Not About Knitting

Actually, I gave Ellen the summer off. She's been such a great model now for a few years, I thought it was time to give her a break.

I am still doing some knitting, but with the new puppy, Rosie and a new job, I only get to knit a few rows per day. Will show you the things I knit but there may be long periods between projects.

I've been wanting to go to the Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve for a few years, so today John and Rosie and I did go there. So glad we did!  It was a lovely drive and a beautiful place! If you live anywhere near this place, it's worth a visit. If you can't visit, click on the link above and also scroll down to see the pictures we took today.

Along the way we visited a salmon river in Colinet so I've included a few snaps from there also. 

Rosie is a great little traveller. We left home at about 10:30 this morning and didn't arrive home until 4:00 or so this afternoon. She was happy to do all the things we did but needed a nap on the way home.

Upper section of salmon river

Lower section.

John on the boardwalk with his good friend Rosie.

Road to the Ecological Reserve

Some cows we met along the way. The one was interested in us.

These cows had the shiniest coats we've even seen!

View from the pathway to the Reserve

Pathway to Reserve

Sheep along the way. (You have to mind where you walk!)

Bird Rock (Tens of thousands of nesting pairs!)

A little closer.

It's neat how they live on the side of a cliff.

A Northern Gannet.

Looking back.

Ellen Got Sashed!

In April/May this year I designed and made a wedding dress for my middle daughter who is getting married October 1. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I'll post pictures of the dress after the wedding. In the meantime, after the dress was finished, my daughter and I decided that maybe it needed a sash for the waist and my daughter said that a big bow on the back would be a welcome addition.  I've been working on the design of the sash and bow. Did one and frogged it because the bow would end up being too small and it rolled too much. The second version is now machine knit so Ellen was up for trying it on.  There's still quite a bit of work to do because it has to be hand finished with crochet.  I've included a photo of the materials that have made up the dress.  The sash is made from Knit Picks lace weight Shimmer. I'll provide dress fibre details at the time of posting.  The sash will be hand finished with Knit Picks Aloft and Tilli Tomas Beaded Plie.  I'll show you that part when I get it done.  In the meantime, the Catherine Purse is coming along - made from the same fibres as the dress. Ellen wanted to hold that as well to show you the progress. The lining is purchased so we'll soon be ready to finish it up.

After knitting the sash, I decided to walk to the nearby park (with a pond) that is home to two geese who I've been feeding a few times per week for the past four years as well as ducks and their ducklings.  Today, it was such a nice day that I brought the camera so I could show you my good friends. I thought about taking Ellen to the pond, but the geese hiss at strangers and I wouldn't want Ellen to feel like a stranger. Duck Ellen!

Oh! The orange flowers are in our back yard and the cat hangs out near the pond on sunny days.

 

Staying Home Ellen!

Ellen reminded me that we haven't done a post since Sunday and now it's Wednesday!  I explained that we have to stay home because I am trying to finish projects and I have to do other things besides knit! - like work, for example. Oh dear! The pressure! She's right though. We have to keep our readers in the loop.

Anyway, to allow Ellen to "feel" like she went somewhere, I thought it would be a good idea for her to watch the sunset from an upstairs room.  It rained for most of the day but the sun came out this evening. When we can see the sunset (no fog or clouds), the light is real nice in that room in the evening.  So, I brought Ellen up from her apartment and had her face the window so the light could shine upon her.  Ellen is modelling the sleeves to Mom's sweater that I am hoping to finish soon.  

You can see the sunset highlights in the clouds over the neighbour's house.
Lovely isn't it Ellen?!  :-)

No Motorcycles Ellen!

This morning the weather was perfect for a motorcycle ride, so John and I decided we'd do a run and take a small camera with us. John said that I could strap the SLR unto the back of the bike, but when I asked if Ellen could come along he said that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Anyway, off we went up the Southern Shore Highway with the intention of stopping somewhere for lunch, but when we reached Bay Bulls the fog was rolling in and it was pretty cold riding through it, so we decided to turn around and have lunch somewhere nearer home. That didn't take too long so we decided we'd do some errands and that was when John said that there'd definitely be room for Ellen. Hooray!!

We decided that the photo shoot would be at the dock in Portugal Cove.  (You can see Bell Island in the background of the second picture.)  Seagulls were plentiful and not very shy. Seeing Ellen didn't get the opportunity to ride the motorcycle, she really wanted to wear a helmet so we thought, "Why not?" After all she did manage to balance a glass dish with a hat yesterday. And, seeing this blog is supposed to be knitting related, Ellen agreed that she would wear a couple of skeins of yarn from Artyarns, namely Cottonspring and Alpaca Silk - two lovely yarns I purchased from Fabulous Yarns. Have to figure out what to make with them.  Any ideas anybody?