Party

As I told you here, my mother has just retired.

This week, not only did she turn 68 but the Cheshire Home threw her a retirement party and I was invited too!

I don't know what either of us were expecting really, my mother doesn't suffer fools gladly and has the reputation of being a bit of a cow up there LOL (guess we all know where I get it from!), we thought a cuppa tea and a slice of cake kinda deal with one or two people that have been there a long time like she has.

Well, nearly everyone was there! They put on a huge buffet with sandwiches, slices of meat, rice, potato salad, cheesecake, trifle, non alcoholic wine (so the working staff and clients {who are all on meds of some kind} could join in!) then there was cake for afters!

The manager who used to work the night shift with Mum gave a lovely speech and got quite emotional. They gave Mum cards and a bunch of flowers and an envelope which we opened later and it was stuffed full of vouchers for the garden centre! There was well over £100 of vouchers. Mum was gobsmacked!

Then at 2.30 they asked us to stay a bit longer as the Dogs for Disabled people were coming for a demonstration.

They were great and showed us just how much they can help a disabled person with everyday life! Here are some photos (apologies for the blurriness, they were taken on my iPhone and it doesn't like motion shots!):

This is Angel opening the cupboard and getting something out of it:

Here she is picking up her partners purse from the top:

She loved getting the mail in the morning!

It was a fantastic demonstration and the dogs were very well behaved!

The tree that I mentioned in the Retirement post?

It's already got blossoms on it!

Viking Socks for me

Do you remember Matt's prom socks? Lovely pattern and I really enjoyed making them!

I also decided I would make myself a pair. I finally got around to it!

Toes

I make socks two at a time, using Magic Loop from the cuff down.

Have you ever noticed that the last bit of your garment takes forever to knit?

After turning the heel, I get all excited and think, I'm on the home stretch now. But it takes quite a while to actually reach the toes.

Then it seems to take an entire day to decrease down for the toes.

Why does it take so long to knit something that's getting smaller?

Dog Attack!

First off, please be warned - the pictures I am about to show you may upset you!

We own a border collie, his name is Kim. He's 12 years old. He's a big friendly loving dog and adores everyone. His only failing is that he pulls on the lead. Due to this, I can't walk him.

When he was younger and the children were young, Kim started to suffer from stress. This was due to the fact that he wasn't getting enough exercise and that he was constantly trying to herd the children, who - annoyingly - wouldn't stay herded.

We contemplated selling him, but in the end he went to live with my Mum - as she is only next door and there isn't a fence between our properties; this wasn't a big upheavel for any of us!

Kyle walks Kim every evening and Kim spends the rest of his time racing around the garden with a football or squeaky toy.

Kyle got home tonight in a right state. Another dog had attacked Kim while they were out walking.

Apparently Kyle was walking up a street and spotted a man holding a dog on the opposite side of the road. The other dog dragged the man across the road and bit Kim on the face.

The man apparently beat the hell out of the dog to make it stop and then told Kyle it wasn't his dog, it was his friends and that his friend would pay the vets bill for any treatment. Kyle said he seemed quite upset and he gave Kyle the owners first name and mobile phone number.

I called the owner - Thomas - on his mobile. He was quite pleasant to begin with, but then he tried to say that the dog had bitten Kim 'in surprise when both dogs rounded the same corner and bumped into each other'! As I tried to tell him that this was not the case, he kept speaking over me louder and louder.

Eventually, I was forced to hang up on him and I contacted both a vet and the police.

The police officer I spoke to first was quite blunt and said that there was very little that could be done and that the dog probably wouldn't even be destroyed, especially as it was on a lead. I was furious and told him that that stunk! He said to call them back after I'd seen the vet and they'd send someone out.

I called the vet, she offered to see him, but after establishing that Kim was calm, had eaten and drunk something and wasn't fussing - that it would be less stressful to him to be left until morning.

I called the police back and got a totally different attitude than before. The female officer was very nice and said she would send it down to the control room to get someone out to us, that it was clearly a case of an uncontrollable dog.

Due to the fact that something is happening locally, they are unable to send someone out to us tonight, but someone will come out in the morning.

These photos have been taken as evidence.

Wetland

If there is any doubt why we came home immediately; take a look at this!

Click it to make it larger if you need to. Do you know what this is?

It's the children's play area on the Loch Ken campsite.

It's currently in Loch Ken!

Half the 'tent field' was under water and when you walked on the grass; little puddles appeared around your feet!

So we sat and ate our bolognaise and potatoes (we forgot the spaghetti - and a million other things!) and some cake, then decided we would start heading home.

Of course by this point the rain stopped and the sun came out - just in time for a gorgeous sunset! Mum made noises about staying, but I pointed out to her that even if it stopped raining completely; it would be 3 or 4 days before we could possibly pitch the tent and the camper just isn't big enough for four people and a dog!

So we had a quick look at the loch then started home!

I had to stop every 100 miles or so and move about. Towards the end of the journey, I had to stop and shut my eyes for half an hour or so.

