let it snow!

Hello Dear Readers,

Yeah yeah, fell down on my resolution to post every weekend. Oh well. It's been pretty busy at Chez Felsham, one of our room-mates is moving out and we've been interviewing all last week to find a replacement. We've got a lovely guy called Nathan from Wales who will move in as soon as our old roommate moves out. That also means Chris and I are moving from the smallest room in the house to the second smallest room, yay for space! I'll even have my own table area for my sewing machine and crafts!

I've also been busy working, in addition to my new job at the Natural History Museum I still work on Saturdays at Kew and every other Sunday teaching Knitting at a local sewing shop. Busy busy, plus Chris has been knocked out with a viral chest infection this week so I've been cooking and and cleaning trying to help him to feel better, if not get better. Last Thursday was our Kew Christmas party which I attened and had tons of fun at! It was spectacular to see the old faces again, even though it's only been 3 weeks it feels so much longer. Photos are probably on facebook soon for those that use it.

We've also had a bit of snow here as you may have heard on the news. Actually, it's really only a little bit of snow but it's caused major disruption for us here! So far I haven't been affected but Chris and I are going to fly out of Gatwick airport on the 27th to go to Cyprus, my first trip since I've arrived at the UK now that I finally have a Residence Card! Cross your fingers for me, White Christmas, Green Boxing Day!

Christmas Card Fun

Hello Dear Readers,

Well I seem to be managing to keep up with my promise to myself to blog once a week, so here we go with post 2 of December! This weekend my friend Nina came to visit me on Saturday. I made a lovely nut roast with roast potatoes and (brussel) sprouts, or just sprouts as they are called here. Not to be confused with bean sprouts, which I don't know if they really eat them here. Afterwards we did a little knitting and socializing, where I finished a child's vest for my friend Clare's son.


After that we made some killer christmas cookies in red and green, just like mom used to make. I bought a set of cutters that had a star, boot, candy cane etc. and one shooting star. After picking it up my brother was asking what relevence that has to Christmas. Duh! I was singing " a star, a star, hanging in the night with a tail as big as a kite, with a tail as big as a kite". Nothing. What a Scrooge! Oh well, he ate the cookies anyway. (and for Pat who I know reads this blog (and thanks for that by the way) this middle finger is for you.....)

In the middle of making cookies I remembered I wanted Nina to take some pictures of us in front of the house for the Christmas card this year. Patrick HATES being photographed so he was a real trooper, but Chris can't get enough of it. I wanted to do more funny shots, but this is the only one we managed...Even after all that cookie dough they could still lift me. What a good day. I'm trying to do something a little Christmassy every weekend. Next weekend Patrick and I are going to buy a bunch of hard candy (or "boiled sweets" as they are known here) and make a gingerbread house! Or something, maybe we'll do a gingerbread Double Decker Bus or Big Ben, or perhaps a crew shell in gingerbread? Hey, we are making our own so we can do whatever we like! Pictures to follow.

Today I'm sick in bed with a sore throat and therefore catching up on a lot of things while Chris vacuums and cleans and I listen to Christmas tunes. Ah, December is turning out pretty good.

Musings on a Snowy morning

Hello Dear Readers,

Ahh, the 2nd of December and the snow is gently falling outside my window as I sip hot tea and wait for the oatmeal to finish on the stove.....This was the scene that greeted me as I put the trash on the back porch:
Which gave me the perfect opportunity to photograph my newest sweater for Odie in the early morning light and the glow of the snow:
Unfortunately it's still in the 70's in Cyprus right now but hey, it gets chilly sometimes......

Still all the snow is great ambiance and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. I have my penguin pajama's on, and have hung stockings by the chimney with care
and loaded up the presents delivered by Santa via my brother when he came back from visiting the States over Thanksgiving. Still haven't touched them yet, aren't I GOOD!

Yesterday was my first day at the new job at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. The old building is AMAZING as you would expect it to be. I'm in the "crypt" as it's called, short for the Cryptogamic Herbarium where the non flowering plants are kept. It's a really nice setup because the two other girls I work with have desks right next to mine (there are 4 in a square). So different from my isolation unit over at Kew where I could not see a soul for HOURS in between tea times...... One of the girls is from Cyprus, so I'm hoping I'll be able to practice my Greek a little bit more. Yesterday we started at the luxurious hour of 10 (as we do today which is why I'm getting in some early morning blogging and cooking/cleaning) and pretty much straight away went for tea and cake. I love working in England! Then we had tours around the buildings and met a ton of people. Everyone seems perfectly lovely but I couldn't help feeling pangs of homesickness for my friends at Kew, an Irish girl reminding me of my friend Emma, a fashionably dressed Londner reminding me of Nina. Sigh.

