How Could I Have Forgotten??

How did I forget to mention this?! That's right, 6 September in London it's "I Knit Day," starring the Yarn Harlot and workshops and vendors and knitters galore. I have my ticket, and I'm ever so very excited about it. Anyone else here in the UK going?

In other news, my head cold is heading (heh heh...) south to my chest. I'm now starting to sport a lovely cough. Hoping to nip it in the bud with positive thinking and vitamins, and an early night tonight.

Roooooooaaawr!

Today we headed to the Dinosaur Adventure Park with some friends. It was a wonderful day out, although it was mighty cold.

The silver lining there is that not many other people thought it was a good day to play outside, so we had the park pretty much to ourselves. The mini-golf, the go-karts, the dinosaur trail, the maze, trampolines, basket swings, giant climbing dinosaur, and all the climbing gear, all of it was ours for the playing.

The kids ran around nonstop for about 5 hours, and boy am I tired! How does that work?

Peep Art

One more thing, before I amble back to bed. This slideshow from the Washington Post is utterly fantastic. Whether you love or hate the lowly Peep, the creativity of the people who did these dioramas is worthy of admiration. Some are not entirely appropriate for kids' viewing, but all are great!!

Groan and Moan

I'b got a code id by head. Many thanks to Lily, who always manages to bring home a bug on the last day or two of term. She's feeling sparky now, if a little stuffy, but I have been producing way too much oogy stuff and using way too many tissues.

I even took a nap in the middle of the day. With two kids home. And no other grownup around. I told them to play quietly and come get me if they needed anything. After the second story that Lily asked me to make up for her book she drew, I invited her to nap with me. That got her back downstairs in a hurry! The house didn't burn down, and I managed to survive the rest of the day until bedtime, so that rocks.

Here's to Twinings' Lemon and Ginger Infusion, or whatever it's called. Perfect for stuffy heads.

Famous Kidz!

D. asked me to email in some snow pictures to Newsround (kids' news programme on CBBC). I did, and they called to get permission to post them. Fame, at least in the eyes of a 9-year-old...

Go See the Snow!

Check out the family website (usually sadly neglected) for some terrific Easter pictures.

May you have a wonderful Easter, wherever you are, Gentle Readers!

OK....Just One More. Really.

I had to share this picture I took today, during our crazy weather. Check out the difference from the summery photo that titles the blog. The kids were highly miffed that the hail was not snow, but they did venture out to pick up some bowls of it to do experiments.

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs...

Aren't we glad I found the camera? Come on, now..you know you are. Maybe I will even wait a few hours before posting MORE pictures!

Check out the finished eggs...Grandma Doe told us how to get stripes of non-colored area using rubber bands. Came out really well. I wish we'd done more of them that way, but all the eggs are nicely gaudy. Just right for tomorrow's egg hunt!

The Prodigal Camera, She Has Returned...

Aren't we lucky? Now I can inundate you with knits, and later on, with Easter egg coloring pictures. It's a very strange sort of day, weatherwise, with lots of wind and hail/snow/rain alternating. Nothing's sticking, but it's really miserably cold outside.

OK, for full deets on the Big Booga Bag, see my projects on http://www.ravelry.com/ (I'm susieknits there). If you're not a Raveller, but you're DYING to know the yarns, stitch count, etc, just comment and I will dig it all out for ya. It's going to be a largish tote once felted, I hope.

Here's a shot from the first couple of days of knitting, and then one from this morning. You can't really see it, but I carried a strand of olive yarn along with the multi yarn for the bottom half, and I've just switched to a double strand of the mult in the last 20 rows or so. This should make the top half brighter, while still toning with the bottom bit.

...and I've Never Been to Boston in the Fall!!!

Today, I took the kiddoes to see The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, a full-length movie very vaguely inspired by this Silly Song from Veggie Tales. it was a very cute movie, and the kids thought it was awesome. Me, I preferred the first VT movie, Jonah, but I liked this one too.

{You'll get the title reference if you've heard the Silly Song.}

And...has anyone seen my camera?! It's fallen into a black hole, and I need it for knitting progress pictures. And Easter pics. Maybe not in that order...

Oh, and my niece, Clarke? She is a most clever lady, and even getting kudos to reflect that at school. Cheering wildly from here.

That's all from me today. No posting of my deeper thoughts or current worries about friends, etc. I'll keep those for my own, and just say to you, Gentle Reader, have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Randomness

The kids finished up the winter term today, and highly enjoyed their Easter Disco (a fundraiser) this evening. Children's discos in the UK are an interesting phenomenon. There's music, and dancing around, but really the DJ is the games ringleader. The first 90 minutes was for the 4-7-year-old set; the last half was for the 7-11 crowd. Lucky me, I got to be there for both, with one child in each camp. Fortunately, the other two small children who stayed for round two were friends of Lily's so they played happily in a corner of the hall.

We were all whipped when we got home, and I hope against hope that the kids will sleep in tomorrow.

If you like space stuff, then this site (Google Mars) is absolutely astounding. Check out the detail on these maps.

I brought the Booga Bag along tonight, and knit a little bit. It's really going quickly, but I can't find the freaking camera to take progress pictures. I have absolutely no idea where I stashed it, which is very frustrating indeed.

Wheels Turning

Isn't this an amazing mandala? It's like fractals and stained glass. (The image is from this site.) I've put this picture up as wallpaper on my laptop, for use as a focal point during meditation and prayer.

Today's been a very quiet sort of day - Lily spiked a little fever so both of us hung out at home today. By this afternoon, she was feeling pretty sparky again, so I am hoping she'll be up for school in the morning.

