Finally Back on Track

Hello Again. No, I didn't forget. Things have been a little crazy around here.

Griffin got his first cold. The poor little man has been sniffling and sneezing and coughing. He's mostly maintained good spirits throughout it all, but every once in a while it got the best of him. I did what I could - saline drops and snuggles, mostly. There were times when he could barely eat, and times when he could barely sleep. He's still a little sniffly today, but I'm hoping we are past the worst of it now.

Of course, now Jai has it. Jai was off on a Library Convention all weekend long, down in Yarmouth, so Mom came up to help out, and watch Griffin while I had to go to work at the post office.

Then today, I quit my job at the post office. Or, put my two weeks notice in, anyway. It was all a bit too much, too soon. I feel like I'm operating on half a brain at the best of times lately, and I didn't want to be dropping Griffin off and having him pick up every cold that goes around. Plus, the post office was really looking for someone more flexible, and I was getting tired of feeling guilty for turning down extra shifts.

Anyway, to sum it up, we had a rather long, sometimes frustrating week. Finally Saturday night, at about three in the morning, I was lying there, feeling sick myself, listening to Griffin toss and turn, wanting desperately to sleep, thinking about all the things that went wrong at the post office this week, thinking about whether or not Griffin needed me to feed him, or to change his diaper, but mostly just wanting desperately to sleep, and I was suddenly able to let it all go. I was able to let it go, and just relax into loving Griffin again. Not that I didn't love him all along, but I found myself suddenly thinking more about things that needed to get done, and less about going with the flow and embracing all the joy of having Griffin around. It was one of those moments when the universe clicks back into place. Oh, yes.

And so, I quit the Post Office. I've never just quit a job like that before. I was planning on working for Canada Post until I retired, once I finally got in. Oh well, life's funny like that sometimes.

And just as a sign that I was back on the right track, I won Sherrie's giveaway yesterday! Thanks Sherrie, it was perfect timing.

My other sign was a perfectly beautiful day Sunday. The sun shone, the air was warm, and there was that wonderful autumn smell floating around. Mom and I walked out to get more saline drops, and ended up eating slices of pizza on the baseball field bleachers. Perfectly perfect. Speaking of which...

Tugboat TIme!

Hello Again! Well, I did warn you... Tugboat Time!

What do you think?

I'm totally loving the Yudu, and have all sorts of ideas for all sorts of things I want to screenprint! I was hoping to get some more screens when we were in the city, but Michaels was closed for Thanksgiving. Anyway, my mind is racing - especially now that my interlibrary loan of the book "Lotta Prints" just arrived for me to pick up on Tuesday. It's a gorgeous book if anyone else is thinking about printing their own fabrics for whatever reason. And one last picture of my first two dolls, I promise!

Anyway, that's pretty much what I've been up to. Griffin has mostly been hanging around, looking cute, although he's still working on getting a tooth or two to actually come out, so he can try that food thing out. He's pretty curious about that. He likes watching food go into other people's mouths. That's pretty fun.

He's getting pretty good at looking at the camera. What a gorgeous baby!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! (To all our Canadian friends, at least.) We drove up to Halifax in a slightly whirlwind trip, since I had to work all day Saturday. It was great to partake in the Goulden family Buffet, though (well worth the trip.) And it turns out that Nana Mona makes cheesy potatoes JUST like my Grandma does, so I had to go back for second helpings of those, of course.

I revisited my Grandma and Grandpa dolls, making the margins a lot closer, and I'm even happier with them now. Aren't they sweet? And Griffin just loves looking at their faces.

Our boy continues to do well. He hosted a playdate for the first time this afternoon. Good times were had by all (this is Griffin and Jonah, who play together very well.) We watched Jonah while Sarah got a haircut. Right now, it's not too bad - they mostly sit and look at each other and make funny noises. When they're mobile, it will be a different story altogether.

We've been having a lot of rainy days around here lately. Although it has made for some very nice lighting effects...

