Frost Bite Warning

I wake up in the morning to radio most of the time. My alarm seems to time itself with the weather report. Which is fine by me, I seem to have some strange fascination with the weather. I always want to know what the temperature is and what it is going to be tomorrow. I even check the weather reports for the Bay Area and Los Vegas. (Lately Mexico as well.)

This morning before my eyes even opened I heard "There is a frost bite warning in effect for the region." I have never heard that before. We are -24C this morning with a wind chill putting us at -33C. I think it might be time to start that second thrummed mitten, the hands get pretty cold at -33C.



We have the basement suite almost ready to go. We spent a good part of the weekend wrapping that up. I did what I could to help Paul out. But some of the work he needed to do himself.

He put a water hammer on the sprinkler pipe that travels in the space below our kitchen and above the bedroom of the suite. We have a whole lot of water pressure and the pipes bang when ever the sprinklers come on in the summer time. The water hammer is going to help with this little problem.

When Paul cut the sprinkler pipe we ended up with a leak on the opposite end he cut. We both had a look up there and we could not find where it was coming for the life of us. Paul was pretty stressed about finding it before damage could occur and before we go out of town.



With is so very cold the air is very dry. Your eyes and hands are constantly dry and you need to drink tons of water. The water freezes out of the air and static electricity becomes a problem as well. We have a humidifier that I started up a few days ago when it got so cold. I put it in the kitchen so it would be over the tile floor instead of the laminate in case it leaked.

As it turns out I put the humidifier in the kitchen the same day that Paul cut the sprinkler pipe. Paul said something to me Saturday afternoon about having to fill the water tanks for the humidifier everyday. (I still did not clue in)

He was getting reading to rip out the dishwasher to find the leak into the basement suite. He went downstairs and did some measuring in the suite and then headed upstairs to measure where the leak was; imagine our relief when he measured away and landed right on top of that humidifier. We have never been so happy to spend a $100 new humidifier in our lives. It was leaking up against the wall and dripping down the baseboard and right into the suite.



Now we are dry and the carpets of the suite get cleaned today and the new renters should be able to move in Wednesday. We are going to let them move in a few days early so they are settled in before we leave for Las Vegas on Saturday.

Keep warm, it sounds like it is cold in California too.

Vegetable

That is what I feel like right now.

I had one of those days where you feel like you talk all day long and no one hears a word you said. One of those days where I made Q's bed 3 times; his is the only one I make (besides my own) it is a pain to make and has trouble with it. I walked into his room for 4th time and saw the mess and told everyone I was done.

One of those days where you ask a little girl to put her coat on because it is minus -15C and she tells you that you are being rude. She already knows she needs to wear it and mommy is being bossy. Surprisingly she lived through that little moment. (I did walk out the front door and pull the van out of the driveway to take everyone to school and leave her at home. I came back to get her when she got over herself)

One of those days where the renters in the basement suite move out and you have a look around and realize they did a hell of a job on the walls and you need a bucket of Polyfill and a few gallons of paint before the carpet cleaner comes on Monday morning.

One of those days where my loving husband stops on the way home from work to buy the paint and gets stuck in the line from hell at Home Depot and arrives home over an hour late.

You know what the weird thing is? I had a good day. I took it all in stride. The kids and I also did a lot of playing in the empty suite, all that space begged to be run around in. We had our first piano lessons today. We got some great birthday cards from Grandpa Dave and Corinne. We had really good ribs for dinner and again the kids and I spent some time just talking at the dinner table and enjoying one and another.

So even after that crazy day I feel pretty good. Just a bit overcooked. I think it is time to make myself a martini and knit for a little while. Maybe a hot tub and a good long nap. Then we can do it all again tomorrow.

The Scoop on Sally

I am saving all my notes and swatches and may bring them along when we all meet up for our cruise. I am not sure yet. Everything she taught us in her class is in her books. I don't think I would have found all the tips and tricks on my own thought.

The second day of class she started by telling a story about a student in one of her classes that told her this class should be called, "Duh." It was so true. I spent half the tie nodding my head yes and wondering why I hadn't thought of that myself. She truly teaches and knits in a intuitive way.

She came right out and spoke about her publisher and what was going on and why we had not seen another book of the 5 book series yet. She said she got progressively more frustrated with each book she did with XRX and the colour book (the last one) she was so unhappy with she told them she would not work with them anymore until they give her more control.

