A Whole Heap Of Mess

Whoa... sometimes things just get away from me and it always seems to be when I'm hard at work on my homework.... which I have been for the last few days. I look around me today and I'm wondering who planted the bomb in my life and when did it go off.

I have managed to finish two of my binders for the level 4 homework but there's a whole pile of samples that haven't been written up and are just partially labeled, and on top of that they are sitting in a tangle on top of my binder. It's a mess and every day I think I will get to that work and straighten it out, but it never seems to happen. Just as I start to get on top of things they get away from me again.  I have three samples left before I get to the 150 hour project.  I thought I'd have them done too but that doesn't seem to have panned out.

Then there is my house which has so much dog and cat hair drifting out from under the couch that even the dust bunnies are starting to complain that they are getting fat. And Murphy, who's been living under the china cabinet for the last 6 months, is starting to shriek in fear.  I only did spring cleaning a month ago and you'd never know that I had pulled out all the furniture and wiped down the log walls... every thing has a nice coat of dust all over it. It's scary how housework never is done... a very unforgiving task.

We won't go near politics.... that's just a whole heap of mess that I'm not even going to try to address.

Am I going for level 5.... your guess is as good as mine.... it all has to do with money at this point. Car?... forget it till the fall! On and on I could go... it's all a mess that I just can't face right now.

So yes, my life at the moment seems to be a whole heap of mess... with no end in sight. Sucks to be me! Arggh!

Politics

Scary!

Ever Lovin' Romance.... The Cultivated Kind... The Kind That Makes A Family Grow

I find myself this morning with reflections of romance on my mind.... (and no it is not because of the Royal Wedding).  I find myself in a bit of a situation. This weekend coming up is Mother's Day, and that has some meaning in this house. Maybe the meaning we give it is different from yours... but it does have some significance here. A have a little rant about to happen... so if you're not up for it you may want to direct your blog reading in another direction!

I find myself having done something that I don't regret at the moment but may in the future.... nah I don't regret ever sticking my foot in my mouth... I try to look at it later with humour.... but I really try hard not to regret it.

A few weeks ago an email came to us letting us know that the Mother's day weekend would be a wonderful weekend for a campout for the Junior Canadian Rangers here in Hudson's Hope. I totally disagreed..... well at least for me. What a stupid time to have a campout. The very day that mother's want to be made to feel like they count for something... This email made some derogatory remark (which was a bit of a cop out if you ask me... a bit of a lame excuse if you ask me) about the best gift you can give any mother is a day to herself.... aaaah WRONG! That might work for a mother who has spent the last 8 months changing stinky diapers and avoiding barf on her clothes. Not me. I like my kids.... I like my husband. I like spending time with them.

Some clarifying:
You can love people and not like them.... for instance (nope that won't work.... lets try this again). There are people in my life that I love but don't like.... how can that be you say.... well love involves a depth of gratitude in some instances... love involves obligation in some instances... you can love people because of their connection to you but not really like the type of person they are. Are you getting my drift? Perhaps you love a person who is connected to you in some way but not like them because they have a particularly negative outlook on life. Maybe you dislike them because they undermine your self confidence but you still love them because you owe them a depth of gratitude because they have a connection to you.  For instance... supposing you were in a plane crash and there were only two survivors, of which you were one, and the plane crashed in the forest and you had a broken leg and you had to rely on the other person to help find your way back to civilization. You could come to love the other person because they support you and help to save your life. But then supposing after all was said and done and you made it back to civilization and you found out that that person was a dog kicker or had some other equally heinous nasty quality.... you would love them but not like them. So you see you can love someone and not like them at the same time. (I realize this is a somewhat lame example but I really don't want to go into greater explanation since I don't want to drag in any mud personal or otherwise here.)

