raining sheep

killer rabbits and other things

2008-08-14T08:00:00.001-06:00

Thank you everyone for all the encouraging comments about my photos. It's great to know that many people have the same issues about their own artwork sometimes. I got tired of sock pictures and had a bit of a guilt attack because I bought another knitting book - out of which I will never make anything!! I have all these terrific knitting, sewing, and decorating books...because I love looking at the pictures. So, to make myself feel justified about all these acquisitions, I decided to knit the toque above. The pattern is from Knitted Gifts. The glorious homespun yarn is by talented Jessi. The homespun was wonderful to work with, so soft and I got two toques out of it. The one I am modeling is the child's size.

On a completely different note - have any of you ever been attacked by a rabbit? I was watering my flowers in the garden and my cat was lounging around; I noticed my cat was cowering by the patio doors. I turned around and staring at me was this UGLY, grey rabbit. I am not talking about a cute thumper, floppy ears here - I mean this thing was a huge, giant rodent-like creature, and was glaring at me with little rabbity, beady eyes. I was so freaked out I started screaming and sprayed it with my hose. Well...the thing just kept advancing towards me, ugh, my skin is crawling just writing about it. I kept spraying and it kept inching towards me. I just ran into the house and closed the patio door shut. The Babe was completely bewildered by my outburst - I never scream, not even for snakes or anything! I was trying to explain to him that there was an ugly rabbit outside who wanted to bite me. Well, the thing hopped onto our patio steps and sat there. The Babe went outside and threw a shoe at it and it finally disappeared - have not seen it since, but is that not strange?

monday, tuesday, wednesday...at home!

2008-08-07T16:48:00.002-06:00

Honestly, I love living in Canada because we do get quite a few long weekends and employers tend to be a bit more generous on holidays (though not as generous as in Europe!). Monday was a long weekend here and I still have a few weeks of holidays to use up before the end of the year. The Babe was on some climbing epic so I had a lovely, lazy weekend at home doing ....well, pretty much nothing. Bliss. I thought I would share one of my mornings in pictures with you - even the cat enjoyed being lazy.

I am progressing on my Annikki - I have 3/4 of the back done and 3/4 of both fronts. I had to stop at that point because I am stuck in the pattern and need to go to a drop-in knitting class to get past there. I am also working on some cable socks - one is almost done.

I have been doing a lot of photography, but right now I am a bit flummoxed. I am trying to capture something in a certain way and in a certain style and it is not working - the pictures are not turning out the way I want them to. I don't know if any of you have the same issues, however, I am frustrated by it. It's like I can't transfer what I see and feel through the lens to the image. Composition is really hard...I look at other people's photos and see something that is missing in mine. Oh well, I am going to a photo show tonight - maybe some of the pros will give me some pointers.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

socks for helen

2008-08-01T06:36:00.000-06:00

Blogging is such an amazing little trip because sometimes the most wonderful opportunities are presented because of a post. A few weeks ago I posted about buying a lovely print from Jennifer over at Littlebird. Through Jennifer's blog, I was introduced to the amazingly talented Helen and her fun blog zukzuk. The trifecta above shows the 'Weird Hair Feeding Birds" print I purchased from Helen's shop here . Helen then visited my blog and fell in love with my stripey socks. So a perfect deal was struck - I would make Helen socks in exchange for one of her wonderful prints. If you visit her shop, you will see she loves bright colors, has an amazing imagination and likes to have fun in her art - and she is a fellow Canadian. I had a wonderful yarn from Claudia's Handpainted yarn series in a bright, sunny colorway and I thought the yarn would knit up into perfect socks for Helen. Now I just hope they fit her (cross my fingers and toes).

On another lovely note, my blogging friend Tracy nominated me for a Brillante award:

That is so sweet. I am tickled pink! Tracy is also a talented artist and makes wonderful jewelry - but that will be another post! She also tagged me to share six random facts about myself - again I think I will save that for my next post :) I would say one of the top benefits of blogging is meeting wonderful, talented people and through these relationships opening oneself to opportunities we would not have otherwise.

