I am far too Canadian!

How's it goin', eh? Here at Chez Q, we're enjoying a mini-weekend, thanks to Canada Day! Being a good, patriotic Canuck, I thought it fitting to pay tribute by way of some iconic Canadian symbols. So. I give you:

Snow:

Canada Geese (nasty mofos that they are!):

Funny money (yes, it's "real" currency!)

Fine traditional cuisine:

Hockey:

Beer (and, may I say, a fabulous choice for a national animal!)

And a toque, in the colours of a hockey team:

I hope you hosers are all sitting back with a beer and enjoying this fine day! Here's my favourite alternate to our national anthem for you to listen to while you sip your bevvie:

Shoulda, coulda, woulda

So, we went camping on Vancouver Island last weekend with my sister and her family, and I meant all week to post about it. Obviously, I did not! Some quick highlights:

There were Goats on a Roof:

There were walks on the beach, just a couple hundred meters from our campsite:

And there was a very jolly baby, who thought the waves at sunset were the Best Thing Evar:

All this, and more, would have been posted about, had the week not got away from me.

Then, we went out last night for Lebanese food, and I brought my camera with the intention of blogging about it....Got as far as taking a picture of our drinks:

...When dinner arrived. At which point, all thoughts of cameras and blogs went out the window. Oh. My. Bob. The food was amazing! Instead of ordering entrees, we shared several appetizer dishes: some lemon-broiled chicken; some lemon-marinated cauliflower that was then broiled; toasted halloumi cheese; a salad with dried apricots and feta; and then baklava and cardamom custard with Turkish coffee for dessert. Soooo good!

This morning, I dragged myself out of bed to go to the local farmers' market...always a bit of an adventure, but worth it for the tomatoes alone. Taste of summer, anyone?

Now for some of those fresh strawberries...Nom nom nom!

A day at the races

A quick look at Sunday's KIP fun at the racetrack - I'll totally go again! I hear they have wiener dog races at some point this summer - fun!

Walking the horses before a race:


A view of the view at the track:


MacGyvering a solution to needing a pattern on a windy day:


(Interesting fact: In Korea, they refer to Swiss Army knives as "MacGyver knives." Talk about cross-cultural pollination!)

And finally - a bit of - gasp! - sewing! I had to pretty up some jeans to make them suitable for work. Being World Cup and all, we can wear jeans for the whole month if we wear T-shirts from the competing countries. A trip to Army & Navy for a few cheap Ts (Go Italy! And England! Oh, and Portugal!) and Dressew for some fabric for a funky trim...I'm quite pleased with the result!


Now...back to that litter box I've been avoiding...woo. And a "hoo" for good measure.

Or not.

The more we get together, together, together....

...The happier we'll be! Just puttering around the house getting a few things done before we head out. The local-est LYS, Baaaad Anna's, is hosting an event for World Wide Knit in Public Day...at the local race track. Despite having spent 4 years living close enough to the track that we can hear the cheering...we have never gone to see the races. So! Today seems an auspicious day to try something new! Maybe win a few dollars (or, you know, not!) and enlighten a few Muggles. Will post pics later if I get any good ones.

Happy Day!

The finer things in life....

If you wake up on a Saturday morning, and discover that - for the first time in at least a week - it is not raining; in fact, it is clear and sunny and warm...If you wake up on a Saturday like this, you may decide that it would be a good idea to walk to the grocery store with your Significant Other (in my case, Mr.Q!).

And lo, you would discover that this was, indeed, the right decision. Perhaps you would be lucky, and the grocery store, the deli, and the butcher shop would all be surprisingly empty and easy to manoeuver on what is usually the busiest day of the week. If you were really paying attention to the message you were getting from the cosmos, you would decide, on a whim, to buy some lovely, thick-sliced bacon from the butcher.

