Done!

Everything is done, except my grad school application. I got all my essays done, all my presentations, and my lab final. My finals were deferred, and I had surgery yesterday.

Turns out all this pain was caused by a number of adhesions from my appendectomy in 2004. They got in there and lysed them (basically cut them apart with a heated tool), and I got to go home. Unfortunately, I had a nasty cold which has turned into bronchitis, and the subsequent coughing has left me and my incisions in a lot of pain. I had to go in to the ER again today to get some different medicine, both to help the pain and to stop the coughing so that I don't cause any damage. There's a very VERY small likelihood I could "burst" my incisions or the adhesions but it should be OK. Because it's a little harder for me to care for myself and Sean needs to work, I'm going home to Dryden for a little bit. Have Mom, Dad, and Becky care for me for awhile!

The only Christmas presents I have left to knit are the socks and a neckwarmer (new addition to the list, but it's Knitty's Tudora and will be a very short delightful knit). That's what I'll be doing this week, along with knitting my own candy cane socks and some mitts for myself.

More percentages

(If you're wondering why I keep posting these incredibly boring lists, it has a two-fold purpose. First, I feel guilted into working on my items because the progress is out there for the world to see. Second, I get a LOT of satisfaction out of crossing things off these lists.)

I'm stressed because I received a scholarship letter a few weeks ago, and I was going to bring in the acceptance this Monday. However, I just found out that they mailed out the letter on Oct 16, and I was supposed to accept the scholarship within 10 days of them issuing it to me....of course I didn't have the letter at that time. I'm going to go in and beg for it on Monday, wish me luck!

In Christmas news, I am now at the following percentages:

Lace Hat - Done
Felted Clogs - 50%
Fingerless Mittens - Done
Hat - Done
Socks - 50%

Candy Cane Socks for me - 0%

In school news, I am now at the following percentages:

Labs - Done
Lab final (Dec. 3) - 3/4 studying
Min Dep paper (Dec. 5)- Done
Min Dep presentation(Dec. 3) - 10%
Isotope Paper (Dec. 5) - Done
Isotope Presentation - Done and presented 90%!
Petroleum Group Paper (Dec. 7) - Data collected and analysed, no text yet
Petroleum Group Presentation (Nov. 29)- Done
Thesis - On temporary hold

Percentages

In Christmas news, I am now at the following percentages:

Lace Hat - Done
Felted Clogs - 50%
Fingerless Mittens - Done
Tea Cozy - Not started not being made, now being given a hat
Socks - 50%

-Hat for me- 70% hat for "tea cozy" and it's done

In school news, I am now at the following percentages:

Labs - Done
Lab final (Dec. 3) - Half-done studying
Min Dep paper (Dec. 5)- 70%
Min Dep presentation(Dec. 3) - not started
Isotope Paper (Dec. 5) - Done
Isotope Presentation - Done and presented
Petroleum Group Paper (Dec. 7) - My section not started yet (can't until we have the rest of the data)
Petroleum Group Presentation (Nov. 29)- Mostly done, presenting tomorrow
Thesis - On temporary hold

Quick update - most of my tests came back normal, so it's not large-bowel Crohn's (could still be small bowel, esp. since I'm not absorbing nutrients well, according to my new bloodwork). At any rate, this means I'm having surgery on Dec. 7. It's a laparoscopy to try and see what the heck is going on in mah belleh. I shouldn't have to stay overnight, unless they find some adhesions (somewhat likely) that need a fair bit of work (unlikely). It means all my finals are put off until January, and I get a week of sitting on the couch with actually no need to do ANYTHING but knit. I'm going to rip out my Silk Garden One Skein Wonder and make it into mittens, as well as making myself some glittens. I also need a warm hat, so I want to get to Michaels before Dec. 7 to buy a couple skeins of Patons SWS for a palindrome hat.

In Christmas news, I am now at the following percentages:

Lace Hat - Done
Felted Clogs - 50%
Fingerless Mittens - Done
Tea Cozy - Not started
Socks - 50%

In school news, I am now at the following percentages:

Labs - 1 done, 1 left
Lab final - not studied yet
Min Dep paper - 20%
Min Dep presentation - not started
Isotope Paper - 33%
Isotope Presentation - not started
Petroleum Group Paper - not started
Petroleum Group Presentation - not started
Thesis - oh I don't even want to think about it

Eeep.

Christmas Presents

I've been thinking about (and working on) my Christmas presents, with all the spare time that's unfortunately been dumped into my lap. I decreased the number of presents significantly from last year, so that I don't end up crying in my knitting on Dec. 24. On the list are the following:

Lace Hat - Done
Felted Clogs - 50%
Fingerless Mittens - 50%
Tea Cozy - Not started
Socks - 40%

Possibly to add to the list, if I have time (if not some people will be getting bought gifts):

Toque
Convertible Mittens

I'm enjoying the knitting so far, although the socks are sucking the life out of me a bit at the moment. They're currently glaring at my from the table. Thing is, I'd like to make something for myself, so I'm very guiltily knitting on a pair of convertible mittens for me instead of knitting on Christmas gifts OR studying, both of which NEED TO BE DONE. The snow now sitting outside is helping to alleviate a little of that guilt though.

I got a scholarship as well, $500. I'm particularly proud of this one, because it had two contraints: high marks and an essay on your understanding of the life of a mining geologist. Hopefully I'll be eligible for a bursary as well (you find out at the end of December) and I can put even more payments on things. We're slowly but surely paying off some credit card debt we'd accrued awhile ago, and it's a relief to be putting decent payments on things.

Thanks for the well wishes, everyone. They've done some testing (colonoscopy, gastroscopy, and Friday I have a Meckel's Scan. The problem seems to be two-fold:

1) I have a positive blood test for celiac (usually a strong indicator) but no symptoms
2) I don't have a positive blood test or visual ulcers of Crohn's (but every other symptom)

The best guess is Crohn's, since it explains every weird symptom I've had in my life that everyone tried to treat as separate problems like joint pain, mouth ulcers, night sweats, pink-eye-ish problems.

I have been knitting some, and trying not to look at the mountain of schoolwork that's piling in front of me. I'm going to write some of a term paper today I hope, and try to convince Sean to go with me to the University (it's closed today) so I can work on my labs, since that's what I'm most behind in.

Wish me luck!

I haven't been posting much lately, as I've been struggling with my health again. It seems that the stomach problems they thought they'd nailed down last year have flared their ugly heads. I've been in the hospital a few times, and I haven't been able to go to class or work since last Thursday.

It's hard. I need to finish these classes because I have to graduate this year, so I can go to the States with Sean. I also can't go down there if they haven't solved these problems because we'd go broke in a day. I also have to write my thesis, and my life will be insanely busy next semester because I have a lot more classes to take. They keep giving me pain meds but I rarely take them since they make me loopy, and I'm paranoid that I'm somehow going to get addicted to them.

Anyway, I just needed to vent this frustration somewhere. I"m supposed to work at the daycare tomorrow, and I want to so much because I love it. But since I can barely get off the couch...I dunno.

