Oh, Canada...how I love you!

Oh Canada, our home and native land,

True patriot love, with all our sons command.

With glowing hearts, we see thee rise

Thy true north, strong and free.

From far and wide, O Canada,

We stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land, glorious and free,

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.



I love Canada and I love being Canadian! Yesterday our nation celebrated it's 140th birthday. We went down to Marina Park to take part in some of the festivities followed by fireworks. It was the first time our daughter had been able to attend the fireworks. She was so excited and loved every minute of it.



To my American friends, have a great 4th of July!



Here are a few pictures from our day:

I need to get me one of these crowns...

I am a princess after all.

Canadian Punks even came out for the festivities!

Even our cops are hot!!! :D

Great fireworks

A truly Canadian icon!

Webkinz Mayhem

Greetings my loverly readers!


Yesterday I woke up feeling something I haven't felt in years. It was slightly reminicent of years gone by after spending the night in a lovely drinking establishment...okay, who are we kidding...THE BAR. That feeling of blurry eyes, headache, achy body parts, and pure exhaustion. No, I didn't go on a bender...

...my daughter got a Webkinz.

Now for those who are not in the know, Webkinz are sweet little stuffed animals that, when purchased, come with a website secret access code. Once this code has been entered into the "Adoption Centre" at the official Webkinz site, a whole new realm of childhood joy fills the home. While on the site, your animal has it's own house which you can decorate with the latest in home electronics, furnishings for the boudoir, kitchen accessories, gardening furniture and supplies, food, clothing, and toys, books and games for your newest addition to the family...the list is endless. Now, me being the ever-doting mommy, I really only want the best for my baby girl.

Yes, I spoil her...sue me!

In order to "purchase" these items for your Webkinz internet home, one must play games, answer quizzes, etc on the site in order to earn KinzCash. Well, seeing as I love my baby girl, and given the fact that I am addicted to a certain internet game where one must incessantly pop coloured groups of balls or ballons, this mommy was intent on getting baby girl some mega KinzCash!

They have a certain game on the site called "Cash Cow 2". Here, the unsuspecting player must pop groups of coloured bottles located in a cyber-milk machine. As you pop groups of colours, you obtain points and the "milk-meter" climbs ever faithfully to the top of the meter. To advance to the next level, one must fill this meter with milk before becoming one of the priveleged few who will one day reach a level on legendary status. I wanted to be that legend!

So I hit the "play" button which then launched (no...sucked) me into this whole new realm of children's online games of which I would one day be queen whom all would regale and write epic poems about.

The first few of levels were, of course, seemingly simple. Pop pop pop...the milk-meter filled including bonus points for clearing the screen. As I blew on my fingers and polished my nails against my shirt, I smiled, recognizing the sheer genius which was me.

I eventually hit ... LEVEL 5.

Here I met my adversary...the introduction of new colours and blockers that would be the bane of my existance. As I strategically clicked away the coloured sections all of a sudden the remaining bottles in the milk machine shatter into gazzilons of pieces and then informed me that, "oops, you didn't reach the required level".

Well, no probelm, I thought to myself. I'll just play again. I must not have been paying attention.

Click click click, pop pop pop. EXPLOSION..."oops, you didn't reach the required level". A blood-curdling scream escaped from my throat, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!"

Well, this is just stupid, I thought to myself. It's a kid's game for heaven's sake. So, with cheering crowds, minstrels and poets writing that epic poem still in the forefront of my mind, I forged on determined that I would get past Level 5.

I quickly glanced at the day's high score which was held by an adorable piglet named Petunia. Her high score for the day was something like 25,352,619. Piece of cake.

"You're goin' down, pig!" I snarled at the screen. Click click pop pop click pop click ... shatter! I quickly glanced at my score: 1, 028 WHAT????? "You have got to be joking," I screamed at the screen. I glanced at my watch. It was 1:32 a.m. "This is crazy...it's just a game. You need to get to bed," I told myself.

But by this point my competitive side had kicked in and told my wimpy side to,"go to bed then, you big sucky baby. I'm stayin'." Now the goal was no longer to get my daughter high points to buy that sweet hippo topiary tree for her garden. This was about winning and frying up that pig and eating bacon for breakfast! There was no turning back and certainly sleep was for wimps and losers. I was a winner ... no matter what the cost.

After almost two hours of competitive play, I admitted defeat. Petunia the pig was most definitely the queen for that night. But I will return and I will see my daughter's monkey, Webby, in that picture slot. And there will be those who will try to defeat my high score, and I will smile and wave to them as I sit and enjoy my plate of bacon.

You're goin' down, pig...

So Exhausted...

Hi Everyone,

I am pooped today. My daughter celebrated her 8th birthday this weekend. She had a Supermodel party (I was the unofficial photographer). We had a lot of fun and the girls were all so photogenic. I got some great pictures this weekend. I am doing up DVD slideshows for the girls to take home this week. It takes about 1/2 hr for each DVD to burn so that's one of my projects to finish today.

