Of rocks, socks, real Cheddar cheese and stuff.

J really wanted to go to Cheddar Gorge, he had researched all about it before we left home and was eager to see the skeleton in Gough's Cave. He spent the whole time listening to the audio commentary and really enjoyed himself. We also went in the Cox's Cave and the picture above is from there - coloured lighting and classical music didn't really seem necessary IMHO.
Yep I finally infected M with sock disease. He was so taken with all the sock yarn at Get Knitted he decided he want to learn to knit socks (he can already knit). He bought some Opal Bee colourway and some dpns and spent the evenings knitting - it was fun, he's getting close to needing to turn his 1st heel....I wonder if he'll suffer from S.S.S (2nd sock syndrome)?
Also in Cox's Cave is the Crystal Quest (robbed from J.R.R Tolkien methinks - well a bit) aimed at kids but J was unimpressed. What did impress him was the cheese factory, shop and tasting! My boy loves a good strong mature cheddar, it was great to see the cheese maturing in the caves too. He tasted 3 or 4 types - all strong - then choose his favourite as a souvenir - the Cave Matured Vintage was his final choice whilst M went for the Blue. Cheddar Gorge is a bit touristy and not a cheap day out - but it was gorgeous weather and we had a lovely busy day there.
Finally - the other goat, Woody, from the farm. He's the one that I wanted to bring home, such a sweetie who loved to have his ears scratched and would lean into your hand with his eyes shut whilst you fussed him. I love goats!

Next post I'll get to my GK visit and show you me yarn ;-)

Pt 2 - Cathedrals, cooking & the toilet of doom!

I love Wells. Lovely place. Great market, lots of nice little places to eat, good shops including a little wool shop hidden down a side street - kind of quaint and old fashioned but friendly with loads of yarn and the bestest button selection I have ever encountered.

I am not a person of faith - but I adored Wells Cathedral - truly magnificent - awe inspiring and so much history. I really liked the clock with the jousting knights and such colourful stained glass. Plus we saw Fiona Bruce filming for 'The Antiques Roadshow' which was taking place at the Bishops Palace the next day - M's reaction "Ere isn't that that bird of the telly?" J's reaction "Who's she?"

Here are my boys cooking - or M might be about to brain J with that ladle! We had some amazing dinners on that stove. It cooks 3 pots (plus we took our gas stove for quick kettle boiling for early morning T - an essential in our household). M made the best ever veggie stew and dumplings on the wood stove - seriously the aroma alone was glorious. We had massive plates of scrambled fresh eggs, bacon and toast, chilli con carne and rice - wonderful warming grub.
Replete from stew and just before lighting the candles - my sock in progress - tis now finished and awaiting it's mate. I liked knitting by candle light whilst listening to the crackle of the logs and the hooting of tawny owls.
View from the front of our tent.
And finally.....yes....it's the toilet of doom! There is a small porcelain toilet bowl under that lid and an overhead flusher - but it's more like a boats loo. The varnished wood was freezing cold, especially at night (the whole back end of the tent was really cold at night) and I am funny about loos when away from home at the best of times - this was not a comfortable place to 'go' - plus it was bloddy dark as well and had its own residents!! I missed my own loo, more than anything else - including the animals.

Wool, Wells and the the toilet of despair - Pt 1.

We're home safe and sound after a break 'glamping' at a http://www.featherdown.co.uk/ site in Somerset. We had really good weather.
Fresh eggs collected from under the chooks every day - they truly were the best any of us have ever tasted.
We paid huge amounts of money to visit quite a few local attractions, including the Roman Baths at Bath. I even tried the water in the pump room - think hot limescale blah and you'd not be far off the mark.
I made friends with the locals! This pygmy goat (I think it is Buzz - the brother is Woody) thinks it is a mountain goat and spent many happy hours (when not terrorising the chooks & butting his brother) on top of a chook coop. The sheep is an undercover wool smuggler and therefore has remained nameless.
I also went to the Get Knitted shop in Bristol - oooooooooooooo!!!! The S. E. X. report will follow in a separate post.

As for Wells and the toilet of despair - next time.

I'll leave you with...

animal sleepytime.

They'll be nice and comfy whilst we're gone and Grandma will spoil them.

Apa-log-eees

No blogging for a while. Getting ready to go on holiday back in a week or so.

Be good whilst I'm gone ;-D

P.S should have yarn Pr0n when I get back - holiday destination is only 23 mins by car from Get Knitted shop - yay!

Total contentment.

" Well it's only what I deserve, a cosy throw and cushions for my new beanbag bed."
"Soooooooooo comfy and warm."
"Go away you pesky pink monkey thing, I am trying to chill here!"

Time to stand still.....

I'd like the chance.

Wow what a week. It hasn't stopped. So here is a kind of catch-up.

J had his cousin A over for a weekend sleepover - two mad boys= house of chaos, bedroom of mess. Then another cousin came over on Tuesday - so ditto the above (though not as bad). We were also out on Tuesday night so the day just went 'whooooosh' and the next thing I knew it was Wednesday, or Orthodontist day. J went for a 1st consultation, it's good news/bad news - the good is his kind of problem is the simplest sort, a 4 tooth extraction and a brace and he should have straight teeth in a year! The bad - the 18 month waiting list on the NHS *sigh*.

