One down, one to do, with a quick break in between

I've finished my first ever adult sock, and I'm so impressed with how it turned out!  It looks amazing, and very colourful! 

 

 

And that was the highlight of the day.  It was yet another day of shivering around the flat, and not doing much.  I've decided to take a quick break from the socks to whip up the hot water bottle cover.  I'm beginning to think I should have just decided to knit it up in garter stitch, plan, simple and quick.  But noooo, I wanted to have some fun with some cables, which always end up taking so much long.  I didn't want to spend too much time on it, but will prob be working on it for the rest of the week.

In a way I'm really looking forward to heading back to placement tomorrow, as I'll have company and stimulation, but I'm so unused to the early mornings, and this weather doesn't make it any better.  I know that after a couple of days, I'll be back in the swing of it and I'll be quite happy, but it'll be a lot of effort over the next couple of days.  I really need to make the most of this week and be pro-active.  It's the last week of this placement, then I'm off to Cheltenham for four weeks to do Palliative Care and Oncology, which is a different pace and focus.  And it'll be back to commuting to Cheltenham.  Yay, more money wasted on petrol, but I've already spoken to someone and we're gonna try carpooling a bit, so I don't have to feel too guilty about wasting loads of fuel on just me.

And that's it.  No ground breaking stuff to talk about or to ponder over, just a boring, quite, slightly lonely day in, knitting and watching telly (Two and a Half Men marathon on Comedy Central).  I really need to find better ways to spend my days off, but without wanting to spend money or have to venture out in rubbish weather... I'm slightly limited!

Star Trekkin'

I had a very enjoyable day today of entertaining my friends and watching Star Trek.  Was lovely and relaxing.  We had a very lazy lunch of d.i.y. sandwiches, although Sarah ended up making most of them, and various chocolates and baked goods.  I was very impressed with myself, I don't normally have friends round to my house in Derby, mainly because it actually isn't my house, it's my parents, and I'm always very conscious of the fact that my definition of tidy is greatly sub-par to theirs.  I'm very paranoid that they'll get annoyed if I "trash" the house (worrying that my idea of "lived in" borders on their's of trashed!).  Whilst yes, this is still some version of my home, I do feel more like a visitor here than a resident, I do after all, in a typical year spend less than a month in total here.

But I always feel bad about the fact that I'm always gatecrashing my friends houses, eating their food and creating havoc in their lives, and I never get to repay the favour.  So I decided to rectify that.  And the house survived, all in one piece, and I hope I didn't come off as too much of a control freak!  So I'm really glad I did it.  My folks house isn't really child proof, but I think we did alright and everyone had an enjoyable time (well I did at least, so hope they did too!), even if the girls got a little bored with the grown ups insistence at watching a long movie and wanting to see the tv screen!

I did get my camera out to document the occasion, but never got round to switching it on!  Sometimes I really do need to remember that not every aspect of day to day life needs documenting, either in great detail or with visual aids.  Sometimes it's okay just to let life happen and stop being so worried that I'll forget about all the good times!  So that's all you're getting.

Another day spent (mainly) in bed

Oh dear, this Christmas is turning out to be a bit of a write off for me!  I've just spent most of another day in bed, feeling a little sorry for myself whilst the rest of my family trasped off to my grandparents for yet more festive feasting.  I'm feeling much better with regards to the gastro today, and although I have eaten a bit today, I've been taking things rather carefully as my gut is still not 100%.  But instead, today's ailment was a cold.  Yes for those keeping score, another cold, about three weeks since the last one!  I'm beginning to think that there maybe something wrong with my immune system, but having said that, most people I've been around for the last few days have had a cold, including my poor mum who is exhausted with hers, so maybe it's hardly surprising that I've come down with something.  And this one seems (touch wood) much milder than the last cold I had, even coming hot on the heels of a dodgy tum, so hopefully I will be able to recover quickly, especially as tomorrow we are supposed to be going round to some more family for yet another meal.  It would be nice to make at least one of the Christmas weekend family gatherings!

I did managed to get myself out of bed by midafternoon, and I was determined not to go back as I really would like a proper night's sleep, something I didn't get round to having last night, mainly I think, due to having slept so much yesterday.  So, fingers crossed on that account.  This time out of bed was mainly spent watching mind numbing t.v. and Wallace and Gromit - soooo cute, I love that movie, those little bunny rabbits are so ruddy adorable!  I have made a slow, half-hearted attempted at my next knitting project, but I'll update more when I've got beyond the current 7 rows!  And now, off to bed for a good night sleep, hopefully!