Television to Knit By

I have been making some serious progress on the Booga Bag. I'm using lots of stash yarn to extend the multicoloured wool I have, and I think it's going to be a pretty cool bag. I'm going big, and with luck, after felting, this will be a good-sized tote. So far I have about 10 inches of the body done. It will be at least 20 inches deep pre-felting. I haven't decided how much bigger than that, though.

The best thing about this project: miles of mindless stockinette on large needles. How is that good, you ask? Well, it makes for great TV-watching time.




I'm combining my knitting with watching The Palace on my laptop, and it's a match made in heaven. This is an ITV show that just aired in the last two months. Imagine a combination of The West Wing and Dallas or Dynasty. Great stuff! All eight episodes are still available online , for another two weeks, if you live in the UK. Or you can buy the UK DVD already - who knew?

Odds and Ends

I've got nuthin' of great import today for you. Visited the dermatologist today for a close look at some moles on the Small D-man. One will be removed and biopsied next week - "These look fine! Except this one's kinda rough, and big, and weird-shaped. Let's take it off and have a look. It's fine! [Hearty laughter.]" A little nervous-making, but not too bad. OK, sort of stressful to think about, actually.

Lily Bean had another friend over tonight, for the first time, and it was a great success.

My younger niece is definitely coming to visit for a while this summer, and that makes us all pretty dang happy. I can't wait to do some field-trippin' with her...

Kids are asleep, I'm fried and avoiding kitchen clean-up, and this lace-weight wool is pretty drool-worthy. Such lovely colours.

See, I told you it was Odds and Ends, gentle reader!

More of the Frivolous...

One of my little vices is Go Fug Yourself - a catty, funny blog about celebrity fashions. They've been right on top of Lohan LeggingWatch 2008 lately. (Check it out - Lindsay Lohan is quite the fan of the leggings, apparently. So was I, in 1993.)

Just wait until the Go Fug Yourself ladies get a load of this article. Our Miss Leggings-Lohan is going to be a designer. Of leggings. Imagine!!

Anyone Remember These?

When I was really little, there were at least two years, maybe more, that we had these eggs at Easter. In my memory, they were the most intricate things, with a little world inside each egg. Later, as an adult, I loved looking at the Faberge eggs in the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. They reminded me of the sugar eggs, done on an incredibly luxurious scale.

I wonder if I can find a couple of these here, for the kids' Easter baskets? You can't go home again, but I'd love to pass on that memory of amazement to them.

The picture comes from this website. Cool stuff!

Huh?

On what planet is this man??

"I must say, I'm a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you...in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger."-- George W. Bush, during a video conference with military briefers in Afghanistan

All Over the Place

I've had a lovely morning all to myself, with no commitments, unexpectedly, and it's a nice feeling.

The one-row scarf? She is DONE!! I took a few pictures to post on Ravelry but it doesn't look any different from the scarf-in-progress shots last month. Just longer. I used two skeins of Wendy Fusion and size 6 needles. Loved the color changes in the yarn and grew VERY tired of the pattern before the end. That's just me struggling with project monogamy, however. I think the finished scarf is quite classy looking.

Now, on to a new project (skipping wildly around room). Looking at the wool I have set aside for the felted bag project, I realized that I haven't got enough for a French Market Bag, but I could make a Booga Bag (picture below is from designer's web site). I like this handle style a bit better, anyway. I think I will try to make it somewhat bigger than the finished bag as written. Several people on Ravelry have made modifications to get a bigger bag. I'm going to use tweed-flecked black wool from my stash (Tivoli Tweed DK, I think) for the base, to get more mileage out of the multicolored wool I have. Pictures of my own bag-in-progress will follow soon as there's enough to photograph.

Remember This?

Remember my drooling post? Guess whose lovely, lovely, wonderful husband has ordered one of these as a belated birthday gift? (He was in the desert for my birthday.) I love that man. Can't wait to see how much bouncier my hair looks, and how much knitting I will finish, and how well I can bake bread once it's in my hands. Heh.

Seriously, I have unexpected free time this morning (not heading to base today after all), so I will FINISH my long one-row scarf. Then I can move on to swatching for the felted French Market Bag. Finally...

Quiet...

...TOO quiet. No, not really. I don't think there is such a thing as "too quiet."However, Lily is at a friend's house for play and teatime, so it's just the Younger David and me. We don't make a lot of noise, I'm finding. Heh. I'm kind of liking that. We'll also seize the day and have pesto with our ravioli, like crazy gourmet people who eat sauces on their pasta.

Lynn's comment to yesterday's post inspired me to check out some photo-processing places on line. Why, yes, that picture would look neat on a note card, as shown by their example picture here. I never considered putting anything but photos on that sort of card. Obviously, I need to think a tad further outside the box...

Watercolour Class - Last One of Term

So, I missed two weeks of class because of various kiddie medical appointments, and returned last week. We started our Giverny Garden pictures then, and finished them off this week. A little bit of a change from Week One, that's certain.

I've signed up for the next class, which begins in mid-April, and am really looking forward to it. I've learned so much. Sometimes it feels intuitive, and sometimes it's really difficult to grasp why something works in paint the way it does, but all the time, I love it!

Mom Would Have Loved This

Check out this article - a man in Scotland built this house for 4,000 pounds, or about 8,000 dollars. More pictures of the building process are here.

Mom loved reading about homesteading, straw bale houses, log cabins, and inexpensive/ecological housing in general. We call little teensy houses "Grandma Houses" in our family. This is definitely a Grandma House.

Did I Miss a Day Somewhere?

I think I didn't blog yesterday (cue ominous music). That's because I was deeply dull.

Today is really blustery, wet, windy and awful. It's the sort of day when something like this post about bread baking looks deeply appealing. I made a batter bread a couple of weeks ago that was great for instant gratification, but there's something richer and more satisfying about a yeasty loaf.

