Madness

I've just crawled out of the understairs cupboard (which is, incidentally, the warmest place in the house) after rummaging through to see just what exactly is in there. Guess what I found? Yarn! Wool, cotton, silk, cashmere, you name it, it's in there. Also a coffee table and two end tables, several hundred books, about 20 carry-alls, a lot of coat hangers - you get the picture. Aside from the fact that I now feel like a roast suckling pig (except that there's no apple in my mouth), I'd have to call the half hour I spent in there a success, as I've organised it into much better shape. Almost all of the yarn is going on eBay, so knitters ahoy!

I've been knitting quite a lot. I went to a WI sewing bee yesterday afternoon - it took me three tries to find the right house, so you can tell I don't bleach my hair this colour for nothing - and knitted for two straight hours on the DB Alpaca Silk wrist-to-wrist jacket in that delicious indigo blue, and I have two other things that I'm working on on a rotational basis, one day apiece in sequence. So today it's meant to be the alarmingly red DB Astrakhan cardigan with the shawl collar, but it will be at least 10 tonight before I get any knitting in, as I have two meetings this evening. I hate double bookings, especially since I have to go to both of them, as I'm chairing the first and acting in the second which is a rehearsal for a murder mystery dinner that we're putting on in a month and a half. Anyway, the sewing bee was great fun. All but two of the 12 of us knitted - some of these gals have been knitting for 70 or 80 years, so my 40-odd make me a rank beginner by comparison.

Other than that, I've been spending these endless January days working on eBaying, and it's been great. There's a lot of work involved, but it's kept me from having to go out and get a job so I'm not complaining at all.

No men in sight at the moment, but there's always Mr Drubie waiting for me when I go to bed. He may only be a stuffed dog, but he's very intelligent and loves a cuddle.

Well, I guess I'd better spend an hour looking for my script for the rehearsal. I do wish that people wouldn't give me these pieces of paper months in advance and then expect me to come up with them at the drop of a hat.

Chins up, folks, the days are getting longer, the daffodils are coming up, the birdies are singing their feathery little heads off and spring is on its way. Not immediately mind you, but it'll get here.

Love,
Nance

Christmas Revisited!

It's just like Christmas morning all over again! The postman just knocked at my door. He wasn't my usual postman, who, I think, would find it surprising if he ever saw me wearing anything other than a handknit cardigan over flannelette pyjamas, so this one seemed a bit surprised at my outfit. Anyway, he brought the main part of my Christmas present from my sister - my ebony circular needles from Scottish Fibres! They are so beautiful! I got ALL the sizes: 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 7 and 8 mm and I absolutely love them! I love ebony, the way it seems to soften and glow the more you touch it - think of the black keys on a piano, how they adopt a buttery sort of sheen. And I love the brass joins on the circulars. And, they came in a free wooden box, made of bird's eye maple. I'm so, so happy. I just want to sit down and knit for the rest of my natural life. But I need to parcel up another half dozen things I've sold on eBay and get them to the post office, get some more stuff onto eBay, and then do some housework, as I've discovered that the area between my PC desk and the wall has become something of a sanctuary for unwed spiders. Well, maybe they're married, but I couldn't see that any of them are wearing wedding rings. Good thing that I don't mind spiders.

But before I spring into action, I have a bit more burbling to do.

I went to the ballet in London on Monday night. It was a WI excursion, and I didn't realise until we were halfway there that it was the Royal Ballet, performing in the Royal Opera house. What a gorgeous building! I'd never been there before, but it was all quite magical. It was the Nutcracker, and was very good, although I think I would have preferred something a bit more serious, but so much of the music was familiar and a lot of the dancing was absolutely brilliant.

Then Tuesday afternoon was my first official WI Committee meeting as the new secretary. Unfortunately, when I hopped in my car to drive to the meeting, it wouldn't start. It just went click, click, click. Dead battery, I thought, hoped, prayed, and nothing more serious. So I rang the hostess of the meeting and she came and picked me up, and the President drove me home. How funny and sweet and lovely it seems to me to have an 85 year old woman do me a favour by giving me a lift home.

The man from the AA (Automobile Association, not the other AA) arrived in good time, and sure enough, it was the battery. He asked how old the battery was, and I told him I'd had the car for over 3 years and hadn't changed it, so we agreed it was time for a new one. He had one with him, and because the labour was free under my AA plan, it turned out to be quite a bargain, and 20 minutes later, he was gone and my car was tickety-boo again - Phew!

Now I've got something the matter with my PC. I can receive e-mails, but I can't reply to them - the messages just sit there in my outbox. So if any of you are wondering if I'm ignoring you, I'm not at all, it's my PC. I guess I'm going to have to get a little man from the village in to sort that out, as I've tried everything I can think of, other than applying a sledgehammer to it. Sigh. I guess that 2006 is going to be the year of the faulty machinery. Until I do get it fixed, if anyone needs to write to me, you can use my old address - nance@hampton2209.freeserve.co.uk, and hopefully I'll be able to reply from there.

Love to all,
Nance

Happy New Year!

Love and happiness, peace, calm and joy - I hope we all have loads of those things in 2006.

I've had a really good week. Matthew left for Wales on Tuesday morning, and since then the only real activity I've engaged in has been listing stuff on eBay, parcelling up sold items and going to the post office. I've developed a great rapport with the local postmistress!

Other than eBay activities, I've spent a lot of time by the fire, watching Miss Marple reruns and knitting - heavenly, heavenly days!

Oh yes, on Wednesday morning I had a call from my friend Irena, inviting me over for lunch with her. We had a lovely couple of hours at her big pine kitchen table, eating homemade tomato and bacon soup, and chunks of bread with lashings of butter, and of course, gallons of coffee. I'd taken her a very loose floppy curly wurly scarf I'd knitted with several strands of Kidsilk Haze, a mixture of blue and green, with gorgeous soft pompoms on the ends - she absolutely loved it, and it's just the right colours for her.

Other than that, my big day out was yesterday, when I went to Cambridge to have lunch with a chap I met on the internet. He's a very nice guy, and we had a good lunch in an old cinema building which has been converted into a very nice huge pub/restaurant, and a very philosophical conversation for three hours. I think he and I will probably be buddies and meet up from time to time, but there were no sparks, from my side of the table, at least.

Then I did some errands and ended up the afternoon by buying some of the loveliest yarn I've ever seen. It's Debbie Bliss's alpaca silk dk in a gorgeous shade called indigo. The silk keeps the alpaca from having that slightly too sticky quality. I can't keep my hands off it. I guess the poor man I had lunch with might be a bit hurt that it's the yarn I can't keep my hands off!

Gosh, I actually feel like doing some housework today - most unlike me. But I've always liked the calendar markers which signal new beginnings - the first day of school, New Year's Day - so I'd better let myself get on with this burst of domestic energy, seeing as I know it won't last long.

Once again, I wish you all every good thing in 2006.

Love,
Nance