Squeee - lookie!

Squee=happy excited noise! Look what I got today from M. I've been saying I wanted to update my iPod mini as it must be very near the end of its battery life etc. And here is my early birthday pressie- a new iPod Nano! I am a lucky girl cos he has already paid for us all to go away next week as my present - so this is bunce (an extra).
M also got it engraved - this is one of favourite sayings and is soooo applicable to how I view my life. I may appear aimless but I am not - I know where I am.
Size comparison to mini - which I am loaning to J - once I take off all the explicit tracks and my Jane Austen collection collection etc. Though he's told me to leave on Frankenstein and Harry Potter - weird mix! I can't believe how big the mini now seems.
Here is J - with his Wednesday 'squeee; a new Beano! He's also nagging me to sort out the iPod mini for him so that is my next job.

I am a happy bunny ;0)

Still feeling a bit bleh.

So here are some pet piccies, which are much more cheery than me right now. I know this is a bit blurry, but who can resist a big, black kitty hooter!
A regal looking Conkers McBonkers - very unusual for him to sit still for a picture. He normally sees the camera and gets a wiggle on.
Jasmine Boo-Bear looking very fluffy and grumpy. She isn't - it's just her look.
An Lou-Lou looking worried (as usual) don't know why. Perhaps she thinks the little silver camera eats big spotty Dalmatians - just like the evil Dyson and ironing board do.

Oh and check out this guy - http://www.myspace.com/newtonfaulkner we saw him live on sunday at Joogleberry in Brighton. He is really amazing. Lyrically poetic, funny and insightful, musically - mind blowing. Really good show - got love him!

Still itchy.

My shringles, as J calls them, are still with me but fading fast. However the more they fade, the more they seem to itch like blue blazes. Due to feeling like shite, it's been a quiet week - lots of sitting on me bum knitting and sewing - sorry no pictures. I've knitted little bits and bobs - nothing spectacular, though I did finish sock 1 of Cookies marvellous 'Monkey' pattern (Knitty Winter 2006) - Beanie sent me some Knitpicks Merino sock yarn - oooooooo it's so soft and bouncy (bouncy, bouncy, bouncy - I like that word) it knits up lurverly and the variegated pattern so suits the design of this sock. It's such a great pattern - looks so complicated - but is so simple - Wonderful, sock bliss even. Now I want more Knitpicks Merino - soft and bouncy!

Other stuff - oooooo me and M are off on a hot date tomorrow night - food, wine, live music all with my sexy man. He's so sweet, he knows how grumpy I get when I feel poorly, so on Thursday he'd popped out to get some milk from the local Co-op and bought me back a red foil wrapped heart shaped chocolate lolly and yesterday he came home from work with a copy of a DVD I wanted. Today he and J have taken over all, yes ALL, the chores, including the laundry - major brownie points being earned!!

Only a week till we go away for our family break - wheeeeee - I am very excited. And, when we get back two wonderful Knitty friends are (fingers crossed) coming to visit - YAY - bouncy, bouncy, bouncy (bouncy as in happy excited bouncy). THEN a week later it's my birthday the BIG 40 - M has stuffed planned - oooooooo - I know his sister is throwing me a supper party type thingy. So I have lots and lots to look forward to. I need to focus on this cos the shringles make me very down and depressed!

Oh and before I forget - limited posts this week - as my computer was unwell. M thinks it's all fixed now *massive sigh of relief* but I will never, ever buy another computer from PC World as their Performance Package (insurance/cover) is NOT worth the paper it is written on and they are one of the most unhelpful, cretin employing companies I have ever dealt with. It may just be we were unlucky on National Let The Moron Answer the Phone Day - that we got Mr Unhelpful followed by Mr Stupid - but I don't think so. Perhaps it's just a local thing and the rest of PC World employees are helpful, polite and intelligent - answers on a postcard please.

That's about it - apart from if anyone would like some pink-winged stick insect babies please let us know (obviously local to us) as we now have 11 stickies and a few new babies that we don't really need - free to good homes ;0)

I just don't believe it.

After at least two years being shingle free - which has been lovely. I have got poxy (no pun intended) shingles again!

