There is, or was, or will have been, a small rosemary plant that was managing somehow to keep going under the pile of nettles and various junk in the garden, but it's in the path of the strimmer tomorrow. So I finally got around to doing what I had been planning for a while. I cut it down, chopped it up and froze the leaves in olive oil.
I put a couple of springs aside for our meal tonight (nice sausage cooked with sprigs of rosemary in the oven pan, fancy frozen potato zigzag fries, peas cooked with a stock cube in the water and lots of gravy) and for the dinner planned for Sunday, which is honey mustard garlic sausages and I promise that we eat more than sausages but it's the way that the meals fell out this well, then dug in. I had this lot.
Which I got down to this
Which I chopped a bit, getting rosemary leaves everywhere and bunged into an ice cube tray.
It was all washed and I kept an eye out for any stray bits that shouldn't be there, then poured over around a quarter litre of olive oil. I definitely over filled it, and when I forgot to to take a pic before I put the lid on, I didn't dare take it off again in case the oil spilled everywhere.
I can always hack chunks off with a steak knife. And now the house smells like medicinal chest rub.
DH has picked up the strimmer. I'm sort of nervous, but I know that he'll do a good job and it's the push that I need to get the garden sorted out.
I've actually dragged myself out to our tiny front garden and I hacked back a stand of nettles. I've been watching too many of those self-sufficiency YouTube videos and I kept thinking 'there's good eating on these'. I pulled out a huge heap of them which I'm going to stuff into bags to take to the tip once they've wilted a little and reduced the chances of getting stung. I took a few hits as it is and I'm now very grateful for lavender oil and I smell like an old lady's handbag. But look at this - doesn't it look good enough to eat?
While I was battling the nettles, I cleared some space by Gladys, and I found some campers on her leaves.
The two tiny snails looked incredibly cute.
I'm having to cut Gladys back as she's hanging over the garden and we can't get around easily. And I need to get the worst of the rubbish cleared in the next couple of days as DH has rented a strimmer for the weekend. And when DH gets a gadget, he goes for it with gusto. I expect the garden to be strimmed within an inch of its life. I'm seriously grateful and I want to make things easy for him.
It's really noisy out with all the fireworks. I was originally considering popping into Aldi because if I go to the right one then they stock Thursday's deals late on Wednesday night and I can get a first pick of the good stuff. This week includes candles and I'm running short of candles, apart from the cute owls. However I don't always feel comfortable going out on Bonfire Night. Accidents can happen and while I'm pretty sure that I'll be safe, if I can stay in, I will.
Speaking of candles, I got a coupon from Tesco for 10% off candles in this week's batch. I did my usual trick of going through and clicking on all the ones that I fancy, knowing that I'll go back and weed out the ones that aren't actually that good at second glance. When the discount came in at over £13, I went back and pruned the list severely. It's not like 10% is a good discount. There will be better sales at other times, often with 20% off or more, or I could call in at HomeSense who have an extremely good discount candle shelf. It's the over-stocks and end of line candles and they're often from extremely high-end ranges. Not to mention it will encourage me to leave the house.
I feel quite good about today. There weren't any major triumphs, but I did a few very small, insignificant steps that were more than I have done recently and that to me is a win.
Writing stuff - I posted a little bit on chat about why I wasn't writing a Novel in November here. For years, November has been a novel writing month and it's never worked for me, so I decided firmly that I was going to spend November tidying up some loose ends, editing pieces that I should have submitted years ago and generally getting my act together. I wrote the piece last weekend with a view to posting it today (as I said, I'm trying to get my act together), and then I dipped into Royal Road, where some of my unfinished stuff is languishing, and they're doing a Writathon. All (hah!) I need to do is write 55,555 by the 5th of December. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me not to sign up? I was jotting down notes about what I could write and how I could juggle it with other goals and what sort of milestones I'd need to hit - and I shouldn't do it at all! There is a non zero chance that I'll sign up before 15th November (when you are required to have written 25,000 words to stay in the Writathon), and if I do, I'll be ready to beat myself over my head with my own keyboard! I'll share how it's going.
And I realised that my contribution to Connections E-magazine was overdue so I've been rattling along with that as well.
Last Christmas, DH got me cute owl candles. I've just finished burning one.
The container is so adorable that I don't want to throw it out. But I have no idea what it could be used for. The lid doesn't fit snuggly at all and so I can't use it as a container for something like pins. It's such a small size as well that I don't think I could use it for something like a pen pot. Here's the container with a shot glass for size.
To put that into context, the glass measures up to two tablespoons of liquid. The owl is diddy!
I was thinking about it being perfect for air plants or tiny succulents, then I remembered the swarms of aphids that descended on the chilli plants, so perhaps artificial tiny succulents. Or I could donate them and someone else could get the benefit. But they're so cute!
