Great Day For a Fair!

The Richmond Fair brings back a lot of memories for me. As a child, it was the single most exciting event of the fall. We would bundle up in our rain gear (inevitably, it always rains on Richmond Fair Parade day), and head to my grandparents house. They lived so close to the parade route that we could have seen it from their front yard.

Alas, my brother and I would make our way to the 'main drag' and stand on the sidewalk like everyone else in the town that day.

Grandpa always marched with the Legion parade, and it always made me so proud to see him, dressed in his finest. We would always wave at him, knowing that he couldn't wave back... but he let us know he saw us with a wink or a smirk!


After the parade was over, we'd head down to the fair grounds. My mom, grandma and I would usually go through the craft tents/exhibits and look at the giant pumpkins, or the prize-winning quilts. After that, we checked out the petting zoo and I would occasionally take a ride on the ponies.

My favourite part of the fair was riding on The Scrambler with my mom. It was one of the few rides she agreed to go on, and I loved being squished up against her as the buckets felt like they were going to fly off their hinges!

Last, and certainly not least, we would stop at the fudge stand. The Richmond Fair has the BEST fudge in the entire world. The best.

Now that I'm an adult, I still think back very fondly on my Richmond Fair days, and am so fortunate that I can still attend... Now, I'm on the other end of it - gathering at my in-laws house (who live on the same street that my own grandparents lived on), and watching the magic in my sons eyes as he sees all the fancy horses at the parade, and listens to the bagpipers pipe their way down McBean Street.

This was our first year taking Hunter to the fair. It was likely bad timing on our part - we chose to go in the evening so we could see our cousins compete in the demolition derby, not the day, which can be rather frightening for a 2 year old! Despite the loud noises, screaming teens and bright lights, he seemed to enjoy himself... Especially;

1. His first pogo!




















2. His first fair ride (which he waited - very patiently! - for 3 turns to be able to get on)















By the end, he was ready to go home, covering his ears and saying "too loud, mommy".

Live and learn - Next year we'll take him during the day.

-tb:xox

No Words Needed (NWN) - The Great Outdoors

We went for a walk. It was glorious.

Extremely Frugal Living (EFL) - Play Castle!

It all started with a mother's simple question: "What do you want to do today?"

The answer: "Play castle!!"

Uh-oh. Mom's in trouble. Play Castle, you say?! Let's gather some materials and see what we can come up with...

Cardboard box? Check! (thanks dad for digging this out of the basement!)
Paint? Check!
Fabric scraps? Check!
Glue? Check!
Little People to live in the castle? Check!

Well, that wasn't hard, now was it? We gathered all the materials together, and H.Bo went down for a nap. Perfect time for mom and dad to do some heavy-duty cutting and painting!


By the time he woke up, we were ready to "Play Castle"!



Watching his imagination soar...

-tb:oxo

a year and a half in review

Every week or so, I think to myself "yes, it's time I update my blog". Or "I should really blog this!". It seems that those thoughts have been carried on week-after-week without such an update for over a year and a half! Shame on me.

Alas, the time has come; a year and a half in review (a very very quick review), and then back to regular updates (for serious).

Hunter turned 1 - and we celebrated in PEI:This was a very common look through the vacation - He didn't enjoy sand, he didn't enjoy water, and his first 'taste' of icing barely convinced him that any of this was a good idea.

Then, he turned two! We celebrated here in Ottawa, with all the fam. No sand, no water, but a better liking now of icing! It was Toy Story themed, and he had a blast:

We got married on June 25th (2010, that is). Day went by without anything bad happening! Sunny, glorious day, that went just as we had hoped - Beautifully!:
Crafting has slowed. All of the items that are even remotely noteworthy are below:

Quilted Coasters:

J & D's Wedding Pillows

A & M's Dining Room Coasters

H.Bo's Art Smock

There's more, but what sense is there living in the past? More to come. Really this time.
-tb:xox

MMMMMeatiness

Finally, the snow is melting and the sun is shining and warm. It's great! With all this warm weather, BBQ season is quickly approaching. As such, I have started to perfect my BBQables.

Tonight, we experimented with a new recipe. It was one of those recipes that I just "winged".

