toffle

I found a copy of the book "Who Will Comfort Toffle?" in a little place called Reading Frenzy, in Portland. I love Tove Jansson's books (actually, I wish I could be Moomintroll), and her illustrations are both fun and lovely. I think this book will become a favourite at bedtime.

portland

I've been in Portland, Oregon, since Monday evening. My husband is here on business, and I got to tag along because my wonderful parents were willing to watch the kids. While I do miss my boys, it's been great having a few days to myself in such an interesting city. I've been shown around by a native of the city, had breakfast with one of my favourite bloggers, been to some beautiful gardens, seen a childhood friend whom I didn't even know was living here, bought yarn and fabric, visited the Oregon Zoo, had some great coffee, and eaten some delicious food. (I'm not going to provide links for everything I did, since I saw only a tiny part of the city. If you want ideas, please see this excellent list).

I return to my parent's place in BC tomorrow, and in just a few days we fly back to Montreal. I miss home so much, and our busy lives will restart in a big hurry once we get there. I think it's going to be a great Autumn, and I hope you come back here to see what we're up to.

Give-away winners

Using a random number generator, I picked four numbers for the winners of the give-away. The first, winner of the little things I posted about yesterday, is MrKnitster! I hope you like all the things I chose. The other three winners will get a postcard from me, with a note or drawing on the back. Those winners are Jessicapiroli, Karine, and Robin Meng. I'll be emailing you all shortly, to get your mailing addresses.

I hope you all enjoyed the give-away, especially since it was a surprise, and even I didn't know what the gift would be!

I still have a few couple weeks of vacation here with my family, and then I'm off on a short trip to Portland with my husband! He has to work, but I get to sight-see, do a bit of shopping, and maybe visit with one or two people. Then it's back to Montreal: preschool for the boys, and work for the husband and me. That's right, starting in September Fuzzymitten will be back up and running again! I am very excited, and I have plans for some new toys, tutorials, and new types of projects.

I hope you all enjoy and make the most of the last few weeks of summer!

Little things

Here's what I found for the give-away, a few little things that make the place where I grew-up special. Some yarn from a local yarn shop (enough to make one cuddly toy), a bar of evergreen scented soap (for the evergreen forests that cover the mountains), a bar of chocolate from a local chocolaterie, a wind-up toy swimmer (because I love swimming in the local lake), a lavender sachet I sewed by hand with fabric scraps from my grandma's stash, and a little notebook covered with some of my favourite local wildflowers. I kinda wish I was keeping it all for myself! I will draw a name tomorrow morning, since I can't send it right away (I only made the notebook today, and it's still damp). I've also got three postcards, and I'll draw three extra names for those. Not much of a prize, but it's always nice to get a little note in the mail!