I also have a bit of sadder news, Ma's old dog Winnie (he was 16 or 17) was put to sleep on Tuesday. It is for the best, but still a hard decision for her to make because in many ways he appeared healthy - but he was not happy, had health issues and mental issues too. It hit her Wednesday morning - she's better today and keeping busy, but still it's not nice for her and the house is soooooooo quiet. Winnie barked constantly when she was out, nothing settled him and all the treatments the vet tried failed. If I'm honest I don't miss the barking, he'd often get hysterical and then have a fit which was really scary to deal with.

Very little knitting/spinning. The Flutter Sleeve is having its bands knit - but so much moss st is boring so it's languishing at the mo. Taught my Big Sis how to do a short row heel, knit a bit on a sock and spun a little baby camel/silk and that's about it.

Have the start of a nasty head cold - had a sore throat for 2 days now and am snuffling too.

Have lost 6kgs in two weeks - go me! Don't want to find them again, so am being a good girl, no choccie, no nuts/crisp, no Chinese take out and no booze!

Lottie escaped into next doors garden again - don't think they like dogs, but they were very gracious about it all.

Going to IKnit on Saturday, going to see the Harlot, going to meet with the Knitty gals - going to have to go on a train *gulp* going into agoraphobic overload at the thought of the crowd.

Going on holiday in a week and a bit.

Booked a dirty weekend away for me and M in Jan and also next years holiday in May - going to Cornwall.

I think that is all up to date. See you next week.

For me?

Why, thank you.
'Tis so comfy.
And a perfect fit.


I think not cat!!!

Does this make me a blue meanie?

I gave my hairdresser carte blanche with the hair colour chart today. I have red, violet, blue, pink and blonde - 'tis very bright.
I loves it I do!
Cut is similar to last time.
Does it match my eyes?

It's soft, smooshy and divine.

No not Conkers McBonkers this time- though he is all of those and more! It's my first lot of the merino/silk fibre I got a while back.
I haven't weighed it yet, and it is currently drying off, weighted down with the very technical device of a tin of chopped toms. It's approx 169m and 16wpi. I love the way the colours merged even more as I plied it (navajo) - now I just need to spin the rest of it......

Time....

to draw has been a precious commodity since having Lottie. She couldn't be left alone with Loobles for months and seemed to need all my attention to keep her out of trouble. Due to this I haven't been at my art desk in what seems like forever, but finally today I managed to finish a couple of new AB drawings, they can been seen here - http://anjelicabutton.blogspot.com/

A little bit of this & a little bit of that.

I've had a really lovely bank holiday weekend.

Saturday I went with some other ladies to another knitters house for an afternoon tea party in her garden, complete with 'retro' food on sticks, which was lovely. So nice to sit out, with good company and knit. The time flew by. (And I think she was so lucky with the weather - compared to the rest of the weekend).

The flowers are from M - aren't they lovely. I do so love to be given flowers for no reason.

I made a little progress on my 'Tilly' scarf (pattern in 'A Fine Fleece' by Lisa Lloyd). I am using Manos silk blend and a 3.75mm needle. I love to knit cables and this one is interesting enough that I don't get bored and also doesn't fry my noodle.

I also finished the left front on the 'Flutter Sleeve Cardigan' and knit up about 4" of the KSH stole I making from 'Victorian Lace Today'.

Not the best picture but the bobbin is getting fatter and fatter - I hope to add to this later today but M's purchase of a Nintendo Wii over the weekend may put paid to that as I am already addicted to playing tennis on Wii Sports - my arm aches to prove it!

I've had complaints about not warning of upcoming spider pictures so for the wossey ;-) amongst you...

BEWARE SPIDER PICTURE BELOW!!!!!!! Is that better?

Our wee baby spider Marmite moulted over the weekend. In the picture (which is a bit blurry - sorry) you can see his shed body, upside down next to him. The new body is much darker on the abdomen and legs,and very velvety looking, his head is a goldy beige colour. He had double in size. He is the first of our spiders to moult completely out in the open - it was amazing to watch.

Animal relations

My SiL has taken on two new rescue kitties. Above is the Rt Hon Merlin. He's about 1 year old, very friendly with soft silky fur and a gentle purr.
This is the shy but friendly Miss Kitty, she is the size of a 6 month old kitten but is actually 3 years old. She spent most of the evening under a table but seemed to like M, she gave his hand a severe washing.
One of their two original kitties - this is the tiggerish Mr Boy, he is soooooo slinky. Rosie his sister was AWOL.
And of course this gallery would not be complete without a bit of border love - here's the Rubster.

Two in one day!!

triffic 002
Originally uploaded by loobles2002

Turtley-triffic Take 2 Socks - all done and dusted.

Pattern is my own (is in blog archive somewhere). Yarn - Handmaiden Casbah. Needles 3mm dpns. Size UK 5 - womens.

Crossing the finishing line.

lympic socks 005
Originally uploaded by loobles2002

Ravelympic socks for the Sockput Event - all done and dusted and on M's tootsies.

