A new year

Happy New Year everyone! Here's hoping that the holiday was good to you.
The holiday was quite good to me.  I got a "woolee winder" to fit on my spinning wheel.  It is a gadget that allows your spun fibre to wind evenly onto your bobbin as you spin it.  I'd heard of this thing but wasn't sure if it was worth it.  After talking to some other spinners who'd either tried or had the woolee winder, I decided to go for it.  DH would have ordered it but, as he said, he has no idea about things like spinning wheels (He did build me another wheel about 30 years ago though).
The winder arrived shortly before Christmas and I did put it to use to ply some of my yarn.

It was great to see my daughter and her family over the holiday.  They are only an hour drive away from us so it isn't as if we rarely see them.  My son had talked about coming to visit but, at the last minute they changed their minds.  He/they is talking about coming for a visit in the Spring which could be a "mommy-appeasement" thing.  I guess we'll find out.

My daughter had mentioned that they wanted to get an easel for our grandson.  They couldn't find one so I got one for him instead.  They set it up for him once their Christmas tree was gone and he loves it.

Did Rembrandt start out like this?

After day after day of rains it was really nice for the weather to change to where you could trade the umbrella for mittens and toques.  The sunsets have been quite lovely.

It's chilly but clear out.  

Pat got a MEC gift certificate toward getting snowshoes.  He carefully researched them and then ordered them shortly after Christmas.  They arrived a few days ago and then he researched tire chains for when we go to Mt. Washington to snow shoe.  We bought the chains earlier today and tried them on the car.
We'll possibly try both chains and snowshoes some time next weekend, weather depending.

I loathe New Year's resolutions since, IMHO they are just meant to be broken so why make them but, I'm really hoping to be a bit more consistent with my blogging this year.  Then again this could just be another resolution meant to be broken. :-)

and more winter

Last Thursday, shortly before leaving for yoga, we had a slight dusting of snow that didn't amount to anything at all.  We joked that this would be it for the winter.  Right?  Well, the snow returned on the weekend causing several problems for my DH who's turn it was to be on the pager.

He got called shortly before 3 a.m. on Saturday morning and was done around 7 a.m.  I wasn't able to sleep so I sat up and knitted myself a hat.  By 6 a.m. I was falling asleep so crawled into my freezing cold bed. 

On Monday I thought I'd be the only person at yoga due to the snow and was pleased to see that 5 other persons came out.  I would have hated to be the only person there although I'm sure that I would have ended up with a customized yoga session just for me.  

On Friday I broke down and purchased an iPhone4.  I was debating putting this purchase off until my contract expired in July 2011 but my old Motorola phone had been dropped so many times that the battery cover didn't fit nicely on the back of the phone unless you lightly twisted the phone.  

Knitting wise all is going well but with the colder weather I keep finding more and more knitting projects to work on.  Then there is Yule and I want to make knitted gifts for hubby and my grandchildren.  

Tomten jacket for my granddaughter and modelled by her big brother.

Naturally I also found a cute shawl pattern to knit for myself and then I stumbled onto a display of pyjama pants at a local fabric store.  I just HAD to buy the pattern along with 3 different lengths of flannel to make myself 3 PAIRS!  Hello!!!!  What in tarnation do I need that many pairs of pyjama bottoms... really?  I've made one pair in size small (too big for me and too short for hubby) and have cut out another pair in xsmall for myself.  The 3rd length of fabric has Betty Boop all over it but I cannot imagine hubby being caught dead (or alive) in a pair of Betty Boop pjs.  

On that note I must sew my jammies, a perfect pastime for this kind of crappy weather. 

Announcing...

P and I are grandparents again.  At 3:35 a.m., October 21st, 2010 my daughter gave birth to:

Camryn Riley, 9 lbs. 1 oz. 

I think her big brother is getting used to having a new sibling around.

Speaking of big brother, he was a little lion for Halloween.  Isn't he the cutest lion you've seen?

As far as knitting is concerned, I've been knitting for my grandchildren plus have projects lined up for Christmas.  I want to make something (Hint: they have heels and toes - and are NOT shoes) for hubby as well as a jacket for my grandson.  My grandson has also requested socks and, according to his mom, he'd also like a toque.  

Of course I've found some more things that I'd like to make for me!  Ah, where to find the time. 

