Knowing me, knowing you

There you go - a fact about me that's not in this tag: I love Abba songs, although they remind me of my parents' divorce, as that's when I heard them most!

Anyway, CraftyPeach has tagged me, so here we go:

1. What was I doing ten years ago?
Let me see, May/June 1998 - I was 2 months pregnant with my first daughter, working at the University of Wolverhampton, and also finishing off my Masters degree in Advanced Software Technology there. Wow, how life has changed!

2. What are 5 things on your to-do list today?
- Find the paper copy of my driving license - not done yet. Why do organisations keep requesting to see the part which doesn't have your photo on as proof of ID? I just don't get it!
- Have a picnic lunch at the beach - done! A distinct lack of sun, although it was mild enough.
- Take youngest DD to a friend's fancy dress party - done (DD went as a red indian squaw, complete with fringed dress, face paints, and feather in her headband) and thoroughly enjoyed by all. :-)
- Get more laundry done after our visit up-country earlier in the week - done. How does laundry multiply so much when you go away for just a few days?
- Get an early night. Hmm, that one's debatable!

3. What are your favorite things to snack on?
Definitely oatcakes, then nuts (brazils and almonds), olives, cheese, raw carrot sticks, celery, the new Walkers crisps called SunBites - delish!

4. Where are some places you've lived?
Various places in the West Midlands of England, and now Cornwall. I guess I'm a home bird!

5. What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Do charity work during school hours, and spend the rest of the time with my daughters. Make regular donations to worthy causes. Buy DH the car of his dreams. Pay to have all our extension done right now. Always stay in the best hotels when visiting family and friends - our recent trip and hotel-stay was SOOOO lovely and relaxing.

6. What jobs have you done?
Saturday shop assistant, computer games programmer, software developer, systems analyst, business analyst - can you see a theme?!

7. Which other people would you like to know more about?
Your turn - Alison, PurlPower, ScarletPrincess, and Iris. :-)

Photo frenzy

Well we're heading back to full health just as DH gets the sickness bug. He doesn't seem too bad though - luckily he doesn't suffer from man-flu. ;-) Hopefully he'll be over it before we head up-country to visit my relatives for a few days from this Friday.

Anyway, as promised, a photo frenzy follows. There - you have been warned!

Firstly the beaded jewellery:






Then the crochet hairbands:






And finally the beautiful calla lilies in our front garden right now.

That's the lot for now. More when we get back next week!

Cornish bugs

Youngest DD and me have been poorly girls this week. Not the greatest way I can think of for me to lose weight, but effective enough.

We're over the main effects now, but we can't find things that we're enjoying to eat. Weird. Chocolate? Nope. Fruit? No way. Plain biscuits? Still too sweet.

It seems that our bodies are crying out for plain carbohydrates; bread, toast, potatoes (in any form) are all going down fine - as long as there are no sweet flavours with them.

As for drinks, well it seems to be water, water, or more water. I've tried a decaff now and again but it just doesn't feel right. Fennel or mint tea to soothe the digestion are fine until the stomach acid hits afterwards. Very strange. Still, at least we've not had it as bad as blueadt - I guess this bug is hitting nationwide.

Watch for some crochet FOs as soon as I get the energy to get the camera out...

What to do?

Don't you just loathe those days at work when there's little to do?

You've recovered from the last manic phase and now you're waiting for other people to do their bit before the next wave of hysterical deadlines hits. Yet you still have to sit there, unable to find anything to make the day pass at more than a snail's pace.

You've tidied up all your email folders in Outlook and deleted all the temporary folders and files in "My Documents". You've got rid of the icons you don't use from your computer's desktop. Your desk is amazingly clear as you've sorted through and filed away all those piles of papers from a couple of months back. You've even blown the bits out of your keyboard. Eugh - how disgusting was that?!

You started eating your packed lunch at 9:15am and by 10:45am it's all gone. No matter how often you open that allocated food drawer for the rest of today nothing else magically appears inside. Unless you go shopping at lunchtime and buy another lunch and a mountain of goodies to last the afternoon.

If you drink any more tea/coffee/water you'll burst. You've filled up the office kettle and cleaned up the spilled sugar, dissolved coffee granules, and used tea bags around it. You've washed up the mugs and spoons left in the sink, and taken out the empty milk bottles.

Knitting or crochet is obviously out of the question, as you're blatantly not working. Web surfing is forbidden unless you want to spend all day reading about other people's work on the intranet. Crafty sites are a no-no thanks to the core-hours web monitoring and subsequent
wrist-slapping for spending too much network resource accessing non-work-related materials.

You've discussed last weekend's activities and next weekend's plans with your colleagues. You've printed out a world map and passed it around the office marking off where everyone's visited. You've stared out of the window lamenting how glorious it looks out there whilst you're stuck in here. And it's still only 10 minutes later. Has your watch gone backwards since you last checked it?

You've tidied out your handbag, so at least the cleaner's got a bin to empty now. You've synchronised all the important (birthday/anniversary/holiday) dates between your Outlook calendar and paper diary, and worked out how long it's been since your last haircut. You've made a list of all the cards and presents you need to buy in the next 3 months. You've started a Christmas spreadsheet with gift ideas for all your cousins and their families, but now you need to do some web-window-shopping to get more inspiration - but it's not lunchtime
yet.

Reading anything interesting is almost impossible if your boss shares or visits your office. You can guarantee that they'll need to speak to you the moment you open the latest issue of Interweave Knits, and it's just too big to fit inside the covers of "Computer Weekly" now that the compact version is out. Or you'll get so engrossed in the latest Harmony stitch guide from Erika Knight that you won't notice them lurking by your side until they clear their throat, then you'll slam your fingers in the book and go red with embarrassment and pain.

So all that's left is to dream of the week's worth of knitting you want to get done that evening and compile a blog entry to email to yourself during that long-awaited lunch break. Now for the afternoon.

Busy beading

I got the beading bug this evening.

This is the "Fresh" necklace; a double strand of lime green wire with glass beads in zingy spring fresh shades of turquoise, lime, and very pale lilac, with a lobster clasp fastening.

This one is the "Blue Lagoon" necklace: 2 strands of turqoise and lime beading cord with glass beads and a shell disc in similar colours knotted along it, with a lobster clasp fastening.

Look out for them on sale in my Etsy shop soon!

The garden has been busy too.

This miniature azalea in a pot by our front door has never bloomed this well before. I guess it likes living further south. :-)

This lilac is doomed to go when we have our extension built. It's a beautiful colour but very old and woody, so we're enjoying it at it's best. Along with that fantastic blue sky. :-)

Just about 2 miles in that direction is Perranporth beach, where we spent a good deal of the weekend once the sea mist had cleared. The tans have commenced!

Playing around

This week has flown past, mainly due to a poorly DD (better now thankfully). Lack of sleep really saps the days.

Last night I dabbled with some crochet necklaces.
First this one from a free pattern at Berroco. Hmm, not bad, but I don't think it would be really wearable in that yarn.

Next I had a go at a pendant necklace using a dichroic glass pendant purchased from ebay.

I crocheted the strap using some weird metallic bound wire-like cord stuff that I bought from the Knitting Show at the NEC a few years back. Why I didn't ask what it was I'll never know!

If you recognise it please tell me what it is called.

Still playing around with different designs and materials. More to show soon!