The runner I knit for my mother's 70th birthday, damp and spread out, partially dressed, on my dining room table. The table had all the leaves in it, and the runner stretched from end to end, and side to side. There is a wrist pin-cushion in the lower right corner, again for size comparison. The left corner shows the edging "mostly" blocked out. The rest of the runner is damp and awaiting my "smooshing out" ! 

Silk Wedding Garter!! 

Above, the on the Silk Wedding Garter circular needle (dpns were TOO short!) , below, cast onto 1.75mm dpns. Silk thread was purchased at Saftler's Fabric and Sewing supply store in Whitman, Massachusetts; this thread was intended for Japanese embroidery. The green thread is a strand of DMC Cebelia Size 30, included in the picture for size comparison. The cast-on is done on the two needles together, but as a single-needle cast-on, which makes a beautiful, smooth and even cast-on. 

This is my Beautiful, Perfect Father. Can you tell he's nearly 80?? The oak cabinet on which he is leaning was built by his father, sometime between 1915 and 1920 (my grandfather was born in 1900). This buffet was an instrumental part of the kitchen and dining room for my great-grandparents for over 35 year. In 1955, the year I was born, my great-grandfather passed away, and my grandfather disassembled the buffet, storing it in his basement. After both my grandparents passed away (they'd been married 76 1/2 years!), my dad asked me if I would like the buffet. Who could say no??? So last year he started to reconstruct the buffet. In the 50 years since it had been disassembled, some pieces had been lost. Reconstruction wasn't simply a matter of putting all the pieces together, but figuring out which pieces were missing and replacing them! Pops spent many, many hours on it, and early this year, we moved it from his house to mine. It has a matching mirror, not yet attached. This buffet is a beautiful piece of Buchanan family history; I'm very thankful to my dad for rebuilding it and very grateful to own this prize! Thanks, Daddy ... I love you! 

One of the benefits of turning 50 last January was this beautiful bouquet of flowers, sent to me at work. My Beautiful Perfect Son did this. Of course, when the admin assistant brought them to me, I promptly burst into tears. Although we're in the same country (nice after living in the states for nearly 5 years), it's still a long hike from Alberta to Vancouver Island. He's been in France for three months now, and will be returning to the Island at the end of August, after completing four months of going to a private French Immersion school (no, most Canadians do NOT speak French, but have to learn it as a second language!), working and living in Nice, on the Meditteranean coast. His blog is: www.niceeric.blogspot.com. If you're easily offended, then don't go there ... he has opinions and expresses them! (hmm, wonder where he got THAT from??? ) 

This is Mowzer, a formerly-feral kitty. Last year when I was driving truck, I watched him and his two litter-mates wobble out of a heap of pallets, their first time in the light of day, under the watchful eye of their mother. That's when I, and several other drivers, and the bodyman, started feeding the feral cats in that yard. Last September, this little guy was so enchanted with the canned salmon that he was completely unaware that my hand was hovering over the nape of his neck. He was terrified for a while, but found the litter box as soon as we brought him home. In about two days, he figured out that lying on the bed between two warm adult humans was a pretty good place to be. He is now a year old, neutered, and is strictly indoor (as all cats should be). A local animal rescue group is doing a capture/spay-neuter/vaccinate/release program of the feral cats of the Lethbridge industrial area. The life of a feral cat is very hard. I'm happy we brought this guy home (he's a wonderful pet), and to be part of the group that's doing the hard work involved in humanely reducing the feral cat population .. not through trapping and euthanizing, but through birth control. Hmmm ... a lesson that could be learned by some humans (grin). 

This is Innu (that's a capital EYE, not an L, at the beginning). The Innu are a group of people who live in Canada's north, and as Innu the dog is a purebred malamute, I thought the name was very appropriate. This picture taken at my aunt's farm, back in May. He was about 6 months old at the time. That trip was his first introduction to long car rides (more than 6 hours) and HORSES. He was very well behaved, I must say! I'm going to try to get more pics of him; his markings are perfectly symmetrical, amazingly. And yes, his wool is being saved to be spun and knit! 

This is Stephen Harper, leader of Canada's eternally confused Conservative Party. To make myself clear, let it be known that I do not, nor shall I ever, support that band of boneheads. However, my grandfather had a wonderful little ditty, and I'd like to share it now. It is called: Ode to an Idiot. The gum-chewing kid, and the cud-chewing cow, There is a difference, some how. Ahhhhh yessssss, I see it now ... It is the intelligent look on the face of the cow. Indeed, Stephen Harper needs to groom his image, however, at this time, I don't believe the technology of brain transplant is available. This fool is the Canuck version of a Bush ... right-wing and stupid as they get, prepared to take us all, kicking and screaming if necessary, back to a time that's better left in the past. I love Canadian Health Care, and many other things Canadian, too much to keep my mouth shut when someone from the shallow end of the gene pool starts talking about increasing military funding and dismantling rights (such as health care) and other benefits of being Canadian. Oh Canada, I stand on guard for thee!