(Almost) Back to Arts and Cats

Welllll... I am still watching and waiting to see what Parliament is going to look like when it resumes.

Seems we have a St. Michael to redeem the Liberals, the way has been cleared. I keep mentally composing nasty letters to my Conservative MP, who won this region by I kid you not, 17 votes, and he knows it. He won because 17 hockey parents had things to do with their kids and assumed their incumbent was secure. I want to demand that he be the voice of THIS constituent and tell his leader to smarten up.

CBC has this interesting musing, with no conclusions, but reflects alot of my thinking on a key decision that led us here://http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/05/f-vp-mallick.html

And, lest this blog wander off from the real world entirely, there is still some crafty stuff going on. Around Waterloo this weekend?



I'll be there, with yarn!

What Happened, What's Next?

This sure seems to be NaBloPoWe (NationalBlogPostingWeek) for us newfound political junkies. Tonight I'm posting about yesterday, and have ever more questions than answers.... I'm afraid I may have run out of articulate, as well, as most of what I've been able to do about yesterday is babble a little twitchily.

Yesterday, at the request of our somewhat ill-behaved Prime Minister, the Governor General of Canada prorogued, or suspended, the Parliament of Canada, ending its first session only two weeks in. This was one of several possible outcomes of the chaos which began, well, really, a couple years back with Prime Minister Harper's first term, but in the past week or so since the first economic statement of this Parliament.

As many have pointed out, by Constitutional Convention, the Governor General does not share her reasoning on this and the message is relayed by the Prime Minister advising of what decision she made. Thus, Her Excellency Michaelle Jean remains a bit of an enigma to many, in this. I am sure her thoughts were deep and she had the advice of the most educated minds on this topic that our country and possibly others could offer. I, like all our elected Members and the Party Leaders must accept the decision and we really cannot speculate about her reasoning and motivation. I was pleased to see all leaders display the decorum to accept her authority implicitly and offer no criticism of her or her office. But I'm not sure it was the best action for this time.

I had to agree with Jack Layton's statement in reaction, that this is a sad day for Parliamentary Democracy. The Governor General's powers in this matter are the highest power in our Government, and they can alter the very structure of our democratic model itself. Yesterday, they were applied in a way which allowed a Member of Parliament, who is also Prime Minister, who is acting in a very partisan manner, to postpone the democratic and legitimate censure by his peers in the House of Commons, which he knew was coming. It is my understanding from all the reading, watching and listening I have been doing that this use of the power to prorogue Parliament is unprecedented, which means this has never been done in a Parliamentary Democracy before. Thus, this in effect alters the nature of democracy as it is implemented in Canada, and I don't feel it is a good alteration.

What sort of functional Parliament can we have if an embattled Prime Minister who cannot garner the support of the elected representatives (for again, it is the MPs, NOT the PM or Government, who we elected) can just pack up, slam the doors, and not only avoid, but PROHIBIT the continuing operation of the Parliament of Canada just because he faces a challenge he may lose?

It is now a done deal. This is a matter which I feel warrants deep and serious study and reflection. In some ways, the trust of the office of Governor General is diminished in this, for this defends not the entity which is Canada and its democratic structure, but merely one dysfunctional and partisan government, the progress of which should be up to the elected Members. I am disappointed, and should it ever come to light that Her Excellency made this decision to save face (hers or anyone else's) I will be ashamed. It was a no-win situation and no one would have been able to satisfy all with any decision, but better for her to leave office in disfavour (as Governors General have, at times) having made a decision for the good of Canada and democracy than to have decided in Mr. Harper's favour out of any wish for self-preservation or to take the least challenging path. In most ways, the appointment of Governor General is ceremonial, but in these key, critical ways, it is to be a sacrifice to democracy itself, if needed.

Only time will tell if this is going to work out or not for the 40th Parliament of Canada, and only more time will tell what effect this precedent has on the implemenation of democratic Parliaments here and around the world.

One thing I hope is that this is not the end of our interest in the matter, and that the Canadian people use the time between now and January 26th to learn, examine, and reflect and hopefully realize what here is truly democratic and what is not.

Commentary is appreciated, but I do wish to respond.

I had alot to do today, but have become aware that at least a few more people besides my blood relations and knitting pals have been by this way. This is cool! And I got another comment yesterday, also cool. But I feel this added something to my to-do list, and my intended blog du jour is now different because I want to respond to my commenter. Mary has added a new challenge to my blog, for I think this is the first comment seeking to argue with me and with which I, in turn, will argue.

Before I do so I wish to state clearly: I do so with all due respect to, and appreciation for, the comment because ABOVE ALL my engagement at this time is motivated by a drive to see more people inquire, think, discuss, argue, think, learn, think and evolve in their understanding of our Government. I will do my utmost to address the points of the comment and not in any way insult the commenter, and I beg your pardon should I fail.

You can read the entire comment attached to yesterday's blog, but I will, in my (probably hopeless) attempt at brevity just reproduce points I'm answering.

So, from Mary:

You state that the Bloc is not part of the coalition and yet without the Bloc, the other 2 parties do not have the numbers to defeat the government.

Both are correct....

To me that suggests that the Bloc is an integral part of the coalition whether they hold ministerial positions or not.

Your inferred conclusion to the first two statement is incorrect. The Bloc is not part of the proposed coalition government. The proposed coalition, which would be the Government of Canada, would be a Government consisting of a Liberal PM, 18 Liberal Ministers, and 6 NDP ministers, and that is the extent of the entity that would be the coalition Government of Canada. The Bloc is not part of that. The proposed Coalition Government of Canada would indeed remain an effective minority government and would require the support of additional MPs to pass legislation as they still require approval of 50% +1 of the Members of Parliament. None of that makes the Bloc part of the proposed coalition Government of Canada any more than the Bloc became part of the Conservative Government of Canada when they voted in favour of any of the current Government's legislation this past year.

.... the Bloc has promised not to defeat the government for 18 months. That means that a coalition government has 18 months to do whatever it wants with no threat of being defeated and in a time of economic crisis.

Absolutely right, so true! And... so what? Mary, this is what EVERY government wants and by any stretch of common sense should seek to have. Every MAJORITY government has this implicitly and has it for good stretch longer than 18 months. Every minority government seeks this, in all kinds of legitimate ways, one of which is in fact to form a coalition government with another party. Another way a minority can do this is to not form a coalition government, but somehow entice sufficient non-party MPs to support them either entirely, or on a vote by vote basis (I'll skip all the guesses at methods by which they could do this). Another way a minority could do this is by placing members from other parties in bad positions by attaching a confidence motion to every vote whereby members must vote against their conscience or better judgement in order to avoid the unpopular consequence of triggering an election they're not prepared to fight for whatever reason.

I believe that is unconstitutional

Again, this is a conclusion that does not follow from your entirely correct statment of fact. It is not unconstitutional and believing it so does not make it so. One could believe the sky is pink if one wanted, I suppose.

The Bloc receives 86% of its funding from taxpayers' dollars and yet they only represent approximately 22% of Canadians.

OK, some numbers. But you haven't cited a source so I can check. But everyone, please carefully read and think about what Mary wrote. To the above I answer again... yes (I assume you have checked your facts and are correct) but ... so what? You state this like it represents something significant about the Bloc. But all you have stated are two unrelated numbers. The fact that the Bloc receives 86% of its funding from taxpayers dollars is fine. Under our current laws all parties receive tax-funded subsidies as was one of the points of contention that started this. The fact that this legal means of aquiring funds provides 86% of the funds for the BQ is great! It means they only have to raise 14% of their budget from private donors. It sounds like something entirely different is being inferred from that statistic, as if you think it is stating "the Bloc receives 86% of the tax revenues of Canada yet they only represent 22% of Canadians". That would be an entirely different (and, um, incorrect) statement.

I respectfully submit: 100% of Mr. Harper's salary as Prime Minister is funded from the taxpayer's dollars, but he only received 37% of the voters' support!

You are right that all MPs were legally elected. But you miss the point. If a majority of ridings had not elected Conservatives, then the Conservatives would not be the government and Mr. Harper would not be the PM.

