Photo Saturday, as promised

So, here we are, Saturday again.  I’m sat in my library (how grand), uploading photos to flickr, listening to the endless, repetitive chatter of Billy the cockatiel, and thinking about what I wanted to say today.  I had it virtually drafted in my head as I was falling asleep last night, but was too lazy to get up and write stuff down.  As a consequence, I’m just gonna let the pictures lead.

First off, A’s cardi/jacket:

That’s it, just blocked (nearly successfully).  And on the recipient:

He was insistent that I explain the jacket is deliberately skinny-fit, that’s how he wanted it.  In fact, when I started on the smallest size in the printed pattern and he tried it on, he didn’t like it as it was too big.  That meant I had to invent a whole new size, which wasn’t actually as hard as I thought.  I cast on 130 stitches, instead of the 146 of the smallest pattern size, then pretty much guessed from there.  The bits I was worried about were the saddle shoulder bit and the decreases after joining body and arms, but both worked out fine.  As stated earlier in the week, the place where I had most difficulty was getting the pockets even.  They still aren’t a perfect match, but if A is happy with them, they’ll do. 

The other comment I would like to make is that I deliberately cut off his head in the photos, as he didn’t want the fame.  It isn’t just my poor photography skills. 

On to the next, this is the baby picture I’ve cross-stitched for A’s cousin’s baby, which is due soon:

It’s a lovely pattern, and I’m pleased how it turned out (so far)…just don’t look too closely at the details.  If you do, you might notice two flying cats.  And a rabbit wearing a nappy.  And a load of other weirdnesses.  As soon as baby is born and we know name and date of birth, I’ll stitch them into the gap in the centre and frame it for Auntie Vera to give to the new parents. 

Following on from this, I’ve also started a cross-stitch picture for another cousin’s little girl.  I didn’t make one when she was born, as no-one asked and I was totally absorbed by the knitting, but I did make one for her older sister and realised that now I’ve made 2 for one Auntie and only one for the other.  The theme for this one is daisies, as the little one’s name is daisy.  Pictures when it’s more than a splodge. 

Finally, while on holiday we wandered vaguely around Paignton one afternoon, and stumbled across a small craft shop.  It had some of everything, including the buttons on A’s jacket and a stash of yarn.  There I found a few balls of sock yarn, which I still can’t help buying even though I’m not currently sock-obsessed:

That’s Wendy Happy in a pretty pink/purple colourway.

Back from holiday, feeling unwell

Just a quick update – I’ll take photos and fill in details on Saturday as usual. 

Last week we were on holiday in Brixham, South Devon.  It was nice enough, just not quite it, you know.  I didn’t feel very rested or relaxed while we were away, and didn’t come home feeling that way either.  In fact it was really good to get home this time.  A’s Mum came away with us, which changed the holiday completely.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad she did come – she really needed it.  But we didn’t do our usual stuff, and felt the need to come up with ‘things to do’, which normally doesn’t bother us.  I think she enjoyed it though, and hopefully feels rested. 

Actually, I think the only thing we really did differently was the walking – not as much of it as usual.  We did still eat out a lot.  And I mean A LOT. 

Anyway, there was loads of time for knitting (didn’t actually get around to it much) and cross-stitch.  I have started and finished, apart from name and date, a picture for A’s cousin’s baby…due any time now.  I’ve also planned another for another cousin’s baby.  Then I’ll think about one for our niece.  Looks like I’ve been bitten by that bug again! 

I have been knitting since we got back, and A’s jacket is just one pocket away from finished.  There was a magic moment late yesterday when I thought it really was finished, but then A tried it on, did up the buttons (yes, complete with buttons) and we both realised at the same time that the pockets don’t match.  I don’t know how.  I made them identically, down to counting rows and everything.  But somehow, one of those damn pockets is a good inch taller than the other…guess I know what I’ll be doing today.  Also, I want to soak and block the whole thing, as it’s quite snug and some of the stitching looks a little uneven. 

