Donovan's Birthday Day

Donovan was 7 yesterday. My little baby. He received some wonderful presents. Donovan has a Bumble Bee costume which he likes very much. Plus a transformer toy, some colouring stuff, a Star Wars sticker book and a dvd (from his Auntie Anne & cousins). Donovans choice for dinner was McDonalds but we also had Chinese food. The Chinese food was in celebration of Lizzy being accepted by Ryerson. We are very happy for her. Donovan is also having a birthday party on Saturday, lucky boy!!!

Summer has started. Detta is doing half days of skating this week, under protest, mind you. Miles has nothing for this week and Donovan is at daycare. The skating is a sychronized skating class. Fortunately they found another rink to have it at, as the Galaxy rink is closed due to the strike.

Donovan had an end of year party at his friend, Lexi's house. Donovan has on the bright pink swimming goggles. It was a wonderful day. Most of Donovan's Gr 1 class was there. He had a great time swimming. It is hard to believe, he only went into our pool at the end of last summer. I think it was due to Arrowhead Camp. He finally got the bug for swimming. I had such a hard time getting him out of the pool. This is Donovan with his favourite girl!!!

Day off

I had a busy day for being off. I managed to deliver the hats for Donovan's teacher. So she should have them in a few days. I photocopied and delivered the forms for Donovan's and Miles' doctor appointment. We should have an appointment by September. I went and had my hair cut, not quite as short as I would like it. Afterwards I went the hair supply store at Pickering Town Centre and they had some rollers. They are all the same size and were on sale, bonus. Then I rushed back to the library as I had signed up to do a Job Interviewing Skills talk. It was very interesting and worthwhile.

Oh yes one of Donovans front teeth fell out yesterday. Well it didn't exactly fall out. While Donovan was eating dinner it became so wiggly he couldn't eat. It hurt also. Hugh finally convinced Donovan to allow him to pull it out. I gave Donovan a chocolate popiscle to eat and numb the area. It seemed to do the trick, Hugh managed to pull it out without much fuss. Now Donovan has a big hole in his mouth.


I made cheese and macaroni for dinner. It was delicious. Hugh and I had bacon in our batch. Miles and Donovan don't like the topping so this was divided between Detta, Hugh and I. And there is enough to have a bit at lunch tomorrow.

Busy Week

Joan and Tom popped around last Sunday on their motorbikes. Joan looks very flash on her bike. I have no desire whatsoever to get on a motorbike again. I think Joan is very brave especially in Canada.

While out in the garden I discovered that the baby pigeons were still hanging around. They were found under the shrubs or on the floppy cedar tree. I haven't seen them for the rest of the week though.

Work passed by quickly, two new jobs were posted at Seneca forLibrary Technicians but you have to be a full time employee to apply for them. I don't expect they will replace their jobs once the new jobs are filled. A cost saving approach by Seneca to stretch the work amongst its employees. I did apply for a job at the Ontario Legistlature and another one at Baycrest so we will have to see what happens with those. I am thinking of appling for a Radiation Protection Technician at OPG, you only need a high school diploma to apply. I am not quite sure if I would be suited to this job though.

The children and I went to see Land of the Lost last night. It was very funny and gross. The children loved it. I especially like the mosquito part and the dinosaur's brain the size of a walnut.

Detta and I had a busy day today. I wanted to get some more yarn for a scarf I am knitting, it is silk and seaweed. We dropped by Anne's house to pick her up to borrow her sewing machine. Her kitchen has been totally removed at the moment. Andrew and a buddy are doing it this coming week. We drove downtown with Anne, stopped by and bought some fried rice Chinese buns to eat plus a few for Hugh - Curried Beef and BBQ Pork. The bakery is called the Yung Sing Bakery and it is on Baldwin Street. Excellent food and service. The first time I went there, was when I worked for Sick Kids hospital in 1986. I would walk over at lunch time have a fried rice bun and a vegetable spring roll.