Hi Angela and Eca! Nice to see people commenting :D Ang, I got the birthday presents in the mail the other day, and I e-mailed you about it! I just wanted to acknowledge it here too because they were....knitting books! Yep, now I'm the proud owner of "Mason-Dixon Knitting" and "Stephanie-Pearl McPhee Casts Off!"

And Eca, I finished the Hermione chart! Here it is for everyone - but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if anyone uses it, let me know how it goes and give me props yo! LOL I'm just kidding. This chart did take me hours and hours to work out though, and I'm still not sure how accurate it is.

Actual headline from my hometown

"Criminal Bird Strikes Dryden Home

A citizen’s arrest was made in Dryden on Wednesday.
City Police received a call of a possible break and enter as the victim advised police that one of his garage windows was broken.
The homeowner surveyed the scene and found nothing missing but did spot
the suspect in the corner.
Before officers arrived at the scene, the homeowner arrested and released the suspect, a Ruff Grouse.
The bird will not face charges."

Cute :)

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users (as of whenever this was originally posted). Bold is for books you've read. Underline is for books you own but haven't read. Italics for books you've started but haven't finished. Red is for books you found unreadable. Green for books you want to read but haven't yet. And, finally, leave the ones you haven't read as they are.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway HATED IT!
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492 - Present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

Ravelry!

How awesome is it that I got my invite to Beta-test Ravelry on my birthday yesterday! I've spent all morning putting projects in my queue, and inputting my needles and books. This is a godsend for knitters, I tell ya. I already adore it. I just...wow. Wow. That's all I can say. I can't wait to put my stash into it!

My birthday yesterday was good, I got cards from my grandparents, and got my hair trimmed and coloured (it was extremely overbleached from the sun this summer, so I had her lowlight it back to basically my natural colour. I do really like it, although I wish my hair was more golden blonde in colour and less ashy. Oh well.

Tonight we go to Sean's parents for dinner, and tomorrow I'm going to work a lot more on unpacking this place and making it neat, so that we can start doing things like playing board games :)

Can't think of good titles anymore

Haven't posted in awhile. This is because of

a) looking for/applying for apartments (we got one)
b) unexpected emergency rooms trips for stomach problems (better now)
c) moving into above apartment
d) moving out of old apartmnet
e) dental surgery
f) school starting

As evidenced by these facts I have not really knit OR sewed for awhile, except for fixing Sean's "There be pirates" hat so the brim no longer flares. It's my B-day on Friday, and I'm excited to hopefully get some fun stuff and also have a little fun too!

I also officially became a Manitoban today. I got my Manitoba license yesterday, and this afternoon I also got my Manitoba Health insurance. Good thing, because I'm about to start with a Clinical Health support group for IBS. They're teaching us relaxation and coping techniques, in order to help decrease our symptoms. Sounds like a plan I'm down with, especially given that (a) happened above. It'll be a long bus ride back every Wednesday due to the construction, but that gives me time for Christmas knitting.

I also ran into a high school friend today, Melanie, who's doing her 2nd year of Medicine. That's awesome! We chatted about old friends, who's doing what, etc.

Finally, walking back from the bus stop I wandered into the gourmet chocolate shop (CoCoPod) to see what it was like. I waited patiently while a slighly yuppie type picked out the most exquisite chocolate pieces for an exclusive soiree she was giving (I kid you not). When she left, I asked how much the truffles were. They were $2.50 a piece, and I only had two loonies and a quarter. I said "hang on!" and started to dig for my wallet in my backpack, but the super-nice people in the shop (counter guy, girl about to start work there, and the owner) gave me a quarter so I could have a divine mint truffle :)

Nice day!

Best video you'll see today

Presents!

I had an AWESOME day today.

1st out, a big huge Thank you! to Liz, my sockpal! Although your parcel came at the end of last week, I wasn't home yet and couldn't get it until today! Without further ado:


The world's most beautiful kneesocks! They're made of handspun merino, which is softness itself. I adore pink, and these socks just shout out to the world that they're pink! Not weird Barbie pink either, but just a bright, cheery pink you see in wild roses and cherry blossoms. The pattern is so nice too, I just love it! I need to know the stitch pattern.


Another picture of the socks. Aren't they gorgeous?


You'd think that handspun pink kneesocks, would be enough, but my Sockapal went above and beyond! She gave me a little skein (45g) of (I'm guessing) her own handspun, which I'm sure I'm going to knit into a little headband for the fall - or maybe a little neck scarf. There's also two presents from LUSH, the French Kiss bubble bar in the picture, and the You've Been Mangoed! bath melt that is solidifying in the fridge (it got a titch mushy in the car today). I got a cute change purse that will also fit a lipstick, and a bunch of postcards! Thanks Liz, you are the best pal EVER :D

I also got a present from Sean today, as a "yay! you're back!" type gift. He took me to Build-A-Bear Workshop, and I made this:

His name is Sean, and he's wearing khakis, stripey button-up, argyle sweater-vest, and leather shoes. He's asthma and allergy certified, as long as you freeze or wash/dry him every 4 weeks. He makes me squee every time I see him :D

And lastly, the presents I got to send to MY sockpal! Her things are going out tomorrow, in a mass mailing I need to do.

I tried to go Canadian in the package, without being TOO stereotypical. We have my favourite Munsch book (for her kids), a soap made in Winnipeg, two Canadian teas (Maple and Icewine, both made in Toronto), maple syrup candies, and some postcards! I can't wait to mail it off tomorrow.

Today was a great day! I got to go out and do soil sampling, which meant riding on the ATVs (woohoo!) and spending time outside (double woohoo!). Most of our soil was very clayey, but that's to be expected because we're in Northern Ontario. I found some Creeping Snowberry



and gave some to Jeff to taste. It was amusing, although he thought the flavour was OK (usually snowberry tastes like a sour minty flavour) the texture was definitely not to his liking.

We had an enjoyable lunch, and while we were at the creek side taking a sample I found some wild mint!



I picked a quick bunch before we moved on, and while we were waiting at the ATVs for Blaire and Leye I found another massive cluster! So I picked it all and now they're drying on papers on my other bed, drying out for a nice treat this winter. I might go out with Sean in the evening once he gets here and pick LOTS more, it would make good Christmas presents. Wild mint tea is much more flavourful and wonderful than bought tea, and is very sweet.

I can't wait until Sean comes up! He'll be here in two nights, on Thursday. We've also potentially found an apartment, though we need to be approved and sort out a few things. It's got gorgeous hardwood floors though, and is closer to the University. It's much smaller than our current apartment, so we're already working on getting rid of some stuff, and more will be on its way out once I get back to Winnipeg.

Now, I really need to clean up this room in preparation for Sean. No time tomorrow, Wednesdays are for Bingo!

Pictures

ipod cozy I made for Nesha, she just got a new nano for logging core. My own pattern, Bernat Sox "Hippi" on US 0 needles. ~40 sts cast on, k2p2 pattern with 6 stitch/8 row cable, 3 needle bind-off for base.


Socks I'm knitting. Unfortunately the pictures is bad, because I don't know how to work Nesha's camera very well! Socks are in Patons Kroy, using 2.75mm needles and the pattern is "Charade" (marvelous pattern, you'll have to google it!).


Out on the lake eating lunch, on a rock sampling day earlier this summer.


