Isn't winter over yet?

This winter has been a particularly bad one for me. The cold, damp weather has affected the M.E badly and I have been unable to knit for some time now. I have spent most of my time flat out on the sofa, gathering enough energy to do the 'school run' and collect the children. I am asleep by the time my husband gets in from work and am really neither use nor ornament at the moment.
I'm hoping that things will improve with the arrival of the warmer weather - sunshine usually improves my mood, if not my level of pain.

Was that the door...?

Yet another day spent awaiting a delivery! I find it so frustrating, hanging around the house, constantly listening for the knock on the door only for the van to arrive while I'm out on the school run.

Today (should) see the delivery of our new dishwasher. The old one gave up the ghost some time ago and we have been waiting for the sales, in hope of a bargain. There is a gaping hole in the run of kitchen units awaiting its arrival.
I find that washing up takes a fairly large part of my energy, particularly if I'm having a bit of a 'baking day'.....it is so much nicer to be able to hide the dirty bowls and utensils away and get them all clean in one go, rather than having to stop and wash up because I'm running out of room or need to use the sink for something else.
Hopefully it will arrive soon and I can get on with my day....I have so much I'd like to achieve and very little energy today, definitely not enough to waste on twitching the curtains every time a vehicle stops outside. Mind you, its the perfect excuse to plonk myself on the sofa and knit...after all, I wouldn't possibly be able to hear the doorknocker from anywhere else in the house, would I?

A return to normal service.

Well, thank heavens for that! With a sigh of relief and joy in my heart I packed the other half off to work (through the snow, no less!) and took the children to school. Peace reigns once more.

It was lovely having them at home and we had lots of fun but I do find it hard to cope without my routine. I need regular rest periods interspersed with short bursts of activity in order to get through the day, achieving all that I need to. This just does not happen when the house is full of folk getting in my way.

It is freezing cold here today and we awoke to a couple of inches of snow. Nothing unusual, you may think - it is January, after all! However, we just don't really 'do' snow. Even if the rest of the country has closed down due to a few inches of the white stuff and My Man has spent all morning getting halfway to work before rail services cease and he has to turn around again. This tail end of the country always seems to miss most of the snowfall. Living by the coast may have something to do with it...salt in the air, my Gran used to say. The snow never hangs around for long, melting quickly into horrible grey slush that makes your feet cold and wet. The cold wind stays, unfortunately....chapping lips and chilling faces. Yuck!

I intend to hibernate once the children are home. One more foray out today to collect them from school and then there will be hot chocolate and biscuits in front of the fire, with a few of the cuddles that I have missed. Dinner is cooking...mmm, lamb stew and dumplings... and the house is warm. What more could I wish for?

Count to ten..

The school Christmas Fair is now over, Santa's Grotto is packed away for another year and I've just about regained the use of my legs after sitting in the same position for two and a half hours whilst facepainting.
I miss most of the fun as the facepainting takes place in a classroom off the main corridor, away from the hall. I and my fellow PFA mum spend the entire time painting designs onto little faces (mostly butterflies this year - with the occasional spiderman and tiger to stop us from going completely mad!) and hoping that the feeling is going to return to our knees before we need to stand up again.
I usually enjoy the activity. It can be stressful, looking up for a moment and realising that the classroom is packed with children and parents..all watching what you are doing...but the children are usually very well behaved and pleased with the result. Its so nice to see their smiles. Most parents accept that there will be a queue and wait patiently, chatting to friends.
Except one.
One with a very loud voice.
One who declared that she could've painted all her children's faces in the time they had been waiting in the line.
One who finally managed to persuade her offspring that they'd be better off spending the money on sweets...
It was a very difficult situation to find myself in. The fair was organised by volunteers - to raise money for the school, in order to provide a few items for the children that would make their time in school more interesting and fun. We all worked very hard and most parents appreciate the effort we put into such events. I was very close to 'presenting' the One with a set of face paints and telling her exactly what I thought of her attitude! However, I had to remember that I was a representative of the school and surrounded by children and so would have to bite my tongue. Soooo not my default setting! I will try and feel sorry for the fact that the joy of Christmas has passed her by....and hope that her children manage to find some from somewhere.

So who's gonna make the ark?

The rain is lashing down today. I got soaked during the dash from car to school entrance and haven't warmed up since. It's dark and gloomy and I feel thoroughly miserable.

The school Christmas Fair is all planned for Saturday afternoon and I have a few hours of face-painting to look forward to. Friday afternoon will be spent assembling the grotto for Father Christmas' visit and dashing about setting up stalls and games with my fellow PFA members. Plenty of coffee and slight hysteria will be the order of the day, methinks!

I planned to spend today baking..cakes for the fair and mince pies for the freezer...but I'm finding myself very short of enthusiasm, wishing that I could bury myself beneath the duvet and emerge once the weather has improved. The constant damp affects my joints and the aches and pains that accompany my M.E are exacerbated, dragging my mood into the depths of gloom, doom and despondency.

The gifts need to be wrapped, the baking is waiting and I know I have several days of very draining activity ahead. There is so much to do and my 'batteries' are low. A little sunshine would help - until then ...soup is required - butternut squash with ginger and chilli that will warm me from the inside.

'Tis the season...

The Pink Princess is bounding about the place, reminding all who will listen that her birthday is approaching. She was due to arrive on Christmas Eve, but with her usual impatience decided that she'd hung around for quite long enough and was born two weeks early by emergency C-section. Since her arrival I feel that its not really Christmas until after her birthday...but there are things I need to get done in order to be ready in time. The problem I have is gathering the energy and impetus to start my Christmas preparations. I have a touch of the 'Bah humbug!'s this year. The in-laws are due to visit soon. They combine their pre-Christmas visit with their Pink Princess' birthday visit and so arrive a fortnight before Christmas and stay for the weekend. This means that I have to have their gifts ready, as well as those for other members of the family that live at their end of the country...each year I am found wrapping stuff frantically while they are tapping their toes, ready to depart.

This year will be different (each year I promise myself the same thing!)....I am almost done with gift shopping and I have completed a large part of my gift knitting. Just some size 12 socks for BIL (and my husband's sweater) left to do. Oh, and all the washing and blocking of the things I have managed to complete. It's do-able. Honest!

However, I have started the mincemeat for the mince pies. I make a no-added sugar version as my beautiful Pink Princess is an insulin dependant diabetic. This mincemeat is as good as any I've tasted, with the natural sweetness of the dried fruit and a hint of brandy. It doesn't keep for long but can be frozen and I've made enough for MIL and a friend whose newly diagnosed son is encountering his first festive season as a diabetic. Its not easy when they are surrounded by seasonal advertising and displays of huge tins of chocolates and sweeties. Sometimes life sucks!

One more for luck.

I don't know why vintage knitting patterns fascinate me so much, particularly those of the 1940's. It may be the link with my beloved Grandmother. Or the respect I feel for the generation of women who held things together on the homefront during the war years - I don't know if I would have coped too well in their place.

I have several knitting books of the period. Each one is full of patterns for every member of the family, from underwear to dresses and even women's suits. There are handy hints for 'make do and mend' that may become more relevant as I strive to become more eco-friendly and less extravagant.

Here is another set of cami-knickers knit from one of these 1940's pattern books. As the weather worsens and the temperature drops they are looking more and more attractive. Woollen handknits, hot chocolate and a good film - my idea of heaven as the snow starts to fall outside and the wind howls down the chimney.