Baby Slings and Travel Musings

So, I'm attempting to make a baby sling. So far, all I've accomplished is this:


I keep coming back to this shadow weave pattern - I guess I really like it! Maybe because it ends up with a nifty little pattern of almost-circles, or at least as close to circles as I've managed on the loom without any warp manipulation. I'm using the leftover lilac bamboo from the wedding shawl that I made for a customer and white zephyr - very pretty combination, I think. I'm hoping to get it woven, finished, sewn, etc., and have it come out ok enough to wear (with Conall) to my niece Marissa's wedding. Wonder what the little guy will think of it? Supposedly babies love slings. He certainly likes the Baby Bjorn.

Phew, I'm tired today. Hooray for naptime for Conall. Bella is making a puzzle (of the solar system, no less) on the kitchen floor next to me and things are quiet for a little while. It's amazing how babies can just make you feel beaten down some days. And Conall is a relatively easy baby, I don't know how parents with collicky babies, e.g., survive. It's a gorgeous spring day and I'm too wiped out to even think about going for a walk and enjoying it. Well, maybe later on if he takes a good nap now. Of course then Bella will probably take a nap right when he's waking up, lol!

Tired days like this are when I start dreaming about travel - escapism, I'm sure. We took a trip to Provence and Paris for two weeks this past September when I was still pregnant. What a wonderful time! My Mum came with us for the whole trip and my niece Marissa (the one that's getting married) and her boyfriend, Michael, joined us for the second week. We stayed in a lovely gite just outside of Avignon:

Bella at the Moulin de la Roque. Absolutely fantastic. I recommend it without hesitation. Baron Guy (the owner) was wonderful, the location was perfect, the grounds were great for a kid, too - lots of room to run around - we even loved the freezing cold pool in the afternoons!

Carlos was a champ. He had major back surgery (one of his discs basically imploded, it was horrible) three weeks before we were due to leave - crazy!! Poor guy couldn't even pick up our cats, never mind luggage or Bella. I hauled the luggage and Bella all over the place - I could just see people thinking "What is that big guy doing making his pregnant wife stuff the suitcases in the overhead compartments??? That's horrible!!" LOL. He was a really good sport (and, thankfully, his back felt soooo much better immediately after the surgery that it was just fine to go according to his doctor and physical therapist).

It was our first big trip with Bella (apart from a road trip to the Outer Banks the previous Sept.) and she did really well - plane, train, everything, no fussies, she was a champ... Helped to have Ginga (that's what she calls my Mum - a term coined by niece Marissa - the first grandchild - when she was a little girl) and then Marissa and Michael along.

And it slowed us down - we've always been the crazy whirlwind type travellers, backpacking around Italy, zooming around Spain on our honeymoon. It was nice to have a home base (necessary for naps) and to just slow down, find the local boulangerie and produce market:

That's Carlos and Bella, on one of the few rainy days, coming back from the morning trip to the boulangerie with yummy bread. "Merci beaucoup!" It gave us more of a chance to get a feel for the area.

Provence was fantastic. So gorgeous. We were all agreeing via email the other day that we'd go back to this place in a heartbeat. Still so much to see and do.

How about another picture?

That's the Pont du Gard, a Roman Aqueduct. Second in height only to the Coliseum in Rome (for surviving Roman structures, that is) - largest arches they ever built.

We'll definitely go back...