I had decided to make meatballs tonight. And make them I did. Except that I didn’t have two of the ingredients that were called for in the recipe that I got from my mom. So did I do the neighborly thing and ask next door if they had any? Nope. I improvised. And they taste pretty good too. They just aren’t meat_ball_ shaped. I’m calling them BBQ meatflats. Because they’re flat. Y’see, the first batch that I tried frying up crumbled all to pieces. But the next ones I smooshed flat with my fingers before I put them in the pan and they were fine. Weird. But still, they taste good. And that’s the main thing.

Went for another hike today. Just my luck that the moment I get to the access land the sun goes into hiding and the wind picks up. As soon as I get back in the house (which was like two hours later) the sun comes out again. Didn’t stick around for very long though; the rain chased it away. So it’s a good thing I went hiking when I did. Took more photos. Will post them later. Just wanted to say how nice it was to find a woodsy area where I can just listen to the wind rustle the leaves instead of having to drown out the traffic with my iPod.

Oh and I’ve accepted a place at Nottingham Trent for next year. Apparently I’m expected to write at least 3000 words a week. I’m pretty sure that’s a target I can reach without too much difficulty if I’m in the groove (that is to say, inspired). Unfortunately, at least in Aber, that didn’t happen very often. Then again, the workload there was very light, unlike in Montana where I was writing constantly (mainly essays though). But still, it was writing something.

The TO LET sign is still in our front yard. Maybe I should call the estate agents and ask what to do with it.

Planning on going to a carboot sale tomorrow morning. Except that the washing machine repair man is coming between 9 and noon. Oliver’ll be in though, which means that I can go browse other peaople’s junk, so hopefully the repair man won’t ask too many questions about what’s wrong with the thing.

Right, time for some cheesecake ice cream while I watch Grey’s Anatomy. Weirdly enough, a pint of Haegen Daas was cheaper by over a £1 than a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. Usually they’re the same price…

The new house is great. Been here almost two weeks now and we’re moved in as much as we could be. As in, we’ve brought over all of our things and I’ve put away as much as I’ve been able to, but we still need things like a TV and a coffee table and nightstands and stuff. Like right now, our living room consists of two couches, a painting, Oliver’s moniter that functions as a TV set up on a dining room chair… yep, we’re livin’ the good life. :P

The first problem that we encountered was the fridge. It was turned on, the light came on when the door opened, it hummed… It was just pretending to be a fridge. All of those signs that I just listed? They do not equal the fridge actually keeping things cold. *rolls eyes* So, after waiting a whole night with the fridge turned up onto the highest/coldest setting and it still not being cold, our wonderful landlady sorted out a new fridge for us on Tuesday (we discovered the problem on Monday) and it came on Thursday. ^_^

Then the next problem was the washing machine. As in, I turned it on, it started up and I left the room. I came back about an hour later when everything was quiet. Before I opened the door, I noticed that the dial hadn’t moved to the end, but since the machine wasn’t doing anything, I figured that this machine was different from the other machines I’ve used before. Well, it hadn’t finished since everything was still sopping wet. I set it onto spin and after about five minutes I stopped it and took the almost bone dry towels out. I didn’t think much of it and a few days later, I tried doing another load again. Same thing happened. Our landlord came over today to pick up the broken fridge and the garden rubbish, took a look at the machine and then later our landlady sent me a message saying that a guy’ll be over to fix the machine on Saturday. Hopefully, I’ll get to start doing some laundry soon because it’s starting to pile up.

On Sunday I mowed the lawn. Lemme tell ya, it’s not easy mowing uphill or on a slope. I missed spots. But the day was nice and sunny and warm so I had fun. I so want to go out to buy plants now and pot them. Possibly some herbs that I could use in the kitchen. And some plants like Peace Lilies, Boston Ferns and Spider Plants. I’ve heard that they’re very resilient and won’t die easily. ;) I just need to find a place that sells plants. Ideas? (Oliver has suggested B&Q…) Then yesterday I braved the outbuilding again (kinda scary in there) and got some scissor/clipper things. There were two pairs in there, both covered in cobwebs. I nudged the pair on the ground closest to me and wouldn’t you know it, spiders fleeing everywhere. Squick-fest, especially since I was in flip-flops. I decided to go for the other pair that was a bit farther away on the counter, but seemed less webbed. More spiders fled, but not towards me, so I grabbed the clippers and hotfooted it out of there. I trimmed the edges of the lawn that I couldn’t get with the mower and then a bit of the bush next to the driveway. I also pulled up weeds. I like puttering around the garden. ^_^

I keep hearing pigeon cooing coming from the (non-functional) fireplace. I craned to see up there and it’s dark, so I didn’t see much. Nothing came flying at me (a vision that I could picture very very clearly while I was on my hands and knees) so maybe the birds are on the roof just near the chimney.

