Sunshine & Storms

Robin Wood Tarot

Titch took a day off to drive us to Norwich for a day out, as Mini Diva wanted to go to the RAF Careers Centre - our closest one. It was no sacrifice at all as we used to live in Norwich years ago, and it's one of our favorite cities: the size of a city but with a village feel, full of unique non-chain shops too. 

While we were there, she also blew most of her birthday money on posh sports clothes, so she was happy; I found 2 posh yarn shops: Norfolk Yarn which stocked Tibetan Yak yarn, and The Crafty Ewe which does late night opening once a week ! Plus a Hobbycraft, all of which made me happy - but (making Titch happy) from a stall on the huge market bought only a crochet hook and cute buttons for this:

Sirdar Tiny Tots DK 1561

The rest of the weekend was spent in clearing out our shed in order to put a 2nd-hand chest freezer there ready for storing supplies for the cricket season which starts next week - I am amazed, if not gobsmacked, that Titch volunteered to do the snack kitchen again this year; quite frankly I am really not looking forward to it: after an autumn and winter of merely showing up to watch the kids play rugby at a semi-civilized 10am, being out of bed every Sunday at 6:30am for an 8am start from now until August has NO appeal whatsoever.

Which brings me to the reason for the 3 of Swords. In clearing the shed, we found a box that we both thought had been stored in the house. Unfortunately it and its contents have been ruined by damp and mold:

This is Mini Diva's baby 'coming home' outfit, her first pairs of baby shoes, first lock of hair .... you get the idea. Every single one of the congratulations cards was ruined too. The tears ran down my face like Niagara.

 

Confession

Not mine, I hasten to add - because I never do anything wrong so never have anything to confess. Except that one time when I was dating DH and admitted to squeezing the toothpaste tube from the middle ....on purpose. Our relationship survived even though I still do that.

But I was speaking with Uber-Cool Brother yesterday. If you are psychic like what I am and have a memory, like what I do not, you may remember that this year he was the recipient of two, yes, count' em, TWO, hand-knitted scarves, for his birthday.And you will already know where this story is going.

Number One was this one:

Flame Chevron stitch, using BFL 4ply from Abstract Cat in the colorway 'Sunday'.

This shade was not quite in Uber-Cool Brother's personal color wheel; so I was happy to make another in a color he himself selected:

German Herringbone Rib stitch, using Skein Queen's 'Squash' 100% merino 4ply, in the colorway 'Aunt Betty's Pond'. This was apparently perfect: the right color, the right stitch, the right length ....everything.

You need no tarot cards to know that he wore it once and then lost it. The poor old reprobate is having to make do with the first scarf. So seeing as how I wuvs him, and I have a lovely friend who will order from the bizarrely random Drops website for me (their byzantine ordering/purchasing methods brought me to a hissing point non-plus this week) so I can have some delicious - and discounted - alpaca ....he may have yet another scarf. Although it certainly won't be in time for Christmas ... there is a skull & crossbones sweater with that deadline nailed to it ....

What I had been trying to order from Drops was their light cotton DK, to make a sweater for my youngest nephew - who will be 2 years old in February. I found the pattern in the Woman's Weekly Knitting & Crochet Special of January 2011. I can't believe I just put that right out there in the public domain: me, and the Woman's Weekly ..... the only reason that my life isn't over is because I didn't have one in the first place ....

 But anyway. The recommended yarn was Rowan Denim. I just laughed out loud when I saw that - and worked out the cost as approx. £40 ($63). For a toddler's sweater. Like that was gonna happen. Having been defeated by the Drops ordering process, eventually I found a good substitute in James Brett's Kool Kotton from Texere, delivered this morning for the comparatively measly cost of £14.30 ($22.45). Far more affordable, and practical too - the dye doesn't bleed as it does with the Rowan Denim. This will be one of my only two 'must' projects for next year .... more about that theory another time.

Hidden Gems: Cotton, Suffolk

So yesterday I played hookey, and went to a little village called Cotton with Belo. It seems somewhat random, as many villages do - so hard to see what brought people to live in a small clump together. However, it has Hidden Gems.

The first Hidden Gem is a rambling building full of old-fashioned 'stuff'. I guess technically this place is an ironmonger's shop, but really it was an Aladdin's cave of Stuff with the surprisingly normal name of J.Lawes.

Stuff you'd never thought of because it's just there somewhere in your life quietly doing its job - but of course, someone must make it, and other someones must buy it .... for example, manhole and drain covers, Vim, Borax, several different types of string and rope sold by the yard from big reels, drawer handles, chains, sweetpea seeds, kerosene lamps, lasagne dishes (trying to tempt Alison down for a visit by mentioning that as she must need to add to her collection), bathmats, galoshes and a truly amazing variety of different mouse and rat traps.

And, well, really, just hardware wonderment in spades. Which they also sell.














To me, these two items are of academic interest only, of course my house is spotless and we have no need of such antiquities as my grandmother used as we have air fresheners. But I did buy the sweetpea seeds as not only are they guaranteed as ''heavily scented'' they are also ''floriferous'' ... and can be planted next month. Which is Saturday, of course.



And the second Hidden Gem was a gift/tea shop called Emzo which was rather like the Tardis in terms of external size related to internal size, but which looked way prettier and I bet smelled tons better too. Belo, who had not questioned that someone might need to buy a door hinge small enough for a dolls house at J.Lawes, along with teak garden seating and a Pyrex measuring jug at the same time, now queried why people might want to buy pretty decorative thingies that were lightly scented to clutter up their house with, or coasters prettily painted with this year's trend ie. cupcakes and ooh ! look ! a matching china mug, candleholder and notebook ! But I did buy some small girly-type pretties for Mini Diva as stocking fillers for Xmas.

Both these mind-boggling shops in this tiny village in the middle of nowhere. Go figure.

Today is the hottest 29th September - 28 centigrade, 82 fahrenheit - since 1865, says the news. So having been to the park and run the legs off the dog earlier while the morning was cooler, now I feel faint and that nothing will cure me but to sit gently and preciously on the patio soaking up some very unseasonal rays ....