I've been away!

The stash down is going well. Better than the diet, actually! Once I completed those socks for hubby, there was some yarn left. As luck would have it, I needed something to knit in the car on the way to the airport (more on that shortly) so I cast on for another cute baby hat. I love this hat pattern! (I’ve actually completed but not photographed another one)

Pattern: Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap
Yarn: Leftover sock yarn.
Needle: 2.5mm and 3mm
Modifications: Instead of a crochet chain or i-cord, I have omitted the cord under the chin
Verdict: So cute! I still love it!

While we were away I mostly worked on a crochet shawl – since crochet hooks are okay on the plane. (that said, I bet I’d be able to sneak small wooden needles onto the plane too, but I haven’t had the courage to try yet!) but it’s less-than-half finished. (it’s also a Nerd Wars Dissertation for team Browncoat – yep, I couldn’t resist playing again!)

So, where were we away to? Well, I’m glad you asked. We spent a fortnight in a place called Taba Heights, up on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt.
The weather was warm, the food was good, and we had a very relaxing two weeks. Mostly, we snorkelled, and when we weren’t snorkelling we were relaxing on the beach, or in the pool. We even played a round of mini golf. All round, it was great.

The view from the rear of the hotel

Overlooking the golf course at the side of the hotel

Enjoying the sunshine in the hotel gardens

The beautiful lagoon view

Relaxing with my crochet shawl on the beach
(it was so warm I even sat in the shade sometimes!)

This man rode up and down the beach on his camel
waiting for someone to ask for a ride.
We didn't ask - I didn't enjoy my last camel ride!

And since then? Well, it’s been hard getting back into work. I’ve been involved in a reasonably interesting but taxing project. I’m enjoying it but it means I’m quite tired of an evening!

We did take the time to do a spot of gardening. There’s a thin patch of dirt in front of the front wall at my house, and it’s been a source of annoyance to me since we moved in. It was full of weeds and there was nothing nice in it. So, we set to. I’ve used some interesting Pinterest pins about gardening to achieve this, and I really hope that it works properly.

Holiday Update - Holiday

We had a loveley holiday in France. The weather was great, the food was excellent, and the company was great.

My favourite village was Pujols, where they had some fantastic floral arrangements

Everywhere, from lamp-posts to street corners!

In Penne d'Agenais I found a really nice rose creeping up a house that matched my outfit for the day

and I had crêpe flambé!

But hubby had his with banana split...

And there were some lovely sunsets. This one is over the village where we were staying; Frespech.



A Week Off!

I was off work last week; I was on holiday!

Hubby and I had a lovely week, we visited his folks, my friend, and the Quaker Tapestry. We also did a little shopping. My parents visited my house and helped us to extend the chicken run.



One of the chickens, we think it was Willow, laid a massive egg



It was a whopping 96g! The normal size egg on the left is just under 50g, so 96g was amazing. When I cracked it to make scrambled eggs for breakfast, it turned out to be a double yolker! Yum!

I bought some fab new boots (I’ll try to remember to post a picture later) in the Kurt Geiger sale, and we managed to find some shoes for my mum to wear to my sister’s wedding in April. Phew.

And amongst all that, I even managed to get some knitting done!
I’m competing in Nerd Wars again, so I should be completing plenty of knits, crochets, and maybe even some spinning.

First, I made this tiny shrug.



Pattern: Improvised raglan with lace panel on sleeves
Yarn: Louisa Harding Kimono Angora
Needles: 4mm
Modifications: n/a
Verdict: Love it! It’s cute and perfect for keeping shoulders warm. I knitted it for a friend of mine who was in hospital at the time.

Then, I made this super cute baby jacket



Pattern: Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Stylecraft Life Aran
Needles: 5mm
Modifications: None!
Verdict: This was a nice pattern to knit, not too difficult at all. However, I wouldn’t knit it this way again. I found seaming it to be quite frustrating. The bottom of the jacket curls badly, and I don’t think blocking will fix it. This irritates me. The cuffs also curl. I do like the ribbed front, but the nature of ribbing is that it pulls in, so in hindsight I would make the first and last ribs 4 stitches wide rather than 2. I would probably also slip the stitches on the collar section to make the edge a bit neater. Of course, if I make all the changes that I’m currently thinking I would make, it wouldn’t actually be this jacket pattern at all! Maybe I’ll create a new pattern, and then write it up.