So, why is it that I have knitting (and writing) time in the middle of a working Thursday?  I have a stomach bug.  It started yesterday, and today I feel a little better but still not good.  Fingers crossed for a quick recovery…I actually have work to do, and now I’m starting to fret about it.  I know, weird huh?!

I’m back!

Well, it’s been a while.  I can’t think of all the exciting things I’ve been up to in the past few weeks, but here’s a brief list of high(and low)lights:

• My Grandmother’s funeral finally happened.  With it came a release of tension and a chance to actually talk to some of the family;
• We’ve been on holiday to Westward Ho!  Yay, holiday!
• I went for a pre-op assessment yesterday – 4 attempts at a blood test, two giganto-normous bruises and two hours later…
• I’m still waiting for a surgery date;
• Work is still work, busy but nothing urgent;
• Mum still doesn’t know whether she’ll be having a hysterectomy.

I think that’s most of it. 

I made it into the office this morning, for the first time in weeks.  Only, I forgot my laptop.  And my tens machine.  And somehow didn’t manage to take any of my tablets before I went.  So two hours later, I came back home again.  D’oh!

In knitting news, I’ve been busy on socks, as always.  Also, I’m making a ladybird pyjama case for my friends little girl.  I couldn’t find a pattern for what I wanted, so I’m making it up.  It took me a while to track down how exactly to knit a flat circle, but as soon as I’d figured that out, I was away.  It’s getting there now, just got to finish the shell, sew it on to the body and stuff it, then work out legs, eyes and antennae.  I’ll post pictures when I’m done, maybe even write up the pattern (if I can make sense of my scribbled notes). 

Talking of pictures, I’m sure I’m way behind.  On Saturday I should have the morning to myself while A is at work, so I’ll get some sorted then. 

For now though, back to work!

2009 already?

Happy New Year!  I was thinking about that phrase earlier, having said/used it for the umpteenth time.  Isn’t it a bit odd?  I guess it’s just a contraction of ‘Have a happy new year’ or even ‘I hope you have a happy new year’.  It just started to sound really strange, I dunno. 

Anyway, it’s been over a week since I wrote…what’s the news?

Christmas day: was reasonably peaceful.  We changed our ’seeing no-one much’ plans at the last minute because A’s mum decided she wanted to come over to our house in the morning and stay all day.  By picking her up much earlier than we had planned to even wake up, we were able to call in at my mu’s and get home again before I even had to take the first dose of painkillers, which meant I was okay to walk to dinner and back – having taken the strongest tablets. 

My Dad met us back at our house when we had done that, turning up with his typical brilliant timing, just as we served up bacon sandwiches.  Luckily we had foreseen it, and there were plenty for us all.  A and his mum then went round the corner to see his sister and her family, staying for about an hour or so.  Soon after they got back we set off for dinner. 

Dinner was nice enough.  The food wasn’t the best we’ve had, and the service was a little hit and miss, but for the sake of turning up, being waited on and walking away with no clearing up to do, it was well worth what we paid.  Next year we are thinking of seeing where else is open and trying something different, but we’ll definitely eat out again, given the choice. 

To make up for the lack of real Christmas dinner, A cooked us up a proper roast on Sunday, with all the extra trimmings that make it a Christmas dinner, not just a roast.  We had one of the organic chickens from the meat box, with lots of cheats to make it easier – the potatoes were ready to roast (coated in goose fat), the stuffing, bread sauce and cranberry sauce all came from Marks & Spencer, and the gravy was from granules.  But it was delicious.  We thoroughly enjoyed it. 

What else?  Oh yes, yesterday I finally went back to the hospital to borrow a tens machine from the physio department.  Hopefully it will help with the pain, so I can cope better with everyday things.  Like working, for example.  It seems to have a lot of different settings, and the advice was simply to test lots of combinations of settings and see what works.  A bit non-specific but as everyone responds differently, it’s hard for them to advise. 

