Progression

It’s amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it. I decided I wanted to crack on with a few things that haven’t been finished. I’m quite good at finishing things eventually, particularly if I can have a hefty dose of procrastination in the middle. I don’t like not to have something hanging around really even if I do like putting it off. So in an attempt at self improvement which is not only limited to getting things done in my work life (where I’m also liberally flashing clichés about – eat the frog, get stuff done and flying through my to do list), I thought that tidying up corners of my wardrobe where I stash the crafty bits and with my favourite time of the year about to begin what better time to challenge myself on finishing those unfinished things.

I’d promised the ABO a scarf last winter. Thankfully winter 15-16 was quite warm! I’d bought some aran weight Debbie Bliss wool/yarn (depending on who you speak to) in a charcoal colour not quite black but not grey and started knitting in mistake rib (sounds a good plan to me because I made mistakes in knit 2 purl 2!!) vaguely paying attention to this pattern from purl Soho.

Anyway, finally, it’s finished. It needs a bit of blocking I think but I’m quite pleased with it. Do you see the intentional design? About 1/3 way in I made a mistake and quite by chance made the same error 1/3 from the end, so it looks intentional to the design. I’m amazed by my genius/luck!

My New York embroideries are complete but not yet hung. here they are nestling nicely between some Nigella and Nigel. These were kits I bought on holiday and I’m looking around for fabrics to co-ordinate in hoops in the living room. They’re fairly simple designs and quite easy for me do.  I’ll let you see them in situ when they’re up (this could be some time!!)

Now I’ve got 2 knitting projects in my plans to finish. I was making some knitted dolls for the girls. These first featured on my blog here and here. I’ve only managed the body, head and legs for one so my aim is to get that finished, stuffed and sewn (perhaps not including clothes) for the end of September and to make a good start on the next one. It’s pretty quick if I get my act together!!

The other task will take longer but hopefully by the end of October I’ll have my Whitlam cowl complete. So I can enjoy my scarf for the cooler months (and not be waiting until winter 17-18 for it!) I’m still having to unpick a row every now and then as I lose count of where I am in the pattern when I start talking or get distracted by something including (but not limited to) a child needing a wee/ a goal on the football/ reaching for a biscuit. This is closely followed by me sighing, muttering ‘now where was I?’ and then unpicking the row!!

Finally my plan in this procrastination free zone is take down my sewing machine from the top of LittleR’s wardrobe (which I've just done whilst the children play in the garden) and  make sure it’s ship shape (and Bristol fashion) for some future projects (first up anew cupboard curtain for LittleR's room - she's chosen owls). I’ve bought some new needles and just need to give it a once over before I cut into any fabric.

Let’s see how long this Autumnal get up and go lasts!!

La Rentree

Did you know that the French (and the Italians) have a word for this time of year? La Rentree (il rientro) is the autumnal time for going back to school. In these countries it's more than just the return to school. Often it's the return to work after the extended summer holiday (that they still seem to have for 2 weeks in August in Italy where every man woman and child seems to go on holiday and everything closes!).

I think it's a good word to describe this time of year. BigR returned to school on Monday (with labelled uniform!) and we start to settle into that autumn routine. It's a time for birthdays and for plans. And for stationery of course. It's a time when I feel relentlessly positive, a fresh start, a new moment. even the darkening evenings don't squash my perky mood

I'm more than ready for Autumn. We had a really good summer but this Autumn feels like a new year. LittleR is much better and things can continue in more of an even keel. 

I've been making plans:

• things to do (places to go - I want to see the poppy exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park)
• things I'd like to do in the house (including sorting through the epic number of toys and actually getting some out of the house, probably under the cloak of darkness), 
• things I'd like to make (food and crafty stuff)
• things which need to be done (replace a window - ugh!)

So my newest plan is to make a shawl for myself and knitted dolls for the girls from a most excellent book by Jane Bull. 

I've bought the wool for all the projects....and am itching to get going. 

However...

I've already gotten in a knot with the biggest Titus skein. I'm also totally confused by the pattern. Turn the work 90 degrees clockwise and knit into itself? Might as well be in gibberish! Ah well I'll get there eventually. It's a good job Autumn and Winter last a long time!

Eleven Random things

• This is an exercise in procrastination. I’m very good at these things. The more pressing something is, the better my ability to avoid it becomes. I should be writing a teaching session about Quality Improvement for undergraduate healthcare professionals but I’m not. I have 2 days at work before I need to do it. Not feeling the fear yet.

