too. I have a sweater I was given a couple of years ago. It is really big,even too big for me (imagine) so I think I am going to frog it and introduce it to an indigo dye bath. Then make a sweater for me! WOOT!

So today I was looking out my LR window and spotted a cat climbing up the post of my bird feeder!!! I couldn't believe it. I wish I had taken a pic. The cat was black and white,just like Sylvester. When I banged on the window the cat got such a fright but didn't jump down. I had to open the window before they got down. So brazen. On the knitting front, I'm still plugging away on Yule presents. Oh well, I guess they'll get done eventually.

Just realized I had not blogged since last year :)

I'm still working on the sweater, hoping it will be done by the end of January. I got an iPad for Yule and am completely addicted. I have read 6 books since December 25th and I bought 2 more today,lol. It definitely is having an impact on my knitting time.

A Good Yarn, my fav LYS is having a year long Knit A Long. The premise is that each month you knit a project that is suitable for gifting. This way you will not be up knitting @ 3am on December 23rd trying to finish a present for the 25th. Not that I have EVER done something like that ;) I'm hoping to join in and KAL as well.