Out Of Quarantine!

I'm now officially swine flu free and to celebrate the fact, we took off on a last minute camping trip to Ullswater! Yes I did say camping, not the luxury of the caravan or even a tent that you could sit up in but a tent about the size of a coffin! It was supposedly a 2 man size tent but I'm thinking of sueing them under the Trade Descriptions Act!! It was very cosy, cramped, snug and any other euphamisms for too bloody little!! We were like sardines in a tin but with not as much space! But it was so funny! My highlight of the trip was lying in the tent, watching Ian as he tried to take his shoes off and get in without a) kicking me b) rupturing a disc c) putting his head through the tent or d) waking the campsite with loudly expressed expletives!! It took me 10 minutes to stop crying with laughter. Luckily the weather was glorious and while Ian and the dogs went walking, I sat and knitted!

Late evening on Ullswater

I'm still on with the Forest Canopy shawl that I'm knitting using my handspun merino/silk yarn. I'm pleased with it so far but the yarn is more 'rustic' than I would have liked!! I'll hopefully get it finished while we are in Cornwall, which is very soon, this Friday in fact. We are going in the caravan( luxury!) for two weeks, staying near Perranporth , so fingers crossed for good weather!

I'm off now to start the mammoth list writing that precedes any of our holidays! I'll leave you with a pic of Ian, Paddy and Alfie after their Helvellyn expedition last weekend! Maybe the tent should be recategorised, 1 man, 2 dog size!!

Back To Reality!

With a bump! A huge laundry shaped bump at that!

I love holidays. All that relaxation, sunshine, eating good food cooked by someone else, the odd glass of wine................fantastic!

But then you come home, empty the suitcases, and the laundering marathon begins.

I wouldn't have thought that so many loads of washing could fit into two suitcases! My carbon footprint went up a few sizes as I ploughed through it all.

And then just as I thought the end was in sight, dear daughter decided to clean her room and hey presto, the washing basket was overflowing again. Nice to be home!

We had a fab holiday in Zakynthos. It was lovely to go away as a family again after a few years just me and Ian. I would like to think they came because they wanted to spend some time with their parents, but I strongly suspect that the offer of a free holiday was the motivation!

We stayed in a quiet resort called Alikanas on the East of the island. Our hotel was beautiful, right on the beach but not too far to the restaurants and tavernas.

Apart from stuffing our faces, we had some lovely walks on the beach and even ventured into the sea for some snorkelling. Some of the fish were amazing, and I was surprised how big some of them were so close to the shore.

I took loads of photos, which I won't bore you with, but at one end of the bay was a small harbour and when we walked there, I saw this old deckchair under a rusting parasol that was covered in netting and I couldn't resist taking a picture.

I could just imagine an old fisherman sitting here, after the days catch had been brought ashore.

On holiday,I really enjoyed watching Tom and Kate in the pool, relaxed and laughing and just enjoying themselves generally.

Kate took a shine to an inflatable turtle, and was determined to sit on it. The resulting 20 mins was hilarious, she wouldn't give in and finally succeeded!

I managed to read a few books while I was there, some were from the Richard and Judy Book club list, which I enjoy trying, just to read books by authors I wouldn't otherwise choose. Some were better than others, but it was nice to read a book in big chunks rather than just a few pages at bedtime!

I did take some knitting on holiday, but didn't do too much. I'm knitting one of those string type bags, hopefully to reduce the number of plastic carrier bags I use. The name of the pattern escapes me but it's a simple 4 line pattern. I'm using some DK cotton from the stash that I'd forgotton about.

Since getting back, I've also done a bit more spinning of the Gotland I bought at Woolfest. It's the first longer stapled fleece I've spun and I'm enjoying the challenge! I'm still tending to spin too finely and seem to have to really concentrate to make a thicker yarn. But it's nice to get back to the wheel!

I'm also looking forward to catching up on everyones blogs! Is it just me who feels that the days are just too short? So much to do, too little time! Back to reality!!