Knitting

I do love knitting (preferably for me). I just finished a hat in untreated sheep wool, dark brown, it smells of lanolin, it's fabulous. Probably will make a pair of matching mittens. That should encourage me to go out and WALK even in winter; trouble is, I'd rather stay in and knit :o)

Right now I have a fat blob in front of me, it's the torso of an Itty Bitty Baby Doll for someone's baby girl (we only have baby boys in our family). I shall begin the head soon but as it is just about a repeat of the body I need to take a breather.

I wonder how Daphne's getting on in China - is she wearing the socks I made for her?

Resolution: will try to update this blog every few days. Honest.

a random thought or two ...

Why is the person at the front of the queue never prepared for the lights to go green?

Should people with the job of accosting strangers in shops to sell services be advised to use a mouthwash hourly? (honestly, I was approached today and almost gagged!)

Where is the sun? I shall have to start using my SAD lamp soon, at the moment I'm using Rescue Remedy as if it's going out of fashion.

How can something as divine as a big bag of chilli peanuts make me fat?

ooooh I'm back in!

here I am, I just found this on the Ravelry website, how did they know it was my old bog I wonder. Blog, I mean. Speaking of bogs though, NO MORE RATS IN THE TOILET! I've had the whole bathroom remodelled and it is now a shower room. Gosh, two years since I wrote to my imaginary friends, so much (and yet so little) has happened.

There've been births (Theo, Owen (aka Fraggle) ), deaths (Neville, Daphne's mum), weddings (Nick and Pip, Hurpreet and Gurpreet) and parties (Penny's 40th birthday, Penny's housewarming that was almost a houseburningdown, Dot's 80th and manymany more).

My broken ankle (right) is now fine for walking but still a very odd shape, so odd that it makes the left ankle (broken in 1976) look quite shapely by comparison. And from nowhere has come WEIGHT. I am now gigantic, weighing over 12 st. I'm not saying how much over, but over. Under 13 though. I have rejoined Slimming World and paid up front (front! don't talk to me about fronts, I can no longer sleep comfortably face down because two giant turnips get in the way) to encourage me to take it seriously. I will confess, as no-one but me will ever see this, that each thigh now measures more than my waist used to measure!

I'll see if I can remember how to add a picture, it will be one from Dot's 80th in Coventry the other week, where I appear to be being held down by Dot and her cousin. I'm the scary one in the middle with the turnips hanging out. Deary me.

Just so you don't think life's going swimmingly now..

A quick update.

Have I mentioned the new bathroom? That went quite well except for taking about three weeks longer than expected (one week) but as I had grown accustomed to being showerless during the summer I didn't fret too much. Even when it was "finished" there were odd traumas like thinking the cat had weed in there then realising there was a drip from up near the ceiling. I called the plumber and he came right back. We asked the neighbours if they had been doing something in their bathroom upstairs and they said no, but who knocked the hole into their staircase wall. Ooops, my electrician apparently. I'd seen a strange hole on my side (say nothing) but never imagined it went right through. Anyway, the leak was due to the old piping being put under strain - so the plumber fixed that temporarily and went home. An hour later that bloody cat had weed again at the other side of the bathroom. But no, it was a pipe near the sink leaking this time, and quite fast too. Back came the plumber. I was in my nightwear by this time but he wasn't as afraid as I had expected people would be at seeing me in my nightwear (the ultimate burglar deterrent, I'd always imagined). Fixed that.

More recently the car battery, new last winter, died again.

The temporary rail on which I hang my non-scary underwear in the bathroom fell on my head and hurt a lot.

I'm sure there's more bad luck, I just can't think of it.

I've joined a knitting group, they meet weekly and I go occasionally because it's at a funny time, 5.30, when most people including me are finishing work and heading home. It's kind of sleazy, in the back room of the pub - as if we are doing something dodgy like in the Victorian opium dens. The cats enjoy their free Wednesday evenings: last week they tried to get everything ready in advance for me, see the photo. A friend has commented that my frayed curtain gives away the fact that cats live here. I confess to the world, I never hemmed it. Whoever looks at the bottom of a curtain?

More of my exciting life soon .... ooooh the Christmas Message cometh!

I know what it was ....

... the next thing to happen. The washing machine stopped spinning. Or at least it never started. That's on the "quick wash" which is what I usually use. It's not quick when you need five attempts at spinning and it still doesn't work, dammit. So I've cut my losses and bought a new washer/drier, which I should have done last Christmas instead of buying this second hand washer from a friend, because a washer without a drier is no use to me in the winter in this tiny flat, it's damp enough without washing hanging around for days.

Moan over! And hopefully too the run of bad luck!

Had my hair cut in a different style yesterday. If I can galvanise myself I'll take a self-photo and show it. Sometime.

Car battery flat, toilet seat broken, sink leaking - what next?

OK, I managed to keep smiling through vandalism, arson and a broken ankle but today I am SERIOUSLY FED UP.

The bathroom rug was wet yesterday. I blamed the cats and washed it, but when I returned home there was a puddle where the rug had been and I see one of the water pipes has a slow but steady drip.

Yesterday the physio told me my ankle is far too swollen and I must keep it elevated and walk more. I'm not sure how that works. However, the good news is that the movement was good and she gave me no exercises to do.

Last night I got out of bed for a bathroom visit and the whole seat skidded off the toilet. Further investigation this morning has entailed much swearing at whichever bloke invented the damn things, surely they could have one without screws and nuts and sticky bits by now??????????

This morning I decided I would try a short drive to the shops as the only edibles in the place are catfood and ginger biscuits. Car battery is completely flat, it doesn't even attempt to turn over.

I hate to ask "What next?" because I am afraid of the answer.

Freedom!

At last, after 7 weeks of dependancy, frustration and one-legged sitting, the cast is off. Okay there were plusses - no petrol costs, lost weight as I was too proud/sneaky to add chocolate, wine and pork scratchings to my shopping lists.

According to the surgeon my wounds look great - I think the whole leg from knee down looks awful, but then, it never looked great. Big, I mean BIG, flakes of skin keep falling off, leaving a trail behind me. I shook a sock out of the window (disgusting I know) and it looked as if it was snowing.

Anyway, I am now shuffling along like a one year old (or a hundred and one year old - either way, I'm not wearing a nappy) and can finally carry liquids from one room to another without them being in a flask or bottle.

Things you need if you break your ankle - work out for yourselves what use they might be:
good friends and neighbours
a wheelchair (look for Wheelfreedom online and rent one)
a small backpack containing your mobile phone JUST IN CASE keep it with you always
a thermos flask
a large and a small empty lidded jar (ok I'll tell you why, for soups or casseroles, too much sticks in the flask)
a children's cereal container from Lakeland
a big book of sudoko puzzles
lots and lots and lots of whatever type of book you enjoy
small towels and teatowels to hand for mopping up
baby wipes (remember, you can't easily get into the shower)

if you are a woman you will also need to keep handy:
perfume
makeup
tweezers (those pesky hairs begin to be visible beneath the cast)
moisturiser as your toes will dry out

That's it, there's probably more but already I've forgotten. By the way, I haven't washed my hair since I broke my ankle, and I have no intention of washing it until I next go to the hairdresser as it looks absolutely fine, doesn't smell, and I'm treating it as an experiment

I've already forgotten all my hospital experiences, except the wind I had been conscientiously holding in for three hours and which came out like an uncontrolled explosion when I was finally wheeled to the toilet. When I came out I said to the ward staff at the nearby nurses station "Sorry about the noise", as I could see they were shaken. Or shaking.