Sadly, the xmas break is now nearly over.  On Monday I have to return to work – it seems like a year since I last worked, and yet it also doesn’t seem like ten days is over already.  Happily though, we have booked our April holiday already.  We’re off to Westward Ho! again (yes I know, yet again), staying in the same park as always, and really looking forward to it. 

And finally, in knitting news…I’ll let the photos do the talking!

 

These are the Waving not Drowning socks I knitted using the lovely soft Araucania yarn I treated myself to for my birthday.  It was expensive, but it looks so good, is really soft on my feet and is a delight to knit with. 

I made this I-Phone sock as a birthday present for my sister-in-law, Sam.  She got her I-Phone in October, just before we went on holiday, and asked me to knit a cover for it, to save it from scratches.  I forgot all about it until last weekend and realised if I was quick I could get it done for her birthday on Tuesday.  It fits perfectly, and Sam seemed really happy with it, even if my miserable brother was scathing and rude about it. 

This is the sock I’m working on at the moment.  I got all the way past the heel then realised I’d got the lace charts confused (they weren’t labelled in the instructions, helpfully), so last night I frogged the whole thing and started again.  I am determined not to give up, although this is the fourth or fifth problem I’ve had with this pattern.  Hopefully, if I get them finished, I can use them as my Knit-A-Long (KAL) project for one of the Ravelry groups Ive joined. 

And finally, this is my Christmas present to myself…ordered on Sunday, received yesterday (Wednesday)…

I cannot express how truly wonderful these skeins of yarn are – the photo does them no justice at all.  They are so soft, so beautifully coloured, so amazing.  And so expensive, but never mind that.  Look at the pretty!

Another Photo Saturday

I know, it’s long overdue.  The problem is, we were planning on buying a wireless printer with built in card reader, so that we can print and transfer digital photos from our camera’s memory card, without having to plug in to the printer upstairs.  Plus, the printer is massive and clunky and the scanner doesn’t really work. 

Anyway, we heard yesterday that A’s job isn’t as secure as we’d thought.  Not secure at all in fact…to the point where he’s started the exhausting job search process.  So unnecessary spending on luxuries like a new printer is totally on hold. 

So here I am, at the old desktop instead of the shiny new laptop.  I’ve taken a load of photos, updated my ravelry projects and stash with all the knitting stuff, and I’ve got a few to share here…

Firstly, here’s Billy:

Did I mention how beautiful he is?

Next, some knitting stuff:

Socks for babies…

…socks for A…

…socks for me…

…and socks for lovely Kat, as a thank you for helping me to untangle yarn for hours.

Then there’s sock yarn:

Yes, that’s 12…count them, 12…balls of Opal Uni sock yarn.  All bought on special offer from the Knitting and Crochet Guild UK. 

Now, back to our holiday in early October:

The view from our caravan…

Me outside a butcher in Braunton (raved about by my Mum)…

And finally, this is a picture of me hugging Iggle Piggle, who is sat in his boat.  For the uninitiated, Iggle Piggle is from In the Night Garden, a really trippy children’s programme which I absolutely love.

Enough photos for now?

Health Update. And a joke.

I’m trying hard not to dwell on the whole agonising pain thing, but man it hurts at the moment.  When I last saw a consultant they changed my hormone medication yet again, and admitted I’m getting closer to a hysterectomy.  I saw my own Dr-man last week, and he confirmed that they really are running out of alternatives – this is the last thing he can think of.  Unfortunately I have to stick with it for another two months,  which seems like sooooo loooong. 

We wennt out for a walk earlier, and I could barely make it round the block.  And some of the side-effects are starting to get to me, like the constipation.  It’s not something I’m comfortable discussing, so I won’t gross you out with too many details.  Lets just say constipation is not a good side-effect for someone already suffering abdominal pain. 

