OOH.... THE TALENT

Once a year our grandson River's school holds a 'Talent Night' for the students. It's totally fun, and Michael and I are always amazed at the abilities and creativity of these young kids -- from piano playing, to dancing, reciting poetry and magic shows, they're all really quite amazing!

But, of course, our interest is mostly with River, who definitely got the music gene that's in this family. (My mother was a pretty good singer and I play guitar and sing; so does my son Jason, and he also plays piano). River's Dad is a punk rocker, so he's had his own amp since he was about five. He's tried playing both drums and guitar so far, and makes up some pretty good 'rap' songs, too.

But last night he debuted a whole new talent .... beatboxing. If you're not sure what that is, check out this video ... and this one.

I could just kick myself, because I hadn't taken the time to figure out the *video* function on this new camera of mine -- I sure could've used it last night. Riv did a wonderful performance; everyone in the audience totally got into the beat, and loved it!

I had brought my knitting, but didn't even knit a stitch. :)

I'll make up for that at Knit'n'Cafe today, I'm sure.

(THIRTY)THREE BAGS FULL

Remember last year, when I reported being the recipient of many, many bags of raw fleece?


Well, my friendly neighborhood sheep farmer called me again last week -- and once again, I took two trips out to the Peninsula yesterday and brought back the fleece from approximately 40 sheep! This stuff is gorgeous -- it's Corriedale and Suffolk, and some C-S crosses, and it's lovely.

I'll be giving some of it away, we'll be using some at the store for some 'sheep to skein' classes, and I'll be keeping lots for myself -- my new spinning wheel comes home next week!

'WHEN I AM AN OLD LADY..."

I have a story to tell you, but first I have a story to tell you.

Yesterday, "A-Channel," our local TV station, came and did their "A" Morning show all about the store! I didn't get there until about 7:30 a.m. or so, and they were in full swing by then. Here's the two fellows interviewing and filming Stephanie spinning:

They also followed Mahsheed, our felting instructor, while she finished a wet-felting project from beginning to end; interviewed Ryan about his rope-making techniques; and 'panned' us gals in the corner drop-spindling and knitting. It was very cool!

But the story I have to tell you is this.

When Michael and I first met, 31+ years ago, we had a date one night but I'd gotten a bad cold so I cancelled. That evening there was a knock on my door, and there was Michael ... with a lovely potted plant for me. Now, at the time I had no use for potted plants -- they just seemed like a lot of bother. But there at my door was this sweet man with a gift for me .... should I be honest and tell him I don't really like plants? Or should I be grateful for the gift, thank him sincerely ... and learn to like plants?

Well, you can guess...


Now stay with me here. Last fall, I blogged about how much I love crocs. A few days later, a bag appeared on my front porch -- with a brand new pair of bright red crocs in them.

I've never worn red in my life. And I never imagined that I ever would. But these crocs were a gift, and as I found out later in the week, a gift from someone I would never have expected to give me a gift. And as I was looking at them, I thought of that poem, "When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple..."

I have no trouble wearing purple. But red? So at that very moment I decided that I would be grateful for the gift, thank the giver sincerely -- and learn to love red.

I'm not yet an old lady ... but wearing red shoes, with wild red socks, seems like a huge stretch for me -- like something only a crazy old lady who doesn't care what people think of her would do -- so it's been a challenge just thinking about it!

But today is the day I've chosen to publicly honor the gift ...

I'm stepping out! :)

WEEKEND ROAD TRIP

I started the weekend, early Saturday morning, down at Clover Point. I had to teach a class at the store at 10 a.m., but had time to catch this first...

And then this ...

... and the sun was barely up!

After my class we took a 'road trip' up to Qualicum Beach to visit our friends Susan and Sri. We always stop at this look-out on the Malahat (Mountain) looking down over Finlayson Arm (Saanich Peninsula in the immediate background, American San Juans in the haze...) and watched this crane barge coming out from the beach at Bamberton Park.

We (Susan and I) got our butts whipped in euchre, as usual , but Michael and I had a nice time. We slept in yesterday morning and then sat around drinking coffee and chatting, and the time flew by -- our original plans to call my sister and maybe go out for breakfast had to be shelved so we could make our way home yesterday afternoon before dusk.

And what happens when I have nearly 6 hours uninterrupted knitting time in the car? The better part of a new pair of socks, that's what...

Today I'm at the store all day ... starting at about 6:30 a.m., actually, because A-Channel (Victoria's local TV Station) is coming to film! Stephanie invited a few people to just come hang out in the background since it's before the store opens, but she doesn't want it to look empty. Should be fun!

A GOLDEN DAY

Every now and then, to make up for the days when everything goes sideways, I have a day that everything goes so well I'm left in disbelief.

Yesterday was like that. I had an editing job to finish in the morning -- and I met my goal, with time to spare. Then I had to put the finishing touches on a client's website -- done, and not a single glitch.

