Sunday, August 31, 2008

Comfortable

This is Meg asleep this afternoon. Just hanging off the end of the couch. She slept like that for about 20 minutes.

This afternoon I had the kitchen door open and was sitting reading and eating lunch at the table when I heard a scuffle and then a scream from the bushes. I went out and Meg looked all innocent. I never found what poor creature she'd been torturing.

It's almost 1am and I'm just about to drive into town to pick Hagos up from the station. His flight was late getting into Heathrow so he made the last train out of London. I'd better go.

A Day at Home

I had a perfect day yesterday. Since I dropped to working part-time I've been feeling a bit isolated at home and have felt the need to get out often and see people, which is all very good, but it's important to appreciate and feel happy at home too. So yesterday (after dropping Hagos at the bus station at 1.30am so he could get an overnight bus to T5 for a flight to Hungary for the weekend) I went into town fairly early to do a few essential things: taking library books back, buying wool, buying salad and pitta for lunch, and returned home before midday. And I was really happy to know I was going to be at home, by myself, for the rest of the day. So I pottered around, ate a lovely leisurely lunch, read, and then in the afternoon I went for a walk, because I was suddenly determined that this year I'm going to make bramble jam, as I've been promising every year since we moved here and never have.I noticed the small bramble bush at the end of my drive had fairly ripe brambles on it so I thought the brambles down the lane would be ready but they're not quite. It's a shame because I thought it would have been funny to have presented Hagos with bramble jam on his return home from Hungary tonight. He says I always say I'm going to make jam and never do.
There should be quite a lot of brambles once they do ripen though so perhaps next weekend or the weekend after I'll be able to collect some.
I finally decided to buy wool for new winter accessories. I couldn't stop thinking about the Rowan cocoon. It's so lovely and soft and luxurious to feel. I considered copying my current purple and blue scarf pattern that I got from Vintage Knits, as I do really like the effect, but I wanted something different and decided on a cable pattern for the ends, then a 1x1 rib for the middle section. I got the cable pattern out of my Good Housekeeping Knitting book that I got at a coffee morning years ago. I also chose this cable pattern because the it's very similar to my silver necklace I lost last year.
I wasn't sure about buying the wool because I'm saving money and because I know that knitting can take over and I get nothing else done while I'm working on a garment. But I decided I really do need a new scarf, hat and mittens, and I'll confine my knitting to when I'm watching telly, which is usually an hour before I go to bed. And actually the scarf so far has knitted up incredibly quickly. I should have it finished in two more sittings. The hat will knit up in one sitting, it's just the mittens that will take longer.

So, I had a very happy day indeed.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Crop

It was Thursday night when Hagos and I unearthed our potatoes. I was very excited. It's been years since we lived in a house that grew potatoes.
Janie said to throw away any that were green, but there weren't any, so we got almost the entire pot-full, we only lost three potatoes to worms.

I know all vegetables grow like this, but it somehow impressed me more when we'd grown our own. It was like, WOW! I really wish we'd done tomatoes now too. Next year for sure. The chilli plant is still growing and growing but no sign of any chillies. Most disappointing.
Hagos had this weekend at home, which was incredibly nice. We met our friend Vicky (above) in a newly-renovated Ha Ha's for lunch, then went to Cinema City to see Hellboy II. It's not my usual kind of film, but the other two were keen and Vicky had already seen it the week before. I had very low expectations so it passed pleasantly enough, helped by the comfy seats at CC. Between Ha Ha's and the cinema we had an hour to pass, so went into Waterstones. I settled myself on the couch with The Suspicions of Mr Whicher again, and when it was time to leave went looking for Vicky and found her staring at the Superhero comics! She just can't get enough Superhero action.

Sunday Hagos and I seemed to have a bit of a bug and slept until very late morning, then I went to the gym, and we had roast chicken in the evening. I have more energy today so I intend reviewing and prepping this morning, gym this afternoon. I feel better in myself but I'd really hoped to have lost more weight by now. I lost half a stone and now I've plateaued. I know I just have to keep going but it feels like a long slog sometimes! And I'm so in the mood for a little celebratory party with birthday cake and Champagne. Just have to find something to celebrate!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Autumnal Accessories

It's been chillier and raining a lot this last week. Summer is definitely turning to autumn and I've been considering what colour to knit my new winter accessories this year (hat, scarf, mittens). For some reason I can't get white and green out of my head and today I went into John Lewis to look for wool. The Rowan Cocoon is absolutely the more gorgeous wool I've ever felt. So I'm thinking of doing a hat in mostly white with green accents using Rowan Big Wool, a scarf the same design as my current purple and blue scarf, using Rowan Cocoon, and mittens using 4-ply white with possibly green Kidsilk Haze. My winter coats are pea-green and rust, so I hope the green and white will sit well with the rust coat!

