firstfallenpanda | Entries tagged with diary

It's that time of year again when sane people bow down to commercialism in the name of some Middle Eastern legend about a baby and some livestock.

If, like me, you can't bear the thought of more toiletries/chocolates/other small not very useful items given in the "spirit of Xmas" or because "it's the thought that counts", take this opportunity to make Xmas matter by giving a Gift 4 Good. If it was the thought that really counted, people would put more thought into it instead of buying something arb that fitted into a price range. I don't plan to get gifts this year (other than for immediate family), instead I'll give a donation to a charity and you can all share in the karma points :).

Here are some awesome tips to green your Xmas from urbansprout. I especially like the one about buying an indigenous tree instead of a plastic tree and planting it in a pot. Also, make homemade decorations instead of buying more tinsel and other crappy plastic junk every year. Jesse has some lovely little chocolate things in her Etsy shop. Here's her tutorial for making your own decorations. You could use any cute fabric or doilies. How about getting kids to print things with potatoes and fabric paint? I remember doing that in art class in school :). You could also make them and give them as gifts. The lovely bamboo scarf I have is available from Gifts with a Conscience, as well as other locally-made gifts. Her policy is to only sell things that benefit someone directly. Check out the cute little African angels.

I'm totally thinking of getting one of these DIY vege gardens. I think that will be the next plan after the chickens. Here's some delicious fair trade coffee (Ethiopian Sidamo ftw).

*********

In other news, holiday planning progresses. I've booked my appointment for a Visa, I just hope my unabridged marriage certificate arrives before then. My marriage officer assures me he's on it but I think going into Home Affairs with a loaded shotgun might help to speed things along. I can't believe it's just over 2 weeks until we leave, it seemed so unreal and far away when we started planning it. Things I still need to get: Visa, gloves, parkajacketthing, International Drivers Permits. Things I still need to make: my scarf (nearly finished), scarf and hat for Phleep, hat for Mark. I have other Xmas knitting to do but that can be done in Germany (I hope to get some knitting done on the flight). So excited!

Current Mood: excited

Hmm, long time no post. I just don't seem to be in the mood for posting lately, I'll often start typing a post and then think "meh, no one wants to read this arb crap". But here's an updatey post anyway :).

My lovely husband bought me a spinning wheel for my birthday! It's a second-hand Ashford Traditional Double-drive (if that means anything to you :P). I'm very excited, I can't wait to start spinning my lovely alpaca and merino rovings that I have. Also, there's a large demand for second-hand wheels so if I don't take to it I can sell it on. P is always surprised by the market for knitting stuff :). My cats are enjoying the wheel, of course anything I bring into the house is a cat toy. Also, Scroob sent me some delicious Camelspin! It's the best yarn ever.

Tickets to Germany are booked and paid for. We're also staying a night in Amsterdam, I'm really keen to see the van Gogh museum. Thank you to all those who contributed to the Honeymoon Fund, I think P sent out thank you emails last night. If you didn't get one and should've then please let us know. It was so hectic that I wouldn't be surprised if some of the cards got misplaced. There are some wedding pics up at my Flickr stream, we have more that we need to upload.

Now that I'm married I think my biological clock has started to tick. Obviously it was just waiting for the wedding since for the past few years I've been non-committal on the having babies issue. Yes, they're cute and sweet and cuddly but they take up time and money that could be spent on other things like travel and knitting. Also, you don't get any sleep or time to read and there's screaming and tantrums and vomit and then they hit teenagerdom and it's a whole new batch of horrors. Having spent time with P's mum recently I'm beginning to see the reason for having kids. She said that she'd always wanted kids so that she wouldn't be alone when she was old and I think that now that she's a widow it's even more true. I know that statistically I will outlive P and I don't want to be the lonely widow aunt with 39 cats (well, the cat part isn't so bad). At any rate, babies are beginning to not look so bad. The cuteness of Scroob's baby isn't helping at all :P. I think I need to babysit more to reawaken me to the horrors of babies/small children. I think a few good tantrums and vomits will help me see reason and tell my clock to stfu :).