Uncle Walter

David's Uncle Walter passed away today. He had been in poor health for quite a while, but took a really bad turn for the worse these past two weeks, truly struggling for every breath. Walter was a lovely man, I was glad to know him, and I am glad he is not suffering any longer.

Sweet Friday

How I love you, Friday...

Not much excitement around here today, just a dental appointment for Lily (x-rays and cleaning), massive amounts of laundry in the big machines on base, and random errand-running.

I'm feeling a tad sleep-deprived this week so I will be heading to bed early. I know the clocks jump ahead in the states this weekend, but not until March 30th in the UK (just had to look that up).

If the fates allow, I shall sleep in tomorrow morning. [For "fates," please read "charming children."]

Simon's Cat

You've probably seen the video (hilarious) where the cat wants to wake up its owner. Apparently, the animator has made another one. Watch kitty plead to be let in.

I know this cat. I've lived with this cat. Heh.

Thanks to Glenna of Knitting to Stay Sane for leading me to that chuckle. That's the Glenna who designed Ivy for Knitty and Basic Black for MagKnits - she totally rocks.

Why, yes...this post IS very linkalicious. Thank yew.

Hair Cuts and Pictures

Today I got my hair cut. It looks fantabulous, if I do say so myself. However, documentary proof? Not so easy. I tried the ole Mirror Shot trick and the flash went crazy, but when I chose "no flash" I could NOT get a non-blurry shot. I guess I have shaky hands. I had small D take a few pictures but those too were blurry.

I'll have to try in broad daylight with the mirror, but trust me. It's a good haircut. We got rigd of the shag in the back, and the stylist gave me a modified bob with lots of layers in it. Very grown-up looking, and short without looking "short."

Amazing Days

If you read yesterday's post, and Susie's comment, she's referring to the best thing to come my way in a long time. I will be baptized soon, and David and Susie will both be there to witness the day. How wonderful is THAT?! Very, actually.

I've been attending church locally, and the more I learn, the more I pray, the happier I am to be there. I feel a centering in my life that I have longed for, and I am truly grateful for that, more than anything else, today.

Good things

I'm thankful today.

Thankful for my sweetie husband, and the fact that he found a phone that will take a phone card so we could talk, and listen, to one another more than 5 minutes without fear of bankruptcy.

Thankful for Twining's fruity something or other tea, which is totally pink and quite tasty.

Thankful for Aleve and how it made my tooth/headache go away.

Thankful that one of my picky children has expanded the foods he eats to include pesto and olives, so two of the three of us ate something colorful for dinner tonight.

Thankful for good news from my mother-in-law, about David's uncle, who's been quite ill.

Thankful for my mother-in-law, who loves me maybe as much as I love her!

Thankful that I have a haircut appointment Wednesday so I will be able to see through this shaggy mane. I'm definitely going shorter this time.

Thankful for audio available on line so I can "read" and knit at the same time.

And thankful for you, Gentle Reader, for bothering to read my blathering.

Mothering Sunday

Today is Mothering Sunday here in England, or, as I like to think of it, my extra Mother's Day. I was gifted with handmade cards from both kiddoes, a lovely cake from small D decorated with every sort of chocolate known to man (because D's teacher? She is brilliant and knows what mothers love.), and even little flower corsages. I am so lucky.

Maybe the nicest thing was the 2-hour nap the kids let me take this afternoon while they played nicely together. Not maybe. Definitely the nicest thing.

On the other hand, it was also fun putting together David's planetarium despite the forty-eleven tabs that needed to be glued. It took us hours to get that thing into a globe shape, but it was gratifying in the end.

If you're a mother, you have a virtual hug from me today. I hope your day is/was lovely.

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit

Do any of you have that tradition? On the first of the month, as soon as you wake up, you should say "rabbit rabbit rabbit" for good luck. I think it was my fourth grade teacher who told me that one. The kids find it amusing, though.

Knitting - some progress. I moved the eternal one-row scarf into my purse this afternoon, when I drove David to a birthday party. But I didn't actually do any knitting.

Here's to a more scintillating week ahead. I've "lost my [blogging] mojo" lately, and would love to get it going again. Maybe it's somewhere with the knitting mojo...

A Completely Frivolous Post

In honor of Leap Day, when I don't "have to" post a thing, I will reveal that I am a shallow and covetous person.

Today at the spouses' get-together, someone was carrying a Reisenthel market bag. I don't think any of us had seen one before, and it got LOTS of attention, not all from me. They are about the size of a supermarket shopping basket, and absolutely groovy gorgeous. Just my opinion. Suzie's bag was tan with neat black or brown scrollwork patterns.

Tonight, browsing on line, I found this one. My dream market basket. I am absolutely convinced that if I owned it, my hair would be bouncier, my jeans would be chic-er, and I would look effortlessly pulled together as well as environmentally conscious. Also 15 pounds lighter.

Did I mention that I would also finish all my knitting projects, return my library books on time, and bake my own bread? And learn Russian in my spare time? And sing beautifully?

OK. So I am dreaming a little bit. Truly, though, it's a nifty basket.

Hi, y'all.

I got email from blog365 today, reminding me NOT to blog tomorrow. Leap Day is our day of rest. Maybe I'll be saucy and blog anyway.

Traffic court went well - I got my fine and my 3 points, apologized, and moved on. To the tea room in the village. Where I had a pot of tea and a massive slab of very good chocolate cake.

And then I felt much better.

I also scored two nice pairs of blue jeans in the charity shops, which is a little bonus. Last year's Monsoon sale jeans, which have been my go-to dressier jeans, have developed visible holes and it's time to retire them to gardening pants.

I'm being all permissive and letting the kids stay up late to watch one of the Best of Loony Tunes DVDs while I catch up on my blog reading.

Still no knitting around here, but I'm thinking about knitting. Does that count at all?

So. Tired.

