While Tangerine Dreams

100 Things About Me Part 1

For a few reasons (that include Craig took the camera with him to the field, thus there's a picture of me and dinner guest Andy - who's soooooo funny - from earlier this week, dinner guest Andy forwarded this pic from his camera, I forgot to bring fresh batteries for the camera with me to the Lilac Festival, and I should be packing and not reflecting too heavily on my craftiness right now) I will instead start a list of 100 interesting tidbits about little old me so you can later test your friends KQ (Kathy's Questionables).

Lilac fest was great by the way. It started off rainy, my soaps were getting wet, we were both cranky but then the rain let up, coffee kicked in, came up with a new tag line (Do Be Clean! Same price as a hot dog but lasts a lot longer!) and the sales started to roll in! I had my most lucrative year ever! I just found out I got accepted to the Calgary Folk Festival (it's a jury selected honor) which kind of makes me want to cry due to the line up this year (think Ani DiFranco, Feist, Macy Gray) but I'm plum out of soap and no time to make more with the move and not to mention driving all the way back to town just for that weekend. Too much. Next year. Wah.

Okay, part one of the list:

1. My full name is Kathleen.  My parents did not grant me a middle name. Don't ask me why. I blame it on a lack of imagination.
2. I'm allergic to walnuts and pecans - but I won't die. I think I sub-consciously use the retrieval of that little known fact as a measure for how much my friends and family love me (when my mom forgets I cry)
3. Since I gave birth I rarely cry compared to how they use to refer to me as "Water Works"
4. I married my soul mate Craig and took his last name (I'm not going to tell you what it is though - ha! Nice try!)
5. My mom's from Peru and my dad's from Hungary (I like to say I'm half crazy and half crazy)
6. I have three jobs: I teach yoga, run Do Be Clean Handmade Hemp Soap 'n Stuff, full-time mom
7. I have lots of hobbies and the list keeps growing: knitting, sewing, soon to spin, crochet
8. We're moving out to the land in two weeks to live out our dream of our babies growing up close to nature and living in a little straw bale house and be as self-sufficient as possible
9. I have a soul cat named Kitty! and had her since I was 16. She's old now
10. I have the most amazing Crystal Child who has almost a cult-like following cause she's so special; Edie Tangerine. Craig and I keep a close eye on her cuz we're scared the Tibetan Monks are going to come to collect her one day.

Four Skein Wonder-ful

Finally an FO for those who wonder. The One Skein Wonder of Glampyre fame is finally done! Trust in the process is the lesson learned in this pink experience. A couple of minor screw-ups that can simply be attributed to not staying in the moment and thankfully aren't that noticable to the snakey eye. For instance; I forgot to switch to smaller needles around the cuff and then back to larger needles to bind of the neck and back edgings. The latter resulted in a bit of a pinchy fit around the back of the neck that, again, will just be a constant reminder to be in the now.

And here's the back of it. Loving it with the long sleeves. Kept me warm all morning. Pretty tricky getting these shots here all by myself. I'm going to sport this teaching my (last) yoga class today. I say (last) cuz after this I have to focus on packing up and heading for the hills. I'm super late for this class so must go but will share the low down on the Lilac Festival later (quick summary but went awesome despite the yucky rainy weather).

Live and Learn

I'm taking a crochet class! Loving it so far. Our project is the beautiful Squiggle Scarf design by Amy Swenson who owns that LYS that I'm always blah, blah, blah about. I love how, so far anyway, things are knitting crocheting up so quickly and  the mindset seems subtly different than knitting's. A nice way to mix things up a bit. I have to admit I had to learn for a few reasons:

1. There are so many cute crotchet patterns everywhere! Not to mention that the last few what I thought were knitting books I bought were comprised of at least 30% crotchet projects so I just had to turn a negative into a positive (nothing wrong with crochet, just my not knowing how).
2. I just found out my grandmother (who I love so much but she lives in Peru so I don't get to see often unless I get married) is an avid crocheter. My mom just got back from visiting her this Christmas and brought me back a couple of crocheted gifts from her including a poncho and a mananita (a shawl to wear in the morning to keep your shoulders warm my mom explained). I'll get a picture of it soon for you. I look so demure in it it's almost creepy.
3. I had to get this!!!  It's a baby dress kit that includes pattern and yarn. Edie had her music recital and I noticed her dress selection is minimal if non-existant. So, I've been eyeballing this forever on the prettiest blog in the universe and when she highlighted it in a post two days ago it was like, can the Universe be yelling at me any louder?!!??

