Today is a lazy day...

...Such a lazy day.

After the last couple of very  hectic days (a combination of lambing time, being at work over easter weekend, stock-take, helping Eldest pack for Iceland as well as squeezing in a goodly walk) I have been sitting and knitting, eating chocolate (the boys are very generous with their easter treats - who am I to refuse!) and just generally being lazy. Oh bliss.

A little while ago I found this pattern and thought I'd make it for Himself, so a few days ago I tentatively cast on and started. A little daunted at the size of the project I had taken on. It will be the largest item I have ever knitted.

So far it is going along nicely but! I have had to put it aside as Youngest has put in a request .

Like everything that has something to do with Youngest - there is a story.......... At Yarnival he fell in love with and bought a teeny-weeny reggae reggae hat**. He brought it home and found a pebble that fitted it, drew on a face and pronounced it 'Stoned'....

A day or two later he was found trawling the internet looking at hats - red, green, yellow and black knitted hats and decided that he had a serious case of the 'wanties'. (sigh)

He has the uncanny knack of wielding just the right amount of pester power and now I am knitting a beanie in the ubiquitous reggae colours.

 A quick cast on of 120 stitches, a K2 P2 rib band then 4cm of each colour in stockinette to cuminate in the black at the top. Hopefully it will be finished this evening then I can get back to the more soothing colours of the Isle of Auskerry Ronaldsay wools.

Oh well, Sunday is quietly meandering to an end. Tomorrow I am back to work and Himself is taking Eldest and his friend to catch the coach for the airport.  It will feel odd not having him around for the week.

And you?
How was your easter weekend?
Have you a favourite project put aside to complete another?
Have you eaten too much chocolate?
Who will you miss this week?

I will, some time during the next few days blog about lemon shortbread, herons and probably post a few more snow photos.

Enjoy the rest of your break :)


** Thanks Lovely Lady - I put the blame of my son's reggae reggae 'hat wanties' firmly at YOUR feet!!!

I finally succumbed.....

...and am writing a post sharing snowy pictures.
*sigh*
 I am so 'over' winter now....

Our village has four routes in and out of it and during the snow we were down to just the one and it was only barely one car width. A friend of mine lives up this lane................. haven't seen her in days!

Youngest 'strolling' over a 15 foot snowdrift.

Guess who?

Well, Left to Right...Himself, Youngest, Eldest, me then the dog......


And right now?
Well, I can smell the lemon shortbread cooking in the kitchen. Think I will go and pop the kettle on and undertake the serious task of test-tasting....I will report back!

It's a hard job, but some one has to do it :)

Ta da-a!!

It's finished and it's on his head!  I tried his hat on a couple of times as I was going along and it is so-oo-oo snuggly and warm and yumscious and I just might have to cast another one on!

Happy? Yup, we both are :)

And to celebrate, I did a bit of super quick baking - 3 oz of butter, 2 oz sugar, 41/2 oz plain flour, rub together until crumbly crumbly then press into a circular baking tin and put in a hot oven (180 deg) until gently brownily-gold on top -about 10 minutes-ish.

Whilst cooling, prick in a pattern, cut into 'petticoat-tails' and then having decided that as delish as short bread is................melt chocolate and drizzle (a bit too generously in places) on top.

 Eat - feeling guilty at the probably calorific damage each one can cause but lick your fingers and hmmmm hmmm and hmmm as you pick off the crumbs and eat them too..............

PS in my defence, I only ate one (promise!) and the boys (all three) finished off the other 7 between them.

Aaah - yum yum.

All gone.

Thank you all for your comments and thoughts as I waffle on, it is lovely to hear what you have been up to as you go along your day.

So - what naughty things have you eaten recently? (Lovely Lady - I am looking at you!)
What  'ta da-as!'  have you to declare?
Hope you all are as warm and cozy as Eldest in his Iceland-hat !
And if you have any warm hats to reveal (art teacher girl!?!) - I would love to see them :)

with love hawthorn xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ticking over.............

Sitting.
Knitting.

Catling snoozing in front of crackling fire.


Homework done, pjs on.
Computers being switched off.

Youngest wants to read me a story.

Wind still howling.
Snow still falling.

Work still busy.


And you?
What little things have happened through your day?
What little things make you smile?
And are you keeping warm?

love and blessings xxxxxxxxxx hawthorn xxxxxxxxxxxx

Iceland Hat

Not quite a ta da - that is, it will be before the end of the week but for the time being I thought I'd share this.....

Eldest 'test-driving' half-a-hat.

He's happy with this half, now to get it off his head and complete the next half!

See the 'line'? Not sure what has caused that, it's definitely not the pattern coz I have checked and it is correct, Himself suggested that I had the tension a bit tight at that point, he could be correct, will do a bit of pulling and shaping in a bit and see if it improves.

How was your weekend?

As fast as ours?

As snowy as ours?

As cold as ours?

Ah well, Monday tomorrow - bring it on!

What I was going to do.............

