Water Baby

Well, I have seen photos of the new baby - he is absolutely gorgeous, and very much looks like his mama around the eyes. And what is more, in one of the pictures he is wearing one of the baby cardigans I knitted for him - very thoughtful of his parents. So I am a very contented Auntie.

I used Astrodienst to draw up a quick chart for him, as I lost my good Astrology for Windows program about 2 hard drives ago. Sun in Pisces, of course, but only by a couple of days; ascendant Taurus, Moon in Taurus, Mercury in Aquarius, Venus in Pisces, Mars in Leo, Jupiter in Pisces, Saturn in Libra, Uranus in Pisces, Neptune in Aquarius, Pluto in Capricorn.

Now, my astrological abilities (such as they are) are rusty with long disuse, and in addition, I look at it through a filter of tarot, but this looks like an interesting combination. Off the top of my head, he will be stable and unchanging in his emotions, talkative and very communicative, physically energetic and expressive, with a temper he is not afraid to display; spiritually/religiously, he will have a different angle than most. The rest will have to wait til the kids are in bed and I can get some charts/tables out.

I will also dig out DD's natal chart and compare, since she's a WaterBaby also ....

The Best Laid Plans

So I have been a good girl - I haven't done any knitting, but have rather lacklustredly got on with the patchwork baby cot quilt for my SIL's Bump. Her due date was last Tuesday, which obviously wasn't quite enough of a shove for me; however, news that her waters had broken and contractions had started 21:45 Friday night did. After a couple of return trips to hospital, it was decided that an emergency Caesarian section was necessary, and a gorgeous 7 lb 12 oz baby boy was delivered safely this morning at 9:34 a.m; and everyone is healthy and fine. Which was absolutely great news for a cold, rainy Sunday morning. Well, actually, it would have been great news for any morning.

All other aspects of domestic life taken care of, today I have purely focussed on this quilt. I love my SIL and my BIL (DH's youngest brother) but nothing will prevail on me to sew anything for anyone again. I'd forgotten how much I loathe it. Not so much the sewing, I guess, as how cack-handed I am, and what a bad temper that puts me in. The plus side to this is that the kids stay pretty quiet and avoid me.


cot quilt border

Moonheart & Inky helping with the batting

Inky helping with the quilting

And this is what happens when you buy all the materials for a project ahead of time, with no real idea of the size of the finished item ....

I have already quilted the top two layers - the backing fabric being fleece, I thought the quilting would be too visible if I quilted all three layers. So where I thought I'd be spending this evening hand-sewing the binding, instead I will have to wait for DH to come home next weekend, in order to go to Felixstowe to buy more/different fabric for the backing ....

The cot quilt, like the baby, will be late ......

Flee, Fly .....Flu

So this is me right now. And it's my own fault. I have this supreme confidence that I can deal with everything. Simultaneously and instantaneously. And then I get grumpy when people are normal ie. don't respond to emails within a nanosecond; because, yanno, you're holding me up, right ? I have so much to do, and I can't sort you out because you haven't answered my email. And by not answering immediately, you are preventing me from getting on and sorting out a myriad of other equally important matters in my life. This makes me look at you askance and wonder if you have graduated to tie-up shoes yet.

Last week, we had the Sickness Bug. More virulent than the one we just recently got over. DS twice on Sunday. DD five times Monday night. DS again Wednesday night. And - it had to happen eventually, by the law of averages (or some law, anyway) - me on Thursday. Bless DD's little cotton socks, she made breakfast and lunch for both herself and DS (croissants for brekkie, sandwiches for lunch). My fabulous neighbor Su came over in the evening and not only cooked dinner for my kids, but put my grocery delivery away.

Me ? I curled up in bed like a melted squid with 6 layers of clothes, 2 pairs of socks and 3 hot water bottles, water and paracetamol. I swear, even my hair was aching along with all of my joints. DH arrived home from work on Friday and simply took over - it was great, just to be able to abandon any responsibility and guilt resting absolutely secure in the knowledge that everything was being taken care of, including me.

