cooler days mean...

I'm back from my little mini holiday across the border.  It was a lovely time of play and eating with some necessary shopping mixed in but mostly we re-gathered ourselves as a family and took the time to just 'be' together and soak each other in.  We arrived back very late Sunday night, picked up our little pooch who was staying with his brother in our absence (my sister and I have brother dogs) and promptly went to sleep in our own comfy beds exhausted...ahhh. 




Early the next morning the kids woke me up as they crawled into my bed with frozen fingers and toes all clambering to get close to the warm sleeping mumma.  It would almost have been a rude awakening had their cuteness not overwhelmed me.  They were right to come for a warm up cuddle as our house was so cold.  I jumped out of bed, turned the heat on then quickly jumped back under the covers where I remained until each of my kidlets felt they were adequately warm.  *sigh* I guess it's that time of the year again.  Long pants, sweaters, socks, jackets, hats, mitts and scarfs.



I made an impulse purchase at my LYS.  One skein of Manos del Uruguay.  I fell in love with the colors and realized it would look lovely with my favorite green jacket.   "Scarf", it said to me "scarf."  "I need to be a scarf, not just any old scarf but a long skinny kind that can wrap around your neck forever."    With that I set out on the internet for patterns that would work but nothing seemed to grab me.  I settled with a basic stocking stitch but after about 50 rows it was evident that the ss was not going to work.  The scarf kept twisting into a circular tube which was making me crazy. Back to the drawing board


That's when I found it.  The pattern originates as a neck warmer which was far from a long scarf, but it was the stitch that drew me in.  Almost cross stitch like in appearance it really showed off the varigated beauty of the wool.   I cast on 20 stitches instead of the prescribed 30 and worked the pattern for a full skein.  Though at times it felt like the scarf was never going to end, sure enough it did and the finished measurement was 177.08 cm, as long as me. Now I need to get busy making something to keep my fingers warm.  Have a great day!

babes and birthdays

My baby girls turned 4 years old earlier this month.  It's hard to believe they are that old already. This mumma still remembers the days when they were teeny tiny, cozily sharing a bouncy seat while I subjected them to photo upon photo to capture their cuteness.



and oh how cute were their feet...toe lint and all ?




Those same precious feet have taken them on many a journey over the past 4 years.  Exploring, discovering, running, playing and so much more.  Including their latest adventure.



The dance.    




Miss A and Miss J are taking dance classes.  Ballet, tap and jazz.
Movement and motion for two wee girlies who have kept this mumma in
motion since their arrival. 

We'll be in motion this weekend as we head off across the border for a few days of R&R and home renovation escape.  Hope you find some time to relax too!  Happy Weekend.  xoxo

because you asked...

I got an invitation to join Ravelry last year and put if off for quite a while until the spring rolled around and then it got quite addictive.  I barely managed to upload any of my own projects before I got sucked into the wonderful world of patterns, yarn and knitty chit chat.  So many things to knit and look at, so little time.



Back in June while perusing the site for cute summer dress patterns for the girls I stumbled upon a few suitable designs but didn't think I'd have enough time to whip off two complete head to toe knitted dresses given our busy summer.  Enter the Summerlin by Kathryn Ivy.



It's a dual track project with a some sewing required.  Good for all skill levels and depending on what you desire you can make dresses or tops by keeping your fabric long or short.  Next time around I'd like to give the tops a whirl but first I'll have to convince my dress loving girls about that option. 



Louisa Harding's Nautical Cotton was the yarn of choice in colors pink and sky.  The fabric is from my Kaffe Fassett stash with eyelet fabric for a ruffle. 



Miss A & J really loved wearing their dresses all summer long and now that the weather is so quickly changing here to cooler days the pictures will remind me of warmer days gone by.

operation renovation

Our
home is a bi-level situated on a lake just inside our city limits. 
When we first saw the home my hubby Paul was in awe of the backyard. 
My first impression was "yeah, the yard is great, but we won't be
living in it all year round."  Sooner or later we have to go indoors, I
mean this is Canada after all and the winter is long and cold, and the
indoors well, they weren't so hot. 

(picture above is from the realtor's website)

After owning 2 homes and doing
renovations in both neither Paul nor I wanted another fixer-upper, but
our options were very limited.  Buying brand new would mean (I would)
re-enter the work force full time and my kids lives would dramatically
change from our home schooling rhythm.  This was clearly not the right path for us, so after viewing about 40
different homes and seeing the endless work
involved in many of them, the ducky house was starting to look
really
great! 

While it feels like there is tons of work
in the ducky house, it is mostly cosmetic.  Structurally the house is in good shape,
just in desperate need of updating as much of the house has stayed in it's
original design, circa 1978.  Our fixed income means that most of the
updating will happen via our own hands during the free hours.  disclamer: as a home schooling mum of 4 with a hubby that works full time (& then some), I'm starting to wonder if "free time" is a big ol' contradiction.  And because I'm all about keeping it fun,  I'll be journaling the things that we accomplish along the way as an encouragement for me and the mister,
and for many of you who find themselves in the same
situation.  Of course it should go without saying that I will still be sprinkling the posts with crafty goodness & family adventures.  I don't think I could manage without a bit of a reprieve here and there. 

