Jananas

I’ve written about Lake Mazinaw before. I have some very strong associations between the cottage and food/beverages from when I was a child. One is Wink Soda. Another is Hawkins Cheezies (their history is especially fun to read). These are some of the best cheezies I’ve ever had. They are crisp and hard and crunchy. The aged cheddar is real and tasty and cheese-y. They taste like real food and are as well made as junk food can be.

I’ve always thought of them as being a ‘treat’, mostly because they had a limited distribution for a very long time. As such, we could only get them up around the cottage – which is an hour from Belleville, ON which is where these are produced. This made Hawkins a cottage treat. In the last few years they’ve been picked up by Shoppers Drug Mart (and now even some local 7-11′s in the Toronto area) so they are easier to get.

Today was a continuation of our recent car troubles. Our rental car was rear ended, thankfully only lightly, but it was a big damper on the day. I’m still feeling a little dazed (though not confused!). I decided to grab some cheezies to brighten my day. They make me happy and remind me of the innocence and joy of childhood.

Moreover, Hawkins is one of those companies (like Steamwhistle) because they live by the motto: do one thing and do it well. They definitely succeed.

I’m looking at adopting a doggo this winter. However once its winter the ground will be too cold/frozen to be able to put a fence in. So, if I want to adopt this winter I had to think far enough ahead to have a new fence put in this summer.  We’d taken down my back fence to get some deconstruction junk out of the backyard but this meant that the yard was no longer ‘secure’. The old fence was also 1.5 feet too far into the laneway (which is public) and I wanted to rectify that.

Gus Sinclair had done some work for my neighbours and at the recommendation, we contacted him. He was super quick to get back to me and come out for an initial consult. The estimate took about a week to get to me (by e-mail which was great). I okayed it and within two hours guys were at my house getting started. There was a bunch of rock/rubble that prevented the fence from being built right on the property line so the workmen removed that first. The next day the carpenter came out and got started building. Within a week everything was built and it looks awesome. The carpenter even spent the time to put in little wire loops on the gates so that we can open them from the other side!

First up is the new gate into the little alleyway between houses. The old one got caught and frozen shut in the winter. Sadly, I wasn’t able to replace the entire fence along this side as my neighbour is old (think 91!) and on a very limited budget. The dark brown fence is on the wobbly side, but the new gate will hold well enough to keep a dog secure in the backyard.

This is the new back fence. Its definitely improved as there’s now a gate so that we have access via the laneway out back! The lilac tree is now on the other side of the fence, which is a little strange. Sadly, the workmen trampled some of the plants out back (the big dirt stretch used to be plants). Thankfully my roommate transplanted the nicer ones so that we can easily replant. You can also see how well the thyme she planted this spring is doing – its on its way to becoming a dense groundcover.

The end result? I’m super happy with Gus’ communication and the quality of work! I’d definitely recommend him to other people and use him again myself next time I need work done at the house.

In terms of dogs, there is a bit of a gap under the lefthand side of the fence. I don’t see this being a problem as I’m a big fan of, well, big dogs. So well something small and toy could more than likely squeeze their way out, there’s no way my previous dog (an 80lb lab) would have been able to.

This is the sort of experience where I feel like I’m living an interview question. It shows forethought, an ability to plan, and responsible behaviour. And this is all so that I can adopt a dog in 5+ months…

Jason has two Seagull messenger bags and is a huge fan. The fact that they are a locally run shop full of interesting characters and talented people just makes it that much better. I’ve been thinking a lot about our upcoming travels and I wanted to have a useful, sturdy, and fun bag to take with me. He suggested that we drop by the Seagull storefront in Columbus, Ohio when we were there early in July. I ordered my bag and have been anxiously waiting for it to get here ever since.

I picked a small messenger bag. They’d suggested that I get a medium, but I know that Parkison’s Law implies that what I’ll carry will just expand to fill the space so a medium bag equates to more stuff and weight to lug around. I got a small because that way I have to be thoughtful about what I bring with me. Plus, it fits perfectly across my back.

Here’s me pulling the bag out of the box, covering my eyes so that I don’t ruin the surprise. The colour choices on this bag might have people wondering. There is method to the madness here people! To start, I went with light blue and light grey for the fabric. Reasoning? They are light colours so that in sunny skies the bag doesn’t become a heat sink and add to me melting. Speaking of sunny skies – I’ve gotten a lot of sun this summer (look at that tan!).

