Almost there.

The end of the month is almost here,The sun has made an appearance and my toothache is pretty much gone ! Things are on the up. 

Nothing much to report here, have pretty much been working and knitting. 

I have managed to finish a couple of things this month  which has given my knitting mojo a boost.

First up I finished my  big scarf thingy, its very loosely based on the drift of snow pattern. I missed out all the lace bits and only knit half the length, which is just perfect for me. I really love this scarf. Its a sock yarn held double with some mohair lace-weight and is just so snuggly. Pretty sure I will knit another with all the lace bits in.

Then I went and finished a pair of socks that have been on the needle for ages, Its a Regia yarn but I cant remember the colour.

Then I finally finished the mitts from a  kit my eldest bought me a few Christmases back. They were meant to have little fox ears and a face on them, but I rather like them like this.

Last Sunday also saw my cooking mojo come back and I made the boys the boys a batch of chocolate cupcakes, cant remember the last time I cooked cakes, it's been a while.

Work wise, I am starting to get out now, the quiet month is almost over. I had to go up to Norfolk, quite a trek and no direct route which meant I was train hopping quite a bit. On the way up I had to change over at Kings cross, have to admit I have never been there before, was pleasantly surprised

Lovely station and obviously there was a bit of Harry Potter present

These were 2 random people I dont actually know, but what a great pose, there was a huge que to get a pic done here.

This is the cute little station at the end of my journey to Norfolk. Spotlessly clean and really cute. 

Didn't get to see much of Norfolk, apart from the drives between station, hotel and work venue, but at least the sun was shining ! Its not part of the country that I have ever visited, but I think I may well try and get a sneaky holiday in up that way.

Arrived back home last night to find this little cutie all tucked up

Not that he spoiled....

Its good to be home........

Pain and a little treat.

Wow, I am really finding this month a long struggle, it seems never ending.

On the plus side it is starting to get lighter in the mornings and my commutes are showing me some lovely sunrises. Its also not rained for the last 3 days which is always a bonus. 

Have worked all week, still based from the office which doesn't help, getting out and about breaks up the day. Next week sees my holiday period calm start to get busy and then I will be wishing I were office based again!

Wednesday morning saw a sneaky dental pain creep in which by Wednesday night was painful enough to get me calling the dentist.Thursday morning straight in at opening, yup, suspected dental infection.....antibiotics prescribed, now its a waiting game, fingers crossed the tablets get rid of it. Dental pain hasn't  helped my mood and the side effects of them have left me wiped out, think it was also the combination of pain meds alongside them .

Come the weekend I wasn't up for much, we had a planned meal out with some friends which I managed, (tepid soft food) and home by 10. Saturday saw us go check out a boarding kennel for the hound, holidays pending, i'm not happy to be putting him in kennels though, need to see if I can find a dog sitter ! There was a garden centre opposite so we had a little mooch and picked up the dog food and some more little bird feeders for the garden.

Am hoping the little birds like them as they dont get a look in with the rest as the big birds rule the garden.

On the way I had noticed a yarn store !! on the way back hubs asked if I wanted to pop in, silly question really..

What a find, such a lovely shop. If you are ever in the area its a great place to have a mooch. Its Alterknit Universe  in Cleeve. Its got a  great selection of yarns and recycled yarns. Of course I had to buy something...

Absolutely love this yarn. The Croft by westyorkshire spinners.

Aran weight, the colours remind me of the coast. Planning on doing a 2 colour Flax sweater, Not quite sure how that will pan out but have already cast it on. 

Sunday was spent at home, we've just started on stripping the front room ready for a refresh,  hubby let me choose the wallpaper......

The photo's dont show the true colours but I love it, cant wait to get it done.

And then, just like that It was time to get ready for another week at work.

On the plus side I finished my book so can now start another

The Binding by Bridget Collins.

The January drudge.

I'm in one of those dithering moods again, I seem to have lost all my mojo for everything lately.

I think the start of the year being grey and dismal doesn't help,I am so looking forward to longer days, some sun and to see some colour starting to pop up. I hate going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark, all I want to do is curl up and get snug when I get home from work. 

I've lost my weekends to relaxing (read that as not doing much of anything )  after the madness of the end of last year. Think I needed time to recharge ( be lazy), maybe if I start getting out and about a bit more I may find some get up and go. 

There's little been going on, I did manage to get one quick knit done, being a public transport user I needed a hat, blooming freezing waiting around for buses and trains

Managed to get this done over 2 nights, love the hat, not sure I am a pom pom girl though.

My works in progress have been taunting me, I am trying to work my way through them before I cast on something else, buts its a painfully slow process. I did pick up one project and thought 'yuk' I really dont want to knit this any more.

This was my sunset fade  but I really dont like the colours anymore and am not likely to wear it. My colour palette has changed a lot since last year. So it went. no longer a WIP, that felt good.

I've managed to separate for the sleeves on my monstera sweater so its now a long stocking stitch marathon to get this done. Great TV knitting though

Colours are more muted in real life, but this was yesterday morning, me and the hound relaxing. Hes really not an early riser.

My first book of the year is 

This was a Christmas gift, I'm sort of enjoying it, want to finish it, but find my self scan reading some pages. I'll persevere though. 

Other than that I have very little to write about ! 

Hopefully 2020 will start to pick up soon.