I'm readying myself for an early night. Tesco's Christmas delivery slots are released tomorrow to those paying for delivery savers, like me, and they open at 6am. To be honest, I'll be extremely surprised if I can't get a slot on 23rd December even if I log in later. The demand for them seems to have dropped over the last few years. Besides, I'll have most of the snacks, goodies, and frozen food already in. My Christmas pudding came today and that's just the start. And I have no shame that I'll be buying ready made practically everything. Mind you, I'm also going to be saving space in the freezer to pack away frozen bags of whatever the stupidly cheap veggies the supermarkets are giving out. If they're offering bags of carrots and parsnips for 20p again, my freezer is going to be rammed with soup!
Writing stuff - I'm considering the whole Nyla story and I don't think that it's working how I would like it. This means that instead of returning to that, I've republished an old favourite of mine here - I Never Knew Her Name.
Bear continues to keep in touch. He's explained his coursework to me, which impressed me no end. I barely understood one word in twenty, but it was so lovely to hear his voice. Things are just happily tootling along. I'm settling down to hibernate. I've also placed a grocery delivery and I've ordered the first of the Christmas goodies. I'm using Tesco Clubcard vouchers to pay for Christmas. As usual, I'm swearing that I'll get less than last year, and to be fair, I've gradually cut down. However it's November tomorrow and now I'm watching for sales on things like goodies that I can stash away until the big day. Really, I just want the men at home and for it all to be cosy. I may invest in candles - lots and lots of candles!
The next bit is a lot of knitting. You may want to skip it if you're not a knitter as it's a lot of grumbling about knitting things.
The delay since the last post is because I wanted to take a pic and I was baffled about the best way to do it. I then took the pictures and now my phone won't share them! In the end I looked for a pic of knitting on Unsplash, and when I entered 'knitting' in the search engine, it pulled up this, which is crochet. I can't crochet.
Eventually I managed to coax the phone to get the pics. This is the current state of the jacket I'm knitting.
It's just a sort of heap, because I've finished the main body, and the back and both fronts are knitted in one piece from the bottom up. The jacket is this one which is a jacket in chunky, and as I'm a larger lady with a ridiculously ample bosom, I'm knitting the largest size. Which is big. The finished length is supposed to be 36 inches or 93cm, and the bottom hem, which is all in one, is 62 inches or 157cm if I knit to size, and I have the uneasy feeling that I've knit it large. I've just started on the first sleeve.
The instructions I have are to block the pieces before making up. As it's all in stocking stitch or stockinette, the whole thing has curled up. Apparently, I need to block a stretch of knitting that's seriously curled and nearly two yards long - and that's just the hem! There isn't a single uncurled edge. I bought a pack of blocking pins but they look somewhat inadequate and the only place I can think of that has that sort of space and that is free is bear's bed, and I'm not sure that he'd approve.
My mother used to lightly press her knitting under a damp cloth, and I may try that. I'll have to do something as it's curling up to a ridiculous degree. After the mess I made when I dropped all the shoulder stitches, I'm not going to be wearing it outside of the house, so I think the main quality I'm looking for is 'fits over jumper and t-shirt' and from what I can see, it will do that very nicely.
I'm not knitting it again. I found myself knitting five stitches for the neckband on a circular needle that was 150cm or 60 inches long. I spent more time trying to get the needle and yarn in position than I did knitting the row.
Writing Stuff - today is the last day of October and my writing blog can calm down. I posted a story a day from Kane's story, most of them old but a couple of new ones. Today I posted the final story here - Not Fit - which is new and is quite a read at just under seven thousand words. I hope that if you dip in then you enjoy it.
The stats on my writing blog are now going odd. I have no idea what's going on and I'm putting it down to bots. However, for a while I've been getting a regular hit on Invitation Accepted so I thought I had better have a look and remind myself what it was all about. I'm ashamed to say that I'd forgotten how it ended. I enjoyed the read, but I feel like a very neglectful story mother. I've added the link to ease my conscience, but I feel that perhaps I ought to have a rummage and see what I've forgotten!
It's been cold and windy here today. I managed to get one pic to show that Gladys is still going strong.
But it was hard to get as the wind was throwing the branches around like crazy. I feel like there is a hard winter coming.
I found myself wondering what I managed to do today. I seemed to have done the very barest and my major triumph was remembering to take out the recycling for collection tomorrow. Of course, I also wrote just over five thousand words, so I suppose that accounts for some of the time. Some of it was for DHm but a large chunk was for my writing blog. I'm feeling pretty good about that.
I had a call from bear yesterday which was lovely. He sometimes calls just to talk stuff out, though I'm honest when I say that I haven't got a clue about what he's talking about.
With the weather being so cold and dreary, it's such a temptation to pile on the blankets and revel in feeling snug with all the wind and rain outside. It's my favourite time of year and I intend to enjoy it!
I finished the fish-tailed blanket, the one that had sat in the corner for years.
I had a good go at it because I spent a ridiculous amount of time at the garage. I thought something was burning, but apparently nothing was burning but the crankshaft pulley was loose and then they couldn't get the part, then the part turned up late, and it took some time to fit. I got about six inches knitted on the blanket that day. It turned out very roughly 150cm x 150cm or sixty inches square. I plan to hibernate under it.