Geoteching core before it's logged with Jeff. It was very, very hot these days.

Sockapalooza 4

Ha! At least the sockapalooza socks are up, so that there's proof I really did finish them! They're waiting to be sent out until I get back to Winnipeg. My pal already knows this and is fine with it *phew!*

Specs:

"Mermaid Pearls"
Sockapalooza 4 socks
Yarn: Bernat Sox "Hippi"
Needles: 2.75mm DPN
Pattern: "Gull Wing Lace" from Socks, Socks, Socks!

OK so I tried to upload pictures of my Sockapalooza socks, new x-mas present FO, and ipod nano cozy. Nothin' doin', unfortunately. The sucky, sucky internet here keeps dropping and I can't get a consistent signal in order to load a picture.

It'll have to wait, maybe in the morning it'll be better.

Sooooo hooooooooooootttt...

Oh. My. God. It is sooooo hot here. We are in a humidex warning, this afternoon it got up to 41 with the humidity.

The scary thing? In the upstairs of the mill (where we work, it's completely unventilated) it was so ridiculously hot that outside at 41C felt cool. Knowing now that it felt like 41 outside, I'd wager that it's at least 50C upstairs. It was so hot, that less than a minute after turning off the fan, we felt violently nauseous and dizzy. Because of the high humidity, you can sweat properly either, so there's no particularly good way to cool off. I'm already wearing just a tank top and shorts at work, not sure how to cool off any more!

I finished the sockapalooza socks, except for grafting the toes (no darning needle or crochet hook) and blocking them. I noticed that I somehow wound up with two less stitches in one sock, but I checked and since this is stretchy lace they fit the same.

I also spent my spare time today (during scanning, between changing maps) graphing out the yoke of this sweater:



It's one of Hermione's from OOTP. It took me FOREVER, some tears, some photoshopping, and finally good old paper, pencil, ruler, and tracing paper to get it right. I wanted to make sure I accounted for the decreases properly, since I wanted it to be a proper yoked sweater. I think I've got it now! I'll try and post a picture or something soon.

Not much new

Not much new here, more work going on in the outrageous heat of Red Lake. I've being working on my sockapalooza socks some more (sorry Linz, no pictures still!), especially while I'm scanning.

I also want some suggestions for first dance songs for the wedding. Sean and I are wanting something older, like 40's-50's. Sean is not really a fan of Elvis Presley, nor of Frank Sinatra, although I'm not sure on his feelings about covers. My ideas so far:

"Fools Rush In" - a cover if I can find it
"Love Me Tender" Norah Jones
"LOVE" Michael Buble
"Fever" Michael Buble


As you can see, two are Presley and one is Sinatra :P Any other ideas?

I also need ideas for the Processional and Recessional. No wedding marches! Sean's a fan of Pachebel's Canon, but I really really don't want to use that one. I'd really like to use something by Bach and or Handel.

The new Interweave Knits Fall 2007 is up, and there's a few things I want to make: Dickinson Pullover, Tangled Yoke Cardigan, Cobblestone Pullover, Snowflake Socks, Sweetheart Vest (I'll add sleeves), possibly the Mirepoix Bodice once I can see the schematic. In all, enough patterns to make it worth my while to buy the magazine.

What would YOU like to make?

PS The last dance? "Moondance" by Michael Buble. :D

Arrr - ye be warned! Pirates: At World's End spoilers ahead!

Hi Linz! No pictures yet because my camera is on the fritz, and is consequently left at home. But soon!

As for the after-credit clip, some writers explained it thus:

A scene was cut from the movie which explained that if whoever took over the Flying Dutchman had a lover who remained true through the 10 years, the obligation to the sea and the escort of the dead would be broken, and he could return to land again. Therefore, when Elizabeth waited her 10 years faithfully, Will could come back and live with her again. It therefore doesn't cut them out of the storyline completely if the actors want to come back, but it DOES solve their storyline if they don't.

I liked the end clip, because it showed that Elizabeth and Will got to live happily ever after with one another. Plus, Will got SUPER hot this movie.

I am waiting anxiously to go home Thursday night, and miss Sean so much it's driving me round the twist (great Oz expression).

As I said....

Yeah, I haven't blogged in awhile. But a shout out to Linz who's rejoined the blogosphere and even posted on my blog!

I didn't post while on vacation in Winnipeg, because I was just spending as much as possible with Sean. We spent our time hanging out together, watching some movies and painting. We also planned out some stuff, which included:

-Going to the Manitoba Museum and eating some street dogs
-Sushi at Meiji
-Going to Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End
-Going to the Assiniboine Park Zoo
-Walking around Polo Park
-Eating dinner with his family

After getting back to work, Leye and I were alone (everyone else was on their holidays) and spent our time scanning. We had some nice days as the rest of the crew came back, and got to do some more good field work, but then two things got in our way. The first was weather, in which Red Lake once again bowed to the Weather Network's Summer Outlook Forecast and became incredibly rainy. The other is that I developed some strange chest infection, which kept me from scanning and bush work. However, the drill has started up again, so now I'm assisting Nesha in logging core.

I've been knitting, my first Sockapalooza 4 sock is done apart from grafting, and I'm up to the heel flap on the second. I also knitted a Gryffindor bookscarf for myself, which I can't put fringe on until I get home to a crochet hook. I've realised that the bookscarf is not really particularly useful for me, as I never put down a new Harry Potter book until I'm finished reading. Oh well, it's fun anyway :)

My next break starts Thursday evening, and I won't be posting much during that time off either. The week involves a trip to Dryden to visit and renew my license and get a bite splint made, picking up HP7, going to OOTP, and hopefully confirming a wedding location. Wish me luck!

Yeah, I've been posting less. It's partly because I forget to do it, partly because I have a facebook I post on, and partly because it can be discouraging when no one comments :D Not that I expect them, I think I just need to put a hit meter in the sidebar so I know if anyone is actually reading and whether to try to post more often or not.

In work we've been doing more boating, as well as doing a lot of scanning. There is a whole room full of old mining and geology maps that were left in a leaky old shack and are nearly destroyed by moisture and mildew. On scanning days we take those maps and feed them through a wide scanner (it's 54" wide), and save the pictures so that we have at least some preservation of the maps. It's an OK job, a little monotonous but gives us a chance to chat (2 people need to do it together, to support the maps as they run through and be able to feed the maps in) and a chance to listen to some music.

I also learned how to use the log database. After Judy (or later on, us) has logged the drill core from a hole, we use a program within Microsoft Access to organize all the data (sulfide veins, ultramafic horizons, that kind of thing) so that it can be easily searched if something important comes up. For example (HYPOTHETICALLY!) if geochemistry showed us that, say, quartz-feldspar veins with green alteration were associated with gold in certain areas, we could plug that parameter in and it would show us every horizon in our drillholes which had those veins. Makes targeting easier.

Today is more boat work, since it's beautiful out. I've loaded on the sunscreen, and am going to throw some lemon juice in my hair to help it bleach more evenly in the sun.

I've also been doing some more wedding planning. I'm thinking that the colour will be purple, with pink and gold accents. I like the idea of the men having Dendrobium orchid boutonierres:

The bouquets would be those orchids along with possible irises, since they're orchid-like in appearance.