Also, my hair is falling out.  It started on holiday, when I was washing it in the shower and realised the shower cubicle was slowly filling with water.  When I looked I’d lost so much hair it was blocking the plughole completely.  The Dr-man isn’t concerned, just said to watch out for bald spots!  Is that meant to be funny?!

The good news is I was referred to the pain clinic by the consultant I saw last month, and when we got back from holiday, there was an appointment letter sat waiting for me.  For the next day.  I saw a consultant who didn’t insist on prodding me too much, he just suggested an appointment with a physiotherapist.  Not for exercises or anything, but to learn about pain management and to borrow a tens machine.  I’m hoping that appointment will also come through quickly, as I finally seem to be getting responses on an urgent basis. 

Moving on, to the promised joke…where we stayed in Dawlish Warren last weekend, we arrived just in time for the d of a week long wild west event.  The final night was a big do in the clubhouse, which we avoided because they were charging to get in and we’re generally anti-social anyway.  Set up behind our chalet were several huts on wheels and tents, where some wild west type people were staying – in character.  They had the costumes, complete with long johns hung on the washing line, the campfires for cooking on, oil lamps, knitting, the lot.  A looked out of the back window and asked innocently "Do you think they’ll lend me a cowboy hat, then I’ll be halfway there".  I couldn’t stop laughing…it was the mental image of him in a cowboy hat singing to Bon Jovi’s Livin on a Prayer!  I’ve teased him about it ever since. 

What?!  I never said it was a funny joke!

No more holidays

That was another lovely, lovely holiday.  Peace and quiet (and only a few days of rain) in Westward Ho! and a few extra bonus days in Dawlish Warren at the end of it. 

We explored a little further afield than  usual while we were in Westward Ho! this time.  There have been occasions when we haven’t left the area at all, except on our own two feet, but this time we jumped on a bus and explored.  We aimed for Braunton, changing bus and stopping for lunch in Barnstaple.  We ate at the most fantastic bistro, and were even brave enough to order tapas.  The food was amazing, including the juiciest olives I’ve ever tasted.  It was reasonably priced, not cheap, but not overly expensive either (both of us ate enough for lunch for £20, including drinks). 

Braunton was a bit weird.  We’d been nagged to go there by my Mum and stepdad when we were on holiday with them, but resisted the pressure because all they could offer was ‘a butcher’.  Alan and Kat then went there from the Ho!, to go to a surf shop.  So we decided we had to see what the appeal was.  Didn’t get it. 

What we did get was the Tarka Trail.  We knew it existed, but had no idea where it went or what it was like.  We bought a detailed map of the area and discovered that it goes through Braunton, north towards Ilfracombe, back towards Barnstaple and further on to Bideford…just a few miles from the Ho!

So not only is the route a good one, through interesting parts of North Devon, but the bit we walked (Braunton to Barnstaple) follows the line of the river/estuary so the scenery is amazing.  Our binoculars were glued to our faces, there was so much to see.  We could probably have walked it in half the time if we hadn’t stopped to look so often.  But hey, where’s the fun in that? 

Of course, we also walked a lot around the Ho! area, on the Tors and through Northam Burrows.  Beautiful as ever.  The sun even shone for us. 

From Dawlish Warren we visited Topsham, which has a massive RSPB reserve.  We also explored the Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve, which was interesting too. 

Sadly, we are now back to work.  We have agreed to have fewer holidays next year, to save money instead.  Boring but important.  So April is probably the next one to look forward to, then October again.  We’ve almost settled on the Ho! (of course) and the Isle of Wight, where we haven’t been for several years.  We went there for our honeymoon, and it’s a good area for walking. 

Anyway, I’m supposed to be working…more soon.

Another week gone already?

I can’t believe how neglectful I’ve been, igonring you for a whole week.  The truth is, I’m hooked on games again.  I installed a games application on facebook, got hooked and obsessive and screechy, realised what was happening and uninstalled the application.  Then I installed a jigsaw puzzles application instead! 