It's 8:30 and I am shattered. This is just crazy. Part of it is dread, though...I have my day in court tomorrow, to pay my traffic citation and repent.

Part of it is mental exhaustion and a brain whirling like a hamster on amphetamines. David's car flunked its MOT (annual inspection) rather spectacularly, so our friend/mechanic will be looking out for a new (to us) diesel car for him.

I gave smaller David a hug tonight, remembered when he was a baby, and just burst into tears. Very odd.

And we had an earthquake last night. The world - it is a strange place for me today.

Not much going on tonight. I'm worn out from the run to base - fine doctor's appointment, cancelled dental appointment, and various errands - and it's time to get the kiddies to bed, after which I'll probably read for a while, and then crash.

But I leave you with this image. If I had to head back to the Cube Farms tomorrow, wouldn't this be a sweet spot to work? Check out this article for more cube ideas, some quite amusing.

I Got Nuthin'

Nuthin' to see here...move along.

Seriously, it was a very slow Monday. I spent it doing laundry/dishes and reading, and waiting for the car to be ready. Car? It has a lovely new starter, sounds great and starts like a dream, and is happy to be back.

My evening's been a tad more hectic. Dropped David at Cubs at 6:30 and took advantage of the 90-minute wait to go to Tesco and get some groceries with Lily. Poor Lily - Mondays are really tough because she ends up going to bed 90 minutes later than usual. Once Dadster is home, one of us can stay home putting her to bed when the other is running David up to Cubs.

Tomorrow is a run-around day, with doctor and dentist appointments for David. I'll bring my knitting :)

Still No Knitting

If you're popping in to see what's on my needles, my apologies. My one-row scarf languishes on a side table. I haven't picked it up for even one of those rows since before David came home.

And now he's gone again. He left before dawn today, and has arrived safely in Germany. We'll have him back a week after Easter. Sigh.

Car troubles: the update. A wonderful mechanic (not my usual, but D's new one, an acquaintance of ours who does a lot of work on Peugeots) has taken the non-starter away and will be working on it first thing in the AM. Kids have rides to school lined up, and with luck, everything will be back to normal by afternoon.

We had a quiet day at home, being carless, and now the kids are abed, and I am catching up on blogs. I think it will be an early night for me as well.

Here's to some knitting in the week to come!

Pheh.

David home - wheeee! Lovely day out today with the family - wheeee! Dinner out as well - wheeee!!

Starter dying on motor? Pheh.

AA Roadside Assistance? Priceless.

Fortunately, the airport car service is booked to take David to Heathrow (in 8 hours) anyway.

Unfortunately, replacing a starter on a Sunday here? Near impossible.

Keepin' It Random, since 2005

Heh. Seriously, we're all wrapped up in having David around till dawn on Sunday so not a lot of blog time, but does anyone here play or remember playing Farkle? My sister and her friends used to play it a lot, and I thought it was a gas, but it completely left my mind until this morning, when, for some odd reason, all I could think about was Farkle.

The game is only played with six dice and paper/pencil to keep score, but the rules seemed very convoluted to me. But hey, Bunco confuses me. Seriously...

You can even play Farkle on the computer now. Who knew?

My Cup Runneth Over...

My baby is back. Ignore the utter dorkiness of the picture and focus on those smiles. [Confidential to Chrissie - you're right about the shag cut. I'm going short next month.]

MIscellany in Picture Form

Who guessed that I downloaded the pictures from my camera today? Points to you. Here are a few various shots. First are the lovely birthday flowers my friend Susie sent me, because she's a doll and did I mention she's wonderful? One week later they still look great - all the blooms have opened up now and are so pretty. Next we have David As Figurehead. He was noodling around in the playground at Sandringham back when we had sunshine. When was that? I forget, it's been foggy for so long. The hundreds of clay figures are a display at the British Museum. They are hosting an exhibition of the Qin dynasty terracotta army figures, and some school children made these in connection with the exhibit. They're great - click to get a close-up. And the last shot - that's Lily on the train to London with one of her tiny Madame Alexander dolls. Mom and I collected a bunch of these when they were a McDonald's premium. Such lovely little dolls, jointed, with rooted hair and eyes that open and close...almost as cute as the owner pictured here.

Thankful

I'm thankful for the dentist, my lovely wonderful dentist, who performed miracles on my back molar today.

I'm thankful for the friend who picked Lily up from school and took her to ballet for me, while I was with said wonderful dentist.

I'm thankful that David got a place in the Craft Club for the second half of term, because he has so much fun with it.

I'm thankful that David the elder will be home 48 hours from now, if all goes according to plan.

I'm not thankful for fog, although freezing fog? On trees? Gorgeous...

No watercolour class today because of the dental appointment...so we'll all have to wait until next Tuesday to see what fun stuff I learn.

Meh.

So...unproductive...today. Must...get...motivated. Sigh. Three sleeps until David is home, as the kiddies put it. I hoped to accomplish more around the house today, this being the first day of school after the half-term break and all. Unfortunately, the bed wrapped itself around me for several hours midday, and the only thing I got done from my list was laundry. We did have a nice dinner out at some new friends', though, and that was great!

I'd say, "There's always tomorrow," but not so much. I have a dental appointment down at the base, the timing of which makes doing anything else pretty much impossible.

There's always Wednesday, however. Right?

Can you guess what sort of weather we're having today, and have been having of an evening lately? It's mighty cold right now, and all I want to do is curl up under a down comforter and eat rice pudding. What can I say?

I did make some inroads into the kitchen and laundry that awaited me after yesterday's London trip, so that's good. Now that the kids are abed, however, I've run out of energy.

Four more nights until David's home. Not that I'm keeping count or anything like that...

I promise to attempt some scintillation in tomorrow's post. Sorry, Gentle Readers, I'm fresh out tonight.