This is what happens when you watch too much CSI

I had an actual wake-from-sleep nightmare(ish) last night!  It was so surreal, and definitely points out that I've been watching too much CSI!  So here it is:

I was in some sort of lab, with a couple of the CSI (Vegas) crew, and we were conducting an experiment of sorts, you know, like they do.  Our experiment was awful, and certainly not something I'd condone, and it's also where this all gets a little surreal.  We had this monkey on the countertop, it wasn't like any actual monkey I've ever seen, it was highly stylised - very, very thin and drawn out.  We were forcing it to consume various toxins, to see which ones induced vomiting (told you it was awful).  It was vomiting up very politely into a little funnel.  And then in between different trials, it started talking to me.  It was very articulate and clearly highly educated.  Then the lab tech and the CSIs left me, having just given a last dose to the monkey.  As they were leaving, they told me that I should ensure that the monkey was secure, which was when I noticed that there was a system to chain a leashlike device between the monkey and the counter.  They also joked that I should be careful in case the things we were giving the monkey made it turn on us.  So I turned to the monkey to see if I could secure it, wondering how I was going to work it.  But the monkey, busy chatting to me, obligingly did it for me... which I remember thinking was very strange, and kind of defeating the point of securing it, if it was able to work the mechanism itself.  He was also going on about what the CSIs had said about him turning on me, almost as if he was offended by the way they had talked about him.  Then as I was tidying up, he started joking about going crazy, and mocking me about how I would react.  Then I was getting rid of a syringe in a little side room, I chucked it from the door, but missed the container.  At that point, the monkey freed himself from the leash and started having some sort of fit and making general demonic sounds.  I told him to stop being silly and that it wasn't funny, and I went into the room, not thinking much of the monkey's cruel joke.  As I was bending down to pick up the syringe to place it properly in it's disposal container, all this this cluttering and smashing sounds were going off in the lad.  Then suddenly the lights went out and the emergency back up lights kicked in, batheing everything in semi-darkness tinted with red flashing as somewhere in the building someone had set off the emergancy alarm.  At this point I started to get really freaked out, and started calling out for Nick (one of the CSIs), and went out of the side room back into the lab, which was now trashed, but the monkey was no where to be seen, although I could hear it taunting me in very evil overtones.  I was petrified to be alone in the room with the monkey, unable to see where it was and unable to completely see the various hazards littering the room.  The exit was the other side of the room, but with the various sparks flashing around the room and the unknown whereabouts of the monkey, I was too scared to attempt to get across to it.  So, I saw a door pretty much next to me, and I "escaped" through it, not sure where it was going.  It opened onto a long corridor, flanked by offices and labs.  To scared to waste time by closing the door behind me, I just ran down this corridor, shouting out for help and looking for Nick, but with the strong impression that the monkey was hot on my heals...

And that was pretty much when I woke up, heart pounding!  All in all, a very strange, disturbing dream.  I get the setting, as I was watching CSI last night before bed, but I totally don't get the monkey or the nightmarish turn!  Mmmm, how bizarre.  But now, on with my weekend.

Glitter. glitter, everywhere glitter!

Yay, it's the weekend.  Booo!  It's the weekend.  This is my typical response to Friday nights.  It's nice to have the week over and done with, but the weekend also brings work.  Boohoo.  But on a more positive note, work gives me money, which helps with the bills, and leftovers for buying new wool/enjoying myself!  Oh well... trying to look at the silver lining!

Today was more recovering.  I've definitely got over the exhausted achy phase, but for some unknown, but very annoying reason, the sore throat has come back with a vengence.  Yuk! 

I finished Mary's hat, haven't got round to uploading photos of it.  But I did get a chance to give it to her, and she loves it.  She says it's her new fave hat.  This is always such a relief.  When I'm making things, I always end up thinking about the things the intended person won't like about it, or concentrating on the bad things/mistakes, that I always feel very encouraged when I here positive reviews.  So, thanks Mary, very glad indeed that you like it!

