(still) my kind of holiday...

it is a long holiday weekend in most of Canada, and i have been abandoned for the whole thing. my favorite animator is off at his folks' place for a combination of celebrating his dad's birthday and helping them plant this year's vegetable garden. there also seems to be lots of grilling and much merriment with his nephews from the reports i am getting. meanwhile, i spent the day buried under a down blanket trying to weather a truly spectacular head-cold-type-thing. i blame this entirely on my mom who saw fit to pass along a familial affinity for maladies of the sinus cavity. so much for the 'unofficial start of Summer'. thanks, mom.

this holiday technically has something to do with Queen Victoria's birthday and that of the current Queen. however, most people have moved on from caring about silly things like monarchy. in fact, i am fairly certain that Quebec law prohibits even thinking about members of the British royal family. the day is dedicated to "national patriots" in said province... just do not ask which nation the patriots are meant to represent, or you might set off World War III.  the whole thing is more commonly referred to as the "May long weekend" or as "May two-four". the former refers to the holiday having been moved so that it always falls on a Monday (ensuring a long weekend), while the latter is a double entendre referring to the actual birthday of QV... and the number of cans in a case of beer!!! i kid you not. that, ladies and gentlemen, is my kind of holiday!

truth be told, we are not big on celebrating stuff around here. having long abandoned any pretense of religiosity, and having very little inclination toward flag-waving on behalf of our respective nationalities, there really is not a whole lot left over by way of holidays. the rest of them fall either into the category of 'things you do to appease small children' (like Christmas or International Beg-For-Candy Day) or 'holidays that exist only to prey on your guilt' (uhm... happy Mother's Day again, Mom). exactly. speaking of which...

i was talking to my mom last Sunday, when a quick, darting movement caught my attention. there was something colorful flittering about in the canopy of my local maple tree. do you see it?

i grabbed my camera, tucked the phone firmly against the side of my neck, and started snapping away through the double-glass doors as i did not want to scare it away.

bird identification ranks very low on my otherwise-impressive list of useless life skills, but i am inclined to think it is an Orange-crowned Warbler. (s)he lacks a true orange crown, which is common according to the description, but there is a distinct orangish blush to the top of its head... or maybe that was just shade from the maple leaves. in either case, should my identification prove to be incorrect, i am blaming it on the folks over at the National Audubon Society.

while we are on the subject of societies, there was a brief meeting last Tuesday of the Wednesday Watercolour Society. actually, we sat on the sofa and took stock of our supplies, then reorganized them in a new box, as the old box was falling to pieces. he purchased a series of instructional videos by some artist whose work he likes, so the plan is to go through them one at a time, with paintbrushes and loaded palettes in hand. his paintings will probably be on exhibit in a local museum by the end of the Summer, while mine will (still) look like the artwork of a blind chimpanzee. sigh.

i finished a few new crafty projects recently, but i will talk more about them in my next post... maybe later this week... maybe. i have been keeping busy stalking sheep online and making a nuisance of myself to people on multiple sides of the globe. that too will be explained in greater detail next time around. for now, i am gong to refill my teacup and maybe muster enough energy to work a few rounds on my current knitting project... maybe.

the yarn was repurposed from a project i started (and abandoned) early last year.

me: i think i'm gonna frog this, because i am never gonna wear it.
him:  but that's your Amy Herzog cardi.

you could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather. this coming from the man who cannot remember the security code for the main door of our building.

the yarn is (still) pink and i am (still) uneasy at the prospect of wearing such colorful things, but i am slowly getting over that fear. i must be sicker than i think. [ignore the sticker on my 'puter. it is the please-spend-more-money coupon-code-thingie that came with the latest edition of Making magazine.]

if it is (still) Sunday where you are, i hope you are having a happy Rapture Party Day, and if it is Monday... happy Sherlock Holmes Day. even if tradition dictates that you celebrate it with a large mug of cocoa and a well-worn copy of a favorite mystery, that is (still) my kind of holiday!