Happy Birthday

to Ian.  He turned 6 today, a very exciting age.  He also went up a reading level yesterday, he's now on level blue and has been really good over the last couple of days; including helping me tidy up yesterday.   I put 2 marshmallows in his lunchbox for a special treat today.
Will be going to pick him up from school in 20 minutes, not much birthday celebration today as it's a school day, but on Sunday he's going to Willowbank wildlife park with a friend from school called Iain.  George will be coming too and it should be a good day.  Not paying anything off the credit card until that's over so I know how much is available; wouldn't want to stint on Ian's special day.

Finally some good news

I have my machine back, turned out the board had a blown track which they could fix by putting a bridge over it; don't know how much that will cost, but at least I have it back and I got a load done last night of woollens.  It didn't sound quite as I remember it last night so I'm keeping a close eye and ear on it, but that could well be simply that I am used to hearing a machine that wasn't well.
Haven't heard from Bosch yet, but that's ok as I don't know how much it is yet.  Once I know they can ring and pay for it (reimburse us).
Keeping my fingers crossed that it is well now for at least 10 years!

On another note I'm really busy with work atm, so much so that I've not done any real knitting for the last few days and I'm really missing it.  I still have a heap of work to go, but I'm taking a break today and going into the guild; it's a must for my sanity and also I won't get to go next Saturday as DH is going to be going down to Waimate on his bike to help his brother move house to Tinwald.  He has to be back for Sunday though as Ian and his friend are going to Willowbank and I don't want to be supervising 3 rambunctious boys.

Bugbears

Seeing as I probably shouldn't swear online that'll have to do.  New motor isn't working, so either it's a faulty motor or as the repair guy suspects the old motor killed the computer board when it blew up.   He's taken it away, and I'll know by tomorrow how bad it is.   He had said yesterday that it was better to have the motor to replace as it's cheaper; I have to say if it's both then Bosch and Kitchen Things had better come to the CGA party and give us a new machine or repair this one toot sweet cos I'm getting seriously grumpy!
It's not the repair places fault and they're going to see if they have a loan machine available, but I'm not holding my breath.   I'm not a happy panda atm.

It's the motor

The chap from Appliance Works arrived yesterday to look at my machine and determined that the motor was in the process of blowing, it completed that process while he was here.   I had already by that point had to do one load of hand-washing after Ian wet his bed that night.  He told me that there wouldn't be a motor in stock at the Christchurch branch so that meant if one was in stock in Auckland it'd be next week.  If no stock then a fortnight!  
I got a phone call just on 5pm last night from them to say they'd found one at the Christchurch branch (yay) and that they could fit me in the next morning (today, yay) and that it would cost $590 (discounted, but still not very yay).  We've given the go ahead, considering that a new one would be $1500 minimum and that this is a good machine normally.  I've rung the company we bought it from and waved the CGA at them, they've contacted Bosch and told me to get back to them if I've heard nothing by this time next week.

In fact the repair chap has just arrived and is taking the machine to pieces as I type, so in about 30 minutes I'll have a working machine!   We'll be putting it on the Visa, which puts paid to any plans of paying off some of the floating mortgage, but I guess we're lucky that we have the balance available on the Visa to do that. 

Here's the lovely man working on my machine.

My machine mid fix

And the new part, doesn't look much does it?  But without it the whole machine is just a space taker and I'm doing a lot of hand-washing; ick!

What's that noise? What's that smell?

Oh no, quick rush to turn off the washing machine which had almost finished it's current load and was smelling absolutely foul!   No servicemen available until tomorrow afternoon.  It's only 4 years old for gosh's sake and I have 2 boys who often (in one case always) wet the bed at night.
I've spent a fair bit of the day drooling over yarn online to make me feel better; not buying any of course as we'll need money to either fix or replace the washing machine.  If it needs replacing I'll be waggling the CGA at the place we bought it from, expected lifespan of a front loader is 12-15 years according to the Consumer site.
You know what I really want?   A new machine (paid for by Bosh) and some Wolliemeisse sock yarn.  Unfortunately I'm probably more likely to win Lotto than either of those happening so I'll just have to live with dreams.  
Wish me luck on at least having a working machine soon, beginning of the wettest winter for 3 decades is not a good time to be without the washing machine.
One good thing though, I did get the last bale of hay at Dawes for the guinea pigs, so that's in the covered deck area and will help keep them warm and healthy over the winter.  Will be cleaning them out in the morning and giving them some of the new hay, the old was getting rather damp which can't be good.

A productive week

I've got some stuff yet to finish.  Lace Chain Baby socks for a friend's son, a calculation on the same pattern to upsize it for another lady who's bought it, just got to find time in the coming week for that one.  My second sock is yet to be finished for me and still sewing pyjamas. 
However, we have managed to fix (mostly) our downpipe problem on the conservatory, house is clean, I can see some of the sewing room floor, George has had his follow up appointment at hospital and is now on referral to Nurse Maude for his night wetting and to Mental Health to look at Aspergers.  Turns out the hospital can't diagnose for children who are school age as they're missing a couple of specialists they need for that.   Bummer.  The Doctor we saw said he's not classic Aspergers, but he does have some of the issues that come with it, especially the problems with making friends so she wants it looked into.

I've finished my hat though, last night I finished my lovely Webs hat in Cashmere.   It's beautiful, I'm going to have to make more tams I think, once the CPH and all the stuff above this paragraph is done.

Isn't it beautiful? 

Aargh, nits!

George has nits, found live eggs this morning, so he's getting a #1 cut when he gets home so I can get them off easier.  Found the adult though and removed it so I have hopes that's it.  No signs in his brother yet, but of course now that we know both of us are itchy!  Sending a note to school with George this morning so his teacher can let her other parents know.

Cashmere and glass

DH has the week off and today we spent the day doing a few things.  He played Conduit on the Wii, I played Borderlands on the Xbox; we did this turn about.  While he was on the Wii I was doing some sewing on pyjamas for Ian and myself.  I also did some knitting on my Webs cashmere tam and realised that the stitch markers I was using were too heavy for easy knitting.   This is what it looks like atm

The big ones are going to be replaced with these, which I whipped up this evening. 

It should make it much easier to knit with as they're much lighter and shorter.  I used split rings instead of jump rings.

I had a wee parcel arrive today too, a book called Simply Shetland 4 at Tomales Bay, some lovely patterns in here, inparticular one for a colourwork jersey which I really want to knit.    I will make one change though, it has a very, very low scoop neck; I think this will become a much higher neckline. The package also included some silk noil and some camel fibre.

I was bad as well in the last couple of days, I've got into Vintage Purls winter sock club and I also ordered a couple of skeins of sock yarn today and some books too.  I've ordered 4 of the Harmony guides; the colourwork one, the cables one, edgings and lace as I'm finding a lack in my books now that I'm designing.  I'll have to be good from now on, I'd budgeted for the sock club, but not the rest.  Only one more thing to do, I'm expecting some samples of Suri Alpaca, which I will be purchasing some of, but not too much.

I think that's all for today, still lots to do over the next few days; sewing, knitting, dyeing yarn (that's secret squirrel though)

The best laid plans

tThis morning I was going to go to the Heathcote spinners guild and knit all morning.  Unfortunately someone decided I shouldn't do that and gave me a child who's currently sitting in front of the TV watching Return of the Jedi with a bucket, sigh.  I might still get some knitting done, but I won't be working today until he's better or in bed as I can't risk vomit all over my work (Merino/Possum knitwear).  I guess I'll just have to knit, read and hope he's better tomorrow as he's supposed to have several things on.

I'm going to take a look at a book that arrived yesterday, Get Spun by Symeon North.  Looking at it so far I think it's a reasonable book, but probably more for a beginner.   It's got small sections on dyeing, blending on a drum carder and spinning art yarns.  Unfortunately it doesn't cover spinning feathers and down which is what I was hoping for.   It's got a decent section on spinning in beads and felted balls, but I have that information in other books. To be honest if I'd seen it first I probably wouldn't have bought it, I have other books that cover the same info just as well, but in more depth.  I'd recommend "In a Spin" by Pat Old, and Intertwined by Lex Boeger for art spinning.  Pat's book covers more conventional spinning very well too.  For dyeing, The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook or Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece; both are excellent books.  For blending I'd recommend Color in Spinning by Deb Menz.















There are lots of other good books too, but I'm thinking what I might start doing is to review the books that I have here that are still available on Amazon or The Book Depository and let you know what I think of them.  That might take a while as I have a heap of books here on knitting, spinning, crochet etc, but it'll be fun too.

Swallowtail is flying

My swallowtail shawl is finished finally and it's beautiful, but I prefer a little more shaping at the top, it's hard to wrap properly with it being completely straight.

I've also cast on for a KAL, Theodora socks which I'm doing in Vintage Purls yarn called Buttercup.

I'm rather pleased with how this is going.

I've had a book arrive recently too; Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller.  It's all about Shetland lace which I'm looking forward to having a go at later.  I'm doing a spinning course atm with Margaret Stove learning to spin really fine; the aim is to be able to spin a yarn that can be used to create a wedding ring shawl.

George's spinning

George's spinning
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Both boys have decided they want to learn to spin so I pulled the old Wing wheel out of the garage today, cleaned it up and put a new drive band on it. It's all set up now and George and Ian both practiced treadling. George couldn't quite manage to treadle and draft, but with some treadling from me he got the drafting worked out (mostly) and did a really good job on this wee bit of fibre. We doubled it back on itself to ply as he's not quite up to filling 2 bobbins and plying yet, but this worked fine. We then shocked it in hot and cold washes and it's drying in the bathroom now. It's some of Anna Gratton's Corriedlae which seemed like a good beginner fibre to me.
George is keen to do more, but I kept the first session pretty short as I want him to be keen to try again later.

broadripple

broadripple
Originally uploaded by sewsable

My first pair of handspun and hand dyed socks are finished! I love, love, love them! Comfy, pretty and all mine (insert evil laugh). So I'm back on my Swallowtail shawl now, it was going to be for Mum, but seeing as she thinks shawls aren't really practical I'm doing it for me and I'll do her a nice lace scarf instead. Got some time for that though as it's for Christmas. The shawl needs to be finished by June if possible so I can show it off as a finished object for the TNN shawl yarn swap.
I will be casting on another pair of socks on the 15th May, I'm taking part in a KAL (knit along) for Theodora socks along with a whole bunch of other people. I'm not buying the official yarn which is a deep purple, I'm using a yarn called Buttercup which was dyed by the designer, but is a light yellow with tinges of green. It'll stand out when compared with the rest.

More baby socks, now for some selfish knitting

The top photo is the 3 pairs I've knitted over the last few weeks.  The bottom one is of the second test knit of my pattern.   The photo of 3 includes the pair that I knit from here, I made one change to this pattern in the decreases for the gusset.  They decreased every row, I went for every second row.  That's when I decided to make my own pattern and I'm glad I did!   Tomorrow they'll go to their new owners and I'm hoping I'll get some good feedback.
Now, I'm going to take a couple of nights off and do some selfish knitting, then I'll get the pattern ready for test knitting by other knitters.  It's typed up, but I want to polish it a little first.  So in the meantime, shawl here I come!

lace-chain-baby-socks

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/sewsable/lace-chain-baby-socks will be the link for buying my pattern, but it's not quite ready yet. I've test knitted the first pair, but am going to do another pair before getting some other knitters to test knit it as well. Got to try them on actual babies too, lol. So far I'm really happy with them though, hoping they'll fit from about 4 weeks old to about 3 months, but that has yet to be established.
I'll be casting on another in pink today. I love this lace, it looks nicely unisex which is good as the green ones are going to a baby of unknown gender at this point. Legs were crossed at the scan, though I know a girl would be appreciated to balance out family dynamics.

I think I'm a designer!

Just cast on for my first ever self-designed knitting pattern. It's a pair of baby socks, I wanted something with a little lace, but not too girly for just in case this friend has a boy instead. No pictures yet as I need to get a little further on in this pattern, but I have a good feeling about it. If it works I'll have to get people to test knit it and then try it on babies as well.
Fingers crossed!

Roaring fire!

Well, it's not winter yet, but I've finished one pair of pyjamas that are sure to warm things up.   George's flaming pj's!   George is really looking forward to wearing these tonight in bed, so roll on bedtime.
I only have 6 more pairs to go now, hoping to do one a day from now on.
The fabric was from my stash and the pattern is a Kwik Sew one, nice and easy to put together.

As promised here's the photo

scarecrow
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Of our joint project. Scary Scarecrow as painted by George, cut out by Thomas (Daddy) and nailed on by Daddy as well. I put the body together and Ian helped me dress him. He seems to be working too, I haven't seen any birds in our wheat seed so far!

School Holiday stuff

It's been the usual holiday stuff so far.  Boys got to spend a day on the Xbox, we've done gardening and looking after the guinea pigs and ducks.
Yesterday we made a scarecrow to scare the birds off our wheat seed.  It's not finished yet, but I'll take a photo once it is; it'll have a wonderful scary pumpkin face as made by George.
Today Ian went with the Autism society for horse riding and a visit to Willowbank, which it looks like he adored.  I took George to the Airforce Museum which he enjoyed but he spent the available money on food before finding out about the simulator, next time we'll use the money for the simulator instead.  Came home and did some sewing finally!   I've got 7 pairs of PJ's cut out for the boys and myself.  The trousers are half done which is good.  Photo's will come once it's finished.  George helped a wee bit which was nice too.

Leave the kitten alone!

I've been telling the boys that this morning for when she gets back from the vet this afternoon.  Smokey has gone in for her op so that she becomes an 'it'.   I know George will leave her alone, but I think I'll have to be extra vigilant with Ian once she's home as we don't want her getting hurt with the way he picks her up.   It's not too bad normally, but with an incision it won't be a good thing.
George wanted to know if we could go and get a puppy now, I said not until after Smokey has recovered from her op!

Going to the Animals Mummy!

That's been Ian's cry for the last few days even when he's been at school.   So this morning we finally went to Willowbank and he got to see the animals!  He got to pat a wallaby, horses, pigs, a flemish giant rabbit and an ostrich.  It was a good morning, unfortunately I realised halfway there that I'd forgotten the camera and it was too late to go back by then.  We'll go in the Easter holidays too though so hopefully I'll remember then.

We dropped off at PGG (Pyne Gould Guinness) on the way back and I picked up 30 netlon bags so I can start washing my Merino for my course.   So much easier to deal with than delicates bags.

Not been knitting a whole lot, too busy playing an Xbox 360 game.  I have managed to finish the first sock from my handspun though and the second one is 2 rows in.   I love them!  I'll post a photo once I've finished the second one.  I'm also into the main part of the sleeve for my Central Park Hoodie with Viking cables.  I'm doing both sleeves at once which means it's taking slightly longer but at least both sleeves should be the same.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Been a busy week this week.   Monday I spent cleaning and tidying.  Tuesday Mum came over and cleaned my kitchen up as it was apparently "disgusting".  DH didn't notice any difference which didn't please Mum too much, but it definitely looks better.   The next couple of days were spent doing work and the mending pile.
I now need to cut out pyjamas for the boys and myself and make a new bean bag.  
Yesterday I went to the guild and got another 2.5" done on the sleeve of my Central Park Hoodie, it's going to look fab!   My sleeves are my tension pieces and before I cast on the body I'll be washing and blocking them to ensure all is ok. 
When I got home the boys and I did some gardening, so the area in front of the lounge is cleared of weeds and planted with Cabbage palm which is like a kale, corn salad, bright beets, purslane and carrots.   Hoping they do well for winter.
Then Thomas and I went out to the movies while my SIL, Raewyn looked after the boys.  George had written to her asking her to look after them so we could have some time out.  Isn't that sweet?   Anyway we went to Avatar again, but the 2D version this time and still really enjoyed it.  So that's 3 times now!   Nothing else on atm really appealed though.

Today was busy too, workout in the morning at the park, then washing out, then mowing the lawn which was hard work as it was long and I'm using a push mower.   Then did the dishes and I'm now working before I do my Wii workout in 30 minutes.   I think I'll be glad when today's over!

The promised photo!

shetland displayed
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Here it is in all its glory. I love this shawl! Going to have to knit more shawls definitely, might do a couple for family if I can get myself to let them go. I have plenty of yarn though so I should be able to get a couple of them done easily enough. Only downside is that we've now chosen to make the Christmas gift giving a draw in my family and I'd probably get Dad. For Thomas's family no gift giving to siblings or parents, the nephews won't appreciate them either.
Still, I don't really need Christmas to give my female rellies something nice. Better work out which shawl to do next, though I know I'll be doing an Ishbel in green for someone.

More knitting, a shawl is done!

No picture yet, but there will be once it's finished blocking.  The most beautiful Shetland Triangle Shawl from the Interweave Wraps book in my handspun Silk/Merino/Cashmere.  I didnt' use all the yarn, and it's bigger than I thought and beautiful!  It's pink which is not a usual colour for me and I added some beads to the edging and I'm very very pleased with it.
I'm just doing some carding now to free up my favourite mini table for balling up the yarn for my next project.  I'm going to be doing a Central Park Hoodie (CPH) in Naturally Sensations Navy.   I've had the yarn in my stash for a couple of years now and I saw one done by Sheryl (Shortly on TNN) and I thought I had to do that too!   After that comes my Vivian by Ysolda Teague, got a call today to tell me my yarn has been dyed so I'm picking that up tomorrow.  I'll post a photo of that too when I get it.
I'm a knitaholic!   However, I really need to do some sewing soon, the boys need winter pj's and so do I.  They also need new woolly singlets which I'll sew from Merino fabric; their current ones are rather too short.

Silk Necklace

Necklace
Originally uploaded by sewsable

My last Ravelympics item which I knitted in about an hour from handspun silk (navajo plied). I love this! Still have some yarn left so that'll be knitted up into a shorter necklace I think. Good thing is I can change the donut easily so it can be changed to suit what I'm wearing.
I'm thinking I might do 7 rows instead of 9 to make it narrower and maybe try 100 stitches instead of the 180 the pattern called for on the next one.

A snowball fight in February

Who knew?  Ian decided my ball of sewing up yarn was perfect for snowball fighting this afternoon.  So after helping me make pikelets he proclaimed a snowball fight and we threw the ball at each other for a while.   It's currently 27.6 deg so just as well he chose a snowball that wouldn't melt.  
All the animals are finding the heat trying.  Ducks are under their tree panting, sure they have water, but it's in the sun so they're staying out, guinea pigs are pitching tents in their run (little newspaper tents) and Smokey the kitten is sleeping and not eating a huge amount, too busy waiting for things to cool down.
I wish I could do that, I'm working atm with lots of Merino Possum on my knee, and before you ask, yes I've reduced my claim time by the time spent blogging.

My More Ribs than a Condom jersey is finished!

ribby
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Finally all done, not blocked, but it's finished as far as I'm concerned. Tried it on this morning, took it off quickly as it's going to be a hot day so will be wonderful in winter.

Aside from that it's been hot here recently, 30 deg and occasionally more! Boys have been on the slip n slide and in the pool and I'm not looking forward to doing my work, but I have to tonight.

Also getting ready for my next yarn swap (3 actually), have just sent off for the yarn for my shawl swap. It will be dyed to be sent off when it arrives and not yet sure which base I'll be using. I got oatmeal and silver. Currently using my warping board to set up a 3m skein to make a striping yarn for socks. That'll be half of that swap and then I'll do 100g of a DK in the same plan.
Final one is already dyed, had it in my stash for a while, was done using lemonade, lime and orange kool aid. This is for a lady's daughter who doesn't like pink. It's a nice fresh looking yarn and should suit a little girl nicely. It's a bulky yarn though, so not enough for a dress, just a hat or something.

Blueberry picking

After I got home from spinning yesterday we went blueberrying with the boys.   Had a great time despite the heat, both boys enjoyed it, especially Ian who outpicked his brother.   I ate quite a few last night for pudding and even the not quite ripe ones were yummy.   We got almost 2kg; quite a bit went into the freezer and the rest will be eaten over the next couple of days.
We then went to Hallensteins out at Dressmart Hornby and got DH 3 pairs of shorts, and the boys a t-shirt each (t-shirts were size S mens!).    George chose Transformers and Ian wanted a more random print.  They're a wee bit big, but not as bad as I expected.    I got an icecream which I shared with DH.
This morning we went out for our usual boot camp, scootered there and back, so got a total of 1h40m exercise, and this afternoon I'll be doing my workout on the Wii, so I'm well and truly doing the good work.

