Reporting In

The end of June comes way too quickly each year. For me it starts months of hard slog at work that ends around about the end of November. I was going to list all my big deadlines over the next five months but thinking about it makes my eyes spin in their sockets and is irritatingly depressing.

Added to that is how I’ve felt since I returned from Spain. For some reason I feel restless, disorganised and bored with anything and everything. I’m not sure it’s possible to feel restless and bored at the same time but I do. I start something and within five minutes I’m bored with it and so move on to something else. Pick up the knitting, knit two rows and put it down. Pick up a book, read two pages then put it down. There’s also a stack of things I want to do but can’t be bothered doing. I haven’t been to gym in about 10 weeks, my sensible eating plan is up the Khyber and my mind seems cluttered with a thousand things on the to-do list.

Aaaaaaand I hate Winter. I need heat and sunshine for my energy, both physical and mental. Boo hoo, it’s real tale of woe is me.

Still, I feel better just having written all that down (it’s only taken four hours on and off). Articulating instead of feeling; pinpointing the problem(s) instead drifting along. I’ve even come up with some sort of a plan. That will wait for the next post though or this will turn into an epic. Now though I’m away to pick up my knitting and I *will* knit for 30 minutes to see if I can get back into the groove.

MIA – EOFY – SRY – BRB

My eyes hurt, my head hurts and I’m not sleeping well due to numbers dancing through my head (where the h*ll are the sheep? Give me sheep!) It’s the Statutory End of Financial Year here in Oz (June 30) and, as I’m a bean counter, my eyes are glazing over. I have much to say (as per usual) so I do apologise to all that are waiting to hear from me and you can expect (lotsa) posts on the weekend.

You’re Doing the Rest of Us No Favours

Bah! Silly Cow. See here. When the rest of the female population are able to take their children to work then you can too. In the meantime just STFU about how it was so rough. You’re paid to do a job so do it as all other women have to do it – without their children!

Ooops

I did sound narky the other night didn’t I? I was tired, smote by hayfever (in Autumn? Yes! Why should Autumn be any different from the rest of the beep beep year?) and just a touch all around crabby. Did it show? LOL. I guess I’m disappointed more than anything. I knit weirdly and therefore slowly. I put a lot of hours into getting my sock away on time to the detriment of getting other things in my life done and I JUST WANTED A PAIR OF SOCKS FOR ME because I’m knitting socks for MIL because she has cold feet and I love her. Don’t worry, I’m laughing at myself here because I sound like a two year old having a tantrum. The only thing is I can’t hold my breath because you won’t see me turn blue and that’s no sort of drama at all is it? Do two year olds really hold their breath in temper? Not having any (human) children myself I don’t know about things like that.

Anyway I’ve recovered my sense of humour due to time and very generous offers from Needle Tart and the lady I like to think of as Mrs Canada. I don’t know why I think of Susan as Mrs Canada, it just seems to fit. The generosity of people you don’t know amazes me and I thank them both.

In knitting news the DB socks are at a standstill. The heel was turned and I was happily knitting my way up the leg when suddenly my little finger felt a bit … light? … airy? That would be because there was no longer any yarn wrapped around it. A break in the wool. So I unwound a bit more from the skein only to find another CUT in it about 30cm along. Unwound more and yet another cut another 30cm along. A bit further and a ply (?) was broken. I joined it there and knitted another 2 rows to yet another break in the wool at exactly the same place, just two rows along. So they are sitting on the desk until the weekend. I will rip back to the original join, check the skein for the next 10 metres or so and then hopefully continue on.

I took the Easter sock to MIL to try on and it was as I feared. The leg is so tight she can’t even get it on over her foot so it’s a moot point as to whether the instep is big enough. I think the sock will be totally discarded due to other concerns I now have.

Still I’ve bought enough sock yarn over the last few months to ensure that I can pick and choose what I want to knit. I’m leaning towards a nice 5ply that I bought from Daphne at The Knittery before she so rudely closed up shop and moved to the States. (That is a joke!) Hopefully I can knit it with larger needles and it won’t take so long! (For Canadians and Americans – 5ply does not actually refer to the number of plies; it’s how we measure the weight/thickness of yarn. I think a 5ply yarn here is about a light sportweight? Stop shaking your head – we’re Downunder and entitled to be a little bit different. Hee hee.)

Sad Sock Roulette

The International parcel (which I mentioned earlier) that I had to sign for turned out to be a parcel from Marks & Spencer in the UK with all the bras I’d ordered. I don’t know why, but British bras seem to have more room for the boobage than what the ones I can buy here in Oz do. (WordPress shut up – boobage is so a word!)

