Sunday, 27 January 2013

s o f a

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Some scenes from the sofa, where doglet and I spent the whole day yesterday, knitting Kate Davies designs and watching films. Being ill has some up sides.

* Doglet's doppelganger cushion was a Christmas gift.

Thursday, 24 January 2013

b r e a t h e r


Just poking my head out of my writing cocoon to take a breather. I cleared my diary this week to have 3 days of just reading and writing for a paper tomorrow. Although I have a nervous tummy about it, it's been a welcome pleasure to have time to think. There's so little space for that normally, and 3 days is hardly a lot (everything in life has to be so speeded up), but it has been refreshing. I've been reading Timothy Morton's The Ecological Thought. I've known Tim in the past to be 'batshit crazy', as the yoof put it, but in a good way. He still is, but this book is a lot more grounded than usual. In some ways it's like Erica Fudge on speed, in that it is passionate about our sharedness with animals.

Anyway, this gives me an excuse to post this picture of the doglet in her Christmas jumper, looking a lot like Gareth Edwards in his 1970s prime, scoring tries for the Welsh rugby team. Six nations are coming up -- we're just waiting for the call.

Friday, 18 January 2013

t i m e f o r t e a





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End of another busy week. Nice bits have been, filling the house with lovely scents from Muji (rose, amber and cedarwood), hanging up our Donna Wilson tea-towel (Christmas gift), going for acupuncture, walking the doglet in the bright sunshine, drinking the last of the delicious Russian Evening tea from Kusmi, and having friends over for dinner last night. I made the lamb rogan josh from the first Leon cookbook. It was great -- lovely ingredients that made for a really fresh taste and cheerful colours on the plate. Said friends were very generous and brought champagne, violet and rose creams, hyacinths and soaps -- I'm very lucky! I've just ordered some more tea, plus more bird food for the feeders since it's so cold (no snow up here yet though), and we've booked tickets for the new Tarantino film for tomorrow. Feeling pretty positive for once, and shaping up for an afternoon's research reading. Not such a bad life at all!

* spot Gran & Bampa's wedding photo -- another lovely Christmas gift.

Thursday, 10 January 2013

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I've been back at work now for 4 days. Unfortunately, I'm feeling really tired. January is a funny month. I find myself changing my mind throughout the day about whether I feel optimistic about the new year, and happy for its potential for fresh and new change, or whether I'm exhausted and chafed by the hardness of a time that feels so cold and dark and a long way from Spring. Last Sunday I idly looked back through this blog and was a little taken aback by how often I expressed frustration about work. I knew I found work hard, but I feel as though that's a recent thing. But actually, it's been wearing me down for more than 2 years. Is that okay? I don't think so.

I'm not sure yet what to do about that in a material sense. But I think it's time to make some changes about it in a mental one. I see now that I need to start actively letting go of the things that upset me -- they're just not going to go away, so it's time to cocoon myself away from them -- and just quietly concentrate on the bits I enjoy. For this week that's teaching Blake, and reading Herbert. Both good things spliced between the exhausting.

For the rest, it's also time to look after my health (O blessed body! Whither art thou thrown?, as I've just remembered from Herbert), after it has been so shaky. I'm in dire need of herbs, creams, a hair cut, and vitamins. January, you're a hard task master.

* Lovely new calendar by Heidi Nicole.

Sunday, 6 January 2013

A w r a p !

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This has taken a crazy amount of time to work out... turns out that .gif-making sites are quite fiendish. But it's here, albeit in reduced form, and a good end for the festive period for twelfth night. Here's the smallest member of our family opening the lavender-filled 'Neep' (for those who don't know, see Abney & Teal) that I made her for Christmas. The idea is that it will encourage her to sleep. Will it?

Will be back in the week for thoughts on 2013. For now, it's back to work (sobs). But I'm starting with Blake, so feeling very good about that.

 * image from Wiki

Saturday, 5 January 2013

12




The last day of Christmas. We came back to Glasgow last night and I was surprised, when taking the doglet around the block, to see still so many lovely twinkly trees and festive windows. Then on the radio this morning they were discussing celebrating Christmas slowly, waiting for its significance to unfold, and keeping the tree up at least until twelfth night. I think we should have some kind of celebration tomorrow, and perhaps again at Candlemas (2 February).

Here is a cushion I made for my mum. The front knitted panel used part of the pattern for Kate Davies' gauntlets to create a jumping hare design (and see my new 'harebells' labels -- is this some sign that I'm trying to establish a different job for myself?!). The panel is sewn onto lovely soft wool fabric, and behind it is filled with lavender.

Friday, 4 January 2013

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Just about to start the long drive north, so here are some last pictures of our time near the sea. This was from a very blustery evening walk at Goldcliff where we walked along the coast path that goes alongside the power station and along the sea wall. The fresh and clean-feeling air really blew away the cobwebs. My respiratory problems have dried up at last down here and I'm feeling much healthier and stronger than for a long time.

Thursday, 3 January 2013

10


For my father this Christmas, 3 embroidered hankies. He's always been a very big fan of very large hankies (so is doglet's co-carer; perhaps this is why I married him). These I bought from John Lewis and embroidered with silver-grey thread. Birds, bears and (friendly) rats are part of our shared vocabulary.

Wednesday, 2 January 2013

9



 The doglet's co-carer is a big fan of the colour orange, so I chose this beautiful dark rust-coloured yarn for his Christmas present, a rick-rack scarf (pattern here). The stitch is pretty tricky, requiring you to knit into the front and back of both purls and knits, and pulling stitches one over the other. I was really pleased with the result though, and the yarn is so soft with a great halo effect. Photographed here next to a bowl I bought my mother years ago from Made in Cley in Norfolk. This combination of colours is gorgeous.

Tuesday, 1 January 2013

8



2 0 1 3 is here. The sun came out and shone beautifully, making us all very happy and optimistic. Doglet had a fantastic day of rolling. 2013 has a good feeling. I was not sorry to see the end of 2012, with all its illness, stress and sadness (not counting, of course, the happiness of getting married) and am unusually pleased to see the new year come in. Here's to rolling in the sunshine! Happy New Year all.