c o m m u n i t y e c o l o g y

Now that the doglet's leg is getting better we are slowly introducing her back into the community, by which we man the local meadow that she loves so much. Unfortunately, the meadow is constantly under threat from developers, who would seek to destroy its peace and quiet, and its variety of plant life, which is quite remarkable. But it has a dynamic and active team looking to protect it (see their campaign), and who use part of the space to do some gardening and growing. And feeding of the birds. It was a lovely break and release for the doglet and her carers to go to see the buds starting to appear even as the ice still cracked under foot today.

f o x y w h i s k e r e d g e n t l e m a n

Those who remember Beatrix Potter's stories will remember the charms of the foxy whiskered gentleman. I'm lucky enough to have one of my own, so my card to him on Tuesday was this delightful one from the very lovely Claire Hartigan. I had a cup of happiness in return. I've filled it this week with a fiery coldbuster from Leon, in an attempt to ward off nasties. It should have been a week for getting things done -- wearisomely, almost nothing's been done at all. I have the fear, but instead of dealing with it, I'm learning a new technique for turning a heel on a sock. God help me.

d e t e c t i v e w o r k

Up here in Glasgow the past week or two has seen deep mists, fogs and dank darkness. In a strange reversal, while the rest of the country has been frozen and covered in glisten-y snow, we've been plunged in cold, but not snowy, gloom. Indeed, every day has been a good day for a murder (and not just because of the weather). So I was pleased to get my Sarah Lund-inspired jumper finished, at last. Which was a real bugger to knit, so I won't link to the pattern. I had to knit and re-knit it 3 times from the yoke up to try to fix the very strange shaping and sizes given in the instructions. But here it is, and not too soon -- very nice it is too to wear. As I had promised at the start of this project, I also made a version for the doglet, who can now be a canine collector of clues, working loyally alongside her detective mistress. (She has a bad leg at the moment, which is why she looks a bit pensive, but she'll be on the mend soon.)

g i n g e r b r e a d g a n g

Who doesn't like gingerbread men? They are very yummy and also cute. We made these before Christmas because I wanted to give one to our completely overworked secretary at work to go with a vat of mulled wine. I contemplated decorating one to look like a 'colleague' (I qualify that advisedly) I particularly loathe and then feeding its head to the doglet. But said person is more 'shapeless', shall we say, than a gingerbread man, so I resisted. I could have done it with the left over blob of dough quite accurately, but that was too mean even for me. So I decorated them to look like a group of genial librarians and found it all a very soothing process. The doglet went c.o.m.p.l.e.t.e.l.y. wild for them once cooked -- I've never seen anything like it. Everytime we got the box out, she'd tear over to us, elbowing cushions, computers, books and indeed humans out of her path of greed and munch them up quick sharp (or as quickly as she is able, given that her style is similar to a toothless old man), following each with at least 10 jowl licks.

b a b y b o x i n g g l o v e s

A lovely friend had a new baby boy about 10 days ago. She has given him a beautiful name, that fits the season. To celebrate, I made these fairisle boxing gloves -- because I've learnt from being an aunty that boxing gloves are a very useful accessory for a new baby. These are made from cosy cashmere mix yarn. I made a hat to match, wrapped them up -- together with chocolate and marshmallows to keep his mother going -- and boxed the boxing gloves up and away. My reward is a gorgeous picture of the little man ready to fight, sent this morning.