Funky Heel

I think this heel is called a Forethought Afterthought heel. It is kind of funky and I am not sure if I like it. I wanted the socks to be a little on the short side so I did not knit them very long. The heel seems kind of short and is making the sock look to me about 1/2" shorter than I want it to be.

I really don't want to rip and I can't try the socks on, my feet are way to big for them, so I think I am going just going to follow the pattern and see what happens.




I like that this heel keeps the stripe pattern going, it creates a bulls eye pattern around the heel and I really like the look of it.

Maybe the sock is not small, maybe I just have big hands. Is it me or do your hear the fickle knitting goddess busting a gut right now?



Occasionally (when he remembers), Paul waters the ceder trees in the back yard. When he does he forgets to turn the water off. This results in flooding. Our back lawn is about 6"of top soil laid right onto the clay that the area is known for. So the top soil absorbs what it can and the rest sits on top or runs off down the retaining wall to the driveway.

When this occurs it floods the rock pit that kids play in. Often (when he remembers) Paul will drain the rock pit when this happens. This time he decided to leave it and let the kids play in their 'swimming hole'. They are having a great time.

We are headed out camping this weekend look for a post on Sunday evening.

Mojo Baby, Mojo

I have not posted something knitterly in so long that you may have forgotten that I had misplaced my Knitting Mojo.

I think I have finally found it.

Here are my Solstice Slip socks, I think I finally have the right size and the hang of the pattern. I am to the point now where I actually want to knit them. That may sound funny but the pattern kicked my butt for a couple of repeats, I had thought about ripping the whole thing and picking a different pattern for the yarn. I managed to stick it out and I am happy with the results. I don't think these socks will be done anytime soon, the cable pattern is slow going but I am now enjoying the knit.



I have been having fun with these socks. The sun is a little bright in this picture and the colors appear a bit washed out, they are a little brighter in real life. This pattern is in the back of the Sensational Knitted Socks book. I love it, it is easy to knit after a phone call to mom for advice (not even advice, all she did was read the pattern out loud to me and it made more sense than when I read it myself)

I had started the pattern with Judy in mind, I thought they might make a good Christmas gift for her (I don't think she reads the blog). She loves yellow so I thought she might like the yarn. As it knits up the orange (Shannon, just for you) seems to call out to me more than the yellow and I am not sure if Judy will like them at all. They will be to small for me, but I imagine I can find another taker if I decide they are not Judy's colours.

The little bag it is in was a purchase from Knit Picks, a good price and just the right size for a sock on the go.



I have even done a little spinning. I am trying to spin just a little bit every day, even if it is only 10 minutes. I think it might surprise me how much yarn I can spin up with just 10 minutes a day. I will let you know how it works out.

Isobel Lake

We decided a few weeks ago to take the kids to Isobel Lake on Sunday. We wanted to take Shannon, Will, Taylor and Morgan when they were here, but we just ran out of time.

Isobel Lake is a small Lake that is stocked with trout. Fishing on the lake is restricted to children under the age of 15, handicapped and the elderly. It is only 20K from the West side of the Loops.

The kids had been excited about going to Isobel Lake the entire week prior. They had even been digging in the backyard for worms to fish with. They found a few but we stopped by the bait shop and picked up a few more before we drove out on Sunday.

Sunday dawned and we had three very excited kids and rain! The rain did not dampen the kids excitement so we decided to drive out there anyway.

The Lake was so beautiful.



The water was warm and the air was quite cool so there is lots of steam coming off the water, it made for wonderful atmosphere and good pictures too!



We took a little walk before the kids got their poles in the water. There is a 2 hour hiking trail around the lake that I would love to go back and do sometime. It is an education site so there are makers on the plants and stuff that tell you what kind of tree it is, very cool.



Here are some fun pictures of the kids all bundled up against the wet day:

PJ and Q fished from the shore while Paul and Sebastian rowed out in a little blow up boat that was well over its weight limit with the two of them in it.

They look like they are having a great time, don't they?

After a while PJ got too cold, so she sat in the truck for a bit to warm up while Sebass and Paul fished and Q and I went on a frog hunt. He was thrilled to catch this little frog, which we are sad to report was the only catch of the day.

Don't worry the frog was left in its natural habitat, it did not come home with us. Come to think of it...I did not check Q's pockets when we left.

Long Time No See

Whew! I have been totally overwhelmed over the past week or two. When we got back from Alberta I was feeling pretty tired. I had not been sleeping well for a while and the trip was fun but really made me feel pooped out.

