Friday, April 29, 2011

A LOOOOOONG WEEK

First of all, thanks so much to those of you who have called and emailed to see if we are okay ... your thoughts and prayers are still much appreciated!

We are still on an emotional roller coaster here like never before .... from anger to sadness to relief to excitement to.... well, you get the picture. It's been difficult to focus on much, including knitting ... although I have managed to finish two more shawls!
The first one is from ArtYarns; their pattern is called the Beaded Mohair Shawl but I just used a mohair/wool blend from my stash. What it lacks in stitch definition it makes up for in 'cozy!'

The second one was inspired by a scarf worn by Charlize Theoron (?) in the movie 'Sweet November.' It's called the Sweet November shawl but mine is more the size of a scarf -- I like it a lot, though, and I'll probably keep it for myself!

In other news .... we have no other news. We will move from here over to the Inner Harbour day after tomorrow and take 'one day at a time.' We've already had one job interview and we have a couple of leads for other possibilities. Although I make some money writing and editing, and we make some money working for Jason, it's not enough, and the main issue is securing moorage that allows live-aboards and doesn't cost a small fortune. Secondarily it would be a bonus if we could somehow stay here in Victoria but that doesn't seem likely. And ... we continue to struggle to keep our spirits up while we sort it all out.

A few times in the last two weeks, I've been able to get my mind off our current troubles.

When Michael and I drove up-Island for the job interview (a marina caretaking job we decided we didn't want after all -- the owner was a multi-millionnaire but we couldn't pin him down to a specific salary!) we stopped at a nearby boat yard and wandered around. This little pond was at the entrance... (and I have no idea why these photos went grainy)!
Even though Hailey couldn't come over from Whistler after all, we also had a nice Easter dinner at Mischa's, with my sister Julie, Joe, Jason and Kristen, and the boys, of course. Did I remember to take pictures, though? No...

Julie and I also did a little day trip up to Lake Cowichan ... it was a wonderful distraction on a beautifully clear, calm and warm day. We ended up in a little community called Youbou, on the north shore of the lake, that I'd never been to before. We had a picnic lunch in a lovely park near here:
Julie painted this scenery while I knit:
And then we found this waterfront lot for sale (I looked it up when I got home, the price was 'only' $359,000!) and wandered around it:
On our way home to Victoria, we stopped at the Sahtlam River and Stutz Falls:
Then we carried on to Cowichan Bay .... we visited the old abandoned stone church on the First Nation land:

It was a wonderful day away!

Back here at home, my friend Esther had me over for breakfast one morning..... in the midst of the chaos in our lives, I can't tell you what a breath of fresh air this lovely table was:
... and the smiling face of a friend and the fresh scones were pretty great, too!
I still have at least one distracting invitation to 'use up' -- I'll be going to Penny's to play with beads one day soon.

And today, of course, I have Knit'n'Cafe!

3 comments:

Grace said...

i am so glad you posted I have been worrying about you, I love your new shawls they seem so wonderfully inviting!!!

wishing you much luck and keeping you in my prayers!

Esther V. said...

Couldn't make it to knitting today...stayed up ALL NIGHT to watch the Royal Wedding..worth every minute!!
Now I need to have a sleep.
Thanks for posting our breakfast pictures..that was a nice visit. I enjoy one on one visits.
When is "Grace" coming to Canada to visit all of us??

Dina said...

Just wrote you a newsy PM on ravelry that was written before I caught up on your recent blog entries. Wow, life is in upheaval for so many people. I have this overwhelming sense that the world (weather included) is going crazy. I'd like the roller coaster ride to stop, please.

You and Michael are such survivors; I've no doubt you'll weather this storm. Hang in there!
Dina