first camping trip of 2010

Remember that really big tent in our backyard? Well, this is the carry case for it. Not bad,eh? We didn't even have to both sit on the the bag to get it all back in there, either!

Michael and I went to Birdshill camping with our friends Chris & Allison. We had a good time, enjoyed some beach time, played games, especially crib.

Allison is also a knitter, so we girls did some of that too.

I used our cast iron frying pan for the first time and discovered that I would need something for the handle as it gets quite hot. So, I cast on for a cozy!

Here I am trying on the cozy. This is why you should always take a knitter with you when you go camping! (otherwise you might have to burn your hands, or sacrifice your favourite hoody)

BBQ with my department from work

When I first started working in Volunteer Services, Stef was my supervisor. She went on mat leave a year ago. She hosted us all for a BBQ, which was really nice!

Cassidy is super cute, and she was not afraid of strange people, so it was fun to play with her.

Two of my coworkers, getting some snuggle time with Poa.

There was of course good food and some games, but my camera didn't come out for those parts...

backyard update

We got a tent! It was my birthday gift from my Dad. So, we set it up in the backyard to practice...it's very nice, and as long as it doesn't fall apart, it's the only tent we'll ever need (read: it's large, very large).

I don't know if you care, but I love to watch things grow, and putting pictures here helps me realize how fast everything grows! So here's a picture of the garden box.

There's snow peas, and beans at the far end. Lettuce & onions (which you can't see). Hot & sweet peppers, tomatoes. Carrots, and one potato plant (I wanted to try a potato plant because I've never ever grown potatoes of my own, and we only had space for the one plant).

I can't wait to eat the stuff!

commissioned knitting

I think it must've been almost a year ago that I first knit ipod touch covers for Sarah & Riley. Recently Sarah asked for a new one because hers wore out. So, I decided to go stash diving and try a felted one. I found the yarn that I made this lovely toque from, showed it to Sarah to see if she liked the colours.

The results from this experiment are in. I learned a few things about provisional cast ons and felting, and what is easier and what makes it harder, but the end result was still awesome and I finished it in one Sunday afternoon sitting on my deck from beginning to end!

I love this so much, I think I'm going to make one for my ipod nano!

visitors + birthday + vacation = bliss

Riverview Lodge was our home away from home this past week.

My Dad & brother came out to visit us. They came is this recently acquired camper van:

We rented a cabin in the Whiteshell for the week, so we had a real holiday with them, not just a visit. It was awesome!

Dad & Tim are avid fishermen, so they brought their gear along, as well as enough extra rods to try and get Michael and I hooked on fishing too. We fished off the dock some, and I caught my first little pike a short time after we started. I was hooked, I think fishing is one of the most addictive things I've ever done. One day we rented a boat for the day and spent the day on the water fishing. We packed a picnic lunch and stopped at a park to eat.

  

That was the day I got totally hooked, I caught a lot of fish that day. Granted most of them were too small to keep and eat, but we did keep a couple and eat them for supper. Tim is holding a little pike that I caught. I also caught a goldeye, yellow perch (that one was big enough, but got away as Tim pulled the hook out), and walleye. Michael is rescuing a lure from the tree in the one photo.

Me holding a pike that I caught.

We also saw our share of wildlife.

Deer, heron and a black bear, oh my! I know, some of it is hard to see but the pictures aren't that great, I couldn't get the camera out fast enough (and it was put away well, seeing as how we were in a boat).

While we were at the cabin, we celebrated my birthday. Michael took me out for supper and dessert!

After Dad & Tim left (on Thursday) we asked some friends to come and join us. We had a great time hanging out, watching world cup soccer, experiencing a wild storm, relaxing, playing games and also some more fishing!

That wraps up our week! It was wonderful! Thank you to everyone we hung out with that week for spending time with us!

saying good bye

Our very good friends N&M and their beautiful little girls moved away from Winnipeg this week. We had our goodbye lunch with them.

It was the same day that my Dad & Tim arrived for their visit.

Enjoying dessert...

Uncle Michael took S for a ride on the 'horsie'

She also took a tumble, but Uncle Michael kissed it all better

Notice how she's already smiling when Michael kisses her 'owie'.

Pretty darn cute, eh? The giraffe was a garage sale find.

So we said goodbye to the Klassen family, it was sad to see them go, but with tears in our eyes we wished them well. Good things are going to happen for their family in Calgary! We'll miss you N&M, S, & N!

yard developments

So, I know you've seen some pictures of the gazebo but here's some good ones where you can see the whole thing and see our backyard.

Here's our vegetable garden finally planted and starting to grow.

One of the planters with some flowers in it to decorate the deck.

Father's Day

This year my Dad and Michael's Dad were not available to celebrate with us on the actual Father's day, so we celebrated with my Winnipeg parents and had Henry & Shirley over for dinner.

The weather was nice, so we decided to enjoy being outside in our new gazebo.

We also got to enjoy a sideshow, thanks to our neighbours, who decided 8:30pm on a Sunday evening was a great time to trim dead branches off the trees in their yard.

We had a lovely evening, and enjoyed a wonderful Supper Central meal, lime chilli chicken kabobs, which were very delicious.

another check mark on my list! Fort Whyte Alive

Look momma, I'm climbing a mountain!

How cute is that?

Walking on the board walk!

Finding stuff in the water.

Turtles sunning themselves on a log.

Taking a break from all the walking.

Some birds and a cool (literally) sod house.

All sacked out after exploring.

this is war!

at least between me and the neighborhood cats...

who have decided that my flower beds make a great toilet. sigh.

Do you see the stripes of lighter coloured dirt? That's where I spread a concoction called 'cat scat' which i found in a gardening book. Contains some lovely spices such as cayenne pepper and chilli powder. It works in the sense that the cat avoids the stuff, but that didn't stop the cats from going around it.

Does anyone else have any brilliant ideas of how to win the war against the cats?