And now, bring out your environmentally-snotty hankies, check out this disasta:

Kid sister bowl did not survive the agitation of our carnivorous washing machine. I'm so sad, (she was to gracefully hold my Pouty Mouth lip balms at the Lilac Festival like an offering to the Hemp goddesses) but learned a lesson. Baby bowls do not need a bathmat and giant orange fuzzy slippers for added friction. Live and learn. Live and learn.

Just to share... my comma button is super sticky and that's sad too cuz I love to use commas. So that last two days I've been omitting unnecessary punctuating of that sort because it's sub-consciously making me a bit agro punching that impotent button over and over again. Just in case you were missing my excessive comma-ing.

Universal Cushy-ness

Someone's getting a little nostalgic about leaving the city she and her husband pretty much grew up in. This special someone has to be careful what she asks the Universe lately cause it's been answering in the strangest of ways. Someone's talking in third person today as you can see.

Someone said to the Universe yesterday, "Universe," she sez, "I need a cute red top to go with all my cute bottoms you've been presenting me with." Et, voila.

Then she sez, I'm so sad bout leaving the big city. Not because Bob the landscaper sprays Killex herbacide all over the yard where her loin fruit likes to frolick and the noises out her bedroom window constantly reek of road rage, but because she's so going to terribly miss her Knit Club and favourite LYS. Then something really exciting happened but she can't talk about it quite yet but she'll keep you posted as things progress a bit further.

Oh yeah, she finished another little felted bowl that has yet to be felted.

Someone has to go now and remember to trust in the wisdom of the Universe.

Sing 'n Bowl

Edie had her very first music recital this weekend! So very cute. Here we are singing "Little Tommy Tucker"  with the sticks. Edie plays a mean stick. Wish this blog had a video component then you could see her in action dancing with the scarves. Oh well.

I had such a wonderful break from blogging this weekend. Got lots done. I'm continuing on with tackling that list of to-dos. Next up, I have to go to the lab to get some blood work donethat was suppose to happen six months ago so I'm not allowed to eat or drink anything. Yes, that's right, I'm not drinking a coffee right now. That probably explains why this is a bit of a dry read today.

On the knitting front: I got a felted bowl done! I made it for the Lilac Festival this coming Sunday to house my felted soap. The pattern is from the One Skein book (the link is to the book's knit-a-long). I used this lovely acid purple Cascade 220 double stranded. Bowl needs a baby sister so I'm making a littler one to hold my lip balm with strand of purple and pink Cascade held together.

Well, I must go, I think I may pass out. I'm going to burn some of my coffee essential oil. I'll be more interesting tomorrow I promise.

Loooong Weekend

I'll be taking an extra long weekend break from blogging to get my act together. I have to get ready for the Lilac Festival the following weekend, Edie's got her big music recital this weekend and I have to get organized for packing for the big move. I've never moved out of province before as a grown-up. Kind of scary.

Once I'm moved and settled I'm looking forward to participating in some fun-looking swaps out there. There's an Apron Swap that's forming and I missed out on hangtag swap that could have been some goodtimes (plus this girl's blog is super groovy). See how I've been procrastinating?

SO I will be back after the May long weekend (Tuesday). Ciao for now!

May Day Parade

Due to a lack of FO's we interrupt this blog for a special broadcast.

On our last visit to the Ranch, the little town (the little town that shall remain nameless) was holding its annual May Day parade to draw attention and celebrate the ongoing efforts of rescuing the watersheds of the area from the demise of forestry (May Day! May Day! Get it?) . The day began with costume making, silent auctioning, parading then lots of dancing to wicked live music (Edie is CRAZY for reggae we discovered).

Present was the Valley Lama and the unveiling of a photo of a local water crystal taken by Dr. Masaru Emoto himself.

