I made my annual Beetroot Relish on Thursday night. Home-grown beetroot. I couldn't find my previous recipe so just looked for one online. It's perhaps a little sweet, but still, it tastes so fresh and amazing. It's delicious.
As if I don't have enough jumpers on the go at the moment (another four - three of which just need to be sewn together, one in the process of being knitted still) I decided to cast on this 4-ply Rowan Tweed, which I bought about ten years ago at the Alexandra Palace Stitch and Knit Show. Wow. I got ten balls of wool for about a tenner. I don't know why I haven't used it before now, because it's knitting up beautifully.
I decided just to make my very familiar TV jumper (Vintage Knits, Sarah Dallas) that I've made several times already. It's so good for watching TV as I don't need to pay much attention when knitting. And as I watch 1-2 hours of TV each day that adds up to a lot of knitting. I've almost finished the back already! I love all the flecks of red, yellow, orange and greens.
I bought the above pattern off Ebay. I saw someone who had made it up on their blog and liked it so much I tracked it down. It's a 60s pattern. Looking forward to making it up!
The chicks are getting big. They're so beautiful and sweet. They run away when I first approach them but soon they get brave and act normally. They grow incredibly fast. Wasn't so long ago they were flexing their legs in their eggs!
Meg is interested in the chicks, but thankfully, so far she hasn't tried to grab one. I think she knows they're special, and not run-of-the-mill blue tits or robins. Meg is so beautiful.
My favourite programme, Strictly Come Dancing, started last night. Looking forward to it beginning properly in 3 weeks' time. The last couple of days have been markedly cooler. Autumn is definitely here.
I've signed up to do an Experimental Writing module at the University of Edinburgh in January. It lasts for 10 weeks, one evening a week. Above is my reading list (I do love a reading list).
So, of course, to carry those books around I'm going to need a purpose-made bag. It's a silly bag, but I like it. It took about half an hour to knock up. It wouldn't stand up to any sewing scrutiny but it is functionally fulfilling.
I've started collecting the books to read. It says any five of the core reading, then has recommended reading. I thought I'd start with Max Sebald's The Emigrants. I should really have read more of Max's writing anyway, having had him as my writing tutor at UEA.
Then I might move on to William Burroughs, then Italo Calvino and finally James Joyce. I was also meant to have already read Ulysses during my Masters degree, but somehow I managed to bluff my way through that part of the course. I wish I hadn't.
The bag in action.
Even Ulysses fits, and I didn't think any bag in the world would be big enough for that.
Summer has surprisingly lasted a long time in Scotland this year. The forecast for tomorrow is 18 degrees again. Today is what I think of as a typically Scottish Sunday: dull, overcast, windy with the possibility of rain. I like days like this because walks are refreshing and it's always nice to get back inside the warmth (central heating on) and do an indoor pursuit - reading, knitting, sewing, drinking tea and eating chocolate.
I rarely watch any TV during the summer period. There's nothing on I like. But come autumn, into winter, all my favourite shows return: The Great British Bake Off, Strictly Come Dancing, The Bridge Series 2, Borgen Series 3, The Great British Sewing Bee. I'm sure there are more.
The jumper update I expected to do has been delayed due to it taking much longer to finish them off than I'd anticipated. In the meantime I've cast on another jumper. I can hardly believe it myself, as well as continuing with the chunky white jumper. So, I have THREE jumpers that are all knitted and are now in the process of being sewn together and having their neckbands knitted, and TWO jumpers that are on the needles. I also need to upload the photo of my finished fleece dress. Next weekend.
I spent some time on Sunday trying to take a beautifully-composed photograph of Turkey (not shown). Sometimes the hens and Turkey pose perfectly and the lines are right and there's something in the look that I really love. And at one point Turkey was in front of the house and she looked MAGNIFICENT and I quickly put my camera in place, pressed the focus - and then she moved! Before I could take the shot.
