The Happiest Day of my Life

Sunrise

Taken from my office on the 35th floor on Friday. The buildings in the front are downtown Vancouver, and the tiny building tops in the background are Burnaby.

Nelson Mandela

1994 Inaugural Speech

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Remembering

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.




For some interesting information about the author Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea and the story of how the poem came to be click here. (scroll past the poem)

I'd encourage you to read the poem out loud. Often things mean more and are remembered more when we hear and see them at the same time.

Lets go for a walk....

With the sunny weather we had on Sunday I decided to go for a walk and take my camera along with me.

Destination: Garry Point Park in Richmond, BC

Make sure you take some good tunes with you!



I parked along the road one block away to make sure I got some exercise!



Looks like I'm not the only one who though today was a good day to get outside. This trail is called the dyke and goes almost all the way around Richmond, which is an island.


Here's Garry Point Park, where you will almost always find a kite or two. It's not too windy today so there's not too many kites.


This is why I like the park, the beach. Its high tide today though so not much beach.


At the begining of the park you can buy coffee, ice-cream, or fish and chips. Store hours dependant on season. Looks like fall/winter hours have already started 'cause it mostly closed. I'm not stopping but continuing on to Steveston village.



Steveston Village is where Richmond first began, and it still holds some historic buildings. The Gulf of Georgia Cannery used to process fish, but now its a small maritime museum.


You're sure to see fishing boats when you come to Steveston!


Down on the docks you can buy straight from the boat! There's salmon, tuna, salmon row....




...and my favourite shirmp!



I passed this store on my way out of Steveston and couldn't pass by without checking out the yarn inside.


I headed home after this but had to snap one last picture as I passed through Garry Point park again.

Thanks for joining me!

Snow day! and other randomness

It's snowing here in Greater Vancouver again. It's the second snow day in less than a week. (translation: stay off the roads!!) Its supposed to be really cold here for the next week or so. Really cold it this case means: zero celsius and down to -8 on some days!

I've been tagged in a meme by Katie and I have every intention of doing this but my computer needs to see the doctor. So this will be tackled once its all fixed up.

I finished reading Twilight in just 3 days and put New Moon on hold at the library but there were 146 people in front of me in the library line up.....so how know how long that will take?!

Whew, its over!

November's National Blog Posting Month is over and I'm glad. I didn't quite do it everyday, but I think I put in a pretty good effort. I missed one day in November before I knew about nablopomo, and 3 days afterwards. Things will be slowing down in the posting frequency in the next weeks.

I just noticed that I'm on blog post 108! Wow, I never thought I'd get that many. I did my first post on Jan 16th so 1 year of blogging is coming up soon.

The sunset was pretty tonight and I wanted to share pictures with you. This first one looks like it was raining but it was just foggy.

This second picture was actually taken a couple of seconds before the other photo, just on a different camera setting. It's amazing how much different looks.

A non-post post

Ugh! I've been having trouble posting something everyday for the last couple of days. I have nothing new to share so really this boring post (sorry!) is to say that I'm here, I'm alive, and I'll try to have something more interesting to share tomorrow.

I hope you're all having a great weekend!

Remembrance Day

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- Lt. Col. John McCrae


I've heard this poem many times but this year I learned some new information about the author.

The red Flanders’ poppy was first described as a flower of remembrance by Colonel John McCrae, who was Professor of Medicine at McGill University of Canada before World War One. Colonel McCrae had served as a gunner in the Boer War, but went to France in World War One as a medical Officer with the first Canadian Contingent where he was killed in active duty in 1918.

**Please remember those who gave their lives for the wonderful freedom we enjoy today!



Click here for a cool pattern to knit your own poppy.

Things I'm loving' today:

Fall colours and my new camera.

PS. And Sheryl Crow...I listened to her greatest hits CD as I took a walk.

Smile for the camera!

Last night I went out and bought my digital camera! It's like the one above except black, and it's really, really cool.

Small problem though.... the sales guy told me it used a SD memory card. So of course that's the type I bought. Once I opened the package and tried to fit the card in the camera it wouldn't fit! I know I've never had a digital camera before, but I have put a memory card in a camera before. (Thanks mom for having trouble with her's.) After trying to put the card in the camera in every direction possible I pulled out the booklet and it says I need an XD-picture card. Great now I have to go back to the store tonight and ask for a refund on the opened memory card! And also buy the correct memory card. (It's kinda too bad because the SD memory card was on sale and I got an 8GB memory card for 29.99, which is only $2.00 more than a 2GB.)