I'm dying of hayfever at the moment too, which is making me a very grumpy panda. I'm not looking forward to the weekend away SCA event next month, the venue is full of flowers and grass and I usually spend the entire time sniffling in the hall. I need a bubble. I also need to finish sewing all my new garb (Saxon, v boring but easy and comfortable until I know what I want to do).

See, a very boring post :P.

Current Mood: hayfevery

So we're in the home stretch now, as it were. It's a bit calm-before-the-stormy as P's family start arriving on Sunday and then it gets all crazy. My sister has moved out to live with her bf, so the house will be somewhat less crowded. As excited as I am to be marrying my bear, I'm kinda over this whole wedding thing. Not that it's been stressful, it's just been so much planning and organising and stuff (not to mention worrying about finances) but everything seems ok now and on track and it should All Be Fine on the days concerned. I'm looking forward to seeing people I haven't seen in a while (and their new babies!).

My Ishbel shawl is finished and blocked and looks awesome! I've been meaning to put pics on my knitblog but the weathers been a bit yuck for taking pics so as soon as we get some nice weather I'll post pics of all my FOs. Wedding dress is nearly done, looking good. I've hit a bit of a bump with P's waistcoat and will have to re-cut the front facing and lining but the mock-up fit so I'm not too concerned. I've been sewing at least 3 hours a night for the past week so I'm hoping the results will pay off. Or I'll possibly go blind :).

Also, there is a monkey's wedding outside today and the sky is full of rainbows. As I was driving along Settler's Way to work this morning there was a perfect rainbow framing Devil's Peak. Wish I'd taken a picture. Another really bright one against Table Mountain above Gardens, looked like I could reach out and touch it. Even though I know how they work it still doesn't take the magic out of them. See, woo people, science and knowing how things work doesn't make the world less magical or enjoyable!

ETA: due to a gigantic admin fuck-up my housebuilding henparty for this Saturday is cancelled. Basically they moved the build I signed up for to the Friday and cancelled the third build. The build that remained on the Saturday was then filled up. Then, they only booked me two slots as they didn't see the "party of 15 ppl" in the notes when I filled out the volunteer form! Completely useless. I was so disappointed that I nearly cried. I was really really looking forward to it and I know others were too. Hopefully we'll still get the chance to do it some day. There's a project I'm interested in call the Good Night God Bless sleeping bag, made from black bags and newspaper, so I might organise a day to do that sometime.

ps: if anyone wants banking details for honeymoon fund please email me or P.

Current Mood: cheerful

An update since I haven't posted in a bajillion years. Still alive, people (esp

egadfly :P).

Wedding plans

Coming along nicely. Shawl is finished and blocking. Dress is kinda halfway made (pattern is graded and mockup fits), need to do some work on Phleep's waistcoat this weekend. Still need to get the table herb things but that can wait until a few days before the event.

We are expecting a full compliment of Anastasiadisesesesseseses for the wedding. I think Phleep will be very chuffed to have all the siblings there, when we first started to plan we didn't think anyone would come. My sister is moving in with her boyfriend for the week that P's sister and bf are there so the house will be less crowded. I'm a bit nevous of the reception. I don't deal well with huge parties and lots of people and I can't go hide in the kitchen like I usually do. We'll see how it goes, I guess. There are plans to do Xmas in Germany if the honeymoon funds allows it, otherwise somewhere local.

Work

The new (since my last post) job is going well. I have more responsibility and a very varied portfolio. I'm learning a lot and it's not boring. Hopefully I will be over the backlog soon and able to get into a good routine. I can see this job expanding as we open more offices around Africa.

Social

Saw District 9 recently. Not quite sure how I feel about it (which seems to be the general mood, people watch it and then have to think about it for some time before forming an opinion). I might blog about it, I might not. I think I've said before that others' opinions of movies don't matter to me and don't affect my enjoyment/opinion of a movie, so I don't think anyone else will care what I think about it. Suffice it to say that it's really hard to watch if you're a white Saffer. I'm still a bit depressed about it.