A Long Day

I took the kidlets into London today for a dip into the waters of the British Museum. Among other things, we enjoyed the Assyrian bits, some Mayan/Olmec/Aztec artifacts, and the non-mummy portion of the Egyptian stuff. We just wandered where our fancies took us, and I think another 10 trips might begin to cover it. Heh. I took a couple of pictures, and have to get them off the camera tomorrow.

Then we walked over to Covent Garden to hang about a bit, and have some early dinner. It was a gorgeous blue day, although very nippy at the start.

The ride home was crowded - lots of Chelsea football fans (they won) and shoppers meant I stood until Cambridge (45 minutes), but the kids got seats and Lily fell instantly asleep.

I'm overly tired, now, and there's a leftover kitchen mess and some laundry waiting for me, but it will have to wait another day. The bed takes priority!!

How's your weekend going?

Empty

I feel empty this evening. Nothing much to natter about. Everything seems awfully trivial today, somehow. The half-term holiday is coming to an end, and I am taking the kids into London tomorrow to Covent Garden and the British Museum. Early bedtime tonight for Miss Lily, getting back into the routine, but David stayed up to watch Ghostbusters II with me, and enjoyed it highly.

However you're heading into the weekend, I hope it will be a lovely one for you. Six days until my sweetness comes home, and counting.

Just for You

My valentine to you, Gentle Reader(s)! You're the greatest...




(Thanks, Jill, for pointing me to these at this site.)

Treasure....

Aaaaarrrr, me hearties. There be treasure maps galore in this house. David started the trend a little while ago, and is now drying his tea-stained treasure. Lily and her friend Lydia caught the bug and they're working on their own maps, too.

Wednesday, Hump Day, 8 days to go until David gets back Day, the day goes by many names. I'm feeling a bit wrung-out today, but OK. Maybe a long hot bath this evening. That sounds very nice.

Night Out!!

Thanks to my wonderful friend, Ruth, who is able to come babysit tonight, I will be enjoying an evening with the squadron spouses' group. I think it's important to participate in the group functions when I can, but with David away, it's been impossible to make the night events.

Think of it! A chance to see some folks I rarely get to see, who know what it's like when your partner's deployed/TDY, who are funny, interesting, and like chocolate. Pretty much a perfect evening, I think.

Not much else going on today...we got a late start, and I need to put away some laundry, pick up a little around the house, and write some notes for Ruth about bedtime, etc.

Feelin' Pretty Special

Today is my birthday, and it's been a grand one! Thank you, everyone, for the calls, the e-cards, the e-mails, the flowers, and unexpected gifts. I'm also grateful to my kids, who gave the gifts of patience and good cheer all day long on a day full of dentist, errands, late meals, and the world's smallest cake. What good people they are.

Now that bedtime is over (much later than usual because of a delayed dinner and an after-dinner game of Doctor Who trivia), I'm settled in to read a new-to-me novel and enjoy the quiet. Ahhhhhhhh...

Hello, Mister Sun!

Hello, Mister Sun, hello, hello. Hello, Mister Sun, hello. Shine down, shine down, and make our apples grow!

That tune (a little ditty from Lily's reception class) has been running through my head all weekend. I'm just beside myself at two glorious sunny days in a row, when we can be outside, without parkas, walking or running or sniffing the air, or what have you. Fantastic to know that spring is in the air.

The kids have some little sniffles, but I think it's just a reaction to all this fresh air. They're pretty happy, too!

Hope your weekend is wonderful, wherever you are.

Remember the Meme!

Or is it Remember the Maine? Heh.

Annalea over at The Passionate Mind has done the Seven Things About Me meme, and has such thoughtful answers I feel like a total slacker. I've been tagged, so see this post for my seven things, because as number 7 on that list says, I'm laaaaazy!! Thanks for the tag, Annalea. It was neat to read your seven. Anyone who wants to do the meme, rock on, and shout out in the comments so I can come read yours, too.

I've also been tagged for the You Make My Day award, and thanks a gabillion to Lynn and...ack, I'm blanking!! Who else tagged me?

In any event, you all make my days - I love reading your comments here, and I love your blogs. So, thank you.

A Little Telly

Keepin' it light here, on this gorgeous, sunny day. We head into half-term break next week. Wish me luck and fun times. I have a few activities squirreled away for the kids, and some day destination possibilities, so I think the week will go quickly.

Meanwhile, my oh-so-very-beloved Life on Mars is not airing any more, but the sequel program premiered last night. Ashes to Ashes. Got it downloaded from the BBC to watch this evening. (Check out their free iPlayer if you are in the UK, might I just say. It rawks.) I shall always miss my lovely Sam Tyler - a compelling character if ever there was one - but it's nice to have the other boys back in town.

The Princess Bride

Oh, how I love this movie. The joy of it never gets old for me. And David? As yoooooooou wiiiiiiiish!

Two Weeks.....

Two looong weeks to go, and David will be home. We're both hitting the "Man I Miss You So Much I Want to Throw Things and Snipe at People" stage. Too bad he won't be home for Valentine's Day, but I am sure we can work a delayed version out. Heh.

Otherwise, all is well. Gorgeous day weatherwise today. Had a playdate/dinner guest again, and that went well. I'm ready for the kids to go to bed now, though. I need some alone time.

Sorry I'm not more scintillating. Maybe tomorrow will bring a tad of excitement...who knows?

Watercolours: Week Four

Today we finished up our Hunstanton Cliffs pictures. Check out the before and after shots below.


At one point, the instructor used my picture to demonstrate some things on the left of the page [circled in bottom picture]. He used much stronger colours to pick out details and add contrast, even using straight red on the cliffs at one point (yes, I gasped a bit). It makes so much more of an impact.