Have a great weekend everyone.

i love yellow week

2008-07-25T06:36:00.015-06:00

This post provided me with much mirth and merriment. Tracy hosted yellow week this week and I did a little post just letting you all know it was yellow week with a picture of a token yellow flower. So, my 'serious' posts are typically done just before the weekend and I was wracking my brain on what I was going to do. I wanted to continue my theme of collages around my colorful, recently knitted socks and stay true to yellow week - I was a bit stumped creatively. I went out to the garden to water my flowers and to think and as I was pondering my lack of ideas I looked down and saw my toes peeking out from under a leaf...they were yellow - OPI yellow - kind of a curry color...I was so excited, ran inside, grabbed my camera...and my theme was born.

I thought the Babe would split a gut as he was watching me bending over taking pictures of my toes, socks, flowers....I comprehend that it probably looked ridiculous...but, I am a blogger and I will go to extreme lengths to create my post! Ahem. I think pretty soon I will need therapy. The yarn from the socks above were purchased from Jessi at Alabama Fiber Dreams . Check out her Etsy store here . I must say, this yarn is the softest I have knit with and the socks are so comfy.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

yellow week

2008-07-23T12:44:00.005-06:00

Tracy over at prickly pear is hosting yellow week this week. What a great idea. It should motivate all of us to get out there with the camera and see what we can spy in all things yellow. There are quite a few people joining in and I am pretty excited to see what these talented photographers come up with this week. It completely fulfills my motivation to look for some color in my photography.

in the pink

2008-07-19T19:17:00.000-06:00

I have decided to push my photo creativity by trying to do a colour collage around my stripey socks I have been knitting this summer. This first instalment is based on pink stripey socks. I like doing this because it does two things - encourages me to really consider color in my knitting and then stimulates me to look for that color in objects or nature. What I am discovering about photography is that composition is the primary factor. Anyone can snap a picture with a digital camera - however, color, subject, shadows and light is what make the picture interesting or beautiful.

The other reason I have this obsession with knitting simple, colorful socks is because I finally started a BIG knitting project, all BLACK, and stripey socks are a fun diversion. The project will take me a while so don't look for much progress anytime soon. I am knitting Annikki by Nora Gaughan. I am using black Blue Sky sport yarn (100% baby alpaca). It is a significant project in size and requires 30 skeins of the yarn - making this an expensive project as well. I need to alter the size because the only downfall of Nora Gaughan's patterns is that she seems to create things for extremely tall, model stick-like women. The model on the pattern is wearing the 34 size and she is 5'10". Ahem, I am 5'0" - hence the issue. I am part of the way through the back piece and the yarn is knitting up beautifully.

birds of a feather...

2008-07-11T06:45:00.000-06:00

I could not help myself - I had to post this picture because how often do you get six blue jays in your garden with three of them vying for a spot on a tiny birdbath. These three look like they are having a good gossip session over tea.

Life feels odd right now. I am back at work after my week off. I get into these introspective moods after coming back from holidays and I try to think of the quickest ways to retirement that I can imagine. I love my time off - especially if I am at home working on my garden, or knitting, or going for a run along the river. Time is such luxury! Moments to do the things I love to do and keep myself busy with activities that give me pleasure are so fleeting. The Babe tells me that after a month of the same, I would be bored...but, not having had that experience, it is hard to imagine that this would be the case.

I have a good job - good in the sense that it pays me well, I have a degree of freedom, and it can be interesting. But my career does not define me - my love of art, writing for fun (not for work), knitting, running, climbing and my photography comprise who I am. I can't imagine I would ever get bored of these pursuits.

lazy summer days....

2008-07-04T12:07:00.002-06:00

It has been so nice being on holidays. I have done everything I wanted to do but, regrettably, in a few days I go back to work. Sigh. I have been busy knitting fun socks...pretty colors...easy peasy, just plain satin stitch and instant gratification. I love my colorful garden clogs and - of course - one must have socks to match each color!

I have also done a little bit of shopping - on Etsy of course. The little print pictured above was made for me by Jennifer from littlebird. You can view her prints

here. I love this print because Jennifer incorporated a little white kitty like my Tencents and included her name in the title and she stylized the girl in the picture to have some of my elements. This little print will grace the wall of my newly finished sewing/knitting room.

The weather has been cooperating and nothing has been hailed on...so far. Most of my plants have recovered. The only thing I am battling right now is - cats. Now...I love cats, I have a cat, but I dislike cats pooing in my garden. I had a beautiful head of a day lily, almost ready to bloom, broken off by a bad pooing cat!! I went to the garden center and was told that one of the best solutions is to over-plant the bed as cats like to have space to dig. If a bed is over-planted, they typically will not dig. Also, I planted some English Lavender, which cats apparently do not like.

