Currently It's All A Crap Shoot

Friday arrives quietly in the night while the peaceful sounds of slumber prevail. I am awake at 3 a.m. But what is new about that. The last two days have been full of disappointment. We have not sold our house yet and the one we wanted which seemed like such an excellent fit turned out to be a bed of rot much like my life has been all along without me knowing. I am glad to know that it is a bed of rot because now I won't buy it. Who needs more rot in their life. Cut out the rot and your bound to find something good eventually. The testing continues in class. For the most part I am satisfied with my marks but there are occasional hiccups. I had a big test on Wednesday and got 100% but then I've spun at least two skeins that are only in the 70-80% range. I am not sleeping well and each night I wake around 3 a.m. This is because I spend too much time grieving for what I hoped would be my life. I look ahead and see nothing but hardship and loneliness with very little light on the horizon. The future with all myy joy of going home looks bleak at best and very dark at worst. Tomorrow/today is our last day here. Olds has been a haven in an ocean of flux. I still have five samples left to do. And do them I will. Our days are long beginning work at 8 a.m. And finishing up at 6 p.m. with very little in the way for breaks. We work at breakneck speed but it seems to be completed at a snail's pace. One more day and I will be glad to finish the testing. But as I walk through campus for the last time and look at the splendiferous grounds I think I will cry for love lost and all that goes with it. Saturday I will head home to the sham of my life. And what then???

Grammar

Sorry for all the punctuation/grammar/spelling mistakes in all away posts. Typing on a cell phone keyboard sucks. I'll leave it at that.

What's Normal Anymore

Normally I would be calling home so that I could talk to all of my dear ones. But though I talk to the girls each night... though I find out what's happening at home somehow it seems strange to not talk to the person I thought of as my best friend. Once upon a time he would have cared how my day was going... He would have wanted to hear about the testing that I'm slowly getting through... now there is just an emptiness where he used to be. So I tell you how it went instead. - - It was tough. A long day with incompleted work. I never passed in any of my skeins. They did not get finished in time. This is not as bad as it sounds. I love the instructor... She's awesome and so calm. She put our minds at ease right away. That is not to say that she is not tough. You only have to look at the questions she gave us to see that. But I think she will be fair in her marking. My first two questions were novelty yarns.. One with color and one with texture. For my color yarn I chose to make a cabled yarn from silk hankies. Love that and I've done it many times. I wet finished it but by the end of the day it still wasn't dry enough to complete the calculations for Bradford count. I will finish that today and pass it in. The second yarn with texture was a Bucle yarn which took forever and since a large part of it was mohair it too was still too wet at the end of the day to pass in. I have discovered that my instructor has never gotten more than two ply yarns for those questions. I never do anything by halves. A four ply yarn and a three ply yarn ate up my time like you wouldn't believe. I found that suddenly it was 3 p.m. And I still had two skeins left to spin and only an hour left. I panicked! I started work right away on the 5 yd skein on the low whorl spindle. It is about half finished. I will finish that today. I am going in at 8 a.m. This morning to see if I can catch up, but I was so tired last night I didn't even want to go to the fashion show. Last evening, which has always been an highlight of Fibre Week. - - So what's ahead? There will be more skeins added today to the roster and I am hoping that today will go better. I hope so. I'll be glad when I'm finished. I more thing done on my way to certification. The social activities for the most part are over... at least the formal ones are. I think there is a barbecue/party on Wednesday night, but other than that it is all work from here on in. Through it all I feel like I'm out of step with it all. How many people go around with a smile on their face when the whole time they feel like it is painted on. I meet other people as I walk around campus and wonder. Perhaps happiness is all just one big sham. - - on that note I will take my caustic and vinigary remarks away from this forum! Perhaps my new nickname should be vinigar.

