Mid-term and Horses

Just a quick few thoughts and news.

I'm feeling much better now, and went back to yoga tonight, which was really lovely.
We're on mid-term now, which means no school for a whole week! I do have some admin work to do, but that won't be too taxing. Must get back to knitting too.

A huge controversy has broken here over the use of horsemeat in some burgers and frozen lasagne. Apart from the obvious issues such as that suppliers and the public were conned,  and the fact that we still don't know if there was any of the banned veterinary drug “bute” in the horsemeat, I fail to see what the big deal is. I would love to know where they got the horses from and the logistics of how they disguised the meat, but I do not agree with using the word "contaminated". People must have eaten these products and not noticed any difference; I'm with AA Gill, who thinks that rather than concentrating on the 70% horsemeat, we should try to find out what the remaining 30% was.
ugh, the 30% doesn't bear thinking about!  I know in chicken products it can include toenails, skin, feathers etc.and still be called "chicken" (which, technically, it is).Ugh, ugh and ugh!
For me, I like to know where my meat came from, have it unprocessed and naturally reared, and I don't mind eating less meat and paying a bit more to achieve this. Good farmers work very hard and they deserve to be properly paid. I think our drive for constantly cheaper food (much of which is wasted), processed by multinationals, far removed from its source, is causing these problems.
Let's get back to basics. 
What do you think?

Recovering

I am still not right since I got this virus.

I went back to work on Monday, because there were a few meetings that I didn't want to miss. Each evening, I've been just relaxing, to gather strength for the next day, but still in a bit of pain with sinuses, still have the vertigo and tinnitus that accompanied that virus.

Then today, two people mentioned that Neurofen is magic for sinus pain, so on my way home I stopped off at the pharmacy and stocked up.
 yes! Happy to report it is magic!

 So, with a bit of luck and a little more time, I will be fully mended. I hate being sick, and luckily it doesn't happen very often because I'm a terrible patient: totally impatient. I make an even worse nurse! 24 hours, that's it, can't stand any longer!

I have since knitted another two of the Haruha scarf, one for myself and another red one for a friend from school who stood in for me at two events while I was sick. Friends like that are invaluable, and I was thrilled to return with a little gift for her.
I found a small ball of this green alpaca, just enough for a tea cosy for my one-cup teapot. Good match too, though I think it would benefit from a few more crochet flowers. What do you think?

Scarves and Viruses

Scarves first!
I finished the white silk and cashmere mix one, and gifted it to a friend as part of her 60th birthday present. She was thrilled with it. I was also thrilled with how it turned out. It's so soft and silky! Didn't have the patience for blocking, so I just pressed it. I know blocking would have been better, but a cool iron, lots of water spray with a drop of lavender oil added, and a tea towel to protect, and here it is.

  I was so thrilled that I decided I would knit another with some lovely pure alpaca that I've had in stash for years. And that was a younger friend's part-gift for her birthday.

The indoor photo doesn't quite do justice to this lovely rich red, but going outdoors was out of the question.

Now to viruses. Oh my, I have been sick! A bad virus, this one, wish I could name it. I had my first meal in 6 days today, and spent a good bit of the day out of bed. Yes, that bad.
 There's an upside to everything though. I lost some weight that I wanted to lose, and I got reacquainted with my sitting room!

Part of the virus is a "swimming pool" head, dull headache and all noise seems loud. Oh, and the constant sound of a fan whirring, not too bad but I'll be happier when it goes. So, the sound of TV and chat is too much for me, and I've decamped to this room, which often goes unused. I bought new cushions before Christmas and they make for a very cosy space.

With the fire lit, and ignoring the Christmas decorations that still remain (blurred photo is good, doesn't show too much!), it's perfect for recuperation. That's grey bag daughter's tuba under the piano, not a bag of decorations!

Some Park pictures

I've been trying to go walking each day during the holidays, and mostly succeeded.

This glorious sunset greeted us as we rounded a corner in our local park one evening. I'm never up on time to see a sunrise, so I really do value a good sunset!

