March Break

This week is March Break for school kids here in Ontario.  It's also referred to as "Spring Break" on the calendars, and on Monday and Tuesday we had some beautiful spring weather. 

 

I took my son and a friend to the Metro Toronto Zoo on Monday, and I was quite comfortable in a spring coat (with a wooly scarf & gloves!) the entire day.  The sun shone down on us as we navigated the heaps of snow everywhere and admired the new animals at the zoo. 

 

The polar bears had a new baby named Humphrey, and on Monday he was exactly 4 months old (about the size of a golden retriever).  I didn't want to have the heavy camera around my neck all day, so I don't have any photos of him ... trust me, he was adorable and very playful!  Here's a nice shot of his dad from last March ...

This year there were large ice flows on the top of their deep pool of water, and the male & female bears were soaking wet from a recent swim, but they didn't enter the water while we were admiring them.

 

There were also two visiting giant pandas, but they were quite mucky looking and not as impressive as I'd hoped.  One was outside (and a bit cleaner from the snow), but the indoor panda was a dark dirty yellow which was rather sad to witness.

 

My favourite part of the zoo is the Arctic exhibit, which opened last year.  There are polar bears, arctic wolves, arctic fox, snowy owls and reindeer.

Arctic fox ... also taken last March

It was a great day outside and also in the numerous pavilions for the warmer climate critters.

 

Yesterday my son and I decided to head into Toronto to visit the Royal Ontario Museum.  We've been there lots of times with my family and with my brother and his two rambunctious boys, but it was really nice to go with just my own son this time.  He wanted to visit the entire museum ... and I think we were pretty close to that goal by the end of the day.  We had such a wonderful time together, and he is a real delight to discuss everything we saw.  The dinosaur exhibit is really amazing and we spent a long while in there.

 

There are a few windows in the museum where you can check what's happening outside ... and yesterday we were suffering through yet another blizzard (I know).  I had originally planned to drive into town far enough to just take the subway directly to the ROM, but when they predicted 10cm of snow, we took the GO train instead ($$).  Unfortunately, the GO train had rescheduled their trains (ie. "reduced" their trains) because of the storm, so we were packed into a train of commuters where there was standing room only.  So after walking on concrete floors the entire day, we were forced to stand for the hour's ride back home while all the commuters who had been sitting on their bums at their desks all day rode in relative comfort.  There was a foot of snow on the van when we got back into town, so I was glad for the ease of the train.  So another fun day of the March Break. 

 

This morning it is bitterly cold again ...

 

... yep, that's right ... -20C (not sure what the wind chill makes it, but it's really windy out there)

 

And there's snow thick everywhere again ...

 

 

We are promised warmer weather I think tomorrow or at least by Saturday.  I'm really disappointed with this snowstorm.  My backyard on Tuesday was almost bare of snow and I could see grass!!  My patio had completely cleared of snow too, and I was "this" close to pulling out a patio chair to sit out there in the sunshine.  I tossed the birdseed out for the birds, but I haven't seen them yet.  Maybe even our little winter birds have given up.

 

I know a lot of us had this same disappointing weather, but I'm sure it's the last big snow we'll have this year!!  Perhaps we need to hold a candlelight vigil to entice Spring to our area again., eh?!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy

 

Shamrocks & Heather

First off I'd like to say thank you for all of your very kind comments on my last post.  Your comments and suggestions have all helped me feel better about things going on here.  I hope for things to improve somewhere down the line, one way or another.  My blog is actually one place where I can find a little escape from the everyday, and I've enjoyed so much the friendships I have made here since starting this blog.  If I have to take a step back from keeping up with everyone's blogs, I'll do that, but I won't be gone for good.  Anyway, thanks again, you're all such good friends ... and now onto something else ...

 

The shamrock holiday will soon be upon us, and it'll be time to wear green and claim some Irish heritage back in our family trees ... I know I'm part Irish, how about you?!  Last year I picked up a pretty little shamrock plant from our local nursery just prior to St. Patrick's Day.  My mom used to have a large planting of shamrocks in her greenhouse.  The greenhouse was right up against the side of the house, and she planted them right in the ground along the wall of the house.  They were so cute, and I hope the people that bought that house are enjoying them still.

The shamrock I bought last year was green-leafed with white flowers. 

 

 

This year they had this beautiful purple-leafed variety with soft pink flowers.

  

 

The flowers are fairly small and delicate, but my little shamrock from last year has been flowering non-stop all winter, and it's nice to see them when not much else is happening with the plants.  I also like the way the leaves close up at nighttime, or if you touch them.  It makes the plant seem even more "alive" and personal ;)

 

 

And while my husband and I were browsing around the somewhat empty nursery, I saw this pretty little pot of heather. 

 

 

I know a lot of you in the UK are quite familiar with heather, and I have seen the heather in the highlands of Scotland myself when I attended my brother's wedding there years ago.  But we don't have heather growing here in Canada, and I was struck by this bright little plant, so it came home with me.  I hope it will survive outside, but I don't think it will survive our winters.  Does anyone here in Ontario have any experience with growing heather outside?  I'd appreciate any advice there.

  

Cody thought it smelled "wild" and was happily checking it out ...

 

 

So even though there's still enough snow out there to look like winter ... these little plants will help to brighten our kitchen nook and make it feel like spring.

 

 

As you can see, the plants are starting to take up a good portion of our nook!

 

 

My pets were enjoying the sunshine pouring in the front window today ...

