If you could see what I see…

Oh wait, you can.

It’s been hot here again and tonight I was sitting outside, enjoying an early evening breeze, and minding my own business, doing a little knitting, listening to an audiobook, when all of sudden I was set upon by a hoard of little black flies.  Not the biting kind (thankfully), not fruit flies or midges or mosquitoes, just a swarm of little black flies.  I probably could have handled it if they had just you know, flown around, but no.  They all wanted to land.  On my bare feet and legs.  Shudder.

Needless to say I’m back in the rather warm house typing to you instead of finishing off my almost finished February Lady sweater.  One more sleeve to go and I’m out of there!  What you see above is all the stuff that I feel is absolutely necessary to take out to the deck with me.

• at least two baskets of knitting, minimum three projects
• one ipod loaded to bursting with books, podcasts, and music
• various patterns, pens, scissors, and other tools of the knitting trade
• hiding in the basket on the right are various skeins of sock yarn just waiting for inspiration to hit so that they might become socks
• cool refreshing beverage (this one is club soda mixed with one of those splenda sweetened ice tea singles thingies.  Make sure you mix the ice tea thingie with a bit of water and then add that into the club soda.  If you pour the club soda on top you get a really cool volcano in a glass.  Sorry, there are no picis of that particular learning experience.
• hiding in the basket on the left is a book I’m currently reading

I’ve never been able to pack light.  How can I?  What if I need such and such?  How will I survive (in the yard a mere 20 metres from the house) without it?  You should see me pack for a trip.  Crazymaking.

I’m currently listening to Obedience by Will Lavender.  I’m not sure if it’s the narrator or the story or what but I don’t think I’m having a good time.  Not a bad enough time that I’ve given up, but not a good enough time that I can’t wait to find out what happens next.  Know what I mean?  It’s like I’ve gone to the theatre to see, oh I don’t know, say an all singing, all dancing, all shirtless Lord of the Rings spin off (hello Sean Bean!) but it was sold out.  So now I’m in the theatre next door watching a remake of Howard the Duck starring Rob Schneider (in a duck suit, obviously) and Lindsay Lohen.  I’m still at the movies but it’s not nearly as much fun as I thought it was.  My popcorn is probably stale too.

The other book I’m reading is Confederates in the Attic which is amazing but also very disturbing.  It’s all about how for some people in the American south the Civil War isn’t over, more like it’s just in a time out.  Some very interesting people and stories but also some people that you wish were wearing a sign so that you could know up front the level of hate and anger that they are carrying around.

Well, that’s about it for me for today.  I’m going to go find a cool spot and do some more knitting.  Hopefully it will also be a fly free zone.

If you’re a very good appliance repair person…

you sometimes get tips.  Sometimes they are really adorable tips, like this one:

Mr. B is thinking he’s pretty darn special, I tell you what!

Summer continues to…well…be summer.  The garden is exploding.  This is the first year that our little apple tree is really putting on a big crop of apples.

If even half of them make it to fall I’ll be canning apple sauce & drying apple rings for days!

Teeny tiny little tomatoes are popping up all over the place:

One day soon, you will be a nom, nom, nom!  I wonder if they feel threatened when as I’m watering them I tell them how they will eventually be prepared & eaten.

And, the Sweet Peas are just a blooming like fools!  They smell so nice too.

No, we don’t water the lawn.  Sorry.  I hate cutting the grass and I’ve learned – if you water it, it will grow.  Not interested.  Plus, it’s a weed, it always comes back no matter how many dry days we have in a row.    Although, if it’s a really long dry spell, I will spray where the dogs pee, ’cause that’s just good hygiene.  LOL.

In other news, go over here and check out Heather’s blog entries on Book Ninja.  She won the honour of being one of their guest bloggers, (actually, she was the winner by a landslide, I do believe), being a crazy cat lady totally pays off once in awhile.  Anyway, check it out.  Heather is very funny, wicked smart, and has a better than average appreciation for how close the zombie apocalypse really  is.

Also, also, look how cute these are!  Now if only I carried a wee bag and not the monster size bike courier bag that is currently my transit buddy.

