Morning is it bed time yet??

Feeling shattered, sniffly, aching and too hot....not sure it's just the weather though....especially when I've around poorly people....I WILL NOT CATCH THEIR SNOTTY COLDS/INFECTIONS!!!!!

On a good note I had my 1st weigh in at Slimming World last night and I've lost 4lbs which I am delighted with!!! Lots more to go though!!

I'm almost ready for my King Kole Riot blanket reveal and a scarf I have been working on from oddments of wool - well actually it's made from all the free balls I get with my knitting magazines. I had a big pile of them.

Might be needing both of them if I do get poorly!!! lol

This week

So what have I been up to this week...

On Wednesday I re-joined Slimming World. AhhhHHH!!!! Oh well my own fault. Gotta stick to it cos it does work. I know what I need to do to lose weight  it's about making better choices when I am tired and hungry, it's making food in advance so I can take meals to work or get them out for tea, it's not going for the quick fix of take aways.

I've been busy working, including a double shift on Friday. I was soooo tired afterwards but at least the 2nd shift was great fun - the kids were ace and had fun with the staff too, so that certainly helped!!!

We went to the Leeds Curry festival yesterday. Our new friends Paul and Paula came over from near Liverpool to ours. Not as impressive as I thought it could have been but still pretty good. And yes I was good and stuck to my diet and didn't eat any of it! Being veggie does help sometimes!!!!

Darren certainly enjoyed himself. He got a £5 sample box - with lots of different things to try. After we had been round the art gallery he then went back for another curry -  a new one for him - Goat Curry....now I know why I'm veggie!!!! Even Darren balked a bit at this one...especially as it had bones in. But he ate it!

Just look at the colour of these cauliflowers!!!

The Goat Curry.....

An amzing statue of Freddie Murcury outside Leeds Train Station showing the We Will Rock You show by Queen and Ben Elton. Of course Darren and Paul had to be photographed with it!

So... what have you been doing this week?

Blogger is really annoying me today as it is not showing pics in the way I want them shown!!!!! But every time I make changes it goes wierd. Top this off with the inability to make changes without logging in to the dashboard every time and it makes Blogger very naughty at times!!! Grrrr

Funny!!

BEST DIVORCE LETTER
Dear Wife, I’m writing you this letter to tell you that I’m leaving you forever. I’ve been a good man to you for 7 years & I have nothing to show for it. These last 2 weeks have been hell. ... Your boss called to tell me that you quit your job today & that was the last straw. Last week, you came home & didn’t even notice I had a new haircut, had cooked your favorite meal & even wore a brand new pair of silk boxers. You ate in 2 minutes, & went straight to sleep after watching all of your soaps. You don’t tell me you love me anymore; you don’t want sex or anything that connects us as husband & wife. Either you’re cheating on me or you don’t love me anymore; whatever the case, I’m gone. Your EX-Husband P.S. don’t try to find me. Your SISTER & I are moving away to West Virginia together! Have a great life!

—— Dear Ex-Husband Nothing has made my day more than receiving your letter. It’s true you & I have been married for 7 years, although a good man is a far cry from what you’ve been. I watch my soaps so much because they drown out your constant whining & griping Too bad that doesn’t work. I DID notice when you got a hair cut last week, but the 1st thing that came to mind was ‘You look just like a girl!’ Since my mother raised me not to say anything if you can’t say something nice, I didn’t comment. And when you cooked my favorite meal, you must have gotten me confused with MY SISTER, because I stopped eating pork 7 years ago. About those new silk boxers: I turned away from you because the £49.99 price tag was still on them, & I prayed it was a coincidence that my sister had just borrowed £50 from me that morning. After all of this, I still loved you & felt we could work it out. So when I hit the lotto for 10 million pounds, I quit my job & bought us 2 tickets to Jamaica But when I got home you were gone.. Everything happens for a reason, I guess. I hope you have the fulfilling life you always wanted. My lawyer said that the letter you wrote ensures you won’t get a dime from me. So take care. Signed, Your Ex-Wife, Rich As Hell & Free! P.S. I don’t know if I ever told you this, but my sister Carla was born Carl. I hope that’s not a problem...

Latest creations

So here are some pics of my finished scarf. It is long! When around my neck the ends touch the floor!!! Allows great variations for wrapping it around. It is symetrical in colours with the deep pink at the centre, leading out to the left and right, shades of blue, green and yellow.
I love it!! It is so soft and light. A lovely autumnal scarf! And just in time too!
What I must apologise for is that I was too tired to take pics last night and Darren was in his grubby work clothes til late, so I took pics this afternoon with myself modelling it. Again I apologise. I do not appear in pics for a reason and especially taking them myself. There is always that wierd angle thing going on and chins appear all over the place!! (She says as she shudders!!!) These are the best of a lot of photos taken (doesn't say much!!)

 Isn't it great not having the heating on - you watch out that dial will be cranked up soon I'm sure!!

 Oh and I thought I'd show you where I am up to with my Riot blanket.

Still lots more to do!!!

Sneaky peek at a new scarf

Ok so I know I've only just started the blanket in King Cole Riot. And I know that I still have to finish the jumper I've made (still at least I only need buttons - and I don't like any that I have for it!!)

