Is That Liesl?

I had lunch today with my aunt and cousin.  We met at Longwood Brew Pub.

While I was waiting for my companions a young waitress came up to me and said "Is that Liesl?"  I was wearing this:

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which, of course, is Liesl.

I love it when that happens!

Perfect Curls on a Perfect Little Boy

Some backyard bubble fun ~ 

Chilling with Great-Grandpapa ~

                            ~~what a wonderful long weekend we had~~

England & Wales XOX

Just got back from a wonderful holiday in the UK.  The volcano provided a little excitement on our return journey, causing a two hour wait on the runway then a detour around the top of Scotland and Ireland which added another 45 minutes to the journey.  Those little TV's in the seat backs of the plane are a godsend for passing time. 

Some photos:

Our day in London - iKnits and Liberty House were the highlights.  Also the London Eye, riding the tube, Oxford and Regent Streets.  Definitely need to go back; there is so much to see.

This is the church where we were married, January 3, 1976, Maidenhead.

I travelled off to Wales on my own, by train, and was met by my wonderful hosts (cousin and partner) who greeted me with champagne, cooked delicious meals (lamb, of course, for one), toured me around and were great company.  What more could a girl ask for.

   

I absolutely love Wales.  There are sheep everywhere (4 sheep:1 human) and little groups of (not very) wild ponies.

Dylan Thomas' house in Swansea.












Ancient castles ~

Wildflowers ~ primroses, violets, cowslips, campions, lady's mantles, yellow iris ~

spectacular beaches ~

  

and more sheep ~

                        ~~I will definitely be going back to Wales~~
 

Dear Mother Earth,

I know I dissed you a few posts back, refusing to comply with Earth Hour.  However, I think your revenge has gone far enough.  First you shut off all my electricity for 24 hours and now you have stomped your big high-heeled foot all over the UK and northern Europe.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/dhtml_slides/10/iceland_volcano/img/4iceland_volcano466.jpg

 I have waited eight, yes eight, long years to travel back to England.  I have packed and re-packed, checked and re-checked travel information, advised everyone who needed to be advised (and a few who didn't), papered my home with Post-It notes, had nightmares about plane crashes, basically I have worked through every possible worst-case scenario...except this one.  Who could have imagined that a volcano in Iceland could shut down miles and miles and miles of airspace?  And why this week?  And here I was worried about an impending strike by fuel-pump persons at YVR.  

I'm sorry, Mother.  I will never do it again.  Next year I will turn off all my stuff for two hours.  Just please blow all that crap out of my way by Monday, ok? 

Wild Life

This creature wandered across our back yard this afternoon.  I think it's a river otter, although the sea is closer than any rivers.  We do have a creek at the back of the property, which is where it headed after ducking under the gate.  Maybe it's a creek otter.

Knit, Knit, Knit, Knit, Knit.

I've been a busy girl!

Damson ~ knit with Schulana Mosco, a lovely yarn with a very pretty halo:

Liesl ~ knit with Indigo Moon 100% merino:

Sally Gloves ~ knit with the same yarn as Damson:

and a couple of scarves for my cousins in Wales who I plan to visit later this month:

Revenge of Mother Earth

Boy, did I get smacked about the head for my previous post.  We had a terrible wind storm on Good Friday which resulted in our power going out for 24 hours (almost to the minute!).  Mother Earth was pissed!  I wouldn't go along with Earth Hour so she gave me Earth 24 Hours.  

Lucky for me, hubby has a backup:

to which he plugged in the fridge, freezer, microwave, kettle, some lights - 10 extension cords:

With all that and our cozy little gas fireplace 

we were quite comfortable.  I nestled into my favourite chair by the fire and knit to my heart's content.  We even plugged in the TV for a while and watched DVD's, a couple of episodes of Foyle's War and Frida (great movie).

Happy Easter!