Yay! It’s Friday!

And it is markedly cooler today!  A win win situation for sure.  I’ve got some things that I kept forgetting to blog about, so today it’s catchup.

Here is my Klaralund in Noro Yuzen:

Understand that I am cheating on my Featherweight Cardigan to knit this.  Mind you, I cheated on my Charlotte’s Web to start my Featherweight.  Oh, and then I was cheating on my Noro Scarf to start my Charlotte’s Web.  Wow, project monogamy is really hard!

Also, I forgot to tell you about the best stitch markers in the world.  They are made by Suann and they are fantastic!

20 to a set,(18 matching & 2 contrasting) and they come in a tonne of colours.  I chose four sets (this time, I had previously bought two sets that are currently all involved in other projects).  Now, if you’re ordering from Canada, just send her a message telling her what you want and she’ll set up a reserve order for you with Canadian shipping.  She does special orders and is super great to work with.  I love these bad boys for lace & socks especially, they are not bulky and don’t get in the way.

Hmmm, okay what else.  Oh yeah, I finished reading The Wars, by Timothy Findley last night.  Amazing book set during WWI.  I’ve not read much about WWI, I’ve always been more interested in WWII, but this book has definitely made me want to do some more reading on the subject.  Findley’s writing is fantastic and I was crying like a baby as I was finishing the book.  Been awhile since I cried while reading a book.  Especially while sitting in the backyard on the deck.  Then I noticed that the kids next door were all staring at me.  Awesome!  I’m so cool it hurts sometimes.

Also, as an aside, to the lady who read over my shoulder three mornings in a row?  It’s not bad enough that you read my book over my shoulder every morning, but you insisted on making little disgusted gaspy noises at any naughty bits.  Seriously, get your own book and sod off!  I swear, next week I’m going to take something truly nasty to read and watch your head just explode from the shock of it all. 

Now, I’ve started reading Cowboys are my Weakness, by Pam Houston.  Short stories are so perfect for commuter reading.

Mmmm, a little bit of relaxation

Who knew that going back to work would be a good thing?  We’ve put the kitchen on hold for a couple of days.  We need to make some decisions regarding counters (details, details.  Right?), so that means we’re taking a bit of a break.  We’re back at it tomorrow with another trip to Ikea to look at what they’ve got for counters.  We had thought granite but it would appear the piggy bank will not support such champagne tastes.  Oh well, I’m not bothered.  The Ikea ones look nice so that’s all good.

I did manage to read a couple of books this past week.  The first one was The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar.  Super cute and I love the concept of little punk fairies who want to start the next great grunge band movement.    A bit naughty too, just so you know.  All in all it was an excellent book to divert me from the rather interesting folks who populate my bus in the morning.

Also managed to finish Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich.  Awesome book!  I missed my bus stop for work on yesterday and today because I was so engrossed in this book.  Made me want to order chickens via mail order.  I won’t explain that comment, just read the book and you’ll see what I mean.  This girl is my hero.  She also has a blog that you can read, over here.  This was a recommendation from paperclips.  She and I have been swapping spinning fibre, and now, book recommendations. 

Okay, so here is what I want you to do now.  It’s spring, almost summer, and I think it’s time for a little blog contest.  I want you to tell me in the comments what your favourite book of all time is.  Not only what book is it, but why it’s your favourite book.  What did it mean to you?  I’ll be thinking of my favourites over the next few days too.  That’ll be hard though, I’ve got a fair few wonderful books floating around in my head.

The two prizes for the contest?  Hmmm, let’s say a skein of something pretty in sock weight, from a Canadian dyer…and…something pretty in a chunky weight, from a not Canadian dyer.    What that means is I’m too lazy to get up and take a pici now, but I will at some point this week.

You get your entry in the comments by, oh let’s say…midnight Pacific time, June 3, 2009, and I’ll use the wondrous random number generator (numbers on slips of paper in a Tupperware bowl picked by the wonder hubby) to pick  2 humans to get some yarny goodness.  Sound good?  Yeah, like you’re going to say that winning yarn is bad, right?

