guilt expiated, lying low for now.

Thanks for your kind thoughts. It wasn't a big thing but it could have been. :-)

Nothing major but emotionally feeling sick.

guilt :-~

I tried. Really, I tried hard.

Have you heard of the chippie (crisp to you Brits) scarf? WKM has a picture posted here and I was so entranced by her fabulous work that I thought I would give it a go.

My plan was to make it for a friend's birthday (beg. Feb since you ask) and even splashed out on some NORO in a colourway I thought may suit her. This in itself makes me saintly as I have never really got the appeal of Noro.

WMK very kindly supplied me with the pattern and I set about casting on. The trick with the chippie scarf is that although this first stage may take several years and wear out either your fingers or your needles the actual knitting is only nine rows worth.

This being Britain I first had to juggle the needle size conversion then realised that I couldn't be ar*ed to actually go buy the right ones and so began by using 9mm rather than 10mm figuring this wouldn't make much difference. I'm sure it didn't.

What may well have been an issue in my increasing concern with this project was this obsession the Americans have about knitting with sticks. Or not. Nearly every recipe I see from the U.S. is knit in the round , either dpns or circular needles. I only possess one set of ea. of these and even together they wouldn't come close to 10mm so I started with straights.

No seriously. And I was okay for the first few rows. But then when the increases meant there was over 300 stitches on the stick things began to get a little tricky.

I sent out a distress call and WMK came dashing to my rescue with not just one but TWO circular needles. Figuring this was a bit excessive I carefully put one set away and kept on going. A few more rows of increasing and I was up to over 600 stitches!! AND they were stretched over BOTH sets of WMK's needles.




By the time I got to the end of the eighth row my fingers were starting to cry real tears and the wool was never going to last through to casting off so I let it sit in one of the increasing number of knitting bags to fester develop for a little while.

But last weekend I had had enough. This chippie scarf, much as I loved it, was going nowhere. So I dedicated Saturday night in front of the telly to restructuring my scarf-in-progress.

This is the result.

But I am hoping I have a new home for waiting for it.

All your questions answered right here!

Patti's answer to the last post's question was "Hmm. Tough one. How about alternating between the two. Bet you didn't think that one day you'd be asking people to comment on your "jugs" on the internet."

Sadly Patti, the answer is actually yes! Yes, I did one day think that people on the innernets around the world would be looking at and commenting on my jugs. Now before you all begin to a) turn away in disgust thinking I am nothing but a weirdy perv or b) read on avidly only to be majorly disappointed let me explain. Come with me on a tale of one girl's dreams and hopes of a simple life.......................

......................I like jugs (ref: a/b clarification above) both functionally and aesthetically and so (only a little bit deliberately) I seem to be amassing a collection. After some months of discussion CK finally put up the shelf for them to live on. Given that this is the house where discussions over an essential kitchen extension are in now in their tenth year six months doesn't seem a long time to wait!!! (It is a loooong story for another time when we have made progress.) I digress....

........... Half jokingly for many years I have been saying one day I am going to open a kitchenware shop specialising in jugs and especially since playing on the innernets my plan has been to call it Just Jugs (hence the prev. post title) figuring I would either get people who wanted to purchase pouring vesels or those who were so mortified at coming to the wrong place (works better in real life situation than real imaginary one) that they would have spent loads of money to ease their guilt and embarrassment. Well..... a girl can dream right?

So Patti, I have in fact spent many happy hours imagining people looking at, commenting on and hopefully wanting take home my 'jugs' on the innernet!

Having looked at both those photos again I have come to the conclusion that we are going for pretty and pointless.

thanks for all your help :-)

Just Jugs. Facing left or right?

Thanks for all your lovely messages about us 'going home'. I would ask you to keep us in your thoughts but as we won't be travelling until mid-December I'm sure you have better things to be thinking about.

Did you click on that link to the Great Ocean Road? I loved that picture so much I now have it as my wallpaper.

A little crafting has been happening over the last few days. There may have been some sort of lepine* creating and a little de-making. Plus I am finally putting the finishing touches to the giveaway gifts. I believe the ladies can expect them sometime before the GTH!

Am feeling guilty and a little bad that I haven't put up pictures of the gorgeous and fabulous parcel my fellow swapper V.C. sent for Valentine's but in my defense... well actually I am just crap. But it is a bit tricky working the camera focus as I whizz wildly dancing to the cd of Valentine's Day Number 1s from the last 30 odd years. As to images of the rest I think that someone (obviously NOT me) has eaten all evidence; I am suggesting the hippo....... (whistles tunelessly while looking at the sky and all around).

