leaving the flat – Enchilada Sunrise

Accidental week off.

Or nearly a week, anyway. Six days. I completely forgot to blog at the weekend… and managed to carry on forgetting all week until today. Whoops! So I’ll extend my blogging an extra week, I think. Or maybe I’ll keep going until the end of July. I’ll aim for that. And beyond, of course, but hopefully every day until then.

So, what have I been up to this week? Not a lot, really. Much the same as I have for the last few months. That’s mostly involved not going out a lot. I don’t actually remember the last time when I managed to leave the house by myself, either. Not counting letting the cat in and out, and putting the rubbish out – somehow that doesn’t seem to count as Going Out in my wonky brain, even though if I want to go somewhere further than the end of the garden path I haven’t made it past the flat door. Make sense of that!

I had to go out today, and will again tomorrow, as I have an appointment with my psychiatrist in the morning. Mum has been brilliant about coming over and helping me get out / taking me places. Today was an appointment at the Jobcentre to talk to them about work and things now that I’ve been moved onto the new ESA benefit. In my case, that was pretty much going over the fact that, what with not being so well, I can’t do full time work, but I can continue with the (part time) Permitted Work scheme. So that’s OK. What was less OK was the panic attack part of the proceedings, but it wasn’t a major one and I think I’ve remembered everything alright. If not, I can ask Adam-the-support-worker who was there with me. Mum had just dropped me off there, as Adam knows the ropes for this kind of appointment. But she will be coming in to the appointment tomorrow, as per usual. Her perspective is useful, but she can also remind me of anything I forget to mention as well. Two heads are better than one, and all that stuff.

And on that note, I’d better go and make my list of things I have to remember for tomorrow. Oh, and wipe my phone ready for taking it back to the shop for repairs. Poor wee thing. (No phone? How will I cope?! Noooooo! etc) Good night!

Oh baby, it’s cold outside!

I took a day off of blogging yesterday, but I’m going to see if I can now do the rest of December as well. If not, no big worry. I actually ventured out yesterday, and I’m glad I did, even though the pavements down the hill were icy:

Today, it’s a tad snowier than it was yesterday, and it’s snowing again now. No buses are running, and there’s very little traffic in general. My brother’s friend was mostly OK in his Jeep, but I wouldn’t want to drive in this weather. It’s a bit deep on my road, and we’re not likely to get gritted:

Brrr!

NaBloPoMo Sept 2010 – Art

NaBloPoMo Sept 2010 Although I’m a couple of days late in starting, I’ve decided to have a crack at NaBloPoMo this month. The theme is art, and I reckon that one way or another I’ve got plenty to say about various arts and crafts, so let’s go for it. Tomorrow, for example, I’m going up to London to watch a couple of Proms. I don’t know if we’ll have time to take in any other arty culture, but there will certainly be knitting done along the way!

August IComLeavWe

IComLeavWe has rolled around again, so hi to anyone who drops by from that :-) I’m going to be a little late in starting this month, because I’m going to be out for most of tomorrow (technically today already, eek), and I might be sleeeeeepy when I get home. In fact, I should be in bed and sleeping now, so I’d better get going. I may get a chance to jump online when I get in tomorrow, but if not, it’ll have to wait until Sunday. I can do double then.

IComLeavWe: Join the Conversation

Days of summer

Wow, and there goes another month – I did so well blogging all through June, started out in July…. and then Real Life took over! What a shock to the system that’s been ;-) Seriously though, it really has been a pretty good summer. The “busy day” to come that I mentioned about two posts / six weeks ago way back on 5th July was the day that I had an interview for a volunteering “job”, and I’ve been doing that ever since. Not every day, I mean. Just once a week. I’m really enjoying it! (I’d better not go into specifics just yet. I’ll check with them first if they mind me blogging about it a bit. I’ve been almost-burned with that before, when a manager at my job up north told me I should remove all references to work. And none of that was specific stuff about the company at all, if I remember rightly, and certainly didn’t name anything or anyone. Just occasional anecdotes about colleagues and work life. So, double-check first, blog later!)

Other than that, I’ve been going to the Bipolar Course, which is nearly over now. That’s also been really good. I hadn’t been going to choir for a while because I’d been ill, but I’ll be going again when rehearsals start back up in September so I’m looking forward to that. And I’ve also taken up Geocaching! What-y What-ing? Well, in case you haven’t heard of it, it’s a sort of a cross between orienteering and treasure hunting, done with GPS. In my case, I use the GPS thingy in my phone rather than a dedicated device, and it’s been spot on every time so far. It’s getting me out and about and giving me a reason to go for walks, and it was surprising the first few times how much glee and satisfaction I felt when I found the caches.

