Knitterykate 2

We sold our van. We now have one van and two cars among the five of us. In the very recent past we were trying to park three vans and three VW's in our driveway and along the street with not much success. We usually ended parking four in the driveway and two on the street. Invariably the vehicle that was parked closest to the house had to be the one who had to get to work first. And then it was time for "musical cars". What fun.

Okay I give up. The snow falling here has been incessant. It won't let up. Therefore I give up. So here are my snow pictures for the year. The news says that this will be the first year since 1971 that all of Canada will have a "White Christmas". Except for a little patch of green in Halifax where you would expect tons of snow. The van on the right has not been driven for awhile, but the van on the left was driven yesterday - last night, actually. So the accumulation is for less than 24 hours. Bruce finally did go out and shovel that snow. You can see the broom on the hood where he left it to tend to more important parts of the driveway. He wanted me to come and help. Hah. I told him that I would when the snow stopped... Just a view from the back porch going down to the patio: Not going to be shoveled until the girls come back from CA. B and I drove by the meeting room yesterday on the way to visit his mum and the parking lot has two feet, if not three feet, drifts. The e...

We're home today. Can't get out of the driveway because of the snow drifts. Bruce has a great idea of "walking" up to the Safeway. He also wants to shovel the front (which we already did on Monday). I say stay home and look at youtube videos on knitting. Some people have nothing to do. Maybe she ran out of yarn. what to do with your left over ramen noodles What she going to do with it? Eat it?

Every blog that I've visited recently has posted about the weather. This will be no different. Since you all know what snow looks like, I will spare you the pictures. We've had snow and it has "stuck". None of this here today, gone tomorrow stuff as we have had in past years. It seems the Arctic has shifted south. Our van came equipt with an outside thermometer. It was intriguing to watch the temperature drop by degrees as we drove from Vancouver to home. I don't remember it ever being this cold. Have you ever heard of -11 C much less felt it? And they (the weathermen) say there's a blizzard coming on Sunday.

I found these at knitpicks and knew they were just what I was looking for. My knitting kept sliding off my double pointed needles because the yarn was too fine for the needles. They are actually ingenious. All you do is grip the needles together and slide them into the blue end. Then the red end slips over that. Give the tubes a little twist in the opposite directions and you've got your knitting secure. Works well. The only thing I don't like is the price. Even though I received two sets, cardboard should not be that expensive. But then, they are light weight and if I take care of them, they should last a long time.

It's raining here on the Wet Coast of Canada. Many are hoping for snow on the slopes. LeAnne tells me a contingent is coming from Seattle to spend the night here before heading up to Whistler tomorrow. For their sakes I hope there's snow. Heidi made bread last night in our bread machine. You know, the kind without flour or eggs. It kind of fell flat and caved in on itself. We think there was too much yeast: it rose to high, too fast and then collapsed. As for the gummy part? Probably too much liquid. But have you ever made banana bread with chia instead of eggs? And used potato flour instead of wheat? If you ever do let us know so we can try your recipe.

Because we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in November (when it's suppose to be celebrated!) and because you all live so far away (Union City was far enough to go for the week-end) we often go to Tacoma to "celebrate" (read: eat ourselves silly). This year was no different with no less food and all delicious! Noah and Heidi Hannah I brought my own stash for the trip down: These are new in Canada. At least I've not seen them before. They are chocolate coated mint kisses. I thought they would be mint flavored chocolate. And with a mocha I was set. To knit, of course. Here's what I finished on the trip. Don't be fooled. With a mocha to power you and lots of down time you can get some serious knitting in. Heidi liked them so well she wanted a pair for her birthday. Which happens to be tomorrow!!! Today was going to be my day off to stay home and knit but some problems with our US bank account warranted me coming into Richmond for the day. With that taken care o...

This block of chocolate is huge! Take a look at the thickness. That's about one and a half inches. At least.