They would not let her dress the models or present the clothes in the way she designed them to be worn. The front cover of the book was a sweater she did not want on the front and worn in a way she did not mean it to be worn. She said, "What were they thinking, people don't dress like that anymore!"

In the seminar she would put on sweater and wear it in a way that made me want to knit it and someone would ask what book it was in. I would look in the picture in the book and think I would never wear that the way it was presented. She said students said this to her all the time.

The first book, "The Purl Stitch" toured for 2 or three years. She said the colour book toured for three to six months. Having said that, you can't get right now, the second printing in process and it will be out again in a few weeks.

She has left XRX for the time being and the series will not be finished unless they give Sally more control of her designs.

There is good news. She has been taken on by Random House books and has two books planned with them right now. The first one she and her daughter (also and knit designer) are both designing patterns for and the second one is a Christmas book.

I guess the presentation of some of patterns is what made me not knit any of them, but I can tell in person some of her stuff is way cool. I bought the yarn for one of her sweaters on Sunday and cast on for the thing when I got home.

I will show it to you soon, when I get enough going on it for it to be photogenic. Last night I meant to post but I played with the kids and then got caught up in knitting this sweater. I ended up ripping it back and changing the length a bit and cleaning up my cast-on edge, which is the front of the sweater so I needed to be happy with it.

About Q's hair, he had orange gel in it that day, his hair is really same colour and PJ and Bass. There was something else I was going to write but I forgot, I will have to go back and read the comments and it will job my memory.

Back to School

Wow. That is all I know how to say about my day. I can't believe how much I learned today. I got up around 5:00, I was to excited to sleep anymore. I left the Loops around 6:00 and took my time with the 2 hour drive, it was snowing a bit so I put in Harry Potter and just relaxed.

The classes were amazing, we spent most of the morning talking about what kind of knitting and yarns look good on different people and then we learned how to design or change patterns to fit. I knew I came to the right place when Sally said, "The biggest mistake knitters make is following the pattern." She taught us about how to measure our own bodies and fit a pattern to it. Very cool.

She spent the afternoon teaching us different ways to cast on and what cast-on method to use for what situation. Then we went over increases and decreases. Lots of stuff about binding off as well. I learned a lot of little tricks today. I am hoping I can remember half of what I learned.



One thing I found very interesting was seeing all knitters in their hand knits. I saw so many pattern I had dismissed when I saw them in books that I loved when I saw them on real people. It was cool to see several knitters with the same sweaters knit up in different colours and how different the same pattern looked.

I am enjoying myself and learning so much this weekend.



I just got out of the warm quiet bathtub and I am going to cast on a new project I have thinking about for while and enjoy the quiet evening. I am going to try to post when I get home Sunday. It is snowing here now, the class ends around 5 and then I have the drive home. If the weather holds it will take me longer than two hours to get there.

I think there is a mini bar in my room....gotta go!

Excited

We had a great day today. We had a birthday party for Sebass at the local bowling alley, what a blast. I did take some pictures but I have not downloaded them yet.

I do have these of the kids yesterday. We were horsing around I took a bunch. I can't help but smile when I look at these.





I am off to my knitting class dark and early in the morning. I am excited to learn new things. I told mom today on the phone, I am not sure if I am more excited for the class or for a bit of time to myself. I think equal parts.



I am going to take my camera along and see if I can get some pictures for you. I was going to take along my laptop, but now I am thinking I may leave it at home. I am wondering if I want to spend the one evening I have to myself on the computer or with a good book or with my knitting needles and some quiet time.

I will let know what I learn as soon as I can. Have a great weekend.

Having Fun

We have been having a lot of fun lately. I can't say that we have been doing anything special just hanging out and having a good time together.

I have some pictures of our fun (of course). I am going to start you off with some pictures of the kids folding the laundry. Not so much fun for them but I am enjoying the payback immensely. I can't even tell you how many loads of laundry I have done in this house. It is so sweet to this:





Who says laundry can't be fun. While folding the laundry Sebass came into the kitchen wearing this:



I don't know what made me laugh harder, the fact that he put on my underwear (a really old pair that is embarrassing to show you) or that he is wearing his tool belt with my g-string.



