Reflections

Bush Babe challenged her readers to find some "reflections in your world" so of course, not being able to resist a challenge, I went off to rummage about in my files to look. Here's what I came up with.

A leaf in my garden...
The bumper on our boat...
The local pond in the fall...

The ferry mirror, on the way to the cottage...

A duck in Sackville's Waterfowl park...

Two ducks near my house one very foggy morning...


My husband gassing up the car. Well, it's one way he gasses up the car...

Don't forget, I have to choose 3 photos for my camera club, so if you haven't weighed in on my WINTER theme entries, please have a look at the post below this one and leave a comment.

Winter Photo Competition

Okay, so my local camera club is having another competition. I never win nor do I even place, so entering is not about that. It's just fun to take part and learn from the critiques, and even examine the photos on a big screen as opposed to a laptop. My only goal is not to humiliate myself and I haven't, with the exception of a really bad slide show that made me look like a total doofus. (The slide show was not exactly my fault although I was warned that the program I used would degrade the slide quality significantly which one couldn't fully appreciate until it was on a giant 20 foot screen. Oh, quelle horreur. I wanted to slide under my chair but I knew I wouldn't fit, rendering further humiliation....) Mostly I just slip by in the middle of the pack, and never has 'average' been so desirable.

Oh, hang on a tick. I just remembered the first time I submitted something in the nature competition which is technically supposed to include all plants and all animals, and all correctly identified, sometimes using the Latin name and showing the animal in its natural environment. I later learned it's heavy on the animals, mostly birds. Rare birds. Snapped by photographers who travel great distances, get up before dawn and wait for hours, nay days in specially constructed blinds, in order to get one perfect shot. I did not know this. I submitted 3 photos.

I was horrified when the slide show began and the first photo was of two warring hippos, water arching above their open mouths, then the second slide was of a graceful leopard on the savannah, the sun artfully lighting its lithe body, then another was of a rare bird (correctly identified in Latin) gently alighting on a branch, each feather exquisitely outlined. Then came my contributions.

I had one photo I called "weed with water drops" and the second was "pine buds" then my piece de resistance, "red squirrel." These were followed by someone's photo of a cheetah mother and three babies that looked like it came out of National Geographic and on and on in that vein. Still, I remain committed.

Mostly I submit photos because my friend Brenda guilts me into it encourages my participation and, I suppose, is a born optimist.

I usually run my short list past her because I value her opinion as a photographer and it's hard to judge one's own photographs and really see what works, but I don't want to keep pestering her. Plus she reads my blog so if she wants to jump in and comment, she will, and if not, she can find someone else to sit with at the meetings.

This is what the website says about the judging:

The first score is awarded for the application of image making skills such as: appropriate exposure, focus, sharpness, depth-of-field, and composition. The second score addresses the actual content or value of the image; some may prefer to think of this simply as impact. For theme competitions the score measures how well the judges think that the image interprets the theme.

So with that in mind, I'm going to post my short list for the next competition.

The theme is WINTER. I need to choose 3 photos. Tell me in the comments section which 3 are your favourites and I'll be eternally grateful. Well, maybe not eternally, but definitely for a few days, maybe even a week.

One:
Two:
Three:
Four:
Five:
Six:
Seven:
Eight:
I know there are two with the red doors, but they're cropped differently.

So, which three would you choose?

Keeping the devil at bay...

...by keeping the hands...not idle. Or something like that.

New knitting strategy. (I typed in "stragedy" at first, and realized that's a good word for "when one's knitting game plan goes horribly wrong." It's a stragedy.)

Or a knit-mare.

Or a castastrophe.

Or a calamknitty.

In order to stop wanton yarn wastage of my good stuff like the chunky baby alpaca (which is only shorn from the baby alpaca once, hence the rather steep price. After that, it's shorn from the tired mangy old mama alpaca who isn't as soft and bouncy as she was in her early years, which is hardly her fault owing to the copious amount of child-rearing she had to do. But I digress...) I am experimenting with teensy cotton squares that I can then put to practical purpose.