 

Smudge

 

Cody

I picked up this candle holder at the thrift store last weekend ... big enough to hold a votive candle.  Unfortunately, if the candle is left burning too long, it melts all over the inside :[  I really like the butterfly pattern and will keep it on my kitchen table to light during our dinners.

 

 

Well, we just back home after having a nice dinner out, just the four of us, and then dropping my daughter back in university town.  I don't think we'll be seeing her again until exams are finished in April ... I think Cody and I are going to miss her the most.  

 

When we walked out of the restaurant, it was snowing ... that nasty sleet-like snow ... and earlier today I was going to tell you all how spring temperatures are slowly arriving and it was actually plus ... plus(!) 2C earlier this week!  There really has been lots of melting snow with the sunshine and warmer temperatures this week though, so I really do think Spring has peeked around the corner and hopefully will stay for good now.

 

I hope you all had a good weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy x

Climbing Out of a Slump

I've been feeling really low this past month.  Partly it's this long winter, and then there's other "stuff" going on.  It's all put me in a bit of a slump and I've not felt happy vibes for a while.  I was seriously considering calling it quits with the blog, but couldn't make up my mind.  I was afraid if I ended this, I'd regret it a bit further down the road, so I just sat back for a bit and haven't really been into it much ... either posting or visiting.  I've started making the rounds this week, however, and have been to visit most of you, but not all.  I realized I've missed the connection with everyone, and although I don't seem to have a lot to share these days, I've decided to continue the blog for now. 

 

My blog feed has always been messed up, and I cannot "unfollow" a blog if I choose (even though I've been through all the proper steps ... at the final question "are you sure you want to stop following this blog" I click "yes", but nothing ever happens and I'm still following every blog).  Because of this glitch, my blog feed is full of blogs I am no longer interested in, so instead of relying on that I just go down my list of favourite blogs on my sidebar and click on your blogs there.  I guess my point is it's a slow way to do it rather than just check into the feed and see what's new, but I have no choice.  And I hate this slow process, it seems to take me forever to visit everyone.

Anyway ... boring stuff. 

 

Our days had dropped back into the sub temperatures these past two weeks (-20C), but today at last we had a reprieve, and it's hovering just below 0C again (at least I see drips coming off the roof!).  This is the type of weather for the maple sap to start to run.  Cold nights and warm days.  How I loved helping my parents with this springtime ritual even up until a few years ago when they still had their country property.  All the grandkids would help in some way too, and it was a guaranteed week of sitting in the woods before the vat of boiling syrup in front of the fire.  I wrote a post about that here if you're interested in a little extra reading.  Now I rarely visit a maple sugar bush unless my nephews come for a visit from BC, but they won't be coming this year. 

The dog is getting his walks, but it's been a struggle, and now we have to deal with heaps of salt tossed on the roads (why?!).  The Town hardly put any salt on the roads all through the tough part of winter, but now they're just pouring it down thick.  Poor pup gallantly limps along until he can take the stinging pain no more and stops with paws up.  By the time we got home today, he was just a sloppy mess from the road salt and the mucky snow.  March tends to be a messy month don't you find?  So into the laundry tub he went ... he just fits ... and a good soapy bath ensued.  Then he raced upstairs and tore around the house for a good five minutes just because he felt so good.  I lay his mat in the sunshine and he warmed up and dried off fairly well.

I've been working on bits of knitting, and have made up some little mittens to go with some baby hats I've knit.  These will all be heading off to LILY once I get the mittens done.  I picked up some variegated yarn (Lion Brand) and really like how the brown/pink/white combo works up.  The baby mitts look so cute in this colour too.

 

There was also this blue/green combo which worked up in a very boyish looking hat ...

 

 

... so I made one mitten to go with it ... yep, ran out of yarn and I'll have to get some more.  This is the first mitten I have knit in the round, and although it looks okay, I was a bit lost when I had to cast on a couple of stitches above the thumb.  I have trouble reading knitting instructions even now.  After the little blip there, the number of stitches was off for the rest of the top, and I was glad to be done with it.  The worst part about mittens is, if you have trouble with the pattern, you still have to suffer through the making of another one.  Hopefully the second mitt will work up easier.

 

 

I had a ball of "oatmeal" yarn too, so I tried that with the blue/green.  I knit one round blue/green, then one round oatmeal.  I love how it turned out.  I would like to have a scarf made up this way.  I have a book that has a scarf knit in the round using this same technique, and that's why I tried it here.  It gives it a very rustic look, don't you think?  If I made a scarf this way I would get some 100% wool rather than the acrylic (although the acrylic is quite soft, and this is what LILY requests, I prefer the natural fibres myself).

 

 

 

Then I made another headband using the brown/pink/white one row, and the oatmeal for every alternate row.  I didn't like the look of it as much as with the blue/green.  There was too much white in the variegated yarn already, so the oatmeal didn't show up as well.  It just made the whole thing look rather muddy.  I made this for my daughter who told me the headband I made earlier kept sliding down off her head ... this one is made in the same way, but I cast on 104 stitches instead.

 

 

And then I had a few scraps of pure wool from my Mom's stash and my own stash, so I whipped up another tea cozy.  This is for my two-cup tea pot ..

 

 

 

 

It goes nicely with my one-cup tea pot.  I have a few of these cute brown tea pots :)

 

And that's it.  I'll knit up a few squares to send off to LILY too, and that will all go out sometime this month.  I usually just send squares, but I noticed other people were also sending hats, so I decided to do something a little different. 

 

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you're all having a great week,

 

Wendy