Herb and Garlic Feta Burger
1 pkg extra lean ground beef
1 egg
feta cheese
herbs of your choosing (I used parsley, italian seasoning)
Chopped green onions

- Mix feta, herbs and green onions together in a bowl. Set aside.
- Mix egg with uncooked ground beef. Make thin flat patties and spoon 1 tablespoon of feta mixture on top. Make another thing flat patty and lay on top.
- Push sides together to prevent cheese from oozing out.
- BBQ! (or fry... or whatever you need to do to not make it pink anymore.)

Yum, yum, yum. I had it on a nice bun with regular hamburger fixin's, and it was divine. divine.

Updates

Our camera has quit working! I brought it to a birthday party that Hunter was invited to, and when I got home and took it out of my purse, it wouldn't turn on. Luckily, the memory card is still in tact, because I have some awesome photos of my mom's visit with Hunter - and they need to be scrapbooked ASAP!

So, since the camera is broken, I bring you a verbal updated:

Yarn:
1. I finished the Mellow Yellow Mittens and love them more than anything I've ever made. It was my first attempt at mittens, and I had a blast. I used Istek Lett-Lopi, and they are so warm.

2. Still working on the Radiating Star Blanket... Though I made a mistake a few rows back and am unmotivated to rip it out and fix it.

3. I've started a pair of legwarmers for my friend, Jodie. It's my own pattern, using cables. I had always wanted to try cables, and here I am trying them! They are progressing rather quickly.
- Bernat Satin (black)
- US5 Bamboo needles

Fabric:
I have finished going through some older fabric my mom gave me from her time quilting (she made some amazing quilts, I wish she never stopped). I've ironed it all, folded it, coordinated it all, and stacked it downstairs on my shelf. It's beautiful :)

I'm planning on making a pillow for Hunter's room, as well as some napkins (maybe) for my sister-in-law (and her boyfriend) for their new home - which they move into on March 7th.

Paper:
Valentine's Day is fast approaching. With my newly organized fabric, my ever-growing yarn stash, and some scrap papers of every sort, I'm ready to start making the love cards.

Also, my mom has requested that I make her a scrapbook page for Hunter's first Christmas that she can frame. I have all the supplies, and just need to get going on it! :)

**Pictures of all this will eventually appear. Until then, I cross my fingers that the camera problem isn't as serious as I'm thinking.

Slow Going

Things have been progressing slowly these days. I'm getting daunted by the big projects, and keep casting on new small ones.

NEW:
Bath Puff: I really had fun with this, it was so quick and fun to do. I've read a few reviews that says it doesn't lather and it difficult to use, but I wanted to knit it for the sake of knitting it. We'll see how it goes when I try and use it.

January Fingerless Gloves:
These fingerless mitts are done in Lett-Lopi wool. I can't help but love it - the whole time I'm knitting I am thinking of those awesome pure Icelandic sheep. I would give almost anything to go to Iceland! Anyway... The colour is called "Garnet" and Garnet is the birthday stone for January (and happens to be MY birth stone). It was a simple cast-on-40-stitches kind of thing, no pattern. Unfortunately, they are a little baggy, which is not the way I like my mitts.

Still On the Needles:
Radiating Star Blanket: I'd say this is about 60% done now. It's going alright, and I really enjoy how it's an easy knit, but it's SO long... it feels like I'm never going to finish it. I think I've come to the conclusion that I like doing the "big" part first... Starting with 8 stitches and ended with 300 or whatever seems like it's getting harder as you go (like a hill getting steeper as you climb it). I like working the other way. From 300 to 8!

Hunter's Snuggle Sack: This is going ever slower than the blanket. My mom is coming for two nights, and I'm really hoping that I can bribe her to help me plow through. Maybe I'll hand her the Snuggle Sack, and I'll grab the Radiating Star Blanket, and we can sit and drink tea until they are done. Maybe. :)

Mellow Mittens: I cast these on last night, and have since almost finished one of them. I LOVE stripes, I love yellow, and I love this wool. I've never knit a mitt before, and am slightly concerned about the thumb.... but I'm going to give it a go.