But this post isn't really about Turkey, it's about how I try to line everything up in my life so it all works well and I'm prepared in advance. I like being prepared. And I need to delegate even more. I had just started practising delegating but I can see I need to do even more of it. I tend to think I can do everything myself and then I wonder why I'm TOTALLY exhausted and not enjoying life.
And then tonight I read one of my favourite blogs, Soulemama, and read that my favourite web cat, Banjo, had died. I've followed stories about Banjo for years. And about the relationship between Banjo and Adelaide, Soulemama's daughter. The photographs of them together are so sweet. They loved each other as a girl and a cat should. Such a beautiful friendship. So now I'm sad.
So here is the black fleece dress, without arms. The photo doesn't do it justice at all. I actually love the shape. I'm thinking of making another in white, but I might wait to see how this one wears before making further fabric decisions.
I can't say anything about this photo at all because I'm turning it into a Christmas present (check back after Christmas).
This dress. Crikey. I don't even remember when I started making it. In Norfolk anyway. I got the material very cheaply from Ikea. It's 100% cotton but it has a stiffness to it. Anyway I cut out the front and back of the dress years ago, and only just pulled it out again to cut out and attach the arms. It all came together very quickly, so I don't know why I dragged it out so long.
Our friend Clarence's (Rik's) stuffed marrow. It was the best curry I've ever tasted. Haggis and I had half each, though it was way too much but we ate most of it. Delicious.
We've also been devouring Game of Thrones. We watched the first episode months ago and didn't fancy it at all, so discarded it, but running out of any other series made Hagos suggest we give it another go, plus our neighbours are currently enjoying it. And now we're HOOKED! Sometimes we've been doing four episodes a day, and staying up until 1am to watch them. Great rollicking fun. My favourite characters are Tyrion Lanister and the Queen of Dragons.
I've had a sudden urge to sew again, after having a prolonged knitting period. I love dresses, and wanted to find a pattern for a simple, slightly-fitted dress.
I had some black fleece material that I bought ages ago and never did anything with, so yesterday I traced the pattern and cut out the fleece. Unfortunately I didn't have enough material for the arms so I'll have to buy more fleece next week, but I'm hoping to sew what I have together today then add the arrms later. I'm hoping to make further dresses in cord and possibly tweed.
It's the Edinburgh International Book Festival here at the moment. On Monday I went to see AL Kennedy; on Wednesday Hagos and I went to see Alasdair Gray; and last night I saw Denise Mina.
I much prefer Alasdair Gray's fition, and I went to the event knowing it was based on an essay he'd written last year, "Settlers and Colonists." I thought he explained the point, succinctly, within his first answer, however it was dragged out by the Chair and by some audience members later too. Anyway, he is incredible fun and the part I enjoyed most was when he read a section from a work-in-progress of his translation of Dante's Inferno. His rhythm and scanning and various other poetic devices were fantastic.
We met our friends Rik and Jenny and baby Bramble before the Alasdair Gray reading and Rik gave us the marrow on the right from his allotment. I thought I had to photograph it next to my own courgette for scale. They are small but tasty!
Tomorrow we're off to The Peebles Poultry Show. Much excitement about that.
Hagos is currently supposed to be in Beirut doing a gig, but it was cancelled two days before travel due to the singer injuring her back. I had finally come to terms with him going to Beirut, but I was looking forward to him coming home again. Having read both John McCarthy's and Brian Keenan's accounts of being held hostage there I felt very uneasy about H going. I kept an eye on the Foreign Office's advice to travellers and wasn't sure a gig fitted into the category of 'essential travel only'. Hm. I felt slightly better when the location was moved from Baalbek to Beirut (for security reasons) but, anyway, it took me only a moment to adjust to it being cancelled.
Next post will hopefully include lots of jumper news/progress.
A year and a half ago, on a wintry walk in the countryside with our friends and Godsons, I made a flippant offer to my youngest Godson, JJ, to make him a pair of mittens. I'd just made his mother a pair to match my own. I made the offer without thinking, he said yes, we carried on our walk and I thought no more of it.
