hello...where you from?

Coming to you direct from exploring the market streets of Aswan....I've managed to locate an internet cafe with internet! (not as common as you would expect)
Egypt is an amazing place...very hard to describe its so full of contrasts. I'll perhaps try to explain it a bit better when I've got more time, however we are loving it. People are incredibly friendly and once you get used to tipping every one....sometimes just for being there....you find that people will do just about anything for you.
We spent two days in Cairo, visiting the pyramids, museums, churches, temples and the old Cairo area before catching the overnight train to Aswan. It was not a good trip. In the end the train was 4 hours late and we spent the last couple of hours dodging mice. I'm not even going to mention the toilets!!!
Aswan is a completey different feel to Cairo. More relaxed, calmer and less hectic. The Nile is the centre of everything and although we've seen some amazing temples here I think our highlight so far was the felucca trip we took out around the islands today. So relaxing just to see the world float by.
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to post as yet. We've already taken an embarrasingly large number and I'll get some online as soon as we get home.

Off again...

Tomorrow we're off to Egypt. We'll only be gone for a week but the blog will be quiet unless I find some Internet access out there.

We're rather excited at this point to be finally going to see a country that we've read so much about. Of course there's the pyramids which will be amazing but there's the vibrant culture and ancient history as well. It's a 9 day trip and we'll be visiting Cairo, Aswan and Luxor. Not quite long enough to get off the beaten track but we figure we can always go back!!

Of course we'll be taking a hideous amount of photos that I will endeavour to share with you upon our return...goes without saying really!

Ok...now I really must go and pack!

When friends drop in!

I love entertaining. I love when people come over.....particularly when it's people I haven't seen for years and we have time to sit down and talk for ages. So when Ali & Matt said they'd like to come and stay for a night while they were in the UK, I bounced around with joy for ages. I'd forgotten how exciting it was to go to the airport to pick someone up.

Anyway they arrived, we picked them up and took them out for an English Pub lunch!

Where we let both Matt's change the tire on our car!!

Then we showed off some of the English countryside and played at being Maria.
Then we bought doughnuts and mucked around on the Pier!
And even won something!
Before going home, doing some washing, opening a bottle of wine and chatting long into the night. It was great! We finally got to meet Ali's "Matt" and we agree that he is rather nice!! We got to show off some of our much loved town and we got to chill out and catch up which was fantastic.

The only sad thing is that they had to leave....

By the skin of my teeth!

Essay three for your approval! My brain is dead but I'm rather proud of myself really. The threat of shame is great for motivation.
In other news I’m a bit lost knitting wise. Having finished off all my works in progress I’m not quite sure what to start next. I have cast on a scarf for myself (I need a green one) in the left over Patons Moonglow yarn which is nice and so, so, so soft, but hardly challenging. It’s so simple even I don’t have to look at the needles! Cast on 17 stitches on size 10mm needles and knit every row! The larger needles give that holey look and knitting every row makes every second row raised….which makes the scarf lovely and squishy with loads of texture. Perfect!
I think I need a larger project and will have to go through my list of “wants” to see which one comes next. Very exciting.

Two down......

Isn’t is amazing what a little motivation and accountability will accomplish? Rather that get to the end of the week and post that I was unable to complete the task I set myself, I’ve somehow found the dedication to (so far) complete 2 whole essays!
I’m currently ½ way through the 3rd one, which I hope to finish today and then perhaps tomorrow I’ll get on to a 4th! She’s on a roll people!!!
It hasn’t been easy. I used to be good at this essay stuff but I seem to have lost the ability to plan the train of thought in them over the decade plus that I’ve been out of the education system.

Still I’ve been sitting myself down every day at the computer and I’ve found that "treats" work great for getting the paragraphs to add up. Promising myself chocolate and “online time” might not be ethical…some might call it bribery!

I call it 2 down, 1 to go!!!

A new week, a new challenge

Oh I’m having a bit of trouble. I’m really a routine kinda gal at heart. Without routine I have a tendency to become distracted and before I know it I’ve spent the day on some obscure task such as alphabetizing my collection of theatre programs or reorganising my spice rack.

I’m finding that without work to set the routine I’m struggling to make the most of my days. Ok….no what I’m struggling with is the studying. Or rather the discipline that’s required for studying. It seems I can force myself to sit down for an hour every night for 4 months and spit out a cardigan at the other end but try to sit down at the computer for an hour or so and suddenly scrubbing the toilet seems like a great idea!

Even now I’m supposed to be studying. And here I thought that losing my work broadband connection and having to rely on my “home dial up Internet that is slower than a snail with a brick on it’s back” would prevent me wasting days of my life on the net. No sireebob!

SO…due to the mild success of last weeks finishing binge I am making another online commitment. I will finish four…no three (lets live close to reality) essays this week and post photographic proof on this very blog. If I don’t do it all of you who the statistics say are reading please feel free to post a derisive comment. On the other hand if I do manage to finish them I expect congratulations, hoorahs and some balloons!

Strange how it can be so hard to do things that we want to do….even when those things are those we are interested in.

Photos of pretty finished objects!

Here are the two finished items that I was unable to post last week...just to prove they really are done!

The first is my Le Slouch beret style beanie, knitted in Paton’s Moonglow. Perhaps a little hard to work out from the photos…..taking a photo of a hat on your own head is a bit of an art form in itself! It’s basically an over sized beret. The wool was a little awkward to use as it varies greatly in thickness however the end product is great and very warm. Just what I need right now!!!

Another angle of my head!
A close up of the wool. It has silvery sparkly bits through it.

The second project was a circular needle holder (matching a previous straight needle holder I made). Also I think a little hard to work out from the photos but basically it has 6 pockets for the needles, which fold up concertina style in a wallet type fashion.

