Happy Birthday Patrick!

Hello Dear Readers,

Here is a shout out to my baby brother Patrick who turns 24 today (and who is a follower of my blog, yes!)

Here is a teaser photo of what awaits you when you get home Pittie Pat, anyone want to guess what it could be?
Hope you are having a good day!

Dr. Who?

Hello Dear Readers,

Look at what Jennifer sent me from around the world in Hawaii!!


How much fun is that? For non Who fans, that is an old Dalek on the left and a new one (as premiered earlier this month) on the right with their motto EXTERMINATE! I framed it in some heavy cardstock and it's sitting on my mantle for me to enjoy. I even got Chris into watching Dr. Who, I think he's going to start with Christopher Eccleston and work up to the new Matt Smith who is my age! Hard to believe. Also hard to believe Chris and I could get much nerdier, but with Star Trek over, have to find a new world to obsess about.

In a crossover for Chris, here is a clip from Craig Fergison where he mentions Dr. Who. It sounds exactly like something MY dad would say if I said I was watching Dr. Who.....

P.S. If anyone wants a pair of knit hotpants of their very own (Jeff, I'm specifically thinking of you) just place your orders, I already have one person interested :-P.

Second Opinion

Hello Dear Readers,

So, last night I cast off my hot pants that I've been working on, tried them on for Pat, Sarah and Chris and got a unanimous look of horror from all three of them! The words "camel toe" and "are you going to wear them in public" were thrown around. Geeze, I don't think they are THAT bad! I was going for dance warm up style shorts like this, this or this.... and this is what I came up with:



Is that so bad? Oh, warning, here is the BOOTY SHOT:


The pics could have been better but I was using the timer and balancing the camera on these pointy fence post things on our deck (sorry Chris! I know you'll cringe when you read that!)
Is that so awful that I can't wear it to yoga in the winter? will it be too much to wear with my shrug and leg warmers in the winter? too much knitting? is there such a thing?

Comments from the Peanut Gallery?

"A little sea-bathing would set me up for ever." -Mrs. Bennett

Hello Dear Readers,

Chris and I, sort of spur of the moment, hopped a train for Brighton Beach yesterday afternoon. I went to the Tate Modern museum first (Picasso! Pollack! Matisse! LOVE it!) and then met him at work to take a train from Victoria. For those who don't know, Brighton is a long time beach resort for Englanders, famous for Brighton Beach Memoirs and as the place Lydia Bennet met her downfall in Pride and Prejudice. For that reason alone I have wanted to go, but I've also heard good things about it from people here.
For those who don't know, my parent's house in Virginia is on Trafalgar Lane, couldn't pass up this photo op in the Laines.

It's a little hard to see, but for some reason this tailor shop in "the Lanes" had a Dalek (Dr. Who villain) in their shop. Plunger, eyeball and all!

Here I am, basking in the sunlight on Brighton Beach, the Pier in the background.

Here is Chris, throwing stones into the sea. I told him to stop or else there wouldn't be enough pebbles for everyone..... to his left are the fun rides at the fair on the end of the Pier, sort of like Navy Pier in Chicago.

Going into the Pier....

Relaxing in a deck chair at the pier with Brighton in the background... (made me think of the time Joy and I went to Ojo Caliente in NM, but I wasn't nearly as relaxed)

King George IV's summer palace, or what looks like the worlds largest curry house (what they call Indian restaurants here).

We caught the direct train back to Putney around 7:30, it was a good afternoon, and now I have incentive to squish all the fun stuff in before I start working.

Cheers.

The Best Day of my Life

Hello Dear Readers,

Well, it's a start. Today I was pretty much offered a 5 months curatorial position at the Herbarium at Kew Gardens. (For those who don't know, this is my dream job). Funny thing, the reason I was offered this post is because I was highly recommended for the last post I applied for and didn't get, and it turns out that the person who's spot I'm filling in for is the one who got the post I applied for. Crazyness!

It's just for 5 months, and pays pretty poorly, but hey, I'm getting my foot in the door and who knows where that will go? I can start as soon as the HR paperwork goes through, so I'm going to try to max out my last week of freedom here, going to museums, maybe a little bit of shopping (get some new work clothes?) maybe a quick trip to Brighton...... but yeah, Job. Sorted.

Cheers!

The worst day of my life!

My best friend, my Ipod nano Chris bought me for Christmas in 2007 is on the fritz! It's my best friend, my running, walking work out partner! The apple icon keeps blinking on and off like a switch is stuck somewhere :-(. NoooooO! I don't want a shiny new one, I want my old Ipod.

ETA: (edited to add for those non tech savvy people)Google to the rescue, how could I have doubted you Google. Turned it on disk mode after a few tries and was able to reformat. Phew! Crisis averted!

Sita Sings the Blues

Hello Dear Readers,
Thought this was kind of neat:


The Revolution Will Be Animated from Marine Lormant Sebag on Vimeo.


And here is where you can find the full movie.

Blue Skies, Blue knitting

Hello Dear Readers,

Just finished two projects, hot off the needles. One is a toy for Odie I's christening (Chris's cousin's son) and the other is a sweater for Odie II's 1st birthday (my nephew). Yes, both cousins had kids within a few months of each other and both called them Odysseaus.

Here is the elephant, based on the Susan B. Anderson pattern Elephante:



I photographed him with some basil, so as to feel like he's in his natural habitat. He can't forget his old home, being and elephant you know. Maybe he's a Thai elephant, and that's some Thai basil?
He's a bit heavy for a stuffed animal since I cut up one of Chris's holey undershirts to stuff him with (clean, not dirty!) but he's eco friendly! Donated yarn! Repurposed t-shirt! Perhaps I should call him EcoElephante. Odie's probably just going to suck on him anyway, but that's the fondest hope of any toy maker I think, that their creation will be loved to death. At least I hope so. I think I need to invest in some cool animal eyes since I seem to be doing a lot of toys lately.

Here is the sweater for the birthday boy:
I think it turned out pretty well, I tried to size it for between 18 and 24 months, and he'll be a year in May, so he should get some use out of it. I have three tags that say "made with love" or something to that effect that I would like to sew in there, but I'm worried that tags will irritate his skin. Perhaps I can put it in the center back, like they do at Abercrombie and Fitch or Hollister. I have just one delicious ball left, I THINK I'll work on a little hat with a brim (here they call a brim a "peak", it took me a while to figure that one out, as a hat with a peak to me immediately brings to mind a dunces cap.....). Oh, and here is a picture of the little rug-rat, from his Christening:
That's his godfather, not his dad, holding him. Look at that HAIR! And the nose is even bigger :-).
Ok, I hear the laundry is done, time to get back to being a housewife.

Spring comes to Putney

Hello Dear Readers,

I've been reading a lot of books at the library and bookstores about sewing, and lots of them include patterns for needle books. At Liberty department store last weekend I also saw some really cute needle books. I knew of them before, but never really thought much about them because I used my pin cushion to keep needles. But the other day I read somewhere about how you shouldn't keep needles in pin cousins because they get lost in there, and I thought, yeah I may have lost one or two in there, I know because every once in a while I find them again (painfully). I also finally made it to Peter Jones (another department store close to me) and bought a multipack of needles, darners, embroidery, sewing etc because with this increased sewing I was finding I didn't have enough needles. Then I thought a needle book would be a fun little project for this weekend, to make a needle book. I took some of my favorite fabric that was given to me as a going away present when I used to work at a fabric store.k

Ta daaaaa! Very nice. Then I put the needles from the pack from Peter Jones in there, and my needles from my pin cushion. Fair enough, filled up the book. THEN, I started squishing around in my pin cushion to see if I could find any stray needles......


I found OVER 15 NEEDLES IN THAT THING! And I'm sure there are more in there. Most of the needles on this page of the needle book were in the pin cushion. No wonder I never had any sewing needles! I found my lost cross stitch needle (last used in 2004), a few short quilting needles (2008), sewing machine needles, and a ton of GIANT very pointy needles (last used in 2006, yes I do remember these things, don't you?). It was like a treasure hunt! if I had taken an X-ray of the pin cushion without pins I think it would have looked very much the same, crazy!

In non-fiber related news, it's been very quiet here. Too quiet. We live to the South West of London, which means we are generally in the flight path of Heathrow and planes come over every 40 seconds. In fact, the path is such that when I'm in the kitchen I can see them go right over the skylight in the ceiling. But today:


Not a cloud in the sky, not a single airplane trail.

Volcanic ash and dust is also conspicuously absent as well. But it's clear clear clear clear. If you see anything in those pictures, it's probably on your computer screen. And quiet. I think we'll go down to the river to enjoy the quiet while it last. Usually the planes are so low you can very clearly see what company they are with, and they are loud.

Arty Week

Hello Dear Readers,

This week I've been recharging my creative juices this week, I even dedicated a moleskine notebook to carry around and sketch ideas and projects as they come to me. Here is a sprinkling of some of the projects I've been up to.


Left to right clockwise, a shoppin bag I sketched an ink drawing in, my slouchy beret, two potholders made on my sewing machine!!! Some hotpant's I'm knitting (yes, knitted hot pants, sooo hot right now) and a little sweater for my nephew who turns one next month. It's in cotton and silk so it shouldn't be too hot for Cyprus, and I've tried to size it so that he can wear it through to his next birthday, if he isn't too chubby!


Aww, baby clothes are so satisfying because they go so quickly. This is a classic top down in the round cardigan. I am using some yarn my friend Michelle gave me before I left Amarillo (Thanks Michelle) and I think it'll be enough for the sweater and maybe something extra matching, suggestions people with children? He'll be one in May.


Here is my attempt at a slouchy beret. Not sure if it'll stay on my head properly when I'm out and about, but the weather is warming up now so I probably won't need it. The fashions will probably change and I'll take it out again.
Off to have dinner with Chris now, pasta bake with mushrooms - yum!

