Return from Dorset

We had a lovely break in Dorset, as I mentioned before we stopped on the journey to visit Stonhenge. It was foggy and so you couldn't see the people walking around the stones very easily which added to the eerie atmosphere.

I half expected an ancient Briton to appear from behind one of the stones clad in animal skin and carrying a spear followed by a group of his people coming to Stonehenge to perform a ceremony. It was bitterly cold and in the eerie stillness all that could be heard was the cawing of the crows as they sat on top of the stones and the distant hiss of traffic as it passed by in the fog.

We visited my parents and spent a day out in Wimborne Minster, mostly in the market but we did have a wander around the town. We also visited Sherborne where I found some teaspoons to add to my collection.

This photo is of Archie (my friends cat) sitting at the top of her stairs. He is very cute and friendly and loves company. He likes to spend his day on the roof of the shed keeping an eye on the surrounding gardens and sleeping.

Knitting WIPs are a Bunny, Sheep & Monkey, I haven't finished anything in ages so I'm off to do some knitting now. Today was a Training Day at school, back to normal tomorrow! Hope you all have a good week. Jane X

Holidays

Half term holiday: Monday Em and I went shopping in the morning and visited a friend in the afternoon. (She's got a gorgeous cat called Archie, I will post a picture of him next time as I'm on the laptop). Today was supposed to be a 'houseful of friends' day, but I woke up with a killer headache which turned into a migraine. So my friend Linda came to spring Em from a day spent tiptoeing around me and she brought me some painkillers too. An angel in disguise. This evening I have just surfaced after a very sleepy day feeling a bit fragile, but definately better.
Tomorrow we are off to Dorset to see family, stopping on the way to visit Stonehenge which is Em's favourite place.
During a few minutes blogging I visited Laura at seekingsaknity
and was very sad to see a photo of the improptu memorial at University of Illinois after the shootings last week.
I 'met' Laura thro' crocheting squares for the blankets for survivors and the families of those who died in the Virginia Tech shootings last year. I started blogging after reading all the different blogs connected with the afghan making. Please keep the families and friends of both Universities in your thoughts and prayers this week. Many thanks Jane xx

Wood Chips and Valentine's

A further update to my previous post about the wood piles on Worthing beach, which were caused by the sinking of the Ice Prince off the coast of Dorset in January. The tides carried the cargo of wood in a long slick of floating timber which was a hazard to shipping onto the beaches of Sussex - go here to read the conclusion

For Valentine's day Tony gave me a book called "The Last of The Horsemen" (all about the last farm still using horses instead of machines) and I bought a bunch of red roses for us to share(on offer in T's).

Happy Valentine's Day

Finally the secret knitting project is finished. I found the pattern in Let's Knit magazine for a hot water bottle cover, which I adapted and changed to a heart shaped cushion as a valentine's gift for Tony(he loved it) He also got a bar of chocolate.

Trying to knit in secret was quite a challenge, i had a little time in the morning before work and in the afternoon after school. Took me about 2 weeks.

Sunshine and Promenade

Saturday: Em went to a Mardi Gras sleepover with the Guides.

We went for a drive down to Littlehampton, walked along the harbour front and spent time watching the boating activity. The sun was warm on our faces but the wind was cold, the views were beautiful.

Later we drove along to Worthing for a walk along the beach to see how much of the wood was still awaiting clearance. Quite a lot of wood is still there although it has now been gathered up into huge heaps at the top of the beach. Almost the full length of Worthing beach is fenced off to keep the public out of the way of the big diggers working to clear the wood.

We walked along to the pier and on the way stopped at the former Lido, looking back at the machines sifting the beach for wood. On our return walk we noticed the Parks department are redesigning and replanting the gardens at the end of Heene Road. This photo was taken in the summer of 1998, it will be interesting to see the finished garden this summer and how it will compare to the old gardens.

Sunday: Collected Em, she had a lovely time. Yesterday - they did High School Musical karoke, went out into the woods exploring and other activities, in the evening they visited each others rooms and went to bed around 11pm! today they had a Mardi Gras party after breakfast.

Mid week blogging!

Unusual for me to be blogging mid-week during term time (not enough to be writing about) but brilliant Monkee Maker has done it again. Not only has she produce the most gorgeous silver back Gorilla/monkee made of knit, but she is raffling him along with lots of other lovely goodies for a very good cause. So please pop over to visit and buy a raffle ticket to help a brave little girl called Ellie..... click on the link above or over on my sidebar. Thank you Jane x

Party & Other Things

On Friday Em had her three friends round for a meal and DVD - they watched HP & The Order of the Phoenix, followed by Pizza and cheesy chips with a Tatty Teddy Birthday cake after.

At the book stall on Saturday I found some books

Then Tony found a clock in the antiques shop for a £1 and it was working. He collects clocks mostly mechanical although one or two electric clocks have crept in.

Then I found this beautiful alarm clock for £1 but it wasn't working. I decided to buy it and see if I could repair it. In the afternoon at home I carefully took the clock apart and found that the clock had been regularly oiled, so much that it was every where inside the case and round the face but thankfully not to much on the movement. Just drying off the excess oil and putting it all back together then cleaning the top and bottom plate up as they are brass, made the clock look and sound much better. It has a very quiet tick, It is an Oris - swiss made, 800 cal with an 8 day movement produced in 1952. The clock is working beautifully and keeping perfect time.

This afternoon Em spent some time making up a small Thomas Kinkade jigsaw of Stepping Stone Cottage. I love his pictures they are so full of colour and hope. I'd just love to live in this beautiful cottage.

When I studied sculpture and wood carving one of my teachers took us up to London to Tate Modern & The Courtauld Gallery. At the end of the day he asked me what I had liked best of all and was shocked when I said that my favourites were the older style of paintings and I didn't much like the modern stuff as it didn't make much sense! He then pressed me for my favourite painter - which I finally admitted was Thomas Kinkade needless to say in his eyes I was a lost cause! For the rest of the year I was forbidden to use older art as my influence which I resented. I studied Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore and managed to tick all the boxes as far as the teacher was concerned, but my favourite is still Thomas Kinkade although I now appreciate some modern art, mostly Hepworth.