And it inspired me to go out and photograph some sheep while Griffin and I waited for Jai to get off work. There's something about those woolly sheep in a field on a wet and misty day that makes my eyes happy.

Tonight there is a chance of flurries, so we have stockpiled the firewood beside the stove, and are hunkering down. Hope you all had an excellent weekend with family and friends! I know we did, and every year we have a little more to be thankful for.

Griffin Turns Five (Months)

Happy Five Month Birthday yesterday, Griffin! He's getting cuter by the day, I swear, and that bar was already set pretty darn high. Today he spent three hours getting babysat by Sarah while I had to work at the post office. You think, being a good Canadian citizen, that you are going to get a whole year to just spend with your baby, but I guess sometimes life doesn't work out that way. A job came up at Canada Post that I felt like I had to take, and they were not willing to hold it while I finished my maternity leave. It's only eight hours a week, but I really struggled with the decision whether or not to take it. In the end, it felt like something I should at least try. Anyway, he did great, just like I knew he would. It was me that had the hard time!

The Yudu Review is in!

Finally, I get to write about my Yudu!!!! Jai and I got this as an anniversary present to ourselves, from us and my parents (it was a little pricey) and I finally got a chance to try it out a couple of days ago. Basically what it is is a home-screenprinting device. And so much fun!!!

I started off with some drawings I did - one of my Grandpa in his RCMP uniform, and one of my Grandma in her nurse's uniform. The drawings were quite big, so I had to tape a couple of transparencies together, but I just had the photocopying done at the local Pharmasave.


Next, I had to apply the emulsion, and expose the screen. The emulsion comes in sheets, and I had read a few reviews that other people wrote, talking about how it took forever to dry if you overdid it with the water, so I tried to keep it just damp. The emulsion didn't stick at all, and I had to peel it off and rewet it, which then made it way too wet. It took forever to dry! As you can see from the photos, it was daylight when I began, and night time before I could use the screen. I actually went out and bought a hairdryer to speed things along. (Side note - Anita, we now own a hairdryer, so you won't have to buy another one next time you come to visit!)


FINALLY, I was ready to print, so we loaded the screen with ink and set to it. It worked so well, we had to do a happy dance, all around the room, which Griffin thought was hilarious. So I printed a bunch of them up, and then set to making them into dolls.


The whole thing began because I thought it would be nice for Griffin to have some more masculine dolls (since dolls are something I can make.) I had this great shot of my Grandpa in his RCMP uniform, and thought 'who wouldn't want an RCMP action figure doll?' Ok, maybe not a lot of people, but maybe some people would! Then I found the photo of my Grandma, and knew they had to be a set, just like in life.


Hooray!



The whole thing worked as well as I could possibly expect, especially for my first try. Up next: tugboats galore!

Waving Hello to Old Friends

Ah yes, Fall is well and truly upon us. We had a day last week when we bundled up baby (pictured) and lit a fire in the woodstove. It was lovely, like greeting an old friend.

Speaking of old friends, the rose I planted when we first arrived in Nova Scotia is blooming once again. Every year the poor little plant puts out exactly one rose on a long, spindly stem. I love this rose very much, but I'm afraid I don't show my love very well. In fact it survives every year with no help at all from me, so it always feels like something of a miracle when I see that flower finally arrive. And it smells like heaven, too.

And speaking of roses, I got this gorgeous fabric (pictured, bottom half of the bag) for $3.00/metre last time we went to the amazing fabric store in Avonport. I made up this little lined bag for Sarah, for her birthday, and cut out enough to make one for myself, too, since I thought it was so pretty! Plus I still have almost a metre left to play with.

And speaking of play (how do you like my segues?) Jai has got a bowl full of tops turned. Most of them are going out as wholesale orders, but I plan on adding a couple of sets to our Etsy store when I finally get to a shop update. Soon...very soon. I'm thinking once we have a couple more things ready, I will announce it, and do them all together. We've got some interesting things on the go, of which I will write more soon.

For now, though, I will wave goodbye! We've been trying to teach Griffin how to wave, but it's not quite working, just yet.