all’s well that ends well . . .

Posted on annePosted in book reviews/events, designing, lace/shawls, projects

it’s been a bit of a whirlwind here in montreal, but then, it often feels that way wherever i travel. i’m so glad we decided to make a bit of a holiday out of this trip; david and i are enjoying the city with relish.

while we love our new home in ohio, there are times that we feel a little nostalgic about our hometown city of new york, and having a holiday in a large city near the water proved to be very satisfying. we get our hit of lights, architecture, culture, and street life while having a bit of time away from work.

we arrived wednesday night after a beautiful day of driving, having crossed over the border and the st. lawrence river at 1,000 islands, which i’d never seen before (it’s beautiful; if you ever get a chance to go, you should).

we grabbed a quick, romantic dinner at a little bar restaurant near our hotel (we’re staying out in the suburbs) that proved to be excellent—deliciously crisp, light pizzas, hot from the oven and topped with yummy stuff.

for our anniversary, david presented me with a beautiful pair of glass earrings to match the bracelet i wear all the time, a gift he procured in secret from a shop in la jolla with the help of my friend kim (isn’t she the best friend?).

little did we suspect the adventures these earrings would take us on over the next couple of days . . .

on thursday we slept in for a while (a total luxury for me), then headed into the city for the afternoon and evening. first, we visited the centre canadien d’architecture, where we saw an excellent exhibit the effects of migration on the way we arrange our living environments. they also have a mind-blowing bookstore.

after that it was time for coffee and we stopped off at a steamy boulangerie/cafe to warm up. david tries the pain au chocolat wherever he goes and pronounced the one he had here to be very good (good enough to ensure another trip the next day, haha).

then we were off for more walking. we stopped by the musée des beaux-arts de montréal, but as it was late, we decided not to go in, even though the otto dix exhibit looked enticing. instead we headed to dinner—we were both famished by this time.

when i got myself unwrapped from coat, scarf, and hat, david noticed that one of my new earrings was missing, ACK! i hadn’t even had them on for a whole day—i was heartbroken and upset; it isn’t often that i lose something like that. arrghh.

the stupidest part? i was telling david over dinner about those handy rubber stoppers you can buy to keep earrings in place and that i should get some; when we got back to the hotel later on, i realized that the jeweler had actually included them in the box and i just hadn’t seen them. grrr.

i fretted about that earring all night, and in the morning i insisted that we try to find it, even though i knew i was sending us on a wild goose chase. i mean really, who could expect to find one little earring in a big city? i promised myself i wouldn’t let it get in the way of another nice day and off we went.

i wasn’t going to check at the architectural center because it was out of the way and i was pretty sure i had it after we’d been there. but then realized i’d be kicking myself afterward if we didn’t go. we scanned the sidewalk all the way there and saw nothing. we checked at the coat desk and the nice woman there said she didn’t have it, but she’d check with security. a quiet conversation in french with a few “no’s” ensued and my heart sank.

next thing we knew, the security guard came out and asked if the earring was a glass and silver triangle. i said yes! did he have it?
“no”, he said; he saw it, but he didn’t have it.
he’d found it right outside the front gate on the sidewalk and knowing he wouldn’t be able to find the owner, he set it on the stone bench near the entrance.

we ran outside to look

it was still there! i could hardly believe it.

am i a lucky ducky or WHAT??
i ran back in to thank the man profusely and tell him a babbling story about it being an anniversary gift, etc. i was so overcome with gratefulness that i forgot to take his picture for the blog.
he seemed very pleased to see the whole thing come together so well.

i’m still pinching myself that it worked as it did—phew.

we spent the rest of the day walking to the in the place des artes, where we enjoyed the architectural scenery and visited the musée d’art contemporain de montréal

we saw an installation by jon pylypchuk and an exhibit of work by the winners of the sobey art awards for 2010.

the weather was pretty raw on friday, so afterward we cozied up to some hot coffee and cake at M cafe and marveled once again over finding that darn earring (i still can’t believe our luck, haha).

then it was time to wend our way back to our hotel—we had a date with the delightful veronik avery for dinner at her home with robin melanson. i was excited to meet them, as i am an admirer of both their work.

it was a wonderful evening, full of good talk and getting to know each other—designers tend to be very happy to stay at home, working in solitude, but we do very much enjoy the odd night out with our kind to talk shop, talk books, talk music, etc., preferably over great food and wine.

which we did—veronik prepared a memorable meal that included homemade ravioli, which was so good, i can still smell and taste it, mmm. this was followed by another extraordinary dish of scallops, potatoes, and greens, and a dessert pudding that is a local specialty.

i could have talked with them into the wee hours, but i had to get up the next day to teach, so we left regretfully at a decent hour. i hope i get to see them both again soon . . .