Hello 2020

It's only now that I finally find time to sit down and blog, well actually write a post. The year end one was already set up and just needed finishing. What I have done is tweaked the blog again. It's not been feeling right for a while and I was almost thinking of giving it up again. But I love blogging so here I am hoping that this year I can get it to feel the way that I want it to be.Still not 100 percent sure what that looks like, but maybe that's because my life isn't feeling quite right, but I haven't worked out what I need to do to rectify that ! Maybe I am just in that midlife phase where the kids are all grown and dont need you as much, they are even thinking of moving out :0(

It hasn't  helped that the end of the year has been a bit chaotic, a friend came to stay, I went back to work on Monday ( all bar New Years day), and we dechristmased the house this weekend.You all know what that means,having to clean up all the mess that the season brings. That escalates into me having to organise everything and get it all put away properly, then I decide I need to do a winter clean and sort, which then leads to my wardrobe and little pink den. ( which may need an overhaul this year, I am so over pink....) 

Don't get me wrong, the end of the year and the beginning of this has been great, full of friends and family, but I am the sort of person that does need a bit of quiet alone time to just do my own thing.I can find socialising overwhelming so need to just shut myself down at times.Another downside of socialising for me is that it puts all my plans behind, I'm a bit of an organisation freak and need my lists done, my journals set up for the year and my work stuff put in order. Its like I cant move on until its all sorted and ready to go.

This year I have made no new years resolutions, I never stick to them and it just puts extra stress on me. Instead I am just going to try to live my best life, try to be the bets me that I can without bowing to what I think others want me to be. Basically I just want to be me, love me and live a life that supports this.How do I do that then eh?

One of the things I have done is to sort ( again) my yarny projects. It feels like I have to get them out of the way now. I need to move on to new things. The group of ladies that I went on the yarn retreat with last year have set up a group chat, so we have stayed in contact which is great. Did I tell you we have arranged another weekend retreat with the same group of women? I am so looking forward to that. Anyway, as part of this chat group we have set up WIPAGHEDDON. We are all going to try and finish as many of our works in progress as we can before we meet up again at the and of April.

Here's my works in progress

In addition to that, I have my metred square blanket, a pair of socks that I couldn't find at the time and another blooming sweater, again I couldn't find it until I sorted out my stash !

In addition I have 1 sewing project to finish and 1 spinning project.

So what did I do? cast on another blooming project instead, see that why I dont set new years resolutions !

Its more of a need than a want so does it count?  The other evening I was waiting for the bus home and it was blooming freezing... so I decided to cast on a hat yesterday

its going  well so far, may even get it cast off tonight !

It is so soft and fluffy, might have to do another in a different shade. Maybe I need to do a finish one cast one on type of thing?

Goodbye 2019.

One of the great things about blogging is to be able to look back over the past year and reflect on all that has been. Working full time with all the family still at home can be a non stop rush of things to do, with little time to stop and pause for breath. Its easy to forget the simple things of daily life.

So lets take a look back and see what 2019 looked like for me.

January.

As usual I started the year with all good intentions,I had grand plans to turn my life around and find that elusive balance. I started the year by resigning from my job, and set my self a frugal challenge and a gut busting challenge, all of which failed miserably.

  January saw me get my new wheel.

I continue to enjoy it, but sadly have not used it as much as I should.

I was still trying to get my Cornwallis sweater done

I'd lost my weekends so planned to get them back on track, we took a walk to Portishead Marina to blow some cobwebs away

 and that was January, not much ahppening then.

February.

My Birthday month. 

Another walk out to Severn beach

we had snow

I continued to spin

and knit

I didn't blog it but headed out to Tintagel with family and friends to celebrate my birthday

and I left my old job.

March.

I started a new job, 

Went to a Massive Attack concert, which was fab

cracked on with my yearly knit along based on David Attenboroughs the Blue Planet

finished a sewing project

still knit on the Cornwallis

and took a trip to the garden centre in Bristol

 April.

Did some of the art trail

did some more spinning

celebrated no 1 sons 21st Birthday

and did a bit of reading and buying of books

May.

started to dislike my new job, wasnt happy at all.

Friends dragged me out

A concert in Birmingham  for a long weekend with my oldest friend

a day out with hubs

yes, I like looking at old ruins, churches especially.

I read a lot and knit some more on my oceania

Signed up to a gym, that weight thing..

June.

Date nights with hubby

Theatre with friends

and another old church

But best of all we found Frank

July.

The holiday of a life time just for the boys

and picking up Frank.

August.

Cleared out my craft room and did a major destash to get rid of the  loss of my crafting mojo

bought a new office set up, new to me anyway 

picture from the seller, great deal for £100 for the lot. 

must have been an omen as started applying for a new job.

Took a short holiday to Cornwall with hubs.

September.

A 1 night camping trip with hubs

Told I was going to be made redundant but found a new job

and started a new knitting project or 2

October.

Started the new job.

Went on my first ever knitting retreat

Another date night with hubs

went to craft 4 crafters with a friend

spent time walking Frank

and started another knitting project

November.

Had a weekend in Cornwall with some girls from work and their dogs, it rained the whole time

started another knitting project

lost a friend unexpectedly

had a bad cold, took time off of work

finished 2 doggy cowls from my hand-spun

Yes, there for dogs, its for a Lurcher dog rescue.

December.

The start of the month saw hubs and I head off to New York with some friends, no sons in sight !

We had an amazing mad time.

Home and back to work but managed a quick trip to Cornwall to see our friend

Decorated the house for Christmas and watched Christmas movies

spent a quiet  festive period with family

Went out to celebrate new years eve

In between I had to work but enjoyed being office based with no travel.

Sorted out the craft room .... again.....

The knitting section, sorted and projects to be finished put on top of the pile...

2020 may be the year to actually get things done !

All in all it was one hell of a mad busy year..