November 20th, Paul's birthday...

It's been a while since I've been able to get onto the computer. Not that I "couldn't" get on, but I've been keeping really busy lately. Since I moved some of my studio items up to the front foyer, I've been able to get in there and paint whenever I wanted. Bought a book on techniques/tips and have been enjoying practicing the projects. Mostly. *wry grin* I've been knitting like nuts and currently have 2 things on the go. Alia has kindly offered to do the garter stitch on the scarf for her brother. Yay! I cast the sucker on (110 st). It's a thick and chunky yarn being worked on size 13's. It should be done in next to no time. Which is good. I want to mail the stuff off to B.C. sometime next week. 2 things for the girls, one for Jen, and one for Dante. Should I do something for the dogs?

Finished 2 pairs of mittens, one of which I'm happy with. I'll keep the originals and wear them as driving gloves/mitts. They're definitely not warm enough for Winnipeg winter. One more pair to go, and a scarf. Then the Winnipeg contingent is finished. Hooray!

I finished a cute little hat for Miranda. My favorite "Homespun" pattern, but with a different yarn. Or should I say "yarns" since I used 3 different colours. I really hate that the first stitch always looks staggered and stupid. I tried lifting the stitch below and knitting it together with the next one, as it suggests in the darned book, but it actually looks worse. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. I'll be searching for an answer on that. Soon.

Working on the same hat pattern for Shauna. Hey! It's a cute hat! I like it. I still want to make another one for Alia and myself. Two hats. Not one to share. Two. I've got this lovely purple Homespun... Maybe after Xmas?

Hey, Dana! Thanks for teaching me to knit. I think. 

Sewing sewing sewing. I've got some sewing to do. Projects are cut and ready to assemble. I'm heading off to Tina's place on Monday (hopefully) and I'll see if she can machine embroider some cute little emblems on the doll sweatshirts. If not, I'll have to sacrifice a bit of material. Note to self: next time, ask Tina to embroider BEFORE cutting out the pattern piece.

*yawn* It's nearly 11:30 pm and I'm pooped. It's been a long-ish day. I have to remember to get on Facebook tomorrow and let my "Preserve the Torbay Coastline" group know that Geoff (the new Deputy Mayor) has brought up a motion (or something like that) to rescind the rezoning of Dominion Hill at the next meeting. Yay! I'll have to ask Madeleine for more details before I go off half-cocked. Still... "Yay!"

Can't talk... knitting...

Making a pair of mittens! First ones ever. I hope the recipient (who shall be nameless until post-Christmas) enjoys them. They're not perfect. Nope. Not by any means. Since I'm using Bernat Satin, they tend to show boo-boos quite well. Oh well. At least she will know they were handknit. Hopefully she'll see the love that went into them, rather than the mistakes. :)

RIP Steve

I was just looking over Paul's Ride the Rock website yesterday. It's something that the motorcyclists 'round these parts have hooked up with. Paul's been able to connect with riders all around Newfoundland and beyond, both online and in person! It's been really incredible. A great community.

However, there was a tragedy a few months back. One of their members was in a head-on crash with a truck when his bike swung wide onto the wrong side of the road on a blind turn. Steve died at the scene. He had been on a month-long holiday, biking and camping across Newfoundland, a dream of his since he'd seen the gorgeous photos posted by some of the Newfoundland members. He was with another of the Ride the Rock members. Nolan just posted the ride report, which is what the riders do upon completion of their trips. It includes photos and brief videos of their time together. Steve's wife and children wrote on the forum, expressing how much it meant to Steve to be involved with the motorbike community and how, although it was painful, the photos and videos helped them through the rough times right after Steve's death.

I was crying before I even saw the darn pictures. Kleenex were flying like snow while Paul scrolled through the report. The report and the photos showed a pair of grown men having a wonderful time, doing their favorite thing (dirt biking). Laughing, having fun, getting to know each other and becoming more comfortable with each other as their friendship (in person rather than just online) grew. There's a video clip of them "hanging around" at a playground, acting like a couple of kids hanging on the monkey bars and swinging on the swings. Smiling, laughing. Good times.

I laughed through my tears because I just couldn't help myself. But it was just so damn sad. I realized that I was seeing the last days in the life of a very nice man. The final photos and video were taken within a few hours of his death.

Life is so fleeting and you never know when your number is going to come up. I wonder if it's a consolation to Steve's family to know that he'd enjoyed his last days...

~ Chris

Where's the Easel?

In the old "puppy room" !!! Lucky us, we've got this entry-way on the side of the house that we never use for entry or egress. It's got a coat closet on one side and a heater on the other, a pair of ceiling lights that can be adjusted (if you stand on a ladder) and a pair of double-doors that open into the foyer. The only drawback to the room is that there's no electrical outlet in it. If I want additional light, I will have to import it via extension cord from another room. Oh well. A small price to pay for the pleasure of having my drawing and painting materials upstairs where everybody else hangs out.

Why is this a big deal to me? Well, it means I get to poke and prod at my drawing whenever I want without having to go all the way down to the basement. I can, for instance, be wandering from the kitchen to the living room, catch sight of my easel from the corner of my eye, and think "Hey! I should draw!" How cool is that, hm? Yeah. That's right. Way cool.

