Honey, I'm home!

We are back! London trip is cancelled - due to the fire in the tunnel earlier this month our train is actually cancelled and we are making use of the good weather here and will have a great last week around here. Today was spent getting this grown out and decoloured mop cut back into shape. Actually very little cutting and only a great colour this time.


Edinburgh was great! I miss it already. I miss the tea we got at Elephant House, I miss sitting and knitting in public places.



I wasn't the only one, mind you:

Meet Heather MacMahon! Her accent is barely understandable for us non-Scots ;-)

I bought Rowan yarn in dusty purples and pinks at Jenners and John Lewis and my first Noro and Manos del Uruguay Classica Paris. The Kureon Sock yarn is already being worked into a neckwarmer.

I miss Fabhatrix and Armstrong. This place has to be seen to believe it! I bought two aprons I plan to combine with trousers and blouses and WEAR TO WORK.





We both got hats at Fabhatrix and if I wouldn't have already a crush on him I would so crush on my husband all over again. He looks swell!





I ADORE the wee man brooch I got. I can't remember the artist for the life of me, something with hippie and stitch.

We walked like the proverbial mad men! We went to the Royal Botanic Garden and had a blast with the squirrels!


And look at these flowers!





The best things in life are for free - and so was the admission to the National Museum! As usual I ditched anything popular (I mean - if you have seen one Roman ruin you have seen them all. Sort of.) and was mainly found in Scottish History before the forementioned Romans, gazing at the Pictish stones and then downstairs at findings from around 3000BC - Skara Brae and other neolithic places.



I have plenty more - but my personal favourite is this:


It's not retouched by any means. I love this tree - would you believe it's standing in the gardens by the castle that was Hogwarts?

The best things cannot be retold. The stories we heard. For any strange reason, strange little me attracts elderly folks and we got to hear a lot of stories... from a former sailor, now 77 years old, a 91 year old lady on the quest to buy a trolley and resting on the bench next to me, a blind gentleman on the bus, who wanted to know everything about the land we came from and introduced me to his guide dog...and so many more.
Meeting the artist who made the flower brooch I attached to my felt hat.
Discovering K1.
Seeing the Registration office being dressed up for a movie shot - a scene from sometime in the 30s I'd say by the cars and the bobby, but we had to venture on, so I don't know what movie was shot.

I could have stayed.
I got offered a job. Part time only...but a job.

One day....
And only if I can bring the cats! Pooka totally lost it last night, she was so happy to see us back. Silly and she were fighting over us. They have been thoroughly cuddles, fed and brushed and then cuddled some more.

Is 11pm too late for tea?

Almost!

Almost on vacation! I have three working days left - I have Wednesday off on Doctor's orders (will be evaluated after the vacation in October) and a team dinner tomorrow night! Not my normal team, but the guys from the emergency unit shutdown three weeks ago. It's going to be fun to meet the faces to the voices that called me out of bed Saturday morning at a quarter to two ;-)
Nothing posh, but I appreciate the gesture a lot.

Before I start daydreaming "with the heart of a Lothian" - I finished my last Knitting in Public Transport project, a cotton neckscarf made out of Sassa Lynne's wonderful dyed yarn. I love the colours, they look great with purple, pink, blue and spice up black and grey as well! Finished it yesterday and wore it today!



Okay - vacation!
We will start off in Edinburgh, with some travel direction Northumberland and up to Glasgow planned. High chance of rainy weather, but nothing Docs and a raincoat can't solve. A concert (Paul McKenna Band) is also planned. Hoping to run into Tim again...
Botanic Gardens! Sheila Fleet! Tea and haggis! Yummy! Really!

We will then come home for a couple of days, do the laundry and get myself to the hairdresser (thinking loud and hard of this, though not in blond:

before taking the train (yes, train) to Brussels, then to London. The thought of the tunnel makes me quiver, but the thought of flying again makes me sick. I can swim better than I can fly and flying scares me. Well, as long as it doesn't take off, land or flies a curve I'm fine. Cute and cuddly, lads, cute and cuddly!