There are a few projects still in the works! Not least, I plan to make Tirrold finally. It’s my Nerd Wars dissertation this round! So I need to cast that on too.

Darn! I think I need some more time off to get all this knitting done! (I wish it was the case that I got more knitting done on holiday, but I’m not sure that I do!

Woolfest

Two years ago we spent a week of glorious sunshine in Cumbria, and attended Woolfest as part of our holiday.

We were moving house last year, so I couldn’t go.

This year, we decided to take a long weekend, so we headed off to Cockermouth on Thursday 23rd to stay in Rose Cottage B&B for three nights.

On the way we stopped off at somewhere called the Alpaca Centre. They had alpaca jumpers, gloves, hats, alpaca rugs, a stuffed cria; the works! They also had some real live alpaca in their field.



After a much needed cup of tea, we arrived in Cockermouth at about lunchtime. As the B&B wasn’t yet open for arrivals, we headed into town for some lunch and a wander. There were some interesting craft shops, and Hubby spent some time in the music shop there.

Friday was Woolfest. It usually runs on the Friday and Saturday, and I like to go on the Friday. We didn’t spend too long queueing, which was nice, and then we had a wander around. I like to do one loop where I don’t buy anything, and then re-visit everywhere I want to buy from.

I came back with quite a haul!



Here’s a bit of a breakdown
The black "sheep" item is a limited edition bag. It says "It's all about the sheep" and is very cool.



This is a plying tool. After my disastrous attempts at Andean plying (big tangled mess) I’m quite excited to find this tool. I can’t for the life of me remember who I bought it from…



Because I know I will never get around to making myself one, this is a roll for my crochet hooks to live in. rather than the tatty plastic cases they live in right now.



Sock yarn, made from Teeswater sheep (though not from Teeside). Each skein is unique, and this was such a pretty colour. Also the Teeswater is very lustrous. I don’t know if it will be socks or something else. The little bag it’s sitting on is a hand-made gingham bag; lovely!



Fyberspates Lace weight Scrumptious (buy it here) yarn. It really is that pretty shade of blue. It’s amazing. I also bought the Scrumptious Collection book, which Jeni signed for me! I’m already planning to make one of the tops in the book with the yarn I picked up! I have to finish my Après Surf Hoodie first though.



Manx/Wensleydale Organic Laceweight. It’s lovely and soft and pretty and naturally that colour. What more could you ask for? It’s amazing.



500g of “caramel” coloured alpaca fleece, ready to spin. Lovely. It’s a shopping bag full, and when it’s spun I have a bag I can shop with (though it will be a bit hairy for a while!)



I stopped off at Felt Studio UK’s stand and watched Daniella spin for a (very short) time, before buying some lovely Jacob hand-dyed top. It’s a nice fat squishy braid too!



I bought a 100g bag of Hebridean fibre to spin with too. It looks pretty hairy, but it doesn’t feel rough to touch. I’m hopeful that if it is a bit rough I might be able to felt something from it.



Angora Bunny fur from Skyrack Angoras. This is a lovely greyish colour. I had a lovely chat with the lady about how to spin this. She recommended blending it with something else. I think that I’d like to get it to be about 50% angora, but I don’t know yet what I want to blend it with. And I only have some small hand cards. I might need to get on Ravelry in the UK Spinners forum and ask them what they recommend.
I stopped off at the Winghams stand and selected these bargains. 50g balls of merino silk for £3.50. Lush colours too. And now I’ve seen it in person, I’ll be reasonably happy to pick some more up online. Well, when I’ve spun more of my spinning stash anyway.



Manx Loughton fibre, carded (there were also rollags available!) ready for spinning. As you might have gathered, I’m keen to try spinning as many different breeds of fibre (including non-sheep) as possible!



