Enjoying the last of summer.

A sneaky few nights away with the hubs in Cornwall was just what I needed to end my summer. After the busyness of life it was good to stop and reconnect. We walked, we ate, we talked, at times we did nothing but sit side by side on the beach in silence. It was bliss and I am not ready to get back on the treadmill of work life. But needs must....

Back on the wheel.

For the first time in a long while I got my wheel out!

Almost at the end of the first 50g batt, then onto the 2nd. Then to decide how to ply. 

This is a gorgeous gradient set

from Spinjones over on Etsy. I'm a bit of an addict for her fluff batts!

It's arrived...

Finally, it's arrived. This is the condition it arrived in. Apparently water damaged!

This arrival may have had something to do with the fact that one of hubs friends wifes works for Hermes and made a few calls! 

I really am not impressed with them and most certainly won't ever use them again, however, am pleased that it's arrived and a cast on is already in process!

Ticking along.

Peaceful week at work, think everyone is on leave or working from home.

I was pretty much the only person from my team in most of the week. 

Haven't heard anything about the job, nor have I applied for anything else. not too much about.

I will keep looking, something will come up I am sure.

Home wise it's been quiet as well, hubs had to go over to Holland to work for a couple of days, no 1 son has been working and no 2 still looking for jobs. The green room office is taking shape, not finished but looking so much better. Frank is taking over and there are dog toys appearing in most rooms ! I really need to do some housework this weekend!

I broke the knitting funk and managed a few rows on my sunset find my fade shawl, 

This is being knit up from a gorgeous fade kit from Siobhan's crafts

5 x 50g skeins of sock yarn, its called perfect sunset fade, broke my non yarn buying plan for this set.

Still yet to finish my sweater, only half a sleeve left to do, maybe i'll try and knit a few rows of that later. All the other WIP bags are now stacked neatly waiting to be finished  in my streamed down stash section . 

Remember that huge destash I did and sent to my friend? well HERMES lost it... I could cry. 

3 huge bags full, gone, I packed them one on top of the other and securely wrapped. The parcel was BIG, how the heck did they lose that? Have now had to put a claim in but gutted for my friend. I most definitely will not be using them again. Maybe there's a knitting HERMES delivery driver who has now got a nice free stash.

Went to see an old friend straight from work last night, was good to catch up, she must have had a sixth sense that I needed a pick me up as she bought me an unexpected gift

My reading mojo has perked up and this is the first week that I have wanted to step away from the comfort of chic lit for a few weeks now. I am currently reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz so will have to wait to start this little beauty!

Nothing much else to report, just a normal quiet week.

Re calibrating.

Yesterday was a non day, after the busyness of life I just feel I need a weekend with nothing on the agenda. I just need to stop and re-calibrate myself !

Yesterday was a peaceful day, hubs and no 1 son were out, just no 2 and I. 

I blogged !, I walked the hound, pottered about, helped no 2 apply for some jobs, hes off to Uni and wants to earn some cash. Hes never had a job before and its harder than you think trying to get a part time job. I cooked dinner then sat with a glass of wine and watched a few episodes of the Gilmore girls. No crafting or reading yesterday.  I even had an early night.

This morning I've been playing catch up with blog reading, I've been printing some sprocket photos for my journal, i'm really behind and I love my journaling, until I catch up I cant journal....My journal is a mish mash of memories, lists and assorted other things.  It really is a great collector of my life over the past year. I think as I am getting older I am becoming more aware of capturing good times with friends and family. a little snapshot of my life. I am enjoying the process and it works as a great gratitude journal. But there are things in my head I want to move forward with and my little journal helps me make sense of it all.  That is this mornings focus!

This afternoon Hubs is going to pick up a new office set up. Downstairs we have 'The Green room', when the boys were younger it was their playroom, but over the years it has morphed into a room with no purpose other than a dumping ground. We dont really need a new office, I currently dont work from home, but I need to give the room a function back. This was a deal  not too miss, great curved desk, 2 pedestals, the chair, a screen and a keyboard, all for £100. I'm quite excited about getting it organised , maybe when its sorted I will find that job that allows me an element of mobile working and get to use it. Its also a bit of forward thinking for when we do put the house on the market.

This is what we are going to pick up, pretty good deal I think.

As for the rest of the day? who knows I may manage to get a bit of spinning or knitting in !

Getting back into my rhythm.

This is the first day following my holiday that I have felt almost normal. This weekend is all about me getting back in to my life stride. It feels like there is so much catching up to do.I cant believe we are now in August, where is this year going?

Jet lag was a killer and didn't help my mood on return to work. Work went downhill pretty fast, there's some good people that I work with but the others, well. 1 or 2 seem to be deliberately going out of their way to make my life stressful ! So I have come to the conclusion that life is far too short to be unhappy so I am therefore looking for something new. Feels like a weight has been lifted, I gave it my best shot but sometimes you just dont click and teamwork is very important to be. Onwards and upwards they say.

So' The holiday, what can I say. Loved it. Not so keen on Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios but loved Animal Kingdom and Epcot. Loved Universal but not Islands of adventure.  Hated the crowds. Our apartment was fab, the hire car great, the weather changeable whilst maintaining very hot temps and humidity. Fantastic lightening storms. The exchange rate is rubbish so it could be quite expensive. We didn't get too do as much as we wanted but we only took 2 rest days out of the 14. Feels like we only skimmed the surface. It was blooming exhausting. I'll pop a few pics onto a separate post. I have loads and need to sort them out first ! here's a little snippet

The day after our return I drove up to Worcester to pick up Frank, ( our new hound)

hes settled in really well, has found his voice and likes to bark, a lot. He's also decided hes a great digger of holes ! Hes not keen on other dogs when we take him for a walk and haven't yet tested out his free running and recall, need to find a very secluded place to do that!

Craft wise I have done very very little, just haven't been in a crafty mood at all. I did however cast on another project with a fade kit, will pop a post up on WIP Wednesday.The major thing I did craft-wise was a HUGE yarn destash. I had years worth of single skein sock yarns and other odds and ends, it was stifling me, so I upped and culled it all. I have only left myself with stuff I know I will knit and have an idea for a project with. To be honest I just dont knit or wear socks anymore. I still have 2-3 pairs in process. I have a very good knitter friend who I gave it all too! I just know that she will love it and use it. I bought myself an organiser thingy, and its now all sorted and tidy, it feels great. I am still on a no buy though! 

Reading has been ongoing, when i'm stressed I escape into books.Getting through quite a few, need to update my book list. I have a to read pile of about 30, need to go on a no book buy.

Health wise, no changes there, still thinking about being healthier, still not doing much about it !

And thats it, a brief catch up. Hopefully now I can get back into my rhythm and start doing more stuff that I love, which includes blogging !