It’s raining. It’s pouring. I’m filling out a form for Customs Canada.
It was a bleak start to the day.
Once again I’m faced with my stuff. The stuff that is too important to donate or throw away but not important enough to have with you every day. The stuff that is valuable enough to warrant the cost of storage for 12 months. The stuff that is so important it has to be shipped across the Atlantic at great expense. The stuff that is so incredibly critical it evokes a willingness to complete and submit official government customs documentation.
Wooden Boxes by Eishier
Problem is, I don’t even remember what that stuff is. I need to provide a piece count and estimated value of this very important stuff by the end of today. I think there are between 25 – 30 boxes of stuff. Within 30 – 40 days I’ll be reunited with my all-important stuff. Stuff we have no room for.
Oh, look. The rain just stopped and a few rays of sunshine started to poke through the stuffy clouds. Things are starting to look up.
Since I have no idea what’s coming, waiting for this stuff is going to be like waiting for Christmas presents from my past self.
I’m intrigued, I’m excited, I’m scared.
.
PS: Obrigadinha to Stinkypaw, daisyfae, KPX, Travelling Sue and DaddyP for their comments on Only in Canada You Say?
Pity …
I’m preparing my list of Canadian must-haves for Daddy Bravo’s holiday visit. Although I love living in a foreign country there are a few items no Canadian should live without. In my case it’s maple syrup, cheddar cheese, marshmallows (still craving Rice Krispie squares) and Red Rose tea *. For my girlfriend in Germany it’s Kraft Dinner, stain remover and twist ties. Yes, that’s right. Twist ties.
Eu sou Canadiana ~ I am Canadian
This week’s chick<8000clicks>chick theme was “I am Canadian.” I’m counting tea bags on the left while djbeat is proudly sporting her maple leaf on the right.
* For anyone who grew up in Canada you must remember those ugly figurines. An original Canadian series sold for more than $100,000! Damn, if only I had treasured that weird looking squirrel and the sad rabbit with no discernible ears …
.
PS: Obrigada to Web-Betty, Stinkypaw, daisyfae, DaddyP and surftwin for their comments on The Winter Collection. And muito muito obrigada for all the support, purchases and hearts at tangonovemberbravo!
I’m thrilled to announce the tangoNovemberbravo Winter Collection. Spurred on by a motivational boost when I sold out of these fingerless gloves, I decided to make an even better version and came up with these and these. According to Penfold they rock (I think so, too). Add some kick ass socks, felted nesting bowls, hats and legwarmers and the collection is ready.
The Winter Collection by tangoNovemberbravo
These make great gifts for the holidays and can be custom knit in another size, colour or fibre upon request – just ask!
Please make note of these holiday ordering deadlines and place your order early while stock lasts. Don’t forget to combine orders to save on shipping. Also, please allow an additional 7 – 10 days for custom orders.
- If you live in Canada - November 28th
- If you live in the United States – November 28th
- If you live in Australia or New Zealand – November 26th
- If you live in Europe - December 5th
I do offer Priority Shipping if you miss these ordering deadlines, just contact me for the applicable rates.
Happy Shopping!
.
PS: Muito obrigada to Stinkypaw, daisyfae, djbeat, St Jude, Penfold and DaddyP for their comments on Azeitona!
By Tango
|
Posted in Work
|
Tagged alpaca, bamboo, bowl, cable, cashmere, chestnet, felted, fingerless, gloves, handknit, knitting, legwarmers, merino, nesting, silk, socks, tangonovemberbravo, tweed, wool
|
Most conversations start pretty much the same around here lately. “Are you picking your olives this year?” or “Have you started picking your olives yet?” Everything else grinds to a halt as the locals scramble to pick the small green and black fruit in the few short weeks of olive picking season.
The minimum harvest accepted by the local co-op is 400 kg. Deliver as many sacks of olives as you can carry and just a few weeks later you’ll be swimming in the most amazing organic, virgin-pressed olive oil (azeite) you’ve ever tasted. Picking is slow, tedious, hard work. The economics of picking olives by hand make no sense in this day and age but that doesn’t stop the local harvest. This is truly a labour of love.
Our twelve olive trees are dripping with fat, ripe olives and I’ve picked enough for my first attempt at brine curing and marinating table olives. In five or six weeks the bitterness will be gone and (hopefully) we’ll be left with enough exquisite black olives to last the year. Friends and neighbours have agreed to help harvest the rest in exchange for a few litres of golden azeite.
Let the picking begin!
.
PS: Obrigadinha to daisyfae, Penfold and KPX for their comments and sharing their remembrance on Bygone.
Würzburg. March 16, 1945. 9:30PM.
