Knitting In The North

Book, Please?

With all the cunning of a youngest child, Liam has started stalking me, lying in wait in places he thinks I'm going to be.  He patiently watches, holding a book, for me to walk in and hear him say,"Book, please?"

 

I can be in the kitchen, and turn around to see him sitting on my little stool, or tucked in the corner of my favourite living room chair, or even once, sitting on the stairs to the laundry room.  This day, I was rushing around getting dressed for work, so he waited in my bed for me to come back in.  (Thankfully, Stuart was home to jump in and fill the gap for me.)  It's amazing to me, how the same books can be so wonderful, over and over.  Here's a list of some of the favourites:

 

• Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do you Hear? by Eric Carle
• Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
• Miss Mouse find Numbers (an old board book, much loved by Katie, then Brian, then Gwenyth, and now Liam - I love that!)
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• A set of board books by The Wiggles (I think these are a favourite because of their size - about 2 1/2" square, they fit in a little guy's hand juuuust right.)

 

What's a title you just can't live without?

 

Wee Toes

I was blessed and thrilled this week to meet my lastest nephew - he arrived Wednesday morning, and is incredibly beautiful and wonderful and amazing...

Sigh - almost makes me want another one.  Welcome, sweet boy - I can't wait to get to know you!

 

 

Repurposing

What - take a break from a brand spanking new project for the lack of one measly stitch marker?  I don't think so!  That's what repurposing is all about, right?  (I'll admit, this may not have been the purpose in Stuart's mind when he gave it to me, but it works!)

 

This is the beginning of the Montague Bulky Lace Vest, from New England Knits.  I'm feeling the need to accomplish something, and hoping this project will do the trick!

 

 

Putting It Off

I've been putting off writing a post, because there was just so much to say, I didn't know where to start.  And life has been a whirl of activity since we came home, so ordered thoughts have been somewhat few & far between.  I decided to give you a quick run-down of the whole adventure, and then pick up where I am today.  I will likely pop back to the trip a time or two, to share about some adventures, but the when will just have to be a surprise.

 

 

• The girls, Liam & I flew to Winnipeg on our own, to hang with my mom for a few days.  It was a really nice time, although the day of traveling was long.  I don't enjoy flying very much, and the descending was hard on both Gwenyth's & Liam's ears.  Soooo good to see my mom waiting for us at the airport, though!

 

• Stuart collected Brian from summer camp, and the two of them headed east together.  They stayed a night with Stu's sister, and another on the road, before arriving in Winnipeg safe & sound.

 

• My aunt's funeral went well.  The service was lovely, although naturally sad.  All but one of my mom's siblings made it, which meant I had 9 aunts & uncles, as well as various cousins, second-cousins and in-laws to catch up with. 

 

• My cousin, who has been teaching English in Japan for the last several years, came into town the next day, so we were able to visit with him as well.  He hadn't met Stuart or the kids, so it was really great.

 

• We drove two days to Stuart's parent's place on St. Joseph Island, camping along the way.

 

• We were surprised to see Stuart's sister (the one he had visited on they way to Winnipeg), had decided to come out, too, turning the time into an impromtu family reunion.  From what I heard, it was the first time in about 15 years that all three of the kids had been together with their parents.  My father-in-law seemed to be doing better than I had imagined, which was a relief.

 

• I had a chance to mow the lawn with the riding lawn mower at both parent's houses, prompting Brian to say, "Oh, no - is Mom trying to be a farmer again?!?".

 

• Lots of fun ensued in Ontario - we visited an alpaca farm, I took my first (but hopefully not last) yoga class, us girls lunched at a fabulous tea room.

 

• We headed west to Winnipeg again, arriving in time for Gwenyth's 5th birthday.

 

• My mom threw a great bash for her, complete with strawberry cake.  Yum.

 

• After a bit more visiting, we drove to Saskatchewan, where I had the chance to meet one of my "imaginary friends", as the kids call my blogger buddies.  Judy was a gracious host, allowed the entire brood into her beautiful home, fed the lot of us, and even sweet-talked Stuart & her hubby into taking the kids to the park so we could rummage her stash.  I left with a happy heart, wonderful memories, and a bag of Sa-Weeet! yarn.

 

• Once Stuart dragged me from Judy's, we headed on to Drumheller, Alberta, home of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, full of dinosaurs of every possible ilk.  We spent a couple of days there, and then headed for home, stopping, of course, at Ikea on the way.

 

• It was wonderful to arrive at home safe & sound, and we had a very sucessful trip (although I may not be inclined to drive 9200+ km with 4 children again anytime soon...

 

Phew - did you read all of that?  Yikes, even in summary the journey is turning into an epic.  Now that I've bit the bullet and jotted it down, I feel less guilty, and think I just might be able to start blogging again!