It’s Kokanee Time

It’s been a while since I’ve gone for one of my walks. When the temperatures are in the mid to high 20’s (Centigrade), it’s a bit too hot for me. Today was a good day for renewing that habit. It’s dry (so far) and not too hot – perfect walking weather! September is Kokanee spawning season and Mission Creek is a spawning creek; I wanted to check it out.

The Kokanee are definitely running (for more information on kokanee, click here). I saw quite a few red bodies in the creek and many dead salmon, the ones who had already spawned and laid their eggs, completing their life cycle.

As well, autumn is beginning to show her colours. It was a good walk and I leave you with a few pictures taken today.

Spider, spider

No, this isn’t really a post about spiders. It does have to do with cobwebs, though. And yes, there are probably more cobwebs around this house than there should be, but I’m not talking about that kind of cobweb.

Almost two years ago, I started (and frogged) the Cobweb Doily from the lovely book, A Gathering of Lace. You can read about it here if you’re interested in what I wrote back then. When I first attempted it, I was using a hemp lace weight yarn. At one point, I made a mistake or put it down and couldn’t figure out where I was… or something. It was frogged and the yarn turned into something else.

This time, I’m using the same lace weight wool I used for the Queen Silvia shawl. And, this time, it’s working up quickly and beautifully. You’ll have to trust me on the “beautifully” part; right now, it doesn’t look like anything beautiful but, once blocked, it will look completely different. Hopefully, it WILL be beautiful.

I’ve even been planning the blocking of this little piece. The doily consists of seven sections; when finished, each of the sections will be finished with three “leaves”, making a total of 21 “points”. I want to be sure that each of the points is blocked evenly. To that end, I wanted a 21 point template. How do you divide a circle evenly into 21 sections? I went to my trusty Draw Plus program and made a 21 point polygon, which I printed up at work. It’s easier to show you what I came up with than it is to describe it.

The only reason I’m even doing this little project is to help psych myself into starting the Shetland Christening Dress. The weather is beginning to cool and the knitting season is nearing rapidly. Yes, there are other things I could (and should) be finishing, but I like lace. What can I say?

Life Gets Back to Normal

Thank you for all your condolences. My Dad will always be remembered with joy by those of us who knew him and loved him.

Now, as cold as it may sound, life gets back to normal. We all still have to go to work, to eat, to sleep, all those little things that make up our daily lives.

We all know that knitting is a part of my daily life and there has been knitting. More specifically, there has been finishing. The Queen Silvia shawl came off the needles earlier this month but the blocking had to wait until we got home from Abbotsford. That happened yesterday (the blocking, that is).

This isn’t a large shawl by any means. I probably could have blocked a little harder, but it’s the perfect size for a scarf or shoulder cover. Finished size is approximately 46” x 18”.

In other things, the garden is still producing but it is beginning to slow down. While I was away, John kept picking beans and yesterday I froze another two bags (about 4 meals worth) of them. The tomatoes… oh, the tomatoes!!

I think John has 7 or 8 litre containers of stewed tomatoes in the freezer and there are still more coming.

The basil is still going strong, but we have more than enough pesto to last us until next year so I’ve decided to give some away. A friend didn’t have much luck with her basil and, since she’ll be around the house for her grandson’s birthday, I’m letting her have as much as she wants to pick (or I might pick it for her). It is slowing down somewhat as the nights are cooling down, but there’s still enough there for a good batch of pesto.

And, while I was away, John even canned nine quarts of peaches! We did give a couple of jars away and we had to sample one (it wasn’t a full jar) but there are still a few jars that will not be touched until the dead of winter, when we’re craving summer. Or maybe we’ll open one to have with our Thanksgiving dinner. I can already imagine THAT feast!

All in all, we have our small freezer almost full of produce from our own garden. It’s a wonderful feeling!

In Memoriam

Sjoerd (Johnny) Teyema, born in Garijp, Friesland in the Netherlands on August 20, 1929, died at Menno Home in Abbotsford, BC on September 7, 2011.

My Dad leaves behind his wife of 58 years, 5 daughters and 2 sons, 16 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.

I leave you with excerpts from the memorial service program, collaboratively put together by his daughters.

“Dad was trained as a carpenter and took military training but just missed being deployed to Indonesia.

Soon after their marriage on June 4, 1953, Dad and Mom emigrated to Canada. They settled in Winnipeg and, in 1966, moved to Abbotsford. They also lived in Salmon Arm for a while until they moved back to Abbotsford in 1987.

Dad had many jobs in his life time, including picking vegetables, steel foundry making train wheels and general handyman. After moving to BC, he worked at building homes with Mattie Homes. He was then self employed, building many barns throughout the Fraser Valley. Finally, he worked as a custodian at Abbotsford Christian School and volunteered as a crossing guard.

During retirement, Dad enjoyed talking, making wooden toys, gardening, and his daily walks. Alzheimer’s took a firm hold on Dad in the 2000’s and gradually he was unable to do all of the things he loved.

Dad moved into Menno Home in 2007, made friends in a way that transcended barriers and lived there until his passing.”

He may be gone from us, but his legacy will live on in his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He has left an indelible mark on all our lives.

Love you forever, Dad.

September Already?

What happened to August? It was just here and now it’s gone! I know I haven’t been blogging very regularly this summer; it’s been pretty busy around here. Between the garden and numerous birthdays, the month has slipped by far too quickly.

Knitting has been almost non-existent throughout the month of August. I have been working on the Queen Silvia shawl, but only sporadically. It’s been quite a hot month, with temperatures in the low to mid 30’s (mid to high 80’s F); knitting and sweaty, hot hands do not mix well.

As for Queen Silvia, I’m working on the border now. That’s 800+ stitches. I have 6 rounds left to knit and it will be done. Now that the temperatures have been dropping slightly, I’m hoping to have it finished soon.

In the garden, things are doing very well! So far, we’ve frozen corn and green beans and the beans are still producing. I’ve made, and frozen, three batches of pesto and will be making another batch today. The tomatoes are starting to ripen now so we’ll be processing them before long, too. And then, there’s the lettuce. There is so much lettuce in the garden right now that we could be eating salads for the entire year! Unfortunately, there’s no way of keeping the lettuce that long and there’s not really much else you can do with lettuce, is there? Hmm, I think I’ll try to persuade John to make a Caesar salad today.

We found out last night that J, who lives upstairs, will be leaving town for the foreseeable future (up to a year and maybe longer) and we will be “inheriting” his part of the garden. That means there will be potatoes, peppers and a variety of other things to harvest before long. We’ve also been given numerous zucchinis, which has been turned into zucchini soup, which has also been frozen and will be savoured some time this coming winter. You know, even though I’m not much of a gardener, I must admit that I love the fact that we can grow our own produce. It feels so good to be eating things that we’ve grown!