Jason and Kristen arrived home from Kelowna last night, where they'd gone to celebrate an early Christmas with Kristen's family. Their flight was supposed to be in at 6:55 pm, and since it was kind of threatening to snow, I decided to head out while it was still daylight -- I had a pair of socks 2/3 complete, and could get a bite to eat, and knit and wait.

Jason texted me while I was on the highway en route -- the flight was running late because it was snowing like crazy from Winnipeg to Kelowna, pretty much.

So I ate dinner ... and knitted... and waited...

He texted me at least twice more, with updates.

Their plane finally touched down at 9:17, but I'd finished these by about 8:40...


Doesn't he look happy to be home? :)

They had a great trip, but they were actually glad to be back...

And I was glad to have all that unexpected knitting time -- the Christmas list is becoming more manageable all the time!

It's pouring rain and I'm going to Mischa's this morning to finish all the baking!

IT'S TUESDAY ALREADY?

Where did the weekend go? I know I made it down to the water at least once, because I took this picture of the HMCS Oriole coming back in to the harbour sporting brand new navy blue sail covers.

The ketch-rigged Oriole was purchased by the Navy as a sail training ship, in 1957, for $14,500. She is both the oldest vessel and the longest serving commissioned ship in the Canadian Navy -- in addition to racing, she does lots of 'community service' and was supposed to be in the Carol Ship parade, but she wasn't. Here's a shot of her under full sail...

We went to Penny and Robin's for roast beef dinner on Sunday night -- it was lovely! We hadn't had roast beef in years, probably ... AND ... they play euchre. Not only that, but the GALS won!

Knitting has happened, too, but not a lot that I can show given the time of year. I have, however, been wanting to knit this cloth for a long time:

River was in a fun mood, so he modeled it for me. It's from the 2009 Knitting Pattern a Day calendar (August 12th), and it was totally fun to knit.

We went with Mischa yesterday to take the boys to Santa ... and I got my own pics while they were waiting in line.




Got home after dark, but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... it was snowing!

(That's the 'scaled down' version of the Wind Walker's winning lights -- we have to put the tarp up when it's raining (so some of the bridge lights had to come down after the parade), and one other Christmas tree got destroyed in the wind. The tarp goes up, by the way, because 1) it's not sea water that destroys old wooden boats, it's fresh water -- and because 2) we don't want to constantly mop up the bridge all winter, and 3)it creates a 'porch' for Michael!

The snow's all gone this morning, but it was fun while it lasted.

UP, UP AND AWAY

Yesterday I read this story, so I headed down to Ogden Point to check it out.

Disclaimer: As a boater (on a pretty restricted budget!) who loves to cruise new areas, I am at once fascinated and yet sickened by this practise ... here's what I saw:

So the freighter, which came from Florida, has unloaded several boats here already -- the ones you still see on the deck are staying on for the rest of the voyage, to Singapore, apparently. But see the yacht in the water between the two tugboats? It's going aboard the freighter, and apparently the freighter's cranes weren't able to do the job so this extra barge and crane arrangement had to be brought in from somewhere -- and it's being held in place by the two tugboats. Quite the operation, huh? Here's how it works -- giant slings are lowered into the water by the crane, and then divers go under the boat to secure them. (The yacht, by the way, is about a 70-footer).



The divers get out of the way...

And the crane starts to lift the boat up out of the water...



Then the handlers, on the barge and on the freighter, use ropes to turn the vessel...


... and it gets 'parked' on the deck of the freighter and 'blocked up' for the journey.

All this ... for a mere .... hmm... somewhere around $30,000?

That's a year's income for lots of folks ... which is where the 'sickened' part comes in for me. Yes, I know I have a lifestyle that lots of folks envy, and it *looks* 'rich' -- but we have to make choices every month that will allow us to have the money for that September Gulf Islands cruise that we take -- and it's a 'no-frills' affair when we do go (as you know)!

Anyway, it's entertaining to watch... ...

'TWAS AN ADVENTURE

When the sun set on Friday night, I was looking forward to an eventful weekend, and I sure wasn't disappointed!

On Saturday morning we moved the Wind Walker over to the Inner Harbour so we could participate in the Carol Ships parade. Here was our view when we got into our slip:

There were a few other decorated boats around...

And, as it got darker, the Parliament Building's lights came on...

But before the boat parade, we had another parade to attend -- the Island Equipment Operator's Truck Parade is nothing short of spectacular every year (scroll down to see some photos from last year)! It's been a tradition for River and I to go each year, and this year our friends Penny and Robin joined us, so that was nice!

