Just about bordering on odd, I see things through different eyes.The heading says it all - I live, I love, I craft, I am me...

27/01/2014

Knittin' nuttin' and nuttin' was goin' right!


If I had to frog my KAL one more time - I would have have had an entire frog's chorus !
Uhuh - frog frog
 Actually I have finally finished frogging and FINALLY have something to show for my crafting madness. 
I think the main issue was down to having a new type of yarn that I'd never tried out before and a colour I would not usually choose. So this was a CHALLENGE indeed!
 I tried all my usual choices - a scarf or a shawl (several types and different patterns) but each time as the garment grew big enough to start seeing how the finished item would be, I didn't like....so frog frog frog.

What didn't help either was the amount of college work loitering on the desk, on the computer, at work, in my head and just generally hanging around and menacing me! (grrr frog frog frog)

So, given there is a KAL 'deadline' I had to really get the knitting out of the way so I could get on - well - get on with life in general!
So - yes, I have FINALLY found something that looks good in the yarn, is useful, I have made two and  amazingly enough Youngest saw the value of my work and requested one for himself.
This third one (notice I haven't revealed what it is yet??!) needed a little more thinking about. So, four outgrown T-shirts later, a bit of cutting and 'yarn' making, a third version of my KAL has been finished and is hanging up in his room already being used. One happy chappie!

Sigh of relief all round then :)

I will reveal my crochet/knitty-madness in February (not so long away) xx

PS this is my 200th  post !




25/01/2014

Rainy days and plays days....

......are one and the same this time of the year.

We had a mission and the weather was not going to get in the way. Eldest had to pick up a birthday gift he'd seen a couple of weekends ago. We could not purchase it then as the birthday girl was within arm's reach.

Our destination - Grassington - a vibrant little village which has made the most of it's charm by having the sort of shops that just draw the visitors. Tea rooms, gift shops, walking and camping outlets, craft shops and themed weekends like music festivals and the 1940s weekend.

Our plan was to park high above the village, have a walk for the dog and a picnic lunch for us, then to return back down and collect the birthday pressie. Well, you know what they say about plans...... the weather certainly had!

We sat, parked high above the village - as planned and had a carnic (as in car picnic) and watched hail, sleet and rain roar up the valley and over the moors. We were definitely NOT getting out - just yet.

The boys read their books, I crocheted (a story for another day) and Himself listened to music and watched the elements churning overhead, tearing clouds and bending trees double.

The last crumb from our sandwiches gone, our tea drunk and all the carnic accoutrements away, we watched through the rain streaked windscreen a small break in the clouds and Himself roused us from our snug positions as we wrapped up and braved the weather.

 We marched sharply up the gravel track, over the brow of the hill, dropping into a marginally sheltered valley. The wind was sharp enough to cut right through but at the cracking pace we had set we soon warmed up.
The small break in the clouds widened and the sun flooded through - the colours sharpened and the sky became more dramatic, losing it's leaden sullen expanse.

A turn through a stone wall revealed a wooden post with it's exposed rings.


History abounded on our little walk - mining stories and scars covered the moors. Pits, whims, tramways, tunnels, tracks and  chimneys. We have walked here before and just soaked up the archaic feel. 

Another wall and style exposed us fully to a chilly breeze and we picked up the pace again, only stopping briefly to explore mine pits and read some information boards. The car called us and the clouds were definitely closing in rapidly.

Time to drive back down into the valley and do our birthday shopping. Our cheeks red and our hands brittle with cold - but we all had a silly grin on our faces, the walk - as brief and as snappy as it was - was brilliant!

20/01/2014

A tea-junkie's gratitude list

Making : (and frogging and knitting and frogging) my knit and natter secret santa kal
Cooking : Soups - rich tomato, leek and potato, thick chunky veg. Salmon pie and loads of veg (and boys ACTUALLY eating it all up!) Lots of slow cooking.
Drinking : Far too much coffee, lots of tea, peppermint tea, ginger and lemon, hot 'RIbena' and orange vitamin C - yum.
Reading: Anything about sheep, cows, liver fluke, ecto-parasites, endo-parasites, twin lamb disease, hypoglycemia, lambing, dystokia, baa baa baa. 
Wanting: to knit more, blog more, walk more, crochet more.
Looking: at the layer of dust on the shelf I am sure I wiped not so long ago - Or did I miss it??
Playing: The delicious Rudimental CD - 'Home', the deep soul grabbing Peatbog Faeries - 'Dust and the wistful  London Grammar - 'If you wait'
Wasting: Time.
Sewing: Absolutely nothing! Although my Mom is sewing curtains for our bedroom (does that count?)
Wishing: That winter would just slip off quietly and allow the sun a little more time to play.
Enjoying: Walking at lunch with the dog, working with some really delightfully dotty friends.
Waiting: for spring to really kick in.
Liking: How our bedroom walls look now they have been painted.
Wondering: Why on earth we waited so-oooooo long to decorate?
Loving: My new food choices - given up wheat as best I can, no I am not gluten intolerant but have noticed how much better and healthier I feel since July when I waved bread (and other wheat based foods) bye bye! (Along with the weight :) )
Hoping: That with gentle persistence I can get the boys to reduce their sugar intake - managed to get them down from one teaspoon of sugar in every mug of tea to just a 'sweet' little 1/4 teaspoon!
Marveling: A how quickly we can make a tidied room into a mess.
Needing: Wrap my fingers around my mug of tea - they are cold and need a little tea-love.
Smelling: Olbas oil splashed on the back of my dog's neck - she has the sniffles and the oil helps clear her nose (and ours!)
Wearing: My crocheted blanket on my knee - so-oo snuggly and cozy. *love*love*love* my blankie :)
Following: (Well trying to) - following a more gentle way of life.
Knowing: I don't have much time left before my exams - and a lot of work still to get through.
Thinking: About the next few days - work is going to be extremely busy with meetings and talks for farmers about lambing time issues, sheep-themed giveaways, lambing lists, power-point displays.
Feeling: Tired, but not ready for bed.
Bookmarking: Sites on worming preparations, lice treatment, sheep medicines and cow care!
Opening: (And closing) the door for the cats.
Giggling: At the boys pulling a shoe box for Pan (she loves being towed around the house in a box - strange cat).
Feeling: Cold and appreciating our wood-burning stove as it quietly exudes a gentle but wonderful heat. 
Anticipating: A new wool event where I will not only be an exhibitor but helping give a workshop - left hand crochet!

