MASS EXODUS

So the Boat Show ended yesterday, and several hundred boats had to leave town! I watched the 'parade' for about half an hour ...


This military tugboat was 'bringing up the rear' with some sort of equipment on a barge... I have no idea what!

All of which gave me the opportunity to finish the River Rock scarf...

It's not my colors, though, so after I take it for 'Show and Tell' at the Guild meeting on Wednesday, it'll be a gift for someone. It was definitely a fun knit!

And today is a blue sky/sunshine day, so time's a-wastin' .... :-)

BOAT SHOW WEEKEND

The annual boat show took place in the harbour this weekend ... what that means is that millions of dollars of yachtiness takes up all the available dock space to show folks with deep, very deep, wallets what they can own. (I bet no one tells those prospects about the long waiting lists at all the marinas!)

Anyway, it's a bit too glitzy for our tastes -- you need sunglasses to ward off the glare from all that gleaming fibreglass! -- but it was a sunny day yesterday, so we took to the inflatable for a little 'toodle' around the harbour. Here's what we saw en route to the Main Event... Victoria's new fire boat:

A whalewatching boat...

And, of course, the Seattle Clipper ferries:

Then into the harbour... first, the Whitehalls:

Then the fancy inflatables:

And finally, the stars of the show:

And more:




Meanwhile, in my ordinary life, we passed this (MUCH more to our taste!) on the way back to the marina:

And then this went by us later down at Clover Point:

And finally, I finished the River Rock scarf... DONE picture tomorrow!

FRIDAY

Yesterday Joan Schrouder and her students joined us for Knit'n'Cafe, so it was a pretty rousing afternoon! I didn't get any pics but a few others did, and I'll see if I can get my hands on them to post here.

They're off to 'Knit Through the Rockies' today, and even though it was a blast hanging out with them the last few days, I'm also glad to get back to my routine -- which, this weekend, needs to include updating the Victoria FibreFest website (less than two months to go!), and going to the big Boat Show on in the harbour today and tomorrow.

Late yesterday afternoon I was down at Clover Point 'unwinding' from the day, and spotted a whale-watching boat about a mile off-shore. Sure enough, there were orca! Probably about 6 or 7 of them (transients, I'm pretty sure, as opposed to local resident orca), traveling slowly in circles from west to east -- they were too far away to get decent pictures of, unfortunately, and they soon disappeared into the mist off the south end of Trial Island. What a treat on a beautiful spring day!

(This image is from an old file of photos I had from years ago, not from yesterday -- but the biggest fin sure looked the same out there on the horizon!)

I'll leave you with a lovely picture I took yesterday morning of this tug and barge full of equipment about to go into Enterprise Channel (click on it to 'embiggen,' as the Yarn Harlot says!)

A KNITTERLY DAY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Wednesday is always the Victoria Knitters Guild meetings, and some meetings are definitely more interesting than others!

Yesterday, first of all, we were an attentive audience...


It was because we had Joan Schrouder as our guest, and she brought her trunk show...


I have a new camera that I'm not used to yet, so these pics are not great ... but I hope you can see, in that trunk show, entrelac, lace, Fair Isle, cables, intarsia, and freeform knitting -- and there was more!

After Joan's presentation, Mavis, our host, showed off her collection of Jean Greenhowe dolls -- she has 11 grandchildren, and they're each getting one.

I had also brought along an item I haven't told you about yet...

When I was on Salt Spring Island last week, my friend Susan presented me with a knitted gift. It is made from Salt Spring Island wool, prepared, dyed and hand-spun by Susan .... and then the pattern was designed and knit by none other than Lucy Neatby!

But I gotta tell ya ... just my opinion... it's about the ugliest piece of art I've ever seen. It's a poncho, size gigantic, in neon/primary colors, and I have no idea what on earth I'll do with it. I think it'll become a 'mascot' of sorts for the FibreFest! Here's Eva modelling it ...

The piece probably weighs almost 10 pounds! I'm waiting for Susan to get back from her holiday to get 'the rest of the story', and when I do, I'll fill you in.