Last night I was up until 1:00 a.m. finishing the sleeve for our Spinners' Guild Back to Back Challenge. We registered our time as "uncompleted" but still wanted to finish the sweater. The guild will display it at several fairs we are taking part in this summer. One of the ladies will be finishing assembling it tonight at our last meeting before the summer.

This morning I washed up the last of the fleece from the challenge. For the challenge we had to work with greasy wool, so once that was done last night, I had a shopping bag full of greasy wool left over. So this morning I scoured it -- it was disgustingly filthy!!!!!!! Some of the matted pieces definitely felted, so I tossed those out. But the rest washed up beautifully. There is still quite a bit of grass and straw in there that will have to be picked out. I can't wait for it to dry so I can card it up and spin it...oh, there will be pictures. The colours in the fleece range from silvery grey to a variety of browns and finally blonde tips. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! Can't you tell I'm excited!!!

I can't say how much I've missed writing lately! We've had company staying with us for almost three weeks, so that has definitely taken up most of my time. But this morning, quiet time for me. My baby girl is at school, sick hubby is sleeping, and houseguest has gone out for the day. So other than the water sloshing in the washing machine (I have tons of laundry to do today), I am surrounded by silence. It's days like this I love living in the country. The sun is shining and waiting to dry my laundry, I've scoured fleece which is now in the process of drying beneath the ceiling fan, the house is somewhat tidy...ah, time to relax.

Well, I've poured myself I nice diet soda (with tons of ice...it's a hot one today!) and I have sat at the computer wishing to impart my wisdom upon you all.

Hmmmmmmm....

What to write...what to write....

Ummmmmmm.....

Well, certainly I must have something to write. I mean, it's been almost a month since I've last written a word, I have the blogs of friends to catch up on, and yet here I am....thinking. My word, I have become so relaxed that any type of brain activity has completely left me!!!

Well then, why don't I leave you with a few of my favourite pics from my daughter's 8th birthday party this past weekend. After that, I'm off to knit and do laundry, catch up on reading blogs, and perhaps sneek a nap in! Oh, the wonderful opportunities!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great day (if anyone is even still reading -- sorry again for the long absence!)

Waiting for the party to begin...

Pretty hair clips

The girls

Silly time

Ah....Friendship!

I've Been Busy...

Hi Everyone,

Life has been busy lately. Don't ask, "with what?". Because I couldn't really say. All I know is that the last couple of weeks has flown by in a whirlwind and I am a bit wiped out.

I did finish my Lacy Kerchief Scarf. I was going to block it, but I think I'll wait until the fall to do that...you know, when I'll actually be wearing it. Right now it's a bit too hot and humid to be donning a wool scarf. But here's a picture of it bundled up in my basket.

Also in the knitting department, I've been working on my Jaywalker socks. The silkie sock yarn is an absolute dream to work with! Last night I tried the first one on to take a couple of "in progress" pics for you. I love the colourway!

In the spinning department, I have been drum carding like crazy. I've been trying to get the rest of the brown border cheviot all carded so I can spin it up and start working on my cardigan for the fall. I'll have to wait and see how much plied wool I end up with. If I don't have enough for a cardigan, I might just adapt the pattern and make a vest instead. We'll have to see.

In the photography department, I have been snapping pictures like a crazy lady. I'm thinking I'd like to do up a bunch of cards with my photos attached to the front and try to sell a few. We'll see about that later. I'm still busy playing with my new camera trying to figure out all the new bells and whistles.

I'd better dash for now. I'm trying to get dinner ready and I have a wicked migrane! I'm hoping it will disappear after dinner. C'mon drugs...kick in, baby!

TTFN

Silkie Socky Piccys

Hiya!

Well, as promised, I snapped a couple pics of my new jaywalker socks that I am currently working on. I'm not sure if I've captured the colours well enough, but take my word for it...the colourway is beautiful. Lots of spring and summer colours. And the jaywalker pattern really accentuates the colour changes. So far I haven't had any pooling of colours as I knit.

I can't stay long today. I need to get out into the yard and clear away some dead branches, rubbish, etc. I've been spring cleaning the house and this summer I'd like to do a bit of landscaping (well, whatever we can afford anyways).

Have a loverly day my pretties!

B.

So Tired

Hi Loverly Peoples,

Just thought I'd drop a hello and how are ya! Well, mom got her shawl and loves it. I've finished my Lacy Kerchief Scarf (but I need to block it). I'll take pics in a few days of that. And I just cast on with my new silky sock yarn. I am attempting a pair of Jaywalkers. So far the colourway provides a bedazzeling result!!! I am well pleased. I will snap a few pics tomorrow. But just thought I'd say hi and let you all know what I've been working on this week.

I need to get to bed early. We've been slowly decluttering the house and moving our furniture around. Also my hubby has been busy honing his carpentry skills. He has just finished a beautiful entertainment unit for our living room upstairs. It is da-gorgeous!!!!! I'll take some piccys of that too in the next few days.

Well, baby girl is sleeping and I must knit a bit before retiring for the evening -- I am plum tuckered out. Today I donned the hazmat suit and cleaned the bathroom! Yipes!!! I'm just glad I'm alive. Oh if only I had a ga-jillion dollars...I would so hire someone to clean my bathroom! That has got to be the worst job ever.