If anyone has any other non-hurtful suggestions for keeping cats out of my garden, I would like to hear them.

bliss

2008-06-28T10:56:00.000-06:00

pattern: retro ribbed socks by Evelyn Clark
book: Favorite Socks, 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave
yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Socks that Rock, Raven clan, Korppi

I started these socks a while back and finally finished them. These are too big for me so they will go on my stack of give-away socks. That stack is quickly growing as you can see from the picture above. I am a bit bored of dark colors right now - it's summer and I think I am in the mood to knit fun, brightly colored socks a la yarnstorm.

I have a wonderful week coming up. I am on holidays for the whole week. The Calgary Stampede starts on Friday, July 4 and I want to avoid the downtown like the plague. There honestly is nothing worse than the Calgary Stampede. It is a time when otherwise absolutely normal people dress like cowboys, drink excessively and do things they would normally never think of doing. However, this event is sacrocant in this city so those of us who abstain from watching little cows get roped by the neck and dragged by a horse typically try to either leave town or stay away from the hundreds of Stampede events that one is forced to go to as part of 'networking'. I plan to stay home, work on my garden, do some knitting, go climbing and just relax. Pure bliss.

2008-06-22T18:25:00.008-06:00

Okay, so, the lesson in life is - NEVER KNIT ANYTHING IN A HURRY! And when something feels off during the knitting process, there is a distinct possibility that this item will :

a) be frogged
b) never be worn
c) be put away half finished in a place where my brain will forget about it!

Remember my little bit of yellow knitting from a couple of posts ago - well, it was Ms. Marigold. The way this vest is knit is very strange and it leaves a lot of ends that require weaving in, which just did not work well with my silk/baby alpaca blend yarn. Then I tried the piece on and I looked like I was wearing a sausage casing - it was really small even though my gauge was right on! And, the fact that I broke out in big red splotches wherever the yarn touched my bare skin probably did nothing to endear me to the piece. Anyways I am taking option c).

The fact is that I came back from Montreal and my garden was decimated by hail during my absence, so I had that to deal with that - cutting plants back, getting new plants for my pots. Then I had my final exam to study for, and my brain really was not on knitting. I think I got all excited about this yarn and it was yellow, perfect project spectrum material, and I wanted to make SOMETHING out of it. I quickly picked a pattern and really did not think about whether I like it or not...and...I never wear vests - so, what was I thinking?

Anyways, a new week is starting, new projects can be seriously considered and life goes on. The good news is that I finished my finance course and I got an A and now I have a glorious three weeks before I start a new course. Life is good. I did a lot of work in the garden, so above are some images of progress.

when the cat's away.....the cat will shop

2008-06-15T13:43:00.003-06:00

I am away on a business trip right now attending a conference for my industry group. The conference is taking place in Mt. Tremblant, a beautiful little resort about one and a half hours outside of Montreal in the Province of Quebec. I also spent two days in Montreal for some business meetings, and let me tell you, I am glad it was only two days. I don't think my wallet could have taken any more stress!! Montreal is on par with other major centers such as New York, Paris, and London when it comes to its abundance of wonderful, high-end stores and interesting boutiques. I am surprised I am not bankrupt yet.

Mt. Tremblant is wonderful and the weather has been stunning. I sat on a patio chair for hours knitting away on a simple sock and enjoying the sunshine. After all the incessant rain in Calgary, it is just such a treat to be in a place where the sun is shining and it is hot. I had to leave my yellow knitting behind because of issues with taking metal needles on the plane. They will allow bamboo needles on flights here, but even then I always take my least favorite, cheapest needles just in case I get a security person who obviously hates knitters.

The pictures above are taken here at the resort and truly represent the colors that surround me.

Even though this is supposed to be work, I have been able to enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation before the start of the conference.

ode to yellow

2008-06-09T19:34:00.005-06:00

Sometimes a color inspires a knit project. This month's project spectrum colors include yellow. Last week as I was writing my post, I started thinking about the colors and remembered I had a wonderful yellow yarn somewhere in my stash. Now...I have not really been in a knitting mood, but it was pouring rain this past weekend and I was tired of knitting socks, so I went upstairs and dug out the yellow yarn. It's Elegance by Knit Picks - a combination of baby alpaca and silk - the colorway is Daisy. Gorgeous little piles of softness, squishy and wonderful! I decided to dig up a pattern and knit away.

