Gratuitous watermelon pics

CHECK.

IT.

OUT!

I am SO happy with how well those beads work as seeds. Unfortunately they are drilled across the top instead of through the length, so I had to attach them to the bag with fabric glue - but since I already had some, and since I tested one out and had to use some major force to make it budge, I was not too concerned.

Those two hours I spent browsing for beads online were totally worth it.

It has had a couple of outings now. It is a good size for purse, phone, keys, sunglasses, water bottle and small/medium knitting project. This makes it the perfect bag for practically every occasion.

This might be the perfect dress to go with the bag, too.

I have been sadly drawn in by Phase 8, who seem to be a slightly fancier version of Boden, who made most of my favourite dresses. Phase 8, however, muscled in and made my fabulous stripey sailor dress which has been this summer's event frock.

Phase 8 have also got my email address now, and they keep sending me spoilers about their new lines. It's relentless. OK, so I have to go and fish them out of my spamhilator but still...they sent them in the first place. I am but a weak and feeble woman. I can't resist a pretty dress.

Holidays are in a week, though, and I want to order some yarn from Knitpicks (especially this kit...bet you can't guess which colours) since I'll be in the US to fetch it home, and I have already promised myself this dress from Boden for the autumn. It has, arguably, a more autumnal feel to it.

It's a terrible time of year for me, this. The exam board money comes rolling in, most of it already accounted for somewhere, and all I want to do is shop.

Fave Friday

Welcome to the Great British summer.


This picture was just taken. The water on the paving slabs is roughly a cm deep. This is because the twit who owned the house before us laid plastic sheeting under the slabs, to stop weeds growing through. As you can see (because I have a pathological fear of the strimmer), this has not worked - but it HAS prevented correct drainage! What a clever guy.

It has been raining for about 24 hours, on and off, but we just had a particularly heavy spell.

I am not whining. I love British weather. Here are my five favourite things about British summers -

1. You don't have to water the plants too often. There's always a downpour nearby.
2. After it rains, everything gets so very green, and plants flourish. Witness: my monstrous courgette plant, which you can make out in the top left portion of the picture. Also, the tomato plants, which are heavily laden with big tomatoes.
3. Barbecues. The Z-Bunny Mansion barbecue is half an oil drum, so it takes a lot of charcoal to get it going, but it's totally worth it. We try and barbecue often when it's sunny. I kind of want a gas barbecue to make it easier but ... actually as I write this I can imagine the evil look Mr Z would be giving me were he here, and I don't feel the need to explain that "but" anymore.
4. It's rarely TOO hot. It was TOO hot in the week of my operation, but only for a day or two. I think that's the first TOO hot time since 2006.
5. Hammock time. Do, do-do-do, doo doo do! Hammock time. You can see the hammock. I've talked about the hammock before. I haven't had much hammock time this summer, so I am hoping for a fine weekend and maybe a few fine days in the summer holidays.

With thanks to Kelli, as always. This week her Fave Friday is all about her vacation, which has got me all excited about mine, which is now ONLY TEN DAYS AWAY! I asked some of my pupils on Tuesday if they thought it was too early to start packing. The boys said yes. The girls said no. Big surprise, there.

This morning, I used my (hopefully) last day of quarantine to buy travel insurance (I got the enhanced kind to cover high altitude walking, white water rafting, parascending, zip-wire, mountain biking and kayaking...I hope I can cover at least half of the list) and to book a fancy motel for our first night. I got a recommendation from a bizarre source - more on that shortly - for a motel in Visalia and when I went and looked it up it has a hot tub and is walking distance from the centre of town and all good restaurants and bars. I went for it. It can be our wedding anniversary celebration, and our last night of luxury before spending 10 nights under canvas.

Now, the bizarre source. I was browsing the neighbours tab on Ravelry looking for people with similar pattern tastes. This time there was a hit with 36 matches, which is quite high for me. And this person.....lives in Visalia. The coincidence was too great to ignore. So I messaged her and she suggesed the motel I booked. I *heart* Ravelry.

