Tea and Cakes

I took today off work. It’s been a hectic few weeks, and I didn’t think I’d be able to take a break before we go on holiday (18th August!), but I was able to at the last minute and took it took it took it.

So, what did I do with myself on this fine day? It really has been a fine day too – the first in about 6 weeks that it hasn’t rained on, not even a tiny little bit. Although, clouds have just come over, and there are almost 3 hours left in the day, so I shouldn’t really speak too soon. Ok, I swear, I just finished that sentence when it started. Yep, it’s raining.

Anyway. I had some housework to do, and then I was going to knit. Maybe even write something. It was going to be great.

So, you know, first I check my email and catch up on some blogs.

Then it happens.

I switch on the Xbox.

I spend the next two hours playing Zuma.

Zuma is a very simple and highly addictive game on Xbox live arcade. Essentially you shoot balls out of a frog’s mouth, and when you get more than two of the same colour they disappear.

I reckon I spent a good two hours today playing Zuma. That’s two hours I could have spent cleaning, knitting, writing, pulling the dead parsley out of the herb pot on the patio, doing a load of washing, I could have made dinner for later, etc etc etc.

Instead I spent two hours shooting balls out of a frog’s mouth.

Sigh.

Anyway, once I managed to find the willpower to switch the computer off I turned things around. Popped on some Johnny Cash, and before I knew it I had the place* vacuumed, todoed, dusted, the dishwasher emptied and re-filled, and a load of washing done.
*When I say ‘the place’ I don’t mean the whole apartment. Just one room. One room will do for now.

Then, time to relax.

Cheryl has very kindly leant me her spinning wheel while she’s back in the US for the summer, and it’s been sitting patiently, looking at me, occasionally sighing quietly when I walk past it. So, today was the day. (I had a little go yesterday too). Accompanied by the delicious Mighty Leaf African Nectar rooibus tea that Kathy sent me, I sat down to try my hand at spinning again.

First getting to grips with it again with some brown wool.

And then with some white. I did know what type this is, but I’ve forgotten.

I was definitely improving by the time I stopped.There are a good few overspun parts, but I’m quite pleased. I plan on plying the two together and they dyeing with kool aid.

No discussion though, I have no desire to spoil it for anyone.

So, my return to Flickr Fiction was clearly a little premature. I’m too zonked to think in the evenings at the moment, I can barely knit.

I can, however, knock up delicious smoothies to keep me healthy:

Mmmmm: Bananas, peaches, raspberries, orange juice, honey and greek yoghurt.

Yum yum yum.

A couple of months ago a cardigan popped into my brain and won’t leave. Given that I’ve never made a full sized cardigan or sweater type thing, I decided to set it aside until I’d finished at least one full garment knit from a pattern.

Yeah. Good plan that.

So, I was kicking about on Ravelry* and found a few adaptations of Stephanie Japel’s Minisweater (See here and here). Now, the adaptations aren’t what I have planned, but they gave me the idea.

So, you know, although I have the back of a vest waiting for the front, and most of a sleeve from the Retro Redux Shrug, I cast on for something new.

I’m following the pattern at the moment, we’ll have to wait and see how I get on from here.

In other exciting news – I won a draw over at Where Two Next?, Sharon and Cathal’s blog of their year living and travelling in New Zealand. It’s been great reading about their adventures and explorations, and I get to try my hands on some New Zealand wool!

*Sorry for those of you waiting, I’m not gloating. Honest.

Ok, so, what have I been knitting?
Well, while I don’t seem to have caught the knitting slump that’s been going around I have slowed down a bit, and have at times only been capable of knocking out the mobile phone socks:

Completed mobile phone sock 2, using yarn left over from my first pair of socks.

Mobile phone sock 3 in progress, using yarn left over from mum’s clapotis.

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I’ve also been working away on the Jaywalkers, with one completed and another started at knitting group on Saturday. The first one looks a little boxy, but it fits so well, and is so comfortable that I can’t wait to get the pair done.

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Then I accidentally bought Lace Style with an Amazon voucher I was given (Thanks Eli!), and started the Retro Redux Shrug. However, I stalled a couple of weeks ago, simply because the shaping relies on changing needle size as you work, and I needed the 6.5mm needles that were sat in the other room. What’s important to know here is that I live in an apartment. It’s not as though the needles I needed were off in the other wing of the house. They’re in my bedroom. I’m in that room a lot. And yet, somehow, that was enough to stall the project.

I’ve fetched the needles now, but we’ll see how we go.

Actually, I think part of my hesitation is the knowledge that I’m going to have to pick up stitches later on, and I’m not very good at doing that neatly. The pattern’s lovely though, and I really do want to get this finished so I can, you know, actually wear it. Ho hum.

Snape: Good or evil?

Not any bones or anything, thankfully. Just exhaustion.

Work at the moment is all hands on and out of the office away from a desk. Too much work and too much play and all I’ve been good for the last 2 days aside from work is sitting on the sofa catching up on the last two Harry Potter books in anticipation of the next.

Anyhow, exhaustion and a cold, so I haven’t really been near a computer for more than 5 minutes, or even knitted much over the last few days.

