Days 5-10

The last half of our vacation was a total blur. We arrived in Calgary Fri evening (saw a big ole moose about 30 feet from the highway) and the weekend was spent playing with the nieces, karaoke in the evenings (I kicked ass), shopping with my sister (you should've seen the sales!), eating dim sum, more shopping (I bought 5 bras), visiting friends, and even some yarn shopping!

This is my youngest niece playing on the swings at the local park:


She was having so much fun swinging on her belly. She also likes to go down slides on her belly.

At Make 1 Yarns (the website is currently MIA), I indulged in some sock yarn. On the left is a skein of Fibranatura Yummy and on the right are two skeins of Avery Allison Sport in Indigo. I'd originally bought this yarn as a birthday present for Gladys but I found something better in Kamloops.


On the drive from Calgary to Golden, we stopped in Canmore for lunch and shopping at my all-time favourite quilt store - The Sugar Pine Company. I was looking for a panel to make a quick baby girl quilt but they didn't have anything in smooth cotton. I did buy this lovely poppy pattern.


The poppies are 3D and beads and fabric paint are used to embellish the quilt top. The finished top is meant to be framed. I also purchased 2 rubber safety thimbles. I have a different version of these thimbles - without the safety lip so I can only use them for regular sewing. The new ones can be used for hand quilting. These are my favourite thimbles because they're bendy and fit snuggly on my finger. I have to cram masking tape into my metal thimbles to make them fit properly.

I was in Golden for a very short visit. We wandered downtown for a little bit and then headed out to the golf course for some cross country skiing. I didn't fall on my butt like I did the last time I was there. We saw lots of animal tracks and there was one patch where some elk had bedded down. I drove home by myself and hubby stayed a few extra days to ski Lake Louise and Kicking Horse. He originally wanted to ski Panorama as well but there's a serious lack of snow.

While I was gas-ing up and lunching in Kamloops, I decided to pay a visit to Twist of Fate Yarns. Oh my... I'd say 90% of the yarn and all of the fleece was hand dyed by the owner. What I thought would be a 15 min stop, ended up taking me over half an hour and I'm sure I didn't manage to touch everything. My favourite yarn was some yak/silk lace. I would've bought some but I didn't see a colour that I liked. Tho, I didn't leave empty handed.


On the left is a skein of heavy worsted/aran and on the right is a skein of merino/silk fingering. I bought something else, too but it's Gladys' birthday present so you can't see it until it's gifted. But it's something very special and unique and worth the wait.

I'm home now. The first thing I did when I got home was lose my door key. I put the key in the lock, turned it, and when I pulled it out the key ring had come undone. The rest of my keys hit the stoop and the door key went flying. My neighbour caught me on my hands and knees squinting under the stoop with a flashlight. I looked everywhere but I couldn't find it. I even searched the flower pots. Luckily, I have a spare key in the house.

I picked up the cats and I've spent an entire day doing laundry and putting things away. Ricky and Phoebe are glad to be home. Both of them slept with me all night. Phoebe is a little sneezy - she gets a little stressed from all the moving around. I took Ricky to the vet for more blood work. The results are still a little off plus he's not eating well so they took some more blood and it'll be tested for pancreatitis. Fingers crossed that we find out what's making him ill.

And a happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I'm hoping for a bouquet of yarn but I'll settle for some chocolate and an evening with my sweetie eating my favourite BBQ at Memphis Blues.

PS. Door key was found in the bag of yarn that I was holding in my hand when I unlocked the door. Phew!