Edinburgh is by plane...but the next time I will take the train from London to Scotland - it might take longer and be more expensive, but the view of the landscape and the comfort are worth it! I love train rides! I could tell stories...of the journey to Greece (three days in the train), the two lovely ladies we met on the way to Bray, Ireland, the various rides to destinations in Germany, France, Belgium, The Netherlands...

London - Forbidden Planet is calling and the last time we were there we discovered Neal's yard and a bead shop somewhere there. Oh, Edinburgh has a nice one, too. And so does Haddington.

Will visit K1yarns in Edinburgh and hopefully I Knit in London. The goal is to only buy very special yarn, something I can't get around here or not as easily. Tili Tomas is high on my wishlist and something handspun/dyed. Which will be turned into neckwear or headwear. And knitting magazines!

Forbidden Planet in London and Coda (great Folk CD shop - I LOVE folk, especially anything Celtic (and no, not the Dubliners, thankyouverymuch) and British. Think Oysterband, Dervish, Omnia, Faun, Cecile Corbel, Shooglenifty...) in Edinburgh are dangerous locations for wallet and credit card, should I have any savings left I'm going to get myself a Couture Bubble Wrap (oh yes) and maybe some earrings. Something big and dangling...in silver...oh yes.

What is the worst place a knitter can cut herself?
Top of her right index finger...blimey, I'm knitting lace on 2.5mm needles and keep poking this one spot. Tried switching projects - knitting tweed lace on 4.0mm needles. And yes, bingo, found the spot again. Argh!

Tea time! Time to wind down, scrub face and teeth, cuddle the cats and pester the husband! In exactly that order!

Dark as the night - Astrodome, Northern Lights and Fallen Angel

Some days can't go wrong...
Had the day off and had an appointment at the dentist. While this is not something to look forward to it turned into a great trip - when we met Miran and the kids on the way! And with the same destination, well, almost, theirs was across the street from our dentist.
And as luck would have it we were all finished at the same time (no holes, yeah!) and while waiting for the bus we caught up on a lot of stuff.
They headed home, Wout headed into the office and I had another appointment at my favourite hairdresser, to be followed by a shopping trip to get new jeans.
Both were successful - though not visible in this picture.

After all was said and done I returned home, enjoying the peace and quiet, the cats, some music and the knitting needles:



Astromony, a star!
Hat: Urchin (Knitty pattern by Ysolda)
Yarn: Fyberspates Cutie in Indigo, one hank (100m)
Needles: 9mm

It's huge, it's soft and it's really warm. I love it!

Neckscarf: Northern Lights, previously finished and matching nicely

Brooch: Peri mischievous fallen angel, design by Brenda Temple

The pattern is very well written and error-free and the yarn is simply yummy! I have one hank left, this will be incorporated into the Blue Monday sweater I'm designing. Freeform knitting, no pattern, simply following the yarn and my mind.

Oh, and I had the best coffee today...a Latte Mokka. Just what I needed - and I can find the way back. Sorry, I'm a coffee fetishist ;-)
Tea is for the quiet and relaxed afternoons and evenings, coffee is for getting started and going...

Make Up 2003

We continued our cleaning project and this time Wouter re-discovered one of my old CDs - with pictures from a photoshoot back in 2003.



An art student looked for a plus size model for a light/shadow study.
I never had a make up artist take care of me and honestly - make up never looked so good on me.
And I felt good!



Lipstick is still not my favourite, I prefer my lip creams and balms, but I adore what has been done to my eyes. I wish I could repeat it...

One thing I'm addicted to is scent! Both oils as well as Eau de Perfume, with a tendency for dark and warm undertones. I have quite a collection and I mix and match daily.

