have you seen the film marathon man?.........

Friends I kid you not, it was the most traumatic 1 hour and 45 mins of my life! and I'm not talking about the football.


I am not generally given to dramatic prose, I promise you. Anyone that knows me would tell you that I am generally a woman of few words and known to play down every stressful situation. But this was third world stuff and I am still recovering. (with the help of elderly parent's strong painkillers)


Did I really give thanks on Wednesday to the footie fan who had given up their appointment!


So with a teeny hint of melodrama, I can promise I will never watch poor Dustin Hoffman in that film ever again(for those too young or too sensible it includes a terrible scene involving a dentist played by Lawrence Olivier- say no more)....as it is I have hardly slept since.......without a doubt giving birth felt easier and safer.



So on to far happier things. EXAMS are finished.....not for me of course but youngest, though it has felt a lot like we were under the same pressure at times. Every teeny weeny thing we asked her to do was met with the retort 'exams remember'. Well no more ha ha.
Housework duties start Monday........you can imagine the response that got.

Look what came in the post today. ooh I do love little parcel deliveries and this did not fail to delight.
Also as we are short of a wool shop in the small town (and I could not be bothered to go into Cambridge for John Lewis this morning), I also bought these in the charity shop. £1.50 for 100g. Granted of course it is acrylic but its nice acrylic, quite soft and very easy to work with. I will get some merino dk when I get to JL cos that's my fave.

So...... youngest is at work, Herb is watching football and I shall adjourn to the garden for some hooking and a glass of rose.

lovely weekend everyone.

Its been a while.........

...and I have done some lovely things....the knitting and stitching show at ally pally was wonderful, I would urge you to go next year if you can. Not only lots of lovely things to buy, but wonderful textile art and demonstrations. However I forgot my camera so have nothing to show except a couple of purchases. Wonderful Amy Butler prints for a bit of patchwork and gorgeous yarn for a bit of crochet.

but generally.....I have been in a major slump!

I'm not prone to moods except a little pmt and even that's on the wane.......nor generally to prolonged miserable periods, but this has been awful. I feel mithered, on edge, as if all my nerve endings are on the surface. Every thing is a major effort and nothing brings joy (except youngest child of course.) Herb and I have not got on, which is fairly unusual, I even cancelled good friends who were due to come for dinner last night only because I couldn't make the effort to cook. I have had a week off and hopefully with the return to work tomorrow, life will return to normal.

A good day was had on Thursday however, visiting the Tate Britain and Portrait Gallery, for the purpose of inspiring youngest for her ucas personal statement. Will write next time of what we saw, but would highly recommend the restaurant in Covent Garden we went to..... Wahaca....a fab Mexican, recently awarded best cheap eat by the guardian. It was really good.

despite 'slump' have been quite busy on the craft front, some more copying I'm afraid

a little try at some redwork embroidery

more bargello copying

and the crochet scarf all finished. Doesn't it look fab, hopefully it will be well received at Christmas.

Oh this was something else to add to my low period......a little accident in the rain........no one hurt thank goodness.

I meant to go for lots of colour......

honestly I did.

I love the things made by Lucy at attic24 but when it came to it my hands reached for the muted tones, a deep duck egg blue, gorgeous aubergine, ice blue and that rose pink I so love. I have decided to do the flower squares at rosehip just because I haven’t done anything like this before and so far the squares have come out beautifully.

A cushion for my bedroom I think. ...........I haven’t finished the blanket

yet but bought this little project to take on holiday. Herb now tells me the crochet hook won’t be allowed on the flight so I won’t be able to while away 4 hours creating.

However I must put the hook aside and finish the embroidery that I am hoping to give as a gift for my friend at the weekend. I have the frame and made a start but now am a bit less confident. Will she like it or just be polite and tuck it away in a corner somewhere. Will show you the result at the end of the week.

Oh must show you my bargain. I went to a charity bring and buy sale on Saturday. I had been warned this was no ordinary sale and indeed it wasn’t………housed in a beautiful barn, it was labels galore….which is not my thing but youngest child had a good root through. Then I spied the shoes. Boxed, new and gorgeous and all for £25.00.

(£120.00 new) and they fit. Fantastic. Youngest got a Ralph Loren shirt which she is very pleased with for £5.00. I have never been one for bargains but this has spurred me on. I will be more enthusiastic when dragged into charity shops by my friends on our days out and hopefully get some more bargains to show you.