I was going to post about my hiking trips (I have discovered The Back Edge!), but this is getting long and the hiking post will have lots of pics so I’ll leave it until tomorrow.

P.S. I never realized how much clothing I actually have until I put it all in one place. Yes, I got both closets and I still need a dresser for the rest the doesn’t fit on hangers.

And this is a knitting update. Lots of pics. You have been warned. Oh and if you don’t understand the knitting chat (don’t worry, there won’t be much of that since it’s all already on Ravelry), just ignore it and admire all of the Finished Objects (FOs). ^_^

Fawkes Socks

This is Fawkes; pattern is by the late Momma Monkey and she designed this as a part of the Harry Potter series of socks to celebrate the last book coming out. I looooooove the yarn. Lisa Souza rocks with her dye jobs. It’s the first time ever that I’ve done all of the repeats that the pattern has said and it still came out very short. Not that I mind, since socks that are longer in the leg have this annoying habit of slouching down to my ankles.

Just some proof that I actually have completed both socks and not just pretending. :P

Autumn Fruits Scarf

And this is what I’ve made with the leftovers from the socks. And I still have some yarn left. Possibly enough for a pair of baby booties.

Anyway, the pattern is from one of my current favorite knitting pattern books: Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby. The center consists of three rows of the Melon stitch (from the Melon Shawl) with two sets of faggotting separating them. Such an easy pattern to memorize once you get the hang of how to form the Melon stitch. I decided to use the knitted-on lace border from the Curved Bell Shawl instead of the border that came with the Melon Shawl on the ends.

Bloom Scarf

And this is my crocheted scarf. I think I got the flower pattern from LionBrand.com. Anyways, it’s kinda short and not actually that warm since it’s so hole-y, but it’s meant to be used in the summer anyway. I mean, that is what I made it for, to use in the summer evenings when it’s getting a bit chilly. Definitely not to be used as wind protection (mainly because it won’t provide any).

It’s surprisingly heavy too. The yarns are Mirasol Hacho in two different colorways (the names elude me right now) and some Rowan Cashwool as the center. The cool thing is that the Mirasol Hacho is a Fairtrade yarn, so I get something pretty and get to help others at the same time. ^_^

Teeny Tiny Bear

And this is what I made in a day when I wanted a project to zoom by. Ain’t it cute? (Yes, I do know it has no eyes or nose embroidered on it, but I like it as it is.)

The estate agent called about an hour ago. We got the house! We’re signing the rental agreement and getting the keys tomorrow.

*does happy dance*

:D

And now I should get back to packing.

We’ve decided on renting the house. Today I went and got the paperwork that needs to be signed (I’ll take that in on Tuesday since Monday is a bank holiday). Tomorrow Oliver and I have an appointment to go open up a joint account where the rent and bills and stuff will be paid from. So we’ll be moving in soon! Squee! :D

I’m almost done with my Autumn Fruits scarf. I’m calling it that because the color of the yarn makes the melon pattern look more like apples and berries and pumpkins. Now I just need to do the lace edging and then it’ll be done. Well, need to block it as well. But still. My next project will most likely be a Calla (I think that’s what the pattern’s called) in the same dusty rose bamboo yarn that I used for my modified Bad Penny. I feel like I need to use up my yarn since I just went and bought some more today. I only bought two skeins though. One of them was so that my Clapotis scarf could be made longer (it’s very very very short right now). The other one I got because it was pretty. And all the other knitters keep telling me that sock yarn doesn’t really count as stash.

I’m pretty sure I had more to write about (can’t think of it), but right now I really really want to start working on the lace border. So I’ll write later once I’ve remember what I wanted to chat about…

I’ve made an appointment to see a house later on today. Except I’m feeling a bit icky (as in sore throat and kinda nauseous). Nauseous + bus riding = not that good. So now I’m debating on whether to call the letting agency to ask if I can move my appointment to tomorrow. I’m pretty sure I won’t throw up, but I just don’t relish the idea of getting an even more icky feeling.

My Aww-tum Fawkes socks are done! Pics will be up soon-ish (like in a few days).

