The waiting for the computer sock

That little egg timer on my computer drives me bonkers-it seems to take for ever. I have found a solution and am now calm and zen like whilst waiting for my computer to do connect to what ever it is I am waiting for. People I knit-I put a sock on my desk and with the greatest of ease I got a sock knitted in what used to be frustrating down time. I am not a naturally enthusiastic sock knitter but I love hand made socks-this seems a wonderful solution.

What did we do Saturday night?

After Shabbat went out did we:
1. Go out for dinner
2. Go to the theatre-something new and interesting.
3. Go rent a DVD, buy some lovely cheese and nice salads and settle down on the couch.
4. Or did the husband whilst muttering to himself about 'assignment', 'exam' and 'finances' practically dive into his office.In the meantime did I face the fact that it was very nice of me to offer to cook for friends for Yom Tov on Tuesday night, but that the reality is that Motzei Shabbat was the only conceivable time I could actually find time to once again chop onions and crush garlic.
Why did God in his wisdom squash all these Jewish holidays into such a short space of time?
When will the husband give up his non meat eating? If he can eat a fish I really don't see why we can't bung a chicken in the oven occaionally.
Next life I shall be a lesbian Buddist nun with an especially nice begging bowl.

The stash for sale

My local Help the Aged charity shop had some interesting looking yarn in the window. Inside the shop was even more yarn;half knitted projects even some still on needles, faded yarn, an old pattern and loads of odd balls. Yep someone had died/gone into a home and this was the stash being sold off. It was incredibly sad SABLE (stash accumulation beyond life expectancy) suddenly did not seem such a good idea.
All of this and Rosh Hashannah/Yom Kippur got me thinking. What do I value in the long run.
Knitting especially for my daughter and husband (my son is not all that keen on my efforts).
Friends Although I loved my mega watch of The West Wing-now all watched it was the the meals we shared over Yom Tov I really enjoyed. Especially cool was the meal with me Clive and a table of women. Clive coped but seems to now view the life of Utah polygamists with sympathy rather than envy.
Cultural stuff I am a lazy arse but when I get to Art galleries, BBC audience events etc I really really enjoy it.
So for the new year-knit, socialise and get out more often.
The thing is all of this can be so cheap-I have a range of super cheap recipies, lots of events are free and I do have a stash to use prior to my death.

Non verbal communication at Cold Spring Mill

We have just got back from 10 days holiday in Scotland. We went via Yorkshire and by a stroke of luck managed to stay close to Cold Spring Mill. What makes it all the more amazing is that last time we went to Scotland we managed to stay in Stoke on Trent which means we were able to easily visit the Portmerion seconds shop.
We did get to Cold Spring Mill-twice and New Larnark once.
The first visit to Cold Spring Mill was a wonderful example of the way we of almost 20 years of marriage really don't bother talking all that much-we have looks instead.
i.e
Clive said "Am I paying for this"
I said "Yes"
The looks went like this
Me: Look I know this is a huge pile of wool but it makes me so happy and it is really really cheap.
Him: You have got to be joking. Do you think I am made of money? Remember we have just redone the bathroom.
Me: I am an incredibly inexpensive wife-how much do I ask you for-ah go on. Please.
Him: All right but I am going to refer to this for months.

Finally thank you to everyone who contacted me about Max it really helped

Good bye Max

We found our beloved cat Max dead in the garden this morning. He was 15-16 years old and had kidney disease, arthritis, cataracts and had been losing weight. Yesterday he looked extremely weak and could barely drink.
Even so his death is an utter shock and I feel completely bereft.
When we came to England in 1998 with our then 7 and 8 years olds we decided to adopt cats within 2 weeks of arriving to ease the transition to a new place and unexpectedly strangely different culture. Max and Izzy came from a elderly woman who had to move into sheltered accomodation and could not take her cats with her. We got them the day before the were to be put down.
Izzy (still healthy) is completely neurotic-she moved into Aaron's room when we had a dog and till this day she barely leaves.
Max, massive big ginger Max on the other hand has always been remarkaby friendly. No matter the teenage dramas, conflicts going on in the house he has always loved us all.
He seemed to love people who found him frightening (he was big) and took great pains to stay close to them to be a comfort. He was remarkably gentle and would gently tap out shoulder with his paw when he wanted to be stroked. He spent hours with both children cuddled up on couches and on the ends of beds. I am sure he did more to get both of them through adolescence than any of the therapists/counsellors etc we tried.
Max learnt to sit next to me with his head on my lap when I was knitting to not get in the way when I put the needles down he would come into my lap.
Thank you Max thank you for everything you gave to us.
Thank you

E Bay Joy

I decided to buy an armless chair for knitting and found the above on E-Bay for a fiver. The seller was also advertising a singer sewing machine in a cabinet. I told him I would offer him £10 pounds for it if he couldn't sell it for more.

He didn't sell it and Julian kindly took me to pick it up in Edgware on Thursday (his car is significantly bigger than Clive's) When we got there we met the sellers wife. It turned out that they were selling up his mother's home and contents as she is now in a nursing home. When we were there I also noticed the sewing box above that they did not know what to do with and the wife offered it to me for another fiver.

It was full of absolute treasures-the 1956 Women's Weekly pages on cleaning hints, the wonderful biscuit box and all sorts of odd things like the leather repair kit and tin full of stocking mending thread above.

The sewing machine also had old Simplicity Sewing books-I really love finding such things-I do not think they have any real value but I love them.

The joy of these finds helped me cope with dinner that night-Julian kindly took Clive and me to dinner to say thank you for staying. On the way there Clive had 'one question' to do with his econometrics assignment. This one question lasted all through dinner and all the way home. Is it socially acceptable to knit when dining in a resturant.

I love American politics

Imagine Aaron Sorkin (the wonderful writer of The West Wing-up to series 3 on my watch them all binge). pitching the following idea to his producers.
The aging Republican candidate decides to make his ticket more hip by choosing a woman as his running mate.
He rushes approval through so checks are not done properly and it soon comes to light that:
She supported Alaskan Independence
She believes in creationism
She does not believe that humanity is responsible for global warming
She is the subject of an ethics investigation for trying to get her brother in law fired from his job as a state trooper for divorcing her sister.
Her 17 year old is pregnant to a bloke who described himself as 'a f**king red neck on Facebook.

The producers would say 'aw no way mate who'd believe that' -or however you say that in American. But it has happened-simply incredible.
I went and bought shoes today and changed into a woolen top. Yep Autumn is with us and knitting season is here once more. I am doing a big mohair blanket-big stitches no pattern-lovely-goes well with The West Wing