All the colours on Freyalyn’s stand were amazing. I was determined to buy some as the sample I got (that I killed by trying to Andean ply it) from the fiberholics box was really nice colours. This isn’t merino though, it’s BFL and silk. (I went a bit gooey for silk blends this woolfest!)

We also went to Trotter’s World of Animals which was good fun! They had a nice selection of animals there, the meercats were cute, but my favourite were the gibbons! So I’ll leave you with this video of a gibbon running away. Brilliant!

Lacking in Inspiration for a title

Well, I’m continuing to be rather busy!

I’ve been for my first dress fitting. There is a photo but I’m afraid that’s secret for now. The dress is amazing, I really do like it, and it feels very me. It’s not a fussy design, nor is it bling or lacy, it is beautiful material put together carefully with a funky twist.

I’m having a reasonable amount of success with losing weight too – not losing masses but then I don’t want to end up looking emaciated! (I know, I’m a way from that!)

And knitting; I’m still knitting the Après Surf hoodie. It’s going pretty well, I have to wind a new skein into a ball soon, and I’ll soon be in a position to start the bust increases. I had a bit of a ‘mare with the lace to begin with and I had to frog back to the stocking stitch section, but it’s going more smoothly now – I’ve used some waste yarn as stitch markers and marked every repeat.

I’m picking a crochet pattern for on the plane!
Why crochet?
Of course, knitting on an aeroplane is still forbidden. I believe that the UK has a blanket ban on knitting needles to make it easier for the security staff. After all, most non-knitters don’t realise that there are so many different types of knitting needle, in so many different thicknesses, lengths and straight/double pointed/circular. I agree that a 12 inch long metal 4.5mm (UK no 7) needle could “have someone’s eye out” or worse, that a strong 24 inch circular could be used as a garrotte or that 2.5mm wooden dpns could, er, give you a nasty splinter?
Anyway, crochet hooks are allowed (as long as they are not too big, and not made of metal), so I’ve decided that I’m going to crochet a shawl on the plane. The shawl I’ve currently got at the top of my list is called “Elise Shawl” by Evan Plevinski. It seems to be a shell-pattern type shawl, so I’m hopeful I’ll be adequate enough to make it. I will have to hunt down some non-metal hooks though. I have a full set, but they’re all nice shiny metal. I do have some others in wood and plastic, so I should be fine.
Why a shawl?
The benefit of this particular shawl is that it requires 400yds of 4ply / sock yarn. I have several[1] skeins of sock yarn available for the purpose. This means that one 100g ball of yarn should be enough to keep me entertained on the plane(s) for a good long time. And at the airport(s) too.

I will also be taking some knitting with me, more for the Maldives than for Sri Lanka. I’m hopeful that I’ll be busy enough in Sri Lanka with the touring and such! But it will be nice to have a sock available for those quiet moments. Just a plain vanilla sock. In fact, I’m going to take a leaf out of the Yarn Harlot’s book blog, and knit them as tubes with afterthought heels! In case I’m knitting while doing something interestingish.



[1] Ok, I admit it, I have more than several. I actually have several skeins of sock yarn with enough yardage and in suitable colours!

Fan girl

So, I cast on for some socks about a week ago. I fancied something a bit different, so I was making up a wavy pattern using short rows. It looked quite nice for the first two repeats, but after that there was some unpleasant pooling, and the sock was also a little loose. On top of these things there were some little holes where the short row turns were, and I decided that these weren’t the socks I wanted. So, I frogged the socks and put the yarn in my bag.

We took a trip to Edinburgh on Saturday, so on the train in the morning I cast on for both socks at once. I’m making the same socks that Yarn Harlot just made which are her vanilla sock with some ribs continued down the leg. It looks like she’s done a short row heel, but I’m currently undecided about that. If I do short row heels I usually do them over more than half of the stitches, which would mess up the pattern. So, I will probably stick to my usual heel flap and turn.

Edinburgh was a full on day – I’m afraid I can’t recommend travelling to and from Edinburgh in a day on the train, and fitting two shows, lunch, the Scott monument and the K1 yarn shop. It’s too much! The main reason we were going up was to see some plays that Fiancé’s brother (FBIL) was in or wrote. He’s part of a group called Gomito. (Google them, go see their work, they’re good!) Those two plays book-ended the day.