Look how stoked I am! Notice all the bright orange on the bag? I asked for all of the stitching, velcro, etc. to match the bright orange interior. I’m not normally a bright orange sort of person, but the bright orange interior makes a lot of senses in these bags. Why? Because it means that you can easily find things, as they don’t blend in with a dark or black background. Plus, blue and orange is fun.

I also had them add some custom emboidery. It says “Knit or Die” and has a picture of a ball of yarn with crossed knitting needles. Now Jason can more easily find me in crowds and I get to announce to the world my yarn/fibre addiction. I also added a bunch of other ‘extras’ to this bag. A ballistic bottom to make it more durable. It also makes it harder for people to cut out the bottom of the bag to steal stuff when I’m travelling. I added an organizer pocket so that there’s room to store stuff. I also added a hidden pocket so that I can store copies of important documents and some spare cash out of plain sight, again for added benefit when we’re travelling.

Look at how awesome that bright orange interior is! The very last thing I had them add was a custom pocket so that I can carry a small knitting project without it getting tangled in everything else in my bag. This pocket is nice and big, so I can easily carry an extra skein of yarn with me in addition to a small project. I’m planning on knitting socks while traveling. They are small enough to be super portable and take long enough that I won’t finish my project on the plane ride over.

I am 110% happy with this bag! The peopel at Seagull were awesome to deal with (including when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to pick it up in person and so arranged to have it shipped to Canada instead). They understood what I wanted and delivered. I’m stoked to begin using it.

As blogged about before, Jason made me a homemade yarn swift. However, a swift without a ball winder is only really half the battle. So well you no longer have to fight the yarn while winding it, you still have to wind the actual ball by hand. This week I solved that little problem by picking up a ball winder from the Knit Cafe here in Toronto. This evening while I was hard at work making pickled grapes and homemade salsa, the boys (Jason and Badur) set about playing with the swift and ball winder.

Here’s Jason putting some lovely rainbow coloured Malabrigo in their silky merino. I’m not sure what I want to make out of this, but its enough for a pair of mittens or a hat or something small.

Here’s Jason attaching the ball winder to the blanket box in my kitchen. (Yes, I have a couch and a blanket box where I should have a kitchen table. We like hanging out!).

Here’s Jason attaching the ball winder to the other end of the blanket box in order to reduce yarn tangles and snags.

Once the Malabrigo was wound, Jason and Badur moved onto some lovely dove gray cotton that I have stashed away for a rainy day. Badur’s looking a little sad because they were having trouble getting the hang of winding balls of yarn. Here’s the close up of the yarn…

See, when you wind balls of yarn you’re supposed to get lovely little flat ‘cakes’ of yarn. Not weird conical shapes… Oops. Thankfully they got better with practice.

I told you they got better with practice, with the left being their first ball and the right being their fourth. Jason really enjoyed winding yarn (hey, I was surprised too!). He even made mentioned that I might just find that he’s wound all my yarn for me while he’s been at home and bored. Not only am I dating a man who indulges my love of all things yarn by making me my very own swift for my birthday, I am also dating a man who will wind my yarn for me. Swoon!

I knit a lot, which should come as no surprise to readers and friends alike. Up until now I’ve wound all skeins of yarn by hand. While I don’t mind doing it once in a while, it can quickly become tedious on larger projects or with large skeins of sock yarn (think 500 yards!). I’d hinted to Jason that I’d like to get a swift for my birthday, as it makes winding yarn much much easier.

Jason’s much more DIY than I am (although I’m getting better, as witnessed by my bread and canning initiations this year), so he tackled making one for me. Its made out of pieces of wood and doweling, and uses a cd to turn. I’m stoked that I don’t have to wind yarn using my knees any more and that Jason took the time to research and make something as a present for me.

Sadly, with the Via strike and Jason coming up to the cottage to pick me up instead, he didn’t have time to get all the detail work/sanding done on the swift before my actual birthday. Above is a picture of him finishing up the sanding and taking advantage of the nice weather yesterday.

I wound my first ball of yarn on it last night. The yarn is actually handspun that I accidentally bought from a cast member at the Socal Ren Faire that we visited back in May. I’m using it to write up an ear flap hat pattern as I knit yet another hat.

I am lucky that I have someone in my life who cares so much! And who encourages and is understanding of my yarn addiction.