Thursday coming will be interesting too, going to see a hypnotherapist to see if she can help with my spending and sugar addictions.   Fingers crossed.

ingenue blocked

ingenue2
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Finally it's all finished and looks and feels really nice. Almost looking forward to winter, almost.
Started a shawl (Shetland Triangle) and a pair of socks (broadripple). Both in more handspun and both are looking good so far. Will post WIP pics later, the lights starting to go now.

Ingenue is finished!

This picture is unfortunately unblocked, but it's currently blocking and used approximately 1005m of my stash. Once it's blocked I'm going to get DH to take another photo and show that off; the sleeves should block to length.

On another tangent I've been doing exercise on the Wii using the EA Active system and it's working well. I've ordered the second disc and the Wii Fit set including the board to keep things moving. I've lost 500g atm and expect to lose more, especially since I'm eating less as well. Actually enjoying it and I've noticed I'm finding it's easier to do the running part.

I've also booked in a session with a hypnotherapist to try and sort out my spending problem, downside of course is it costs $100 per session and I'll need 3 or 4 sessions. However if it works (no guarantees), it'll save us a heck of a lot more than that!

Ravelry Stash

Just finished updating it and I have 253 types of yarn, 106464.8m and that's only the ones which I know the metreage on.  There's a whole lot I don't know how much is in a ball so that just makes it worse.   I have way too much vintage purls sock too, lol!
At least I can work out now if I have the right yarn for certain projects which is nice.

The menagerie increases!

Our menagerie from top to bottom.  Left is Jay (drake), right Sam (hen), next down is Sonic (grey) and Chris (brown) the guinea pigs and bottom is Smokey (female kitten).

Smokey arrived today, no charge till Friday when the vet gives her the first lot of shots, worms and flea treats her. That's going to be $93.50! She's 8 weeks old and will get fixed at 3 months.  We won't be contributing to the kitten problem in Christchurch, no matter how tempting a litter may be.  I got her for DH, but it wasn't a surprise like I planned cos his sister had asked him if he wanted a kitten and he assumed I'd got one through her (was actually a friend of their brother who had kittens).   I had already organised Smokey from Carolyn's daughter (Katriana on TNN).   When she arrived she was shivering through fright I presume, but I think she's starting to adjust.
Ian wants her to sleep in with him, he's insisting she go to bed.  He's getting quite vociferous about it.  Smokey has taken refuge on DH's shoulder temporarily.  He'll get her on his bed when she's old and big enough to cope and when she's fully house trained.  She has used the litter box once for a wee which was good.

She's very cute, it's a bit harder with Ian's refusal to understand her need for space, tomorrow will be interesting, I can see time out coming up if he won't leave her alone.

Guinea pigs again

We picked up a new baby boy guinea pig today.   I think this one could be considered a rescue piggie too.   His undercarriage was soggy and mucky though he looked healthy enough.  She did say he'd been in with 6 other piggies in a small space and even with cleaning twice a day she couldn't keep them clean.   Poor thing doesn't know what to do in a decent size cage.  We introduced them in a neutral place as suggested on a piggie forum and aside from some mounting all was fine.   They're now outside in the cage and the cage has been reinforced so the local cats can't get to them (I hope).   Will go out in the morning and hope that Sonic (the newbie) has settled in and is eating and drinking well.   The whole cage is currently covered to stop the rain getting in, but still plenty of room for air movement.

On another pet-based note, DH is getting a special surprise tomorrow.   Another small furry animal will join the Crosbie clan, a wee girl kitten.  I think I'll let Ian name this one and we can present Thomas with his new pet.  My dog will have to wait, after all this expense with new animals we can't afford to get a dog as well.   The kitten will need fixing yet as we don't want kittens.

Boo Hoo

Our grey agouti guinea pig died this morning.  DH thinks a cat managed to get a paw in a gap in the cage that I hadn't noticed.  He was barely nicked, but must have died from shock poor lad.  He's been buried with full honours and now we need to find another to go with his brother Chris.  They don't cope well alone so we'll have to see if we can find a baby to introduce and bond in a neutral spot.
It's really sad, he was a rescue guinea pig and the idea was for him to have a new and happy life with us, not a short and frightening one.  I didn't even get a photo of him :(.   One odd thing, next to the wound on his neck I found a sort of worm like thing with a pointy end and a blunt end which had obviously been having a good feed as it was full of blood.
Not really a good day, I also lost one of my brolly pads for the boys beds.  It must have blown off the line in the sudden gale we had and gone sailing off like a kite.   So only 2 left for the 2 boys and we can't afford to get more atm.   They're not cheap!   
Also spent the day stacking wood for the winter, that's another reason we can't afford more brolly sheets, $500 for the winters wood kind of puts a crimp on things.

Kitten turned into guinea pigs

We actually went into the SPCA for a kitten, but they were out, going back on Wednesday for another go at that.  We were planning GP's anyway, but babies not adults.  They had no puppies either.    They were very glad that we took the GP's, everyone takes the rabbits, but GP's are easier in some ways.  They don't climb or dig so we don't have to use mesh on the bottom which is good.2 boys according to the SPCA; George has named them Chris (I keep thinking Crisp) and Shadow.  Chris is brown and Shadow is a grey agouti.    Apparently they are rescue GP's and had rather a bad start in life.  They're currently out in the ducks old house with a board on the bottom of the living area so they don't get the damp rising while sleeping and lots of straw for warmth.
I think when we get our kitten we can call our place the menagerie  :lol:
No hay yet as neither of the feed places I visited were open so had to go to the supermarket.   On Monday I'll be able to get hay which is a staple in their diet, getting low on duck feed too so more than one reason to go.
Will try and take photo's tomorrow, they're currently in their run covered in an old curtain so they can get some calming rest time.   It's been a very exciting day for them, including an unscheduled run in our lounge when Ian tipped them out (I was gettting their run fixed up).

alpaca-silk

alpaca-silk
Originally uploaded by sewsable

I finished this vision of softness on Friday evening, it's 606m of baby alpaca with a touch of silk; I'm hoping it'll work for a whisper cardigan. I've more to spin yet, but I'll check the pattern shortly, I really want to make it from my handspun and this just seems the right yarn if it's the right weight. I think they use laceweight, but I'm pretty sure it's used doubled which would work out about sport weight; which is what this is.
Wish me luck!

Freeranging ducks

They're finally out on the lawn. Most of the day they've been keeping close to the kids pool, so they've spent very little time in their pool. I think they've forgotten how to get to it tbh. They've been eating grass and a little of their normal food, but not doing much else. The wild duck flew in 10 minutes ago and they've been following her around like their god just landed; very funny to watch. She flew across the lawn as Thomas was picking up the kids toys to keep them away from duck doo and they had a wee moment of panicking about where she'd gone. She then landed and they waddled as fast as they could to get back to her. Will be interesting to see what happens when she flies out for the night.

As well as that yesterday was my birthday. The boys weren't very well behaved, but aside from that it was a good day. I know I have a Wii coming, but it won't be here till new year, I scored one from 1-day.co.nz for $399 new. Very pleased, downside though is I found out afterwards that Thomas was going to get me my dog; aarrgh! I was convinced it'd never happen so it hadn't ever occurred to me that he'd do that for my birthday. It'll happen at some point now though so it's just a matter of when. I want a puppy that I can train not to chase the ducks.
We also went to the movies that night and saw Avatar in 3D again, love that movie. I will definitely be getting it when it comes out on DVD. One of those movies that you wish the world created really existed. I loved the Na'avi.

Last day of the year today here in the Southern Hemisphere. I have a couple of new years resolutions.
1. Exercise more, a run each morning so that when we do get a dog I'm fit enough to cope and also so that my tummy reduces.

2. Drink more water

3. Spend less, I'm planning on going to a hypnotherapist to help with this, I figure that if I spend the $300 or less on that and it works, it's well worth it.

Happy New Year everyone!

Ducks out

Day before yesterday I went out to feed the ducks after a sleep in, somehow Sam had got out and was the wrong side of the wire fence. Had to open up one side of the fence and then she panicked and got herself into a corner. DH ended up picking her up and popping her over the fence. I've shifted the pool now so hopefully she won't do it again.
Jay has now started moulting so I'll be collecting feathers to clean and then us in an art yarn.

On a slightly less ducky note. On Saturday night we went to see Avatar 3D, I enjoyed it so much we're going again for my birthday. Got to get the tickets tomorrow hopefully. Mum and Dad are going to babysit the boys. They know how late it'll get out, and while I wouldn't say they're happy about it, they will cope.

Charlie's mitts

Charlie's mitts
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Yippee! These took 2 days to finish and I used kitchener stitch for the first time so I'm happy with them. One had a wee whoopsie and I'm hoping that it doesn't cause problems later. There's a little fray check in there (blush).
Charlie lives in Waimate with his Dad and 2 older brothers and it gets cold there in winter. These should keep his hands warm while still letting him get into everything.

A busy week coming up

It's George's birthday on Thursday and his party on Sunday next week so we're frantically tidying the yard.   Lawn is mown and edges trimmed; weeding done and ducks will be staying in their enclosure till it's all over.  
This week will be spent working, tidying the house and baking.  I have to bake for Thursday and Saturday guild meetings too as it's the Christmas munchies on those days so I'm going to be all baked out.
Thursday afternoon I have to go to Spencer park to pick up Ian too so not sure when the groceries will get done!   They need to get done as well cos I'm going to need more storage for the baking.
George also needs a new inner tube for his bike's front tyre, the valve is not working.
I will be so glad when this week is all over and we can relax for a week or so till Christmas.
That's here too, so still got to keep the house tidy.

Ducks, spinning, knitting and children

Here they are at 5 weeks, still cute but much more feathery.   Not what I would call friendly though.   Tried them on bread for the first time today; I think they might rather like that.   We've got less weeds around too, I keep pulling them to feed the ducks.

Spinning:  I've been working on some baby alpaca and silk I've drumcarded, but have temporarily taken a break from that as the carding is taking too long.   I've started some of the Ashland bay Merino heathered fibre instead.   It's the red one and it's beautiful!    I'll take a photo later of both lots of spinnning.

I've also finally finished playing Fallout 3 so I'm back into the knitting.   Doing the shoulder increases on Ingenue, I'll be doing more of that tomorrow at spinning I think as the weather forecast is horrible and I'm not prepared to take my lovely wheel out in a downpour.   I need to get the jersey done anyway before the fibre is all used up.

Dinner time so discussion of children will have to wait till next time.   See you later!

Duck goes quack

I heard the first quack today, so it looks like Sam is a girl, still only peeping from Jade, but fingers crossed.  Both are just starting to get feathers on the wing tips, can just see this cute little brown tufty bits appearing.  They're still coming indoors at night for the moment so the laundry is a touch funky first thing, but aside from that I'm really enjoying the duck thing.   They're not what I'd call friendly yet, but I'm getting better at catching them to pop them in their day or night cage.   Will have to go and get some grit tomorrow as well as some other food.

I do wish the local cats hadn't spotted them though, atm I have to keep them in the run during the day as the cats are eyeing them up and dreaming of duck dinner.   They should be ok in a few weeks as they'll be big enough to make the cats rethink.   The main thing is I don't want to lose one as I need at least 2 ducks so they'll be happy.  Ducks don't do well by themselves.

Boy do ducks doo!

Day 2: Put them outside for what I planned to be the whole day, and then the southerly blew in! I was out at the time but as soon as I got back I took them out of the cage and back into the box for inside. Put the heater on for them while they dried off and a bit longer, more food etc. They were very hungry first thing! Spent the rest of the morning fixing up an interim inside box using an old cardboard box (a big one) and lining the bottom with some Procare PUL to waterproof it. Hot glue gun holds the waterproofing in place and then I covered that with an old woven plastic sack. They look happier in that, more room to move which is good.
I've just put them back outside for a bit and they're splashing around in their mini-pond (litter tray full of water, lol). In the meantime the sack has been rinsed off and is on the lawn drying. It was very mucky so I think I'll have to wash it every day if possible. The water bowl gets several cleans and fills each day too. They'll get one more feed before they come in and any food left over from the evening will go in with them for overnight. In a couple of weeks we'll transition them to sleeping in their box on the deck instead of in the laundry; it's getting a bit cramped in there.



Here's the cage just after I finished making it

The other night the boys got to use sparklers for the first time, I think they enjoyed themselves! They've been asking for more ever since.

Ducky Doo

We have ducklings!   Dropped off this morning which is why I spent yesterday afternoon frantically making them a moveable cage.   They're 3 weeks old atm and very cute.   George has named them Jade (the lighter one) and Sam (the darker one).   We're hoping they're both girls so we get eggs later.
They're currently in the laundry in a box with straw, water and food and the heater on.   I don't like having that on overnight, but we don't have brooder lamps so they have to keep warm somehow.    They came with some chick crumble and we have plenty of greenery to add to the diet, they are much more fond of the silverbeet than the boys!    Got some wheat today too, so I'll soak some in the morning for them.  Still got to get grit, but it's a public holiday here tomorrow so it won't be until the weekend.    Hoping the weather is good so they can be in their outside cage for the next couple of weeks in the day cos they poop heaps and their little indoor box won't cope.   No way will they be let inside without it though.
I'm very proud of the cage, the bottom is open to the ground, has netting on the sides and is nice and sturdy.  Has a good waterproof sleeping area too.   Once they're older they won't need it so much so I'll open up the end so they can come and go as they want.   Atm though they're small and vulnerable to the local cat overpopulation so I'm a little protective; not to mention that they're a little skittish and I dont' want them running.   Will have to block off escape routes this weekend with the rest of the chicken wire.   These guys won't be flyers so we don't have to worry about that at least.