After lunch we went to the Scott monument. I went up the first set of stairs, but those of you who know me will know that I’m not a fan of twisty staircases, and I’m not a fan of heights, and – well – I didn’t go any higher.

 

We also called into K1 yarn shop. It was a tiny crafty bubble of calm in the throng that is the Edinburgh festival. I could have spent hours in there. I bought some linen and cotton laceweight, and some Zitron Trekking hand-painted sock yarn.

The linen/cotton lace is a nice pinky colour, quite delicate. With 700m it’s not massively long for lace, but I’m sure I can make something nice from it. (I have a lacey shrug in my mind, or bolero). I want to do something exciting with the sock yarn too – it’s a lovely red-orange-black fiery combination of colours. Perhaps it will become a hat, or hat and gloves (depending on how much yarn the hat takes!) I need to think about it.

And, of course, when we move on Friday I will (all being well, subject to meeting the removal man tomorrow) be getting my yarn back.

What a weekend!

I’ve had a really good weekend. (As you can tell, since it’s now Wednesday and I hadn’t posted yet!)
Firstly, my new boots arrived in the post last week.

Aren’t they fab?


Anyway, I wore them all weekend and had toasty dry feet despite the weather.


On Friday we went to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate. This is the third year I’ve been there. There wasn’t the variety of stands that there were last year, I really had to hunt around for some things.

Here’s my haul


1. Sublime, 2. Debbie Bliss, 3. mug, 4. Pretty Fabric, 5. Buttons, 6. Needles & Kit

Then, at the weekend, Boyf and I went to London. We had quite a nice time. I only took photos when we were in the dinosaur section of the Natural History Museum. It was good fun. They have an animatronic dinosaur, a T Rex, too.
We spent the night in a hotel just round the corner from our old University, and because the Metropolitan line was out of use, we accidentally went via my second year house in Wembley! Whoops!
It was good fun though, even though the bus journey was far too long. Next time we do London we’ll do it on the train! It wouldn’t be as bargainous, but it would be a darned sight better travel wise!

At knit night on Monday one of the girls showed me how to knit with beads, so you can look forward to some pretty beaded knits soon!

I have cast on for something for the NotMIL, but I’m probably not knitting anything else for anyone for Christmas.

Lanzarote

Boyf and I have recently come back from Lanzarote. We had a lovely time, and I’d like to share some of it with you.

We flew out in the morning, meaning that we arrived at the resort early afternoon. I found that quite pleasing. The flight itself was almost four hours, which isn’t bad really. I had some magazines and some crochet to keep me entertained. (I have finished the large bag, but it needs lining. You’ll see it soon enough).

So as not to completely bore you, I’ve created a collage with some comments/captions for you. If you click on the collage you’ll be taken to Flickr. If you’re interested from there you can view all my holiday snaps.

1. Timanfaya - Vulcan Grill - We got to eat food grilled on top of a volcano!
2. Timanfaya - Vulcan Grill - We got to see the national park of Timanfaya, including the volcanoes.
3. Timanfaya - Vulcan Grill - We even got to get out of the coach, which you can’t do on many of the tours!
4. Evening drinks... after earlier drinks
5. Ready to head to the beach - I promised you a bikini photo, and here it is. I’m pretty pleased with this new bikini actually, it’s by Panache from Bravissimo… (There are even photos of me in a smaller bikini too – but you can only see those if you’re my friend on Flickr!)
6. Local Tipple - I tried the local wine. I tried quite a lot of the local wine, actually!
7. Jameos del Agua a Cesar Manrique creation, like something out of a Bond movie!
8. Jameos del Agua - and my handknit shawl out in the wild!
9. First Evening - on the beach front for dinner, very pleasant!

(Created with fd's Flickr Toys)


We had a really nice time, and then to top it off we spent Sunday at the Masham Sheep Fair! Woo! I bought yarn, fleecy stuff, more carders (shiny silver ones!), books and soaps. There were lots of sheep to look at, sheep racing and all manner of craft suppliers.