A majority of ridings did not elect Conservatives. More ridings elected Conservatives than elected Liberals or NDP or Bloc or Independents, but it is still a minority of ridings - less than 50% +1 - that elected Conservatives. The Conservative Party leader was appointed Prime Minister by the convention that still holds that as the leader of the party with the most seats (not the majority of seats, just more than any other single party), he is the first choice. It is still required that the PM maintain the confidence of the House or be defeated, and if that happens other options are available in our model of Constitutional democracy.

Do you honestly believe Canadians vote with no preference for which party will be governing?

Oh, no, ma'am, I do not believe that and I did not say that. I completely think that most Canadians vote with a preference for a party. What I said was "we vote for the individuals who will represent us as Members of Parliament". That is factually true, for that is the object accomplished by casting our vote. I completely believe that each individual choice is highly likely to be informed by the voter's preference for a Party platform or ideology, and they will therefore cast a vote for the individual representative associated most closely with that. But we still do not vote for a Party, a Party not being an entity which can sit in the House and represent constituents, we vote for our representative I am on a crusade to make people understand that, because the fact that we misunderstand what our vote does and doesn't entitle us to is one of the roots of this issue.

You are wrong about the CTV not airing his response because I watched it on CTV and

OK, I have to stand corrected on this, however I admitted I was off into a rant and I have long since lost any love for CTV. Keep in mind, too, CTV may have aired it on your local station and not mine, possibly. I watched it for about an hour after Mr. Harper's address finished and was subjected to ETalk Daily and part of that dance show when I found Mr. Dion's address had already come and gone and been broadcast on CBC and many others. In re-watching captures of the CBC version, the station ID included a timestamp of 6:38 pm Central at one point - 7:38 pm Eastern, when I was most certainly stuck with ETalk Daily. So if CTV did broadcast it, I am disappointed that they broadcast it so much later than other stations and indeed, were behind YouTube.

And someone stupidly neglected to remove a book behind him that read "Hot Air" on the spine (

I'm sorry, but I just cannot see this. ANYone else? I've read the claims on some blogs, but this looks like viral rumour to me. I've just scrutinized 4 different uploads from 4 different sources and cannot see this. Where do you get this? Is it because I don't have BluRay? You did say the sound and video was poor, did someone mistakenly read the book located over M. Dion's right shoulder, the only one with big enough title text, which reads "365 Jours" as "Hot Air"? If true, someone point me at a verified, undoctored, picture of this.

If I am asking an opponent in argument ANYTHING in all this, I am asking that you check every statement you make or have someone else do so too. I am trying to do that, to my limits.

Thank you, again, for the time and effort in sharing your comments on my blog. I DO welcome you to do so and I appreciate the opportunity to hear and be heard.

Addendum....

Further to the "separatist" accusation. Disclosure: it is a link to the Liberal Party web site.

http://www.liberal.ca/video_e.aspx?guid=0FB6D5B1-3DD1-41E2-8EEA-E8D6811DBD00

However, it is not propaganda or scripted, M. Trudeau is answering some tough challenges from the media on the issue, with facts and informed opinion. Agree or don't with opinion, he is well composed and admirably quick thinking at this. I will be very interested to watch M. Trudeau's career progress.

An Assembly of Statements and Resources

Wow, can I first say I'm flattered to find myself quoted and referred to, even in a small way, for being a competent information source for this. I am far from an expert and know only a fraction of what there is to know about this current situation, but I am making a huge effort right now to be sure of my facts, and avoid the mudslinging and rhetoric that so many bloggers and commenters are falling to right now.

I would refer you (those of you who didn't arrive here FROM there) to Ms. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's post today, about the best citizen's primer I've seen on the reality of this situation. I have a few minor quibbles with how she phrased a few things, but she is essentially correct and very insightful, one of the key reasons I'm a fan of hers (the entertaining knitting stuff is bonus, but she is foremost an informed and insightful writer).

Second, here is a web site I've been using to check some numbers: http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/elections/results.html. Good data if you really want numbers and breakdowns, bring your own calculator.

Third, given how little most of us seem to know about Canadian Parliamentary process, the web site of the Parliament of Canada, despite having a veneer of the present Conservative party leadership, should be a valuable resource. Given that politicians, and most of the sycophantic media hackery following them, all put their spin on it, something I have found particularly interesting is The Hansard, an obscurely-named but spin-free transcript of what was actually said during debate in the house. You can read the statements of all members and decide for yourselves what is being said. Frankly, it is not hard to find our MPs telling self-serving untruths, half-truths and spun truths where it suits them. I'm finding it increasingly hard to dismiss some of these where they are doing so to launch attacks not only on other elected members, but on the Canadian public and its understanding of our democracy. (I think that more than anything is really what has galvanized me in all this).

Now, a few (mis) statements that every Canadian should be examining very closely right now, in no particular order, and not just parroting glibly to hear themselves mouth off:

That a coalition government is "undemocratic", "unconstitutional", "illegal" or any such thing. Members who have made such statements in our House of Commons have lied, in the House of Commons. To the House of Commons, and given the public records of Parliament, to the Canadian people.

That this is a "Constitutional Crisis". No, no it is not. It is a political crisis, for at least the Harper government, the Conservative Party of Canada and its members, probably for the other parties, but this is NOT a Constitutional Crisis (which would imply that one or more parties are acting to alter the nature of our government in defiance of our Constitution). Our Constitution is quite secure in all this. The options are clear. I suppose it is arguable this could become a constitutional crisis if the current Prime Minister is granted a prorogue as he is expected to request, as that would be an unprecedented response to these circumstances and outside of Constitutional convention, though not letter.

That the Coalition is a "separatist coalition" or that the Bloc is a party to the proposed Coalition (implying that the Bloc Members of Parliament would hold ministerial positions and form the Government of Canada). The Bloc has agreed to support the Coaltion, but it is a Coalition of the Liberal and NDP members of the House of Commons. And it has no separatist agenda whatsover. Nor will it support a separatist agenda - it will dissolve first, because it will flat out have broken the unity that formed it.

That, as Mr. Harper stated in his speech this past hour (I took notes) a Coalition government is a threat to Confederation. That is utter crap. The WORST POSSIBLE result of a coalition government is that it fails a confidence vote and we are back facing an election - something we will be anyway if Mr. Harper's current government fails a confidence vote and the Governor General declines to offer the chance to the Coalition. If she defers on an election and gives the coalition a chance, we will have had a chance to allow a legal and democratic Coalition government a chance to govern with a primary focus getting Canada through the current economic situation (not crisis. Note that it is also not, yet, a crisis, though it is suiting the current government and opposition to style it so).

That anything about this is "overturning" or "invalidating" the results of the October election. If you think so, you need to review my previous post about what we voted for, and what we actually elected. Every elected Member of Parliament will remain the elected Member of Parliament representing their respective ridings, unless they resign or die. That is all they were elected to. Nothing about this can overturn the result of the election because nothing about this can remove any member from their seat in the House of Commons. We did not elect the Prime Minister, we did not elect the Conservative Party of Canada, and we did not elect the Government of Canada (formed of the appointed Prime Minister and his hand-picked Cabinet). We only elected 308 Members to sit in the House of Commons, and how those 308 form the Government is not a matter of election. The fall of this particular assemblage of the Government of Canada does not overturn any election result. I have degenerated into redundancy but this point is vital.

Finally, because I received such a considered compliment and question from a web-wandering reader, I would like to respond to Heather t from yesterday's comment. She asked: "Are people annoyed that the Quebecois party is involved when they don't even want to be part of Canada? "

Heather, I need to disclose here that I feel this issue is a smokescreen being wafted around by the Prime Minister and those seeking to undermine the Coalition for political reasons. I also disclose that, due to my first statement, I'm not so deeply and recently researched into the current policies and platform of the Bloc Quebecois. I do know that the Bloc Quebecois (lets go with BQ for ease of typing) is not, in fact, part of the proposed coalition though they have agreed to support it for a set period of time. Thus, they will have no seats in a new Government of Canada (the PM and Cabinet) thus their platform and policies will not be part of the coalition's platform and policies. They do, however, need to be heeded as they can prevent the coalition from proceeding on anything by voting against its legislative proposals. Well, this is the same as they, and any other party in opposition to the sitting Government, can do now.