Not that much has happened in the last week or so. I left Aber and came to Sheffield on Friday. My dad was almost afraid that we wouldn’t get everything to fit in the car, but we did after a little rearranging. ;)

Then Saturday was spent looking at cars. The Ford salesman would not stop talking and that pretty much put me off of getting a car from there. So after about five hours of sitting in various cars, I decided on either a Smart or a Mercedes-Benz A-Class. A Smart would be better in the city (since it is tinier) but an A-Class feels safer on highways. And I will have to use highways to get to wherever I’m studying at next year. I have received a conditional offer from Aberystwyth (need to get a 2.1, which I’m pretty sure I will) and Nottingham Trent wants to interview me. Don’t know yet when the interview will be, but I’m hoping that they’ll tell me soon.

My dad and I checked out a few apartments while he was here. There’s a one bedroom fully furnished brand new place that I did like for £475/pcm. It’s within walking distance of Oliver’s work and all it needs is a washing machine (which the realtor said that the landlord will probably provide if we just ask). The only downside is that there is no parking available for it. So Oliver and I are going to go take a look at it tomorrow and see what he thinks. Last night we were looking through the property paper and found a three bedroom terraced house (part-furnished) for £500/pcm in an area that’s quite nice and nearby to everywhere we want to go. It’s also very very hilly. So having an automatic transmission instead of a manual is an imperative (for me at least). ^_^

I got practice driving while my dad was here. I have my provisional licence and so we just went to buy some L-plates and then I got to drive! We first practiced parking in the parking lot. Parallel parking was a whole lot easier than I expected. After awhile we then decided to go back and I drove from Morrissons to Oliver’s. I don’t care about not learning the manual on the wrong side of the road (and they are on the wrong side over here in my opinion). As long as I get to drive without having to stress about stuff like clutches and the car stalling, I’ll be happy. So an automatic car for me it is. :) What still scare me slightly are roundabouts. O_O

I have finally finished my modified Bad Penny. Decided to make it all pink with picot edgings at the hem and sleeves and a single crochet edging on the neckline. I’ll probably wear that to my interview actually. Or then I might wear my Isabella. Haven’t quite decided yet. Then after that top, I wanted a super quick project, so I made a teeny tiny bear. It’s shorter than my hand. :D After that I started some socks because I haven’t made a pair in ages (I swear, sweater knitting to me is becoming almost as addictive as socks). I’m making Fawkes from my Aww-tum Sock! Merino yarn. It is soooooo yummy. Gorgeous stuff.

And now it’s time for breakfast. Yes, I know it’s past 11 am, but I’ve been knitting and watching Oliver play Oblivion on the XBox 360 since 9:30… Hunger is winning now. :P

Just thought I’d let you all know that since I’m leaving Aber on Friday, I’ll be busy until Monday. Not that I’ve been really active here lately, but still.

In knitting news, still working on the Bad Penny. Did the lace and then the increase sections. Tried it on and ripped it out because it didn’t look nice. Mind you, I didn’t rip out the whole thing, just to where the lace began. So it’s back to nicely mindless stockinette that I can do in the car on Friday. :D I’ve also made a Clapotis scarf from Regia Silk. I ran out of yarn just as I was about to get to the final rows, so I used up some ends that I had in my stash. I don’t really like the way that turned out, so I’ll be ripping out what I’ve dubbed the Hufflepuff tail (because the leftover colors that I used were black and yellow) and just do a different kind of bind off.

Handed in my final essay of my BA career today. In the three years that I’ve been a uni student, I have never sent myself the wrong version of an essay to be printed. Until today. *rolls eyes* First time for everything, eh? I did luckily have the sorta correct version in my e-mail as well, so I didn’t have to go back down the hill to send myself the right version.

In between all of the packing I did manage to spend over an hour on the beach this afternoon. Read a few chapters of This Sceptered Isle. And I also bought the Highway Code so that I can start studying up for the theory test. Hopefully I’ll have my licence by early September. ^_^

I’ve still got the Barn Dance stuck in my head; both the song they played for it at Manchester and the actual steps. It was one of my fave dances. And we’d be doing it at practice on Friday when I’m not here. *sniffle* I did meet a really nice guy named Chris who dances for Warwick during the first round of it. At the end of the dance we were supposed to hold on to our partners and dance a Rumba with them. It was during the same round that I danced with the guy from Our Favorite Arguing Couple (a couple from Manchester that constantly argues at competitions). He was a very good dancer, but I didn’t get the nice vibe off of him, unlike Chris. Then during the second round of the Barn Dance I wound up with some advanced guy and were supposed to dance some Salsa afterwards. I told him that I didn’t know any salsa and he was like: “We’ll do it anyway!” and started just twirling and spinning me around the dance floor, very energetically I might add, for over three minutes. Ooh, and I swear, the judge was trying to kill me when he put us through to the second round of Jive. It was tiring enough to do it once, but during the second round something went wrong with the American Spin and I almost fell flat on my face. Luckily Alan caught me in time.