By the time I got back to Portsmouth, I was so tired I was hallucinating and I couldn't even follow the SatNav reliably! I'm lucky I didn't kill us all!

As soon as I came home; I went to bed. I told Alex to wake me after 3 hours - around midday.

I'm sure he did so as there was a cold cup of tea next to me when I woke up at 2.30 this afternoon!

Camp FAIL!!!

A couple of months ago we decided to take a camping trip. We wanted to stay in the UK (in case there was a problem) but we also wanted to make sure the van could handle long distances (in preparation for our Norway holiday in the summer).

We decided to go to Scotland. Specifically Dumfries & Galloway. I thought going to Galloway National Park which is a 'dark park' and you can see thousands of stars there.

We looked about online and found a really nice looking park on the shores of Loch Ken. I phoned & booked it for a week then we booked four days in the Lake District afterwards.

We caught the 2.15am ferry this morning and I started the long drive to Scotland. I had to stop a couple of times to get some sleep, but we made quite good time.

As we entered the Lake District; it started to rain. It rained and rained and rained more.

We arrived at the park to find it half flooded!

I went in to Reception and the woman said we would have to park camper in one place and pitch tent in another. I started to explain that we had agreed on the phone that the tent was to be treated as an awning and that we would be pitching it next to the van. She interrupted me and on a rude tone of voice told me that wasn't her problem, then she stormed out to 'get the warden'.

He was lovely and explained that the site had actually changed hands a few weeks before and management kept changing rules.

After a bit of discussion we decided to stick the camper on a pitch and all sleep in it as it is too wet to pitch the tent.

The man even gave us free shower tokens and electric hookup and didn't charge us for the pitch either.

Unfortunately, half an hour after he left for the night; the hookup stopped working so we've got no heat, lights are running off the battery, we can't find the spaghetti, I've banged my head and quite frankly, I've had enough.

We've had dinner and now we're going home again!

Sent from my iPhone

Breakdown?

Weird day.

Everything started off great. I got up and we packed some stuff into the camper for out holiday next week (we're going camping in Scotland).

Then Alex and I went into town to return some library books and get some shopping. While there we got a new string for his guitar and put a deposit down on something better quality.

I bought some dye - I dyed my hair purple a few weeks ago and now it's a dull red colour.

When we got home I had a house full of teenagers. I had a bit of a moan that Matt was upstairs in his room when he was supposed to be downstairs (he'd agreed to look after Isis) and that they'd been smoking in the porch with the window open instead of the door - again!

Then Matt dyed my hair and we watched the premier of the new season of Doctor Who.

Eventually Matt and his friends all went out, I dyed Alex's hair (plum tint) and ordered a takeaway, took Mum to work, took Isis & Kim for a quick walk.

When I got back, I sat down to work on my crochet hexagon blanket and almost immediately Alex asked if I'd give him a hand to change his bed.

This is something we fight about on a regular basis - I don't mind helping him, but during the day! Asking me in the evening just starts a fight, we can never find a sheet to fit, or a duvet cover (I'm woefully short on bed linen now everyone seems to have a double bed, but I've got enough single bed sized for a hospital!). But I sighed and agreed to help him.

When I got up my sewing needle disappeared down between the cushions.

I just flipped!

I pulled the sofa out, hunted around, vacuumed up all the dust that had accumulated under there (where does it come from?), screamed at Alex who screamed back at me.

Eventually, Alex took himself off for a walk to calm down and in a fit of temper I pulled the king sized sheet off Matt's double bed (he'll get it in the neck when he gets home!) and put it on Alex's bed (pulling my back in the process!). Alex had the grace to thank me when he got home.

Then next thing I know (I don't even know how it happened), I was screaming at Kyle about how he doesn't keep his cats litter tray clean enough and that his room is disgusting and smells due to the litter tray. Kyle was screaming at me because I'd refused to let him have friends over to stay while we're away (I don't really know these ppl and I don't want them in the house unsupervised).

He cleaned his tray, I put a duvet cover on Alex's bed, Kyle vacuumed his room. The vacuum made a funny noise, Alex & I went to investigate. Kyle had vacuumed up a piece of paper and caused the cleaner to make an 'elephant noise'.

I was saying something to Kyle about how you can't vacuum up certain things because it clogs it and I sat on his bed.

Right onto the (full) cat water bowl.

I just went ballistic, threw my slippers over the banister, stormed downstairs, stripped my leggings and underwear off (I had a cold wet bum!).

Then I sat down, picked up Isis....and I cried.

I cried and sobbed and sobbed.

Kyle came in and apologised and I was crying so hard, I couldn't breathe properly.

Then Alex came in and gave me tissue and hugged me. Then he persuaded me to get dressed and we went out for a walk.

I don't feel any better and I feel awful for yelling at them both.

I'm having one of those 'I'm a single parent and I'm drowning' moments, I think. It's very very hard, you get very little thanks, it's always your fault, they never seem happy.