Well, now we’re back to the grind, we’ve a kitchen to finish! There’s actually not that much left to be done, only finishing. However, as I know from my knitting, it’s the finishing that’s the killer! I have to touch up some paint tonight where there have been some additional unexpected renovations. We have to put doors on, handles on, tile and skirting. Oh, and a window sill!

I have the lining to make of the bag I crocheted on the flight, but I also made this smaller one out of the leftovers. I lined it with some fabric from my stash (yes, I have a fabric stash too) and I’m pretty pleased with it overall.
Note to self: when there are straps, buttons and lining, do the lining last otherwise you have to take it out again…

I’m using one of Boyf’s old shirts to make the lining for the bigger bag. I might put a pocket in this one, as it’s quite a bit bigger than the little bag. I also can’t decide how the bag should fasten – or indeed whether it should fasten. Hmm.


I’m also joining in another dye-along. I don’t know exactly what colours yet. The theme is “inspired by flowers”. I went on a mad photos-of-flowers mission over the past few days, so perhaps that will help. It’s amazing how much you see when you’re looking for pretty things to photograph!

Not about the kitchen!

I know, I haven't posted in an age. Bad blogger!

So, anyway, I know I promised a post about the kitchen. I'm afraid that I've failed in that respect. We haven't uploaded any photos of the kitchen and I'm now in a situation where I don't have access to a wire to do so.

The best I can do is post old pictures which went on a while ago, or else take photos with the camera on my laptop.
Which is actually not bad, for a webcam.

So, anyway, instead of talking about the kitchen, I have a bunch of other things to talk about.

Lifting
As I breifly mentioned at the end of the last post, I've been lifting some pretty heavy weights in the gym. I have mixed reactions when I tell people about this. The majority of people seem to be concerned that I might get “too muscular” or something. Well, if that were my goal then it would be none of their business, but it's not. I'm not worried that this will happen though. I'm already squatting 65kg (yep, a new personal best again). I bench 20kg, I dead lift 20kg, I can shoulder press 17.5kg, but it's hard.
I read two really good blogs about women and training, specifically weight training rather than cardio. (I hate cardio with a passion, really – who enjoys spending hours running on the spot in a dull old gym?) one of them is Cassandra Forsythe. She's a nutrition expert, and has co authored a number of books about weight training for women, including The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift like a Man, Look like a Goddess which I own. The programs in there are pretty tough, and there's a lot of bizarre exercises, but the main point of the book is that women can, and should, lift heavy weights. The other blog I read a lot is Rachel Cosgrove. Anyone who has looked into male fitness might recognise the name. She's married to a famous male fitness expert, but is well qualified in her own right. Anyway, go on and take a look at those two blogs. Especially at the photos on Rachel's blog. Then come back and tell me whether those ladies are too muscular.

Anyway, I haven't just been lifting – to be honest until about three weeks ago we haven't been going to the gym regularly enough to make a proper difference. However, about three weeks ago we started going every morning. One morning we do strength training, the other morning we do 15-20 minutes of slow swimming (and then sit in the spa/sauna for a while too!)
I'm finding that pretty satisfying. However, it does make breakfast a challenge. I have been on the “Slim Fast” diet. Yeah, I've slimmed. My work trousers are a bit big around the waist now, which is quite satisfying. Also my stomach (my current least favourite part) looks more toned. (But not enough to show you pics)
Anyway, I've had enough of the slim fast. My actual weight hasn't changed that much, and while needing a belt for my jeans and having work trousers a bit big is nice, it's really not enough.
That's not to say I don't feel pretty good, I've bought some new bikinis for my holiday in the sun, and I'm reasonably confident that I'll look okay on the beach. Perhaps even pretty good, if I'm having a good day.
Not having been to the gym for a week prior to the holiday will not help, and I might have to do some crunches or something to make myself feel better.

So, yeah, that's going well. I'm going to move on to a low(ish) calorie diet. The main points I plan to hit are: high protein, low wheat (at least baking our own bread means we can do that!), eating little and often. Lots of grilled fish, chicken or turkey, and prawns!

