Catch-up post
This week has not been as organised as planned - on Tuesday I managed to slip, with my good leg, on a piece of clear plastic I had knocked onto the kitchen floor myself. As I tried not to fall I managed to twist the arthritic left knee.
Back to pain killers and the knee brace... especially as I needed to drive us to our Wednesday lunchtime appointment get our covid booster shots. Fortunately, the knee was not too painful when driving, it was weightbearing that was most painful and, using my large black 'walking umbrella' for support, I was able to get from the car into the building and back.
I had meant to spend the rest of Wednesday sorting out some of the crafting stuff, but instead it found me sitting quietly, reading and doing a bit of writing on the next Returnverse story, having posted the last chapter of Going Home here and on my usual two archives at the beginning of the week.
Thursday morning and I had the expected 'slight flu symptoms' as well as the sore leg. Paracetamol helped both, but I mainly sat still. I had to go up to D-d's on Thursday afternoon, and then went out for dinner on Thursday evening as it was our WI's 50th birthday. Luckily my sister picked me up to go to that one, and we could park near the venue!
Here we are -
The lady with the pink hair is Cathy, our branch chairlady, and I am beside her in purple. Next to me is my niece (Edie's mum), and then my sister.
By yesterday I was coping without any painkillers, but was awake early, so I went and did the food shopping. But not the visits to the craft shop, or the shops where I had intended browsing to do a bit of Christmas shopping. But at least I was able to get my die-cutting/embossing machine out to make some Christmas bits from some dies a friend had lent me for the week. And finished off some knitting. Even went out to the garden to help S2C reposition Caravaggio so he didn't get his wheels caught in the hesperantha. Oh, and wrote a bit more of Glorfindel's story. I am always grateful to wiseheart for running picowrimo, which spurs me on to get the words down!
So here are some photos - the view from the conservatory window, which is all I saw of the garden this week;
And Caravaggio now just outside the conservatory as well - but on the grass so his wheels can spin nicely, as he also has a new bike.
And here are almost all the bits I have knitted over the past few months to be taken out to Ukraine;
A local semi-retired mechanic started to support Ukraine when they were first invaded, and bought up a couple of very old 4x4s and then did them up to make them sound. He, and a Ukrainian friend, took them out and handed them over to the military at the border.
Since then, the group has grown. The same guy still does all the mechanical updates, another couple repair bodywork, and twice a year six or seven of them take the refurbished vehicles out. The couple of Ukrainians in the party cannot cross the border as they would not be allowed to leave, and they have families on the island. So usually the vehicles are still handed over to be used by the army or ambulance service at the border. But on one trip the rendezvous was changed to a town about five miles inside Ukraine - and as the drivers (minus the 2 Ukrainians) waited to meet their contacts they were surrounded by a lot of children. And they discovered that this was a local orphanage which was now very crowded because other children had been moved there from less safe areas.
When they spoke to the staff they found there was a real shortage of clothes, toys, almost everything - especially, the children said, they would love to have some bikes. And so, before the next trip, the guys here also put out a call for kids bikes that were being thrown out - and did them up too! And their families began gathering clothes, and toys... and then a couple of the grans began knitting... and every vehicle that goes out from the island now has a few more bikes, and some woollies, and some big toys to share and some small ones that can belong to one child... And I happen to know the aunt of one of the families involved.
So that picture shows what I call my 'handbag knitting' for the past few months - things that are small enough to fit in my bag and be taken out whilst waiting for something, or having coffee and a chat, and for quiet days when it is my turn in the bookshop.
There is a small blanket to brighten a bed, the little dolls and teddies, five hats in assorted sizes, three head bands/ear-warmers, and a pair of fingerless mitts - there are two more pairs of mitts to go that I have finished since I took the picture. (It was a quiet day in the wee bookshop today!)
My knee is now back to the usual level of being painful some of the time, but mainly just a bit unreliable and sore most of the time, thank goodness, and I will take the knitted bits down to Ballasalla next week to be added to everything else to fill 5 vehicles that will soon set off on their journey.