I happen to like my family.... I also love my family. The Daughters, I love because I'm a mom and I just naturally love my Daughters... I can't imagine what life would be like without them or if I lost them and I can't even think about that since my heart constricts and and I start having trouble breathing when I think about my children not... well we won't even go there. Like any mom I want the best for my children... and I hate to see them suffer... this is love I think. Likewise Teapot is the love of my life... he is my sun, moon, and stars.... What's nice is that in addition to this I like them too. Daughter#1 has a lot about her to like. She is smart and funny, pretty, helpful and can really fart to contend with her father and takes great pride in that.... (I hope she doesn't read this) and Daughter #2 is sensitive and hilarious at times and very smart  as well as pretty too.... she's also is willing to comb my hair and paint my toenails.... gotta love and like that.  Teapot is interesting and funny and down to earth, well grounded, active, likes a lot of the same things that I do, has a positive attitude, willing to listen and supportive.... I could go on and on.... all very likable aspects. We work at our marriage. We spend time together as a couple and as a family. It hasn't always been perfect but no family life is... we've had our bumps along the way with health and teenage blues.... adjustments for likes and dislikes that we don't share but for the most part our family loves and likes each other.

Back To Original Topic:

Since both Teapot and Daughter #1 are involved with the Hudson's Hope JCR (Junior Canadian Rangers) I knew when I received that email that there would be some conflict... so to head off any disappointment I decided to have a chat with Teapot and establish feelings before any promises were made. I talked to him about Mother's Day and asked if he really wanted to go on the trip. He said no... so at least we were on the same page.  So we ignored the email and carried on about our business making our own plans for the Mother's Day weekend. It involves cooking lobsters and maybe a picnic if weather permits and possibly a trip for hay. Maybe even a sheared sheep or two.

This morning we get another email requesting help with this great JCR campout weekend because it is all planned and there are kids coming from all over the place not just our community and they don't have enough chaperones/Rangers to help out. 

My nostrels began flaring!!!!

First of all I was pissed off that they would word the email as an obligatory thing... they assumed that Teapot would fall in with this idea and that it would be all great... and being the nice guy, Teapot would feel bad that they don't have enough chaperones/leaders and go on this campout weekend.....

NOT!

I sent an answering email and this may be where some small amount of regret may come in... I worded it thus...

"Teapot is NOT going. It is MOTHER"S DAY... and I am the mother of his children. We have stuff planned so he will not be there... Find someone else. F"

My only regret is that Teapot may be thought of as pussy whipped and I hate for anyone to think of him that way.

As I said, I like spending time with my family. We have an obligation as two married people to try to remain friends as well as lovers. I do not want to wake up some day after my children have grown up and moved away and see the man lying next to me as a stranger. I want to be able to look across at him and know that he is my friend and confidant. I want to be able to say that I like him.... and I want to look at my children a like them too instead of resenting that they took everything out of me for the supposedly best years of my life without giving anything back.  I want a real Mother's day where I am happy to have those that I love all around me careing for me just as I care for them. Is that too much to ask?

JCRs be damned... you can't have them.... they are mine.... at least for this weekend.

A Few More Thoughts On The Royal Wedding, Wedding Dresses And The Like

Well I was up so early yesterday that really the rest of the day was shot. I didn't get a whole lot done.. One sample for my Level 4 homework which turned out crappy and has to be redone anyway.  But all day I couldn't take my mind off the Royal wedding. I know most people are probably sick of hearing about it and for better or worse most Canadians seem to think the the Royal Family and all their machinations are completely pointless. However, in defense of my obsession I will say that I would rather focus on the Royal family for a week out of the whole year than the months and months that we focused on the American Election campaign when Barack Obama was running for president... Everybody crowed about how he was going to be the saviour of the whole world and all I could think is I wish they would put more Canadian news on the radio/TV. The poor man had nowhere to go but down after the pedestal they put him on... he's just a man after all. Anyway, I don't have an obsession with the Royals to the point where I think that the paparazzi should do what they did to Diana...nope my obsession is done right now. I'm probably not going to go seeking photos of the Royals anymore. (I just wish those Canucks fans would get it through their heads that their obsession is no different than mine... and I hate hockey... but I'm still Canadian!)