I should carry on with the jacket I'm knitting which is in the home stretch, but I started another blanket, to have something mindless to knit while I'm watching tv.
I'm missing bear. He's been gone almost a month now, and he's been poorly as well. I guess most of the people reading this know that feeling. I'm sure that it doesn't really get much easier. I'm proud of him, though. He's getting good marks and I think that he's eating well. Tonight he's planning a fancy meal with chorizo and chickpeas. Hearing him managing just fine makes me feel that I've done something right and it's incredibly reassuring.
I've decided to give up on the chillies. They are absolutely crawling with bugs and it makes my skin crawl. It's a shame, as we were getting quite a bit of pleasure seeing the plants grow, but DH isn't enjoying the pickling so much and now that I've found a brand of hot chilli pickles at the local supermarket, at a cheaper price that DH can make, and they taste fine, then I may as well abandon the plants. If DH was enjoying the pickling, or the stuff in the supermarket was significantly dearer, I would probably have persevered, but I want my windowsill back, without the icky bits.
We've not gone entirely to ready made, though. I chopped up 2kg of onions for the freezer today and the house stunk. Still, I have the benefit of a good deal, ready to go and easy to use.
Writing stuff - for those who subscribe to email notifications on my writing blog - I'm sorry. But October is almost over. It's been all about Kane, and the new stories in order so far are Watching the Shop, Afterwards, A Cup of Coffeeand Dumping the Junk. And of course there'll be a nice long instalment on 31st October. If you want to read the whole thing so far, you can start here, but it's quite a read in full. I was surprised when I was going through.
I love using my lucet, but I can rarely think of any use for it. This is the lucet in question.
And this is the braid I made from some faded twine I found the other day. I've had it since father was gardening.
It's not brilliant, but it took me about half an hour total, including watching the video to remind myself how to use the thing.
You can see the difference between the cord on the video and the my attempt, which is largely because the lucet is too big for the thin twine I used. I've already started rummaging around to find the smaller size that I'm sure that I have somewhere. Or, apparently, I could use an ordinary fork.
The reason for the braid is that we have a log basket in our study. We don't have anything in the house that will burn logs, but it's a great size for us to drop the bits of recycling from the non-kitchen areas of the house into. The kitchen recycling bin is down a flight of stairs from the study and I currently can barely manage to walk across a room. Don't get me wrong, I can do the various cook/clean/laundry stuff but I'm grateful for things that can save me a few steps. At the end of every day or so, I can empty it into the outside recycling bin.
It came from Temu, equipped with wooden bars for the handles.
This presented a number of problems. The first problem was that the dowel wouldn't fit through the leatherette loops to make a handle. I dug out some sandpaper to cut down the size, but then promptly lost one of the dowels. It was always going to be a matter of time before they went missing regardless. However the basket is a nice size and it's made of a comforting sort of felt so I braided up the twine to make handles.
Which I will be replacing the instant I can find the smaller lucet. I like the rustic look but I think that I'll like it even more if it looks a little more deliberate.
Bear is feeling better, and seems to be settling in well. All is good with me as well, apart from the walking stuff. I had the flu jab today, so I've decided that the weekend is dedicated to resting my knee and knitting.
I've been dipping into some craft videos to see if I can find uses for braid that don't involve making mats. The few times I've tried it, I've ended up with more of a bowl and it hasn't worked at all. It's risky, watching those YouTube videos, though, as I get tempted to try things and I need to run down my craft supplies, not go out and buy more!
I can't remember which Psalm says it, but one of them says, 'make a joyful noise unto the Lord.' My mother said that was the only way to describe her singing. Once upon a time I sang in the sort of choir that used sheet music (I could read from sight, but not first sight) and was okayish, but now I stick with a joyful noise as the best description.
I've decided that as singing has been described as an aerobic exercise, I'm going to sing in the car. I couldn't inflict it on DH or any of the neighbours, but as I head towards Tesco, I can happily warble an approximation of a tune. It's not proper exercise, but it's vaguely good for me and it lifts my mood. It also makes my driving a lot more assertive.
Normally I'm a careful driver and I'm cautious at junctions. However it's amazing how much extra confidence I get from belting out old Liverpool folk tunes and while I don't ever think that I'll get mistaken for a boy racer, I'm getting out of some of the stickier junctions a lot quicker.
It has a downside. I have learned over the last few shopping expeditions that it's not a good idea to belt out Men of Harlech, a song all about medieval battles, when I'm in a 30mph zone. It's not good. I need to stick to something less martial in those areas. On the other hand, Kumbaya is wonderful and soothing and far from helpful if I'm supposed to be dashing down a 50mph zone.
I've done a little baking. There are two recipes that I know that involve browning the butter before baking. One is brown butter biscuits and the other is burnt butter cookies. I was supposed to be making brown butter biscuits, but I left them in the oven too long and I think I had a recipe crossover.
