and now its the 28th

I really must get back on track with this blogging lark...........

This past week has been a blur of tissues, drugs, blocked noses, headaches and generally feeling rubbish.  Time off work did have the added bonus of more knitting time when I felt up to it.  We both felt so washed out we even cancelled having the boys, now you know how ill we felt!!  They will be with us this weekend so its not so bad. At the end of the day its just a cold and I know there are people suffering far worse.

The garden is sprnging back into life, daffodils, hellebores, snowdrops, primoses, pockets of colour everywhere.  Even some of the fish are at the top of their tank

I've been knitting up a storm this month, all for my bazaar stall, some of which I shared here

Its Pancake day here in the UK today, what do you plan to have on yours?  We will have chicken and sweetcorn for the main, followed by lemon and sugar for me and for Peter could be Nutella or Maple syrup.  Enjoy.........

Oh joy another cold

Sorry to report that I have been under the weather this past week.  After posting last week, my sore, dry throat took a turn to a full blown head cold.

We went to the Winter Fair, it was a beautiful day, freezing cold, but I felt miserable, cold and shivery. I did take a few photos, but nothing special as just didn't feel like it.  Jess enjoyed herself though and got lots of comments on her hat.

All tucked up warm and cosy

Sunday sniffled my way through the day. Went into work Monday full of cold.  Tuesday's sale, which went well. I made a few sales and took orders for 2 cardigans, a jumper, head band and mittens.

After everyone had left and I had cleared up, I was due to go to Dolphin knitters but was feeling decidedly odd - headache, dizzy, ringing ears.  I tucked myself up in front of the fire with a cuppa and a couple of paracetamol, hoping that I would feel better as I was due to go out for dinner with the Crafty Ladies Group. By 6pm I was in bed, I felt so awful dizzy and sick and disappointed to miss two events in one day.  

I have been off work this last 2 days feeling rubbish for want of a better word. The dizziness has finally passed but I still have blocked/ringing ears and a headache.  The only plus point is I did get my cards written!!

Hope everyone else is feeling well and fit and have their Christmas shopping under control.  I still have a fair bit to do, so I need to get myself well.  Time for tea and tablets me thinks

Weekend Round Up

The 'boys' play Duplo on Friday - spot the potty, training in progress

Story time

Not sure what he was finding so funny, but the boy loves a pie!

Can I wear it here?

It all went down hill from this point

The boys were poorly, Rufus started off the day with a lay-in, unusual.  By mid morning he had come in from bonfire building asking to lay down or snug-up as he calls it.  Beck, Tim and Laurie arrived just before lunch, Laurie and Beck with colds too.  Rufus has only just got over chicken pox so I guess his system is below par. Peter also had a stuffy head and blocked nose, hoping his is just allergy

Granny I have a cold

Dosed up, we head out as soon as it was dark.  Rufus didn't stay out long.  He didn't like the fireworks so I took him into the barn to watch but he just hung on like a limpet and refused to look.  I think the fireworks were nice.  All the adults seemed to enjoy them.  We spent a pleasant evening with Stu's parents Jan & John and in laws Anne & Pat.  Thanks everyone for the contribution of food/wine and fireworks

Beck was up for about 1.5 hours during Sat/Sun night with Rufus, (I was awake too - Beck has a very annoying cough!), Peter it turns out was wearing earplugs and slept through it all!! Rufus woke late with a raging temperature which we managed to get down with some Calpol and plenty of drinks.  Its amazing how they bounce back, but it scary seeing the thermometer flashing red.  Laurie was just very snotty - bless him, he tried so hard to be smiley

Beck ventured home in 'monsoon like' conditions once the boys were a bit happier and we spent the rest of the day 'holed up' in the barn reading and knitting

Some matching mitts for Laurie's hats

Poppy for Rachel
got the pattern a few years ago - donation to the Poppy Appeal

So that was our weekend.  What are the chances of me getting this cold in time to go to Southwold?  Lets face it I've had one the last few times we've been.

Rufus feeling much better today. Beck feeling awful, though I should imagine a good nights sleep would see her right

WIP's, FOs and Colds...

I have a head cold and am feeling a bit sorry for myself.  It started on Monday at work, I went in yesterday to be told by my boss I looked rough, gee thanks.  I thought I'd done a good job with the foundation and blush!  This morning I got up, made lunch for us both, then just decided to get back into bed.  Head pounding, sneezing.  What's the point of struggling in.  A text message arrived shortly after from a colleague to say he wouldn't be in as he had a cold, so its a bit thin on the ground at work today, sorry.  Hopefully a day of just relaxing will help.  I have a busy weekend ahead, so need to knock this on the head pretty quick.