Now that I've had my little rant. I do have something worth saying about the Royal wedding. I was so pleased to see Kate in her gown. She looked absolutely stunning... (even though some seemed to think that Pippa outshone her : ( )However, I do have a bit of a beef with her choice of wedding gowns. As a matter of a fact I really have a beef with Royal wedding gowns in particular. They keep choosing silk as the fabric of choice... and I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that silk is a lovely choice for a warm day... sort of. But why in hell the Royal brides of England of all places don't choose wool as their fabric choice is beyond me. Now I realize that wool seems a bit of a dark horse when it comes to choosing wedding gowns but I mean the British economy and the whole country for that matter was born on the backs of the wool industry for so many years that it seems impossibly stund to not reconize it in some small way.

"Wool," you say, "for a wedding gown... don't be daft!"

Actually I'm not as far off the mark as you think.  There are some really beautiful wool fabrics out there that would be perfectly reasonable for a wedding dress.... look at Pashmina shawls... I mean reall Pashmina shawls... actually Pashmina is from a goat so not technically wool.... it is more like Cashmere. But wool that can be spun so finely that it would be a beautiful choice for a wedding gown and especially for a  British Royal wedding gown and would put wool back in the perspective of the world as a viable alternative to other luxury fibres. I did a little research and found some very lovely wedding gowns made from wool. I'll start with pictures of more historical pics and move through to more modern pics if that's alright with you guys.

This is vintage wool Fabric... I loved the fabric.

Look at the lace on this... just gorgeous.

Again the lace is exquisite.

This I didn't like so much but the fabric would be fine for a heavier winter wedding dress.

This was quite a lovely one... and all the older ones really told me how often wool was worn for special occasions like weddings.

This one has a a merino felted bodice but uses a chiffon skirt.

Then I found a company that sells knitted wool wedding dresses and go figure the company is from Northern England.

And here's another of theirs...

And this one is very daring but would be awesome on a cool evening on a beach.

This is a more traditional wool wedding dress but it's simplicity is lovely though the sleeves were not my thing.

I loved this one...and the wrap was stunning.

Then you have the cover up...

This one really caught my eye from Australia.... and look at the detail on the skirt.

It would have been wonderful if Kate had given the wool industry a nod even if she had chosen a stole for going to and from the wedding.

I had a winter wedding and in my green-ness of those days of yore... (I didn't know anything about spinning and nothing about woollen fabrics) I used velvet for my wedding dress... and yes I actually made my wedding dress. In hind sight I wish I had known about wool because I would have used it for my wedding dress or at least incorporated it somehow.

After all it takes a very confident young woman with a lot of fashion savy to step out of the traditional usage of silk and satin for wedding dresses and find a different and perhaps unconventional wedding dress... I thought Kate would be her, but unfortunately there wasn't even a nod in that direction.

I'll leave you with a pic of an awesome woollen wedding dress which would have certainly been too unconventional for Royal standards, but its awesomeness is outstanding, I think, and it takes a very special person to pull something like this off....

While this wouldn't be for Kate it does make a statement about wool as a viable alternative to traditional silk and satin.

Wouldn't it be nice if wool would get its just dues? I for one love wool and think it is awesome, versatile, and lovely in every way. Too bad I didn't know about back then...

On my wedding day...

OMG, we were so young.

Hurrah!!! And flag waving...

God Save our Gracious Queen....

Remember... as a Newfy I have a very rich tradition  with the British.... Mom and Dad were born British... they still have their British birth certificates.... passports... etc. Me... I'm Canadian but I I still love the Royals...

I've been awake for hours.... but it was so worth it... big smile on my face. What a really awesome message in the sermon. Back off and leave them alone... and be caring of each other... very good.

He was grand and she was captivating. I wish them all the best and may they have many years of happiness. The vows were the same as the ones that Teapot and I exchanged... only we had communion too.

I'm all alone and the sky is brightening. Is it getting to be a new day already?

Now if they would just kiss so I could go back to bed.

It Was A Joke...!

I'm astounded at how many people actually think that I am going to make a study of yarns suitable for the Royal Wedding characters for my in depth study.... it was a joke really... I didn't really meant it. I am NOT going to do an in depth study on the Royal Wedding knitted figurines.... really I'm not!