AND the other really good thing I'm doing is putting a small folding table in the living room so that I can put my sewing machine on it and do the exact same thing. Feel like sewing? Pull up a chair and sew. Done with sewing? Push in the chair and ... (this is the good part) ... WALK AWAY without cleaning it up first! That's awesome!

All these things can be done without leaving the companionable space on the main floor. EXCELLENT! Am I excited? Oh yes. I am. Very excited. yes yes yes... I've got these sewing projects to finish before Christmas!!

Back to the coal mines now!

I love getting presents in the mail...

Especially when they're full of yummy goodness like CHOCOLATE!!! It was an unexpected surprise, but that's the best kind, right? Right. Mom and George sent me word the other day that "a package was in the mail" and should be arriving soon. "Soon" was shortly defined as "in a couple of days" because it just arrived on Friday! Yayyy... Thanks so much!!!

Remember the days of "snail mail?" The days before e-mail sucked everybody along in its wake. The days before Hotmail, Yahoo, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter... You know, the good old days when you'd sit down and write a letter, maybe tuck in a few photos, or even tuck a letter into a parcel and then take it to the post office.

Ever since moving to Newfoundland, it has become the norm to send or receive a parcel! It's always a pleasant surprise. Sometimes there's a letter or card to accompany it. Nowadays, with the ease of "send to print" style letters written on the computer, the simple act of sitting down and scrawling a few lines makes the note more personal and cherished.

This week, Dana received her care package from us. This week, I received a care package from Mom and George.

Oh.... what's in it? lol... wouldn't you like to know?

Hey, Mom! Do I have to share the chocolate?

~ Chris

Well, further to the drawing workshop weekend, I went to a painting studio today...

there's an instructor, every Wednesday morning from 9:30 to 12:30 at the Arts & Culture Centre. She's got an MFA in painting, so I'd say she knows what she's talking about. I went with Gerri and Laurie today and managed to listen-in and pick brains. It was good. I didn't bring any painting supplies today, but I did bring some photos for references and my small-things ziploc baggie full of goodies. What kind of goodies, you ask? Well, I've got some devil's purses, teeny mussel shells, a snail shell, a couple of whelk shells, a tiny starfish, and some white thing that was leftover from last year's cod fishery. Dunno what it is, but it looks cool. I drew one of the whelks. It felt so good to be drawing again! Why did I leave it for so damned long? *sigh* Stupid, I guess.  Next week, I'll try to be ready to begin a painting.

Tomorrow is a drawing studio with a live model. I'm hooking up with one of the people who was at my drawing workshop this weekend. Should be good. Should I bring paint? Hmm... I haven't done a nude in anything other than pencil and charcoal in a looooong time.

Paul has been home this week. He got kabonked at judo the other night and has been walking around with a sort of "halo" around his head. He says that it feels like the "veil" is lifting a bit today, but his brains are still sort of scrambled. He's been taking it easy the last couple of days, snoozing with Niki. Reading hurts his peepers. sucks... I'd hate not being able to read!

Well, after my studio tomorrow, I'm thinking I'll re-arrange a few things. Since Dana's coming to Torbay at Xmas-time, I'll be needing to use my "studio" as a spare room again. I'm going to bring my drawing/painting things upstairs to the former "puppy room" and use that as my new studio. It'll be nice to have stuff upstairs so that I'm not tucked away in the basement, away from everybody... except the boys...

Busy afternoon, sitting on the phone today. I had to contact Air Miles in order to book Dana's ticket to Newfoundland. It's always a long drawn-out process. Since she's bringing Shelby with her, I also had to contact Westjet to make sure there was space for the little girlie-dog. Usually the Airmiles person confirms the availability before doing the confirmation code for the passenger's flight, but the wait time was atrocious! As it is, I ended up waiting for nearly 20 minutes to get an actual human. Fortunately, everything worked out the first time around. Dana's coming on the 15th! Hooray!!!

Lucky me! Sean made chili for dinner today. Too bad he didn't get a chance to have any for dinner before he and Kyle headed off to judo. :) More for me! He makes awesome chili. ... he makes awesome cheesecake, too. And he makes this really great Chicken Divan dish using chicken (duh!), tons of fresh broccoli, cream of broccoli soup, and cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. He usually serves it with egg noodles, but it's good with rice or just by itself.

Well, I think I'm going to go and have some of that wonderful-smelling chili now. Too bad Sean didn't make a side of biscuits...

Niki and Baby

love to play with each other. Sometimes I'm not really sure if Baby is playing though. He's a bit of a tough kitty, cranky and bitchy. He screams and hisses, occasionally he tackles little Niki-girl to the ground. I've come upon the two of them in a clinch, Baby on top with Niki on her back... Baby usually pins her down by holding her by the ear or on her collar. But just as quickly, Niki ends up on top with Baby trying to box her ears while balancing on HIS back! The blows fly fast and furious, both beasties boxing one another. Baby snarling, Niki buzz-growling like an overgrown bumblebee. Baby usually jumps onto the chair, feeling that he has the advantage. Niki has grown enough to be able to jump into the chair after him and so she sometimes chases after him and he ends up leaping to the top of the chair. Mostly though, Niki dances around the chair while remaining on the ground.

Something attracts their attention outside and the combatants call a truce. With fangs and claws and cute puppy-dog eyes, they join forces to guard the house.