We Interrupt...

...this regularly scheduled "knitting and hat showing" blog entry to show you what happens when a knitter has had it up to HERE with their offspring not doing as they're asked, after a night of very little sleep, after the annual Canadian winter thaw followed by the ever present Canadian Deep Freeze and she goes for a walk!


First, however, she makes a cup of tea, grabs some chocolate and heads downstairs to sort the whole sordid story out.

We had A LOT of snow before and up to Christmas....
and then came the thaw. The forecast calls for more snow; so the skiers around here remain hopeful. Saturday we were blessed with a balmy +12C (no, I don't know what that is the other way) and I enjoyed a little freedom from Christmas holiday home-bodies for an hour or so when I went for a drive. Alone. Just wearing a sweater, well and pants and all the other necessities. No, it wasn't a hand knit sweater, but I got it for Christmas from my brother and I really like it.

Maybe I'm a bad mother, wife, whatever, but I really enjoy my time to myself in my house; even if it's doing laundry, which I'm still doing, and so with every Christmas break comes the promise that everyone will go back to where they belong when the holidays are over. Generally, I try to keep a small happy place inside with that knowledge, but today when I woke up and came out to the kitchen to see that once again, the things that I had asked to be done, were not. Once again, the rule that I had made, was being ignored. Once again, I'm going to have to be the 'bad guy' to try and get some, oh, I don't know, RESPECT!?!
I ask them to do something, I even left a list, because that has worked well in the past and I left a list because I was out buying food for them to eat! They say, "Yea. O.K." and silly me thinks that means, "Yea. O.K.", but apparently it means, "---lalalalala---, and then I'll do what I want." I don't like being the yelling, cranky, mom lady. I am not one of those mom's who's very existence is measured and enhanced by picking up after and catering to everyone around her. IT'S MY LIFE AND THEY'RE THINGS I WANT TO DO!!!
I think of the food, I buy the food, I may even prepare the food, but I will not chew it for you and there's no reason that you cannot open the fridge and get the food if you are hungry! AND THEN CLEAN UP WHEN YOU'RE DONE!!
I don't really don't mind doing the laundry, but again, there is no reason that you cannot bring down the dirty laundry ie. YOU pick it up off your own floor and there is no reason that you cannot take it up to your room and PUT IT AWAY!!
ALL OF THESE THINGS CAN BE DONE INSTEAD OF WATCHING ANOTHER EPISODE OF SUITE LIFE ON DECK THAT YOU'VE ALREADY SEEN OR INSTEAD OF PLAYING SOME KILLING WAR GAME THAT I WAS NEVER A FAN OF ANYWAY!!!
And while you're doing that I could be knitting. And all would be right with the world.

So after I was cranky and miserable to a dear friend of mine who called to see how my Christmas was...I didn't go with 'Bah Humbug'...I thought I better get out of here; no matter how many other things I should and/or want to be doing. The sun was shining and I really needed to breath real air.
I walked to the back of our property to where a Hawk has been perched for the past few days just to see if I could see anything that would catch a Hawk's eye.

I'm thinking he keeps waiting to see if whoever made these trails comes back. It's like there's a whole other world under the snow. There were a few patches like this, but I was only able to get this picture...more about that later.

After I secured our property, I ventured onto our street. We live on a dead end that has a Golf Course at the "end" and so it's usually pretty quiet here in the winter. In the summer? Sometimes it's not worth your life to try to walk with those "Crazy Golfers" zooming past.
I headed north for no particular reason other than to see what was happening that way and once I had taken a few deep breaths and started to look around to try and see some of the beauty in nature and because I'm usually looking down...unless I'm in a city; then I'm usually looking up (very touristy; here come mug me!)...I noticed how the water in the ditch had frozen again after the thaw in a very strikingly, beautiful pattern.

While I was first walking, I was thinking how I maybe should get a bigger, better camera. I've been disappointed with lots of pictures, of my kids especially and mostly because I can't get close enough to "capture the moment". Then I remembered what wonderful pictures my mom and another lady I used to know were able to take with just your basic everyday kind of camera; so I think I'll wait a bit. I was also coming to grips with the fact, on this walk on a crisp winter day, that I'm not a gardener. I would like to be. I enjoy the end results of other people's gardens, but I just don't have it. Not at this point in my life anyway; no matter how good it would be for me. I do enjoy taking pictures of flowers and such though. See the sequoia there?

Here's another close up of winter taking hold of a moving life force. It's like one moment the water is flowing as it wants and then....ice takes hold and everything stops just as it is, a mixture of air, water and movement.

FYI: when you're about to take your camera out for a walk; in fact you went for your walk, saw some neat stuff to take pictures of and came back to get your camera and think, "I should take some spare batteries, just in case." Take the &*^%^ batteries! Taking the ones out that are obviously dying and tapping and rubbing them against each other, while pleading with the battery gods to please, please, please, just this one more (and then this perfect one) only takes away from the peace and harmony that you are trying to embrace.

As I mentioned during the winter a walk can be a pretty peaceful trek around here. Only a few cars drive by and the odd jet may fly overhead and neither of these sounds caused me any concern, but you know what's scary when you're walking alone on a country road on a quiet, sunny day? The sounds of nature.

Was that somebody in the woods? Did I startle something and is there an animal crashing through the forest? Is it coming towards me or is it running away from me? Is there something about to come down upon me?

Noooo...how about...

Ice cracking away from the earth and trees? You really have to be out in the quiet to hear all the noise that nature makes. And once your heart stops racing and you quick looking around and jumping back so that "nobody gits you"; it's really cool.

Speaking of cool...


I'm not especially a fan of fish mail boxes, but this new one of my neighbours brings a little colour to our otherwise monotone street.
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Funny story to close with.
My husband just came home to get some lunch (see above note about going into the fridge to get food if you're hungry); my husband is not an especially small fellow and is pretty strong as far as I'm concerned. So I'm in the laundry room folding laundry (see above note about taking your laundry upstairs and putting it away) when I hear some sounds of distress from the kitchen. The first time I just put it to something not going the way he liked it on t.v., but when another more exacerbated sound came, I was a little worried and went up to see what was the matter. I asked if he was alright; if there was a problem?
He said, "Yes." and with a glint in his eye, he said, "I can't get the pickle jar open."
I put down my armful of laundry (always the laundry) and asked if I could help?
"Sure!" He did not hide the smirk.
I walked up to the counter, picked up the pickle jar, turned it over, smacked it on the counter, causing him to jump as he had moved on to watch some sports thing, turned it right side up and easily opened the pickle jar for my hungry husband.
And we laughed....
BOY THAT FELT GOOD!!