Blankets!

Apologies for the time delay yet again - I have been so busy with helping take care of my sister that time has flown by! What with meetings and dentistry ops my life has become consumed by her life and my own has become not so.

You may remember the crochet blanket which was my sanity project when life got tough - well now it is finally finished! In reality it was finished crochet wise at least a month ago but it is the ends that have caused the 'finally finished' delay - actually sitting down and weaving in those ends is not hard it is just finding the space in life to sit down and do it!

I made the blanket as the pattern suggested but once it was joined together I found I had plenty of background colours left (the pattern colours are enough for another blanket - more on that later) so I decided to add a border using just background colours - I ran out of one and had to find a bit more from a fellow club member who had some left over but it makes the blanket a bit larger and a bit roomier and I am happy that I did so!

I promise to try to blog a little more often now but things seem to be hectic all of the time here - its not that I am out there enjoying myself I am just juggling the tiny amount of free time that I seem to have!

Good night Ted Bear

It has been a while since I have blogged and I am sorry. Partly this has been down to the extreme tiredness that I have been fighting and then latterly I haven't known exactly how to write this post! If you have been along with me on this journey you will by now have guessed that we have had to say good bye to our precious Ted Bear. On the 13th of June it was the day that we had all been waiting for and dreading and I can only say that it was the saddest of my life so far. We were extremely fortunate to have the Cardiology vet and nurse with us and Ted was surrounded by people who loved him dearly.

 He is missed every day and has left the biggest hole imaginable in our lives. We are trying very hard to get used to being able to go out for walks again and live a more 'normal' life but these things take time to readjust to.

Good night Ted Bear - you are forever in our hearts!

Time here is whizzing again and Easter is a distant memory! I have been up to my usual crazy knitting frenzy recently and due to an urgent deadline shawl for Anni the remake of the sample I was doing for her was put to one side temporarily! The deadline knitting completed I also did a little pattern testing for a friend of mine - this same friend has been up to her usual creative tricks again and has some fabulous new designs in her newly revamped shop -take a look if you dare! Whilst you are there also make sure you visit her blog as she has the most amazing give away on it.

Whilst I have been busy on the knit front I took a little 'sanity' time for me and have been doing a little hooky in the evening when my brain is too fried for anything else. I have found that remembering the pattern for this has been most therapeutic and doing a couple of the middle flowers or the outer block part has given me the head space to relax a little!

Progress is quite slow but I am not doing this for a deadline - just for me (well and the sofa) and it took 12 months to collect the yarn so clearly I am in this for the long haul! I have found that over the last year I have been pulling out old projects and moving them forward a bit at a time so eventually I will have a few things finished as well as the usual collection of newly cast on projects it is just that progress here is so slow on all fronts!

I trust that all is well in blog land and I will try and be back with more progress again soon!

I have been nominated for this:

                                             

by Barbara at: busybusybeejay.blogspot.co.uk

The award is for a favourite blog with 200 followers, or less.   There are some rules to follow:-

1 Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves
2 Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, and then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the awards to.
3 Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them to your post. I have seen varying numbers here from 3 up to 11 so I will nominated as many as I can but can't promise the full 11
4 Go back to their page and tell them about the award
5 No tag backs


So 11 random facts about me:

1. I love my dog - but you all knew that or why else would I have been getting up at 2am for the last 18 months to give him his meds?

2. My life is about to become a whole lot more complicated if my autistic sister comes to live with me but it is a challenge I am happy to take on.

3. My other half is not only my best friend but is also as crazy as I am and I love him to bits!

4. My car looks like a roller skate and drives like a go cart and it is the most fun you can have on the road legally!

5. I have met some fantastic ladies through a shared adversity and we have stayed bloggy friends for almost 5 years - you are pretty amazing people and you know who you are.

6. I really really want to live by the sea but dreams of this are put on hold for a while at the very least.

7. I have a growing collection of hand made project bags and I have each and every one filled with a project.

8. Last year was my 40th birthday and life did indeed change dramatically for me but not in any of the ways I had thought it might!

9. When I went to bed last week I saw a pair of owls in the trees on the green outside my home.

10. It is a pretty quiet and lonely place that is 2am but I have seen some amazing things: a barn owl sat on my washing line, a hedgehog that visits me quite often and a fire engine putting out a fire in the house behind ours.


Now for the questions asked by my nominator:

Favourite room in the house.  The kitchen 

Are you a lark or an owl. Lark

Do you like cooking? Yes I do especially when the family gets together on holiday

favourite film?  Days of Thunder

Do you like shopping? Yes I love to shop but don't have the time or energy right now.

Travel plans for 2013? We are hoping to go to the seaside again soon but all plans for holidays are on hold for now given the dog and sister situations.

Dinner partner? Has got to be my other half and my daughter

Can you speak any languages other than english? Only a bit of school girl french but not enough to count.

Which month is your birthday? August

Do you have a favourite perfume? Romance by Ralph Lauren

Are you tidy/untidy? Sadly I am untidy but would love to be tidy!

My nominees are:
potterjotter

snoopydogknits

theknittingexploitsofjosiekitten

ewashephard

cartalector

My questions are these:

Favourite Craft?
Best ever Holiday destination?
If you could change something in your life what would it be?
What do you do to relax?
Which season is your happiest and why?
Most recently read book and would you recommend it?
Cats or Dogs?
Yummiest food?
The nicest thing that anyone has ever done for you?
What made you start blogging?
Do you have a secret vice and if so what is it?

Happy New Year!

I know it has been an age since I posted last and I can only apologise. I haven't given up on you and I will be back again as often as I can but life here is completely topsy turvy. We managed to get my sister home for Christmas but her future plans are still in debate and I am working as hard as I can to produce a plan to give her a secure future that we are a part of. I can't say much more at the moment as things are still under court control and I don't want to put any plans in a compromising position - I know you will understand.

 I can however show you what a lovely Secret Santa parcel I received and say a huge thank you for the contents. Everything was me to a 'T' and I am so grateful for all the thought that went into it.

The yarn was my perfect colour and entitled withering bluebell it reflects just how I am feeling! The mittens will be keeping me warm on my early morning taxi service to the station - Lottie failed her driving test in December so I am still on active duty and I can't wait for her to take it again!

And finally and quick picture of my amazing Ted bear - he is still going strong and despite his various issues is a happy and loving doggie. Sadly his sister Della who lived with Dave's folks passed away on the 30th of December.

                                      

I promise to try and be a bit more active here in blog land but I have been really struggling with my energy levels recently - I guess that the prolonged lack of sleep has begun to take a permanent toll on me (16 months of getting up at 2am is quite a time) even the easiest of tasks is taking me longer to complete and some days it is all I can manage to keep going, my poor knitting has suffered dreadfully! At least the daylight hours will start to increase again and fingers crossed I will be perky again in no time.

Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year, with much love  - Sarah