But I couldn't resist trying the Riot as a scarf made on my knitting loom. Now I started it at 9pm yesterday when we sat down to watch "Appropriate Adult" on ITV. By the end of the film it was scarf length. However, as it is so delicate, snuggly and soft, I fancy making it twice as long!!

So with more time this evening to finish it, I should be ready for a reveal tomorrow!

Who know's maybe Darren will model it as he did here !!!

Sandy

In rememberence of 9/11

In rememberence of 10 years ago today, when 2,977 people died in the 2001 atrocity, after al Qaida terrorists slammed passenger jets into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in the nation's capital. A fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers stormed the cockpit in a desperate effort to prevent hijackers hitting a fourth target, Washington's US Capitol. RIP

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14869230

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14063927

Introducing our new family member

So did anyone guess what was in this box??

Well if you guessed a rabbit you were right!!! Well done - slap yourself on the back!

Go straight to the top of the class!!!

So let me introduce you to Sandy. He was up for re-homing at our local Pets At Home shop.

Reason? Too old to be sold.

Too old??? He's only 4 months old!!

But people go looking with their kids for cute and small baby animals.

He's cute though - isn't he? I dare anyone to challenge me on this!! ;)

So can you guess why we called him Sandy?!!

Darren and I were chatting about names this morning. We tend to have names from tv or films.

E.g I had 2 rabbits Bill and Ben, when Ben died and I got another I called him Ted - Bill and Ted!

Get the idea??

But when we had decided we were taking Sandy home and walking round the shop getting things we needed, Darren said we should call him Sandy....guess what name I had literally just been thinking of for him - Sandy of course!!

So Sandy it was and Sandy he will always be!!

His new home already for him

We think he has settled in really well. He's been exploring and jumping on his box.

Lady loves him - I think she's desperate for him to be set free so she can play with him!! I hasten to add that Lady really gets on with rabbits and guineas. She'd get in the runs with them and wash them. She protects them too. We had a friend and her dog stay with us a few months ago and when the dog would charge at the cage or run Lady would chase him off and stand on guard!! Bless her!!

But it's like having kids, we've been fussing over Lady loads and rewarding her for being gentle with Sandy as we don't want her to get jealous and we want him to be relaxed around Lady.

We were going to get 2 rabbits but as Sandy wasn't living with another rabbit and hasn't done for a while, we thought it was kinder to just have him.

My hope is that Sandy and Lady will bond.

When I have him litter trained, I'll let him and Lady together in the kitchen and dining room - they have laminate floors (no carpets to ruin!) and no loose cables or anything he could chew through!

So welcome to the family Sandy!! xx

Any guesses?

What to do when you can't sleep? Start another blanket!!

I was working a waking night shift last night...can't even begin to tell you how tired I was. As well as the obvious looking after the kids during the night, there is basic household jobs to do. I also had 2 reports to write - very important reports. This was my 1st opportunity to do them since before the summer hols as we get no office time in the hols.

So of course last night was the night when I was exhausted before I even started work - not tired - exhausted. From about 2.30am it was all I could do not to fall asleep (which would be a major disciplinary thing to do!). We work by ourselves at night, the 2nd staff member is asleep on-call.

Well when I could no longer focus on reports I tried some knitting. I had literally just finished a jumper before setting off for work - pics will follow when it is made up. I took the pattern with me and some King Cole Riot. I've had this for AGES and never made it. I bought 10 balls at the Harrogate Knitting Show really cheap!!

Has anyone used it? I found it a pain to knit with. It splits. It looses it's shine and looks fluffy. Now I didn't have hot sweaty hands - in fact I was freezing! - so this didn't explain what was happening. I think it doesn't tolerate being handled. Which is such a shame as it's sooooo touchable!

I knitted about 14 rows in rib on 3mm for the waistband and thinking about frogging it....but too tired to make a rational decision.

Anyway...long story short(ish) I couldn't sleep when I got home, only dozed for a bit really. So catching up with blog reading and came across this blog on someone elses blog. Aside from being excited that this new shop is about 20mins drive from me, she mentions someone using this wool for a granny blanket....so out came a fresh ball and a 4mm hook and here we go....

I loosely based my pattern on Lucy's pattern.

Normally I hate it when you reach inside for the end of the wool and it all pulls out, but this looks so scrummy!! A pile of squiggly colour - just waiting for me to use!

Look at the lovely colours to come

This was me on the sofa with the duvet, bar of chocolate, glass of milk, watching Defiance on dvd and crocheting! Heaven if only I wasn't so tired!!

And this is where it is at the moment. It feels really soft and delicate. The shine hasn't gone and it isn't fluffy. So maybe crocheting with it (less handling) is the way to go. I'll also try using my knitting looms but I'll have to double it up. Despite being a DK it is finer that most DK.

It was hard to keep decent tension because of the delicacy but it adds to the lacey look and feel, as long as the square doesn't go too lopsided I'll be happy.

I feel amazingly awake now - kinda hyper though, so just waiting to crash! Thank goodness for weekend off.

I'm really excited about where we are going and what we're doing tomorrow. Should have (fingers crossed) some good news and new yummy pics for you all tomorrow. Any guesses?

Have a great weekend! x