And So It Begins

Level 6. A week of testing. I do have to say I'm nervous. Class will begin with a written requirement on the board and my classmates and I will be expected to execute that requirement. There are twenty to do over four days with a day of Indigo vat dyeing. Friday it will be over. Then I will have a year to complete my In Depth Study. I am hoping to be approved of the topic of Traditional Hooked Rugs: A Study of the Textiles Specifically Used And How To Spin For The Associated Fabrics. So I would be studying jute for burlap, flax for linen backing, and English long wools that were used in the weaving of worsted fabrics of the 18th century and the shorter down wools used in woollen mills for the fabrics used to produce hooked rugs currently. Jute, flax, Lincoln wool, Border Liecester wool, and Shetland wool, would be some of the fibers I would be studying with an eye to weaving the fabrics associated with rug hooking. - - I cannot allow myself to be distracted. One foot forward each day it will get easier so I am told. I sure hope so because it is all so very raw at the moment. Wish me luck... or say a prayer. I will need all the help I can get.

New Things To Think About

Today I begin classes. My first class is called Diametre By Design and is taught by Michele Boyd. I am so glad I decided to sign up for a class other than the next level in the MSprogram. All week there are classes in a variety of topics related to the fibre arts. Everything from wool judging to alpaca shearing to the Master Weaver program go on during Fibre Week. Fleeces abound as they are displayed and sold and fibre of every sort drift through the air. The vendors do good business as spinners, weavers, felters, and dyers purchase supplies for the upcoming year. Last night was the kick off social at which time the big donators to Fibre Week are given a nod, and then the newest Master Spinners and Weavers receive their certificates. And then finally a we sit for a keynote address. Last night we had a New Zealander speak about selling her creations in felt. She had on a stunning felted jacket that must have taken hours. I came home almost overwhelmed. Meanwhile I had run into my level 5 instructor and she had returned my level 5 books. I was pleased to look through the comments and find that the remarks were for the most part superficial. While all the Fibre Week events are pleasantly rolling along... there are bittersweet moments of my knowing that it will be a while again, if ever, when I will be able to participate in the the joys that are Fibre Week. I am staying in touch with the Daughters through it all and my mom and dad too. My parents will celebrate their 54th anniversary today. It eats at me that I will never celebrate such an occasion in my life. But then what's the point of dwelling on such things... marriage is a partnership and if it can't be one then it is not healthy. There is no point in one person being the engine and the other being the caboose. It just won't work. One no more wants to be dragged through life and neither does one want to do the dragging. Perhaps God will open new doors for me.. Perhaps God will provide me with a better life. I can only hope so because the alternative is too depressing to entertain.

Sour Milk

Yesterday was a strange day. I spent it alone and as a result I did a great deal of thinking. Thinking is something I try to avoid these days because usually thinking leads to crying... is synonymous with crying. No one wants to be around a sniveling crying basket case. The strange thing is that physically I wasn't alone. We went on our field trip to Carstairs and Shuttleworks and I sat in the back seat of the car. The other two that I was with we're gabbing away in the front seat while I stared out the window in the back. It was not easy to hear what was going on in the front since I needed the window cracked. So in the end I knew that even though I had two chatting and gabbing women in a vehicle with me the end result the 'aloneness' settled around me like a cloak in very short order. - as for our field trip... it was entertaining and very interesting to go and see a working woollen mill. Shuttleworks was a clean, modern store with every possible thing to do with spinning and weaving available for sale. But the drive was long and I spent much of my time very much in deep private thought. It may have been good for cathartic reasons but not really a good time or place to take off the blinders and see my situation clearly for what it is. - I came home in no fit state to be around others. - The result of my catharsis is this: that he is well and truly lost to me. That he has turned his back on me. That while debased about that I was on a huge grieving trip. I could be no more grief stricken if he had died. Indeed, he is well and truly dead to me. My Teapot is gone. No more. The end. Finished. But not only was I grieving for him. I was grieving for me too. - When I met and married him I was a young woman still with girlish ideals of love and romance. The last twenty years with him have stripped that all away and left me jaded about fairy tale love. There is no such thing. Up until two weeks ago, I thought I had been one of the lucky ones and found it. But what is hard and fast is that it was all an illusion. A magician's trick of the eye. Suddenly, I was seeing me as 'past her spoil date' and that as much as anything would make me cry. Even fine wine eventually turns to vinegar. That is what he has turned me into. I am vinigar and that is about as appealing as... well, it is corrosive really. So you see there really is something to cry over. Not only am I crying over spilt milk, I'm crying because the milk is sour - So now the question is can I practice a miracle. Can I turn vinigar into a fine old whiskey? Because until I'm no longer vinigar I'm not much good to anyone.

