Moments of Pure Joy

I took my dog for a walk down the trail to the not-quite-frozen lake this beautiful morning. The early sun bounced off the snow in crystals that danced in my eyes as I sang old hymns at the top of my lungs in contentment.

An old man on a skidoo glides up next to us, sputtering like a northern motorcycle. Exchanging greetings in the squinting light, he promises to bring me fresh fish from the lake for my supper.

Clambering back up the trail to our house, I watch the spectrum of birds eating from the feeder outside my kitchen window as Reuben perks his ears to their chorus.

Opening the door, I am greeted by the pure tones of Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations that I left turning on the cd player. Acoustic sunshine for the soul, I'd say.

My joy is complete as I sit in the streams of spring light at the kitchen table, preparing Shakespeare for next week's lessons.

Can life be more fulfilling than that? M

Happy Easter!

We've started our spring break up here and, let me tell you, I am glad for it! That few weeks of moving and teaching mayhem was enough to exhaust me and now I'm ready to relax and enjoy some time to myself. So until April 4th, I am going to make the most of my time off.

Speaking of making the most of it, I have been working on my swatches for the first level of the Master Knitter Program from TKGA. I still need to get my questions researched and typed up and my swatches blocked, then prepare everything for shipping.

It was kind of fun, to be honest, and I'm looking forward to the next level. Although, doing research is a little hard when all but one of my knitting books are packed in boxes stored 8 hours south of here. Oh well, I hope internet references will do!

The best part about the whole set up - spring break, swatches, etc - is that I feel relaxed enough to do some more knitting. Will be picking up some knitting supplies when I head down to Saskatoon in the middle of next week. Guess I should pick up some groceries and teaching supplies while I'm there, too, but the knitting is obviously at the top of my priority list!

Hope all is well with you and yours this holiday weekend. Enjoy! M

(P.S. To Liz, I haven't received any Sockapalooza Socks yet, here nor in Swift Current. I'll be sure to post something when I do get them!)

I Know I Said . . .

that I would try to be more regular with my posting but, I swear, I don't know where the time goes.

Please bear with me as it's report card time up here and I am trying to wade my way through the mess.

Thanking you for your patience, M

Book Tag

Well, I may not have any pictures for you yet (because I'm still short on the picture upload program) but I can fill in with this kind of stuff. At least that's my excuse. I just really like to do this kind of thing so here goes.

LAST BOOK READ: A Rhinestone Button by Gail Anderson-Dargantz.

A nice story about a young farmer in southern Alberta who doesn't really fit into his community. (Raise your hand if you can relate!)

WHERE IT CAME FROM: Coles Books in one of the malls in Swift Current. (It was a steal at $5 for a hard cover.)

BOOKS READ PER YEAR: Well, probably about 50. But that all depends on whether I include academic stuff that I've been reading for my continuing education stuff. And now that I'm teaching English to high school students, it's going to jump quite a bit so instead of one a week, it's probably closer to 2 a week. This makes me very happy! :-)

FAVOURITE GENRE: I don't have a favourite genre but there are some genres that I never seem to read: romance, mystery, popular fiction like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, that kind of stuff. But never say never as sometimes I surprise myself with my reading moods.

FAVOURITE FIVE BOOKS OF ALL TIME:
1. Luna by Sharon Butala.

A lovely read about life in south-western Saskatchewan that brings tears to the eyes of anyone who has ever been homesick for our prairies. I know this because I've asked and it happens to other people, too!

2. The Fionavar Tapestry (A series of three novels) by Guy Gavriel Kay.
The books included in this series are The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road.

These are extremely hard to put down and kind of fun for Canadians because Kay is from here and the stories are fantasies that start in one of the cities in Ontario (but I suddenly can't remember if it's Ottawa or Toronto).

3. How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill.

An interesting spin on history and the monks of Ireland who hand copied bibles for distribution throughout the world after the fall of the Roman empire that almost wiped out Christianity.

4. The Farfarers by Farley Mowat.

I'm still looking for other people who have read this book as I've never met one. I enjoyed it immensely as it is another historical ride that postulates about a potential route existing between the Outer Hebrides and Newfoundland, pre-Vikings.

5. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie.

Aaahhh, now this one was like reading a painting. The imagery in it was so amazing that it is easy to imagine yourself adrift upon the tales being spun. It's actually considered juvenile fiction and a much easier read than some of Rushdie's other works. I highly recommend it.

Choosing only five was very difficult. A couple of these just happen to be on my mind of late so I could easily remember them as some of my fav reads.

I think I'm going to pass this on to Jesse at Nmblefngrs because he and I share book recommendations back and forth sometimes. I'd also like to see what's on the reading list of a few other people like Cara at Earthmother, Lisa at Btchwstix, and Thora over at River Knits Mountain Purls.

If you're interested in swiping this, please feel free. I got it from Share at Knit Addictions.

Happy reading, M

How Nerdy Are You?

Thanks to Jesse over at Nmblefngrs for this very fun link. The scary part is that I wanted to score highly on this nerd test. I think that makes me an even bigger nerd!

It came at a great time, too - just as I'm looking up universities to do my masters program. I'm such a glutton for punishment, no?

Have a great weekend, M

How much has your life changed?

Well, where to start? How about at the beginning of this very long break from blogging?

Around about the time of the last entry, I had a terribly unpleasant experience with another blogger and I just decided that I needed to take some time off to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Because I don't wish to share to many of the gory details, let's just say I won't be signing up for any more knit-alongs any time soon.

Then I decided that I really needed to put some serious energy into finding a job. Low and behold, within two weeks of my last entry, I had been interviewed and hired for a teaching position on a reserve in northern Saskatchewan. The catch was that I needed to be packed and prepared to start teaching within ten days. No easy feat!

Since then, I have relocated 8 hours north of where I was and have spent this past week teaching high school English and Art. This in itself is rather remarkable considering I am a primary teacher with a special education background. It's been an interesting challenge to prepare for but also an exhilirating experience.

So here I am, spending every night at the school (which is where the internet is available) planning and marking and not really doing a lot of knitting. Although I did finish a few projects before all of this exploded into existence, I don't have a photo program at the moment to share them with you. I'll have to talk to the computer teacher about this and see if I can't get something arranged!

I do appreciate all the kind messages I've received. Sorry to worry you all. I promise I'll try to be more diligent about posting regularly and, hopefully, my knitting will start coming together
again very soon.

Happy to be back, M