From December 26th until January 5^th, we were in Sichuan. After the warmth of Hainan, the dark, cold, foggy days of Chengdu felt unbearable! Luckily Swatchy was all in natural fibers – wool, alpaca and silk. He was warmer than I was! Here's a photo of me from a few winters ago, freezing during the day in our Chengdu apartment.

Did you know that Sichuan is the home of the panda? The city has done well to adopt it as their mascot:

After visiting with Daniel’s sisters Jade and Chrysanthemum and their families for a couple of days, we headed off to Daniel’s rural hometown in Nanbu County. “Headed off” sounds rather faster than it actually was: our travel was delayed for a day and a half because the highway was closed due to fog. Then on the second day, we only made it so far as the county seat, where we had to find a hotel for the night.

The best part of the travel was being with our 5-year old niece, Ting-ting. That night in the hotel, she reveled in a “swim” in the hotel bathtub: she’d never bathed in more than about a gallon of water! Here she is with Swatchy. They became very close – Tingting was an excellent Chinese teacher! (it was hard for me not to leave Swatchy with Tingting, who has only two or three toys)

When we got to Beiwan town, we met Daniel’s parents and began the walk to their village. It took us at least twice the normal time to walk the 3km to Daniel’s parents’ house, the road was so slippery and the mud so sticky. When we got there, Swatchy needed a rest.

We all perked up when Mama and Baba brought out lunch – rice & corn polenta fried with fresh bacon: a hometown specialty!

Here’s one of the neighbor kids, who we called Meimei (Little Sister) who also had a great love for Swatchy Hugz. Here they are, having a little chat:

And here’s a pic of Tingting and Meimei in an irresistibly sweet moment:

I have lots more photos to upload, so look for new adventures of Hugz in the coming days! He dodges bird flu, poses again in tropical locations, samples local cuisine and more!

Chinese Yarn

Celeste is back from China, as you know, and she found a boatload of yarn in Chengdu. Actually, a suitcase of yarn. She brought it over for me to see (and so we could see each other, btw).



Nori rolled around in the fibery goodness:



and Celeste posed with the yarn for posterity:


because seriously, how could you not have a picture of yourself with the freakin' SUITCASE of yarn you brought back from your trip!

*Cold!*

*Cold!*

Brrrr! It's *darn-tootin* cold here! And Noricum *still* hasn't made me a toque!!! It's enough to make me want to hibernate...

Love,
Swatchy

PS: She'll be done Knittah's socks fairly soon. Perhaps she'll make me my toque then.

Hugz In Hainan

(our taxi driver, who told us all about r-e-a-l life in Hainan. Celeste was a little weirded out by his stories of his mistress, but I thought he was nice anyway.)





Dear Knittah & friends,

We're finally getting a chance to write a bit about our travels to China. As you know, during the week before Christmas, we were in Hainan, staying in Sanya.

Here I am on with a nice lady who wanted to sell us a lot of expensive tea. She thought I was pretty cool.



Celeste found a sea horse on the beach...

















Daniel decided that he wanted to visit a shooting range. Here's the floor-to-ceiling sign you see when you arrive, which reads "You are welcome to shoofing here"

















Stick 'em up, Swatchy!


















Pretty flowers, even in December!













Celeste & Daniel went to a hot spring, but refused to take me along. Celeste said something about the threat of felting, but I was too busy sulking. She did bring some pictures back... one of the gimmics of this particular hot spring is the small fish pools that people sit in and let the fish nibble on their skin... kinda weird, eh?

Next time, I'll tell you about Wu Zhi Zhou island - a smaller island off of Hainan that we all visited together. Coral beaches, crystal waters and lovely pagodas await!

Hope you're well, Knittah!
Love,
Hugz

Hugz Returns

Hey you guys!

It's awesome to see that all of the Swatch clan have been out and about in weeks past. Celeste, Daniel and I got back from China on Saturday night, and we were busy unpacking all day long. Celeste is already dozing off, so I only have a few minutes to write.



She's a little embarassed about how much yarn she bought.

We were out of touch because an earthquake in Taiwan disrupted Internet service to China. Now that we're back States-side, I'll have a chance to let you in on all the fun we had in China. For now, we're both pretty tuckered from the 13-hour time difference. Celeste has to work tomorrow, but we'll try to get some photos upoaded and shared with you all!

Love,
Swatchy Hugz

Airline Baggage Scares Me!

Airline Baggage Scares Me!

I'm *so* glad Noricum takes me carry-on! (Even if she did get her bag the same day.)

Swatchy

Cruisin'

Dear Knittah,

Eliza and I continued our Rhine River tour. We had lunch in a heavily wine-themed restaurant in one of the many towns clinging to the vines along the river. We met John and Jo, a lovely American couple visiting their USAF son serving in Northern Germany, across the lunch table over rubber chicken (who knew it was so universal?! it's nice when we can all find common ground, don't you think?):



This is the view outside of the restaurant:



After lunch, we journeyed further up the river and then boarded a boat for a leisurely and scenic cruise. One might wish more American towns would emulate the emphasis on beauty over commercialism and auto-convenience:







The Rhine really is a highway--the barge traffic (both cargo and passenger) is extraordinary, and the Germans even managed to cram a railroad alongside the grapes. Love that German efficiency (and I understand the train was even on time!!):



Perhaps too efficient? I confess I was somewhat alarmed when I watched the following barge pass:



Yes, that's right, "Explosief." Excuse me, but is it really wise to tempt fate? It only got worse when the following barge joined it:



I'm afraid the photo is somewhat fuzzy. Please allow me to assist you: the sign on the blue barge that is passing Explosief says "Chemsafe." German irony, I imagine.

