What I Did On My Summer Holidays

It's been an interesting few weeks. Shortly after my last entry, I unexpectedly received the keys to the bungalow for which I'd been lobbying the council since the beginning of June. Exciting though this was, I was less than impressed to be told that I had only 2 weeks to move into it before I started paying rent on both properties. For those of you contemplating a house move, may I just say that it is possible to go from zero to Moving In in 10 days. I know this, because we did it! Lots of lists and a hard-working removals firm that packs as well as moves is all that you need. And a sense of humour. And a handful of takeaway menus. And a devilishly handsome son.

So, we moved in on 25th July, and thanks to the Beamish Boy everything was pretty much unpacked after a week. It's a brilliant house with a big living room, two decent sized bedrooms, a good kitchen, a lovely large bathroom, and laminate flooring throughout. It's wonderfully quiet, in the middle of a figure-of-eight shaped cul-de-sac. We look out onto two big oak trees in the middle of a lawn, and the road, which has very little traffic on it, runs down one side of us. It was well worth all the aggravation to get here, and we both love it.

Of course, being me, I couldn't let things go too smoothly. We'd just got sorted out when I developed cellulitis in both legs. A week after that, while they were still recovering, I had a dodgy prawn curry and ended up flat on my back with food poisoning for a fortnight. This, of course, made my legs flare up again. Then my chest - not wanting to miss out on the action - went haywire and I had to have a course of steroids.

So, ask me how I feel :) Actually, now that I'm eating properly again, and my legs are improving - which means I can walk around better - I'm feeling almost like my old self. My chest feels fine and I've even managed to start knitting again. Yes, gentle reader, I was Too Ill To Knit. It was awful.

In the last few days I have sent a completed baby garment off to Knit Today. They're very pleased with it and, I must admit, so am I. There's something very satisfying about making small garments, and it's not just the quick fix of having finished something. It's to do with nurturing and protecting as well. The magazine chose the most gorgeous colour (I hate wishy-washy pastels on babies, and apparently they can't see them very well), and I got to use some of my extensive collection of decorative buttons. Not sure when that's being published, but watch this space.

I'm still writing up the pattern for the second plus-size garment for Simply Knitting, and I had a bit of a hiccup with the yarn for the third one. Let's just say mohair is not a friend to my chest...

Another good piece of news is that Feed The Children UK have finally managed to produce their pattern booklet, Best Yarn Forward. This is the one for which I designed a boy's sweater in Sirdar Denim Aran. The booklet also includes a selection of patterns by the late Judith Whincup plus a beautiful little girl's dress by Mary-Louise Quick which is worth the cover price on its own. You get 6 patterns, and a number of motifs with which to jazz them up, for £3.50 (plus P&P) from Feed The Children UK. And well done to Kim Tame who was responsible for putting the whole thing together.

The cats, by the way, have settled in wonderfully, although Chloë was quite traumatised and tried to hide in a cupboard when we first got here. They now have a cat flap, which they take turns in staring through as if it were merely a handy cat-height window. Chloë won't use it at all, and Tigger will only use it to come in - preferring instead still to leave through the window. He always bursts through the flap with great excitement, bounding down the hall and proclaiming his return in a loud voice. By the speed at which he comes through, I think he must take a run up. It's certainly easier, now that we're here, to keep an ear on them, because their claws click on the floor as they walk :)

Hopefully it won't be so long before my next entry. To all of you out there who are moving house this year, all I can say is: best of British, and I hope it goes as smoothly as ours did :)

Tigger says, "It's very tiring, all this moving house lark. I have to find all new sleeping places... and break in new Little Old Ladies."