Scuppered!

There has been no knitting chez josiekitten in the past week. Nothing remotely crafty has happened. And the reason? See for yourself!

I have tendinitis in my wrist and thumb, and need to keep the joint as immobile as possible for a while to allow the inflammation to subside. To say that I am fed up is understating it somewhat, but I hope that if I do as I am told now, then it might recover enough for me to be able to do some crafty activities over the summer holidays. In the meantime, I have my Kindle full of books to read. Any recommendations?

Florence doesn't seem too worried about my injury! As long as she has somewhere comfortable to sleep, all is well in her furry little world! At the moment, either Mr JK's fleece or mine is her snoozing spot of choice.

I may need to do a little retail therapy tonight in the Posh Yarn update, just to boost the spirits you know! See you next week when I hope to be a little cheerier! xxx

Phew!

Well, I ventured into the wardrobe and inspected all the woollies there - it would appear that the hole I found was an isolated incident, thank goodness! But it has certainly made me think about how I store my knitted garments and I shall be investing in some storage bags in the very near future.

On the knitting front, I finally got round to sewing buttons on a baby cardigan and blocking it. I decided to use a selection of solid colour buttons and I like the effect. It's heading for the gift box for now.

I've started another pair of socks for our friend in Germany. These are a very dark grey, so I won't be knitting them much in the evenings. My eyes just aren't up to it! I have a few weeks to get them finished, so I'm not panicking (yet!)

The somewhat cool summer evenings have lured me back to my Love Squared blanket too this week. I have decided to knit 36 blocks and make a 6 by 6 square blanket. I'm not looking forward to crocheting around the edge of each block, but it will make seaming a whole lot easier. I may also add more of a crocheted border around the whole blanket, depending on how much yarn I have left. I am enjoying watching my rainbow develop - the next blocks will be in dark green.

The garden is looking lovely right now, with so many different flowers in bloom. Here's a few of them ...

Mr JK and I spent an hour or so wandering around a favourite haunt in Norfolk this afternoon - the gardens at East Ruston Old Vicarage. There is always something different to admire here. I can thoroughly recommend it if you are ever in the area. I put together a few of the (many) photos I took today for you.

The visit was finished off rather nicely with tea and cake - sticky lemon cake for me. Very yummy it was too! Have a good week. xxx

Unwelcome guests?

I pulled a shawl out of the wardrobe this week as I needed it for part of a costume at school. I spotted a hole in it, and upon closer inspection, it would appear that something has munched its way through two strands of yarn! At this point, I broke out into a cold sweat just thinking about all the other knitted items that are stored alongside this shawl and the damage that might have been done. 

Florence was there to lend moral support as I attempted to fix the damage. This weekend, I shall be brave, and armed with a large bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate, I will take everything out and inspect for any further damage. I obviously need to rethink my storage of handknits. How do you look after yours? I will report back at the weekend; if you don't hear from me, I am probably sobbing under a mountain of moth-eaten woollies! Wish me luck! xxx

Routines

Although I love being away on holiday, it always feels good to get back into our daily routines. That means early morning walks in the local countryside. Both Mr JK and I have Fitbits to count our steps. I try to get at least 10,000 steps each day. Not a problem for Mr JK who does a lot of running, but I don't always manage it! But when you have views like this, it's not hard to get out of bed before 6am!

We enjoyed our first barbecue of the year last weekend - sausages, chicken souvlaki and veggie kebabs. We eat loads of salad at this time of the year. Not only do I have to share my olives with Mr JK now, but after our recent trip, he is now a feta convert!! Next thing I know, he'll be eating goats' cheese too!

The day after we got home from Greece, I travelled down to London after school to meet up with a Ravelry friend, Bobbie. She and her daughter are currently travelling around Europe and it was so great to finally meet her, after being on-line friends for some years. We spent a couple of hours together, chatting over a pizza. Gifts were swapped too - Bobbie gave me a beautiful set of gradient yarns. I need to find the perfect project to show them off.

I finished a pair of socks for Mr JK while we were in Greece and finally got round to taking a photo of them. The yarn came from a yarn shop in the east of Germany, near to where Mr JK's mum was born and has been sat in my stash for some time. I also finished a pair of socks for our friend Wolfgang. He loved the socks I made him after he had part of his foot amputated as they fitted him really well. I used a yarn with silk to make them soft and the fact that there's no seam makes them perfect for him. I hope to get another pair knitted before we visit them at the end of August.