This weekend is the hen/stag party extravaganza. I know

zoezebra (get better soon!) is kidnapping me for an afternoon of outdoorsy fun on Saturday (must remember to dose with hayfever meds before leaving the house). Phleep is booked all weekend for various things that I think he will like. The exact details are a sekrit :P. My house-building thing is next Saturday, I'm really looking forward to it. It will be hard work and I might die, but I think it will be very rewarding.

Also, Storm in a G Cup is the best bra shop in the world! At last, no more tears when looking for bras that support and fit and don't look matronly :). There's a _whole drawer_ of lacy bras in my size. I'm so taking Phleep there after the wedding to buy me that teal silky lacey one. Mmmm, teal. They're a bit pricey but the service is excellent and they do all repairs and alterations for free.

That's about it, really. Must update the knit blog as soon as I've taken pics of all my recent FOs (shawl, Phleep's gloves, my rasta hat, my alpaca gloves). I haven't knitted much lately, I think I'm a bit burned out after the shawl. Also, my wrist is a bit sore but since I haven't been knitting I think that's probably the cold. Spring is here! The weather is chilly, the sun is shining and my nose is snurfly.

Current Mood: cold

These recent long weekends have been great. I got to spend quality time with my bear, who returned from Old Blighty last week (on a public holiday :P) with a suitcase full of gorgeous yarn for me!* We voted, nommed and then vegged with ST. It was lovely.

Sarah and Hendrik's wedding was lovely, if a bit on the chilly side. I thought I wouldn't enjoy it for lack of Panda but I ended up having a good time (mostly due to an epic conversation on SF authors and mutual agreement that Ian M Banks is overrated and then some ass-shaking on the dance-floor which left me sore for days afterwards).

I also saw The Reader while P was away. It really made me think about cultural guilt. An ex-SS camp guard is portrayed as a (gasp!) normal woman who was just doing her job (there was a big outcry in the media about this aspect). It brought home that lots of people involved in atrocities are just doing their jobs, just going along with the government. One of the characters remarks that the trial of the ex camp guards is a farce, just an outlet for everyone else's guilt and so they can be seen to be "doing something". The only reason they were being prosecuted was because one of the survivors wrote a book. It made me think about whether Germans still feel guilty about the Holocaust. I know there's severe paranoia about anything that might rekindle Nazi sympathies but I wonder how many Germans (especially the children of those who were adults at the time) feel guilty about their parents' (in)actions. Then I started thinking about how many whites my age feel guilty for apartheid. I think I've said on this blog before that I don't particularly feel guilty about it. My family was poor, still are poor. I went to a government school and did pretty well there, but I'd like to think that was because I'm smart and not because I'm white. I don't recall having any particular advantages during primary and pre-school years. Perhaps I'm living in a rose-coloured fairy world of Northern Suburbia. I just don't feel guilty about it, it wasn't me and I don't think I gained by it.

Also, during the run-up to elections I remarked to my sister that the vast majority of South Africans vote according to race and it does seem true. I don't think we'll get rid of that until the last people who suffered under apartheid are dead. Only now am I meeting mixed couples (not white-coloured, but white-black which seems somehow more radical?) and it seems to be young people, people who were too young to have any concept of apartheid. I didn't have any concept of apartheid growing up, the first I knew about it was when the schools were opened and we got a coloured girl in our class. I remember my mom saying "be nice to her but don't bring her home". I didn't really understand that, I was 11 or 12 at the time. I often find myself thinking about what it means to be white and South African. Do I feel guilty? Should I? Did I benefit from others' misery? Afrikanerdom is full of emo :P. Next think you know I'll be walking into the sea.

I am so looking forward to Wolverine: Origins this weekend. I might actually wet my pants, the trailer looks so damn awesome. I do love me some hot X-Men action. You can keep your wangsty Caped Crusader, DC, Marvel ftw. I like my super-heroes to actually have super powers. Iron Man is an exception, because RD Jr can do no wrong. I can't wait for the Ultimates movie.

