11.11.09

After yesterday's fondling of Orcadian wools,
I am still wondering what to do with them.

So,
living up to my butterfly-mind reputation for flitting from project to project,
I started to wind yarns,
cool silvery, dreamy, inspirational yarns.

I find wool winding always jolts my crafting mojo back into life.

It worked!

I reached for the brightest green cotton yarn I could find and I've started crafting for Yule.

Welcome back mojo.

10.11.09

I opened Jonathon Joe (link) today -
For, there silently waiting for me,
were the wools
that I'd been given by him
whilst on holiday in the Orkneys.

They had been gently calling to me
for a while now,
but they had to wait,
as other louder and more
insistent projects needed to be completed.

Now it is their turn.
I carefully lifted each one,
squeezed them gently,
took in their lanolin scent.

Staring at the yarns,
I wonder how best to use them.

All the while I can see the places they came from.

I hope I can do them justice.

09.11.09

Has any one noticed that Nature does it best?

She knows exactly what the perfect finishing touches are.

No gilding of the lily for her.

Today Nature has lightly frosted my garden - beautifully.

A delicate etching of frost on a plank of wood

A light dusting of ice crystals on a fern frond

A picot edging to an ivy leaf

A coat of frost on the last of the summer's Red Campion

A hirsute leaf catching the sun, each tiny hair covered in ice

A crusty coating on the compost bin

And all the while I was marveling at the detail and filigree work

I was being watched

I was being scrutinised

Time to go in, my feet are cold and my mug of tea is calling.

08.11.09
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month
we mark the signing of the Armistice to signal the end of World War One.


For at 11am on the 11th of November in 1918,
the guns of the Western Front were silent after
more than four years of continual battle.

So, this Sunday, the nearest to the 11th November,
we stopped,
we fell silent,
we gave thanks for life,
for lives lost,
for lives saved,
for those yet to go into battle,
for those who will never return,
for those left behind.

Flags were lowered,
the Last Post then Reveille were played,
Wreathes were laid,
prayers were said.

The Ode of Remembrance was recited...............

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning 

We will remember them."

06.11.09

Despite the threats of fireworks and bonfires,

it was more of a damp whimper than a bang

But I didn't care,

I sat on the floor surrounded by yarns and friends

and we' knattered'

we 'knittered'

we crocheted

and we were just....

us.

Today, after a stern talking to myself

About the state of my 'WIP'* drawer

I opened it with trepidation

I opened it slowly

for the contents tend to spring out joyfully

And

instead of tidying the said "WIP" drawer

I toyed with the colours

I painted with yarn

I colour coded and

I

Played.

It felt good.

* WIP = Work In Progress - I have a fair bit of WIP

This it is necessary - despite what he says

I need variety in my life.

05.11.09

I find that if you have to pay for something,
you tend to keep it well.
But if you are handed things on a plate without much effort on your part,
then it is of very little consequence to you.

40 million pounds worth (that is US $66.16800) of medication is thrown away yearly here in the UK.

THAT IS 40 MILLION POUNDS...................

Approximately 609 tonnes (609,000 kg or 1342 615, 18 lbs) is incinerated per annum.

And it is increasing year on year -

That money - could it be spent else where?

Schools? Hospitals?

Those tablets - were they actually needed?

What? All of them?

Only to be thrown away?

On a lighter note - I am still on the tea and toast - for medicinal reasons only of course.

And tonight is 'knit n knatter'

We meet, we chat, we knit, we crochet, we sew and we eat cake

and I love it!

Such a hotch potch of souls

Grannies

Aunties

Divorcees

Mothers

Friends

Us

04.11.09

We, as a household,

are at various stages of some form of sniffles

Eldest is passed the worst and feeling chipper

He is giving no sympathy to his fellow sufferers

Youngest and I have just started

We feel like we shouldn't be made to go to school/work.....

And himself has manfully dragged himself through the week, very bravely.

Why is it the weather has joined in too?

Where is that warm sunshine when you need it?

So - I have resorted to some serious comfort food - tea and toast

Can't get more serious than that!