Whew , what a week ...

but all's well that ends well ! Mike and I survived the dog & house sitting . Alaska and Zeus are back to normal , no more poopy dogs and messes to clean up . Thank heavens !

The tile issue has been resolved so we can go full steam ahead with the bathroom renovations . I'm really anxious to get this done , it's a project long overdue . I'm not so anxious to have to deal with the mess of renovations and having the dirt and dust everywhere , but hey I can take a break from cleaning , might as well wait till it's all done . More knitting time maybe ?

Speaking of which here's the new socks in progress . It's not the best picture ; I took it under a cloudy overcast sky , but at least it's not raining . As you can see these will be another pair of toe up socks . This is a free pattern from Wendy Johnson called Nanner. I started out on two circular needles but the joins on one of the circs was a little rough , so switched to dpns . I'm alternating between knitting the shawl and these socks as the mood strikes me .

Now if only we could have a few sunny rain free days .That's not asking too much is it ?

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend !

Calgon ...

....take me away ! These days life has been a lot like that old commercial . What I wouldn't give for a break from the busyness and the never ending rain . Long story short , Mike is retired (Yay ) , we had a surprise bridal shower for Stef on Saturday (happy bride to be , much laughter and good food ) , started some of the renos , then had a setback with tiles that are on back order till the end of next week (Max is back to work then so that really throws a wrench in the plans) . Then the icing on the cake , Max and Stef are away camping for a couple of days and we're dog sitting the pups (so far so good ) . Trouble is both of the dogs have a bad case of the runs . Don't know why , it's any body's guess , but I spent a good while cleaning up dog poo and disinfecting the house . NO FUN ! So there you have it , the good , bad and the downright ugly( or messy , stinky , take your pick) .

Despite all the busyness I'm still knitting . I've finished the Waving Lace socks and the Upstairs Shawl is coming along nicely . I've got 3 1/2 pattern repeats done . I'm really liking it so far . It's a simple knit , nothing flashy , but I'm sure the finished shawl will be beautiful .

There 's also a new sock on the needles . It IS the Summer of Socks after all . Thank God for knitting , picking up the knitting needles and focusing on the stitches and the project just drives all the cares and worries of the day away . Now if we could just get rid of the constant rain ....

Lazy...

Wish I could add .... "hazy , crazy days of summer " . Summer is just not happening here at all yet . We've had severe thunderstorms , wind, and cool rainy days . No change in sight for the foreseeable future . Oh well , c'est la vie !







I've been a really lazy blogger lately , but busy otherwise since I last checked in . Nothing spectacular just the usual run of the mill stuff . Bathroom renovations are starting so had to get most the supplies organized , choose tile, paint colours , etc . Had the family over for BBQs and brunch a couple of times. I also babysat Jessey a couple of times . I can't ever get enough of that little monkey !











Tomorrow is Mike's last day at work , can't believe how fast that came . He's got mixed emotions about it . He liked what he was doing , but things were changing , add to that the economic times , so he figured he might as well retire now while the package was on the table . Work wise , and otherwise also actually , we've been very fortunate . We're both looking forward to this next phase in our lives .





This is the new project on the needles . I received the order from The Loopy Ewe on Friday and cast on Saturday night. I think this colour is as close a match to my dress for the wedding as I can get . The shawl is called the Upstairs Shawl from WollSchnegge . The photo there doesn't do it justice I think . This and then this one caught my eye . I think that they're both stunning ! Finding a suitable yarn proved to be a challenge however. I looked high and low locally and finally got lucky online. I'll be busy knitting for the next little while . No time to be lazy ...

A new toy

With Mike's impending retirement not too far away I could see a conflict of interests on the horizon with only one computer in the house . So to preempt that problem , Mama's got a brand spanking new laptop . I love , love , love it ! I love the portability , the little red mouse , ahh just everything about it . It works great , didn't break the bank and it's mine (mostly ) .

Lounging on the keyboard is my current sock in progress . It's Evelyn Clark's Waving Lace Socks . These socks have been a work in mind for forever it seems . Scouring the stash after finishing the toe ups I came across this ball of "Strumpfwolle " (generic term for sock yarn in German ) a gift from my Dad , and for some reason this pattern came to mind . I started out on dpns and not too far into the socks switched to 2 circulars . No one's more surprised than me , who'dda thought ! Loving the pattern and the yarn .

The weather here has been a mish mash , with some sun but thunderstorms and torrential rain later in the day . Canada Day was not a complete wash out . We had a low key celebration with the kids over for a BBQ . Thankfully the rain held off till after we'd eaten . Jessey had a dip in the pool , swallowed some water and like a natural spit it out and kept playing . He's so close to walking. I had to hold both of his hands and just walk and walk with him . He just wanted to explore . I think he's going to be hell on wheels when he gets to be mobile on his own . That child is curious about everything and has oodles of energy . I love him to pieces !

Anyway , wish you all a good weekend !

Happy Canada Day !

Have a great Canada Day , with blue skies and good times !