Sunshine, showers, sunshine, downpours, sunshine- you get the idea.

Isn't he great!
There are two, one much smaller than the other.They run along the windowsill then on to the bird table- I love them, they seem more interested in bread than the bird food, and the birds come back as soon as the squiggles go.

Cheeky little blighters!

This is the first year I have seen fledgelings being fed at the table- the bird table- the blue tits arrive in a great flap and fluster, always en masse, like a bunch of aunties fussing around a baby. Backwards and forwards, constantly, flapping like mad things, shoving seeds and peckings from the suet balls into the littles. Fabulous.

In comparison, I have been decidedly slug like. My hands have been too bad to do much, certainly cannot knit. Thankfully most of the time I can manage some crochet, the worst pain is in my left wrist.  I am having that one injected this week, and the right the week after. You know it hurts a lot when you are actively looking forward to having a needle stuck into your wrist!

So .... crochet. I became quite obsessed with the Japanese flower (or my rather loose interpretation).

 

This is going to be a dress for me, and will either look really good or absolutely ridiculous.
Time will tell.

Whatever.
I am enjoying it.

This is not a dress, is currently languishing on the floor awaiting blocking, and is destioned to be - well, wait and see.
Not literally- my current rate of finishing things is -erm- zilch.

I have listed some sheep brooches here, after wrestling Small Bob who took a liking to them.

From Small Bob and me, enjoy the sun.

Hi honey I'm home!

Long time no see!
A combination of bereavement, health, lurve, and the eccy peccies = no enthusiasm to blog.
But as I do like to skim my photos on here every now and again, like a scrapbook, I thought I would restart that whole blogging milarky.
So here I am! Look! That's my chubby little foot!

Firstly the bereavement - my fabulous, kind, generous and rather cantankerous Aunty died mid-March, after her cancer returned with a serious vengeance. I could write reams about my Aunty, and also about my incredible mum who went to visit as usual one week last year and ended up, literally, popping back home maybe three times over the year that followed.

According to my Aunt, her Macmillan nurse, her consultant etc, my mum brought my Aunt back from the brink through sheer bloody-mindedness, love and devotion. But things finally defeated even my mum.
With her usual generosity my Aunt sent me some dosh to pay for a few days in my beloved Scarborough. Instead, beloved T suggested we stay closer to Aunty and pop in to say hello.

(we went to Whitley Bay for a few days, absolutely lovely)

I can never thank my beloved T enough- it turned out to be a hello and a very emotional, loving goodbye, as that was the last day she was able to talk. From a shocked 'what are you doing here!'when I walked into her room, to holding my hand and telling me that life is too short and to make the most of every moment, every single second spent with her was priceless. Lots of hair stroking, kisses, handholding. She looked shockingly ill yet very beautiful still. She died a few days later, at home, with my mum holding her.
And I cannot type more about that.

 I still have't had a good cry because it still feels completely unreal and untrue. No way can she be dead, no no no.

(Why yes, we kept the funeral flowers in my Aunty's beautiful garden, so mum could see them all the time. Is that a bit odd? Nah, surely not!)

 

Right. (clears throat and blows nose).

Health - seems a tad shallow writing about my health after that intro! But my Aunty would tell me off if I said that to her, so here goes.
I am finally back in the medical loop. I am apparently going to start Enteracept next but because of my medical history and on going problems (aside from the RA), I need to see:

gynaecologist (to check for cancer/endo)
dermatologist (to check some bumps on my face to rule out cancer)
gastroenterologist (as apparently I should have had a consultation after all the things found during the endoscopy)
dental hospital (am ignoring this one as long as possible, the words 'saw into your jaw' made me want to cry)
injection clinic (2 visits to have carpal tunnel jabs into wrists again)

I am not allowed anything except methotrexate until I am declared cancer free! Cripes.
Recent scans, x-rays etc showed increased damage in my toes, hence the increased pain when walking, ditto my neck. Surprisingly despite spectacular pain my wrists are no worse, as the nurse said I am having many flare ups one after the other but thankfully it isn't causing further damage.

BelovedT is fabulous, and determined to understand as much as he can about RA and M.E. and the whole drugs /side effects side. I must admit I could get very used to being looked after so well!

I mean, I even get taken out for picnics, driving around for ages to find somehere flat that doesn't require much walking on my part. The ducks were just past Bolton Abbey, and quite determined to get into the car!

(This was up in Esholt where the original Emmerdale WoolPack pub is, a ridiculously pretty village. Too busy in summer, but this was just outside the village and beautiful)

 

 

Handies are too sore to do much knitting at all, but thankfully crochet is a bit easier,especially on my left (ie the worst) wrist.

I have bunting:

 

 

which is also in my little Etsy shop here:

 

thesulkycat  .

