STILL IN VICTORIA

Yesterday was a long but productive day ... I met Julie and Robert for brekkie, and then got all my shopping done and errands run before the boys got out of school. (And Julie got good news ... her treatment is working, yay)!

When I picked the boys up we discovered that Gibson's skateboard had been left in Mischa's van - and I don't have the keys. So instead of going to the skateboard park (the #2 activity choice for these two, the #1 activity being playing with something electronic... sigh...), we opted to go for a long walk out on the Victoria breakwater. Here's what it used to look like...

Here's an old photo of it from the air...

It juts out into the Juan de Fuca for half a mile! During the past two years, Victoria's First Nations have painted an amazing mural along the inside of it, and last year the municipality installed gaurd rails all along to make it safer. Here's what it looks like now...

We didn't make it quite to the end because there was a cold wind off the water, but it was fun, anyway. River and Gibson are so funny ... they were absolutely certain a walk on the breakwater would be 'borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrinnnnnnnnng' - but from the minute we stepped onto it, they had fun. Now, if only I had thought to bring the USB cable for my camera from Salt Spring, I could show you the pictures *I* took instead of these old stock images!

I'll be getting the boys out the door to school this morning, going for some groceries, and heading back out to the ferry. I love being away, and I love hanging out with my grandsons. And I love going home.  :)

IN THE CITY

I loved Victoria when I lived here ... and, as cities go, it's still a pretty nice one. But I'm sure aware of my rural lifestyle now ....

I drove one of River's friends home last night right at dark, and it was pouring rain .... it was a 5-minute drive and very nerve-wracking. I can drive 10 minutes on Salt Spring and not even see a street light or another car!

This morning I'm having brekkie with Julie and Robert (my sister was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer early this year, and is coming from Parksville down to the Victoria Cancer Clinic today for a 3-month evaluation - she's doing well on an amazing medication, though) and then I have a few errands to run before the boys get out of school at 2:30-ish. I only get over here once a month or so now, so there's always a list of shopping for stuff that's not available on a little island.

And of course, I do hope to get to my old favorite haunt, Clover Point, for some meditative knitting time!

Off galivanting again

I feel like I just got home, but I'm off again -- today my friend India and her sisters are having a big craft sale in Sooke, and since I have to go to Victoria anyway, I'm driving out to see her. India lives in Halifax and this is her annual pre-Christmas visit, so I'm looking forward to having some time with her!

Then I'll be attending the BC Nautical Residents Association AGM this afternoon - seeing some old friends and meeting some new ones. I'll spend the night at Mischa's because tomorrow and Tuesday I'm taking care of the boys while she goes to an industry-related event in Vancouver. I'll have lots of knitting time because the boys are in school all day, so I can work on this test-knit shawlette I just started ...

It's a deep black in real life, with beads along the left side. I'm hoping to finish the baby blanket, too.

My classes at Stitches went great yesterday! I have two beginners in a morning class and six 'intermediate' knitters in the afternoon. But the best part of the day was getting to stare at this in the classroom...

It's an all-fibre wall-hanging that is simply stunning! Would you like to see that a little closer?

Like I said. Stunning.

I found a picture of one of the things I knit over the summer -- it's a 'doily,' technically, although big enough to be a placemat, and if you click on the photo to make it bigger, you'll see that the yarn is a metallic silver -- so this will be an addition to my personal Christmas decorations! It's called the Cross of Cerdanya, and you can buy it, if it interests you, for $2, here! (No affiliation, just love this pattern)!

I also forgot to mention that while I was at KnitCity, I got to interview one of my all-time favorite designers, Fiona Ellis! If you're on Ravelry, you can see some of her designs here but I can't seem to access her website at the moment. Anyway, she's the cable queen of Canada, and she's lovely in person, too!

TEACHING AGAIN

Today is the first day of my classes at Stitches Fibre Arts, one of the two local yarn stores. I'm excited to be teaching again! I have a beginner knitting class this morning (for two Saturdays) and then this afternoon is the start of a 4-week 'Intermediate knitting' class.

Speaking of knitting, I've done plenty since I posted last, in addition to the christening blanket I showed you yesterday. A couple of shawls have been completed, but I have to find the pictures I took -- here's one, anyway:

And I've done a few cowls... my personal favorite was this one, my own design and dripping in beads...