I was going to talk about the snow we've had in the last 48 hours but seeing that nearly every other blogger has mentioned the 's' word and included lots of white coloured photos, I decided not to.

So,  instead I shall mention what's been cooking in the hawthorn household's kitchen after we'd been out for a walk in that white stuff! (ssshhh wasn't going to mention it!)

A favourite of the boys (all three and me if I am honest) is home made pizza.  So I set up the the breadmaker (which joy of joys has a pizza dough setting) and while it was pounding and rolling and warming the dough I made a rich onion, garlic and tomato sauce, chopped peppers and grated cheese (cupboard a little bare at the moment) - so a simple topping was the order of the day.

It was munched.................rather quickly.

Years ago - bc (before children) I used to make a tarte aux pommes but in the way of life and little children, recipes and meals simplified and changed and in some cases favourite recipes became forgotten. Til today.


I rediscovered my original recipe and decided that today, today was a good day (due to being kept indoors by a blizzard - oops wasn't going to mention that.....) to revive it.

Funnily enough that was all eaten up too - 

I have been knitting too, my deadline looms closer (Eldest flies a week on Monday to Iceland) and the hat is growing nicely but not quick enough, so I better stop waffling and get on with knitting!

Right, managed to not mention (too much) any snow ! 

Enjoy the rest of your evening - I'm off to knit in front of the tv and the fire - bliss xxxx

Snow day

Despite the weather reports and the news items - I was still surprised at the amount of snow that had fallen over night. We checked the school website and much to the boys delight it was declared closed due to the weather conditions.

I was very hesitant about driving to work - it is a 40 minute drive over some gorgeous (wild) moorland and in places the road is very high and exposed. So I resorted to a less icy occupation for the day - knitting!

The original hat I was doing for Eldest was just...not...working......grrrr

I was frogging after every few rows. The yarn was splitting, twisting and felt too 'cotton' like despite it being a wool cashmere blend. I was not happy and I was wasting time on attempting this wip, so I frogged it for the last time and started another.

Eldest came and rifled through my stash and chose a dark grey in Merino DK by 'Knit by Numbers' for himself, we then went to Ravelry and he chose a design called 'Graham' and now I am happily knitting (well, I am knitting, but not necessarily happy as my beloved camera seems to be on the blink.......b****r)

So Eldest has been taking photos of the wool and pattern but....bless him..... it is not the same!!

Gratuitous catling photo

It's growing! Soon will be time to change the pattern.

So - how was your Fri(snow)day?

Did you get any crafting done?

Is YOUR camera working???

Right, nuff now, off to get a few more rows done. Stay warm and keep knitting !

'ooda thunk it

Thank you for your comments, it is lovely to hear from you - thanks for popping in despite my lack of posts.

I never thought that returning to veterinary work that I would have to learn a new language.

Not one that you would instantly think of - not Latin medical terms or complicated medication classifications, nope - its more of the local linguistic nature of a dialect.

For example....The other day a crusty old farmer with a ratty flat cap and cowclap (1) covered boots came in and scratched the back of his heed (2) and asked for a bottle of rattlebelly tablets te tret wattery mouth(3).  He had also lost some yows (4) from twinlamb (5) and needed summat fer'em(6). He moaned at length about his last lammin which had pikked (7).

Another example?  How about the farmer that had to sort out summat fer 'is cows wi' a touch of  lingers.......(8)

or......A  farmer's lad** (who was about 80 years old) who'd brought in his border collie because she had been lined (9)

Want more?

Well how about the case of the cows with bottle jaw?(10) or the farm that allus gets bad fluke at the back end (11) {ooh errr}

How about - Na then and si'thee? (12)

*******************************

Every now and then a whole gaggle of farming folk land at the surgery. Some with sheep for caesarian,  others with shopping lists written on the back of their hands, on ratty bits of paper or listed in their heads. They are by the very nature of their work, solitary creatures, but at gatherings they talk long and loud, they laugh and back slap, they commiserate and congratulate as the vet pulls out a costly dead lamb or a live bleating breakeven lamb.

Farmers are hardened by the weather, hardened by the economy, hardened by reality but their weather beaten faces crease with laughter lines as they crack jokes with each other.

Some earthy farmers leave a lingering reminder of their presence. Stinky clods of muck on the floor with an enduring essence of animal dung. Others - the gentlemen farmers - come in their lightly pressed coffee coloured cords and wax jerkins.....and clean boots and clean fingers. Do they do any real work?

