Syl’s January Challenge (SJC) – Day 1

As per my Health and Fitness page, I’ve signed up for Syl’s January Challenge so this afternoon I duly trotted off to the gym even though the idea of a nap was much more appealing. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 12 on the bike and 8 on the cross trainer. I even *gasp* upped the speed and jogged a number of times for 30 seconds a time. I actually would have liked to jog more but I wasn’t expecting to have that rush of blood to the head and unfortunately didn’t have a firm enough bra on to contain the rack. So no more gym visits without a sports bra because I can see it happening again!

Tomorrow is my first Zumba class. A work colleague and I are going along to see what all the fuss is about. Should be interesting!

I’m also making the commitment to post once a week for 2011 year as per the WordPress Challenge. If anything, that will be even more interesting than Zumba.

Blogtober 31

Finally done. The long weekend didn’t turn out to be one as I received a phone call last night just after I posted and had to go in today. So. Things achieved today – work, roast lamb dinner and Christchurch accommodation. Could have been worse.

Blogtober 30

Well a post today for Blogtoberfest and then only one more to go. Seems amazing that I’ve made it every day. Yar, one-third of it has been either rubbish or reasons as to why I’m not posting something substantial but I’m still fine with it. I made a decision to post once a day and I’ve followed through.

Gorgeous day today for doing absolutely nothing. Slept until 10am (10!!!) and then faffed around for a while before going to the bank to do the EOFY banking which I didn’t get to yesterday. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Shame the bank closed at 1pm and I got there at 1.14pm. Bollix. I thought they were open 10-2 on Saturday but alas it was 9-1. Mind you, how come they can open at 9am on Saturday but not at that time during the week? Methinks banks should stop being super speshul snowflakes and (mostly) follow the same trading hours as the rest of the population. However I do remember the days of banks closing at 3pm was it? Cashing your pay cheque Friday lunch time and whatever you withdrew was all the cash money you had for the weekend. I knew I was getting older remembering things like this but then I read today that The Rocky Horror Picture Show has turned 35. What????????????? Noooooooo. Absolutely not possible.

So I was going to post something about knitting socks from the toe up but I can’t find the exact post on the blog where I thought it was so I can’t until I find it. I will email the blog’s owner but if it’s not her then I saw it somewhere else and don’t remember where. Confused yet?

Here’s the new sock:

Pretty isn’t it? Colinette Jitterbug in Marble and Wendy Johnson’s Dead Simple Lace Socks from her book Socks from the Toe Up. I was going to keep them for myself but I don’t see the point as I loathe having things on my feet when I don’t have to. Blame it on being a splaw footed North Queenslander – I didn’t wear shoes full-time until I went to High School and even in Scotland I wouldn’t wear socks or slippers at home. MIL is starting to look at me funny though – I’m not sure how many more pairs of socks I can knit for her without her locking the door when she sees me coming up the driveway. But I don’t love anyone else enough to handknit socks for them. What to do? What to do?

I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I (platonically) adore Wendy (and Lucy). I can’t remember how I found her blog but her hand knitted socks inspired me to pick up the needles again. I could work out tension (gauge) and techniques but I didn’t know how the finished knitted ‘fabric’ of socks should feel; how stiff or loose it should be; for what I should be aiming. I emailed Wendy a few times and she very kindly replied with answers to my questions. It didn’t occur to me at the time that she might have more important things to do *smacks own head*. I’ve never thanked her properly. So, I’d just like to say that Wendy Johnson herself taught me how to knit socks. If you want to learn how to knit socks, visit Wendy’s site!

Blogtober 29

A very close run race but I made it . Being the last business day of my financial year it was a manic day from start to finish. Still tomorrow is the start of four glorious days off.

Blogtober 28

Another nothing post. Soooooooooooooo tired and looking forward to the weekend. I have Monday off and Tuesday is Melbourne Cup holiday here so a lovely four-day weekend ahead. I need it. The weather is predicted to be lousy – Saturday we’re supposed to receive a month’s rainfall in a day. Perfect for time in the house, pottering around and maybe even getting some knitting/sewing/quilting done. Now that would be nice!