Knitting groups can be hazardous to your wallet

I recently joined a local knitting group that was formed through a Ravelry forum.  The knitters I have met so far are very nice.  The problem is that they have been inspiring me to purchase more yarn and patterns.  Not only that, but the group is a great place for sharing tips and information.  (Plus to prod me to check my blog.  Thanks Shaela!)
Who knew that you could do "Judy Becker's magic cast on" when my usual toe-up socks?  (Thanks Sue).
Of course then I just HAD to purchase more sock yarn to make a pair of socks for my hubby.
Next I had to order yarn for EZ's "100th Anniversary Camp Half-Circle" shawl after seeing another member of the knitting group's version of this.  Of course with a brand new grand-niece plus a granddaughter who is due to make her appearance any day, there has been and still is baby knitting going on.  The items for the grand-niece need to be finished a.s.a.p. since her grandma is heading out to visit her and her parents next week.  The jacket and matching pants I'm making for my granddaughter just need to be sewn up.  The dress I'm knitting for her is a 12 month size.
On top of all that I discovered that I still can spin which led to the purchase of fleece.  In a way I'm pleased that fall is here since summer isn't really conducive to fibre related hobbies plus my knitting tends to get dirty when we backpack/hike during the summer months.
Our grandson is constantly growing.  He is still able to clear out our Tupperware cupboard in record time but is now able to reach the door knob for the hall closet.  It is just a matter of time before he's opening the rest of the doors.  He does know how to slam the kitchen door and he gets quite irate when we open the door to let ourselves back in.
Grandson A also quite enjoys Grandma's knitting projects.  One yoga sock was slipped on A's feet as if it were a pair of deformed pants.  Just imagine a sock without toes and heels.  The space for the heel was like the crotch of the pants and the cast-on and bound-off ends were the bottom hems.  Yeah, you'd have to see it to know what I'm saying.  His mom told me that she finished a crocheted hat for his sister-to-be and A ran off with it.  Cheeky monkey!
I'm actually looking forward to having the little guy spend time with us overnight or for a weekend.  My kids used to spend time with my sister-in-law and her husband.  They'd watch videos, shop, and probably eat junk food.  Whatever they did, they loved it!  I'm not too sure if I'd fill the little guy up with junk food but watching movies and staying up later than at home sounds like fun.
Well, the whole object of this updated blog was to show that I'm still around and I promise pictures soon, possibly of the new grandchild.

where's Summer?

Even though technically it is still Spring around here, the weather has been decidedly soggy and cold.  Where we would have stopped using our wood insert by this time last year and would be spending a fair amount of time outside on our patio, we are still huddling by the fire and it's the end of May!
One thing about the cold is that I'm still inspired to knit.  Usually with the warm weather the knitting needles are put away and I lose any drive to knit anything other than socks perhaps.
Regarding socks, my sock drawer is overflowing due to a mad desire to knit these.  Even P (hubster) and my DD got socks!  Another reason for the sock knitting was that I was side lined for the last 8 months with an achilles injury and unable to hike.
Yesterday I did my first hike with our hiking group and it went unbelievably well, despite the cold and rain. I would show pictures except we didn't dare take the camera out of the pack with all the rain.

Two weeks ago I got my first shipment from the Unique Sheep's "Sip and Stitch: tea" club.  There were four 25 gram skeins of their fingering weight "Green Sheep" Cotton Bamboo in the colour "Persephone" as well as some hand blended "Persephone black" tea and a tea egg from Goddess Teas.

After I received the shipment I just had to check out the ladies behind the Unique Sheep and on Laura's flickr page, which I found through Ravelry, I discovered a really cool Origami bag I just had to sew up.  

The instructions call for two contrasting fat quarters, which is something most quilters know about.  I was impatient and instead of heading out to get fat quarters I raided my very sparse stash of fabric and came up with 2 - 6" squares of leftover fabric from an ancient quilting project.  This just was a perfect recipe for disaster and I nearly tossed the whole idea out the window except that a little voice kept reminding me that the pattern did call for fabric much, much bigger.  The mini bag is cute but won't hold much more that a thimble.

Well the following day I headed to the local fabric store and brought home 4 contrasting fat quarters, squared two of them up into 19" squares and created a bag.  It was much nicer working with larger fabric.  I neglected to buy cord so the completed bag has a temporary length of cord scavenged from my brother-in-law's fish boat when I was working as a deck hand for a few weeks many years ago. 

Origami bag

Just after dinner tonight the rain stopped and the sun came out.  We hadn't seen blue sky or sunshine for awhile so it was really good to see.  People were popping out of their homes with lawn mowers and other garden implements.  

Hopefully it will stay nice for awhile now especially since we bought our grandson a Little Tikes car which he could sit in if he wanted.  Right now he prefers to walk around the car, reach in to turn the key and honk the horn, and check the gas.  (No, there isn't a real gas tank but to a toddler with a great imagination it could be real).  Now that we've had the car outside for awhile it can't come inside so the only place A can play with it is outside.   Oh, did I mention that A is walking?  Yes, he started late but is making up for it.  Last week he marched outside and straight to the fence between our house and the neighbours.  He had been invited by the nice grandmother next door to come over to play with her grandson and to play in the playhouse that was being built for him.  A was trying to take her up on the invitation.  Unfortunately neither the grandmother nor the grandson were in the yard at the time. 

A's grandpa did make it clear that there is no way that a playhouse will be built in our yard for our grandson. 

Rant on

Wow, Pat was telling me about an article he heard about regarding some American Evangelists who travelled to Uganda in order to spread their hatred of gays.   It is so hard to imagine that anyone who dares to call themself "Christian" could hate others so much.  Actually it is fairly easy to believe especially after reading other people's blogs as in when California was trying to pass the same sex marriage bill.  "Don't vote for this bill if you are interested in keeping the 'traditional family'" and "I don't want my child to find out that there is anything other than a traditional family".   Give me a break!  One thing I did learn when I attended church on a fairly regular basis was "love your neighbours as you love yourself" (Matthew 22:39).  At the same time I learned that these were merely words that were never practiced.
I do come from a "traditional family" (Dad, mom, kids) and my own family is also a "traditional family" but I have never viewed homosexuals as different from heterosexuals when dealing with them in their day to day lives.  As a famous Canadian politician once said "There is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation".  I strongly believe that.
Rant over....
The weather has been getting more Spring like all the time.  We are finding ourselves letting the fire in the insert die out during the day since it is just too darned hot!
I bought myself a 32 gig iPod Touch with the help of airmiles points.  It is my poor man's version of an iPhone.  I then found a whack of apps for it including some to track my points, some game ones, and best of all.... Pocket Yoga!
The pocket yoga app gives you a variety of levels (beginner, intermediate, experienced) and times (30 min., 45 min., 60 min.).  The workouts are not as simple as I thought they'd be.  I have never tried yoga but never realized that it was possible to get a good workout through it.  I'm a fan now.

