Back to reality

Ouf! So here I am, back in my little 3R, after a week at dance camp and 2 days of work.

The camp was wonderful. A little quieter than the previous times I had been there perhaps (I went to bed in average at 3:30am instead of 5:00 because I taught the morning after), but it was quality time spent with good friends. This camps feels like a bunch of us (over 100 people!) rent a big cottage for a week. It's a family camp, with tons of kids playing and learning to play violin, with several of us meeting under the trees in the afternoon for a little bit of knitting, and with everybody wanting to participate and help in order to keep the camp going as long as possible. I love it.

 This year, tragedy struck one of us. A close friend lost her sister in the middle of the camps, and we all lost a friend at the same time. I can't really write more about it, not because it is secret, but because so much has been said between us already, I don't have any word left. We cried and drank a lot. But just as her parents were able to find a meaning to her passing away at the funerals (that she will no longer suffer), I  want to mention that for me, the non-Hungarian who spent the last 20 years hanging out with these people, it was a truly soothing and comforting experience to see how much the community came together to support the family and each other. It's not something that I am expecting to see in my life outside of the community, and I have added that to my list of things to be grateful about every day.

***

I came home Monday afternoon, and I feel that in the past 4 days, as much has happened than in the past 2 months...

First, the windows arrived.
Then, we were told they would be installed on Friday (today). Today, at 5:00pm, all construction workers of the province go on vacations for 2 weeks. How lucky are we? I've never enjoyed the noise of tools and construction as much as I do right now.

Then, the plane tickets for Hungary that were $1,100 before I left on vacations are now $350 cheaper. Hurray!!!

Then, my man decided that he was fed up to work on the floors, so he worked hard all week, and finished the office. That means that we can move in our furniture tonight, and I can spend the weekend unpacking. It also means that we will be able to start using the living room, which will be emptied of the extra desks and shelves. It's starting to feel like home!


Another good news is that finally own a bike. I had been looking for a bicycle for the past month or 2. In Montreal, I used the public bike system, but here I need my own bike.  But one thing I realised is that everybody here is a bicycle expert. Seriously, as much as in Montreal, having or using a bicycle is a useful, urban, mean of transportation, here it has become an art. Everybody bikes. But not in the streets, and not to go to the convenience store to get a litre of milk. No, there are those who have road bicycles, hybrid bicycles,  city bicycles etc, etc. I was planning on getting a cheap one at the local store, but everybody convinced me I should invest in a good one. I notice there are more bikes stores here than in Montreal, for a much smaller population. Anyway, after talking to a lot of different people about style, material, size, adjustment and use, visiting stores and getting used to the idea that I should pay more than I was expecting to for a bike that I would keep forever (someone told me that I my age, that would probably the last bicycle I would buy...), I met one of my man's colleague who told me that she had a good bike that I could use in the streets that she didn't use anymore in her garage. Since we are about the same height, it fits me. And ta-dam, this is how I avoid making decision. I now own a good quality bike, that was chosen for me. And if anyone asks me why I chose this one, I'll just say it chose me. I have to admit that an aluminum bike is much lighter and fun to ride than a bixi...

The last good news of the week is that despite the fact that we've had no time at all to take care of our urban garden this year, it looks like we are going to get some tomatoes.

Actually, the whole backyard looks good

Very noisy Northern Flickers!

Growing chocolate mint

Beautiful echinacea

The roses won't stop

Some raspberry plants made it through the heat...hopeful for some fruits next year!

pretty and orange

And what about the knitting, the weaving and all those other fun things?

Well, I managed to knit several inches of the 2nd sleeve of my peasy in the buses and planes I took, but I didn't not have as much free time as anticipated at the camp, so it is not as advanced as I had wished for. I think that now that I'll be able to unpack most of the boxes that were left, I will start to take time again to knit more seriously.

I must say that I find it brilliant that the sleeves of this pattern are attached, and have to be knitted before I can do anything else, because I don't like knitting sleeves at all, and this is a very good way to make me go ahead.

That was a long post! 
I'll come back soon for shorter ones!
Have a great weekend!

Crazy May!

On Monday, we went to the notary to sign the final papers for the house. I still can't believe it! Owning a house is not something I ever though possible when I lived in Montreal. A condo, maybe, and even then, with a NGO job, it was not something I saw coming before a looooog time.

