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Unravelling the sweater
Unraveling of colourful knitted garment Knitters among us know that you can spend a long time knitting, purling, slipping stitches over and dropping them to create beautiful patterns in knitwear. Big chunky wool for a winter sweater, nubbed cotton for a shawl to throw over your shoulders in the summer or fine, soft yarn for a baby’s layette, it’s all wonderful to work with. To be honest with you, it’ s been a long time since I’ve tackled a knitting project as big as a full sweater. For the past few winters, scarves, mittens and toques have been all I’ve… Read more…
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Three for three – the last one spreads her wings
Cup of steaming tea in hand, I glanced in her bedroom this morning and for the first time since June, I saw her sound asleep, with her hair streaming behind her on her pillow and her long lithe legs sticking out from the covers, while the cool breeze moved the blinds on her windows. Fall is coming and I have my daughter home for two nights before she starts her new university life half way across the country.The sight made me smile, but it also made my breath catch in my throat. I’ve written about Son number one and Son number two going off… Read more…
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And the last one starts to leave…
Friday was my daughter’s senior prom. She looked so grown up in her simple, yet elegant floor-length black dress, with hair piled atop her head. Like her friends, she traded in her sneakers for the the highest heels imaginable, as they attended the formal event. It was a strange combination of pride and sadness I felt, watching these almost unrecognizable young women go off together. Earlier this month, she had her final choral performance with an amazing group she’s sung with for the past ten years. She’s landed a summer job away from home and exams are right around the… Read more…
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Muscle memory
It’s what happens when you strap on the water skis after years of letting them gather dust in the boat house. It’s how you always remember how ride a bike. It’s what Olympic athletes rely on to nail performances and win races. And it’s what happened to me a couple of weeks ago when muscle memory took over and I started singing the alto part in an anthem I knew well, instead of the soprano part I’d just learned. Muscle memory. Through repetition, our muscles can be trained to encode, retain and repeat movements and eventually make those movements without… Read more…
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Is it a habit, or something more?
My middle child is stubborn. Really stubborn. When he was young, I wanted to throttle him regularly. I often joked that one of us would not make it to his adulthood. As he got a bit older, I started to see this stubbornness as a positive sign. He had a “stick-to-it” quality that would surely serve him well. That mental strength was key to his success last summer as a tree planter – and why he’s going back again this summer. I was slightly horrified to hear from my other two kids that they figured he’d inherited this quality from… Read more…
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I can do it – really!
I was born of practical people. If we could do it ourselves, we did. And my parents could – and still can – do just about everything! I guess I’ve inherited that sense of independence, and dare I suggest it, passed it on to a certain extent. My Dad sent me off to university with the basics of a tool kit. Hammer, a variety of screw drivers (even the trusty Canadian Robertson!), pliers, socket wrenches and more. It meant I could – and did – fix simple things without needing assistance. In fact, when I married, I was the one…
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Bidding adieu
Tomorrow morning, bright and early, the moving truck will arrive. It will trundle up to my driveway after having made its way along the torn up streets in my neighbourhood, ready to whisk me away to the next chapter of my life. But today, I’m wandering through empty rooms; my life is packed up in box upon box stacked in my kitchen, my living room, my bedroom, my study. As I stand in the entry to my daughter’s room, I can almost smell the scent of nail polish and hear the giggles of long-haired beauties as they choose a new… Read more…
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Letting go
Last week, I let go of my wedding dress. A few years ago, I wrote a blog about the art of letting go. This was a bit different. In the throes of downsizing, I’ve been decluttering, visiting the dump regularly, selling and giving away excess pieces of furniture. Who knew you could collect so much stuff over 15 years and three children. Finally it was time to box up the contents of my hope chest. Yes, I have a hope chest – a relic from a time gone by when young ladies stitched household linens and stored them away until they married. One… Read more…
