Blessed Christmas Eve to all of you who visit here! May your Christmas be happy, peaceful and filled with love from myself , Gerry, Aliki and Emmanuelle!
Today the sea is grey and misty and there is a light rain falling. Although not cold, this is not a beach day, so I decided to make a vegetable soup and veg :)
I did some laundry earlier today, and walked outside to hang up on the clothesline...(we have a sheltered area, so we can hang laundry even if it rains)...I narrowly avoided walking into a huge spider's web...hanging onto it I found this critter, which although very alien looking, I have discovered may be an Spiny Orb Weaver spider...supposedly not dangerous for humans! Actually there are two of these undisturbed residents, and as much as I admire how strange and pretty they are, if they do not move of their own accord by tomorrow, I am conscripting the DH to relocate them to the bush...sorry but I only play nice with bipeds and quadrupeds :l (ok...also some hexapeds...)
I am going to have an afternoon nap now, in the perfect weather for it...warm and cozy in my duvet!
I have to say that I am so taken by this Sherman heel! I will definitely do a tutorial on it in the future
Christmas is my favourite time of the year! I love, love, love this time! We don't always manage to spend it at our holiday home, but this year we are here! I love the whole spirit of Christmas, the family time, the friends we see, the wonder of celebrating Jesus' birth....it helps to place the year in perspective and gain strength for the year to come. I adore decorating the house and have collected a lot of very special decorations over the years.
I especially love Christmas decorations that have a homely feel, and if they light up, play music or move, so much the better! Every time we travel overseas, I try to bring back some Christmas decoration from wherever we have been...it serves to remind us of a special holiday each time we take it out and hang it on a tree, or place it on a table....
My all time favourite decoration is a resin figure of Santa kneeling at Baby Jesus' crib in adoration. I have one on my bedside table and one in the lounge....one day when my precious girls are decorating their homes for Christmas they will each have one of this special decoration :)
I have collected several Christmas themed crockery sets as well...however I am still looking for the "perfect" set, something with traditional gold, red and green trimmings, something Victorian and elaborate!
Our Christmas Tree is a large affair, and I have restrained myself from totally covering the tree with huge amounts of shiny things...I can't be sure that it will remain restrained...I may yet give in and overdo things next year! :)
I was pretty happy with my knitting today! I have knitted what I think is certainly the *perfect* short row sock heel...no wraps, no holes, easy peasy....it's called the Sherman Heel, and I may yet do a tutorial when I get back from holiday...have any readers used this heel for sock knitting? Are you as amazed at how perfect it is , as I was? :)
I spent a lovely afternoon with Debbie, chatting, sharing, discussing things ...she is a wonderful person and friend and I am very blessed to have her live so near...
My dear friend Dana and I were chatting yesterday about how much we enjoy learning new techniques in knitting. As knitters, we enjoy the actual knitting , but the intrigue and ongoing fascination with knitting , comes from exploring the seemingly endless variations of doing things with sticks and string! I sometimes knit just to be able to test a technique or try a pattern swatch...so Dana and I chatted about an interesting workshop Dana discovered on Ravelry.
It's called "Swing Knitting", and seems to be a technique using short rows to achieve wonderful wave like variations in your fabric. The workshop comprises 4 parts and the first few parts have both English and German translations. I reckon this will be my "new to learn" goal for the New Year!
Above you can see my bestest Christmas decoration...I am so attached to this figure :)
This holiday has also been a great time to listen to audiobooks! If you have yet to discover Audible, you have just found the perfect Christmas present for yourself! I love audiobooks because I can knit and listen anywhere! Yes, in the car, on the beach, in front of the computer, lying in bed at night, in the bath ...anywhere! And, there are tens of thousands of titles you can buy, including latest releases...check it out here. A subscription to Audible is also the easiest and most appreciated gift for someone that doesn't knit (*Ahhmmmm...*cough*...the DH)...
I made a divine Cape salmon bake for supper with some lovely buttered olive bread and salad. Trifle for desert and a crisp white wine...bliss! Holidays are so right!
When Gerry and the girls went to the beach I cleaned up the house for a while. The area where we live is surrounded by a wonderful lush coastal vegetation , where deer walk freely and nature is undisturbed. One of the undisturbed flew into the house and tried to land on my hair. I was busy folding washing, when a loud buzzing , grating noise came straight at me and settled on my head. Well....all I can say is that the neighbours must have though I was being attacked by rabid aliens...I went completely a*e s**t, yanking at my hair and swatting wildly with my washing. I have very long hair and the thought of a huge insect getting stuck in it was just a bit too much to bear! I was so shaken, that by the time I managed to dislodge the offender (a massive clawed beetle of God only knows what genus) and violently turf it back into the bush, I seriously considered a 9am martini....No, don't lie...you would have too! The day surely had to get better....
So....with my psyche seriously unbalanced and without really planning, I found myself walking to the beach, having grabbed a beach chair and umbrella on the way out of the door. Arriving at the spot where the kids and friends were, I realized that the umbrella top and the bottom pole were from different sets, and that my umbrella was not going to be plantable unless I managed to Houdini myself into a flat pretzel. Spending so much time in the hospital away from natural sunshine, has made my pale skin as susceptible to burning as a vampire's, so this situation was not a good one....five minutes in the sun, and I get blisters! Gerry eventually rigged a workable solution using a towel and some ingenuity, and finally I had a moment to recover from my ordeals... The sun was shining, the sky was clear, the breeze gentle and cooling, and the ocean beautiful! It goes a long way to restoring the soul, I tell you!
My Nani and Gerry were playing with a funny ring-like frisbee and I managed to snap some pics of them. Of course, ever the joker, Nani acted as if she were an angel, placing the frisbee thing on her head like a halo each time she caught it :)
I have yet to venture into the ocean...I intensely dislike cold water and today the sea was especially cold...so who knows, maybe I'll swim later in the holidays :)....
We had supper with friends (15 of us!) at our house last night. I haven't seen my dear friend Debbie (who lives down the road from us) for a few months, so I was looking forward to catching up. Gerry, the kids and myself went into town for some basic supplies, and arrived home around 4 o'clock, which was when my Woolies groceries order was supposed to be delivered. As it turned out, the delivery arrived at 7 o'clock, with me trying to juggle kids, cooking and a slew of phone calls from the hospital...it was like being in the Twilight Zone, I swear! Thankfully Debbie chatted to some of our other guests and by the time we all sat down for supper, things were more under control. As it was such a late night, we slept late, and woke to a warm but misty ocean, calm and glassy. This is generally the weather the dolphins like, and sure enough, huge schools swam lazily by...
Our bay has a lot of sea life. Whales are frequently spotted, albeit further out obviously, and occasionally Killer whales are spotted as they travel up the coast.
If you have made Lollo bear and would like to show some photos of your creation, post the photos on the Projects page of the Ravelry pattern. This way everyone who accesses the pattern page on Ravelry can see them :) I would love to see all of the bears you have crocheted!
The App comes with several awesome patterns form well known designers, so you can start playing (and knitting ;) ) straight away...
We arrived at lunchtime, to a warm but very windy summer's day. Although the sea conditions are rough with white horses all the way to the horizon, Gerry and the girls were on the beach within 10 minutes of us arriving. I opened up all the windows to air out the house a bit, set up shop and decided to blog :) My internet connection is appalling so far out from wherever it is that the things that makes the internet work are, but I managed to get two photos up...
I am thankful to say that since our last visit, no disasters have befallen the house and it is just wonderful to be here :)