There's so much negativity.

So why do we soldier on? Because I love them. I may not always like them, but I love them. I expect they hate me most of the time, but I hope they love me sometimes too. There are moments, a shared laugh, watching them grow, learn and become their own person. Those moments that your kids - the same kids you hated half an hour ago for making you sooooo mad - they remind you that they're the centre of your world and life would be so very different without them.

I don't know why today happened the way that it did, but it did and I can't change it. I've apologised to both Kyle and Alex. I've cried all over Isis. My back hurts. My head hurts.

Today was one of those weird days, where it started out great and someone flicked a switch somewhere and turned everything upside down.

I hope tomorrow is better.

Retirement

My mum works nights and she has two jobs.

Her first job is with the Leonard Cheshire Foundation. She's been there for over 20 years and works the shift from 9.45pm - 8.15am. She works most Christmasses and New Years and bank holidays. Most of the people are physically disabled.

Her second job is with Islecare. She does the night shift there too 10pm - 7.30am. The people there are mentally disabled and once they're in bed, she doesn't have to worry about them.

Last night was her last night at the Cheshire Home. She has now officially retired from there, much to her delight!

One staff member gave her a card and they have arranged a buffet lunch to say goodbye and give her a present (much to her horror LOL). They were originally going to do it tomorrow, but then remembered it's Good Friday tomorrow so it's been rescheduled for when we get back from Scotland.

My mum is very fit and active for a retiree - she's planting a green gage tree as I type and not just a little sapling either - It's over 6ft tall.

Go Mum!

Pages!

Oh, I am impressed with Blogger at the moment!

I've just discovered that we can now have pages on our blogs.

If you want some more detailed information about me and my family, then please go to this page. (If there's anything you think I should include, then let me know!)

If you want to see stuff for sale, then go to this page!

How cool is that!

Sorry for the confusion

I'm sorry if you've been getting notifications of blog updates from me.

I had this amazing idea to organise my Photobucket - I created new folders, moved photos and got everything sorted.

Then realised that by doing so, I'd broken all the links from my blog!

Sigh!

So I had to go through every post and redo the links.

It took me 3 days!

The things I do for you!

Parenting

I've just had a huge row with Matthew for a comment he's made about my parenting on facebook.

Three years ago, Matthew was arrested for stealing a chocolate bar from our local Co-op. The Co-op is a minute walk away and is our local corner shop.

His excuse was: "I felt shaky and needed sugar."

I was so furious with him that I grounded him for a month. In our house that means you're not allowed out, you're not allowed on the computer or any of the games consoles.

I did this to teach Matt a lesson.

Last week, Alex was arrested for assaulting another teenager at school. I grounded him for a week.

Wildly different groundings and here's why.

Matt was at school at the time, so for six hours a day; he was at school with his friends. He walked to and from school with his friends.

He still defies me in that he smokes in the house, he gets drunk nearly every weekend and he has his girlfriend over to stay. He asks if his friends can stay with a moments notice and I usually don't say a word!

I don't ask him to contribute financially and I don't ask him to do anything around the house as he's rarely here. I paid for all of his college material and didn't ask for him to pay it back when he got his EMA (which is the whole purpose of EMA!) - I don't even ask him to show us what he's learning at that college and cook a meal once in a while!

I have been quite relaxed as a parent with all my children.

Alex is at home with me all day! He is not out wondering the streets, he has not been allowed to meet up with his friends when they finish school and Alex is sorry for what he did! Matt was sorry he got caught!

Matt has deemed me unfair in this decision. Well, when you're the parent Matt, you get to decide!

Bit of a catch up

Hmmmm things happen and I keep forgetting to add them in - you know how it goes! So I may come back and edit this post as I think of things (which, as I stated before; I hate other people doing LOL), but I'll try and remember it all before publishing the post!

First off; the 'Knitting Olympics' - Well, I failed miserably! I was knitting Mandala with the cobweb silk I got at Christmas. All was going well until my centre pull ball collapsed.

I then came up with the idea of rewinding the yarn to make another ball which I would knit from the outside. I got started. It took hours! I had to carefully detangle multiple snarls and knots. Unfortunately, I got right to the end and there was one knot I just couldn't undo and I had to break the yarn. I was gutted!

I kept knitting and was doing reasonably well until this week; I had left the shawl in my basket as I was working on something else for a while. I dropped my small project bag into my basket one evening and, unbeknownst to me; the zip got caught in the silk. I picked up the bag and pulled about six feet of silk before I saw it. I've fiddled but I can't draw back in all the silk and I've had enough of it.

I'm going to undo the shawl and work it in a heavier yarn. I'll either sell the silk on, or ply it in with something else.

* * * * * * * * * *

I've had a dreadful cough since Matt came out of hospital. My throat is so sore! I'm drinking several glasses of honey and lemon a day and taking painkillers regularly. I'm exhausted and fed up with the pain, so if it hasn't eased by Monday; I shall call the doctor!

