Colour Blind

...Elmira white, white cloud, stone house, old montreal, delaware putty, chestertown bluff, yukon sky, beacon hill damask, lemon grass, muddy york, cedar key, baby fawn, autumn leaf...I am living in a blur of colour at the moment. We are planning on painting nearly every room in the house we are moving into and the task of choosing all these colours is daunting. I have "fallen in love" with over five different shades of taupe and I am starting to wonder if that means something about my personality. Benjamin Moore is my new best friend. He has great taste, but is sure to leach my pocket of all its loose change.

With paint colours being chosen, a mover hired, and carpet cleaner booked our move is starting to feel very real. In the meantime I am busy making costumes for Halloween. Not as much of a challenge this year which should mean no late nights. I am looking forward to seeing my two beans running wild from house to house.

Has anyone else out there been watching Pushing Daisies (I am hooked)? One of the characters, Emerson, has an unexpected love for knitting.



Did you notice the knitted file holder and kleenex cozy in the photograph? I wish I had a better head for quotes but this week he said something to the effect that daddy needed some new yarn. I heard it, it made me chuckle, then I promptly forgot the quote and kept the sentiment.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, thousand islands, seaspray...

Cooked Books

I would like to confess that I have an addiction to cookery books also that I am totally guilty of judging a book by its cover (that's the graphic design nerd in me, some of you might share this compulsion namely). Yesterday I fell in love with Apples For Jam, by Tessa Kiros (jacketed in a matte stock with a varnish over print of some sort of scrolling vine motif—yummy!). It was the title I was first attracted to (she has really great titles for all of her books). I was browsing the recipes at the book store, but ordered it online last night so haven't had the chance to try any of the recipes (though they look very appealing). The whimsical writing is impossible to resist. I am most fond of Tessa's anecdotes about her young daughters and how she wants these recipes to be a fond memory for her kids to enjoy long after she is gone. In it she muses about things like finding apples all over her house with little bites taken out of them (something that happens around here every fall). Also hard to resist is that the chapters are colour coded. For instance the "stripes" chapter includes a recipe for Chocolate Toffee Nut Squares. I will let you know how it turns out. I can't wait till the mail get here!

Snacks anyone?

Pull up a chair and have a bite. Pumpkin bar squares or banana bread? I couldn't resist throwing in the purple cauliflower, purple broccoli and brussel sprouts too. Have a great week-end. P.S. We sold our house! I may actually miss it being so tidy.

*For those of you wanting to try any of these recipes (especially Kaet) I have now included them for you. The spiced pumpkin chocolate-chip squares are from Martha Stewart's Holiday Halloween issue. The banana bread recipe comes from the Bonnie Stern Heart Smart cookbook. I have enjoyed many recipes from it especially the date squares.

Virtual(ly) Knitting

In the midst of buying (and selling) houses I forgot to post about my recent invitation to Ravelry (yet one more computer activity that keeps me from any real knitting). I am there as, LifeWith, me and my five little projects. I am enjoying the ease of finding projects on Ravelry and it got me thinking about a possible new past time—virtual knitting. Virtual knitting will involve finding new projects that I will one day knit. As part of this past time I will also drool over things like Alchemy Fibre Designs, because it is fabulous and who doesn't need another scarf?

Oh and I have begun a work out routine. It is at a local wellness centre that includes three half hours a week of stability ball and weight training, plus one weekly learn and burn session. If you should ever have someone offer you a learn and burn session my suggestion would be to RUN! My learn and burn involves spinning—anyone else had the pleasure?—probably I am a big wimp, but it was HARD people. Not so much the spinning but at certain intervals we have to lift our bottoms off the seat (which is a relief because let me tell you my butt was on fire after) but it totally winded me. I am looking forward to having a lot more endurance for that activity soon. This recent work out routine is part of my endeavour to be fitter at 30 than I was at 20. There is also going to be an Isagenix cleanse ( I am a bit of a skeptic). Anyone familiar with this particular process? Should I run now?

Catch Up

I am finding it hard to keep a blog so I am going to unload all that I have been up to lately in a free flow random thought kind of way because that is how my life rolls

Bought a house; signed a bunch of paperwork; "staged" our house to get it ready for sale; started a fitness program; shuttled the kids to and from various activities; cleaned the house; listed our house for sale; panicked over it selling fast; cleaned the house; nagged the family to keep the house tidy and maintain that un-lived in quality, that "ready-for-you-to-move-right-in-and-call-it-home" look; cleaned the house for pictures; listened to David Suzuki speak (AWESOME, I feel compelled to tell everyone about this!); panicked about the house selling; cleaning the house before sleeping in it and leaving it; feeling not really at home in my own home, which is usually comfortable but never this sterile—it doesn't feel like my house.

So here is where I intend to spend my summers for the next, well many, many years. It will all be worth while.