Summer Blues

So this is what passes as July here in England at the moment. How nice it would be to have some actual sunshine! Here I am, with no job for a couple of months (okay, I have some summer school workshops to run) and I can't even sit in the garden with my furry tribe. It's really not good enough! Come on science geeks! Design a source of cheap, clean, renewable energy so that we can stop this global warming and give us a decent climate back. Okay, rant over.

I have another teaser shot for you. Again, this is for a current swap partner, but that's all you're going to get until the packages have been received. One never knows who's peeking at ones blog *lol*

In case that left you disappointed, here's a WIP. This bit of glass (it's a hurricane candle jar) will be going into my eBay shop as soon as it's finished and dry. It's a nice paisley designs, embellished with jewels and twinkly swirley bits. It's been nice to have the time to do a bit of painting recently, and maybe this will help to bring a bit of much needed cash in. As long as I can get them listed that is!

I've had to make up a special tattoo oil blend for M. He had a new tattoo recently and ran out of the hemp aftercare balm he'd been using. I told him I could whip up something better for him, so here it is. It's a jojoba oil base, nice and light, so it'll be absorbed into the skin easily, with lavender, eucalyptus, geranium and camomile oil. They will help to heal and regenerate the skin, and also moisturise a little.

The dropper in the bottle will mean that he can't go overboard with it like he can with the balm, and using jojoba oil instead of hemp oil will mean that his skin doesn't get greasy. The lavender is already helping to calm down the redness of the skin.

Now, I know you're going to want to know how my knitting's getting on, aren't you? Well, here's my BPT Hoodie, cabling along nicely. The original pattern was knitted in a variegated yarn which disguised the cabling design in my opinion. The single colour yarn really emphasises the pattern. Love it!

And my Pink Sorbet? Yes, it's coming along nicely. I'm up to the tailored waistband section on the back. I really ought to concentrate more on this since it's more of a summer weight top, but with the summer we've been having, I'd probably wear the BPT Hoodie more *lol*

I love the colour. I'm sure the pattern will be more obvious when I start the main part of the back. As far as I know the bottom shouldn't be all zigzaggy like that, so I'm hoping that will block out straight!

Oo yes, I had a super score at Hobbycraft yesterday; 19 balls of Shirdar Vegas for 49p each! I have a project in mind for these; I just need to check the gauge. As I shouldn't be spending much at the moment, I had to sneak these into the house! Anyone else done that?

Pippin claimed the plastic bag as I photographed the secret stash.

Another thing I did this morning was to sort out my burial plot. What a thing to do! As the cemeteries here seem to be filling up fast, we wanted to make sure that we were all close together. Mum ordered a double plot for Dad so that she can be with him; my sister has the plot next to them; my brother has the spot next to her, and I have the plot in the green burial field over the footpath but next to Dad. I can have a tree there instead of a headstone. M wants to be cremated, so his ashes can be with me anyway. I just prefer the idea of a living memorial instead of a stone. Not that there will be anyone to mourn me as I don't have any kids, but at least it will all be sorted and paid for. Well, you know. Bit of a sober thought. I won't finish on that.

Tonight I'm out to Belly dancing, tomorrow morning I shall be going to the pictures with Mum to see Prince Caspian, tomorrow night I have the first Summer School workshop. I have about 8 students so far, so I'm going to do coil pots and thumb pots with them. Friday, my brother receives his Medical Photographers Diploma, so we're all going to Trentham for the ceremony. I hope it's a nice day!