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex told me a while ago that he wanted to see a dentist as he has a wonky front tooth and wants it fixed. I finally found somewhere and took him along.

While talking to me about treatment (Alex requires braces) the dentist told me I needed to see a dentist myself as I had visible gum disease.

I panicked!

I haven't seen a dentist since I was 16. I was scared quite badly as a child and as soon as I reached an age where I had a choice; I stopped going!

But I finally plucked up enough courage to make an appointment and go myself.

The dentist said I would benefit from visiting the hygienist (who would clean my teeth properly and teach me how to care for them), but other than that; I had 'good teeth'

I visited the hygienist this week, she took a lot of built up scale off my teeth. It was a very uncomfortable procedure and my teeth were very sensitive and really ached for a couple of days afterward.

I found this quite distressing as I've never suffered from pain in my mouth before. So people on twitter (luffs ya Claire) had to put up with a lot of moaning and complaining this past week!

* * * * * * * * * *

I am selling my Ashford Joy. I haven't used it at all since buying the Rose. I did consider keeping it purely for use in the camper, but space is limited in the camper really and it's easier to pull out my knitting than it is to set the wheel up (even a wheel as ready to go as a Joy).

I have everything that came in the original box (which is also included), as well as 4 extra bobbins, the WooLee Winder with five WW bobbins, all the receipts are also included.

I would like £450 for it. This price does not include postage. I am willing to catch the ferry over to Portsmouth/Southampton/Lymington to meet a buyer at my own cost and I'm also willing to transport it to Wonderwool. I will post, but the buyer must pay all shipping costs.

So if you know anyone after an Ashford Joy - send them to me!

I discovered that I don't need to take a wheel when we go camping because look what I can do!

When I first started spinning; I was told to learn on a spindle first as it would teach me control and how to draft properly. I was totally against it; I didn't like the look of the, they seemed slow and clumsy, awkward and they just weren't a wheel!

Then I saw a couple of people spinning on spindles over the last six months or so and slowly became intrigued.

Rachel agreed to loan me her spindle (made by a local man called Ian) so that I could practise in peace and this is my first attempt! I know own this spindle and I have placed an order for a Trindle too!

Baby Camel Multnomah

A short while ago; my friend Claire and I decided to have a quick KAL.

I decided to use the baby camel handspun and we started Multnomah a couple of weeks ago.

I finished it at the beginning of the week and it's turned out lovely!

Pattern: Multnomah
Yarn: Handspun
Time: 8-03-10 - 14-03-10

I also had a go at felting! I made this adorable little bag for a spinning wheel and chucked it in he washing machine on a 90 wash

Pattern: Felted Spinning Wheel Bag
Yarn: Handspun Merino
Time: 5-03-10 - 8-03-10

Fluffosity

I've updated the shop a few more times since it opened.

The Great American Aran Afghan

I never got around to showing you the full blanket.

I managed to snag a quick picture today.

Yes, that's my Mum - *sigh*

Home Education

I got a call yesterday; Alex was being suspended from school for fighting.

Apparently some kid called Alex a vampire due to the way he dresses and looks - Alex is 6ft, long dark hair, skinny, wears gothic clothes and a long black leather coat.

When I asked what would happen to the kid, I was told he would get a 'telling off' but that if Alex was going to dress 'wildly different' then he would have to put up with the comments. I stated that Alex wears school uniform like everyone else and is usually looking a lot neater than most of the other lads. The teacher also stated that Alex being "freakishly tall" didn't help!

I informed the teacher that they should be encouraging diversity not singling out those who are different. He then went off on this spiel about how they'd have to monitor everything that anyone says and that if Alex couldn't handle comments; he needed to grow a thicker skin.

I then said the school was two faced; it sends home any child who goes to school with 'unnatural' coloured hair and yet their are two teachers (that I am aware of) who have dyed their hair an 'unnatural' colour. I believe the deputy head mistress has purple in her hair...

While I understand and agree that Alex needs to be punished for physically attacking this lad, I don't understand why he's getting away with calling Alex a name (which he admitted to) but apparently that's ok!

Alex eventually turned up home after a couple of hours and seemed approachable (I've learned that you have to wait a while before you can get any sense out of him) so I enquired about his whereabouts for the previous few hours.

He said he'd been waiting for the school to return his St Christopher necklace.

It turns out he asked his PE teacher to keep it for safety during a PE lesson before half term. He forgot to get it back off her and has asked her for it several times since, everytime she has told him she’s “rather busy at the moment.”

They (the PE dept) have admitted they don’t know where it is. The head of the dept had been e-mailed.

I went absolutely bananas. The St Christopher was left to him by my dad who died on my birthday two and a half years ago, he gave it to the teacher to keep it safe

I phoned the school and was put through to the Headmaster's PA who immediately went to the PE dept to find out what was going on. Then I get a call from some pillock who knew absolutely nothing about it, informed me that Alex had been rude today and that he’d only been down twice for it - um, no, he’s asked for it every time he’s seen that teacher. Pillock says ‘well it was before half term’. I says ‘I don’t care if it was before Christmas!’