Here It Is Morning Again

I have been lying awake for a while now. Slowly I hear my fellow apartment mates waking and beginning a new day. Soon I will get up too and join them. The days are beginning to pass in a strange vortex of events, visits, and shopping. Olds is beginning to work its magic on me. This year it is a bittersweet jumble of emotions. Everything I do here makes me wonder when and if it will happen again. Yesterday was a blur of shopping and meeting the vendors of the stores here who we have gotten to know over the last 6 years. I am happy to say that a possible opportunity presented itself to me in the first store we visited. But I will talk more of that later. The day was full of ideas from what we saw in each store. I didn't buy a lot since I will only have to pack it later. Mostly I bought small thing that can fit in a tote. We returned to the apartment in time to watch the flood of Fibre Week enthusiasts and fellow students arriving. Dinner was prepared and we ate our food with abundant conversation. A visit from one of my previous instructors meant lively discussions about all things Arts, and much with the MSProgram here at Olds. It is good for me to be so caught in this whirlwind called Olds because my mind is occupied with good and not with the evil that has crept into my life at home. I did talk to the Daughters and they are consumed with exams some good and some troublesome. Meanwhile he is trying to sell the house with a couple of showings but no takers. Hopefully that will change. Today is a field trip to a woolen mill called Carstairs and to one of the biggest spinning and weaving suppliers in Western Canada. It will be hard to not drool and want to spend. I'm feeling a little better today... that is, if I don't think too much.

We'll Rise Again

In the faces of our children. We'll rise again.... You know a song works for you when you just can't get the words out of your mind. We made it to Olds last evening and it was good to check in and meet with the other ladies with whom I share this apartment. Somehow it felt right to be here. It goes without saying that I miss the Daughters dreadfully... And wee Narmin. ( Evidently Narmin misses me too according to. The text messages from the girls.) The drive to Olds went well. I was anxious at how I would feel. I will miss this community of women who gather at this jewel on the prairie. I would love to come back but I doubt it will be possible. Graduation will take place without me being here. There is something good about this familiar space without him in it. Poignant that I didn't call him when I got here though. Poignant that I didn't kiss him when I left. It's all so weird. Still Olds is an oasis for me. Today we will grocery shop and do all the old haunts. Tomorrow we have a field trip. Then a day of registering and checking out vendors and connecting with old friends. Then the next day we get serious. Classes begin in earnest. Through it all my mantra will be: Chin up, one day at a time, one foot in front of the other.

Not Fit For Anything

I lie awake night after night with acid eating out my insides. I cannot wrap my head around the fact that the person I thought I knew so well could be so different. That is the turmoil within. On the surface I seem calm. But I am not. The only thing that keeps me functioning are our plans. Not even spinning works it's balm. A week of testing and what should have been pleasurable expectation is trying to fit in and make conversation about something other than what consumes me. I cannot concentrate. Thank God I am able to go to Olds at all. I could be losing that too. In a few moments I will get up and shower and keep putting one foot in front of the other. How do I do that when all I want to do is shrivel up inside.

