A little bit of everything!

I've been neglectful of my blog, so had better remedy the situation:o)

On the knitting front, I finally finished Flickering Flames socks (pattern by Black Dog Knits) and entered them into the monthly Sock-a-month challenge draw (Crafty Yarns n'Things forum) by the skin of my ... grafting! DD1 loves them and they are on her feet again! The pattern is really effective but when I do it again I'd prefer to take the pattern down the foot as the designer planned (DD1 only wanted the pattern on the cuff) and I'd use a different yarn. I found the Diploma 4ply was prone to splitting a little and was not that keen on the texture as I knitted. I've also nearly completed the back of a Celandine Tank for DD1 in Louisa Harding Kimono Angora... progress pics to follow!

We've had a lovely weekend so far - the girls and I went out shopping on Friday (resulting in 2 happy young ladies and one lighter maternal purse!). We ended the trip in Borders bookshop - with DD1 and I browsing to our hearts content and DD2 huffing and puffing, with a pained expression worthy of an Oscar before we provided refreshment anaesthetic in the form of a strawberry frappina and any cake of her choice from the cafe upstairs!!

Today, we drove to Rhondda valley on the outskirts of Pontypridd and walked the 3 dogs over the hillside. Islay, the fatted pup who came home, was in her element as I don't think she has had a walk like that before, with so much freedom ... and sooooo much scope to roll in ecstasy in various piles of nature's treasures (certainly the horse dung seemed to be her particular favourite). Yeuch!!!

DD2 has plans afoot for me tomorrow ... she hopes to drag me down to the retail area in Cardiff Bay. She is trying to convince me she needs a pair of yellow shoes. Mothers of the world unite here please and support me in my maternal protestation ... wants is not the same as needs!! My plans for tomorrow do not involve retail therapy of any description. The dissertation is to have the dust blown off for a couple of hours and I've to muster together at least a few paragraphs towards the next chapter:( And then, I plan to read a little more of the book I bought in Borders. My last read was 'The Island' by Victoria Hislop. It's the tale of several generations of a family ... of their past and secrets. I enjoyed it even more as its set in Crete and focuses on Spinalonga (a tiny island off the coast of Crete which served as a leper colony until 1957!!), Elounda and Aghios Nikolas ... all places I spent time in during a past holiday (err ... honeymoon actually ... but that feels like a different life ago!). This new read is more challenging to get into - Be Near Me by Andrew O'Hagan (longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2006). Its set in Ayrshire and the lead character is a priest in the local community, and explores class and religious divides.

The only other mini success around at the moment is that there's now less of me!! I've signed up to a GI diet plan online having had no success in shifting any weight by myself (and being thoroughly fed up off my ballooning weight since I started on steroids nearly 4 years ago). I can't pretend for a second I understand the dietetic theory behind how the diet works ... but have just followed it blindly for the past 2 weeks and have lost 5lbs so far!! Just think, the smaller I get ... the less yarn I'll need for a garment ... and smaller garments might be finished off quicker ... leading to a slightly more productive blog!! See, there IS method in my madness:o)