The BQ is a few things. They are a legal and legitimate Federal party, but have the unusual attribute of being one which will field candidates ONLY in the Province of Quebec. However, every citizen of Quebec is a citizen of Canada and has the same right as we do in any other province or territory - to elect a Member to the House of Commons. Those members sit in the House of Commons representing their constituents from their ridings. It is entirely fair for constituents in the Province of Quebec to send members to the House who have the constituents' interests in mind. The fact that the BQ won a majority of the ridings in Quebec is fine. Good job. It's no different than an independent who supports a western secession doing so. The BQ is also a party which has had, with varying degrees of priority, an agenda including the renegotiation of the relationship between the Province of Quebec and the rest of the federation which is Canada. It has been at times unclear the exact model this would take, and I'm not informed as to the particulars, currently or historically. I am pretty sure that "separatist" is a quick soundbite spun by many that is inadequate to capture the true scope of all issues. I believe, in fact, they consider themselves "sovereigntist" which is semantically different. I do know one more thing based on repeated polls, commentaries, news stories and interviews: there are lots of BQ supporters who do not wish to see Quebec wholly separate from Canada, but they support the BQ as they see it as the party which best aligns with what they see as putting Quebec first.

We last broached the issue of Quebec renegotiating its position in Confederation in 1995 with a referendum, which was voted down, and Quebec achieved no change in status though it has received many acknowledgements since, with varying degrees of substance to them, of its position as a "distinct society", culturally and politically. Stephen Harper himself did this during his first term as Prime Minister though I would need to do the homework to refresh my memory of specifics. At that time he was courting them to support his first minority government. I think now there is a feeling that he has slapped them in the face with accusatory and hostile reactions to a coalition forming which is NOT in his favour.

As to whether or not people are annoyed that they have stated support for the coalition - I do not think I can speak for the collective people. I can speak for my point of view, and I'm not in the least annoyed. The Members elected from the BQ are agreeing to a limited term of support for a coalition which does not include them, but which they feel will be better for their Members (and by extension, the constituents they represent) than is the current Harper Conservative government. They are entirely within their rights to participate in this way, and they would have been within their rights to participate in 2004 in the coalition Mr. Harper was hinting at forming at that time. They are a valid voice composed of duly elected Members of the Canadian House of Commons and they are acting appropriately in how they are participating. The perceived "annoyance" is part ignorance, part fear, and part (big part) spin on behalf of the threatened government to discredit these elected representatives and perpetuate the ignorance and fear of the less informed. I've no doubt the Conservative upper echelons are entirely annoyed, for the support of the BQ does make the coalition proposal viable as it does still require the confidence of the majority of the House. I've also no doubt many citizens of Quebec, BQ voters and not, are very annoyed at Mr. Harper for the spin doctoring and fear mongering he is doing which is misrepresenting them as a Province and electorate.

One last thing(having concluded my comments on the Bloc participation, so to all readers): I've realized I need to follow my "finally" with something of a post script and I am going to resort to ranting here just because I would like to point out to everyone that CTV NEWS BLOWS DONKEYS. They hyped up a Special Report broadcast which was to include airing of the PM's speech and then Mr. Dion's response, but apparently couldn't dare pre-empt ETalk Daily and So You Think You Can Dance to respectfully wait for the Opposition Leader's response to be properly recorded and delivered, so they dropped it. I've been sitting here subjected to CTV drivel for over an hour after they promised they would pre-empt it when they got Mr. Dion's tape only to find Mr. Dion's address come and gone and posted on-line while they returned to regularly scheduled entertainment pablum. Our media is completely complicit in promoting one-sided spin of this issue and is utterly failing the people of Canada in presenting unbiased and unhyped review of this. They are ignorantly parroting the lies, spin, and half-truths issuing from the press offices of desperate politicians and letting the information fall through the cracks. CBC, our public national broadcaster, is only just a hair less complicit in this. Sensational headlines front and centre, with reasoned commentary and factual documentation buried in the web site with less profile than ignorant, vitriolic drive-by commenters. Everyone, again, I reiterate, get off your arse, turn off the tube, and start some reading and research of the facts to inform your opinion. This is not about partisan politics any more, it is about keeping enough of a grip on our understanding of democracy to have a foundation for keeping a grip on our democracy!

Everybody, forward this to Mr. Harper!

Read it, dammit.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=FOR20081130&articleId=11226

Watch it, dammit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTmNaEqMqA8

What is going on IS democracy. Get involved and get educated, or we can lose it.

Okay, Everybody - Back To Your Civics Texts, NOW!

Alright. There are very, very interesting things happening in the Government of Canada just now. Really interesting things you should get reading about.

For starters - would everyone who knows less than I do about the processes by which Canada is governed please SHUT THE FLAK UP and go read a grade 9 Civics text. I'm going to punch the next person who says the proposal to form a Liberal-NDP Coalition Government in this country is "undemocratic". It is possibly the most democratic thing any group of Canadians has done since we last held a referendum. It's about time someone got off their complacent asses and started acting democratically.

Here are a few things you need to know, and you also might need a calculator.

Only 59.1% of eligible voters voted in the last Canadian election.

Only 37. 6% of THOSE voted to elect a representative associated with the Conservative party of Canada

That means the elected members representing the Conservative party of Canada are representing 22.2% of Canadian Citizens (for those of you who didn't get your calculator like I told you to).

In other words, that means that 77.8% of Canadians did not vote for any Conservative party representation in parliament. They voted for either the Bloc, Liberal, NDP, Green or Independent representation or they couldn't be bothered to get off their butts and vote at all. Which sucks, but does not automatically default to support for the status quo either and it is inappropriate for the leading Party to assume that.

To answer the argument I got - sure, leave out the non-voters, it is still the case that more people voted for something which was not Conservative representation than voted for it. A coalition of the elected members from other parties represents more Canadians (in popular vote and seats won) than does the minority of Conservative members.

Newsflash for Mr. Harper: 22.2% is not a majority, nor does it represent the will of the Canadian people. Newsflash #2 for Mr. Harper (and the majority of Canadians, apparently): NOBODY voted for you for Prime Minister. That's right: nobody.

You see, dear readers (I know, Mr. Harper is not among you), here in Canada, we do not vote for a Prime Minister. Fellow citizens, when we go to the polls, referenda notwithstanding, we vote for one thing and one thing only: we vote for the individuals who will represent us as Members of Parliament. That. Is. IT. We do not elect a party. We do not elect a Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers, nor, in fact, do we elect The Government.

There is nothing illegal, undemocratic, or unconstitutional or any other slanderous word I have heard thrown around, in a coalition of elected Members of Parliament from different parties moving to form the Government of Canada should the current Prime Minister not have the confidence of the serving Members of Parliament. And there is nothing illegal, undemocratic or unconstitutional about Mr. Dion, or for that matter Mr. Layton, Mr. Duceppe, the guy who runs my local coffee shop, a cab driver from Saskatoon, or myself, being made the Prime Minister of Canada.

For, you see, the Prime Minister of Canada is appointed by the Governor General of Canada, the representative of the Queen in Canada, and could be ANY citizen, elected or not.

It is by the convention of "Responsible Government", not election, that the Prime Minister is chosen from those elected as Members of Parliament and generally is the leader of the Party with the largest number of seats in the House of Commons. Only convention. There is no law which requires it. There is nothing in our constitution speaking to it. It is simply a habit, and a pragmatic one, but it can be done differently when circumstances justify, and just such circumstances have arisen in our country right now. Mr. Harper was democratically elected ONLY to serve as Member of Parliament representing those in his riding who voted for him. He was granted the appointment of Prime minister and hence the right to form the Government of Canada (which consists of the Prime Minister and Cabinet) at the invitation of the Governor General. Maintaining that under the conventions of responsible government, however, requires the support of a majority of the House of Commons, that is, most of the elected representatves of the Canadian People have to agree to support the Government of Canada, or it is not fit to be what it is titled. Since Mr. Harper's Government has lost the confidence of the House - one of the most democratic options possible is a coalition Government formed by the elected representatives who can gain that confidence.

Now we can wander into all kinds of tangents as to what led to this and what is really best, and who among the involved parties (parties, as in individual persons, not Parties as in Political Parties) has what motivation. At the moment, that is beyond the scope of my current rant, as well as beyond the present level of my (rapidly advancing, at the moment) education in Canadian Current Affairs. But please, get off your arse and stop listening to nothing but the latest soundbites from a posse of embittered and soon to be ousted politicians and their media parrots who are glibly tossing out bald lies as insults at their parliamentary colleagues, and undermining our entire democratic system in doing so.