Knitting wise things are going well.  The weather is playing with my mind telling me that "winter is over and summer is near".  Despite that I start work on the jacket for a baby girl.  As I mentioned in my previous post this jacket would be for a baby girl should one be born to either my daughter, my niece-in-law, or my friends' daughter.  Bad news came last week to my friends' daughter when she miscarried.  She and my daughter were both due at the exact same time.

I'm too lazy to insert photos at the moment but will make up for their lack in the next posting.

Easter 2010

The annual COG Easter hike just started and the hikers have been blessed with a dry but overcast day.  I am still not  hiking and Pat decided to take part in the OCV hike to "the four bumps of Mt. Wells".
My achilles is improving and the lump of scar tissue (?) on the tendon seems to be getting smaller and smaller.  The plan is for me to try a 90 minute hike along a fairly level trail tomorrow, depending on the weather.
I just got over a sock-travagansa where Pat, Lisa, and I all ended up with hand-knit socks.  I made myself 3 pair, Lisa and Pat both got one pair each.  So I'm now "socked-out" and have moved on to knitting baby clothes for the various babies that are expected in the fall, including another grandchild for us and a new baby for our nephew and his wife.  I took a chance and decided to knit for a girl child hoping that one of the babies is female.  If not I'll hang onto the outfit in hopes that there will be a girl born in our extended family at some time.  Feel free to disagree with me but in my experience boys were so much easier to raise than girls although it was tough to dress up little boys the way you could little girls... and little girls just looked so darn cute in their pretty dresses until they found a mud puddle or pile of dirt to play in.

Lisa's "Inlaid Pennants" socks

Sorry for the short, late post.  I keep making plans to post more but then other things get in the way and I'm easily led astray but a good book or nice ball/skein of yarn.  :-)

the finish line looms

I was just informed that there are 2 days left in the Olympics and in the Olympic knitting challenge.
The shawl may end up finished on time but I figured that the shawl was going to be too simple so I took on Cat Bordhi's "Stained glass" socks from "Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters". Not as simple as I had expected. I misread the instructions, lost my place in the chart (a few times) and a handicap in the form on one 15 month old grandson was tossed into the equation.
Now said grandson has been tossed into bed for a much needed nap and I'm bloggingworking on finishing sock 1. Knit faster and blog later Grace!

As far as the achilles tendon problem is concerned, I finished with physiotherapy, can't seem to be able to wear my hiking boots without causing a lot of pain to my right achilles, and am finally going to see a massage therapist. My G.P. seems to be somewhat clueless about this injury. She didn't examine it, merely whipped out her referral pad and asked if I'd like to see a physiotherapist. I went back to my G.P. a few days ago and informed her that things were not improving, as in I cannot wear my hiking boots, and she suggested I hike in runners. Ummm, not doable since most of the hikes involve rough terrain. She did say that if I were to "do real hiking", then I may need hiking boots. Duh!
At the end of the visit she again whipped out her referral pad and offered to send me to a massage therapist. Grumble, grumble, grumble!
Pictures of the finished shawl will be posted before the closing ceremony as proof that I was able to complete what I had intended to do.  Next time no second guessing.  I'll finish the object I had set out to complete and then, time allowing, add item(s).

Good luck all knitting athletes!

A gorgeous day... again

Spring appears to be arriving early this year. Now that I have said this publicly we are likely doomed to snow.
The days are growing longer; aconites, snowdrops, and crocuses are blooming, and it won't be long before our winter sweaters are put back into their vacuum sealed bags until the fall.
P is still off work due to a back injury. An MRI showed some bulging disks and arthritis. He's determined to get 100% recovered and back to work though.
My achilles tendon is not fully recovered yet and I'm considering giving up on physiotherapy and trying massage therapy instead. A fellow hiker who had also injured her achilles was very pleased with her massage treatment and only missed about 6 weeks of hiking. P did point out that my friend stopped hiking as soon as she hurt her achilles while I kept on going for another 2 months or so. Initially I didn't really mind too much but the weather is getting so nice that I don't want to sit at home while P goes hiking without me.
For the past few nights the neighbour's dogs have been barking constantly. It appears that a momma racoon and her yearling have decided to visit our area and this morning they didn't get to their home on time, possibly because a dog scared them into a tree. One of our neighbours was out with his camera early this morning so I headed outside with mine.





The neighbour who's tree they were in took his dog inside for the day and finally somewhere around noon they shuffled off home. I'm sure that they'll be back tonight.