* also a proposal, which I accepted. Plans are for next year March, UK ceremony and party this Xmas if financial situation stabilizes.

Current Mood: hungry

The latest in the Pandora is an Evil Genius series: I was giving my canary*, Ringo, clean water the other day. This necessitated me taking his cage down and putting it on a table. I went to the kitchen to fill up the container and I heard his "danger, danger Will Robinson" cheep**, so I rushed back into the room to discover that Pandora had opened the flap-down door and had got her finger stuck in the bars of the door!!! She was hanging by her hand, meowing pathetically. I freed her and said "bad girl! I hope your toe falls off!"*** It's the fairly standard bird-cage door that stays shut with a bent piece of the top bar. She obviously saw me open it and thought "ah-ha!". Luckily she got her hand stuck otherwise Ringo would be no more. He might have escaped (and been eaten) if she hadn't been by the door, though. I will have to be more careful in the future, she's pretty evil and cunning, that one. Recently all his tail feather disappeared (either fell out or were pulled out) and I wonder if Pandora didn't catch his tail through the bars as he was eating. She has long, thin legs. The tail feathers have grown back now, he seems no worse for wear. Good thing they're not prone to heart-attacks!

Phleep and I have been together 9 years now. It seems like a really long time but sometimes I still have to remind myself that I have a boyfriend. People have commented that we're still really lovey-dovey like a new couple, and that we hug and kiss alot. I dunno, it's hard to be objective, we still seem to be happy and love each other dearly. He loves the cats and puts up with my luxury yarn habits :).

Today is Friday, and I am very glad about that. Tonight I will bake green tea biscuits for the Japanese-themed SCA event tomorrow. I will also work on Baby Scroob's jersey (only the sleeves to go!) and watch terrible TV. I might practice recorder a little as I'm feeling somewhat insecure about my lack of practice. I mentioned to a friend's bf (who's in a band) that I play recorder and he said he might ask me to come play with them. Eeep!

Next week will be my first Pilates class. As a complete Pilates-noob I have to take 4 private classes before I can be allowed to mingle with those more experienced people in a group class. I hope it's fun, I don't mind things being difficult as long as they're fun. Once I've learned the moves, I'll join the class with Jesse and she's promised to peer-pressure me into actually going and not being a lazy-ass. It helps that it's a few blocks from our street :P.

Also, I want to learn to spin on the drop-spindle. This is a direct result of me falling in love with Posh Yarns but being unable to buy anything from the directly and having to resort to buying second hand from people on Ravelry. The site goes live every two weeks with what they've dyed that fortnight and it's usually a mad scrum to get anything. Things are sold out in like 5 minutes :(. So, I will be buying roving on Etsy and making my own, dammit. I've already ordered some camel and cashmere, and Zoe has a giant bag of alpaca that I'm going to mooch :). I will start spinning classes in March, as soon as my lovely Ashford drop spindle arrives from New Zealand. Severe yarn-geek. I also intend to comb Puff and spin Puff-yarn :P.

It's the Community Chest Carnival soon. Can anyone say "poffertjies"? Dutch stall, here I come! And saris, one can never have too many.

* he's a Gloster Fancy and has a really cute Beatles haircut. I need to find a new female for him as the old one died of a foot infection :(. You can only paid a Corona (one with the hairdo) with a Consort (plain head) otherwise the babies could come out bald!

** birds have a language, with different cheeps for different things. This one is quite distinctive and means "omg, I thought I saw a putty-tat and it's trying to eat me!!"

*** I didn't mean it, even if she is more evil than Puff (who is merely naughty and bitey, not calculatingly evil like Miss Pandora Moriarty)

Current Mood: chilled
Current Location: office
Current Music: traffic and the ever-present Jerry Springer crows

So, that was Xmas, was it? It certainly didn't feel like Xmas. I don't know if it was the fact that everyone's po' at the moment, or the fact that I'm not taking any holiday time over Xmas, but I just didn't have that same feeling this year that I usually have. Ah, well, we all grow up sometime I suppose.