But it happened. A big house, a big garden, a garage and 2 sheds! It is a little bit against all my ecological beliefs (I am all for population density, against its sprawl) and I feel a little bit guilty to buy it. At least, it's in the city, near a bus station, and near everything we need, so we won't be wasting too much gas. We'll also be able to eat fruits and veggies that will not have travelled at all as soon as we get the garden going, so there, it's not all bad.

But yeah, Monday was a very emotional day for both us and the lady who sold us the house. She had spent over 60 years in it! We're very happy we were able to visit her a few times before we moved in, we heard a lot of stories about her and her husband, who seemed to be a very special person (at one point, he had a monkey, at another, a few raccoons, and we also heard of a wolf that he kept in one of the shed!). Her daughter told us that her mother had told her that she was happy to leave the house to us, that she felt we had a connection. She told us should would come for our housewarming party.

So she was quite emotional. I was too. My man and I are not married, and we are not planning to tie the knot. So, this signature was, for me, kind of an engagement towards us: I can't just pack my stuff and run back to Montreal now if things don't work out. There is a contract between us, even if it is just a a mortgage and a joint bank account! 

All week, we have been running around to get the renos going.

The living room went from this:

To this:

in only a few hours, thanks to a lot of work from my (very strong) man. The house still had all its curtains, crosses, and a lot of other little trinkets all over. It also smelled a lot of moth balls. Cute attention, the ex-owner had also left a little set of hand towels next to each sink, as if she was expecting guests. Anyway, it already looks much nicer now, and it is starting to show that it could eventually look like I had imagined it. 

We spent the whole day there with my mother-in-law today, and we were even able to start painting (well, she did).

We are now ready for the next steps: wood floors, windows, and more paint.

Oh, and there is still that little thing to take care of:

In our apartment, boxes are slowly, but surely, starting to get filed with books, dishes and our own trinkets. It's weird. For the past 2 apartments I had, I knew exactly where I was going to put everything when I packed it, but this time, maybe because it is a much bigger house, maybe because we are 2 making decisions (although it should have been the case the last time as well...), I have no idea where the stuff is going to be. I'm just filing boxes, writing what's in them, but not writing their destination. We'll see what the house looks like in a few weeks.

On the craft side, I'm still trying to weave as much as I can. I finished the checkered piece (didn't like it too much, too country for me) and started a new one, trying to experience with colours.

I kind of like it, but I realise that maybe one of the reasons I can't seem to be weaving quickly is that I don't really enjoy these colours. I'm more of a cold palette, and this, well, is not for me. I got them when I thought I would be weaving for my current kitchen, with is also in warm colours. But I don't like my current kitchen, so that should have been a clue from the beginning. Anyway, I like what I'm weaving, I just know it's not for me. The good news is that a lot of people will be receiving hand-made presents in a near future. The better news is that my weaving teacher has offered to help me finishing this warp so I can move the loom, so it will be over soon, right on time for the Québec Weavers Association's congress, in June. Hum, what next?

If you are interested in knowing how my Peasy is going, well, it has been resting for a little while now, once again stuck with a mistake at the beginning of a row, and I don't feel like tink-ing a whole row to try to fix it, so I decided I would wait until I can ask advise from a much better knitter (yeah, Elizabeth, sorry, that's you...). The last time I started to un-knit, I made so many mistakes I had to restart several rows, and I just don't have the courage to do that again, after also starting the whole thing several times. It upsets me (actually, it p. me o.!!) because it is an easy pattern. I don't know what it is, I'm just not focused enough.

So, while the poor Peasy is waiting, I decided to buy more yarn the last time I went to Montreal, and to start another project: Folded, by Veera Valimaki. I've been wanting to knit this sweater forever. I thought now was the right time. I got beautiful yarn (cascade heritage hand-paintedsock yarn, in forest. I quickly knitted my swatch (note to self: socks yarn knitted with #4 needles really shows all mistakes...will have to be super extra careful!) and was ready to start when I saw that I had to start with 3.5 needles, the same that were being used for Peasy...So I gave up for now. I could very easily go and get another set of needles at the store, but I'm just so overwhelmed with too many things (house, work, translation contracts and volunteering at the upcoming Memorial Cup) that I decided to take a break for now. The same goes with the gazillion baby projects I should be starting (what is this baby boom???). I just can't decide on a pattern, or on yearn, or anything. I decided to wait until I had one good night of sleep to add this to my list of to-dos for this month.

Have a great, restful weekend!