Bear has the 'fresher's flu.' It's a known thing that happens when students from all over the country meet up and mix all their germs. He's got a bad sore throat and is definitely suffering. I've had a few texts and a call or two, which is far more communication than I expected, and apart from the illness, I think that he's doing okay. He's cooking, he's got to grips with the local laundrette, he's shopping sensibly and planning his food, and generally keeping his feet on the ground. I'm not there and can only go off his reports, but it seems that he's laying the foundation of keeping a good rhythm in his life.
This is vital as bear, being his usual self, has signed up for a degree that is incredibly intensive with a massive workload. He's grumbled that he has a friend doing a History and Sociology degree at another university and they have the same number of contact teaching hours per week that he has most days. I'm pretty sure that he'll be fine, but I worry.
I miss him so much. So does DH. We're not being silly or dramatic about it, but there's a gap. However he's been in touch with both of us, and that is reassuring.
Writing stuff - it's carrying on with a different Kane story each day of October (apologies to those who have subscribed to the blog and who are now getting spammed). There was a new story last Friday here, and I've got a few more up my sleeve.
I didn't take any sensible pics today, so here is a pic of my new wrist rest and mouse mat.
I've been setting up a new station downstairs, where I'm planning on using the planner and getting some serious writing done. I have an old PC of bear's that I can use, and originally I ordered a plain black wrist rest and mouse mat. However bear asked nicely and took them away with him, so I indulged in fancy rests. So far I'm still setting up the planner and working out how best to use it, but it's been fun.
I've had something of a runaround today. I tried to pay money into the Post Office and failed as apparently my bank doesn't work there, then I dropped off some donations at the Salvation Army. I don't know what was going on, but I nearly passed out in the car park. I had a dizzy spell that I absolutely did not appreciate and I had to sit in the car for twenty minutes before I felt anywhere near to be safe to drive. I was so cautious driving to Tesco which was only a few hundred yards away and I got a baked potato and a hot chocolate in the cafe to try and ground me. I felt a little better, at least enough to carefully drive home, but I'm still feeling off. I've made lots of notes in the planner. In the past I've found it difficult to track any symptoms but now, if I keep it up, I can see if there's an underlying problem. I have a suspicion that it's lack of sleep, but I'll track and see.
DH had a text from bear saying that he had had trouble making a chicken curry, but he got it sorted. What I heard was my son is making himself proper meals!!! I am so proud and relieved.
It's not officially the start of autumn. Meteorological autumn starts on 1st September and the other start of autumn that I remember is 21st September or the equinox, but 1st October always feels more like the start of autumn to me. It feels like the colder weather has turned up early this year and I'm sitting here with one of my knitted blankets around my shoulders and I've lit two candles to take the chill off the room. I can't bring myself to turn the fire on.
Incidentally, it's this blanket, which is ridiculously long and narrow for a blanket but a wonderful stole type shape and length to wrap around my shoulders, cross over my chest and leave a nice overlap for when I'm watching or reading something on the computer.
I called in to Tesco today to pick up salad for DH. They didn't have any interesting bargains, so I picked up the salad and some sweeties for the Foodbank to remember one of DH's family and dashed out. I noticed something at the Foodbank bin, though, that made me wonder. It looked like someone decided that those in need had to have bottled lemon juice and donated dozens.
I had a quick look and they are good until May next year. I wonder if someone had been planning a demonstration or a pancake feast and were left with an uncomfortable surplus that they decided to pass on.
I'm taking the chance of a new month and the new stage in my life to try and find a way to work with a planner. I've had success in the past when I've written everything down, and so I've decided to go with a variant of the bullet journal. Parts of it require using brief notes so I'll have to modify that part. I can't write brief notes to save my life - I can witter on for pages. I've used something similar in the past, so I'm optimistic that I'll get a little further with this. I'll share any successes, and if I have any amazing insights, I'll let you know.
Writing stuff - I like to mark October, so once again I'll be including a story a day from Kane's story. I won't say anything here when I post, unless it's a new story, but if you want to dip in, my blog is here and all are welcome.
Bear is off and away. He left yesterday and I think that he'll be fine. DH checked his room and he said that it was nice with plenty of storage and it's nice and quiet. I'm confident that bear will do well.
I forgot to give him the shot glass to take with him.
It measures shots but also tablespoons, teaspoons, millilitres and fluid ounces. I picked it up mainly because I thought it would be useful for measurements if he cooks. I don't know if bear will do many shots while he's away. I suspect he may but not many, as it's not really his style (though who knows). However his track record is being the responsible one in the friend group and I guess it would be helpful to know what a shot of liquor is supposed to look like. The standard measure is a lot less than it looks like on TV.
Today is the first day of a new chapter in my life. I spent a lot of it rummaging around some writing stuff and getting some washing done. I think Monday is when I'll sit down and try and plan out how to make things work. It's felt a little odd.
At least the plumber is coming tomorrow. I'm desperate for the leak to be fixed. It's staining the front of the house! I'll be so glad when it's sorted out and I hope that the plumber (who is lovely) can work something out.