Panda and I went for Xmas-eve sushi (our local was closed, so we went to Sake House* in Claremont), then came home and opened his gift to me (us): the collector's edition Star Trek: The Next Generation (all 7 seasons on 49 dvds with loads of extras). It is made of win. We've watched the first 3 dvds so far. I have reached the height of geekdom: admiring knitted sweaters in a cheesy sf show** :P. I do love the Trek, though. Mmm, Picard. And Data (he's fully functional, you know).

The day itself was ok, had a big lunch at my aunt's place with a total of 16 family members. There were no fights (for a change!), I didn't overeat too badly (although I did make too much trifle, which was a bit heavy on the sherry or so I'm told), and I got to see everyone. It was pleasant, except for pretty much every single person asking me when P and I are getting married and having kids. Argh. The Xmas is the coolest (weather-wise) that I can remember, it's raining at the moment. Damn climate change, interfering with my laundry schedule.

My yarn from everymoment arrived (via red-headed glamazonian courier in lime-green and turquoise sequinned high heels). It's so lovely, but I'm struggling to find a pattern that will suit it.

Here are some adorable pictures of Puff (warning: the high levels of cute may cause eyeballs to bleed).

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Also, here is a recipe for rice salad. I am posting it here as I have received lots of compliments from people who might like to make it themselves. I haven't given quantities, use as much of each ingredient as you like. The end ratio of rice to veg should be 1:1.

Rice rice baby

- cooked brown rice
- mushrooms
- red peppers
- green peppers
- onion (red or brown)
- can of whole kernel corn
- garlic
- soya sauce

Chop your veges. Fry onion and garlic until tender, then add peppers and fry until tender. Add mushrooms and fry until tender. When all the veges are done to your liking, add the rice and fry it all together. Then add soya sauce and mix well. Ta da! You can also add cashews to this, or lentils to make it a complete meal.

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* quite pricey compared to our local, not as tasty but a much greater variety. Almost too much variety. It was ok for a treat, but probably won't go there again unless for a special occasion.

** it's a good thing I'm not in Starfleet:

*alarms ringing, lights flashing*
Redshirt: Captain, the Borg are attacking, there's a Klingon Bird of Prey decloaking off the port bow and the holodeck has malfunctioned causing fictional characters to swarm the lower decks!
Me: Is that a C4F or a Cr4L I see on your sweater?
Enterprise: *asplode*

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Edit: a good reason to get your pets microchipped.

Current Mood: hungry

I don't think I will ever witness anything as amazing as a large white stallion doing a capriole*. Even if he did remind me of the fat white horse in the opera Bugs Bunny cartoon**.

The Lipizzaners were absolutely beautiful. Their origins as medieval warhorses are clear, I can totally see an armoured knight up there. They are huge and strong and radiate power with every move. I think only about a quarter of the audience appreciated the difficulty of some of the sequences, but I think all were impressed. It takes many years to train them and it shows. Most beautiful horses evar.

* a leap into the air with all four feet and then a kick out with the back legs, apparently intended to decapitate foot-soldiers.

** kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit...

Current Mood: really glad it's Friday

It's really important to remember when you've had beetroot (or, in this case, drunk beetroot juice). Kidneys don't just rupture spontaneously.

Also, your usually-reserved friends present a whole different side of themselves after drinking (perhaps a little too much) expensive whisky :P. I'm not naming names, what happens at the whisky festival stays at the whisky festival.

Tonight, dancing hosses! I hope I don't fall asleep.

Current Mood: exhausted

I've started to upload the UK holiday pics to my shiny new Flickr Pro* account. There are some with humans in, if you are one of these and would prefer not to have your face all over the internets, let me know and I'll take it down. Most of the Innocent Fete and London Zoo pics are by

gnomeza, the rest of the London/wedding/Dorset pics are by me.

Other than that: meerkats! Sloth! Baby komodo**! and a giant friggin moth. Mothra, really. I have more from Dorset that will get uploaded tonight, hopefully. Argh, teh sloooow internets.