I am sure Moogsmum will testify to the fact that I not only rec'd said parcel but have been wearing the fabulous flower corsage that was in it. Wearing it everywhere on my best and favourite 'wear it everywhere' coat so EVERYONE sees it!

So now I come to you with a question.

An important question.

One which needs serious consideration.



Pretty and pointless?




or


Useful and ugly?




Seriously. I need to know!



* I may have made this one up but I couldn't find the 'ine' group name for rabbits, you know like porcine = pigs, equine = horses, etc, etc.

poetry, plans, pacification, pals and preparations.

(and just a little bit of alliteration)

I was asked yesterday by the delightful annie if I missed the open blue skies of home. I have to say it really chimed with the conversations I have been having with Pr. C-Dub and Babyman this half term holiday (oh lack of routine, I shall miss you tomorow). Chimed b/c we have begun our countdown and, being good mother, I have started preparing my babies for the Great Trip Home (GTH for short).


As the date draws nearer this will include keeping them awake and hyped for 24 hours at a time, feeding them completely tasteless, nutritionally crubbish food in difficult to open packaging, complete with useless cutlery, and jamming their legs against a board. But for now I am content with opening discussions about how things are different 'at home'.


Driving down to meet my very lovely, real imaginary friend Missus Moogsmum we passed through lots of rolling farmland and hills. Being Engerland that comes with windy, twisty roads, something there are few of in Australia. Except here.

We also talked about how the colours are different in Australia. Yes we do have the normal ones just like everywhere else; it is the natural ones just lying around which have that ' I live in a hot country' kind of look. Almost like it gets so hot they just can't be bothered to attain deep tones. (and before the letters to the editor kick in I know we have lovely jewel tones, etc, etc but y'all know what I mean).

Like so many Australians I love the Dorethea McKellar poem and have come to greater appreciate the early stanzas more the longer I live in the UK .

'Strong love of field and coppice,

of green and shaded lanes,

of ordered, wooded gardens

is flowing in your veins.

(please excuse if it is not 100% correct but I am doing this from memory)

Strong love of grey blue distance,

brown streams and soft dim skies,

I know but cannot share it.

My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,

a land of sweeping plains,

of ragged mountain ranges.

Of drought and flooding rains.

Do you know, before I moved to this hilltop town I did not even know what a coppice was? So I definitely wasn't able to share in the love of it, strong or otherwise. But now I do and again I kind of do however to answer your question Annie - yes I do sometimes miss the open, blue skies of home.

Ever wondered where pompoms come from?

Wonder no more......

Wedding anniversary today. Manslaughter gets less!

Unbelievably CK and I are now very definitely into our second decade of incarceration in an institution wedded bliss!


Whichever timezone you reside in February 22 is very definitely or very nearly over and so is our anniversary. In the years since that hot afternoon by the Yarra he has lost even more hair colour and a moustache while I have gained the odd ounce and we are both now the proud possessors of an extra dog and two growing children.


Usually this day is given the same in depth level of attention and care as Valentine's Day. As in we kind of remember a day or so after, which is kind of funny b/c we chose 22/02 as CK was more likely to remember such a date. Truth be told he is usually the one who clocks it first.


Unlike most years it has coincided with half term and he has most of this week off so we went out for lunch today. Yes, sounds good huh? A romantic lunch looking over the very pretty local vistas you may be thinking but no. A cramped table for four with wooden bench seats at the local greasy spoon was our lunch place today. But the kids had fun and surely that is all that matters, right? Right?!


School goes back on Monday and Babyman's shoes were in such an appalling state the bin ate them as soon as we came last Friday; so having exhausted the possibilities up on our hilltop we headed west to a BIG town and spoke to the can't be arsed nice sales staff. Not only did he get school shoes he hates ( I am such a good mother I made him cry in the shop and walked away) but there was something extra waiting there.


This shop is famous for having shoes in every size but usually the ones in mine are made for the 'blind transvestite' market but look what I found in the back corners of this shoe shop!!!!!!

Now I am not a heels kind of gal (Moogsmum may kindly attest to this) but good grief!! look at these! And they are kind of comfy (in a 'don't make em wear these too long' kind of way). *sigh*


And best bit? CK said he would buy them as an anniversary present. Generous huh? Well only kind of b/c it is a joint account but I appreciated the thought.

I am off now to open the chilled bottle of champagne we were given for Christmas.

Nowhere to run to baby ........

>





....... nowhere to hide.

Once collected I shall still communicate...

This was in my trashcan email today when I checked. I am currently plotting what I shall do with the money once it is safely in my bank account.
(hmmm... must dig the details out; they will probably need all of my secret information to transfer the cash.)

