Posts

We’ve got ’em. Carpet beetles. *shudder* It started out with me finding holes in my Hedera and then snowflake lace socks. I looked through the bag where I kept them, didn’t find anything and checked that the rest of my handknit socks were okay. They were so I didn’t think much of it. Fast forward for a bit and I’d found some munching on three of my swatches made with Lane Borgosesia’s Cashwool. Not too bad, I didn’t really want to keep them anyway. Icky, but not heart-breaking. Then I found out that they’d gotten into my underwear and sock drawers. And one of my handspuns had been affected too. Killed ’em, vacuumed thoroughly and left it at that. Then I found a dead adult carpet beetle downstairs. At that point I contacted our landlady Debs, who is awesome btw, and we arranged for her to come over the next day (since it was a Friday night that I e-mailed her). We dealt with the woodlouse problem and she gave us some spray to use up in the attic bedroom. That was two weeks ago. Today, one fell out of my hair! Ew ew ew. After I made sure that it was a carpet beetle larvae, I killed it and vacuumed the whole house. I was going to vacuum today anyway, but that’s neither here nor there. I contacted Debs again and within half an hour she got back to me to say that the council’s environmental services are going to come out once they’ve verified what the pest is. So now I’ve got a live larvae in a sealed food container waiting for Debs to come over tonight to pick it up.

Dancing has started again. Well, the give it a go sessions are over now, the actual lessons start next week. I’m still looking for a partner, but while I’m waiting to be paired up with someone, I’ll be standing in for Oliver’s partner Jo. She’s been told by her doctor to basically not to dance until after Christmas, but she and Oliver are thinking about just entering the ballroom dances since they’re not as exhausting as the latin ones are. If they do decide to do that, I’ll just dance latin with Oliver and both latin and ballroom with my partner (if I ever get one!). The pairing up will be done on Friday at 7pm then there’s a mini-social thing for all the team members.

I also have to go to Nottingham on Friday for induction talks and deal with other enrolment stuff. I think I need to go on Saturday as well, but they haven’t sent me any info about that yet, so I don’t know. I was checking out the train times to see what next week’ll be like (classes start next week!!) and since my classes end 8:30pm, the next train that I could make would be 9:42pm. Hrmph. I’d be getting in to the train station at Sheffield 10:55 and by the time I catch a bus and get back home it’ll be near midnight. I sooooooo want my license and car. When I am able to drive to Nottingham and back I should be back home by 10pm at the latest.

Knitting? Yes, lots of it is getting done and has been done. My Corona sweater is done, I’ve already worn it loads. I’m knitting socks right now from my Jitterbug (colorway 66-mist) in the Dragon’s Breath pattern. Still on the first sock, but I’m already planning on making these next.

And Debs just sent me another e-mail asking if I could go check out the roof space in the attic bedroom to see if there’s a visible reason for the infestation. Just the thought is making my skin crawl, but I still need to do it. *shudder* I hate bugs that eat my yarn.

Just got back from my driving lesson. I rock at emergency stops. Got 5/5 on my evaluation sheet. W00t! It’s quite fun too. Jim said that I might be an adrenalin junkie. I guess I am, but only in safe situations, like roller coasters. Haven’t been to an amusement park yet this year, must rectify that soonish.

Yesterday I found fabric! So it’s not exactly what I was looking for, ie white with dark green, but it’ll do. It’s just a plain light green. So if I have the time, I might embroider something onto it. Yeah, I know, I’m just creating more work for me. But at least I have the fabric now, it’s been washed (yesterday) and ironed (today). I’m planning on starting the tracing of the pattern onto tracing paper today, but I seriously doubt that I’ll have it all traced and cut and attached to the fabric until Thursday. At least the fabric was cheap, so if I mess it up it won’t be too awful to go get more (just £1/metre).

We have a Wii! Mariokart is really fun once the controls have been figured out. It’s odd not using the + button for directions; you have to hold the controller as if it was a steering wheel and turn it etc. But yeah, fun! We’ve also played various sports on it (tennis and bowling being the most fun) and we have the Big Brain Academy. I haven’t played it by myself yet, but what I have played it’s fun too. A bit insane, but really fun. I also bought Sims2 FreeTime. I had to. It was on sale. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

My herbs are growing. All twelve of them! Some not as much as the others, but they’re still growing. I have separate pots for them now, but they’re a bit big, so they haven’t been planted into those yet. While I was at B&Q yesterday I saw more seed kits: one for three types of peppers, one for patio salad (salad, cucumber, tomato), one for Indian foods, one for Mediterranean foods, one for Mexican foods and one huge thing that had twelve different types of seeds. And I resisted. I’m still waiting to see how well this herb growing goes before I plant even more stuff. I was sooooo tempted though.