Knitting. Crochet. So, as I alluded to above, I'm off on holiday soon. We're going to the Canaries again...
After much debate (mostly with myself) I'm not going to take my knitting on the plane. Technically knitting needles aren't in the forbidden list, but the FAQ clearly states that knitting needles are not allowed. So, I am going to crochet. I have tried this before and created nothing of use, so this time I have a very simple pattern: [rav link] The Easy Peasy Crochet Bag [Non Rav link]. I'm going to make it out of some yarn I have purchased especially, it's two shades of Sirdar Crofter (60% Acrylic, 25% Cotton, 15% Wool). I'm usually a yarn snob (avoiding synthetics) but this is great because it's inexpensive, hardwearing and pretty. Here's a webcam picture of it!

I'm actually quite excited about the bag, I haven't yet decided whether to go for the handles as described in the tutorial or another sort.
It's a four hour flight, so I might even finish it! Though I do have two magazines to read (and two more in my luggage for the way back or the beach) as well. Boyf just has a book, so I might have to talk to him!
I'll almost certainly have some pictures for you after the holiday, some of which might even be of me in my bikini (then you can judge for yourselves exactly how much further I have to go...)

Til then, TTFN.

Seems like Monthly then...

Yeah, I know, no updates for a while. I've been busy!

Anyway, here I am.

So, what's been going on? Well, I went to Woolfest. Around this I wrapped a week away in the lake district. Beautiful part of the country by the way.
We started off going to Cambridgeshire, to visit Boyf's folks and friends. It was Livestock again (I'm sure I've mentioned it before) I thought it was better this year, though that could be down to the cherry beer I was drinking rather than pints o' wine. Anyway...
After that we headed off up the M6. Like, literally the whole way up the M6. We stopped off at Stafford Castle, which is approximately half way. We spent three nights in Bowness on Windermere, which is a lovely little town on the side of the lake. We spent a day in Kendal. I have a couple of points to make about Kendal:

1. The one way system is horrible if you're not big on driving. Take a bus.
2. The Chocolate shop is amazing, go there and have chocolate instead of lunch.
3. The Quaker Tapestry is beautiful. They also have an amazing quilt there, and the garden is lovely and peaceful. You can't take pictures inside so you'll have to take my word for it. Go there. (They do have a cafe which is meant to be good too, but we didn't try it after all the chocolate!)

I'm sure there's loads more to do, but that's my impression of Kendal.

We also spent a day on the lake, on a big tour boat and got sunburned. (No pictures of that I'm afraid)

When we set off for our next destination, we went via Coniston to see the Bluebird exhibition in the Ruskin Museum. That was really interesting. They also had some local lace samples and local wool products available there. (Herdy too, which is a new initiative using Herdwick wool, that's the breed of sheep Beatrix Potter was interested in) and then on to the Bond Museum in Keswick. We also went to the Cars of the Stars exhibition. If you only have time to do one of those, go to the Bond museum. Neither takes more than an hour or so, but the Bond museum is much more interesting, and the staff were nicer.

We then spent three nights in Cockermouth, which is where Woolfest happens. More on that soon.
We arrived in Cockermouth on the Thursday night and had plenty of time to check out local eateries. We found a great little Mediterranean cafe for lunch (we had lunch there twice!) and the restaurants were all lovely too! There's a real-ale microbrewery pub called the Bitter End. It's a lovely town, and is central for walking and cycling too. (We didn't do much walking due to it being so hot, and no cycling.)
So, Friday?
Friday was Woolfest
Woolfest is organised by a cooperative in Cumbria called the Wool Clip. It's a place where all things fibery come together under one roof. There were sheep, alpaca, angora goats, angora rabbits, more sheep, spinning wheels and supplies, so much yarn in so many beautiful colours, both dyed and undyed. I had a blast.
I met some other knitters who like Howies clothing.
And I bought a haul! Much fun!

On the Saturday we went for a bit of a walk, and then on to the Jennings brewery for a tour. It was an interesting tour, I'd recommend it. You also get beer, so Boyf would recommend it too.

