Monday 24 March 2014

Boidies

Prairie Tarot





                                     I'm baaaa - cckk !


Didja miss me ? Didja ? Didja ? 

I wouldn't have survived if Belo and my MIL hadn't hurled themselves into the melee, and two gorgeous SILs had come to clean up the old house after our personal hurricane wafted through .... thank you.

I have more boxes wilting on the patio than in the house now; the kids have about 2 boxes of their stuff to unpack, I have 2 boxes that apparently came from my desk, according to the labels: and they are not small boxes, so I guess it must have Tardis-like qualities. I'm going to give it a month, and if I haven't  needed anything out of them, I shall condemn them sight-unseen, to the tip.

Plus, I got tricked by the recent mild and sunny weather, into thinking that Spring might be almost here, so I dug out the two flower beds in the front garden. Then last night we had a hard and heavy frost. Of course.

Well, yes, I did actually dig one, but only supervised Titch digging out the other one: loads of dead heather, long grass, and thistles. Our result:





















No, I didn't think about Before pictures until After. Yeah.

I am going with white/silver/blues in the left-hand bed, and reds/oranges/yellows in the right-hand bed. I pruned the three neglected roses, and will see what they deliver over the summer as to whether they are permitted to remain.

And in addition, I have knitted nothing, nothing, I tell you, since the move - can you believe it ?? A mere lonely singular row in the Spring Fling MKAL, for which the latest clue has just been sent. I toyed with a bit of crochet - one that has a rather important deadline - but it's not doing as I want, so I am sulking.

Anyway, this house faces east/west, and the sun has reached the front, so I am off to the trenches with my trusty steed rusty tools .....





Friday 14 March 2014

FO Friday: Messing About on the ....

Victorian Flower Oracle











         .....  River.


Oh River   (French)


Oh River Durchee      (Italian)


Auf Wee in der Seine   (German)







I hope you  won't miss me too much - I hope to be back next week sometime, when the nice techy man  has reconnected my right arm, aka the internet.




Friday 7 March 2014

A Tale of Woe

 Dear Friends -

I must apologize for the sad, lonely and empty space that this blog has been for the last couple of weeks - I have not even managed to generate any enthusiasm for posting about knitting ! That's how bad it has been. Thank you for your kind messages of inquiry and concern.

 Let me tell you the basics of the story in pictures, as it will be way less hassle for all of us than if I use only words:









 this is me tootling along in the rut and routine that is my usual life.















Nearly 3 weeks ago, our landlady phones me to give us 8 weeks notice to quit, she has to sell the house.
















I am doing pretty well at learning Drama from Mini Diva (or maybe it's a combination of hormonal imbalance plus lack of meds), so I cry, wail and generally run round in a panic. I am not good at change, and I feel like Chicken Licken.













I worry that we will not be able to find a house in the same area for the same cost within the time frame - and even if we do, how will we raise all the cash for a deposit, admin fees, month in front etc. I try to imagine how we will all sleep in Wilhelmina, even though she is a big car.








It takes me a while, but eventually I calm down. Panic is surprisingly tiring.
















My friend Andy generously shares his time and expertise to reassure me.















My Eviller and Good Twins shore me up, as do my local friends. They - quite nicely - tell me to get a grip. I am blessed to have them.















I not only find my Big Girl Pants - I put them on.

















I start to view houses. I find 3 in the area I need, I view 2. I pick one.















 The house we are in is small, drafty, Victorian and beginning to need some substantial work done on it. The house I have picked is much more spacious, more modern, and warmer. At the top of the hill, it is much closer to Mini Diva's primary and high schools. However, Destructo Boy's days of late-sleeping mornings are over: his school is at the bottom of the hill.





Titch is loaned the cash. I pay the deposit, and order boxes. I do this along with everything associated with Mini Diva's 11th birthday.  The washing machine breaks, and I have been waiting 14 days (so far) for them to have a new drum delivered to the engineer.

















I spend an enchanting evening at A&E with Mini Diva, as some lump of a boy bowls her over and squashes her during a basketball tournament match - they think her wrist is broken, but it turns out to be a very bad sprain.











I am amazed to find that I am still standing. There is no longer any booze left in the house.





I start to sort, bin, and pack.






That was my last 3 weeks.

One week til the move.










I'll be back when I can - be assured, I won't forget you.