My Ramblings

2 Packages.

While I was out today the MOTH rang me to tell me that there was a package here for me, plus a card in the letter box stating that the post man had tried to deliver an international registered parcel but that no one answered the door.  That meant that I needed to collect it from the post office on my way home.  Before I go on with more info about these packages, just let me say that the MOTH was in the room where our front door is, and that no one knocked, unless it was at the time that he was out of the room for a couple of minutes.  The same thing happened yesterday when either the MOTH or I were in that room for most of the day, yet later that afternoon we found a card in the letter box saying that they had tried to deliver a package at 1125 but no one answered.  Latte would have either run to the door or barked if anyone was there, but she didn't do anything.  Yesterday there were no vehicles in the drive, but today Ron's car was there, so that would sort of indicate that someone could be home.  Well after I got home I went to let Latte out, and there was the parcel from yesterday, redelivered, and just left on the doorstep, with not even an attempt to knock on the door.    Yesterdays parcel, redelivered today was from FedEx, the ones today were presumably just ordinary postal service.  Apart from the one I had to collect, (which had to be signed for) there was  also one left on the doorstep.  What is it with these people?
So now, to these packages..........

The smaller parcel at the front is from within Victoria,  the larger package is from overseas.

The Aussie package contained some Opal sock yarn which I bought off e-bay.

The package from overseas was from Sweden, from my SP10 pal.  What a terrific package it was.  This photo contains only some of the goodies as I couldn't fit them all in one photo.  In this one you can see a lovely red shawl (more photo's later), 2 balls of Qualitas sock yarn, two packs of small beads and long cylinders for bracelet making, along with 2 spools of thread.  A round container of beads in various sizes and colours, a novel (Popular Music by Mikael Niemi,which I'm really looking forward to reading) DPN's and crochet hooks, and some confectionery.
Nancy Bush's Folk Socks and some more confectionery.

OK, I  had to try all the confectionery didn't I????   The MOTH was trying to grab some while I was setting it up for the photo. lol.   We each had a little taste of each of the chocolate bars, and all were yummy. The Fazer Tyrkisk Peber were interesting.  I would say an acquired taste, but not too unpalatable.  Quite salty with a slight chili back taste which went up the back of the nose.  I wouldn't go out of my way to buy these, but they aren't bad.  I'll have fun introducing my adult children to them.  The Djungelvral licorice is great.  I've had salty licorice before, the Dutch kind, and have always liked it.The Hemlagad Kola med Blabarssmak  (Blueberry fudge) are very nice, and not too sweet like so many of our sweets.  The Lakrisal I didn't really like at all.  All in all, pretty good choices.
The beautiful shaw, the very first I've ever had knitted for me.

            

Pardon the unkempt appearance, I had just got home from visiting my D.I.L. and had just taken off a hat, so the hair was messy, and I was just wearing "daggy" clothes.  Pardon the big ass too, it really SHOULDN'T be seen in such tight clothing. lol.  I have a red blouse that is so close to this colour that I will be able to wear the two together, and I intend to do that on Thursday night when I go to my Lions Club meeting.

The crochet hooks and needles.  One of the sets of needles are to go with the sock yarn to knit..............

..........these; the Chausettes De Dentelle (Lacy socks)from my new book.  Boy, are my fingers itching, but I still have two mates to do for other socks I have knit. grrrrr.

Thankyou so much Anna-Karin for such a lovely and thoughtful gift.   

Great News, and so finally.......

Was still searching for my camera last night and again mentioned it to #1 son.  He again said he had no idea, and then said, "hang on, I seem to remember #3 son saying he was borrowing it".  This morning I called #3 and sure enough, it was in his hot little hands, and all this time I've been worrying, thinking it was broken or worse.  Anyway, I now have it back, so here are some photo's at long last.

The socks I knitted for Jayda, so cute and so quick knitting socks for a 2.5 year old.

The first of a pair of socks, originally meant for my dad, but I wasn't happy with the way it looked where I changed from one colour to the next, this was at the back of the leg.  It didn't matter what I tried, there was always a slight hole, so I guess these will now be for me.