Some quick references:

Wikipedia on the Government of Canada and the Office of Prime Minister of Canada

MapleLeafWeb on the topic of Coalition Governments of Canada (not entirely unprecedented, in fact)

Sadly, the Government of Canada web site has more to do with spinning the agenda of the current leadership than educating the voting public about our structure and processes, but there is some of it to be found there.

If nothing else works, this is a good time to look up your high school social science/civics/Canadian history teacher and find out what you slept through....

Sockin' Along

I don't know if it was stress, work, feeling tired all the time, or the drag of the US election, but I was beginning to worry I was losing my fibre mojo, my sock mojo in particular. I didn't finish a single qualifying pair for Summer of Socks, I don't think. One half-knit toe is still lurking in a corner somewhere, occasionally peeking out and glaring at me. I had my first hit of Single Sock Syndrome when I was foolish enough to knit one-sock-at-a-time, 3 projects in a row. Only two of the 5 Rockin' Sock Club socks have been knit, and the 3rd was in progress but suffered an unfortunate frogging when I messed up worse than I thought I could work my way out of. And I had (*gasp*) talked myself out of doing the October Sockdown! on Ravelry, which would have broken a perfect participation streak since Sockdown!'s inception.

Well, I'm happy to say the discovery of a tumbling-blocks stitch pattern written in Germany yanked me back from that edge. I finished my September Sockdown! with about 36 hours to spare in late October, and cast on Steffi Linden's Escher-Wurfel before the month-end starting deadline. And I don't know why it is, but knitting two socks at once rolls along so much faster.



Okay, okay - you can't see the stitch pattern, the photo's lousy and it's half-done so it's all bunchy - but proof that more than half a pair of socks has happened in a week!

And, they are not friendless. Two days after casting on the October Sockdown!, I jumped in to the November Sockdown! with the Mystery Sock by Debi. This one is doled out slowly, one clue a week. The first clue, and the first few rounds of the 2nd, are shown here. Clue one only took a couple of days of sittin' around time (eg, not much!) again proving the strange paradox of two-socks-at-once going faster, as well as the Yarn Harlot's theory (I think it was hers) that complicated colourwork also somehow goes faster. Bizarre.



So things are looking up. The frogged RSC sock will be re-started for December as the designer, Yarnissima, is the Sockdown! designer for next month. I now just have to pick up my lace mojo again and get the purple thing back on track, as it's been gathering dust since late summer.

What If The World Could Vote?

I've often lamented that the government that really has the most influence on my country is not one I can ever vote for. Like it or not, Canadians are drawn along with the US administration of the day, and it's rare that our leaders have had the balls to stand up to the US Administration - the Chretien/Martin government's refusal to engage in Iraq is one of the few proud moments when they did.

I'm obviously not the only one who feels this pressure when it comes to the American political machine steamrolling the rest of the world. Check this:

http://www.iftheworldcouldvote.com/

Go vote! And hey, I still don't have a sense that too many other people besides Mom, Sissy and Podgy read this, but if you do and you happen to be a US Citizen - GET OUT THERE AND VOTE TOMORROW. And please, look at what the rest of the world thinks of your country. Do the right thing.

Finishing Line, first time in a while...

My project ADD had really taken hold over the summer. It also didn't help that I got a couple pairs of socks going one-at-a-time, which leaves me susceptible to Single Sock Syndrome and always takes immensely longer to finish the pair than when I do two-at-once.

I took advantage of some social chat time at a friend's party to pick away while watching other people's kids goof around and chatting with friends. The result is below - the CounterPoint Scarf, made for Adam. On my head you can see the Big Green Bag, aka my Betsy hat but pre-felting.



Photo by Adam

A pair of socks is now at the toe, too.

Of course, I've put myself further behind again probably by starting more socks already and have the November Sockdown! yarn all lined up, too.

Wow, Where Did That Week Go?

Sunday night, and I'm back to work tomorrow. Holy flying wristwatches, my week off went fast.

I used to not "be able" to use all my vacation, back when I had much less of it! Couldn't think of anything to do that was more interesting than work. Now, well, a 3-day work week and a 10-month year wouldn't suit. I could actually feel that it took until about Wednesday to start decompressing (I was on a massage table at the time and my calf muscles were getting a talking to by a very aggressive therapist). Unfortunately, by about Thursday the dread of returning to work was seeping in and I was having weird nightmares of walking back in to find I was laid off because I took my vacation.

My anxiety is slightly dulled by the fact that I can count a couple of my current heap of personal projects as "done" as of today. I finsihed a quilt top, and while it's not yet on the bed, it is off to its professional quilting appointment and will come back to me with just a binding to do. I've been working on a simple but interesting scarf for Adam, and it's done and was artsy-fartsfully photographed tonight, so you'll get to see that soon. And, I just dragged out of the washer my new winter hat, which was a knit-then-felt project and is currently drying and shaping on top of a ceramic bowl on a flour cannister (because I don't have a hat form). I'm almost done one of the way-too-many socks-on-the-go and should be able to make the Sockdown! deadline for September. Finally, a trunkful of stuff made its way to Value Village this morning. There's a little more to go out to a little project a fellow Raveller is doing to warm up some of her homeless neighbours, but I haven't got that sorted yet.

Now, off to review the arms-length list of "to be started" projects I want to do! Actually, scratch that. Will leave for tomorrow. Going to bed.

Rhinebeck Bingo, Recap

Home again, after a whirlwind extended weekend trip to New York State, where I visited my University roomie and her family, and spent a couple of days - well, probably day-and-a-half - at the New York State Sheep and Wool festival, a fibre-fanatic's fantasyland of all things wooly.

Thursday night, we drove partway there, dropping off some class supplies with a Buffalo contact, and getting to somewhere in the Rochester vicinity for the night. Friday we covered the rest of the way to Peekskill, to see my friend Ev, her charming hubby and absolutely stunning daughter.

Saturday, the bunch of us drove about an hour back towards the Upper Hudson River region to Rhinebeck, and joined the herd (flock?) of fibre nuts at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds.

I should have thought to take a score sheet or organize something on Ravelry for "Rhinebeck Bingo", because there was something every which way. I saw, spoke to, bumped into, or walked past: A hundred or so Ravellers, including Casey, Jess, and Mary-Heather, Amy Singer and Gillian Moreno of Knitty and Big Girl Knits, the Yarn Harlot herself, several of my Waterloo-area neighbours, the Bosworths, several of my OHS Spinning certificate class, one of the Twist Collective promoting that 'zine, Toni from the Fold (Blue Moon's Eastern dealer), oh, and on and on...

Saturday night Adam was good enough to indulge my wish to attend the Ravelry party, which was interesting and cool to go to an included a door prize raffle of heaps of stuff. I think I'm happy to have gone, and said Hi to Casey in person, but I'm not sure it was really my sort of thing - they planned for 400 or so people and probably hit 600 within the first hour. It is really something best attended with a posse of Ravellers you already know, so you have a start on the networking. I found myself wandering the crowd with my nose at people's lapels looking for Ravel-names I recognized, and many others were doing the same. There's some disconnect still between our evolving online social lives and the real world. There's just no elegant way to walk up to someone and introduce yourself saying "I stalk you online because you say the raunchiest stuff and knit really cool lace". I did bump into and say Hi to someone I sold my Addi Turbos to, though.

Sunday was a shorter day - having scoped out the site, caught up with my other spinning class deliveries, and gotten oriented on Saturday - oh, and already bought a fleece - I could browse for a few more specific things and run. We did catch the beginning of the Punkin' Chunkin' competition, where competing school teams build catapults and launch overgrown gourds the length of a small stadium. After team 3 got hung up with technical difficulties, it got pretty boring.

We headed back to Peekskill. My friends had joined us Saturday but not for the 2nd day, and we ran home to take them out to dinner as a thanks for their putting us up for the weekend. We checked out a brew pub now operating in the town and I was impressed with both the complimentary "Brewmaster's sample" of the local beer and the food. It was an early(ish) night, as I'd stayed up chatting with my friend for hours both Friday and Saturday. Monday was our start home, after a leisurely brunch and tearful goodbye from Ev's daughter Robyn - she does not like people leaving, and tries to keep a stiff upper lip but it doesn't always work. We'll just have to visit more, I think.

