Decisions Decisions

It's official, Trev and I have started looking for a house back in our hometown. It'll mean an hour-long commute to work each day (and back again), but it'll also mean that we're living within minutes of family and friends, rather than an hour away. And I'll get a lot of "reading" done this way, as I LOVE to listen to audio books in the car.

Now to find our perfect first home! (And for me to go through the process with as little stress as possible...) It's all pretty exciting. I'm a little apprehensive about the commute and the added expense it will bring (and stress, come winter). Trying not to worry about that right now. I'm doing my best to get excited about decorating my first home! (Sure, I helped decorate this one, but it'll be different owning the home that I'm sprucing up.)

I think the stress of work is giving me heart palpitations. I took my pulse the other day on my lunch break and my heart skipped a beat EIGHT TIMES in 60 seconds. Unreal. That has been my life for the past four weeks. Luckily they caught it on the EKG I went for two weeks ago, so I'll see what my doctor thinks at my upcoming appointment. It's driving me nuts. Medication, stress, family history, previous personal medical history... no clue what the true cause is or how to make it stop.

Oh, and if you're going to have a garage sale and put out a sign, make sure you spell it properly, or I'm going to stand at the end of your driveway and take a picture.

Piece of Paradise

This weekend I finally made it out to the cottage for the first time since Christmas. It was a lovely weekend. Still chilly, but lovely all the same.

At Lake of the Woods we had a deer come up to help herself to some birdseed. She was in full molting mode and looking rather scruffy as a result! It's amazing how much more "tan" they are in the summer compared to their grey-brown winter coat.

On Saturday evening Trev and I took the canoe out onto the lake at Goldcreek Ridge. I'm rarely here during the summer months, as my parents rent it out at that time, so it was neat to get out onto the water, which I'd never actually done before (I've only ever walked on it as ice).

On Sunday we headed out to the island to open it up for the summer. Trev and I assembled the dock, Trev and Dad put the motor back on my parents' little boat after we all hauled it back into the water from its winter spot, Emma swam and swam and retrieved and retrieved... She'll lose her winter "chunk" in no time.

Taking a breather, sitting in the boat, watching the boys try to figure out the motor.

They finally got it up and running and Trev and I headed out for a wee jaunt down river. Trev took a few casts...

...and I radioed home with the fun new walkie-talkies that my mom bought. We had fun "testing their range" this weekend (i.e. bugging one another with silly comments and fake CB radio talk - ten-four, roger, over & out, and so on).

And this year a Canada Goose pair has decided to nest on our island. We've always got mergansers nesting. One year we even had a pair of loons nest on our "beach" (if you saw it you'd know why I say "beach" in quotation marks). We tried to keep our distance from this pair this weekend. Hopefully they'll be hatched and off the island sooner rather than later...

All in all it was a lovely weekend. I look forward to many, many more. I also look forward to doing some fishing! One of these days I'll get around to buying this year's license. Once the weather warms up, I'm thinking.

But yes, it has begun. Trev's gone on his first fishing trip of the season this weekend. Hope it's a success!

Babies Babies Everywhere

None of which are/will be mine!

I have four friends who are currently expecting babies this year. June, July, September, October.

I've decided to get a bit of a head-start on some projects, such as this one:

The beginnings of a big granny square. I love these colours.

And I'm making quick work of it all too. Shouldn't take much time to finish.

And you know what? If I finish it and I don't think it suits any of the baby/mom combos for this year, then I won't gift it! Easy as that.

I'm excited though. So many pregnancies and new motherhoods to live vicariously through! It'll be a fun year.

Feathers

Spring has sprung and I'm DELIGHTED at how many birds I've been seeing. Some new (to me and my "life list" that is), some not new to me, but my first of the season and thus still exciting.

Cedar Waxwings congregating in our neighbours' tree. My first of the season.

A Fox Sparrow contemplating taking a bath with a robin. My first Fox Sparrow ever.

A Northern "Yellow-shafted" Flicker in our tree. My first of the season.

IIIIIII'm a huge nerd.

ALSO, yesterday as I left my yard to head out to catch the bus, I heard a whistling noise in a tree in my nextdoor neighbours' front yard. I look up to see a beautiful duck in a tree!! AND it happened to be a species of duck that I'd never laid eyes on before (though I knew full well what it was). A Wood Duck!!! It was the male sitting up in the tree. Then the female came down from another neighbour's tree. I was awe-struck. And without a camera. Oh well.

