Where is that woman?

It's been a whirlwind here...we took a trip east to visit family in Virginia, went to see long time grad school friends and colleagues in North Carolina and more.  We visited a friend's farm and went to the NC Museum of Life & Science.  Our twins particularly enjoyed checking out the bug exhibits, and it turns out that the Professor's grad school advisor and his longtime technician actually raise some of the tobacco horn worms for that exhibit.

The dead silence from the blog has been largely because I am the person who packs the suitcases for three of us, remembers the bathing suits and the sun hats and the very important loveys, toys and school homework.  The dogs came home from the kennel alive and well...and while I was glad to see so many friends and family, I am also glad to be home.

On the knitting front, I have a quick bit of news:

If you'd like to buy one of my Ravelry Patterns ON SALE!...quick, act now!  Time is limited!

I am supporting the Canada KAL, which supports Canadian design and designers.
 Save 20% off all my Ravelry patterns through June 1st. (Ends midnight, CT, US& Canada)  Use this coupon code to save 20%:
Cankal2018  

The other bit of knitting news...while I visited Virginia, some lovely linen yarn arrived in the mail for me, as well as a gift from a friend.  We visited A great Arts Centre in Alexandria, Virginia.  It has lots of programs that allow kids and adults to donate, reuse and recycle their art supplies.  Our friends and their kid took us for a kids' program, and our boys made lots of art to take home.  I visited their store rooms, and scored this:
3 skeins of Quince & Co Puffin (dark brown)
1 skein of Rowan Kidsilk Haze (dark blue)
3 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter (dark blue, rose, and dark brown)
AND two pairs of ebony and rosewood knitting needles.
(No photos yet, it's in the freezer, ensuring no moths got brought home from Virginia.
--I paid $5 US per skein of yarn, and $3 for each pair of knitting needles.  What a great find!

Last, but not least....this week has continued to be crazy.  It's been time to make cupcakes for all of grade 1, clean up the house, and make party plans for two boys who are about to turn SEVEN.
If you don't remember back too far on the blog, read about June 2011 here.

Here's the short version in words.

or, there's this:

Happy Birthday, boys!
Here's to a whole weekend of partying ahead...and hoping for many more years of perfectly ordinary, nice days, with health and well-being every day, for many years to come.

Advocacy on the road

In the US, as a kid, I volunteered and worked at the Claude Moore Colonial Farm.

This living history park offered me a lot of the skills I use today in teaching and living.  Spinning, mending, gardening, talking to strangers and teaching, cooking (over a fire!) and more.  I wrote an opinion piece about this, because the US National Patk Service has decided to shut down this important park by the end of December, 2018.  (There is no good reason to do so, as far as anyone can tell, aside from perhaps potentially profiting from the sale of the land.)

The opinion piece was edited down to the length of a letter, and printed here:

https://www.insidenova.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/letter-closure-of-claude-moore-farm-would-be-calamitous-for/article_4737250a-585b-11e8-9cd0-c3ad320dfcf0.html

Please forgive this messy link!  I am away from my computer and posting via an iPad...but this is too important to leave alone.  If you want to support living history darn near the US Capitol, please google "Claude Moore Colonial Farm" to find more ways to advocate for this amazing representation of everyday tenant farmer history in 1771 Virginia.

Busy times!

Two new articles went live over the weekend...and today my twins don't have school.  Busy times here!  The good news is that it's been warm, the front yard is open for chalk drawings and sand box, and Sadie the new dog likes squeaky balls and can play with them by herself. --I almost wanted to make a video of this very funny squeaky ball play, but could not leave twins and two dogs alone in the front yard to get a phone or iPad.  Instead, I did some spindle spinning.  Retro, and much more relaxing... :)

Here's an article featuring Winnipeg Animal Services Agency that went live on CBC-Manitoba:
Doggone lucky Winnipeggers: Animal Services adoption process reveals a system that actually works
Subliminal message from Joanne: Adopt a shelter dog!
Here's a fun Irish setter photo (not our black and tan Gordon setter mix dog) that went with the article.

And another article came out in Vancouver in the Jewish Independent:
Civil Dissent: A Jewish Value 

I am slowly working up a new knitting design, new dogs take a lot of time!
In the meanwhile, maybe you need to knit a little Sumpin for spring?  Or a lightweight linen Nanodistal?  Don't need clothing? How about a bug finger puppet or two? :)