He was on a course yesterday, so was home last night. After the unusual shouting and blue lights around 1 am (3 police cars and 1 police van) because of a loud 'disturbance' up the road, at the root of which was some girl called Rachel (I know this because the 1st arrested man was wailing her name at top volume), DH ran for the bathroom, blaming the leftover sausages he'd eaten for tea. You feel that sense of forboding ? You see the ominous portent ? The inevitability of what comes next ? Yep. He has the Bug now too. At work. Al-most, my heart bleeds.

Before Pestilence visited actual Me, I completed the second baby cardigan for DD's Year 1 teacher; I didn't like the King Cole Splash DK yarn much; the 'splash' of colors seemed far too random for a yarn described as 'self-patterning', and it feels somewhat harsh, though a wash and fabric conditioner may improve that. The pattern was this, which I have knitted four or five times now because it's so easy and customizable with yarn and buttons. I also like Sirdar patterns because they are usually such good value - this one, for instance, has 4 variations, and in sizes from birth to six years. So anyway, here is the completed oeuvre:


And I must needs put all knitting to one side. Tempus has fugited, and SIL's bump is due on Saturday. I am nowhere near finished the cot quilt - I hate how I swear when I'm doing it; but the kids are out on a playdate tomorrow afternoon, and my loins will be ready-girded to attack it upon their departure ....

Valentine

A Lady's Prayer to Cupid

Since I must needs into thy school return,
Be pitiful, O Love, and do not burn
Me with desire of cold and frozen age,
Nor let me follow a fond boy or page;
But, gentle Cupid, give me if you can
One to my love, whom I may call a man,
Of person comely, and of face as sweet;
Let him be sober, secret and discreet,
Well practised in Love's school; let him within
Wear all his beard, and none upon his chin.

Thomas Carew (1595-1639)




I met such a man in 2002. Reader, I married him.

Self-imposed Hardship

I had brain fever last week, which resulted in me changing round all the furniture in our front and back living rooms; during this self-imposed torture, I discovered more damp and mold (but lots smaller) behind the other big bookcase. The contractor has been and dropped off a dehumidifier, but can't do anything else until the walls are dried out. Not being one to happily sit in the midst of piles of messy junk, I rearranged it all; but being down by so much storage space, all the junk is now far more visible as piles on the floor than it ever was on the bookcases.

In addition, DH and DD do not like the fact that the table ( we honor it by calling it a dining table, but it is just a table we eat from) is in the front room - DH because it is a room away from the kitchen, DD because it is a room away from the TV. Obviously owning so many books must be a quality of Satan, hence the divine punishment of damp, mold and spring-cleaning.

I have weeded out my books considerably twice over the last 9 years, and I just can't bear to get rid of any of the remainder - my tarot/occult library takes up a big bookcase on its own; the gardening and other reference books another. There are 2 further big bookcases, and 3 small ones. DS has a small bookcase, DD a large one. We don't own any 'pulp fiction' - if we feel the urge for literary 'junk food', we use the library; for the price of books, we'd rather buy books we know we will use and/or re-read. I know it's all ephemera, materialistic ties etc. but ....I just can't lose any more.

My sister was over for a visit for my birthday, and spoiled me rotten, which I really enjoyed; just sitting and having the time to chat in a relaxed way was refreshing. We popped over to Felixstowe with my neighbor Su for them to have a look at Fabric8, where Su bought some fabric to make kitchen curtains.

I am also in charge of TABI's teaching arm, temporarily, while the current Admin. takes some well-earned and necessary personal time; the current course is fascinating - there is a mix of people taking part, and I have seen some unusual, different insights into the cards through their work. It can be quite time-intensive, especially when dealing with some of the larger and/or more complex exercises, but it is incredibly rewarding.

I managed to complete the baby cardigan for DD's Year 1 teacher, as requested by DD; I am knitting another, and hope to have them done by this Friday, for half-term; the yarn for the star motif cardigan is Wendy Bambino, which is a fabulously soft acrylic/tencel blend. I have knitted this pattern before, but the star didn't show because of the yarn I used ....


Jewel the rescue cat is far more relaxed, but will not yet let anyone touch her; she goes outside now, and more importantly, comes back; about which DH is not overjoyed, as she has scratched the wallpaper in a couple of areas so that it needs re-doing ....Inky is, as usual, a joy: totally affectionate and delightful.

Another Year

To quote Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say 'bout that.