This was our view while we waited...

And I don't know what sort of camera or camera operator took the pics on the IEO website, but this is what all of mine look like: :)

So back to the boat parade, but by the time we got back down to the boat (where Arica and her partner Jason joined us) the wind was blowing about 30 knots in the harbour. . . it was going to be a wild ride!

Indeed it was ... a sailboat in front of us had their dinghy flip upside down, which made it difficult to control the boat (so they almost 'bought it' on the rocks at Laurel Point right in front of us), and a kayaker lost his paddle and had to be lifted out -- good thing the Search and Rescue boat was part of the parade!

We made it back in one piece, VERY cold and somewhat 'rattled' by the drama around us, but with bellies full of chili and spirits full of Christmas -- at least mine was!

This is what Michael looked like after two days of boat decorating and piloting us in the pitch dark amid 20-odd boats in a 30-knot wind:


I'd love to show you a picture of our boat all lit up ... if I only had one. But suffice to say that it must have looked alright, because WE WON! I think it was 4th prize, but the category was 'Brightest Boat' -- and our booty is a night in a deluxe suite here and a $50 gift certificate for this place! Not bad, huh? (So that's our January anniversary taken care of!)

Participants in the Carol Ships get two nights free moorage, so we took advantage of that AND stayed an extra night because the wind was still blowing on Monday and it would have been difficult to get back in to our slip here in the marina. Sri came for a visit on Sunday, and we went for lunch -- I just loved these decorations in the restaurant:

Did I mention how cold it's been? How about minus six Celsius -- that's 20 degrees Fahrenheit, folks -- this is Victoria, BC, it NEVER gets this cold. But the Wind Walker doesn't have to go all the way to the NorthWest Passage to be an icebreaker -- we had to break out of the ice just to leave the Inner Harbour after two days! Check it out AFTER we got through it...


Yesterday morning I had to drive our son Jason and his girlfriend Kristen to the airport -- they are flying to Kelowna for an early Christmas with her family. So after I dropped them off, I drove to my favorite spot on the outskirts of Sidney...

... and knit until their plane went over my head...


Speaking of knitting ... I almost finished a pair of socks, and I finished the Leafy Hat ...

This hat is a much prettier color than this picture shows .... it's a greenish-grey wool gifted to me from Ruth Stewart, who designed the hat.

I also played with some Christmas coasters...


... which will make perfect little 'stocking stuffer' gifts. I'll be making several more, for sure.

Okay, I've goofed off long enough -- time to get back to work!

INTO THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Christmas?

Love it ... family times, food, the lights, the songs, Christmas afloat, seeing human goodness everywhere ... all of it! And when I get out the decorations every year, the Christmas spirit kicks in and keeps me in some kind of 'glow' until the New Year. It has nothing to do with the commercial aspects -- I'm not much of a shopper, and besides, everyone I know and love knows to expect handknit things, and knows that I don't really care about receiving gifts either.

So that picture is the 'mantel' on my boat looking out past the bow -- and I'm not done yet. Here's our little fake tree...

I've been knitting, too -- mini stockings to fill with gift cards, Hershey's kisses, etc., as little gifts.

Today is Knit'n'Cafe and tomorrow morning we'll be moving the boat over to the Inner Harbour to participate in the Carol Ships parade -- Michael's worked for two days to get the outside lights done, and he's not done yet either!

SPUN NEWSPAPER???

My friend Monica on Mayne Island just sent me the coolest link ever! Check this out... (And keep reading down through the comments for even more ideas, projects, etc)!

I'm going to a spinning circle this afternoon -- I wonder if I can get someone 'way more experienced than me to try this out?

DECORATING DAY

Last night Michael went up to storage and got out all our Christmas decorations, and today is decorating day! I almost always do a 'Winter Wonderland' theme, so my decorations are mostly blue, white and silver...

Traditionally I decorate inside and Michael puts up the lights on the hull -- this weekend is the Carol Ships parade in the harbour, and we are registered to participate, as always. :)

Here's a photo from last year (from the Harbour Authority website):

Got some paid work done yesterday, and I got some knitting done too. I've got about 3" done on the baby blanket (my own 'Window Pane' pattern ... one of these days I'll write it up and get it on here!) and finished one 'slightly-larger-than-mini-mini-stocking' to fill with some Hershey kisses, lottery tickets, etc., for some special folks for Christmas. I'm going to make several of these, but smaller, for various gifts.



I'll post pics of the boat when we're done!