(Domingo) it's all relative...

[this post was actually composed a few days ago.  as much as i'd love to say that i  delayed publishing it for some technical reason—or, heavens forbid, because i was so very caught up in my so very busy life—but the so very honest truth is that i could not muster the enthusiasm to sort through the many photos i took that morning to select a few to accompany the post.  as penance for laziness, i may subject myself (and all 3 of my readers) to a post-a-day week... maybe. and i'm using Spanish days this time around, because... why not???]
___________________________

as i sat on the balcony (okay... as i sat on the threshold of the doorway to the balcony) clutching my cup of coffee while pulling the hooded sweatshirt tighter against my form, it occurred to me that this weather should be filling me with glee. unfortunately—like most things in life—happiness is a totally relative state of mind. waking up to near single-digit temperatures (Celsius, that is) may feel like a gift from the cosmos in March or April, but it seems woefully out of place in the middle of late July. don't get me wrong here. i despise Summer. heat i can handle, but the life-draining humidity we get in these parts tends to make me a firm dis-believer in the whole four seasons approach to life.  i vote we just make Autumn longer and give Summer the heave-ho it's been begging for all these years. of course, i may be biased in favor of any season that allows me to play with these types of woolly things...

you may note the little grey cat in the background. she refused to turn my way, despite the repeated promise of her weight in sardines, but she is still the cutest thing on the planet (not that i'm partial or anything)...

what am i working on? well, i'm totally making this one up, so i don't want to say too much, in case i get frustrated and rip it out... again.  i am enjoying the process, especially as i'm  making up the charts as i go along. talk about a challenge to my obsessive-compulsive need for symmetry and evenness in all things!  this is what it looks like, thus far three or four days ago (the purple is a temporary place-holder while i decide what kind of finish to put on the edges)...

i decided to quick-dye a few balls of yarn to add a splash of color to the palette of black, off-white, beige, and multiple shades of grey. ¿¡que bonito, no!?

facing your fears...

...and realizing that they're still frightening! this is pretty much the definition of life in my new place. i started out with a grand notion of documenting the experience with daily photographs, but that plan was abandoned by day two. what follows is a sampling of the past week and a half in our new digs.

we had our first look at this place in the middle of a winter storm. i recall it being near-impossible to open my eyes in the driving snow and ice as we made our way along the sidewalk. after the mandatory foot-stomping at the front door (to remove the accumulated snow from one's boots, and to regain some sensation in one's toes), we made our way up three flights of stairs to the top floor of the building. the view inside the apartment was instantly breathtaking. french double-doors gave way to a massive space that ended in wide glass doors and a balcony beyond that.  beyond that was an expanse of naked branches covered in picturesque lines of snow.  the rest of the apartment was equally lovely, but that first look was all it took to know we'd found our new home.

so, now that we've arrived at the warm(ish) time of year, i find myself being forced to confront my worst fears... and the fears are winning!  first and foremost, let's talk about that balcony up among the treetops.

this is the view to the north/west (i was playing with a new lens)...

and the view to the south/west...

what's important to note here is that i took these photos while standing with one foot on the balcony and the other foot firmly planted on the living room floor.  if there is ever a life-threatening situation requiring me to climb out onto the balcony to be rescued by a fireman on a long ladder, he'd better bring a tranquilizer gun and one of those harnesses they use to air-lift sedated animals from treacherous terrain.

basically, i'm surrounded by a whole lot of these...

and if you look closely between all those leaves, you'll see quite a few of these...

which brings us to the second item on the agenda of irrational fears. do you see it?

it's not enough to be living in a squirrel playground, they're nesting just a few yards from my balcony. the hollowed out section of that large branch is home to a small, furry family.  i probably could have gotten a shot of the interior, but that would have involved leaning over the railing... so... uhm... yeh... not gonna happen!

as if that's not bad enough, i woke up one morning to find a squirrel fast asleep on the windowsill outside the (new) studio. he's been napping there on a daily basis since that first frightening encounter. [note: this photo was taken through a closed window, as there was no way in hell i would allow such close contact without serious security measures in place]...

this may seem harmless (or even cute) to some, but my aversion to squirrels is pretty well documented at this point... and they all seem to have read said documents.  turns out that living eye-level with the canopy of large trees means that you end up with squirrels as neighbors. go figure!