Actually I have been thinking about my in depth study. But my topics of interest are much more scientific (I'm not sure that is the right word) and certainly less cutesy than the Royal figurines in knitted wool.... Here's a list of what's been on my mind.

1. A Study Of Balance In Long and Short Stapled Wool Yarns -  What Makes a Yarn Balanced And How That Affects a Knitted Garment.

2. A Study In Colour In Novelty Yarns With Emphasis On Colour Used With The Four Natural Colours of White/Cream, Brown, Grey, And Black

3. A Study On Spinning Silk For Embroidery (this one needs some refining yet).

4. All Around The Clock, A Study On Yarns Suitable For Warp In Weaving And Whether Yarns Spun Clockwise Are More Effective Than Counterclockwise Spun Yarns.

The first two really interest me and the other two, less so... #2 has been in my mind since my first year. When I was first introduced to tufted novelty yarns/insertion novelty yarns. I was fascinated with how using a grey or white background changed the look of a novelty yarn in comparison to black or brown.  But then colour has always fascinated me and thus the reason for my inability to choose a favorite.

Meanwhile it is a rainy coolish day. I woke to a gentle spring rainfall outside my window, hitting the tin. I jumped out of bed to go and bring the deck chairs in under the eaves of the house in order to keep them dry. When I came back in my spinning wheel was beckoning me to sit a while and spin. It was 5:30 a.m. and all was quiet... you can't ask for a more perfect time to spin. So I did. I just finished my last Worsted sample and it is as close to perfect as possible. Gorgeous! Even if I do say so myself.

I have one sample left in that section. I had hoped to get it done yesterday but quite honestly those write ups took longer than I expected. It's not the writing up that takes the time.. it's the labelling and the printing and getting them into the page savers etc...  it takes forever. In addition I did get more print ups finished than I expected... I even managed to finish a few of the write ups for the dye section which I finished last summer at the dyeing retreat. So yesterday was a good day for getting my work done.

Teapot and the girls have headed off to school. The dogs are disgusted that it is wet outside and I will not let them stay outside digging in the garden and getting all muddy.

Meanwhile I am sitting listening to the Current on CBC Radio and it is a show dedicated to the Royal Wedding... it's really interesting to listen to. But nary a word is being said about Knitted Royal Wedding characters.... and so I will end by reiterating that I am NOT knitting the Royal Characters for my in depth study... though I may knit them for fun!

Nary A Fork In Sight And The Eyes Are Still Intact

Well the trip to DC yesterday went well especially the trip back... My mother had a mouthful of new teeth so maybe that was why it went so well. She couldn't tell me the same story twenty times... because she was having a hard time getting used to her new teeth. (Strike me down God!) Poor Mom... as she gets older her memory is not as good as it used to be.

I have now finished write ups for all linen/flax questions and will be putting them in my book today... I also got one write up done for the Lopi samples... I have two more to do this morning. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I feel my momentum building... it is like a horse that can smell the barn after a long day out on the range.... or the little train that could. I'm working hard these days, when I find the time, and this day is stretching out before me with no obligations except to spin and do write ups.... aaah.. what bliss!

I am also going to put myself out there and say something that most Canadians don't give a fig about. I'm a Royalist through and through. I'm all over the news... I can't wait till Friday (or Thursday night as case may be) I'm staying up. I'll be driving the bites downloaded way out of wack since we don't have TV but I'm really hyped for them... I just hope no nit wit does anything to spoil their special day..... You know who I'm talking about don't you....

Don't you think the Queen looks like she's been imbibing a little too much. : )

I'm going to knit this for my level 6 in depth study.... Yarns Appropriate For The Royal Wedding.... That's what I call my in depth study.... (that's a joke for you guys too serious to recognize one)!

Anyhoo... I'm off to do write ups... well actually I'm not off because then I couldn't reach the computer... I'm staying right here, I just won't be on the internet... see ya tomorrow...

The Daughters and I think the picture above is hilarious... except for the Corgi's which are just too cute!