Blogtober 27

I either should have been a travel agent or a reporter on a program like Getaway! Not only do I love to travel but I think I almost like the planning just as much. Accommodation in Dunedin and Queenstown now booked, with only Christchurch to go. I’m wanting a serviced apartment in Christchurch so I can catch up on washing etc but the (reasonable but quality) ones seem to be either out of the city or (relatively) expensive in the city. I’m leaning towards the latter but will mull it over in the next couple of days. Mind you, I’ve saved quite a bit in other places (3 nights in the Novatel in Queenstown for $290!) so it won’t hurt to splurge a bit in Christchurch.

The car hire is driving me nuts though. 3 days hire @ around $85 dollars per day = $586 or so? No, I don’t think so – numbers are my living so it doesn’t add up. It took a bit of delving into details but that $586 includes a ‘drop’ fee. That is, dropping it off at a different place from where you picked it up. The drop fee IS MORE THAN THE CAR HIRE ITSELF!!! *cough* sorry, didn’t mean to shout but that’s crazy. Still, when I explained the alternative (coach) to Husband he was shouting “car, car, car”. That’s because he’s worried about not being able to stop for a p when he wants one .

Anyway, so a lot of work and this and that seems to be my lot at the moment. Hey, I’m not complaining – I woke up breathing this morning (as did you) so it’s all good . I just feel that I’ve not been as up to date with Blogtoberfest this week as I have been and that makes me a little sad. However, I have a few days in which to catch up so be prepared for a slew of comments over the next couple of days.

Blogtober 26

Egads! Came to bed with the intention of curling up and posting from the laptop but the battery’s almost flat. Bollix! So once again I have nothing as I’m not getting back up to turn the PC on. Hopefully tomorrow there will be something that makes a bit more sense.

Blogtober 25

Definitely not much of note here today. Had my tax done; a nice refund so that’s good. Went to the bank, did the grocery shopping, took the in-laws to the airport and by that time it was mid afternoon. Let the girls out, sat in the sun for a while, cooked dinner and now my day is just about over. I’m not sure where all the time went.

See you all tomorrow.

Blogtober 24

Ooooo, nearly forgot again. Only a week to go and if I do miss a day, it will be purely and simply because I forgot. Here’s hoping I make it though!

Another big day in the garden but all boring things so no pictures. Weeded and mulched half the big side bed so very happy about that. No seeds planted so that’s been pushed forward to tomorrow after I take the in-laws to the airport. They’re off on a Pacific Islands cruise and while I’m not sure that I’d like to be stuck on a boat with all those people for 10 days or so, the idea of doing nothing for that amount of time is really appealing.

I was bad and started a new sock – but! I also was good and did the toe for the second purple sock so that’s now at the start of the pattern rows and ready to rock and roll whenever I am. Sigh. The joys of getting older. I actually started them earlier on in the year but put them aside when Winter rolled in as I can’t see the stitches/pattern clearly under artificial light.

Off to bed. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Blogtober 23

Well two things crossed off the list today – blog reading and knitting. The weather did change around lunchtime so I went outside and forgot to come back in . Very productive day though. Trellis and bed for the beans:

Tomatoes, cucumber and capsicum planted into the bags, front garden bed weeded and some of the sprayed weed removed. As far as everything else goes, well, makes sense to make hay while the sun shines and indoor things can wait until after dark.

Socks completed:

Wool: Mango Smoothie from Needlefood (no longer trading).
Pattern: Lacy Ribs Socks from Socks From The Toe Up by Wendy Johnson (Wendy Knits).
Alterations: I didn’t do any purls as per Wendy’s pattern – they’re all knit stitches.

More socks! The good news is that there are two socks done. The bad news is that they’re not a pair!

Different patterns, different colours, same wool. I told D that I should now knit the patterns in the reverse colours so MIL could either wear them as pairs by pattern or by colour. Not sure what she’d think of that though! The bottom sock is actually a rather glorious shade of purple which unfortunately doesn’t show up very well. This is better:

The aim is to have the mates to both finished by December 31 so I keep up with my ‘one pair a quarter’ but we’ll see how that goes because I did wind some more sock wool today and it’s calling my name very loudly. What can I say? I have a low boredom threshold!!