Yay!

I'm a troll, fol-de-rol.

I have coveted some Troll Beads for quite a while, today I got bought some.

Each bead has its own name and meaning, I have two silver heart designs, one for my heart, one for M's. The silver fairy in the middle is in reference to my name (a Peri is a fairy) and the others? Well two are summer linked, one is a pumpkin with reference to autumn and pumpkin soup (very apt for me) and the other is an Armadillo - the meaning of this bead is me to a 'T' - though I didn't know that when I chose it.

What a wonder surprise and gift from my lovely, lovely man.

Thoughts from an addlepatted brain.

I get wistful at this time of year. Perhaps it is linked to past events that have occurred or perhaps it is a kind of late summer melancholy, who knows.

I always miss my Da, it would be his 71st birthday later this week - it is so long now since we lost him - but in August the pain often feels as real as it did when he first died. I get a little sadness here and there, it passes and I learn from it. But the one thing that always sticks in my head when I feel like this, is the messiness in families, or at least in my extended family. My MIL's death just over a year ago, tore M's family assunder and they are now splintered and at this time it feels it is beyond repair. Messy, messy business. Why do we have to bicker, fester, pick at the scabs of past behaviour? Why is it so hard to let it go and move on and past the hurt?

They say time is great healer (who are they?). Whoever they are, they lie!

Tomorrow will be better. Today I am sad. Yesterday still festers in my head.

Sockput half way house.

lympic socks 001
Originally uploaded by loobles2002

Literally just fresh off the grafting needle, one half of the socks I'm making for M as part of the Ravelympics 2008 Sockput event.

Plain Ole Vanilla Socks - UK mens size 8, 3.5mm dpns. The yarn is from Posh Yarns, it's Helena and the colourway is Crow. The yarn is so soft to the foot.

Next, cast on for sock number 2.

Boteh Scarf

This was finished today as part of my effort in the Ravelympics 2008 for team Dog, chicken & aardvark.
The event is WIP (work in progress - for non-knitters) Wrestling.
Started this in July 2008 finished 9th August 2008 @ 6.30pm GMT.
Boteh Scarf - pattern by Kathy Merrick available as a download from Interweave. Crocheted on a 4mm hook using two skeins of Koigu. I reduced the repeats by 2 because I was getting low on yarn and needed to make sure I had enough for the edging and because I didn't want it over long. I lightly steam blocked it - it needed it. I liked the pattern enough that I'd make it again 'tis pretty.

I have cast on for the Sockput event and 30% into a pair of socks for M, I have one other item listed for WIP Wrestling - my February Lady Sweater - that may be a tad optimistic of me, but hey you don't know till you try.

Oh the relief...

J's room is finished!

It has taken 2 weeks of slog. Problem one was the underlay had never been replaced so it had perished and stuck to the Marley tiles, it was also riddled with damp and black mold. It was a job and a half just to remove the underlay, treat the Marley tiles, which were so brittle they started to break, so we ended up with levelling the floor before laying the new one. The damp had spread into the furniture so we treated all the walls too, just in case. Then we had to paint out the murals (previous decor was the inside of a spaceship, all gunmetal grey, silver and black). Finally we could start the new painting - this Monday, gloss paint and start building all the new furniture Tuesday - 5 pieces of new stuff. Yesterday we had to go out, but finished the furniture and then started the mammoth task of sorting through all the crap, old broken toys etc. We finished that off today (took me from 10am to 5pm - with an hour for lunch). Finally we put back the shelves, put in the new TV etc, put back the clock and et voila. All that is left is new dressings for the windows, at the moment I've washed and pressed the old ones until I decide what to do, and to get some new bedding. Cost so far £450 approx. A job well jobbed, but I am soooooo happy to be finished.

Next to do, our bathroom, bedroom, hall and stairs and lastly our sitting room - not much then!

Gotta luv im.

My suprise from M today - perfect, beautiful and thoughtful...I repeat 'Gotta luv im!'

Not setting the world on fire.

regia 002
Originally uploaded by loobles2002

But finally finished *sigh* got serious 2nd sock syndrome with these.

Plain ole vanilla sockies, UK size 4, Regia, can't remember colour name, size 2.5mm dpns, SR heel - done!

Origin

Handmaiden Casbah in Origin. I am in love.

Spring Forward

xyz 001
Originally uploaded by loobles2002

Finally finished these this morning - left the grafting overnight. I don't know why, this is a wonderful pattern, quite simple and I whizzed through sock 1 but sock number I stuffed up so many times, I think it's my distracted mind, not the pattern.

I am pleased with them, I do like the Vera colourway and Lorna's Laces remains my favourite sock yarn to date.

I now, at this minute, have only 1 pair of socks on the needles, plain ole vanilla ones. I wonder if I will be in the same position by lunchtime today?

Pretty

xyz 004
Originally uploaded by loobles2002

Although this week I haven't had a chance to spin, I thought I'd show my progress so far with Merino/silk mix bought at the Rare Breeds Show the other week. I think is so pretty - it has the colours of a stormy winter sea about it, when the rough waves churn the water to all the shades of jade and deep green and the sky is leaden.