I decided to try a simple cotton dishcloth. This would allow me to practice and work on technique. And I like having something to do when watching TV. So I popped in to this funky little yarn shop called ARIADNE after my dental appointment yesterday and bought a bright little Granny Apple Green ball of cotton yarn, just to try it.


One relaxed evening of garter stitches later and mission accomplished. Never has one been so proud of a simple knit square.

Squarish... But now I think it's so pretty, I don't want to use it to wipe up goop from the kitchen counter, thus defeating its purpose. Gah.

You have my permission to hang me with my own scarf should I progress to acrylic Kleenex box covers.

More yarns

Know what this is?

I'll give you a hint. It goes around and around and it produces this:

Speaking of which, this just arrived in the mail in time for my next project. A project that has yet to be determined. But I saw this and had to have it. Resistance is futile when it comes to fibres.

Doesn't it remind you of a beach at dusk? The colour is officially called "Twilight" and it's the same Slubby Blue Leicester yarn from Fleece Artists I used for my last scarf.

So I'm thinking, in order to support my habit, I'm going to have to use this. (Boris can't figure out why it's outside. He's confused. But then he spied a piece of wool hanging down and jumped on it. Once. Then he got tired. He's not a very active cat anymore. If he were a piece of furniture, he'd be a Lazy Boy. Or a chaise longue. Or an overstuffed ottoman. Or a bean bag chair.)

I learned how to use it some many years ago. Then I stopped because I had umpteen children in five years. Then the umpteens grew up and needed me less (unless they want me to make them lasagna or one of my soups or they need a button sewn on) so I might take up spinning again, since yarn that someone else has spun and dyed is very expensive. My time is cheap. Bargain basement cheap.

It is a lovely little piece of equipment, innit? Don't look at the dust. Actually, that's not dust, that's patina. This spinning wheel is elderly (the date carved into the end is 1891) but it still works really well.

One might even call it the Jack Rabbit Johanssen of spinning wheels.

My sister bought this (below) for me at an auction last weekend (here's a photo she took with her phone.)

Who needs a niddy noddy when you can have your own weasel?

As in pop goes the.

It is used to gather spun yarn into skeins.

Now I have to hie myself to Toronto to pick it up. I don't mind. Staying with my sister is like staying at a fine hotel.

Make up the spare bed and throw in a batch of cookies woman 'cause I'm a comin' to pick up my weasel.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear

A new project.


I'm a sucker for chunky baby alpaca. It's a grassy green with a hint of sunny yellow. No, I don't long for spring? Who me?

After several rocky starts which involved pulling it out and starting over (and over and over) I decided not to do knit 2, purl 2, and do knit 4 purl 4 instead. For some reason, that's easier for my brain to handle. But now it's starting to ripple and look at bit too sweatery for a scarf. I think the ribs are too fat. (If I had a dollar for every time I heard that....)

Maybe I should go back to knit 2 purl 2. Arg. Maybe Youngest, the resident expert, will chime in here. Thoughts? Is this going to work for a scarf?


In other news, I'm headed for a colonoscopy consult tomorrow. I plan on making a case for why he does not need to go spelunking in my colon. Fie, I say. Who cares what the studies say?

I don't want him to go to there.

Wish me luck. Specialists aren't known for their willingness to barter or negotiate terms.

We're also expecting torrential rain. Gee, maybe I could throw in a root canal while I'm at it.

At least I have this Laughology lecture to look forward to. It guarantees "you'll laugh your ass off, literally."

If that's true, then my colonoscopy will definitely be moot.

8 is more than enough

I was 'tagged' by Bush Babe to list 8 sets of 8 things about me. I don't usually do these sorts of lists (they hurt my brain) but I will, for BB and Debby, even though I suspect it's not all that interesting to anyone.

Here goes.

8 lots of 8 things about A Novel Woman:

8 TV shows I watch
1. Amazing Race (hopelessly addicted)
2. American Idol (I hate it when they make fun of people but love the competition part)
3. Glee (my current, absolute favourite show)
4. Antiques Roadshow (totally, hopelessly addicted to the British version)
5. The Office (love the British version and the American one. Apples and oranges.)
6. Mad Men (ooh, baby, it doesn't get better than this. No wait. Glee does.)
7. Oprah (Habit. While I make dinner. My first child & her show were born the same time.)
8. Masterpiece Theatre (Go Little Dorrit!)