How about we have a fabulous bloggy/crafty knees up in some rarified venue - my treat?!



BRITISH LOTTERY6/49P O Box 1010, 3b Olympic Way,Sefton Business Park,Aintree, Liverpool , L30 1RD16th of February 2008
FINAL NOTIFICATION
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of £1,000,000.00 (British Pounds) held on the 16th of February 2008 in London British.The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection system(ess) from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from which you were selected. The BRITISH. NATIONAL LOTTERY is approved by the British Gaming Board. To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact our Claims Agent for more information as regards procedures To claim your prize.
You are to contact the Claims AgentMR. Robert GoochEmail: british.claimsagent003@yahoo.it
Contact him; please provide him with the following codes below:REFNO:BRLFGP2551256/02BATCH No:2005MJL-01Ticketno:56475600545188SERIAL No:S/N-00168LUCKY No: 887-13-865-37-10-83
(1) FULL NAME(2) FULL ADDRESS(3) NATIONALITY.(4) AGE(5) OCCUPATION(6)TELEPHONE NUMBER(7) SEX(8) TOTAL AMOUNT WON(9) COUNTRY
If you do not contact your claims agent within 3 working days of this Notification, your winnings would be revoked. Winners are advised to keep their winningdetails/information from the public to avoid fraudulent claim (IMPORTANT) pending the prize claim by Winner. *Winner under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified. *Staff of the British Lottery is not to partake in this Lottery.
Congratulation!!
Sincerely,Rose Wood(Mrs.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------Find the home of your dreams with eircom net propertySign up for email alerts now http://www.eircom.net/propertyalerts

Steel wool cages cannot hold us.

Things didn't get off to a great start when this was one of the first things we spotted

Of course it also didn't help that I was walking so funny, what with the bolt cutters down my knickers and all.



But with only a minor issue of concern (as in I had no idea what Missus Moog and the Mooglets actually looked like!) we all met up and proceeded to fight our way through the gazillions of people flooding Moors Valley. At this point Mrs Moog and I made a blood oath that we wouldn't blog pre-visit again as all the hundredty people who read these pages knew where we would be and came to join in ;-)



Some may have had a lot of energy to burn off

and others looked for sun shining through in an attempt to thaw just a little!



One of the things I love about the blogoverse is the general lovlieness and generosity of the people who inhabit the part I like to be in. Lesley ever so kindly brought along gifts. A beautiful bag each for myself and Princess Curly-Wurly and a felted snail for Babyman. (note to self: listen to CK next time and take gifts. second note to self: do not admit his rightness to CK). Of course there are some who cannot take responsibility for their own actions. And those of us for whom the consequences are a brand new bag muddied and sad.

So much of our time today was spent like this

And this

We loved this dog.





Especially during his turning circle among the trees. CRASH!



The mothers mostly spent the day like this.





But I think my best and favourite image I shall take away from meeting up with my real imaginary friend Moogsmum is



Sausage Monster and Babyman storming through the day as only small boys can.

A biography in just six words.

You know how some houses have wallpaper? Well in our house the wallpaper will never be mocked by future generations (although our carpet probably will) because it is constantly changing.



I mean that in both a figurative and a literal sense. Here at Trash Towers the wallpaper is aural (this another of those words pronounced differently here from Australia). When the radios are all turned (which is most of the day) you can hear Radio Four from anywhere in the house and while I recognise it is not a big house, it is quite up and downy and cornery.



I preface this post in this way because I heard a fabulous interview and follow-up on the Today programme over the last week. Some (obviously very nice) bloggy fella has a whole site dedicated to people's personal stories. Stories that encompass a whole lifetime or simply a snapshot of moment but they must be only six words long.



*Wow!* Doesn't that give a body pause for thought? I was reminded of it while reading Princess Genevieve relating of her Norwegian trip. Apparently 'the Vikings were a violent people'.




A snapshot of my autobiopgraphy today could read - 'Two children starve while mother blogs.'




Although with the minutes edging ever closer until I take my teenaged face off to meet up with the fabulous Missus Moogsmum tomorrow it may well say - 'Kidnapped! Cage knitted from steel wool.'



As CK has pointed out this is a terrific example I am setting for both my impressionably aged children. Not only have I built up an online friendship with some faceless (although now not thanks to last week's post) internet persona who may in reality turn out to be a 50 foot tall (the height grew with the telling over the weekend) Scots bloke with a nice line in white vans and building collections of caged people BUT I have arranged to meet up with said friend. Apparently tomorrow I am to look for secret signals which will be used to call in the rest of the army of Scotsmen with similar interests. That and put a pair of boltcutters down my knickers!