Every single time I've seen him since, in the last year and a half (so, on average once a week), he has asked me "How are my mittens coming along?" He asks with such optimism and expectation in his voice - every time! Even when I squirm and pull a face and laugh and say, "Er, not very well." And then change the subject. The very next time I see him he has defaulted back to complete HOPE.
I had tried re-drafting the pattern of my own mittens in a smaller size, but having not much patience for this I quickly abandoned the project. Then there was a breakthrough. About four months ago he said, "They don't have to have stars on, they could be stripy or have squares or circles." So I made a conscious effort to go looking for children's mitten patterns (I wanted them to have the Norwegian shaping at the top) and I found Norwegian Mittens and Gloves and thanks to Amazon I was able to look inside the book online and I saw they had child's mitten patterns. I asked if he would like reindeers on his mittens, he said yes, et voila! In a relatively short space of time, the mittens are now knitted. He wanted them in the same colour as my mittens. I think they've turned out really well. Now I want reindeer mittens for myself (luckily there is an adult reindeer pattern in the book).
I'm planning to wrap them up, take them round and then WAIT until he asks, "How are my mittens coming along?" And I'll be able to say, "THEY'RE FINISHED!!!"
And this is a sweet photo of our hens, and Turkey, out of my upstairs window. I love when they all hang out together. They're a great bunch, all with their individual personalities.
The beginnings of JJ's mittens. I'm not sure what size the finished mittens will be. I might have to up-size them if they're too small. The pattern just says "child's" so who knows.
When I was buying the charcoal wool for the mittens I couldn't resist this Rowan tweed. I love the colour range and could buy them all.
I have a great urge to knit these kneecovers. I don't know why. I don't know if they'd make a practical difference but I love the idea of them. The pattern is from a very old knitting booklet from the 70s. I love the absurd.
Tumbling tomatoes - look like they might bear fruit this year. My tomato-growing skills stayed behind in Norfolk when we moved. In the last two years I think I've grown five tomatoes in total. Nothing like the glut I used to get in Norfolk. So I'm watering and feeding them diligently this year. Here's hoping.
I planted these strawberries a couple of years ago and got a few the first year. Since then I let them do what they like. Last year I got a small bowlful from them. I should really take better care of them.
Green and yelloe courgettes. Looking good so far. Home-grown and freshly picked courgettes are far superior to any courgettes I've bought in a shop.
The potatoes LOVE Scotland.
For the first time ever I planted cabbage and Brussels sprouts.
And French beans.
I took this photo because Meg is in the bush on top of the fence. She'd probably seen a bird.
Today I was very excited when my new MITTENS book turned up. It contains a child's mittens pattern, which I intend to knit for JJ, thereby fulfilling my promise from two years ago.
I love this colour combination. Not sure what colours he'll choose. Initially he wanted them charcoal and yellow, like my Norwegian Star mittens, then charcoal and pink. I'll ask him in the next few days and see what he says. I promised I'd finish them in time for him going back to school.
The book is lovely. Slightly moose/reindeer heavy, but I'm a fan of reindeer, so hey ho.
Just started reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, after finishing The Great Gatsby.
July is a very busy month. Makes me feel exhausted just thinking about it. I'm looking forward to August, when I have two weeks off work.
Rhubarb from my friends' garden. I stew it, freeze it, then make it into crumble throughout the year. There's nothing better than rhubarb crumble on a cold winter's day!
And this is sweet little Coco Pops. We had to get a few new chickens due to over half of ours being taken by foxes/illness. We spent yesterday building their new pen. I'll take photos of the rest later and post.
There are baby crows in our driveway at the moment. They are very cute and completely gormless. Last night when I went to put the original hens to bed there was a baby crow in their coop. His parents were overhead making warning calls, but he didn't seem bothered.
