peaceful. easy feeling

=big contented sigh= i am in my spiritual home this week. i am at a cottage in tobermorry ontario with my parents. it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. i will post pictures when i get back, but believe me when i say that i was always disappointed with the ocean after grouwing up going to the georgian bay. so much wilder and more interesting that the ocean. of course, it doesn't have quite the same marine life diversity, but it makes up for it in shipwreks and rare terrestrial landscapes. we spent yesterday in a place that has five different terrains right in one spot. it even had an alvar and a fen, which are things that can only be found in sweden, estonia, and the great lakes. so cool!

ok, gotta go, i am at the library and my dad is waiting.
oh! i love it here! i never want to leave. hmm, this is a national park, maybe they are in need of a historian?

Snip Snip Snip

Ok, so, as you can tell, I just got my hair cut.  I never know when I get it cut if I actually like it or not.  It takes me awhile, and then I get used to it just as it needs to be cut again.  Then it gets long and shaggy and I hate my hair for a couple months until I get back to Ontario to my hairdresser.  But, now that I am back in Ontario, I can get regular haircuts like a normal person again. Hmm.  Anyway, my hairdresser and I had a great chat, and she and my mom love my hair, so maybe if I can style it myself and it looks less choppy I will love it more.  Of course, we are going away to a cottage for the week, and there is no bloody way I am bringing a straight iron up there, so I will be back to ponytails and hairclips for the rest of the week.  Or I could just rock the dreaded "Lion Hair" for awhile.  But there will be photographic evidence, so perhaps not.

Will let you know how the cottage goes, no internet access for the week, what is a girl to do? ("Maybe her THESIS????!!!")

anyway, tea time, and my dad is calling me a "Princess of the Pharoahs" which of course reminded everyone that my cousin used to call me his "Egyptian Princess" when we were little and I had long black hair and straight across bangs.

oh life plan, where did you go?

i have been having a really hard time concentrating on my thesis lately.  there are way too many other fun things going around in my head, so no room for statistics and thoughts of an academic variety.  what is in my head you ask? plans for extremely fun craftiness!  i am having trouble sleeping at night because i am working out how to sew a pair of slipper socks, or how to sew a quilt, or how to quilt a quilt.  i have 3-D diagrams worked out in my head for a dozen projects, none of which i can work on right now because my mom does not approve and it is kinda hard to hide the sewing machine, it makes alot of noise, and i make alot of mess.  so instead i hide the fact that i am reading fun craft books rather that books about my thesis topic.

i discussed this problem with my cousin on the phone last night, and she said "Are you sure you are going into the right career?"  Aaargh!  no!  i am not sure!  but i have all this schooling behind me and i really do enjoy researching, but ideally i want to be married and have kids and have a part-time job at a museum and the time to be crafty.  there, i said it, but that doesn't  help me in the short term!  i need a thesis written and a job to go to when it is done.  somewhere in there i also have to meet a man and actually show that i am interested in him, and not run away when things start getting serious.  Aaargh!   

Seaman's Long Stockings and Quebec Helmets

Apparently the Red Cross is putting together an anniversary thing (exhibit? book? not sure, ma didn't quite have the details)  Anyway, they were looking for old Red Cross stuff, and my aunt remembered she had this knitting booklet, and for some reason it is at our house instead of with the Red Cross ladies (no idea why, my house is a Vortex tho).  This is a bonus for me, cuz i get to see what kind of knitting was required for our forces in WWII.  The booklet was published by the Yellow Pages in November 1940.

Along with patterns for socks, mitts, sweaters and "helmets" (which i assume are variations on the balaklava, the "Aero Helmet" seems to have ear holes as well) there are also patterns for a "Knitted toe cap" for going over the end of a cast (hmm, this pattern might still be useful) and Ladies knickers, "specially designed to slip on for extra warmth".  I guess if you were putting them on over your nunders i suppose it would be ok, but otherwise, ..... knitted wool underwear =shudder=.

Interestingly the patterns are only shown in one size each, so either everyone in the military was the same size, or women in 1940 were supposed to know how to increase the patterns.  I'd hate to be the guy with the big head on the day when they hand out the "one size fits all" "helmets", or sweaters for that matter!

I love libraries!

I have been home for all of two weeks and i have been to my local public library twice and the university library once, and i plan on going again tonight to both of them because books i requested yesterday are in! i love libraries!  i am anticipating the arrival of these requested books like a kid awaiting my mail order x-ray glasses!  joy!  I just love that all of these wonderful books are available to me even though i can't afford to buy them right now.  sometimes i forget that libraries exist and feel sad that i can't experience these books firsthand, and then i remember the library, and all is well with the world, i just might have to wait my turn to get the new and wonderful books.

i have ordered all kinds of crafty books from the public library, interweave knits best sweaters and joelle hoverson's last minute patchwork gifts have arrived and i will pick them up tonight on my way home from picking my dad up at work.  fingers crossed amy butler's in stitches arrives soon!

the university books are a little less fun, but i discovered that u of goo has clifton carbin's deaf heritage in canada a book i always had to order through interlibrary loans (illo) from alberta when i was in victoria.  unfortunately, the newest book on the deaf is not available here, and i have to pay $25 for illo because i am not a student here.  my mom suggested i try to get it through illo with the public library instead.  see? i love libraries!

i also love that so many people i know are studying library sciences, so i know that libraries have a future! hurrah!  i wish i could do backflips!

