CHANGE OF PLANS!

Today we were supposed to be taking a group of knitters who are on a retreat here on the Island out for a cruise -- but night before last, when we were recovering from taking the *last* group of knitters out, we got a call from our oldest grandson, Joshua. He graduates from high school today in Qualicum Beach -- and traditionally, there are only 2 or 3 tickets available for the ceremonies, so we never imagined we'd get any. He got tickets for us! So we are off on another road trip -- a MUCH happier one than the last one! Jason is driving up from Victoria, we're picking Hailey up at the Nanaimo ferry, and commencement starts at 12:30 pm. (Mischa, being a single mom, can't afford to take the day off, unfortunately, especially with such short notice).

Back tonight!
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CRAZY WEEKEND

All my Friday plans went without a hitch and we made it to Parksville by supper time -- picked up deli food and went directly to the beach! The tide was way out, but it was still lovely . This old stump has been on that beach for at least 40 years. And here's a little tidbit of information ... some of you may not know that we lived in Parksville for many years. In fact our kids went from being little kids there to leaving home. Our home was behind the trees on the centre-right side of this photo (we couldn't see the ocean, but it was only about two blocks away).

 This sailboat was anchored out in the bay...

David's memorial went as well as memorials can go, I suppose. His parents were there, and about 40 friends from the Nanaimo area. If he had lived another 6 days he would have been 24 years sober in AA -- so we gave him his 'birthday cake' (a tradition in AA) and Michael and I spok, briefly. This isn't a great photo, but here's David (in the red shirt) with his old band members Angela and Mike:

Yesterday I had another yarn sale at our friend Carol's farm, along with Ann, a knitter friend here who owned a mail-order yarn store several years ago. Here's some of my stash:

 And here's Ann and Carol admiring her stash:

Came home completely exhausted, but at least two huge totes lighter than I went with, so that was good! But two other things were the best part of the day -- first of all, Carol and Jan's friend and neighbor Christian entertained us for awhile on his sitar... 

 ... and then I saw this beauty:

It's an old cart (probably 150 years) made of wood and wicker, of all things! Isn't it gorgeous? 

Today I'm doing nuttin' but knittin', I can tell you that! This morning I'll be curled up on the chair at home, and this afternoon I'll be at the Rock Salt. Oh ... I was finally able to separate out the sleeves on the top-down sweater, whoo-hoo ...

... and I still love it!

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ROAD TRIP

Tomorrow morning is our friend David's memorial in Nanaimo so we are going up-Island today - between the ferry and the drive, leaving tomorrow morning will be too stressful. We'll spend the night at my sister Julie's in Parksville and then drive back right after the event, because I have to set up for a Sunday YARN SALE I'm having here on Salt Spring -- the last of my stash from the Victoria storage came back here with me but it's got to GO!

So we have a busy day ahead .... dude-of-the-dog-hair-vest is coming at 9:30 a.m. for a fitting, then I have a Welcome Wagon visit en route to the Vesuvius ferry. Then we'll arrive and get in the line-up in plenty of time to walk down the dock and have a quick visit with Mike, who is on the Harbour Authority wharf there for a few more days... this was taken day before yesterday when we went to meet him as he came in. (This guy is 79 and probably shouldn't be out there cruising alone -- but he's not quite ready to give up the lifestyle just yet!)

Anyway, then we'll be on a 12:35 ferry which takes us to Crofton on Vancouver Island, and then it's probably an hour's drive to Parksville.

Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it! Oh, well, lots of knitting time for me...  :-)
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NOTHING TO REPORT ...

... except to note that, on the weekend, we celebrated a year at Roamers Landing -- now renamed Fulford Landing. It's been a full and productive one, but also a great time of healing and looking forward -- no regrets, that's for sure, and we still love it here. Hey, the weather report is even for three whole days of sun right now, for the first time since early May! :-) 

Today we'll head into Ganges for the day, pretty much -- laundry and grocery shopping to do, and we have a little errand to run for our buddy Galiano Mike. He's off circumnavigating Salt Spring, just for fun, in his little powerboat ... 