Back to pain killers and the knee brace... especially as I needed to drive us to our Wednesday lunchtime appointment get our covid booster shots. Fortunately, the knee was not too painful when driving, it was weightbearing that was most painful and, using my large black 'walking umbrella' for support, I was able to get from the car into the building and back.
I had meant to spend the rest of Wednesday sorting out some of the crafting stuff, but instead it found me sitting quietly, reading and doing a bit of writing on the next Returnverse story, having posted the last chapter of Going Home here and on my usual two archives at the beginning of the week.
Thursday morning and I had the expected 'slight flu symptoms' as well as the sore leg. Paracetamol helped both, but I mainly sat still. I had to go up to D-d's on Thursday afternoon, and then went out for dinner on Thursday evening as it was our WI's 50th birthday. Luckily my sister picked me up to go to that one, and we could park near the venue!
Here we are -
The lady with the pink hair is Cathy, our branch chairlady, and I am beside her in purple. Next to me is my niece (Edie's mum), and then my sister.
By yesterday I was coping without any painkillers, but was awake early, so I went and did the food shopping. But not the visits to the craft shop, or the shops where I had intended browsing to do a bit of Christmas shopping. But at least I was able to get my die-cutting/embossing machine out to make some Christmas bits from some dies a friend had lent me for the week. And finished off some knitting. Even went out to the garden to help S2C reposition Caravaggio so he didn't get his wheels caught in the hesperantha. Oh, and wrote a bit more of Glorfindel's story. I am always grateful to wiseheart for running picowrimo, which spurs me on to get the words down!
So here are some photos - the view from the conservatory window, which is all I saw of the garden this week;
And Caravaggio now just outside the conservatory as well - but on the grass so his wheels can spin nicely, as he also has a new bike.
And here are almost all the bits I have knitted over the past few months to be taken out to Ukraine;
A local semi-retired mechanic started to support Ukraine when they were first invaded, and bought up a couple of very old 4x4s and then did them up to make them sound. He, and a Ukrainian friend, took them out and handed them over to the military at the border.
Since then, the group has grown. The same guy still does all the mechanical updates, another couple repair bodywork, and twice a year six or seven of them take the refurbished vehicles out. The couple of Ukrainians in the party cannot cross the border as they would not be allowed to leave, and they have families on the island. So usually the vehicles are still handed over to be used by the army or ambulance service at the border. But on one trip the rendezvous was changed to a town about five miles inside Ukraine - and as the drivers (minus the 2 Ukrainians) waited to meet their contacts they were surrounded by a lot of children. And they discovered that this was a local orphanage which was now very crowded because other children had been moved there from less safe areas.
When they spoke to the staff they found there was a real shortage of clothes, toys, almost everything - especially, the children said, they would love to have some bikes. And so, before the next trip, the guys here also put out a call for kids bikes that were being thrown out - and did them up too! And their families began gathering clothes, and toys... and then a couple of the grans began knitting... and every vehicle that goes out from the island now has a few more bikes, and some woollies, and some big toys to share and some small ones that can belong to one child... And I happen to know the aunt of one of the families involved.
So that picture shows what I call my 'handbag knitting' for the past few months - things that are small enough to fit in my bag and be taken out whilst waiting for something, or having coffee and a chat, and for quiet days when it is my turn in the bookshop.
There is a small blanket to brighten a bed, the little dolls and teddies, five hats in assorted sizes, three head bands/ear-warmers, and a pair of fingerless mitts - there are two more pairs of mitts to go that I have finished since I took the picture. (It was a quiet day in the wee bookshop today!)
My knee is now back to the usual level of being painful some of the time, but mainly just a bit unreliable and sore most of the time, thank goodness, and I will take the knitted bits down to Ballasalla next week to be added to everything else to fill 5 vehicles that will soon set off on their journey.