I survived

Just back from the meet-up with 'the relative' and as you can see, I survived (and so did she) - though I wont be repeating our liaison in a hurry (give it another 11 years and I should just about be able to cope - maybe!).

On a happy note, though not happy for my bank balance, I purchased some beautiful wool.....

What do you think?

I haven't gone with the suggested Peat, Feather and Straw colours, which the pattern stated.  Instead I've gone for heather-type colours (Canard - darkish green, Royal - deep purple & Teal).  I thought I'd knit the main in the Canard and use the other 2 colours in the Fairisle borders.  I just have to knit it and see how it turns out now, wont I? Can't wait to get started on it.  Just don't ask me how much the wool cost.  Thanks, very much appreciated.

Mini-me also ended up with a present, seeing as she'd been such a good girl (basically she didn't have a tantrum in a public place, which is always a blessing), I bought her these little chums to play with in the bath....

She'll probably call them all 'Pingu'.

Feel like a domestic goddess.

Why? Because not only did I bake this lovely cake (thanks to this lovely lady), I made this extremely tasty soup (thanks to this lovely lady), and I also managed to finish 'making up' Violet's jumper - and a very fine jumper it is too (mistakes and all).

 (Not a very clear photo I know - but you try to get a 23 month old to sit still for 5 seconds.  I also apologise for the lack of trouserwear - Violet's not one for wearing clothes and much prefers to run around in her vest).

I actually made my cake an Orange & Lemon cake rather than just Lemon because I love the smell and taste of Oranges and aren't they just the tastiest at the moment?

The Squash and Sweet Potato Soup was really delicious (as promised) - the flat smelled divine whilst the veggies were roasting.  Yum-e!

And what can I say about the jumper?  I couldn't be more proud of my efforts.  The question is what to knit next.  Something for me this time or another for Mini-me?  Last month I purchased Rowan Studio magazine (issue 14)

Wow, there are some great things in there.  Perhaps I should start off with something relatively easy like this:

What do you think?  Only 9 balls of wool - I wonder how much that's gonna cost.  I'll have in look in the Haberdashery Dept in House of Fraser whilst I'm in town later - I bet I end up buying the wool no matter what the price is.

And guess what? The 'other half' came home with these for me last night:

Bless him.  All he could say was "I don't know what to say to make you feel better, so I bought you some Lilies because I know you love Lilies".  His hearts in the right place I just wish I could get through the impasse we seem to have reached.  I know it's upto me to decide what to do next.

Anyway, onto other things - it hasn't snowed here, so I'm off to meet 'that relative' later this morning.  (Takes a big, long sigh) - sometimes we have to do things in this life that we really don't want to do.  I'll try and be grown-up about it and I'll come out the other end without any bruises (I hope).
 

Violet models mummy's hand-knits

Just caught Mini-me running around the place in my hat and scarf

I managed to quickly take a photo of the little tike before she ran off to rummage through more of the things in my bag.  At least you can now see something actually knitted by my fair hand. Though the photo makes the hat and scarf look Blue, when in actual fact they are a gorgeous Lilac colour (Sirdar Big Softie Super Chunky, Shade: 0342).

The gift of friends

It will soon be one of my dear friends 40th birthday and I've been searching for 40 perfect presents for her to open - along the way I came across this beautiful poem about friends that I thought I'd share:

There are days when
bubbling from us comes
the innocent child within,
who giggles at the the little things
and wears a silly grin.

There are days when
melancholy comes to
visit for a while;
the mind feels tired, the body weak;
we have no strength to smile.

There are days when
joy abundant
grabs a hold of you and me;
wraps us up in all its splendour,
lifts us up and sets us free.

There are days when
sorrow wraps us
in its cloak of grief and fear,
'till our hearts ache to the breaking,
'till our eyes can't shed a tear.

There are days when
love bestows us
with its wonderment and light;
with its beauty and its mystery.
its power and its might.

And there are days when
life rewards us
and seems to make amends
by granting us a marvelous gift,
the precious gift of friends.

by Karin Schaefer

I'm thinking of stitching this onto some antique linen and framing it as one of the presents - too sucky/a nice gift???? Cant quite decide, but I'll have to make my mind up soon as time is running out.

Knitting update:
All the pieces to Mini-me's jumper are now all finished - just the 'making up' to do.  Fingers crossed I make a decent job of it and the arms don't end up wonky! If it's finished tonight, I'll post a pic of Violet wearing it tomorrow.

Seeing as the weather isn't great today (miserable, dull and cold), I think I'll head out to the supermarket and buy the ingredients to make an orange cake, some bread and Petite Filoux's  butternut squash soup - sounds yummy.   I could be in the kitchen awhile :0)

RED

This is interesting and the colour is definitely me (would you believe all my kitchen crockery, pot & pans are all red?)
 
This is what The Colour Quiz had to say about me: 

You boast incredible willpower and are capable of overcoming obstacles that would normally leave others shaking in their boots. You have a penchant for colorful environments and often impress others with your energetic bursts of energy. Your interests in many areas of life often leave you scattered, but when you focus you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.

what colour are you?

