Monday again and a new book [or 2]

 I know I say it all the time, but time really does fly by. Here I am again on another Monday morning wondering where the last week has gone.

We've had a busy weekend, No 1 son turned 23, and his friends came over at various points for garden covid celebrations. One of his friend's has a camper so he parked up and slept in his van for the weekend. No 1 son was very pleased the weather was good, they booked a table at the local pub bear garden but gave up after a few pints as the wait times for table service were about 40 minutes. They are a good bunch of young men and really don't cause any trouble at all so they just sat in the garden chatting and ordering food to be delivered.

Then yesterday, after no 1 sons friends had gone we had friends over for a BBQ. It was lovely to be able to finally catch up with them, I am so grateful for a garden and the lovely weather. I will say after having been in lockdown for a very long time I am absolutely shattered after 3 days of having people around that I need to socialise with! I really need a quiet night tonight!

I've not done much knitting at all the past few days, tonight I plan on getting my baable hat finished, its not far off now, then it will be a long soak in the bath with my new book

I'm really enjoying it so far, just a few chapters in but very interesting. Info on book here

Then I may just have bought another book

I read one of her previous books and this caught my eye, Info on book here. Its gone onto my ' to read' pile' but I have a sneaky feeling I may just be reading this next.

WIP Wednesday.

 I've been a bit crap with my knitting, I've been flitting from one project to the next and not really getting very far with any of them. So this week I have decided to take action. I have pulled 1 small project and 1 sweater project to work on. No other projects allowed ! 

My WIP bags from Hyde & Hammer, they look very dull but are fab, bought for camping trips so can take a bit of throwing around and outdoor knitting... I'd really like some in brighter colours but I cant justify more project bags, especially when it means I then have to cast on more projects to fill them !

First up is the small project, it's a hat, it was cast on when it was very cold.....

I love everything about this hat and don't understand why I didn't finish it. Its my 3rd BaaBle hat, they are very addictive. I'm hopeful I will get this finished, then it will be a bobble or not to bobble debate. 

The big project is, of course, my bees and things sweater. The pattern is for a cardigan so its been my modified by me to be a sweater. Don't be fooled by the shape, it actually fits me well, I am a large apple shape... however I do think I could have actually gone down a size, will be interesting to see what it looks like when its washed and blocked, when its finished that is.

I'm almost at the colour section of the sleeve so if I stick to it I may get this sweater done over the next few weeks. Id really like to get this done for camping evenings....

Now all I have to do is resist the temptation of casting on anything else.......

Refreshed.

Last week was an absolute nightmare at work, I was so stressed I was having migraines...

But I managed to negotiate an early finish on Friday and set out in our new van, who we have decided to call Stan the Van.

Just a local jaunt, fully self contained in our unit so coronavirus rules could be maintained.

We headed out to Wookey, Its a fabulous little place, we stayed on an eco goat farm, Wookey Farm, we have stayed here before and love it, its a very clean well maintained and managed site. Great for a local jaunt.

The weather was great, if a little chilly at night.  On Saturday we headed into Wells for a walk, great place to visit if you are in the area.

Some of you may recognise some of the places from the film Hot Fuzz

The weekend was great, our friend from Cornwall came so we could socially distance meet, we havnet seen her for ages so it really was fab. Apart from our walk we had a BBQ

made a fuss of her rescue dog Boris

he's an old boy and has such a lovely personality, she's only had him a  few months but he's so good.

we watched the sunsets

and had fun watching the goats

then before we knew it it was time to head home

Ready for a new week at work.

It really was a battery charger and I am so thankful I am lucky enough to be able to get away. I'm counting down the days to our next mini break.

Weekend and some stash enhancement.

I really didn't want to go to work today, no idea why it was a home working day, think it was just the after effect of a long weekend off of work !  

Had a very quiet weekend, just what I needed and finished reading Madame Burova so I can now start the book charmer. I did manage to get out with the hound for a walk which was glorious...

Finished my spinning project

and saw a smiley face appear in the sky above our house

Then today Mr Posty bought a smile to my face....

A new knitting book and some glorious 50g skeins of sock yarn I plan to use for cuffs, heels and toes, although I may attempt some colorwork socks.

The book and yarn was from Tribe yarns, always great service from them, can't wait to be able to go to London to visit.

My decision for this evening is shall I try and do some more work on the sleeves of my bee sweater or cast on the lovely yarn above and make some new socks ? Or, should I just read my book.....

Reading & Work.

 Here we are again, another week done. 

This week has been absolutely exhausting, 2 onsite work visits that needed to be completed. 1 of which was a 5 hour train ride each way, not a  single route either, both trips needing changing of trains.

I had forgotten how much I love train travel. Although in current times I was surprised to see so many people with massive suitcases, obviously on their travels. As Wednesday entailed 5 hrs travel each way I managed to read a whole book! 

due to the nature of my job I can't really work on the train, and I always think if I was driving I wouldn't be able to work, so .... I read. Mind you on the journey back I was so tired I don't think anything that I would have written would have made sense.

 By Thursday I was exhausted and hoping for a quiet day working in my home office, but no... it was incredibly busy and as I was so exhausted I was most definitely not on form. I am really struggling with working at the moment, my brain doesn't seem to want to hold information and when I get pulled into emergency meetings where I need to take the lead my brain just shuts down.. Is this a middle aged thing? I am currently trying to come up with a plan of how to leave work..id rather retire but I'm not quite there yet, shame.

Thursday night therefore was a TV night, and yesterday a day to catch up with sleep and restore my self. Feeling much more awake today I have been hitting some of my creative to do list, its Easter weekend, house chores can wait. I may have also started another book

This is my 4th book in a week, I'm really in a reading mode at present, reading to me is escapism and I have loved each of the books I have read this week. I even have my next lined up

Its a good job we have a quiet weekend lined up. We aren't planning on going anywhere other than local as it is just so busy everywhere. Grandad is coming for lunch tomorrow [we're his bubble] and I have a walk lined up with a friend on Monday. Other than that its just us 4 leading a quiet life..