Apologies if I owe anyone emails, I know that I certainly owe a Jaywalker update and another flickr fiction. I’m catching up on a bit of blog reading first though, plus I’m still pretty shattered, so give me a day or two.

It seems that emails coming to me from hotmail addresses are bouncing back – if this is happening I also have the same address at hotmail.com so you can use that – I prefer yahoo as hotmail gets too much spam, but do check in on the hotmail one.

Yesterday started out the same as every other day. I got up, made a pot of coffee, and settled down with my laptop to catch up on the news and emails, munching on a piece of toast with marmite. I don’t start work until 11, so mornings are when I get to relax.

As I closed my laptop Max appeared, right on queue, lead in his mouth, wagging his tail so hard his whole body wiggled from side to side. Max is my labrador, the one good thing to come out of my relationship with John. Max was John’s puppy, but John’s new girlfriend hated dogs, so when John left me he left Max too. Five years ago that was, and it couldn’t have worked out better.

We walk by the beach every morning. Rain or shine, summer or winter, Max and I are there, same time every day. If the tide’s in we’re up on the greensward, Max sniffing out rabbits while I greet my fellow walkers, dishing out dog treats to Max’s friends, and comments about the weather to the owners. Max likes it best when the tide’s out, and I do too. He gets to charge about on the sand, in and out of the water, chasing seagulls. I get to stroll along slowly, watching worm casts appear in the wet sand, turning over rocks in the rock pools, feeling the sea breeze on my face.

The tide was heading out yesterday morning, still just covering the rocks that mark the edge of the beach before the sand begins. Max ran straight down to the beach, barking, which isn’t like him, so I hurried to catch up, worried that something was wrong. And, well, it wasn’t wrong, per se, just, well, odd. Down on the beach, left by the tide, was a huge ball of ice. Just sitting there.

Max was right up next to it, barking at it, unsure of what to do. I ruffled his neck and told him it was ok and, reassured, he ran off to chase a seagull that had ventured close. The ice ball was big, almost as big as me, and perfectly spherical. I placed my palm flat on it, and it was cold and wet to the touch, which wasn’t really surprising. I looked around, but there was nobody else on the beach, and no signs of anything out to sea that might explain it. As I looked back into the sphere I caught the reflection of two people, but when I turned they were gone.

A shiver went down my spine, but I couldn’t help but look back into the ice. The figures were close now, I could see them walking hand in hand along the beach. A couple it was, with a black lab almost identical to Max, and a golden retriever too. She had dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, pretty much like mine, and was wearing shorts and wellies with a black rain jacket. I looked down at what I was wearing, and a sharp chill ran through my body. The man had tousled blonde hair, and was also wearing the beach-in-autumn outfit of shorts, wellies and a rainjacket. That was too much for me. It was too strange and I needed to get to work, so I called Max and headed for home.

We were back on the beach later for our evening walk, but the ice-sphere was gone, carried away by the sea or melted by the salt. Neither the old couple with two spaniels nor the widower with the retired greyhound knew anything about it, and looked at me a little strangely when I asked, so I let it go and didn’t mention it to any of the other evening walkers. Funny thing though. There was a new guy walking on the beach in the evening. Blonde, tousled hair. Golden retriever.

I’m looking forward to this morning’s walk.

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Inspired by Beach Treasure taken by Seaside Shooter from Flickr.

Written for Flickr Fiction, now renamed Ficktion and living over here where you can read other pieces too.

It’s been about six months since I joined in, so it might take a while to get warmed up again – bear with me!

What are the best things to do when you’re down from a lousy day?

In no particular order I suggest the following:
Have a cup of tea made for you.
Spend some time with a person you love.
Spend some time with friends. (You can love them too, if you like, but just as friends)
Bake.
Finish a good book.
Knit.
Spend more time with friends.
Make things.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon baking, making cheese and tomato scones, sweet fruity scones, and a fruit and nut tray bake thing that’s sort of like a flapjack but not quite. Yummy. I love baking. It’s so methodical, and I also have some lovely new mixing bowls that are stainless steel with rubber bases that grip the worktop and are a pleasure to use. And, of course, the added bonus of spending time baking is that you get to sit down afterwards with a nice pot of tea and enjoy the fruits of your labours.

The knitting was more of the Jaywalkers – I’m almost done with the first, so will show pictures later on.

Today Kate (blogless), Sara and I got together over at Sara’s house for a day of sewing, with a little tea drinking and cake eating thrown in. (Note: Kate makes wonderful cakes. Lemon drizzle today. Mmmmm.)

We decided to all tackle the same project: The Everyday Tote from Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. This was an ambitious project for three novice seamstresses, but I think we did well.

Yes, there are three sewing machines on the table

We all used different fabrics, so our bags all look quite different.

Kate’s is bright and colourful with a simple black lining that contrasts the outside nicely. It’s very chic.
Sara’s is tweedy linen on the outside and bright and patterned on the inside. It’s the floppiest of them all which works really nicely for the look of it.
Mine’s dark blue on the outside with a pale blue patterned lining.

The pattern only has one small inside pocket, so I added a larger one and some pen loops too.

Overall a lovely and very satisfying weekend.

p.s. Happy Canada day to the Canadians!