What a week!

This is the most hectic week I've had in ages: Mark's been in New York, having fun with friends and hearing great performances of music by his favourite Joachim Raff. I've been home, running here and there to meetings, all of which somehow involve my transporting great quantities of "stuff" in my car - computer equipment, bags of yarn and charity knitting, parcels of calendars and diaries and on one journey, overnight stuff. The days have been full, I've enjoyed going from one thing to another but I will be pleased when my diary suddenly empties after a conference this weekend coming up.

So in the odd free half hour here and there, what do I do but gather a few things from the garden and put a kind of arrangement on the table to make me feel like I'm still keeping it all together at home. It began witha few conkers I collected from the Waitrose car park, but needed a bit more and a bit more...

Of course, after only a couple of hours indoors, the conkers went very dull and lost their appeal so I replaced them with a few cobnuts I'd bought. So, the conker in the picture is a Penkridge treasure, as is the little crab apple. Aren't they fantastic? (even if it does scratch the furniture!) 

Clapotis finished

I finished the clapotis scarf the other night, but until now, haven't had time to blog about it. I followed the pattern exactly, made no changes and was appreciative of Liz's tip to download the Excel "Clapotis Row by Row" chart from the Clapotis Knitalong group to use. Thanks Liz!

The yarn is yummy - soft and lightweight with just the right amount of drape. It's Great Adirondack's Sireno and I knitted on 3.75 needles, which seemed comfortable.

I'm pleased with the end result, more so now I've blocked it. I don't think I'd knit it again, however, as I found it rather boring to knit. Took me a while to get into the flow, and then, once I had, I was bored.

Shame, because it really is a very attractive scarf and I think I'll wear it lots.

Stroud Maternity Matters - the people agree

A while back I posted a piece about the plight of our local midwife-led maternity hospital, which was under threat of closure in spite of immense local and national support. Yesterday, following a lengthy consultation, we received the news that it will stay open.

Women in Stroud are so fortunate to have such an excellent facility in the community.

I know it's time to slow down

..because it's now nearly 1pm and I just realised that I haven't brushed my hair this morning, almost 22 years since the last good excuse for such behaviour was born.

No-one has said anything, either. I wonder if they noticed? Maybe they simply thought it was better to say nothing...

Baby Bunting

On Sunday, we are invited to a Christening celebration with friends. We ordered our present some time ago but only heard by email yesterday that it won't be here in time. Bleh! So, the bunting manufacture started and a short time later, 10 yards of it is done and ready to roll. The baby's name, Eleanor, appears midway along the stretch, but doesn't appear in the photograph. We think that perhaps she will enjoy bringing out the bunting on birthdays, or maybe she'll like to see it hanging in her bedroom when she's older.

Of course, big sister Rosie-Jane can't be left out, so I made her a small cushion with the same fabrics. There's a little secret pocket inside there too.

All far more fun than doing the ironing!