 

 

 I am currently spending time on a throw for my bed, in greys and pinks- might finish that in 2020. And bags. Watch this space.

 

Right ,that's your lot for today.  BelovedT just sent me a text, he is almost back at work (he has an 8+ hour drive and a 2+ hour boat trip to get here /back again each time). 'Scuse me while I go all starry eyed.

Toodles.

A tit free zone. Truly.

I seem to be knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting - and not finishing anything!
I tell a porky - I have finished 5 'things', piccies to come, simply could NOT stop knitting them!

I made a pile of this:

(several times over, many many ends), made 20 of these:

I think they look like squids or octopuseseseses like this.
They are not.
I also made these:

and might even start sewing them up tomorrow.
Maybe.

Wait -there's more!

I am making these:

(not black, very deep blue) for a Speshul Friend. Really enjoying knitting them and must make a pair for me (in black, not very deep blue!).

Quite a few of these.

Lordy, I could have knit three cardies in the time I have been making little things!

There is more. Crochet is happening, sort of.

I am ridiculously, childishly pleased with myself for managing to make this (my first attempt the other week was an arimugumyummygummythingummy cat and it was an absolutely DISASTER). But this worked, sort of.

Once again I seem to have chosen a pattern written in ancient Egyptian, it made absolutely no sense! I knew the pattern designer was not English, but for a pattern I had to pay for , translated into English, I really do expect it to be fit for purpose. Grammatical errors, spelling mistakes all fine, but blimey, I couldn't work from it at all.

So I am using a similar FREE pattern, and using the general idea of the one I bought, I can't give any more details as it is for a swap, and would give it away instantly!

So yes, I am managing to start things, many things! I think that's one really good thing about keeping a blog, being able to look back and realise that yes, even though I feel days / weeks go past without achieving a damned thing, the reality is that THINGS GET MADE!

I am also slowly but very surely attacking upstairs, 45 minutes a day is all I can manage physically but by hell it's making a big differene. Mentally that's a huge boost.

The Black Dog is sniffing at my heels at the moment, so every snippet of positivity is a good things.

That's it for now - I am hoping these arrive tomorrow, the postie has either become deranged (or it's a new driver) as parcels have arrived at the ungodly hour of 7am ...

wool may be involved ....

Toodles.

Trippy pills.

My Dr agrees that I seem to have all the symptoms of Fibromyalgia, as well as the ME and the RA etc etc etc. Joy.

Although it's a depressing addition, it certainly explains a hell of a lot of the things that don't quite fit with the RA - plus I have had a dreadfully painful neck, both sides, for ages now. Anyway, she topped up my usual tablets, added in amitriptyline and stronger anti-emetics and I started them last night.
Slept like a baby, apart from some bizarreness involving Romney and Obama, I know not why - BUT today I have been so spaced out and zombified! Not totally unpleasant until the shakes started - I think the amitrip didn't like something I am already taking, so will have to experiment until it's more workable.

Apart from that -

Whilst sorting through the horros of upstairs, I dug out a dress I must have cut out a year ago. I still like the pattern and the fabric is lovely, so was chuffed to bits - cutting things out is the hard part with sore hands. Have started sewing it, done the back, and need to mark all the pleats at the front neckline - other than that it's a very fast, simple job - a day's work if I had thought to mark everything in advance.
Should be nice with tights and boots and a cardi for Autumn. Could even work for over Winter if I find a nice knit fabric.

I also dug out this:

which is destined to become part of a 40s / 50s style dress. The skulls are a slightly odd colour, a creamy peachy shade which I wasn't too keen on but it has grown on me and not as in yer face as pure white.
I love sewing - have left my machine set up on the table as I cannot lift it out every time I want to sew, and might get my daughter to help me cut things out so I have plenty of things ready to sew.

Knitting-wise, the dress of madness is coming on nicely - the bodice only needs about another inch or two then the sleeves. The skirt - yikes! For some reasons I had imagined it needing maybe 20 crochet motifs but 80+ - arrrggghhhhhhhhh! Erm - so far I have done 4....

Good job I don't mind moths (well I do mind if they are scoffing my wool, but I don't loathe them like I do buggerflies) - this whopper was perfectly happy in the living room the other day.
I like moths - I like the dustiness, the colours, the furry fuzzy bodies and the general chunkiness of them - there is something earthy about them. Buggerflies - shudder, I cannot stand them!

And to finish with, after all the furore on the news about Kate Middleton being naive enough to whip her kit off (this does tend to be a technological age with long range lenses etc - surely there are plenty of places to sunbathe topless othere than a country where Diana, Charles, Fergie have all been papped - not at once cos that would be puke-inducing). How many of you have actually had a peep online at the naughty pics?
No?

Ah yes - you at the back, thought you would!

