my birthday continues

While living in Toronto, I never had the opportunity to attend the Toronto Film Festival. I just never got around to looking at the program and planning which movies I wanted to see. When I did finally got around to choosing a movie I wanted to see... I was too late, tickets were sold out.

This year, as part of my birthday celebration, the Spouse and I decided we would attend the 5th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. We were a little too late in the planning, since some of the tickets had sold out before the festival started. However, we did choose a couple of films to see this weekend.

On Friday, we viewed My Best Friend (Mon Meilleur Ami). The Spouse and I enjoyed this fun and witty French film about finding your best friend.

This morning, the Spouse and I went to see the Curse of the Golden Flower. I enjoyed Chow Yun-Fat's performance in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. So I was expecting the same sort of storyline/martial arts thing. We were a little disappointed with this film. Don't get me wrong, it was a good "blockbuster" of a movie...sort of Asian Hollywood style.

As an interesting aside, I learned a few interesting things about going to the movies on this side of the pond:

going to the movies = going to the cinema
watching a movie = watching a film
popcorn = very pricey movie snack on this side of the pond

one year later...

How many of you remember the 2006 Winter Olympics? How many of you witty knitters started a knitted project during the Opening Ceremonies? How many of you watched the events on the television and knitted your Olympic project for your country’s Olympic Team? How many of you actually completed your project on the night of the Closing Ceremonies? All of you…judging by the gold medals awarded to the witty knitters in the blogsphere… I must be the only knitter in the blogshere who took one year to complete my Olympic Challenge.

I had great enthusiastic intentions to complete a knitted project during the winter Olympics last year. I choose to knit a small bag with a cabled pattern...It should be challenging enough, not to difficult since it was a small project..I worked on my cabled bag during the Opening Ceremonies, and continued on during the first week. I was still knitting this bag during the closing ceremonies...I decided to rescue this forgotten WIP and well, one year later
I can stand proudly on the podium with my gold medal and bouquet of flowers…while I emotionally listen to our national anthem of O Canada…

yarn: Lopi
pattern: Patons

older and wiser

I celebrated my birthday yesterday.

The Spouse, StepSon and I celebrated my special day with a very nice lunch at the Mongolian Barbeque in the heart of the very eclectic and trendy area of Temple Bar.

I love the concept of this unique buffet style restaurant... select your own ingredients from the buffet and the chef cooks your meal in front of you .

Started our meal with a salad from the salad bar...

The variety of fresh veggies, meat, sauces and spices was delight on the palate...


Here was my creation…fresh veggies, sliced beef, honey & soy sauce, with some herbs and spices
Handed the bowl over to the chef…and watched while he grilled my creation



Enjoyed the meal with a bowl of rice and some wine…

Bon appetite….by the way, did I tell you it was an all you can eat buffet?

relax...knit...dinner...romance

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am having a relaxing evening..., while the Spouse is cooking a very special Valentine's dinner. I am starting a new cardigan.

the view from the street...part II

As a pedestrian on this side of the pond, I occasionally get disoriented while crossing the road. I have not quite adapted to “drive on the left hand side of the road”. My saving grace, are the painted cues at the pedestrian crossings. I just have to look down and the instructions are priinted in big letters....look left....look right....
Last Saturday, I explored another area of Dublin. I stepped off the bus and I found myself at the edge of a very busy
roundabout. I waited and waited for a break in the traffic, only to be bombarded by more cars from another direction. I finally darted across, when out of no where a single car came to a squealling halt ... made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
Thank you to my guardian angel who watches over me...and to the driver...for not losing control of your car.

The knitting perspective on this story: It was my first visit to Springwools.

the view from the street

The Spouse and I made the decision in 2003 to give up our motor vehicle and rely on the public transportation system. We are viewed as an oddity since we are members of a minority group who have made it a personal choice not to own a vehicle.
I have been incrediously asked, “How do you get around without a car?” Duhhh, well... I have two feet that get me from point A to point B and this is called walking... and as an adjunct, I use a mode of transportation called a bicycle, bus, subway, train, taxi...for travelling great distances, an airplane.
I do not wish to offend those who own and drive their automobiles. Don’t get me wrong...I enjoy getting behind wheel of a luxurious car and hearing her engine purr...
As a transit user, look at the positive aspect...
I get a great view of the city.
and when I get a seat...I can knit!!! I started this shawl last weekend on my way into the city...
The traffic in and out the city, may be a pain in the neck for those that drive and need to be somewhere in a hurry. It suits me fine, since I am able to knit and knit to my hearts content...and one week later...I have accomplished several inches of my shawl.

knit in the city

I have been a regular attendee of SnB gatherings for over a year now. . I think every witty knitter should experience a SnB at least once. My advice to the witty knitter: do not bring a lace WIP to a SnB because you will have so much fun, and not be able to concentrate on anything complicated. I usually bring a WIP that requires very little thinking, no reading a chart/pattern or no counting (unless you are very adept with a row counter).

Most recently, witty knitters, whether they are true beginners, novices, advanced and expert knitters, are coming out of the woodwork to experience knitting in the city. The first and third Saturday of each month is knitting in the city at Barnie's. A couple of hours are dedicated to knitting and chatting, as well as meeting new witty knitters. Yesterday, I met Heidi who is new to the knitting scene.

Another aspect of knit in the city, is exploring the city from a knitter’s perspective. Using my knitter’s instinct (that is reading Yahoo’s Stitch n Bitch IE discussion forum) This sign catches my eye:


I walked through the doors and found button paradise...


I spent a good hour looking at the haberdashery (a new word I learned, meaning all kinds of stuff) and came away quite satiated.

ahhhh... knitting in the city