Hadenmaiden's house

A short but excited posting

2009-11-06T10:53:00.000-08:00

Short and sweet today, it's all excitement here. Just had a 'phone call from Jim to say that he's out from a three hour grilling , and he's passed his viva ;) Just one minor correction to put into the thesis next week, and he's done. Well done that man.

Remember, Remember

2009-11-05T09:58:00.001-08:00

OK folks, it's 5th november, or Movember if you're trying to grow the annual moustache - which I'm not.
I have no knitty or stitchy pics for you today, and no exciting news to impart, except that I may have a good lead on this bigamy case that I'm chasing. More in a day or two when I know a bit more.
If you're having fireworks, enjoy - and stay safe. More tomorrow

2009-11-04T06:10:00.000-08:00

I've just spent another fascinating morning at the library, scanning the microfiche looking for a bigamy case - talk about elusive! I've searched from 1947 though to 1958, week by week, and still no sign. I know the man died in 1965, so I reckon at one year per morning I need to go for a maximum of seven more mornings to either find the case, or admit defeat!
On a more positive note, the papers are really interesting and I'm finding all sorts of things that I didn't know about. Anyhow, time I was back knitting, the list is getting longer.........

On the third day

2009-11-03T05:44:00.000-08:00

Today is chauffeur day - Phil's having his car serviced, and so needed a lift to work [and back later] Bob's been in Manchester for a couple of days, so I got a good night's knitting yesterday and have managed another knitty finish. This one is for a friend, so no christmas boxes ticked this time ;)

Day two

2009-11-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, not to degenerate into blather too quickly, I have a finish on offer today - managed to finish a little boys jumper for the brother of the little girl who I did the bolero for last week. The colours aven't shown up too well, but it's another box ticked off towards Christmas.

This morning has been spent being a Poppy Person - completely unexpectedly, but a great morning - I was amazed at the way some of the people who stop give you a potted life history at the same time.

So, plugging on tonight with another little jumper, and possibly another finish tomorrow.

NaBloPoMo [1]

2009-11-01T07:57:00.000-08:00

So, apparently November is NaBloPoMo National Blog Posting Month, and we're encouraged to blog everyday. As Natalie observed, it should really be International, but we'd better not make a fuss.........
OK, I'll give it a go, but if if descends into total twonk, I will desist. Seems like a good excuse to get lots done, otherwise I won't have anything to talk about. I'm not going to attempt to do daily updates on I went to see the soldiers, but will at least try to keep it up to date.
So, only news of the day, is that the aforementioned Natalie has very kindly offered me a bookcrossing book via Twitter, and I've promised to re-offer it when I've read it. I'll also root outanother book this week as a PIF. Other than that November has started out wet[outside] and sniffly [inside] Hope both improve before tomorrow, I'm due to be out selling poppies all morning..............

Count me in

2009-10-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

The Poppy Appeal is in full flow for this year, but they're still very short of volunteers in some areas - even if you can only spare a couple of hours, they'd be delighted to have you volunteer and it could make a tremendous difference in somone's life. The Royal British Legion do fantastic work and like the Tesco man says, "every little helps"

In the pink

2009-10-27T01:50:00.000-07:00

I finished the little bolero I was knitting - a quick knit which turned out as well as could be expected with a less than wonderful yarn, but it's quite pretty, and easily washable, so it'll serve its purpose. It's now under the mattress for a couple of days to flatten it enough to give.

Two months down and all's well

2009-10-26T00:26:00.000-07:00

It's a full two months since I stopped work at my last job(by choice, not redundant or anything). I think I was expecting that it would free up time, and the few hours I had been working would be used catching up with all the things on my list......... I'd done it before, and didn't learn the lesson ;)
So, the conundrum is: Where do those "spare" hours go? I'm just as busy. I'm definitely struggling harder to get through my list. My list appears to be growing. Not 100% certain, but I suspect that I'm finding more to add to my list because I have more time to think about what I'm doing. Plus, some of the stuff that I'm doing, and should be making things come off my list, is actually generating more "stuff" to do..............
Enough rambling for monday morning! This week I'll be mainly concentrating[in my "spare" time] on looking for a bigamy case that's bugging me, finishing a little girl's bolero that I didn't know anything about last week, searching for a child's hat pattern that does actually tell you what size it is, trying to get some hats put together for Big Issue North.
There may be pics later in the week ;)

A touch of Plushness ;)

2009-10-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

I treated myself to a session of Skeinqueen's autumn club, and the first skein arrived on Tuesday - it's sooooooooooooo squidgy! After a night of fondling and drooling I finally decided to have a go at the Forest Canopy shoulder shawl, it's a dream to knit with, lovely pattern, and now, I just want more..................

