I had a nice day

Friday was a really nice day. It started out with a wee sleep-in, then some coffee and newspaper reading. I checked my email and favourite blogs and talked with my cousin on the phone while Wonderful Hubby made me a homemade diner breakfast. With our tummies filled with greasy loveliness, we watched a couple of episodes of Weeds. I checked out some crochet scarf patterns and decided on two more projects. Hubby made plans to see a matinee.

On my way to Knitomatic, I picked up a Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts. I have no idea what sport has to do with these squares of chocolatey bliss, but the makers say that 'if you enjoy an active life you also expect more from chocolate.' Ok (shrug). Well, in my books that is a huge marketing leap because this 2D Girl couldn't hit a baseball or tennis ball to save her life but I love my Dark Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts! (Thanks to Mom & Dad for always encouraging me to try to hit balls and for not teaching me to use the one eyed thing as an excuse.)

(Interesting side note: I loved my Fisher Price View-Master as a kid. I'd click my way through Puss in Boots, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and The Flintstones for hours. I borrowed my older sister's View-Master until my parents bought me my own. They hadn't thought of buying me one initially, thinking I wouldn't get much out of it since I can't see 3D. I loved having my own private slide show. I'd be lost in my own little kid View-Master world for hours. Here's the great part: I learned that View-Master was a 3D toy in my early 20s when I overheard my mom telling a neighbour this exact story! I can't really describe how I felt when this 3D tidbit hit my consciousness. Relieved that I didn't know when I was 8 years old; a little bit embarassed that I was in University and only figuring this out now; aghast that if it hadn't been for my mom telling this story in my presence that I could have gone another 10 or 15 years without knowing. Well, this topic is turning into a whole other blog entry. I shall put it on a list with the 'I want to have a baby urges' topic for future posts.)

At Knitomatic I bought some delicious yarn (Manos del Uruguay and Joy) for my two scarf projects, the latest Crochet Today issue and a crochet hook. H and I shared the Ritter bar and, between customer purchases, passed a couple of hours chatting and crocheting/knitting. I started on the scarf I was intending for Hubby (more on that below). I got all filled up with creative juices in those two hours and I'm still riding the wave.

In the late afternoon I met a friend for coffee in the Annex. We had a nice visit and just before parting we checked out the new version of Trove. Lovely, fun and little beyond my means right now, but it is always nice to spend a few minutes fantasizing. Just that little taste of the store satisfied my craving for stylish purses and boots. It just simply feels good to know that my friend and I have good taste, even if we can't part with our dinero right now.

We also slipped into the recently opened Cobb's Bakery on Bloor. Can't wait to taste something savory and sweet from there.

I met up with Hubby and friend (post-matinee) for dinner on Yonge Street. Hubby and I carried on from there to Massey Hall for the Bruce Cockburn concert. Another direct injection into my creative juices vein. It is an understatement to point out the obvious: Bruce is an artist with his guitar. It was a great concert and I love going out on dates with my guy.

It is now Sunday morning and I am happy to report that the scarf I started at Knitomatic on Friday is already finished, including the fringe! Here is pic:


Here is a good look at the detail:


I am not sure if this is still a scarf for Hubby, since it looks a little femmie, but I am starting another scarf that is less fancy that will likely turn out to be his. I also want to get started on my own scarf and Hubby has requested a king size (!) afghan for our bed. I'm also working on some fast shopping bags in between all these projects. I'm hoping to have enough bags ready for holiday gifts. I think I will need about 10 bags and I'm more than 60% there.

Whew! I am feeling a little manic just writing about it.

Seriously yummy blog

If you like food and lovely writing, check out Oswego Tea.

I am now living vicariously through this gal.

(Check out all the other food blogs she lists.)

AND, she lists a knitting blog! Me like.

My hubby can find anything online

My husband is THE online finder guy. Well, he may not be THE ONLY finder guy I know, but he is MY guy and he finds tons of things for me online. Therefore, I consider him THE finder guy.

Thank you, Hubby, for finding these lovely crochet sites for me and the five readers of my blog:

Crochet Me is a Canadian (!) online crochet magazine. I love that it is Canadian and super hip. Free patterns, tutorial page, a blog, a list of crochet friendly stores (lacking in the Canada category, though) and an editorial page. Lots to read and get excited about. I am keen on getting Kim's first book. It seems like a great basic resource on crochet.

Yarn Tomato has a crisp minimalist look. Check out her blog! That's where all her craftiness shines! Donna is uber creative and the photos of her projects are inspiring. Her patterns are available at her site and she references where they've been published. That's how I found the next link...

Black Purl Magazine captures needlecraft topics with a focus on knitting (as far as I can tell). There is a very cute lady bug bookmark pattern that I may make for a little girl in my life. Check out the article about craft podcasts.

Clarence makes me laugh!

Wonder Showzen - Please Don't Film Me Starring Clarence

Hang in there with this little nugget. I couldn't stop laughing closer to the end!

If you like this, check out the video called 'What are you running from?'.

Unstuffing stuff

I was going to stuff envelopes for Habitat for Humanity on Friday. Their envelopes, it turns out, were fully stuffed, so my shift was cancelled. What to do? What to do?

Well, I did a lot of sorting and purging of our 'stuff'. I've felt a pull to do this for many weeks. It feels like something inside of me is telling me to get ready, prepare our home, pare down our belongings to make room for something new. I don't know what that something new actually is. I like to think that I am simply getting ready for our eventual move when we get around to buying a house (I hope in the next four or five months). But, I have also been experiencing more and more 'MUST HAVE A BABY' feelings (a topic for another blog), so maybe my purging need is related to that. Whatever the reason, I just had to get into some drawers and see what was lurking.