I also looked for some wedding bands, and I liked these ones:


Except that the bottom heart would be an emerald - making mine and Sean's birthstones. I think it's really pretty and some nice symbolism - they're both lab-created stones, since this actually makes them more beautiful stones for a much lower price


I love this band, I have such a thing for amethyst - it's so pretty!

OK, well I should get going. I have 10 minutes before we leave!

Just in time!

Today was all about being Just in Time. Waking up this morning I got up with perfect timing for going to breakfast, and we started on our boating geology. We had a beautiful morning, calm and sunny. I was the only person with any boating experience, so I sat in the back next to the drivers chair and helped everyone who needed it through the start-up sequence and then learning to pilot the boat.

We explored the first lake, then went through a marsh to the second. The channel was fairly shallow, and we ended up having to paddle through with the motor raised, since it couldn't be locked into a slightly raised position. I paddled from the back a good deal of the way, which was very enjoyable. I wish we could do all our work from canoes!

We explored our outcrops, taking samples and describing the rocks. We were careful to watch the skies, since we knew that it was supposed to rain and thunderstorm in the afternoon. Our second example of "Just on Time" was deciding to leave when we noticed some darker clouds moving in and the barest drizzle starting. It began to rain as we paddled back through the marsh, and soon began to pour. As we put in at the dock, we heard a large rumble of thunder. Some quick moving on our part and we had the boat shoved up and shore, and we were in the truck (and more importantly off the lake!) before the storm set in!

Dinner was alright, acceptable as far as cafeteria/contract food goes. But the last "Just on Time" instance happened as I settled onto my bed for some TV after work, and discovered "Krakatoa" just starting on the Discovery Channel.

Ups and Downs

Today was more a day of ups and downs, as some days are.

Ups:

-Went for a lovely long walk around Red Lake this evening, in the dusk

-The soup for supper was delicious

-Got to sleep in a bit

Downs:

-Watched a bear cub run frantically onto the highway in the path of a Purolator truck. Said truck swerved to miss him, which scared the cub who dashed closer to the truck and smacked his muzzle on the back bumper. The cub dropped to the ground and lay still for 30 very, very long seconds, then got up and fell over a few times. He barely got off the road, dipped his nose in the water in the ditch, and then seemed better and gamboled off into the woods.

-The mine managers smoke inside the building, making office work difficult.

-Other seasonal workers (likely drillers) have returned and are smoking in their rooms in the hotel, which comes into our rooms via the gaps around our doors.

-It's supposed to rain for two days, which makes it difficult for us to do the boating work were supposed to do.

I'm very, very upset that people are allowed to smoke inside the hotel. It's harmful to everyone else, causes problems for people with asthma, allergies, and migraines, and makes everything stink. I have no understanding for why it's legal or acceptable for someone to (essentially) poison me and others around them. If you chose to smoke that is YOUR decision (and presumably your right), but I should also have the right to a smoke-free living situation. I feel that the rights of a non-smoker to breathe freely trumps the rights of a smoker to smoke - because the non-smoker is not causing serious health problems to anyone else by not accepting smoking in their area.

Red Lake, Ontario

Red Lake's "Mascot" and namesake of my hotel - The Norseman Plane


Well, I'm in Red Lake! It's quite beautiful here, a little different from home. Less topography, more muskeg, and VERY different rocks. Lots of volcanics and fewer granites. It's extremely wet here right now, due to the continued deluge they experienced for about 3 weeks before we got here. It's very livable and even a bit enjoyable, but the dirt churned up by the drillers and skidders makes more mud that slops up past your ankles.

Claude Resources, and especially my boss Judy, rock so far. Claude pays for our rooms, all food (and anything we want to use to make lunches, pretty well), flies us in and out (and we're paid for those days), buys things we need to be more comfortable (fans, comforters), and also lets us keep our handlenses and things. Judy is awesome at explaining things, is very understanding, and has a great sense of humour.

We're working at Madsen Mine, picture below:



We're basically doing everything it says on that page, and looking for new and historically known gold locations. My job will rotate between field mapping and rock/soil sampling, scanning old maps of the area (most are gorgeously artistic from the 1920's), and logging drill core. We get to work using ATV's, and doing some lakeshore geology from the motorboat as well.

Today we went out to look at outcrop examples of the local rock types. We saw mafics, ultramafics, talc schist, quartz "tuff", and a few other things. We also ran into the following NOT rock things:


Wild Columbine


Vetch


Canadian Bunchberry


Marsh Skullcap


Spring Azure


Canadian Tiger Swallowtail

I love my new hiking boots so far, and we'll see how they work out tomorrow. Hopefully well!

Hi all, tomorrow I leave for Red Lake. I will have internet there, so I should be doing some posting (especially since it's an easy way to keep up while I'm away!).

Posting has been scattered because of attempts to spend as much time together as Sean as possible before my leaving, and I'm not sure when the next post will be. Red Lake should be good, I have my own hotel room and I get to keep it all summer.

See you soon!

Back from Field School

Well, that was one of the toughest things I've ever done in my life. Highlights include:

- Day 2 was a 16 km traverse through rough bush (no roads, trails, etc. barring one short logging road), and at least 6 bogs/marshes, one of which was thigh high.

- Day 7 was 12C, it poured most of the day, and it was very windy. By 10:30 AM my clothes on my bottom half, including boots and socks, were soaked through. We didn't have anwhere to get out of the elements until 4:30 PM

- My old hiking boots no longer fit and I had 7 blisters on one foot alone.

- I didn't take the 3rd year Metamorphic Petrology course, and therefore had a very hard time understanding our area. Thankfully my partners were helpful in explaining it.

Lessons learned?

- Take a GPS, it makes mapping easier.
- Buy proper rain pants, hiking boots, and backpack.
- Ticks are less frightening after you've found over 50 of them on you in one day.
- Ticks can be more easily removed if you gently pull while turning clockwise - this is the opposite direction to the way their mandibles grow.
- Blackflies really love the colour blue.
- Khaki is not the best colour in a hat. It's hot and attracts blackflies.

To prepare for my season in Red Lake, I'm going to replace my rain pants and get new hiking boots. I'm also going to go get a new hat. I LOVE the one I have, barring the colour. It's an old Canadian Forces hat, with great little ear flaps that fold up into the cap when you don't need them. I want to get one in tan, but it seems they've stopped making this style, as far as I can tell. Nor would I have been able to get it in tan in the first place. Too bad, because the hat rocks my socks. I guess I'll be off to United Army Surplus!

Field School

Well, I'm off to field school today, hoping that I haven't packed too much, that I've packed enough, that I've packed the right stuff...I guess for the 4th year field school they don't feel you need a list of items to pack any longer, since they give you one in third year. The only problem? I did my field school with U of A, and therefore have no idea of what the U of M field station is like.

I guess I'll bring my big rolling suitcase along with my giant backpack and look like a dork.

Oh, and I put purple streaks in my hair. Just for fun.

Finish the following...

"We're tiny, we're toony..."

"We're the Animaniacs..."

"Do the Carebear countdown..."

"Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart!..."

"Ch-ch-ch-chip and Dale's - Resuce Rangers!"