For the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics I decided to complete a baby shawl which was started by my SIL's mom before she passed away. I agreed not to cheat by looking it over before the opening ceremonies on Feb. 12th.
Once I did look I figured that it would be too simple and ALMOST added a second project to the Olympic challenge. I swatched, and then sat with the partial shawl in my lap. The pattern didn't make too much sense to me so I put it down in frustration, looked at things again, compared the partial project to the picture and scratched my head. No matter what I did I could not see how this mass of white fingering yarn would end up like the picture in the book.

From "Beehive for Bairns, vol. 2. Page 21, Knitted shawl"
Non-plussed I picked up the needles and started working on what I thought was the right thing. After 6 rows it didn't look too much better so I put things away again, had some wine, ate dinner, and picked it up again. Until today I had been swatching, unravelling miles of yarn and threading dropped stitches back onto yarn holders.
Finally tonight I had an "ahah" moment and realized that Nettie (my SIL's mom) made an error. The shawl has a garter stitch centre which is shaped like a diamond. It is starts and ends with 3 stitches. Once the centre is done stitches are picked up from one side at a time and worked up to form a trapezoid. Once one trapezoid is done, 23 stitches are cast on and then peaks are knitted, using the 23 stitches plus one stitch from the top of the trapezoid. Yeah, you have to be here to visualize this. Once the peaks are done the remaining 23 stitches are put on a holder until the next trapezoid is done. Then the stitches on hold are used to work the next group of peaks on the second, third and forth trapezoid. I'm confused too as apparently Nettie was.

Instead of using the stitches on hold, Nettie cast on 23 stitches each time she finished a trapezoid. So, I could now either sew the cast on and bound off peak sections together or I could rip 3 of the trapezoids and re-work them correctly.
Any helpful suggestions are most welcome.
I'm also quite curious as to the publication date of this booklet. I did try to google for this and one source said this particular booklet was printed in 1940. A second source said that is dated to the early 1960's. Either way I'm considering copying out the pattern in modern terms for my own use, along with some clearer instructions.

Knitting Olympics returns

Wow! The Yarn Harlot has decided to host the Knitting Olympics again. I had been waiting for this since it would not be the same to join the Ravelympics.
I considered making the Knitpicks "East meets West" bag my Olympic project but I have a shawl which was started by Nettie Brozuk before she passed away. Her daughter asked if I would be able to finish it for her and I shelved it because it had started to unravel and I was a bit intimidated by it. I'll have to swatch and it will definitely be a challenge for me. In the spirit of the games I won't start swatching until the games start next week. Even if I fail to complete this on time, I'll give it my best shot.

Winter seems to have decided to skip us this year. It has been unseasonably warm and there haven't been too many days where it has fallen below zero degrees Celsius. I don't mind too much though.
Due to an injury to my achilles tendon I had to pass on the Outdoor Club of Victoria's 5 day outing to Mt. Washington. I was quite upset about it but going there and having to spend time sitting in the condo while others skied or snowshoed wasn't my idea of fun.
Physiotherapy seems to be going well and I'm currently walking for about 40 minutes each day, depending on how much pain there is. I've been doing my prescribed exercises faithfully twice each day as well. I can now squat much deeper and I'll be able to do a 30 minute trial hike next week, providing it is fairly level ground without too many hills.
P is also nursing an injury. He hurt his back in the fall and after going to a physiotherapist without seeing too much progress towards his recovery, he started seeing a chiropractor. I'm still not seeing much progress but P can notice. A CT scan showed 3 bulging disks and some arthritis. He is now scheduled for an MRI on Monday. I'm hoping that he'll recover soon.
In my spare time, of which I have quite a bit now that I'm not permitted to hike, I've been learning new methods of sock knitting from Cat Bordhi's books "New Pathways for Sock Knitters" and "Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters".
On most Mondays my daughter comes to visit with her son who is a bit of a tornado. He used to be content with playing in one place in the living room. Once he became more mobile the rest of the house was his playground. He has rearranged our dvds and found the cookie cutters in the oven drawer. He also found where the plastic containers are stored. After he leaves with his mom the house looks like a disaster area with plastic containers, cookie cutters, and toys everywhere. Despite all that we love him dearly.

winter sneaks in

With the time change at the beginning of November the days got shorter. Now there is snow at higher elevation, Mount Washington is planning to open early on November 28th due to a good snow base, and a mix of snow and rain is predicted for Nanaimo on the coming Sunday and Monday. Ugh!
All of my current knitting projects are just waiting for me to sew seams and I don't really have anything in my queue that is yelling "knit me".

We managed to get some good fall hikes in and while Pat was either working or on call I got some good hikes in on my own as well. Now Pat's back is acting up so his hiking has come to a stop until he's able to hike pain free. I know that I can go on my own but have hung back to spend time with Pat. That was easy to do since the weather was so disgusting that only the brave or those with duck feet would venture out, at least that was my excuse.
Pat and I joined up with some OCV hikers to hike Alan's Ridge and Peden Peak in Sooke.



Pat had control of the camera so I used my trusty cell phone camera to catch him.



Coffee break on Alan's Ridge



Climbing up to Peden Peak

The following week I returned to the same area without Pat who was on the pager and with some different OCV members. This time around we were not able to get up Peden Peak since the Maryvine Creek was flowing too fast. All of the rain we had been having had caused the creeks and rivers to fill up. Instead we headed up "403" (or perhaps it was called "408") and then back down to a terrible trail over fallen logs and through hidden puddles. I loved it but it seemed the rest of my hiking companions weren't as fond of the challenge.