Last week I cleaned out a closet and went through our books. We now have a growing pile of stuff on our dining room table that will eventually be donated to the Diabetes Association. It's an impressive pile.

Yesterday I faced my art supplies & stationary stash, as well as a junk drawer. I had envelopes in three different places, scraps of paper waiting in vain to be collaged into a brilliant expression of my mood, and four partially filled sketch books. I found old pagers, swim googles (Hubby's), keys for unknown locks, luggage tags, string and a Gustav Klimt address book. Six drawers of stuff were sorted into five categories: keep it; give to child who will appreciate it; donate it; recycle; garbage.

I feel like I have satiated the purging need for the time being. I know it is a only matter of a week or two before I get itchy to peak into another dark drawer. The gift wrapping drawer and office supplies are the likely next victims. Then there is the storage unit and other scary things like my filing cabinet.

Hikes & Chips

I had a lovely day. We went for a hike at Spencer Gorge near Dundas. The fall colours were not brilliant, but it was nice to be in nature, especially to be close to water.

This is Webster's Falls.



Beside the water on the Bruce Trail. The sunlight coming through the trees was lovely, the sound of the water so soothing.





Detail of some flowers and leaves right beside the water.






Sporty Me with Hubby's finger pointing out that, without a doubt, it is me.





People of all ages were out with family and friends enjoying themselves. Very close to the falls it was quite crowded. Once we hiked away from the falls, we were alone for lengths of time.

After hiking we found our way to a local country market. We bought a few apples, a delicious apple pie, some corn and some garlic jelly.

A highlight of the day was finding ourselves in a rather seedy area of Hamilton and happening upon a chip truck. I wish I had taken a picture of it. Hubby had a craving and the aroma of deep fried delights wafted into our car as we drove by. We doubled back and ordered a large fries. It was HUGE! An entire meal take-out container filled with yummy, salted fingers of deep fried potatoe heaven! We laughed and laughed at how big the order was. They were delicious!

Crochet report:

I have given up, for now, on crocheting hemp dishcloths. I was uninspired. I'm going to start on baby booties to match the infant sweater I made on my vacation.

My mom found some old crochet and knit pattern booklets of baby sweaters & hats and afghans. I love, love, love the ripple pattern afghan. I recently bought a book of crocheted scarves and it was the ripple scarf that caught my eye immediately. I'm planning on geting the wool for it on Wednesday.

A little more inspired today

My friend sent me a link to this cool retro foodie blog. I like it. There are quite a few references to Jell-O and cake mixes. Now, I don't cook or bake that way, but I dig most things retro and I like the way Jell-O mold desserts and salads look. I sometimes even like the way they taste. I understand, from Hubby, that this is a goy thing.

From retro-food.com I found my way to a reluctant housewife's archived list for shopping. (See my previous post with a tidbit about my list habit). Her blog has a lot of things to peruse. I love these pictures of herbs and flowers at her Farmers' Market - gorgeous!

I like to bake and make other homemade goodies. I make salsa, jams, amaretto cherries, scones, cakes (from scratch), banana bread, granola, tamari almonds and various cookies. I get a little thrill from spreading my homemade joys around. When I bake I always set aside enough to share. Sometimes our neighbour is the happy recipient. The gals at work often luck out on Mondays, after an inspired Sunday afternoon in the kitchen.

Here's a picture from a Farmers' Market in Winnipeg. I wish now I had captured one of the stalls with little bunches of beautiful fall flowers.

me tonight

This is my third attempt at writing something tonight. I'm uninspired. I wrote something about my list making habit. No one is as interested in my lists as I am. I deleted it.

Then I wrote something about feeling out of touch with getting my life organized (sort of a segue from the list habit topic). I don't think anyone would find my disorganized linen cupboard very intriguing. I deleted it.

Me right now: I'm frustrated about my crochet dishcloth project. I'm enjoying my Neustadt 10W30 beer tonight. We first tried it at Rodney's Oyster House last December on my birthday. On Sunday, we are planning to go hiking in Hamilton. I can't wait to see the Fall colours and smell the crisp air.

Anyway, that's me tonight.

Sunday studying

Yesterday I was all doom and gloom about struggling with prepositions and adverbs. This morning, after a nutritious breakfast cooked by my sweetie (he regularly spoils me in the food department when he isn't on a full time gig), I sat down and tackled my study blocks once more.

I am feeling much smarter having scored 90% and 100% on some online quizzes! These weren't easy, either. I went about it methodically and applied all the little rules and problem solvers that I've learned over the past few weeks. If those tricks weren't working for me, I just remained calm and went with my gut.

I told Hubby that all I needed was to sleep on it over night and let things percolate a little. Hubby thinks it's the Sunday morning 'exercise', which happened before the nutritious meal, that got my head cleared and confident. 'Exercise' is good for blood flow and stress reduction, so perhaps my brain was better prepared for concentrating afterward.

A couple more hours of this and I will take a crochet break. I haven't picked it up in three days. I am working on cute/cool shopping bags (pattern by Haley) with Super 10 Cotton in nice fall colours. I want to have enough bags for holiday gifts, since the season is approaching. Watch for pictures soon.

Enough procrastinating! Must study or I will not be able to pick up the crochet.

If you try the quiz, let me know your score.

Ta ta for now.