"Duck Tales! Woohoo!..."

"Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo Inspector Gadget..."

"Heroes in a half-shell..."

"They're Pinky, they're Pinky and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain..."

"In West Philadelphia born and raised..."

If you can finish these, you grew up in the 80's and 90's.

Send good thoughts!

My Grandpa is having heart surgery on Tuesday, so please send good thoughts our way! I'm sure he'll be fine, and this way he'll be a lot more comfortable.

So far I've gotten two marks back, both B+ :( I worked hard in these classes, and I wish I'd done better, but I guess it wasn't to be. No big worries yet though, as the marks to come back still are the classes I should do very well in, and as of right now my GPA for the year is still a 3.9.

Something to ponder...

#1 song on the US charts the day I was born: "Maniac" by Michael Sembello
#1 song on the UK charts the day I was born: "Red Red Wine" by UB40

Life song US (#1 on 18th Birthday): "I'm Real" by JLo
Life song UK: "Mambo #5" by Bob the Builder

Well, not sure what to think of the first US one, and I really, really hate that second US (and the UK Life) song...:P I like the the first UK song though!

Check yours here.

Not sure when blogging will pick back up again, as Sean is back home (yay!) and I still have an exam left. I made another wrister from Knitty (pictures later), and I have to make a beer can cozy for Scott from Geology.

Happy Belated Birthday to Angela!

This is a marvy skirt I made from a thrift store pillowcase. I cut off the bottom edge where it was sewn together, then folded it over on itself to a length I liked, making a lining in the process. Then I put a zipper into the existing seam, made that the back, and added four darts. Helllooooooo skirt that looks like the one from the expensive Asian Boutique on Osborne!


I finished my bus socks last week, but hadn't posted them cause I was just way too busy. I loves them, they're comfy (especially after a run through the wash) and loverly. I can't wait to start some new ones!

Almost done classes

Almost done classes. My Geochem lab exam went quite well (85), I wrote my class final and handed in my term paper for Historical Arch., and I also handed in my term paper for Engineering Geology. That just leaves my Igneous and Metamorphic lab final, and then of course all my regular lecture finals.

I'm starting to get excited about buying the stuff I need for Field School and work in Red Lake.

And now I want to shoot whoever's car alarm has been blaring for over five minutes outside. I hate those things.

Still no knitwear pictures (sorry) but I've been busy with school. My Geochem lab final went quite well, and I finished my Historical Arch. assignment. These assignments are things like ceramic dating, or determining original ethnicity of settlers from place names. They're usually about 12-14 hours of work, 1,000-1,500 words. So I'm glad the last one is done and I can hand it in today (technically, a day early!).

I still have my Igneous and Metamorphic lab final, a lab assignment due for that class (due before the final next week), I have to put the final touches on my Engineering Geology term paper, I have to write my Historical term paper, and study for the Historical final on Tuesday. No restful Easter for me!

Oh, and two other bits of news: My sister, who works at the *very* nice and fancy restaurant in my hometown, served Stephan Dion last night! Bad news though that Sean's first cat (who has lived with his parents since he moved out) got very sick a day or two ago and they put her down this morning. I loved Hobbes, she was orange and very cuddly, with a smattering of black across her nose.

It's amazing...

...how clean my apartment gets when I have term papers to write.

Wow!

I got sleepy last night just after 6, so I laid down on the futon and went to sleep. With a wakeup here and there to turn off a light, and move to the bed, I slept until 10 to 8 this morning. Wow! I don't even feel overslept now, just WIDE awake. I've been having trouble sleeping lately, and I think it's because between work and school I haven't had enough time to get an exercise. So, on Wednesday I did some aerobics, and yesterday I got off the bus a good 15 stops too early and briskly walked home. Seems to have done the trick to help my sleep and also let me catch up on what I'd missed.

My work is over now at the University, so I have more time on my hands but it also means no more paycheques coming in, boo. I can't go get another job because I'd only be able to work for about three weeks before I have to go on field school, plus I don't want to work through exams. My Engineering Geology term paper deadline was pushed back to Friday from Tuesday, so that gives me a bit more time on it. I still have my Geochem lab final on Tuesday, Historical Anthropology term paper on the next Tuesday, which is also the day of the final in that class, and an Igneous and Metamorphic petrology lab final the day after that. If posting slows down, you know why :)

I FINALLY have knitting news, although I can't post pictures right now because the fog outside is unbeliveable and therefore the natural light in the apartment is about nil. I finished the bus/class socks a few days ago and wore them, and I've started a pair of thigh-high lace stockings. I was inspired by these, and since I'm poor at the moment I decided to design my own. After a few hours with a pattern book, gauge swatch, helpful websites, measuring tape, calculator, and a whole lot of paper, I came up with my own pattern....only to realise that I've nearly exactly duplicated those socks. I browsed through an awesome stitch pattern book my Grandma gave me from the 70's, and found a lace pattern I liked - not strictly vertical, shorter stitch repeat, easy to convert into the round, and added scallops to the top (since I liked that look from the pattern). Turns out I picked the same lace as the pattern uses, although my scallops are currently pointier than theirs. I can probably remedy this through blocking. I'm going to do a short row heel I think, and a solid sole like theirs as well too, for stability. Mine are done in rose coloured sock wool and will have a cream ribbon run through at the top. So far, I'm about 2" short of the upper calf shaping (working down).

Tee hee

From Elizabeth

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Arts vs. Science

There's a long, ongoing debate as to whether getting an Arts or Science degree is more difficult. Here's the general arguements from both sides:

Arts:
Less Class Time
More research for papers needed
More reading

Science:
More Class time
Labs and practical work instead of reading.

As a past Arts graduate and current science student, I'm here to say, that at least in English/History vs. Geology, this is all bull. I not only have more class hours and lab requirements to fulfill, I have to read nearly as much as I was required to in English, still have to complete term papers, and have twice as many finals to write because I have to do lab finals as well as lecture finals.

I put in at least 30 hours of work a week in class, then I work 12 hours a week, and I still have to clean and cook for myself. I also have an hour to hour and a half long commute each day. Now that I have 2 term papers, 2 lab assignments, 2 lab finals, and a lecture final in the next week and a half that's going to go up to a good 60 hours of school work a week.

I'm absolutely not complaining about the amount of work I have to do. I understand that I chose to do take Geology, and that I need to be responsible for keeping my house clean and eating well. I'm just saying that not all degrees are created equal, and that there is much more work required in Geology as compared to English. In fact, in some of our geology classes we have Engineers and Geophysicists, and they both state that our program is the hardest they have every experienced. Having been through various upper level classes varying from Linguistics, English, Classics, Math, Anthropology, and Geology I have to say that this just may be the most difficult and work-intensive program I have ever been in. And boy am I exhausted.

Sean comes home in 3 weeks. Thank God!

Ryan's questionnaire

Taken from Mossy Cottage Knits

Him: PC
Me: PC

Him: Campfire hotdogs
Me: Campfire hotdogs

Him: Home decorating—natural earth tones and neutral blues
Me: Home decorating—COLOURS. NO taupe/beige/etc.