Birthday last week was good, my Phleep took me to the Tibetan Teahouse in Simonstown. We saw whales, just chillin 20m off shore. While I didn't feel the need to pull over (like so many many others, stupidly, on a busy road) I'm really glad they are there. Cetaceans ftw.

The birthday party on Saturday was cool, despite being crashed by family. Sorry I was a bit antisocial, I was a bit miff. Lovely to see you all, and thanks for the presents :).

* thanks, hodge and confluence!
** komodo dragons would be Gluttony, I suppose. Is there Really Bad Oral Hygiene a Deadly Sin? It damn well should be. Eww.

Current Mood: cold

There's a cheetah downstairs, in for its annual checkup. It's screaming the screams of a small child throwing a tantrum: angry, scared and futile. It's stopped now, I hope they got the anaesthesia in.

In other news, see knitblog for updates on projects (if you care) and a report on yesterday's Train Ride From Hell (tm).

( A rant on RSVPs... )

Current Mood: annoyed

So, our last day in Dorset. Tomorrow we take the train back to London for a quick lunch with Phleep's sister and hopefully

egadfly, then to Heathrow for our evening flight home. I'm sad to be leaving here but really looking forward to my own bed and my babycats.

Our holiday has been a mixture of irritation, loveliness and rain. We saw some cool places and watched a lot of TV. Best description of an Olympic diver: lemminglike.

Also, what the hell's with the libraries in Canada? They ban a knitting group but start Scrabble and computer games to attract kids?!

So, see y'all* soon.

* we passed through a village called Yawl.

Current Mood: lazy

Here is a short run down of what we've done this past week. It would've been longer but Sky shows lots of Star Trek late at night :). Also, I would've put in links but I'm lazy and you can all use Google.

Seen lots of people (Scroobious and husband, Stefi, Claire, Mark, frogmort, Austin and quietly-mad Korean gf Yooen Mi*, Duncan tomorrow, AndRen)**. Went to the Innocent Fete last Saturday, it was awesome. I have millions of pics, courtesy of Mark (my delicious photographer, also does weddings and birthdays but only if all participants are naked) and lots of ferret pics, I'll put them up when I have more time and less Star Trek***. Had a fleeting meeting with local SCA (sorry again about the beer spillage, bend_gules).

Went to see Avenue Q, it's awesome. Featuring such songs as "The Internet is for porn", "Everyone's a little bit racist", "You can be as loud as the hell you want when you're making love" and "It sucks to be me", it's well worth the 30 poond (each) Phleep's work paid for us to see it. I promised bend_gules a review, but suffice it to say that it's really good and funny and everyone should see it. Gay Muppet pron!

Went to the Zoo with Mark, it was lovely. Photos of baby Komodo Dragons ("those are from the Galapagos, innit?" Argh, die morons) and marmosets and giant mantis egg-cases coming soon. Also spent lots of time walking in Regent's Park. I think I might move there as a bergie, it's so lovely. Also, I've discovered an unknown passion for Pimms. Mmmm, Pimms. It even rhymes, see?!

Been doing lots of knitting on tubes and buses, travel just takes so long here. Tomorrow I start my Ravelympics projects, whee. I have one that _has_ to be finished before I leave, I hope it goes well.

The wedding is this Saturday, I'll post again next week. Until then, hope your weather is better than this humidity and rain. My dad says my cats are pining for me but the weather is lovely. Sigh. Also, I'm glad we're leaving London soon, it's expensive and I'm becoming addicted to sausage.

* yes, yes, the joke has been made often
** I would put in the LJ links, but I'm lazy
*** so probably at the parents, they don't have Sky. If I had Sky I would never leave the house. Maybe that's why so many Londoners get groceries delivered

ps: must remember to rant about how pathetic UK parents are and how badly behaved their kids are and how I could totally snatch one and they wouldn't notice and how they've handed all responsibility for raising their kids to the govmnt.

Current Mood: footsore

So, only

starmadeshadow replied with interest to my last post on the Innocent Village Fete. We need to buy tickets asap, so if you're still keen and haven't yet responded then please do so today.