2009-10-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

I'll have more of this on my went to see the soldiers blog, but just wanted to make mention of the fact that we had a lovely little ceremony this afternoon [in the pouring rain] to dedicate two menorial plaques to the men of the West Yorkshire Regiment [Prince of Wales Own] who fought in the Boer War and the First World War. Special thanks are due to mayor Steve Shaw-Wright who had to work so hard to get the work done to have them restored and placed in their new home.

Cosy pods

2009-10-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

50g gave me plenty for 4 i-pod cosies and enough left for a granny square ;)

2009-10-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

I ended up having a really peaceable day today - so managed to get another eight of my bags done, and now almost half-way!

Plus, I had an evening to myself last night and managed to polish off the belted cow/cattle jumper[s] I've been working on. I know I should now get right back to the bolero I'm doing, but need a quick finish so I'm going to do a few i-pod cosies for CSV make a difference day on 31 October. Probably won't get much done tonight as I'm on railway duty - DS is en route back from what seems to be his last wedding of the summer

More Morse, less stash ;)

2009-10-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, After a useful bag lady day with Jill on Thursday, I managed to get round to updating my Morsbag count to 11 today - which means I've done about 1/3of the ones I need to do and have a little more room in my stash drawer - everyone's a winner!
In other news, we had a good morning clearing and cleaning at the cemetery we visited last week. Delighted to see someone loves it after all, and some of the locals are actually clearing it up bit by bit. You see, all is not lost, altruism still happens.

Uke at the ready!

2009-10-17T00:03:00.001-07:00

We had a brilliant night's entertainment last night - following on from their wonderful performance, we saw the National Ukelele Orchestra Orchestra of Great Britain in York. This is an older clip, but one that they did last night too. Do go and see them if you get chance - you'll be glad you did!!

On being tardy, cows and a.o.b.

2009-10-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

another apology for tardy blogging; don't know where the days go - it reall must be age catching up with me ;(
Anyhow, quick feedback on crafty activity [quick because there's not a lot to report] After making a strart on my bags last week, I've been slogging on with these cow jumpers - it's a lot slower knitting two at a time, think I'd probably have been better off doing one then starting the second, but never mind; the end is in sight. I now have both fronts and all four sleeves done, sso just need to slog away at the backs this week.
stitching is in a bit of a slump, probably because I seen to have a longish list of things that need knitting for Christmas. Maybe I'll treat myself to a stitchy day when these cows are all done........
I've been spending a bit of time setting up an unrelated blog, too, which doesn't have a lot of content yet, but loads to put on there when I get the opportunity. I think the main issue there is knowing how best to organise things. It's what I believe is called a "work in progress" ;)
Christmas shopping continuies apace, and it's really unnerving to think how well organised I appear to be this year - just waiting for it all to fall apart around me!!

A hint of Mors[e]

2009-10-07T04:06:00.000-07:00

I know Emma had to postpone her plan to flood the local gardening group with Morsbags, but I've taken up the gauntlet and have 30-40 to make for the Alzheimer's group Christmas party - good party bags, eh!?
Haven't tackled any of them yet, but will post a picture once they start rolling off the production line.

Edited to say that I managed to get three from 1m of fabric this afternoon, by making the handles a contrasting fabric. I think they'll be quicker now I've done a couple.