Today is more of the same I think, meeting people, learning about the collections, wandering like rats through the labyrinth of old and new and newer buildings. They keep telling me not to worry if I can't remember the way. I tell them I'm not worried, I KNOW I won't remember the way. But I'll figure it out soon, my army brat new places new faces instincts kicking in. Another year, another house, another job.

Time to eat some oatmeal and get dressed and get prepared to go out my front door into this:
Ahh, I love weather, and there is so much of it here! Hope the buses are running alright, I'll have my knitting (almost finished with a fantastic apple vest for my friend's son) so I'll have plenty to keep me occupied.

Row row row your boat

Hello Dear Readers,

Today was the 4's Head race where Patrick was rowing in a cox-less four (number 183). I invited some friends over from Kew to come watch the race then come to the house for brunch. Here are Jo and Saren

We got out to the river about 9:45 and saw the first boats coming down, finally came Pat's boat with us all yelling "GO THAMES!" and "GO PATRICK!". He said he actually heard us this time!

Here he is coming off the water, exhausted:

Pausing to survey the action on the water:

After the race and brunch, Seren and I went to the Ocktoberfest Party at the clubhouse, our housemate Sally did a fantastic job decorating and Patrick wore some fantastic leiderhosen as well, though I don't have that photo right now.

In addition, I finally finished a baby sweater I've been working on for a while (too long, I keep having to rip it out!)

Also finished off a cute matching Teddy which Jo is modeling handsomly.

All in all a good day, and best of all Chris is coming back from a week in Cyprus, woo hoo! Off to make dinner for him now, he just called from the airport that he's on his way home.

P.S. I am going to be changing jobs soon, I have just accepted a 6 month position at the Natural History Museum. While I'm very sad to leave my friends and work at Kew, I'm excited to start something new and work as part of a lager team again instead of by myself. Who knows, I may end up at Kew again in 6 months if something opens up.

They all laughed......

Hello Dear Readers,

Some of you laughed, some of you scoffed, some suggested combustion, but hey, I have always been on the cutting edge of fashion, a year or two ahead of the trend (jeans to skirts in high school, shawl/ponchos in college, knitting way before it was a fad, green before it was chic etc.....)

Now, vindicated once again, featured on project runway;

KNITTED UNDIES! (or PANTS for my Brit readers)
and the fancy cabled version from Urban Outfitters:

and of course, to refresh your memory on my fine contribution to the fashion world:
that is all.

New Couch

Hello Dear Readers,

Well, we didn't really get a new couch, but we have these two old plasticy faux leather couches in the living room. The stuffing and structure is good, but the cheap plastic cover has been steadliy eroding and peeling off.

I scored some black linen a few months ago and recovered two of the worst cushions, but the rest have been falling into decline. Not willing to sink money into this house (anything in public use gets trashed anyway) I covered a third cushion with some denim material from jeans I had worn out and other roomates/friends. I finally put out a call at knitting night for any old jeans people had and luckily there was a girl who said she had a bag full to give away! There were about 7 or 8 pairs which was just about enough to cover the last 3 cushions plus a pair that fit me to wear! How awesome! Vertical stripes are very on trend now, Paul Smith, eat your heart out!


Also here as promised (I'm sure you were waitin with baited breath) a photo of Chris's neck warmer (also on Ravelry)

South Hampton

Hello Dear Readers:

A few weeks ago Chris and I took a train trip for the day to see the city of South Hampton. We really had no idea what to expect, but we hear so much about different cities we jsut want to see what they are all about.The coolest thing about the city is that it used to be enclosed by a large stone wall, parts of which have been preserved and there is a walking trail around the remaining parts. You can climb up to some of the towers and look out over the city. There are interpretive signs all around and some parts of the city are so well preserved you can really imagine what it must have been like.South Hampton is also where you can catch a ferry to the Isle of Wight and France, and also where the Titanic sailed from. There is a Titanic museaum and a White Star Liner resturant, not sure if it's good mojo to eat there.

There is a bit of a marina area too, but for a port city I was dissapointed by their waterside offereings. It looks like it's trying to spruce up a bit but it still has a bit of an industrial feel.

There was quite a bit of new shopping though, and Chris and I poked around a few interesting stores including ASDA, which is a British store that was bought by Wal-Mart, so we were curious. It's kind of like and English sized Wal-Mart (that is to say, small). Chris also went to his very first Ikea store!

I also finished some more cowels on that trip, one for Chris, which can look like a scarf when worn long, or a cowl when doubled. I also made a cowl for Patrick to wear when he cycles to work. I'll try to take photos of them for the next post, it's dark when I leave work now so there isn't a lot of good light for taking pictures, and it's been pretty rainy all week.