The Move of Super Mom – No Cape is Complete

The move is complete so please come visit me at Super Mom – No Cape’s new home at www.supermomnocape.com

I hope you’ll join me at Super Mom’s new home on the web.  I have several new posts in the planning stages and of course will be posting that update of our recent adventures.

Super Mom – No Cape is moving

Lots of changes have taken place over the past few months and I will write an update in the coming days.    We are moving into a new season in our lives and that means some changes here on my blog as well.   The first change I wanted to let my readers and followers, old and new, know about is that tomorrow Super Mom – No Cape will be moving to it’s own domain.

For all of you who have been kind enough to add my blog to your blog roll, you might like to update the link after I get moved.  My new address will be www.supermomnocape.com

Our son, who is  soon to be a graduate of Web Development and Internet Application will be doing all the work.    I can’t wait for you to see the new header he has designed for me!

Warm, Cozy Bed Socks

Sunday last week, I started knitting a pair of Spiral Tube Socks and I finished them yesterday afternoon.

The colour of the socks in this photo is closer to their true colour than in the second photo. The lighting in the basement room I took the photos in isn't the best.

I’m so pleased with how quickly they worked up and with the way they turned out.  I was also pleased with how easily I was able to slip back into the rhythm of knitting in the round again as it had been about a year and a half since I’d done any.

I’ve decided that these will make the perfect bed socks for nights when I can’t seem to get warm no matter how many blankets I put on the bed.  (I think it’s one of those peri-menopausal things)

If you’ve ever wanted to learn to knit in the round and but didn’t feel ready to tackle knitting mittens and figuring out how to make the thumbs or socks where you have to turn the heel, this tube sock pattern would be a great one to try.  Don’t let the spiral pattern scare you away, it’s created by a simple knit 3, purl 3 repeat completed over four rows.  Then with each subsequent repeat, the pattern shifts over one stitch to create the spiral effect.  It’s that simple.

This post has been added to Sew Darn Crafty Party Week 52 over at Sew Many Ways

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And just a quick note:  I’ve really been having trouble getting my comments on to go through on the blogs that I regularly visit.  Occasionally I’ll get a comment to post but most times not.  I’m not sure if it’s the internet connection where we’re staying that is the problem but I hope to get back to commenting again soon.

WIP Wednesday – Knitting Socks

When we moved, all my sewing machines went into storage so I can’t take part in the regular WIP (Work-in-Progress) Wednesday which is only for sewing projects.

I was able to bring my knitting, crochet and embroidery supplies with us, so I thought I’d share what I’m working on this week.

Sunday evening, I cast on the stitches for the first of a pair of knitted spiral tube socks. (clicking on link will take you to the pattern)

It took a bit to get back in the rhythm of knitting in the round, but the first sock is working up quickly and I’ve only got a couple of more inches to complete in pattern before I can start decreasing to form the toe.

For those who might be wondering, the yarn I’m using is the wonderfully soft Bernat Satin.  It’s 100% acrylic worsted weight and is machine washable and dryable.

So far the Canadian winter has been comparatively mild, but should we have a sudden cold snap, it will be great to have a pair of warm, cozy hand knit socks to wear.

Happy New Year

Today and throughout the coming year:

May you know kindness and joy.

May hope and warmth fill your heart.

Remember to always embrace the love that surrounds you.

May 2012 be your best year yet

And may you prosper in everything you do.

Packing Precious Items

Dave wasn’t taking any chances with this box of china and crystal from my side board.

 

 

Oh and don’t forget, if you haven’t already entered the Stocking Giveaway… tomorrow is the last day.

30 Years Ago

I met this man.

We must have spent five or six hours talking to each other that Saturday night and on into the wee hours of Sunday morning.   While talking we discovered that we shared the same birthday.  Dave is exactly five years older than I am.

He asked me to have supper with him on our birthdays in a week and a half’s time.   Now Dave had been drinking just a teeny bit and so I told him that if he remembered; to call me at work Monday morning and ask me again.

I told him where I worked on base.   I didn’t even tell him what extension I was at; just where I worked.   Truth to tell… I didn’t expect to hear from him because as I mentioned he’d had a few.

But first thing Monday morning, I’d barely gotten sat down at my desk when the phone rang.   It was Dave calling to remind me that we had a date for our birthdays.   I was flattered that he remembered.  And I was certainly attracted to him.   If he’d asked me out for any other day, I would have said yes, right away.

But I wasn’t sure that I wanted to spend my birthday with him.  After all… birthdays are special and what if that initial spark wasn’t there when we met again to have supper on our birthdays?   A person only turns 19 once!