When J was a toddler I had a patch of recurring shingles on my back - right in the middle, on my spine, in line with my waist. Any bug or stressful situations and whoop - up they'd come - make me feel like shit and itch and burn like mad. Then when J started being home-ed etc - it just stopped recurring - major relief.

Well for the last couple of weeks, I've felt off parr. Nothing concrete just under the weather, full of aches and pains that nobody dies of. Beginning of the week I noticed a couple of little itchy lumps on my side, online with my waist - I thought bites? Pimples? Last night they drove me mad and when I looked this morning they had spread and some looked like little blisters and the 1st two had scabbed over - I also felt pretty ill this morning - so I got M to have a looksie - and yep - they're back fucking, rotten, poxy-eyed, bastorial, hat-ratting, snot-gobbling, spunk bubbling shingles! Happy is not a word I would use to describe myself right at this minute *sigh* well at least they'll be gone before we go away for our break.

I'm going off to sit in the corner and sulk them out if exsistance.

Just keeping all crossed that J (who has never had chicken pox) doesn't now go down with it in time for our trip away - murphys and all that - I'm not holding my breath.

Blue sockies.

I finished these last night. They are knit on 2.5mm using Opal Uni - my camera is playing up so the pictures don't really do justice the colour or texture of the socks.

They are a great fit, really comfortable and the pattern gives them good 'stay-up' power.

The design is my own and I'm really pleased with it. I shall definitely make another pair, once I write up the pattern.

Spider Husbandry.

The two smallest tarantulas have both moulted recently, so with their growth rate, they both needed new homes. Above is Tiny who will eventually be our largest spider approx 10" (if we're lucky). He is a not for certain a 'he' as it's too soon to tell but he sure did grow some with this moult. He's quite quick and still quite shy and this picture shows his pink hairs a treat. He is a Salmon Pink Birdeater.
This is Colemans - who after 3 moults is finally big enough to take a picture of. He now has about a 2" leg span, but is still quite wheeny (he should reach about an 8" span eventually). He's a Chaco Mustard Brown tarantuala - hence the name 'Colemans' - we just lurve their mustard! He's not too happy at the moment - this is the 1st time we've re-housed him in a proper a tank. I think he feels a little lost. He moulted this week. It was the first time that we've had a spider moult in the open - he made a web carpet - nice and thick- then flipped onto his back and lay, like he was a sunbathing (lol) - he lay like that for a while then it all started to happen. He writhed slightly for a while, then the bottom of his cepholathorax split and a new spider started to emerge. We crept around the house because vibrations can upset the process - and I always worry - I know they are only spiders - but I'm good a worrying! Anyway, as you can see he's hunky dory.

I wish I was a...

an ittby-bitty little black kitty......
a lazing in the sun all day.
Oooooooo more sockies!

I think I still need more!

Here is my sock collection (minus two pairs which were on the airer, drying). I had feet on my mind yesterday....I know sounds a bit 'ewwww' but when something hurts like fuck, that's where the mind tends to focus. And as the night before at about a quarter to midnight I attempted to demolish the corner of the bedroom wall with the last two toes of my left foot twice (don't ask), I was foot obsessed as I hobbled about yesterday - no walkies for me and Loobles, no treadmill - just an awful lot of pain. Anyhoo, I digress. To cheer myself up I decided to photograph all my socks and socks in progress for me, and here they all are all (closer piccies in post below). I then worked out that I have now knitted 42 pairs in total (included those that I made for others - but not including Fuzzy Feet). Nothing really compared to the amazing sock-knitter extra-ordinary Stariel http://stariel.blogspot.com who has knitted 50....yes 50 pairs in a year. But I'm quite proud of my 42 in about 2 years - not bad hey.

And am I yet bored of knitting socks? No way Jose!

PS - my foot is less painful today -lots of painkillers and Arnica cream have helped plus being grump and shouting at everyone yesterday (for which I hereby apologise) have vented all my ire and spleen and I'm an again serene.

Hmmmm still not quite enough!

6 weird things about me.

Six weird things about me:THE RULES:Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog."