After such excitement, we needed a little something. Gluhwein and chocolate seemed just the thing:



And then we looked for tapestries at the Castle Grunwald:



It was Thrilling!! (Alas, no Indiana.)

I hope you enjoyed sharing our Rhine cruise photos! Eliza and I wish you could have been there with us!!

love, swatchy c

McSwatchy New Year

McSwatchy here! I got left behind when Knittah's mom went to Virginia for New Year's! Can you believe it? I was very relieved when Knittah ended up spending the night with me. I would not have wanted to be alone on New Year's.


Knittah showed me her new socks. She says it's her first pair of Jaywalkers.

I was bummed because Knittah said we were not staying up until midnight. We watched a football game, and an episode of Firefly. But before bedtime, Knittah did share her sparkling cider with me.



Well, after all that and saying she didn't want to stay up late, there was a loud party in the neighborhood. I think it was a First Night celebration. They had a DJ and fireworks, too, which were pretty cool. Anyway, the noise kept us up past midnight, but at least we were snug and half asleep.

I can't wait to tell you about my trip to Costa Rica. I'll see if I can convince Knittah to write all that for me in the next couple days. Until then, have a McSwatchy New Year!

Montreal Architecture

Montreal Architecture

Dear Nori,

The students are back to classes today, so the McGill campus looked quite different. However, I didn't get a chance to take a photo. I did get this photo of the interesting juxtaposition of architecture that exists in Montreal.

Love,
Swatchy

Nori Hits the Beach

Dear Noricum,

I had a wonderful weekend! Knittah took me to the Atlantic Ocean. She and Eliza got away for a few days, and I got to hitch a ride.



It was cloudy, but I still like the beach. Not the seagulls, though. They're noisy and scare me when they fly overhead. Anyway, since Knittah was with Eliza, guess who got to come along? Swatchy C! I think Eliza will probably write about all the things that Swatchy C saw while we were there, but here is a picture of us - reunited after her trip to the Middle East.



Now we're back home, and back to the usual routine. Lots of napping, too. I'm glad you and Swatchy are having fun in Montreal!

Love, Nori

McGill

Dear Nori,

Today Noricum showed me some of McGill University's campus:

It's quite pretty! We didn't get to go in any buildings because the university is still closed for the holidays. However, we met a bunch of people for lunch.

I've been travelling in style:

But my ears have been getting cold! I tried convincing Noricum that she was actually making me a toque:

But she insists she's making socks for Knittah. She said she'll make me a toque out of the leftovers (if there are any) or out of some other yarn once she's back in Winnipeg. I guess I'll just have to brave the cold until then. Noricum did say that if the cold was too much for me I could ride tucked around in her jacket, but then I wouldn't see as much.

Oh... and if you're curious, Montreal busses look pretty standard:


I can't wait to see what you've been up to!

Love,
Swatchy

On the road again

Dear Knittah,

This is very exciting--my first post! Please let me apologize for Eliza--she's remarkably slow sometimes.

Anyway, Eliza had to take another trip overseas for work, so I got to go along. All things considered, being smuggled into Business Class isn't too bad. We had a crazy couple of weeks before the trip--you know how she gets, and there was all kinds of work to wrap up as well. So you can imagine that we were quite tired--me especially.

Here's me in business class:



I don't think we were even in the air before I sacked out completely. Too bad I'm so small--seems a pity to waste all that nice legroom. Regardless, I was very comfy:



First stop was Frankfurt. Knowing what was ahead, Eliza took full advantage of the free society while she could. Although she spent the days working, we got out and about Frankfurt at night. The first night, we wandered the pedestrian mall and found a nice little wine bar with an outdoor patio. It being Germany and about 50 degrees outside, no one was out on the patio...except, that's right, me and Eliza. I'm sure the Germans thought we were crazy. But Eliza preferred the smoke-free air, and I have to agree with her--that smoke really seems to stay in my hair (must be something to do with the dreads). After I was pretty much frozen, she finally caved and allowed the servers to turn on the heater.

I ordered a very nice cheeseplate and a glass of local German wine:



Then the waitress, Mikki, a law student by day, asked for my photo:



After three days of work, the office was closed for a holiday, so Eliza arranged a Rhine river tour for us. It was a lovely sunny autumn day. Turns out an American diplomat, who was doing her darnedest to confirm the world's impressions of Americans, was staying at our hotel and going on the tour as well. She posed with me:



I enjoyed the view immensely:





It seems the Germans pioneered high-density, multi-use construction. Here, you see the very practical example of a combination church/bar.



Hope this starts to give you a taste of the trip. I'll write more later!

love,

swatchy c

Night On The Town

Dear Knittah,

Tonight Noricum, J and I went out to dinner (and dessert!) with friends from out of town. We had a bit of fun with the camera in the hotel lobby while we waited for them to come down:


We ate at a restaurant called "Cafeteria", which is really nice, despite the name. Noricum and I shared a plate of parmesan and fresh herb risotto. We were going to have chocolate mousse for dessert, but it turns out they were out. Instead we had dessert at Cafe Depot, a chain coffee shop.

The camera didn't come out again until we were walking home, and saw some particularly nice street lights:


Noricum thought you might be interested that she's started your sock:

It's hard to tell with the lighting in the photo, but the colour is really pretty. :)

Love,
Swatchy