Other than this:
my old PC, Alfons, died on Friday. Long live Matilda! Even though she runs Vista and we are not friends yet I'm getting the hang of this OS. If this is userfriendly then I'd like to see unfriendly!

My Ravelompics project is done! Now I will finish my other desk project, my travel projects and start Fanilla with the Arauncia Cotton I got.

Two weeks until vacation. I still witness drive by management, or management by accident and I go along with it. And if I don't make it I don't make it. Bad or absent management is not my problem.

My birthday was nice and quiet, just the way I like it! My family called, and that was the most important part for me. Wouter and I went for dinner, I got a really wonderful travel fountain pen set and two books from him! And a Scottish rubber duck ;-)

Save the love

Save the love - the next time I'm in Cologne I have to check this place out.

I came across this via stylespotted.com, and having one of the worst (working-)weekends in years this is exactly the message I needed to see.

I'm on operational standby since Friday - and at 9:30pm Friday something happened that hasn't happened in years - a unit shutdown! And the most important unit. I've been on the phone mostly ever since, having slept a whopping four hours. And it's far from over.
Oh - there goes the emergency phone again....later...

For Bonzie

My dear, let's see if we can get a better look at the lining of one of my favourite fashion items lately.
Hurray for orange!
And the back - unfortunately I don't have a better picture of the backless back.
And yes, she has runs in her pantyhose ;-)

I think I have to listen to Valravn right now - her voice is close to Bjork - which, funnily enough - I don't like. Not my sort of music, I'm afraid.

Tomorrow will be poi swinging, scarf knitting, Pixie pampering day. Officially!

Dancing the rain away at Castlefest

Yesterday we ventured of to Lisse, to the annual and our first ever Castlefest.
The weather started promising, but we packed the rain gear anyway.

Great fun! Seriously great fun!
The Scottish settlement:


Ladies on stilts:


A lots of stalls and booths to visit! We only bought little, like Omnia's latest CD Alive and their DVD Pagan Folk Lore.

The Wickerman - later drenched in rain:


We have met this troll now for the second time and I swear - the third time we are going to take him home!


We listened to Irfan. I love their music - if you like Dead Can Dance I'm sure you will love Irfan. I'm always curious to hear if bands can actually perform - and yes, Irfan can! Dancing in the dust.


We ventured some more and I got some new flag poi! They are shorter than my first set and I can see the improvement already!

We got garlic bread with toppings and licked our fingers.
We got medieaval cookies for dessert.
We met two old friends and a fellow LARPer
And then it started to rain. Seriously! So we got the rain gear out - the husband in yellow and yours truly in red. And on we ventured.
Came across Giftig's booth - YARN! I couldn't resist, of course I couldn't resist! Three hanks of lovely dyed 4 play in purple and pink is now mine and will become a shawl. I paid for my purchase already when my husband exclaimed "You need this!" and held up a green felt hat. "It's a Pixie hat, you are a Pixie, so you need this." I tried it on and liked it! So I got it.
I was asked by the lovely creator to put it on, so she could say good-bye to it. Who am I to not do this!
And the next I heard was "You are a strawberry!" That's what you are - you look like a strawberry!"
The whole booth and various customers started laughing. Loud!


We walked on, back to the main stage, to listen to Valravn. It was still either pouring down or drizzling. But never dry. We got some lovely apple juice and water while some technical problems were fixed.

And then we danced. And danced some more.

She is GREAT! And I love the dress! Bonzie, it reminded me of some of your creations - your shrugs! Not sure if you can see the underside of the dress, but it's striped in white and blue!

And the strawberry danced in a rain cape with a felt hat and sandals. You can't see the sandals, though:


When we had enough of the rain and wet feet we made our way back home! But not without getting into a conversation with a fellow traveller on the train about knitting.



I had my Sassa Lynne shawl (Who Knits?) with me - it's light and I know the pattern by heart. The compliment regarding the wonderful yarn belongs to Sassa Lynne!