Him: Pictures—framed, Archaeology themed
Me: Pictures—framed or tacked neatly, Monet

Him: Those English type horses
Me: Clydesdales

Him: Burmese Cat
Me: Silver Egyptian Mau or Calico

Him: Coffee - but I'm trying to cut back
Me: Tea

Him: Classical/Instrumental
Me: Classical/Instrumental

Him: Over-easy Eggs
Me: Over-easy Eggs, but only if I have toast or they're in a sandwich

Him: Coke
Me: Pepsi (if I drink cola)

Him: Driver
Me: Passenger

Him: X-Box System
Her: Nintendo System

Him: VERY spicy
Her: Much less spicy

Him: Dark Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Her: Happy Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Him: Horror fan
Her: Not so much

Him: Painter
Her: Knitter/Sewer

Ahhhhh....

Tomorrow night I fly out to see Sean, I finished more than half my lab assignment today (and we still have a period next week to work on it), I did very well on my Engineering Geology midterm, and I'm having Grilled Cheese and carrots for dinner.

Live is improving!

It's not even that life has been BAD, just stressful. And since Sean isn't here right now, it sometimes spills out into the blog. However, I did have fun on St. Patty's day at Sean's parents, where I brought sugar cookies his mom adored. She even put them away partway through the night so she could save some!

Wedding plans continue to abound, with my bridesmaids going out to try on some dresses now, and at least one groomsman excited about his role :) We don't have a location yet, but outside is the idea so far. We don't even have colours picked, because although I was big on Fuschia and Spring Green, we might not be able to get dresses in those colours. So we'll see. Pink would also be awesome with the embroidery in my dress, but a few other colours would be alright too.

OK I'm all for winter but this is ridiculous

GEEZ. This morning, windchill of -27C. Since it was warm yesterday we had snow, sleet, and freezing rain, and with the temperature this morning that (along with the slush that had formed) froze into a solid 2" of ice on the sidewalks that the city did not salt OR sand.

This was not regular ice either. It was slippery ice. Ice can have many different textures: soft, hard, sticky, slippery. Because of the freezing rain, a lightly pebbled surface was created, which as all curlers know creates an incredibly slick surface that's even more slippery than a smooth rink.

Somebody owes me.

Avo-licious

My lunch today was very avocado-y.

Avocado-Bacon-Tomato Salad:

1/2 avocado, cubed
1 vine tomato, cubed
2 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
splash lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all together! You could also add a touch of mayonnaise.

I also had guacamole: just the other half of the avocado, good sized clove of garlic minced, salt, and lime juice.

I've been knitting on Mom's birthday present between working on my term papers. I made beef stew for dinner, and cream scones for the coming week.

Tasty.

Who pissed off the weather man?

Comparison:

Yesterday's air temp: 6C - windchill: -1C
Today's air temp: -14C - windchill: -27C

I just went from my blue spring coat back to my parka in one day. And of course now everything is ice because it was all water the day before.

I'm the teensiest bit cranky because I had to do the world's most boring anthropology assignment. A Social Analysis of Architecture, meaning analysing the floor plans of a Victorian mansion and a 1987 rancher, and what they mean in terms of social conventions, displays of affluence, etc. Guh.

I'm also cranky because although I still (heart) my massage therapist cause he's a really nice guy, I am SORE. I had a 45 min session today in an effort to keep fixing all those darned knots, and he spent the whole time on just a few spots on my shoulders where I have huge lumps the size of golfballs. It hurts so bad when he rubs them, like I'm being stabbed, but they did shrink some over the course of the session. I am about to go have a shower because moist heat is supposed to be the best for penetrating to deep muscle fibre, which is where these knots are located (and why they're so hard to get out).

I (heart) my massage therapist...

Ouch! I can't remember if I mentioned (I'm trying not to turn this blog into the saga of Karlie's health and wellness) I spasmed up my back on Wednesday studying, and it wouldn't stretch out so I got to go the the massage therapist. Apparently I have some old notes hideing in there and that's why everything spasmed, so I get to go back a few more times to get them out. Bonus though, because even though it hurt like crazy, I felt soooooooooo much better afterwards. He's gonna get me all cleaned up before I start hiking around Red Lake this summer, and we're also gonna fix my terrible posture.

This weekend is dedicated to ME, since I've been crazy busy doing school work and stuff. Although term papers are creeping up on me, I need some time to chill out before I go nuts working on stuff. I've made it a goal to finish as much of the "Torque" sweater I can, although I'm having to knit it on needles 2 sizes smaller than called for to get anywhere near gauge! I think this is because the yarn is coughacryliccough, but it's in a nice colour and I don't want to waste a sweater's worth of yarn.

I've also figured something out - I really want an mp3 player, so that's going to be my one purchase this summer out of my paycheque. Actually, I might make it out of my tax return so I have it in Red Lake. Then I can send all the rest to bills and things without feeling bitter.

I'm also wanting a digital piano for my birthday (I'm hoping maybe my grandparents can go in with my parents on it?) so I'm gonna enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather today and go to JJH Mclean today to look for something like like this. My birthday of course isn't for a long time, but it'll get me out of the apartment into the *squee* sunshine!

The new Knitty is up!

First, Happy Birthday to my sister - it was her birthday yesterday and she turned 17!

Now, the new Knitty is up! I want to make Torque so much, that I'm actually going to rip out the sweater I'm making now (Knitty's BPT) since I'm only a few rows in and make this instead! I also love Isabella and Bauble, but they can wait a bit.

There were also 4 people on the express bus today who didn't realise it was an express and asked the driver to let them off (all at different stops of course)!!! Not only does it say "Express" on the front, Winnipeg also has a system whereby the Route number of Express routes has a yellow or white background with black numbers (the reverse of regular routes). Even if you can't READ you can tell the bus is an express.

I'm just saying that if you're getting on a bus that you haven't taken before you should confirm with the bus driver that it's going where YOU want to go. I always do this, every time I use a new route.

God has a sense of humour....

You know what it was last week? Around -5C. You know what the air temperature (not including any windchill) was this morning? -27C.

Coupled with yesterday's problems, I'm guessing either God has a sense of humour, or karma is getting it's own back from me finding a beautiful, cheap wedding dress so easily.

Today's exams actually went quite well. My Historical Archaeology midterm was really weird to write, since it was 3 long answer questions in 60 minutes. I scribbled like crazy, and all my information was good and relevant, but I really don't feel like I answered the questions at all, mostly because they were like this:

Discuss the history and archaeology of L'Anse aux Meadows. How does it differ from other New World colonizations?

Well, with the amount of information I read and we took notes on in this subject, I could have written for all 60 minutes, and I still wouldn't have covered everything i thought was important. Ergo, I didn't get down everything I thought was important :P But really, how much can one write by hand in 60 minutes? And I really spent only 5 minutes of it NOT writing, for turning pages and briefly thinking lines through.

My Engineering Geology exam however went very, very well. I knew the answers and worked them through confidently, and I had MORE than enough information for the last question in particular.

