Life's a Stitch

And more recently life’s a creative adventure with some travel thrown in.

Once upon a time, new neighbours moved into the house next door. They were two men and their older mom, relatively new to Canada, buying their first house. Twice, Chuck observed them struggling to cut their grass with a weedeater. Being the nice neighbour that he is, every time Chuck mowed our lawn, he took the time to ow theirs as well. The neighbours were very appreciative. They ordered pizza to our house, mother brought us deliciously juicy chickens from Chinatown, and we’d receive beautiful tins of moon cakes for the Autumn Moon Festival. One son worked in a hat factory and the other in a candy warehouse. We had access to all the baseball caps and candy bars that we’d ever need. Good thing that son #3 didn’t live at home – he owned a pet store.

The week prior to our move, Chuck went  to help them with something in their garage. There stood a shiny lawnmower. "Oh," says Chuck, "you’ve bought yourselves a lawn mower." Their response? "Oh, we’ve always had a lawn mower, we could never get it started." Reminds me of the the adage – give a man a fish and he has a meal, teach a man to fish and he has food for life. That was one of those good long laughs I’ll never forget.

Knitting update: cousin Lena’s mother-of-the-bride shawl, with a mistake four rows from the top. It’s amazing what will show up in a picture.There’ll be some froggin’ happenin’ tonight.

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14 responses to “Give a man a fish”

  1. Kristen Avatar

    What a good story! And it sounds like they were good neighbors despite their mechanical ineptitude.
    I’m amazed too at what our eye doesn’t catch in real life but can spy through the camera’s lens.

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  2. Marina Avatar

    Love the story. How long did that go on for?
    Sigh! That always happens to me too! It’s a lovely colour.

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  3. Carole Avatar

    Well, duh. Why learn to start the lawn mower when the neighbor will mow the lawn for you! Sounds like a good plan to me. Thanks for the laugh.

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  4. Beth Avatar

    A great story! And at least it’s only 4 rows – you’ll have it back there in no time.

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  5. CL Avatar

    Even with the error, the shawl is beautiful and looks so soft – I love it! Can you make the ‘error’ into a ‘design element’? 😉

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  6. Jane Avatar

    Froggin ? Does this mean that “truth serum” acavid (spelling?) will be consummed tonight?

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  7. Suzanne V. (Yarnhog) Avatar

    Ha! At our house, we call that “power tooling.” It goes something like this: “Honey? How do I turn on the table saw? And what’s this little thing for?” “Wait! Don’t do anything! Here, let me…” Hubby just got power tooled. I sounds like your neighbors have mastered the art!

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  8. Rebekah Avatar

    Oh that is funny!
    And on your sewing cards, I’m 34 and remember those things. I think people have taken the attitude if it is over 5 years old its antique.

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  9. Chris Avatar

    Ohh, such a sea of calm it looks to me. Except for the crest of the wave up there!

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  10. Megan Avatar
    Megan

    Be careful what you wish for. If you give a man a fish he eats for a day, if you teach a man to fish he spends all day sitting in a boat doing nothing but drinking beer. 🙂
    And can we apply this principle to knitting? What happens if you teach someone to knit instead of doing it for them? Not only do you get one less person to knit for, you get a friend. 🙂 (which is not to say beer can’t be consumed as well)

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  11. Angie Avatar

    I would like more neighbors like you. My husband thought the front lawn grew more slowly than the huge back lawn because our wonderful neighbour did just a few more passes on his ride-on every time.
    We enjoy our simbiotic relatioship with them including showing up when the BBQ smells good or saving special bottles of (sweet) wine for when they drop in.
    We have never needed a fence and have almost an acre on the river between us.

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  12. Rosie Avatar
    Rosie

    What a hoot about the neighbors. Another gorgeous shawl/scarf. I’ve been working out and feeling great. My bible is a book on weight training by Bill Pearl. The best I have ever seen.

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  13. Kathleen Avatar

    Great story. Sorry about your having to frog the last four rows of your new piece. It gets frustrating sometimes.

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  14. Criquette Avatar

    You can always be counted on to tell a good story and to share some of your gorgeous knitting!

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