I'm a little worried that they won't let me return the open pack... Wish me luck!

NaBloPoMo

I saw this on Monica's blog and thought I'd try it out. What is NaBloPoMo you may ask? Well, it stands for National Blog Posting Month. The idea is to post a blog entry every day this month. You're probably thinking: Yeah right that will never happen! (Ok, maybe that's just me!) For the girl who sometimes has trouble posting once a week this will be a real challenge for me. (And to be honest it's kinda freaking me out right now.) But the best way to grow is to get outside your comfort zone, right?

I've missed one day so far but so what? I'm gonna jump right in! Wish me luck.

PS. If you're interested you can go here for more info.

What a weekend!

I've had a great weekend! On Saturday my family got together at my parent's house for my birthday. We had drinks and yummy cheesecake with strawberries, and played the card game Wizard. My 5 month nephew was there and looking as cute as always! They pooled their money for a gift and gave me ..... CASH! They know that I want a digital camera so along with the money I've been saving and the money they've given me I should be able to buy one soon. (Yea, then I can start posting pictures on the blog.) I also got two movie vouchers from mom. (She's been wanting to go see a chick flick with me for awhile now and I keep beating her to the movie by seeing it with my friends.)

Then this afternoon I met with 3 friends I got to know through the Vancouver Knitting Meetup. And two came bearing gifts. Monica gave me a felted tea cosy with a design and crocheted flower on the front. Chelle gave me 2 stitch markers, a notions bag (that I will put to use as soon as I finish this post), and some sock yarn. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, 100% merino fingering weight. The colour is absolutely gorgeous! It's called Northern Lights and it's black with dark pink, purple, and green. (I gotta say the yarn does smell a little....mostly just like vinegar or chemicals....)

Since I've taken so long to complete my first pair of socks I don't think I'm quite ready to start my second just yet. I do really want to make this scarf though. I was going to make it out of some white yarn I had laying around the house, but I was feeling very uninspired with the yarn. I love the colours of this yarn so much that I might make the scarf with it. I'll do a swatch and see how the gauge turns out.

In non-birthday news I bought the yarn for my first sweater. It's Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in raging purple. (And in case I haven't mentioned it before the sweater I want to make is Green Gable.) I can't wait for it to arrive!

Chocolate Cake in 5 minutes

Every week the knitter's website Ravelry posts a newletter. This has been going on for 26 weeks now. I have never read one until last week. Last week I read the funnies section and this is what I found.

For those without Ravelry access the post is a recipe for a 5 minute chocolate mug cake. Chocolate cake in just 5 minutes!! YUM! Here's the recipe:

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons cake flour(that’s plain flour, not self-raising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil (probably too much. 3 teaspoons seems to work better!)
3 tablespoons chocolate chips(optional)
a small splash of vanilla essence
1 coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla essence, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

I haven't made it yet, but if you try it let me know how it turns out!

I'm ba-aack!

I arrived back at my condo late yesterday. I had a good time on Mayne Island, but I'm very glad to be back home too. Stories and book reviews will follow next week.

I'm super thankful that Monday is a stat holiday. I get one last day before I have to go back to work. :)

Here's looking at you kid!

I had a great weekend, but in true Julia fashion I've neglected to blog about it. I had a fun time at Taste of the City with my sister, her husband, his sister, and her finance. Ate lots of yummy food including ice cream from Marble Slab Creamery. (They just came to New Westminster, BC and our family is loving it! I just checked their website and although there are only 8 locations in all of BC, appearantly they have locations ALL OVER Texas!)

Saturday night I went to my friend M's house, where she and her husband (ok, mainly her husband) have a projection TV. The screen takes up the entire wall of their living room! She invited me to come watch Casablanca with her and some friends. I jumped at the chance! I have always wanted to see this movie, but my local Rogers doesn't have it on DVD (and I don't have VHS). It was a great movie, and I like it so much that I hope to re-watch it someday.

I receieved my yarn package today from my Ravelry yarn swap pal. Its a $30.00 swap and we were each matched up to someone from another country. I was matched with Kristine. (Her blog is all in Norwegian, but her Ravelry page has some amazing fair isle mittens. Go check it out.) She sent me 4 skeins are wool: 1 black, 1 red, and 2 blue and white mixed skeins. They are meant to be knit on 3.5mm needles. I've never knit anything with wool. Does anyone have a good pattern suggestion? (I told my sister that I would knit her a pair of slippers this winter so I think I might use some of this wool for that.)

