Rewards

So this was me today. Calm, chilled, relaxed, focussed. Believe that, believe anything.

Actually, this was far closer to the truth:

I had looked at Moonheart, and I really think that she had totally the right idea about how to spend the day - especially since it was very cold and blustery outside:

Yes, the radiator is on, and that is a rather unusual and hard-to-come-by spider plant that she is crushing, next to the very expensive cutting that came from Kent that she has her paw in. Buddha also took a header not long afterwards.

However, as I was just about to settle down to Karise (thanks so much again, Steph) with a cup of tea, blankey, hot water bottle and Dr.Mark Sloan, I saw this:

Irresistible, isn't he ? A mere hour and a half of running around chasing squirrels and big leaves in the park turned him into this:

I need to figure out how I can be more productive during this time.

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.

A Clean Christmas

So it's the 5th of December, 20 days til the Big Day itself. Nanny having come up to go to Mini Diva's special school assembly, has returned southwards bearing Xmas gifts for the youngest nephew and niece, plus the niece's birthday present for January, and her own Xmas gifts from us. I excel myself in terms of organization as far as DH's side of the family is concerned this year.

A stash has been collecting for Mini Diva, but the stockpile for Destructo Boy is sadly lacking. Mainly because I have been trying to find things that he will like and play with, that do not have wheels, or any vehicular connection, as his room is overflowing with petrolhead toys already. So that means there is one Mickey Mouse T-shirt in his stash. And nothing else, so far. Panic not, I am known far and wide for my ability to magic things on the hoof, and thus will have discovered plenty of Fun Wheel-less Things for Boys before Xmas morning.

In a - hopefully - not too tenuous link, just in case you too are searching for a gift for the difficult-to-buy-for, might I just point you towards my Folksy shop ? Where you will find the most deliciously scented, luxuriously lathering, interesting looking, skin-friendly cold process soaps .... including this year's seasonal duo, Melchior and Balthazar:

Balthazar is enriched with a dollop of shea butter and fresh honey, and is scented with Frankincense, sprinkled with frankincense resin, and the top is dusted generously with gold mica.

Melchior is scented with Myrrh, a slightly sharper and lighter scent, and contains a generous helping of cocoa butter; sprinkled with myrrh resin and also dusted with gold mica on top.

Both soaps are wrapped in gold-flecked mulberry paper, with a full ingredient listing, and are available as a pair in a gift basket, together with a new 100% cotton flannel, a sprig of silk poinsettia, wrapped in crisp cellophane and tied with a seasonal ribbon:

Dear Americans, you can order up until the 10th December and still have them in time for Christmas. Fellow Brits, you have until the 20th December.

The Kindness of Strangers

This colorful 6 of Pentacles from the Tarot of Trees is to exemplify the kindness of strangers. I have been very fortunate to receive some lovely things this year - sometimes simply for the asking, and at other times, wished for but unasked - from people I have never met except online.

Quite some while back my Alabama friend Sara of Lazy Knits & Purls was having a clear out and, amongst other things, was getting rid of some Brittany knitting needles; tongue-in-cheek, I suggested that I was a worthy beneficiary.  Lo ! what showed up in my mail a couple of weeks later:

At around the same time, my Fen friend Susie from Useless Beauty was itching to jettison some Malabrigo Lace in a lovely colorway, . She didn't like the feel of it: I know ! Not in her right mind, obviously. D'you think I took advantage ? Why, yes, yes I did - I nominated myself as being is dire need of it, and Lookee ! what my postman delivered a bare few days later:

One skein of which was sent much later to my friend monkey Mimi so as to share the love, and the other I transformed into the Waves of Leaves shawl (blogged about here, here and here):

My Good Twin, Alison of Hestia's Larder, sent me - apropos of nothing - a deck I'd been quite keen on for a while, the Fenestra:

 My Evil Twin, Ania of AniaM, sent me a bunch of ebooks, mainly crime - murder mysteries. I wonder what she's trying to tell me ? By the way, I have actually met my Twins in real life.

And just this week, mi amiga Janine of Where the Nodding Violets Grow not only emailed me with a lovely comment about my last post, but said she'd found one more ball of the Sirdar Sirocco she'd gifted me, and would I like it ?

Also this week, I was surfing my Ravelry friends' activities, and noticed that m'amie Steph had posted pictures of her completed Karise shawl. Why yes, it is green (again) - why do you ask ? Since her alter-ego's name must be Kermit ....

I asked her if she might lend the pattern to me, and - Whallah ! - there it was, gifted to me and sitting in my Ravelry library ! 'Course, that means that now I really do have to knit it.

So take that Bainbridge Scholars Mister Kitten, for all those posts where your thrift shop finds made me weep and wail.

My Oprah Moment

The inscription on the base, in full, reads ''nemo potest personam diu ferre fictam'' and translates as, ''no-one can wear a mask forever'', from the philosopher Seneca the Younger.