It helps having 2 separate friends to walk with, and Hubby has been on holidays too, so I've roped him in some days too.
I don't mind walking on my own, sometimes I quite like it, but I walk further if I'm with someone, and the time goes much more quickly.

(does this look like a ghost story pic? same park, different time!)

It has paid off, to some extent. I haven't put on any weight with all the Christmas eating, and believe me there has been a lot of food around here, much of it of the sweet variety.

And the same park again, but same evening. Tomorrow is almost "back to normal": I've got band practise, the kids don't. And then Monday, we're back to school/work, only the college students get this week off.
It has been a lovely Christmas, and a great break.

I deleted a post by mistake!

I had just finished a New Year post last night, and clicked on the delete button instead of publish! Damn!

Happy New Year all, hope 2013 is great fun here in blogland. And healthy for us all so we can blog!

This is a photo Hubby took in the centre where we ate and went to the movie last Thursday night. It looks so festive!
I've been very busy, but in a really lovely way, doing projects that were put on hold before Christmas due to lack of time.

 One is this marmalade: I bought organic oranges in July, didn't have time to make the marmalade so froze them. It was a blessing, when I defrosted them, the skin was so easy to cut, and the inside seemed to be all juice and no fibre! I just chopped up the 5 oranges, added a mug of water, simmered for 15 minutes, added same weight of jam sugar, boiled 6 minutes, and DONE! I love the jewelled colour, especially at this time of year!
I often think about how foods and smells trigger memories. Saw a can of grapefruit segments in the supermarket and had to buy it.

When I was little, we always had grapefruit segments for Christmas morning breakfast, followed by a fry-up. The diningroom table was set, with best linen and china, and when I eat these, I still feel the excitement that I did as a kid. Many foods that we had at Christmastime, we didn't have the rest of the year, so it was very exciting, not like now, when all foods are available all year round.

I completed a knitting project, a hat for daughter for rowing.

It's a beautiful chunky alpaca, and she's gone off to the lakes wearing it. I had the tiniest bit left! See!

I'm still working on the lace scarf, hoping to get it finished before I return to school on Monday.

Busy time

Things are busy round here!
We had a lovely relaxing Christmas, but since then it's been all go.

 Eldest has gone to Berlin to a debating competition; she will be there for 10 days. 

Middle Girl is going to Blessington Lakes for a rowing camp next week.

And Son is busy partying! He had a Murder on the Orient Express (paraphnelia bought online!) Thursday night.

So we cleared out for a few hours.

These pics were snapped in the centre where we ate and then went to Pitch Perfect.

I'm knitting a scarf!! It's called Haruha, which apparently is Japanese for Leaf.

Lace knitting is not really my thing, I'm more of a cables girl, but so far it's going ok. The yarn is a beautiful silk/cashmere mix, so it helps that it feels so beautiful in my hands. I will post a pic when it's finished and blocked (not sure what that is, but I'm sure youtube will have some videos!)

Happy Christmas!

Wishing you all a very happy, peaceful, fun Christmas!
I was "in town", as we call Dublin City Centre, today, looking for one ball of yarn to finish a scarf for my daughter for Christmas, so I snapped a few pictures with the iPhone.

The yarn shop was closed! What kind of shop in a city centre (even though we call it town, it is a city!) closes 2 days before Christmas?
I had to go to plan B, got other yarn in a suburban shop, and will knit a complementary cowl, and finish the scarf for the New Year.

Unfortunately, daughter is going to Berlin on 27th, and the scarf that was going to shield her from cold weather will have to stay in Dublin!

The weather here is unseasonable warm; it's really very pleasant, and lovely for some daytime walks.
This next shot is looking up Grafton Street. It was busy, and that was nice to see.

We lit the fire tonight, using a couple of logs sawn from our Christmas tree of 2011. This is a tradition I came across online a few years ago, and I love it!

We've kept 2 for tomorrow's fires.

Happy Christmas!