I won't share with you what I am making yet...it is almost finished! But, I want to see first how it all melds...then I will share. Right now I am enjoying simply knitting something simple and watching it come together. I paired this beautiful yarn with an equally stunning gift from my garden. The sun came out just long enough to capture this globe flower in full bloom.

air

2008-06-03T16:36:00.000-06:00

In my flurry of school assignments and work deadlines, I nearly missed the fact that June is the start of a new element for project spectrum - air. Air is symbolized by a spectrum of grays, yellows, and whites. This should be a fun element to work with because I tend to shoot a lot of images in those colors.

Additionally, I must sheepishly admit that a new project spectrum element conveniently gets me off the hook for a knitting post. Spring and summer are so fleeting here in Alberta; it seems almost a blasphemy to mother nature to be sitting indoors knitting when the garden is calling me - or - the Babe is calling me to go climbing some scary rock face with him. My knitting is taking a serious backseat to all of these other equally loved activities.

I promise there will be some knitting projects completed - you know, socks and such - at some point over the next couple of months. Also, there is always a great yarn purchase to share; however, the call of the great outdoors is a potent distraction to all things knitted right now. Above is my Ode to White and Grey, courtesy of my backyard.

meme

2008-05-28T08:18:00.004-06:00

So I have been tagged by and Sarah and Two Hippos to do a meme that has been floating around blogland for the last little while. I have never done a meme (just figured out recently what a meme was), and since I don't really have any FOs or any brilliant knitting to blog about, this comes at a good time.

1) what was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago was 1998; I was in a relationship with a photographer and living in a loft on a busy street near downtown. I worked for an oil service company, was getting into yoga, and was on an aggressive career path. I constantly worried about everything. Knitting and crafts were long gone from my life - school, work, being a mom, and paying bills was in. I am glad ten years ago is over and done with.

2) what are five non-working things to do on my to-do list today?

I need to finish a school assignment
I must go climbing with the babe at the climbing gym after work
We are going out for supper for a friends birthday
I need to knit some rows of my latest sock project
I need to plant at least one thing in my garden...not necessarily in this order.

3) snacks I enjoy

edemame
beef jerky (I am from Alberta, what can I say)
strawberries
expensive cheese and crackers
leftover cold pizza

4) things I would do if I were a billionaire

Immediately quit my job. ...and I mean immediately. Poof. I am gone. Spend my time travelling, reading good books, knitting, learning another language, buying property, learning pottery, doing yoga, pay for a personal trainer to come and work out with me every day....there just would not be enough hours in a day to do all the things I would want to do. I could support my favorite charity in a big way. I support a YWCA program that teaches women how to become master carpenters so they can become independent and be able to earn great money. Many of these women come from abusive backgrounds, extreme poverty, have no education, or have no viable skills to support their children. I could shower them with money so they could pay more teachers and put more women through the program. Grrrrrl power!

5) places I have lived

In this order:

Brno, Czech Republic
Paris, France
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Parksville, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
and...back to Calgary, Alberta, Canada

I hate moving with a passion.

6) jobs I have had

loans officer assistant
secretary
part-time typing teacher
operations manager for a direct mail marketing firm
executive assistant
and.... for the last 16 years...an Investor Relations Specialist

7) peeps I want to know more about:

Well everyone whose blog I read seems to have completed this meme, so whoever visits my blog and wants to complete this meme please do so and let us know by posting a comment on my blog. We can then all enjoy your meme.

The above image is a compilation of the things that comprise who I am - my kitty, my knitting, my garden...of course there is also the babe but, blogs are really about the author and her personal space...so babe will stay anonymous.

cloudy rainy days

2008-05-22T13:56:00.015-06:00

The rain has been coming down for two days now but it stopped raining for five minutes so I was able to take a picture in the garden and document the raindrops - and, I can share my excitement over some new yarn I purchased from Applelaine. It is absolutely sumptuous... a soft blend of wool, mohair, silk and nylon...rich colors called licorice, chianti, and dark chocolate. I am already contemplating a great sock pattern that should showcase this wonderful yarn. Cloudy, rainy days are an opportunity to relish my moments of kicking back and reading a great magazine or knitting on a started project, with a good glass of wine.