Packing

I spent the evening packing last night. Not only for Olds but I was helping him pack books, videos, and Cd's. We are beginning the process of dividing our lives. After twenty years there is a lot to do. Somehow you don't realize how enmeshed your lives become when living together. He has stopped wearing his wedding ring and so I decided that maybe it was time to do something about mine. I haven't worn it for many years since I always found that the diamond would dig into my finger so I got it out of my jewelry box along with two bracelets that he has given me recently and I walked down the steps. I handed him the rings with the statement that I wanted the rings melted down and the diamond divided for the girls. He will have it made into something for them.  Then I turned to the girls and I gave them each a bracelet. They are bracelets that he bought for me while in Vancouver where his love affair started with his new trick. The bracelets turn my stomach since I know they were guilt gifts. They were copper and silver overlay in a Haida design. One had the sun on it and the other had a butterfly on it.... Daughter #1 got the Sun Because she is my sunshine cheery and happy all the time, and Daughter #2 got the butterfly for reasons to do with cocoons and shyness and coming out into world fully formed and beautiful.

I didn't cry.... which is a first.

This morning over breakfast we all sat and had a lovely walk down memory lane talking about all the things that we have kept from the girl's childhood. Rocking horses and doll houses and dolls and games, etc... Much of it will have to be sold before we leave. Laughter prevailed but at one point he left the room and he never returned. He once again is turning his back on the past. I wonder if he realizes what he has done.

There is a very surreal feeling about it all. He lives in the trailer in the yard and showers and eats in the house. Most of the time we are friendly and we try to keep our nasty thoughts to ourselves.  But occasionally things bubble over and when they do I leave for the bedroom where there is peace... or he leaves for the great outdoors where there is... whatever it is he is looking for. The surreality of it all is sometimes overwhelming. I feel like a Picasso.... one side of my face is up and the other side of my face is down.  And all around me is a Salvadore Dali painting with clocks melting as time ticks into an unknown future.

Only two weeks ago life was so normal... how odd it is to be packing knowing that when I leave today I may be coming back to a very different situation. Two days after I return from Olds he will be leaving for Vernon. I may see him very little from here on in. While I think it is the healthiest option I can't help wondering if I am in a dream.... Allison in Wonderland chasing the white rabbit.

One Trip After Another

Today was a trip to town for a new suitcase. The suitcase that I always carried my spinning wheel in died shortly after Easter and all spring I have been thinking about a new one. I finally bit the bullet and went to town to get one. It is large and lined and I think better than the original one that I had. So I am pleased that that is one job down.

I look around me these days and I see nothing but jobs in every direction. The flooring in the house is almost finished. The sun room was finished before this whole fiasco.... but since then the dining room has been finished and the kitchen is about three quarters of the way done. So I am hopeful that it will be complete when I get back... I am also hopeful that the addition will have it's new siding on it. These are the two biggest jobs. The rest is stuff that will require little effort and only minor expense. It seems ludicrous to me that for four years I begged and pleaded to have this place finished and it wasn't done time and again and all of a sudden when things are falling apart the house is at its best and is finally looking like something that I would want to live in... some how it doesn't seem fair... but then fairness never really plays into life.

Tomorrow I leave for Olds and while normally I am looking forward to it... this time I am not sure how I will get through. A week of testing.... that in and of itself is daunting. Then I will be with friends who will be smiling and taking pleasure in their surroundings and I will be smiling on the outside but on the inside...... well it does no good to dwell on it. It just makes it more difficult.

I will try to write here sometimes while I am away. This has become a bit of an oasis... a place where I know people follow because they care. Thank you to all....

I Know You Are All Wondering

I am ok. Well, not really... but I will be. It has all been a huge shock to find out that your whole life has been a lie. All the things that I thought were real and true have not been. I will not talk too much about what has been from here on in, because I need to spare my Daughters more angst than what they have been through.  From now on I will talk only of positive things because that is the only way forward.

