Hanging The Washing out

Today is beautiful.  The best of autumn, crisp and clear with stunning displays of glorious colour everywhere you look.

 

We had a grim weekend with non stop rain for nearly 48 hours.  We also had an upsetting (and expensive) incident involving squirrels and rusty barbed wire.  Two surgeries later with a hefty bill we are now feeling better.  Mostly we are on crate rest, but under supervision while its sunny, soaking up the last of the summer warmth seems like a beneficial healing strategy.

With the next lot of blood results due this week I find I am restless.  The uncertainty is unsettling at best.  Time is now chopped into short fat blocks of weeks.  Learning to live with a deteriorating future is tricky at best.  I have found huge therapy in concentrating on various projects.  Making stuff by hand concentrates my mind and requires my full attention.  This especially so when my bones are loosing strength so that jobs which I have never engaged any thought in, now require methodical step by step concentration.

Here are some of my knitted panels ready to be made into my new zipped, lined pouches.  I have had so much encouragement for these I am making more.

 

I have a shaming amount of ‘stuff’.  I am doing what craft fairs I think I can manage.  This has actually been an amazing experience.  From the least expected places have come such wonderful support and kindness.  I have been humbed by a few people these last few weeks.  You know who you are, but I have to record my heartfelt thanks to Maggie, Rebecca and Sharon in particular.  Guys you are true lights.

Meanwhile I can hang my washing out – literally!

Next week I will know what the following few weeks will hold.  Strange, this way of thinking.  All decisions out of my control and yet somehow I keep planning my life.  Our new baby (my 4th granddaughter) is due in October (towards the end) and this event has been my ‘carrot’ since January.  This wonderful event certainly puts everything else into perspective.  What a wonderful event to focus on.

 

In the meantime, I keep making….. (going to have to use a horsebox to transport all the baby gear if shes late!!).

Yellow

Today is full of yellows!  Glorious sunshine and yellow yellow yellow!

We went for a walk, time to think (for some…..)

Time to reflect?

 

Time for yellow.

And for not yellow.

And bursting forth (and no puppy pics included in this statement!!)

 

Early Autumn Inspirations!

What a glorious start to autumn this year! I feel optimistic and inspired which may not be a good thing for my family! The colours in early turn are gorgeous and they have inspired lots of action on the knitting front.

Here are some new designs and new colourways and inspirations ………

I also recovered from my single crochet attempt which turned into a bathmat. The bathmat is successful since it lies beautifully flat if you stand on it! Result!!

Now I am on to new pastures. I saw the Lorna Doone shawl from Natural Dye Studio and I love it. Being a mostly wild child at heart, everything appeals about this design including the name. So for my second attempt I am trying this. As a ‘ps’ I think possibly one should have crocheted a bit more before attempting this! I have reduced the time on a motif from one and a half days to 4 hours now! And have completed in my fashion 8!! This may be my life times work since there are a lot of motifs in the shawl! BUT I still want it and so will plod on…………..

Some summer.

This morning I dressed for winter.

The skies were overcast, and rain was drizzling down, unrelenting. It was as if the weather had no regard for the fact that it is mid-August, and thus, on all counts, the middle of summer.

Alas, I pulled on jeans and a jumper and ambled off to work.

The day passed, and I gave no more thought to Britain’s cruel and taunting weather systems. I stepped out of work none the wiser, but ho, BLUE SKIES were there to meet me.

I dashed back out to our rural abode, and we did what we always do, and took the pack out for a walk.

 

The only interruption to the tranquillity of the Somerset countryside was the determined parping of my mother’s wellies. With every second step, the most almighty farting noise would escape from what she claimed were her aged rain boots.

Birds were singing, grasses rustling, and lo, the trump of rubber on rubber.

 

The perfect way to unwind from work, no?

Summer Weather

It is SO gorgeous outside at the moment. Everything is lush and green and the hedgerows are crammed with gorgeousness! Bees and butterflies are frantically busy and my pup who is now 9 weeks (how did that happen??) has joined in with her whooping joy of living. She is like a hairy spider. She must have at least 8 legs when she speeds around the garden. When she is sleeping she only has 4. I know, I counted! They are like sturdy stilts, she has failed to notice that when she wakes up she cant fit where she used to! She practices prancing on her new length legs all day, but when she wakes up in the morning, there they are again only longer………. much longer. Off to practice again!!

 

Dad is exhausted with it all and remembers well that it is impossible to keep up with shrinking furniture. So he sleeps in the day…………..

 

And wakes up when it is cool and then does laps around the garden at 150 miles an hour.

So I can hardly keep up with it all. Bills keep coming and things are tight to say the least. How can I stem the flow of demands? I listed some of my life on ebay to see if anyone wanted to help me ut and buy some. We shall see!

 

So………… I am enjoying knitting this:

 

Its in my Lleyn/mohair (blue) and Shetland (green). I just cast on to see what would happen. And this happened:

I love it but would like to know where it thinks its going? But never let the detail spoil the direction and flow, so we shall see. I am knitting it as a sample, whatever it is! It is lovely to knit with so the experience is good enough for the time being.

Off to take the dogs to the stream in the valley for a cool off before supper.