I read five papers (mostly the business sections) as part of my daily work routine to ensure I know what is going in the global financial markets and the news. Lately the news is bad - global catastrophes, people struggling daily to survive and feed their families, people losing homes. I clearly realize how fortunate I am to live here; to enjoy my simple evenings and do things that give me great pleasure - safe and warm in my cozy home. I consider myself blessed.

warning: heavy gardening content

2008-05-15T08:10:00.009-06:00

Since our spring and summer seasons are so short in Calgary, I get overly excited about gardening in the few months that I actually have to garden. We just bought our house a year and a half ago and this is my second season with my garden...I need to warn you that I love gardening as much as knitting and there will be many gratuitous posts with garden pictures etc. over the new few months.

To kick-start my 'gardening' season, I completed these socks from Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. They are the gentleman's sock with lozenge pattern with some unintended modifications (Oops! I completely missed the pattern for the rib part and did my own typical twisted rib top). I am not too keen on the seams on the back of the socks, which seem to prevail in all the patterns in that book. The yarn is Koigu from the painters palette...not certain which colorway...all I can say is it is not my favorite colorway, however the yarn knitted up nicely. The socks look ready for gardening season tucked into my gardening clogs. The Babe says that I will scare all the birds off with my color combination...I think that I will just camouflage nicely amongst all the pink flowers that will come up...eventually.

The bloom pictured above is the first in my garden - bleeding hearts.

rebirth.....finally

2008-05-11T19:34:00.006-06:00

I realized that it is coming on to the middle of May and pretty soon the 'earth' element of project spectrum will be finished. Finally, after much ado, spring has arrived in Calgary. We had about 15 cm of snow as early as two days ago...I truly believed winter was never going to be over...but it is amazing what happened in two days. It is still a bit chilly out - about 11 C today, but the sun is out and - miracle - my perennials seem to have survived the many snow storms we have had in the last month and they are still alive.

The images for this post were taken in my garden today - the lady's mantle must have suspected that I needed something green to photograph and obliged by posing for a picture. Since there really is no knitting involved here, I decided that a celery colored green yarn would add the 'knitting' element. It is Melange from Blue Sky - the colorway is Relish. Though spring is officially here - this is Calgary after all - and winter is not far away. The super soft melange will make a cozy cowl that will get much use as soon as September.

simplicity

2008-05-07T18:22:00.007-06:00

Another two weeks of freedom and I start another course....I am tired of school...but....I started this degree years ago and I only have about eight courses to go. It is something I want to finish at some point in my lifetime! Sigh! I wish it was something exciting like pottery, or fine arts, or design...but no, I am majoring in finance.

Because I am starting school, I feel like I need to have some simplicity in my knitting. I have been whining in my last few posts about not enjoying fussy knits. So I have decided to knit something minimalist and color-neutral. I have been researching possible patterns for a while now and finally settled on the pineapple cardigan from the queen of minimalist knit design - Setsuko Torii for Habu Textiles. I am eager to get started on this project. The yarn is made from pineapple fiber and is knit with three strands. The pattern is very simple - it is the texture of the yarn and the clever simplicity of this design that make the knit enticing to me - and it will be my first sweater that will need to be assembled - and it is my first Habu project.

ta-daaa!

2008-05-02T15:46:00.002-06:00

pattern: Mr. Greenjeans
designer: Amy Swenson, for fall issue of Knitty 2007
yarn: Malabrigo, Burgundy (more like a brown/red)
modifications: used smaller needles. The smallest size on the pattern was a 33.5” bust and I am a 31” size bust size. Original needles called for 4.5 mm and 5.00 mm circulars – I used 3.75 mm and 3.50 mm to make the sweater smaller.

Sometimes a knit you THINK you won't like can result in a big surprise when you finish it.

Mr. Greenjeans was my second sweater project since learning how to knit 'properly'. I decided to knit Mr. Greenjeans for a few reasons: it was a cardigan comprising baby cables knit without a cable needle, a button hole, and ribbing along the front and the neckline. It was knit completely in the round, which I love because there are no seams to sew up. As added incentive, Mr. Greenjeans was designed for Knitty by the owner of my local LYS, Amy. The further I got into the project, the more I was certain I would not like the finished product. I found the cables fussy - they added a bulk to the sweater I did not like. I am a small person and bulk is not flattering on me. I surmised I would never wear the sweater and and it took longer to finish the project than I would have liked.