Right, I must be getting on. I’ll try to remember to blog more about geocaching, update my knitting and spinning stuff… um…. oh, and talk about Pirate Day, Promming, and how much I liked the BBC’s new “Sherlock” adaptation! I think that’s about it. Probably.

Productive day

I did lots today, and even managed to get in a nap this afternoon. Well, I’d worn myself out! Of course, when I say “lots”, that’s “lots for me”, but still. I’ve been to see the Flower Festival at Mum’s church with her. Technically it’s over, but she has the church keys and all the displays are still there. Then I went to the dentist (everything fine; see you in 6 months), did tiny a bit of shopping, came home and cleaned up a storm. Whew! And since I’ve also got some spinning and knitting done, I’m feeling quite accomplished.

Tomorrow is another busy day, so I’m off to bed now. I’m expecting to sleep well!

X is for X Marks the Spot

I can’t remember if I blogged about this already, but there’s a Pirate Day as part of Old Town Carnival Week at the beginning of August, where they’re trying to get as many people dressed as pirates gathered together as possible, with the goal of breaking the world record. I intend to to along and join in – should be fun! There’s going to be other piratical stuff going on as well. Food, and music, and so on. And of course a Treasure Hunt, though I suspect that’s for kids!

Of course, I’ve got to find something appropriate to wear. I understand there are certain dress code rules that you have to follow to be considered one of the official pirate crew, though I don’t know what that is yet. I must have some basics that I can wear, though. I’ll have to have a rummage through my things. I need to have a clothes sort-out anyway, and send some stuff off to the charity shop. I should call my Mum and find out if she’ll be free to come and give me a lift over there so I can take all my donations at once.

T is for Tan (or lack thereof)

I spent most of today on the beach, which was marvellous – the weather is warm and sunny, but with enough of a breeze to keep it comfortable. I sat and knitted, listened to music for some of the time, the sounds of the seaside for the rest of it, and generally enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. I went and got one of those folding chairs that come in the carry bags, but I actually only ended up using it (still in the bag!) as a lower back rest.

Hastings Beach 23-06-2010 — On the beach, Hastings, 23-06-2010

It was really nice being down there. I really must go more often while the weather is good. I don’t have a garden, but with the beach only 5-10 mins away… well. Silly not to go.

I was working on my Clapotis [Ravlink] and got very near to the end… when I realised that I wasn’t going to have enough yarn after all. Argh! So I’ve ripped back again and I’ll start the decrease rows one repeat earlier. That is, I’ll have one repeat less of the “straight” section. It’ll still be a good length. I should still have it finished this week, too, since the decrease section obviously gets faster as you go.

One thing that had completely passed me by until I got into town and heard all the people in the pubs was that it was the England v (er, someone) World Cup match. We won, didn’t get sent home, and there was much rejoicing. Including a group of blokes parading along the seafront singing the national anthem and then other assorted songs (Mysterious Girl? What?).

Oh, and although I was in the sun all day long, I’m still not tanned at all. Or not enough to notice. Being v pale, I slapped on the Factor 25 – I forgot once last year and got really bad sunburn, so I’m not going there again. Still, if I keep going out to the beach, and the weather obliges, I expect I’ll gain some colour before the end of summer. Even if it will only be noticeable by comparison with my watch mark!

K is for Knitting in Public

So, today was World Wide Knit in Public Day (or at least, the start of WWKIP week) for 2010. We had a little meet up and knit in Princes Park in Eastbourne to mark the event – there were just four of us there in the end, but we had a good time. Or I did, anyway. I hope everyone else did!

We were there from 11am to 3pm, and as well as getting on with knitting and crochet of our own, the heel section of BigSock was cast on! A mere 500 stitches at its narrowest point, should be a doddle. Hah!

Of course, I didn’t get any of my jumper done… and what I did get knitted of my clapotis is probably going to have to be ripped back because I seem to have gained (or lost) a stitch somewhere! I’m out one, anyway. Oh well.

I is for Identification

Not ID: that which establishes the identity of a person; but: to identify with. I finished the first book of Rachel Caine’s Outcast Season series yesterday and started the second one, and I find myself surprised to find that I am identifying more with the ex-Djinn (this is urban fantasy, roll with it) protagonist Cassiel than I do with Joanne, the human protagonist of the original Weather Warden series that Outcast Season has spun off from. Is that weird? I think that may be a little weird. But the thing is, while I like Joanne – and liked the glimpse of her we got in Undone (OS#1) through Cassiel’s eyes – she’s just too girly for me, I think. Joanne refers to shoe brands and car models that mean about as much to me as they probably would to Cassiel. Perhaps because more things have to be explained about Cassiel’s perspective on the world (whereas the reader is already assumed to have a common starting point with Jo?) as having been an “Old Djinn” who’d never even bothered before to take on a human shaped body, it’s easier to get inside her head. At any rate, I like her logic, and I like her developing relationships with the Rocha family. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of this series.

