Summer Holidays

I am having a great time. I'm not really doing much, but maybe that is the point?
I have just been eating when I'm hungry and sleeping when tired. I feel so much better as a result. Even at this very moment, it is 10h30 and I'm awake. I went to bed around 05h00. I feel quite rested. If only I could incorporate this into my work week. The only glitch is asking small children to become vampires. It might happen. Also, the fact that I'm not really worried about anything helps. I say not really because I am always worrying about something. I just try and keep it in check.

Saturday some friends stopped by with a few movies and CAKE!!!


Rebel and Napoleon love it when visitors stop by, especially if these visitors are not accustomed to stalky, fuzzy children. If for some reason you ever visit me, never, ever, ever put your plate down. Think of it as being at the bar. Once you set down your drink, consider it gone. I think Rebs and Napoleon had a piece all to themselves. It is amazing what a little bit of sugar does to them. It was like a hurricane ran through my tiny apartment. Rebel even jumped up on the table. You have no idea how impressive this feat is. It takes the cranky old man twenty minutes to negotiate the 4" step out onto the balcony.

I finally completed my pattern for my sleeveless sweater!


I am in the process of adding it to Ravelry's database. I can't really remember how I added the last one.
Here is the Ravelry link thus far :)

I also noticed that my name has the married name. I'm trying to change it back to my maiden name, but not having much luck. I'll try when I'm not on holiday mode and less filled with rye.

I had a great visit with my parents the last couple of days. We just sat outside talked about this and that. The cookie companies have changed their packaging so they are trying to under the little guy. The neighbours are into some sort of shenanigans. Unfortunately, the rest of the conversations were coloured with a lot of beer and wine, so the details are a little fuzzy.

Birthday :)

Before I went to bed last night (early this morning), I thought it would be really weird celebrating my birthday by myself. I'm glad I was wrong. I have made a lot of awesome friends who have destroyed that weird feeling. I am having a great day. I am at work, and maybe that has helped a little. I've been kept pretty busy what with everyone else on holidays. I've been doing my work then a few other tasks that I'm not used to completing.
I shared a nice Bailey's cheesecake with everyone. Lots of wonderful people have given me best birthday wishes. I'm even going out at some point this week end...maybe. lol. I still get very nervous about venturing out of my comfort zone. Those little steps are becoming larger steps though!
My holidays are drawing closer. I don't really have a lot planned. I just want to visit some people and try something that I wouldn't normally do. I'm not sure what that is yet. I am open to any ideas that you may like to share.
I am going to close up shop and head home. I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

Question!

What do you do when it is the hottest summer ever?

Answer!
You finish the sweater you started in the cooler, early spring.
The back:


The front:


It still needs to be blocked. I was afraid to touch it anymore in case it starts to felt.

Since I'm still on call, (six more days of that left), I am restricted to staying close to home. I don't really mind. I've been keeping busy.

Like I mentioned earlier, I finished my Sunkist Cardi. I also made my lunch for the next few days:

Salmon wraps:


I ran out of bread. So they became wraps. It is just canned salmon, salad dressing/mayo, relish and mustard. All mixed up and then put on the whole wheat wrap.

My pasta Salad:

It's my go to salad. I know I have mentioned this before.

And since I have been in the same place for a few minutes, Rebel has decided I'm not going anywhere and make a handy bed. So I started on a sock:

Not sure where the direction of this sock is heading. As soon as I do, I'll post the pics.

Little known fact about Rebel, he drools a little. :-|

I hope you are all enjoying the weather. I certainly am.

I Have a New Friend

I named him Fred.

He followed me into the office.

It took me a little while to realize that no, it was not a mouse. He had wings.


I keep calling him a he. I have no idea if he is a Fred or a Freida. I respect his privacy.

And So It Was Decided....

That since Napoleon had enough near death experiences with the upholstery project, we would switch to a more controlled needle piece.

Actually Rebel decided.

You try moving a mountain lion with only 20 hours rest.

Instead we enjoyed the awesome heat wave on the balcony,


And cross stitched:


We hope you all had a great long week end as well :D

Lost a Needle, But.....

.............gained that bloody pager. :(


As you can see, I'm still knitting away on my Sunkist Cardigan. It is moving along rather quickly when I actually sit down to work on it. I get distracted easily by other projects I have on the go. My progress was still halted by the MIA knitting needle. I suspect it is somewhere between home and work. No matter. That is only a mere 20 minutes of travel time to cover.

Here is an update on my love seat:


It too is taking slightly longer than I expected. I have had a lot of input with every stage of the creation process.


Straight lines, even when actually following straight lines, is quite the challenge. I am really surprised little Napoleon hasn't been sewn into the sofa.


I have found it to be a bonus to have a bit of extra weight on the top of the cushion to compress it tightly into the case.

I have also worked a little bit on my painting.


This is only the bottom right hand corner. I have not really done too much of it because of all the rain we have had. I prefer to paint with sunlight. It makes it easier to see the colours. I have enough troubles with blues and greens. I do not need the extra challenge. :)

I shouldn't really complain about the pager. I have not had the joy of the little device for some time. I can suck it up and deal with the little bugger for a little while. Besides, I will be forced to stay close to home and actually finish something.

Before I forget............

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!

If You Don't Like the Weather.........

........wait 20 minutes.

I think one of our funny little quirks about being Canadian is our obsessive concern about the weather. The scarier the experience, the more we love it. Yesterday we all had a field day. First there was an earthquake, followed five hours later by tornadoes. It was awesome!

The earthquake began at the Ontario and Quebec border. The magnitude of the quake depending on the source was somewhere between 5.0 and 5.5. It was felt as far south as 300 miles from the epicentre in Chicago and Maine. Do you recall where you were in 1998? Apparently that was the last time we had experienced anything of that magnitude before. I think I had started my first year of university. Oooooh. Let's not go there. That was over 10 years ago. The quake only lasted 30 seconds, but it has given us enough to chat about for days. There were a lot of people returning to work from lunch asking if we felt that? I'm sad to say I missed out. Maybe I'm too grounded? Maybe I'm already too twitchy and just fail to notice when extra twitchiness is introduced? When I arrived home yesterday evening, Rebel and Napoleon seemed to have missed out on all the fun as well. They were still lying on their backs staring at the ceiling fan like it is the most interesting thing in the world since kibble.

As I settled into my evening routine of eating supper and watching CSI, a bulletin ran across the bottom of the screen reporting tornado damage in a trailer park. (Insert jokes here). That is a lot of excitement for a Canadian! If it had only snowed yesterday, it would have been epic.


Would you like to see the progress on my love seat?


I've had lots of help.


This is good bed making material.


This is not even.

I had completed the arms, but I am quickly tearing that apart. Mental note to self, stop sewing after third glass of rye. Stuff just doesn't go straight anymore.

I've also started another painting:


I believe I mentioned this before? The bonus about painting, you do not have to restrict your beverage consumption.
That's about all the little happenings in my little world for now. I hope you all had a great week.