Monday night we crashed somewhere around Syracuse, and had a decent dinner and uneventful evening, resuming the drive on the I90 for today. Mostly straight, flat driving between Syracuse and Buffalo there, a bit of dodging through Niagara Falls, a very disappointing lunch at an under-attended yet still under-staffed Montana's Cookhouse, and home again. So it's all over but the laundry. I have the rest of the week off but plans for most of it already. Off to tidy up and tuck myself in for now, I think.

Checking out the Neighbours

Hey, does anyone who reads this know what was up at RIM 14 today?

My workday afternoon was interrupted by a little flurry of activity and I followed the meandering coworkers (including my manager, so she couldn't really complain about me going) to the windows. Our street was blocked off, traffic out of our lot was being routed in one direction only, pedestrians were being stopped, and there were 4 fire trucks, a swarm of cop cars and internal security guys all over the building across the street and down one.

So the few of you who read this know I don't work for RIM, but do work in a company occupying tenant space in the RIM ghetto of North Waterloo. All this now resolved, but as yet unexplained fuss, was across the road at one of the newer RIM buildings. If anyone wanders by who doesn't know this area - RIM is Research In Motion, the company that makes the BlackBerry.

Anyway, a crowd of us are pressed up against the windows wondering what's going on, one of our developers, completely straight faced, shakes his head and says "Someone must've brought in an iPhone".

Let me know if you know what that was all about. Most excitement we've had since the bomb squad got called to check out a wet cardboard box at Raytheon a couple years ago.

I'm off to Rhinebeck tomorrow evening! May or may not blog from there, see you later.

Can't Sleep, bloggity bloggity....

Hey, Mom - update just for you!

Nothing much is new or exciting except that I've juuuuust about finished my first assignment - first two, really - for the OHS Spinning Certificate Level 1 class. Four small skeins of yarn are drying on a towel, ready for documentation assembly tomorrow.

Otherwise, I'm up after midnight snacking on liquorice as despite a very nice, sensible blood glucose reading of 5.6 at 11 pm or so, several hours after dinner, it decided to tank to 3.4 for no good reason whatsoever about 20 minutes ago.

I suppose while I'm up I should update the Lofty blog with some of the hand dyed yarns that have gotten done. I did have a moderately successful first craft show last weekend - sold about double what I needed to, to cover my costs. All the yarns that Shall We Knit purchased have sold as well, and Karen would like to order more, so there is potential yet for me to have at least a self-funding, if not profitable, hobby going on.

Here are some random successes. I'll load more into my online craft shop shortly.

Productively Yarnie Day (though photo-free as yet)

So I got some fun news, or it will be once I get out from under my current workload....

I've been accepted into a local small Handmade Fair, the Stitch'n'Kitsch. I'll be a "guest artist" for their Fall shows, on October 4th and December 13. I sent in a hopeful application with no real expectation, as Stitch'n'Kitsch is usually about the finished goods. It's a GREAT gift shopping day for those who want to buy local - woodwork, handmade paper and books, soaps and bathstuffs, and there is some knitwear and clothing. I did acknowledge on my application that I was offering something not usually considered a finished item, more of a supply - but I guess they took me at my word when I mentioned hand-dyed yarns were really popular and were indeed great gifts for yarn-crafty folk (who lurk in every corner of this town, it would seem!).

So! I'm frantically dyeing up my existing stock of blank yarn, tagging, labelling, and planning. I think I have enough to go with, and one more dye-project day just to be safe, by the October date. More by December. Once the current batch dries and gets set up, I'll put some photos over on the LoftyFibres page.

Hey, Yeah ... there's a Blog here

Sorry I kind of dropped this 3 days into classes that week. The remainder of Haliburton was immensely educational, intense, tiring, somewhat social, and I had time for sleep, OR time with my classmates OR blogging... any two would have been stretching it and so the electronic journalling got the cut for a bit.

Since my uneventful trip back, I feel like I've been on the go. Last week was really only 5 workdays with all spare time invested in laundry before we took off again to visit sibs-in-laws in Michigan. The spousal person's nephew-person is a charming and cheerful little boy at 7 months old. It's the first time we've really had any length of interactive time with him ourselves. All other encounters so far have involved a dozen or more ravening relatives giving the impression that they'd tear him limb from limb to get a piece of the snuggle, so I usually backed off in fear of getting a black eye from a charging great aunt.

I'm thankful this week is only 4 days. Been a relatively normal week at the "day" job but my alternate life as a fitness instructor has been in chaos for a bit and it ramped up with the coming of September. The company known as Alliance Fitness (Exclusively Womens and Family Fitness brands) imploded last year, and the remains were divided between Gym A and Gym B. Gym A is a non-entity in my life and I have spent over a year not knowing who or what that company is or what they're doing here, really. The Gym B transition at my other club is exciting and scary. I'm suddenly back to 3 classes a week and they're every week and entirely on my head to manage - this, after being ignored and forgotten by Alliance for almost 2 years and then being brought back in for the summer with a single class. I'm being reviewed/evaluated tonight to assess some of my ongoing potential for the new enterprise. As a management entity, Gym B seems to have lots to offer - they're certainly coming in with the appearance of being better organized than anything else I've seen in the fitness industry. But it's scary to feel I'm out of the loop, a "newbie" again, and might not measure up as I still have no idea really what the expectations are, and I remain a whole lot rounder in shape than your typical fitness instructor. So, this conflict has been preying on my mind this week, even as I was bailing other instructors out picking up last-minute classes that needed covering.

Hopefully I'll sleep a little better after 7 pm tonight, at least for a day until I have to show up for a low-impact class on Sunday morning. I can't complain too much - Tuesday/Friday/Sunday, each one a different class format, is actually a great workout schedule and didn't really disrupt anything else on my agenda. It's just alot to ramp up to all at once in front of a crowd of gym members who are varying degrees of disgruntled themselves given the changes in their own worlds lately.

Short Blog Today

Spun lots. Learned to ply. Suck at heavier grist/larger diameter yarns, partly because JW doesn't go slow enough - turns out my bottom ratio is not even 8:1 as documented, more like 8.8:1. Most wheels start with 3 or 5:1.

Haven't looked at the few snaps I took of college roof beams.

Had dinner with parents and a great-aunt I've never met.

Discovered the world's best buttertarts (possibly could be argued - but they're up there). They leaked all over my new tote bag, so I had some cleaning to do when I got back. Note to self (and anyone else reading) - keep buttertarts upright.

Off to bed now. More long day tomorrow.

Spinning Day 2, and a bit of ground covered

I don't think I need to bore blogland with the finer details of Woollen spinning or spinning in the grease. They are not mutually exclusive, the first is fine, the second is a bit messier and smellier than this knitter prefers to work with, but I can see the point of it in some cases. I guess I'll be doing a bit more of it in the coming months as my homework requires me to to make a project starting pretty much from the sheep. Well, I don't think I have to shear it myself but it starts after that.

I've decided I like Haliburton, though. Friendly town. Nice landscape. The College building itself is neat, a very odd structure that looks part cottage, part industrial. Here's the front entry:

There is an inscription in the door that reads "Inside these walls, the walls disappear". It's a quirky, somewhat organic structure, actually - I'll have to see if I can get more angles on it, and the interior.

I walked a total of about 9 km today - 1 in the morning when I started an aborted attempt to walk to school, a couple at lunch, and around 6, 5.2 of it at a good workout pace, after class. I went all the way around the lake, actually. Both the lunch walk and my evening walk were through parts of the Sculpture Forest, a trail on the campus dotted with sculptures of all sorts. This one caught my eye, as from the trail, it was obviously an installation but didn't look like much:



But when you walk around to the "back" side (from the trail) you realize it's the "front" side (looking onto the lake), and she is sleeping:



A little later in the trail, I glanced over my shoulder at a runoff channel reinforced with rock, and caught this little guy:


Either he's a professional gopher model, or I scared him (her?) silly, because he (she?) froze in that position for 5 minutes or more, giving me time to turn off the iPod, take out the camera, fiddle with some of the settings as it kept trying to focus on weeds in the foreground, and move closer a couple of times to boot. Just after this last snap, the little critter dove forward and disappeared into the rocks, under which I assume it has a den.