On Nov. 3rd some of us from the COG joined up with the Wednesday Wonderers (yes, the spelling is correct), a group of hikers who meet up most Tuesdays to explore, map, and clear trails. They were interested in exploring new trails in the Cowichan area so we took them and showed them around Maple Mountain. The weather was great with no rain during the entire hike. There was a bit of fog but that didn't stop our views from the microwave tower at the top of Maple Mountain where we stopped for lunch.
Of course I forgot to pack the camera so haven't got any pictures. Now that Pat tends to carry our small camera along whenever we hike, I don't bother bringing my bigger camera.

I've decided that I can't afford not to hike so I'm planning to hike somewhere this weekend. Saturday is out since it is my grandson's first birthday party and I wouldn't miss it for the world. On Sunday I plan on hiking no matter what, that is as long as the weather doesn't cause cancellation of whatever hike is on the schedule… and I will bring a camera.

After the summer…

… comes more time for blogging, baking, reading, knitting.
We had a fantastic summer spent with good friends and family. We hiked, backpacked, and relaxed. We explored new places and got to know some people better.

We spent 6 nights with the Outdoor Club of Victoria in Waterton Lakes National Park, arriving on Tuesday, August 11th. We thought of camping but ended up sharing a motel room with a friend. With the rainy, cold weather we had during our stay we were glad to have had the motel. It was a great place to dry out and warm up.
Our first hike on Wednesday was the Alderson-Carthew hike led by Mary. The day started out with a brief stop to negotiate with a bear which was seen by 4 hikers in a group ahead of us. They told us that it was a grizzly but I have my doubts since there are way more black bears in the park than grizzlies.
Early on in the hike it rained but that soon stopped and we ended up with a chilly wind on the ridge.
Mary was called away to Calgary to meet her first grandson who was born a few hours after we arrived back at camp following the hike.
The next day, Thursday we hiked to Crypt Lake, a hike which involved taking a boat across Waterton Lake. The trail was very good with switchbacks along the steeper sections. The tough part involved climbing up an 8' steel ladder and duck walking through a short, 4' high tunnel.

On stepping out of the tunnel you had to walk along a narrow ledge with a steel cable which was used as a hand rail. One of our members made it through the tunnel and then ended up turning around with her husband. Crypt Lake was beautiful and, if you were to walk to the end of the lake you'd be in the US.

By the time we arrived back at the boat we all looked a bit like drowned rats. We did manage to steam up all the windows making it quite tough for the "captain" to see out the windows.
On Friday we hiked to Goat Lake starting at Red Rock canyon. Again a group of 3 hikers joined us after they met a bear on the trail. Of course certain members of our group were convinced that it HAD to be a grizzly. We made enough noise that we didn't see any bears. One member believed that there had to be millions of grizzlies around since there were masses of bear grass. Unfortunately the bears don't eat bear grass although elk, moose and deer will. Supposedly this year's crop of bear grass was the best it had been in seven years. (It blooms in five to seven year cycles).
By Saturday our group was getting smaller due in part to the constant wet weather. Those members who had camped and hiked in Glacier National Park the week before Waterton where camped and hiked out as well. A gang of us headed to Akamina-Kishinena trail. Due to wet, cold weather and snow on the ridges we managed to get as far a Bennett Pass before heading back to our cars.

On Sunday, the last full day of hiking, our group was quite small with only the die-hards hanging on. Loretta was able to convince Katherine to lead one more hike, this one to Rowe Lakes. The weather co-operated and we had an awesome day where the only wild animals we ran into were several mule deer, a few picas, and a Golden Mantle ground squirrel.
Of course on the day we left Waterton the sun came out and there wasn't a rain cloud anywhere in sight. Four of us did one last climb up the Bear's Hump before parting. We went north to see our son and daughter-in-law, the other two went home.

Just incase you think that is ALL that we did, Pat and I also did three backpacking trips of three nights each to Circlet Lake in Strathcona Park. While we were there we climbed Mt. Albert Edward during the first trip, a circuit up Mt. Frink and around Moat Lake during the second trip, and we climbed Mt. Jutland during the third trip.
We also spent three days at Mt. Washington with the Cowichan Outdoor group. Pat and I weren't able to get the ground suite in the chalet with the other members so we rented a condo a short walk from their chalet. We did a group day hike to Cruikshank Canyon drop-off one day, a soggy hike up the West Summit Ridge trail of Mt. Washington with our "Waterton die-hard" friends the following day, and a walk along what we believed to be the Jutland cross country trail on the last day.

Where did the weeks and months go?

After spending another day with my beautiful grandson, I look back and realize how fast the weeks and months are flying by. It wasn't too long ago when Ashton was a fairly inert lump of baby with not too much interest in anything except food, sleep, and cuddles. Now he reaches for toys, other people's food and fingers, enjoys chatting on the phone (while he tries to figure out how to put the phone in his mouth), and he is eating real food!
It also wasn't too long ago when my babies were little. Eric was the independent, easygoing one and Lisa the stubborn one. Lisa is still the determined, stubborn one and Eric is still easygoing and independent to a fault. This generally means that I often am in touch with Lisa and in the dark about what is happening in Eric's life.
Lisa married a man with a small, local family and Eric married someone with a large family in a different province. Got the idea? I miss him dearly and worry that he may miss out on seeing his nephew grow up or not see his grandparents before they are gone.
There are so many things that I want to talk to him about in person, not over the phone. I'd like to share with him all the "new" hikes I've been on since he was the person who inspired me to hike more. Most of all I want him to be honest with us.