Son of Ike

ok, so, ontario seems to get the tail end of every storm going, so of course, we received back to back visits this weekend.  It rained steadily from 2pm Saturday afternoon until sunday morning due to the end of an unnamed Pacific storm (I shake my fist at you Victoria), and then it was really windy all day Sunday until it started raining around 6pm sunday night due to Hurricane Ike, or, since it was just a tropical depression by then, my father called it "Son of Ike" in the same voice as one would announce the title of a b-movie horror flick.  Anyway, this gross rainyness was not accompanied by colder weather, but by heat and humidity, so much so that my dad's indoor weather station said we were at 95% humidity inside the house.  The floor felt wet when you walked on it and you could not dry off after a shower.  gross.  To top it off, my brother in Toronto lives in a place where the laundry is accessible only by an outdoor staircase to the basement, which he slipped and fell down sunday morning and is now suffering from a very sore back and bum.  Poor guy has to bring a pillow to work next week.   

The weather everywhere seems to be a-typical this year, i guess we can expect some more of this weirdness.  I hope the violent storms settle down a bit now, the Caribbean can't take much more.

Wherein C gets all crafty

Well, it actually proved more difficult to remember where i had put my camera than it was to find the usb cable for it, but finally, my craftiness can be documented and broadcast to the whole world.  

As some of you may know, i have been expecting the imminent arrival of a new cousinlet and had prepared for this wonderful occasion by sewing my cousin an Amy Butler "nappy bag" before i left Victoria.  I chose Amy Butler nigella passion vine in celery in home dec weight for the exterior and lotus green oxford stripe for the changing pad, sorry i don't know the name of the interior fabric.  I thought the home dec fabric was stiff enough for the bag, so i didn't add the canvas layer or any extra interfacing.  I found a towel on sale that was the exact colour of orange as in the stripe on the fabric, so i used that as the terry cloth and didn't put a layer of batting in.  I added a magnetic purse snap to keep the bag closed, although it seems really strong, kinda hard to open, but that might be good when it is full, and I added a strap for a key ring.  I also left off the bottle pockets because they seem kind of stupid as they block the side pockets, so i just sewed across the bottom of one side pocket on the front and one on the back so that the pockets were a little shorter and could be used as a bottle pocket as need be.  The bonus is that I have enough fabric left over to make a purse for myself from the fabric that was cut out of the middle to make the shoulder straps.

The day after I got back home, we got a call from the daughter of family friends inviting us to her baby shower for her baby which is due in two weeks now.  Quite a shock because her mother isn't happy that she isn't married and so hadn't told anybody, her daughter was calling us behind her mom's back.  I used to babysit the girl, but she is around 22 now, has finished her photography course at the community college, and has a good job with an awesome local photographer as studio manager, so it isn't like she is a naughty teenager.  Of course her mother doesn't see any good in the situation, and so is setting about ruining her relationship with her first grandchild before he is even born and there is nothing we can do to talk her out of it.   So we will support our young friend any way we can, and pray that her mother doesn't lose her daughter and grandchildren out of her stubbornness.    

Anyway, we are going the the shower today, and I made the baby a carriage blanket, which now seems to be my signature baby item.  It is from the pattern for the Seija blanket in the Happy Hooker  Stitch and Bitch Nation crochet book, but I always use a different weight of yarn, so I just use the pattern for measurements.  It is a small blanket with a hole two thirds of the way up to put the buckles for the baby carrier or carriage through.  This is the third time I have made it, I have wondered if it is actually useful, I guess I should really ask the people i have given it to previously, but they are both too polite and nice to give me a real answer, so i will continue to make them. 

Update:

Just got back from the shower, tons of people there, including her grandma, aunt, mom, and her brothers, so things look much more positive in that regard.  Her brothers are really excited to be uncles, so if nothing else, she will have support from them.  Plus, she loved the blanket! Her mom still seemed reserved, but then she had the same attitude when she told us one of the boys had applied to med school, that woman just can't be happy for her children!

Many Boxes! oh Joy!

yay!  my boxes finally arrived from bc, i am now officially no longer a resident of vancouver island.  i am not sure how i feel about that yet.  at the moment i am just missing living on my own, in an actual bedroom, where my stuff didn't have to stay in boxes in the garage.  i did make a case for having my craft stuff in the house when ma said there might be mice in the garage.  that reminds me i have to re-tape all my boxes.  i opened them yesterday in a mad hope to find my camera cable so i could actually post photos here.  i think i found it, we shall see if it is the right one!  so, hopefully later this afternoon i will have some pics of the pretty things i have created to show here!  

anyway, i guess i had better start working on my thesis, i feel like such a slob, it is 11:30am and i am still in my jammies, and another girl is helping my mother clean the b&b.  i am feeling usurped!

