Stair rods, abomstrukkets, knitting and other oddities

The rain today, on the school run, was of biblical proportions. Now, sitting by the fire with the cats and my knitting (and a box of tissues) it is still raining - in stair rods.....

I only started using those words - stair rods - after I got to know Himself. I used them without realising their origin.  It was only after a few years of usage I actually investigated the meaning and discovered that stair rods are the little wooden or metal strips used to hold a carpet fast against the steps of a staircase. Today's rain is definitely stair-rodding it down - straight arrows of water directly downward.  (As an aside - I have just sneezed and startled the cat so much she went from a sleepy pile of fluff in to a rigid legged sharp backed hissing attack-cat, she has settled back down, albeit a little wary as she keeps one eye on me).

On the subjects of using words with out realising their true meanings - here is another one. As a child with an untidy room (still struggling with that demon) I would watch my mom stride in, despairing at the artfully arranged mess and say 'look at your room -'it looks like abomstrukket - tidy up now!'

I would dutifully shove all my toys and shoes and anything else on the floor under my bed or into my cupboards and my bedroom would look a little less like the fabled abomstrukket. For years and years I would accept and call any mess an abomstrukket without even questioning the meaning. Until when, as a teenager, my mom was still accusing my now even messier room as an abomstrukket, I actually registered what she was saying in her anguish at my 'nest', my 'den', my room. She was (and I am sure you will have already worked this out) she was saying.... 'your room looks like a-bomb-has-struck-it'......

My nose and throat are a little rough today, hence the tissue box and the cat-startling-sneeze. Definitely feeling sorry for myself. But, through the haze of coughing and nose blowing I actually heard Himself say to me, just take it easy today and knit with the cats by the fire - gasp - what a man! Who am I to refuse such a suggestion.

Playing (for medicinal purposes you understand) with a self striping ball of yarn. 

Making another (!) kerchief/shawlette.

Had fun making this lace pattern up - once you have the basics then it is just a matter of having a repeating pattern that fits in the number of stitches on your knitting pins. Easy! (said after several frogging sessions and a fair bit of knitting related cussing.....)

Before blocking.

Picture colour rather poor in this driech grey light and the flash just removes any last shreds of decent colour so just imagine the rich russetty hue of the shawlette and the vibrant cheer of the multicoloured ball of yarn.

Today day is tipping day - tipping us towards the weekend - enjoy your Wednesday and remember, when it rains - you can make your own sunshine :)

In which we go walking and fall through a time warp

We made the most of the last of the sunshine on Saturday with a lovely walk in the Yorkshire Dales. Eldest was doing his second walk for his Duke of Edinburgh Award which entailed he, with a bunch of similarly dressed and haversack laden teenagers, to walk about 14 km to an overnight stop. Here they had to set up camp and cook for themselves then, on Sunday walk a similar distance to another designated point where they would collapse until various parents would scoop them up and whisk them home (insist on showers and a fresh change of clothing) and sort out their wet socks/shoes/tent/trousers and empty the crushed food remains out of the haversack.

As we were already out and about dropping off Eldest, we set off for our own walk too. Youngest misses (but won't admit to it) his brother and relies on us as a poor substitute. So we have to keep him busy.

After a bit of a slog up a gentle but almost never ending uphill slope, we stopped for a break.  All we could hear was the sound of the skylarks, the occasional sheep and Youngest nattering away.

We travelled along rolling green humpbacked hills and down in to a dark sharp gorge with steep edges. Back out into the autumnal sunshine we walked down into the village of Grassington and was transported back in time.

To the 1940s.......

 

Grassington was hosting a rip-roaring 1940's weekend. The place was heaving with costume perfect folk, sand bags and military encampments.

We were pleasantly entertained for about an hour as we walked through the sandbagged streets, listening to a wonderfully dressed chap, in his plus fours and round spectacles, as he belted out all the latest tunes. SS officers mingled with the US army whilst beautifully glossy lipped and stockinged legged women clipped along the streets in their kitten heels and fur stoles. Men saluted and barked orders, guns were slung casually over shoulders as were gas masks. A wonderful old perambulator was being trundled up the street filled with lacy baby bedding and a vintage teddy. Youngest was in heaven - he loved it, his eyes almost as wide open as his mouth as he checked out all the uniforms, military vehicles and weapons. His kind of day :)

On Sunday, as promised, we arrived to collect a weary Eldest who has picked up a rather nasty cold and in a fit of 'teenagerdom' didn't look after himself and now was cold and unsuitably dressed - all his warm gear stuffed in his haversack. *sigh* when will they learn?