    Pretty dishcloths, one round with lacy edge, and the Chines waves half finished. 

Paton's Caressa yarn in pinks, greens and blues.  With this I'm going to knit the Le Slouch, photo's when it's done.

See, I told you I hadn't done much in the way of knitting for a while.  Pretty sad effort isn't it, lol.  I'll get back into it again now, and especially as I have my camera back so I can take photo's again.  Boy, was I ever lost without it.  Amazing how used we get to having something isn't it?
Happy knitting everyone.

It is so heartening to read that friends were willing to step in as angels for me.  How fortunate I am to have such good online friends.  It would seem however that I have badly misjudged my SP10 pal, and for that I humbly apologise.  Apparently she had not checked her SP e-mail for quite some time and hadn't realised that I was trying to contact her, which of course meant I got no reply.  I had a message from her today explaining that things had been quite hectic in her life recently and apologising for not having contacted me sooner.  Hopefully we will be able to sort out what has happened to the parcel she sent, which it seems may actually have been returned as she has a parcel from Australia waiting for her at the post office.  No doubt she will contact me shortly if that is the case, and let me know what went wrong. 

This morning, when I tried to come into Typepad to post, I was unable to connect.  At that time there was no message from Typepad so I had no idea what was wrong, but I assumed it was a problem at their end.  This afternoon I found 3 new messages, the one from my SP and two from Typepad; one explaining that there was a problem and that no one could connect to the server, and the other one to say that they had mostly rectified the problem.........I think that it was quite fortuitous for me as I received the e-mail before I had the chance to make any further wrong comments; not that I had inteded to do so today. 

Well, I have just finished the final chapter of the final Harry Potter book and it's sad that we will hear no more of our wizarding friends.  For those who have not yet read or not finished reading, I will not place any spoilers here so don't fear to read on.  Being a sentimental old girl, and getting worse as my hormones fly all over the place (menopause, you know!!) I found it quite moving at times, and I think I'm missing it already, lol.   

JK has not "ruled out" writing further books, but she has not committed to anything, and no doubt they will not include our magical friends.  It will be interesting to see if anything does occur, although as she's no longer a struggling single mother she isn't likely to be as quick to write future novels as she was with the early HP books.  I for one will be keeping my eyes open though as I quite like her style.

Some time ago I ordered two books from Amazon choosing for the free postage option.  As I use the MOTH's  Visa card I put enough money into his account to cover the cost of the books, which Amazon stated would not be delivered till this month.  What they didn't tell me was that they wouldn't debit the account till now either, and of course the MOTH has used the funds in his account for other things.  I will now have to put more funds into his account tomorrow and hope that Amazon will still try again to retrieve the payment.  I would have been much happier if they had taken the money when it was there, even if they weren't going to send the books at that time.  The think is with Amazon, it is extremely difficult to contact them, to tell them what you need to tell them.  I have tried before to send an e-mail, but as it's all automated you can't just do so.  You have to go through a complaints form and of course, what I need to contact them about is not on their list of complaints.  It's about time that Amazon had an easily accessible e-mail address that we can sent comments, complaints or requests etc to.  OK, finished griping now.

On the knitting front, I've been concentrating mainly on socks, for the MOTH, me and one of my granddaughters.  I have also done a couple of dishcloths, a bit more on a couple of scarves and not much else.

Take care everyone, and happpy knitting.

