Harry Potter Highlights.

Back in the summer holidays we took a day trip to the Harry Potter studios. It was actually no 1 sons birthday treat, but this was the only date we could all make where tickets were available, so he had had to wait a fair few months to get there. The boys and I have been before but it was hubs first [ and probably only] time. He's not a Harry Potter fan. I didn't take as many photo's this time but here's a few for you.

Were planning another trip before Christmas !!

Weekending.

After an up & down week I just wanted some calm. Hubs was working this weekend [ 12 hour shifts, fri,sat & sun] so no plans were on the radar.

 I decided Saturday was going to be a no plan day, as in don't plan on doing anything. It was great. No 2 son went out for the afternoon and no 1 son did his own thing, at one point I was actually home alone! now that doesn't occur often.

 The hound was yet again in a non walking mood, which didn't help my mood as I really wanted to take him for a walk. I love this time of year especially in  the woods.But hey, you cant make him do anything he doesn't want, hes just too big!

After all this playing with yarn this week trying to sort my colours for the westknits mkal, I had the urge to dye some yarn. I had one blank skein left so out came the pots and the dyes.

Now I am still a novice when it comes to dyeing yarn, so had a quick look on youtube, was after a variegated brown/blue yarn, something to wear with my denim pinafores & dresses,[ am wanting to knit a cowl]

It dint look too bad in the pot but by the time it had cooled down to room temperature it was lurking a bit murky in the pot. 

A good washing and drying and this appeared

It wasn't what I was expecting, but do you know what, I think I love it, it is a bit murkey but against the denim I think it works

seeing the colours I am tempted to do another hitch hiker shawl, I think it will show up the colour pops , and its a quick little tv knit.

The rest of the day was just pottering around, I knit more on the partronus and am now about 10 rows until cast off, which is great as the west knits mkal starts Friday and I really want to get the swatching done [ yes i do swatch sometimes, especially when Stephen suggests it], but still haven't chosen colours !

Sunday was a day to get stuff done, trouble when you work all week and only get 2 days off. Laundry processing started first thing, then it was drop no 1 to work and hit the shops [ grocery shopping]. Food shop done, all nicely stocked up and I bought my 1st Christmas items !! 

I decided to make my own advent calendars for the boys this year, even hubs is going to get one,[ I treated my self to a yarn advent calendar], cant say much on here as no 2 occasionally pops in to see what I am writing about [ and to check I'm not moaning about him]. I have even set up my Christmas lists [ sad, but I like lists] in my diary. Christmas has now begun! I love the build up to Christmas far more than the actual event.

The rest of the day consisted of ironing, cooking the roast and helping no 2 make a chocolate fudge cake.

we haven't baked a cake together for a while so that was nice. [ i may have sneaked a slice]

I didn't manage to knit, was not in the mood, I didn't even get to start reading my new book

I will admit to buying this because I liked the cover !

And now it's Monday morning. I am off out again [ work not play], this time to the Malvern Hills , my lovely colleague is picking me up shortly. This is another service that I have not been to before so it should be interesting, its also a different type of review so I shall be learning lots. Keeps the old brains cells ticking over.

Weekly round up.

Its been a bit of an odd week, just work/ college  as usual for all of us.

 Monday went without comment, nothing out of the ordinary.

Tuesday, well, for some reason I just got out of bed the wrong way, I was in such a foul mood. Nothing was going to right it, I was basically stuck in a traffic que for my whole commute journeys, to & from work. When I did get to work I just needed to sort stuff out! I can't work in chaos and my files were all over the place, sadly we have little storage and my fellow workers can work in chaos, well not me ! I need order. So with a bit of shuffling i managed to grab enough space to put a set of 3 stack-able trays in, just for me, yes sadly I did mark my territory with a lovely sticker. I then spent all day sorting said files. uploading docs, sending stuff to shredding, it was fab, I actually hit 7k steps just in the office. Home to a basic 2 egg omelette for tea, [still on the vlc diet but having real food in the evening meal], then it was sit down, watch bake off and knit !

 After the trauma of unpicking the  sweater I just needed to knit something different, and as I am gearing up for the new westknits mkal, my petronus shawl needs to come off the needles ! I really love this pattern, I love the shape and I am really loving my colour combos. When its finished I will post all the info about yarn etc.

Its going to be big, hoping for a very cold winter !

Then just as I am settled with said knitting and 'bake off', junior springs it on me.

He doesn't like his college, not sure about the course and wants to go back to his old school 6th form, never one to waste a moment hes already emailed the 6th form head and engaged in the whole transfer issue

SAY WHAT...........

ARGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OK, breathe. lets discuss this, we did, hes going back, why make him do something he's not happy doing and not happy in the college environment, I would only be setting him up to fail. How many 17 year olds really know what they want to do? at least he tried it. 

Wednesday was  another out of county work trip, up to Ledbury with a colleague, who drove, result.. what a gorgeous little place. thoroughly enjoyed that day out, and the service we had to visit was equally as nice. There are nice aspects to my job. Quite evening ,sadly processing washing as we got a new washing machine, simple things please me. Alongside some Patronus knitting.

Thursday bought the meeting with the school to see if junior could transfer back...yep, they accepted him back and made him start straight away ! He chose a whole different set of A'levels with advice from the 6th form head. Hes now going to study History, Religious studies, and economics, with math studies which will get points and is similar to an old AS level I think and ICT. Hes one happy boy.
I could see the change in him straight away, hes very happy to be back. Then it was back to work.

Friday was another grouchy day, I really dont know whats happening to me this week I have had a couple of really moody days. I am normally pretty relaxed at work but 'stuff' is just irking me. Not sure my boss quite new what was going on when we had a 1:1. All I can say is that I was glad when it was 5pm.

All in all an up & down week. Lets hope the weekend brings me some calm. 

WIP Wednesday.

Currently being a monogamous knitter, its all about the Pavement Sweater.

You may remember my stupid error of reading the pattern wrong for the cast off rib, this ended up with a curly hem, then when I tried it on I thought it was just to short.

As the hem followed a series of short row knitting to get a great curved shape, front & back,  I didn't want to just take it off of the needles and unwind it, so I unpicked it stitch by stitch, that way I kept my stitch markers in the right place to designate front and back, It was a labour of love, but by Sunday evening I had managed it and knit a few rows up to get me back on track,

Sunday night reknit, from the little bee up to the needle. about 2.5 inches. I have managed about another inch, but felt the need for a break. There's only so much stocking stitch a girl can do.
Picked up my patronus and have done a few more rows on that. It's nice to have a bit of a colour change.

Weekending.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend doing what ever makes you happy.

Mine has been a lovely calm weekend.

Saturday I went off to meet a lovely friend from my last job, we had planned to meet for breakfast at the Mall, I was a little worried given my current diet and had popped a diet bar into my bag just in case! needn't have worried she has started the exact same low calorie low carbohydrate diet as me !  Her Dr recommended it to her, shes on real food though not meal replacements. So we had a look at the food places and there was very little ketogenic /GI friendly foods. We settled on somewhere that did a basic cooked breakfast, minus the bread! I hadn't planned to eat, but hey, you have to live too !

I chose this

It did come with toast but I made them take it away! I have to say it was a bit of a shock having a whole plate of food, all i managed was the 3 slices of bacon, the mushrooms and about 3 mouthfuls of scrambled egg, this was the plate after

I cant believe how much my stomach has shrunk ! I was stuffed. I was really pleased that I stopped when full and was able to remain diet friendly. I must be doing something right ! 

After breakfast we mooched about, I used up some body shop vouchers I had and treated myself to this little beauty

basic chambray tunic, looks better in real life, and guess what.... it was a size 18 !! a tad snug, but an 18 from Fat Face !, I will stick to this diet !! I would be so happy just to be able to walk into any ladies clothes shop and be able to buy something ! I have booked a night away for hubs and I next month [off to Brixham] , as we get to spend such little time just the 2 of us, and am planning on wearing this ! may team it with some chunky tights and boots. Am anticipating it will be cold given its going to be the end of October when we go. I cant remember the last time I actually wore a dress with no leggings or jeans on...

Back home and we decided to take the mad hound down to the beach. The weather wasn't too bad and I felt like a blow out after my breakfast.

Daft hound didn't want to walk ! we managed to get him to do a small walk by tempting him down to the water as the tide was in, but some days he just wants to go home, this was one of those days, It's really sad to see a dog that doesn't like being outdoors, Maybe hes hearing something that were not.

As I had eaten at Breakfast I decided that Saturday would be a food day, My late lunch/ afternoon snack was a stick of celery with 2 teaspoons of peanut butter, yes just 1 stick...I know how to live! with a steak on a bed of leaves, olives and gherkins for my evening meal.I couldn't eat it all, how sad is that, the hound didn't mind as hes quite partial to a slice or 2 of steak.   I will admit to succumbing to a glass or 2 of Gin, it was Saturday, I was knitting and the x-factor may just have been on...

