Too Cold for Fruit

I awoke this morning to the melodious clang of a spade on flags. I thought it must be our next door neighbour who believes, like me but with different things, that the devil makes work for idle hands. But no... it was my husband deciding that 6:45 was a good time to clear the drive around the car. I opened the window and graciously enquired what he was doing with worryingly scant regard that any passing neighbours would be able to view me in my pyjama top and Garfield knickers. (This also being the professional image I’d like to portray for my etsy shop!) I do get dressed before I ‘go to work’.




I tai chi’ed this morning with David Carradine who was looking remarkably well all things considered. It made a change from yoga and I surprised myself with my range of motion but didn’t push it.



Yesterday I sorted by fabric stash, I mean collection and wondered why on earth I’d bought some of them but had a good time finding things I’d forgotten about – I’m going to do some raw silk and organic cotton hearts for valentines. I threw some things away, tending to keep all leftover fabric when I make something ‘Just in case’. Some of these were smaller than the things in my scrap box. But in view of that and what moved location I still don’t seem to have gained a lot of space. I have yet to sort my haberdashery type items, beads, ribbons, etc.



I found my giant bead loom, I don’t think I’ve every loomed anything on it. I also bought a small one at the same time because obviously you need both two and did a little necklace which I wore once to a fancy dress party. They have both been a sound investment.

But maybe not today as today’s schedule has been ring my ISP and confuse them by asking if they do mobile broadband and being passed to technical support by sales and told that if my computer wasn’t connected by a wire to the router I could use it anywhere in the house! I explained that I wanted to use it outside the house and by this I didn’t mean the garden. Further advice had to be sought and the answer was no. I then spend half an hour on the phone with my mobile provider and now, hopefully, have it for 2 months and my dongle is being delivered tomorrow.

Go on driving lesson but just one hour instead of two as snow still thick on side roads.

The other things I ‘need’ to do are

*  Finish jumper pattern and most of jumper

*  Make nosebands for donkeys (not mine)

*  Finish/knit mitten pattern

*  Make hearts

*  Find material (which should now be easy) and make pair of trousers to wear tomorrow

*  Learn show and tell items for driving test on Thurs weather permitting

I might do a To Do List everyday then I feel the need to complete it.

I also need to eat more fruit because it’s good for me. But it’s too cold for fruit. It’s hot chocolate and cake weather. Which made me think how come people who live with cold and snow all the time aren’t obese, what’s their secret? On Saturday I smoothied summer berries and mango with protein powder in a fruit eating effort. Then when I couldn’t finish it all do you know what I did? I froze it. I ate it yesterday and had a kind of body freeze after. No I can’t find the logic in that either. As they say here ‘There’s nowt as queer as folk!.

Yoga, Cold and Cake

Generally I get up and drink 500ml water to get my system off to a good start. This morning I got up put on the things on the radiator which wasn’t on! There’s nothing like toasty clothes on a cold morning. Put the heating on, took a gulp of water, 2 paracetemol, had a cup of tea and a peice of parkin*, nothing like a healthy start to the day.
I may have overdone the yoga yesterday. I spoke to the hematology nurse yesterday about how much to push my back as I was very aware of it during one of the stretches yesterday and wondered whether I should push it because it would improve or accept this was the limit of my range of movement. Apparently because of my vertebra collapse (just one) he said ‘Definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely, don’t push it’ – I don’t think he was too sure. So this morning I missed the yoga, I did my night time one yesterday and had the parkin instead. I am now having healthy homemade museli and another cup of tea while typing this and watching/lsiting to Project Runway – the joys of being a multi tasking woman.

* My Auntie En’s parkin is beyond compare. I occasionally part with it to close family and friends but only thin slices, my hand starts shaking if they happen to be watching me cut it and ask for maybe a bit more. The only thing not made by Auntie En that comes close is cheese cake from the Fossil and Heritage Centre in the Orkneys. If you are ever there I highly recommend calling in for some. The carrot cake is pretty good too and the staff are really friendly. If however you are ever anywhere near me don’t expect any parkin without a fight.