I have never been clear in which branch of spec./black ops he was involved but am beginning to think it may have been a little kinky!






The game is over and exhaustion has set in. Until they negotiate my release, goodnight!

Look who came to live at my house!

(This is an edit. It was meant to be posted last night (14/02) but about 10:00pm Babyman woke up screaming and didn't stop for some hours - it felt like hours anyway!)

This is my new friend. His name is Pinkus (so dubbed by Princess Curly-Wurly). This clever creature has come a terribly long way. The lovely Turtle sent him in my fabulous 'Mmmmm.... hot cocoa swap' package all the way from America.


When he turned up here all he wanted was to get out into the sunshine. Fortunately for him we are in the grip of a sunny-not cold wave. We took him to the Library but sadly it was closed on a Wednesday afternoon.


As we couldn't look at English books we visited a lovely shop.




Then we came home and did drawing.




Apparently this is what Pinkus saw in the box on the way over here.

There was lots of lovely stuff in my parcel - two fabulous and different types of cocoa/hot chocolate, yarn, a hippo and (funniest of all) some gorgeous foot beautifier stuff. I say funniest b/c I am famed in several continents for having possibly the stinkiest feet ever in the history of the universe!

Hello!!?!? HIPPO! In my house!






Look how wide his mouth opens!!





After life getting in the way several times yesterday I finished off 'this most romantic of evenings' by sharing this with CK.





He didn't want any. Hahahahahahahahaha!

'Ooo! What a good idea!!!' I thought.

Possibly I am being a bit presumptuous but you have all been and seen Monkee Maker today right?


Now that she has been initiated to the delights of Picasa there will be no stopping her I am sure but one of her creations gave me an urge to do the same at my house.


So this afternoon my borrowed child and I trawled downstairs to see where we could find heart shapes.


I think we did pretty well.

A meme a footnote and a promise.

I picked this up over at Princess Genevieve and it tied in with the 'seven things' tag from Turtle. I suppose it is meant to indicate one's status/standing/self-interest level but it may appeal to the clinically nosey among you. (I know I read La Princesse's with abandon.)

Normal service will be resumed on this blog quite soon as I have been just a little bit crafty in recent day. I may even have created a pattern all by myself. oooooo! Just a few more pictures to take.

The plan is to place in bold all the things that apply to you. So here goes.

Father went to college.
Father finished college.
Mother went to college.
Mother finished college.
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor. Yep, yep and yep.
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers. Took me five readings to understand this one. I guess.
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home. Uh-huh.
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home. Do we count everyone's books? B/c probably.
Were read children’s books by a parent. Not that I remember but we must have been. I remember my dad making up stories at bedtime. Did you know he went to school with some fella called Bill Shakespeare?!
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18. yep.
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18. Cello, trombone, basketball and then jazz ballet for six weeks. I begged my mum to buy the spotty blue leotard. *sigh* it was beautiful.
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively. Usually.
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18. Nope.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs. No.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs. No.
Went to a private high school. From ages eight to 17.
Went to summer camp. Didn't really have them in Australia.
Had a private tutor before you turned 18 . Yes. My aunt organised it for Human Development in Society (stupid made-up subject). The tutor was the examiner for the State. I so had no interest and barely scraped the exams.
Family vacations involved staying at hotels. We stayed in motels sometimes en route to where ever but hotels? Only remember once, in Ireland in 1978.
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18. My clothing was sometimes bought new but not very often. There were too many above me for me to get new.
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them. I have bought me cars but never new. The closest we have got was one that was 18 months old.
There was original art in your house when you were a child. Does mine count? What about photies?
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18. Hahahahaha! My mother would NEVER allow that.
You and your family lived in a single family house. Huh? It was just us in the house if that is what this question means.
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home. No.
You had your own room as a child. Only for the last few years as there became fewer of us at home.
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course. What is this?
Had your own TV in your room in High School. Ref: answer for phone question.
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College. I had a bank account. Does this help?
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16. Yep.
Went on a cruise with your family. Nope.
Went on more than one cruise with your family. Still nope.
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up. Sometimes. Two of my brothers snuck me away from school for the day to see the Piccaso exhibition.
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family. Not in dollars and cents but I was certainly aware of heating/food/phone bills.




Original source: The list is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. The exercise developers ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright.If you want to participate, please do the same.

We had Christmas today!

Having missed Christmas due to the postal system a few years ago my mother sent our holiday parcel in August.



She fully expected said box to arrive while she was here in November.



It didn't.




Nor did it come for Christmas.





In fact it completely missed January as well.






After six months she was starting to imagine that sharks and dolphins were wearing the inevitable Christmas pullovers (T.G. usually avoiding ones with 'interesting' pictures and applique) and playing with the kids' stuff. But no!!!