So, talk to me.  Share your deepest book feelings and stories.  ‘Cause, if there’s anything better than having too much yarn, it’s having too many books to read

Lumpday, errrr I mean Sunday

My next course officially starts tomorrow, so I’ve decided that today will be all about reading and being ahead of the course schedule instead of behind the course schedule.

This semester is about rounding out some breadth requirements and a bit of a break from crim, so I’m taking Introductory Anthropology.  Lots of reading but really interesting stuff.  The first unit is focused on the changing views of anthropological studies from westerners studying ‘the savages’ to the more modern study looking at all cultures with a much less biased viewpoint that western is better and more advanced.  I particularly liked this article.  It’s from 1966 and parts of it made me really giggle.

My library copy of I, Robot came in last week too and I’m really enjoying it.  It’s much shorter than I thought it would be.  Asimov has a definite efficiency with his language and the story just zips along.  Prolly be done this afternoon.  So, just in case I do finish that,  I have the backup book of Whores and Thieves of the Worst Kind which is a historical and human look at women and prisons in Illinois from 1835 – 2000.

We’ve been doing a bit more gardening this weekend.  We found a new (well, new to us anyway) kind of mulch made from chipped coconut husks.  The stuff is dead cunning.  Here’s 1/2 of the first bed done in it:

It should definitely help hold moisture in the ground so less watering and should also retard weed growth.  Win win!  I hate watering and weeding so I’m pleased.  Okay, back to the reading and note taking.  My progress is being monitored dontcha know!

Who knew? Not me

I had no idea that I, Robot had been filmed in New Westminster!  I thought it was all done in Vancouver, so I was not linking the benches with the filming at all!  Chris looked it up on IMDB and Kyrsten lived in New West when it was being filmed.  Kyrsten has also given me a hint where to find the next bench!  I love a quest.  Apparently, it’s down on Front Street.  I wonder if I can sneak out tomorrow while hubby is doing renos?  Hmmmmm.  I want that fourth bench!

Oh, and I’ve ordered I, Robot from the Surrey Public Library.    I should have it next week.  I wonder if I can read it before the next semester starts (May 4) and all the fun reading stops?  Hmmmmmm.

And done

Final exam is over, I think it went pretty well.  I’ve holed up in a coffee bar on campus and just read this delicious bit of prose:

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains much be in want of more brains.  Never was this more plain than during the recent attacks at Netherfield Park, in which a household of eighteen was slaughtered and consumed by a horde of the living dead.’

Ah, Jane and the zombies, how I’ve longed for this moment where you and I could finally be together!

In other news, the final went pretty well, finished in well under an hour and of course I took some SFU picis for y’all.

I’ll post those when I get home and am on the big computer and not here on this wee one with a limited amount of battery life.  Here is a pici of how wondrous my current moment is though:

The biss, I haz it!

Yes, I know I have to finish my term paper…but!

It came!

I love her incredibly creepy red eyes!  I want this on a t-shirt.  Okay, now I’ll go back to my term paper, then studying until the 7th.  But immediatly following that (possibly on the bus ride home)  I will be reading me some Elizabeth Bennett getting medieval on some zombies!

Wow, this whole movement of time thing is killing me

Huh, almost Thursday again.  I’m sensing a pattern here. 

I’ve started working on my last two papers of the semester and they are going pretty good so far.  I haven’t started studying for the final yet.  I’ll leave that for another week or so.  For some insane reason I did join a knit along though (Ravelry link).  What am I thinking?  I don’t have time to start & finish a lace project over the next five weeks.  Oh well, worst case scenario, I have another UFO taking up space beside me on the couch.  At least it will have lots of company!

I’m about on third of the way through Great Expectations.  I’m really enjoying it.  I read it every morning and afternoon on the bus.  Some parts of it make me giggle out loud.  I guess your taste in books is like your taste in food and changes over time.  I remember just not enjoying Dickens at all 20 years ago.  Mind you, I’m also willing to eat Brussels’ sprouts now and that wouldn’t have happened 20 years ago either.  Who am I kidding?  I only started eating those in the last year!