Then I asked why he was phoning me instead of Miss PA woman, or even the PE teacher in question. Turns out Pillock isn’t even the head of the department and is just sticking his nose in and Miss PE teacher had, conveniently, gone home. I said I would be at the school at 8am tomorrow morning. He said ‘You have to call and make an appointment like everyone else.’

I said ‘I am, see you tomorrow morning at 8am. Good day to you.’ and hung up. Then I called Reception and told them the same thing.

Miss PA then calls me back, unaware Pillock had called me, she’d been waiting for him to call her but Reception had contacted her after I had called them.

I apologised for being rude to Reception (but not Pillock) she said that going down before Reception was even open is pointless and it would be manic in the morning anyway. She is going to call me before 9am and if she doesn’t I am welcome to go down there all guns blazing. I said I definitely would and that I would take it further if it doesn’t turn up - Alex has already accused this PE teacher of theft so I’m sure they understand what I mean!

She was true to her word, she called me at 8.45am this morning - turns out the Head of the PE dept (the one who was e-mailed) had it all along. It was placed in an envelope and left at the Reception desk for me to collect.

Alex bought up the subject of home tutoring again yesterday - it is something we have thought about on occasion and after his first exclusion from the school (he verbally assaulted a girl, she physically attacked him along with about ten of her friends and he got excluded for 3 days because she's just had a baby!); I said that if there was anymore trouble, I would seriously consider pulling him from the school!

Well, after the teacher called me about the fight this week, he spouted off all the "We'll have to see about getting him some support in school" which is exactly what I requested when Alex started at that school. I had that head-meet-brickwall feeling.

Alex has decided he positively hates it there, he's had enough of the teachers and students and the way the school operates.

So, when I went in this morning to collect his St Christopher, I also left a letter for the headteacher asking for Alex to be removed from the register as he would now be home educated!

I must admit to being terrified about my decision. Alex and I are very close, we can have a right laugh, but I don't know the first thing about home education. I don't know what I should be teaching him and how I go about it. There are loads of websites out there, but they seem to contradict each other in some ways. I suppose it's easier as he's got all the basics down, I just need to find stuff to keep him occupied for the next couple of years!

What they teach 14 year old boys at school

My son came home with this piece of paper today - I thought I'd share it with you.

50 ways to show someone you love them other than having sex.

1. Give them your last Rolo.
2. Say "I love you"
3. Tickle them
4. Pick them a flower
5. Send them a romantic txt
6. Flirt
7. Kiss when people aren't looking
8. Name a star after them
9. Take them to places that mean a lot to them
10. Watch a romantic video together
11. Be with them when they are upset
12. Take them to the place where you first met
13. Organise an 'I love you' message out the back of a plane
14. Help them with their problems
15. Go for a romantic walk on the beach
16. Give them loving cuddles - even in the street
17. Make sure they are safe
18. Write them a poem using their name as a subject
19. Make them a walkway to a dinner table using roses and candles
20. Buy them a piece of the moon
21. Compliment them and make them feel special
22. Go paddling on a summer's day together
23. Leave romantic notes on their pillow
24. Cuddle each other and fall asleep in front of a fire
25. Hold their hand
26. Write their name in the sand
27. Run them a bath
28. Learn to say 'I love you' in 10 different languages
29. Make a CD of their favourite songs
30. Write their name with a sparkler
31. Throw them a surprise party
32. Phone them every day
33. Listen to love songs together
34. Do something fun and have a laugh together
35. Support and offer them advice
36. Share strawberries dipped in chocolate
37. Share secrets
38. Decorate their room/house in all their favourite things
39. Take them on surprise trips
40. Hold them and let them know you care
41. Send them flowers at college/work
42. Cook them their favourite meal
43. Be open and honest
44. Make something for them
45. Take an interest in something personal to them
46. Listen to their problems
47. Be a shoulder to cry on
48. Be willing to compromise

Yes, I know that's only 48, but on the piece of paper he had; they'd missed out the number 16 and had written 'Cuddle each other and fall asleep in front of a fire' twice.

This was given to a 14 year old boy!

Erm.....yeah

Fluffosity

Ladies & Gents....well those of you that keep coming back anyway LOL.

Fluffosity opened today.

I spent a happy afternoon playing wih oh-so-soft BFL, splashing colour about all over the kichen and I ended up with:

I'm really pleased with the four that I did and I'm looking forward to doing a whole lot more tomorrow. I must order some more colours too as I've only got red, blue and yellow!

Within half an hour of the shop going live, my friend Claire e-mailed me to ask if I'd spin the green one up for her as (due to medical reasons) she doesn't spin. Unfortunately, Debs then went and bought it out from under her!

I'm so excited to open my shop and have interest immediately!

