Wonderwool!

I got up at 4.30am on Friday morning and I left here at 5.30am to catch the ferry.

First, I stopped in Lymington with Bridget to have a cuppa, breakfast baps (with freshly laid eggs!) and to meet her animals (sheep, piglets, horses and chickens). Bridget has also given me a lot of books for Alex's education.

I stayed with her until 9am and then I set off for Bath.

I arrived at Helen's around midday, we had a quick cuppa then we went to Elle's house to deliver my Ashford Joy to her as she is now the new owner. She was very restrained and made us a cuppa before opening the box!

She has been drop spinning for about a month and she took to the wheel like a duck to water!


Look at that big grin!!

We also went fabric shopping and I bought a nice amount of fabric - one of these days; I'll get around to playing with my sewing machine ;)

We went to bed reasonably early on Friday night as we had set our alarms for 6.30am Saturday morning.

I didn't sleep fabulously; it took me a while to get to sleep as I had left Isis at home and I'm used to her leaning on me! 6am came all to quickly.

But, we got up, drank our tea and got into my car and set off for Wales. It was my first trip to Wales and I was very excited! We passed over the Severn bridge and I took a lot of photos LOL. Then we drove through the beautiful countryside and off in the distance were the mountains!

The drive took nearly two and a half hours, but it was well worth it!

We arrived at 10.05am and there was already a queue, but it moved quite quickly and we were soon inside!

It was amazing! There were people and noise and colour and smells. I bumped into a lot of people that I had met before and met a lot of new people that I've 'seen' around Ravelry.

I bought this fantastic swift from Amber and Bob and Amber also gave me two bin bags, one full of Shetland fleece and one full of alpaca fleece. It's gorgeous! She's already cleaned them both, I've just got to spin it up!

I wondered around with Helen, we tried to be methodical and start at one end with the intention of walking up and down every aisle so that we'd see everything. But, then we'd bump into someone or see something - it was so easy to get distracted!

I bought loads, there's no easy way to say it. At first I felt a little guilty at the amount that I'd spent, but then I decided that I had been saving especially, no one had gone short while I saved and that was that. I was very good and I only spent the money I had on me (even though I took my cheque book) and I bought yarn for the shop (which I will be dyeing this week!)

I bought dyed fibre from Freyalyn, Sparkleduck, Sara, The Thylacine, Mandacrafts, DK Felt Studio UK and I bought fleece from various different people too! I bought angora/merino 70/30, BFL x Corriedale from Olwen Veevers, 3 shades of alpaca (Oscar, Bertie & Rosita) from Chrysalis, Black Corriedale lamb with a white throat flash also from Olwen, Ryeland, from The Deerfold Spinner, Cotton, silk hankies, angelina from Winghams and a support spindle from Mandacrafts.

Here are all the photos for you to drool (I'll try and put them in order I've listed above)

I also bought some bobbins and a flick carder from Hedgehog - they were supposed to have a plying kit but well......

I also got to try a Timbertops Chair wheel! Oh wow, it was fabulous. I've been trying to master unsupported longdraw spinning for a while, but I've been struggling! I sat down at this wheel and immediately spun longdraw with no problems whatsoever!

I shall upload and post some more pictures tomorrow, but I really need to find somewhere to put all this stuff so I can get some sleep...

Wonderwool!

This weekend is Wonderwool!

I am very excited about this. The last fibre festival I went to was Fibrefest and I had a blast! Fibrefest was also where I met Helen for the first time and we've become firm friends since then!

Well, this weekend I am staying with Helen and we'll drive to Wales on Saturday and Sunday to drool over the fibre (not literally, because vendors get upset if you cover their fibre in drool!).

I'm planning on buying a couple of spindles too. I'm also collecting an upright swift and two fleeces from Mr & Mrs Mog, I've agreed to teach Kristina how to do TAAT socks using ML, go and say hello to Sarah from Brownberry Yarns, Nic from Nicsknots, LongdrawJames from Ravelry and countless others - I've even started a list on my iPhone, but I'm bound to forget someone!!

I have also had a chat with Andy at bluefaced.com about picking up a bulk order of yarn.

That's right! Fluffosity is going to start supplying yarn! It'll take me a week or so, but I plan to have a lot of yarn in the shop in the future!

I also contacted Hedgehog Equipment at the beginning of March - remember them? They're the people I initially ordered my Rose from, but I gave up after a few months of waiting and not being kept up to date on my order and ordered from NZ instead. Well, I contacted them right at the beginning of March and told them I wanted a plying kit and a box of plastic bobbins for my Majacraft Rose (thinking that would give them plenty of time).

I e-mailed them last night saying it was just a gentle reminder about our conversation. Here's their reply:

Hello Sam
Thanks for your message. I hadn't forgotten your order but I did need reminding to email you to say that so far unfortunately nothing has arrived from NZ. I was hoping they would come this week - I know stuff is on its way but it looks as though it might have been disrupted by the volcano. I can save you as many bobbins as I have in stock - I'm about to go & pack up all the accessories so I will check exactly how many - & other than a miracle in the next 24 hrs all I can say is sorry & I will send you the order (free of P&P of course) when it comes.
Any way, I really am sorry , we can discuss it at the weekend.
Best wishes, Sarah

Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed off about this! I gave them plenty of time to get this order sorted and they've just let me down again! I think I shall give up with them and order from somewhere else from now on, it might be more expensive, but at least I can guarantee when I'll get my stuff! I was banking on that plying kit this weekend - I've filled my bobbins up (very full thinking I'd be getting a jumbo bobbin) and was banking on plying it all off!

Never mind eh?

I'm pissed at Royal Mail too! I did some handspun yarn for my friend Claire, I sent it first class on Monday, she has just received a card telling her that she has to pay £1.49 (£1 service charge and 49p because 'apparently' I didn't pay enough, yet according to their website, the £1.72 I did pay should cover it up to 250g!) to receive the parcel! Money grabbing shits and they wonder why couriers are stealing all their business.

On the other hand, I'm very excited to be going tomorrow, I need a holiday! On my way to bath, I shall be popping to visit a friend in Lymington who is giving me a whole load of home educating stuff for Alex - she also has horses and lambs and has promised me bacon and freshly laid eggs for breakfast!!!

When I get to Bath, Helen and I are going to visit Elle who has bought Eric from me.

Eric will be her first wheel and I'm really pleased he is going to someone who will love him as I did!

Unfortunately I'm booked on the 6.55am ferry which means I need to get up at about 4.30!!

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?