Last week Lisa, Jesse and Ashton had some professional pictures done of the three of them. Spencer Brawn took quite a few pictures and made a cd for Lisa and Jesse with both web and print quality pictures on it. We've printed a few which are to be framed and given to Grandma M for her birthday on Monday. I'll probably see if Lisa will allow me to print one or two for my mom.




Whoa! Check out all the flowers. Can I eat these?

Regarding the hiking: We've been doing some good hikes lately plus I have been hiking with some friends during the week while Pat is working. On one of those weekday hikes, I ended up with a tick on my belly, about 2 inches from where another tick had burrowed in a week or two earlier. Now I'm terrified that I've become a "tick magnet". I guess I'll just have to wear bug spray and to make sure that I dress appropriately (light clothing with long pants tucked into socks and a long sleeved shirt. Right! While it is 30°C outside). Tick 1 was disease free and I have to see the doctor regarding tick 2 on Monday.

fun times :-(

Pat bought himself new boots which he really needed so, after a week of wearing them around the house to make sure that they would work for him, we decided to give them a good hike. On Friday after he got off work we headed to Mt. Tzouhalem. We figured that it would be nicer to take the trails rather than following the road up.
The weather was good and it was fairly easy to find the trails despite having only gone up once and down 2 or 3 times. We stopped at the cross where I took some pictures of the scenery. At one point I was sort of on my belly to take pictures.





I guess that was a mistake because, on the way down I reached to tuck my shirt back into my pants and felt something weird. I looked and a tick had attached itself to my belly. I panicked and called out to Pat but, as I was calling him, I managed to slowly grab the tick and pull him out whole. I thought I had squished him but we thought we'd save him just in case he was still in one piece. The recommendation is that you save the tick so that he can be sent to see if he carries any nasties.
Pat phoned the BC Nurse hotline and they said for me to wash my hands and belly thoroughly with soap and water. Then I was to ice the bite for 15 - 20 minute intervals on the hour for 6 hours (or until bedtime). I was to go to ER in the morning with the tick and I was to get a tetanus shot since my last one was more than 5 years ago. Usually if you've had a shot within 10 years you are fine but with an insect bite or dirty wound they prefer it to be within 5 years.
Well, we got to ER at 8 a.m. The place was deserted so I got in right away. I gave the triage nurse my little buddy in his jar with the wet cotton ball and she looked at me as if I was a little kid with show-and-tell.
While I was in the treatment room the triage nurse walked in to say that I had forgotten my critter. Hmmm.
The doctor looked at me and my creature, said that there are currently no cases of tick carried diseases on Vancouver Island. She said that they no longer send ticks to be tested although after consulting with another doctor she returned and said that, since my critter looked so good, they'd send it off and I would be notified of the results by my GP. No tetanus shot.
In fact there are quite a few diagnosed cases of Lyme disease on Vancouver Island all due to local tick bites. A friend of ours was bitten in Rathtrevor Park and was seen by quite a few doctors including psychiatrists before he was diagnosed with Lyme disease.
A young lady was bitten while hiking along the West Coast trail and she is also suffering from Lyme disease. Her condition is not very good and her family has had to pay for her to receive treatment in California. There are many more on the island with the same problem.
I'm monitoring myself and, if any symptoms do show up I'm to go on antibiotics a.s.a.p.

Despite all this we attended a birthday party on Saturday for my daughter at her home in Nanaimo. Then on Sunday we had our annual birthdays barbecue here. The weather was agreeable for a change but, since it was the long weekend not too many people were able to make it.
Yesterday Pat, myself and two other members of the COG hiked Mt. Benson in Nanaimo with guidance from Kent. The hike started off at Witchcraft Lake. The beginning was fairly level and then climbed up and up. Eventually we reached the ridge where things levelled out before dropping down and up to the summit.
Clouds were swirling around the mountain but we still had great views.
On the way down we were hiking through some snow but not for long. Just about 2 minutes before reaching the cars it started to lightly rain.


View from Mt. Benson

time passes when you're having fun

We spent a lovely (rainy) 4 days at Pacific Rim National Park on the we(s)t coast of Canada for our 35th wedding anniversary.
It wasn't raining when we arrived so we did our usual and headed for South Beach, just south-east of Wickaninnish Beach since we weren't able to check into our unit until 3:00 p.m. It was somewhat busy and we didn't see any sign of bears this time. When we were visiting around the same time last year we were fortunate to see a momma bear and her cub.


Momma bear and baby at Wickaninnish Beach parking lot, 2008

Since we arrived on May 3rd, which is our actual anniversary, we decided to have dinner at the Wickaninnish Interpretative Centre.
There was some delays in getting there since a new water system is being put in to supply the town of Tofino with water from the nearby Kennedy Lake. After a 15 minute wait we were allowed to continue on to the restaurant. Suddenly a fully grown black bear ran out of the wood on our side of the road, narrowly missed the car immediately in front of us, then also missed an oncoming truck. The driver of the truck had seen the bear so had time to slow down. I was telling Pat that, if the car in front had struck the bear and both driver and bear had died in the smouldering wreck, I would have skirted past the scene of destruction in order to get to dinner. I guess I was just hungry and irritated at the long wait.
The following 3 days consisted of intermittent torrential downpours and drizzle. Even the surfers were missing from all of their usual beaches but appeared at MacKenzie Beach, where we had never seen surfers before.