I added in reflections, deepened tones and added details every old where, and sketched in little figures in the background. Ehhh on the boats, etc. But I see what they can do for a picture, adding depth and drawing the eye in.


No class next week, as it's half-term. I will miss it. I haven't done any painting on my own yet, but I think I will, rather than go into withdrawal...

Spring in the Air, and Winter....

Today's been all over the map, weatherwise. The morning started out windy and bright, the wind died down a bit and the sun stuck around to make walking a sheer pleasure, and then, as I waited for the kids in the playground this afternoon, the skies opened up. It poured rain for about 20 minutes, and now it's clear and fresh again. Ahh, England, you do like to surprise me all day long.

You would think by now I'd have smartened up about carrying more layers of various kinds, but not so much... Ideally, I need a heavy coat, a light jacket, a cardigan, a scarf and gloves. Maybe a hat, too. Just for one day's worth of weather. I was overdressed in a parka this morning, but didn't have a scarf with me(borrowed one!) which was more necessary. For school run time, I switched to a light trenchcoat (AND my own scarf) but forgot the umbrella. Heh.

Maybe I just need a wardrobe cube in the boot of the car. I have spare clothes for the kidlets, as well as cleaning supplies, after the last carsickness episode. Don't know ... if I add much more, I won't have room for anything else, like groceries.

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday in the US. If you're registered in one of the 24 states having primaries, I hope you'll vote. Already sent my absentee ballot in last month. It's going to be very interesting to watch. I'll probably stay up far too late to wait for returns. I always do...

Awestruck.

This morning, David was in the (packed) West Newton church with some other schoolmates for the Queen's visit there. Lily and I were waiting outside with the other onlookers. We brought snowdrops from our garden for the Queen, who stopped to take them from Lily and spoke to her. She smiled, and in her lovely voice, she asked Lily, "Did you pick these yourself?" Lily was awestruck. And dumbstruck. What a moment!

Decluttering - A Small Update

You might recall when David and I decluttered his bookshelves and tidied his room. I followed that up by tidying Lily's room and toy shelves. Well, she did a pretty fair job of keeping things neat, but a couple of weeks ago, as promised, I went in to de-toyify. After an hour and a half, I'd removed two bin bags full of soft toys and things, and two more bin bags full of junky toys and no-longer-loved toys.



Here's the final result of the Toy Shelves Purge. The key - everything has a place now. Special dolls go in cubbies; the tea party set has its own cubby, as does the play house. Bins have specific things in each one: princess and fairy dolls in one; Mr Potato Head and family in another, Playmobil in another, puppets and ponies in another (it cracks me up that so many of the preferred toys begin with P). The bottom row of bins contains soft dolls, and soft toys that ARE played with. See how much neater the shelves are?


Each time we've cleaned up, even after playdates, it's taken lmuch less than 5 minutes, and Lily has taken the mantra up too - "it's easy to tidy because... everything has a place!" Now, if I can achieve this with my OWN junk!

On a rather blustery evening, I'm huddled in the living room, thinking of random things for which I'm thankful:

A working furnace.

A pretty room to spend time in.

A REALLY BIG mug for hot drinks.

A wonderful husband who "talks" to me as much as he can by email, even when cut cables in the Middle East mean no morale calls and no unofficial email accounts are getting through.

A wonderful husband, period.

Tesco Light Choices ready meals.

Children who want to talk to me and play games with me.

Children who are cuddly and affectionate.

Children who have early bedtimes, which minimizes their hours of meanness.

My watercolour class.

Extra brushes and paint so I can spend some time painting with the kids tomorrow.

Good friends who care about me.

Yarn to pet.

Down comforters.

And you, Gentle Reader.

I hope your days are good ones, wherever you are as you read this.

(Image courtesy of this art studio website.)

Oh, Nerts!

I missed a day. Sorry about that.

A Meme; No Tagging Necessary

Just out of curiosity, I had to try this meme, when Lynn posted it.

1. Go to the current book you're reading.
2. Go to Page 161.
3. Copy down the 5th sentence.

The family, rather taken aback, agreed, and then, somewhat suspiciously, asked me what I wanted.

That's from My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. I'm reading the Corfu Trilogy right now, which is a collection of all three books he wrote about his family's years in Corfu. Wonderful, wonderful books.

The sentence is from passage where clever Gerry has worked out a way to get exactly the boy-naturalist supplies he wants for his birthday by targeting the wish lists.

Saint Wanda, and Watercolour Class: Week Three

First, note that my streak of daily blogging lives on (I did blog yesterday at the HealthSpa blog).

Second, I am indebted to my new hero, Wanda of the California Department of Motor Vehicles. In the space of 8 minutes of the phone, she noted my lost license in case of identity theft, took all my details, and generated a replacement license thingie (photoless but legal) that is mailing out today, and is good until 2012. Hey, a photoless license is bound to look better anyway.

She totally rocked my world, and potentially saved my bacon because I must appear in court (with a license of some sort) at the end of February to face my speeding charge. I, Maria Andretti of the Leaden Foot, was caught in a speed trap on the way to base. Sigh. I was wrong. So wrong. Seriously, I've been pretty darn careful about speeding since I have been here.

Moving on to item the third, we began a Norfolk landscape today. Working from photos of the Hunstanton cliffs at low tide, I produced this. We will work on them more next week, adding details and finishing various things, like the rocky gravelly bit along the bottom of the cliffs.

What I like about this picture so far: the sky came out really well and I think the tops of the cliffs (chalky part) are going to really be good. The sand is a good color mix, and I think the carrstone boulders look nice and seaweedy.

What I don't like: The horrible, horrible shade of blue I used in my little pools (and the patch of ocean, for that matter). I think the water is really blotchy as well. I am really not pleased with the carrstone portion of the cliffs - it should be paler, almost a reddish pink and brown. I can't make it lighter now that it's on.