Mr JK and I went down to London for the day yesterday. It's so easy going by train. Under two hours gets you right into central London. Plenty of time to knit - I worked on my blanket squares. I am a long way off finishing this project but I aim to focus on it over the summer. It will be perfect for snuggling under this winter.

We spent the morning looking around the Imperial War Museum. We looked around the First World War galleries - it was so interesting and really brings home the horrors of war. In the afternoon we went to the theatre to see War Horse. I have wanted to see this play for absolutely ages and it was utterly spellbinding. Definitely the best thing I have ever seen at the theatre. The puppetry was incredible, you really didn't notice the people operating the horses, they were so realistic. 

It was a pretty dull day yesterday. We walked from the museum up towards the Thames, and before I knew it, we'd stumbled across I Knit!! It would have been rude not to go in, so while Mr JK browsed the market stalls outside, I bought a skein of yarn as a souvenir of a great day out!! It was one that I'd had my eye on at I Knit Fandango - purple and sparkly! I think a pair of socks might just be on the cards! But not before I have finished my blanket! I'm not going to cast on, ok?! xxx

A little more Greek news

I know, I know, I said I'd be back to tell you more about our holiday in the week. I'd forgotten that I had a super busy week at school packed with meetings and assessments to contend with too. But here I am, better late than never to hopefully bring a little of the Greek sunshine into your corner of the world. 

Mr JK and I have been visiting Kos for 13 years; we love the island and especially the village where we stay. When we checked in at the airport, the person on the desk expressed surprise and commented that we didn't look the typical holidaymakers going to this particular Greek island! When we pointed out that we would be staying in a really small fishing village where daily life continues around the tourists, he was amazed that such a place existed! But it does, and each year it provides us with a complete chill out and battery recharge. We are greeted as friends by people we have come to know over the years, it's pretty special. We do spend a lot of each day relaxing on the beach. Neither of us are huge sun worshippers though - we stay in the shade and read, play endless games of Scrabble and I knit while Mr JK listens to music.

The beach never gets crowded, it's just glorious! There's often quite a strong wind there and you can see kite surfers showing off their leaps and turns. We've never been tempted to give it a try!!

Each section of the beach has its own sunbeds; I love the bright pelargoniums growing in tubs here. This year, one area of the beach even had its own wifi!!

Daily life really does just carry on around the visitors. The fishing boats go out each night whatever the weather, bringing their catch back into harbour first thing in the morning. Of course, the local cats know this and gather around, hoping for scraps.

Next door to the supermarket the cows are grazing in a field and just behind our accommodation, a farmer was baling hay using an old fashioned tractor and baler.

We didn't have wall to wall sunshine as you can probably tell from the photo above. One day was pretty cloudy and there was a huge thunder storm in the night. You can see it brewing here; the sky looks quite menacing, doesn't it?!

There are at least three churches in the village - one larger and the other two tiny. We looked in one when we were out and about on our daily walks and the wall paintings are breathtaking.

We ate delicious food the whole week - salads, fruit, fresh bread baked in the village bakery and bought on our early morning walks each day, a huge variety of traditional Greek dishes and sardines, Mr JK's favourite! I am not a great fish eater, but Mr JK was in his element (as were the cats!!!)

 

 

Yes, there were cats! Not as many as we have seen in the past, especially living in the rocks down at the harbour. Apparently it was a hard winter and many of the cats didn't survive. Also, some of the cats have been neutered in an attempt to keep numbers under control. The neutered cats are easy to spot as they have had the tip of one ear clipped. We only spotted one family with kittens. Those kittens were just starting to venture out on our last day, but vanished each time a human approached! They will have to learn to trust people in order to survive. Here are a few of the cats we befriended in the week. Our suitcases returned home somewhat lighter after the cat food and biscuits had been distributed!

 

 

 

The lady who lives in this house feeds a lot of the strays and they gather there each morning for their breakfast! We gave her our leftover cat food before we left as we knew she would be able to make good use of it. Florence doesn't know what a lucky little cat she is with plentiful food, a cosy bed and a lap to curl up on and people who love her.

 

We've been home a week now, but the memories will last us until we go back again in 2016. Do you have any special places that you are drawn back to year after year? xxx