Also, planning a get-together at Scroob's on Friday (omg, that's in like 4 days!), Phleep should be emailing people today. If you don't get an email, either we don't have your email address or we don't like you. Either way comment here and you'll get an email (or not) :P.

Current Mood: tie-tie

Congratulations to Scroobious and the Arminator!!! Wheeee, babies!!! The world needs a constant supply of new toes. Many hugs will be forthcoming in early August.

Also, super-cool to announce it on Ravelry. I'm wondering if I should knit something, or if that will be coals to Newcastle :P.

I post this in lieu of a comment as Blogger doesn't want to know me, pah.

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Edit: pics

Panty shot (yes, that's taken while I'm sitting on the loo, SFW)
A greeting-card picture of a kitten and some yarn (NSFW, you might squee loudly)
Mad cablz (the most difficult thing I've knitted yet, also my new favorite yarn - 70% organic cotton/30% bamboo)

Current Mood: flabbergasted

So, for those in London: who's keen to go to the Fete? It looks awesome. It's on the Saturday and the Sunday, so pick your day. It would be cool to get a group to go, otherwise I'll spend all day in the knitting tent (or trying to steal a ferret) and Phleep will spend all day at the book tent (or the ale house).

Leave a comment or email if you're keen, day with the most votes can like to win. Tickets are selling fast, be quick!

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Edit 1: Also, beer festival in Earl's Court! Again, indicate interest below.

Edit 2: Phleep has pointed out that I should state the cost and ticket arrangements. The tickets are £7.50, available through Ticketmaster, so £9 including booking fee. Once we have final numbers, some sort of co-ordinated buying plan can happen. I'm loathe to leave it longer than the end of this week, though, as tickets sold out for last year's fete.

Current Mood: ferrets!

The planning for the UK holiday progresses apace. I have a long list of things I want to do and see (mostly museums). Phleep has to be in the office two days, so I might be seeing some of those things alone. We only have a week in London (1-8 Aug), so I'm anticipating having to chop things out of the list :(. There are lots of people we want to see, so if anyone has suggestions for stuff to do and wants to see us, make your time! We will be staying at Chez Scroob. I'm hoping to do a picnic in Hyde Park on Saturday the 2nd (pedalos on the Serpentine!), but we'll see what the other plans are.

My biggest worry is "will I be able to fit enough knitting into my luggage so that I don't get bored"? One solution is of course to just take a few things and knit _very slowly_ so that I don't finish it before we leave, but somehow I don't see that happening :P. Thankfully there will be room on the way back* for all the lovely things I'm going to buy (and Scroob's b&w cat).

Phleep bought me a lovely electric blue suitcase (expandable!) so hopefully I'll be able to fit everything in. Phleep keeps saying something about "packing light" but I don't know what he means, surely the bulbs will get broken in transit?

* gifts for Phleep's family, probably replaced by demands from my family**

** my sister's standing request for a Ronaldo shirt

**********************************************************************************************8

In the course of my research, I've discovered that the London Zoo has a Komodo Dragon. I'm going to need a bigger bag. Also, a Magnificent Featherduster Worm*. I don't know what they are, but I must have one. And a Dwarf Giant Clam. So, basically, a normal clam then? You can see the full inventory here. And 7 kinds of tarantula! Only 1 Giant Burrowing Cockroach, though. Ooooh, an emerald cockroach wasp!!!!! And chub, a type of fish, from whence the term "chubby" comes :). A twocoloured banjo catfish! I bet Phleep will be able to play it. Ok, I'll stop being an animal-geek now.

Except for 5 axolotls!!! I'm definitely going to need a waterproof bag. Also, I'm either going to have to buy a camera or borrow one for this trip, I plan to be a total snap-happy tourist.

And an aye-aye!!! And a sloth bear!!!!!

* It sounds like something from Dr Snuggles or Fantasia.

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: the munching of Provitas

As promised, pics of the baby cheetah. Sorry for the blur, cheetahs have superior Celerity.

I have been down with the sickness all weekend. Not a bad way to spend a rainy long weekend, though, knitting and snuggling on the couch with kitties and a Phleep. Finished two projects.

