Displacement Activities

I've been thinking a lot about my Aunt H recently. Both my parents came from large families, so there were plenty of aunts and uncles about in my childhood; Auntie H was my favourite though. She and my mother were very close, so she was a frequent visitor. I can remember being shocked when she announced that she no longer watched/listened to/read the news. 'Didn't she want to keep abreast of World events?' my 16 year old self asked. 'It's never good news' was her reply. As I get older, I'm beginning to see what she meant.

Yesterday evening for instance: we had the usual Brexit shenanigans; the devastation caused by the cyclone in Mozambique; an update on the shootings in Christchurch (is everyone else incredibly impressed by Jacinda Ardern? I think she's doing an amazing job); the identification of Libby Squire's body; and the sentencing of a 16 year old for the abduction, rape and murder of a 6 year old girl. By the end of it I was heartbroken. I don't think last night was particularly unusual either, it seems to have been horror after horror recently. I thought of Auntie H going through life, happily doing her knitting and listening to opera. Maybe she had a point after all.

Here then are a few of my recent attempts to distract myself from 'real life':

A belated Valentine's Day present from R. It's a swift box. I didn't like to point out that, as they are colony birds, we may need more than one, so it's now up at the back of the house and I'm being hopeful. Maybe we can add to it gradually, but I think it was quite pricey so it may take a while.

 Re-knitting my Hipster Shawl after R felted my previous one:

An evening of comedy and magic at our local theatre. When I booked the tickets, the lady asked if we would like to be on the front row. Thinking (quite rightly!) that front row audience members would probably be picked on, I asked to sit further back and in the middle so that we were hemmed in. Come the night, there were 2 empty seats next to R and, after I helpfully pointed out that the spaces drew the eye nicely, he spent the show terrified of being chosen!.He wasn't, but I can understand his concern - he was once dragged up on stage to dance at a pantomime and has never fully recovered! I really enjoyed it though and it made a nice change from watching a play.

Attending a 'Make Your Own Green Man' workshop at our local museum. I LOVED this! Here are a few that were provided as inspiration:

 ........ and here is mine:

 It still needs to be glazed and fired, so I'll show the finished article when I collect it in a few weeks.

Enjoying my Mother's Day Narcissi from a few years ago:

 Glad to see my Camellia in bloom again. In fact, it's nice to be able to get outside generally. I've just cut the grass for the first time this year and it looks so much better.

 Finishing my Christmas Eve cast on socks - finally! They have been my travel knitting, so have taken a while.

A few months ago, I bought a footstool at a car boot sale. I had signed up for a 1 day upcycling course and needed a small object to work on. Naturally, as soon as I found said object, the course was cancelled! I thought I'd give it a coat of paint anyway:

Here it is after 2 coats of Annie Sloan, a coat of wax and a bit of distressing. I'm in 2 minds about the fabric - I nearly bought some upholstery fabric at the Knitting and Stitching show, but thought I'd see what it looked like painted first. I don't know about the apples (or are they cherries?), what does everyone else think?

 

When L graduated, I made her a 'Graduation Quilt'. With E in her final year at uni, I asked if she would like one too. She wasn't entirely sure, but I could imagine the accusations of favouritism if I didn't! So, I thought I would compromise and make a 'throw'. It's quite a large throw - she can 'throw' it on the foot of her bed, 'throw' it on the chair in her student room (she's hoping to stay on for a Master's Degree), or even 'throw' it on the wall as a hanging. E is my 'hippy girl', so I thought she'd quite like these Indian block prints. I've finished the top and bought the wadding, so now I just need to sandwich it all together and quilt it. She can always 'throw' it away if she hates it!

 R and I took a trip into London to see L. We decided to visit Brick Lane as R and I had never been:

This is where we stopped for lunch:

 

 We had a combination of Ethiopian and Turkish food which we shared. It was delicious and very filling. We were planning to have an Indian meal later at one of the many restaurants claiming to serve 'the best Indian food in Brick Lane', but none of us were hungry. Next time!

  Finally, I had half a ball of yarn left over from making my Hipster Shawl, so made a quick pair of fingerless mitts - you can never have too many. The mitten blockers are the ones I bought at Yarnporium last year.

Well, that's all for this week. I'm off to channel Auntie H by listening to some opera whilst I start preparing dinner. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and may all your news be good news.

Toodle pip for now. x