Making holiday plans

From November onwards when winter feels like it'll be never ending, and the thought of having to wear tights or socks every day for months is a miserable one, I start planning holidays for the coming year, to give me and my varnished toes something to look forward to.

The Turkey trip is a given - first week of May to the Asfiya in Kalkan - with Suzy, a pile of books, scrabble, cribbage, backgammon and the iPod full of favourites. The idea is to do not much at all and we're near on perfecting it.

In the summer, the plan is to stay in the UK and visit a Landmark Trust property. Beautiful historic buildings renovated and rented out as holiday homes, with the added bonus that dogs are allowed in many of them, so Bert gets to come too. The one we have chosen is in Ceredigion, West Wales near to where I spent many years holidaying as a child so it'll be cool to revisit vaguely remembered places.

Then in the autumn we are FINALLY going to Chicago to visit Frank Lloyd Wright and Carolyn. I am hoping to swap fish cooking tips for quilting ones, share tons of new music and get taken to the best bars and eateries in town. Is that enough notice for you Duff?!

Reindeer

So just after Christmas Jack asked for a retro, slightly naff in a good way, reindeer jumper. Apparently all the rage amongst the trendy youth of south east London. Despite a growing list of knitting obligations it sounded fun and a bit of a challenge. He was also in the last chance saloon given that the last garment I made him has hung underworn and forlorn in his wardrobe:

After many assurances that he would indeed wear the new jumper, I launched into a pattern search and after amalgamating a few from all over the place, came up with the finished article:


Made with Garnstudio Drops Karisma purchased from Scandanavian Knitting Design. Such good value yarn!Excellent quality as well. I've been having a bit of a yarn splurge from Bruce and Birgitte and it is all fab so far.

I am glad to report that it's getting regular wear. So much so that I need to sneak into his room and extract it for washing.....

A la Duff, currently, I am....

Eating: delicious fish from the Deptford Codfather, delicious meat from William Wellbeloved butcher, not so much delicious fruit and veg from Abel & Cole as the van couldn't make it up our snowy street on Monday. Substituting with fruit and nut chocolate.

Making: too much! Cardigan in progress for my mum, batwing jumper just cast on for Ally, roll neck jumper waiting in the wings for Mark. Assorted hats, scarves, iPod jackets... And yes, I know I need to take photos.

Reading: not a lot (see frenzied activity above). I am really missing out on reading by not commuting any more (although, London Transport, I am so not complaining about that). I have a stack of books waiting for their chance when I am on holiday....

Watching: seemingly every single cookery programme currently showing but especially the rather lovely Gregg Wallace on Masterchef, yes I have got 'interesting' taste in blokes :)
New series of Brothers & Sisters (yay!) and eagerly anticipated new series of Mad Men.

Listening: to new CDs by Earlimart, Loney Dear and Andrew Bird - all sourced due to great mixes sent over from Carolyn and Nipper. An excellent way of discovering new music - thanks girls!

We have tickets!

I think I must have been the first person to get Homegame tickets. At a minute to midday on Sunday I was continually reloading until the 'buy tickets' button popped up. Given that as I write there are apparently still tickets left, I feel a bit shamefully desperate, but also given that I am obsessively organised and wouldn't have slept properly until I had a ticket in my grubby little mitt, I'll give myself a break.

The room with a sea view is also secured, so now it's just a matter of waiting 10 weeks......!

In knitting news, I have finished Jack's retro reindeer jumper (at a minute to midnight to be precise) which was speedily washed, spun and left to dry on the radiator (I know I know - 'dry flat' and all that malarkey) so he could wear it today. I didn't manage a picture before he ran out of the house but one will be forthcoming soon.

Weekend to-do list

1. Make 3 bobbles to turn welsh dragon logo beanie hats into welsh dragon logo bobble hats. For Rich, Rich's sister and her partner. In time for the Six Nations of course.

2. Be in front of computer at one minute to midday on Sunday to purchase tickets for Homegame from the Fence Collective website.

3. Phone and hope that the lovely lady at the Grange still has a sea view room for said weekend.

4. Jump around the house with the sheer joy of having obtained Homegame tickets for the first year ever.

5. Calm down.

6. Watch and listen to numerous football matches. Hope my Fantasy team scores more than Suzy's. Roge is no longer a threat :)

It's been too long

Blimey, it is really 4 months since I threw some words of wisdom out there? Where has the time gone? Well, mine has been going on music listening, mastering sock knitting, discovering Malbec and the joys of golf. Well, not really - I've swung a club around my body in an uncoordinated fashion a number of times on the driving range and sometimes connected with the ball. I am hoping for better in 2009.

But the main thing that has got me out of my blogging slumber is to report on the most magical gig I have attended in a while. James Yorkston and the Athletes, with Pictish Trail and Rozi Plain chipping in, and Malcolm Middleton supporting. Pretty promising you might say, but throw in the venue, St Giles Church in Soho on a chilly 'almost Christmas' December night, and the result was tear-inducing loveliness. If you have never seen JY perform you are missing out on something special. Go see him. And in the meantime listen to When the Haar Rolls In and his entire back catalogue :)

Music Maestro Please

I've been very inspired by new music lately, and as a consequence have far too many unlistened to CDs piling up.... I promised to send some new stuff to Carolyn and as she is sooo good at her mixes I had a go at one for her and am pretty pleased with it (if I do say so myself). I treid to replicate in on a mixtape (below) and was reasonably successful. Those mixtape boys and girls have a pretty comprehensive selection. In fact the only band I couldn't find was my son's - Charly Brown - and given that they only really play in South London pubs I guess I can't complain about that...