Thank you to Christina, who shamed me into posting again. My sense of guilt finally took over. I had been thinking about the blog, and time passed, and then I forgot, and remembered again, and then more time passed, and I didn't know when to start.
Anyway, in a few words... The kitchen reno is forever in the past, the winter went by, a mild one, which was bearable. My daughter finally got her acceptance to the unversity of her choice and the programme of her choice (McGill, combined Arts & Science) and, as of August 24th, we will officially be empty-nesters.
My husband and I went on a short trip, here are a couple of photos:
And just in case you don't know where it was, here is a licence plate that will help:
We were in Scottsdale for five days. It was VERY hot, but I loved the sun, and the dry heat didn't really bother me. It was strange to see streets devoid of any pedestrians, everyone travels by car. It reminded me of Toronto in the middle of winter, when it's too cold to go out, and even walking the dog becomes an ordeal. I guess the people from Scottsdale find it too hot and stay indoors. It was relaxing and the scenery of the desert was quite spectacular. My only complaint was the lack of smaller neighbourhood restaurants. Every restaurant seems to be part of a big chain and the food was, well... okay. We had one very nice meal at Tommy Bahama (who knew they sold more than clothes?), but the rest was very heavy with sauces, too much salad dressing on the salads (I quickly learnt to ask for the dressing on the side), too sweet, too salty, too processed. But then, I am rather difficult when it comes to food, so it was probably me, not them.
We came back to absolutely beautiful weather in Toronto, and we have been sitting in the garden a lot. My knitting has been scattered -- I did get to the Knitter's Frolic and as usual, loved Tanis Fiber Arts' display:
As for the knitting itself, apart from the various WIPs, I started a pair of socks for the plane ride -- it's the pattern and yarn from the Loopy Ewe Sore Losers Sock Yarn Club (you know, the one you could register for if you weren't picked for their regular Sock Yarn Club). Here is the sock in progress (iPhone photo, sorry):
That's Dancing Diamonds Socks by Wendy D. Johnson, in String Theory "Bye Bye Blues". It's an enjoyable knit; the sock is knit from the toe up, the chart is clear, and I'm just at the heel right now.
I will stop here while I am able to finish without interruption. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a beautiful thing...
Last photo with Gaia enjoying the sun:
