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Now I’m not a big fan of rigid rules, but come on kitty!

Really? Lounging on the counter? And doing it long enough for me to go get the camera? This takes “bad kitty” to an entirely new level. I have no idea what to do with Looshie. We had company over the weekend and they commented that they hadn’t really believed that he was so maliciously evil before they’d visited. They no longer doubt us. He was even on his best behaviour. Didn’t bite either of them till they’d been here all afternoon.

He’s biting me as I type this. Furry little bastard. Purrs while he does it.

Speaking of bastards, I now firmly believe that Canada Post hates me. My lovely new mixer which was supposed to arrive Thursday is nowhere to be found. I want my damn mixer! Not to mention the 4-slice toaster that I also ordered which would have been ever so handy while we had company.

How can I get a parcel from the Czech Republic in less than a week and yet it takes more than two to get something from Ontario? And the Ontario package costs twice as much to post? Our Canadian postal service people, crappier service for more money. Aren’t we lucky.

I ordered feminine hygiene products from the Czech Rep. and they came with these:

Yes. That’s a sticker. I have no idea where they think anyone is going to put it. It’s both alarming and endlessly amusing. I can only assume that the Czechs have a much different view of these items than North Americans do.

The Canucks managed to get to Round Two in six games so they have a bit of a rest till we find out who they’re going to have to play next.

I was glad they won so I didn’t wind up like the poor little guy crying his eyes out in his Avs jersey when they got knocked out the other night. He looked completely inconsolable, even with his mom trying to cheer him up with a game puck.

Keep winning guys. I don’t wind up on Youtube, in a Canucks jersey, bawling like a five year old.

Not much happening around here, so here’s the cliff notes version:

- Canucks play game 3 tonight. Tied at one game a piece.

- Weather has sorted itself out nicely, even had windows open for the last three days. Heat is officially off, patio furniture is ready to come back as is lighter clothing.

- Sock pair count sits at 16 with pair 17 on the needles.

- Bee works great but is still really ugly.

- Got a great deal on a KitchenAid mixer, it arrives Thursday.

- Gir is unbelievably perky, Looshkin is still full of evil.

It’s April. We all know it. And yet:

This is what we woke up to last Thursday morning after a long night of thunder and lightning.

It’s not snow, it’s about an inch and a half of hail.

The magnolias are in full bloom, the fruit trees are blooming, rhododendrons are blooming and we get hail?!

It was gone about an hour later and we were back to blue sky and slightly chillier than normal temps.

And in other rare but not unwelcome news, Henrik Sedin has won the Ross trophy! He’s the first Canuck to ever do it and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. He was behind by a point going into the last game against the Flames and the entire team rallied to help him come out on top. He got four points total in that game and it was enough.

To give you an idea of how much the team wanted him to win, Bieksa got 2 goals in that game (he only had three all season) and looked seriously disappointed when he went to the bench after his shift and discovered that Hank didn’t get an assist on it.

Sedin has a good shot at the Hart as well, but it will likely go to Crosby. With Luongo pretty much out of the Vezina race due to some incredibly dismal performances since the Olympic break, Sedin getting the Ross is really sweet.

First round playoffs start Thursday at home against the Kings. Hopefully Luongo can forget what happened in their last game against LA and get through the first round as winners in less than seven.

Guess what we’ll be watching Thursday night.

PS: I’ve decided to try and find uncut skin to cover the Bee. Like the stuff you an put on game consoles and cell phones. If anyone knows a supplier that sells it (other than just plain colours, I would like a print of some sort) please let me know!

The Spinolution Bee arrived here yesterday afternoon after being in postal purgatory since last Thursday morning. Easter is nice and all, but I would have like to have had my wheel in a more timely fashion.

I spent an hour or so reading the manual and figuring out how to unfold it. Those solid plastic hinges really look solid, they don’t look bendy at all, very misleading! I treadled it for a while without fibre and then got up my nerve and grabbed a small hank of corrie that I had in the work basket.

Initially, I thought I would bump up to the faster speed, but after frantically trying to keep up, I knocked it back to a mid ratio. That thing goes really fast and I didn’t even have it on the 35:1 setting!

But it’s not pretty:

That’s the side that faces away from the spinner. Definitely NOT attractive.

That’s what you see while you spin. Again, not very attractive. And trust me, for some reason it looks much better in the photos than it does in person.

That’s how it folds down. It can be unfolded and folded in seconds, nothing has to come off except the extra bobbins and the pins that hold them.

It works like a charkha. It has several speeds on the accelerator wheel, more on the fly wheel and more again on the flyer. The treadling is done mostly with the toes, so that’s going to take some getting used to and the way the treadling works means that you only go so slow. If you go too slow, the wheel just spins back and forth.

I do find that to be a bit of a drawback as far as letting the wheel do the work goes. On my Suzy, I can treadle super slowly on a high ratio as the wheel is doing the work, not me.

I really like the setup of this wheel though, the treadles are spaced much further apart than any other wheel I’ve used which forces me to sit square on to the wheel. I’ve found that it’s more comfortable to have my knees wider apart that I do with my other wheels too.

So far I’ve only spun on it for the length of last night’s mediocre hockey game. I plan to spend some time on all the wheels over the next few days comparing them and getting the feel for the new wheel.

…will occur Wednesday due to a new arrival.