Tea and Cakes

—- ?Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

This is the year of many holidays for me. It began badly, admittedly, with a trip to London cancelled at the last minute, but after that I was flying. Sussex at Easter, a weekend in Wicklow (does that count?) Bulgaria for a couple of days, back to Sussex and Cornwall, Bulgaria again, and then 2 and a bit weeks in France.

We took the ferry over again this year, which meant we could pack as much as we liked in the car, so I was able to bring plenty of books and way more knitting than I could possibly need. Irish Ferries have been making much of their new ferry for the Ireland-France routes, and it was indeed much, much nicer than the old one. It wasn’t really new though. It was new to Viking Line in Finland in 1987. 21 years later it’s new to Irish Ferries. Lovely though, and I do like being able to bring whatever I like with me on board and just sleeping through the whole journey.

For our first night we headed to Fontainebleau, to see the Chateau. We didn’t make it inside but the gardens were stunning. I can totally understand the revolution though. The place was massive, and incredibly opulent.

Then it was off for a week in our first Gite, a little way outside of Dijon. Here’s the link - I really couldn’t recommend it more. It was wonderful. Huge, beautifully furnished, comfortable, clean, a great location. Close to wine country (ok, we were in France, pretty much everywhere is, so more specifically the Cote d’Or in Burgundy), close to national parks for walking, and close to a few interesting but not busy tourist sites.

Next we headed off to Limousin, for four nights in our second gite. No link for this one. This was a bit different. It was absolutely in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the most rural part of rural France, in a beautiful setting.

A converted hayloft in a watermill, with windows the full length of the room and a lovely art deco style to the furnishings, overlooking a weir on a small river, this should have been perfect. It needed a really good clean though. There were a few too many spiderwebs for my liking. Also, that a mouse had been living in a former hayloft neither surprised nor bothered me, but the droppings not being cleared up did. Grrr. So much potential. Didn’t stop us having a great time though.

For our last two nights we treated ourselves to the Hotel Villa Cap d’Ail in La Baule on the coast. This hotel was just perfect. Beautifully furnished, lovely service - I would definitely go back.

So, what did I actually do? Well, walked some walks, drank some wine, saw some sights, read some books, knit on some knitting, relaxed, slept, drank great coffee, ate delicious ice-cream, and generally had a fab time. Lovely.

I’m off on my holidays, relaxing like mad. Today we headed off for some sightseeing, then came back to the gite for a few hours relaxing in the early evening sun.
I’ve been sitting outside with a cup of tea, happily knitting away (baby surprise jacket, very exciting). Although I’ve been listening to old episodes of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, I’ve been taking breaks to listen to the birds. There’s a big old oak tree to my left that’s home to a flock of very small birds that look quite like sparrows, and others with a pale green breast. A tap tap tapping indicated a woodpecker, and I was able to watch him for a while. He’s black and white, with larger patches on his upper body and spots at the bottom. In front of me is a large fir with brambles underneath, where a group of starlings stopped earlier for a feed of blackberries. Swifts have been swooping above the field over the way, and the cows in the field next to me are quietly munching away at the grass.
Quite a change from my usual Dublin life.
Now, it’s most definately time for a large glass of wine while I get the dinner on.

—- ?Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

I’ve just finished* reading / re-reading the whole of the series to date - three original books, a sequel, and the prequel.

Worlds away from the Stephanie Meyer books, this is a young adult series that I can’t put down and stands up to extra reads. Intrigue, battles, romance, ninjas, the tales have them all. Strong female characters that are important to the plot in their own right and have actual conversations without men in them.

The final book in the series, The Harsh Cry of the Heron, is by far and away my least favourite. It’s as though she had the plot worked out but was tired of the characters. There was potential there for a lot more stories, but perhaps she didn’t want to write them. That’s understandable. To a certain extent I’m just upset by how the plot all ended up too.

So, when the prequel, Heaven’s Net is Wide, appeared in the shops recently I was wary. I wanted to read it, but didn’t have high hopes. I wasn’t disappointed though. I was back with the characters I loved in the land that I loved, learning more about them. I didn’t plan to, but I ended up reading the whole series again from start to finish. It was totally worth it.

*As I write this, a week or so before it’s being posted

OK, it’s probably not really ladylike behaviour to be running around shouting about how brilliant I am (not that it stops me much of the time), but really, I am brilliant. This dress is completely adorable and I’m really really delighted with how it came out.

I’ve had my eye on the pattern for a while, but while there is an adorable baby girl in my family, she doesn’t live somewhere that lends itself to wool garments, so knitting’s a bit tricky. Anyway, the arrival of a friend’s daughter (5lb5oz - so tiny, but healthy and cute) gave me the opportunity I needed.

So: Little Sister Dress by Tora Frøseth (Rav link)
3.25 16mm length harmony wood circular needle
Lana Grossa Mielenweight Cotton Stretch yarn (Wool, Cotton and Nylon - machine washable!).

Fingering weight wool is slow to see results with, but the colours are cute and the yarn is soft and stretchy - I’m hoping that this will be a dress soon (it’s a wee bit big right now) and a tunic top later.

I messed up the pattern slightly - I think I got confused where it said to join into the round, but I knit a few extra rows to keep the pattern and then flipped it inside out when I divided for the armholes and it came out fine.

I used EZ’s sewn bind off to finish, and I love the results - really stretchy, and simple to do. I’ll be using it again.

I’d happily make this pattern again - I think it’d be lovely in a real woolly wool as a winter dress.

I had to trim the pile when I packed. I’m only gone a couple of weeks. I had almost a book a day. Admittedly I’m half way through a couple of them, but that was still a bit much.
Especially when I take into account the bag of wool I’m bringing too.
Good thing we’re off by boat!

This, my friends, is the best ice-cream you’ll find.

To find it you need to fly to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, get a bus for 2 hours to Plovdiv, and take a walk down the main shopping street, past the roman ruins, past the on-street cafes, until you come to the small ice cream stand just before the main square with the post office on it.

Then take your pick from the selection there. I recommend two scoops, although scoops implies a carefully measured small portion, and in reality it’s a giant spoonful or two in a massive sugar cone. Add your choice of sprinkles, and you’re off. The cost is calculated by weight, and the above ice-cream cost a bit less than €2. Yes, you read that correctly.

I tried a selection of flavours, some mine, some a sample from my companions, all of which were excellent and obviously made from what they claimed to be made from: Cherry - Mmmmm, Strawberry - Mmmmm, Vanilla chocolate - Mmmmmmmm. Above you see hazlenut, which was the nuttiest most delicious nutty ice-cream I’ve ever had, with chunks of praline chocolate in for good luck, and the one I came back to time and time again: Coffee and Whiskey flavour. Oh boy. This tasted like it had a generous slug of both in it and was top. Just wonderful.

It’s a good thing I was eating salads most of the rest of the time, I had a giant ice-cream each of the 4 nights I was in Plovdiv. I’d do it again too.

Plovdiv Sports Complex Nom

Plovdiv Old Town Nom

The solar eclipse viewed from Dublin. Ahhh, the wonder of nature.

—- ?Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone