Easter Weekend

Well my little Easter Bunnies, how is Good Friday treating you all? True to form, the weather here is unspeakably grey and drizzly today, not a sunbeam in sight. I have been pounding the keyboard furiously this week so far and have managed to make a dent in the OFSTED paperwork so I’m feeling ready for the weekend and a little fun. Mind you, it’s not been all work this week – Wednesday I had an 8am blood test at the hospital so took advantage of being out and about in what looked very possibly like it might turn out to be a nice morning and packed Joe into the car so that when I had been blooded, we could head over to the nicest park on that side of town, Bradlaugh Fields. The park is named after the eminent Nineteenth Century freethinker and politician Charles Bradlaugh. (Charles Bradlaugh is a fascinating character, in case you haven’t heard of him you can check him out here ). Anyway Joe and I had a lovely stroll about; Joe doesn’t mind when I keep stopping to take photos while M sometimes gets a bit impatient. As you can see in the photo below, the sky was a lovely blue and you could see for miles.

Joe splashed in and out of the streams.

We found the remnants of the old Woodhenge

We admired the glorious yellow flowers of the blossoming gorse bushes

We sat by the chestnut pond for a while – I don’t know why it’s such a pastel green colour.

And nearly stumbled over this fairy ring.

While pondering here I wondered where the name toadstool originates from. Was it in fact from the use of the fungus for little toads to rest their weary legs upon? Did fairies turn naughty toads into toadstools for watching their secret midnight frolics? I discussed this with Joe but he just gazed at me with his head cocked on one side and was saying nothing.

So once I got home I did a little research and discovered that the word "toadstool," (a commonly used name for mushrooms that have an erect stalk and a wide cap) is from "Tod", the German word for death, and the deadly, poisonous nature of certain mushrooms is probably the  origin of the word toadstool. The etymology of toadstool is further compounded by the poisonous nature of toads. Many European folk tales refer to toadstools as places where poisonous toads sit on poisonous mushrooms in the forest, a myth perpetuated in whimsical drawings accompanying fairy tales and other stories intended for children.

So I wasn’t too far off then!

Tired out by our adventure, Joe and I travelled home again.

I’ve also been knitting hard…look, I’ve practically finished one whole arm on my BPT Hoodie!! Squee!

I actually would have completely finished the i-cord edging (which I love, love, love by the way!) but the pattern says to graft the last couple of stitches and I’m not quite sure about grafting. I’m going to have to check that out *lol*

My flower granny square blanket is coming along nicely. I love how you can just bang off a square in minutes and feel all productive! They will all be edged in white and joined together for a lovely coloured kaleidoscope effect. This is all from my scrap stash, you know, those little bits of yarn that really aren’t big enough to do anything with? I do seem to have a lot of them hanging about! It’ll be a lovely flowery blanket for putting on the garden bench to lounge on in the summer. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough to lounge in the sun over the summer.

I have lots of floral square patterns to try out and I think the overall effect will be lovely and colourful – a mosaic of colours!

I’ve now done both arms on my ‘Go for Baroque’! I’ve also done the front panels on either side and I’m now edging round the front panels and round the neck. Then I’m *gasp* done!

I know, I can’t quite believe it either! It seems to have taken forever! I’d have finished it much sooner without all this study, but hopefully it’ll all be worth it in the end!

Tonight we have some friends coming round for an evening of Wii and frivolity, and then tomorrow night I’m going to see ‘La Cage aux Follies’ – Hurrah! Sunday I think M and I are going to go to Glastonbury for the day. We’ll climb the Tor, spend some quiet time in the White Chalice gardens, look around the town at the lovely hippy shops and visit the old ruins. The weather says it’s going to be nice weather, so I’m quite looking forward to it! I always feel rejuvenated after visiting Glastonbury!

What are you doing this weekend?