Take a walk, with me

Hello Dear Readers,

It was the most delicious day today here in Putney, birds singing, sun shining, and everyone was out enjoying it! I SHOULD have stayed in to finish two job applications I'm working on, but they will be here tomorrow, when it rains again.... so I went on a nice long walk and took some photos.

Here is the view from my front door, some lovely rosaceous trees in full pink bloom...

And here is my brother's rowing club, Thames Rowing Club, just two blocks from our house (no accident that).

Further down the Thames towpath, a nice collection of boats, more pink trees and a lone skuller making his way down the river. Later he actually ran into a group of novice skullers, almost literally, the poor kid behind him didn't have control of his boat and his coach in the launch had to yell "Watch out!"
A nice close up of an apple tree, half out of bloom along the walk. Liked it so much I made it my wallpaper.
A KISSING GATE! See the metal part of the gate closest to me swings into the u shaped gate, allowing one person to go in, then you have to swing it back out to get to the other side. Traffic control. Very Smart.
And then as I headed down to Barnes high street to enjoy the duck pond, I saw this in someones balcony.
No idea. Truely, no idea. I had just spent the morning watchin Dr. Who The End of Time and for one wild moment I thought, hey, maybe it is real! But I think someone just has too much time and money. Certainly money, since this house is pratically on the river in Barnes. But still, very expensive sculpture for a place that rains a lot. Maybe it IS a statue....

A Quickie

Hello Dear Readers (both of you, no, three, Kat emailed the other day...hi Kat!)

Just a quick bloggie today, for two main reasons.

One, Chris doesn't get back until late tonight (1 am) so I'm still limping along on my housemate's computer. It's painful because it's a bit old, the internet explorer hasn't been updated in a while and it has an ENGLISH KEYBOARD. What is an English Keyboard? It's another one of those quirky things about moving to a new country, even though we speak the 'same language' there is always something just a little different to keep you on your toes (and it's what makes living in England fun, no really, i'm not being sarcastic, it would suck if everywhere were the same) . Anyway, things are just different enough to slow me down, the letters are in the same places, but the shift key is smaller, so I keep hitting the \(for some reason next to the z), and the " is above the 2, and the @ is above the ' next to #, ~ and the enter key. Weird.

Second reason for quickie blog, Chris doesn't get back until late tonight (1 am) so I'm cameraless and I think the blog is a bit blah without photos. But when I get it I'll try to capture some of the lovely springness that has been happening around here. Cherries and Apple trees in bloom, lovely fields of daffodils, and people walking around without bloody big parkas on! Still lots of scarves, seems to be THE fashion accessory around here. If you don't have time to accessorize, wear a scarf!

Knitting night tonight. I think I talked too much as usual but it is always so lovely hanging out with those ladies! What diversity! What knowledge! What patience for me and my big American mouth! And they didn't make fun of me too much when they asked what I was knitting and I said......hot pants. Hope it means the same to them as to me and not something crazy (have already established here that pants=underwear, and tank top=vest....didn't have time to look up 'hot pants' in my English to English dictionary). I intend them as yoga/sleep/warm up shorts, but who knows, I just may take London fashion week by storm this year.....

THE Boat Race

Hello Dear Readers,


Yesterday was a big day for Putney, the world famous Oxford/Cambridge boat race! The banks of the river were packed with people from Putney Bridge to Cheswick Bridge. I went down to Thames Rowing Club boat house (where my brother rows) to watch the start(s). First off were the second best boats. The crowd there were sitting along the concrete launch that slopes to the river. The race officials kept pushing us back and back, finally to the road, claiming a giant Tsunami sized wave was going to wash us away. With typical English grumbling we all backed to the road. When the boats finally went by, a feeble wash of about 2 feet came up onto the launch. This prompted a lot of jeering from the Foster's swilling crowd, to which the official responded "Oi, you lot, if you don't cut that out I'll make you go to the other side of the road!" But all in good fun of course. The 'first' boats launched second, at 4:30, to a great deal of excitement. Oxford was pulling out ahead as they passed us. By the time I walked from the river back to my house, I put on BBC 1 to watch them heading in to the last mile (it's about a 4 mile race). Cambridge edged their way to victory, securing a boat length and a half ahead of Oxford, what excitement! They hadn't won the past two years, so it was a good win for them. Better luck next time Oxford.
I did take some pictures on Patrick's camera phone, but I'm not sure how to get them from his mini SD card to this computer. They weren't that good anyway, just a bunch of guys in a boat....


Even more exciting, the new season of Dr. Who (with a new, young sexy doctor) premiered last night, also on BBC1. How nice it is to watch it as it comes out, then flip over to BBC3 to watch Dr. Who Confidential. Eat your heart out Stephanie! (Think the Monkey-Butt will come out rude, but not Ginger?)


Hope everyone is having a happy Easter. I polished off the chocolate cake I made!!! Chocolate seems to be an important part of Easter here, it's almost like Halloween!

P.S. Apologies for the awful spelling. Both Chris and Patrick are gone this week and the computer I'm using doesn't have the good spell check that I'm used to, and I'm a rubbish speller.
eta fixed spelling New Years 2011-12, updating blog as part of new year refresher!