Tuesday, March 28, 2006

The bearable lightness of blogging

Welcome to my neurosis. The other day, I actually starting wigging a bit over whether or not my blog was an appropriate representation of myself. It's too 'light'; if I died, people wouldn't think of me seriously enough; my life is so much more than just yarn and pictures.... SO WHAT? Finally, I came to my senses and realized that blogging some fun things is much more important than journaling all of the mundane and stressful parts of my life. I'm a recreation therapist. I need to start acting like such. Anyway, YARN IS IMPORTANT. Right? ;)

I'm still playing with that great natural wool yarn, making a 'throw'/TV blanket. I'm trying to make something for each family member before they arrive. You can also see my new living room suite. I really like the ottoman! The picture is a little dark, but you get the idea...



If you are interested in seeing more local pictures (mostly of Queen's park...), click on THIS picture... (much better lighting, I promise!)


Sunday, March 19, 2006

Sunday Stroll

Not sure if this will post or not. Blogger is acting funny...will have to upload the pictures later.

It is a GORGEOUS Sunday afternoon here. Can't describe just how blue the sky is. Forgot to wear sunblock before leaving on my afternoon stroll, but found quite a bit of shade to walk in. Don't think I'm cooking too badly. There is no ozone here, and a white boy like me needs to be extra careful!

The gardens around here are amazing. What I've always called "English gardens" are quite abundant around here. Queen's park has some especially amazing examples. The rose gardens are especially nice (with rose bushes taller than me!). You can smell them from quite a ways away. Spent some time strolling through the aviary in the park today and feeding the ducks. I felt kind of bad that I didn't bring more bread since the ducks are so plentiful and eat like pirrhanas!

I've found a GREAT LYS. It's called 'Wool Mart', and the selection and prices are really great. I purchased a 200 gram hank (almost 1/2 a pound) of some amazing all natural wool yarn (10-ply, about avarage worsted-weight size) for less than $9. It is a really nice taupe color (taupe is the new black, you know) and sooooooo soft that I couldn't believe it. They also have a nice selection of mohair and possum-fur blends. Like I said, the prices are certainly right. The lady who helped me asked if I would like for her to wind up the yarn for me, so of course I said yes. Then I watch amazed as she winds it up into a ball by hand. She told me that the mechanism she usually uses was broken, but did all of this with a smile. I think I'm in love...

I've made pretty good progress on the throw that I'm making with the yarn. I need to go back and get some more to match...I had no idea I would like this yarn so much!

Well, gotta run before I run up a big tab in the internet cafe. Need to do some laundry anyhow!

Later taters.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

House in Invercargill


Here is our rental house in New Zealand. It's in a nice walking neighborhood near shopping and an amazing park. Only a little over a mile to work, so I will be walking there as well until I get wheels. This house has a lot of great character on the inside, and a lot of light!