We were able to do a bit of walking along the beaches although our walk from Long Beach to Green Point was very soggy. As per Murphy's Law, the last day was the best and we were able to take a good long walk along Florencia Bay and then back along Half Moon Bay. That is one of the bad things about having to reserve; not getting the ideal weather.




I had been having trouble with a rash that wouldn't go away. My family doctor said that it appeared to be dermatitis but we couldn't figure out the trigger. While we were in Tofino I spent the first 2 days reading and the rash improved. After my book was done I brought out some cotton/linen yarn that I had brought along and started knitting a towel.
As soon as I got home I returned to working on a cotton-linen top and the rash returned. We figured it was due to the heat (we have the fireplace insert going most of the time) but, after letting the fire die for a few days, the rash was still there. That was when the light bulb finally went off. I had been having respiratory problems years ago when I put a cottolin warp on my loom. I ended up tossing the yarn into the trash. Then two years ago I had bought some linen blouses to wear to work and found that they made me quite itchy. The blouses were given to the Goodwill.
Around Christmas, when I started knitting with cottolin, I started getting the rash. Still the lights didn't go on until yesterday.
Now I've got an appointment with the doctor in order to get a referral to see the allergist. I'm crossing my fingers, toes and eyes in hopes that it is an allergy to linen and not to wool. Just to be safe, I did put in an order for 100% cotton so that I can re-knit the top I had started using cottolin.

Hello Spring!

Well, it seems that the good weather is finally here although some party poopers keep saying that we are about to be launched back into cooler weather soon. In the meantime I'm enjoying the sunshine.
Last week a random email from Jacqueline, one of my Dutch cousins on my mom's side led me to Carla, another cousin of ours, one who I hadn't seen or heard of since I was about 13, which is around the time we immigrated back to Canada. Carla had sent some pictures of my mom's parents to Jacqueline and she had sent them to me and mom. Due to one thing or the other I had never really met my grandfather since he and my grandmother had separated when mom was a teen. Mom didn't want any dealings with her father so he didn't get a chance to meet although I did see him briefly when I was at my aunt's house once.

Opa and Oma v. H.

This new discovery of a long lost cousin got me involved in genealogy again, this time to piece together my mom's side of the family. Through it I learned that I have 18 cousins on mom's side. Out of the 18 I have been in touch with about 6 of them. Through them I'm learning about mom's family and eventually about her ancestors.

When I'm not working on my family tree I have been working on my knitting or hiking.
Two friends from the Cowichan outdoor group and I went for an exploratory hike on Maple Mountain yesterday. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we even noticed 2 turkey vultures enjoying the sunshine as they sat on a dead tree with their wings held out to catch the sun. I did take some pictures but, since my 2 co-hikers were fading in the distance, I didn't have time to zoom in.

Eventually I'll try to dig out some picture of my paternal grandparents to post on here.

While surfing through some knitting related websites this morning I found this cute video and figured I'd post it here. Enjoy!

Spring is here (she cautiously says)

It does appear that Spring has finally arrived although there is still some talk of flurries at higher elevations. As long as it stays at higher elevations, I don't mind.

We are supposed to be hiking up Mt. Prevost (a local mountain) on Sunday and I did notice that there is still a fair amount of snow on it. I guess we'll manage fine as long as we bring our stablicers and hiking poles.
Tomorrow's hike with the OCV is for an end-to-end hike at East Sooke Park but the forecast doesn't look too promising so we'll miss it.

As far as spring flowers goes, I would post flower pictures but forgot to take them today and it is currently dark outside so, the bragging pictures will have to wait until it is light out. We have faun lilies, tulips and crocuses blooming and daffodils budding. We are a wee bit behind Victoria where the daffodils have been blooming for awhile. I will post pictures tomorrow, promise!

Our daughter and son-in-law have gone to Victoria for the evening so we are minding Ashton. We took him along on our walk figuring he'd nap but no such luck. He was quite happy to meet with some of the locals and quite enjoyed the scenery. He did end up sleeping for about 10 minutes and then demanded to be fed. I gave him a 4 ounce bottle and he seemed shocked when he emptied it. I put him to bed but he wasn't too fond of that plan so I got him up again and, after awhile gave him another 4 ounce bottle. That seemed to do the trick and he's currently sound asleep in his crib in our bedroom. Hopefully he'll remain asleep until his parents come home.
Ashton hadn't been gaining as expected so Lisa took him to see the doctor yesterday. Apparently Ashton's diapers were on too tight thus constricting his tummy. Now Lisa is to feed him a bit more, with looser diapers and then she'll bring him back to see if there was a weight gain next week.

Into every life a little rain must fall.