The swine flu has abated. I have a slightly stuffy nose and a sore throat not bad enough to warrant paracetemol. The tamiflu is making me feel a bit sick, though.

I don't frickin' believe it!

So. Recovered from the gall bladder saga, I returned to work on Monday. On Tuesday I woke up with a slightly sore throat. About half an hour after returning from work on Tuesday, I started to feel very dizzy and shivery, slept all evening heaped in blankets and started to have pain swallowing.

Yes, that's right. SWINE FLU. FFS! I am SO SICK of being ill! I am a terrible patient. I hate feeling unwell and to have to take the best part of 3 weeks out of work is just killing me - even though there are hardly any lessons to be covered. There's some amazing irony there, that I've been hanging out all year for exam classes to leave so I have all this time and then I end up off sick for most of it. Though, by my count, seven teachers at school have it now (that's way more than kids) so we might end up closed early anyway.

Luckily it doesn't seem to be too severe so far. I am feeling slightly better today than I was last night, probably because of the 12 hours of sleep I got. I've started taking Tamiflu. I suppose it's better to get it out of the way now, rather than catching it on the plane to America. I am trying to make Mr Z catch it, but he keeps using this alcohol hand gel stuff so I am going to have to resort to doing something unspeakably disgusting to him while he's asleep.

Only joking bun. You hope.

I'm terribly lethargic and can't even do much knitting, let alone think of ten things to blog. Hopefully I will make it out to a shop at some point for OLS meal ingredients, otherwise it will be courgettes a la courgette.

Grarrrrrr! Not. Happy.

Weekend FOs

It has been 3 weeks since I was able to publish details of a weekend FO - what a slacker I have been! However, since being off sick I have a raging case of startitis and a holiday motivating me to finish things so I have almost 2 to share today (you'll see what I mean).



Pattern: Frock Camisole by Katie Himmelberg. I bought the copy of Interweave Knits this was in for a lot more than it really cost, as it was a back issue and shipped from the US, but I want to knit about 80% of its patterns and this is the 2nd project I have started out of it, so I feel justified.
Yarn: Rowan Damask, in a dark blue mix. Brings out my eyes, apparently. Nearly 5 balls. It's a shame this yarn is discontinued, I love the colourways and it's knitted up lovely and soft, with a good drape.
Needle: 4mm Knitpicks Options
Mods: I knitted the straps in a 1x1 rib so they don't curl, and I attached them to the back with a three needle bind off.

It's a gorgeous, light, cool, summer top, and it went superquick - 6 days. It needs blocking, really. I was going to do that today but then I accidentally wore it instead. I was between two sizes and went for the smaller, and then my gauge was about 21st/4in instead of 19, so it has come out clingier than it should have - but after wearing all day it has relaxed out quite nicely. Not TOO much thankfully - it's in no danger of being saggy, thanks mostly, I suspect, to the linen content of the yarn.

And THIS!



Pattern: My OWN DESIGN! I am calling it "I carried a watermelon"
Yarn: Cascade 220 held double
Needle: 8mm Knitpicks

It's lined with red gingham and has a red zip along the top. First zip I've ever sewn into a knitted item. I got the lining fabric from the Foam Shop up the 'wood, which has improved slightly from the damp and smelly cave of fabric it was last time I went in - but I still had to wash the fabric before I was able to use it, since it had been on a bottom shelf and smelled a bit mouldy. It wasn't mouldy, thankfully - and it was an absolute bargain at £2.50/m - especially since I got quite a sight more than a metre, it being the end of a roll.


I agonised for quite some time about the reds for the watermelon flesh, and what I initially picked out turned out top be superwash (DURRR!) so in the end I used a blend of Flame and Christmas Red which has come out spookily true. I love the dark green - I really love how Cascade Heathers always has a little surprise colour that pops out after felting. This has quite a lot of red in it, so it goes really well.