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted.  I've been a little flat recently, for what reason I don't know, but nothing much has been getting done.  In that time I've knit 1 small sock and one adult sock.......yep, that's all folks.  Terrible isn't it?  I've hardly left the house in that time either, just sat around watching TV and sleeping.  This lack of motivation, tiredness and disinterest are all symptoms of depression, yet I don't feel depressed, and that too is another symptom.  Hmmmm.   Really though, I've got to buck myself up and "get over it", whatever IT is. 
Yesterday I went to spend the day with my D.I.L and granddaughter.  D.I.L is close to term with her second pregnancy and has just left work.  I thought I'd keep her company and give her another adult to chat to.  My granddaughter kept us both amused, and is such a little dynamo.  She reminds me a lot of one of my grandson's from my own daughter.  Jayda really can be a mini Declan, except she isn't as clutzy.  She never sits still for long, has a very short attention span and talks loud.  At two and a half, she no longer has nap during the day, so that is going to be hard for Juanita when the new one comes along.  At least yesterday she could go and have a leisurely shower while Jayda looked after Nanna. 
While I was there, I actually knit half a sock (small) that I am doing for Jayda out of yarn I had left over from socks I knitted for myself.  I will finish it off today, and will take them over tomorrow.
Also tomorrow I am thinking of finally going to have the "Swedish Goddess Massage" that my son Aiden and his partner Rachel bought me for my birthday in April.  Jess, Rachel's sister, has been waiting for me to call.  I've been trying to make it for a time when something special is happening, but there's nothing in the wind for quite a while, so I'll spoil myself now. 
Another thing that is a bit depressing is I've been waiting for my package from my SP10 pal.  We decided on just the one package, and I was told that it had been posted and that I should receive it around the 30th June or a little later.  Well, nearly 3 weeks later, there is still no sign of it. :-(  Perhaps my pal sent it via sea mail, in which case it will be at least another few weeks, but when I sent an e-mail regarding that, I got no answer.  Having had a dud partner in SP9, I hope this time is different. 
Well, I'm off for some breakfast and to get some knitting done.  I actually feel like knitting today which is good.  I must be on the mend.  Perhaps I just had the winter blues or something.
Take care all, and happy knitting.

Apparently I Rock.

What a great compliment Deb paid me.  She has nominated me for a Rocking Girl Blogger pin.  Isn't that so lovely of her.  I have to say, I'm amazed that she would consider me as I am just a very ordinary person who does very ordinary everyday stuff................but then again, I guess that really applies to all of us doesn't it?  What makes us all "rock" is that we blog about it and therefore share it with like minded people across the globe.  If it wasn't for the internet and blogland, we would sit at home, or on the train, bus, plane etc. knitting and not be able to share our successes and failures with more than a handful of close friends; many of whom wouldn't share our grief or triumph as they themselves are not knitters. 

In my almost 1 year of blogging I have made quite a few friends whose blogs I love to read and who read mine in turn.  I love the fact that I also get to know about more than their knitting, that I get into the inner sanctum of their private lives where I can share in their happiness or their pain.  Due to distance, there's not much I can do other than offer words of comfort or elation, but sometimes even that can be just what is needed.  I know that I have really appreciated their words on many occasions, both good and bad. 

Another great thing is sharing "goodies".  From the swaps I have taken part in I have received some gorgeous knitted items, some wonderful yarns, and some really yummy treat that I am not able to get here, and have done the same for others.  Shannon  and I have also exchanged treats just for the sake of the treats, and our friendship, and THAT is what this is all about.........friends.   I now apparently need to nominate 5 people for this "award, so here goes.

1)  Shannon.  This woman REALLY deserves this award.  Shan is married with two young children.  Her husband is going through a tough time medically at present, and Shan is coping with him being in hospital (he may be out now, I don't know), plus looking after the children, the house, the garden etc.  Such a strong, brave and caring woman who I am totally in awe of.  God Bless you Shan.

2) Margaret, who was my beautiful angel for SP9.  Another woman going through adversity at present, but who keeps on keeping on.  Margaret and her husband are currently house hunting, so keep them in your thoughts and prayers for a good and quick outcome.

3) Donna.  Knits the most amazing lace shawls and stoles, and so quick too.  I really enjoy reading Donna's blog, and she has the sweetest "bunny", Twinkie, who is always "helping" around the house.

4) Corrie,  a lovely lady who has just had a recent very sad loss.  Corrie knits and sews and has a gorgeous little girl, Keira.

5)  And last but certainly by no means least, my wonderful daughter.  Natalie not only has 4 lively children, a home to take care of, and an extremely responsible job (well, this year she's taken on Uni instead), but she cooks, quilts, knits and blogs and generally keeps very busy.  She is such a lovely and very talented person who totally puts me to shame.  Not sure where she inherited all her talents, but it's not from me.

Well, that's it for another day.  Still no photo's I'm afraid................still looking for that elusive camera.