Before I Clear the Back(b)log...

Before I even attempt to clear the backlog of pictures and thank you mentions that I owe I must make a

BIG PUBLIC APOLOGY to Isabella!

(You'll see why if you read her blog). So sorry to have vanished and I really am looking forward to receiving that most gorgeous yarn.

I've also finally got new batteries for my camera, so watch out for some picture posts (not before time). Meanwhile, here's why I've been so silent of late (apart, that is, from the mouldy after-effects of 'flu which mean I need to be in bed by about 8.30pm each night!).

I was back at work last Friday (not normally a day on which I work).

Saturday was a KTog.

On Sunday a friend and I went here. We enjoyed ourselves but felt that the venue was very overcrowded and that many of the stands seemd to be clones of one another. But we met a fabulous man using a vintage sock-knitting machine and came home with lots of inspiration for things to make. Interestingly, neither of us saw anything where we thought "I want one of those!". Instead it was a case of seeing, for example, lovely butterflies made out of felt, beads and embroidery and thinking "ooh, I could make a little felt owl brooch with tiny crocheted eyes"

Monday was work (and I also had an order to complete for a market customer).

On Tuesday my boss and I went to London, so that I could see the other branches of the shop I work for (A concession in Harrods, and a shop in Burlington Arcade). We also managed to explore Harrod's Christmas shop and Fortnum and Mason's food hall. And it was Burlington Arcade's Christmas Shopping Evening, so I got free champagne (bliss!) and saw this lady switchon the Christmas lights. She is so tiny that I am astonished that she didn't topple over under the weight of her (many) eyelashes...

Wednesday was work. But after work I spent hours online booking flights and a hotel for a trip here in December. (I've managed to book cheap, but incredibly long flights via Zurich, and the area the hotel is in isn't the most salubrious, but what the heck...) The main point of this visit is that my friend Tamy, who works in Singapore, will be at her parents' house in Vienna and the 2 of us plan to do Christmas Markets (hence my choice of webcam link), art galleries and coffee houses!

Yesterday was the market. The evening was spent tracking down flights to Crete for a friend who is staying with us, but wants to head home before fares shoot up too much!

And today has been spent coughing, sneezing and slowly registering the fact that my temperature is rather higher than it should be. So tomorrow, when I should have been going to a friend's art exhibition, will probably be another day here at home!

Despite the current exhaustion, I'm hoping to go to Girton College's advent service after work on Sunday. You may have noticed a Christmas theme running through this post (Country Living Christmas Fair, Christmas lights in Burlington Arcade, Christmas Markets in Vienna and the advent service). After 3 years of spending virtually every waking hour of November and December slaving away in a certain gift emporium, I'm determined that this year I'll get to enjoy the run-up! I'm going to pick up my old habit of reading favourite Christmas-y books (Under the Greenwood Tree will accompany me to Vienna; once back I'll be reading The Country Child) and, of course, I'll be blowing the dust off my many CDs of Christmas Music: I've got medieval carols, Victorian carols, rustic carols, carols from cathedrals, classical pieces associated with winter but absolutely no crooners or pop singers whatsoever at all! (Nothing against the crooners and pop groups, just that a certain gift emporium rather played them to death). Graham finds it rather funny that a pagan like me delights in Christmas, but I just like feeling part of centuries of midwinter celebrations (and the promise of lengthening days, yippee).