I met my friend Vicky for lunch today in Pulse, a vege cafe. And afterwards I went to the bookshop again and looked at these two books, again.My friend Bev recommended A Thousand Splendid Suns to me, and I noticed The Suspicions of Mr Whicher while I was in the bookshop because I liked the cover. It's a well-researched account of a murder that took place in the 19th Century and the detective who was in charge of the case.

Both books are £12 each and even in the 3 for 2 deal it's rather a lot of money, so I'm planning to see if I can get them both cheaper online. I'd like to read The Suspicions of Mr Whicher first. As I was bookless last night I began to read In Cold Blood. I'll see how far I get. A third of my book reading is done in bed and I don't expect it will be a great bedtime book so I may have to substitute an Enid Blyton at bedtime, especially when Hagos is away.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The Gratitude Wrap

Last night I decided to make SouleMama's Gratitude Wrap. I liked her versions as soon as I saw them. I didn't want to spend any money on it at all though so I used leftover materials from my box (hence the blue binding). It took hardly any time to make,
If I ever make the wrap again I'd do it without the binding and just topstitch instead. I'd love to get some Moo cards printed. Most of the photos I have are of Meg though!
Talking of which...

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Pocket Money

I have been very consciously saving money recently. I fritter it away all too easily on stuff. So instead of spending £1.50 a day on mocha, I now make my own coffee. Instead of spending £8 on a book I either get it out of the library or I buy it cheaply from Asda (£3.86) or similar. And I scour the cupboards and fridge for lunch instead of buying it at work. Because I realised that MONEY IS TIME. And the longer I can stretch the money I have the more time it buys me.

But today I decided to give myself £10 pocket money to fritter and above is what I bought. What's Your Story? The Postcard Collection is a collection of short stories, mainly written by well-known writers, with the money going to charity. I love postcards so it's very much my kind of thing. I also wanted to buy a set of three moleskin notebooks. Inspired by SouleMama's Gratitude Wrap I intend spending this evening using up scraps of fabric (therefore cheap and FREE) to make one for myself. I love everything to do with stationery.
I've had a really nice day today. Hagos is away doing some gigs. I woke up missing him and wondered what to do with myself. Saturday is the only day of the week I deliberately try not to achieve anything. It's my one day off. Every other day has work and gym assigned to it, which I enjoy, but sometimes it's good to float. So this morning I met my friend Bev in town for coffee. Then I did a quick bit of shopping then went to my friend Sophie's for lunch. It was really nice to think what I'd like to do today and then do it.

Above is Meg before I left home. Most mornings now she has breakfast and then makes her way through to Hagos's studio to sleep. She's so cute. Below is Meg in my shed during the week. I was working at my desk so I made the chair comfy for her with the rug and with a little reluctance she settled down there. When I came into the house for dinner I soon realised why she seemed a bit off about the very comfy chair - as soon as I left the shed she moved over to my swivel chair. It must be the right size and shape for her because she loves sleeping there!
One thing I realised today. I can't drink coffee anymore. I love it but after my coffee with Bev I felt very spaced out and I was actually shaking. I bumped into a work colleague in the middle of my shakes and told her about it and felt slightly stupid! I'm such a lightweight I can't even drink a cup of coffee!

Friday, August 01, 2008

Lunch; and, Look Up!

I've been wanting to read The Outcast for a while now, but it's a popular book and all library copies are spoken for. So, thanks to Asda, I picked myself up a copy at a very reasonable price on the way to work. This is me at lunchtime today with my fruit salad. I was very happy.
And this morning, when I was getting ready for work in the bathroom, I heard a noise above me, looked up and who did I find sitting on the Velux window? Meg, of course! It was funny seeing her legs flattened underneath her. I called her name and she looked up and behind to try to see me. She didn't think of looking down.