When I signed up to Facebook under my pen name, they asked for a date of birth and I put 22nd September 1968. That is not my birthday. It's not that far off. I'll be hitting 60 years of age soon, but I'm an Aquarius (if you believe in that sort of stuff, which I shouldn't, but it creeps up on me). I just checked and those who are born on 22nd September are Virgos. As I said, I'm an Aquarius, the fruit loops of the zodiac. However... my mother was a Virgo. My father was a Virgo. My best friend at school was a Virgo. My first boyfriend was a Virgo. My bridesmaid was a Virgo. My husband is a Virgo. There are a lot of Virgos in my life getting extremely irritated by my lack of sense. One of the other sensible star signs (allegedly) is Capricorn. Those in my life with that star sign are bear (who has a lot to put up with), my late mother-in-law, my father's long term girlfriend, my husband's neice, his brother-in-law and his lovely auntie. Any other birthdays are well spaced out. It's just the expensive ones that group together.
I searched for 'Virgo' on Unsplash and this came up. Nothing more relevant showed and I thought that this was pretty so I decided to share.
Anyway if you're on Facebook, you may see a prompt to wish me happy birthday and ninety people already have. I feel incredibly guilty about that. I'll say thank you to them all, and I feel incredibly grateful that someone took the time to send good wishes, but I'll feel guilty every time I press 'thanks + post' even as I feel hugged. Besides, I'm still going through my Facebook friends. I wrote an explanation here, but it's my author page and I love accepting friend requests, but it got indiscriminate and I've been using birthdays as a way of slowly picking through my friend list. There have been so many inactive accounts and the birthday reminder is so useful for this. However I do wonder about how many birthdays are the real birthdays.
I called in to Marks and Spencer today. My walking is getting worse, but I managed a short walk while hanging onto a trolley and I noticed that the Christmas stuff had started to come out.
I kept meaning to take better pics but things got a way from me. It's been a lovely day here, really sunny and a welcome change after all the rain. I've been spending most of it with bear as we sorted out what he's taking with him to university. It's currently stashed in four bags for life, the packaging for a duvet, the packaging for pillows and a backpack. That doesn't include his clothes, but it includes all the kitchenware and a few bits of groceries to start him off.
There have been some fairly intense discussions about what he does and doesn't need. Bear is sticking with a minimalist plan, which I'm sure will be fine. It's driving me nuts, though I'm trying to hide it from him, and I'm sure that I'll keep worrying.
Of course I'll worry a little about bear, but I think that he'll be okay. Wherethejourneytakesme said that perhaps bear had inherited the numbers ability from my great aunt. From where I sit, he's inherited the ability to get on with absolutely anyone from father, but he's also inherited my maternal grandfather's ruthless intolerance to fools. As far as he's concerned, peer pressure happens to other people and he'll quitely and undramatically do as he damn well pleases. While it would be nice to be able to persuade him, for example, to at least take a dressing gown with him, it's reassuring to know that he's not easily influenced, or at all, really.
The next few weeks are likely to be odd for DH and I. I'm sure that there are many reading this who understand what I mean. Since I became pregnant, back in April 2006, DH and I have centred our lives around bear. I mean, we haven't tried to take over his life or force our way in, but our lives have been very much about what is the best for bear. Now we need to recentre a little. To be honest, I think it's going to be fun.
I saw this and I thought that it was important to share.
It's a scam that if I had seen it, I would absolutely have fallen for it. It's a reminder to be cautious about clicking on links from unsolicited emails. I love Atomic Shrimp for all sorts of reasons and I'm really grateful for their scam warnings.
All is normal for here. The chillis are still crawling and overrun with bugs. The leak continues and bear is on pins ready to go to university. Term starts at the end of next week and so we have blocked out Monday to make all the checks, confirm that he has everything, and pick up anything he needs. I'm still recovering from the wonky wheel - the car was bearing left. I spent from 9am to 6pm waiting at the garage while they tried to work out what was needed. I ended up going back twice and left with two new tyres (which were an advisory in June anyway), a new wheel and a car that still has a habit of drifting left as it's sort of ground in now. Still I had a chance to catch up on some knitting. This was good as while I was clearing stuff out to get to the leak I found a blanket that I had started knitting around, I guess, ten years ago.
You can see the division between knitting before and knitting now. I think the technical terms my mother used were 'relaxed' or 'dropped' but I think of it as more like 'sprawled' and have resigned myself to a fishtailed blanket. As it's far from perfect, I can't donate or sell it, so I get to keep it and it's lovely and warm as it's being knitted up, so that is a definite win. I've a few half knitted projects, but after this I've decided to unravel and start again rather than worry about the tension.
Speaking of yarn, I was in Aldi.
The pile is slightly smaller as I walked away with 1000g of aran weight that will be perfect for a pattern I have.
That's £12.90 for enough yarn to make a sweater for a larger lady like myself, which I consider a bargain! I picked up some crochet hooks as well as when the stitch holder on the cardigan I'm knitting, that was holding 110 stitches, failed, a crochet hook would have been a significant help recovering the dropped stitches. It's ended up as something of a dog's dinner on the shoulder and I'll take a pic later.
