A couple of new pictures today. We went to a camp open house last weekend. Collin had a great time climbing and swimming and shooting the bow and arrows. So we signed him up for a week later this summer. This will be after our 5 week stint at Camp Highland Lake. HL doesn't have rock climbing, but the other camp doesn't have a Tower of Death. Pictures of the Tower of Death to follow in later posts.
More beautiful weather here. Daffodils sprouting up all over the place - even on the trails. I'm getting ready to head to Pittsburgh for a week to visit my folks. I'm taking my socks to knit so my mom can show we how it's done. Everyone says it's easy but I don't seem to be able to learn it from the diagrams. As soon as she shows me one time I'll get it - I guess I'm a visual learner. I've taken enough yarn for 2 pairs of socks. We'll see what I can do on the long plane rides. And we'll see if I can update this blog with my folks' dial-up.....(I know, dial-up is so 20th century..) I'm looking forward to getting to Sarris Candies in Canonsburg and inhaling some chocolate covered pretzels. Happy Easter!
It was a beautiful day today. So beautiful that I had to walk to the mall to buy some wonderful Cob's Bread (white brick, sliced thin). Then we walked around Lighthouse Park with the dog. She went crazy in the woods chasing squirrels. Then, after a late lunch (or early dinner?) we walked to get ice cream. And Scout didn't even miss us when we went for ice cream. We haven't left her alone in the apartment by herself too many times cause we don't want her to whine or bark and bother our wonderful landlady. Little by little we're leaving her - especially after a long walk - so she gets used to being by herself. Okay - the weekend's over - back to the grind.
So I went crazy last night. I got to the fun part on the cardigan - putting the sleeves on holders and joining the body. I stayed up until 2:30am just cause I couldn't put it down. And I've already done 4 or 5 more rows this morning before I even had coffee. (I know!!!!) This is going to be one of those days where life gets in the way of my knitting. My son has a meeting with an agent today and I'm trying to figure out how to knit up until the last minute. I shouldn't take it with me, but I might have to. And then it's pizza and games night tonight - is there a game we can play where I can still knit? Hmmmmm.
Yes, this is what happpens during spring break when it's raining and we have too much time on our hands - -- our dog gets a make-over. I think she knows we're laughing at her and not with her. Luckily, she's a good sport. So we took her for a long walk to ease the pain of her humiliation.
I'm taking a break from my felted purses. I have a whole pile that need to be sewn and have their handles attached so I'm starting on a cardigan. I've been working with size 13 and 15 needles for the purses so this is quite a change, working again with 6s and 7s. After this cardigan I'm going to try my first pair of socks, so I'm glad to be getting used to smaller needles again.
Happy Birthday to me!!!! Keith took me to lunch in Deep Cove and this was our view. Lunch was fabulous - I had braised lamb ragout at the spiffy Arms Reach Bistro. Then we walked around a nearby park with the dog. A fun birthday afternoon. Now we get to go pick up my car from it's federal and provincial inspections. I hope it passed!!!
Yesterday was a strange weather day. When we woke up, the sun was shining and it was beautiful. When I checked the forecast though, it said rain (what a surprise in Vancouver!). We drove to Granville Island and wandered around and enjoyed lunch at Sammy J. Peppers. Then we headed to a movie ( The Stone of Destiny - good flick!). When we came out of the movie, it was hailing. Not the hard, icy hail that hurts when it hits, this was more like being pelted with dippin' dots, the no-flavor kind. It finally let up and we finished with a windy walk through part of Stanley Park. In the picture, we live up behind my head, on the left, among those houses going up the hillside. We even had enough time left in the day to watch the incredibly long "Patton". Collin is into WWII so we've been watching all the classics. It's amazing what you can fit into your day if you don't have to go to a soccer game.
This is our crazy mutt after her bath, fluffy and lounging on her Scooby Doo blanket. Why did she get a bath? She rolled in ....oh, let's just say......human waste while we were out walking. Apparently, down by the docks, some guy is living in a tent and Scout decided to pay him a visit. I heard her barking in the woods, which means he was probably there. She was disgusting and barking like a crazy dog when she got back. It was gross. Luckily, Keith hadn't gone to his audition yet and was able to help me get the bath water ready. Poor thing, she had no clue why I was yelling at her. We had to buy her a new collar - even when I put the old one through the wash, it was still very ripe. I guess we won't be going back to that walk for a while. Too bad, it was a nice, easy, flat walk for when I don't feel like tramping through the woods.
It's been crazy - with Collin's birthday, our anniversary, Keith's auditions, my job search, a sick dog....the list goes on and on. Just like every other family, I suspect. Collin and his buds had a great time at the paintball place - there were a bunch of other kids there that were the same age so they weren't outnumbered by the 18-30 year olds. It was raining, so they not only got painted, they got muddy too. Collin got shot in the head and had a big welt for a few days. It was a badge of honor. 
Here's the view we had while we rested during our hike around Lighthouse Park. We sat and read our books while the dog nearly fell off the cliff. It was chilly but warm in the sun while we sat. I could have stayed there for hours reading, but with a restless 12 year-old and a rambunctious doggy, we only managed to stay still for half an hour. 
Whoa, I've been knitting - this is my "to do" pile of purses to finish. They've all been knitted and felted and now they need to be sewn and finished. However, it's sunny here today in Vancouver. I've learned that when the sun shines here you need to take full advantage cause it doesn't happen often. So, I'm gonna take my pooch Scout for a long hike - then I can sit with a cup of tea and start on the pile.