My life is full, yet I feel that there is much more to do - which is why I am trying to slow down - to calm my thoughts and to be more focused. Difficult for some one with a butterfly brain........


06/01/2014

Things that make me happy

Texting dear knitting friends and family to kick start the knitting year.

Driving home in pale evening light - not pitch black darkness.

Coming home to find my boys have put the kettle on.

Walking at lunch time with giddy dog - she is at work with me now. Don't want to go through the distress of losing her again - she is going gently senile, partly deaf and dimly sited. Bless her, she has been a good dog.

Himself.

Hearing the cats yelling cheerful greetings. Pepper shouts at the top of her furry little lungs a huge meouwderling hello as I park the car in the garage. Pan sends loud thought and 'eye-messages'.

Friends.

The fact that despite it just being the festive feeding frenzy - I've not put any weight on! (phew)

Eating freshly made fruit salad.

Planning things for the new year.

Family.

Having a relatively tidy house (a rare occurrence with 2 whirlwind cats and two teenage lads)

Having a lovely happy gossippy chat with a neighbour.

Being lent a pair of a football boots instead of having to fork out a small fortune for a short 6 week school compulsory football training scheme. (Especially as Eldest detests this particular sport and tries to avoid the ball at all costs.....)

Sitting in my cozy home, surrounded by my boys (all four *of them) either reading or on their laptops while the radio quietly churns out music and the cats stretch out in front of the fire with smug looks on their furry chops.

Happy?

To right!

And you?

What has set off your happy button?
What has made you smile today?
What has given you a fuzzy glow of happiness?

*I actually mean three, I promise I only have my three - oops!


Hope you alhad a lovely weeken
and hoping yoalhad a Happy Monday!


05/01/2014

Simple pleasures

A gentle day.
Filled with simple plans and pleasures.
Opening the door to let the cats out.
Slow cooking a vegetarian  curry.
Opening the door to let the cats in.
A bit of homework before returning to school.
Opening the door to let the cats out.
Up-dating the new wall planner with holidays and exam dates.
Opening the door to let the cats in.
Cutting up chrimbly cards to recycle into gift tags.

Opening the door to let the cats out...........


 Listening to a wonderful explanation of the imperial system of measurement 
2 minutes and 18 seconds of measuring madness :)

Enjoying the fact our favourite Scandinavian crime noir with 
Saga Noren (at her strange best) and Martin Rohde is back on TV.

Leaving the door slightly ajar so the cats can sort their own lives out!



And you? 
How is your Sunday? 
What simple pleasures (including being a cat doorperson....) do you find comforting?

Enjoy what remains of your weekend xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



03/01/2014

Moments

As a colleague and I left work this evening - we both exclaimed that 'it is still light!' and we giggled and gave a little skip of delight as we said goodbye to each other.

For the first time in several weeks the evening sky was not a thick black covering. It was a pale grey blue streaked with the remains of the storm clouds.

Wonderful - summer is returning.

Then, to top it off, as I drove home with a silly smile on my face I saw a sliver of a new moon and a heron flying home after a day of forage - Brilliant. That silly smile turned to a huge grin - what an encouraging start to a new year :)

One of my most treasured seasonal rituals, is to walk to is a twisted hawthorn (my Celtic tree) in Grass Wood and stop for a mug of tea and watch the world quietly move through time before continuing our walk over the Dales.

And - of course, with a mug of tea, you have to have something to nibble - the last of the festive mince pies just seemed to fit the bill.

Happy FRIDAto you all

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


02/01/2014

A bit of this and a bit of that x

I took the decorations down last night - it felt excessive and cluttered to still have the tree up in the new year. So, unceremoniously,  it was banished for another 12 months and the house instantly looked bigger and felt tidier.
Some years ago, after a particularly long and dull and grey weathered winter, I 'accidently' forgot to put some fairy lights away and their cheerful bright spots of light quietly kept our house happy. Ever since then,  I have kept lights out all year round. Perfect for those moments when I crave a little mood boost or we have company or just for the simple 'need of it'.

Any hoo - chrimbly clutter gone - it certainly feels right to continue to de-clutter and do a little preemptive spring cleaning! Just not right now, nope - going to do some therapeutic knitting -**happy sigh**

Now, before I start - some knitting news..... I was tempted not to show progress pictures of my KAL knit and natter challenge but - having never knitted lace before - I am privately SuPer ExcITed at my progress!


Ooh isn't this so very grown up of me!? It is called the travelling vine pattern and I CAN'T BELIEVE that I am knitting it - heart flutter :) sqweeeeeeee.

In all honesty, I think nearly every stitch has been knitted at least twice. I have spent a fair bit of time frogging and cussing and counting and re-counting and checking and getting befuddled and I am enjoying the pattern as it creeps off the needles and gently gently grows.


Going to now put blogging aside, reach for my knitting and my mug of tea that Eldest has just presented to me (I did have to ask him to put the kettle on - you should have heard the teenage mutterings and groanings).

G'nite my dears, keep warm and keep crafting :) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx