Yep, yep dunno, nothing

A day at the park

Yesterday I decided to get out of the house and away from the books and the laptop for a day. Man, it was nice to get outside and hang out with my mate Trish and her kids. It was so nice to get out of my own head for a while and connect with a friend about her life and hear how her life is changing after having her second baby recently. Playing with kids is always an amazing distraction from your own woes (which we tend to spend a bit too much time on, I think) too.

I caught up with Trish, Ashwin and 3 and a half week old Holly. We had a very civilised breakfast at the cafe and then went off to play and watch the Canada Geese with their goslings. If you live in Mountain View and get all gooey at the sight of small fluffy things, I would suggest rushing down there as soon as possible.

More pictures of the day out can be found here.

One Happy Cupcake

Today I turned 33 and celebrated by spending most of the day talking to friends and family. Seriously - I racked up nearly 8 hours on the phone. It wasn't the super indulgent day of lounging under a fluffy blanket on the couch, watching dozens of shitty movies while shovelling cupcakes into my mouth, that I had planned. But it was very nice all the same.

I always think about resolutions at this time of year. New year just never seems the right time - but the anniversary of arriving on the earth seems a much more natural time to reassess your life and where you're going.

I'd be lying if I said the past year or so had been easy so there was a pretty long list of things to sort out. I wont be boring you with any of it here, but I think if I can make a few fundamental changes this upcoming year could be a lot more positive.

As part of the Grand Revolutionising Plan, I also headed back to the gym after a VERY long hiatus. I'll start by removing the 10 kilos (and their friends) that have moved in during last year. So far - after 1 one workout - I feel terrific. But it is the sticking to it long term that is usually the issue.

The art of avoiding study

When the heat is on, the assignments coming up on the horizon, and the weeks are flying past like road signs on a highway, what does any truly devoted student do?

Yup. She knits. And if she's lucky she will find a few spare balls of Noro in her stash and a dvd in her laptop that she's been hanging out to see.

I made this pattern up. Not that it's really complex enough to call it a pattern. Just started with the right amount of stitches that would comfortably fit around my neck, then increased when I felt like it. Finished it off with a a knitted edge from a Debbie Bliss book thats name escapes me right now. Next time I would probably make it a little taller and make the flair more significant at the bottom so it would neatly sit under a coat collar.

I have heaps of assignments and exams coming up so I will have plenty of time to knit some more of these :)

It is NEVER too early to get a noob into knitting

My cohort in knitting shenanigans had a baby daughter a little over a week ago. She is devine. And so is the baby :)

Here she is modelling her first knitted piece of clothing. A soft, rolled brim hat made of some sublimely soft cotton blend.

I am amazed to see how naturally they have both fallen into a routine together. Trish is calm and a little tired, grounded and assured like an earth mother. Holly is a warm, squirmy little bundle of possibilities and the most wonderful feeling I have had, in a long time, is kicking back and having her fall asleep on my shoulder while I held her.

Our local Woodpecker returns

Usually quite early in the morning :) But he is beautiful and quite amazing to watch. The holes are chiselled so quickly that the noise he makes are more like electrical noises than you'd expect. For you ornithological types, he is a Downy Woodpecker, the smallest of the many types found in the US. They are super common and found nearly everywhere.

We can watch him at eye height from our bedroom window which, with all the mature trees now covered in Spring leaves, feels a little like living in a tree house.

Take some scissors to your knitting

This was a birthday present for my MIL that has made it's way back to me for editing. Totally my idea of course. The unfortunate thing about gifts is you don't get a chance to liaise with the future owner to make sure it is a good match. So, sometime the presents end up 30% too long and contain more fringing than some would like.

It was expectantly difficult to take to it with scissors, even though I knew I was turning it from something unusably large into something perfect for the chilly Canberra months. This is probably the end to my surprise knitting goods. What the hell do I do with the head sized ball of Noro I have left over now?