Thank you to Melissa for the link.

Isn't it nice when

a present you gave is really well received?
I think it was this lady who introduced me to the delights of Persephone books after I visited her blog. (For any keen readers out there who haven't already visited their website I would highly recommend you pop over and take a look).  They reprint neglected C20th writers (mostly women).  I'm very tempted to subscribe to their book a month for 6 (or 12) months.  How lovely would it be to receive the gift of a book every month? 
It was my aunt's birthday recently so I ordered her a copy of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson - and she seemed overjoyed to receive it.  Doesn't it make you feel all warm and happy inside when you know you've made someone else happy (and for not much money either). Though on reflection her joy was probably due to relief that I hadn't attempted to knit her something - hee hee.

Enough of the snow already!

I must stop myself looking at Metcheck.com - I already know the weather's gonna be bloody awful.  Perhaps I just hope my own weather predictions are wrong and that the weather forecast will tell me that it's now the end of Winter, there'll be no more snow/sleet and it's now Spring, Spring, Spring!  Sometimes the weather reflects your own mood though, don't you think????
I will be praying for snow on Friday though, nothing too bad you understand , just bad enough for me to cancel a certain 'meet' with a certain member of my family that I would rather never happen.  This 'member of the family' behaved in an unforgivable way whilst I was nursing my mother through her final days, and even though that happened 11 years ago, I've struggled to forgive said family member.  I've managed to avoid one-to-one encounters with this person over the years, but they've managed to get hold of my telephone number and now I've found myself agreeing to a meet-up, even though it's the last thing I want.  Then why I hear you ask?  Because I was extremely close to this person's mother (like a second mother to me really) and it grieves me to think that I'd be hurting her in any way.  Does that make sense?
A further installment to the Marriage post from yesterday - I may have brought the subject up again last night.  What was the outcome?  Basically, I lost my temper and told the other half that I'm going to change my daughter's surname by Deedpoll. Did it go down well?  Well, would you believe, the other half seems to think this more favourable than us getting married. So, there you go.  I feel more rejected, hurt and angry than ever before.  You must admit I've got a knack of pissing people off - even myself!
I must admit though, that anger certainly makes me knit faster - and no mistakes neither!!!!! ha ha ha - I'll be finished Mini-Me's jumper by Friday at this rate.
I'll just go and check out my blogging friends and see if they're having a better day than I am.

MARRIAGE???????

This word seems to freak 'the other half' out. Why?  We've known each other 16 years or more, we have a daughter together, we plan on having more children together......
I don't even talk about marriage - perhaps it's something I just expected to happen along the way.
So when family members or friends ask the question "when are you getting married?" and he replies "we're not", it hurts. It really hurts.
Am I good enough to have children with, but not good enough to marry?
I tell you one thing - I did not plan on having a different surname to my own child(ren). And, if I'd realised this beforehand, I can tell you that my daughter would have had my surname on her birth certificate.
Looks like am looking at a future where I'm gonna be known as 'the girlfriend' for the rest of my days.  What joy! - (I should have listened to my mother).

Quick question.....

....what did mums do pre Cheerios???? I'm convinced Mini-Me would eat a boxful in one sitting.

Dropped stitches

Ooooops - there I go again, dropping stitches here, there and everywhere.
I fumbled about trying to pick them up - why is it so difficult? (A few choice words may have escaped my mouth).
I wonder whether anyone will notice. It's in the cowl neck, so maybe not. I don't think any of my immediate family or my friends are knitters, so there's a good chance I'll get away with it.
Then why do I feel so guilty? Because I couldn't be arsed to unravel about 3 - 4 rows - now that's just laziness on my part.
Perhaps I'll post a photo of the jumper I'm currently knitting for Mini-Me when it's finished (www.sirdar.co.uk/designs/children/sweatersChildren/2233) - conveniently positioned so all my mistakes can't be seen obviously!
I'm loving the colour of the wool I'm using - Deep Purple (Sirdar Country Style DK 100g - SH529)

Blogging Virgin

Why start my blog? Well, why not? I'm not counting on anyone actually reading it, but it'll be a place for my thoughts, somewhere to maybe vent my frustrations, and somewhere I might make new friends. Who knows!
A bit about myself: After moving from a town I absolutely loved (namely York), with a fantastic group of friends, I find myself living in a town, which I don't love even half as much, infact, not at all.
Wondering why I left my beloved York????? Well, the person who pays the bills and who allows me to be a stay-at-home-mum, got a new job, so we moved to be nearer his new place of work. Unfortunately the commute from York would have been far too long. What crap!!!!
I don't know when or why I suddenly started reading other peoples blogs, but they grabbed my interest straight away - some of them are so damned interesting. What is it about other people's lives that I find so facinating?
Anyways, I thought I'd give it a go too. I may even show photos of the kniting projects I attempt. There may also be the occassional pic of my little Mini-Me. I'm sure there will definitely be updates about the silly little things she says and gets upto.
If anyone does read this, I apologies for the occassional spelling mistake - though I love reading, spelling is NOT one of my strong points.
Well here goes - let's see what the future of blogging brings.