I'm not really complaining since we do have a fairly severe shortage of snow pack in the mountains meaning possible water restrictions in the summer. (Whether there is a shortage or not, we still seem to have the restrictions). Oh well, as long as it doesn't rain when I finally decide to drive to Victoria or want to hike.
We had two great hikes on the weekend. Saturday's hike with the OCV was a 6 hour hike from Caleb Pike to Fork Lake in the Highlands. We ended up doing a car shuttle for it and the weather was beautiful. We really enjoyed the entertainment provided by the ravens once we reached the summit of Mt. Work. It appears that this is the time of year that they do their mating rituals so all types of aerial displays were happening. The ravens were swooping and diving, nearly hitting each other as they did this. Others were sitting in the trees, cawing and croaking.
Yesterday's hike was a hike to Saltspring Island with the COG and the Saltspring Trail and Nature group. Despite the weather forecast calling for a 30% chance of showers, we managed to have dry weather.
On the ferry trip across from Crofton to Vesuvius we saw a shrimp boat followed by quite a few seagulls and about 6 or 7 bald eagles ranging from immatures to adult ones.
The hike was the "Cog Wheel" trail which started part way along the road to Mount Maxwell. The earlier name of the trail was the Shepherd Hill trail. The trail went down and up and down and up, finally ending at a beautiful viewpoint overlooking the Cowichan Valley.

We did also see an immature Eagle and an adult Eagle resting in trees at different times during the hike.
At the completion of our hike we went into Ganges for coffee at TJ Beans with our hosts. The hot cinnamon buns fresh out of the oven was very tempting but my conscious, a.k.a. husband persuaded me to NOT fall for the temptation. He was also impervious to the fresh cheese scones which were calling our names. I'll have to make a batch of fresh cinnamon buns this week. At least I know that my recipe is lower in fats than the ones that most bakeries make.

Spring is springing

Despite a wee setback two weeks ago (less than an inch of snow here) it does appear that Spring is putting in an appearance.
Now that my friend Mary is home she and I have been hiking a tiny bit more. Last week Friday she and I hiked up Cobble Hill Mountain. Last Tuesday we were supposed to hike on Saltspring Island but it poured plus I had a bunch of chores to do. Yesterday we did some route marking on Maple Mountain. We had hoped to find an easier route through a patch of salal which the COG had taken last week but we failed, and then ran out of flagging tape. We did find what Mary called the "million dollar viewpoint" and had lunch in the sunshine there.

View south with Eagle Heights in the background. Quamichan Lake (left) and Somenos Lake (right) are also visible.


Mt. Prevost from the side.
It was supposed to snow overnight and this weekend but I woke up to a beautiful sunny day, perfect for my neighbour's daughter's wedding.
Tomorrow the forecast has changed from snow and rain to a mix of sun and cloud. That just means that Pat and I will likely be hiking with the COG tomorrow.

bread and wine

I've been on a bread making roll for the past few weeks. It all started when I read Veronik Avery's blog (a knit designer). In it she had mentioned being "fascinated by my quest for the perfect loaf of whole grain bread…". After reading that, I remembered that I had purchased a copy of Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads. I had started to read the explanatory notes at the start of the book, lost interest, and then decided to pick it up again after reading Veronik's blog.
Somewhere in between the reading I found "the Fresh Loaf" which had a tutorial on bread making. I made the bread featured in step two of the tutorial, loved it and moved on to the whole wheat sandwich bread in Peter Reinhart's book. Both turned out beautifully! The whole wheat bread was light and fluffy, not at all like the whole wheat bricks I used to make.
I then moved on to making whole wheat cinnamon bread, (to die for!) and then boldly moved on to making multiple loaves of whole wheat sandwich bread. This is where I ran into trouble. The recipe said that the bread needed to proof for 45 - 60 minutes. Since I was in the midst of knitting, when the timer went off after 45 minutes, I ignored it and kept knitting. The bread over-proofed and spilled over the edge of the baking tins. It tasted just fine and it was light but there were air holes in it that were not in the initial loaf.

Yesterday I baked whole wheat bagels. Wow! I'm in love with them, so much so that I started another batch earlier today. The plan is for me to finish them tomorrow. Most of Peter Reinhart's recipes are done over 2 days. He calls it the "epoxy" method in that you have two batches of dough; one with yeast (the "biga") and one without (the "soaker"). The soaker is left on the counter for 12 - 24 hours and the biga is stored in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. The following day the biga is removed from the fridge 2 hours before using it. Then it is combined with the soaker plus additional ingredients to make bread, bagels, rolls, etc.

When not baking I've been working on my knitting or hiking. On Tuesday a friend and I went for a hike up Mt. Tzouhalem. The weather was sunny although not terribly warm although the uphill section did make us sweat.

On Wednesday my daughter, son-in-law, and beautiful grandson dropped in for a visit and the 4 of us went for a walk at Eve's Park in Westholme. The weather was really nice but it was definitely cold in the trees.


Poor Ashton (nearly 3 months old) was quite confused that Grandma hadn't bought a wrap for him to eat. He tried very hard to grab his mom's wrap every time it passed his mouth and eyeballed Grandma's wrap too.


It will not be too long before he's eating his parents out of house and home.

Today I did start some more bagels and decided that it was time to filter and bottle some Amarone (red wine) which has been bulk aging for awhile. It was amazingly clear and clean. Pat and I tasted the leftovers (after I decanted it) and it was very good. I would have preferred to sit in the sunshine with my book or my knitting but I realized that the wine had to be done.

Tomorrow I finish the bagels and watch my grandson while his parents attend a funeral for a friend's mom. RIP Kathy! Your generosity and beautiful smile will be greatly missed.