Another meme...
Thanks Donni ! The idea is to Bold the things you have done – I decided to go one step further though (‘cos Donni did, and I’m such a lemming) and italicised the things on the list that I would like to do….cause I am like that.
The Questions
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said ‘I love you’ and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper (just how bold can I make that one!)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38.Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46.Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62.Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest (I was Little Miss Muffet at Brownies when I was 8!)
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived.
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127.Eaten sushi (and made it too)
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes.
134. Read The Iliad – and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone’s life
Compared to Donni I’ve just been wasting my life – still, she has a few months head start – how much of that can I fit in before May 2007?
Anyone who wants to have a go can do.
Yup, I’ve been suckered by another of these things – maybe it’s appropriate that today, when the list of Ruths I love is shorter by one, that this comes up:
Your Dominant Intelligence is Musical Intelligence |
 Every part of your life has a beat, and you’re often tapping your fingers or toes. You enjoy sounds of all types, but you also find sound can distract you at the wrong time. You are probably a gifted musician of some sort – even if you haven’t realized it. Also a music lover, you tend to appreciate artists of all kinds. You would make a great musician, disc jockey, singer, or composer. |
I heard this morning that the Ruth I have known longest, my one-time piano teacher, died yesterday. She was very elderly and had been increasingly unhappy, lonely and confused in recent years. She and her husband were devoted to each other and she lost him several years ago to cancer. She truly was incomplete without him. So for me it’s sad, it’s the end of an era, but for her – well, I don’t really know whether or not I believe that she is with Stephen, but I’m sure she is no longer missing him.
(Incidentally I disagree with the quiz’s results – when I’ve put some practice in I’m a reasonably tolerable pianist, but I’m sooo much more a maths/sciency sort of person… )
Thanks to Carrie K for the link.
Saturday sky
Sandy who has long had a “thing” about sky has started Saturday Sky – go and have a look at her blog and see…
You’re back? OK, here’s my sky tonight at about 8:30pm in Cambridge UK – with the view from our front door:
Knitting on the Cam...
... which is stolen directly from the title of Mary’s blog but it’s what we did – however she wrote a much better description than my hormones will currently allow, so do go there to read all about it.
I’ll just give you a few pictures to look at:
Emily and Bekki
Avril (gesticulating at just the wrong moment… ), Mary and Diane just after going under the Mathematical Bridge (with Arthur and Marcelle just visible at the edges.)
Mary’s husband and daughter poised to snap us. (See Mary’s blog for the picture Stephen took… )
After an hour’s punting we continued over snacks and drinks – and I discovered that it is possible to get a knitter to put the needles down…
... but it takes food and drink to do it!
But the natural order of things was soon restored:
(Note the gorgeous pink knitting on the edge of this picture – I’ve finally met the Crafty Otter in person, but totally failed to take anything like a decent picture of her. Ah well… )
Personal Breakthrough
This was prompted by a comment that Kathryn left on Ruth’s blog about her not being overweight. She’s not, she’s very clearly not. And I finally got it through my thick head that neither am I. When I was in my 20s and early 30s I was very thin – scarily thin at times (at one point I went down to 7st 3 – that’s just 101 pounds or about 46 kg – I’m 5’4” – this was definitely underweight) and I’ve struggled with my body image since having 2 children. I’m now about 9 st 6 (132 pounds, 57kg), my Body Mass Index is 22.7 – well within the normal healthy range. So why have I persisted in believing that I’m fat? Because I’m almost 40 rather than 20 – and I’ve had 2 children – that does something to a body. So my new mantra is “I’m not fat, I’m just not 20 any more.” And when I eat chocolate – I’m going to enjoy it and not feel guilty. (Speaking of which – Montezuma’s chocolates – swooooooooon!!)
Toe up and other lace...
Well, like Donni I have a fair few WIPs to confess – currently vying for attention we have:
- My Sunrise Jacket
- John’s scarf and my Swatch (Shameful, shameful – this photo was taken in March, and neither of them have really advanced any since then!)
- Annie’s shrug:
– it’s hideously difficult trying to take decent photos of black lace. The biggest problem is that I only bought two balls of Bamboo (SWTC from Get Knitted ) and you can see how little there is left from the first ball – and there’s still 2 more repeats of the lace pattern before I finish the first side. However, I put an order in for a 3rd ball this morning, and one from the same dye-lot is already winging it’s way here. - Birthday socks (I’m pretty sure that the recipient doesn’t read this – what’s the betting she does now!)