yesterday and today were devoted to classes with the montreal knitting guild, where i was invited to teach a day of lace classes and a day of sweater fitness.

while friday had been rainy and sleety, we woke saturday to covering of snow, with more falling as we drove to class.

we had full classes on both days—there’s nothing like enthusiastic knitters who want to know more.

we were grateful though, when one special member of the class kept completely quiet on saturday

robyn is 36 weeks pregnant, but the baby was willing to wait at least one more day to appear. not that it wouldn’t have been exciting, or a good story to bring on a birth during class . . . but maybe not this weekend, heh.

robyn has a la novia scarf on the go, packed and ready to take to the hospital. a good choice—it’s an easy knit, but entertaining; she could run out the door in a hurry, leaving the pattern behind, and still have everything she needs to keep going on it. it’s keeping her company while she waits for the big day.

on saturday afternoon we did a bittersweet vines project class that proved a nice followup to the lace skills class that morning.

while no one managed to finish their neckwarmer in class, most participants got pretty far along and several finished pieces showed up at today’s sweater class.

after classes yesterday, a small group gathered at barbieO’s incredible home for a potluck dinner.

where we lounged, ate, and knitted the evening away. having gotten an early start, a lot of knitting was accomplished during this evening.

and a lot of fun was had—even david was rather animated throughout the evening, which leads me to believe that i should bring him along more often.

(how cute is this dog?? get this—it’s a kind of dog that is bred to love; it’s job is to cuddle and keep people from feeling bad. and just when i thought i’d heard everything . . .)

i’ve been knitting too, though not as much as i thought i would (we’re never home!). last night at barb’s, i worked on finishing up a legwarmer. i’m almost done with the back of the boy sweater

which i’m pretty sure i can finish up tonight. and i worked quite a bit on a secret project, during the drive from ohio. other than that, we’ve been on the go an awful lot so knitting time has been sparse, save for a bit of sock knitting on the bus and train around montreal.

tomorrow, we take off again for albany, where we’ll visit with my mom for a couple of days before heading back home. maybe there i’ll get some knitting done.

now i’m off to post the new scarf pattern . . . stay tuned.

47 thoughts on “all’s well that ends well . . .”

  1. What a wonderful, wonderful weekend! Finding the earring was meant to be! Years ago, my baby son dropped a tiny hand-knit Fair Isle mitten in the town in England where we were living for a short while. I was crushed. I didn’t knit it, but loved the delicate work. Pushing the stroller into town a few days later, I found it carefully set on a low stone wall, just waiting for us. It, too, was meant to be found, and I still have the pair.

  3. Anne, it was lovely to read your account of your time in Montreal! I’m glad you enjoyed the city. I really miss Montreal (I moved away a couple of years ago), and I wish I could have been there this weekend to finally get to meet you. Let’s hope there’ll be a next time!

  6. Oh phew! I bet you threw those rubber stoppers in lickity split! They are beautiful! And yes Kim is a great friend.

  7. Oh, I am sooo glad you found the earring. I know how it would have haunted you the rest of the trip. How wonderful to see it cheerfully waiting on the stone bench for you.

  9. I love these types of posts from you! I’ve wanted to visit Montreal for ages. That church is just beautiful. So glad you found the earring!

  11. Loved to read about your time in my former homes. I grew up in the 1000 islands and spent seven years in Montreal. It was fun to see such familiar sights. Safe travel on your way home.

  12. Anne, I’m so happy you found your earring! I love your tenacity. You were very lucky.

    Hope you and David enjoy the rest of your trip.

  13. I’m glad to hear the earring story has a happy ending–definitely good karma at work! It would have been awful to have your anniversary trip tinged with sadness should the story have had a different ending…
    And while on the subject of searching, I am hoping David had as much luck in his search for vintage items in our fair city!
    So thankful you came on this special weekend and I know the rest of the gang delighted too! Already plotting to see what we can rustle up for next time…blocking anyone? 😉

    Cheers, Barbie O.

  14. I’m not sure what I liked better — the story of the earrings or the photos of all the food 🙂

  15. Oh yeah, the dog wants to know what I did with all her adoring fans from last night!

  17. Loved your story about the lost earring. I’m glad it had a happy ending.
    What a wonderful weekend! Thank you so much for sharing.

  18. Happy Anniversary! The earrings are beautiful. How wonderful that you were able to find the missing one

  19. So glad you found your earring. I love Montreal!

    Is Chica a Coton de Tulear? Such a beautiful face!!

  20. Such good fortune to have found the earring. (The pair is beautiful; David has good taste!) I was in La Jolla once and there was an adorable jewelry store/coffee shop. The earrings aren’t from there, are they?