I handed in my Writing Project yesterday. As a reward, I didn’t do any work on my other essay. I worked on my letter of application and spun some yarn in instead. I’m getting better at it. It’s still that lumpy thick’n’thin arty yarn stuff, but it looks good. ^_^ Now I just need to spin some more and then get Jenni to show me how to ply it together. For some reason I just can’t get it to work, even though I know the theory behind it. I’m still working on the Bad Penny. Decided to add in some lacy details instead of cables. Still haven’t decided if I want to make it a long-sleeved sweater or not. Since it is bamboo-cotton it can work as both. We’ll see.

The weather here is wonderful. Sunny and warmish. Maybe I can convince Gabe to come sit on the beach with me today when we’re supposed to meet for a cup of tea. For some reason it’s been really hard to find a time in our schedules when we’re both free. But we did settle on today at 4pm.

This morning has been… well a bit annoying, but mostly okay. I sent off for my provisional driver’s licence. I took the bad pictures that always come out of those automatic machines. It cost £4.20 and I only had four pounds on me, so the guy that was fixing it gave me the 20p I needed. Such a nice old man. ^_^ But the man behind the counter at the post office was just… gah. I needed a postal order to send with my application so he printed out one for me. I get all of the special delivery envelopes so that they can send me my passport back securely and when it’s time to pay? The wrong amount comes up on the machine. Then he tells me that I need to pay for the postal order with cash. Like I have any, everywhere I go I pay with a card. So he sets things aside and I run across the street to the cash machine and get the £50 I needed. I come back and he’s like: “You do know that there’s a fee with this, right?” I nodded my okay and again, I was about to pay with my card. Nope, he asks if I have any more cash on me. *rolls eyes* Something wrong with the machine that takes cards. I need to run across the street again to get more cash. Geez, he could’ve told me all of this sooner! And because he got me running around, I forgot to write my name on the back of the postal order and get the special delivery number of the return envelope. Hrmph. Although I have had pretty good experiences with the special delivery system of the Royal Mail so I’m not too worried. It’s just the regular letters that get lost into the ether. Could be either Royal Mail’s fault or the USPS. Oh well. But yay, that’s done. I should have my provisional licence in a few weeks! o/

My Writing Project is done. I’ve had people read it, point out the missing words (which is something that happens no matter what medium I’m using to convey my writing, seriously). And all of the typos too. I’ve got the folders for it and now all it needs is to be printed. Which I will do on Monday. I only have one more class next week and then I’m done with all of those too. One 3000 word essay to write, well, now only 1500 words left and once that’s been handed in, I can leave Aber any time I feel like. ^_^ I know I whine about writing these essays, but last night while I was struggling to write about Donne’s poetry, I realized that I actually do enjoy it. It’s fun to learn of various perspectives on things. But it’s also annoying to be “forced” to do it. Then again, if I didn’t have these deadlines to write the essays, then I probably wouldn’t do them at all.

I’m still knitting my modified version of Bad Penny. I added in shaping and some cables because let’s face it, plain stockinnette for a whole sweater gets very boring very quickly. But because of my modifications getting the right stitch count is driving me batty.

Ooh! Yesterday after dance practice I was chatting with Alan about my knitting and he was just wondering at the complexity of my scarf (really, it’s not that hard once you know what to do). So I offered to teach him how to knit. And he said okay. Tomorrow at our final dance competition of the year, I’ll be teaching him how to knit in between dancing. Speaking of, at this one we’re participating in more dances than before. We usually do Waltz, Quickstep, Cha and Jive. Occasionally Rumba. This time we’re doing all of the above and Tango. I’m also doing Samba with Jenni. I am so bad at leading (since I am the taller one of us), but at least it’ll be fun. :) Another thing! Alan and I have been moved from B Team Quickstep to A Team Waltz. Squee! :D

Okay, going to go have lunch and get some more reading done for my essay now. Some of that stuff that I need to wade through is so mind-numbingly dry that it kinda makes me want to not do the essay. But occasionally I do find good quotes to use. ^_^