Gibson's Fibre Arts Festival (or my weekend)

This past weekend I went to Gibson's for the annual Fibre Arts Festival. This was my second time there, and the only reason it wasn't as good as last year was because my friend Jel couldn't make it. We had a hoot last year, freaking out the muggles on the seabus & ferry with our knitting & spinning.

This year was nice thought. I got to hang out with my "adopitve parents", Reg & Mary, who I have been neglecting since last year! Hopefully this year I will remember that I don't need an excuse to visit them.



Here's Reg falling in love with a Saori No Mori loom.

One of my favorite parts of going to Gibson's is getting there.
I am totally in love with the ferry ride.
I generally stare out the window regardless of where I am travelling, but for this trip, it's especially rewarding. The view is absolutely spectaculare.

The way to Gibson's was cloudy, but nice, great for taking pictures.







The way home was what one might call miserable, but I spent the whole time on the deck, getting soaking wet. Who cares when you have a view like this?





The cloudy, rainy weather makes for some great misty mountain shots.

All I want for Christmas

I went to the Twisted Spindlesters meet up on Wednesday (third Wednesday of every month at Rhizome cafe) where I met Jeff Birch of Fibres Plus (our local fibre pusher) and he had this with him.



The Hitchhiker spinning wheel. Just the coolest spinning wheel that is small & portable (good for my shoe box of an apartment) and in a price range that I consider affordable - about $300 compared to $700 for the Ashford Joy, another portable spinning wheel.

I want.

do i really want to say this outloud?

I screwed up, and I really don't want to say anything because people I know might read this. Like my sister. This would be why I didn't write anything here for the last little while, sorry about that.

The story would be about how I forgot to apply for student loans till just 3 days before tuition was due, and got myself in such a pickle last week that I am eating oatmeal for the next 3 weeks. Mmmm, oatmeal.

I do need to say a huge Thanks to my friend Jel, who said that she would back me up if I needed it. Thankfully, I didn't and so far don't, but just being there, just saying it, is huge to me. Thank you.

Another big thanks goes to my landlord, who, while teasing me mercilessly about it, is giving me an extension on my rent.

So, my tuition is paid and I have enough money & food in my fridge that I won't go hungry till my student loan goes through. All is well. Nothing like a little adrenaline to get the heart going and make you look at your life again. I must say that, despite my stupidity, my life is pretty darn good.

In other news, it's the Gibsons Landing Fibre Arts Festival this weekend and I'm going up to visit some friends and check out the fibre. Wish me luck on not buying anything. :P

Pictures from my Edmonton Vacation

The North Saskatchewan River, on out way to Heritage days.

The road around my dad's place. My dad is back there, somewhere.

My dad, the Barbeque King!

At the Clifford E. Lee nature sanctuary.

Mom at one of the view points

Photos from Denman Island

Me, waiting for the bus down town. I got some stranger to take this picture because I thought it was so cool that I was going backpacking for the first time!

Sock in progress on the ferry to Denman Island. It's just 15 min from Vancouver Island, and is very beautiful.

Alistair & Allen

My cute little new camp stove! (With Rianna & Jeff in the back there)

The spectacular sunset, which I am sure is common as salt there.

Friday again, already!

On Wednesday I got home from Edmonton where I was visiting with my families.
(Yes, families. I have two now, Dad's side and Mom's side. Trust me, it's a good thing.)

So, only two days of work this week. It feels totally odd, but I'm grateful as those vacations can take a lot out of me, especially when my plane is delayed an hour and I don't get home till well after my bedtime.

I spent the first part of my vacation with my Dad, Kathy and Megan & my sister, Elizabeth. First we went to the Heritage Festival. Then we spent the rest of the long weekend at my dad's place on Wabamun lake. It's a really beautiful place, excellent for relaxing. On Sunday, Candice & Ingo, their kids Abby (2 yearsish) and Cali (8 months), and their rambunctious dogs also came over. I had a good time with them, even though I find it a little overwhelming, being the quiet spinster that I am. Sunday afternoon we got outside for some exercise; my dad, sister and I went for a bike ride while everyone else went for a walk. My sister literally rode circles around us, which is to be expected, as she ride bike semi-competitively. I found it funny, thought, that my dad was riding so far behind me, I wasn't pushing it that hard, honest. I was a bit surprised to me to hear from my dad that he had trouble keeping up with us. I guess he just wasn't as used to biking as us, as he is in pretty good shape. Monday was very lazy day where my sister & I spent most of it sailing with my dad. It was a beautiful sunny day and my legs got a bit burnt. We got to see Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles, and Herons!

I got a ride in with Kathy Tuesday morning. I met my mom at a coffee shop and from there we went to a bead shop where I found some parts for some spindles I want to make. After, we went downtown to meet my sister for some lunch. We got some mexican food and took it to the Alberta Legislature grounds, near where my sister works, which are nice. It was quite nice and everyone was out taking advantage of the nice weather as it had been quite rainy. Then we went to River City Yarns to find some yarn that both my mom could agree upon for a blanket she is going to crochet for me for my next Christmas & birthday presents. It's a great yarn shop and I ended up feeding my sock yarn addiction with some Socks That Rock Dutch Canyon sock yarn, as well. It's purdy!

After that, we went for a walk at the John Janzen Nature Centre and then we went to Mom's place for dinner with her new house mates. Mom just recently moved into a large heritage house with two other women. It's quiet the house and her house mates seem nice. We had quite the table full with one of her house mates kids over as well. After dinner I helped mom and one of her house mates out with facebook. Some of the stuff that seems easy to me is not as obvious to them.

On Wednesday, Mom and I spent the morning trying to figure out what to do. Edmonton is generally a busy place, just bursting with things to do. Apparently, they take the first week in August off. All the festivals were either over of going to start that weekend. Eventually, we settled on going for another walk, this time to a nature preserve just outside of Edmonton. I might have given you the name, but I've forgotten it (Really, I don't want to tell you. It was so beautiful and remote that if I tell you, thousands upon thousands would go to it and ruin it).

After we stopped by my mothers long time friend, Bertha's, place for some Sangria and to catch up. I have always enjoyed talking to Bertha, she's the type of person that has always talked to me like a person, and not just my mom's kid.

Bertha had offered me some food, but since she was taking care of her month old grand daughter we decided to foraged for food on our own. We had little success, so we headed to the airport. After checking my baggage and discovering that my plane was delayed an hour we decided to eat at Tim Horton's, which is good, but not ideal. The rest is pretty obvious. Waited, got on plane, got of plane, went home, went to sleep. Home sweet home.

Gaa, this is so much longer that I had intended! I hope I haven't bored you to death.