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I'm keeping up with the running...although it's pretty icy here right now, so I am very grateful for our second hand running machine in the basement. I saw this today on pinterest - so true! Just the bit of motivation I needed to keep going to week 3!
Yesterday I made my cards and gift tags in preparation for Christmas. I'll just gloss over the fact that I haven't done any shopping or making of actual gifts yet. Since I started this blog four years ago (I can hardly believe that it's been that long), I have stuck with the same simple and classic colour scheme of red, white and linen for all things Christmassy. I mulled the possibility of switching things up a bit for some time before cutting, stamping and gluing this year's cards.
This is not one of those charmingly named barf-o-lanterns. This is what a squirrel did to my son's pumpkin this afternoon. Gross, but kind of funny too.
So my 30 day dress better challenge only really lasted 7 days having been hit with a nasty cold (still coughing), a weekend away and the realization that I'd worn pretty much everything that fits me and is seasonally appropriate by day 7. I'm not sure that I have it in me to go down the daily posting/photo taking route...as tempted as I am to jump on the NaBloPoMo jumpwagon, I don't think I'd make it past week one.
So here I am, relaxing in my yoga pants finally having succumbed to pinterest. I was holding off knowing that it was just another major internet time suck but the number of visits here via pinterest plus the convenient to be able to save things away in one place have finally broken down my resolve. Of course, it's utterly awesome.
Tricoter = to knit
I am back at school two mornings a week trying to improve my conversational French . My first assignment was a five minute presentation on a useful habit I have. I chose knitting because, although I've only recently got out my needles again since a break in the summer (note to self: knitting socks at the pool during 40C weather leads to many mistakes and eventual frogging) I am in love with the idea of knitting. I think it's the ultimate hobby. Here's a rough translation of what I tried to say (with far fewer mistakes in this version I suspect):
It's creative - let's face it, to the uninitiated making anything wearable out of wool is impressive and most importantly, unique.
It's challenging -I love the accomplishment of working out how to do a new stitch. I'm very nerdy like that. I finally worked out how to do a twisted rib on a sock cuff this week. It only took me two years.
It's deceptively easy - all that K2, SSK, K2tog, K3 YO K1 stuff is actually very straightforward once you're brave enough to just have a go. I know many accomplished knitters who are scared of knitting in the round and I can fool them into thinking that I'm extra smart because I once watched a youtube video that showed me how.
It's relaxing - I really switch off when I knit and find it very useful when I want to be distracted from the mundane things in life like cooking dinner, helping children with homework etc. It never ceases to amaze me how long you can get away with "Just a minute, Mummy just has to finish one more row...".
It's practical - you can knit virtually anywhere (although not at an outdoor swimming pool during a heatwave - see above), I have knit at the skating rink, on the bus, in the car, in the Dr's office, waiting for my tires to be changed to name a few.
I could have added something about how special it is to give someone a knitted gift but I didn't because as I have previously alluded, I am a selfish knitter and keep it all to myself thank you very much.
On the needles so far, are these socks and this cowl. What about you?
In my five years (really, I can't believe it's been that long!) of living in Quebec I have to say I have come to enjoy each very distinct and sometimes extreme season. Apart from Spring that is, which i find is a bit of a muddy anti-climatic meh! Autumn is by far the most spectacular from a breathtaking visual perspective...it's my favourite time of year to take photographs too. (Some of last year's best pictures are here ).
We're about to hit prime leaf peeping season over the next few weeks and we're hoping, weather permitting, to take a family hike every weekend until the end of October to soak up la flambée des couleurs. Week one was in Mont St Hilaire, an hour's drive for us south of Montreal. The children quite happily managed a two and a half hour steep hike in perfect 21C weather - you can just see the foilage starting to change here.
Not much sign of any autumnal weather here yet (I'm in no rush) but we marked the beginning of fall with an apple picking trip today. 32lbs of apples (a mix of Courtland, McIntosh and Spartan) ready for some sauce making. I'm also canning tomatoes again this week - I'm looking forward to filling a shelf or two with some homemade goodness - I take my role of domestic goddess very seriously these days!
Day time temperatures have been consistently above zero since last week. The sunshine has been pretty glorious so far this weekend and we managed a little outside picnic on our deck today while listening to the birds singing. I even opened the windows briefly for a little fresh air for the first time in goodness knows when.
Spring is arriving right on time.
Let's keep it real though, there's still quite a way to go. My somewhat optimistic attempt to dry washing on the line resulted in frozen bed linen and there's at least a foot of snow still on the ground!
Yesterday was my first day back at work since just before Christmas. As a reward for getting through my Monday blues I promised myself a quick post work trip to the thrift store. I picked up a milk glass vase (to add to my growing collection) straight away and then I circled and circled for a while just knowing that there was some little treasure waiting to be found. That's often the way I find when it comes to hunting down something special.
I had all but given up and was heading to the checkout when I saw these little coasters on the bottom of a shelf full of knick knacks.
Glass coasters covered with doilies, calling out my name, for a song. A good start to the week I'd say.
Of course one quick doily fix wasn't enough. Once I’d broken into the doily stash, the temptation to use more was overwhelming and my resolve weak. I needed more, much more. I needed a whole curtain of snowflake doilies to keep me satisfied. A perfect, Martha inspired Christmas/winter project for these big patio doors in my kitchen where the sun streams through this time of year.
It’s quite magical and casts the prettiest shadows.
And what the heck, I even made a doily bowl too.
I'm in deep. Doilies anonymous anyone?
Note: I stiffened my doilies with a homemade solution of 1 cup of Epsom salts (I paid $5.99CAD for a huge bag of salts at the pharmacy) dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water. I soaked each doily thoroughly in the solution, patted off the excess with a towel and left them to dry overnight. The best thing about this little concoction is that it’s a temporary stiffener and completely washable outable.
No doilies? You can buy your own DIY snowflake kit here:
More doily love here.
Along with vintage buttons and sheets, I have amassed quite a sizeable collection of doilies through thrifting and swaps (thank you Imene!). They’re prized possessions and only a few of them have actually ever been used.
Until now.
Claudia recently posted about this simple but perfect tutorial which, when I read, made me drop everything I was doing and run for my doilies immediately. It was one of those mad multi tasking moments which involved a glue gun, surfing in the net, cooking dinner and helping children with homework all at the same time... it was just like a primal urge and I couldn’t stop myself from making them right there and then.
I can't tell you how pretty these looked last night on my mantlepiece.
If doilies were a drug then this little project was a perfect quick fix to feed my habit.
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