I had imagined only adding a couple of stripes of tweed to my blue socks, but it looked so good once I got going I continued, and I think I'll have enough of it to keep the alternate striping throughout. I'm almost at the heel already :)
I took a stroll to John Lewis at lunchtime today just to look. I've liked the colour of this Rowan Cashsoft 4 ply for a while and had almost decided to buy two balls of it to make a pair of socks when I spotted the Rowan Fine Tweed nearby. I love all the colours of the Fine Tweed range and have never quite known what to do with it. So, I thought I'd combine the two and add some tweedy stripes/toes to my Cashsoft socks.
Now I can't wait to get started on them, but I still have to finish the foot of my second pair of purple/stripy socks first, and a sleeve for my green and purple jumper.
Hm.
Hagos is in China tonight. He's been to Hong Kong before but nowhere else in China. I'm grateful for texting and internet contact. It makes a big difference to keep in touch easily when he's away.
I'm being deliberately anti-plans this week. Time is often scheduled and I miss just seeing what I feel like doing. And I like my own (and Meg's) company, so that's good.
I might give the socks away when they're finished, I haven't decided. I recently met someone I like very much, so I might give them to her. Or maybe I'll keep them for myself.
My Godson, JJ, wanted me to take a photo of him with Meg yesterday. He's always been interested in Meg and keen to be her friend. Meg, of course, is rather like a child herself in that, the world revolves around her needs and wants, and if something isn't directly for her benefit she isn't interested.
JJ hoped that a blade of grass would be enough to entice her to sit with him. Meg thought of climbing the tree.
She's always been fairly tolerant towards children, though she finds loud voices and noises unbearable and mostly takes herself off somewhere quieter.
She isn't sure whether the blade of grass is being offered as something to eat, or something to chase.
This was the closest JJ got to her.
I knew when I took this photo it was the best we could hope for. I like the composition. When we walked back into the house JJ said that Meg is his Godcat, because I'm his Godmother and so Meg is his Godcat and we're all in the same family.
Otherwise life has been busy lately. Hagos is about to go away on tour for a couple of weeks so it's been lots of washing, drying, packing and generally preparing for that, in amongst socialising and me working too. I took Wednesday off this week and I was so tired. I got up early as usual, then went back to bed taking Meg with me and slept in until 10.30am. One of my favourite things is for me, Hagos and Meg to be sleeping in/on the bed all together. It's so relaxing! I'm looking forward to finishing work tomorrow night, and having a lie in on Saturday and Sunday morning.
Life this week has been all about the hens. Hagos and I are on rota, which means I get up in the morning, feed the cat, fill my watering can with water and head over to the hen house. I can hear them all clucking and bokking away before I've even opened up their door. Then, as I try to fill their bowls with water and food I get surrounded by them, pecking at my wellingtons and jacket and fingers and rings, and even my pyjamas have been plucked at.
I've been making an effort to touch them all this week, as they're getting used to us all now, and as they are so curious and come so close. When I put out my hand to touch them, though, they stop dead and do a kind of squat on the ground, then I can stroke their backs (not sure if they like being touched; their feathers feel lovely and smooth) and it makes it easier to pick them up.
And we've been rewarded by two small eggs each day. It's still thrilling every time I open up the hatching box and see an egg. I love it when the egg is still warm!
Midweek we had a normal-sized egg and when we had it for lunch yesterday it turned out to be a double-yolker!
Poached egg on toast is one of my favourite lunches.
The hens are a thousand times more endearing than I expected them to be. The speckledy hens are probably the most boisterous, running over to be in the midst of any action. Bow, the bluebell, likes eating, and can still be found at the food bowl long after the others have lost interest. I know the whites least of all but I've noticed this week that they love digging when I let them out to free-range. Arrow has recently recovered from being unwell so I try to give her extra attention away from the others.
Meg, of course, is still top cat/top chicken. This morning she jumped up onto the kitchen table when I was halfway through breakfast, eyed my lap nonchalantly, then put one little paw onto my knee. I can never resist her, so I had to sit back and let her climb onto me and sleep for half an hour. Sometimes I'm so soft I sit for an hour or two just cuddling her because I know she likes it.
Animals are the best.
These are the first two eggs we've got from our hens. They have been producing in the last week and a half but our neighbours have been on rota. Hagos and I were delighted when we lifted the lid today and found TWO whole, tiny eggs. Their perfection is awe-inspiring.
I'm also hopeful (fingers crossed) that Arrow is back to normal after being under the weather for the past week. She'd been keeping herself separate, looking forlorn and depressed, but today she is running about with the others, eating, drinking, and looking back to her old self. It's been horrible to watch her being unhappy. So we hope she'll be healthy and happy from now on.
I've had a perfect morning at the kitchen table, drinking coffee, cuddling Meg, surfing the internet. I think I could live at the kitchen table quite happily.
