I am taking huge liberties with the title today – but I am baking cakes today and it just seemed to work! One lemon layer cake and one lemon poppy-seed pound cake! We are going to be the ones eating cake this week!
I am rediscovering the joys of baking. I had taken a bit of a hiatus from baking. For the first 15 years of our marriage my mother-in-law, who lived in our basement, did all of the baking – cakes, pies, cookies, muffins, crisps – have I forgotten anything? Dessert was the most important part of the meal and she wanted to make sure that we always had something sweet in the house.
Now the responsibility falls to me. I don’t believe that you need dessert every night – though my husband would argue that one! But on “high days and holidays”, why not? Today is a “high day” – my husband requested lemon layer cake – which made me think of lemon, poppy-seed pound cake – which meant I had to bake one! Right!?
We have been for quite a few walks in the last little while – the pictures today were taken at Departure Bay Beach and at Englishman River. The walk at Englishman River was 2 weeks ago, but it never seemed to make the blog. The pictures in the slideshow are at about half and half for both walks!
Knitting is coming along furiously! I have finished the Princess Mitten pattern. And it has been posted to Ravelry and Patternfish. I have started a new shawl pattern – shawl is already knit – and two new knitting projects – one a top-down sweater for myself and I have actually started to knit “Patina”! This new KAL that I am working on is taking longer to come together than I originally hoped. But I am very pleased with my results so far!
I love this time of the year – instead of slowing down I gear up – ideas are flowing fast and I can hardly keep up to them. I just wish that there was more time in the day! I am definitely a cold weather type of person. I love the sun, but not the heat. I love colours, but especially the muted colours of the winter, greens, greys and blue-greys-greens of the stormy ocean waters. The changing light when a storm approaches or when there is snow falling – the air glows – this is a wonderful time of year!
This morning while walking at Departure Bay Beach I found this gorgeous Sea-star – it is a beautiful glowing green and blended right into the beaches rocky background – I almost stepped on it!
There was a lot of debris on the beach this morning. Lots of the norm, but a few odd items as well.
The most notable – an incredibly bright Kale plant, mixed into the sea-weed and just lying there glowing pink against the greys and greens – I can see an incredible dyed piece in my future. Those colours and some knitted lace. Ummm – this will require some thought!
It is funny that it took me so long to post the pictures from the walk at Englishman River. It was a rather magical walk.
We walked along the Hatchery Stream and along the main river. At the giant Clay Bank some earlier walker had built some Inuk-shuks or “Snow Walkers” – small cairns that just say that someone was here before. As we were watching the river and the enjoying the gently falling rain we were witness to something quite unique – a large portion of the clay bank separated and fell into the river.
It was accompanied by a loud crash and roar and then a constant low rumble until it had finished. I have a few photographs – but they really don’t look like much at all!
Knitting and Life for me are inextricably bound. The world that surrounds me and the knitting I create – From one I borrow for the other – it is a true circle!
Happy Knitting
Lynette