And a lovely weekend was had by 2

A wee while back I posted I'd won a girls night out. Saturday was the day I chose and my knitting friend Joanne and I had a wonderful time! We started at the guild knitting and about 1.20pm we left for the hotel, which was Chateau on the Park in Christchurch. I was working on the beginning of Ingenue (a jersey) from my handspun Romney and Joanne was working on a feather and fan scarf (which looks lovely btw). I've got the neck almost finished over the course of Saturday and Sunday, just 2 repeats to go; and for those wondering, yes I swatched first.
Anyway, getting back to the point. We checked in and half an hour later were on our way to Dressmart in Hornby with the intention of spending our full budgets. I managed, within budget to get 2 skirts, 2 tops, a bra and undies set and my running sneakers. Joanne had a little more to spend, but also did really well with skirts, jeans and tops. We were picked up just on 5pm, back to the hotel and got ready for dinner with a touch of knitting done too.
We had dinner in the restaurant, a fishy theme here. I had the whitebait fritters (a little too eggy) and Joanne had Dory. Then dessert before we paid and left to go and knit. We were meant to go to the movies, but there was only 15 minutes from when we finished to when the movie would have started so we're doing that at another time with the vouchers. Need to give our DH's a little time to recover from looking after the children first.
We did get quite a lot of knitting done that evening instead though, but then Joanne discovered she'd made a mistake so had to undo quite a bit too. We watched "Along Came A Spider" on free to air tv that night and got to bed a little later than planned.
Next morning was a lovely smorgasboard breakfast (pancakes, bacon, hash browns and fruit), followed by; what else? More knitting! And then down for our manicures; J was sneaky and said I could go first, that way she got to knit, lol.
I now have deep burgundy nails, with bling.
Which I then went home and used to start making our new outdoor table, so they're not quite as perfect as they were. I'll post photo's of the start of the jersey and my nails later; as well as the table top. Had to stop before we finished as I was getting blisters.
I guess that's the end of my ramble atm, more ramblings later; maybe after Thursday's spinning meeting.

It's finished, it's finished, yippee!

I finished my Aeolian shawl at the guild this afternoon so this is basically a brag post.   It's gorgeous, and that's before blocking. 

Here it is blocking!

I also tried spinning linen for the first time, it's short bits and not going quite so well, got covered in it!   Will keep trying though.

School Holidays and I won something!

All I can really say for that is that I'm glad it's over!   No car for the first week aside from the Thursday so there was way too much computer and tv for the boys.   Weather wasn't great either which didn't help.
Monday this week they went to Grandma's place so I could go to the sock knitting day over in Bishopdale with the spinning guild.   I then picked Ian up and took him to his first session at the University for a course we're doing there.  He spent most of his time telling me he wanted to go home now.  
Tuesday we went to Willowbank which was definitely enjoyed if rather quicker than expected.   Wednesday both boys went to Grandma's for an overnighter; bliss!   I did quite a bit of knitting, a little tidying and Thursday morning went to the Heathcote spinning guild; which I'm going to join!    Unfortunately when I picked the boys up I found out they hadn't been very good, so no TV till after 5pm yesterday as well as no Xbox and PC at all for the rest of the week.
Got a phone call yesterday morning from "The Breeze" which is a local radio station.   I'd won the ultimate girls getaway, so I've invited Joanne from my knitting group to join me for a night at a hotel, followed by a small shopping trip and a manicure.   Should be good.   Just waiting to hear back if the night I want is ok with Joanne and if so then I'll ring and hopefully book it.   Has to be a weekend night.

Got a bit further on my sock, halfway through the foot of the first one now, also got partway through the first Agave chart for my Aoelian shawl, thought I'd stuffed it up for a while, but in the end it was simply my counting that was off.   Need to try and get that finished by the end of next month so I'll be taking it to the guild tomorrow instead of spinning.   Part of the reason for that though is that the weather is awful atm and I don't really want to take the wheel when it's peeing down with rain even if she does have a custom made raincoat.

Next week's going to be busy too.   Monday is fairly quiet, but I"m going to make a doctor's appointment for the following week for a general checkup.  Haven't had one ever and I need my tetanus shots updated anyway.  Tuesday I'm doing a spinning demo at school, hope it's reasonably warm as I'll be spinning raw fleece which won't be so easy if it's cold.   I'm demoing as it would have been done 100 years ago, so raw is the way to go, no drum carding and I'm not prepared to ruin my combs on raw fleece so I'm using an old flick carder.  Once that's done I can then spin the linen.    Wednesday is the first parents meeting for the course I'm doing with the University; hope I can find a park.  Thursday will be the Heathcote spinners guild again and Friday I'll start back at the gym.

From then on it's Monday and Friday at the gym, Wednesday at University and Thursday at the guild; I do hope Ian starts getting more hours at school so I have a chance to get some other stuff done!

Spring Cleaning

First I have to say I had a wonderful time at Glentui and I'm going back next year.  I've already paid my deposit.  It also looks like I may be joining the Heathcote spinning guild as they've invited me back which is grand.
I finished the yarn I was working on when I left for Glentui and although it's DK rather than fingering, it will still make nice socks.  I have also got to the transition on my Aeolian shawl so I'm happy with that.

Now that it's spring I've been sorting things out.  The conservatory is now tidy for the first time in ages; we have a lot less toys and I've started going through my fabric stash.   There's a mountain on one of the lounge chairs of stuff I'm never going to use, which I'll be putting on the trading post of TNN to see if someone else wants it.   I'm hoping I can sell most of it locally as I hate posting things like that.  There's microfleece, polarfleece, denim, suiting and all sorts in that pile. 

Getting ready for Glentui

Very busy this week, working frantically as I won't be home to get anything done this weekend.   So I'm doing my work for WEFT, cleaned out the car and been making Alpaca/Silk batts to spin up while I'm there.   This stuff is so fine my drumcarder isn't really coping as well as I'd like; I'm dreaming of a Pat Green Supercard, but that's never going to happen.  They're not even available over here!
I've been doing some work on my Aoelian too, I'm on the second Yucca pattern and I'm really liking it, she's going with me to Glentui as well as my socks as I need something easy as well.    I'm also taking my current spinning which is the Dorset/Columbia fibre that I dyed and am spinning for socks.   I'll also take some pencil roving that I dyed myself, it's a Merino Acrylic blend which I've never come across before, not sure how it'll wear, but I'm hoping it'll do nice socks.   I'm also taking the batts I'm blending atm; that should be plenty I think.   I'll take a book; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  I've read it before and enjoyed it, but it's not something that will override my spinning mojo.
Gotta get back to work now, Ian's on the computer after having a lot of time drowning the sandpit and being good at school; he's earned this :)

Knitting and spinning and Autism

Well, I sent off the yarn for the painting themed yarn swap on TNN this morning, have just realised I forgot to take a photo before sending it; duh!   Went to do some work on the shawl I have just started and found that the new needles have a raised bit which is catching on the yarn; luckily Morag at Vintage Purls is putting a replacement set in the post but it still means I can't work on it today.
I've finished the first swatch for my Paloma top, it's dried and is just hanging lightly weighted so I can see if I get gauge.   If I do then I'll cast on for that tonight after I've got some work done.  I'm using Elann Lara in the most amazing turquoise.   Should look fantastic when it's done, assuming I do it correctly of course.
Mum's only got a wee way to go on George's jumper too, so he should have that for next winter no problems, though she's just caught a nasty bug and can't get up today.
I'm going to be working on some sock yarn on the weekend, try and get my first 3 ply set up.  Technically it's not the first, that was my Merino/Yak/Silk blend, but this is the first I've dyed and spun from scratch.  One ply is finished, 2 to go.