The girls and I will not be staying here... we will be moving on. Plans are being made, and things are being done to accommodate this new way of life.  As I speak the renovations that I wanted so badly for so long are being finished... we will be selling our home. That is a foregone conclusion. There is more. The Daughters and I will be moving and we will be taking my parents with me. Not just down the road either. We will be heading back to Newfoundland.... the land of my ancestors, the land of my heart. For the Daughters this will be a huge upheaval. And we are not sure when exactly this will happen. We only know that the house has to be sold. That is critical to all of us moving forward in our new lives. The alpacas are for sale.... the house is for sale. Two days from now I will be heading to Olds for the last level of my Master Spinners's Program.  The Daughter's will stay with their father while I am away and they will be finishing their school year as well. When I get back, there will be packing and decisions to sell furniture and other things.  I'm sure garage sales will abound. He will be leaving for three weeks of working with the JCRs and so will Daughter #1 this year in Vernon, BC since that is where the two summer camps will be held. I am hoping that by the time they are back the house will be sold. Then I can really start in on our plans. We just have to sell the house. Everything.... everything, is contingent on that. I will talk more about our plans as they become reality. I am afraid to talk too much about what we want, for fear of not selling this house. It is too easy to lose these new dreams too and I am not sure I can take that on top of everything else.

But I am ok.... or at least I will be.... and so will we all be...

I hope.

Shattered

There's a hole in my life... a great gaping hole.  After a week of the worst kind of tumult I find myself alone, facing the future without ....

The Daughters and I are going into the future with out him in it... we will all move on.

And so will he... but in a different direction and with someone else.

Big Changes

Life is moving in a different direction. Things are changing and all is in flux. Stay tuned... I might be able to write about it soon. But not yet.

Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

Well now you had to know that it wouldn't pass by without me making some kind of comment...

I've been enjoying watching the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London, England all afternoon... I love the Queen and envy the Brits... they were all out in force to celebrate Her Majesty's reign... and they all pulled together as Brits and did it right. You could tell that this was a day... (actually a whole weekend) to be British through and through.... It kind of made me sad for Canadians...

As a patriotic Canadian I sometimes wonder, what do we have that pulls us together... a few celebrations on Canada day really don't cut it... you don't hear much about it and you are really lucky if you can participate in Canada Day celebrations.  Canada day passes by each year and I wonder where it went, once it's past. 'What happened!"...  is what I often think... oh sure there were a few mentions of fireworks in Ottawa and maybe if you are lucky there will be a local picnic and party and if you are really lucky you will have a rock concert in your community... but how does that make us more Canadian or feel close to our fellow countrymen...

Then there's hockey... but that just makes me want to laugh... I mean how can a violent game make us more Canadian... how does watching someone chase a small black disk around the ice make us fellow countrymen... half our hockey players are not even Canadian... most of them are hired Americans paid in American dollars... And the Canucks losing in Vancouver last year just tore that city apart... I'm sure that's not country building... or pride filling.

No I watch those celebrations in the UK and I am envious... Maybe it is because we are such a large country... maybe it's because we are such a diverse nation... maybe we are still trying to find an identity that we can all be a part of and proud of. But in the end I am amazed at how well the Jubilee celebrations came off and in the end the smiling face of the Queen said it all... how humbling it must be to have such and outpouring of love for a woman who has been committed to being the best representative of her country that she could possibly be. It's not about the money, it's not about the star power, it's not about the novelty... but what Elizabeth the II has brought to England is a central figure around which the British people can rally... she has worked diligently to support her government in their decisions... she has supported all sorts of charitable causes that benefit the British people, and she has provided the British people with an icon that reminds them of their common history. I wish her many years of health and happiness and and I wish her success in all to which she puts her hand. Congratulations on Her Majesty's 60th anniversary as the Queen of England.

Meanwhile I will continue to ruminate on what it means to be a Canadian... and hope that I can be that beautiful and spry when I'm 86 years old.