We suspected that some of the hens are laying outside the hen house at the moment - as egg production has dropped to between 1 and 3 eggs per day (from five laying hens). So this morning when I saw Yoko run off - again - as soon as I opened the hen house door, I quickly ran after her to see where she went.
I tracked her to the dividing hedge and could hear her scratching around inside there. I left her to it, determined to go back later, sure I would find a little cache of eggs.
I scoured under the hedge, but could see no eggs. I was so sure, though, that there were eggs nearby and sure enough, a couple of feet away, in amongst leaves and nettles I found them!
Once I looked at them in the box, though, it seems not one but two of our hens are laying there. And as Shelley was hanging out with Yoko around the hedge I think it might be her.
There are probably lots of little bunches of eggs lying around the place, waiting to be found :)
Hagos had an unexpected gig cancellation late on Friday night. He was supposed to be travelling early Saturday morning to a gig in Cheltenham. So it meant we felt like we had a bonus weekend. We did our usual Saturday stuff but I also managed to stick to my original plan too, to spring clean and sort three out-of-control areas in the house.
This area, in front of the living room window, has been un-usable for weeks. Knitting, bags, jackets, have all been dumped on top of my piano, making it impossible to find anything, never mind play it! So now all my knitting-in-progress is sorted into easy bags, my drawing and writing materials are tidy, and the piano is plugged in and ready to go.
The next section is this shelf unit in the kitchen. We keep re-usable envelopes and packing materials on top (that was almost up to the ceiling and a complete mess), then I kept my knitting, sewing and baking books here too. So I've packed away all the wool I'm not currently using and have only kept out stuff that's in progress at the moment. I cleaned it all up too so no more dust and fluff.
The third section I wanted to get to (and it may still happen) is the shoe rack by the back door. It's untidy, plus it has all sorts of unrelated shoe items in it: hair accessories, bicycle helmets, a cat harness from two years ago when we first moved in!
So I'm slowly moving around the house and dealing with 'pockets' of mess.
I'm feeling the effects of working full time at the moment. When Hagos is coming and going, and I have extra work stuff to do too it all feels too much. I've been delegating more, and forcing myself to concentrate on one task at a time. I find myself simultaneously working on several tasks at once as a general approach to work and life and it's a complete mind-melt! And even things I'd like to do, like go to a Tai Chi class, seem like too much to take on at the moment. Too much of my time is scheduled already and I know I need much more unscheduled time than I have to just decide what I'd like to do, rather than being locked into duty and obligation, what I have to do.
And it's important to take time to empty my mind and roll around in the garden with Meg. This is the first weekend in AGES I feel I've managed to stop my continuous brain chatter and let my imagination drift and wander and sometimes be still.
I love Meg so much. She's so beautiful, and she smells divine, and she has such great attitude.
And she loves me and always tries to snuggle up to me wherever I am.
She's a great friend.
...The Cat Will Play
Meg has taken over as Queen of All She Surveys. This has been her new, favourite position while our neighbours' dog has been on holiday. She has a good view into the chicken shed, the neighbours' back garden, and our garden.
She's been exploring new bushes, most particularly the one in front of our house, which is easy to climb up into and from which she can watch Turkey without being seen. I had to launch myself into the bush to extract her.
Vanwall (the dog) has now returned and this morning instead of running into my neighbours' flower bushes in their back garden (lots of bird action there) she jumped up on top of our fridge freezer with her ears back. She had a blast while it lasted!
Necessity drove me to finish my slippers tonight when I stepped in hen pooh with my previous slippers (from Sainsburys).
I love the colour - so cheerful.
I had a great weekend. Lovely Saturday doing our usual visit to Whitmuir, relaxing, home-made pizza; and then today we had a barbecue/picnic at home with our friends and Godsons, and once they left we watched the Monaco Grand Prix highlights and a bit more relaxing before bed.
The weather has been so good that I've been walking around outside a lot with a glass of wine in my hand.