But for those who have resisted, would you like a sneak peek at Kate's tit?
Yes?


Here ya go:



ready?

sure?

hehehe

Today's post

will be brought to you mostly by the colours pink and .green.

Been a rough week healthwise, but never mind - more ooman today thankfully (have been doing Olympic worthy sleeping and it seems to have helped).

The crochet throw thingy is growing slowly but surely - more slowly than surely I think. I am really enjoying it - no need to look at a pattern, no need to jot anything down as I go, just round and round, finish, start another. Bliss.

I joined most of the ones I had finished and couldn't work out quite why it looked such a pitiful piece of messy tat:

Surely this was how I did it before? But no - I have crocheted them but just a single chain running like a - well, like a running stitch. Yuk.

So I unpicked this lot - thankfully it just pulls out easily - and started again, this time with a treble crochet.

I think it's a treble anyway - the idea was to have the deep pink joining all the hexagons and showing on the top of the seam, as a raised pink row.

I know it isn't perfect but I am really pleased with bit - miles to go still! The chunk that's complete (and ends sewn in on the reverse) is about a cushion size. So if I get really bored I can at least make it into a garden cushion ;-)

Even the scary dayglo PINK is bearable in small amounts:

Considering this is so cheap I think it looks pretty decent.

Knitting wise, the grey cardi of despair and swearing continues. Once again I came unstuck trying to follow the chart and instructions from the pattern, I think I tried 4 or 5 times to knit a front and gave up, went back to 'my' written out version and that's been much better.
I really like the pattern itself, and love the waist shaping (done by decreases and increases on the fronts and back, not in the side seam) but bloody Nora it's a pain in the derriere. Plus this happened on the back:

A chuffing great ruffle. I don't mind ruffles, in fact I rather LIKE  ruffles - but there wasn't a ruffle in sight in the pattern! Hopefully it will smooth out when blocked and worn.

Hmmmm. I know the trailing vine pattern is going to open when blocked, but I really do hope it looks better finished than it does at the moment. Back, one front, one sleeve finished so far. Hmmmm ....

It has rained here every day and every night for AGES AND AGES AND AGES. So I haven't been any further than the bin for a while - haven't been out of the gate since Tuesday (not sure if that's because I have felt so ill, or if I have felt so ill BECAUSE I haven't been outside). Managed to grab 15 minutes last night when it stopped raining to plant out some more bits, including cabbage seedlings and some parsnip seeds.

I have things potted inside, the spider plant spiderling and the Mexican Hat plants are still alive. I also planted some lemon pips in the vain hope that they might sprout:

I don't have many rooms, so not many windows - so the poor living room windowsill is now a mix of 'nice' things and plantpots.
This beauty has just started flowering:

Pink and green, perfect.
My mum has my nan's old flowering cactus and it is an absolute beast of a plant, seriously huge! This is only small, but it flowers beautifully every year.

I bought a few of these, and a longer multi-tiered version instead of a hanging basket by the front door. Haven't tried them before and I need to buy some plants to go in, but hopefully they will look nice against the walls. I am running out of ground space so thought I would start going upwards!

And something nice to end with for today, the blossom tree of unknown heritage is still in full bloom - it's such a shame that the weather's been manly as I think it's just about past it's best now and will start to drop soon. Usually I manage to get more 'outside' time with it by now, and get to smell it properly. So I cheated and brought some inside:

I doubt it will last long in here but it is so pretty, such delicate shades of pink (and green). Must take some close up photos and try painting one day ....

Enjoy the weekend.

I am a Hooker.

Madam!
Hands were simply too sore for knitting and I get really twitchy if I don't have something to occupy my hands if I am watching telly or a film. So I spent an evening becoming friends with crochet again - haven't done any for about a year (when working on the summer bag pattern which still needs finishing!).
I couldn't decide between a square or a hexagon to make a summery bright blanket for the garden bench, 2 hours later I had a whole ONE hexagon / flower to show for it - the same pattern as the bag I am working on but what the heck.

Cheapo acrylic, the colours are fab - except for one!

The end one is parchment,m a sort of putty colour - defo not white as it seems in the photo. BUT the next pink is seriously bright - doesn't show it's full scariness no matter how often I photographed it.

Think dayglo socks.
Think headache inducing.
;-)
Have used it very sparingly so far, but I really think it's going to be a no no - am sure I have some other pinks and greens upstairs, will have a look later.
By the end of Saturday I had this:

(Grand Prix qualifiers, late night bosing) and by the end of Sunday this:

(Grand Prix). Daughter's birthday yesterday, how dare she interrupt crocheting!
I have a serious amount of tidying to do before Wednesday so little of anything going on today craftwise - plus I am struggling with the damned RA. Yesterday was pretty grim, pain, sore throat, very tired - admitted defeat and was in bed by 8.30ish last night which is unheard of. Sleeping tablet helped me sleep through the pain most of the night - shopping's been delivered this morning so I suspect I will be back up to bed very soon.
Some days it just can't be beaten or ignored or coped with, and giving in is the only solution.