– isn’t this yarn gorgeous? It’s the Alpaca-merino blend I bought from the Natural Dye Studio. I love the way the striping is working out – especially the way I get very narrow stripes for the foot and cuff, but just because of the construction with short rows, the toes and heels are highlighted by having wider stripes. So cool, and so lucky! But look, there’s more with these socks – they are my very first toe-up socks – and they use my very first provisional cast on:
– it’s just visible there – I picked the stitches up from the waste yarn the wrong way round, so you can just see it – but hey – it’s a feature OK? And now I’m going to go and experiment with a picot cast off… - Flame socks
– this is the yarn I dyed myself with the Kool Aid Daisy sent me – I’m loving knitting with this soooooooo much. I felt that I had been cheating when I knitted my first pair of socks – I used Opal self-striping yarn and although the stripes were fun, they weren’t mine. This wonderful blotchy muddle is completely mine – as is the pattern, as is the cast-on (basically the same as a provisional cast on using waste yarn, but instead of the waste yarn I used the other circular needle – it’s probably a really well-known method, but I worked it out for myself, so I’m very proud. If I’m sufficiently organised I’ll take pics as I go when I cast on the second sock.)I think that little lot is enough to be going on with? Right, how do I do a picot cast off…
I'm Anne... have we met?
OK – let’s see how many of you take up this challenge. (See Liz – I’m doing it, and people – if I can pluck up the courage to come out of lurkdom on her blog, you can do it on mine… )
So come on, be brave – copy and paste the questions into the comments and add the answers.
01. Who are you?
02. Are we friends?
03. When and how did we meet?
04. Do/Did you have a crush on me?
05. Would you kiss me?
06. Describe me in one word.
07. What was your first impression?
08. Do you still think that way about me now?
09. What reminds you of me?
10. If you could give me anything what would it be?
11. How well do you know me?
12. When’s the last time you saw me?
13. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn’t?
14. Are you going to put this on your blog/journal and see what I say about you?
One word meme
I’ve seen this in a couple of places – including Mandy’s Knits – and you all know how I can’t resist things…
Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me – it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so that I may leave a word about you.
Day off revisited
So I cleaned the bathroom to within an inch of its life – no, I exaggerate, but I did finally stick all the loo-roll cardboard inners in the recycling bin – we started keeping them because they make really good biodegradeable pots for seedlings – except that we haven’t got round to planting seedlings this year, and I do believe we’ll generate more tubes by next year.
But housework doesn’t fill me with joy, so I rewarded myself by mixing a few fruity drinks… yup, you guessed it, I’ve been Kool Aid dyeing – it was such fun. I can’t wait to do some more. (But that involves explaining to dh why I absolutely need to buy more sock yarn. Anyone would think that 5 pairs-worth was enough or something sheesh!)
Anyway, in all it’s flecky glory – here it is:
I honestly don’t recommend clicking on the thumbnail – it’s one of the worst photos I’ve taken, but doesn’t it look delicious – it smells pretty good too
You know I can't resist these things...
Thanks to Amy for the link:
You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative
100% Postmodernist
63% Idealist
50% Romanticist
38% Modernist
31% Fundamentalist
25% Existentialist
25% Materialist
6%
What is Your World View? (updated)
created with QuizFarm.com
A day to myself...
... well, 5 1/2 hours anyway.
And breathe. Listen to that? Can you hear it? Yes, it’s the sound of NO CBEEBIES!!!
I have buckets of housework to do, and a totally unrealistic idea of what I can achieve – so I’ll start slowly by doing a 30 things list for Kerrie who has a 30th birthday competition going.
1) I always have 2 slices of gluten-free toast with marmite and a drink of milk for breakfast (except when I have something else… )
2) I grew up believing that my wide hips would be good for childbearing.
3) They weren’t – I had SPD with both my pregnancies.
4) I enjoy doing maths.
5) I can’t bear anything to do with finances.
6) I was given my first umbrella for my 7th birthday – it didn’t rain for weeks.
7) I love cycling in the pouring rain with no coat on.
8) My favourite film is Singin’ in the Rain.
9) When I was 8 we had blackbirds nesting under the porch roof. My parents called them Beatrice and Benedick.
10) I used to be scared of wolves under the bed.
11) Autumnal colours suit me best, but I keep buying blues and greys.
12) I smoked my first (and last) cigarette when I was 33.