We brought George and Judy home with us from Alberta and Jodie, Paul's sister was here waiting for us when we got home. (Did I tell you this already?) I stressed myself out trying to be a good hostess, I had some bad news about a friend of mine that has been hospitalized, I felt really pushed by family and was over tired to top it all off.

Here are some pretty clouds we saw one evening while George, Judy and Jodie were here for their visit:



One evening Paul and George went out to use the hot tub and George almost stepped on something. Paul flipped on the lights and this little toad was there! I have never seen any toads up where we are. It is very dry in the Loops, I would think the toad would be hanging out on the golf course where there is more water. I think it lives under our deck.



Once the house emptied out I spent a couple of days getting the kids rooms cleaned out and the house in order. I had the best intentions of blogging in the evenings but I was so done in I would fall asleep as soon as the kids did.

I am feeling rested now, there is still a lot going on, but I feel more capable of handling what life offers up now that I have had a few good nights sleep.

Last Saturday we had a wonderful homemade Chinese food dinner at Rump Roast's and T-Bone's house (barking cows). Let me tell you Rump Roast can cook! The food was wonderful and the company relaxing, it was just what I needed.

When we were invited to dinner (Ground Beef and Lean Beef went too) we were not told the whole story. We learned after dinner that it is their tradition to play Charades after Chinese food. I have never played before and was nervous to play! It was really loads of fun once we started to get the hang of it.

I took this picture of Paul while we were horsing around, I like it, it makes me laugh.



Paul took this one of me, you know the camera is a good one if it can take a picture of me that I like.



The kids made a banana cream pie for desert tonight. Here are Q and Seabass putting on the finishing touches.



PJ is grown up that she has been styling her own hair in the mornings. She is quite happy with the way it came it out today.

Alberta

We are enjoying our trip so far. The drive here was pretty good, we left Thursday night and drove for about 5 hours. We tried to get a hotel room in Valemount on the edge of British Columbia there were no hotel rooms available there, every thing was sold out.

We were pretty tired at this point but we had no choice and so we drove another hour to Jasper, Alberta. We drove into Jasper and all we saw was no vacancy signs, Paul was ready to get back on the highway and keep going. I suggested we go just a bit further down the main street and wee if we could find a room. There was one hotel without the "No" light on, I ran in and they had one room left. By this time it was 1:00 a.m. our time and 2:00 Alberta time.

I grabbed the room and ran back to the van. "Paul!!! they have one room left!" Paul said, "How many beds?" me: "I didn't ask!" We all slept in one room with a queen sized bed and we were happy to have it.

After living in Kamloops, where you are surrounded by mountains, Alberta sure has big sky, so here are some big sky pictures for you:



I am so proud of Paul who said, "That's a hella big sky."

We are having great time. The wedding was beautiful the reception was fun.

Phil and Leanna are spoiling us with wonderful meals, good company and a cozy bed. I will post more later.

Camera Fun

I have been running around all afternoon trying to get everyone ready to go. I am just about feeling caught up, but not quite. I love the part of the trip where you pull out of the driveway and you wonder if you packed everything. I figure if I forget something there are stores in Alberta.

Here are some pictures for you, I have been playing a little bit with the camera.



I love this picture of PJ, it makes me grin with her!

The pictures of the kids were taken last night, they were playing in the water in the evening and that is when I took them.

This one is taken looking out the front window one evening.

This one was taken in Norm and Helen's yard, they were out of town and went over and took some pictures.

PMS

We have had a busy summer, lots of wonderful company, lots of camping and lots of fun stuff.

I am having a great time and I am pooped out. I am feeling a little stressed today, PMS is not helping.

I have to get the kids and I packed to drive to Grande Praire and stay there a few days for a wedding. We get to visit with the Linfields while we are there, Yeah! We will in fact be staying with them. (Leanna should be the one stressed! LOL)

I can't even string a thought together here, bear with me. I have to pack up the kids and myself. We are bringing George and Judy back with us so I feel extra pressure to have the house clean before we go.

I have to leave an empty fridge when we go, so nothing goes bad and then when we get home late Tuesday night I have to figure out how to feed 7 people a nutritional meal. I will need to get groceries immediately upon returning home and then deal with getting the kids unpacked and settled in. Have I mentioned that I have PMS and I feel overwhelmed? I will get over it.

Paul ate all my PMS chocolate, this I will probably never get over.