I'm thirsty now, must go.

In Half-Full Bloom

Gorgeous morning today. I stepped outside in bathrobe and slippers to take a pic of our crabapple tree just starting to bloom from the bottom up. At least I hope it's just starting and not just stopping because of the electrical wiring above it. That would be creepy (time to get out of the city).

Also in half-bloom, my soon-to-be-reffered to as my Four Skein Wonder. In all fairness it's a long sleeve and I have arms the length to put a chimp to shame, but I thought that would just involve an extra skein. Wrong!  Almost done my third and I'm not even halfway down my second arm. Also, I have to pick up and add some ribbing all around the neck and back edges. Ack! The journey is in the process...

P.S.

Guess who finally bought vaccum bags and paid off her student loan yesterday? That's right. It's me! It's me! Oot! Oot!

If The Hat Fits...

Yay! I knit Craig something and it fit him! About time, eh? What a man. I asked to look out the window like he was looking for his boat to come in and he said he already has his boat (that and that the bright morning light was burning his retinas). Awwwww.... I'm not sure what that means but I'm just going to go with it being something romantic. If you want to clarify my comment enabler is always turned on, Baby.

And speaking of romantic, Happy Belated Mother's Day to all you mother mothers out there. Above is the moment I became a Mom. Hopefully not too graphic for some of you out there (my comment enabler is always turned on, Baby). And a special Mother's Day wish to my girlfriend Shannon and her husband Brad who had their second child at home Saturday morning. Little boy Coen. What a cool, cool name.

There is something terribly romantic about being a new mom. Lots of cuddles, groping, crying, laughing, drooling, sharing of meals, staying up late, sleeping in - just like dating all over again.

I had me an amazing Mother's Day Weekend (I like to milk these things for a few days). Saturday I had me an hour and half long aromatherapeutic facial - complete with eyebrow (why bother? You can't even see my upper eyelid you wonder?) and bikini wax. Never ever ever again I say to the latter. That hurt soooooo much. Worse than childbirth that's for sure.

On Sunday, we dropped off the munchkin to Craig's dad and stepmom's and we took off for a little drive to the country and had lunch in a little town  where we gallavanted around like drunk and giddy junior high kids (after we shared a glass of draught). All this after my knitting class in the morning. Perfect day!

I'll Huff and I'll Puff

First of all, big shout out to my dear husband for being so sweet and supportive of my "Mommy Time". He's so incredibly busy with work and organizing all this house buying/moving crap (with help from me of course but he's in charge of most of the paperwork) yet he was totally cool when I presented him with the idea of me booking for a few hours to step out with two Lovely Lady friends of mine last night. I had such a wicked time and now feel very recharged. Amazing what lots of laughing can do. Yup, going out for good food and bottle of wine with two funny girlfriends = happy mommy.

My whole life 80% of my dreams have been about exploring a house and trying to decide which room will be my own, or deciding if I like the layout or if I even want to live there. The whole process of planning and building our home has literally been like a dream. Here are some shots of some strawbale homes recently built by various people we know that are truly inspirational and beautiful (note the munchkin playing on the floor with her little girlfriend) - their dreams manifested. The little family living in the abode above are from the same city we're from but are establishing themselves in the little community we're off to and opening up a little pottery shop - that will also happen to carry Do Be Clean Hemp Soap (shameless plug by accident). The shop is a serene one kilometre downhill walk from the house we just bought so I'm going to be spending lots of morning coffees in there I think.

Our place is going to be about 1200 sq feet plus a walk in basement that's going to house offices/workspace for both me and Craig, laundry and storage. Check out the window placement by the tub in the house owned by this remarkable single mom who pretty much built this sweet house on her own. The window by the tub is on our list of must haves. Here's an outside view of her love-drenched home:

This little strawbale cabin, perched on top of a big, big hill/mountain was built by our good friends Shawn and Lori who are temporarily living in it (tiny, tiny!) while their strawbale house is being built (they started the foundation while we were out there last trip).

Shawnee building...

And finally, these last two shots are from a house we visited that was designed by the same architect working with us. Same flavour on a different scale (this place is much bigger). Have a great weekend everyone and sweet house dreams!