• Whilst I was queuing (for a substandard university) coffee. A woman rushed in and apologised for being rude to one of the coffee shop servers the day before. She couldn’t stop herself from explaining how terrible her day had been and how awful she’d felt afterward and how she’d not slept properly because she’d been so awful. I wonder what she said. Then she had to apologise for holding up the queue. I think she was apologised out after that.

• I’m feeling the start of Autumn. It’s definitely dark when the ABO gets up on earlies (4.20am today – ugh). There’s a nip to the air and the back to school stuff is in the shops. I love this time of year. It seems like the New Year to me, time to make lists and get stuff done. I feel energised and ready to buy new stationery. There’s nothing like a new pen and a notebook to get the creative juices flowing. At least that’s my excuse (see point 1!).

• The start of Autumn also means I’ve got birthday preparation anxiety. BigR is 6 in a couple of weeks. I’ve ordered bits and bobs for the cake. It’s a ‘Frozen’ theme. Again. For ease the party will be done for us in a nightmarish soft play place a couple of weeks later. She’ll love it. In fact her social life is better than mine with no less than 3 parties that weekend. Will my nerves take it? She’s written a (long) list of things she’d like for her birthday including sparkly shoes (check), hello kitty stuff (check), a unicorn beanie boo (The eyes on beanie boos. is it just me? Hmm I’m not sure about them) and a real mermaid that swims (unlikely!).

• We (using the royal we here, the ABO did the graft) redecorated BigRs room. I bought the paint and chose the curtains (and helped clear out the junk!). She’s overjoyed to now have an ‘Elsa room’. We’re lamenting over ever painting the room pink as it was blue before she was born.

• There’s nothing like DIY and specifically flat pack furniture to bring out the worst in me. It’s one of the few things we argue have discussions about! Usually because we've hjad some 'Chuckle brothers' type moving shenanigans (to me, to you) before we get to the assembly! We’re quite good at flat pack stuff but the new bed frame almost defeated us. If Ikea made normal bed sizes we’d have bought it there. Still the instructions said it would take 50 minutes. There were 4 main pieces and the slats. Three hours later we were still trying to stick it together. The old bed base had been rained on so there wasn’t even the option to give up. Finally, it was done and with a little time before bedtime.

• Apart from one room our entire house is now blue or green.

• I’ve gone all retro and am reliving my youth making friendship bracelets. Bizarrely, when my friend saw the one I made for BigR she wanted one! I’m much better at doing them now than I was 25 years ago!

• I’ve been enjoying digestive biscuits smothered in cream cheese topped with strawberries. Yum!

• I’ve come across a Japanese word which I really relate to ‘tsundoku’. The act of buying books and letting them pile up unread. I really need to read the books I have on my kindle before buying any more!

• I managed to grow a carrot. And some apples. Obviously we’re now self-sufficient with 5 apples, 2 carrots and a couple of radishes. Still there’s some tomatoes to come. If they ever ripen!

I am. I try to be. I am not.

I am

• Cold – all of a sudden it’s Autumn and Autumn with a vengeance. The sandals are gone. I need to get some new socks and dig out my boots.
• Enjoying days out – We went to the zoo at the weekend. LittleR was so, so, so excited to see a real elephant!
• Going on another cookery course next week. I've not really challenged myself with technique but chosen things we might like to eat again in the future. I’m still using the goulash recipe I learnt a while ago very regularly.
• Making lists. Of things I need to do at work. Of things I need to remember to do at home. Of things to make. Of ideas for things for the blog. Of books to read and books I've read. Of stuff to cook. Suddenly realising there’s a name for all the info keeping – a commonplace book.
• Reading lots. I've found my mojo again I think. And I've lots of new book ideas from Laura and the year in books.
• In awe that people can actually read. BigR is doing phonics at school. She’s blazing a trail in phonics and I’m struggling to keep up – letter sounds, blending, and the songs…I keep using the wrong tune with the rhyme!! Learning to read is really hard – especially for the parents!!

I try to be

• Patient. In all aspects of my life but especially with small children.  I’m finding it hard to moderate my voice and not let the frustration show. I know I’m not the only one attempting  to get shoes/uniform on, hair sorted toys off the middle of the stairs all in the 2 minutes before we leave the house. I have to remind myself that BigR is only five. And might need to be told more than once with extreme patience.
• On top of things and I think I’m getting there. Term started, my admin support went off sick and my Mum had surgery. I was super busy at work and then really tired. The kind of tired that creeps up on you and you fall asleep with the light on and wake up at 1am and have to get up out of bed to turn stuff off. I've been absent from here and from commenting and I've missed it. Here's to normal (whatever that is) service being resumed shortly..
•  Happy to be sat outside in the rain at a children’s party. Still it was better when the other children went home and I got a go. Thank goodness I’d been prescriptive about pelvic floor exercises!!

