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August 24, 2005
Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Paris anymore
We've safely arrived and we're getting a kick out of all of the differences between our old home and our new one. Here are my favorites:
1. Same language, waaaaaaaaaay different accent. Sometimes we actually wonder if people are speaking French before our comprehension kicks in a minute or two later. I must admit that Frog does better than I do and after four years of learning French and getting to the point of understanding 99.9% of everything that is said and rarely having problems, it's kind of a bummer to feel like my level has been set back by 2.5 years.
2. Curling. There was an ad in the airport about curling matches.
3. Maple syrup, maple syrup candies, beans in maple syrup...
4. The guy in the bookstore was happy to stand and talk to us for five minutes about the best place to sit down and get a coffee and a snack in the area.
5. And I stood and talked to a pregnant lady for ten minutes in the middle of a department store about places that we can buy jeans. I don't know if these last two items will seem extraordinary to most of you or not, but this just doesn't happen in Paris... or it happens really rarely.
6. I can buy Cheerios and Goldfish crackers without taking out a loan and traveling to a special store... and raisin bread, oh heavenly raisin bread, how I have missed thee and thy swirling cinnamon.
7. TV in English. I think I'm going to need an intervention soon. I've gone from rarely watching TV to watching nearly anything that comes on. Last night's choice: Tommy Lee goes to college. Someone help me, please. I clearly don't know the shows that exist that are actually worth watching.
I promise that one of these days I'll actually get some knitting content back in here. In the meantime, thanks for coming around and take care!
Posted by kate at 04:26 PM | Comments (70)
August 16, 2005
Last post from gay Paris
London was great and relaxing and much better than staying home and cleaning and thinking about moving. I ate crumpets and Dairy Milk Caramel bars (the one exception to my no milk chocolate rule). I hung out with "my cuz" who patiently wandered around the V&A with me looking for knit stuff and his girlfriend who I fell asleep in Hyde park with. My cuz and I found this:
Woman's Jacket
1600 - 1625
This style of woman's informal jacket was not meant to be worn in public. For this reason such garments are never seen in portraits. Its loose-fitting cut would have been particularly comfortable and the jacket may have been work during pregnancy.
Ivory silk and linen with a silver stripe
Made in England
I had planned on writing a big last post in Paris thing, but I just haven't had the time. Oh well. I may or may not be connected for a while, but I'll see you on the other side of the pond!
Posted by kate at 12:45 PM | Comments (21)
August 09, 2005
sigh of relief
Here's a before/action shot.
The moving guy seemed equally amused by the quantity of yarn and the vacuum bags I had it stored in.
and after.
I was a little overzealous with the yarn packing. The only things left are 2 balls of koigu, a couple balls of Rowan denim that I've been meaning to play with and a ball of neato fuzzy stuff that Anne-Caroline brought to me. I had meant to get out some organic cotton that this awesome lady gave to me or the green KSH that I finally found, but I forgot. Oh well. I'm going to London this weekend to visit my cousin. They have yarn there, I hear. I also hear there is yarn in Canada. If our boxes take the slow boat, I might have time to build a whole new stash! ...just what I need!
Posted by kate at 08:19 PM | Comments (18)
August 06, 2005
When fat ladies sing shop
Anne-Caroline, me and Sarah striking a pose in front of the opera. Wish you could have been there, Shelby!
I was really happy to meet Anne-Caroline after having emailed with her for over a year now. It's so nice to find that people are as cool and sweet in person as you thought they were online. And, of course, I was always happy to hang out with Sarah, who I plan to convince to move to Montreal. We ate, we ate and then we shopped. I bought shoes, brown instead of obnoxiously colored for once. Sarah and Anne-Caroline both got Phildar magazines while I tried to restrain myself from buying up the last of the Plaisance which was on sale for only 1 euro per ball. And I mustn't forget Anne-Caroline's husband! He sat and talked to us about knitting and blogging and babies and patiently accompanied us to Phildar. What a guy! It was short, but sweet. Thanks, ladies (and D.)!
Posted by kate at 10:57 PM | Comments (11)
August 01, 2005
Packing roll call
Check!
Check!
Check!
Check!
Check!
Other than three balls of kidsilk haze that I can't find anywhere, the knitting supplies are ready for the trip. The other stuff? Not so much. Looking at this, I could almost fool you into thinking I am organized, no? Here's my new goal: to be organized for real, not sporradically. We'll see how it works out.
Posted by kate at 01:33 PM | Comments (21)