However pleased I was to receive the underthings (read: very, very pleased), it wasn’t my sock. I emailed Julie to advise this and she noted as such on her blog. The result? Still no sock and still not a note from anyone saying ‘ooops’. Oh, I know. I, the Queen of Procrastinators, know! The cat’s dying, the husband has run off with the 90 year old next door, Mercury is in retrograde, work is unbelievably stressful, the In-laws have gone to live on a commune – whatever. I really don’t care. Just let me know you’re not going to send a sock.

Actually, don’t bother sending a sock, just pray for rain in my part of the world. I can knit my own socks, I can even buy the damned things but I can’t make it freaking rain and we need that more than I need socks.

Louie the Lemon sends his love.

Voices

Husband and I were watching John Hannah in Rebus tonight and a discussion arose as to memorable voices. Our list so far:

1. James Earl Jones (Star Wars, The Lion King)
2. Big Tam aka Sean Connery (James Bond)
=3. John Hannah (see above)
=3. Russell Crowe
4. Oooo, no four.

An Australian by the name of Jack Thompson appeals to me (see here) but as husband hasn’t heard a lot of him then we couldn’t agree. You can listen to him here and see what you think. Any other suggestions?

I’m Baaack

I’m finally home and so glad to be here. I very much like flying and being on the shortish side height-wise I don’t have problems being cramped or uncomfortable on long distance flights BUT … From my hotel in Madrid to walking in my front door – 36 hours. Sheesh!

At this time it’s 6.00am Sunday and I’m wide awake writing up my shopping list. Ole Mother Hubbard has nothing on me as the pantry, fridge AND freezer are totally bare.

So after I finish this I’m away to have a shower and do the grocery shopping in the peace and quiet of a very early Sunday morning. Later this afternoon I hope to start posting about my trip and will upload some photos of my drinking Spanish holiday for an Enquiring Mind. Cheeky!

Knitting – 2 rows last night on the second Dublin Bay sock. Hmmmmmmm.

Sunday Roundup 11/04/09

It’s been a strange sort of a week. I spent last weekend in the garden working hard and of course hurt myself because I haven’t been out there for a while. Ooooo the hammies. Serious pain on Saturday night which lessened somewhat on Sunday but wouldn’t go away entirely. I finally went to the chemist on Wednesday. She advised that it was probably residual pain from whichever specific nerve/muscle I hurt and that it all just needed to be calmed down to heal properly. Three days on Nurofen Plus and I’m all back to normal. Thankfully. My inner drama queen was at full roar wondering about how I was going to achieve all the walking I want to do in Spain.

But back to the garden. I finished laying the edging bricks on what I call the chilli bed. Added soil, compost, gypsum (we have clay soil); watered and mixed it all through the existing dirt. Did the same with the jasmine bed and weeded the rosemary bed. Planted brown onions and seed garlic in the first two beds and mulched well with sugar cane mulch (no wonder the legs were hurting). In the chilli bed I also planted these (click to enlarge):

Spinach you say? No no no. They’re Asian greens. But the label says spinach? Still no; still Asian greens. It might be labelled spinach, it might look like spinach, and it does taste like spinach. But it’s not. You see, Husband doesn’t like spinach but Husband *does* like what I told him years ago were Asian greens :-/. There’s a method in my madness.

Sunday Roundup 29/03/09

It’s such a gorgeous Autumn day here – very still with clear blue sky and lots of sunshine. Most definitely I’ll be out in the garden this afternoon, making plans for what I’m going to do over Autumn and Winter.

At the moment I’m not speaking to the Anastasias although they probably don’t want to talk to me either. “Just how many times can you make the same mistake idiot? Give us to a more capable knitter!” Yes, a couple of rows tinked back again. I know WHAT I’m doing wrong (knitting the stitch and previous YO together when I should be knitting the 2 stitches together BEFORE the previous YO) but once the mind goes into auto mode, zoom, we’re back to doing it wrongly. I blame the Dublin Bays as that’s how their pattern works!

I knitted a pattern repeat on the new socks but wasn’t feeling the love so ripped back to the toe and switched patterns. The new one is Up, Up and Away (Rav link) and is coming along quite nicely.

They look very narrow but I can get them on and MIL has slender feet so I have no doubt that they’ll fit as long as I get the instep high (wide?) enough.

Serves Me Right

I wanted to knit last night. Something. Anything. I didn’t want to cast on the second Dublin Bay sock. Actually I didn’t want to cast on for any sock at all, I just wanted to knit. So I picked up the Anastasias. Counting, checking, looking.

Yes. A mistake. Bollix. Yarnovers hate me. So I put it down and went to bed.