Back to the B&B with some run-of-the-mill Chinese take-out, and a bit of computer work putting up the class list, and I'm pretty much ready for bed at 9:30.

Spinning Day 1

Day #1 of the OHS Spinning Class seemed to alternate between intimidation, and being told not to be intimidated!

Well, not quite that bad. We started with a check-in, materials pick-up, "contracts" that basically were to state we would abide by the OHS guidelines, read them, and not hassle teachers with material in the book. There was a lunch social, followed by an hour talk about the program, curriculum, and requirements. We selected class treasurers, reps, and potluck coordinators - or rather, the first to volunteer were selected. I'm a class rep for "Ply 2" as we are such a big class we're divided into 2. I figured I'd put my hand up as we hadn't even gotten through lunch before I'd found a couple other Ravellers and started promoting Ravelry to non-Rav folks.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on a combination of vocabulary, terminology, wheel anatomy, and letting our course coordinator get a look at whether or not we could spin a rudimentary single. We all got a little bump of Corriedale to twist up, and the fun began right there as apparently most of us didn't know what our coordinator seemed to think were the rudiments of stripping and attenuating our roving. Those were two terms we had explained to us. I don't think anyone has actually explained "woollen" just yet, even though we were told repeatedly we were spinning woollen and this level was all about woollen and we weren't to spin worsted. Apparently, though, the definitions of woollen and worsted are for later. ????

Class was done around 5 and I headed back to my room, then out again to pick up a notebook, and find dinner. Dinner was Pickerel and chips, at a fish and chips place good enough to actually specify varieties of fish, but with some interesting manners among the staff. Both other tables in the shop wound up in arguments with the wait staff over what they had really ordered vs. what arrived at the table. On my way back, I discovered a little alley with a basement bakery dedicated to nothing but buttertarts. I guess I'll be stopping for a souvenir on the way home (I talked myself out of it tonight, then promptly had one with a decaf latte back here at the cafe).

Since our spinning gear was left at the school today, I think I may walk there tomorrow. It's quite a roundabout drive on the road, as the college campus is all the way around the lake from the B&B, however, there seem to be walking trails all mapped out that are much more direct. As long as I'm up early enough and can get everything I need into my backpack, I should be good to boot it. Monday and Tuesday I'll have to drive again both to take the rest of my equipment from the car in, and because there are after-class meetups to get to.

Here's my snap from Head Lake Park, walking home after dinner.

Haliburton Morning

So, here I am - in a free upgraded room with Wi-Fi - in Haliburton, Ontario, getting ready for breakfast and my first half-day of classes. I got out for a walk, about 4.5 km, in the morning fog. It smells like many a childhood vacation here, with a touch of Scottish Highlands (now that I know what Scottish Highlands smell like) but that may be from the rain. We had evening and overnight rain, so this morning was cool and foggy, but as I walked the sun was getting over the treeline and you could feel the fog burning away.

I'll have to put some effort into working the camera, as it's beautiful here, I saw a few potential shots while walking. However, my walk was exercise-focussed and I think trying to boot along at that pace is not necessarily compatible with camera. Given that class takes up 7 hours of the day (6 plus lunch) though, I should have a few more opportunities.

Something in the cafe downstairs smells devine, so I'm off for chow, now.

The Last Thing It Saw

This....



Is my little Sony Cybershot W80. Last year's B-day present. Now what, pray, could cause it to be cowering there, hiding beside the cat, small as she is, contemplating it's mortality?

OK, so, if I'm posting a photo of my camera, think about this for a moment. Ummm, yep. Something *else* must be taking the photo.

Here's what Sony was staring at in quaking fear. THIS year's B-day present ( a touch late, but so was last year's):


My new, slightly less little, Canon PowerShot G9. Yeah, I know, I'm spoiled.

Most of you are aware of the mad photographic skillz of he who is referred to as my Spousal Euphemism. I wouldn't presume to compete, but there are moments when I don't want to stand around looking for a tall hairy photographer. A year ago, I was content with pint-sized point-and-shoot utility. Still am, in many cases. However, enough of the spouse's learning rubs off on me that I have begun to understand some of what he studies and practices about lighting, and became particularly cognizant of it thanks to Ravelry, and my desire to better photograph my textile stuff. I had him walk me through a setup with his heavy camera ammo - remote flash, tripod, light tent and all that - and with it I can get some crazy good yarn photos. But, doing so then ties me to that equipment and being in the house to do it. It's cumbersome, and I don't want to haul around the weight he stuffs in that pack. But I wanted better lighting. So he then made the mistake of pointing me at the G9 when I started talking about the inadequacies of lighting with the little Sony.

My new buddy also has a hot-shoe flash, which can be used on or off camera, and angled up or of side for more indirect lighting with flash. I'm off to do a LOT of reading now, and a week of practicing with my spinning school in Haliburton.

Oh, here's one of my first, completely artless, fully-auto shots - singles spun up which I won't get to ply before camp:

Thunderstorms and sunsets

I am really liking today's weather. My favourable opinion is probably helped by not having been caught in any of it, as I managed to have just made it into the car or just into a building every time the heavens opened today. So I've had nice vantage points for watching and listening to it while being only slightly humidified because the windows are open.

I like thunderstorms. They're one of those things, like being away from the city lights and staring into a starry sky, or standing by the ocean, that remind me how big and awesome creation really is, and conversely, how insignificant my little problems and stresses are. Maybe it's a bit perverse to find potentially deadly natural phenomena comforting, but I do. Whether I'm worrying about my diet or global warming, somehow the smack and flash of a thunderstorm puts me a little bit back in the moment. Mother Nature, one way or another, can look after herself. Doing so might mean exterminating our pesky species some day, I suppose, if we don't smarten up, but she can. And she's pretty damned impressive to watch while doing it, too.

Crafty Little Happy Thing

OK, so I'm a bit dorky with how proud of myself I am about this, but had to share it on both blogs.

I made Monique a little add-on, so she can accessorize to match her spinning work.

Rapid Reversals

Got Blue back.



Dr. Bonnie gave up on un-clogging the feeding tube and took it out.

When I called, she told me I had to come and get Blue before she ate all the cat food in the place. Apparently she's gotten over whatever was causing her to starve herself. She's now sitting in my lap as I type, bonking me in the nose with her head.

Only thing still missing is her voice, but we can deal with that for now.

It was going so well....

... then there was the incident involving a bottle of Coke, the cat, and a syringe. I had to change my shirt 3 times before noon today.

I'm also wondering if I'm the only person ever to have to clean cat food off the bedroom ceiling. Dr. Bonnie assures me I am not.

Blue is actually doing well, and even took a couple licks of food by herself this morning, followed by about 12 mls syringed into her mouth (and ears and up her nose... but I digress). The REASON we were trying the more traditional means of eating, though, is that her food tube blocked up, big time. The Coke came into play because apparently a quick trick for dealing with that is to get some Coke into the tube, where it dissolves both cat food clots and pill remains (the tube got blocked right after I gave her the meds last night, so a precipitation of pill-powder is the suspect).

She's back at the vet, where they're waiting to see if the Coke will work after sitting in the tube for a while, or if we have to replace the tube. *sigh*.

Here's a recent Blue snap, just before all this fuss started:



And just because she's been so neglected lately, for reason of being in perfect health and generally a pretty good cat, here's my Sprout!, in fact the Senior and Ranking Feline of the house. This was the day we left for Scotland, she was posing around the living room amidst the packing chaos.



We're now trying to make sure she doesn't end up covered in paint, as half the walls are freshly painted, as are many of her favourite windowsills.

Boomerang Blue is Back, now with more Squeak!

The email late Monday night was that Blue is better, but has pancreatitis, but the consulting vet didn't charge to re-do the ultrasound, and that she hadn't barfed since Sunday morning and could go home Tuesday if that stayed the same.

Tuesday, I phoned the vet, and they said I could have her back, but Dr. Bonnie put her on the phone, and all I heard was "Eeeep! EEEEEK!" and I told her that was the wrong cat. She said nope, that was Blue, but she woke up without her voice. As such, she was ready for discharge, as she could no longer be held in "the Siamese ward" with a shamefully non-Siamese voice like that.