"TAGGED"

I was tagged by Grace from Lovin Comfort Knits to do a "meme".

What on earth is a 'meme?', you ask? Well, I asked, too, a few weeks ago when I saw the term for the first time... and here's what I found:

"A meme is an idea, or a particular way of thinking about what an idea is. A meme is a unit of mental information in the same way that a gene is a unit of biological information -- a metaphor of an idea as a transposon, a pattern of thought as a virus, a knowledge structure as a chromosome. Memes compete to spread their information though a social population in the same ways genes compete to spread their information content through a biological population."

Hmmm... well.... ok, but my idea of a meme is that they're kind of fun.

Here are the rules:

1.When tagged, place the name and URL on your blog.
(Just did that).

2.Post rules on your blog.
(That's what you're reading right now).

3.Write 7 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

- I play guitar and sing (and have written) songs.
- I chew my fingernails.
- I hate cooked spinach. And scrambled eggs.
- I love road trips with Michael.
- I will never, EVER, take a sip from someone else's water bottle or cup of tea, or sample a bite from someone else's fork. (It's my contribution to germophobia, what can I say?)
- I'm a magazine fanatic. I have almost as many magazines as I have skeins of yarn.
- When my foot is on the gas pedal, it's really only my toes - I watched my mother drive like that for years, and didn't even realize I'd adopted that position until recently.

4. Name 7 of your favorite blogs.

The Nautical Knitter
Lovin Comfort Knits (Grace's blog, as above!)
'Rocks, Waves, Beach'
Homefree
The 'Guernsey Gal'
Cass
The Sailing Knitter

5.Send an email comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged.

I'll do that as soon as I'm done posting this!

And since this post doesn't include any knitterly news so far (sigh... still working on the blue Elite shawl and the River Rock scarf) or nice local scenery pictures, I'll leave you with this view ... until next time!

DOLDRUMS ... and no doldrums

In another swap, 'Defeat the Doldrums,' my secret pal didn't come through, so once again I was assigned an angel... and here's what she sent me today!

Wow, this was a great package... a lovely dishcloth that's too nice to be a dishcloth, a pair of beautiful wooden needles, a skein of Cherry Tree Hill cotton, sticky notes and homemade soap, Starbucks coffee beans, a lovely little sheep-laden drawstring bag (the perfect size for a skein of yarn and small project), and of course, chocolate. Very impressive!

Oh ... I forgot to include in the picture an adorable little sheep whose legs can be 'pulled!' Pics tomorrow...

It was a gorgeous sunny day so we went for a dinghy ride and ended up at Fisherman's Wharf -- the world-famous Barb's Fish n' Chips -- for supper ...

This dude stood guard over our dinghy the whole time we were eating...

And this was our view this evening...


In knitterly news, I'm working on the blue shawl I started a few weeks ago, and with frogging and knitting, I think I'm up about 4 stitches today. Oh, and I *have* made progress on the River Rock scarf.

All in all, a lovely day!

THE LIPTON CUP

In a tradition that dates back to 1899, depending on what source you're reading, the annual Sir Thomas Lipton Cup got underway just off Dallas Road yesterday morning, just as I arrived. It looked like about 20-odd boats milling about the start line ...

And then the start gun sounded, and the spinnakers were raised as the boats scuttled for position across the start line ...

And they were off, on a course from Ross Bay (the start) out around the Constance Bank marker, back to Ross Bay, across the waterfront to Brotchie Ledge, and back to the finish at Ross Bay -- a 12 mile course that would take up to 5 hours.


There was a sweet little red boat well in the lead when I left at about the 1.5 hour mark. It was a perfect sailing (and knitting!) day on the water!

THE COCOA SWAP/A VISIT FROM 'ROV'

Several weeks ago, I participated in a small 'cocoa swap' organized by my pal Grace, but I never got a parcel from my assigned 'partner,' so day before yesterday, this came in the mail ...

Grace put this together for me... she's one of the most generous bloggers I know! I have here two of her 'signature' dishcloths (or 'hot mats' or potholders), lots of hot chocolate that River and I will enjoy, the cutest little knitted bunny I've ever seen that Gibson will enjoy, and some herbal teas that *I* will enjoy!