The princess has spoken...

Back to Back Wool Challenge

Oh. My. Goodness!

Saturday was an exhausting day...but exciting and a lot of fun!

The day started off with everyone arriving for the 13th Annual Back to Back Wool Challenge. You could just feel the excitement in the air -- it was electric -- as we all waited in anticipation to begin. What am I even talking about? Let me start at the beginning...

The Spinner's Guild I belong to decided to enter an international spinning competition. The challenge is this: you have a team of 8 people -- one shearer and seven spinners/knitters. The goal: to see how quickly your team can shear a sheep, spin the wool (in the grease!!!), and then knit an adult-sized sweater. Everyone who enters the competition has the same pattern to follow for knitting the sweater. Everything else is up to your team. The world record is held by an Australian team who completed this task in a record time of 4hr 51min 14sec (in 2004). Last year the competition was won by a Japanese team with a time of 5hr 33min 46sec.

Well, as you can imagine, we were all eager to beat this world record! We met earlier in the week to discuss our strategies and try spinning greasy wool (wool that has not been washed at all). And so when we arrived Saturday morning at the chosen location, we were all quite excited.

Setting up the wheels...

After posing for a group photo with our shearer, Robert, and our lovable chosen sheep, Sis, the clippers came out.

I am the third on the left...the others are the rest of the team,

our time-keeper, and our host for the day

The rules of the competition state that you can only use non-electric hand shears. So with a snip snip snip, the official timekeeper began timing our efforts.

Sis (a Romney-cross),

after her "haircut"...

Within a few minutes all the spinners had handfuls of greasy wool at their feet and the spinning had begun. We spun for about an hour before we began plying singles together. We had to spin a DK weight (plyed) so for me that was a great challenge (although with clean wool, I can now spin my singles to about lace-weight). I was the chosen one to begin the job of plying the wool and then getting the first ball of yarn to the first knitter who would begin knitting the back of the sweater.

We worked hard until we were able to have four people knitting (front, back, and two sleeves). That was extremely challenging! The lanolin in the wool was very sticky and so we had to constantly clean our needles every third or fourth row. While the four people were knitting the other three continued to spin and ply the wool to supply materials for the knitters. I was the last knitter to begin (I worked on one of the sleeves).

Three members of our team...the lady in the middle is 80 yrs old (a Master Spinner).

Her wheel was made in 1840 by a monk in Quebec, Canada.

We worked feverishly all day spinning, plying, knitting, strategizing, laughing...and some of the ladies even enjoyed the occasional glass of wine or added Bailey's to their coffee. "Fuel for the fire" they would laugh and say as they continued on working. We had other members of the guild there throughout the day offering support by means of cheerleading, preparing wonderful meals and snacks (we took time to eat in shifts), entertaining us with stories and jokes, and helping us all to bond together as a group. By the time we hit about the six hour mark, we realized just how much more work the knitters had before them. And then we started to comment on the "world-record" times and the winners from last year.

We had no clue how these teams could have pulled such a monumental task off in such a short amount of time! Just the spinning alone was so time-consuming (and we had two Master Spinners working the whole time!!!). I suggested we send in a mole to either of these two teams to find out their "secrets" on completing this task in record-breaking times. We finally concluded that they obviously were all about the work and less about having fun. However, it would have been great to finish our work within those times and then sat around and had fun for the rest of the day. But where would the challenge be???

Well, this being our first time, we figured (before we began) that we could probably complete the task within 8-10 hours. We were aiming for eight, but figured we should be a bit realistic!!! Well, the eight hour mark came and left rather quickly. The knitters were checking with each other how many more rows we each had to go...WAY too many!!! But we weren't going to give up. Hour ten soon after was upon us. We were all getting pretty exhausted by this point, and many more rows to go. But did we let that get us down? No! Last year there was a Nova Scotian team that completed the task in just over 14 hours. We figured we had those Maritimers beat -- no problems. So we hung in there. The ladies topped up their glasses of "beverages", ate chocolate cookies for extra sugar boosts, and continued to figured out as we worked, where we could improve our time for next year.

But, alas, at about hour 13 we knew we had been beat -- and we were beat...literally exhausted!!! We continued to work feverishly for another 40 mins before calling it quits. We are only about 20 rows from completion (some less than that). But we decided to submit our finish time as 13h 40mins with an uncompleted project. We were all so exhausted -- I could barely see straight. We all joyfully decided we gave it our all and better luck next year. We looked at the clock which was nearing midnight as we tumbled into our cars and headed home for a well-deserved sleep. I was wiped out by the time I got home! So I had a quick shower (I just couldn't go to bed smelling so...sheep-poopy-ish).

It was such a great experience! As exhausting as it was, I think I would like to participate again next year if the group is up to the challenge. Even if we did the challenge unofficially and worked in shifts of people...I don't know, just a thought. Anyways, we're going to finish the sweater at our next meeting and we will take the completed sweater around to the various fairs we're participating in this summer.

Well, I'm off for now. My program's on...