I went out to run some errands -- in three different places, I found a parking spot immediately. There were no line-ups. One of the errands included some complicated banking for the marina, and I'm always nervous that I don't have all the paperwork in order -- I did.

I treated myself to a latte and drove to Clover Point to knit/meditate. Not a single motor-cycle came roaring through, not a single young male with the car stereo bass blasting (for the sole purpose of vexing my spirit, I swear), not a single child chasing and frightening the birds. Just knitting .... and breathing... and blue sky.... and calm waters.... MAGICAL.

Then I went grocery shopping. I had a loonie in my pocket for the shopping cart (instead of my usual routine of having to park, go in to the hostess to get change, and then come back out to the parking lot to get a cart), the store wasn't out of a single thing I needed, and I remembered to bring my own bags in from the van (instead of remembering, when I'm in the cash register line-up, that I hadn't)!

When I got home I started supper, leisurely put the groceries away, and then even got four more little things crossed off my 'to do' list before dinner.

Magical.

Today I have a few things to accomplish this morning, and then it's off to Knit'n'Cafe. If the day goes *half* as well as yesterday, it'll be a wonderful one! Hope yours is, too...

RED SOCKS

Is it Thursday already? Once again the week has flown by ... busy catching up from being down with that nasty flu bug last week, and I'm still behind on work for clients -- but today I should be completely caught up (she says, with fingers crossed...).

I've had a few lovely moments in the last few days, though. While I was out running errands the other day, I stopped in to my local favorite market, which happens to be right across the street from my youngest daughters' -- where Michael was taking care of Gibson at the time. As I parked and got out of the van, I looked up to see this...

What a treat! They were just going out for a walk and saw me parking, so we had a little visit right there on the boulevard.

(Just in case you've ever wondered about this situation .... Michael is retired, except for our managing the marina, and I'm *not* -- so he takes care of our youngest grandson two days a week while I work. I see Gibson lots, but not as often as Michael does...)

And day before yesterday I took a break from the computer and drove down to Clover Point ... just in time to catch this:


I cast on for a pair of socks the other day, and I can't tell you how much fun I'm having! The yarn is Paton's Kroy (on sale last year at Michael's Craft Store and I bought about 8 skeins of it) in a variegated red. Anyone who knows me knows that I *live* in shades of blues, grays, black -- once in a while, a bit of purple, green or fuschia thrown in if I'm feeling a bit flashy! Well, these socks are bright ....

VERY bright, and can you see how the color pooling is creating a spiral around the foot?

I'm thoroughly amused by all this. Even more shocking -- I think I might wear them.

PLEASE REMIND ME ...

... in October, that I swore I would get the flu vaccine. That would have prevented the last ten days of... well ... NOT FUN ... at my house!

Michael got the bug first, slept with a high fever for two days, hardly ate a thing but still had to stay close to a bathroom for the next two, and is barely getting his energy back now. (He found enough energy to go out and bring me a bouquet of flowers on Saturday, though, bless his heart!) Then last Wednesday I started feeling not so great -- slept for two days with a high fever, have practically lived in the bathroom since, have hardly eaten anything, and have no energy at all.

I think it's safe to say, seriously, that this is the kind of bug that kills elderly folks occasionally, or people whose health is already compromised -- I've never experienced anything like it, personally, and never want to again.

'Nuff said. In October I'm getting the flu shot.

You'd think I'd have lots of knitting accomplished, wouldn't you? Well, I finished the navy blue socks (which were about half-done when I got sick), finished a baby hat to go with the blanket I made a few weeks ago, and did about 5" on another traveling scarf. Oh, yay....




Yesterday our friends Susan and Sri were here from Qualicum Beach, and we were able to go out for breakfast with them to celebrate Susan's Mom's birthday -- I managed a small bowl of oatmeal and yogurt with a little fruit. After resting back at home for a few hours, I even dragged myself down to Clover Point -- I hadn't been out of the house in 5 days, and it was a beautiful spring day!

I took the 'scenic route, for a change, past our Coast Guard station and Ogden Point (where the cruise ships come in)... and saw this:

That's one of those obscene freighters that turns up here 3 or 4 times a year full of rich people's yachts, for which they've paid up to $25,000 to transport sometimes 3/4 of the way around the world to find a new playground.

But this...

...is the new Search and Rescue boat, and she's a beaut! On the right side of the picture is our new Pilot boat, which is lovely, too, but as a recreational boater I'm so impressed with the local (or any) Coast Guard auxiliary -- they raise funds relentlessly so they can put boats like this in the water and then put volunteers in them to go out in all kinds of conditions to save lives like ours when we get in trouble out there.

Finally made it to Clover Point ...

Aaahhhh.... I can breathe again.



I'll be at Knotty by Nature today!