Thanks to Annie at Upknit Creek for the tag.

1) I have been known to sing in my sleep - so M tells me.

2) I have 6 toenails on each foot. My little toe has 1 normal nail and 1 tiny little extra one.

3) I own 5 tarantulas but up until two years ago was terrified of spiders.

4) At just over a month under the age of 40 I can still do the splits and suck my own toes (if in the mood).

5) I am an arctophile ( I collect teddy bears).

6) I don't have a single filling in my teeth - maybe a bit lame but this is harder than it looks!

I tag - glittr and skitten (counts as 2)
Purlpower
Trueggman
Dani and Allie (counts as 2)

Awwww he loves me.

Yesterday me darlin man came home with lovely, wonderful blood red roses. Six open and six buds. They are so gorgeous. Ain't it sweet that after dating for 24 years he still does stuff like this.
I had a mile wide smile. He quite made my day, plus he'd already driven to my LYS to buy some yarn - so he has 100+ extra brownie points this weekend.

Binky-bonky-boo....

What are we to do?
With a little Conker-Kit
Who's Binky-bonky-boo!

Of time, gyroscopes and snapshots.

We bought J a digital camera for Xmas. He has spent much of his holiday time taking photographs of all and sundry. Yesterday we walked to Rottingdean windmill and he took some really good shots. Then remembering we needed brambles for the stickies we headed off to Falmer pond. J again took some really good pictures and this is my favourite because I adore geese. I love the feather detail (when you enlarge the picture) and the way the winter afternoon light is caught on the water. As he's only had the camera just about 10 days, I'm impressed with his picture composition. Also it was so good to get out in the fresh air on such a crisp and windy day. I have had really bad agoraphobia the last couple of months. To go out like this is nothing to most people but to me it's a biggie. I have been trying to leave the house more but it's never easy. 2007 has no resolutions other than the intention to try and be happy with who/what/where I am and to take little steps to overcome my fear. J's enthusiasm for taking pictures may help as he is itching to get out and take more.

Mind you, yesterday he was also full of gyroscopes and gyroscopic principles. He spent most of the day doing experiments and recording his observations. He researched what gyroscopes are used for and how they work. He and M then had a long discussion with plenty of banter about the subject whilst comparing J's light weight gyroscope to M's metal one - well it kept them happy.

Yesterday was also the anniversary of M first asking me out - 24 years we've been dating - lol. It feels like time has just flashed by. I can still remember my 15 year old fears that he would never actually ask me out (we'd been friends for about 10 months) when he finally did - oh the relief. I never dreamt it would lead to marriage etc *sigh*. Of all the stupid, immature and daft things I have achieved in almost 40 years of life - I have never regretted that I found my soul- mate at such a young age.

What else did I achieve yesterday?
I cleaned out my study desk, recycled about 3 years of Uni notes. I organised my knitting patterns, notions and needles. I cleared the bookshelves of all the books that I know I will never re-read - scary there were loads. I cleaned, did laundry and the ironing (go me), I made home-made soup for lunch, cooked dinner (I know - shocking) to give M a break as he had a bad headache, played Up-word (love this game - late Xmas pressie for J - it's much more interesting than Scrabble - I'm torn now between this and Blockus - another pressie - also brilliant). Watched a film, read and snuggled with M - not too busy then.

So what does today hold?

Happiness is boy shaped.

M and I don't buy for each other at Xmas and we told J that there would be present cut back this year, as last year was ridiculous. The 1st piccie shows him mid unwrap - happy child.

This one shows his haul before carnage ensued!! I don't think he did too bad for a 'cut back' do you?

Oh yes there has been knitting.

I love making mittens. This is my own pattern (the one I always use) but this time I jazzed it up with some Fair Isle stylie patterning - very simple but what I wanted was the warmth and fuzziness of the angora yarn to fluff up the other yarn and add warmth to the insides - it worked.
These are my Eyelet Twig socks - again my own design. The lace runs in 3 panels down the cuff and one down the foot. The top is moss st and this is used again just prior to the toe shaping. The heel flap is knitted in a twisted rib with gs border. I used Opal dye your own and coloured it with Kool Aid.