Reflections

A's school Christmas Fair is this weekend. In addition to the crocheted scarves I mentioned in a previous post I will also be donating...

... tree decorations. Made from felt and hand sewn/embroidered/embellished. Several of the Mums have been making these, the ones above are all the ones I've done so far. I'm hoping to add a couple of gingerbread men to the collection before Saturday.

I also had a go at some crocheted snowflakes. Two of the ones shown here were made using Lucy@attic24's tutorial, the rest using this pattern. I also tried another couple of patterns but these two produced the best effect though I still think they look rather wonky even after blocking & stiffening. I think Lucy's pattern is probably the more forgiving in this respect.

Again I'll try and get some more made before Saturday. The show I was doing is now over and I have a little bit of time in the evenings. It was Crazy For You, all the songs listed at the end of this post were from it. It went really well, the cast on stage did an excellent job. By the fifth night in a row it does get a little wearing, though looking on the bright side it was five nights in a row of not having to deal with bed time for the children! I'd been asked to play as they needed a double bass for the Slap That Bass solo. I understood there wasn't much money in it but I would get something. I have to admit to being a little disappointed to find that the "something" for four nights performance (and four nights rehearsal not to mention private practice time) amounted to less than what I received per night for playing bass in shows when I was in my teens. So much for inflation!

While I'm moaning, I'll also note here that the pesky starlings have discovered my birdfeeder, grrrr! It's a squirrel proof one which keeps out the jackdaws (there is another feeder they can use) but not, it would appear, those greedy starlings. I'll need to find another way making sure the sparrows, blue tits and robin get their fair share undisturbed, any suggestions?

This morning was gorgeous. N and I went for a walk at the loch. Yet another current bug bear is the speed (or lack of) at which toddlers walk.

Frozen puddles delayed us quite a lot today.

On the otherhand, were I at work (I worked for 13 years in a factory on an industrial estate in the middle of nowhere, all the windows in the office area were obscured by those loathsome vertical blinds and there were no windows at all in the fabrication line area) I wouldn't even have been able to get out at all. For being able to have the choice of whether or not to go outside (albeit "lumbered" with children) I am glad every day.

The folly on the hill (still unvisited, perhaps next year...)

Reflections in the loch. The surface of the loch was mirror flat until N started jumping about in the shallows. All those tiny little ripples on the water were caused by him.

We then went to the cafe for an ice cream each, mmm.