Apparently it's not uncommon to see them perched in trees.

But enough about birds. On to my other nerdy obsession: crochet.

Tonight, in a fit of anxiety, I had to find something to do. (Work was the WORST today - left me feeling edgy all evening.) So, at Trev's suggestion, I sat down to do some crocheting.

Remember that book I bought with my birthday gift certificate, 200 Crochet Blocks? Well this has to be my absolute favourite block from that book. I'm happy with it. I don't quite like how "spoke-y" that second green round is, compared to how it looks in the book, but it'll do.

I started another little project too, but I'll post more on that later, if it turns into anything of substance.

Here's to a better tomorrow!

Felt

Someone sits in her own bed!

Earlier, she and I waited MOST impatiently for this bed to dry after felting.

But here is the bed in all its felted glory!!!

And the "sides rolled down" version - more cat friendly.

Yes, we all had fun...

See? Floppy sides aren't conducive to flop-and-drop cats.

She fits!

She's fat! (Though losing weight, thanks to her diet.)

A comparison:

Dimensions after felting:

Diametre of base: 14" (7" smaller)
Height of sides: 5" (2" shorter)

Another crochet project DONE!

Today I completed the final stitch of my cat bed from this pattern. Don't be fooled though, it may look like a floppy mess in these photos, but it's technically not the finished product!

This baby's getting felted. Well, actually, it's already BEEN felted, but as it's drying into shape as I type this, you'll have to wait before you see the "after felting" photos.

The fun thing about felting is how much the item shrinks during the process. Here are some photos I took before I felted it (with Minnow sitting in it for scale).

I can't lay out a crochet project for photographing without Minnow stepping/sitting/lying on it. Lucky for me, this is precisely what I wanted her to do this one time.

Finished Dimensions:

Diametre (of bottom of bed): 21"
Height (of sides of bed): 7"

Into the washing machine she goes!

And now, after 1.5 cycles in the hot water, this bed's formed and drying smack dab in the centre of my kitchen floor. I wish there was something I could do to speed the drying because, let me tell you, I am IMPATIENT for this one!

Now what to crochet next? I'm going to continue a project I've already started (it's most cost-efficient, which is the name of the game these days). I'm thinking either my Catherine Wheel scarf or the throw I started back around Christmas... I'll see how I feel and will let you know.

And, if I'm counting properly, this cat bed makes for SIX completed crochet projects for 2010!!! (Not including the heart and the key cozy.) I'm thrilled.

March: Could have done without it.

Okay, I'm being overly negative. Though in fairness to ME, I spent the last half of March sick and laid out on my back, missing far too much work with doctor's orders. I'm telling you, it wasn't pretty. I was feeling very sorry for myself and it was rather pathetic. Coughing, sinus ooze, pink eye ('twas a lovely virus, let me tell you).

Anyhoo.

My brother turned 30 on April 1st. My favourite April Fool. Above is a photo taken in our front  yard. That is my brother's first golf club. I'm holding a horse named Penelope. She had straw for hair, and an old fashioned dress. My bangs were the worst!

My brother (leopard, right) was the cutest kid. And check out the homemade costumes! A strawberry and a leopard! I hope to have such adorable homemade costumes for my own children some day.

There's a white speck at the top of the bottom portion of open water (if that makes sense) that is actually a male common goldeneye (a duck). Trevor and I went to Oak Hammock Marsh on Sunday to see what we could see. (They have an "interpretive centre" inside and many many acres of marshland outside.) It was still a bit early - though I was surprised by how much ice was still on the ponds. We only saw mallards, geese and these common goldeneye. They were doing the neatest mating dances though where they'd pop their heads backward on to their backs. Never seen it before.

It's me...

I love this last photo of Trevor with the tall marsh grass. (Taller than him! Impressive!)

Red-winged Blackbirds congregating in the brush. I saw a flock of well over 100 today on my way to my volleyball game. They're everywhere.

"When the bird and the book disagree,...

...always believe the bird." Birdwatcher's Proverb

Here's a list of what others have seen on their hikes around the marshland. We also saw the ground squirrels and a few killdeer

That's it. The highlight of my March and it wasn't even in March.

I'm almost done my cat bed. I'll be sure to take before and after photos for the felting, as it is proving to be RATHER large right now. I'm excited about this one.

And, I've got MANY friends expecting babies, so I think I should  consider whether I'm going to gift these babies with crocheted items (i.e. blankets) - CAN I accomplish such a feat? Time will tell.