Twilight

Ice cream from Canada

You'll notice that not only are the brands and flavors different but the packaging is in English and French. And while I did not get to try any of these while I was there (since my parents are on the South Beach diet), maybe next summer I will be making some special requests... like Turtles or Caramilk or Coffee Crisp.









Home made: strawberry on left, lemon buttermilk on the right.

Red Scarf 2

Completed upon my return from Canada. It is so soft! I used Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria yarn and US size 10 needles.





And my bathtub IS that clean.

More from Canada

I had a great trip with my family. The wine tour of Niagara with my Dad and my brother was a lot of fun.



My sister took me by one of my old elementary schools and I was thrilled to see how the area has improved since we were kids. My Mom kindly repaired two of my summer dresses so the frayed edges no longer show. I went running several times in cool, not at all humid weather which was a welcomed treat. Saw most of my cousins. And my brother's new apartment - it has a view of Lake Ontario!

The only thing I did not do that I really wanted to was go to Toronto but because the garbage strike has been going on since the beginning of July, I really didn't want to go to see giant piles of garbage. Damn greedy bastards... no one gets to keep their sick time until retirement!

Crystal City Twilighter 5k

The race was last night... some heavy rain right before the start but mostly sprinkles throughout. Saw some lightning on the way home! In total, there were 2040 people who finished the race.

Putting my best foot forward - lucky 888!



Me and Max before the race:



Results
#1317 Max 30:50
#1344 Nicole 31:06

Random updates

Knitting
Max ironed my first red scarf while I was away. It's been "killed" for added drape. Here's the before and after:



Also, when I got to my parents house, my Mom had a project there waiting for me. She bought some yarn (Red Heart Super Saver, ugh!) to match her couch and wanted a blanket. The only needles she had in the house were 8mm/US size 11 so I cast on as many stitches as possible and started knitting in linen stitch. It's 60 inches wide and when I left it was 15 inches long. Only 56 more to go! If only it weren't so scratchy... but I understand why she picked it. The blanket will cover her entire couch and it probably only cost $13.



Running
The weather in Canada was great for running... cool and sunny. It was nice to run somewhere new for a change. Tough coming back to the hot, humid weather of DC though. My third race is tonight. I'm running the Crystal City Twilighter 5k. Wish me luck!

Driving
My newest achievement is backing out of the garage. Doesn't sound like much right? Our garage is pretty small. When you pull in, you can't open the doors all the way or you'll hit them on the wall. Pulling out is pretty tight and Max stood in the driveway to help me. I was okay though and did just fine.

Honey, I'm home!

I got back on Wednesday night... didn't blog from Canada because I couldn't upload my pictures - plus I was pretty busy most days. It was a good trip. Got to spend a lot of time with my Dad, which was really great. My Mom had to work but we still spent some good time together, same with my sister and brother. Also saw some of my cousins and went shopping. And yet still managed to keep up with my running routine. Though there was some yummy foods too!

Lunch: Tim Horton's combo (coffee or pop, a sandwich, and a donut). I had a Canadian Maple. It has a cream filled center.



Dessert! My Mom mad a nectarine, blueberry and raspberry pie. It was good.



Icewine from the winery my brother works at. Yummy! It's very sweet.



Chinese coconut buns for breakfast. My favorite!



A Chinese feast: egg rolls, beef tongue (my favorite), baby bok choy, vermicelli noodles, roast duck, and BBQ pork.



Dim Sum with my parents, brother, sister, and her husband.



Milk in a bag. And apparently filtered milk is all the rage. I don't think we have that in DC.



Amazingly because I kept up my running, between 2-6 miles most days, I didn't really put on any weight.

Red Scarf 2 in progress

I didn't feel like carrying such a large project with me on my trip, so this is staying home.



This picture was taken in the bathtub, which proved ideal for capturing the right colours. Thanks for the tip Norma!

It's almost done... and since I don't need to block it, finishing will be much quicker than the first one.

New at Food Matters

Shrimp Spring Rolls with Curry Mayo



Blueberry Almond Bread Pudding with Whipped Cream



Both were delicious!

Heading to Canada

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving for Canada... by myself. Max has to stay home to work and study while I'm hanging out with my family. I should be able to blog while I'm there so I'll let you know if I do anything exciting. In the meantime, here's a little Canadiana to get you in the spirit...

A new red scarf

Still haven't seen the first one yet? Sorry... still need to get it under the iron. In the meantime, I started a new one with some Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria that was languishing in my stash. Using the same linen stitch pattern, it looks so completely different than all the other scarves I've made the same.

Hostas

Last weekend, a friend came down from Pennsylvania to visit. She brought with her this HUGE bag of hostas... Wish I had taken a picture as the "before" but I only have the after shot. Can you spot the new ones?



Here's some help:



That's two giant clumps of hostas and two smaller ones. I hope they all survive! Since I'm heading off to Canada on Wednesday to visit my family and Max will be home studying, the odds are against us but maybe we'll get lucky.

Thanks Liz! Our garden hasn't looked this nice since we moved in 5 years ago.

Warehouse 13

The pilot episode of Warehouse 13 aired on Tuesday July 7, which we TiVo'd and watched last night. I was mostly interested after the first hour but still not completely sure... then I saw this:



From left to right:

• Heirlooms Bridal Shoppe, 19 King Street West
• Terraware Environmental, 13 King St W
• Modella Ladies Wear, 13 King Street West, Dundas, Ontario, L9H 1T5, Canada

After that, I was avidly interested - hooked! Since my parents lived in Dundas for several year, I recognized many of the streets and shops. Even the location where their car crashed. We saved the episode so I can go back and rewatch the beginning to see if anything else is familiar.

The next episode airs on Tuesday, July 14. You can be sure that I will be watching!

Sparklers

Using the fireworks setting on my camera, I was able to capture some cool pictures of kids playing with sparklers on the 4th of July. Click on each to see more detail.

Orange scarfiness

She likes bright colours and so I was hoping that she would love this:



Her birthday was on the 3rd but we just had lunch yesterday to celebrate. She seems to really like it!