40 things

I was planning a completely different post but thought it would be fun to reveal forty facts about me to add to the celebratory nature of my new decade. 

1. I live in the same city I was
   born in.


2. I have 12 older brothers and
   sisters


3. I am the tallest in my family,
   above everyone, female and male. I’m 5’10”


4. I live in a 4 season climate
   but dream about living where there is no snow


5. I love all things Christmas:
   decorating, baking, decorating, eating, decorating, family, etc


6. I find it easier to stay up
   late then get up early but I'm working hard at changing this.


7. I've been married for 15 years
   to Paul


8. I lived in Scotland for the first 6 months of
   those years.


9. I would love to live in Japan if only for the fabric and
   zakka.


10. I don't do the phone, though at
    times I really should!


11. I drink one cup (usually) of
    very strong coffee in the morning


12. I think I am allergic to yeast.


13. I home school my children


14. I have co-slept with my
    children


15. In fact while we renovate the
    ducky house they are all sleeping in our room


16. I’ve given birth to 5 children


17. My first baby was a girl and
    she died one hour after she was born. 
    I named her Hope because I felt so hopeless. 


18. One week before she was born I
    had a dream that something was wrong. 
    I phoned my doctor and he sent me to see a neo-natal specialist who
    confirmed my worst fears that something was wrong.  She had trisomy 13.


19. I opted not to do genetic testing.


20. I've been forever changed through that experience and it has greatly altered my perceptions on life, how I parent, etc.
    


21. Two months after Hope died I
    found out I was pregnant with my first son.


22. Around the same time I said to
    my family “wouldn’t it be great if God gave us twin girls one day?”


23. Son number two came a couple
    of years later


24. And the twin girls followed a
    few years after that.


25. I believe in God


26. I think God believes in me too.


27. I am extremely grateful to be
    raising 4 energetic & healthy children.  


28. I am an extended breast feeding
    mumma


29. I have nursed each of our
    children for over 3 years


30. I tandem nursed the twins. 


31. Though
    I think we are done having children (naturally) I always joke around
    to my hubby and say that
    there is one more little boy inside of me waiting
    to get out, he gets scared when I say
    this. 


32. Seriously
    though I would love to adopt Chinese twin girls.  I think I’m a
    great candidate after all
    I have all the twin paraphernalia plus I’m
    already used to being
    tired.   


33. I am a simple girl in a complex
    sort of way


34. I want my life to reflect that
    philosophy.


35. I play piano and have been
    classically trained for a number of years. 


36. I think I suck at piano now and
    would really love to learn the cello.


37. I love reading and usually fall
    asleep with a book in my hands, my hubby wakes up and turns off the light.


38. I secretly would love to be a
    farmer & to grow my own food. 


39. then I watch Little House on the
    Prairie and I am happy for my central heat & grocery store. 


40. I starting taking yoga to help
    me, take care of me, so far so good. 

 

(photo outtakes from this past year)

New house, new virtual house, new hair do and now new information...whew, I can't take it, I'm such a party animal.

welcome

If you are reading this then you made it over. Welcome to my new home.  I hope you like your visit and find some inspiration here or at the very least something to read while you are drinking your morning, afternoon or evening coffee.  So why the move you ask?  I blame it on the house move.  Our new surroundings are chalked full of nature, water and more nature.  My twin girls have aptly named our new homestead the "ducky house" and can not speak about our home without first mentioning the "ducky house," so why fight it.  New house, new virtual home, it all makes sense to me.

Did I forget to mention last month that I turned 40?  Whoa, the start of another decade, that feels like a momentous change to me.  And what better way to celebrate than to chop off those locks and start with a new 'do.'  I noticed that I was slipping into that "always in a ponytail" hairstyle.  After a while I was trying to figure out what exactly was the point of all that hair if I wasn't going to let it be free (moving plus home renos can be really hard on the style ritual you know).  The obvious solution:

:: before ::

  

:: after ::

I haven't had serious layers since the 80's.  So far I'm liking it and as long as I get up in the morning and do the style thing I should be safe from looking like the school bus driver lady. 

I'll be back with more on the 'ducky house' and stuff.  Oh and one more thing, don't forget to change your links to my new blog address, ttfn.

change is coming

Hello there!  It's been awhile hasn't it?  I'm still here.  Been keeping myself busy with the summer, the kids, the house and other things that are pulling my attention away from the computer.  Life really can get in the way of my virtual life sometimes *wink and well, you've been on my mind a lot lately.  I've been missing this
blogging community, the updates and all that this world entails.

But something has changed.  I can't quite put my finger on it yet, but something has change and so I know I will be making some big changes over the next little while with my blog and other aspects of it. Stay tuned and check back early next week for the first installment.  Until then, xoxo