Thursday

Look at that - Thursday.  Where did the week go?  Only four days and it's back to school.  I'm afraid the days are accelerating away now and there's precious little time left to do much, not if I make rest and recovery my main aim (which I am).

I did manage to get to Hobbycraft yesterday and spent some of my Christmas money.  I came home with plenty of yarn and all sorts of nick-nacks - needles, crochet hooks, etc.  I think I've found the yarn to go with the beautiful stuff Beth gave me for Christmas.  It's a sort of mid grey with which I will do the main body of the shawl while I use the other yarn for the lacy edging.  Something I really like about the pattern is that it's not triangular shaped with all the associated 'fitting on the shoulders without falling off' issues, it's nearly circular with a 'pie shape' cut out of it, so it will drape beautifully over the shoulders and down.  That's what I'm hoping anyway.  I've started the main part and, before I get too far, I will try the lace edging, just to make sure they do actually go well together before buying any more grey yarn (I bought just one ball yesterday)
While I was searching for patterns, I found a nice one for a 'Holiday Hearts Throw' (American, as you might have guessed - why can't they say 'Christmas'?) which is red, green and white and just caught my fancy.  So I got some molto cheapo yarn to have a go at that too.  By the time I've made up a couple of the squares, I can weigh them and will know how much more yarn I need to get.
They also had some reggia yarn at £1.00 a ball (sock and glove yarn) so I got some - too good to miss really, plus some other bits and bobs in the bargain baskets.  Not on sale but rather nice was some 'shaggy' yarn to knit up into a scarf using the biggest needles I have ever used - size 20.  That should be interesting!

I was pleased with how much I got for my money, plenty of projects there, for sure, and still have almost half of it left, yay!

When I got home, I was pretty tired so I rested and snoozed and crocheted and read and the afternoon turned into evening . . . a nice way to live, eh?

Today I need to sort out downstairs and make it all neat and tidy for tomorrow.  Later on I am going out to the Hare for an early dinner with a friend.  That will be nice.  And I am sure there will be time to crochet one of the squares of the 'holiday' throw, starting by checking what the American terms actually mean!  How would we manage without Google!

Yesterday morning there was a beautiful sunrise.  Sure enough, true to the saying, by 12:30 it was raining and I drew the curtains at 3:30 to shut out the gathering gloom.  I'm glad I got some shots of the sunrise though.

Wednesday

Today I feel human again.  OK, sore throat, bunged up nose, but normal, all the same.  Fantastic!  Now the holiday can start!

Yesterday was good too.  I used the cheap chicken wings I bought a few days before to make a chicken gravy for the freezer, using Jamie Oliver's recipe as a guide.  Apart from the star anise (I will only use one next time) I was jolly pleased with the results which are now safely in little pots ready to go into the freezer.  It's very irritating to take out nice slices of turkey and not have a decent gravy to go with them so now I do.  I really ought to do what Diane does and freeze good stock when I have it, but somehow it always gets used up!

I also started practising a pattern for a shawl.  I found the pattern on the internet and it looks just right for the lovely yarn Beth gave me for Christmas.  The beginning was tricky and I had to try it three times before I sussed it out properly and it's American so the terms are different but I'm sure I'll get there.  The biggest disadvantage (that's not the right word because it will look lovely, but I can't think of a better word) is that I will have to get another yarn that tones in for the lacy edging but I do have Hobbycraft and I do have vouchers to spend there.  It's also better knitted on a looser tension (sorry - gauge) and, as is always the way, can I find the pot I keep my crochet hooks in?  No, I can't, it seems to have vanished into the blue yonder.  Highly irritating!

So today starts with a trip to Hobbycraft.  I've been intending to go there all holiday and never feeling up to it, so this is long overdue.  I just have to make sure I have my vouchers with me, in case . . .  After that it's round to B's to pick A up and take him to his old school.  He's off to see a pantomime with a group of old friends.  Then it's off back home where I will hopefully have something Hobbycrafty to play with.

And I have to start thinking about planning!  Not New Year Resolution planning, school planning.  Reality draws ever closer.

Edited later to add that I've finally got round to uploading the photos n my camera (or off my camera) so here's one I took earlier - when we had the freezing fog.

Monday

And here we are at the start of the last week of the half term which has all gone terrifyingly quickly.  I seem to have been extremely busy with nothing to show, although the amount of work in the children's books tells a different story.  It's a four day week as Friday is report writing day and is Jubilee week so the afternoons will be very red, white and blue!.

Yesterday was pleasant although I was very tired and slept much of the afternoon away.  This was lucky because I spent most of the evening in front of the PC sorting out hustings questions for the OUSA Officer elections, in the company of two other mods.  By the time we stopped, we were all making silly mistakes from sheer tiredness, but we got loads done so that was good.  One more evening's work should see it done.
The morning was busier.  I popped out to Hobbycraft and ended up buying some more sock/glove yarn.  The knitting is on a go slow at the moment because there's so much else to do but come half term I will be able to make up for lost time.  I also found (elsewhere on the same site) some Morny lavender soaps, very much reduced, so I treated myself.

It appears that today we may get storms.  Not in school time, I sincerely hope.  Some children can be terrified of storms!  However, I have taken the garden cushions into the shed, just in case!  The garden could do with a good soaking, that's for sure!