Notes to self...

February 1st, 2016

Note to self: when cutting a thread off your nearly finished sock, do be careful where you put the scissors. So you won't end up with a hole in your clothes. Mind you, the socks were okay!

September 7th, 2015

Note to self: when working with glue: don't run your fingers through your hair! (It is actually the only place the glue will stick, all the other things I wanted to stick together, keep coming apart!!)

March 24th, 2014

Note to self: when there is a plank in the middle of mud, use it. Otherwise you might end up ankle deep in mud!

July 31st, 2014

Two notes to self: 1. when buying a clock, make sure it doesn't tick too loud! 2. When going for a walk and there has been rain all day, make sure you bring an umbrella.

*Sigh*

July 27th, 2014

Note to self: don't do cartwheels at age 43

November 12, 2008

Note to self: check under the bed before closing the bedroom door, just in case one of the monsters has decided to hide under it!

Photo on Sunday 2016-09

Out on an adventure.

Once upon a time...

 

Coocoo

Mara said I could write a fairy tail story even though we are not travelling and are at home. Isn't that fantastic?? So, here goes...

Once upon a time in a far away land beyond the hills of gold and the seas of silver, there lived a pussycat princess called Oswina. She was so beautiful that everybody had to stop and stare at her, whenever she was around (I had to say that, Miss Oswin said that otherwise she would never miaow to me ever again).

She loved playing outside in the gardens of the large castle she called home. There were trees to climb and sheep to watch and of course mice to chase. 

One day Oswina met three little bunny rabbits: Tippy, Pippy and Foon. Even though they looked cute, they were really very naughty little bunnies. 

They had thought up something really bad this time. They were going to put wine in all the water bowls. Oswina didn't like the smell of wine and didn't drink it, but Big Mick was so thirsty, he drank it all! 

Oswina did like to chase mice, but this was no fun! So, she called the police and very soon they came to investigate. The policeman was very strict with the bunnies and they promised never to do it again. 

And they all lived happily ever after!

Oma's Mickey Mouse

My maternal grandparents

My grandmother was of a generation where empty hands meant idle hands. I never saw her without a needle or two in her hand. She was always doing embroidery, crocheting doilies and bed spreads and knitting mice. And most of what she created ended up in local bazaars making money for charities, especially the Red Cross. 

My sister's mouse

She would always boast about how many mice she had knitted. I think by the time she died, it was over 1000. Big and small and all of them made with leftover wool. Yarn she got from everywhere. Which meant that no two mice were ever the same. She gave them away as well. I got a small and a big one, as did my siblings and even friends got one. But, I grew up and thought it was a bit daft and old-fashioned so mine ended up in the bin most likely. 

After she had gone however I was sorry I had gotten rid of them and wanted to make my own. After all, I could knit! But, I needed a pattern and my grandmother made them from memory, having made so many of them. Her pattern had long since been lost. 

My version

Help was at hand though: my sister still had a small one. And a big one she claimed was mine, which is now sitting in my bedroom. The only thing to do was count. But that was virtually impossible. The mouse was old, it was quite deteriorated and even after 'fixing' it, it still was no good. Back to square one it was. 

But then there was my old school friend. She had at one point owned a Mickey as well and sort of knew what I was looking for. And where I had never succeeded, she did! I got the link, I printed it out and off I went. And it started looking more and more like the one my grandmother had made. 

The two of them together, mine is on the left

The end result is good. There are still some adjustments to be made (shorter arms, longer and thinner legs, slightly different feet, stumpier head), others have already been implemented. I am definitely pleased with the result!

A mouse on the box. Was it fate?

I am most pleased with the tail though. My grandmother used a French Knitting bobbin for all of her tails and I was allowed to borrow it from my uncle after she had passed away. I have just never given it back (could you please not tell my parents?).

Cats vs Humans 03

Linette

Me

Pea-gate

Remember that lovely pea soup I made a few weeks ago? The one that ended up in the bin (well, compost heap really)? Well, my friend Pepperfly said she could help me out and send me some dried split peas. With which I could then make proper pea soup. 