Water Conservation 101

So I haven't been spending as much time on the computer this year as I used to. Somehow I seem to have lost my interest in it. But every now and again I sit down at the computer and I write... but today I sat down for a wee read. I decided to catch up on all the blogs that I have been following and I decided to check out APOD as well. APOD is an acronym for Astronomy Picture Of the Day. I love checking in with this site every so often because it has so much information about our universe and what's happening in it. Today I had a look and checked back over a bunch of pictures from the past few weeks when I wasn't checking regularly. This is what I found...

Explanation: How much of planet Earth is made of water? Very little, actually. Although oceans of water cover about 70 percent of Earth's surface, these oceans are shallow compared to the Earth's radius. The above illustration shows what would happen if all of the water on or near the surface of the Earth were bunched up into a ball. The radius of this ball would be only about 700 kilometers, less than half the radius of the Earth's Moon, but slightly larger than Saturn's moon Rhea which, like many moons in our outer Solar System, is mostly water ice. How even this much water came to be on the Earth and whether any significant amount is trapped far beneath Earth's surface remain topics of research.

For me it was a bit of an eye opener...

I've always known how precious our water supply here on earth is but... wow we really need to keep in mind how quickly we can contaminate our water source so that everything that relies on water would be poisoned to death. I can't tell you how important it is for us to take that into consideration the next time we dump crap into our water supply. We may not have good potable water for long if we abuse the little (and I mean little) that we have.

Updates On Lots Of Things

The previous post took me a couple of days to finish since I had forgotten to bring my camera and was waiting for Linde to bring her camera to my house so I could upload the pictures from our Death By Chocolate party. So I thought I would update a few things today, which means two posts in one day. Just pretend that the previous post was post a few days ago cause that's what was intended.

I just received an email from my Level 5 instructor.... 93%... ha ha ha ha ha.... That's hysterical laughter with a whole lot of relief for those of you who don't know me...! It feels really good to know that it is done. I ended up deciding to spin flax for my level 6 dyeing day... yes, FLAX... from the I-Hate-Flax person. But my latest edition of Handwoven magazine came in and in it was the neatest tunic and transparent wall hangings woven with flax and then over sewn with wool... the linen gives the background plain weave on which to make a picture... I got a brilliant idea that if I woven flax... bleached it and then dyed it with indigo it would make an awesome background for fallen white leaves in plain white cotton for summer or plain white wool for winter.... (I'm thinking cotton for summer). So that's what I am spinning.

I am not weaving cause I've given up on getting anything done for June on the Shadow Weave project... that's my summer project.

I'm still knitting on the surprise shawl but that is coming only very slowly since Teapot and I have moved into the yard... gardening is now our priority. Four nights ago I lost all my tomato plants to frost... but otherwise every thing else is coming along nicely. Teapot has turned the garden and put in two kinds of potatoes and is as I write putting in the beans and peas. We are using the large red barrels that used to be on the deck for the peas and beans. After he finishes that he is going to put in a new bed for carrots and at that point we will assess how we are feeling and where we are time wise. Meanwhile I am up on the deck taking care of deckor (get it ha ha decor... deckor!!! Gosh gotta hit you over the head with that one!) I was late this year buying my annuals so I ended up with very little to choose from so yesterday I went to the local grocery store and blew a wad on petunias. Just petunias ... which is kind of not my style but petunias are showy and easy to care for and in a way I'm kind of glad that I didn't by more varieties and put them in earlier... for sure I would have lost some to the frost that got my tomatoes. So petunias it will be... as boring as that may sound... lots of colour though.

I've convinced Teapot to help me get things sorted out on the deck too... we are going to build that screened porch finally. So as a result I am planting and preparing the deck pots accordingly. There will be a lot fewer pots to plant flowers in and it hopefully will look charming while providing us with an oasis in the middle of summer. So far this is what I have done.

