Creations and Ends

As well as my lovely ripple blanket, I began a project that I could easily do in my lunch breaks at work - so, a scarf - a field of flowers. Each lunch time I eat, and then have time to crochet 2-3 of these little delights. I bought the wool, Cathey - Debbie Bliss - from the John Lewis sale - I wanted a spring look - the colours when the flowers first start arriving, crocus, pansy, daffodil.

Meanwhile, the ripple grows steadily. I promised myself I'd complete one row each evening - and I have managed to keep to that resolution. I had such trouble in the beginning, but was kept going by Lucy at Attic24 who promised me that after a few rows I would see the changes in stitches and the pattern would fall into place - which is exactly what happened - eventually!!



I had sad news on Saturday - the death of a much loved friend for many years. Unexpected and tragic - his funeral will be on Thursday, so a sad reunion of friends from long ago to come.



Life has a strange way of balancing joyful and sad and so it was that the same day I heard the news that my friend died, a parcel arrived from Prague. I have lots of lovely friends from the Flickr website - and one of these friends - http://flickr.com/photos/jyryk/ - knew that my youngest daughter loves teddy bears - so he sent a bear from his home town and little Prague bear now sits in pride of place on the fluffy white bench she has in her room. Included in the parcel was a beautiful little book about Prague and two gorgeous prints. How exciting it was to receive the parcel when at this time of year all I normally get are bills by the sackful!!

I know I promised I wouldn't complain, she said, but I'm not ready to start just yet.

I know I promised I wouldn't complain, she said, but I'm not ready to start just yet., originally uploaded by boo *.

My title today comes from the charming web site, storypeople.com. I love the quirky little stories and they always make for a great title when my creative juices have dried up. Which they are continually doing in this cold weather. I have a lovely little balcony off my bedroom overlooking my small city garden - and I just wandered out there to see if the moon was visible - and made a hasty retreat as the icy air made straight for the centre of my bones. Urggggh! Now why wasn't I born a Tuscan!!

Work limps on - a rather depressed air hangs over everyone at the moment - lots of sickness, lots of paperwork.... I listened to the Head of Creative Arts giving a talk to some of my students today - he'd been to Benin for Christmas, and was reflecting on how much happier people there seemed - despite their considerable lack of anything material..... he said he thought the difference was, that they really enjoy what they do - whereas we seem to have lost that ability to do something that truly makes us happy. Hmmmmm - thinking back to my last post... How to change course in life without affecting those you're responsible for in a negative way... Any ideas??

Blue Mondays

Blue, originally uploaded by boo *.

I was rather shocked to hear on the news today that today is considered the day when more people feel depressed than any other day of the year. I suppose everything comes together - the anti climax of after Christmas, the bills, the cold, the dark, a return to work. So then I thought, well, apart from the cold and the dark, everything else we have control over - why do we persist in over spending? If we're so unhappy with our jobs when we return, why do we do them? Why aren't we changing our lives?

One of my friends on Flickr, has a sister who has been in intensive care all the way through the Christmas period. She is desperately ill, and only in her 30's. No matter how long we may live, life is short - and the agony that my friend is suffering over missed opportunities is one that must be familiar to all of us who face saying goodbye to loved ones. So, a belated resolution; not to take each day blindly, stumbling from one to the other -but to think seriously, what do I want to say I've seen, done, been - before I die?

old faithful

old faithful, originally uploaded by boo *.

It's Friday!!! I love the weekend - it gives me a chance to catch up on all the things that I love to do. Perhaps I should let you know a little of what I do - not too much - because I've left work now! I'm a lecturer at a college. I have a specialised role, in that I teach English and literacy to students who study creative arts. There's a huge variety of subjects in this department, ranging from fine art to performing art - but in every class there'll always be a few students who have either missed out somehow on a huge chunk of English language teaching, or who have specific problems such as dyslexia.

