Guy Fawkes Night!

I haven't blogged much this week, I know, I'm sorry, but if I had, it would have been full of *#@$^ and #@%*$ and many more expletives that would make a sailor proud! I'm so sick of insurance companies and solicitors, and now my car has been officially written off I have had the most ridiculous offer which wouldn't replace my car with a matchbox toy car, never mind the real thing! So much for being fully comp eh? I feel like I've been handing over money to them for years, for nothing! I would have been better off putting that money away in a bank account every month - at least I would have had the money to replace the car with something equivalent. Grrrrr! Ok, vent over, onto happier things!

So, it occurs to me that I never posted piccies from Guy Fawkes night. M and I went to a local display with my mate, her son and her baby granddaughter. The night started with a huge bonfire with a guy, then there was sparklers and then a big display of fireworks. 

 

 

I discovered that my camera has a fireworks setting, so I was experimenting with it. There were lots of oohs and ahhs and we were standing watching the display over a lake which was really cool as the fireworks were reflected in the water.

 

 

 

The rain managed to just about hold off until the display was nearly at an end, and then we ran for the car, dripping as we went. We did want to ride a few rides at the funfair, but not in the pouring rain! Ooh no! That's what you get for living in England though.

 

I frogged the Mystery Beret (or Meret, as it's become known on Ravelry) in the funky hand-dyed yarn and started again in a chunky red acrylic. It actually was the only chunky yarn I had in my stash, but I think it was a good choice. It shows the stitch detail up really well.

And I finished it today. Funny what you find to pass the time when you have an assignment to do! *lol* Look how lovely it looks from above. It's not as slouchy as I'd like, but I may knit another one in another colour and make it super slouchy.

I decided to have a ribbed rolled brim which combines the snugness of the ribbed fit and the casualness of the rolled brim. When you have very straight hair, things can slide a bit, so the ribbing helps to keep it in place.

Yes, I know there's a tail to weave in

I finished it in time to wear on my Birthday (which is Monday, just in case anyone was interested, you know!) I have to work unfortunately, but M and I will probably go out for a meal in the evening. We're going to go round to Sis' for a family meal tomorrow night, so expect more cute kitten pictures. By the way, kitty's name is Senka, which means Shadow in Serbian, so named because she's been following Sis around like a shadow all week!

And look, my procrastinating has led me to finish my Aine Cardi. Well, I finished it months ago, but I pieced one of the front panels on wrong, so I had to undo the crocheted edging, and the seams to correct it. With this novelty yarn, that was a pain in the arse I can tell you! But it's all done now and looking great! It's a silly frippery that I may only wear a few times, but it was fun to make and looks cool on.

So what am I procrastinating about? I met with my 1:1 student yesterday (I'm training to be a TESOL teacher, to add another string to my teaching bow) and got three samples from her (one reading, one writing and one speaking), and I need to analyse them phonetically and grammatically, etc, etc. My student is very sweet, she's Iranian and loves art too, so luckily we have a lot in common and can talk naturally. I think some of my fellow trainees have been struggling with their 1:1's.

Oo yes, I had my first finger prick blood test the other day! It was a piece of cake! I have to have weekly blood tests and the old veins are suffering. They're small and quite deep and my blood doesn't flow very well from them. It's quite common for me to end up with both arms punctured in order to get just enough blood to do the INR test. Well, no more! Finger pricks are the way to go baby! No more multi-coloured inner arms for me! Hurray!! I never thought I'd be so happy about a needle (piercing's and tattoos not withstanding of course!!)