I still need a little something for the top of that log on the left.. but the wind chime has been painted and is looking pretty good. Once those flowers thicken up and grow I'm sure this will be lovely.

It was a lot of work to move those huge heavy logs over. And I think the whole thing looks pretty darn good.

I love the fact that the wee sheep looks like it could take out the gnome quite easily by rolling over. I can only imagine what the gnome is thinking! I still have to plant the square planter on the chair...and I need a couple more planters down in front of the rocking chair but that's how far I got yesterday before I ran out of steam. So today I have to carry on with that planter and around the corner to the side of the house where I am hoping at some point this summer to put a fountain since our fountain died last summer once the pump froze early in the fall.

This is our horse shoe shaped potato garden. In the middle stand one of the strawberry boxes. There are about 8 Strwaberry plants in there.

The other 22 strawberry plants are in these boxes in the front of the house. I guess we really need to think about putting some siding on the house... hmm I wonder if we can suffer through another winter or maybe we should get to this in the fall. Oh for heaven's sake I have to get the flooring finished before i start to think about the siding... really!

Anyway the deck is calling and the day is calling and the sun is shining and the wind is whispering and the birds are twittering as they swoop past the window... I need to get myself organized before the day is over and I  wonder if Teapot wants help with the planting of the peas and beans.

I'm off ... till next time.. I hope your spring is blossoming into a lovely summer of lazy days and restful evenings. A little more business for me and I'll be happy to enjoy lazy days and restful evenings...

Women!... Sheesh!

Thursday night was the last day of knitting for the year... we had a party. For weeks we've been planning to have a Death By Chocolate party... We wanted to make things that were delectable... delightful and generally mind numbingly yummy. We succeeded. We had decided to have our wee party on the banks of the river at the house of one of our members... now this group of dynamic ladies are truly the odd people at their best.  Now that sounds strange I realize... but I don't mean that each individual is odd in and of themselves... just that we are all so different you would never think that we would come together so well... it is odd to have that much diversity among a group and have them get along so well. I can safely say that they have become some of my best friends ever... I love em to bits... cause they make me smile.We range in age from 47 (that would be moi) to 63. We range in income from those who have good solid jobs to those who are on fixed incomes. We range in religion from those who don't believe to those who aren't sure whether or not to believe to those who have very strong beliefs... to those of all beliefs. We range in self image from the those who care about it to the those that don't really give a shite any more. We range in yarn snobery from those who would never be caught dead with acrylic (blah ick ugh can you tell who the yarn snob is!) to the those who don't use wool... (out of their league). We range in everything we say and do.  When I first started the knitters group and saw who had come out for the initial meeting I thought... how in the world am I ever going to make this work... but over the years and even though we have lost a few members through attrition, a core group of us continue to faithfully meet each Thursday night come hail or cold or sun or lack of space to meet. At first I thought it was the need to get out of the house and exchange ideas on the craft we love so much. But I have come to realize that these women have become friends.... real true and good friends. We hardly see each other over the summer months at least not all together... but little friendships have developed outside of our group that make us all so comfortable together. We are great together and that is that. There is no jealousy or wariness that sometimes plagues groups of women... there is no envy or greed that also plagues women's groups... there is no criticisms or irritation. We just like being together.... 'cause we are all awesome.

Each one of us has talent... talent that's amazing.... we all make beautiful things.

This is the famous chocolate fountain...

This was taken before diving into the chocolate stuff... From left to right... Linde, Me (in the back), Valerie (in the front, Carol (in the back) and Marie (hiding behind the chocolate fountain)...

After diving into the chocolate stuff....

 It really was a fun evening and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to get to know these ladies... they truly have become some of the best friends I have.... even with all of their/our oddities. They're a hoot to know...

While I am ready to end with Knit Night for the summer now that gardening time is here, I do miss them and always look forward to the fun of our evenings together in autumn when Knit Nights will start again. And I am hoping to see them from time to time over the summer.