Yesterday my daughter-in-law, Christine, and I headed to Toronto to go to Ripley’s Aquarium with Trina, Gary, Mina and Volker. We had a good time!
Chrissy
My granddaughter loves dolls, and probably has more than she can accurately count. She decided she wanted an “American Girl,” but she is, of course, Canadian though she lives in California. So her Mom made a deal with her: if she sold some of her current toys she could use the money to buy a Maplelea doll. (A good deal, what with the low loonie!)
Consequently, Mina ordered (and Grandma received – it was shipped to my house) a Maplelea friend. Mina decided her name should be Chrissy Burkard Gehiere Bacon, because of Aunt Chrissy and “I likes bacon.” But when Uncle Simon complained that she didn’t name her doll after him, she added “Uncle Simmie” to the end!
After I picked the doll up from the post office Mina allowed me to unbox her. Definitely a pretty doll, but not dressed for winter. So I found some suitable yarn and made her an outfit. I think she is pretty well off now. (Mitt pattern follows)
Chrissy’s Mitts
Start at fingertips and worked in the round toward wrist. I used Caron’s Simply Soft with 4mm crochet hook. If using different yarn and hook adjust accordingly.
Chain 5
Round 1: Sc in second chain from hook, and in next 2 chains, 3 sc in end, working up the opposite side, sc in next 2 chains, 2 sc in beginning chain. (12 stitches)
Round 2 – 6: Sc in each stitch (12 stitches); chain 3
Round 7- 9: Sc in each stitch, including the 3 chains (15 stitches)
Round 10: Sc, one decrease, 5 sc, one decrease, 5 sc to end. Join.
Thumb:
Row 1: Joint yarn. Sc in each chain and in the body of the mitt. join
Row 2: Sc in each stitch, end. Use end to close the thumb.
(These mitts are not very easy to put on due to the style of the doll’s hands.)
A Stump
Back in December 2013 we had an ice storm that brought down a lot of the Russian Olive trees that line on side of our street. 
After City workers cleaned up the fallen trees there were quite a few stumps left behind.
In August 2015 I noticed some marigolds growing amid the litter in one such stump:
Then a month later there were zinnias blooming as well:
Now, when I walked down the street I would look for the stump, to see how the flowers were doing.
The end of October and fallen leaves add more colour to this tree stump, the flowers undeterred by the cold:
Notice that someone has removed the litter out; wasn’t me.
Finally, in the third week of November we have our first significant snowfall. Looks like the flowers are finished for this year:
And then, just days later, the City trucks were back. The stumps have all been removed. I wonder what will happen with the marigold and zinnia seeds. Will they grow some place else? Who put them there in the first place?
A Ramble in the Woods
Yesterday morning I awoke from a peculiar dream a felt rather disoriented. I feed the dog and myself, but as the morning went on I felt more and more like I just couldn’t face anyone today. I had a deep need to take Billie and go away, just the two of us.
I battled with this, thinking, no, I must go to work; get over yourself, Barbara. But another voice said, when you are physically ill you stay home, you take care of yourself. Why can’t you do that when you are emotionally/mentally ill? Why is there such a stigma attached to that?
And so I took the day off. I drove to the Crown Land just west of Kitchener and Billie and I tramped through the woods for 2 hours, covering over 5 kilometers of trails. The wind blew more strongly near the edges of the woods, and less when we were in dense pine forests. Billie had a wonderful time smelling this and that, here and there, only running into difficulties when we met other walkers with large dogs off-leash. (Billie is very frightened of large dogs and thus gets very aggressive; they usually respond in kind.)
Here are pictures from my morning in the woods:
Stranger Danger
This afternoon Billie and I went for a walk after 3:00 pm. I wanted to check if the stuffed animals were still at the end of the street (they were) and to let Billie run. After she had a good run we headed into Concordia Park.
When we crossed the bridge we met two young girls. They asked to pet my dog, so I stopped. They then told me that two bigger girls had been hassling them. In fact, a third bigger child had joined the first two and were they were headed in our direction. Emma and Abby were scared. They asked if I would walk with them. So I did.
I misunderstood where they lived — they didn’t want to tell me exactly, because I was a stranger. They’d been warned about “stranger danger” but decided that I was OK. Anyway I led them back toward the west end of Avalon, the opposite direction from home, as it turned out. The bigger kids followed us for awhile, but then disappeared. Emma wanted to play in the park but Abby wanted to go home. They asked if I could stay with them in the park, but just then Emma’s iPhone timer sounded — it was time for them to go home. They still wanted me to stay with them (“can we pretend you are our grandma?”), so I walked back with them to Stirling Ave. Then they felt safe to go the rest of the way home.
I thought it was interesting that “stranger danger” has been ingrained when kids are more likely to be hurt by someone they know. [How do you teach a child to be safe within their own family/environment?] I wonder why they decided they could trust me. [How do you know whom to trust? Is a person with a pet more likely to be kind?] I also found that they loved to scare themselves. [Because of this was there really anything to fear from these bigger kids?] They told me about many things they’d been scared of in the last 24 hours, from sleeping in the basement (“I thought I was going to die”) to smelling smoke and decided someone was burning a body!
I commend their parents for giving these ten-year-olds the freedom to explore their environment — they obviously were not well acquainted with the area, especially the forest and park. And they did have a phone, I’m sure they could have called for help if they really needed it. I’m glad they were able to approach a stranger and give voice to both their discomfort and a solution and ask for my help.
O God, protect those two very sweet girls!