H (I knew I’d think of something later on) is also for HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!! My brother is celebrating his 30th today. Yaaaaay! That’s 30 whole years I’ve managed to go without “accidentally” shoving him off a cliff. Our parents raised us right. Seriously, I love my little bro and think he’s all kinds of awesome (it probably helps that we have more in common than apparently looking rather alike). We’ve celebrated once this evening, and are doing so again at the weekend. I hope the weather is going to comply, since it’s supposed to be a barbeque…

Book club beginnings

(Or, Non-alphabetical Post The First)

I’ve just got back from the first meeting of the new book club I was invited to, and I had lots of fun. Hooray! There were just five of us to start with, though some others might come along later on. So far, we have a tentative name, and we each suggested a book and drew them in random order which means that we’re reading Fight Club first! I probably wouldn’t have got around to reading it otherwise, so I’m glad about that, because I think I will enjoy it. Now I just have to track a copy down…

F is for Friends, Family, and Food

Which three things sum up my day fairly well, really. My whole weekend, in fact. Like I said, we went to see Ally and family yesterday and out into the park where I saw several people I’d been at school with and their kids. I think I must be the only one who has no offspring! It was a lovely sunny day for it, and today was lovely as well although there was lots of rain and thunder last night.

Charlotte has gone now, but we went over to my brother and sister-in-law’s place for Sunday dinner today. Mmm, Sunday roast! I’m feeling pretty wiped out (but full!) so I can’t think of much else to blog about, so I’ll go and check out the prompts for some inspiration:

What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you think of your father?

His smile; a feeling of safety; and woolly bobble hats! Dad liked to keep his head warm, and embarrassed me horribly (as parents will!) when I was in my mid-teens by taking my into town still wearing his slippers (moccasins, so I’m sure no-one knew but me) and a woolly hat. Later on, of course, it became a lovable eccentricity, and when I learned to knit, one of the very first things I made was a hat for Dad:

E is for Elementary…

… my dear Watson. Which basically means that Charlotte is here and we’re watching movies! Sherlock Holmes, some of Return of the King, and… whatever else will depend on what time we have. We’ve watched Doctor Who as well, of course. Earlier today we went and saw Ally, and went over to the park where they were having some kind of… something. With music and some stalls set up and all that. It was fun, which is what matters!

Now it’s back to the movie watching. Robert Downey Jnr, yay!

B is for Books

Books… I love books. I’m sure I’ve mentioned that before. I love reading books (obviously), and owning books – this last is becoming more of a problem since I have less than no shelf space left. However, my reading does tend to be within a fairly narrow group of genres: sci-fi, space opera, fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal, and historical (romance). Or any combination thereof. I did try the seasonal reading challenges on Goodreads with the intention of broadening my reading somewhat, but I just ended up fitting the books I already wanted to read to the challenges for the most part. Now, I’m doing the 144 Books in a Year challenge, but that has no restrictions whatsoever apart from a minimum length.

So, recommend me some books? Anyone? Also, one of the girls at KnitJam tonight invited me to come along and join a book group that they’re starting up through the library where she works. She said they want some people to come along who aren’t staff so they don’t end up talking shop all night. So yay, that should be fun!

Today’s prompt is: What’s your favourite poem? (And if you don’t have one, why?)

Actually… I don’t really have one. Mainly because I don’t actually read much poetry. Whenever I do, I like just about everything I do read, so why I don’t read more I don’t know. I do really like a lot of the Shakespeare sonnets, and I’m rather fond of “Kubla Khan” by Coleridge; partly for it’s lyricism and partly because it’s nuts!

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

Marvellous!

Project 365 #8, Days 52-67: 1st – 16th March

Stiiiiiiiill catching up: here are days 52 to 67 of my Project 365 photos – the first half of March. I’m going to post them in chunks of half a month at a time until I get caught up, now. If you want to see all the photos so far, click on the Project 365 category link, or check out the Project 365 folder in the photo album. Or for the most up-to-date version, try my Flickr set.
On to the pics (click them for the full sized versions):

Continue reading “Project 365 #8, Days 52-67: 1st – 16th March”