And further about knitting. Those who knit may have picked up on a row about a YouTube video from the SciShow of all people.
It's upset a lot of knitters, perhaps because it was quite condescending and wasn't 100% accurate about its images. It talked about knitters in history having to work things out by trial and error and with intuition. The reaction videos that I've seen have been pretty funny as well as almost unanimously scathing, but it reminded me about one of my great aunts.
She was terrifying. She presented as a sweet, innocent, helpless, unmarried and innocent old lady who couldn't possibly be trouble. This was a lie. She had a way of looking you up and down and utterly anihilating you with one, pithy, elegant sentance, leaving you emotionally devastated for weeks. She spent most of her life working for a family firm of furniture makers/importers, starting at age 16, retiring in her seventies and terrorising generations. She was a wizard with numbers. The story that was told was when the fast young men came around to demonstrate the new adding machines, she could beat the specially trained speedsters with pencil and paper. Mind you, knowing her, there was probably psychological warfare involved as well.
She was born in 1902 and while our family encouraged the women, she was never going to be able to go on to any sort of further education. I think that if she had been born in 2002, it would have been a very different story. She really understood numbers and it showed in her knitting. Because she was a demon knitter. She loved to make the intricate Aran sweaters and cardigans. I've only been able to find two pics that aren't copyright.
Neither reflect my great aunt's work. They were intricate works of art, with eye-watering patterns in panels with all types of cables, ribbing, moss stitch, bramble stitch - all that you could think of. Chris Evans' sweater in Knives Out is a good example of the sort of pattern she enjoyed - all panels and complexity and bumpy bits. While the very nice presenter of the Sci Show talked about physicists suddenly discovering the engineering in knitting, my great aunt had nailed the maths by the 1970s, if not before.
It wasn't just that she routinely finished garments that I would never even attempt to consider, it's how she approached them. For those who don't know, a panel of a particular knitting stitch pattern will commonly be described as needing a multiple of x number of stitches plus y number of stitches. The YouTube channel, iknitwithcatful, has a playlist of different stitches and will describe, for example, double moss stitch as a pattern with a four row repeat needing a multiple of 4 stitches plus 2. I'm adding the link to the channel here as I find her incredibly relaxing.
So my great aunt would decide that she liked this particular cable panel from pattern A with this particular raised stitch from pattern B and a panel of these criss crosses from pattern C and she would assemble them together from her selection, adjusting them so that the stitch counts would fit together. Then she would pick a pattern that she knew would come in at the size she preferred - and different sizes would need different stitch counts, and all the different parts of the aran pattern and all the sizing had to be adjusted and tweaked until she was happy with the result and would start knitting the fiendish combination which would end up immaculate and perfectly fitted. She did knitting for fun, with no sign of stress at all the number crunching, as a sort of side hobby away from her main passion of traumatising her family.
I miss her. She was, like many in my family, a strong character with her own view of the world and a happy disregard of whether anyone agreed with her or not. She grew frail at the end, as she outlived many sparring/feuding partners and ended up surviving on sweets, cigarettes and sherry. If she had been born in a different time, I'm confident that she would have had an impact, if only in the mental health of which ever institution of higher learning she attended.
Writing stuff - just a quick note that an old friend Finn Cullen released a roleplaying game which reminded me of how I met my husband and I wrote about it on my writing blog here. Finn is a genius writer and I wish I was half as good as him, but he's not as fussed about it.
I'll be back regularly once bear is off to university and I've settled down. Thank you for the amazing hugs in the comments.
I had a quick dip in here to look for something, and thought I'd make a brief post to say that it's all as usual while I'm here.
Bear has Covid. Poor kid is really poorly with it, but better to have it now than when he is away at university. He's been huddled down with throat sweets and painkillers and generally suffering. DH and I have also been affected but not nearly as badly as we have had vaccines in the past and bear, being young and healthy, hasn't.
By the way, if you drink most of a bottle of water, crumple up the bottle, add some soluble painkiller and put the lid back on, the gas escaping from the tablets as they dissolve will expand and push the bottle back into its original shape - with sound effects. The men have been suffering but they are still curious about the world and love gimmicky tricks.
And I managed to scrape my elbow falling downstairs. This is an improvement on past falls as I have a shocking track record of dislocations and torn ligaments, but this time I found it kind of funny. I was carrying an armful of flimsy carrier bags to return to the Morrison delivery driver (10p back for each one) and they flew up and sort of drifted down like dingy, ragged snowflakes. Poor bear came rushing and then just sighed as he saw that I was not only unhurt but surrounded by chaos.
Here are two of the replacement chilli plants.
And a recent score
But the battle of the bugs continues. They have sticky traps, they have been sprayed with fancy soapy stuff and they have been left out when it finally rained. Efforts ineffectively continue.