I should know better really, it alwasy goes that way.  I just cannot leave the games alone.  It’s a good thing that my work network is tightly locked down so I can’t easily get to games of any kind.  Even though I can use facebook from work, I can’t play any of the games.  I sold my gameboy advance to keep me off the Tetris.  Of course now the problem is that I’ve got a laptop at home, so whenever I work at hoem I can simply set up both laptops on the dining room table. 

Why do I lack willpower like this?!

Speaking of lacking willpower, I ordered more yarn.  Mmmmmm…Yarn.  I’ve just received another lucky dip bag of Lana Grossa sock yarn, having knitted my way through 3-nearly-4 of the previous 5 balls.  And I’ve ordered 6 plain coloured balls from the Knitting and Crochet Guild as well.  I want some plain colours because the self-patterning stuff is lovely, but it doesn’t allow much room for interesting patterns in the knitting, they just look wrong or are drowned out by the patterning in the yarn.  Now I’m just hoping the KCG package will arrive before we go on holiday on Friday.

Yes, we’re off on holiday again.  This is our main (igonring the previous 4 ) holiday of the year.  We’re off to Westward Ho! on Friday lunchtime, for a week.  Alan and Kat are coming down as well, but just Friday-Sunday.  Then the following Friday we’ll drive from North Devon down to South Devon, to stay in Dawlish Warren for a long weekend.  The intention is with the S Devon bit, we will spend some time in Topsham at the RSPB reserves there. 

Westward Ho! will be our usual relaxing, strolling on the Tors, walking over Northam Burrows chill-out.  There’s something that speaks to us both in that place, it feels like coming home whenever we get there.  Weather allowing it will mainly be a walking week, usually with lots of wildlife to see. 

We’ve sorted the house-and-bunny sitting, but we still have a list of things to do before we can go.  Hopefully most of them can be finished tomorrow so we cna get away early on Friday afternoon.  Sadly, we both have to work on Friday morning, but as it’s A’s birthday, he gets to finish an hour early.  I have a 1:1 with the boss-man, so no early finish for me, but I officially booked the afternoon off, so lunchtime is the latest I will get home. 

Hooray for holidays!

Edited to add – I just cleared away the packaging from my sock yarn, and found the lovely people at Get Knitted had included not only a free sock pattern, but also a pen and a lollipop!  Now that’s service!

Photo Saturday

Morning.  Not only did I make it into the office for every one of the five working days in this week (and on time or early I might add), but I also got up before 9am today!  And it’s not even a knitting thing!  To be honest it’s more to do with the heat here at the moment.  It is so hot I’m not sure I can stand it.  Obviously, feeling heat is a subjective thing…it’s not desert hot of course…but it’s a lot warmer than it has been here for a while.  And the tablets don’t help, with the hot flushes (yesterday I almost fainted three times) and bouts of serious perspiration. 

Anyway, today won’t be a wordy one, as I’m finally on the home computer with time to spare, and have all those photos I’ve been promising to hand.  Okay, when I say ‘all’ the photos, I obviously mean the few I’ve managed to take…which came out okay. 

So…boat things first:

My pretty shawl, finished just in time, and worn several times including ‘formal night’.

The view from our window.  Did I mention the free upgrade to a room with a window? 

A pretends he can read a map.

At the formal dinner.

Next, a few knitting bits:

My first ever complete pair of socks!  Modelled by A, who they are for.  Note the hairy legs…I may be lazy about shaving them sometimes, but my legs just aren’t that hairy!

Lovely new yarn from Denmark.  Oh, what to make, what to make?

The little tiny poncho I made for one of the latest arrivals (Lili).

My newest project – socks for me.  The pattern doesn’t show up too well in the pictures, but it’s a combination of cabling and lace and looks good.  I can’t decide at the moment whether I’ve made it big enough, but can’t quite make up my mind to frog it and start again…just a few more rows and I’ll decide.

