Giveaway!!

I've planned a few random giveaways over the next few weeks from my bookshelves, yarn bins and fabric stash. As the house gets freshen with white paint I'm also purging and want to share some of my stash.

Are you interested giving "STITCH 'N BITCH NATION" by Debbie Stoller a new home? The front cover proclaims: "50 Hip, Even Funkier patterns by Stitch 'n Bitch Designers Across America. Plus: How to make any knitting pattern your own, insider tips, profiles of groups, and more."

Leave a comment by Sunday, August 2nd if you're interested!

She didn't come home

No puppy. Unfortunately the lovely girl Nicole and I went to visit and evaluate in Quebec didn't suit us. She was a very nice puppy, but wasn't meant to be ours. We're disappointed, but that's how it goes. Her brother would've done it for us but failed miserably on the uterus requirement. Twas not meant to be. So, we wait patiently yet again and see what may happen in the future.

Nothing new going on here since we've mostly been on the road and in Quebec for the last several days and left our schedules wide open to spend time with a new poodle puppy. The driving was a succession of thunderstorms and tiring but we're glad to be home and made it back in time for Nicole's Kung Fu class last night.

I'll spend the next few hours breaking down the puppy preparations here. Baby gates, puppy's crate etc. and put them away for future arrivals. If nothing else, the house got a thorough scrubbing and floors, crates and most any surface that can tolerate it was washed down with a bleach solution so I do have a super clean set up here. I'll spend the rest of today relaxing from all the driving, put up my feet and knit.

I'm waiting on this Raspberry Bubble merino/silk fingering yarn to arrive in my mailbox from Plucky. This knit will be for me. I rarely knit for myself, but I absolutely am lusting for a Baktus scarf like Claudia's. Definitely go check out Claudia and Mr Puffy's post on How to Barbecue California Style, I was drooling reading it and her dad Vern is a master at the craft. Excuse me - I need to go make up some of his chicken seasoning and buy a chicken for tomorrow...

Painting everything white

Lots of white. Over the past couple of weeks I've painted my way around the house. Kitchen, family room, master bath ceiling, Nicole's room got a major overhaul. I've got a few more rooms to tackle but today it was our powder room.

It's amazing what a change fresh new paint makes. I forgot to take a before picture, but here's the back wall after some repairs and starting to cut in the white. The accessories in the powder room are all the same but the room feels totally different white. I didn't like the old yellow as soon as it hit the walls. There's no natural light and it looked darker then it did in our south facing kitchen that has plenty of windows. It was left over paint so I lived with it for too long. The white is such a fresh and clean change. The yellow was blah, the white ~ We're Loving it. Course, now I really want to change those hideous melamine vanity doors...

What's new with you?

It's been far too long since I've blogged. Mojo is thankfully back. What's new? Way too much to put into one post so I'll hit a few bits per post. Here's a few highlights:


Dawn N. and I pieced this quilt top for our dear friend Vivienne for her incredible Muskoka log home cottage we get to visit and enjoy annually. We'll machine quilt it asap.


This suv replaces Don's stolen truck and tools. Only 3 years old and a well maintained lease return. Big enough for all of us, the dogs, stuff and gutsy enough to do some serious towing. Yup, the prerequisite 4-wheel package to deal with Canadian winters. It's not the work horse truck he needs, but more of a multi-purpose family vehicle.


There's been knitting, quite a bit actually. This beauty is an even nicer Crest of the Wave scarf than the first also knit with divine Plucky Knitter fingering from the oh so talented Sarah. I enjoyed knitting this pattern so much that I have to say there will be more, several more. Definitely even one for myself. :) This one is going off in the mail tomorrow. Someone, watch your mailbox, not sayin' who....


And last for today is this puppy. Potentially ours? Remains to be seen. Nicole and I will be taking a trip to Quebec next week to meet and evaluate a litter of Standard Poodle puppies and if there's a girl in there that suits us she'll be travelling home with us. Fingers and paws are crossed there's hopefully a new baby girl here at Chez Koch. This pic is of the most promising prospect in my opinion from what I know about these puppies and here she's still only 5.5 weeks old. Wish us luck! We're leaving next week Thursday and returning home with or sans a puppy on Friday.

Hope everyone is well and you're all enjoying July!