I have been entertaining myself by watching the extremely stout woodpigeons swaying and flapping wildly as they perch on thin elder branches as they try and feast on the berries. I'm sure that they're using more calories than they're getting, but they look like ruffled, old fashioned, elderly bank managers that have slipped on a wet floor and are losing their dignity. However undignified, the woodpigeons obviously think that the elderberries are worth it.
I've also been watching those 'build a cabin in the woods' type videos on YouTube as in theory they couldn't possibly tempt me to try something new and shop for another hobby. I am thousands of miles away from the wilds of Canada and the jungles of Vietnam and I cannot be trusted with something so technical as a saw or a hammer. All I need to do is watch. I have some doubts about the constructions, though. After a few sessions, I feel that Alaska must be almost knee deep in hastily built log cabins, all with immaculately black stoves and a lack of bathroom facilities. There is also no disclosure about where the builders are sleeping in between long days of chainsaw wielding and I find myself wondering if some of them are actually in a luxury motorhome, just a little off camera.
I've been watching the videos while knitting this.
I'm knitting the jacket, and while it's an easy knit, it's not an easy knit. I'm a larger lady with an over ample bosom, and the body is knitting in one piece until it splits for the arm holes. I have over 220 stitches in chunky and the piece is currently around 18 inches or 45cm long. It's heavy, bulky and evil to manoeuvre and I had to get an extra long circular needle to manage the number of stitches. I'm looking forward to wearing it. I'm not looking forward to the last few rows on the body when I'll be holding a lot of weight on just a few stitches. Still, there's not too much making up to do and that is a bonus for me.
We have a leaking pipe and the most likely source is behind a pile of junk so I'll be sorting that out tomorrow. What with one thing and another, we haven't really been paying attention and now we have damp patches on three floors.
Another thing that I spotted on YouTube is that you can make soapy water from ivy. I am currently refusing to try it on the ivy running rampant in a corner of the garden, and I'm fairly safe from a random attempt at bushcraft in my garden because I think that it's the wrong sort of ivy. I know a few easily accessible stands of suitable ivy, though, and if I give in and try something, I'll share.
I'm doing a little better in myself, and I'll probably be back in a few weeks.
Bear got his A level results today. For those not in the UK, these are nationwide, standardised tests typically sat by those who are 18 or nearly there. It's the final exam of secondary school and the marks are used to determine whether the student is accepted into a particular university or not. Those wishing to go to university will have already applied and been told which grades they need to achieve to be admitted. Some courses at some universities don't require high grades and some demand excellence. Bear got A* in Maths and A in Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science and is going to his university of choice. He is disappointed that he didn't get all A*. I'm incredibly proud of him.
I'm trying not to overshare about bear. He's a legal adult now and I don't want to make him uncomfortable because of my posts. No doubt I'll share about his university later, but he's going to an excellent university with a really good reputation for the sciences. I've been hoarding Tesco Clubcard vouchers which I've used to outfit him with basic kitchen gear and bedding, which he has graciously approved, and I think that he'll do fine. Bear has voiced concerns that when he leaves, there won't be a responsible adult in the house. I can't really argue with that, but it's only for 70 days for the first term and I'm sure all of us will survive.
I finally got my car back. The airbags were replaced and she's good to go. The car is now fine and seems to be feeling particularly feisty. Her natural driving preference is 90mph on the motorway in August. My natural driving preference is 30mph on a side road in February. I'm sticking to familiar roads at the moment until I get a little more into the swing. So far I've accidentally run a red at a road works - sort of, as I went past the light but stopped at the crossing until it changed before turing, then nearly clipped an ongoing car when swerving to avoid a bunny, well, not very nearly but it was within 500 yards and then I fishtailed all over the road when I swerved to avoid an owl sitting on the road. Bear is still asking for lifts so he can't be too traumatised, but I'm watching the speedo like a hawk because my normal driving is taking me a lot faster than I'm used to. I'm shooting out of the traffic lights like a whippet and I'm surprised that I haven't got a speeding ticket. Given my normal caution, if I get a speeding ticket then I'm going to frame it.
I've finished a scarf.
And started another one for brother/his partner.
And I have some extremely poor pics of the replacement chilli plants.
I'm hopeful that we'll get a harvest quite soon and be able to keep pickling. I'm obsessively watching them for pests but so far, they're clear.
Perhaps it's just as well that I've failed in the garden. We are in the middle of a drought and there's a hosepipe ban. I could go out and water the garden with a watering can, and the garden isn't that large, but perhaps it's just as well that there's nothing to see so nothing to suffer. I managed to kill all the herbs with neglect.
You know how I say that I'm going to do something and then almost immediately do the opposite? I could post, for example, that I'm going to concentrate on my knitting and the next day I will be doing almost anything else. So take this with a bucket of salt, but I mean it as I write it. My mental health is pretty poor at the moment, and I'm struggling with practically anything. I'm feeling worried and stressed about not posting on here and then worrying even more that I don't know what to post and feeling that I ought to be posting something interesting and the oughts in all aspects of my life are crushing me, so I plan to take a step back from this blog for at least a month. As I said a few sentances ago, that's barely worth the pixels that spell it out, but in theory I'll step away, take this tiny bit of pressure off, and come back and post triumphs, should they happen.
