Weeknote, 30/10

Knitting:
Many things, as it happens! Well, two things.
The Washington Square Vest is going; it's a little dull, but it's going. I need to put it on a longer cable really, because I am afeared it will be too big.
I have also hauled out some squishy, softy bulky acrylic I bought on our knitting retreat to Westbury Sub Mendip in March, and started a Cherie Amour. I started on a 9mm needle but it was way too big, so I went down a size. It's still too big, but since I am knitting a 38" when I'd normally pick a 42", I'm going to knit the peplum with the 8mm needle and then go down to 7mm for the top lacework. This should be enough to compensate for my hippiness.

Going to:
London, to see Wicked. We stayed in a lovely B&B just off the Brompton Road, which was warm, comfortable and an absolute steal. I visited the Science Museum the next day, but it was crawling with children, of course. As a teacher, anything kids might be interested in has been ruined for me, forever.
Ben & Kirsty's, for tapas and Cava. It's always nice to go and spend an evening with them; and they may have talked us into getting a woodburner.

Eating:
Though I haven't eaten it yet, last weekend I made mincemeat, and I have also made a Christmas cake, which came out of the oven today.

I use Delia Smith recipes for both of these, with a little twist of my own. To the mincemeat, I add dried cherries and cranberries, and use Becherovka and Cherry Brandy instead of Brandy. Becherovka is a long-time favourite spirit of mine; it is Czech and it smells and tastes just like Christmas to me. This is why I also replace the brandy in the Creole Christmas Cake with Becherovka. One can never have too much, imo.

I have also, today, made some blueberry nut flapjacks to hand out to any unsuspecting Trick or Treaters. We're terribly humbug in this house and normally turn the lights off and pretend we're not home; but this year I thought I would hand out something home baked.

Learning:
How to use Google Reader, although it did something screwy to begin with and continually logged me out of my account. Now I am sorry I didn't learn it sooner: it's so convenient.

Obsessed with:
Catching up on everything recorded on the TV drive. I have basically achieved this, now. Luckily the Christmas holiday is quite a long one this year, so I should have plenty of time to achieve it again in December.

Entertained by:
Wicked! What an amazing show. We had amazing seats, too: front row of the circle; they were a third off the regular price because apparently they had an obstructed view. This obstruction turned out to be....a tiny, thin guard rail, to the left of where the seats were. Not an obstruction by any stretch of the imagination. Result!
Being on of those intensely irritating people who finds musical theatre so moving I am basically on the edge of crying throughout entire performances, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Amazing performances from all involved, and excellent music. I like a live orchestra.
I even splashed out and got Mother Hand and me drinks for the interval, though I wished I had asked the price of the cute-looking mini bottle of Prosecco I ordered for myself, before selecting it. Granted, it came with its own pink ice bucket; but I could have got a month's subscription to a national newspaper on my Kindle for less.
We also found the queue for the ladies so long that in the end we hot-footed it across the road to Victoria station and used those instead. It was funny being back in the area, which was the scene of the Google thing in July. It quite brought it all back to me!

Feeling:
Generally recharged! Just as half term should make me feel. Though, I'm slightly apprehensive about the work that's coming up in the next two months....