A little more crochet

Work on my rippling blanket has been sporadic this summer but I think I am getting there.  A final push there before we went on hols and a bit of tidying up and it came away with us, with the intention that I do some more but it was too twiggy and dusty, so no crochet was done whilst on hols. Since I have been home I have started at it again, spurred on by the intention to start something new soon, and indeed I have been enjoying picking the something new (a baby blanket?  some Chrimbo items? what to do, what to do???) and now I have run out of a couple of colours and the shop no longer stocks them (I tend to buy one ball at a time, using my 40% off one item voucher.....frugal.) so I have sent off for the last 2 balls of wool, and whilst I await their arrival I have tentatively started my new project (I figured I would get stuck into baby blanket as there are lots of small squares to it).  Hurray.  But in my searches I found this on Attic 24.

Ages ago I wanted one of these as they are great for keeping the pot warm for longer, and wanted a friend of mine to knit it.  At the time I could not crochet, and knitting still scares me.  Well, I didn't ever get round to getting it sorted out and we have since moved away from cold NI and have a new coffee pot, but I am delighted to see this and might give it a go some time.  So thanks Attic for completing the project and inspiring me (again), as well as letting me know where to find the pattern (Nicki Trench's book Cute and Easy Crochet).

1st Home grown tomatoes of the year, indeed, of my life!

The title says it all - its so exciting to have been able to grow tomatoes!  At home I would have need a green house, we don't have one. Here, they grew outside in the raised bed and survived the snails!

And look what I found later!  Although I had to fight my way through the yellow tomato plants...

Time to document some pots...

The time has come to document a few pots and the colours I have used just so I can avoid/replicate in the future....

This is my 1st attempt at Roy's mug Big Sur, with Ida's White and Jade.  Needs work!

I really like these colours together - Big Sur with Jade and Deep Aqua

And again

A nicely shaped bowl, a bit too much clay used (could have been thinner) but looks well - Big Sur with Ida's white and Jade, again.

Doing a bit of colour experimentation here - nave with a pool of rutille - should have omitted the rutille!

and on the outside - black.

Happy Holidays

Hurray, we are back from our hols - not hurray we are back, but hurray it was a good holiday.  I feel revitalised and less stressed.  I knew I was stressed but not quite how - it took a couple of days for me to chill.  We went on a YMCA Family holiday to ease us in to the camping habits common with Americans.  Like every thing they do things with maximum effort, so camping stores have all manner of different camping gadgets, and stuff for white water rafting, snow shoes, mountaineering... So we stayed in a (very dusty) cabin, which suited us as it gave us the room to keep our stuff and not forever bumping into each other.  The location was beautiful, right on a lake edge completely surrounded by sugar pines and sequoia trees, and it was a private location, so apart from stray hikers and people from other Y camps about the lake (like Skate board camp!) we had the place to ourselves.

 I had forgotten what quiet was like.  There was no tv, phones and apart from the odd bit of ipod watching to placate over tired toddlers we were electronic free.  In the mornings there was a kids camp, which was fantastic, and allowed me to indulge in a bit of crafty stuff in the craft shed - I made a stained glass dangly heart, started a mosiac (which my 7 year old finished), made a few hemp bracelets and did a bit of tie tye!  So good for the soul. Other activities included archery, fishing, which is surprisingly enjoyable, swimming in the lake (I swam across it twice!), hiking, boating, or just nothing.  I got a whole book read.....  So it has made me realise, I really do need to get some help looking after the children, I was so stressed before I went, I never got away from teh children and spent all my time waiting to collect them or drop them off, I did nothing that fed my soul.  So, I have come back and am not tired all day like I was before.  I will try and keep up the swimming and keep the telly off at night, do more craft and check out eating wheat grass (they sell it in Nob Hills)....  Lets just see shall we!

Exhaustion

I was watching a Dr Oz programme last night, something I rarely do, but this one struck a cord.  They asked a load of women to describe their energy levels and I was surprised to see how many felt the same as I do, wiped out, exhausted, struggling through the day etc etc.  Then, dear old Dr Oz went on to suggest solutions, in particular he introduced a guy (Jim Caras) who specialised in this area (and of course had written a book

'The 7 Day Energy Surge'), he had astoundingly white teeth, a bit like a cheesy George Clooney. Anyways, then they went through 5 stages to improve your energy levels and they were

1) eat a balanced breakfast - they suggested a home made muesli (I am too lazy for this, I wonder if cornflakes is ok....)

2) taking magnesium and Tyrosine (?) suppliments

3) drinking wheat grass about 4pm when energy levels dip, instead of reaching for a coffee, or if you had to drink coffee make it half coffee and half LOW (not non) fat milk.

4) switching tv/computers off 2 hours before bed

5) listening to music - have it on in the back ground, about 45 mins before bed to help relax.

also there were other things like, when you wake up lie for a few minutes put your hands over your eyes and take 5 deep breaths, or try and avoid switching lights on if you have to get up in the night, use night lights.

Sooooo last night I switched off the telly and put on a bit of classical (after a while I changed it to a bit of gentle contemp music so I could sing along), had a shower and, because telly wasn't on, did a few jobs - tidying, putting on washing. It struck me that if the telly didn't pin me to the couch I ended up doing more tasks rather than chilling, for the want of something to do, although I understand that telly would stimulate the brain for longer thus making relaxation harder. Anyways, I woke up this morning feeling fresher - I am not sure if this is because of the pre=bed shower, which I always find refreshing. I would like to try the wheat grass, and know they sell it in the local super market but I am not sure how to process it..... Another problem is, some evening I would like to watch telly, does that mean I have to sacrifice a good nights' sleep. Anyhow, what ever I am will ing to try it all as the tiredness is crippling, I mean I know I am pregnant but it is such a struggle getting through the day and I just dont have the energy for the children... so fingers crossed.

Soccer and Drive throughs

This week is a good week for holiday camps - both older boys are at a camp that starts and ends at the same time, plus another parent is sharing the pick up/drop offs, so there is less frantic driving about and wasting time waiting to drive about.  They are both at soccer camp, their first real experience of soccer and its is going well.  Apart from spending the morning outside running about with nothing but fresh fruit and water they are enjoying it.  Is great.  Then a break and in the afternoon swimming (in the community centre out door pool!).  So today I decided to go to a different Michaels to look for some yarn that I need to continue my zig zaggery.  My local Michaels no longer stocks it, so I thought this might and, eek, this doesn't either.  I fear the end of this blanket is nigh.  So to commiserate I went to the DRIVE THROUGH Starbucks, which , with my toddler, is a god send.  My 3 shop threshold has dropped to 2, as he will no longer be contained in either buggy or trolley, and tends to either refuse to move or run off at tangents, which turns me into a distracted nervous wreck and renders me unable to shop for much as I just cant concentrate on getting the good deals, or even the regular deals, or right deals for that matter.  So a DRIVE THROUGH Starbucks is just fantastic, except for the protesting toddler in the back who wants this, that and the other, that is never actually in the car. Anyhow, we are home now and I have to plan my next project due to impending end of zig zag blanket.