And finally…my lovely new project bag:

It’s sturdy and strong, small enough to carry comfortably without feeling like I’ve got my life with me at all times, good handles for carrying on the shoulder or by hand, and big enough to carry one or two projects and anything else I need such as purse, keys etc.  The only further thing I might wish for is a smaller pocket inside.  Apart from that, I love it!

Okay, after that picture overload, I’d better get on with the weekend’s housework.

A Devil’s Playground

This week has been really busy so far, at work and at home.  My colleague and friend Theresa came up from Plymouth to visit for two days, staying over in between.  Of course it would have been rude not to meet up with her in the evening, for pizza!  There goes the healthy eating kick again! 

The boss-man has also been here to visit, bringing more work with him. 

We managed to miss my step-niece’s Birthday on Tuesday, because we were out with Theresa. 

Yesterday I spent all afternoon at the hospital with Mum, as she had to have a load of tests done.  They were pretty gruesome tests, but I’m glad I went because she was not in a fit state to get herself home afterwards.  She had planned to get a taxi, rather than impose – as if I begrudge helping my own mother out when she needs it!

Last night we had a supermarket delivery…that’s 4 weeks worth of shopping over and done with.  We’ll still need fresh bits and pieces like milk, cheese etc, but only stuff we can get from the local shops. 

Today and tomorrow should hopefully be a bit quieter.  Which is good, because I’m exhausted and feeling the pain.  The tablets still aren’t working, although the side effects have really improved since I reduced the dose.  Apart from the weight gain…nearly a stone in 6 weeks.  But the Doctor-man said to give it another month before deciding one way or the other, so I’ll just keep plodding on. 

Anyway, back to the title of the post…a strange story from our travels in Scandinavia.  We quickly got into the habit of drinking cocktails at night, on the boat.  Normally, at home, we drink very rarely.  Occasionally A goes out with his mates and downs a few pints, once in a while we buy some lager or wine, and we’ve usually got a good bottle of Cognac tucked away for when we feel the need.  But for some reason, on the boat we drank loads of cocktails.  Lots of different ones. 

We also stayed up a lot later at night than we usually do, drinking, wandering around the boat or just sitting talking in our cabin. 

On the second night on board, the boat was on it’s way out of Amsterdam.  We watched as we left the port, got distracted by the cocktails and forgot all about where we were going. 

Late at night, sat in the cabin feeling slightly tipsy, we glanced out of the window before we settled to sleep.  A noticed that we were moving through a canal, approaching a huge lock.  On the lock-side level with us were several gulls, one of which was walking alongside the boat.  He was peering in through the cabin window, quite curious and not at all afraid.  We watched the comical waddling and hopping of the gull for a while, then left him behind.  Fairly soon we stopped in the lock and soon found two more gulls watching us.  One was sat comfortably on the ground (Fred), level with our window, the other was walking along on a plank of wood at the water level (Bert).  We watched Fred and Bert for a while then suddenly – Whoosh!  A massive flame shot up into the sky, starting some distance above the ground, burning blue and green and orange.  It took us a few minutes to work out that it must be from a massive chimney or something.  The flame burned brightly, got smaller and dimmer and eventually went out.  Almost immediately a second flame started in a slightly different place, and at the same time a great big plume of smoke rushed out of another chimney. 

For maybe an hour we knelt on our bed, leaning across the window-ledge, watching the flames and smoke appear and disappear from one chimney after another.  They looked like enormous blow-torches or flame-throwers, all colours from green and blue to deep red and yellow.  In a weird way they were oddly beautiful, totally mesmerising.  In the almost complete darkness the whole scene took on an eerie, scary aura and we speculated that this was a foretaste of hell, a demon’s playground. 

Of course in the cold light of day, the next morning, we knew full well that it was probably an oil refinery or something similarly industrial and prosaic. 

But I prefer the surreal ‘we’ll wake up and think we dreamed this tomorrow’ image we experienced at night.  No doubt the alcohol played its part!