They are all lovely students - the one thing you find in this department is that the young people have a love of whichever creative art subject they've chosen to study. I've worked with outstanding musicians, artists, photographers, dancers - it just breaks my heart that even when they are 'good' at English - students today do not read for pleasure, or write for enjoyment. Therefore, it was a wonderful surprise when today, I went to work with a student I haven't worked with for quite a number of weeks (for the last half term I had been seconded to a completely different role). He produced a very long creative narrative which he intended to use as part of his final exhibition piece. The writing was strong and visual. That was a true surprise and a reward for two years of hard work!

Tomorrow I am going to try and get a last minute appointment for an eye test. I am so conscious of my deteriorating eyesight as I get older!! I hate getting into bed with a book and realising that I really can't see the words any more!! I do have some reading glasses - but they are no longer as effective as they once were.

I'm also going to teach the eldest daughter to crochet!! I taught both girls to knit, but the eldest really didn't get on with it - but she said she'd like to try crochet - so we're going to attempt that tomorrow! I didn't tell her that when my textiles students were taught knitting and crochet - they all achieved the knitting, but only one really took to the crochet!!

Youngest daughter has almost completed knitting two little animals for her baby cousins - hopefully she'll finish these this weekend as she wants to make a start on the cutest rabbit kit she got for Christmas!!

Today's photograph is of the moss on my front wall. My flickr contacts will know that when I'm uninspired, or the weather's too horrid to traipse round with a camera, I always turn to my garden wall - and time after time the tiny stalks reward me!!

House and Garden

It's been soooo cold - I can't ever seem to get warm. By the time I get home from work, it never seems worth lighting the fire - anyway, I leave the house when it's dark and get back when it's dark - so taking out the ashes during the week is horrid...traipsing through the garden.. so I put on three jumpers and get into a hot bath and go to bed pretty early, to read, crochet -stay warm!! However, I was encouraged to see my little grape hyacinths beginning to shoot - I just hope they'll survive - perhaps I should stick them in the shed? I love these flowers so much - simple, a wonderful blue and look so pretty with all the other spring flowers!
The big tidy up at the weekend included putting the doll's house up in the attic. The girls had each had one, and Miss 18 yr old gave hers away in the summer. I didn't want both to go - they were given by grandparents and it's the sort of toy that another generation will happily play with - so this one, along with dolls and furniture disappeared into the highest reaches of the house. It was sad - another era over where my children no longer want to play with toys - but an ineveitable consequence of growing up.

Getting It Right

There are those days when everything goes right. For a few days now it has been bothering me that my ripple blanket wasn't really looking like the picture in the Jan Eaton book, or Attic24's lovely example - mine didn't so much ripple, as frill out. So I un picked the lot and began again, and again - and at the end of the 2nd row of that 3rd attempt, it suddenly hit me that my pattern reading skills are rubbish and I'd been reading something very, very incorrectly. So for the 4th time I began again - and look!! My ripples are rippling!!!!

In the horrid realisation that I start back at work tomorrow, I ransacked youngest twin's room and cleared it out. There were even 2 boxes in there from when we had moved here, 2 years ago!! Finally her room looks decent; the washing machine has run twice today with stuff I've picked off her floor and the recycling bin is now full and desperate for the bin men to come. Filled with a sense of achievement I tackled the understairs cupboard. The DC is going to hit the roof any minute when he comes in and sees what I've put on the landing to go into the attic - he thinks it's just going to be the Christmas decorations. Oh oh, he's back - got to dash - but I did find my long lost Monsoon handbag under the stairs!!

Little Treats

Breakfast was extra scrummy this morning as I had bought some little pink roses from Tesco - I so needed a little bit of Summer in my life. I did think that roses needed a glass vase - but I only have two and they are both far too tall for this small bunch - so into my prized milk jug by Emma Bridgewater they went. Do you see the matching butter dish? I've had that for years and years; when I was married, my ex husband didn't learn to drive until babies No 3 & 4 came along. One weekend, I heroically drove myself, him my eldest, then 2 - and the baby down to Cornwall for a few days and back again. I treated myself to the butter dish as a reward for all that driving. I remember it cost £27 - and this was 16 years ago!! But I so love it - and every day I think how pleased I am that I bought it. The jug came as a present from my mother a few months later. The moral of the butter dish, is that if you truly love something, then buy it. The years of satisfaction were well worth the expense.