The card depicts I The Magician far more traditionally, close to the Marseilles 'Le Bateleur' or mountebank, and so much more realistic than the egoist self-deluder of the RWS tarot: here he is a pedlar or tinker, throwing dice as an additional way of fleecing the unsuspecting simpletons who believe his smooth words. This is the original snake oil salesman.

This card is perfect to describe the toxic person who keeps impinging on my life and raising my blood pressure. According to Forrest Gump, ''stupid is as stupid does'', and nothing I can do is going to change that.

So I am reclaiming my inner peace, taking back ownership of my mental serenity, pouring oil on the troubled waters of my soul - and refusing to engage any more. Their true self, mean spirit and lack of ethics will either be revealed to their unquestioning group of supporters, or not.

The good thing about hitting your head on a brick wall ? It feels great when you stop.

A Good Deal

Well, I am totally more of a dictator than a princess, true - but this is not the reason that tonight I would feel no pea under my mattress. I am shattered: today has been one of those days where lots of things didn't go as planned. And therefore took up more time than I had anticipated.

My computer seemed to have turned jpg. files stored on a CD to wav. files. This meant that - for instance - the 4 of Wands was a rather nifty drumbeat. Nifty, but I can't cope with my computer having synesthesia/acid flashbacks.

The new washing machine was delivered. Or rather, unceremoniously tipped onto the middle of the kitchen floor. The delivery driver couldn't wait to shuffle off. I unpackaged it and moved it myself, only to be stymied by the transit bolts: I have whinged mentioned before that my DH lives in some previous century with the other Luddites, as a result of which any spanners that I could find were Imperial, not Metric ....

Then my grocery order was 30 minutes late. And wrong (although to my advantage, if only I liked pitta bread). Add to this the usual child-related stress (on my part) and screaming (on theirs) and I am wiped out.

So while I am chillaxing with a rum and coke, I thought I'd dash off this merry, uplifting little post so as to shed some rays of sunshine into your otherwise drab lives. I trust you are suitably grateful ?

But actually, I wanted to tell you about a little offer my friend Ania and I have cooked up.

I lie. Like a dog. Like a mangy, misbegotten stray dog.

It was all Ania's brilliant idea, really, I'm just dragging along on her coat-tails. She has this idea to offer our customers a deal: a simple and easy one, too.

Buy £10.00 worth of soap from my Folksy shop, and you will receive not only some fabulous soap (I am shipping to the USA now, owing to the many requests - thank you !) but also a code entitling you to £5.00 off any purchase at Ania's website. Great idea, huh ?  

I am the proud owner of a totally unique custom-made tarot bag from her, and a custom velvet reading cloth that DH treated me to a couple of years ago for my birthday.

I received this as a thank you after my time was up as Chair of TABI. I can't show you a picture of the gorgeous reading cloth as whispers I spilled candle wax on it and haven't got around to sorting it out yet ....

 If any crafter would like to join in with our reciprocal offer, drop me an email with a link to your website/shop ...

Tootin' My Own Horn

Well, like this fine fellow on the Ace of Wands from the Prairie Tarot, today I am crowing to draw attention to my latest handmade cold process soaps which are for sale.

Even if I say so myself (fortunately plenty of other people say so too - some even blog about them !) they are really kind of great: lots of smooth, creamy lather, kind to your skin, lovely scents, and sometimes they even look interesting.

They make a great gift - I even offer a giftwrap basket service; I can also post direct to your intended recipient. Got no-one to buy for ? Then treat yourself - everyone has to wash, so you might as well splurge a little and wash yourself with my fabulous soap.

All my soaps are suitable for vegetarians, and some are also suitable for vegans - if you have any questions, please ask.

International people, if you'd like some great soap, drop me an email and I can figure out the postage for you ....

In no particular order, there is:

Soothing Serenade: with a generous dollop of shea butter in the mix, this is a relaxing blend of lavender and camomile, a layered purple and white soap. I keep making this one because people keep asking for it.

Summer Lullaby: colored by the pink Argiletz clay used in its making, it contains shea butter and honey for extra bubbles. This soap is scented with Rose and Camomile, two flowers than made me think of a warm, sunny lazy summer afternoon - hence its name.

 Reveille: for me, definitely a morning soap - swirled white and green, its zingy, bright Lemon and Mint scent is a eye-opener, almost guaranteed to wake you up when you wash with it in your morning shower - a much nicer way to greet the day than the Reveille it's named after.

Rajah's Romance: subtly romantic, this soap swirled with pink Argiletz clay and containing a generous slurp of cocoa butter is scented with the sub-continental scents of Rose and Sandalwood, evoking the hills of the old Kingdom of Mysore.

And, finally (for the moment), is:

Babushka: colored a deep, almost tranluscent purple by the magic of alkanet-infused olive oil, and containing conditioning sweet almond oil, this soap is scented with the traditional and very feminine spring floral scents of Lilac and Sweet Violet.

Go ahead - order some. Make my day - and yours ....