I'm currently working on a circular blanket as a baby blanket for my niece's first baby, due in January. This is my sister Julie's daughter Doneen, and she's having a girl - and she requested red! So I had 14 skeins of this lovely 'slubby' cotton in my stash, and found a vintage doily pattern to start the centre with ....

You can see that it's a flower surrounded by hearts. I improvised after that, and I'm now on the final 6", which is a modified 'feather and fan' pattern. It will be almost 4' in diameter, finished and blocked.

I woke up to lots of rain this morning, but it's been foggy for a couple of weeks now. This was at the harbour authority dock next to the Rock Salt restaurant here in Fulford...

Victoria's sail-training tall ship, the Pacific Grace, was anchored off Russell Island the last time we went out there...

 And this rig came in to do some clean-up of the old broken-up marina next door ...

Tomorrow I'm off to Victoria for a few days to look after the boys while Mischa goes to a conference in Vancouver, so that'll be fun!

IF IT'S NOVEMBER 1st ....

... it must be time for NaBloPoMo! And, in spite of the fact that I'm completely out of the habit of blogging now, I'm foolish enough to try, for the 3rd or 4th year in a row, to blog every day for a whole month. Maybe it'll be just what I need to kick-start the routine again? We'll see ... one day at a time!

For my loyal readers, I'll start by saying all's well in our little corner of the world, in general. That little corner is still Salt Spring Island, we're still afloat, still married, and still sober. I'm still knitting, still loving my kids and grandkids, and still being the local Welcome Wagon person. I still love my life. :-)

Some of the highlights since last time I blogged are:

1. The new anchorage we discovered in Ganges Harbour, called Churchill Beach ...

It's really that beautiful, and just enough 'off the beaten path' to feel like we were alone, and yet close enough to dinghy into 'town' - Ganges - if we needed anything. Watching the dinghy races was fun...

We returned here several times over the summer (it's only an hour's cruise from our dock, so a perfect day trip or weekend getaway) and will again next summer, I'm sure! 

2: Lots of time with our grandsons, of course! They're growing up way too fast ...  

3. A visit from our old friends Ed and Jenn and their family from Alberta. We did a 3-day cruise to Bedwell Harbour with them, and Jenn and I drove up Mt. Maxwell:

4. Several day trips to our old favorite anchorage at Russell Island:

5. Being with Jason for the grand opening of the Victoria Public Market at the Hudson .... Jason is on the board of directors and this project was several years in the making, but will be huge for downtown Victoria!

 

6. Attending the Westcoast Workboat Association's fall rendezvous in Ganges. I've been doing a bit of writing for the Islands Marketplace publication here on Salt Spring, so this was an event I covered... 

 

7. Much knitting has taken place, of course. One of my favorite accomplishments was this christening shawl, done in crochet cotton - it's 4' in diameter! 

8. Just this past weekend I went to Knit City in Vancouver with WEFT Magazine, my not-so-new-anymore west coast fibre-related newsletter -- and then carried on up to Whistler for a few days with Hailey!

Nice of her to wear a toque I knit her for Christmas last year! 

 Howe Sound from a lookout on the way to Whistler...

 A little walk around Nita Lake after lunch with Hailey and her friends...

Okay, that was a looooooooooong overview, looooooooooooong overdue!

Tomorrow... more knitting, and being in the fog.  :)

The 'Romance' of Life Afloat

This is an old editorial column I wrote several years ago, and I was just motivated to re-post it because of a comment from another live-aboard on Facebook. . .

“The Romance of Water”

Picture this: The water is flat calm; the sun, though about to disappear behind some nearby cliffs, is still brilliant and hot. There's not a sound for miles. Our boat, with its generally reliable engine, is 'dead in the water.' We've radio'ed for help, and its on the way. I'm sitting out on the bow watching for our rescuers to round the point to tow us in. Michael appears beside me ... with two identical bowls of key lime pie yogurt sprinkled with a bit of coconut. Smiling, we indulge ourselves in our dessert while we watch the sun set behind those hills. 