I love a good dessert!

On Monday evenings a group of us meet at various different places to sit and chat and craft and chat about crafting.

Monday this week I met up with Rachel and Rah (that's the other Rachel, it's easier for you lot if I call her Rah lol) at Table Table. We all had a meal and as I was absolutely starving; I ordered the 'Ultimate Sharing Sundae!'

It was humongous!

It had fudge brownie at the base, a couple of profiteroles, chocolate fudge truffle ice cream, vanilla ice cream all topped with whipped cream, hot chocolate sauce and two flakes!

Well, I managed about two thirds of it, so I gave Rah a clean spoon!

It was delicious!

My Humbug lace weight

I thought I'd show you lots of pictures of this because I'm just so proud of it!

Please feel free to let your eyes glaze over if you've already seen these pictures plastered all over Ravelry, twitter and Facebook LOL

GoSDTC

That stands for Guild of Spinners, Dyers, Tea-drinkers & Cake-eaters!

Helen came to visit over the weekend and we had a great time!

We were so busy spinning, chatting, eating cake and drinking tea; we didn't leave the house all weekend!

Here is Helen spinning on her new wheel:

While she was here she had a play with my drun carder and is now on the lookout for her own LOL

I took the weekend to finish my humbug

and ply the two singles together.

I'm so pleased with how well this turned out! I ended up with two skeins of two ply lace weight yarn, 42WPI and a grand total of 1473.2 metres/1611.11 yards!

Hmmmmmmm what shall I do with it?

Shop will need a name!

So I've got the dye, the fibre has been ordered, I have just about everything I need.

But I don't have a business name!

I asked on the UK RAK board of Ravelry for some suggestions and so far these have been suggested:

• Puddytat’s Purls
• Purrfect Fluff?
• FluffyTatPurr?
• Purrfect Fibre?
• The Cat’s Miaow?
• I Thought I Saw Purrfect Fibre?
• Fluffosity?
• Fibrelicious?
• Puddytatpurr’s House of Fabulous Fluff?
• Puddytat’s fluff n stuff
  
• Puddytats purrfect fibre
• Puddytats creations
• Puddytats purrfect delights
• Sheep Fluff World
• Purr Your Delight
  

This list will be added to as more people suggest names to me and I plan to pick a name at some point.

Leave me a comment with your own suggestions or telling me which name you like best - please leave your comment here, not twitter or facebook; makes it easier to see who likes what!.

Don't forget to check back for updates to the list!

I must admit, I quite like Fluffosity myself but Patricia (who's suggested most of the names loves Puddytatpurr’s House of Fabulous Fluff!

So, whaddya think?

A painful few days & A New Beginning

On Thursday I came down with a migraine. It was quite a bad one and I, stupidly, ate dinner after taking a pain killer.

Dinner added nausea and a general feeling of bleurgh to the whole migraine experience.

On Friday I felt absolutely awful and I actually spent the entire day lying on the sofa under a blanket (much to the delight of Isis) snoozing. I then went to bed and slept for 8 hours that night!

I felt slightly better on Saturday and actually managed to get some knitting done - not a great deal, but a little bit.

Sunday, I woke up with a chronic pain in my shoulder. There was a central pain in my right shoulder which travelled across the top of my shoulders, down the right side of my back and down my right arm. This lasted all day and I just couldn't get comfortable!

I spent most of the day zoned out on painkillers with a hot water bottle pressed to my shoulder and slept fitfully Sunday night.

On Monday, Alex had an appointment and afterwards I took him for lunch in KFC. We have a ritual we do everytime we go; tear the end off the straw wrapping, put the straw in your mouth and blow hard so that the other end of the wrapping flies off and hits the person sitting opposite you. Of course, I completely forgot about this and jumped about a foot when this piece of plastic hit me square on the nose.

Christ that hurt!!!

But afterwards on the drive home, I had barely any pain at all!

I went off to our fibre craft meet as usual on Monday evening, but by the time that had finished I was in agony with pain all over the place!

I rested yesterday and shopped today and I'm still in agony, there's a band of pain going right across the middle of my back and I just can't get comfortable!

Naturally, I have a billion and one things to do. I want to tidy up as Helen is coming to visit this weekend. I've got cakes to bake as Jess turns 15 on Saturday and Alex 14 on Sunday.

This is even affecting my knitting as I need to keep moving, fidgeting, shifting position, refilling my hot water bottle, etc and I don't think I'm going to get my Olympic knitting finished in time :(

I can't wait until I finish this shawl as I really want to spin! I have the gorgeous Thunderstorm batts that I carded and several other glitzy batts that I've purchased recently and I want to spin now!!!

In good news; I have purchased 20 kilos of BFL, dyes in blue, yellow and red, squeezy bottles, vinegar and clingfilm! I'm all ready to get dyeing! I'm going to start looking at sites to sell through soon and I should hopefully have a full shop to open by the end of March!

Home from hospital

We were late getting there as we missed the ferry, but they were ok with that.