Had another meeting with Ian's school and GSE (group special education), no more hours yet as he has no time when he is independent so we're still only getting the time that they have a one-on-one person funded for.   So still only 3 hours, next meeting isn't until the 4th week of next term so if we do get extra time it'll be for 6 weeks max before the Christmas holidays.  We're working on getting him a bit more independent at home in the hopes that it will translate into the same thing at school.   They were also doing the application for funding for next year.   It's kind of scary, the max any child can get is 17 hours a week; Ian needs full time support and he's able bodied.   What must it be like for children who can get that 17 hours but are not able to do anything for themselves?

Update

Interesting times as Terry Pratchett would say. Our PC is effectively now new, it has a new motherboard and CPU plus an extra gig RAM, apparently it wasn't uncommon for the particular motherboard we originally had to cause freezing. We'd already replaced the power supply so there's not much left of the original PC aside from the DVD recorder, case and hard drive. She's definitely faster than she was which is good.
Also been doing more knitting, got to contact Patons about the Inca yarn I'm currently using as there's quite a long bit I can't use as it wasn't spun properly; one bit way too thin and further down is way too thick!
Ian's at school now, 3 hours a day. Had a period of time where the school weren't communicating very well, possibly some fault on our side too but I can't see it myself. He's settling in reasonably well, but has had several days off sick; including today. DH is home looking after us as I'm feeling rotten and the boys have been off school to recover. We have our next meeting on Monday after school and we're really hoping that we get some more time, even if it's only the half hour till lunchtime up till next term. Next term he gets a wee bit more funding so extra hours will be easier.
Spinning up a storm as well, just finished the yarn for the latest TNN yarn swap, no photo's atm as I don't want to spoil the surprise. I carded the fibre first and I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out. It's somewhere between a DK and Worsted; a trifle thicker than I wanted, but the blend of down sheep fibres pretty much guaranteed a yarn with a little bloom.

In a couple of weeks I'm going to Glentui for the weekend, it's a weekend of spinning with like-minded people from the various Christchurch guilds, really looking forward to it; especially now that I have a sleeping bag. Speaking of that the spending has gone off slightly with DH's bonus. We now have a new BBQ and a few extra bits coming for it, including a BBQ cover and grill thingie.

Will come back when I'm feeling more with it and update properly.

I'm an addict

I've finally admitted to myself and most of the people I'm friends with that I'm a shopping addict.   It think I always have been but been scared to admit it cos then I'd have to do something about it.
Today I did my last spending, but it was on things I'd committed to before I realised the problem.   It came out of my spending money for the fortnight and there won't be any more.   Funny thing is I'm feeling quite good, my sewing mojo is on its way back which is great and it actually felt almost freeing knowing that I'm not going to be spending.
I think I may have to spend a little though, the computer is freezing on me, it's been to the shop and nothing wrong with the components and I've reinstalled XP after formatting the hard drive so it's not data related.   I suspect it's due to overheating and wouldn't still be happening if they'd cleaned her like I asked.  So tomorrow she's going back into the shop.

One good thing happened today though, aside from my usual session at the guild doing some knitting I went to WWKIP day (world wide knit in public) and I won a competition!   I'd taken Ian's jersey

 

into the guild to show off.  I've been knitting this thing for 3 months now and I've hated it!   The pattern was a very large chart with lots of right and left twists resulting in a cabled look.  It's called Sherwood and is available on Knitty.com.   Unfortunately the yarn I was using which was one of my earlier handspun wasn't suitable for cables, and I didn't have enough of it to do the whole thing.   I finished the main part and decided to make it a vest with the wrong side showing.  Had to do it at night so the boys didnt' learn any new words.

Anyway, I put it in a competition at the WWKIP and it came second!   I won some lovely 10 ply yarn from Amy as well as a couple of magazines and a set of DPN's.  Was so chuffed :).   The ladies at the guild were all very impressed as well and now that I've finished it I actually quite like it.    Ian gets it for his birthday tomorrow.

Wish me luck with the horrible PC, we can't afford a new one so they'd best be able to fix it!

The concrete weekend

Last weekend was very busy, I didn't go to spinning simply so we could get our concreting done. The area we're concreting started off as an interlocking paver covered weed section and a weedy throughway to the shed.   It's now a nicely concreted area, with a 1.5' gap where we ran out of concrete.   So tomorrow I'm picking up more cement, builders mix and have booked the mixer in again for Sunday to get it finished.   We'll also get the last 8 piles for the deck concreted in and then the deck is all we have to finish outside.

Saturday had a slight hiccup in the evening though, DH went to get fish and chips with eldest and some idjit ran into them on a roundabout.   So I have been organising panelbeaters and insurance etc this week.  Also started losing oil, luckily that turned out to simply be a faulty oil filter which was free to fix.   The panelbeater can't get the car in till 30th March, but once he realised we have 2 children he's offered a courtesy car for a smaller fee than normal.   I said we couldn't really afford $20 +GST per day, but I was wondering how we'd cope for a week or so with no car.  Luckily he's offered us a Kia something or other for $50 total.  Going to get the car and George fitted for a new carseat tomorrow and then fax the quote to the insurance company.  Once that's approved then it's all plain sailing insurance wise.  I'll be really glad once it's all done though.

Inside I'm working on the bathroom area still, wallpaper is all off and I've finished patching holes and things.  Sanding tomorrow, including the wood if I have time.   Then on Monday I'll seal the gib while Ian's at Grandma's.  Then it's lots more painting, before we can get the vinyl tiles laid.  Haven't heard back on the shower room yet, so not much to report there aside from the fact that we're not going with a full wet room, $7000 is a bit too much to spend.

On the crafting side I finally have my electronic spinning wheel sorted so I'll be plying the 8 bobbins for my jersey which will tell me if I've spun enough or not.  If I have then I get dyeing as brownish grey isn't really a flattering colour on me.  Also got to read the instructions for my spinning course too, the fibre isn't here yet but it's been paid for so I hope it's not too far away.  I'd like to get it washed before the winter sets in.

Home Improvement

Been very busy recently organising a revolving credit part for our mortgage.  With that we've paid off the credit cards, which is how they're going to stay.   We've also put the floating part of the mortgage on it and are doing some improvements to the house.