I am not

• Going to tire of old rom coms. I love You've Got Mail. It’s very good ironing fodder. And full of great (and coffee related) quotes “The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.”
• Able to remember how to join the initial circle in a granny square and then start the next row. I'll have to youtube it.
• Able to stop buying new mugs. This one is particularly comfy in the hand.

• Going to finish Christina’s sock pattern (I'm on January!) before the end of the year. I’m just not going quickly enough.

I saw this great post from Jennifer and then this good one from Leanne and felt it was a good way to ease back in.

More happies on a Friday

Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on my last post. I’m so pleased to be a part of the ‘precious things’ collaboration that Sarah devised.

It’s been a busy week. I’ve been struggling to fight off a cold which seems to have burnt itself out without too much paracetamol or sniffing. So, BigR’s first full week at school was tiring for me as well as her! Trying to remember what day library books get taken in, to tick off her dinner choice in the morning and also to get to grips with phonics. How anyone learns to read is beyond me. It’s really hard! It’s here I could go all education research-y and talk about unconscious incompetence but I won’t! Safe to say I think I’m more traumatised by the whole thing than BigR who is just keen to talk about obscure rhyming words (no more show and go, it’s flair and éclair!!). We’ve also had the first head lice letter through the magic portal. The ABO and I are now constantly itchy even with the lack of lice...for now. Any tips on dealing with it for an under 2 year old? Even the combs have age restrictions on them!!!

I picked some blueberries off the bush in the garden and made a cake. It’s my fail safe recipe from here.

The blueberries were really delicious. Very sweet and certainly benefitting from a few extra weeks to ripen after first turning that deep blue-purple. The cake was good too and gone in a flash.

Last Sunday the girls and I went to Harlow Carr to collect fallen leaves and have a walk. It was mild when we left home, although I took jumpers and coats for the girls, I forgot mine. It was cool in the shade and I was really pleased from a brisk walk when we were in the cover of trees. It was so good to see their Autumnal planting, there was so much colour and so many flowers. BigR loved hiding under the ‘umbrellas’ as she calls them – to me they seem to be leftover from prehistoric times.

We love to see the kitchen garden and there was a vast field of pumpkins and different gourds.

I loved the dahlias. BigR loved the gentian (Elsa flowers!). LittleR loved it all.

We’ve been decorating and finally the hallway is finished. The woodwork is painted and more importantly dry! It was a stress keeping our two girls away from the doors whilst they were drying! Now we’re trying life without a stair gate...although it might go back on upstairs just for peace of mind...

I love how light and fresh it feels, what a difference having colour on the walls makes. It really highlights the picture we bought in Cornwall (not shown in the photo, the picture at the top of the stairs is by an unknown (to us - there's no name!) Leeds artist). It's given it a new lease of life. After school this afternoon we went to get some photos of the girls printed to go along the stairs, we’ve had them portrait this time rather than landscape, and again, it looks really different.

It’s been a good week.

Friday happies on a Friday

I can hardly believe it is Friday already this week. The time (especially as I’ve been off work) has just been zipping by. It’s been a couple of weeks of change not only in the season, there’s definitely more than a sniff of autumn in the air but also changes for us. BigR started school and turned 5. I survived a children’s party and the immense pressure of pass the parcel (who knew it was sooooo stressful? Making sure every child had a turn, making sure it wasn’t my child that ‘won’ the big prize – or maybe that’s just me?!). I also survived another bout of sickness which led to an extra couple of days off work for me to care for LittleR (she was fine but there was a 48 hour exclusion period after illness so she couldn’t go to nursery!). We’ve been switching things round at home too. Clearing a few things out – this time of year really appeals to my getting organised side. We’ve changed BigRs room a little bit by giving her a big girl bed and some new wardrobes now the old furniture doesn’t fit in the room (they’re still to be delivered and then built!). We’ve made upstairs a bit more play friendly by moving some toys into LittleRs room so it’s more of a play room for the girls too. I’m feeling exceptionally smug about my pinterest find for Barbie type dolls....it’s stopped me stepping on them. Of course, it could be they just have too many toys....

So in no particular order and joining in with Gillian, here are my happies.

The garden

I’ve been loving being outside. The ABO has been on lates so I’ve been doing the school pick up (still not quite used to that) and we’ve been having an hour in the garden before tea. It’s really helped to ensure a good night’s sleep for everyone! LittleR cannot get enough of being outside. Someone just has to mention the word garden and she’s off to get her shoes. She really cannot get enough of it.