As soon as we got there, Matt had to go and do the exercise test - he did very well on that.

We then went back to the ward and Matt spent the afternoon having various tests: Cardiac ultrasound, ECG, x-ray, blood test and had a cannula put in.

Here's a pic of his arm with the 'magic cream' (it numbs the area) on and the cannula in.

Amazingly we rushed through everything and from about 4pm; we were sat twiddling our fingers. Thankfully, they had some reasonably decent DVDs, an X-Box, a pool table, TV's everywhere and some stuff to keep Matt occupied. I had my knitting!

He was scheduled to go to theatre second on Tuesday morning, that should've been around 10am. Unfortunately, they had an emergency case come down from Neonatal ICU so we all got bumped down a space which meant Matt didn't go down until 1pm.

The procedure itself went well, but his blood thinned quite a lot during it and refused to clot so they couldn't take the sheaths (which they run the camera wire through) out of his groin while he was still under. They gave him a clotting agent and then removed the sheaths. He said the pain was awful and he coped brilliantly!

After a Cardiac Catheter you're supposed to lie flat for an hour, bed rest for the next four hours and very gentle exercise for the next two hours.

At first the consultant said we may be able to go home that night, but due to the delay in going down to theatre and the delay in coming back from theatre, it meant that the above didn't get finished until 10.15pm and hospitals get a bit funny about discharging people at that time of night. Especially when there's a risk their artery may spring a leak on the way home!

So we stayed in another night and were discharged early this morning.

Matt just has to take things easy for the next few days, gentle exercise and to keep an eye on the wound site to make sure his artery doesn't bleed again.

The surgeon and consultant were very pleased with the results; the hole has now completely closed, the aorta itself is leaking slightly along with the regurgitation but they're in no hurry to operate to fix it and his left ventricle is slightly enlarged, but they don't know why. We go back and see the consultant in six months.

I didn't sleep well there, the bed was ok - but it was boiling in there and I feel exhausted now.

I managed to work on the shawl, but didn't get as much done as I would've liked. I'd like to work on it now, but I'm finding it really hard to keep my eyes open (and it's not even 2pm) so I think I'll have to have a nap LOL

Knitting Olympics/Ravelympics

The Winter Olympic games started on Friday 12th February.

In the knitting/crochet/spinning community; this means 12 days of frantic crafting. The idea is to challenge yourself.

During last years Ravelympics, I made Cinnamon Latte for my mum. It was my first lace project and I finished it just in time.

This time; I shall be making Mandala available here from goddessknits!

Hospital

My second son, Matt, has a heart defect.

He has a VSD (Ventrical Septal Defect - a hole in other words) and aortic regurgitation.

The VSD acted like a vacuum and sucked, the aorta valve was pulled toward it.

He had surgery 6 years ago to plug the VSD and give the aorta a 'lift'. The surgery was mostly successful, he still has a small VSD but the aorta has been overstretched (kinda like when you overstretch an elastic band) and will eventually need replacing.

Matt is going into Southampton General Hospital tomorrow for a few days. He will be hooked up to a machine and will run on a treadmill so they can view his heart under exercise. He will also be anaethetised while they put a camera down his throat and one in an artery in his groin so that they can get a good all round view of the heart.

This means that Matt will be admitted tomorrow morning and discharged on Wednesday morning.

As Southampton is so far away; I, naturally, will be going with him.

Hopefully I'll have signal on my BlackBerry, so I will try to update my blog and twitter as often as I can.

I'm hoping that I will have the opportunity to get loads done on my Ravelympics project!

Go for it!

I mentioned my blog post to Mum this morning. She asked a few questions, such as cost to get started (the most expensive things are going to be the dyes, I think), what's involved and whether I'd be able to do it physically.

Then she shrugged and said:

"Go for it!"

I can't believe it, Mum is a pessimist like me and isn't usually enthusiastic about any of my ideas, but she seems quite accepting about this!

Any help or advice, gratefully accepted ;)

Mittens for Me

I rarely make an item more than once; I tend to get bored easily.

But I loved the mittens I made for Mum so much, I decided to make myself a pair.

Recognise the yarn? Yeah, this was what I made Baroque with. I decided I didn't like Baroque once they were on the foot so I frogged them to make the mittens with.

Pattern: Ailbe
Yarn: The Yarn Yard, November Club Edition
Time: 31-01-10 - 10-02-10

A Big Decision

There are so many people who sell their fibre or handspun on Etsy, Folksy, Misi, eBay and their own blogs or websites.

So, do we need yet another seller of handpainted roving, batts, handspun yarn?

The reason I ask is because I'm seriously considering it myself.

I enjoyed making the Thunderstorm batts recently and I've had quite a few people ask if I would be willing to sell/trade them.

I think it's something I would enjoy doing and I have quite a few colour ideas, both dyeing and blending.

I don't normally edit a post once I've posted it - it bugs the hell out of me when other people do it as I read through an RSS reader LOL.