It's an interesting scene to work on and I think if I paint it again (and again), I'll get the coloring better.

Back, and Back in Action...

Our trip to Cadbury World couldn't have gone better. We had an awesome time, spending about 5 hours there, and the trip home was as smooth as the trip out, which is to say...like buttah!

Yes, chocolate was consumed. No, I did not rip my head off for ease of pouring candy down my gullet. I did take some pics of the kids at various points, but a few fun areas were off limits for photos. I will post them once they're uploaded, but for now, I'm just patting myself on the back for a road trip well done, and for unpacking the very same evening we returned. Whoo hoo!

Quick Post

In case I don't get back online today, we're headed for the Wonderful World of Chocolate here. Should be fun, and I am pretty sure I can restrain myself from inhaling the entire place. Pretty sure.

I miss you.

Mom would have been 72 today. I miss you always, Mommy.

Morning Kaffee Klatsch

Today I had to set up for and "host" our spouses' group monthly morning coffee. It's a very informal gathering but there's still prep time involved.

I managed to get everyone sorted out and to school at this end, and get set up in our meeting room down at the base in good time. A fine time was had by all (I hope). Certainly, I had an energizing morning. We had some new faces, one soon-to-be-departing person, and lots of chat with everyone.

I forgot to eat a decent breakfast beforehand, but managed OK. Thank goodness I brought fruit along - that's proved to be very popular on the snack table.








Lovely image from this quilting site.

Comments, and All That...

Thank you, Gentle Commenters, for all the nice words about my "art" yesterday. You make me feel special. Almost as good for the self-esteem as hanging out with Mr. Rogers.

Toni left a comment about another post [my salt rant] that has me thinking. I blogged about it on my other blog, but I'm seriously contemplating her suggestion of a month without processed foods. Just have to wrap my head around portion control a bit more firmly, before I give up the ready meal crutch.

Watercolours: Week Two

I am love, love, loving this class. Today's work was about tones, and this is the exercise we did. It's a Lake District landscape, working from a black and white photograph.


I learned a lot about tones/gradations of color. Still fumbling with the painting of water. Wouldn't you think it would be easier to paint water with watercolour? For me, not so much!

Ooof.

It feels like I haven't stopped moving all day...dinner's over, though, and we're in the home stretch to the bedtime hour.

I got a lot of miscellaneous errands done, and had lunch and a spot of shopping with my buddy Chrissie (waves!). I'll blog one of my purchases another time, when I have good light to work with.

Meanwhile, a little foody musing. What is UP with salt in prepared foods, and why oh why must the makers be so heavy-handed with salt? I've leaned heavily on the ready meal in the past couple of weeks, and the offerings range from terrific (the new Tesco Light Choices, with much less fat and sodium) to deeply, deeply disappointing (tonight's Tesco Steam Meal - salmon, potatoes, and veg).

The meal itself wasn't bad, actually, although the broccoli couldn't stand up to all the cooking time. However, it contained 1300-odd mg of sodium, and tasted like someone had up-ended a salt shaker over it.

What has Susie learned from this, Gentle Readers? Apart from "Cook-your-own, already!" ? Look at the sodium information, too, when picking a food. Wow, it only took me 40-odd years to come to grips with that. I'm a quick study, I am.

As Promised

Here's a picture of the Telly-watching Scarf, just after adding the second ball of wool. See that thin band of red? That's not where the first ball ran out; it actually faded right back to the golden shade for about an inch of knitting, so it was very easy to add in ball number two. Looking good, I think. I just love these colors - so warm, and welcoming. I like the random size of the striping as well.

Knitting...

There hasn't been much knitting here at the KnitFarm this past week. I've still got the warmer-colored one-row scarf on my needles, but not much progress. Today, the plan is to watch a DVD with the kids, so I'll be knitting then. Once I get this done, I may pick up one of my many languishing UFOs, but I rather think I'll be moving on to another simple project instead.

I've got the perfect yarn for the French Market Bag from Knitty - it's a speckled spicy colored wool, with jolts of blue, but it's too busy for anything wearable. I think felting will blend the speckliness (is that even a word?) nicely.

Once I start it, I'll post a picture of the yarn.

Friday, O Friday!

Made it to the end of the week...a little crazy this morning but all is calm now. I've got a birthday party to schlep the kiddies to this afternoon, and then we're appointment-free for the next couple of days. Here's to weekends, and recharging.

Movie Meme

In the absence of a life-related post today, I offer this. Really kinda cool. Courtesy of Annalea at The Passionate Mind.

Here is a list of the Top 100 Films of All Time. So, here's what I've seen . . .