Look what the Parcel Force man brought to my house today!



Then we unwrapped it!

Oooooooooooooooo!!! Christmas!




Babyman is loving the whole hot drinks thing - I think he gets it from his father.






On the other hand Princess Curly-Wurly couldn't do coy to save her life. It automatically comes out as superior.

All bets are off and the game is over.

First you take a piece of plain old white paper.


Then you practice some transcendental origami on it.


Then using your bestest and most pretty handwriting you write out the names of every lovely real imaginary person who left lovely birthday greetings.


Once they are all folded in to identical bits with even edges and no distinguishing features you put them in the fabulous basket you received said birthday.


Then taking two handy slaves you have them each draw a piece of paper out and show to the camera

TaDah!!!!







Congratulations ladies!



If you would just email me via the contact widget up the top I would love to send you a prize I hope you will like.

A slight error we may just blame on Blogger.....

............. ooops!


Monkee Maker has been moaning pointed out a few times that the pictures from Bath were unveiwable, and I have to confess I had noticed the same thing in the few days after I posted them.

After the saga of getting pictures on yesterday's post I assumed (perhaps erroneously) that there was a slight hiccup in Blogger's works somewhere and the little men who ride the exercise bikes that power the whole set-up were having a tea break.

On hearing that whining voice again reflection I have come to the conclusion that in fact the reason there are no longer any pictures of Bath may be due to a very simple idiot user error. I deleted them from my ZoomBrowser Ex!!!!

In my defense I have to confess first to idiot downloading from The Camera itself. I was obviously just pressing buttons blindly and managed to put each image into my picture file THREE times. I hadn't quite figured this out when constructing the post and so when I deleted the excess (or 'trimmed the fat' as CK puts it in managerspeak) I actually sent the interesting part of that whole set-up to Blogger's Room 101!

When I am not fighting a disappearing battery, children's lunch boxes and the lack of a shower I shall edit to re-include the photies.

My new camera is very clever.

Have I mentioned recently that I have a new love? *sigh*

I have taken so many pictures in the last few days, over 350!!!



Hands up who misses the days of film pictures?



I thought so.



I am so loving the clarity and resolution. The other day, in crubbish light, I even got individual hairs on my black dog's coat!

(this is not my black dog's coat.)

When taking tourist-y pictures I like to look for the 'little' things. (Please note I also have pictures of the Crescent and The Circus, I did do all the grockle things, honest.)

But isn't this pretty? I do like Art Nouveau.

-------------------------------------------

The cocoa swap is coming to its close and now I have to prepare my parcel to send on its way to a new home. One of the things to include was a 'friend', I was thinking perhaps Mr.SnootyKnickers . He'd be a good choice wouldn't he?

And thinking of parcels ..... there are two more sleeps for anyone who wishes to be in the running for one of their own. Leave a comment here.

I am officially old now!

This post has now been edited to include the photoes Monkee Maker was unable to view. Rather than simply polish her glasses she has requested that I actually fix the errors that were made!

Enjoy. (7/02/08)

Please excuse the date on this post. I may have started this on Saturday but your calendar isn't wrong - today is Monday!

While I am still waiting for the 'formal' telegram from QEII an unofficial email turned up from Windsor for my actual birthday (31.01 Monkee Maker, I have been posting late in the evening recently. Apologies for any confusion ). Just a brief note wishing me felicitations of the day from Lizzie and Phil the Greek (as one of my republican (the non-royalist, not the American version) brothers refers to them) , Chuck, Horse-Face and the rest of the mob. Kind of them, no?

So for my 'unofficial' birthday CK had the day off and we ran away to Bath sans kids. Not looking forward to the hail and snow we were told to expect.

HA!





I played around being all touristy with my birthday present and discovered a third of Bath is missing.





Do you lot up in Brizzle know anything about this?

It would seem the confusion is catching b/c CK kept coming with the birthday presents. Being a boy and tech-minded we started the day with a U/V filter. He then tried to force a camera-bag on me. Have you ever noticed how singularly unattractive they are? All pointy and grey and mesh and strappy. Just not very nice. So I said no and we mooched. We took pics, had lunch, tormented real grockles by tutting loudly as they pushed past, then we took more pictures.

Meandering around the back lanes of Bath CK headed into a luggage/bag shop. He needs a new suitcase for work travel so I figured that was our team plan. Oh but no! Oh! Oh! OH! He had another plan for a camera bag

** sigh** I think I may be in love








Still three more sleeps for anyone who wishes to join the double whammy competition. just click over here to be in with a chance to win something terrifically super smashing!

:-))