I'm sorry my partner didn't come through, but I'm not sorry to get a parcel from Grace, it was lovely.

I keep meaning to blog about our ROV visit, so since I have no knitterly news to report, now's a good time!

Some folks we know brought their ROV by the other day for us to play with.

Remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) are unoccupied 'underwater robots', highly maneuverable and operated by a person aboard a vessel. They are linked to the vessel by an 'umbilical cable' which carries power, video and data signals back and forth between the operator and the vehicle.

That's the technical description, but here's what actually happened... Chris set up his laptop in the cockpit of our little sailboat next to the Wind Walker, and then he lowered ROV into the water.


Those blobs you see on the screen are actually sea anemones growing on what's left of an old steel whaler wreck (from about 80 years or so ago) under our docks. ROV amused us for about an hour touring the wreck!

I don't think I'll be buying this 'toy' anytime soon, though ... apparently they retail for about $20,000!

THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG HERE

I know I've blogged about these freighters before, but I can't help it ... I just find them fascinating in their own right (think about it.... a freighter that carries private yachts, sometimes half way around the world? what's up with that?), and especially when there really are millions of starving children all over that same world?? I asked a guy who'd had his 40' sailboat shipped from Mexico a few months ago about it, and he said it cost him $12,000! Just to bring his big toy to a new playground!

Ok, don't get me started (I know, I know, it's too late...) - look at some pics. So the 'little' boat in the water on the left (with the slings just coming off) is actually about a 40' yacht.

Now watch the next one being lowered into the water -- it's probably a 50' yacht.




Even the whale-watching boat has come in to check it out.

Now look again at that last picture ... directly above the first boat that was lowered into the water. That's a privately-owned catamaran sitting up there, probably about 80 - 90 feet long. We have commercial 'foot-passenger' Seattle-bound ferries here in the harbour that are only a few feet longer!

I went by again later in the day, and caught this cruise ship leaving the harbour in about a 30-knot wind ...


Lots of errands to run this morning so I can 'reward' myself with Knit'n'Cafe this afternoon!

MOONSHADOW

It seems amazing to me now that I had so much trouble with this shawl the first time I tried knitting it. Took it off the needles, looked away for as long as I could stand (about 3 days, I think) and cast on again -- only to have the easiest time ever.

This is my son's friend Nicola, who makes a much better model than me -- and the shawl is not blocked yet, but I couldn't stand to wait any longer to get some pictures.



I need to buy a white top now -- I don't own one, and that's what it takes to show off the design on this stole. And I plan to wear it -- a lot!

A NEW TUG IN TOWN .... and other odds 'n' sods

Seaspan has added to its fleet here in the harbour ... not sure if it's new, or just new to Seaspan, but it's a prettier boat than any I've seen so far!

I was knitting at Clover Point the other day when I heard a tap on my window -- it was my friend Bev from the Guild, and she and her hubby were in the very next car!


Marj and a few others have mentioned knitting at Clover Point, too --- maybe we'll start a summer knitting circle there! :-)

When I went there this morning, I was just in time to watch some sort of sailing regatta coming out of Enterprise Channel ...

It was a busy day on Juan de Fuca!

At 4:00 we drove Mischa to the ferry for Vancouver - she has a hair show to attend and then she's going to her sister Hailey's cabin in Whistler to 'chill out' for a few days. Yesterday was like a summer day, so after we dropped her off, Michael and I went to a local (Sidney) market, bought our 'dinner' and headed for the nearest beach...

... which had a view of the Anacortes Ferry dock, and across the channel, Sidney Spit -- lots of boats at anchor this weekend!


In knitterly news, I've FINISHED Sivia Harding's Moonshadow Stole, and I love it, love it, love it! I'll get some pics today if I can (unblocked ... that'll happen this week some time). Now I'm going to start on her River Rock Scarf (which may be for an exchange 'secret pal'-- I haven't decided yet) and get back to a blue shawl I started a month ago.