The KIPday thing on Saturday was muted. Jezze, her mom and I went through early and sat knitting and drinking coffee till two older ladies arrived (via ads in the newspaper). We left them there, they seemed to be ok. The point of KIPday is that it's a self-running event, people just go somewhere public and knit, no organisers needed. I was somewhat irritated with the number of calls I got asking about craft stalls. If it was a craft market, I probably would've mentioned that in the advert. Hopefully next year will be better and less irritating. I was meaning to go back later in the day to see if more people had arrived, but I fled my niece's party early to go home and sleep and woke up just in time to go have dinner at extemp's. Mmmmm, hot toddy ftw.

Current Mood: lungbutter
Current Music: Nanuk: Deaf Cat Aria no.1 - Enemy outside the window

It's more of a lifestyle choice.

So, I'm organising this KIP Day event at Cavendish on Saturday (10am in the Food Court, be there!) and it's gotten out to the press. A journo from the Cape Times contacted my accomplice Jezze and said they were doing an article about it (yesterday's paper, I didn't get it dammit). Then today Jezze gets an email from the producer of Cape Talk's morning show who wants to do a telephonic interview with someone tomorrow morning. She asks me if I want to do it, citing her nerves and lack of coherent sentences as a problem* and now I'm going to be on the radio** tomorrow. Yay.

How did I go from "casual knitter of baby jerseys out of cheap crappy yarn***" to "local organiser of knitting events and media personality"?? Eep. Where will it end?! I might have found my "passion".

* I suspect she just didn't want to be up for the 6.45 phonecall :P

** hopefully saying something other than "braaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnns, cofffeeeeeeeeeeee"

*** You know how you can tell a master needleworker by the fact that they look at the back of the worked piece? Well, you can tell a real knitter by the fact that they refer to it as "yarn" and not "wool".

Current Mood: excited

While innocently looking for pattern books on Kalahari, I came across a collection of "knitting mysteries". Sounds lovely! I must get these. I have a long wishlist of books to get, sigh.

I'm really hooked* on knitting. It must be the onset of cold weather. I'm nearly done with the mother-in-law's Aran cardigan (thank god, I'm so bored of cables already). Then it's on the father-in-law's cable hat and slippers. Then my lovely cotton/bamboo Aran patchwork jacket. Then a jersey for P. Then some kids' stuff. That should take me through to Xmas, when I'll cross-stitch that advent calendar P's mom sent. Then in summer I have plans for a lovely 100% bamboo lacey tunic/blouse/cardigan (I have not yet decided on a pattern**).

I went to a craft meeting at a bookshop in town recently. It was nice to meet knitters who are really _into_ it. Some of them run knitting-related businesses. I was the only person there not in a creative job :(. Oh well, at least I get to fondle baby cheetahs (photos forthcoming).

14 June is World Wide Knit In Public Day. I hope to be hosting an event at a certain bookshop in Claremont. This is also the date of my niece's 2nd birthday (for which P will be wearing a Barney suit - again, pictures forthcoming). And there's a choir concert that night at the City Hall.

Wrote my last exam for this semester this morning, yay! Pwned it.

Tonight off to see the new Indiana Jones movie. Mmmm, whipped. Also, looking forward to my second viewing of Iron Man with

tsukikoneko on Monday. I'm such a Marvel girl :P. DC is full of aaaaangst. Except for Batman, he's cool but still kinda emo. Mmmmm, Christian Bale. He can enter my "bat cave" anytime.

* No, it's not a pun, there are no hooks involved in knitting. I don't do crochet, with its strange mononeedle thing.
** Some people get the pattern, then look for yarn. I see yarn I love and look for something to make from it.
___________________________________________________________________________________

Edit: ok, I love knitting and will willingly buy books on just about any needlecraft, but who the hell writes a book about the history of knitting needle gauges?! Get a real job, slacker! Also, they seem to have spelled it "guage". Kalahari: spelling, you're doing it wrong.

Current Mood: cold

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