May I say for the record how much I miss ER? I also miss Upstairs/Downstairs. And The Mary Tyler Moore Show. And I Love Lucy. What? They're classics.

8 favorite places to eat and drink
1. Screened-in porch at the cottage (my absolute favourite place, bar none)
2. My husband's cousin's cottage down the road - there is always "deck dancing" after dinner
3. La Belle Province (sounds fancy, but it's hotdogs and poutine)
4. La Poilane bakery in Paris - best apple tart I've ever tasted
5. Saint Hubert BBQ chicken (What? I like their chicken)
6. Restaurant Decca 77 (if we want fancy or, say, before a John Mayer concert)
7. Duke's Restaurant and Barefoot Bar in Honolulu (oh, be still my heart)
8. Pret a Manger in London, UK (the best fast food restaurants on the planet and if I had a magic teletransporter that could take me anywhere instantly, I'd eat there every day. Beam me up.)

8 things I look forward to:
1. Watching my children find their places in the world.
2. Grandchildren (just not yet).
3. Traveling with my husband to Italy ( it's our 25th anniversary this year, so who knows?)
4. Going to Vegas with my sisters someday.
5. Publishing a book and holding it in my hands.
6. Feeling comfortable in my own skin.
7. Spring at the cottage and the ice going out on the lake.
8. Guinness and pizza on Friday nights. I'm a simple woman with simple needs.

8 things I love about winter:
1. A cozy spot by the fire in our family room.
2. Catching up on reading.
3. The way the afternoon light bounces off the snow and lights up the house.
4. No worries about squirrels, flooded basements or wolf spiders.
5. I bake and cook more often so the house smells gooood.
6. Sweaters. They cover a lot of sins, baby.
7. I write more during the winter.
8. Carbs. They get me through. (See: sweaters)

8 things on my wish list:
1. Buy a flat in London (Honest. It's on the top of my list)
2. Go to India, Italy, Thailand, France, Australia (not necessarily in that order)
3. Get rid of all the clutter in my house and Keep It Out
4. To see my husband enjoy more free time. He so deserves it.
5. A big red pickup truck
6. Drive alone across Canada, from sea to sea
7. To walk or cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats
8. Take a whisky tour across Scotland (maybe as I do #7)

(World peace is a given, okay?)

8 things I am passionate about
1. Good food, organic and GMO-free
2. Ethics, whether it's farming or politics or fair trade or friendships
3. The written word
4. Photography
5. Anything crafted by hand (well, maybe not crocheted Kleenex holders)
6. Movies (I love movies)
7. Traveling
8. Living life to the fullest, guilt-free and without apologies

8 things I have learned from the past
1. Self-reliance is the first step on the path to finding happiness with another person.
2. If your gut says something ain't right, it ain't right.
3. Don't gossip. If someone shares gossip with you, they will eventually gossip about you.
4. There are two sides to every coin and every story.
5. Home has nothing to do with where you live, but who you live with.
6. There are no good squirrels.
7. Believe in truth, and practice it every day.
8. Always root for the underdogs. They never disappoint.

8 things I want/need (this is tough, because I don't really need or want anything, but since you're making me list something, I guess I'll go with....)

1. Glenmorangie Lasanta (want)
2. Chunky baby alpaca yarn, creamy white (want)
3. A new light bulb for my sewing machine (need)
4. An antique, functional yarn winder or "weasel" (Yutha, are you listening?)
5. A grand piano (dream on McDuff)
6. New dishes. My willow patterned ones have chips and dings all over them.
7. A clutter-free house (double dream on)
8. My own trained falcon with a taste for squirrels (want, need, must have)

8 people I want to tag

I won't tag anyone else, but if someone WANTS to do it, leave a link in the comments.

Your But Is Too Big

No, not that kind of butt.


I mean the kind of "but" that slows you down and prevents you from reaching your full potential.

To all those writers out there who need a bit of inspiration, get off your butts and check out Nathan Branford's guest blogger Jon Gibb and what he has to say about Writers' Buts.