So, yesterday, I managed to treat myself again!! I wanted these shoes from Principles when they had for sale in the Summer, at about £70 - they're not what I normally wear, but for some work occasions they are exactly what are needed. I waited until the sale - but as is always the case - they didn't have my size!! I tried several branches and the internet site, but the story was the same - no 38's. As I walked past Principles yesterday, I thought I'd just pop in and see if there were any bargains suitable for work - and look!! Size 38 - and guess how much???? £10!! So when the cold weather disappears and a certain work situation presents itself - I will have just the shoes for the job!!

New Year's Day

I haven't organised by pics very well, so today's blog is reading backwards, and you'll need to start from the bottom and work back to here! Oh, and my New Year's Resolutions are in pictorial form on Flickr!

After the excitement of climbing the tree, the 5 teenagers of the group recovered their cool and huddled together in a group, lagging behind the other adults who were way ahead, along with the 1 child who hasn't reached his teens and was running ahead with the dogs, unconcerned with any notion of appearances....
This poor tree had to suffer the climbing of all 6 kids, plus one extra grown one.... Mine often climb this particular tree - there a hundreds of trees on the walk, but they pick this one because there's a bench close by where I can sit.
For New Year's Eve we had another family over. They did the starters and puddings and provided Champagne, we provided main course and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and/or bacon, with Buck's Fizz for breakfast this morning. Breakfast didn't happen until 11.30am - and we finally managed to get out for our New Year's Day walk at 3pm! We went up to the Heath and found this tree, covered with multi coloured ribbons!! It looked very festive.

Yesterday, my end of year gift to myself arrived, from Amazon, via Royal Mail, at 7.05 am!! I have NEVER had a delivery that early. Needless to say, I was fast asleep, and managed to 'hear' the door after the event ran down the stairs in time to see a card on the door mat and the blur of the red Royal Mail van vanishing up the road into the still dark morning. Actually, I was so disappointed I felt like crying! I raced into some clothes, flew into the car and hared off to the sorting office, where I threatened to cry in front of all the postmen. Despite the fact that they had numerous signs up saying they didn't hand out parcels on the same day they'd attempted to deliver them, they kindly took my number, phoned me when the van came in and let me come back and collect!! I was over the moon as I'd taken advantage of Amazon's free delivery and they'd emailed me to say not to expect delivery until between 7th and 13th of Jan!

New Year's Day

I haven't organised by pics very well, so today's blog is reading backwards, and you'll need to start from the bottom and work back to here! Oh, and my New Year's Resolutions are in pictorial form on Flickr!

After the excitement of climbing the tree, the 5 teenagers of the group recovered their cool and huddled together in a group, lagging behind the other adults who were way ahead, along with the 1 child who hasn't reached his teens and was running ahead with the dogs, unconcerned with any notion of appearances....
This poor tree had to suffer the climbing of all 6 kids, plus one extra grown one.... Mine often climb this particular tree - there a hundreds of trees on the walk, but they pick this one because there's a bench close by where I can sit.
For New Year's Eve we had another family over. They did the starters and puddings and provided Champagne, we provided main course and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and/or bacon, with Buck's Fizz for breakfast this morning. Breakfast didn't happen until 11.30am - and we finally managed to get out for our New Year's Day walk at 3pm! We went up to the Heath and found this tree, covered with multi coloured ribbons!! It looked very festive.

Yesterday, my end of year gift to myself arrived, from Amazon, via Royal Mail, at 7.05 am!! I have NEVER had a delivery that early. Needless to say, I was fast asleep, and managed to 'hear' the door after the event ran down the stairs in time to see a card on the door mat and the blur of the red Royal Mail van vanishing up the road into the still dark morning. Actually, I was so disappointed I felt like crying! I raced into some clothes, flew into the car and hared off to the sorting office, where I threatened to cry in front of all the postmen. Despite the fact that they had numerous signs up saying they didn't hand out parcels on the same day they'd attempted to deliver them, they kindly took my number, phoned me when the van came in and let me come back and collect!! I was over the moon as I'd taken advantage of Amazon's free delivery and they'd emailed me to say not to expect delivery until between 7th and 13th of Jan!