but wait... there's more! now, while my dislike of pigeons does not quite reach phobia status, they rank pretty high on my 'could live without it' list. urban wildlife has a tendency to lack shyness, and many of the pigeons i encountered back home in NYC could be classified as enemy combatants. these two seemed to be engaged in some sort of courtship ritual on the rooftop across from my kitchen window.  i was so mesmerized by the display, i almost forgot the camera in my hand.  they're almost majestic... from a distance.

i may be busy having a minor panic attack every time i walk by a window, but the cats are loving the new place. mama kitty—whose default setting is unamused—has undergone some sort of personality transformation. for the first time in the two-and-a-half years that we've had her, i find myself using words like playful and affectionate to describe her behavior...

as for baby bear kitty, she is busy climbing, jumping, and getting into heaps of trouble, with the occasional pause on the mantelpiece for a yawn and a stretch.  that is eight pounds of fur and mischief...

in other news... it's been cold, windy, and overcast most days...

there was even something in the distance that appeared to be a failed tornado (or some sort of Death Eater warning)...

but, every now and then, the sky cleared just long enough to remind us to enjoy the view.

(the tiny, white dot is Polaris... the North Star)

i'm supposed to be dismantling the bed while i write this...

the only thing more dangerous than taking stock of your life is taking stock of your life with someone else [by which i mean, you and another person jointly engaging in stock-taking].  it all began a day or two into the new year.  my side of the conversation went a little something like this:

we should make it our New Year's resolution to declutter the apartment.  [two minutes later] clearly we have to move... [two more minutes later] ...to a different city. 

yep.  that is all it takes to plunge your entire life into the total nightmare that comes with a change of address. my favorite animator grabbed the first box he could find and set off packing the mountain of toys inspirational figurines that inhabit the in-home animation studio, and i... well i climbed under the nearest blanket and started working on a truly epic case of heartburn.  

fast-forward five and a half months, and we are moving... in less than 12 hours. after several weeks spent checking out the housing scene in Ottawa, we came to the conclusion that there really is no place like home, so we are moving a grand total of 4 blocks from our current location.  we weighed the benefits of some of the trendier neighborhoods in Montreal (the Plateau, Marché Jean-Talon area, even Monkland Village--which is just a sub-division of our own neighborhood), and realized that we really like NDG. gentrification has not (yet) robbed the neighborhood of all of its charm, so we get to enjoy a magical blend of interesting characters and (most importantly) affordable rent. [friends back home in NYC turn green with envy when i bring up that last point].

i have been doing all sorts of crafty stuff (i swear), but the last few months have been so stressful, that i've neglected to document most of it.  i vow to get back to all of that... if only to distract myself from the painting, unpacking, and furniture (re)arranging that will likely occupy the next few months. [berto... i promise you i have not abandoned your sweater]

Jeudi (Thursday)...

i'll end my week of posts with a variation on the theme of potential. it's my new favorite accessory, just in time for the first bite of winter.

this time, i used a mill-spun yarn that i dyed using my own (patent-pending) method.  the photos don't do justice to the richness of this colorway that incorporates the glow of burnished copper and brass. i call this combo antiquity.

this project exceeded all expectations. the aim was to showcase the beautiful yarn, so i stuck to simple stitches (mostly garter stitch and twisted rib stitch) and added some coconut shell buttons that resemble tiny belt buckles.

the cowl is similar to the peacock-colored one from the previous post, except this one has functional buttons.

it can be worn cuffed...

or unbuttoned for a deeper cowl to ward of the worst of winter days.

in my ongoing commitment to minimizing waste, i used up all of the 8 ounces (roughly 225 grams) in this dye lot.  well, almost all of it.

the peacock cowl is meant for my mom, but this one... this baby is all mine!

Mercredi (Wednesday)...

a quick post on the theme of potential (there's a second part to this theme, but i'll save that for tomorrow).  i dyed about 4 ounces of merino in a peacock-inspired colorway, then left it sitting in a bag for the next year. i finally got around to spinning up the fiber...

and, now (another year or so later). i've finally gotten around to making use of the yarn.

it's a simple garter stitch cowl, accented with a ribbed cuff, and finished with a few pretty buttons (the photos were taken before i sewed on the buttons).  i'll (eventually) get around to taking more pictures... one of these days.