Thursday, 26 June 2014

Olds Fibre Art merchant mall

This photo was meant to represent what the five of us bought at the Fibre Art Week event in Olds. At least two of them bought more after the photo was taken. :-)

With our new treasures

I brought cash and only used that, to make sure I stuck to my budget. I bought lots of sock-weight yarn, plus a pattern.

New additions to the stash

We found a darling local bookstore that served tea and hot chocolate. If you're ever in Olds, check out Pandora's Boox and Tea.

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

A visit to an alpaca farm

Susan told us knitters that a local alpaca farm that sells wool was inviting visitors for tours. Add in the fact that she just bought a new car and we had a road trip yesterday. :-)

It was great to see a part of Alberta that I hadn't been too yet. It would have been nicer if there had been public washrooms along the way. ;-)

A to Z Alpacas has over 300 alpacas and is tucked away beside the Bow River. Our hostess, Leslie, was very gracious and showed us around. Her father, Rod, also helped educate us on alpacas and the history of the farm. We'd been told we might get to see some crias (babies) being born, but it was not our lucky day.

The first pen we visited had females and their crias (not newborns). The alpacas were curious but kept their distance.
alpaca photography

alpaca photography

2014-06-23-alpaca-01

alpaca photography

This is as close as one would get to Susan.
alpaca photography

alpaca photography

alpaca photography

Blue-eyed alpaca!
alpaca photography

We visited the pasture where the mothers and youngest crias are, and watched them from a distance.
alpaca photography

Buddy was very glad to have visitors!
Buddy the dog

Alpacas do not like cars - here they are, fleeing as we drove away.
alpaca photography

Now, we didn't drive over 3 hours just to enjoy the scenery and look at alpacas. We also bought yarn. I got 3 skeins of sock weight yarn, 200 g each. Lovely and soft!
New wool for the stash

Sunday, 22 June 2014

Figure Drawing

figure drawing

This post will contain drawings that are not safe for work.

I went to a Meetup last night As I put it on Facebook, "Angelina the Artist is at Figure Drawing tonight." The first time I went to a figure drawing event, I was unintentionally introduced as Angelina. It was decided then that my art name is Angelina. :-)

It was very interesting. A live band (Sealegs) played, and I really enjoyed their music. They have a folksy songwriter style like Grant-Lee Phillips, and most of their lyrics were about the ocean. They were supposed to play for just the first hour but stayed longer and kept the atmosphere calm and rejuvenating.

There were three models who rotated around the couches and platform. We started with 2 minute poses, then 5 minute, then 30 minute. There was a break in between. It was great to be able to look at other people's artwork and meet other artists. I was also very happy to see Zhen, who used to work with me.

Friday, 20 June 2014

Games night

I went to a new Meetup tonight - the group is for board games, and the specific Meetup was women only.

Of the nine women there, three were named Angela and one was Angelica. :-) We Angelas all had ginger hair and wore glasses, to boot. Angelica is Hispanic and looked nothing like us.

It was a lot of fun. We played Quirkle, Forbidden Island, and Love Letter. I've already RSVPed "yes" for the next all-women Meetups, and one of the other ones as well.

One of the Angelas is someone I met at Drunken Knitwits. I drove her to the nearest train station so that she didn't have to walk or wait a while for a bus, later in the evening. She told me about a Geek Girlz Meetup group that I've since joined. And I've also joined a group on Ravelry that knits baby blankets for the local NICU because another woman tonight is part of it.

Fun and networking - a good evening.

Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Calgary Zoo, June 14, 2014.

King Lion

Monday, 16 June 2014

Selfie catch up

Clearly I was so over the selfie project in the last 8 days. I missed two days after 156 straight days. Blame it on overcast weather, being broody about Father's Day, ruminations on selfies after realizing how easily a fake profile can be created for online scams ... this is a mixed bag, of times when I put effort into it and times I did not.

Day 157 - dressed up for a Victorian murder mystery party. I had ringlets!
Day 157

Saturday, 14 June 2014

Red panda

I went to another "Focused at the Zoo" event this morning.

This shot alone was totally worth the price of admission.
Red panda
ƒ/6.3 ~ 1/250 sec ~ ISO 4000

Friday, 13 June 2014

Chloe Kitty

Chloe Kitty