We went to see Alex at her store but the Much Music channel were getting ready for their awards ceremony at the City TV building and it was crazy. We found Alex and Detta is taller than Alex now. We went out for crepes, they were so good. I had dark chocolate and strawberries, Detta had dark chocolate and ice cream, oh yes I had cream also. Yummy. We left there to go to Romni wool shop but I didn't end up buying any more, one they didn't have and two the ball I had weighed 100 grams. We drove back to Anne's and stopped by for Lizzie. The traffic was terrible, College St and Bloor were closed!! Lizzie's flat is very nice and then we went to Anne's. I was so exhausted from all the driving. Anyways I am home now, enjoying my new office. Anne lent me her yellow ball for sitting on but I need to put a bit more air in.

Knitting

I can't believe I haven't talked about knitting in so long. I took a break when I wasn't feeling well (flu!). I have finished two projects - a hat for Donovan's teacher and a sweator for a baby which I still have to sew together.

The hat for Donovan's teacher is from an old knitting pattern of my Mum's. The bottom part in the lime green is a new stitch I have never done before. It is Tw2F and Tw2B which is Twist 2 Front and Twist 2 Back. For the first one, you knit in the front of the 2nd stitch and then knit in the front of 1st stitch and then for the second one, you knit in the back of the 2nd stitch and then knit in back of the 1st stitch. It was slow knitting for the first couple of rows but then it got easier as I kept doing it. The yarn I used for this was Merino wool, OMG, it is SO soft. It is called Filatura Di Crosa Baby Zarina, yes it's Italian. You wouldn't even know it was wool, I bought it for $3.50 for a 50g ball from Soper Creek Yarns. I also have purple and pink, I am going to knit one up for my cousin's daughter who just had her first baby - a girl, Katie Sarah.

The sweator I knit was again from an old knitting pattern of my Mum's. I did it in the Berroco Comfort DK. It is also extremely soft. The baby sweator knit up fairly fast but just was a bit ackward with changing colours every row.

I have started to use a new method of casting on. I previouly knit my stitiches on, but that can be time consuming. In the autumn, I knit Miles a pull on hat - balaclava and then I knit one for Donovan. Except with Donovan's hat the cast on was too tight so I thought I would try the long tail cast on method. I followed the instructions in the book and it was easy. Also I found it made a looser cast on so the hat easily fitted over Donovan's head. I have used this method ever since, it is so much faster. So for those of you who want to know how to do it, I found this video on You Tube - Long Tail Cast on. There is also a website where you can find other videos - Knitting Help. I have done so many new stitches and patterns this past winter. Knitting the hats for Miles and Donovan was the start of it. I loved the way the top knitted up. In fact, I also knitted one for my sister Joan so she could wear it under her riding helmet.

The Babies are gone - flown the coop

That is the pigeon babies are gone. The mum has been around off and on but she was too big to sit in the nest with the two babies. One of the babies hopped up on to the ledge and then after about an hour it flew to the window ledge. And when I checked last both of them are gone. I wonder if they will come back, I mean today!

But then we had workmen around today to fix the water leak out the front of our house. They all had to come and have a look at the birds.

It was very interesting because they dug a big hole and put this big tube in the hole. Then one of the workmen went in the hole to make the repairs. It didn't take them long to fix it. At least the front end of our garden is well watered now.

Nutritional Information

I just borrowed a book from the library, Guide to Healthy Fast-Food Eating. Yes you may wonder what healthy eating can there be at Fast food restaurants. Well I just happened to look up the oat bar at Starbucks which I love. Lizzie also mentioned to me that it was high in calories though I didn't expect anything else. On the Starbucks website there is the nutritional information of all its items. Here is the information for the Oat Bar:

Well there you have it. That bar is quite high in calories. In WW points, it is 7 points, just not worth it. I will have to look at this book closely. I don't actually eat a lot of fast food these days but it would be nice to see what options there are.

I will have to look for an oar bar recipe that I can make myself. So if anyone has one, please let me know.

Craigslist

I listed two items on Craigslist, our chandelier and the computer cabinet. People have contacted me about them but I haven't heard anything since. Hopefully tonight we will be rid of the computer cabinet. This is so much easier than eBay but definitely more local.

Detta and Miles are both ill now. High temperatures, runny noses, etc. Detta stayed home from school today and they will both be staying home tomorrow. Miles had a high temperature on Friday and Saturday but on Sunday we thought he was recovering. Now only Hugh and Donovan need to come down with it. I finished my antibotics this past weekend and the cough is much better but still lingering.