-o0o-

So, moving on, what's going on now?
Well, I have 10 projects on the needles, officially. I'm only working on a couple though. The one I want to mention is inspired by my haul at woolfest, and also by the Log Cabin blanket that Yarn Harlot is making. I'm using one of each rare breed yarn to make a square-pattern cushion. (a throw is beyond my patience and budget for this yarn!) The lightest one is Wensleydale, the darkest is Jacob, The dark grey is Herdwick and the light grey that's in progress is Swaledale. Cool huh?
I'm finding YH's explanation about the difference between "pick up" and "pick up and knit" to be invaluable, so it's here, if you're doing anything where you need to pick up stitches you should check it out (unless you already know the difference!)

Well, that's all folks.

Busy Bank Holiday Weekend?

For us it was.
We visited my folks on the Saturday and bought some exciting local food and such while we were there. Smashing black pudding and raisin sausages, Lincoln Blue cheese (yum!) and flour from the local mill (yes, a real windmill!)
Earlier on Saturday I had received a parcel of two sticks.
So we went to B&Q and bought some pots for the sticks (they'll be roses when they grow up).
While we were there I got a little carried away, and we bought compost (we did need that) some lettuce plants and a herb set. (pictured: herbs)
And then, well then I really got carried away... And what did look like this: Now looks like this: On the up-side, there's plenty of room for me to plant more things (the Lettuces are going in next to the rather sad looking flowery thing in front of the ex-bush, but I need to protect them from slugs...)
I think it's lots better, and the garden looks bigger.
This weekend, I'm planting some pak-choi seeds in pots and ripping out a kitchen, or starting to. I'm planning on photo diary-ing the kitchen renovation.

It's been a while...

...ten days in fact.

I spent last weekend in Bristol for a friend's birthday. Because I hadn't been to Bristol before, and because it was a four hour train journey to get there, OH and I decided to make a weekend of it. He was already on a course in Gloucestershire. He organised the hotel (so I didn't have to worry about it), he told me to get a cab from the station.
So, I had the rudest cabbie in the world! I got in (after my 4 hours on the train) and asked him for the Marriott Hotel, the one near the cathedral. He says, "which one love, you tell me" - I was astounded. I got my bit of paper out and confirmed the address. But seriously, it was right next to the cathedral and it's not like there's more than one cathedral in Bristol! What a pain!
The hotel, on the other hand, was fab. It was beautiful, the bed was massive, the room was nice and well furnished, clean, etc.
Our friend had offered to make us chilli for tea. After all the journeying that was very welcome. We got a bit lost trying to find the flat, but we got there in the end. The chilli was very nice, and we had a lovely chat before heading back for bed.

The hotel breakfast was great! I had full English, croissants, fruit and a smoothie, tea and orange juice!
Since we were in Bristol, I had to make a trip to Get Knitted in Brislington. We got a £3.70 bus ticket which allowed us to travel on the buses all day. Get Knitted was awesome! They have everything! Literally!
I bought some Malabrigo and some Blue Sky Alpacas Silk and Alpaca. This is the Alpaca. The Malabrigo is already on the way to being a VLT scarf. Both are lush. I was tempted to buy so many things, but those really grabbed me!
Bus drivers in Bristol, unlike the Cabbie, were all amazing. They'd tell people which stops were for what, and were chipper in the face of hail storms and rude people. Smashing! Well done Bristol Bus Drivers!

Then we went to the zoo. We met a butterfly with good taste in yarn and saw gorillas and penguins and lemurs. Our camera died so some of the photos were taken with my phone. 1. Pelican, 2. Meercats?, 3. Clifton Suspension Bridge, 4. SS Great Britain, 5. Butterflies, 6. Butterflies, 7. Flamingo, 8. Pygmie Hippo, 9. Penguins

Karaoke on the Saturday night was great! The SS Great Britain and the Clifton Bridge were Sunday visits before our more-than-four-hour train journey home.
I've been a bit under the weather since then, so not much blogging.

Anyway, I'm off back to my malabrigo now. TTFN.