13) As a teenager I had lots of penpals. I wrote to 2 of them in Esperanto. Every letter started “Mi bedauras ke me ne skribis pli baldau.” *
14) Whenever I tell people my job I get one of two reactions: “So am I” or “I was never any good at that.”
15) I’m keeping far too many of my children’s clothes as keepsakes.
16) My paternal grandfather designed the steelwork for the extension to the Main Building at UMIST.
17) My maternal grandfather lectured there.
18) I went to university there – and my lectures were in that very extension.
19) On my second day at school I fell over at playtime and gashed my lip.
20) I was once kissed by Ian Botham.
21) I have an oboe.
22) I love the sight of a washing line full of laundry – especially terry square nappies.
23) I love the smell of creosote.
24) My chemistry teacher often picked me up at the busstop and gave me a lift to school.
25) I was brought up a Quaker.
26) I’ve been on both Come Dancing and Songs of Praise.
27) I’m a maths teacher.
28) Today I am wearing my favourite brown trousers.
29) The best bit of any meal is scoffing the leftover cold veg in the kitchen.
30) The last piece of any bar of chocolate is MINE.*“I’m sorry I didn’t write sooner”
Right – washing up calls!
RIP Zig sock
It jumped in the frog pond yesterday evening. I was loving the yarn (what’s not to love about Trekking XXL?), I was even getting to not entirely hate the whole 2 circs thing, but the pattern… not so much. This is mainly because I had the more than sneaking suspicion that I was doing it all wrong. So bye bye sock.
So now I have a problem – what pattern should I use? I want something with a little interest (although nothing ziggy or zaggy for now – had enough of that for the moment, so Jaywalkers are out), but that won’t interfere with the delicious stripes. I’m wondering about this one or maybe this one – any other thoughts or suggestions? I’ve seen a number of lovely free patterns, but am getting a little fed up with not having enough information to knit them to fit my feet. Just gauge and foot circumference would do it, then I could convert them myself, but lots of them don’t even have that. Ah well, serves me right for being a cheapskate and trying to find patterns without spending money.
(Meanwhile I’m knitting away at Annie’s black bamboo shrug – being a bad blogger with no pics, but I promise I’m getting there… )
Very cool...
Thanks to Bekki for this link. It’s a knitted petition – I Knit has partnered with WaterAid – knit a 15 cm by 15 cm square in blue yarn (any kind of blue, any stitch/pattern, any weight of yarn, so long as it comes out approx 15 cm by 15) and send it in – they will all be sewn together to make a river. The aim: water and toilets for all.
... It was a day just right...
... for trekking with a sock.
When I was a small child there was a book I used to borrow from the library as often as I could. I can’t remember who wrote it, I can’t remember what it’s title was, I can’t even remember what happened at the end, but the starting sentences have passed into family legend…
“It wasn’t a cold day. It wasn’t a hot day. It was a day just right for climbing a mountain.”
Today we had weather like that. Beautiful sunshine, with a slight breeze that kept us all cool on our expedition.
Our intrepid explorers set off:
Our mission – to introduce the sock to some of our native forms of transport – namely trains, planes and… helicopters.
We set off along the track to the railway line:
Along the way we showed it lots of wild flowers …
... as well as the local “hill”:
(it’s really more of a hiccup than a hill, but hey – some people need to change gear when they cycle over it – it’s the best we’ve got around here… )“But where is the sock?” I hear you cry? Look a little closer and you will see the boy is carrying a rucksack:
Look closer still:
Eventually our weary travellers reached their goal – the gate to the level crossing:
... and look – a train!! (I was going to count all the trains we saw – I lost count at about 15.)
The sock was very impressed:
Our weary travellers turned back towards home, stopping on the way to consume the refreshments brought by the girl:
Oh, and in case you were worried, we succeeded in our mission – planes:
trains:
and helicopters:
The sock is now very tired after a very exciting afternoon.
New knitter...
My friend Ruth really, really has taken up knitting – there’s a picture of her first WIP on her blog to prove it – do go and have a look, and leave her an encouraging comment – just look at those straight edges – is that sort of thing allowed for a first project?
Happy Birthday Mother
My mother is 77 today!
When she was a child it became a game with her father to see whether or not the oriental poppies would be in flower by her birthday. Usually they are much earlier, but this year with the winter-that-lasted-for-ever spring was very late, but still, yesterday, just in time, we found this first poppy out in our garden:
And Adam and Ruth wanted their photo taken with the foxglove:
Happy Birthday!!!
