Quiet

Diving down: seeking shelter. Nothing to worry about, it happens from time-to-time and I always bounce back.

Bad

Bad, bad, bad me. Not only did I spend too much at Ally Pally (I got seduced by roving from finland and Kauni yarn from Denmark) I've just visited amazon and this and this have accidentally made their way through the checkout... (strange, that).

Off to Ally Pally again tomorrow but this time to look at the exhibitions and get people adding bits to the coral reef.

Stash shot will appear soon...

No darned socks!

I've just had an email from Twisted Thread (organisers of that infamous yarn orgy, politely known as "The Knitting & Stitching Show") asking me to bring a darned sock or two with me for this man's darning project .

It is a very polite request. But I say "no darned socks". Once upon a time, long ago, in a different marriage, I offered to darn my husband's socks. What I didn't bargain for was being asked to darn the same socks over and again. I started using slightly different coloured thread each time, and when I could see 3 different mends, the socks went out. I got rather tired of darning and let a massive pile of socks build up. One day, husband returned with about 27 pairs of socks that he'd got on a multibuy at BHS. I took it as implied criticism and that was (as they say) the beginning of the end.

(And that is the most intimate fact I'll ever reveal on this blog!)

still soggy, much less anxious and thinking about udders

Thanks so much for for all your kind thoughts.

There's good news (well, comparatively good): Graham threw some things in the washing machine this morning, set it going, closed the garage door and then heard the sound of running water. Yes, it seems that our machine has decided to wash floors rather than laundry. (I do clean the fluff filter regularly, but maybe we'd better not mention all that felting I do?) I've left voicemail for a repair man and am now need to handwash some towels (joy).

Life looks so much better today! And Ravelry has come to my rescue again, thanks to the members of the UK Spinners group and, especially, Natalie from The Yarn Yard. I'd been producing very strange yarn, that managed to alternate overspun and drastically underspun sections. Natalie has not only explained to me where I'm going wrong, she's also likened what I was doing to milking a cow then trying to drive the milk back up into the udders. With vivid imagery like I've really realised the whys and wherefores of my errors.

soggy and anxious

Life has been so action-packed of late (learning about colour on a Rowan course, being part of the teaching team on a patchwork knitting day, editiong SlipKnot for the Knitting & Crochet Guild), that I've wondered how I ever managed to fit in a job, as well.



But I think I'd better find one, fast. I heard a horrified gasp from the garage this morning, followed by "water! Where's it all come from?". We're still trying to find where its all come from (though we've a sinking feeling that it may well have something to do with the stream which, locals tell us, used to flow where our house is built...) So far we've had to throw out a futon mattress and lots of carboard storage boxes. My sewing machines have both got damp. I have rather a lot of LPs drying out (I've placed them in the dish drainer!) and I've had to put lots of my stepdaughter's toys and books into the airing cupboard (she'll be home tomorrow to assess the damage).



I can't thank Graham, and Bob (who is the world's best neighbour) for all the sterling clearance and investigative work they're doing. We did wonder, to start with, if it was just storm water that had leaked in under the garage door but, alas, it does look as if it has been coming through from under the wooden platform where we've got our washing machine. I suppose there's a chance that water has gradually been leaking down from the back of the washing machine into the back of the platform, but having seen the back garden turn into a pond yesterday, and having seen water lapping just below the ventilation bricks under the living room, (and the living room slopes gently downhill toward the garage, which is part of the house, rather than a seperate building) I'm very nervous...





To cheer myself up, I must (i)remind myself that it could be just a plumbing problem! (ii) I shall insert a picture of the fabulous posy that I bought on the country market stall a couple of weeks ago! And (iii) note that life still goes on: I'll be papermaking in the textiles course that I go to each Thursday and Friday is Knitting & Stitching Show. Maybe I should knit a yurt?


But now I must do some serious income-hunting...