Almost got the second sleeve done. Notice the red rod on the left. It's my super duper needle holder! While making Heidi's alpaca leg warmers last month I found my yarn slipping off my needles. It didn't help that the wool was extremely slippery. I tried putting little red stoppers on the ends to keep the yarn on but they kept falling off because they were too small or the needle ends were too big. One day I saw this on line and thought it ingeneous. And it really works! You gather your needles together and slip them in the blue sleeve. Shove them down the tube until they butt up against the end. Carefully slip the red tube over the blue and slide that down until the other ends of the needles butt up against its end. Give it a little twist and shove the whole thing into your bag. Forget about it until you're ready to knit again. Then pull it out of your bag and begin to knit immmediately. No lost or dropped stitches!!

Andrew was over the other day. He and I usually play a variety of games (which he invariably wins!) For some reason or another both he and I got up to do something (probably getting ice cream with hot fudge) and Felix took my place. Sometimes I think he would like to be me...It's probably all that yarn.

Just a few steps in the morning and then you are done!

Too much food and it was all so good. You know you shouldn't go back for seconds but you do anyway vowing to go on a diet tomorrow. And I did. Go back for seconds and go on a diet "tomorrow" being today. As we were leaving Tacoma Laura texted me and told me, "We are stranded!" I wondered what she wanted me to do about it since I was three hours away with my hands tied. Probably moral support, which I dutifully gave. Turns out Heidi had run over something trying to veer away from a truck that was coming straight at her barreling down the middle of the country road where the barn is. They made it to the barn but with two flat tires that could not be inflated. We do not have, nor does she have, CAA (AAA- to you in the US of A). They were stuck. LeAnne was in Richmond and was busy and couldn't get to them in a timely manner (read: Laura's time schedule) Thus, the unsisterly comment I received from LJ moments later. After many texts back and forth they finall...

Bruce loves it that we get an extra holiday every year. One of the perks of marrying an American, I guess. You get to eat turkey twice! We're off to Tacoma today to join the "folks-with-no-family-to-eat-with". It's just Bruce and me this time. Everyone else is working except Heidi who decided it would be a great day to spend with a horse! It's really not that bad-she does have an excuse. Mercy needs an antibiotic two times a day. And she can't miss. It's suppose to take care of an infection she's had for months. This super-duper drug should kill off the bug this time. If not... Hope you all are enjoying family today. Wish I could be with you. (No, Tom is really not that tall--the picture is skewed)

When you go to the doctor's there's usually a long wait. If you know me, you know I bring my knitting to pass the time. Even then it gets to me and I start to do things I normally would not. Like try out alllll the settings on my camera. By the way. Just a routine office visit. Nothing serious. .

Great news for today: Laura passed her driver's test!! She thought for sure that she had failed but we think the examiner was lenient because she wasn't in Richmond. (Richmond is an incredibly difficult city to drive in for many reasons.) We drove to the boonies today--Abottsford--to take the test only because she was able to get an appointment so quickly. Four days as opposed to next year!!

You may wonder why I've made my blog private. Perhaps not. But I did so because it felt weird to me to have anyone check up on my and my family's goings on. It's a bit unnerving to have someone come up to you at a conference or all day meeting and say..."Knitterykate...I'm enjoying your blog!" All I really wanted to do was to let Mom know what was going on here at our house and share with her my latest knitting projects. Somehow sharing that on the internet seemed like bragging. It`s kind of like having a tea party in your home as opposed to having it on stage on national TV. I really am a private person and do not aim to be in high office. The fish bowl delimma has never been more clear to me than in the last few weeks since President-elect Obama and his family have been in the spot light. Even I want to know about his kids! At least I have a little control over who sees what and can say what I want and to whom I want. For instance, my girls would not like it...

Sometimes after work Bruce and I go to the driving range. No, I don't hit golf balls. But I usually grab a cup of coffee and a sweet treat. (I know, I really shouldn't. Starting tomorrow.) So there I sit. I can wait. I can wait for anybody. And I can wait for a long time. But only if I have my knitting with me. Now, to find someone to fit this...