However, I started it so I had to finish it! I completed the knit, blocked it and tried it on.....the cardi is AMAZING, the fit is perfect - this is a knit I can absolutely see myself wearing. I do need to find a better button - my temporary button is too heavy. The malabrigo blocked out to a soft, wonderful yarn and the cables flattened right out adding a flattering fit around the waist. As you can tell by this post, I am excited.

...is it blog-worthy?

2008-04-24T13:46:00.006-06:00

I don’t have a finished object for you; I don’t have any epiphanies to report. Sometimes words and ideas can be a struggle. A thought pops into my head and I think to myself “Is it blog-worthy?” I capture an object or a flower through my lens and I ask myself “Is it blog-worthy?”

I can understand why some of the more established bloggers lament that sometimes their blog overtakes them, everything becomes about the blog, and they begin to run out of words to express themselves. There are times when we don’t really have anything to say. I have always liked to write – I make my living with it. My blog started out with writing; however, blogging slowly evolved in me a desire to express myself through images as well.

And so, there is no knitting in this post, however there is an image taken with my new camera. I am so excited with this new acquisition and can’t wait to explore the visual opportunities that it opens up. It is my first digital SLR – I don’t know how to use it yet – but it will be a journey. The yarn above, captured through the lens, is the fabulous Regal Silk from Art Yarns - most definitely blog-worthy!!

random lessons in knitting - chapter 1

2008-04-24T08:05:00.004-06:00

I am of the opinion that before I can call myself a 'knitter', I need to experience all aspects of knitting - be it socks, sweaters, scarves, fair isle, whatever....Every now and then there is a knit that drives me crazy. I started these endpaper mitts back in late January or early February….I finally finished them.

Lesson learned:

I dislike fussy knits
I dislike patterned knits

Fingerless mitts are useless as in Calgary - it is too cold for them in the winter and I would not wear them in the summer - so don't put that kind of effort into a knit that will not be worn

Fair Isle knitting is not for everyone

Most knitters arriving at the same level of frustration I did with this knit would have put the knit away. I am obviously one of those obsessed people who cannot ‘put things away’…I must finish them or I need to get rid of them – make them disappear from my vicinity.

To illustrate this neuroses let me explain about this sock incident a while back – I knit a sock toe up and hated the way it looked – it did not have that structured shape that dpn socks have – also I did a picot edge and when I cast off, the cast off part was too tight to sew around the picot – anyways, I KNEW I would never knit the next sock - but it bothered me so much to have this orphan sock laying around, that I ended up giving the sock to my local LYS where I purchased the yarn so they could have it as a display sock – I could not stand the thought of frogging the sock or have it laying around. I know – absolutely inexplicable.

before and after

2008-04-20T22:03:00.002-06:00

Before....

...after

monkey socks by Cookie A.
yarn - Cherry Tree Hill, Supersock Solids, color: bark
modifications - 8 pattern repeats instead of 7 - I hate short socks!
started during my flight to Spain - finished at home - today.

Monkey socks are the perfect knit on a long flight to somewhere....the pattern feels familiar, is easy to memorize but keeps one interested. The yarn is beautiful to work with and the color allows the pattern to be elegant. I have made them before in a variegated color-way, but I wanted a more sophisticated sock. The rich brown of this yarn gives subtlety to the pattern.

there truly is no better place than home

2008-04-16T12:14:00.014-06:00

Home is truly a wonderful place and to me, seems even more wonderful when I have been away from it for a while. My cat is happy to see us...she has been lonely.

We are back from Spain and need to settle into normal life. The Babe and I celebrated our last two days in Spain by going for an awesome seafood feast...bad idea...the next morning The Babe awoke with such bad food poisoning that I did not think we would be able to fly home the next day. Luckily a very nice pharmacist in Madrid managed to medicate him enough that by the next morning he was in flying-health shape and we were able to fly home.