Anyway, WIP's, that's what you are here for.  Work goes slowly on my Lady Kina, due partly to the fact that I have had a problem with my hands this last week, lots of pain, which has meant only doing small amounts of knitting.  I'm hoping this is just a temporary set back and not the start of something more serious.

My FO's are the hats for our November holiday - Team Speechley.  As I don't wear hats, well not often, I have made a head band  for me.  It a free DROPS pattern, which I knitted up in double knit rather than aran, but as this is knitted via measurements, it worked up fine.  I added a flower to bring in the red and cream patterning.

On the reading front, I am working my way through the kindly lent Miss Read books, currently on the copy of Tylers Row - its like reconnecting with an old friend.

So that's it from me today.  Think a cup of tea is now due, feet up with my book and a blanket.  Don't work too hard!

Sympathy is in short supply

 

Pied Wagtail visiting the bird table - well picking up the bits the starlings had dropped

Bored with my current WIP's, I decided to start some knitting for my niece who is due in April. 

This pattern is the Lucy cardigan from the Patons Nursery Days booklet.  Knitted in Cygnet Kiddies Kaleidoscope Supersoft Double Knit. Simple lace pattern with a v-neck

Because the temperature is still in the minus range, though beautifully sunny,  root veggies ready to roast for some warming soup.  We have only ventured outside to replenish the wood supply.  We are both feeling rough still, my chest hurts from coughing and now my ears ache.  Its an effort to do very much, only put on a couple of loads of washing, and cooked some meals, luckily I had plenty of stuff in the fridge to whip up something quick 

Audrey is enjoying having us around all day, especially to jump onto my warm sofa when I got up to make a drink.

Its funny, in 35 years of marriage we think this is the first time we have been ill together.  Good to have company but you don't get any sympathy

Snow on snow.....

The old wives tale about "sitting snow is waiting for more" came true yesterday.  We had a whole load more during the evening.  We had still got a good covering in the garden from the weekend, though the roads and paths have been clear.  We woke to a sunny winter wonderland.  Thankful that we are still poorly and not going to work.

On the illness front, Rebecca is still feeling ill, totally exhausted and back in bed.  Tim, doing ok.  Me, doing ok and feeling much more human today.  Peter, looks rubbish, its all on his chest and he is bringing up, well you just don't want to know!!  Rachel has finally succumbed, bless her she called round yesterday with lemons, paracetamol, Lucozade, ginger cake and crumpets, much appreciated.

The only good thing about being off work sick is that I can indulge my knitting habit.  This is my first Ten Stitch Twist, which as I said I made into a bath mat. I lined it with an old bath towel, waste not want not.  I have a second Twist on the go in chunky yarn, which I plan, if I have enough yarn, to make into a rug for one the the spare bedrooms.  I will line this with hessian to make it a bit more robust.

I also did a few more rows on the back of the In the Mood cardigan, but the Irish Moss stitch is getting boring and there is no shaping on the back so its just plain rows.  I have 3 pattern sets done on the front, but my head hurts too much to concentrate at present.

Keep warm and stay healthy

When life gives you lemons

make a soothing drink....... add a few paracetamol too

We do like to share

We are one of those families that likes to share. Even the rotten things in life. This week we are sharing a cold. These are manifesting themselves in various guises depending on who you are.

For Rufus, who we believe to be the carrier, its a snotty nose and a cough, nothing is keeping him down for long; this is us up at 5:30 this morning.

 

You might well yawn!!

For his mum it is flu like symptoms (she's had the jab) and a chesty cough, which she has had since Saturday, along with the morning and evening sickness.  Her and Rufus have been staying as hubby is away again, and they needed looking after.

For Pops, it came out on Monday as a chesty irritating cough, intermittent runny nose.

For me since yesterday lunch time - another head cold, the second full cold of the year, the third since November.  Not forgetting the sore throat from last week. A magazine I was reading in the hairdressers this afternoon said the average person gets between 2-5 colds per year, gee thanks

For Tim, full blown symptoms like Rebecca, though only worse I guess as he's a man!  Sorry Tim couldn't resist.

And aunty Rachel is trying to ignore the scratchy throat. 

So there you have it, best to keep away from us