Now I'm studying for Geochemistry, which I have tomorrow. There were issues with the first time he gave the test (which I missed) because...well, first let me explain about the class. It's a fairly difficult subject, and our professor is actually a Grad Student, whose advisor (and usual professor for the class) is currently on sabbatical. The notes he's using are hers, but they're kind of disjointed (apparently the class was very hard to follow when she taught it). To make things worse, our professor is Russian, and doesn't speak English well. It's not that he lapses into Russian at any point, but he translates literally from Russian as he speaks, so that grammar and terms often make no sense. (Think Yoda but worse with a thick accent - cute in a puppet expounding Jedi knowledge, senseless in a complex science class).

Anyway, the initial exam was 12 questions, of which you had to answer 8. Each question was weighted differently, and he stated at the top of the exam "The goal is to get the most marks possible". What he intended was that your exam would only be marked out of 100 if you answered the 8 highest valued questions. Otherwise the highest possible mark you could obtain would be below 100. Since this wasn't clearly stated and the class did poorly as a result, he's reissuing the midterm, and that's when I'm writing it.

I dunno if I'm any good Geochemistry or not, I guess we'll find out tomorrow. I've been doing a mediocre 75 in the labs so far.

Grrr

I'm so mad at myself - I've left things I need to study with at school, meaning I have to go to the University - a good hour long trip at least, not including the time I need to get my stuff. Sometimes I can be SUCH a moron! I have already studied for two of the three midterms I have on Monday and Tuesday (2 Monday, one Tuesday) but I need to review my stuff.

EDIT *#@$%!!!! I seem to have lost my notes on over 12 hours of required reading for the midterm I have tomorrow. I can't BELIEVE it! I am usually insanely organized with my school notes, I have no idea what's happened to me. I think I may have left them in Dryden at my parents house.

On Friday I went swimming in our building's newly repaired pool for the first time. Lots of good exercise, but my hair felt awful afterwards because I don't have a chlorine shampoo. I went to Shoppers to get some chlorine shampoo but they didn't have any at all (???) so I at least got some ENO to put in my hair as a rinse - I know that we used to use Alka-Seltzer to rinse our hair after swim practise when I was on the swim team, but I'm not sure if the ASA in the Alka-seltzer is what did it instead of the Sodium Citrate. Since ENO is just Sodium Citrate, I'm not sure if it'll work, especially since the internet seems to be telling me that ground-up aspirin (ASA) will work to remove chlorine from your hair...any other suggestions?

Yesterday when I went to look at bridesmaids dresses and fabric swatches, I browsed through the bridal gowns as well, and came across one that looked almost exactly like the designer dress I loved from a magazine. I tried it on (they had to pin me in as it was a size 16) and it looked lovely, and the price was right - $598! VERY cheap in terms of wedding dreses. I have to order it in the next 6 months to get it on time for the wedding, which is next summer.

Sad feelings

For the first half of my shift at work today (Database entry for the University's Faculty CV program) I listened to my 2004UAMC disc. UAMC stands for University of Alberta Mixed Chorus, and it's a very large (up to 16o people!) choir I belonged to for the 3 years I went to U of A. I had a wonderful time in that choir, and it not only comprised my hobby, but most of my social life.

Then, I decided to leave U of A to be closer to home when my Dad was diagnosed with MS. Although I wouldn't go back and change that decision at all (after all, I'd never have met Sean!) but I do have three great regrets: I left two of my best friends in Edmonton, I left behind my original path to Geology...and I left behind my choir.

Listening to the music gave me a huge smile, and I could hadly keep from singing along and I know I was tapping my feet - especially to Gospel Mass! However, as soon as the song ended, I wound up in tears.

For me, singing in harmony with other people is an experience that gives me chills. The very first choir practice I went to left me tingling, and dazed all the way home. It is a powerful way to bond with people, and gives me such intense joy. As I said in this post music is essential to my life, and it's been missing now for almost 3 years. For 3 years I've had no choir and little to no piano access. I had a wonderfully singing class for my two years at Lakehead, but it couldn't compare to choir.

I'm not sure what I'm gonna do about this yet, but it needs a solution.

I can't keep crying at work every time I listen to my choir CD's :D

Allllll byyyyyy myselllllfffff

So my honey is gone back to Lakehead for the rest of the semester. It was both less hard and harder to let him go this time, because now I know that the time is half over (and that he's also not going away this summer OR for his Masters right away). However, I know how much I missed him before and that makes it difficult.

However, since I missed some midterms being sick last week I kept myself busy today studying for two of them (so far) and making dinner - parmesan chicken fingers. I'm also going to make muffins for school snacks. On Mondays I have class at 9:30 (up at 7:30 to get there), then I work until 1:30 with no access to a microwave. This means that by 11:00 or so I'm getting hungry, since I ate almost 4 hours before. However, with no access to a microwave I can't usually eat my lunch then. Also, on Tuesdays I have class straight from 8:30-1:00 (up at 6:30) which means I'm again starving by 10:30/11:00. Muffins should help bridge this gap :)

This is a picture with the Panta I made this fall, wearing my alpaca mittens and my Mrs. Beetons (since I didn't have good pictures of anything but the mittens). I'm also wearing my faboo coat from GAP that's cherry red with purple silk lining in exactly the shade of that panta. In consequence, I'm making another pair of Mrs. Beetons using that yarn to match my winter coat.


This is an apple cozy I whipped up last night while Sean and I went through and watched all the funny episodes of Stargate from each season. Since I like Red Delicious apples and Braeburns the best, it's a little taller than the average cozy (although I might make a smaller one for the Braeburns once they come back in season). I made up the leaf as I went along, and I ADORE the button. It's a single one that I got in a bag of vintage buttons from Value Village. Isn't it so pretty?

I'm also going to eventually get some yellow, brown, and pink cotton to make a nectarine cozy and a banana cozy to protect those fruits in my lunch as well. Maybe even a tomato cozy...

Alpaca Mittens and Felted Clogs

Some finished projects:



The felted clogs I made with some lovely wool given to me by Jenny a few Christmases ago. I had trouble figuring out what to do with it, but I think these clogs are just lovely! I'm going to go get some clear fabric paint to coat the bottoms so I can wear them at school in the Wallace building (where most of my classes are).

Pattern: Fibre Trends Felted Clogs - Women's size S
Wool: Patons Classic Merino and Cascade Quattro
Changes : I didn't have enough of the purple to make a second purple outer sole, so I instead made another sole of the pink yarn and attached it to the inside of the clog instead.


These were fingerless mittens, but in the 3 weeks of icy cold we had I added fingers to them and thumbs so I could layer them with my Scandi mitts. They look a little bulky here, but they're actually very fine, thin, and delicate looking.

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Brown Alpaca given to me by Angela

401!

No, not the highway. I just noticed that my last post was #400! I feel like I should have celebrated or something.

Anyway, I've been not posting because of:

a) studying the week before Reading Week
b) Going home and to Thunder Bay for Reading Week
c) having a wicked cold and weird bronchitisy-croupy thing this week when I was supposed to be in school and writing midterms

Sean is here and we're enjoying each other's company as much as we can before he has to go back to Thunder Bay :( We'll see each other again at Easter, and then April. Budget is too tight to get together any other time.

However, we have a time set for the wedding - it'll be next June. Plans so far are for the bridesmaids in a deep fuschia raw silk, gerbera daisies for me....and not much else ;) But we have lots of time still, since all the wedding planner guides say that you don't need to start really planning until a year before.