Now I am sitting on the sofa, catching up with every one's blogg and considering what I should pick up and knit. There are a thousand things to do but it's nice to take this time to pet the kitty and just sit and do nothing.

one has to be an idiot to drive in spain

2008-04-12T10:25:00.021-06:00

All I can say is ... thank goodness I am still here to blog about this... one must be crazy, demented and all sorts of other things I can't even mention on this blog to be driving in Spain. I think I lost 10 pounds over the last couple of days. The Babe, who was the driver, swore that he would never again rent a vehicle in Spain and actually be the one driving it. Obviously, road signs and speed limits are just a suggestion here, and what looks like a small coastal town on a map, is a city of 556,000 people with absolutely no street signs and lunatic drivers going 100 km/hour in the heart of the city center.

We drove to Granada yesterday morning and we went to see the Alhambra... it was probably about 5C at that location. We froze so badly that our pictures look awful because my hands would not stop shaking. Since it was also pouring torrential rain, I can't say we enjoyed this outdoor place in the way it truly should have been enjoyed. It was a stunning series of structures and gardens. We went through it at lightening speed and then hovered in an outdoor, slightly sheltered area, until they allowed our drenched bodies into the main castle.

After that we drove in the dead of night to Malaga - just to make our life a little harder - where we were so unnerved by the traffic that we drove into the first underground parking area we could see on the hotel strip (after taking many wrong turns to find that strip). When our friend Dave, who is traveling with us, mentioned that we might not be allowed to park in that location, the Babe very wisely sputtered that he did not give a flying f!*k, he was parking there anyways (I am not allowed to swear - my mother reads my blog). Obviously whatever gods are out there were watching out for us because it turned out to be an underground parking area for a hotel that was 55 Euros a night, extremely clean and had a woman who - bless her a thousand times - spoke English. Malaga was blissfully warm - about 21 degrees today - and we sat on the beach, looked out over the Mediterranean and drank Sangrias. Ah, muy bien!!

I am certain you may have noticed that drinking is heavily featured in these reports - trust me when I say I would have been a raving woman by now had I not had copious amounts of red wine to ease the after-effects of consistent, 6-day non-stop rain, a persistent cold and runny nose, and the good feelings that came from the rude signs one receives from local Spaniards who obviously had issues with our lack of understanding of the rules when driving in a three lane round-about. Believe it or not, I spent some money and bought a cute bag because in Malaga I was allowed to touch the goods and actually, was heavily encouraged by the local sales woman to make a purchase - she wanted to take my money - I almost dropped from the shock.

I am so thrilled that two days before we have to go home we will have some decent weather. I am also thrilled that most likely we will not have to DRIVE in Spain again. The MEN, are off to a bullfight - I am definitely not heartbroken about not going - I am still recovering from the drive and quite honestly will sit here for - like, at least an hour - and knit a sock.

the rain in spain continues

2008-04-10T11:34:00.008-06:00

Here are some more pictures from Spain for you. Below is a beautiful reflecting pool from a room in the Alcazar. The Alcazar is a stunning structure. We are doing mostly indoor things because we have had torrential rain here this week. Both the Babe and I are very sick now. Thank you all for your comments. I will respond to you all when I get back...I think we are 'borrowing' our internet from someone somewhere near our hotel...it is very slow and cumbersome. It takes for ever to download these pictures.

I have not found a yarn store - obviously no one in Spain knits. Even if I did find a yarn store, chances are I would not be allowed to touch the yarn. I needed to buy shoes because both of my pairs are saturated with water - what an experience - I had to choose the shoes from behind the window display, I then had to ask for the shoes, and they then bring you ONE shoe to try on - not certain why only one - maybe they are worried you will run out of the store with the shoes on if you try both. The service is very abrupt - I was scared to ask to see more than one kind of shoe because the service girl rolled her eyes when I just requested another size and then kept tapping her foot while I was trying it on. I tried buttering up to her with smiles - but, no give - she wanted to be rude. This was pretty typical of most of our shopping experience here.

We just laugh about it because honestly you would get depressed otherwise. Thank goodness I can read in Spanish perfectly (I speak French - very similar) so I can at least consult my dictionary for words if I am stuck. We have seem some beautiful sites, and tonight we are off to the flamenco. We have also been drinking like fish - hoping that enough red wine will cure our flue and cold. We will try to DRIVE to Grenada tomorrow - that should be an adventure...the driving is crazy here.