Now, Monday, he is curled up on a chair with a book and the fire crackling away. He was so flushed and poorly this morning, I didn't have the heart to send him to school and even Youngest said his brother should stay in bed!

knitting progress

 

'Dancing cats' making the most of the fire

prrrrr

Any hoo - it is Monday, it is the beginning of a new week and I am going to use our lovely weekend to power me through :)
Have yourselves a good day - with love hawthorn xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

All this divided York and Lancaster..." William Shakespeare, Richard III

What a grey day! Again! I know that we are all 'desperate' for rain and that we are under a hosepipe ban in parts of the country and I know, I know that the ground water is still low and all this rain is very necessary to raise the levels - but I-a-m-h-e-a-r-t-i-l-y-s-i-c-k of the ****** stuff - gah. When I grew up in Africa, rain was seen as a gift......

I have found that my crafting mojo is in a bit of a lull at the moment. Several have done projects languish on my desk. Each one has a fairly plausible excuse for its unfinished state but I feel quite uninspired to actually surmount these rather small blocks. Hmm - note to self - *get on with it!*

On the positive front, our feline family are handling each other's presence so so much better. My mom came up with a brilliant analogy. She calls their hissing and spitting 'The War of the Roses' Which appropriately enough has the red rose of Lancashire warring against the white rose of York for the English throne in the mid to late 1400s.

You may still be wondering at the connection here - so here goes, Lily (red) was born and bred in Lancashire and Pan (predominantly white) was found in a shed in Yorkshire. Brilliant!

But, unlike the war of the roses, our little furry dispute seems to be receding, with only the occasional spat.  I know that food and play is a great leveller and the tastiest treats and the most exciting games soon break down barriers.

Easter Break review in photos

Visiting......

...A vintage vehicle rally in Kirby Stephen.

Knitting.......

...my sky scarf and my first mitten on dpn needles

Walking................

....on high wild hills, over farm land, through isolated villages.

We celebrated Easter.....

.....with cheese rolling down a wet and windy hill...

                                   ....eating chocolate for breakfast!

I took inspiration from......

.....lichens on stone walls, carvings from ruined buildings, fungus on rotten trunks, flowers, stones and sky.

We had a lovely time, may be a little wet and a little cold at times, but these small discomforts were far outweighed by the beauty of the wilderness we camped in.

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Again I have to say thank you for all your wonderful thoughts and kind words. We are really touched by the response - thank you very much xx

A simple day

A clear and crisp sky - a delightful change. We exhaled 'dragon's breath' when we stood out in the frosted garden.

 A need for air, we went for a gentle walk.  After jarring my knee last week I needed to get out but it had to be easy.

Yesterday's muddy pathway was today's crunchy and dry track.

Stone pathways kept our feet from the worst of the ice-filled footprints

We wandered by old gateposts with their carved holes and lead-held ironwork

I wondered at how long the rusty chain had languished around this post

I loved the way the low sunlight glowed through the protective tree tube

Years of weathering has exposed the rings in the wood

Time to retrace our steps, the sun was going down and there was a definite chill in the air. Time to go home and make a lasagne and snuggle down by the fire for the evening. Bliss.

PS Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I have some crochet projects to share with you soon!

xx

Counting counting 19

Another bitterly cold day. Himself was outside most of the morning sawing wood. As he worked, tendrils of steam curled off his back. Around his feet, the hens inspected his every move. Released from their pen, they have access to the entire garden but choose to linger by the wood pile. Their quick eyes and almost quicker beaks find things to eat. In the woodshed near by, Giddy Dog shivered - not with cold but with excitement as she watched the hens. She knows they are forbidden to her but each scratch, each peck and each step is closely watched.
After lunch the boys wrap up warmly for an afternoon of sledging. I chose to stay behind. Yesterday's walk made me so so cold that my jaw and cheekbone ached for hours afterwards. I having crafting and writing to do, and the lure of the crackling fire and the promise of a mug of tea is enough to keep me home.

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16

It is bitterly cold outside, but we, the cat, dog and I have the fire blazing merrily away and the radio is keeping us company.  

I have just enough time on a Thursday afternoon to do a few things at home before flying off to collect the boys from school.


I keep glancing out of the window and watching the falling snow, it is not sticking so I am not worried, yet, as the forecast for later is grim sounding.

I was so pleased with the apple green scarf, that I have started another one in the same style, 

but this one is a gift, so shhhhhhhhh...................................

14 days and counting -

14 - fourteen, 2 weeks, fortnight.

I looked up the word 'fourteen' and found that it originated from middle English and was written as - fourtene or feowertene and and in Anglo-Saxon it was written feowertyne or feowetene. This reminded me that the ancients measured time by nights and winters, so a fortnight came from  fourteen nights - two weeks.

Only one more week to winter solstice, the longest night and then the earth begins to tilt and gently gently we will start getting our days back. Woo hoo getting closer to spring, and as I sit here, feeling cold, that thought is so positive!