And now, seeing as I actually made it home before it got dark I have a few picis for you.  A sock in progress on a teeny tiny Hiya Hiya 9″ circular:

How cute is that?  I thought it might be difficult to knit but so far it’s been pretty good.  I do hold my hands just a tiny bit different but not too much.  Strangely, I actually find it more comfortable then knitting with the 12″ Addi that used to be my smallest circular needle.  Added bonus, this little needle is super transit friendly.

Added bonus shots!  Here’s my Round Trip cardigan actually in the process of being worn.  Whoo hoo.

Then, I got a little Rico Suave.  I seriously need to get out more.

I was about to start doing Sears poses but the spousal unit was getting bored and wanted to be finished his job as a fashion photographer.

Love this sweater.  Super comfy, the Kureyon softened up nicely, lots of bang for the proverbial buck.  There’s enough Noro Yuzen in the basement to make up a Klaralund, which will hopefully be my next Noro project.

Oh!  I almost forgot.  We’ve been starting our kitchen renovations.  Last week Mr. B replaced the kitchen window.  The new one opens!  Luxury!  Today when I got home he had started the dismantling of the cupboards:

See the new window?  So clear and not fogged up!  It was freezing the other night, didn’t matter.  We had the baby opened and closed and opened and closed at least 50 times.  Just for the fun of it.  Summer will be so much more tolerable this year!

Anyway, distracted, the cool thing?  Mr. B found this in the space above the cupboards:

A Vancouver Sun from August 11, 1976.  It’s brilliant.  I’m going to sit down and read through it tonight.  So, I guess the last time our kitchen got some loving it was summer 1976.  Huh, I was 7 years old.  I guess she’s probably due for a facelift!

Alright, time for me to get some reading done.  Tonight’s feature – the public perception of the Canadian justice system and is it valid.  Based on recent events, (gang shootings, taser enquiries, etc.), I’m guessing that the public perception is probably not the greatest right now.

Bit of a mish mash

Lot’s to see, lot’s to see!  I’ve been trying to make February about finishing stuff.  To that end, we have a hat:

Knit and Tonic’s Last Minute Purled Beret (.pdf).  Super fast and I’m rather liking it.  I usually look like a dork in a hat but this one is okay.  Plus, it’s wicked warm and that’s a good thing when waiting for the morning bus.  I used Noro Kochoran and for the life of me I cannot find the tag so I do not know what colour.  Sorry.  I still have about 1/4 of a skeing left too.

Hey, you like that vase?  Oh yeah, romance was in the air for Mr & Mrs beentsy this Valentine’s day.    I asked for an easter cream egg to celebrate this overblown holiday and what did I get?  FOUR easter cream eggs and a rose.  Spoiled!  Of course I’m not the kind of gal who has a bud vase though so that’s a Growers Extra Dry Apple cider bottle.  Class?  We haz it!  Oh, and hey, look at that.  Another shot of me in my pj’s.  Oozing class I am I am!

Oh, and a sweater:

That little number?  On the needles for almost a year.  Embarrassing as all get out.  Fun knit though and now that it’s done and soaked and blocked I’m quite smitten with it.  It feels nice on and contrary to my fears, it’s not all nasty/bulky under the arms.  I’m giving it an A-.  Why the minus?  I kind of wish I’d picked a slightly different colourway.  That’s my fault and not the pattern though.  This is the size large and I ended up needed a little bit more than the 10 skeins called for.  My fault again though, I gave it long sleeves instead of 3/4.  I would have had at least 1.5 skeins left if I’d gone with the original sleeve as written.  I’ll try to get a pici of it in action tomorrow.  I’m meeting up with the knitters and will have them take some fun Sears action shots.    The pattern is the Round Trip (Ravelry link) by Kay Dalquist and it’s from Knitter’s 72, waaaaay back in 2003.  Yikes.

I also did a bit of book shopping and I’ve committed my self to fixing this whole, ‘I haven’t read any Dickens’ thing.  Ta da:

The Dracula/Frankenstein/Jekyll and Hyde were just a yummy addition that I couldn’t resist.  I haven’t reread them in years.

Then I sort of lost my mind and got these too:

So, what have you been up to?