Knitting content, etc.

I do love me a productive morning! 'Specially when it involves an iced mocha and a walk in the sunshine with a good gal pal. It's even better when it includes an anxiously-awaited Blue Moon arrival, and best when the Bodum search is cut short by the afore-mentioned gal pal "I never use mine, you can have it." Wahoo!

Now back home, more laundry going, fridge re-stocked, and uber-caffeinated. (Me with the caffeine, not the fridge or the laundry...)

So. The rest of the week...remained blissfully unscheduled. The trip was really so we could have some much-needed time away together, and we got lots of that. (It was our 5th anniversary on the long weekend, which was the reason for the holiday) And we also managed to include a great balance of time with family:

(And they do, in fact, get cuter than that - she has two sisters and a brother, and there's a second kitten. It should be illegal!) Highlights were the "camping" trip in a blanket tent in the basement, complete with a "bear" (convincingly played by Mr.Q); two chapters of a book read aloud to me by our nephew; casual hang-out time with Dad; Mom's strawberry freezer jam; a 1:30 A.M. wake-up and brief, chilly attempt to spot meteors with Baby Sis; and the devouring of an entire wheel of Brie cheese, baked with jam, with my sister and our husbands. Fortunately, the cheese tasted better than it looked. Monkey brains, anyone?

(There were also several heads of roasted garlic, but they looked too much like spider eyes to post.)

There was time with friends, to just hang out and enjoy a cold drink on a summer evening, after grocery shopping (don't take Anie shopping with you, she's a terrible enabler! But then again, the expensive hot chocolate mix really did taste better.)

We book-ended the week with another festival, catching a live out-door show with one of our favourite bands ever, As The Crow Flies, as well as a band from Nelson that featured Mr.Q's bass teacher from his music college days. Dancing in the sun, and then under the stars, and lots of people we knew to catch up with...loverly! (And a beer garden...that also made it a lot of fun.)

There was knitting in the sun...."we" found a yarn store in Canmore, just about on our way out of town. (If you understand that by "we found" I mean "I spotted the store and jumped up and down in the car, squealing like a baby given a large ice cream instead of pureed spinach for dinner.) Mr.Q parked the car, against my (admittedly feeble) protestations, and pulled out a book to read, telling me to take my time. It was a sweet little store, and I had a great time poking about and fondling. I managed to resist both the sock yarn and any blue yarn. In fact, I walked out with some PINK yarn, highly unusual for me, and perfectly gorgeous. It's Misti Alpaca, and soooo soft! Here it is in the wild:

There was sock knitting, of course, a Plain Jane sock started in Blue Moon's "Love in Idleness" colourway (I thought it was appropriate knitting to take on an anniversary trip - I'm such a suck!) Here, the beginning of the sock enjoys UHF's set at the Canmore Folk Festival:

Though it, too, preferred the back country:

Eventually, though, we did have to pack it all up and come back to the city. Sigh! The drive home was mostly nice, till the last bit of nasty traffic. There were two sights worth noting, one in Cranbrook on the way out - do read the sign carefully, and tell me whether you'd eat there:

And again, near the Anti-Christ summit, a Sasquatch, known locally as a "Mugwump"

Note that he has both a mullet and a case of Kokanee. Which pretty much makes him a stereotypical redneck. Who knew?

It was such fun camping, and we haven't done any in so long...hopefully Mr.Q will have a couple of unscheduled weekends this fall, and we can get out with the tent again soon. (Ack! It's almost FALL! How did that happen?!)

I think I should test out that new Bodum now. Just in case. To make sure it's all good for tomorrow morning. Though Mr.Q may come home and find me swinging from the light fixtures if I have anymore caffeine.