We have been eating tiny oranges. They are so sweet and yummy they are like eating candy. The kids love them. I think PJ ate 6 or 7 in one sitting.



The oranges are so small I could not help but take lots of pictures of them.

Randon Thoughts

I feel like as soon as I typed the title all my thoughts fell out of my head.

Mom was right, I did buy some sassy new ear buds. They have a great sound quality for the price of those babies. I have been thinking of buying another pair to just tuck away. I find they take a bit of beating and I have to replace them every year or so. Or perhaps I have accidentally found myself addicted to green buds.

I am on day 5 of a 15 day cleanse. I am finally starting to feel human again. The first few days I had one of the worst headaches I think I have ever had in my life. It is a parasite cleanse and the pain in my head had wondering if the herbal mix had forced some nasty gross worm to burrow through my brain on its way out.

Now you are going to ask me, "Why a parasite cleanse?" I try to do a cleanse about every six months; the new year seemed like good timing. I have had this gut feeling that a parasite cleanse was what I needed to do for a while now. I eat a fair bit of Sushi, I like my beef medium-rare and there is a lot of crap out there we can pick up along the away. I don't really know if I have any hitch-hikers but I felt now was a good time to kick them off the bus if they have been stealing a free ride.

My energy levels have been low for a long time. I would say 6-8 months. The cleanse seemed to be a good way to shake things up and eat better. I can't help but wonder if the whole idea is a little psychological for me. Maybe its my way of letting go of some of the crap that drains me whether that crap be an actual physical parasite or someone (I am thinking of no one in particular) or an idea that has been sucking my energy. I warned you right from the get go this would be random. Am I making any sense here?

I learned something today. We all know that the piece of sports equipment that a man uses to protect his brain is called a 'jock'. (You thought I was going to helmet didn't you?) Did you know that when girls/women play hockey they wear protective gear over their pubis (I had no idea women protected these delicate parts when they played hockey until PJ started playing) anyway this piece of equipment is called a 'jill'.

I gleaned this bit of knowledge at a sports store that specializes in hockey gear. Jock and Jill. I can't be the only one that giggles just a little bit when they read that.

Time for Dessert

Shannon, Will, Morgan and Taylor sent me this yummy yarn for Christmas. I love it. I am not sure what pattern to knit out of it but the yarn is yummy. Here it is posing on the great trays they sent to our whole family. They sent the trays in five colours and we have eaten dinner off of them almost every night since Christmas. They are cool aren't they? Make me think of school lunches.



A close-up of dessert for you. Doesn't it make you want to cast on for something right now?



Paul and the kids are sending me to this knitting class for Christmas. It is not this weekend coming up but the following. I have a bit of homework to do for it. I promise to take my camera and take lots of pictures for you.



Last but not least: Can you guess what I bought by looking at this receipt?

Tobogganing

I am not sure how many pictures of giggling kids you can stand but we just find out what your limit is with this post. We hit the tobogganing hill on the golf course yesterday. What a blast.



Last week it got pretty warm around here and we had quite a bit of melt and a dash of rain. The toboggan hill is hard packed very slick snow/ice right now. It is so fast that the kids started in the middle of hill so they would not build up to much speed.







I love the look on Q's face; the sheer joy of the whole thing. It was a beautiful day, the temperature stayed about -1C (right around freezing 36F) the sun came out to play and there was no wind.





Here are some shots of the big race. Paul vs Sebastian and PJ.



I love that they spun the same way at the same time. Must have been the contour of the hill that made them both go that way.



I think you can see by the faces who won the race. Snow is good all way around, I do love to sit on the couch and watch it come down with a Bailey's and coffee in my hand. I also love an evening or early morning run in it; one of the most peaceful things in the world. Apparently it is great stuff if you feel the need for speed.



You will be so proud. Last week I did 4 workouts as per my goal, most importantly I enjoyed them.

Two Winter Pictures

These pictures were taken in Trail. PJ, Q and I went for a walk around her neighborhood while the rest of the gang was on the ski hill. I must have snapped 100 pictures while we were out about. Don't worry I wont show them all to you. I will share the ones I really like a few at a time.

I started to pack up Christmas today. I love the decorations but there is something nice about clearing them all out for another year. I had a little to much help from the kids so I threw in the towel. I will get the rest done over the next few days, I don't feel like being in to much of a rush about the whole thing.