If you had done all of these things, you would know the glorious truth that I was reminded of today: After such a morning, there is no finer lunch than a toasted bacon-tomato-and-cheddar sandwich. You would, of course, recognize that the only way to make this sandwich is with Real Mayonnaise. Not that Miracle Whip crap, and certainly not the abomination that is Lo-Fat Mayo. No. You would use the Real Stuff. You would slice the tomatoes perfectly - not too thin (you can't taste them!) and not too thick (they make your sandwich soggy!). You would use aged cheddar, a spattering of yellow mustard, and the barest dusting of fresh-ground sea salt on the tomatoes. Your bacon would be perfectly crisp, and there would be an extra slice or two in the pan - for "quality control" testing, while your bread toasts.

And the resulting sandwich would be a little bit of heaven on a plate.

But this is all, of course, purely hypothetical.

Coz Mr.Q and I ate all the bacon ourselves, and didn't save any for you.

Sorry 'bout that.

Oye Como Va?

Coz it's going great here! I love holidays. Lazy holidays, with not much to do & few demands on my time. Also, holidays that include snorgle time with niblings, sleeping in a tent, Baileys in my coffee every morning, and Mom's home-cooking.

I was going to take a picture of my fancy digs for the week, but it's pissing rain outside, and the tent just looks sad and bedraggled. (Though inside, I am snug as a bug in a rug. Without the bugs, but with a good reading light and not one, but two thick foamies! I am going to be so sad when I have to come inside again in a couple of days!)

So, instead, here are some pics of other holiday highlights:

A thrift-store run with my MIL yesterday yielded some purple buttons, and a hinged tin that is a perfect size for carting around knitting notions. Plus, it's too cool for school:


Even better, check out the track listing on the back:


Sadly, the CDs were not enclosed! Just looking at the case makes me feel like a teenager again. Fun! (On a related note: listening to some mixed 80s CDs on the drive out, I realized just how awesome my teenaged taste in music was. Too bad I didn't know at the time how cool I really was!)

Of course, I made my requisite trip into the book store for a hello (I worked there for 3 years before we moved West) and some light reading. I found this, which I've been enjoying in the tent:


But that's not all! I also discovered that since my last visit home, the store found a perfect new addition to the staff. Meet Rosie:


She's a placid, lovely, slightly cantankerous (in that aloof, charming way of cats) beastie who has made it quite clear who's boss at the store. And it's not the bi-peds. Obviously.

And...there has been knitting. I was hoping to get this finished before tomorrow night, but I think it's not going to happen.


It's a Seamless Baby Kimono, size 2 years, for a friend's wee lassie. It's a great, simple pattern, which I modified only slightly and am adding a little extra length, with button holes instead of a tie. It's a pretty quick knit, but I've been rather busy drinking a lot of coffee & visiting friends for the last couple days, so the likelihood of finishing it for tomorrow night is...well, not impossible, but not exactly probable. But I haven't given up hope yet!

Off to get ready for my next coffee date, and hopefully some pics of the local elephant while I'm out and about. But first I have to go sing Fish-heads for my nephew. Till next!

Yeah...I got nothin'

Very little of any note happening Chez Q these days. Since things are mostly pretty decent, that's not a bad thing...But there's also not a lot to blog about. I thought it was past time to pop in & say hi. Been in a bit of a knitting funk since finishing the Sweater of Doom, but I am working sporadically on some tasty socks that may or may not make an appearance here in the near future. Our "Spring Break" is next week, and I'm taking off immediately after work tomorrow for a road trip home with my sister & her not-so-wee laddie. Could be an adventure! But I'm ready for anything: lots of knitting & extra socks packed, and ABBA Gold at the top of the road-trip-tunes pile.

I expect Mr.Q will subsist largely on Mr.Noodles & beer while I'm away. I only hope the resulting flatulence 1) doesn't scare the cats away; and 2) has dissipated by the time I get home! I'm quite sure he will enjoy a week of watching subtitled European war movies, and listening to screeching weasels on vinyl, uninterrupted by my pleas for mercy.

As for me, I hope there is a lot of coffee & Baileys, and sitting around on one deck or another, doing Sweet F.A. for a week! My camera will be handy at all times, in hope of capturing something blogworthy.

Hope the merry month of May is going well for all of you...!