I have to listen hard, really hard to hear what they say - but each day I understand a little more and remember faces and names a little quicker. I've been there 3 months and 'flippin'eck I am as 'appy as a pig in muck'


1 Cow manure
2 Head
3 bottle of oxytetracyline tablets to treat scours in lambs - a disease caused by e-coli
4 ewes
5 the ewe suffers pregnancy toxaemia if she has not had sufficient energy during pregnancy and her foetus drains her of her supply - can lead to death if she is not treated quickly
6 'something for them'
7 his last lambing turned out to be an abortion
8 Cows with 'lingers' are cows with a cough that has lingered on.............
9 She had been mated.
10 Bottle jaw - a huge jowly swelling below the jaw line of cows caused by Johne's disease (a nasty intestinal disease that can lead to death if not treated)
11The farm 'always gets fluke (nasty parasite that lodges happily in the liver - not fussy who's, sheep, cows, humans......) in autumn.
12. 'Now then' and 'I see you' - both informal greetings - the modern equivalent would be 'hiya'
**farmer's lad - they can be as young as a spotty squeaky voiced teenager right up to an old codger with bandy legs and one tooth - if they work for the farmer then they are 'the farmer's lad'


Did I tell you I love my job?

I am...

I am - tired
but quietly happy

I am - knitting
A hat for Eldest

I am - eating
Fruit salad made by Himself

I am - catching up
on blogs and letters and friends

I am - going to try
getting blogging again - seem to have lost the momentum

I am - watching out for spring
this has been a very slow winter

I am - recovering
from our Yarnival event

And you?

What are you knitting?
What have you eaten?
What are you looking out for?

Hello - my name is hawthorn and I am returning to the blogging world - I've missed you!

Oddities

There is something delightfully quirky about the British people. They do odd things.

We walk a fair bit and often come across something that is to us quite inexplicable but is obviously so very important and symbolic to some one else.

Like tucking a small fairy at the base of a tree. A huge tree precariously balancing on the edge of a sunken lane.

Or a wooden teddy or cat - we could not agree - nestled in a pile of stones, hidden in a swathe of heather high up on a moorland wilderness.

It seems that we as humans like to leave our mark

Mind you - it looks like it's not just a British thing....

Being busy

Yarnival is not that far off now - We are stepping up a gear with our preparations. It has been harder this year as we all so so busy with our lives and jobs.

This last weekend I thought I better get on and make the stall holder tags and some signs for the event.

One of the knit and natter girls has a very handy husband and with a bit of discussion during our last knit n natter evenings, she set off home with a task for him. 

So - using some plyboard, stash wool and yarn that have had various guises and even more froggings and some white glue - between us we have made a HUGE ball of yarn!

Friend's handy husband cut a huge 'ball of yarn' shape and I wound and wound and wound (and wound and wound and wound) the stash wool around the plyboard shape. Then having covered the wood I pasted it in dilute white glue and water to seal it's exterior. 

It took aaaaaages to dry!

Then, to finish it off - A 'paper' band was made and attached to the 'waist-line' of the yarn and then...........

ta da!!

Another knit and natter girl has a very handy mini-laminating machine which she kindly lent to me and so on Sunday evening I set about making badges for all our stall holders to wear - 

So, with much cutting and pasting and printing and laminating and twisting of cords and tying off of knots I have a second ........

ta da!!

Do you have any ta da-s this week?

Have you been busy making things?

What have you been up to or has the working week got in the way of your crafting flow?

Thank you so much for popping in and seeing what I've got up to - it means a lot to me 

with love

hawthorn xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It's been a good weekend

No - it really, it really has been. It started on Friday.

Well, let me start again, it was Eldest's 15th birthday on Saturday and as per family tradition - the weekend, the ENTIRE weekend belongs to the birthday person. So, on Friday we threw a surprise party for him. We had all his favourite foods and Granny supplied a delicious Victoria Sponge which we filled with candles.

The next day - Saturday, his birthday - was an early start, as I was actually working. So we got up, a quick breakfast and then he opened his presents. I had to rush off and had what must class as one of the busiest days so far at work I have ever had to do - and funnily enough I really enjoyed it :)

By lunch time, the veterinary surgery doors were closed and my boys landed - for celebrations part 2!

We had a wonderful picnic munching our way through the left overs from last night's feasting sitting at 'The Pound' a converted ancient stray animal compound - now a lovely little rustic picnic area.

Then, replete, we set off for a really enjoyable yomp over the hills. And -  nearly 13 miles later - we happily collapsed back at the car - tired out.

Once home, we turned into couch potatoes and watched one of Eldest birthday DVDs and pigged out on birthday cake and pots of tea - yum.

Sunday dawned a little grey and less springlike but the birthday celebrations continued. We had a quick early breakfast and went out for a caching walk. We had spotted a set of 'caches' that were so new that they had not been found yet. We decided that we would try and bag them as a birthday bonus. When we returned we had worked up such an appetite from all the fresh air it seemed quite natural to have a second more leisurely breakfast.

Now as I sit and write this post, I can see my boys in the lounge. Both in their pjs and dressing gowns ready for bed having spent all weekend either feasting or walking.  I realise that we have all had a wonderful weekend.

How was your weekend?
Did you eat as much cake as me?
Did you get out and enjoy the tentative first hints of spring?
Go on, what did you get up to?

I am going to do a few more posts and set them to publish through out the week, I am just not getting the time to post during the week - I hope you don't mind.

Hope you enjoy your Monday - I fully intend on doing so :)