My rough calculations mean that I was way over the 600-800- very low calorie guidelines, but it was still below the 1200 average weight loss plans.

Sunday was a  house day, ironing and coming week prep was in order, I also wanted to do a sort out of project bags as my sweater is  squished into one of my favourite bags but its a wee bit small, so needed a change over. Then decided to unpack all my size 20 clothes and put them into my wardrobe, which led to sorting and bagging up for charity shop, its amazing how just 10lbs can change your dress size. I am determined that I wont get bigger or put that 10 lbs on, and having all those clothes out was like having a massive shopping trip ! I have another box of size 18 clothes which will be next but, think maybe another 10 lbs to get them comfortable.

As  my size 20 box was now empty I then decided to sort my yarn out and put all my sock yarns into 1 box. I am planning on doing Steven Wests Speckle & Pop shawl, and am still dithering over colours. My stash is most definitely growing.

The Bra box is full of gorgeous sock yarns, top box is lace weight and fibre and 1 sweaters worth of yarn for my next planned sweater. I don't think that's excessive, do you?

What's that Bra sticker I hear you ask, well, I might just be on a  bit of a pin badge thing at the moment and when this little badge popped up on Instagram I just had to have it.

It was for a good cause after all !

I'm still none the wiser in regard to yarn choices for the west knits mystery shawl knit a long, But I still have 2 weeks to decide.. just enough time to try and empty a project bag..

The boys were out at Rugby with hubs, so cooking the Sunday roast was down to me, even though I wasn't eating, very impressed I didn't give into temptation. I did notice a difference after a day of eating though, I could feel my old temptations coming back , I think the trick for me is to keep on the plan, meal replacements only until I work out how much real food I should be eating each  day, and have lost a decent amount to keep me motivated.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening unpicking the bottom of the sweater and then re-knitting, hoping I can get this sweater body done by next weekend.I have a whole box of scummy yarns just waiting to be cast on.

An uneventful weekend but a calm restful one, and a lesson learnt about food.

Weekly round up.

Monday, what can I say. You threw a lot of weather at me, sunshine and showers, wind and gales and torrential downpours.I cant moan looking at the awful hurricanes around the world. But blimey mother nature, make your mind up. One good thing is that with this lovely Autumnal feel I went to work wearing  my boots and a hand knitted shawlette, Joy. I do love a good pair of boots and there's nothing better than being able to wear your knits. 

Monday was an out of office day, got to drive down to Burnham , so had glorious views and amazing skies, I love clouds [ sad] especially the contrast between the dark grey and blue, when there is an impending storm. .I will admit I do take photos of clouds !  We back onto open fields so we do get a bit of a whipping in windy times. There was evidence this morning of the wind having played in the garden !

 I won a prize !! whoop whoop , me ! I won a prize. The lovely Jo over at Through the keyhole, was having a seventh anniversary giveaway, here's a look at what I won,[ pic from Jo's blog]

How lovely, and no, I have not eaten any of the chocolate, the teacakes disappeared as I turned my back.. Teenage boy syndrome !

The rest of the week was mainly spent at work, I did have another trip out to Burnham which broke the week up, but glad to say by the end of the week I think I cracked the backlog of report writing.5 months into this new job and I am still learning !

Knit wise, totally cocked up the rib on my Lundy sweater, I read 2 inches of garter stitch, which is what I did, sadly I forgot I was working in the round, so didn't alternate rounds as pattern directed, ended up with curly rib, then when I tried it on it was a bit too short for comfort, I think it may be a tad big, think my gauge is off. So I am currently unpicking it which is taking hours, the bottom of the sweater has short rows to give it a shaped hem, I have ordered another skein of the yarn as not sure I am going to have enough make it longer. At least its keeping me busy in the evenings and stopping me eating.

So now the weekend looms, hubs wants to nip over to Abergavenny to a food festival !! what, torture....[ weather dependent] and I also have a previous date this morning, for breakfast ! with some of my old work colleagues,  I shall be taking a 'bar' and having a pot of tea!

I shall leave you with a pic of my new pin badge, I have a little denim jacket that I love and haven't been able to fit into for ages, now its looking likely that I will be able to start wearing again I wanted a cople of little pin badges, I know I'm in my 50's but why the heck not !

It may well just end up on a project bag !

Malta Pics.

Having had the summer off of blogging I didn't get around to sharing any pics, so thought I would give you a little glimpse into our Malta Holiday.

Absolutely loved the place and would not hesitate to go back. Being typically British it was a bit too hot for my liking !