So to hedge my bets, I suggested that he come along with me on a little Christmas shopping trip I had planned for Thursday evening to Camrose.   It’s about a 2 hr drive from Wainwright to Camrose and I figured in the time it took to drive there, go shopping and drive back, I’d have a much better idea who this Cpl Flemming was.

Thursday after work, I picked him up at the single men’s quarters and off we went to Camrose for late night shopping.  (Even today, in small town Alberta, Thursday evening the shops stay open until 9 pm.)

Just as there had been on the previous Saturday night, there was an ease between us that I’ve never felt with anyone else before or since.  We talked the whole way to Camrose and back.  We talked about our families, our work, our dreams for the future.  We talked politics and religion.

Dave was (and continues to be) the most fascinating person I know.    When we got back to Wainwright later that evening, I asked him where we were going for supper on our birthdays.

The years have sped by so fast and have taken us through marriage, parenthood and raising three amazing children, his army career which included two NATO peacemaking tours and his second career after retiring from the army.

We’ve lived in three different countries; Canada, Germany and the US.   We’ve travelled through almost every province and state in Canada and the US and lived in a few of them.  Even looking back over all that’s happened and all the adventures we’ve had… it doesn’t seem possible that it’s been 30 years.

What an amazing journey we are having together!  I’d do it all over again but more important I’m looking forward to all the adventures we have ahead of us.

A Mini Holiday

Friends of ours in Panama City, FL invited us to come down for a visit and since we have a big move coming up at the end of the month, we decided to take a few days before the packing begins to go down and spend a bit of time with them.

We took the scenic route down and got to see a bit of Georgia and North Florida that we hadn’t seen before.   The cotton fields were covered in white and the harvesting was in full swing.

We arrived in PC late in the afternoon and spent a lovely evening visiting and catching up.

Then on Friday, Dave and I headed down the coast to Franklin County; the area we lived in before we moved to North Georgia.

We ate lunch sitting out on the deck of the Blue Parrot where we could look out over the water.

For the live webcam from the Blue Parrot click here.

After lunch it was time to get my toes in the sand and let the waves wash over my feet.

A pod of dolphins were playing not far off shore. They are the tiny black dots on the photo.

I could have spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face and listening to the waves, but we’d promised our friends that we’d be back in time to go for drinks with friends of theirs.

Dave took this picture of St. George Lighthouse from the beach.

One last look back at the water with the sea grass in the foreground.

When we first moved to North Florida from Maui, I thought these were the ugliest palm trees I’d ever seen.

And they still are compared to the beautiful palms in Hawaii… but after not seeing a palm tree for five years… they were a welcome sight.

The monarchs are migrating and they were everywhere that day adding to the enchantment of being by the water once again.

Dave was able to photograph this one feeding.

We ended up having to head back a day early because our host was coming down with a cold and I wasn’t feeling up to par.  But it was lovely to see old friends and have some healing time at the beach.

New Option to Follow SuperMomNoCape

This is almost too embarrassing to admit but since I’ve now learned how, I can confess that until recently I had no idea how people followed other people’s blogs or how to set my blog up so that others could follow mine.

I had at one point added the RSS subscribe button in my sidebar but to be honest because it wasn’t something I personally used, I had no idea how it worked.

Then last weekend, a comment by Donna on my FNSI Result post mentioning that she wanted to follow my blog but didn’t know how prompted me to enlist the help of our son, the Web Design and Internet Applications college student, to explain to me what I needed to do to add a Follow by E-Mail option to my sidebar.

It’s over there now… in the top corner of the right-hand side bar for anyone who’d like to sign-up.

And to those who do, I will simply say Thank You!

Final Giveaway Reminder

The Giveway is Now Closed

The winners will be announced tomorrow afternoon, Sunday September 11th.

Just a quick reminder that today is the final day to enter the giveaway to win one of these handmade gift bags.

Here’s a quick recap of the rules:

1.  One comment per person on my post:

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 4 and the Giveaway

2.  I don’t do facebook or twitter and I only want you to subscribe to my blog if you choose to but if you’d like an extra entry, blog about the giveaway and come back and leave a second comment on that post for a second entry.

3.  The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world.

The giveaway will close at 11 pm Eastern DayLight Time tonight, (September 10th) at which time I will draw two names from all the comments on the above mentioned post and send one of the gift bags to each winner.    And of course, since it’s no fun giving away a gift bag without a gift inside, I will be slipping some surprizes into each bag, as well.

So far, I’ve added two fat quarters to each bag and I’ll be adding a few more small surprizes as well.

A fat quarter of the Beach Divas fabric and the co-ordinating Beach Toys fabric has been added to the gift bags.