So, I have my Blue back, but there has been a mysterious substitution of voice circuitry and she does not sound right. She is as chatty as ever, but sounds more like Sprout! She has also had a little epiphany on opening doors, and it is now impossible to keep her out of the bedroom closet. We retrieved her 3 times last night and finally gave up, and it turns out that was fine because she slept in there all night and everyone got a full night's sleep for a change.

Her drug cocktail now includes Zantac and a mild narcotic. The vomiting and slow gastric clearance is related to the pancreatitis, I presume because the inflammation just places immense pressure on the stomach (ask me how I know!) and prevents normal outflow. The Zantac helps with reducing reflux and also with gastric mobility, and the pain meds prevent her from resisting feeding because it hurts. There was a small bit of vomiting just after I gave her the meds last night, but I think that was just a big burp that happened to be behind the last few mls of fluid, as nothing further happened, she happily had her bedtime meal, kept it down, and slept all night without yelling.

Breakfast this morning seems to have gone similarly well, except for the part where I was not allowed to get out of bed while Adam was feeding her. As long as I was lying on the bed - happy Blue, sitting still, content to have her food tubed into her. I try to get up and put on deodorant - squeaky Blue, agitated, detaching her syringe and trying to head for the closet again. It's nice to feel appreciated, but we can't have that all the time, or I'll be late for work.

Hopefully we'll find her mysteriously-vanished voice before too long.

Is this a knit blog, or what?

Ok, so, the latest Blue report was only from the clinic reception manager, who says she hasn't barfed today and is perky and social and noisy - so, acting like my normal Blue at least. So we'll stop the cat moping and get back to some run-of-the-mill blog fodder: Yes, I Still Knit!

I have broken my New Year's Resolution about only 5 WIPs/only 3 socks at one time, and I'm realizing that the resolution was probably a good idea, as I think I have this exponentially increasing chaos factor when I exceed a handful of projects on the go. One of them will be dealt with by a good frogging as I've decided my Rosedale sweater sleeves are too tight and I want non-ribbed cuffs.

In socks, we have half of one of these:



Despite not having finished the June Sockdown! sock, I started July's, so as not to fall too far behind. This is one of two "mystery" knitting projects I have on the go. I had avoided "mystery" patterns in both quilting and knitting until now, as I'm actually very fussy about what I like, in both crafts, but this one had alot of attributes I would be pretty sure I can make use of (as a gift, if not for me), so I went for it.




This is the aforementioned, as-yet-unfinished JUNE Sockdown sock - design your own. I'm totally improvising wonky cables. In Adam's size, in a yarn he picked:



Lest anyone fear I have spiralled away into chronic project abandonment, I DID get one pair finished since returning from abroad. My first Summer Of Socks achievement:




There is at least one more pair of socks on needles somewhere, but I'm not doing anything with them for a bit yet. Here's the last currently active WIP: Another mystery project, again avoided until now but I took this on based on the designers reputation and past works.



I'm not explaining this any further, you'll just have to wait until it's done (or, stalk it on Ravelry) because it'll eventually be a gift.

Blue, the Time-Share Cat

So, I had to review my own blog to watch the happy dance video a few more times. Had a visit with Mom and Dad today, during which I was procrastinating phoning the vet about Blue again.

Blue went back to Dr. Bonnie Friday, as she was vomiting more and getting less food with each feeding. Bonnie got a bit into her, probably better because she was excited, Friday night. Saturday morning revealed that part of the problem was that she was, well, constipated - and the better part of 15 minutes was taken up with relieving part of that problem, after which Bonnie reported to us that "she was like a totally different cat" than the one who came in Friday. The thinking was, she wanted to observe her for the afternoon, and we could come get her Saturday night if all stayed well.

All doesn't seem to have stayed exactly well. She didn't get much food at all (she is still being tube fed) before showing signs of nausea on Saturday afternoon. So Dr. Bonnie spend the evening doing a series of Barium x-rays to measure gastrointestinal throughput. There seem to be some inconsistencies, indicating one or more blockages, one of them at the pyloric junction where stomach meets intestine. This could be alot of things, from the mundane (she's just clogged) to the dire (cancer) and unfortunately, again, there's no way to distinguish easily.

I've been calling and looking for more feedback today, unfortunately, it's a weekend and Bonnie doesn't always spend every waking moment by the phone.

So, I am without a Blue bumping around the bedroom again, which is better for sleep but not necessarily for my anxiety level. More when I know it..... go back a day and watch the happy dance video, I think I will.

Viral Happy Dance

In a week that has vacillated between painful exhausted boredom and frantic stress, all of it sleep deprived, I must thank Podgy for pointing me to this (once I got the headspace to catch up with blog-neighbours).

Very odd. Strangely compelling. A little burst of joy in an often-sad world. Grab a tissue, it is indeed one of those so-happy-you-might-cry things.




Full story (and full quality video) can be found at http://www.wherethehellismatt.com, or by searching YouTube, but you don't really need it to enjoy.

The last little bit, and Blue

Now that I think about it, there's not much after my last entry. After Lavenham, a supermarket stock-up trip and cold dinner on Friday was followed by an evening in.

Saturday daytime was spent getting Patrice's kids up and off to whatever they were about, a bit of prep for that evening's b-day party for the youngest, Danielle, and then taking an afternoon breather to browse St. Ives and the River Great Ouse waterfront. I had been there once before, a whirlwind afternoon visit during a business trip, but it was late on a Sunday so all was closed. Patrice made the extra run to sign out the key to the Chapel on the Bridge, and we actually went in, and then out on the little balcony over the water. Another very cool bit of how old things are in the British Isles.

We browsed, shopped, and snacked a bit. I found an inexpensive silver ring, nicely made UK silverwork (the shop assured me) though they didn't know the maker. Bought some goofy little stuffed toys, nothing particularly "English" about them other than I'd never seen or heard of them, for neices and nephew. Back home to wolf down a quick dinner, and then we were off to help out by filling out a requisite number of adults for a 13th Birthday Party at a nearby Town Hall, for Danielle and 90 of her closest friends. I tended "bar" (coke and what the English call Lemonade, which is pop) and Adam was event photographer. It was a noisy, messy evening, but in generally, Patrice seems to have really great kids and their friends were all polite, and didn't do any more damage than your average gathering of 50+ persons of any age would do.

Sunday morning we had the treat of a chauffeur to Heathrow, which, while we could completely have taken the train was much more comfortable and quick, and 7 hours packed into cattle-car-class air transit. My toes are still a bit numb.

And so we were home! Monday was cleanup, laundry, and a visit to the much-recovered Blue, who is emaciated and still a bit jaundiced, but back to her noisy self and ordering Dr. Bonnie around horribly. A late-night update yesterday was that she got a full 51 mls of food in her night feeding and her hot-feeling ears had cooled, so she didn't have a fever as feared when I noticed earlier in the day.

Tonight will be another, short, visit, and I'm off to teach gym, then again at 7 am tomorrow, then a stretching seminar for walking group, and hopefully Friday we'll be bringing her home.

Tah for now. Off to finish the workday.

Home Sweet (messy) Home

Well, we are back, and the suitcases promptly barfed all over the living room, as I declined to lug mine upstairs overloaded as it was with goodies and treats best left down. I'm catching up on personal email and determinedly ignoring anything work-related until I get back there tomorrow.

Our second week was more internet-limited, as there were plenty of places to connect in London - for a fee. We declined, and spent the time exploring instead. Our short flight to London was that, very short, followed by an expensive bus jaunt to the "Terminal 5 Travelodge" which was not, as its name seemed to imply, at Terminal 5, but I guess it's price DID imply that. One night there, with one towel between us, and we were off again to mid-city and Hotel California, also budget, but not so bad for central London - right at the King's Cross tube station. It would have been a delightful bargain except for mildew hiding in the corners, as such, it was "bargain" - but traveller beware, if you are allergy-prone. The staff were friendly and the cafeteria-style breakfast was plentiful if not gourmet.

