Islands and Alpacas

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. I went to Vancouver Island with my parents for four days. Greg was supposed to come, but at the last minute was scheduled to work (he'd taken time off due to the liver damage). So it was just me and my parents, although Claire and her parents were already in Victoria, so we met up with them for dinners and other activities.

The trip had a few highlights, including the ridiculously good food had at the Sooke Harbour House, makers of amazing hot chocolate and incredible minted strawberry ice cream. The set menu format, with four courses, did mean the meal was somewhat lengthy. I think we were at the restaurant for four hours, in the end.

Also, Claire's mom, Marie, drove us to see Claire's cousins' new puppy, and labrador-poodle (labradoodle?) named chester, who was adorable. Then Claire and I went shopping a little. I found a pair of pants that I loooved, but they didn't have them in my size (argh!). Claire found some cute pyjamas at La Senza, with polar bears (so cute).

My mom taught me how to knit on the ferry ride to the island. I can't say that I'm as proficient as Tessa (I'm leaving the whole bead thing up to you), and certainly not as good as my mom, who knits at a rate comparable to machines, but I'm not too bad, and I seem to have mastered the whole "even knit" thing, so after making a sizable block, which I'm told is called a "sampler", we went in search of a wool store. We first went to a needlework store, the Button and Needlework Boutique, and they pointed us in the right direction, to the Beehive Wool Shop, which was HUGE. Apparently, it's the biggest wool store in BC. It has so many different kinds of wool I never knew existed, and was quite the adventure for me. There was this gorgeously-soft "rowan" wool (I haven't the slightest idea what that means, but it was beautiful). It was also, however, $17 for 140m. I ended up with some pure Alpaca wool, at $7.50 for 180m. Not cheap, but super soft, and a pretty colour, so I can make a scarf (I enjoy straight lines, as they're far simpler). I'm pretty happy with it, if only because saying "Alpaca" is a lot of fun.

Today we basically just made our way back home. Picked up some sushi for the ferry ride, and drove to Schwartz Bay. On the ferry, I found a book of logic problems (yes, I'm a dork. Get over it), as well as the new Martha Stewart Weddings (woo!). So the ferry ride ended up being quite nice.

All in all, a good trip. Although I'm glad to be home. I was starting to go crazy, what with only my prents to socialize with (Claire and her parents left on the 29th), and Victoria being somewhat small.

And in a few days, school starts again! Yikes.