2009-10-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Another busy week, but had a real treat today and had lunch with two old school friends. One I hadn't seen for several years, and she quite nonchalantly announced that she's skydiving with the Red Devils on Tuesday. She's had a really tough time lately, but decided she wanted to do something to raise funds for the local hospice; so, providing the weather's OK, she'll be overcoming her fear of heights and taking a great leap of faith. if you get a minute to send her a few positive vibes on Tuesday, she'll really appreciate it. If you've the odd pound or two that you could donate to the appeal, the hospice would also really appreciate it. Thanks for reading - Way to go, Kathryn!!

There goes another one

2009-09-29T23:58:00.000-07:00

Yet another week has escaped, with less then a lot of input from yours truly. It must be anno domini again, I'm sure it didn't fly by quite so quickly a couple of years ago ;)
So, where are we - I've started the belted cow jumper [but not finished] added several *to do* things to my list, and set off on yet another mass production scheme [Thanks, Emma, I'm into morsbags!] Still not sure how they're achieving cult status, I'd been getting inundated with dozens of them from my mum for years........... Anyhow, sewing machine at the ready, pictures later.
Aslo had a brill day with Jill yesterday, attempting to re-organise the mountain of yarn. By the end of the day, it was clearly apparent that there's a breeding pair of yarn balls at the back of her loft, but we weren't able to identify the culprits!

OK, fess up - who was it?

2009-09-23T03:33:00.000-07:00

Someone pinched Monday and Tuesday! I was going to be really good, get lots done, etc and so on........ now they've gone, and I'm sure I didn't see them ;(

2009-09-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

For a cheery Sunday - enjoy - I did!

All wrapped up for Macmillan

2009-09-19T02:09:00.000-07:00

Over at Hadenmaiden's House forum we've been doing a knitalong to send a blanket to the Macmillan/Knitter appeal. I've just finished stitching up, and quite pleased with the results. It'll be winging its way to the lovely ladies and gents at Macmillan on Monday.

Tigger time!

2009-09-18T05:05:00.001-07:00

Ok, I'm all bounced back ;)
Thank you all for your good wishes, I really appreciate it.
Dentist over, summer holidays a distant memory, and work stress abolished, I decided to do a bit of Christmas shopping this morning. Now feeling all virtuous and organised. Let's hope this is the year when I'm not doing a load of last minute gifts!! Happy Christmas all ;)

World's Worst Coward award

2009-09-14T03:21:00.000-07:00

I've said for many years that I'd rather have a baby than go to the dentist- and I mean it; I'm terrified, and the only reason I go regularly is because I'm frightened of what will happen if I don't. Sooooooooo, when I realised some months ago that I was developing a hole in one of my wisdom teeth, I thought I'd just keep that little nugget of information to myself. At my last dental check up[with x-ray] ift didn't show up, so I told myself it wasn't worth mentioning.
Well, over the last month or so I've been more aware of it, and decided I'd better mention it next time. Last week; maybe I should make an appointment. After a sleepless, painful night last night - I definitely need an appointment. So far, so brave. I was in town early this morning, so decided I'd just pop in and make the appointment, would probably get something offered towards the end of the month, I thought. Oh, no - lovely lady in receptions says there's been a cancellation, could you come back for 9.45! Half an hour later as I made may way into the surgery for the second time, I'm feeling quite pleased with myself - appointment made, and he'll tell me the tooth needs to come out, book an appointment to have it done. Now feeling very brave. Before I had chance to get worked up, I was called in at 9.35, only to be told, as I expected, it needs to come out. OK, I can handle that, time to work up to what might be involved - except, just as this thought was wending its way round my little brain, most handsome dentist adds, "I'll just pop a couple of injections in to freeze the area" !! "What, Now?" shrieks poleaxed patient, who is no longer feeling quite so brave, and more than a little foolhardy.............
So here I am, back home, just a little lighter than when I went out, thinking about Nurofen sandwich for lunch, and trying not to fiddle with the crater that remains where my tooth was.
Still, he did say have an easy day, so I may just have to knit or stitch or something.............

a WIP with a long way to go

2009-09-12T10:58:00.000-07:00

So, here's the bare bones of one of my latest creations. I have to say the yarn is beautiful, just hope the sleeves and edging make a big difference to the overall appearance..........
I've been doing a few of the sunray squares for our KAL at Hadenmaiden's house forum, but still in a stitchy slump ;(