oh blerg

c'est tout.

Busy weekend!

It feels like Friday was soooo long ago! My weekend started with VIA being EARLY! Early!! This is unheard of! Then the concert at Harbourfront which I already mentioned.

Then Michael and Laura's wedding on Saturday, which was very nice. Long though. Before going to the wedding, we went to St Lawrence Market, then home, then out the other way to the Japanese Paper Place, The Knit Cafe, and a stop at Clafouti for some lunchin (nommity nom! My cheese croissant was most excellent!) But yes, the reception was nice, and I got to have veggie lasagna and samosas (odd, but a good thing) And Michael actually played The Final countdown (Gob's music on Arrested Development) as part of the music! Ha!

Sunday was.... Swimming and french toast and chinatown and FRESH SUGARCANE juice!!! It was really interesting, and not at all like the bottled sugarcane juice I've had in the past.

Monday was yoga at the Yoga Sanctuary, and sore feet, and then watching Fanboys at Nikki's. (It was a good movie, but I'm not 'up' enough on Star Wars to get all the jokes, and also: no need for terminal illnesses, really)

Tuesday was.... Being tired and wanting to do nothing. So I knit until lunchtime, then went to The Purple Purl, and found neat new stores one block away. Six Shooter Records, where I easily could have dropped hundreds on cds, vinyl, books, and whatever.... And Eye Spy, having a moving sale, where I... Overdid it. I bought a new camera, the Ikimono, among other things. It shall be fun!

Oh, and wow! NEKO CASE! We went to see Neko Case last night! Through an extreme case of the lazies, we missed the opener, Jason Lytle, but I don't mind terribly. The seats were uncomfortable, and I like my loud in smaller doses. Neko Case is really quite awesome live. And hilarious. She was amused by our nice, tidy, bi-annual garbage strike.

Holy !!!

Last night, we went to Harbourfront to see a band. I really like seeing bands at Harbourfront, and usually go once or twice each summer. Last summer we saw Final Fantasy and Do Make Say Think, and it was fun! This year was fun too. Nothing like eating spicy corn soup while watching crazy electronic rock.

In other stuff and things, I've been knitting. While I was off sick, I got a bunch of knitting done, and am now the proud owner of a yellow cashmere beaded Ishbel. It still needs to be blocked, and that won't happen until later next week, but it looks nice anyways, see?




Tour de Fleece has been going spinningly. No pictures because, well, it's the same fibre. Nothing new to see. I'll skein it all up at the end, and give a total yardage.

Tour de Fleece??

I signed up for Tour de Fleece this year! It's a spinning thing that runs the duration of the Tour de France, where you try to spin every day, and meet goals and such.
I'm using a new spindle - my lovely 43g Padauk and Canarywood Dervish! And oh, I love it. I probably say that about every spindle, but hey. It's a dual-whorl, tri-wing spindle - how do you like that?

So, this is what I've accomplished between today and yesterday. A full cop (since I'm lazy - I know I could fit much much more):



And about 90 yards of floofy lovely singles:




My ultimate goal is to spin every day, and to finish the entire amount of blue fluff (about 7oz - I spun a small bit on my wheel, and have ignored the rest ever since). It's all a bit thick'n'thin, but that's okay, it's what I was aiming for!

And the big winner....

Is Turtle!!! (thanks to random.org's choice of number 11)

Sorry for the delay, I've been under the weather, and well... Two days isn't too long.

Thanks for entering, and thanks for sharing your favourite books and music - lots of stuff for me to check out :)

Camera stuff

I've been having troubles with my Nikon D70. Whenever I put the memory card in, the camera would be fine to take a picture or two. But then the camera wouldn't recognize the card, and so also wouldn't take pictures. It turns out that there's a service advisory for the D70 dealing with exactly this issue, so I must pack it up and send it away....

Meanwhile, ye olde digitale camera is acting up too! It's been using batteries up instantly! So again, one picture, and fini.

So until one of these problems is resolved, my blog will continue to be a pictureless place. Sorry!

(and not surprisingly, the Holga needs a few tweaks before I start a new roll of film. It is a Chinese toy camera though, so not surprising, perhaps?)

Return of the yoga

So, it has been about 3 weeks since the last yoga class of the session. In that short time, I've bumped my runs up to ~5km 3 times a week. In this short time, I've also developed some hip pain. Walking is fine, and running is mostly fine, but sitting or putting weight only on my right leg causes it to flare up. (in complete seriousness, I blame our trip to Ireland. the day we returned caused hip pain like I'd never experienced, and it's been showing up a bit every once in a while)

So tonight I went to a new yoga class! And for the first time in three weeks, I can stand on my right leg without any pain. It was an outdoor class, which was a new experience for me. I found it very similar to hot yoga class I took at Christmas, but that was more the class style. (fast, lots of moving. Not as precise as Iyengar)

So, I guess it's just that something we do in the yoga classes stretches my hip in such a way that it feels good! I haven't yet figured it out at home, but I'm not averse to outdoor yoga for the summer. It's much more athletic than I'm used to, so it's a good workout.

And... Don't go to yoga with a ballet/dance teacher. It will make you feel a little bit sad. And even though it's ridiculous, you will think to yourself, why can't I put my leg over my shoulder while in a lunge position?

Yay for yoga!

New hobby FAIL

Sort of. Did I mention that I bought a Holga camera before our trip? I've always wanted to try medium format, and what better than with a camera that takes 'artistic' pictures solely because of its junkiness? So I shot 2 rolls of film in Ireland, and they are a hot mess. Seriously. Light leaks galore (when the back fell off), and format issues. The roll shot around here is better! Out of 3 rolls, there are 6 that I will share. One because it's amusing, and the rest because I like them. Cost of these 6 pictures? $30 for the camera, $21 for 3 rolls of film, $12 for developing, and $18 for scanning (lousy junky poo scanning). So.. $81 for 6 shots.

Et voila:
Let's start with the bad - but a fun memory! They put a shamrock in your Guinness at the factory, through the magic of beer foam and um... skillz.



The not so bad:



The "HEY! I like these!":









And my favourite:

Happy Anniversary to meeeeeeeeee

Craziness, this is my 500th post! My first post was waaaaaay back in September 2005!

And, in the spirit of happiness and sharing, I'll be giving away something. What? I don't know - it depends on who wins! A drop-spindle spinning kit? Some yummy Posh Yarn laceweight and a pattern of your choice? Whatever! We can work it out.

All you have to do is leave a comment (with a way to contact you - either email address or Rav id) telling me either your favourite book/author, or favourite music (band, artist, album, whatever!). Both would be fine too! I'll pick a winner on Canada Day (July 1) and it will be fun. Anyone can enter cuz I'm willing to ship anywhere.

YEEEEHAW!

Blog Neglect

I've been so neglectful of my blog lately. Partly because I never really got back into it after the trip, partly because life is just getting so busy! Because, it's official, I'm working full-time now! (it's only a temp thing, to cover sick leave in the department, but still.)

My knitting has mostly been of the secret or uninteresting type. I will be posting a pattern for a cowl that I knit for a swap quite soon, and am also working on a sweater for a co-worker who is soon to be a dad, and a Featherweight Cardigan (which is progressing as slowly as one would expect!)

I've been reading. Lots and lots. Everything is listed here, and I try to update it as soon as I finish something.

But, this weekend was nice. I baked these thumbprint cookies, but replaced raspberry jam with peach habanero jam! Awesome! They are super good, and I've never made thumbprint cookies before!
Here is what was left (the red are strawberry.. Not as good)