  23. Is the puppy a Coton de Tulear? My mom has one – and although naughty, he gives more love than any dog I’ve ever seen. He is DEVOTED to my mom. (I get a little too, when I’m there)

  24. Beautiful earrings and wonderful that you found the lost one. I did something similar once in Chicago, but was unable to find the lost earring. Fortunately, was able to locate jeweler at another art fair back in Michigan and he sold me one to make a pair! Sometimes even using those backers doesn’t work if it catches on your scarf.

    Montreal looks wonderful and the pictures of the food and friends – wish I could have been along. 🙂

  26. I think the earring wanted to hang out there because the glass in the arches above the benches was similar 🙂 I’m VERY glad that you found it. You might consider removing them from those wires and putting them on wires with hinged backs–they’re so nice and secure. Lovely post–sounds like a wonderful trip with your man.

  29. FYI to all those enquiring: dog is a Bichon Havanese-first cousin to Bichon Frise (same size), Maltese (same type of slightly wavy hair) and Coton de Tulear. Relatively new to Canada but seem to be fairly well known in the States, especially Florida with all the Cuban ex-pats. At least that’s what the breeder said and most of my research revealed. She is a little love machine but eventually learned that I go up and down the stairs 29 million times a day and best to just hang out on the sofa or her bed until it’s time for a walk. 😉

  31. Ann – thanks so much for sharing your travels! You brought back some fond memories of my Grandparents taking me up to the St Lawrence river when I was a little girl. Just before my Grandmother passed away, hubby and I took her up there and we all went on a cruise around the 1,000 Islands. She was awfully worried about the boat, but was pleasantly surprised that they upgraded to a yacht since the last time she saw it 🙂

  32. Happy anniversary and so glad you found your earring. They are a beautiful pair.

    Please, please, tell me the name of that gorgeous church. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. 🙂

  33. I’m so happy you had a good time here in Montreal! It was really great to meet you, especially to get the time to knit, eat and hang out Saturday night.

  34. Wonderful, story and photos and so happy you found your earring. I can just imagine how upset you must have been.

    Just wondering what kind of dog that little guy was?

  35. Sweet, wonderful Anne:

    I make jewelry now and again, and I have a bajillion of those little rubber stoppers. If you’d ever like some, please let me know and I’d be happy to send you some.

    Happy anniversary!

    Virginia

  36. Glad to hear you were able to find your missing earring and that you and David are enjoying your trip. Great pictures.

  37. Anne, it was a great weekend for you, that’s for certain! An anniversary, wonderful food and a NOT LOST earring.

    It was great to meet you on Sunday. Every one of us learned so much!
    Thank you for coming north (further north than Albany) – don’t be a stranger.

  38. I am so glad you found your beautiful earring! I have a similar story – the week before I moved from Texas to Iowa, I had lunch with one of my oldest Texas friends. She was wearing a new pair of earrings from a designer we both know. I admired them, and she took them out of her ears and gave them to me. Fast forward a couple weeks – I moved to Iowa and was at the DMV getting my new license. After I left, I realized one was missing! I retraced my steps, making all sorts of people move in the DMV, and finally found it laying under a chair. I was so relieved! And now I always use one of those backs, although I’ve discovered that sometimes you can use a regular earring back just as well.

  39. You are a LUCKY person. I’ve lost an earring that I loved, and I never found it. I credit the magic of Montreal, one of my favorite places, that just happens to have one of my favorite people (my daughter) living there.

    Congrats on your anniversary, and on a delightful vacation weekend.

    I suggest stocking up on earring backs at Claire’s. You can get a dozen pair for $6.

  40. Anne: I totally enjoyed your pictures and story telling about your trip to Montreal.My husband and I went there a year ago this past summer while visiting friends in Chazy, NY. We had a wonderful time! but I must say that the not picture that won my heart was th one of the dog “bred to love”.You see, I am the proud owner of two Havenese dogs, Nev (short for Nieve) and Lyra. they are half brother and sister born exactly one year apart to the day!In fact Nev is a carbon copy of the one in the post. Thank you so much for giving us such beautiful glimpses into your life of knitting and travel!

  42. Hi Anne,

    Thank you for three wonderful workshops. I had a blast, learned a lot and enjoyed meeting you and all the knitters from the Montreal Knitting Guild.
    Merci beaucoup.

  43. Those earrings are just going to be THAT much more special after a story like that 🙂 I’m glad you had a good time in our cold city. It was grand to see you, and I really enjoyed the classes. Safe travels home.

  44. Oh, I am SO relieved you found that earring!! They’re perfect 🙂 And I love hearing about Montreal – that’s where my big conference is next year right at this time, and I’m really looking forward to it 🙂

  45. Whew! I’m so thrilled you found your earring. Happy Anniversary to you and David – and may you continue to have many wonderful days of memories, love, adventures… and each other.

Comments are closed.