1.  The one that started us on the mortgage change - a home ventilation system.  After talking to all of them we've gone with Healthaire which filters to 0.2 microns and is custom designed to your home.  It's not cheap, but was still cheaper than the best known one in NZ and significantly cheaper than the heat exchange versions.  It's being installed on Tuesday next week.

2.  Bathroom area.  We're replacing the carpet with vinyl, going from cream carpet (a nightmare with a pre-schooler who misses) to a deep peacock tile look vinyl, the walls are being stripped of wallpaper and painted in Resene Duck Egg Blue (I think that's right); it's a lovely light green with a blue tinge.  The rimu is all being sanded back and varnished; we're keeping the current toilet, bath and hand basin.  Have got a new wall mirror/cupboard which is also rimu. 
The shower is going to be replaced, it's not coping with DH's weight and is making some rather alarming noises; it's also chipped on the base and not really large enough. DH wants to transform the room into a step-in shower, which I'm ok with depending on cost.  Should find out if that's viable next week.

3. Outside.  The service area outside the back door and walkway to the shed is being concreted, the reinforcing wire for that is arriving tomorrow and then we can box it all up ready to go.  Needs to be compacted too.   It was all in interlocking cobbles and was always growing weeds, this will be so much better.   Outside the conservatory which is the BBQ area is going to be a deck, all the stuff for that is arriving tomorrow too.   There's going to be a lot of work, but it will look much better after it's all done.

Once all that's done there are a couple of smaller things like upgrading the PC and getting an expensive service done on the car.  We'll then be paying it all off before putting a room onto the side of the garage for my craft room so the boys can have separate rooms inside the house.   It's all very exciting and a little scary.

Healthy living

This is something I started on a week or so back, fell over on the weekend with a crunchie bar, but back on track now.

I'm aiming at a healthy body and mind, both for me and the boys (DH is doing some too, he's cut down to 4 cups of coffee a day).    Here's what I'm doing:

* No TV until 5pm, this started yesterday and applies to the boys PC as well, unfortunately the PC is currently on as DH promised George he could have it after school.  He now knows better.  I noticed on the weekend that George and Ian play more and are better behaved without them.

* No sweets or junk food.  Finished the last thing of chips today and there's no sweets in the house aside from a thing of lollypops thats a couple of years old.

* Trying to make meals more healthy too, today isn't a great example as we're having chicken pie from Couplands, but there will be more veges than normal, all from our garden.

* Exercising more.  Taken yesterday off as we shifted 4 tonnes of interlocking pavers and scraped the dirt off them over the weekend so we've done enough.  Did some jogging into kindy this morning though.  Have my personal trainer tomorrow, we'll probably do some boxing.

* Using my juicer, just finishing off a yummy fruit and vege juice now.  I hope this will help me detox.

It's raining, it's pouring; we're all wet!

Weekend before last a storm front came through on the Sunday.   Started with a lot of hail which blocked up the drains, then came the downpour!   Our gutters didn't cope and normally this isn't a problem, but for some reason this time they sent the water over the interior lip of the gutter, into the overhangs and down the inside of the windows.   Had to run around frantically putting towels on window sills and unplugging electrics.   Then went outside where it was cold (been 30 deg cent before then).  Unblocked all the downpipes except one which I had to remove alltogether as it was just too blocked up.  We'll have to reattach that one to the house as the bracket was broken.
Next weekend we're taking an inch off all the bottoms of the downpipes so there's a gap between them and the grating, and we'll be installing an overflow system using poly pipe inserted into the guttering and placed a little higher than the bottom of the gutter so that it'll only let water through if the gutter fills up.

I think Sunday's are a day when important things happen, cos this Sunday just gone no downpour, but Dennis the Menace had a stroke and had to be put down.   RIP furrball.

 

He's now in the garden permanently.  Seems strange not having to close down the laundry at night and not having to check for cat before setting the alarm when we go out.   Hoping to get a dog at some point now, wish us luck.

Still spinning and knitting.  Almost finished my second pair of socks and 3 bobbins into the 2.4kg of Romney that I"m spinning up to make myself a cardigan.  Will probably dye the fibre once it's all spun up.

Busy, busy, busy!

Been very busy recently. Got all the Christmas presents sorted and engraved. I actually used DH's Dremel to do the engraving, so it's not quite as pretty as the professionals, but it's not bad for a first-timer! I'll let you know what they all are after Christmas day. Don't want to spoil the surprise for the family.

Speaking of family, there's one less now. Unfortunately my BIL's wife decided to leave him with no warning a few weeks back. Atm he has custody and she gets the boys on a regular basis. We're hoping that he will be able to move back here to Christchurch once everything's sorted, but I don't know how long that will take.

We're having issues of our own, but not marriage issues. Ian is being a right pain to get to sleep at night. We've tried Tart Cherry juice with natural melatonin with no luck, Rescue Remedy Sleep and am now trying a new thing from a Bach flower practitioner. Unfortunately because the boys share rooms it means George is tired during the day and his concentration at school is suffering. I'm trying a different remedy for him.
On a positive note we found the Trip Trap chair worked well for Ian so our occupational therapist is applying for funding for one for him. Now that it's gone back to them we've noticed he's much harder to keep at the table at meal times again. She's pretty sure we'll get funding, but doesn't know how long it'll take. Fingers crossed it'll be soon! Aside from that Ian's vocab is increasing slowly and he's starting to get interested in what I do, helped bake some muffins the other day which was great; well, apart from the small flour and cocoa powder explosion. Didn't take a photo as the SD card in the camera was sick. Got a new one now though.
George is getting really independant, wants to walk to school by himself. Unfortunately we have a dangerous intersection on the way so I'm insisting on walking him to the school gate. He'll just have to live with that.

Vege garden is all planted. We've got 4 zuchinni (courgette) plants, a couple of rows of peas, lettuces, tomatoes, potatoes and corn all doing well. Carrots are thinking about it, went with the purple ones this year instead of the usual orange. George is even taking carrots for lunch at school so I'll have to plant more soon.

Am knitting and spinning still, have a couple of sewing projects ready to start and am dyeing fibre too. Having a ball! I've just finished a couple of lots of yarn. One in BFL (Blue Faced Leicester) and one in Romney. This is the BFL, I haven't photographed the Romney, but it's in muted pastels.















I've also finished my first pair of 4-ply socks for me, definitely have to do this again.

My next pair will be from some hand-dyed yarn from a TNN swap we did recently.

I've done some dyeing myself too, this for a Ravelry swap. It's merino dyed in pink and purple. I didn't want to send it cos I'm in love! Luckily I did send it though as it's recipient is also in love :)

My current knitting is the Morning Surf scarf done in the red and yellow Rambouillet that I posted a photo of back in September. It's looking really good, but no photo's until it's finished. Once that's done I'll start the socks in the above red, green and blue yarn. I'm about to start spinning some merino/cashmere in a similar colourway to the above merino next. It'll be for the December spin-along on one of my Ravelry groups. I also have some mohair to spin, but I think that I may try out my new drumcarder to blend with something else. Not sure yet.