There were two reasons I came here to post today. One is to boast about bear's results. The other is to remind everyone that I think that the people blogging in our community are amazing, wonderful, brilliant people who have done so much to help me over the years and that I'm profoundly grateful. I may currently be erratic but that doesn't mean that I don't value everyone who's been kind enough to stop by and everyone who's blogs have enriched, inspired and improved my life.
I finished the blanket! I still need to sew in the ends, but it's finished.
It's very approximately 48 inches by around 90 inches (120 x 220cm) and it's done! I immediately cast on for the scarf with the left over yarn. I splashed out on the yarn, the blanket cost around £15 for 400g and there's another £7.50 worth of yarn to make two scarves. I'm knitting what I think is supposed to be DK on 6mm needles instead of the recommended 4mm and I think that it looks fine and feels wonderfully soft and warm.
I'm posting a little early today as England are playing Spain in the Euros final and I'm not sure what state I'll be in afterwards. The men in my life have agreed to let me be. Bear has some reading he wants to do and DH likes to chill at the weekend.
I feel bad about getting rid of the chilli plants, but from what I've seen and some google, it's whitefly and mealybugs, both of which can establish themselves in the soil. I've made a lot of mistakes with them. The pots are too small and I let the plants get too tall. I'm going to have bigger pots (use the outside of the self watering pots which should almost double amount of available soil) and keep a close eye on their height. I'm also going to give the window/windowsill a good wipe around with disinfectant. There are a lot of tiny cracks and crevices in an old house like ours where bugs could lurk so I can't relax. I just wish that I'd learned this lesson earlier.
I didn't post yesterday because I couldn't access the comments and I fell asleep before I could thoroughly enjoy Germany v Spain the night before. Perhaps it's just as well because I'm feeling somewhat sad. One of the chilli plants that had been badly infested with mites (I think) and that I'd cut right back had sprouted more leaves.
It's not a brilliant pic because I was distracted by an enormous rat shooting across the garden. We've hardly seen any since we stopped feeding the birds, but I'm not surprised. There's been a lot of heavy rain and I know that the stream near us will have been a lot higher than usual and rising up the banks. The run off will have also got into the drains and sewers and I suspect that quite a few rats may have been flooded out. I still don't approve.
Regardless, all the chilli plants are affected. I've recognised whitefly on them and the plants aren't doing well. After a skin-crawling search (I hate creepy crawlies), it looks like the infestation has dug in and is almost certainly now in the soil. I'm reluctantly going to get rid of the plants, even though they've given good service, disinfect the plant pots, windows and windowsills, put new soil in and plant new plants. With a bit of luck, I should be able to overwinter them. I've got some potassium soap, or insecticidal soap, and at the first sign of trouble, I'll spray around liberally. I am not giving up!
I am also a little concerned about the freezer. Earlier on, that sort of freezing ice-mist was pouring out of it when I was going in and out to make dinner. It looked like an overdone special effect. We've had quite an expensive time, replacing a lot of items like the washer, fridge and oven recently and I don't want to add the freezer to the list. It had calmed down last time I looked, but I'm keeping an eye on it. The Tesco Clubcard vouchers that I've been saving up have covered a lot of stuff for bear, but I'd rather keep an eye on expenses.
I made a cake but I didn't take a picture. It was a little singed and slightly sad looking, so I took some pictures of Deirdre, the honeysuckle.
The berries are almost as pretty as the flowers and look quite Christmassy. I should perhaps cut off the berries to give the honeysuckle a chance to flower again, but I know that the birds eat them, so I'll leave them to look festive.
I've been watching England v Italy and I'm a nervous wreck. England were behind 1- 0 for most of the match, equalised in stoppage time and then got, and scored, a penalty right at the end of extra time. I honestly thought we were heading for penalties again. I got a load done on the blanket but I'm not guaranteeing the state of the stitches!
I'm now off to hopefully calm down while watching the Great British Sewing Bee.
Writing stuff - there may be advertising on my writer's blog. It's a work in progress. It makes sense for me to try and get money there, but I'm not entirely clued in. But there is another story, following on from last week here.
I forgot it was Sunday so picked up the blanket to knit. I'll go back to knitting for sailors next weekend, and I'll make it up by knitting for them on Saturday as well.
The blanket's growing nicely. I've one more ball to go. It should definitely be finished at the end of the England game on Tuesday. The football is speeding up the output.
It's never so straightforward. I noticed this. Sorry about the quality but the flash made things clear.
With the yarn being boucle with all the loops and curls on the yarn, I think that I may have accidentally picked up a stitch. I tried unpicking the rows, but the yarn did not want to play nice so I decided that if my brother asked, I'd tell him that it was a design feature.
Otherwise, it's been a good day. I'm hoping that tomorrow I do plenty to blog about.