I made something called Chicken Beer Bake last night. I loved how tender the chicken turned out, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be making it again. Just somehow didn’t taste right. On the other hand, the leftover chicken is really good in a sandwich. So it’s not like it had gone to waste, I just don’t like it as a dish by itself.

And to end on a knitting note: my Corona sweater is just flying off the needles! My goal for today is to finish the second sleeve and attach them to the body. I’m pretty sure I can get that done.

I’m writing again! Okay, so I had a burst of inspiration yesterday and somehow writing 1000 didn’t seem like anything. Then again, 1000 words for a story is nothing compared to trying to write 1000 for an essay in my head. But yes, I have a third of my story written now (no it’s not going to be 3000 words in total, it’ll be longer than that). There’s still all of the editing to do, etc so once it’s done I need volunteers to read it and give constructive criticism. Anyone?

I’ve also been knitting quite a bit. The body of my Corona sweater is done as much as it can be at this point and I just started one of the sleeves. I love the yarn and the pattern, once a little mix up in the directions for the cable pattern was corrected. I’m used to reading charts so when I saw that it was just written directions I was a bit worried. But I figured I could knit them anyway. Then I realized, after about six rows, that I was interpreting the instructions differently than I was meant to. So I e-mailed the designer and asked for help. I also had to undo the cable a la the Yarn Harlot (scary scary stuff) but I did manage to fix it. The designer replied, helped and apologized for the confusion. So all’s well. It’s so nice that most of the people who knit are nice too. :)

I’ve also found a new recipe that I want to try out. It’s called Chicken Beer Bake. So yesterday when we went to the supermarket, I found out that they don’t sell single cans of beer. At all. What I want to know is why? Why don’t they cater to people like me who only want one can at a time? I don’t drink the stuff, I want to cook with it darn it.

I’ve finally finished Gone With The Wind. It was so awesome. All of the characters are more real and more fragile and stronger and flawed and so much more loveable than can ever be portrayed in the movie. Now I’m about to start The Queen’s Sorrow by Suzannah Dunn. And once that’s read (I’m hoping it’s a quick read) I’ll read the biography called The Duchess. It’s been made into a movie starring Keira Knightley. Not that I knew this until Oliver presented me with the book. Apparently it was an impulse buy. He’s so sweet. ^_^

Okay, so in a nutshell: - My mom and youngest sis Jade are all settled in Finland again with our dog Mocca. - Jaz has moved into her apartment in Brussels. - During July we did manage to go to Greece for a week, just the three of us (Jaz & Jade that is). Loved the tan I got there. It’s fading away now, which I’m not too happy about. Oh well. - During my very short trip to Finland I spent a few nights over at one of my best friend’s place. Oliver came too. There was the class reunion; it was fun to see everyone again. The guy that was weird back then is still weird now. Some things never change.

I’m finally home! I’ve been home for awhile now, but I’ve just been so busy that I haven’t had the chance/inclination to post anything. Anyways, I’ve got my driving theory test the day after tomorrow (Wednesday). I’m fairly confident that I’ll pass it without problems, but the Hazard Perception Test still worries me. I have a practice DVD and the first time I tried out the mock exam I got 44/75pts. In order to pass the test, I need 44/75. Lucky, right? It’s still cutting it too close for my taste though. I’ve been practicing and so far my best and latest score is 56/75. Kinda feel guilty about not practicing at all during the weekend, but it is possible to be too prepared as well, right?

I’ve hacked away at the vines that are trying to take over the bushes next to the driveway. I’ve still got a few more unruly vines to deal with and then it should be ready for my car! I’ve measured the gate and my future car and it should fit in through the gate. We still might change the gates into thinner ones, but even if we keep the ones we have now it should fit. :)

Yesterday I joined the Cupcake Club. I can’t wait! Yes, it might seem like a fair bit of money, but for five different scents each month for six months it’s reasonable. Plus, while we were in Greece we were allowed to shop and I spent the least amount of money out of all of us (approx 50€) so this is my treat to myself. And if I pass my test on Wednesday (wait, no ifs. WHEN I pass my test) I’ll go treat myself at The Wool Baa as well. I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting quite a bit of worsted weight yarn. Lots of projects in mind.

Speaking of projects, I’m making my Halloween costume this year! I still need to find and buy the pattern and fabric, but Oliver and I have agreed to go as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara. Oliver’s costume can be made up from everything he’s got in his wardrobe right now, but I need to make my dress. As for the hoop skirt that I should wear underneath the dress, well in case I don’t have the time/energy/money to make a proper one (which I probably don’t), I’ll try to devise something using a hula hoop.

Onto knitting! I’m still working on a lace shawl. It’s progressing well, considering that while I was away I had no time whatsoever to work on it. That’s a month and a half of not knitting on it. But I have started my grandfather’s Christmas present. Can’t talk too much about it, but I can say this: it’s so nice using a thicker weight yarn than lace or fingering for a change. It feels like it’s going so fast. I want to make the Minisweater (aka Boobholder) by Stephanie Japel, but I’m still debating on whether to make it long-sleeved or short. And whether to make it out of Cascade 220, Cascade Pastaza or some other worsted/aran weight wool from the LYS. I do like the idea of 50/50 llama/wool. I just don’t know if it’ll work gauge-wise. I’ll have to ask Jill, the owner of The Wool Baa. And then I found out about this other sweater today, called Cordoba, that I want to make. That calls for 7 skeins of Cascade 220. The Minisweater only needs 2 if it’s the short-sleeved version. Decisions, decisions. Can you tell that I’ve found my knitting mojo again? I think it went away on vacation for a bit there, some sort of Muse convention as someone on Plurk suggested. But it’s back and I won’t question its return. :)

I’m off to do more ironing. Exciting, isn’t it?

I love grapefruit. How could I have forgotten how good it is?? That was my snack. And for breakfast I had strawberries! I love summer. ^_^

I’m graduating on Tuesday. That’s the day after tomorrow! The stress of getting everything sorted out… ugh. I’ll be so happy once it’s over. We still don’t have a place to stay, but at least the photos and the robes have been ordered. And I know what order I need to do things in. Now I need to pick out my outfit.

And so that leads me to letting you all know that I have no idea what my internet accessibility’s gonna be like for the next few weeks. I’m going back with my parents to Belgium after my graduation, help Jaz move into her new place, help my mom move back to Finland, stay there for my class reunion, and possibly go to Greece before going to Finland. So, like I said, I have no idea if I’ll be able to come online or not.

Driving has been going well. I went to book my driving theory test and the next available time would’ve been July 16th, two days after I’ve left. So I’ll just have to do that after I get back. Oh that reminds me, I need to send my license back to the DVLA because my address has changed. I’ll go to the post office tomorrow morning.

I’ve also started writing again. Don’t have a lot written yet, but I’m going to get it done this summer. I’m writing a sort of sequel to the last two stories that I’ve written and I’m aiming to make it the same length as the other two. :)

And now I’m going back to knitting. It’s almost time to turn the heel on Sock #2 and I want to get that done before I leave tomorrow so that I can just relax with the gusset and foot and toe of the sock while in the car. :)

So, I’ve decided to join this called the Plurkette Hencircle. Basically, it’s about wanting to stick to the old homegrown ways and building a community. Our first group task is to introduce ourselves, so here goes. :)

I’m a 22 year old Creative Writing post-grad student who has just moved in with her boyfriend of almost four years. Since we got the house (we’re renting so can’t do anything major) I have realized how much I actually enjoy doing housework and baking and gardening. Right now, my mission is to get rid of all the weeds that keep popping up everywhere. And the nice thing is, once it’s done there are surprises in involved with it; like after getting rid of a big weed plant, I found a rose bush behind it. I guess a part of this stems from helping my mom out whenever she gardened. I didn’t always enjoy being dragged outside to help with the trimming of bushes or mowing the lawn, but I am glad now that I did. And I’m finally getting why my mom likes this stuff. Growing things is fun! Not that I’ve planted anything yet, but I am planning on it. I’ve got the yarn/fiber/fabric crafting skills, now I just need the time to do more of that. But if I have less time for those now that I’ve begun gardening as well? That’s okay. Then there’s all of the cooking and baking to think about as well. And discovering new ways of cleaning things. Washing floors is still at the very bottom of my list, but everything else is becoming fun. That’s what I’m hoping this circle will do for me, make things fun while I do what some consider as chores. I have to do it anyway, so why not enjoy it too?