"I sleep in the HALL, reMEMBER?!!!"

Heya!  safe and sound back in Ontariariario (a place to live a place to grow).  Everything seems to have survived the trip, jam and chocolate being the most important!  and The Baz was awesome!  intrepid explorer bunny!  can't wait till she experiences the 3 hour car trip later this month!  I think she was pretty much terrified, she stayed in one spot in her carrier the entire time, well, after the first takeoff, before that she thought it was all fun and games and showed her little white nose to everyone so they could oo and aww at her.  she was much admired when i had to take her out of the carrier in security, everyone stood still and said "Aww, a bunny,"  then they made me drink the entire water bottle i had forgotten about.  apparently the spell of bunny cuteness does not carry over to me.

back at my parent's house, i now sleep in the tv room, which is basically the hallway to the three other rooms downstairs (leading the quote from New Waterford Girl to go through my head).  did i mention it is the TV room?  i tried to go to sleep early last night, but made the mistake of reading a little first.  my dad came downstairs and, without saying anything, turned on the tv and sat down to enjoy himself watching something british on TVO.  i was still speechless, trying to figure out how to tell him i actually wanted to go to sleep, when my mom comes down with tea and cookies, which i can never pass up.  so i ended up watching the show and eating my cookie and drinking my tea in bed, and never said anything until the show ended and my dad showed no signs of turning the "boob tube" off.  then i made the executive decision and pressed the power button, and told him to go to bed, and close doors, and turn lights out so i could go to sleep.  darnit, prima donna wasn't supposed to show herself so early on!

oh well, new day, now i get to try and locate all my stuff and hope that ma has a few drawers somewhere to unpack into!

 

Hello From Baz

I am very upset these days, life is tough for a bunny on the move.  i was in three different houses on sunday and i am now stuck in my little cage in a storage room.  boo.  at least i am allowed out in the backyard, but ma won't let me hide in the awesome fort of trees in the back corner, she is such a party pooper, she even makes me wear a leash!   the added excitement of the backyard is the neighbour's cat, who happened to be sniffing at the other side of the fence i was sniffing at, lucky me it couldn't fit underneath.  

tomorrow i get to go on a plane for the first time, that should be a lot of fun.  5 hours of travel, one plane transfer.  oh joy, i hope my little eardrums don't explode!

anyway, ma will probably write tomorrow night from across the country.  I hope I like my new home in Ontario with the grandparents!

baz 

Onward and Upward!

heya!  first post, ummm..... not exactly sure what to do here, but have to get started sometime, so here's the deal:

i foolishly decided to move back to ontario from victoria, bc, where i have been doing my masters in history for the last three years.  everything except my masters thesis seemed to be wrapping up here, so it seemed like a good time, still does, but so much work, especially when i am moving both myself and my bunny, "the baz".

I just finished a move from hell, well not really, i tried to stay positive, but i think that just freaked my roommates out.  please note, never be the last one to leave a rental accommodation, washing walls and the sticky stuff out of cupboards till late at night sucks!  anyway, i suck at things that require strength, like moving furniture, so i just put my head down and stuck to cleaning for three days.  its fun once you get in the groove, and so satisfying to see the impossible stain disappear, two words: magic eraser!

anyway, that is over and i am in limbo for a few days, cause my flight home isn't till the 3rd and we had to be out by the 31st, so i am hanging out with my wonderful friend maryanne and her husband until i leave.  she even let me bring the baz along, which was awesome!  but we had to explain to their landlord why a strange lady was walking a rabbit on a leash in the backyard at 8am!

so i am wrapping up my time here in bc, and there is so much to do! today a bunch of us all went out to elk lake and sat in the sun and paddled a canoe around the very windy lake, that borders on the highway, kinda weird.  anyway,  andrea and lee actually made it in swimming, but maryanne and i totally wimped out, way too cold!  andrea also made me an awesome bag, which she posted a picture on her blog, so she wouldn't give me her blog address until after she saw me today!

tomorrow morning we have to get up bright and early for breakfast with all the other girls in history grad so we can all reconnect before the new year and i can impart my wisdom to the younger ones before i go.  yes, very pompous of me, i know.  i am kinda chuffed though, cause some of the younger girls have actually told me that they value my advice on things grad studenty and that i am a good example, which is awesome, considering one of my work colleagues dubbed me "most likely to punch him in the eye", oh and the fact that i am starting year 4 of a 2 year masters.  "relaxed attitude" seems to be my key message.

ok, better stop now and help maryanne with the custard, can you believe it!  she is making custard for dessert!  yummo!

k, bye!