Wool Stash

I sorted out my wool stash. I need to keep using yarn, the word, instead of wool as I keep reminding myself when listing things on etsy. I was brought up calling everything wool that was knit with, cotton, manmade fibres even believe it or not wool but in this age of millions of fibres it can get confusing. So here’s a pic of my stash.

That’s not actually my stash that’s my one ball boxes, as per Sally Melville Styles – a book for using up your yarn collection (I just looked that up on the book and am now going to use it instead of stash) odds and ends. The idea is you sort by colour and not weight and put one ball of each yarn in each colour box and reference to the rest in boxes, cupboards, wardrobes, etc. I have to admit I do have mine in boxes in the wardrobe I converted to shelves in bedroom two or my sewing room as my Auntie En calls it.  The doll was a present from her.  I have never named her, she has blue eyes and brown hair like me.  She also has bloomers on, unlike me, but I love touches like that, things you don't see but that finish things off.  She watches over the boxes and makes sure they are not pilfered.

This is my DMC thread collection.  I have forsaken Anchor which are all squished into a box in favour of these.  The nails they hang off do provide a little bit of a hazard when getting in and out of the glory hole.

Now I just need to start on my fabric collection. Which was considerably added to by Auntie En recently.

Yoga

I got up this morning, apparently it's -13 degrees outside the car, I was informed of this at 7:40 a much more acceptable time, and did my yoga, because it's good for you apparently. There was Maddy (Madeline Lewis the instructor), I feel I can be familiar since I have my pyjamas on, looking svelte in her blue lycra on a sunny tree surrounded platform looking all fresh and there was me in said PJs with flannelette bottoms, not having brushed hair or washed as B was having trouble nodding off so I didn't/daren't disturb him with my morning ablutions. I had however brushed my teeth. I was also snuggled in my new cardy completed for Christmas. It has a bit of a design issue with the sleeves but apparently looks like this is the style but knowing that it isn't how I intended keep thinking about ripping out the sleeves and redoing top sections.

I was going to attach a pic but can't find the timber on the camera, can't say I'm too impressed with this latest one. It's a Kodak with 12 mega pixels but I'm a bit disappointed with some of the photos and I don't think it's completely my fault.

I've decided I'm going to have an etsy day and blitz everything I've made and get them listed but first I think I may have to try out the long johns that I got for Christmas because I think it's cold and I'm basing this on my fingers being icy rather than relying on the car to tell me.

Driving Lesson and my Behind

I had a driving lesson today - in the SNOW.  When Dave (driving instructor) got here he asked if I still wanted to go as basically I am sensible enough (there's a first) I think he meant old enough, to go slow. If I had been a 17 year old boy racer he wouldn't have considered it. It was fantastic.  There was a tiny bit of sliding on roads that we would have thought would be completely clear but with my test next week it really boosted my confidence.

My darling husband gave me a detailed temperature by temperature description of his drive home this morning.  It was imperative that he passed this information on to me as soon as he got home at 4:00AM.  I was quite surprised that it had reached -10 degrees but could have waited until later to find this out and in fact did because I could only recall as far as -8 when I got up - shame on me!

He then informed me why I did so well in the car this morning.  On going into to exciedly tell him about my lesson (I waited until his alarm went off - I'm just so considerate), he asked what I had on as I looked nice.  I mistakenly said I had measured my hips last night and they were 39".  So the car didn't skid this morning because my large behind stablised it.

AND I still don't know what I am doing on the web but I keep doing stuff.  I am expecting a call from NASA any time now.

Look at my Socks!

Had a little sort out and found these socks so I put them on last night.  It was so odd putting 'gloves' on my feet.  I had a bit of a 'I have the wrong number of toes crisis'.  This reminded me of when my eldest nephew was little and learning to count.  His grandad would count Neil's toes with him and then take his own socks off and they would count his.  BUT he only had nine toes (due to arthritis) and this would confuse Neil especially since shaking the sock did not produce the missing toe!

Never worn these socks before.  Now I know that it would appear that that's a porky because there's bobbles on the big toe but I can assure you that was from the winceyette jim jams I have on last night.  To prove it here's another pic from last night that I wasn't going to use because it makes me look pigeon toed.

Charity Knitting 2

Hurrah I found the hats - well the photo and here it is for your perusal.