I have been knitting a new layette. This one is simpler than the other one but I changed the green to an aqua with looks better with the verigated and the yellow. I am moving along nicely now that I have started knitting again. I didn't feel like it when I was sick. I am on the second arm and then I am going to knit all of the yoke part all in one piece, less sewing that way.

Visit from Lizzie

Lizzie popped over for a surprise visit. Her cousins just love her to bits.

Penny the Pigeon

We finally saw the new baby pigeons. There are two of them and they are so big. I must admit they are 'pretty' ugly. I am sure they will be flying soon as they are nearly as large as the mum. I don't know how she managed to sit on them for so long.

Trip to England

Things are coming together for Detta and mine trip to England. We have a lot of new clothes courtesy of Anne and Kath. I also bought Detta some black capris from Reitmans. I have been looking at places for us to visit. Things like Hampton Court, Tower of London and the British Museum to name a few. I have also already sorted out a trip for us to visit Stonehenge. We will be able to visit Stonehenge after closing hours and be able to walk amongst the stones. I have heard from our friends, Alan and Kate in Kingston-upon-Thames, we will be staying with them while we are visiting London. Kate works for the library in Kingston and while we are there, she is organizing a 'Twilight' evening. Detta is definitely interested in checking that out. Of course we have lots of people to visit, Hughs' brothers and old friends.

When we visit Northern Ireland, we will be staying with my cousins. I have rented a car while we are there. I plan on driving to the Giant's Causeway, along the Down coast and of course visiting some ancient monument. My cousin's daughter just had a new baby so we will be visiting them also.

Tonight Hugh and I are going out for sushi. We think we may try somewhere new, as long as it is all you can eat.

New Office & Pigeon

The office is nearly there. We have two desks set up. All the other furniture is out. Andrew popped by on Tuesday evening and helped move the furniture into the basement. They had to take the table out the front door and around the back of the house. It couldn't fit down the stairs.

Anne and I went out for breakfast at Scrambles on Tuesday morning. We then went shopping at Reitmans. She bought some blouses, a skirt and some capris for me. Now I am all set up for my trip to England. Anne also had been shopping at Old Navy and bought Detta some very nice shirts. We stopped by Best Buy where Anne needed to buy a PC for work. I bought the monitor that went with the PC. Hugh is using it for the moment till his work provides him with one.

Here is also a picture of the pigeons baby. I wonder how long before it flies and leaves the nest.

New Office

We are nearly finished setting up the office for Hugh. The computer desk is out and the table is nearly cleared. The book shelves are nearly full of reference material. Hugh took down the chandler and put up the new fan. The new fan looks good and moves the air around really nicely. I went back to Canadian Tire to buy another one for our bedroom but the sale is over so now I must wait.

On Saturday, I decided to rip out the baby layette that I had started. I didn't like the green, it just didn't seem to work very well. I have started knitting another one, which has a simpler look. This time I have used the aqua colour with the variegated and yellow. It is looking good. I have also finished the two big blocks for the baby blanket. Now I only need to sew them together and then knit some more along the long edge.

I finally got around to some gardening. If I wasn't feeling well, then it was raining. Though on Sunday, it was very windy. I have all my new plants finally in the ground except one. The last one Hugh will have to help me with. I want to dig out some other shrubs which I need Hughs help with. I am sure it is that same tree I had in England because I saw a bunch of new shots coming from it. Anyways I dislike. Plus there are some weedy looking shrubs which I am sure are being choked by that other shrub. I still have ferns but I may end up moving that to the back yard. My garden in the back, needs a major overhaul. The beds are full of grass and the weeds in the grass are terrible. I want to plant some more of those lilies from the front to the back but I am sure there is still some carpet in back beds. Lots of work but it will take me years to get sorted out. The lilac has more flowers on it this year except they are on the neighbours side. Well maybe next year it will have more, this is only the second time I have seen it bloom. The plant Joan gave me, the yellow flowers, is blooming like crazy this year. It is so pretty.

The pigeon is still with us, or Penny as the children have named her. I am sure her eggs have hatched. I hear a cheeping and one day when she flew off I ran back from the car to have a look and there was one chick.