http://plurk.com/redeemByURL?from_uid=1191000&check=-1601285760&s=1

That is where I am spending all of my time. Just signed up today. Already love it. ^_^

I did some cleaning and gardening in the morning, but the wind just annoyed me too much to do more than pull up the biggest weeds in the front garden. I did unearth a small rosebush that had been obscured by pink weeds. ^_^

We’re getting a new washer-dryer tomorrow and our landlord will be over on Saturday to install it. Thing is, we’re leaving tomorrow night to go to Leicester to celebrate Shaun’s birthday. So I told our landlady that we won’t be and asked if they have a set of keys to get in (because I don’t mind them coming in to do stuff that *needs* to be done. They’re great people and I totally trust them). Haven’t heard back from her yet.

The birthday present is done! My very own design and really quick to knit. Then again, I had a deadline, so maybe that’s why it went quickly. Anyway, I’ll try to get some pics of the birthday boy wearing it. :) (Obviously, I’m not saying what it is until he’s received it, just in case he reads this. Which I doubt, but still not taking any chances.)

And we’re off to Morrisons with Oliver’s parents. They’re giving us a ride until I’ve got my own car and license to drive. Speaking of driving, I had another lesson on Tuesday. We practiced three point turns, although they’re not called that by the instructors & examiners. They call them turning in the road. You don’t have to do it in three to pass the exam so I guess it makes sense. Still, I did do it in three and did not hit the curb once! I like driving. Really really do. Apparently I just need to work on my steering technique while turning. X)

I just made a small batch of rolls. I’ve missed baking.

This is what they looked like before putting them in the oven.

And this is the rolls just out of the oven.

Soooo yummy. But this was a bit of a lame attempt at baking. It was one of those Just Add Water! mixes. Oliver’s parents had bought it for me, so I figured I might as well use it up before breaking out the multiple ingredients I’m used to using when baking.

And now for the hiking pics! So, I’ll do this in chronological order.

On Monday I just went wandering around Wadsley Bridge trying to figure out a good route for walking/jogging. I found a piece of access land and after awhile I found a sign with a map and some info about the area. I decided to go to the rock that was mapped out, but not right then because I didn’t have my camera.

On Tuesday, equipped with my camera, I walked along this tiny path from The Back Edge to The Birley Edge. The first two photos are from The Back Edge.

Then I got to The Birley Edge. Talk about an explosion of purple!

And that’s not all of it either. Bear in mind this was Tuesday. On Friday, the purpleness of the place had tripled. No pics of that though. Didn’t think of it until I had gotten back from my hike. I finally made it to the rock thing (it’s called the Birley Stone actually, but in my mind it’s The Rock). And these are the views from there.

First, the whole reason for going there:

And then beyond The Rock:

Just to show you the tininess of the path to the Rock:

And this is the way to Stanley Hill.

Notice the yellow? Yep, Stanley Hill is full of yellow. And I’m not just talking about plants. I saw some Yellowhammers but I was never quick enough to get my camera out. And before when I said the path was tiny on The Birley and Back Edges? Those are like proper paved paths compared to Stanley Hill. Pushing through bushes, going “Ow. Ow. Ow” when plants poke through my clothes… Still, all worth it when I see this, the Hunter House:

That was my landmark to start heading back. But then I saw this:

No way I could resist that. I mean, more exploring! I turned my iPod off, since there was no traffic to drown out anymore. And I had to make a decision. To take the left path and head downhill-ish?

Or take the wide middle path? Or the path on the right heading uphill?

I chose the middle path. Mainly because the three-trunked birch intrigued me. Anyway, I wandered around in the woods (following the marked path!) for about ten minutes. I reached a field with a light-colored brick building at the far edge of it and decided to turn back. I’m planning on going further along the same path when I’ve got more time and it’s not threatening to rain all the time! I mean, I was a bit nervous going into the woods because of the ominous clouds that were hovering over Oughtibridge. I didn’t want to get rained on, seeing as it was cold and windy already. Next time, if the weather’s still like that, I’m wearing a scarf and taking some gloves with me.

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.