Now picture this: We are awakened in the dead of night with the sound of a howling wind, and the strange sensation that we are moving. But we shouldn't be - we were securely anchored in a secluded and protective cove when we went to sleep. With groggy brains and foggy eyes, we peer out through the tiny windows in the aft cabin in an attempt to determine what the problem is. There is blackness all around, and there shouldn't be - there were lights on properties on the nearby shore when we went to sleep. It turns out that we are adrift in the channel outside the cove, and we have to scramble to start the engine, pluck our way back into the anchorage, and re-set our anchor - in a driving rain at 2 a.m. 

Picture this: We've been out for an evening jaunt around the anchorage in our inflatable with our guests - but it's starting to get dark now. Just as Michael is about to turn up the throttle on the Merc to get us back to the Wind Walker, our guests point behind us .... to the full harvest moon coming up over the Island on the other side of the channel. As we cut the engine entirely and begin to drift into the darkness, our guests now point in the opposite direction - where an amazing sunset sits like an autumn-colored blanket across the distant hills. No words are spoken by any of us for several minutes, while the scene around us takes our breath away. 

Now picture this: We are awakened in the dead of night with the sound of a howling wind, and the strange sensation of water dripping onto our heads. Although we are securely tied up in a marina this time, something is terribly wrong. Turns out there's yet another leak in the windows of our old wooden boat, and we need to roust ourselves out of our cozy bed, and tape up plastic baggies in a spot or two to temporarily stop the Chinese water torture one more time. "All in a day's work" when one lives afloat. 

What do all these scenarios have in common? They're all 'part of the parcel' when you live aboard. And we wouldn't trade ANY of them for a day of life back on land - and that, by definition, is the 'romance' of life afloat!

Halllllllooooo out there!

The trouble with not posting to my blog in several weeks is figuring out where to start now!

Let me say right away that Michael and I are doing great, life is great, and there are no major events to report -- a lot of 'same old, same old,' actually. But I do get to live a pretty wonderful life, so my 'same old' is pretty cool! With that in mind, let me recap some 'highlights' since I last posted...

We've cruised out to Russell Island a time or two ... the first time was during the VanIsle 360 sailboat race, so we got to see a few of the participants go by from the anchorage:

 ... and there's no shortage of wildlife out there either -- this pair has a nest at the centre of the island!

... and this poor overworked mama has no less than twelve babies! (Remember that you can click on the photo to see it bigger/closer up).

I finally took the time to visit the Gulf Island Spinning Mill! Here's my friend Carol working with the carder...

 

 ... and Amy preparing roving for spinning

 ... Bob in the background tidying up...

 ... and the spinning machines doing what they do best...

It was a fun afternoon!

Oh, something new did happen for me .... I applied to become an artist at Mahon Hall's ArtCraft, a show that runs seven days a week here in the summer - and I got accepted! Mahon Hall is a beautiful old heritage building in Ganges, and the show (the major project of the Salt Spring Island Arts Council) has a reputation for being pretty high-end - so imagine my surprise when I was one of twelve new artists who got accepted, out of over 60 new applicants, apparently!

So my lace shawls are now on display and for sale. :-) I went to the opening reception (you have no idea how weird it is for me to say those words -- I've never seen myself as an 'artist', much less as someone who goes to opening receptions!):

We have a new yarn store here on the Island, and Pat, the owner, hosted World Wide Knit in Public Day (Pat's on the right) ...

Some of you might notice a familiar icon on the left... I loaned her my 'Neatby sculpture' for the day...

The store is called Elderberry Yarns, and it's owned by the same mother-daughter team that own ElectricTree Yarns in Kamloops. She was only open for a month and then moved to an even better location -- it's a gorgeous store, and I'm hoping to teach some classes there in the fall.

I finally made it up to the top of Mt. Maxwell... the view over Sansum Narrows is absolutely stunning!

I also finally joined the Salt Spring Weavers and Spinners Guild (there is no knitters guild), and I've been to a few meetings. One meeting was a 'dye day' at Mary's house ... her studio was very full of busy people by the time I arrived, so I just observed and took pictures. This one made it into an annual publication called 'A Day in the Life of Salt Spring', published by the local newspaper!

Much knitting has transpired, of course... several more shawls and cowls are done, and now I'm working on CHRISTMAS stuff -- I promise myself every year that I'm going to start early, and I've finally done that!

This post is already too long and I have many pictures of a family cruise we took over the Canada Day weekend -- so I'll try to do another update in the next few days, and then try again to get back on track posting regularly!