Monday involved much walking, wherein we discovered the St. Pancras Old Church (that's its name) a tiny little still-serving municipal church believed to date from at least the 15th century, surrounded by mostly obliterated gravestones. We also stumbled across a tiny little wetland preserve learning centre right in the middle of the area, too. Evening had us walking along the banks of the Thames, and hopping on a short sighseeing cruise with a sarcastically bored but funny guide who pointed out the sights as we motored from the London Eye to Tower Bridge and back. I forget at the moment what dinner was, but we wandered the vicinity of the Picadilly tube station in the evening for a bit in a fruitless quest for a shop selling Turkish Delight that I remembered from 2005.

Tuesday we also wandered a bit, in the Covent Garden/Seven Dials sections of the city, browsing and shopping for sandals that would not continue to destroy my toes, which by this day were more blister than toe despite having expensive orthotics in the best damn athletic shoes to be bought. A clearance pair of Birkenstocks took care of that, mostly. We then took off to Kew Gardens, based only on what I knew of its reputation, and managed to wander two of the huge Victorian Glass houses (green houses, but palatial ones) before they closed up around us. We took a long wander to the far gate to get out, some of the last to leave. It is a beautiful preserve, and Kew is very involved in worldwide efforts to conserve rare and endangered plants as well as to support more mundane garden conservation efforts. Dinner at a pub ("The Botanist") and then back we went on the tube, hopping off in the Picadilly Circus area again.

On Wednesday we again played stereotypical tourists, and joined the queue for the Tower of London, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Britain's prize castles/forts/historic sights. I must say, darned good thing we went Wednesday, and early, and that one of the first exhibits we stopped for was the Crown Jewels, as too much later and they were lined up snaking all through the courtyard. The day was kicked off by a short tour with one of the Beefeaters, the Yeoman Warders of the Tower, aka the Monarch's personal (and mostly, nowadays, ceremonial) bodyguards. The gentlman who hosted our walk was a retired military officer, as are all the Yeomen Warders, but an enthusiastic and good-humoured tour guide as well. We saw the (in)famous Tower Ravens get a feeding of chicken legs, visited the memorial constructed on the site of Anne Boleyn's (and others') execution, and toured many of the armoury and treasure exhibits. All in all a sight I'm glad to have seen, though I enjoyed it less I think than the Scottish castles where visitors were more free to roam - the Tower was very very structured in the paths and directions one could take and the exhibits oriented to moving crowds through quickly rather than letting visitors explore every nook.

The night before, we had located London's Comedy Store and I happened to spot that the Comedy Store Players were scheduled for an Improv evening, and Adam had expressed an interest in seeing that, so we had one of our pricier meals at a steak stop near Picadilly again, then caught the show. While it was nothing completely extraordinary to a seasoned improv comedy viewer, the group playing was quite tight and experienced and did a great job for the most part.

On Thursday, we pretty much checked out, hopped a train for Cambridge, and with a short wait at the station, my cousin Patrice picked us up on her lunch, dropped us in town for shopping and browsing, and caught back up with us at 4 to head to her place in St. Ives. That evening we had dinner and headed off to see the "prom night" arrivals for her elder daughter's prom. Her son's had been the night before. It's apparently the thing there for parents and families to attend the red carpet of arrivals, each trying to show up in a more outlandish vehicle than the others.

Patrice does not work on Fridays, so took us out to the country to a small town called Lavenham, known for being the crookedest town in the area (in England?). The architecture is all Tudor-era timber framing, much of it dating from the 1400's and some earlier. Much of it is also appearing to be collapsing, though somehow holding up. I'm sure Adam has a shot or two in his Gallery. The houses leaned and settled after building, though for the most part are solid, though not level.

More in a little bit - I'm off to visit the still-ailing but improving Blue Cat, who has been emailing us her updates via the medium of Dr. Bonnie while we've been away. She is much better, though still on a feed tube, and apparently plotting to take over the clinic.

A last few minutes in Glasgow

Ah, our Scotland time is over.

Really haven't got more pictures to load, as Adam's the photographer but does alot of post-work on them (so we won't see them until we're home). We've just spent a last afternoon out about Glasgow for a bit of a walk. Visited the eclectic Kelvingrove Museum, a gallery of a little bit of everything - natural history, ancient history, art from the last couple of centuries and currently a specialty exhibit of Harry Benson photography. A beautiful walk along the Kelvin River, Amanda's usual route to work, took us back to the apartment to line the bags up by the door and wait for our cab.

We're off to Heathrow tonight, where we're spending one night at a Travelodge, followed by 3 days and-a-bit in London, then off to Cambridge and St. Ives to see Patrice.

Tah!

Scots Blog

It is 11:30 pm Thursday in Glasgow, and the last of twilight is just fading. Beautiful here. So far North that daylight begins before 4 and ends after 11. Which is great for summer travel. It is very lush here, a temperate rainforest green everywhere. Our hosts tell us this is brief. The climate here suits me, at least so far. It rains daily, however, the remedy for that situation seems to be a) wait 10 minutes and/or b) get over the next hill. Rapidly moving microclimates are the rule, and the temperatures are running between 10 and 20 degrees, in other words, perfect for me.

Saturday and Sunday were spent getting acquainted with our West End neighbourhood, relaxing with our generous and welcoming hosts, and doing a small amount of shopping, browsing, and snacking. The major sight to see of our first weekend was the Botanic Gardens and greenhouses, including the impressive Kibble Palace.



On Monday we grabbed a train to Edinburgh, less than an hour ride, and were deposited at Waverley station in a gully between the Old Town and the New Town. Most of the day was spent in the Old Town on the Royal Mile, perusing cobbles, closes, cathedrals, and castles which are heaped layer upon layer on the old volcano core which peaks as the foundation of Edinburgh Castle. The Castle was expensive but astounding, a hilltop fortess that is at once museums, operating military barracks, medieval theme park, and an archaeology dig. I did in fact see the Honours of Scotland, the Crown Jewels of Scottish Royalty, and the fabled Stone of Destiny. We had high tea at the Queen Anne Cafe. Other Edinburgh highlights were the High Kirk Cathedral of St. Giles, the Scottish Parliament house, tagging on to the end of a tour that pointed us to the school which was the inspiration for Hogwarts, and the amazing crisscrossing of paths and closes in the old City.

My feet were killing me on Tuesday, the weather wasn't great, so we took the day to explore more of Glasgow, going "into the City" which is what most of us would call "Downtown" in a big city. Much more walking, rain, and a few quick stops at the Glagow Museum of Modern art and Merchant Square, and late afternoon saw us heading for the impressive St. Mungo's Cathedral, the Museum of Religious Life, and the Glagow Necropolis, a stark and beautiful planned Victorian Cemetery that overlooks much of the city from a great hill. 50,000 people are buried there, some 3500 with monuments and mausoleums, often ornate, and the rest in communal graves, unmarked, but reported to be meticulously recorded in the Mitchell library.

On Wednesday we rented a car, and our first road trip was west where we hopped a ferry to the Isle of Arran, known as "Scotland in Miniature" as it is bisected by the highland-lowland line, as is the whole country, and includes examples of most of the climate and terrain found on the mainland. Again stark, lush, and beautiful all at once, a highlight was tromping through fields of sheep to the Machrie Moore, a site of several neolithic stone circles, some of the monuments still standing.



Thursday was another day spent on the roads. Adam is driving and quickly got the hang of everything being on the wrong side, except for continuing to try to find the stick shift on the driver's door at times. We meandered, with several stops for the sleepy driver, to the village of Oban at the western seaside. Oban was nice, but very typically touristy, as it is the jump point for ferries to Islay, Mull, and the Inner Hebrides. Time and preparation unfortunately did not permit us a trip over, though I have decided Mull should be a destination in the future. The meander home included some foiled attempts to get to another castle, this one a lighting-blasted ruin apparently still privately owned. The ferry that used to visit is cancelled, and the road in is marked private and we weren't bold enough to tromp on in. We did find, on the way home on the far side of Loch Awe that another pasture had a hop-over built on the fence, so we got as close as we could ( a few hundred feet across the far side of the loch) braving another boggy sheep field. Adam should have photos up when we're back.

We've decided to extend the car rental another day, and go through Stirling (more castles!) and up to the more central-eastern Highlands to cover some slightly different terrain. I'd love to get as far as Loch Ness but it doesn't seem likely.

Off to snooze now, as we'll be up early.