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!

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!

In the run up...

I've been having a very busy but fantastic run-up to Christmas.
Lots of all the nice things; friends, fun, food and music!

2 really lovely surprises this week.

This first one was knitted by a fellow French Horn player! I've hung it in my car, with a few drops of my Christmas Burner Oil dotted on the red, and sometimes when  it twirls I get the most delightful waft of cinnamon, orange, clove, frankincense!

This other surprise arrived by post from Brussels, with a note that said "this was made for you!".
My dear friend, Cee, sent it.

Hope you're all keeping well, warm, and looking forward to some good celebrations (if you celebrate).

Our Christmas Dinner

Our Christmas this year was as usual, just the 5 of us, which makes for a very relaxing day. No fuss, it's just us!
Our Christmas dinner is like no other I've ever come across. I told the guy who did my hair last week, and wish I'd had a camera to picture his face!

We go out to eat on Christmas Eve, and on the way home get a Dominos Pizza, which the kids eat, reheated, on Christmas Day. They don't like turkey or ham, and some years ago we gave them their choice (it's their Christmas too!) and that's what they came up with.

This year, nobody felt like going out on 24th, so we just ate at home, and ordered the Dominos online. When it arrived, I put it in the car boot, where it would keep cool till the following day.

When we took our own turkey and ham out of the oven, hubby put the pizza, still in its box, in the oven to heat up for 10 minutes.

We all sat down to our beautifully laid table, all best crystal and china.All pictures from Google.

And daughter announces that there's a weird taste from the pizza. Son agrees, but he's willing to eat turkey and ham instead. Eldest thought hers tasted ok, but hers was in a different box (no cheese...vegan).


It was then we discovered that the little plastic pots of dip had melted in the oven! Yes.

She didn't feel like eating anything else that was on offer, so we just let her be and after dinner was finished, hubby drove around with her until they found a shop that had something she would like.
Crisps and Lucozade!
I think our Dominos tradition has come to an end!