I have no pictures because I still don't have a digital camera. I think I'm getting closer to buying one though. My brother got a $350.00 digital camera and it's soooo nice. Nothing like a little jealousy to get you motivated into saving up for one of your own huh?

Monday evening I went to the Vancouver Knitting Meetup. I got to see fellow blogger Monica there, and meet some new knitters too. I enjoying seeing what other people are knitting. It usually inspires me to keep knitting (are start knitting again, as the case may be!)

I have finally corrected the socks. Yuck! Next time remind me not to mess up in the first place. :) I've ripped back, picked up the stitches, and re-counted everything. I'm now on track to start knitting again. It looks a little messier since the rip back but hopefully once I've knit a couple more rows it'll look better.

Anyway, I'm signing off because Friends is on TV and its seems like the perfect knitting time.

Mayne Island and contest

I wanted to share this sunset picture with you. It was taken on the Canada Day non-long-weekend long weekend. (ie: I took Monday, June 30th off of work.) To be fair we had to drive to a park to see the sunset but it was only a 10 minute drive. Nice huh?

Here's a picture of the cabin we stayed in. Its pretty basic (ie: bring your own sleeping bag, no radio or TV) but it's a great place to relax, read, and spend time with the family.

The last thing (but main purpose) of this post is to let you know about Monica's contest. She has reached 1000 posts at her blog, Monniblog, and she's having a contest to celebrate. Go here to enter. She is the one who encouraged me to start blogging. Thanks Monica! And happy blogoversary!

Mayne Island and Book Review

I arrived back from four days at Mayne Island with my family late yesterday. We had a great time! The weather was perfect, warm and sunny on all days. I got to hold baby J lots and lots! I didn't do any knitting the entire weekend, but I did a lot of reading!

I finished Fair is the Rose by Liz Curtis Higgs in four days. This book is the second in a series of four. I loved the first book in this series, and this book continued the story. I enjoyed the book and found it to be a real page turner. Unfortunately there were some aspects of the story that made it hard to believe. At the begining of the book Jamie loves and is married to Leana, but during the book due to a records decreapancy, he is forced into a loveless marriage to her sister Rose, but ends up loving her too. I know the story is based in 1790 but can a love that deep be changed from one one sister to another so quickly? Overall I still enjoyed it and I still plan to read the last two books in the series.

While clicking through Ravelry at work (don't tell my boss :P ) found this stitch dictionary. Since I don't have any stitch dictionaries in book format I found this really interesting. There was a dishcloth made from the waffle stitch that looked cool. I might make a dishcloths with that stitch someday just to learn something new.

Hope everyone had a great Canada Day holiday! Did anyone go to the Vancouver Jazz Festival?

Yarn Purchase and General Busyness

Wow, its been awhile since I've posted. I've been so busy at work. My work hosted a conference and I helped with the setup. The conference was Thursday evening to Saturday, so the days leading up were filled with organization and setup. Thursday evening we had a reception and I had to stay at work until 8:30pm. Then on Friday I hosted 5 wives of the conference attendees. We took a limo up to Grouse Mountain, had lunch at the top, took in a lumberjack show, then headed down the mountain and took a drive around Stanley Park.

In addition A's wedding was last Saturday (and I was in the wedding party) so Friday night and Saturday was filled up with wedding stuff. My time was so short that I didn't have time to return to work from Grouse Mt. and had to be dropped off at the wedding rehersal by the limo! I pre-warned the my friend that I was not trying to top the bride, just appease her by being on time. :) The wedding was great and us bridesmaids receieved many complements about how good the dresses looked. (There were made by the bride's grandmother who is a professional seamtress.) I'd love to show a picture but I don't have a digital camera. :(

Yesterday I had to return a vase to Micheals and while there I saw some Lily Sugar'n Cream on sale! Yeah me! I've never seen Lily yarn around here. (Although I've received some from swap pals.) I usually buy Bernant Handicrafter Cotton. It comes in a 50g skein. The Lily was a big skein of 340g. This will make aprx 7 dishcloths. Yikes that will last awhile! The hardest part was deciding the colour. I like to have lots of different colours to choice from but now I'll have lots of stuff in the same colour. I decided on the varigated colour Plum Pudding. (Again no picture b/c no digital camera.) The cost was only $5.00. Bought separately that much yarn would have cost me $11.00. I love getting a good deal!

I haven't done much knitting in the past month but I've picked it up again this week. I started a dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth Knit Along I'm part of. I should be done in a couple of days.

So here is my question to everyone out in blogland. I do love the making dishclothes but with this much cotton is there anything else I can make besides dishclothes?