busy fall in Winnipeg

Well, considering we've only been in town since July, I've gotten a fair bit done. See that shelf? It's what I've canned so far. My kind professor has recently picked me a lot of crab apples, so there may be more canning to come. (the big jars of yellow stuff? Those are called yellow apple cucumbers or lemon cucumbers. They are round and make beautiful pickles!)

The photo there of our back yard shows off the patio furniture and our brand new eavestroughs. (gutters.) They have this fascinating thing here on the prairies where you snap down the gutters when there's a big rain so that the water is drained away from the basement. However, dogs and people have been known to step on these long gutters, so the gutters snap them up when it's not raining or when the snow comes. (I am such an innocent about life in flat terrains that this seems novel.) We're currently having the warmest September that Winnipeg has had in a century, so no rain and no snow at the moment! (It's lovely warm weather mid-day. I still have to wear a sweater to walk the dogs in the AM though!)

We're still so busy with settling in, doing job and household and moving stuff that not a lot of fiber arts are getting done. However, I do have this one bobbin of gray Romney/Border Leicester cross/gray mohair yarn to show off. I've also knit some socks recently, they might get a chance on the blog sometime as well.

However, people still need to eat around here. Winnipeg has great bakeries. That said, we're spending a lot of money on eavestroughs and other home repair issues...so it's back to baking our bread as it's less expensive. That is, in part, because I found a bag of all-purpose white flour, milled in Manitoba, at an unbelievable price. So, 10 kg or 22.5 lbs of locally grown/processed flour for...$8.97 Canadian. Practically free. It's not organic, but gosh, it IS local! I made some bread.

The dogs thought it smelled really, really good. (the humans didn't share though...)

Now, on to the big news...

For months, I have been trying not to share any of the projects in Knit Green. They are all meant to be a surprise and to be shown off when the book comes out. I've been trying hard. I'm absolutely terrible at keeping secrets.

Most of the projects and the samples are safely tucked away, but I've been wearing a couple of things, and there are some dog toys that I just let Harry and Sally have. They love these handknit toys out of organic yarns, and carry them around constantly. I recently snapped this photo of Harry with his handknit, handfelted bone.

Then, I got these in the mail. The book's big release is October 5th...but now I've actually seen a copy. It might be time to tell you about Harry's favorite bone now! (The suspense has been killing me!)