I also got round to making some more Christmas decorations today, both at home and at Mary's.  I finally started adding more decoration to my polystyrene balls, I give up trying to paint them anymore!  They've come out quite nicely, so am eager to make more progress.  Again, haven't taken/uploaded photos yet, but I will get round to it at some point over the weekend.   Still haven't got a tree, having a big debate about what sort of tree to get and how much money I am prepared to spend/can afford to spend.  Part of me really likes the idea of a real tree, but it's a little more hassle, getting it, disposing of it.  And then there's living trees, I think my future is too indetermined for this, and they are much more expensive.  Then there's fake trees.  At this rate, this is the most likely option, but decent "bushy" ones are quite expensive.  Oh man!  Such debates!

This evening, I picked up Mary and we went to Hobbycraft to pick up some bits she wanted.  I kind of inspired her to have a go at homemade decorations.  She has gone down a completely different path to me, choosing to use pinecones (something that hadn't even crossed my mind, despite it being somewhat obvious!!).  She has decided to use a combination of silver spray paint, and various colours of glitter paint.  So she invited me round to do basically what we had planned for last Sunday and did less successfully, we had takeaway (Chinese this time, my fave takeaway, so yummy!) and made decorations.  No mulled wine this time... which was probably just as well!  It was really good fun, and as always interesting to see how different people interpret the things they have in front of them and come up with completely different concepts.  Mary had got a whole bunch of pinecones online, so she's going to let me have some... once they're dry.

And that's about it.  I'm home now, watching CSI that I Sky plused whilst out.  Or rather, CSI is watching me type my blog.  Good thing I can rewind it!  My next craft is something for me for a change, something that hopefully won't take long, then I can get back to Christmas pressies, since I've only made one present so far.  I'm going to crochet (fancied a change! and also the effect I want is better in crochet) a snowflake garland for my tree, in this very white wool I found in the wool shop earlier this week.  It is derived from soy fibres, so I'm quite curious to see how it is to work with.  I'll let you know. 

Right, full attention to CSI now!  Have a good weekend everyone.

A cosy day in bed!

Ahhh, what else are Sundays for.  I had a lovely lie-in, despite waking up relatively early (9:30) because the people in the shop I live behind were being very noisy and chatting on the phone right outside my bedroom window.  I managed to doze for a little while longer.  Then, basically, I never really left my bed other than for the essentials, like tea.  It was such awful weather, the rain just pounded against my window at various intervals.  No incentive what so ever to get out and about.  So I cosied up in bed, with my knitting and my laptop for entertainment.  How very decadent and lazy of me, but it was lovely.  This is definitely not something I do that often, but it was good.  The knitting is coming along nicely.  The main bits were ready to be sewn together so that I could measure the size of yoke needed.  And the yoke is steadily coming along.

 

 

Sorry for the slightly blurry pictures, I decided the colour was best represented by using night exposure and I didn't really hold my hands still enough!  I'm really getting a feel for what it'll look like when it's finished.  I'm still slightly indecisive as to whether I made the right call going for the two colour effect.  I will have to do the bands in blue, as I literally only had 28cm left of the purple once I finished the sleeves.  Was really worried I wasn't going to have enough and I would have to do an emergancy trip to the store to get more!!  But disaster was averted!

I did eventually get out of bed this evening.  My friends Harry and Claire invited me round for Mexican.  It's been about a month since I last saw them, and I wasn't having a particularly good day when I did see them.  So it was lovely to catch up with them and tell them all about my repeating adventures.  I also got to hear about their lifes now that they are working.  It's weird to think about how their lifes should be mine, but they're great friends, so it's not awkward and they have been very supportive about everything.  In particular going through my job application form with a fine tooth comb!  I will owe them big time if I get a good score on that!  They asked me to take desert, so I took inspiration from Sam over the summer and brought stuff for D.I.Y. sundaes.  This is such a simple, but wonderful idea.  And it went down very well.  I could find any sauces at the small local Sainsbury's so I brought a bottle of Baileys.  We didn't end up using it, so I've brought it home with me.  I've added it to my growing collection!  A stranger wondering into my flat would think I'm quite the alcoholic, but I'm honestly not.  I often go weeks without touching a drop, but suddenly my flat looks like this:

Oh well, it's always handy to have these things in the house, for dinner parties etc.  The mulled wine was on special, hence multiplicity, and it's such a wonderful tipple for winter evenings!  I'm also quite impressed that it's British wine.  Yay for low food mileage on our alcohol!  Feel good booze in more than one way!

Right, off now to watch House and Fringe that I Sky Plused whilst at dinner.  Yay for Sky+, it is such a wonderful contraption!