.. but the nights have been cold, so he's coming in to the Vesuvius dock this morning, and we'll run him in to Ganges to get his propane tank filled, and have brekkie together. I like it when Michael comes to town with me (hardly ever!) because I can knit - I'm working on another top-down sweater, but this time it's a cardigan/kimono, for me, in a gorgeous blue 'slubby' cotton lace-weight 'recycled' yarn: 

(The dog-hair vest came to a dead halt when I realized I'd have to re-design my idea from in-the-round to knitted-flat -- I'll get back to it next week after the recipient tries on the ribbed waistband I salvaged when I frogged it!) 

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A NEW ROAD

Day before yesterday I had a Welcome Wagon visit down a road I hadn't explored since moving here. There was a very old graveyard on both sides of the road, and it was lush and green and freshly mowed and maybe it was because our friend David died in the wee hours of Sunday morning, but I just had to wander a bit...

 But most of the graves looked like this .... illegible and forlorn...

Then, after my visit, I drove to the end of that road so I could breathe...

This is looking south over Booth Bay... and some knitting took place.   :)

Yesterday was our knitting group at the Rock Salt, and Esther helped me figure out that I'll have to knit the dog-hair vest flat rather than in the round, in order to accomplish the design I have in mind. Until I can contact the fellow for another round of measurements, I've cast on a new shawl. . . I know, whadda shame, right?

I have FIVE welcome wagon visits today -- it'll be a long one!  

MY WEEKLY POST

Ack! I really don't mean to only be posting once a week -- life keeps getting in the way!

Well, life and knitting. I FINISHED the Lighthouse Shawl .... 2000-odd yards and a few hundred hours of knitting later! It's stunning ... 6' across already. I haven't blocked it yet because I'm going to have to do it on the 'cabin' roof -- I have no space big enough inside, so I need a warm, sunny day to make sure it dries. Here it is looking like a tablecloth on Esther's dining room table - I stayed with her last week while I was at my Welcome Wagon training in Victoria, and THANK GOD Esther happens to love tucking in ends, because there were dozens of them. Thanks again for everything, Esther!

Some time in the past week or so, Michael and I had lunch at Harbour House in Ganges -- the view out over the harbour is the best!

I got to watch this lovely mute swan family the next day ... great way to pass the time while knitting and doing laundry!

 

Yesterday we had to make a quick trip to Nanaimo to visit David, an old friend (who is not old!). He has been fighting cancer for a year or so, and called us from the hospital on Friday night. He may only have a day or two left so I'm glad we went, even though he was unconscious for our whole visit. Waiting at the Crofton ferry terminal, our heavy hearts encountered a little bit of comic relief -- check out what appears to be the driver of this moving van!

On the way home we had time to stop for a bit of a picnic at the little park overlooking the Crofton marina  ...

After I finished the Lighthouse Shawl, I cast on for a little top-down sweater -- it's for a local charity knitting project, and I haven't done a single thing for charity since I moved to Salt Spring. I'll be finished it today -- just the bottom ribbing on the body and about 4" of sleeves to go. The (acrylic) yarn was given to me, and I'll probably use every yard of it - the sweater is a size 8.

 Next project is the dog-hair vest I was commissioned to do some time ago ... I promised it for the end of August, so I'll be casting on this morning so I can work on the bottom ribbing at the Rock Salt this afternoon.
 :)

MONDAY MORNING

Last week was  a bit of a blur, between the cold (never did go to the doctor, but it's slowly getting better) and rearranging every inch of storage space available to us to absorb the stuff we brought back from Victoria! Then we had the boys this weekend while Mischa went camping with some friends for her birthday. 'The boys' this time included another little guy named Gabriel, so we had three of them here. :-) Good thing we have a large paved parking lot ...

Work on the never-ending lighthouse shawl continues... although I *do* see a light at the end of the tunnel! I'm determined to finish it before tomorrow morning because I'll be going to Victoria for three days again, for Welcome Wagon training, and it's too big to lug!

Knitting circle today at Barb's Buns in Ganges should help....  :-)