The pockets....three on one side....there on the other.
The concertina bit....hard to see in a photo I think.

Strangely though I still have many other projects that need finishing!

Gone but never forgotten.

Apologies for the sudden disappearing act last week. Although I did continue to finish the items I had planned to finish I was unable to post of my successes as Matt’s Uncle Tony passed away and we found ourselves, understandably, with other priorities. Although he’d been sick recently it was still a bit of a shock.

He was a lovely, funny, chatty, friendly, happy, helpful, loving and caring old soul who will be sorely missed.

Cross the line again!

My second finished item for this week is not a knitting project but another Christmas present hang-over. I have finally finished moving all of my MIL's addresses and phone numbers from her old and tatty book to her new and beautifully floral book!

A small victory perhaps but a victory none the less!

Also....the sun is out, it's going to be a lovely day!

Beanie Baby!

Right…it’s the start of the year but a week for finishing things off. One a day till the end of the week! Here’s today’s project already done and dusted. Matt’s Christmas Beanie.

It was my first circular needles project and I think that I’m in love! I’ve never used needles that were easier or more smooth and lovely to use! I don’t think that they will completely replace double pointed needles for me but I think I’ll be using them in preference.
See the happy recipient modelling!(Please excuse the thread hanging down his neck...I have temporarily lost my weaving in needle)

I know this might be controversial (in the world of knitting) but having tried socks (and failed so far) with DPNs I think I might try them with circulars! GASP!
Oh I do like to live on the edge!!

I am the List Queen...hear me roar!

January....from my calendar

Well the start of the year loomed in front of me a few days ago like a big black hole of potential unknown-ness....and for a little while that was all too much to deal with. After several months of stress and headless chicken behaviour I apparently needed a couple of days to rest and recuperate....who would have thought!

Those couple of days gave me the chance to think about some of the things I'd like to do this year and once I started writing stuff down I couldn't stop. The list is very long so far however it appears that a list is what I need to give direction and purpose to my life, (probably not very healthy but to each their own) and so a list I now have.


So...a sample -

Watch the entire series of Buffy - yes this is what I got for Christmas!


Knit four things with wool from the stash - the stash is growing at an alarming rate...some of it must be used. Four things should be easy


Learn how to make sushi - I've wanted to do this for forever...this is the year!


Go swimming - I was doing this several times a week a (long) while ago but work got in the way....now that I'm footloose and fancy free it's time to do some of the things I enjoy

Read 10 must read books - the list is yet to be finalised but I wish to extend my reading genre's. I'll probably post the list at some point.

Get CV up to date - boring but necessary! Although I'm not working now I will need that CV in the future


Enjoy my time off - this is a biggie for me. Apparently there's a big chunk of my self worth that's tied to my work and so I don't do unemployment well. I feel guilty, I worry and I stress. The couple of months I'm taking now is not without purpose and as such I am giving myself permission to enjoy not working. I have earned this break and will do fun things with it such as visit the shops, walk along the beach, take photos, knit and have coffee in a different cafe each week/day/hour...as the need hits me!

This year is going to be great....I know...it says so on my list!!

Rowan Embrace Felted Bag

The Mystery Project Revealed...

Rowan Embrace Felted Bag

Finished but unfelted.
The embroidery before felting
The bag after felting
The embroidery after felting
The handle detail

Happy New whatever...

Good lord is it 2008 already? I'm not really ready for it at all. I have no goals, no plans, no aims. The remains of Christmas are strewn around the house and the tinsel just looks garish in the hard light of 2008. I'm not that fond of this time of year. The aftermath of christmas, the insanity of the sales, the pressure to know what you want from the next 360 something days. It's all too much and this year I can't seem to work out what I want to achieve or work towards...very strange for me.

Anyway enough of me moaning away. Here are some photos for you to look at while I try to figure out the meaning of life etc!!

The view from our cottage
Farm type buildings seen on one of our walks. I love the colour on the hills!
Fields of sheep also seen on one of our walks.
Lighthouse at Strumble Head
Newgale beach

A moment of reflection please

I think this time of year is for reflection. While most of the world seems hell bent on making resolutions that they swear this time will stick, I like to take a moment to look back over the year that is almost over and think about what I achieved…or didn’t.

At the start of each year I write down a couple of things for each part of my life that I’d like to achieve. Now that does sound a lot like New Year Resolutions but that's not how I think of them. For me these are not amazing and life changing things as resolutions usually are, but are experiences, tasks or skills that I think will stretch me and enhance my life a little. I guess there's little difference really but it's my blog and if I want to call them goals instead....I will!!!

I don’t always get them done. Life is fluid and changeable. What is right now might not be so right in a few months time but the point of it all is to find ways to live my life rather than just let it go by in a haze of 9-5ness.

So what did I achieve this year?

Well…I got myself sorted out online. Not only did I set up this blog but I’ve also managed to post fairly regularly! Gotta be happy with that!

Cooking wise, although I’ve not kept track exactly, I’m pretty sure I’ve managed to try a new recipe at least once a month. It’s certainly been a good year for soups and muffins!

Knitting of course has been successful this year and I have knitted two cardigans….one of which I actually wear!!

Although I haven’t finished my Correspondence course like I wanted to I have made good progress on it and am rather pleased with how I’ve integrated the things I’ve learnt into my life.

It hasn’t been a good year for writing unfortunately (aside from the blog and essays) and that’s something I’ll have to address in the New Year, however sometimes life goes in different directions and you have to accept that.

It’s not been the easiest of years for us. Lots of big decisions, hard choices and not a little fancy footwork to keep life moving forward. However it’s time now to move on, to take what we can and to welcome in the New Year with as much positivity and champagne as we can!

Have a Happy & Safe New Year everyone. I just know it’s going to be a great one!!!!