distracting views

Well, the boiler pipe leak hasn't gotten worse. The house is warm and toasty and I am almost over being grouchy and tired by yet another stupid plumbing malfunction. That doesn't mean it's fixed yet--oh no, the plumbers are busy (and/or sick) and in the great scheme of things, this is probably a small leak and a minor house disaster. Also, before I hear the "I told you so" chorus from people who think we shouldn't own an old house, (Uhh, yes, you know who you are, family members) well, I'll repeat my refrain...new houses and new repairs sometimes cause problems, too. These things just happen sometimes. For some reason, these things are happening to us A LOT these days. Oh well. Life is like that!

If only this had happened BEFORE the big bedroom paint job!! We're trying not to cry about that, but the professor did such a beautiful job before this happened.

OK, in order to avoid dwelling on something we cannot fix, let's distract ourselves. If this reminds you of the way you keep a toddler from crying by distracting him with a new toy? Well, yes, that still works on me. I'm all for distraction when these unavoidable housing problems spring up.

Quick, look at that lovely Lido Key beach photo from Florida. Yes, this is what the beach looks like in Sarasota. White sand, nice views, warmer weather....Ahhh. I'm taking a deep breath here.

Since beach views are not always reviving, here are a couple of pictures the professor took during my book signing at Picasson's Moon.

This is a really fun yarn shop where the staff is so kind and helpful and the yarn choices are pretty interesting. The interior decoration--funky clutter, complete with lots of chairs and cushions, books and antiques--really makes it stand out.

I was there signing books and visiting from 4-7 pm and my charming professor kept stopping in to make sure I was still doing ok. He took several photos, including this close up of me signing someone's copy of Fiber Gathering. You may notice here that I am wearing the Tank Empire pattern sample from Knit Green. I am amazed by how versatile this tank top is in practice. It's good in hot weather worn with just a camisole underneath it and it is a superb vest during the Florida winter. What I didn't expect to find is that the A line shape makes it a very useful maternity item as well. You can't see my belly here, but it really covers it up!

It looks to me as though few or no people have posted or attempted this pattern, at least when you look at the Ravelry.com statistics. My only guess is that the gauge information is offputting. The gauge information is for a cotton/linen yarn that shrinks when blocked. If you'd like to make this for yourself but want to substitute another kind of yarn, look at the gauge after blocking. Knit up a swatch in your yarn choice, block it, and then worry about matching gauge to the information for after blocking. That's how you'll come out with the right size when you knit this.

I hope sometime to knit this project again in another color or two...this tank/vest is a staple of my wardrobe, especially when I travel or teach about my books!

Distraction accomplished, I feel calmer now. I will keep slowly posting Florida photos while waiting for the next housing fix to take place...I hope this post distracted you as well!

Sarasota Farmers' Market

Last week in this time, we were in Sarasota, Florida. The professor, his father and I went to the Farmers' Market. There was a lot of produce (strawberries, greens, citrus, etc.) and a lot of other vendors. I couldn't dally too much in front of the seafood stalls with the stinky fish smells--still dealing with nausea--so we focused on other things. There were plenty of things to see!

First, since the professor's father is an architect and we are great fans of old houses and old things, the architectural salvage stand was pretty cool. The colored glass bottles appealed to the professor and I had to remind him of how heavy our luggage was already...

Then we saw some amazing flowers for sale. All sorts of exotic varieties of flowers, usually only for sale at a florist's shop, right here at the Farmers' Market!

We were also serenaded by these teenagers, who played remarkably well together considering their instruments. All of their instruments were made of discarded materials. Yes, a TRASH band...check out the cereal box guitar. It's a shame you can't see the drummer in this picture, he was really going to town on a drum set made up entirely of overturned pails and other junk. It was a treat to hear and see!
This market was also absolutely dog obsessed. We were missing our dogs at that point, so the professor got busy taking pictures of what we found most entertaining in the dog world. I focused mainly on petting the dogs I met instead. First, there's the coffee vendor: JAVA DAWG. (Note, my head is in the bottom right of the photo...I leaned longingly towards this stand until I saw the line up of customers. I gave up immediately when I saw that even the dogs were forced to wait in line...)

The professor and I knew that our dogs would not enjoy these crowds even if they were in Florida with us. (they were in the kennel in Manitoba) Even so, we met some dogs who did. We're pretty sure their humans never even noticed we were petting their dogs, taking photos, or smiling at them!

It was about 50F (10C) when we were at the Farmers' Market. The Floridians thought this was cold. I wore just a sweater and it felt like a heatwave to me. Bear in mind, of course, that today it is -25F (-32C) here in Winnipeg, with a windchill which brings the temperature down much further. Of course, the professor and our dogs wore their sweaters today for their walk. I think the professor even wore insulated jeans, and he is very tolerant of cold temperatures, so you can imagine that it was actually cold outside this AM.

Apparently dogs in Sarasota needed their sweaters, too. I sat outside eating a strawberry chocolate crepe while the locals said how very "cold" it felt that day in Florida. It was hard for me to figure out what to say! In any case, the crepe was good and the weather seemed very pleasant to me as well. Obviously, I wasn't the sympathetic ear these strangers needed as they complained!

We have more photos of nature and I'll try to draw out our vacation so you too can have a vicarious vacation through the blog. I've got the photos for at least one more post. In any case, I hope you'll feel amused by the dogs in sweaters on a 50F day! We were!

Most sweet were the puppies, who were trying to meet everyone at the market. I am a sucker for puppy fur, puppy teeth, and puppy breath. (Always have been) I love my middle aged dogs very much and it is fabulous to have mostly trained and cooperative family members. That said, every so often, every 10 years or so, I yearn for a puppy. I try to get my fill by visiting with other folks' puppies. I certainly think it makes life easier. Housetraining one's puppy at -25F? Now that does sound unappealing!

I'm off to eat lunch before teaching my hand carding class this afternoon. I hope it goes well--and maybe I'll even meet some of my blog readers there.