Oooh ooh, another quiz
Talk about sitting on the fence:
You fit in with:
Agnosticism
Your ideals mostly resemble those of an Agnostic. You are fairly ambivalent towards any religion or spiritual connection. You lead a very busy life and find that religion and spirituality are unnecessary to your life.
0% scientific.
0% reason-oriented.
Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com
Thanks to Ruth for this one.
A much needed giggle...
... here from the Guardian
Very topical given that it’s been Big-Girl-in-Pants Day – not what I’d call a major success – maybe a little better than total failure – at least she recognises when she’s done a wee now…
Not really a lot else to report on – one of the problems with potty training is that it can get a little obsessional – and I don’t want to inflict any of that on anyone…
Still growling at the socks on 2 circs.
Oooh – and Heather’s prize for the caption contest arrived. I’ll post a link once I’ve given it to her, but I think she’ll like it
A _much_ better day!
Thank you for all the kind comments following yesterday’s post.
So we started with a firm resolve – I would
- listen
- stay calm
- be careful to explain my expectations clearly.
In return Adam would
- not whinge.
And we achieved a high level of success. I negotiated him out of doing a combined swimming and lunch trip into town (my bike is locked up at work, and without it there would have been too much trailing from one venue to another), so we compromised on lunch only. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know – we will go swimming, soon, I promise… ) So we caught the bus into town and bought
- clothes pegs (but no washing up bowl – there is nowhere in the middle of Cambridge that sells washing up bowls – apparently we need to go to Tesco’s – but that’s the other side of town, so involves the car
) - stickers as a reward for Ruth – tomorrow is “Big girl in pants” day, and I want to try to keep Adam feeling at least a little bit involved – we’ve had a long and serious chat about how it will be difficult for her, so it’s really important that nobody shouts at her, and if she does make a mess he should just quietly and quickly come and get me if I’m not there already.
- various other bits and pieces
and, most importantly we went to the Rainbow Cafe for lunch. I know I’ve raved about this place before, but if you’re ever in Cambridge, do give it a visit (esp if you’re veggie or gluten-free, but even if you’re neither, it’s still wonderful – don’t be put off by the endorsement from Gillian “I’ve got a degree in Language and Linguistics ” McKeith). Adam had his usual pasta with cheese and salad followed by chocolate icecream, and I had Turkish tomato soup (i.e. slightly spicy) with ricecakes (if you ask they provide ricecakes on the side rather than bread rolls – how cool is that for a Coeliac?!) followed by Chocolate Pear Cream Pie. I swear I had to sit on my hands and bite my lips not to order a second portion – it was sheer unadulterated heaven – and it was gluten-free.
And the good behaviour lasted pretty much for the rest of the day – even from me
This afternoon we delivered the tam jacket to Agatha – and I got to have a cuddle, and Adam stroked her cheek, and she’s absolutely gorgeous in the “I want to eat you all up” way that tiny babies are – and I still don’t feel the need for another. Hurrah!!And when Ruth arrived home from the childminder, she looked like this:
(except with fewer crumbs – it’s one of the things I love about Bev is that Ruth always looks immaculate when she gets home)
But look at those gorgeous pigtails – here’s a better view:
And in knitting news – so I finished one major project – clearly it was time to cast on for 3 more…
From L to R:
Zig Socks for the Trek Along using The Knitting Fiend’s wonderful sockulator. (I was going to do Jaywalkers, but this one is so much easier to customise, and I have fairly teeny feet.) I’ve adapted it to use 2 circulars – and I have to say that at the moment I’m not loving it. I keep using the wrong needle and then having to transfer the stitches back onto the correct one. I am totally adoring the yarn (Trekking XXL #110) though. I’ve only swatched with it before, but now it’s getting more serious – maybe I do want more babies after all…Black bamboo shrug for Annie – who saw the other bamboo shrug I knitted for a different Annie, and asked if she could have one too. (See, see – I really have started it!)
Toe-up socks for a birthday present in gorgeous green yarn from eBay. I did my first provisional cast on, and I’m fairly chuffed with the result. Although the eagle-eyed among you will notice the wiggly yarn – yup, this is the second attempt, the first one was frogged, but hey – this yarn is also rather delicious, so I’m more than happy to keep knitting with it.
Oops – my maths tutee is about to arrive. I’ll stop now