Elsewhere, I have a nice burn on my hand caused by having considerably weaker hands than I always think (thanks to the RA) - struggled getting tea out of the oven and hit my hand on the grill.

Since the pic it blistered then burst, and is now rather angry looking and sore. Grrrrrr. I also spilt a (thankfully cold) pan of oil over myself the other morning - I have become much clumsier since being ill. Bloody thing.

Garden wise - I am also planting bits for inside, I have very limited space inside for plants (or anything much) but things tend to thrive. I have some teeny tiny Mexican Hat plantlings to plant - they tend to just need popping on top of compost rather than shoving into it:

and am trying some lemon seeds, which will either grow or not!
I potted up a Spiderling from one of my bigger plants the other day:

Why yes that IS  a little smiling face there.

He is a little paper face. Makes me smile.
I have a fabulous gift from a fabulous friend, more of that soon.

Enjoy the day.

PINK!

Today's post is brought to you by the colour pink!
It wasn't intentional but when I was uploading my piccies there is definitely a bias to the land of pink.

As usual I lost a few days to the dreaded meths (to anyone new to this blog that's methotrexate ;-)  ), I thought I got away with it on Saturday but by Sunday midday I felt seriously lousy and very sick. The prolonged insanity of the Canadian Grand Prix suited my mood though - hours watching the rain fall, brilliant. How good a race was it in the end, far too much excitement!

Today is a bit grim, I didn't sleep much because of the pain in my poor chubby tootsies, my foot cannot even stand the weight of my microwave heat thingies today and now my wrist and knee have decided to play too.

The DLA malarky went as well as it could go I think - the Dr was humanish. I don't know how much they can argue with the medical facts they have from both hospitals and my gp, also the rather impressive bag of medication I had to talk him through - anyway, it's out of my hands now until I hear the verdict. They did authorise my taxi fare and paid for my return taxi home so that was nice.

Right.
Pink.

Mum treated me to a hair dye on Friday so I took the girls out.

Erm. Not LITERALLY. My girls stayed firmly under wraps for which mercy I am sure everyone was grateful.

But girls of the penguin variety went with me.

And when nobody was looking (I hope) they took turns playing at being hairdressers.

My hair is a slightly redder version of Daphne's feathers so she is feeling rather smug (poor deluded soul thinks I am copying her, ha), Daf says she would be a brilliant hair stylist and could make me look 'almost human!'

I told her she would get her eyebrow feathers permed if she didn't behave.

Where Daphne leads Lizzy is never far behind.

Lizzy thinks nail art is more her thing.

Better than Daffers and waxing methinks .....

The teeny tiny garden continues to make me smile, even on a manky grey wet day like today (did I nod off on the settee and wake up in November?).

I am thrilled to bits that the hydrangea is looking good!

I seem to have, thankfully, got some of my crafty mojo back. Sewiung wise nothing more exciting than turning up some trousers to fit my stumpy little legs, but the bag I am making up as I go is growing (and I am chuffed to bits with it).

I wanted visible green seaming, and have no idea (and very little patience) about 'correct' ways to do it so I just ran double crochet along the seams - I like the raised edge this gives, even though there is definitely a 'right and wrong' side to the ridge.

But for me, yes this works well.

I am planning to fold this section round to become a front and back side (not backside) to the bag and have started playing with the rest of the front:

I still find the Rowan Handknit Cotton very easy on my hands (possibly wont get anymore done today as my wrist isn't enjoying this typing) - I have all the many other bits and bobs for the bag so I might get it finished in the next week or so.

My daughter's best friend from school had a beautiful baby girl yesterday (how old does that make me feel, I remember when they skived off together and were both caught out - her mum and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at their inept naughtiness!). I am going to line this little jacket and maybe add a zip, I know new mums tend to be inundated with newborn clothing so I hope this will be useful in a couple of months.

Lousy photo - it's a very soft green which my mum says is vile! Ha!

And I am also playing about with a design of the non-subtle variety for a baby jacket / cardigan, and actually KNITTING IT instead of thinking about it.

This is a sleeve, and I rather like it so far.

More than anything it simply feels so good to have been able to get some knitting / crafting done.

Finally.

I appear to be trendy.

(insert snort of laughter here)

I spotted this in the most recent Millie Makes, which I still think is a fine and dandy little magazine.

Guess who bought this fabbo book when it came out?

Creative Walls, lovely book.

I hope everyone is well - best wishes,

Sulky the Trendsetter.