On February 1st, she went to the post office with a package containing said peas. That very night, the package was sorted into the Norway pile and then went on its way. The next day, before 11am, the package was sent to Norway. A week later (!), the package was received in Norway and customs checked it out. Six hours after that, they cleared it and sent it on its way. The next day, February 10th, the package was in a depot. And then.... nothing!

I didn't know until last Monday when she had sent the package, but when I got to see all the movements, I realised it took a long time to get from the depot to me! Had it been lost in transit? Had it been stolen and the peas been used in Norwegian pea soup? Had it decided to wander off on its own and hitchhike across the country? Or, which was a bit more likely, did the notice that the package had arrived blow away in the wind? After all, it is quite windy here at times and the mailbox does clang a bit. One little gust and woosh.... gone with the wind so to say.

In the end I decided to pay my local post office thingy a little visit. I explained, they looked and ten seconds later I held a heavy box! After three weeks my peas had finally arrived. On arriving home however, I realised it didn't just contain peas. Oh no, it held speculaas mixture as well (yum) and it held more sock wool! Because (according to Pepperfly) you can NEVER have too much wool! And there was a darling little key chain as well. 

Anyway, this weekend will be pea soup. Come rain or high water, come fever or cough, I will have me some pea soup!!! Thank you Pepperfly!

Miss Oswin goes knitting?

Miaow

Ever since November Mara has been knitting. Every. Single. Night. First it was the purple cardigan for her sister. Then it was the poncho for her sister. Then it was a heart for her sister. Then it was socks for her dad. Another pair of socks for her dad. A pair of socks for a colleague. Another pair of socks and another and another...

You would think that it would be enough by now, but no, she just keeps on knitting! The thing is though, I don't want to be too far away from that knitting. You never know when there is a thread hanging loose that I need to point out, or a needle that needs adjusting. For some reason though she doesn't want me pointing out the loose threads or adjusting the needles. 

But I do like it when she is knitting. Because she will sit still. Which she normally doesn't. She is always moving about and that is very difficult for the mbc in the wwu. You can't get a proper zzz in or she is shifting position again. When she is knitting however, she sits still. And when she is knitting socks or some other small thing, there is enough room for me on her lap. 

Although first I have to show I am there of course. Mara has warned me that one day she will knit my tail into a sock, but I am too clever, I just turn around at the last moment. But I will lie down eventually and keep an eye on the threads that way. Because I am not only the mbc in the wwu, but the most clever one at that... 

February

It wasn't all bad. Last week a friend gave me this woolly reflecting hat

Isn't it amazing how some months are easy to fill with nonsense of all shapes and sizes, while other months you just can't be bothered to even turn on the computer? Where January saw a total of 24 posts, February has been decidedly... ehm... bad. Eight posts so far and yesterday's post was a trawl through photos of yesteryear instead of a great new one!

It must be the February Blues. After all, February is a month that is neither here nor there. The excitement of December is long gone. January's memories of December are fading fast. March and April and the beginning of spring are still in the distant future and let's not even talk holiday plans (September in my case).

Only 6 more days until March. No, wait, 7 more days! Oh well, that's just life isn't it?

Photo on Sunday 2016-08

Not much inspiration today, so you here's a photo from a while ago. Twenty-five years in fact, when I worked for Club Med. We were in flower-theme mode when this photo was taken.

*Sigh*

I don't know whether I ever mentioned it, but I make our company photo book with photos of most of my colleagues. However, the last time it was updated, was more than a year ago! And since then a lot of new people started and a fair few people left. Meaning I had to update it.

I started on the weekend and got to the letter L (I am doing it alphabetically now), before being thoroughly fed up with it. I continued yesterday. But I needed to print the lot as well, so I found the wires to connect to the computer and hey presto: pages came out! Brilliant.

I then wanted to play a game online and then perhaps even write a post. Ehm, no. Nothing. I was not connected to the internet. I checked the modem, which was fine. At which point I was at a loss, since I am quite dig-illiterate and haven't got a clue about most things to do with my computer. So, I turned the whole thing off.

Today I decided that come what may, I was going to fix it! I turned off the modem and turned it back on again. No connection. I got into the connection part of the computer and was about to make a new connection when I read something about cable....

While connecting the printer yesterday, the cable to the modem came out just a millimeter or so. Enough though to cut the connection. I pushed it back in and... Here I am again!

*Sigh*