Family

It's been super busy around here this summer with some extended family visiting - my Scottish Sister's in-laws came to visit.  They went on a few road trips on their own but there were a couple of weeks where we had 9 people staying here. The three of us who live here, my Scottish Sister, her husband, and my Wee Niece, plus my Brother-in-Law's parents and sister. Whew, what a crowd. Mom was brilliant at arranging home-cooked meals for 9.

My Scottish Sister and her husband held a vow renewal this summer so her Canadian friends could attend. It was a very informal ceremony held at our parents' recreational property (they own a part-share of a private campground). A friend of my Mom's conducted the ceremony and she kept it really light-hearted, even referencing my Dad's goof in writing Vowel Renewal on the calendar. We all had to review our vowels.

My two Nieces totally stole the show. My Canadian Niece was made a last minute junior bridesmaid, my Sister was not going to worry about it but decided to let our Niece have some fun participating in the ceremony. She was also in charge of keeping her young cousin (the bride and groom's daughter, my Wee Niece) entertained so they were both front and center through the ceremony. It was wonderfully cute and off-the-cuff and fun.

The reception was just 'burgers and 'dogs with some salads on the side. Much fun was had by all. Although I had to leave early to care for Squish.

Which was of course the saddest part of the past month; saying good-bye to one of the cats who have been with me for my entire adult life. I'm still shocked at how big a hole a 5kg cat can leave behind. Fortunately Mouse seems to be adjusting to being the only cat quite well, one might almost say she is embracing it. She has been meowing more and more, I don't know why she's suddenly decided to 'talk' to us lowly humans so much more but it is terribly fun filling in my half of the conversation. Example:

"Mew."

"Yes Mouse, I know it's hot, we don't have a/c."

"Meow."

"I'm afraid there's not much I can do. You could try going downstairs where its cooler."

Which advise she promptly ignores; you get the idea.

My Uncle and Aunt also came to visit while on their cross country motorcycle trip and we invited another cousin and her husband who live nearby; we don't get together with them nearly often enough. We tried to surprise Dad with his brother's visit but we were undone by a chicken. Basically, we wanted to prepare far too much food for the number of people he knew were going to be attending dinner that evening so he guessed there would be extra guests coming. We tried. It was still really nice to see them.

Kitting

Knitting was done while the guests were here and even some finishing.

Another dog poo-bag holder, I think I'll call them Aww-Poo Bags. This one came out a bit too small I think.

Pattern: not finished
Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia Pairfect Cotton in Ocean
Needle: 3.0mm
Gauge: 42 stitches and 49 rows in 10cm

I have also been working on some baby blankets and a sock weight cover for my bed. That one's a long term project.

Speaking of baby blankets, the Blue Pennants blanket was gifted to a friend who recently had a baby boy. It should keep him nice and warm once fall arrives.

Oh, and a number of dish cloths. Just used up some random cotton I had lying around to make these. I just cast on a few stitches, increased to the size I wanted then decreased again.

Pattern: Improvised
Yarn: cotton from the stash
Needle: 4.5mm
Gauge: not critical

The frankencloth already has a story to tell; it had barely made it into the cupboard to go into circulation when I accidentally slammed by elbow down on a dirty wine glass breaking it and cutting my elbow quite badly, my Scottish Sister was there (it was early in the morning so I'm glad she woke up early that day) and she thinks I hit an artery; it would make sense considering how much such a small cut bled. In any event, the frankencloth was called into service to stop the bleeding; which it did quite well. Of course, since I'd broken a wine glass and dripped plenty of blood on the floor my sister had to clean up the kitchen before first aid could be applied. She cleaned the cut out for me and put a band-aid on. It seems to be healing nicely but there also seemed to be a lot of bruising inside my elbow; I had difficulty using it for a couple of days. Two days later I sliced my finger open on a piece of glass that somehow got caught in the sink drain, fortunately that was considerably less dramatic. This is good because this time I was the only one home and had to do first aid for myself. Everything's pretty much healed now.

And there were socks. Keeping these for myself.

Pattern: improvised
Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia Pairfect Cotton in Ocean
Needle: 3.0mm
Gauge: 42 stitches and 49 rows in 10cm

Ocean Socks

Current Weather
21C and Sunny. We should get up to about 28C this afternoon.