We seem to have quite a few sunflower buds appearing. I thought they’d flower a lot earlier who knew they’d be perfect in September?

 I’m enjoying the second flurry of flowers my clematis are having. The deep red one was bought as it has the same name as LittleR (there’s also a heuchera in the garden with BigR’s name - no one is left out) and the purple one appeared in a flower pot of sweet peas my Dad gave me a few years ago. Can you see the green beetle in the purple one? I wonder if he thought he was shielded by the flower centre? Not sure what he is or if he’s a danger to my clematis but I was struck at the colour contrast.

We’ve had great success with our blueberries. I was a little bit quick off the mark and offered one to BigR about 3 weeks ago which she declared disgusting. An extra few weeks of ripening and they are delicious.

I’m also very pleased with the success of our pepper. It’s not very big but is turning a beautiful red colour. I wonder when it’ll be best to pick?

School

BigR is loving school. She didn’t cry. I didn’t cry. I ate biscuits and wondered about the house being quiet.

One thing I am amused by is the magic portal of the school bag. BigR comes home and messages are imparted via the magic portal. I am amazed by the sheer number of letters she has had already. Also, it has magical properties. She brings home a wonderful creation (or some tat – for example she may have brought home a 12 egg egg box filled with pom poms and wool cuttings and still wet pva glue) which we consider as decoration in various places in the house before LittleR grabs it and attempts to inhale the contents thereby it makes its way back into the magic portal not to be seen again.

We live opposite her school. This is good for a whole number of reasons. However one downside was realised today. The ABO was sorting something in his car boot and she was outside (in a lesson) which resulted in lots of shouting ‘Hello Daddy!!’. We joked that she’d be asking where we were if the car was not on the drive when she was at school!!

Birthday

BigR was 5 on Monday. Five. Five. How did that happen?
We all survived the party and the present opening and all the grandparents visiting before school in the afternoon. She had a fabulous time. She loved her ‘Frozen’ party and her ‘Elsa cake’ (which even though I say so myself, was delicious, and yes I had the final slice!).

Elsa barely leaves her side now.

The long time no blog 10 things

:: Well, it's been a while. Too long really. I've not been writing my own blog but loving the blogs of others. Some favourites will appear in my blogroll eventually. New to me blogs and old blogs have been in my feed. I still love the list writer's blog and found myself looking through her archives the other evening. This simple activity reminded me of the fact that I indeed did once write my own 10 things post and that maybe I should again.

:: My major creative project of 2012 turned out to be growing baby no.2 (from here on known as LittleR). She made her appearance in mid January 10 days after her Daddy (the ABO) had broken his ankle playing 5-a-side football and 24 hours before a major dumping of snow making crutches, taxis and general getting about difficult.

:: BigR took to her immediately and LittleR reciprocated...although now even I am bored of the phrases "leave her alone" and "you're being too rough".

:: We've all spent a lot of my maternity leave in Italy as the ABO has been based there since summer 2012. It hasn't been the easiest time as he's not happy in his work there. At least this summer we've had the flexibility of being able to spend some months there as a family making his commute less arduous.

:: There is an upside. I've been here and seen this. I've also enjoyed copious amounts of gelato, the best pizza in the universe, coffee and sunshine.

:: We go again for our last trip this Friday. We'll be there for 3 weeks. when we return home I'm expecting Autumn to be in full swing. I really love this time of year. For me it is the time of freshly sharpened pencils, the time when I make resolutions, shake myself up and try out new things. So I'm trying my hand at blogging again. I'm making embroidery plans. I'm cooking and planning. All to be realised later in October.

:: I've cleared out cupboards and drawers and given a ridiculous amount of hoarded things that "I might just need that one day" to the RSPCA shop. This brings me a great sense of wellbeing and smugness. Next is to go through the loft and decide if the baby things are to go.

:: We went for a day out here. I love coming here, there's always something new to see and you can really appreciate the changing seasons. I always wish I'd brought a better camera with me than just using my phone camera. Maybe 2014 is where I should work on the photography?

:: When will I have time for photography? I'm due to return to work in January 2014. With annual leave I will have had over a year away from academia. I'm a bit nervous. One of my closest colleagues will be on maternity leave and there have been other big changes in the office which I've been (so far) able to ignore. I'm also thinking that September is too soon to be thinking about this.

:: Along side this realisation, comes the fact that the paper I was writing before BigR was born in 2009 has been rejected and is due to be worked in 2014. So, I joked that I would have 2 children before it's published and now it's a truth!!