Ooohhh...accidental both weekend FOs in one picture!

I thought about the construction of this bag for quite a while and how to make it strong, since I always cram too much into my bags. In the end I knitted the gusset and strap as one really long piece and then attached the watermelon pieces to it before felting, leaving a long strip flapping free, which then became the top panel after felting. Once it was sewn up I cut down the middle of the top panel and stitched in the zip. This way, the structure of the bag relies on the strength of the felting to keep it together, which is bound to be way stronger than my sewing!


I ordered some of these beads on Saturday, which will become the pips - so this is why it's not quite a FO yet, but I couldn't wait to share! Mr Z is already planning a good photo shoot for it so there are bound to be more pictures of this around in the future.

I am feeling very pleased with myself. I saw someone carrying a watermelon handbag at the end of May and knew I could knit myself something as good, and I actually have. Check me out!

One Local Summer week 5

This week I had spicy chorizo-style bangers with courgette and potato rosti - FAR more successful this week as I left out the cheese - and the last of the onion marmalade. I even took a picture but it came out really dark and made everything look burned. I haven't been successful with picture taking yet.

The sausages came from my local butcher, who also gave me a bit of an education this week.

I've been using the same local butcher for about 5 years now. Shopping separately for meat and green groceries, and only using the supermarket for stuff only they sell, is much more economical and the produce is better quality - fruit and veg that doesn't go off overnight, you could do a stir fry for 2 from one chicken breast, for example. The butcher gets me a ham of a perfect size every Christmas, and they provided all the sliced cold meats for our wedding buffet, and recently a new butcher has taken over in the shop (replacing the miserable old one who could barely raise a smile) and he is grand. He has a limp, a hunch, a lisp and stutter, and is as broadly Bristolian as they come (I may have already mentioned this...I am quite taken with him). I have taken to going in and asking for a joint of meat I can't mess up. He gets it right every time - gives cooking and serving instructions, too.

Anyway, enough bigging him up. This week I asked him if the delicious garlicy sausages I buy every month were made on the premises. Turns out, they're made at the sister store in Bedminster, from local pork, which they grind themselves. The eggs they sell are from Dorset, and there are signs up all over the place naming the farms where the meat comes from.

It's an interesting paradox. The eggs aren't free range - I don't buy them. The meat is most likely not happy meat. So, it doesn't tick all the boxes I usually associate with ethical eating - but it is local, and supportive of local businesses to buy there. I've seen at least two butchers close down since I moved here, and I think people need somewhere to buy hand made faggots (whatever they are - they're hugely popular), tripe and pigs feet. The supermarkets don't even sell ham bones anymore.

That's a lot of waffle. Basically, I am saying - local sausages, right under my nose and I never even knew! So many organic/local/fair trade shops these days spend ages putting up aigns about it that the ones who have been doing these things forever, quietly going about their business, are overlooked.

Back to work on Monday. I won't have nearly as much time for navel gazing and waffling then.

Fave Friday

This week...
Top Five Products From Lush

1. Babyface cleanser. This stuff is awesome. Sometimes I even use it as a mask in the bath. I particularly love it when people mistake it for soap (there are 4 different bars of soap on the sink, and the Babyface, which is set to the side) and then end up washing their hands for half an hour to get the grease off.
2. Gorgeous moisturiser. The only thing that gets me out of bed at 6am on the first day of the post-Christmas sale - I can stock up a year's worth for a fraction of the price. I think I'd still pay full price for it though, it's amazing stuff. It makes me look like I've had an excellent night's sleep no matter what.
3. Uluru bath bomb. It's discontinued now but I still buy it from the Retro section on the website. It's got a really subtle scent that hangs around for ages after the bath, and it softens the water better than any of their other products.
4. Curly Wurly shampoo. It took me a while to get used to this because the coconut gets stuck in my hair a bit but it always comes out when I condition and my hair is so soft and shiny. And coconutty. I love coconut.
5. King of Skin. I remember when I first bought this as a naive new Lushie - I took it on holiday to Ibiza and I didn't know about using it in the shower and washing off the excess. I smothered my legs in it and sprinkled them with gold haberdashery glitter before we went out to Dave Pearce at Eden, and I looked like an extra from Goldfinger. It was our last night and the barman picked me up for a picture with Jen, and when he put me down he was all, "Ergh! What's all this greasy gold glitter all over my arms?!"