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I have already mentioned that I will be running through the 12 days of Christmas, starting from the 25th December but I thought I would just post here Youngest's most recent homework. His task was to reply to 'His True Love' and thank them for all the gifts they had given him and explain to them what he had done with them..........So, below, for your delight and guffaws I have copied out his reply - classic!

Dear friend

The presents that you gave me were delightful but…

I could not catch the partridge in time so it flew away, 

but I planted the pear tree in my garden.

I set the turtle doves and the calling birds free, did you know that they are colly birds- which is the old fashioned name for blackbirds. 

The French hens I have added them to my other six chickens. 

I found out that the rings are chocolate not gold I ate 2 and sold the rest. 

I have bought an allotment for the geese. 

For the milk maids I rang up the dairy factory in Settle and they have got part time jobs. 

The disco divas have gone to see a friend of mine’s mum who is a dance teacher. 

Those lords, well I sent them to train for the Olympics for the long jump, triple jump, high jump, hurdling jump, trampolining, pole vaulting, ski jumping, horse jumping, snowboarding and gymnastics.

For the pipers I sent them to plumbing school to learn about all types of pipes. 

And the drummers they have gone to the coldstream guards military band. 

But I will report you for theft and violation to her majesty herself for stealing seven swans.

from xxxx

     

                           

I laugh out loud every time I read his reply ! What goes on in that little head of his is amazing! 

Counting again .... 9

Spotted by my eagle eyed boys - today's number 9 is a creation of snow embedded into a telegraph pole registration number.




When I typed the words 'eagle eyed' I was instantly taken back to when Youngest was a lot lot younger, and in innocence, said something to a teacher which made us curl up in parental horror!


He was only 4 ½ - 5 years old and had lost a book and his rather stern and unforgiving teacher said to him something on the lines of.... 

'you have to have the eyes of an eagle like me'

to which our dearest and sweetest and most precious  (lil monster....) Youngest replied....

Yes, you have the eyes of an eagle

legs of a chicken

breath of a buzzard

Apparently there was a deathly hush and a rather pained expression on said teacher, who with pursed lips sent him back to his seat.

Where, you might ask, did he get such pretty little ditty.....

.......Ask his father.....

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It must be something to do with the weather. All this coldness, whiteness, snowiness and total lack of verdant colour has made me yearn for things green.

My basket weave apple green scarf

Did I mention it's a deliciously appley green?

I love it

love it

love

green

I love the way it drapes, 

I love its spring-like green apple colour

One more, promise last one today......... 

...... Although I will probably post more pictures when it is finished!!

Counting down .... 8 (well -8.1°c!!)

Today's number is sponsored by the weather...............

-8.1°c,    

-8.1°c - yes, it really said that this morning, on our little thermometer in the kitchen.

It has a outdoor sensor which tell us how cold it is out there, we know it is cold but this little thing confirms with my feet and my nose that it really is that cold!  

Have.I.made.myself.clear.that I am and it is cold today! ....... Got that little rant out of my system.

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I have always credited my chaotic journey through life as partially self-created and partially inherited...... I now have proof that it is all inherited.........courtesy of my mad family. 

I have below a slightly edited*** transcript of my Mom's last email to me, I shall let you decide for yourself.........

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All the best laid plans of mice and men get messed up by the weather.

 

1. Outlet pipe of  kitchen sink frozen.(they live on second floor of block of flats with no easy access to side of their building)
2. Fetch hose pipe - hose pipe frozen. (hosepipe lives in the shed, was last seen in active duty during the height of summer)
3. Thaw out hose pipe in bath.  Connect to bath tap and Dad spends about 10 minutes spraying pipe bend outside under kitchen window while in freezing cold.
4. Finally clear.
5. Problem caused by ice forming on  an old satellite dish (not ours) then dripping down again onto the pipe.  Ice originally forms because the gutters are neither cleaned nor repaired in spite of reporting to the landlord -   again and again.
6. Brother comes over for a completely different reason and offers to lean out of the window and cut off the old satellite dish.
7. Which he does, successfully, and lets it crash down into the ditch. (a good thirty feet below)
8. Before my eyes, the inside waste pipe under the sink, (disconnected from outlet pipe) swings from the upright position to about ten past!!
9. The falling satellite dish has hit the pipe and cut it clean in two!
10. Now have outlet pipe hanging down outside, so water just pours down wall...............
11. Phone Landlord's wife and report the above numbers 1 to 5 (leaving out numbers 6 - 9!!!..........) then No. 10.!!!

 Ahem, clearing throat noises.  The truth, the almost whole truth and nothing, well almost nothing but the truth!!

 

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So, you see your honour, my apparent lack of any intelligent behaviour 

is not of my making, 

it is, I put to you - 

as a result of my family

I rest my case

*** edited so to remove any names of parties involved to help some way in preventing total shame!