On the knitting front the only thing that has happened is I finally finished knitted clogs for myself. I want to start a sweater and some new socks too though, so those might start showing up soon.

Oh and one other thing - I have some nice Gluten-Free cookbooks that are no use to me any more, and I'd like to sell them for some extra money (possibly do a stash sell-off as well). Know anyone who'd be interested?

BAH! Again!

Only this time it's not because of Christian extremists and Global Warming. It's because of Environment Canada and The Weather Network.

This morning when I got up it was (and currently still is) -40C. Did you see that? -40C. We are the coldest major city in Canada at the moment, MUCH colder than Yellowknife, Iqaluit, Whitehorse, Toronto...

What does The Weather Network say? "Extreme cold warning for Toronto, with the wind there it will feel like -33C! Also very cold through the whole of Eastern Canada!" then, as an afterthought, "and all the way to the Alberta border, really". Well NO #*$&^! We don't even have an extreme cold warning here! The school buses are closed, but other than that it's business as normal here in Winnipeg!

I keep forgetting that The Weather Network is based out of Southern Ontario, and weather is only extreme when it occurs down there, or in someplace really exciting or fun to say, like Eureka.

Silent Poetry Reading

I missed the date of the Second Annual Bridgid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading which was on Friday, but here's a few offerings from me:

Winter Twilight

A purple velvet descends
crisp and soft
dark and light

dark shivering pines frame the moon
silent and upright
stalwart sentinels announcing the quiet arrival of their majesty

Nameless #3

Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub, and who do you think they be?

The Grim Reaper, Soul seeker, and who would’ve thought

That the third person in there was me!

We were adrift and bobbing, upon the briny sea,

With seagulls all around us, and ‘ner a shore to see.

Now Grimy had ideas, a plan to save us from the drink,

“Since there’s no hope” he said “why not, pull the plug and sink?”

And God would not be left behind, he had ideas too,

“Good things come to he who waits! We’ll be rescued through and through.”

And as I sat a’ thinking, to go with God or Grim

An octopus appeared and told me I could go with him!

The moral of this story, as it is plain to see

When facing rocks and hard places, take option number 3!

Rub-a-dub-dub, two men in a tub, and who do you think they be?

The Grim Reaper, Soul Seeker, and who would’ve thought,

That the one to escape was me!

My fleece...

So it's been extremely cold here. Last night it was -49C with the windchill, and today it's still -33C and this weather is expected to continue for most of the rest of the winter. Factor in the fact that Fabricland had a big sale on polar fleece, and you end up with this:


I designed the pattern myself, based off of a hooded fleece from Old Navy which fit very well and looked really good on me. I traced some of the seam lines, but added side panels and a collar. I'm making two more, in pale yellow with lilac side panels, and then one with an inverted colour scheme. I have enough fleece left to make some vests and legwamers as well, so I'll be doing that too!

I've also gotten cable *finally* through Alan, so I can afford it. I was so excited when I called Sean about it last night that he thought I was crying, and freaked out because he thought I was either pregnant or someone had died. LOL

Today is for homework and sewing more fleece into warm clothes, since our forecast continues to be VERY cold.

DONE!

I am now done EVERYTHING that was hanging over my head. All my Christmas presents (Sean's hat is finally blocked and ready), and my Structure lab final.

I wrote the final today, and 3 questions went well, the last one I could hardly even put anything down. I knew I'd have a hard time with the drill hole question, and I sure did. Oh well!

Angela also got her present today, YAY! I included some neato wool fabric for a tote, a wallet I made, and a shirt I made too. Here's pictures of the wallet and fabric:




She's going to post more pictures herself as well :)

Now I have two assignments and a Geochem lab to finish >.<

Bah! Stupid... ignorant... asfoifnghsdf asdoi *gurgle*

This is a quote from This article about certain schools in the United States trying to restrict the showing of the Al Gore movie "An Inconvenient Truth".


"After a parent who supports the teaching of creationism and opposes sex education complained about the film, the Federal Way School Board on Tuesday placed what it labeled a moratorium on showing the film. The movie consists largely of a computer presentation by former Vice President Al Gore recounting scientists' findings. "Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher," said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven who also said that he believes the Earth is 14,000 years old. "The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. ... The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD."

Hardison's e-mail to the School Board prompted board member David Larson to propose the moratorium Tuesday night."

Brain - not - functioning - must - not - kill - idiots.

Global warming is no longer "optional" or a "theory". It's here, it's fact, and if we don't do something about it, we are going to effectively exterminate ourselves.

Oh Sam la Tricoteuse I forgot to answer your comment! Mono - and allergies - and sinus infections - oh that's terrible! I understand your frustrations. For the sinuses Sudafed is a miracle worker, as is steaming (gently boil water and breathe the steam in through your nose, or even better buy a "spa facial" steamer cheap from Wallyworld). This will help get rid of future infections as well, since you want to try and avoid giving antibiotics as much as possible now she's allergic to one. This makes her susceptible to others and it's best to leave that for a worst case scenario.

For the mono, the immune system is hard up for YEARS after infection, so taking lots of vitamins helps. Seriously! I've been suffering as of late from residual fatigue and other infections from reduced immunity (they say it takes up to 5 years to get completely healthy again) so I started to take a full multi-vitamin every day. I've been doing it for about 4 days now, and I feel WAY less tired during the day, and have actually been getting and needing less sleep each night!

Many pictures

I found my camera's battery charger!!! That means that I can finally take pictures without using expensive bought batteries. So I have lots of pictures to share finally!


Heather and Chad's quilt is DONE DONE DONE. It's lovely and soft, and although I cleaned it I included instructions to toss it in the washer again as soon as they get it - I'm pretty sure Heather is allergic to cats and I know I can't get it perfect with two cats in the house! TI hink it turned out quite well. It has a few flaws, the lines didn't match perfectly across the horizontal, and I mis-cut one strip of the brown and green pine/feather pattern, meaning I had to piece it back together (since I had limited fabric amounts bought from the States). I hope they'll like it though, it's going out with a video for them to snuggle and watch :)



My Bus socks. I'm knitting socks while on the bus, since it's a fairly long ride. I actually started these in September and had to rip them out 3 times before I got it right (1st - too many stitches, 2nd - not enough ribbing, 3rd - not enough stitches for the heel flap). I'm finally at the point where I can start turning the heel on them, and then make the other!




My lovely candy-cane socks from Angela. However, I'm a little unhappy with what I did with them. Angela had the beads strung on this white wool initially, but the pattern says that they should be on the same yarn as that for the body of the socks. Therefore, I went with the pattern and strung them on the red yarn, so that the white will peek through (hence the reason I took the picture this way). What do you think? Should I do the beading with the white yarn or leave it? Should the white yarn peek through regardless of what colour I use to knit the beaded portion? If it's not apparent in the above photo, those gaps are actually holes where the knitting underneath shows through, it's not knit in like it is in most honeycomb mitten patterns.

Two more pictures can be seen at the locations given below, but as they are (belated) Christmas presents I'm providing them as links instead of in the post.

Don't click Sean!

Don't click Angela!