24 was a fabulous age! I still have (and love) those shoes, though they've had to have some cobbler tlc. The heel snapped off them about 90 minutes after this shot was taken and I ended up dancing all night in bare feet.

Back to King of Skin....Happily I know better now and use it in the shower. I have dry skin and am terribly lazy about moisturising my legs but this is really easy.

Wow, it was hard to pick just five! I don't really go on the Lush forums anymore, but I still love to shop there. I went in today and spent ages looking at the new products. Great fun. Then I had to have a little sit down because I am still off sick and still getting a little breathless - but I am hoping to be right as rain by Monday, so I can go back to work. Getting quite bored now, especially since all the exam board work is as good as over. Just the reports to write now.

Thanks to Kelli for her fun Friday meme!

Tuesday Ten

It's that time of year agin. This advert is back in the TV. It makes me very happy.



So. Three weeks from today, we fly to Las Vegas (baby) and it's all about enjoying the fruits of my labours for 3 weeks after that. So here we go, in honour of the trip....

Ten things I miss about America

1. Peanut butter M&Ms.
2. Crystal Light. It may be more British to have liquid squash but it's so much more convenient to have it powdered - and nobody does a fake raspberry quite like Kraft. What a pity the dyes are illegal in the UK.
3. Sitting out on the back porch at midnight when it's cool, so that it's only like having a hair dryer in your face instead of sitting in a sauna, sipping Crystal Light and gabbing.
4. The fake garden, beautiful glass ceiling and fancy shops at the Bellagio. I might treat myself to a little birthday present at Tiffany this year.
5. Lazy driving. American cars, tsk - I could be paralysed down my left side and still drive perfectly normally, especially on the massive broad roads (though that turning right on a red light thing really confuses me). Also, though, tarting around in Father Hand's convertible MR2.
6. Pedicures. I love my little local salon, which is a 5 minute walk door to door and has really friendly beauticians who've been working on me for 4 years now, but nothing beats that pedicure I got from the teeny Asian girl chatting on her mobile phone as she shaved the dead skin off my feet.
7. Sephora. Philosophy! And all the make up. Benefit especially. Mmmmmmmm.
8. Cheap petrol. Don't come crying to me that it's $3.20 a gallon or something now.
9. Blizzards from Dairy Queen. Anybody who has only ever had a McFlurry is totally missing out. In fact, Americans do almost all ice cream better - witness, the billion flavours of Ben and Jerry's available.
10. Father Hand, of course.

I'm so excited about the holidays. I have booked almost everything now - just need a campsite at Tahoe and a motel in Visalia for the first night. Rather than driving the 7 hours from Vegas to Sequoia and pitching the tent in the dark (because we wouldn't leave until the middle of the day, in spite of any good intentions we might have had), I decided we should drive 6 hours to a Visalia motel and then go into the national park nice and fresh the next day.

That was a really pointless paragraph but I can't shut up about the whole scheme, it's too exciting!

I'm also planning yarn store visits. Father Hand informed me (I can't remember if I said already) that an associate paid him for a job by giving him a car, which we can use for our trip - so all that money saved is now yarn money. Well...a bit of it, anyway. I'm most excited about finally getting to see Jimmy Beans in Reno, after several years of buying from them online and suffering the VAT/PO charges.

Feeling much better, by the way, just still a bit twingey.