225 Lancaster and 11 Mosquito Pathfinders released 1,127 tons of bombs in 17 minutes. Würzburg, among other places, was selected as a strategic target because it was easy for the RAF bombers to find and destroy. Because of the city’s medieval centre, it was expected to be particularly vulnerable to fire attack. By midnight Würzburg was a blazing inferno with a heat index of 1000 to 2000 degrees Celsius.
89% of the city was destroyed and 5,000 people were killed. 3,700 of the victims were women and children. My mother, tucked away safely in an underground bunker, was one of the survivors. She was five years old. Several days later she emerged from safety to find Würzburg transformed into rubble and ashes. Fifty-three days later WWII ended in Europe.
One minute of silence.
vergangen ~bygone
For me, this week’s chick<8000clicks>chick is about remembering those 3,700 who didn’t survive. I’m in the field of poppies on the left while djbeat is remembering lost letters in Vancouver on the right.
.
PS: Vielen Dank to St Jude, daisyfae, Penfold and stinkypaw for their timely comments on Stitch in Time.
… saves nine?
According the The Phrase Finder:
The Anglo Saxon work ethic is being called on here. Many English proverbs encourage immediate effort as superior to putting things off until later; for example, ‘one year’s seeds, seven year’s weeds’, ‘procrastination is the thief of time’ and ‘the early bird catches the worm‘.
Clearly the AS work ethic passed me by as I am the Queen of Procrastination. This chick<8000clicks>chick was supposed to be posted on Sunday.
A Stitch in Time ...
I’m the ticking bomba-relógio on the left while djbeat is displaying her superior mending efforts on the right.
.
PS: Muito obrigada to stinkypaw, St Jude, Daisyfae, djbeat, Penfold, surftwin, and Shannon for their comments on Our Lives … !
Not long ago I was sitting on a sunny patio in Yaletown with djbeat, swilling overpriced martinis and laughing at the foolish businessmen chasing tiny women in tiny skirts. We dined in fabulous restaurants, drank too much champagne and danced until we could dance no more. We were single, we were hilarious … and we were hot. If anyone had told me then that I would end up living with a handsome surfer in the hills of Portugal wearing sensible shoes, worrying about a nine-year-old’s taste buds and planting vegetables I would have laughed and promptly ordered another crantini.
This week we put our chick<8000clicks>chick imaginations to the test with this quote:
“Our lives teach us who we are.”
- Salman Rushdie (1947 – )
I’m the knitting vixen on the left while djbeat is teaching and nurturing her gentle boy on the right.
We’ve come a long way, baby.
.
PS: I’m undoubtedly thankful to Penfold, Emma, Daisyfae, djbeat, Stinkypaw and Somnambulist for their encouraging comments on Doubting Tango.
Every now and then something happens to trigger a feeling of doubt. The first domino falls and soon my mind is filled with needless worries and worst case scenarios.
Earlier this week I had a brief but unfortunate encounter with a most volatile woman. Her deceitful behaviour left me doubting my beliefs about the need for honesty and ethics in business. It’s quite rare that I will allow anyone to raise my blood to boiling point but it’s been difficult to shake off her hateful venom. For the first time in over fifteen years I used the “c” word.
So the dominoes keep falling. I started knitting a pair of felted slippers that have me doubting they will fit anything smaller than a pair of elephant’s feet. I doubt nature’s gratitude whenever I look at the mimosa chainsaw massacre outside our front door. I cannot help but doubt the brave wisdom of Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem and Germaine Greer whenever I see what Katie did next. And when I look at the pathetic attempts inside our mini kitchen greenhouse I doubt that I will ever have a green thumb.
But will I let one rotten apple spoil my faith in (wo)mankind?
I doubt it.
.
PS: Obrigada to Daisyfae, Penfold and Stinkypaw for their comments on From Dusk ‘Til Dawn.
This chick<8000clicks>chick challenge was a lot more difficult than either of us imagined. The days are getting shorter but trying to find a photo opportunity between dusk and dawn proved to be nearly impossible. We finally got our collective s***t together and captured twilight.
crepúsculo ~ dusk
I’m celebrating the new infrastructure at Cabril on the left* while djbeat is rushing over the Burrard Street bridge on the right.
* After sixteen weeks of patiently waiting, we finally have a new telephone pole … and a telephone!
.
PS: Muito obrigada to Surftwin for her lonely comment on Inspiration x Four.
I fell down the Etsy hole this morning. Thankfully Ma and Pa Papersurfer were here to help me back out.
quatro vezes a inspiração
- Top left ~ Wooden Skeleton Keys from porkchopshow
- Top right ~ Green Diamond Ring from stamp
- Bottom left ~ The Dreamer’s Necklace from teaflowers
- Bottom right ~ Four Seasons Series from JessicaDoyle
Woohoo! Our loverly carteiro just arrived with my latest order of really fuzzy wool. Let the knitfest begin …
.
PS: Muito obrigada to daisyfae, Stinkypaw, Surftwin and DaddyP for their comments on Fall.
