Our new scarfs!

In front of the best Vietnamese restaurant in Ottawa

At lunch today, the exceptionally generous Kathy and Roy gave us fabulous Christmas presents from Lively Loops. I got a Ravenclaw Inspired Unisex Knitted Infinity Scarf and Manon got a John Snow Inspired Unisex Knitted Button Up Scarf.

You may notice that the shop owner of Lively Loops has the same last name as Roy. This is apparently not a coincidence. I suspect it's nice for Roy to have a niece who knits things inspired by George R.R. Martin characters.

You can get your own scarf or other inspired wearable items by clicking on Lively Loops and ordering.

Working at home today

Where are the budget mittens?

Joe Fresh gloves at Loblaws

In the winter, I wear mittens. I do not wear gloves. Mittens keep my hands warm and gloves don't.

Also in the winter, I lose mittens. And toques. On Thursday morning, I lost my toque and a pair of mittens when I got off the bus.

So since then, I have been looking for low-price mittens and toques. I have been to the Bay, Winners, Sports Experts, Giant Tiger, Dollarama, Value Village, Loblaws and several other stores.

I did find some low-price hats. The best find was a $2.50 toque at Dollarama yesterday. Today, it occurred to me I should have bought five or six of them. I'll probably need them all eventually, and in the meantime, I'd have them on hand if I acquire a group of henchmen.

None of these places had low-price mittens. Only gloves. What is up with that?

Learning something new: Beginner Stained Glass

Today, Manon and I had a good time, learned how to make stained glass panels, and came out of it with two pieces we'll be happy to hang in the window.

Ryan demonstrating soldering

If you're thinking of taking a beginner stained glass course, we would strongly recommend going to Northern Art Glass on Gladstone Avenue. Our teacher, Ryan, did an excellent job of telling us what we needed to learn when we needed to learn it and being really sweet when we screwed up.

Mind you, screwing up is not such a big deal with stained glass. It's more forgiving than you would expect.

"Remember," I kept saying, "perfectionism is the enemy of art."

My Blue Skies Photos and a tip for parents.

Had a fine time at Blue Skies (until I got sick, but you don't need to hear about that). And I picked up a tip for parents of active children.

Say you've got a child who loves to race around and won't stop no matter what you say. This might not work on every kid and it might not work all the time, but try pointing a camera at them.

These little guys were racing around like maniacs. I thought I might get some great action shots of them, but as soon as they spotted me with my camera they came to an abrupt halt and gave me big smiles until I put the camera down. Even then they watched me to see if I'd pull it out again.

My other shots of Blue Skies are on Flickr. They include a series of Magoo doing his shower demonstration (an annual highlight for me - especially as it's followed by his sweet Safari Suit song), and De Temps Antan at their morning workshop.

Guess what we did this evening...

That's right. Manon and I went for our wedding present balloon ride.


It was worth the wait.

The Unofficial Blue Skies Music Festival Lineup 2013

2014 Update: There is now an official Blue Skies website with a performers lineup!

Because a CBC radio programmer asked, and I know times are tough at the CBC and they can't afford researchers, here is a list of performers found through Google who say they’ll be at Blue Skies this year:

• Ferron
• Trout Fishing in America
• David Ross Macdonald
• The Funky Mamas
• Ken Whitely, the Levy Sisters & Ben Whiteley
• Evalyn Parry’s Spin (with Anne Lindsay)
• Roger James
• Eve Goldberg (Leading the Ukulele Orchestra)
• The Brights
• Alyssa Wright
• Don Bray
• Suzie Vinnick
• De Temps Antan
• Kate Weekes with Keitha Clark and Grant Simpson
• Ian Bell
• Magoo (his website does not actually say he’ll be there, but Wendell Ferguson says he will)
• Wendell Ferguson joins his pals David Woodhead, Rebecca Campbell, Michelle Josef and Magoo to form JUBILEE. The dance band for the finale on Saturday night

About tickets: I cannot help you get tickets. I'm lucky to get tickets myself and I certainly don't get one of those primo camping spots that are somehow already taken when the gates open on Friday morning. I cannot help you get tickets even if they are for a friend who only has 6 months to live and whose only wish is to camp at Blue Skies. You might try your luck with the hundreds of other people looking for tickets at the Facebook Group.


For more unofficial information on Blue Skies, see my other postings:

• Guide to the Blue Skies Music Festival: Getting There

• Guide to the Blue Skies Music Festival: Jamming

• Guide to the Blue Skies Music Festival: Dancing

• Guide to the Blue Skies Music Festival: Things to Acquire and Bring