If I choose to do this, it'll mean a big change for me. I don't work due to my back problem, but this would give me a something. A goal, a purpose, something to do! I had thought before that my own business wasn't something that I would keep up with, that I'd get bored with it, or forget about it, or pissed off with it if things didn't sell.

But this will be yarny fibrey goodness - if it doesn't sell; I can always keep it LOL.

I don't think it would cost too much to get started. I could buy a few sample packs to make batts. Some undyed roving (I've found some at a good price) and some dye. To be honest, I think the dye is going to be the most expensive thing to stock up on!

So...what do you think?

Have a go

Saw this on Susan's blog and I thought 'what the hell?'

So here ya go!

You just have to have one word answers to the questions, and it’s harder than it looks, I mean, “I don’t know” is three words!

Your Cell Phone? Always

Your Hair? Morticia

Your Mother? BFF

Your Father? missed

Your Favorite Food? cheesy

Your Dream Last Night? painful

Your Favorite Drink? tea

Your Dream/Goal? peace

What Room Are You In? craftroom

Your Hobby? knitting

Your Fear? wheelchairs

Where Do You See Yourself In 6 Years? here

Where Were You Last Night? bed

Something That You Aren’t? slim

Muffins? blueberry

Wish List Item? Majacraft

Where Did You Grow Up? Germany

Last Thing You Did? spin

What Are You Wearing? clothes

Your TV? SG-1

Your Pets? Isis

Friends? some

Your Life? OK

Your Mood? annoyed

Missing Someone? sometimes

Vehicle? two

Something You Aren’t Wearing? hat

Your Favourite Store? fibre

Your Favourite Colour? purple

When Was The Last Time You Laughed? earlier

Last Time You Cried? 4am

Your Best Friend? Mel

One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? B&Q

Facebook? yes

Favourite Place To Eat? home

Sometimes it pays to rant

I really don't get why I was told it would be a few more weeks for my printer to be repaired by the insurance company.

Somebody somewhere was obviously lying as I received a phone call from Staples 3 days later telling me it had been repaired and was at the shop waiting for me to collect it!

They probably stuffed a second hand part in there with a timer set to blow up the printer the day after the extended warranty runs out!

Thunderstorm

Today I decided to play with my new drumcarder.

I got all of this:

Ari sent me this along with the drumcarder and some trilobal nylon, this bag is one that Sara sells here (it's the black, white & grey pack) and carded each colour twice. When I got to the white, I threw in some of the trilobal too.

Then I set to blending using a quarter of each colour (I started with black and worked my way through the shades to the trilobal/white), until I had a layered batt.

I hummed and hawed debating whether to leave it like that, or run it through again to blend it even more.

Eventually I took the plunge. I split each layered batt into four and fed each quarter - black side facing up - into the carder once

and got these gorgeous batts!

I got four batts in total and they are lush! I'm calling them 'Thunderstorm'.

Unfortunately, this took me most of the day, my back hurts, I'm absolutely shattered and I shall never moan at the price of batts ever again!

Drum Carder

I decided a few weeks ago that I had to have a drum carder. You know, to make pretty batts like these!

So I asked about on Ravelry and Ari told me she had one in excellent condition that I could have, I sent her some dosh and she's sent me this!

She also sent me some of this to play with!

I got gifted some sparkly from someone else too so I can make shiny batts!

I will never buy HP again!

Beware, mega rant ahead!

I have had numerous Hewlett Packard printer - usually superduper-do-everything-for-you-except-make-a-cuppa ones!

The first one I had needed to go in for repairs when the shuttle holding the ink cartridges broke during the first cartridge change. The second one didn't print properly and was a complete piece of rubbish. Then I bought another one.

Well, this one ran out of black ink at the beginning of December. I got new cartridges and replaced them. Went through all the realignment processes and received an error message that the heads could not align.

I checked the help (HA!) section on the HP site and followed all the instructions.

Nothing doing!

So I took it back to Staples. I walked in and Mark (the salesman) took one look at me and said "Not again!"

He spent half an hour fiddling with it and eventually phoned to book it in.

I knew it would take a while as it was booked in on the 16th December. Two weeks before Christmas; I knew it was going to be hectic.

Then of course there was the 'Big Freeze' and the whole country ground to a halt.

I received a call from the insurance company in January apologising profoundly for the delay. I understood that due to the snow, not much was happening. They said they would call me back in 10 working days.

I received another call a couple of weeks later telling me that they had to send away for parts from 'abroad' as they couldn't get the part here and that they wouldn't be received until February 5th! I grumbled a bit, but - ya know - not much I could do.

I've just received another call. It's going to be a few more weeks!

I have just flipped down the phone at the poor CSR. This is totally unacceptable tha an item that cost me that much money breaks in the first year and is extremely difficult to repair!

They haven't offered me a printer to use in the interim!

I will never buy a HP product again. They're completely crap, don't last and just aren't worth the money!