The Lasts

last story time

last sunset

last morning

(saying good-bye to the sea in various states of undress)

About Fire

Because of Kieran's seizures, we get him to bed early ever night. Sleep is so important to any child with neurological issues. Even my Johns Hopkins guide to seizures and epilepsy in childhood states that rest and a good diet can't be underestimated in seizure prevention. As those who are close to us know, we're like Cinderella come 6:30pm. No late dinners for us. We always have to leave the ball. But the sad thing is that our boy doesn't get to experience things like sunsets and campfires.

Yesterday he napped from 3:30 to 4:30pm. Ugh! So we thought we'd keep him up for a fire--on the hottest day we've had so far. Anyway, he helped his dad start the fire and even roasted a wiener that he wouldn't eat.

He helped build the little log cabin and was fascinated that the fire would "eat" any of the things he threw in.

The older cousins have learned the power of a magnifying glass to start little fires. I remember the joy that this skill provided when I was a child. Thank goodness they haven't discovered the sadistic pleasure of ant-burning yet.

A Bit of History

I always make fun of my husband for being cheap, but I secretly love (usually) how he can find uses for abandoned things. All of the doors in the cottage came from an old house on his parents' property. We spent days stripping and finishing them. I think it was worth it. The only problem is, we somehow managed to put one on upside down. The floor in this room is also made from old barn boards.

I'm sitting here looking at the beam fro Mike's Nanny's barn, thinking it's so cool to have that piece of history here in the cottage. My goodness, the floors look deceptively clean...

The Beach

Is it possible to grow tired of the beach?

NOPE

Belfast Mini-Mills

Knitting is a relatively new hobby for me. I used to do pottery but it takes me out of the house so much. Knitting is completely portable, it's social (eg. I can visit while I knit), and I can make gifts for people again, whether they like it or not.





I just drew my brother-in-law's name for Christmas. He's probably having nightmares about homemade sweater vests with matching neckties.





My husband is skeptical. I tend to get really enthusiastic about things (yoga, pottery, writing, kayaking...and now knitting). I still don't know how, but I convinced him to head up to Belfast Mini-Mills to go yarn shopping. We picked up Kieran's Grammy...and then our brother-in-law and all the cousins decided to come. In all, we had two women, two men, and five boys--maybe that's not the expected demographic for a knitting field trip but it worked out great. You see, with knitting comes farm animals.

Belfast Mini-Mills sells yarn that they produce from start to finish: cleaning, spinning, dyeing. They also have a little tea house that we didn't know about until we arrived. Oh well, we went to the drive-in restaurant in Montague...chocolate milkshake...mmmmm...

Are ewe feeling sheepish?

Such a "Lama Queen"

so many colours

Speaking of knitting, I just finished this little project called "Fresh Picked Baby Hat." I used Sublime Soy Cotton DK that I bought at Picket Fences in Brockville. Again, it's a baby hat and a four year old is wearing it...my tension is a little loose.

http://www.minimills.net/

Belfast Mini-Mills

1820 Garfield Road, RR#1

PEI, C0A 1A0

902-659-2202

Six Years

Happy Anniversary, Love!

Winning Some

I never did seal the grout on this table, which means it's vulnerable to stains and such. I made the tiles when I was taking pottery at the college and they each represent a part of PEI. The tree is an image of the crooked tree that hung out over our bank--it's more of a memorial now since the tree was cut down...without my consultation. That's another story.



The centre mosaic is obviously the sun and then, fish. I painted the wood ivory and then distressed it with a palm sander. The point is, I love this table. I'm proud of it. It was a lot of work but I took something that was a little rough and gave it a new meaning.

I must admit that I was actually admiring it this morning while I sat on the couch knitting and drinking coffee. My latest gossip magazine (guilty pleasure) was waiting to be read and my laptop had yet to be turned on. The happy sounds of Kieran's play narrative filled the room.



Somewhere in my happy daydream/admiration, I heard Kieran call me. I guess I wasn't prompt enough in my answer because, before I realized his intent, he marched over and dumped my coffee all over the table.



I managed to save my knitting and laptop. The magazine was ruined and the rug got stained. With the help of my little mischief-maker, the table was salvaged after a good scrub. My lovely, relaxing morning was turned upside down in an instant and I looked at my son wondering what exactly makes him tick to do such a thing. I remember thinking that it was going to be a bad day. And I wondered if my beautiful child was a sociopath. Well, not really. But I was darn mad.

Well, this is how the day ended. We all headed to the beach for a walk after supper and Kieran chased his father's shadow the whole way. It wasn't a bad day after all. And my table is just fine...even if the rug isn't.

You win some...you know the rest...