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. The Godfather
3. Casablanca (1942)
4. Raging Bull (1980)
5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
6. Gone with the Wind (1939)
7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
8. Schindler’s List (1993)
9. Vertigo (1958)
10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
11. City Lights (1931)
12. The Searchers (1956)
13. Star Wars (1977)
14. Psycho (1960)
15. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
16. 2001 : A Space Odyssey (1968)
17. The Graduate (1967)
18. The General (1927)
19. On the Waterfront (1954)
20. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
21. Chinatown (1974)
22. Some Like It Hot (1959)
23. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
24. E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)
25. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
27. High Noon (1952)
28. All About Eve (1950)
29. Double Indemnity (1944)
30. Apocalypse Now (1979)
31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
32. The Godfather Part II (1974)
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
35. Annie Hall (1977)
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
37. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
39. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
40. The Sound of Music (1965)
41. King Kong (1933)
42. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
43. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
44. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
45. Shane (1953)
46. It Happened One Night (1934)
47.A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
48. Rear Window (1954)
49. Intolerance (1916)
50. Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
51. West Side Story (1961)
52. Taxi Driver (1976)
53. Deer Hunter, The (1978)
54. M*A*S*H (1970)
55. North by Northwest (1959)
56. Jaws (1975)
57. Rocky (1976)
58. The Gold Rush (1925)
59. Nashville (1975)
60. Duck Soup (1933)
61. Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
62. American Graffiti (1973)
63. Cabaret (1972)
64. Network (1976)
65. The African Queen (1951)
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
68. Unforgiven (1992)
69. Tootsie (1982)
70. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
71. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
72. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
74. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
75. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
76. Forrest Gump (1994)
77. All the President’s Men (1976)
78. Modern Times (1936)
79. The Wild Bunch (1969)
80. The Apartment (1960)
81. Spartacus (1960)
82. Sunrise (1927)
83. Titanic (1997)
84. Easy Rider (1969)
85. A Night at the Opera (1935)
86. Platoon (1986)
87. 12 Angry Men (1957)
88. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
89. The Sixth Sense (1999)
90. Swing Time (1936)
91. Sophie’s Choice (1982)
92. Goodfellas (1990)
93. The French Connection (1971)
94. Pulp Fiction (1994)
95. The Last Picture Show (1971)
96. Do the Right Thing (1989)
97. Blade Runner (1982)
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
99. Toy Story (1995)
100. Ben-Hur (1959)

53 out of 100. More than I expected to have seen.
Consider yourself tagged if you want to be. Just copy, paste & bold the ones you've seen. (Then leave me a comment so I can go see what your score is. ;o)

A Sunny Day

A sunny day, a walk outside, lots of little jobs taken care of inside, laundry sorted, dinner in the works...I think today's definitely a very good day.

About to get even better, when Torchwood series two premieres tonight at 9:00. Captain Jack Harkness. Mmmm. Excellent.

My Morning At Watercolour School

A report by Susie.

I started out on a grand note by ... forgetting to go! Fortunately, a phone call to me (happily picking up a birthday gift in Lynn, and planning where to head next) saved the day. I swooped home and grabbed my supplies and got there in time to dash out my color wheel. I didn't even miss the coffee break. Normally, I would have been mortified to the point of tears, but for some reason, I was very zen and cheerful about it, and even took the ribbing from the instructor with ease.

Wanna see my stick figures from today? Suuuuure, you do. This was our exercise: a little sky, some cloud, irrigation canals, a ploughed field. It was actually good fun, although I'm not thrilled with my perspective, or how heavy-handed I was with the paints in the sky, in particular.

The instructor is terrific, and I am so pleased I signed up for this course!

Another Good Day

Today, I got everything done on my list, except eating breakfast (oops, better write it on my list). Had a good morning chatting and crafting with Chrissie, got my on-base errands run, and even did some laundry in the bargain.

David went to his new Cubs meeting and had a lovely time. He made this boat, with a friend. It came second in the races they held, so I guess it's seaworthy. Will have to test it in our bath.

Lily and I spent the wait at the library for the most part, and she slept on my lap in the car as well. It's juuuust short enough a meeting to make it a hassle to drive home and back.

FitDay

Hey...remember that FitDay I was loving so much last year? [See the sidebar for link.] I just logged my food for the day thus far, and I am patting myself on the back. Just a little bit. I hadn't logged in food since the end of July, although I did put in my weight a couple of times as it crawled upward.

I feel like I did something good for myself today.

A Little Laugh

After a long, sleepless, anxious sort of night, and a downer of a morning, I am giving myself a pep talk and heading out with the kids.

This would cheer anyone up. It's the Chopping Broccoli song from Saturday Night Live of the 90s. The link is the official network one, and it won't work if you're not in the US, so you'll have to Google it. Trust me. Funny.

Long Week...

Somehow, the week has been a good one, a busy one, but as I head into Friday afternoon, I feel like it's been Just. Too. Long. I'm ready for bed. I'm ready for the weekend. I imagine I may need a coffee to make it through to bedtime. That's OK.

How about you all? How's your week been?

10-minute Tidy

Not so much, actually. More like a 90-minute tidy. This afternoon, I tackled David's room, with his help. We cleared out two shelves of beloved but too-simple books (Magic Treehouse, Time Warp Trio, etc. - saving for Lily to read soon), and that made space for all the books that had been carpeting his floor. Once they were shelved, we reached the toy layer. Once that was shelved, D's room became a terrific playtime oasis again.




Well, Miss Lily saw the magic happening, and demanded we tidy her room. I took before pictures in hers (below), so you can see the difference.

Now, to keep it all this way. What's needed next is a MASSIVE de-toyification in both rooms. I'll tackle this when they're at school. My plan - remove 30-50% of all toys, bag them and put in shed. If anything is missed, we can bring it back in. If not, I take them to the charity shop in a month or two. There's sooo much stuff in each child's room right now, they just can't figure out what to play with.

Parenting Challenges in 2008

Wow. I just checked in on The Not Quite Crunchy Parent, which is a lovely and interesting blog. The author has posted her parenting goals for 2008. I embrace Every. Single. One. What a great lady. What a great list. Here's an excerpt, but you should go check out her post. Again, wow.

1. Breathe deep before responding
2. Ask questions- engage in conversation - listen
3. Limit junk food
4. Fight the media monster
5. Watch for inappropriate playmates…and language
6. Work harder on healthy food
7. Let go – relinquish control; Encourage independence
8. Provide structure
9. Read, read, read
10. Play – games I don’t like or understand but he does
11. Learn about what interests him – be able to discuss them
12. Limit “no” – try for “let’s discuss”
13. Say “I love you”; “That’s great”, “good job”

Always Learning

This morning I signed up for a course in watercolour painting. Tuesday morning sessions, beginning next week. I've wanted to take some painting lessons for a long time, so this is quite exciting for me. The instructor, John Hughes, has some pictures here.