Sadly I don't have much new to report. (Well, a few things)
Just been trying to get through the days at work.
Down to 35 weeks.
I have the best friend in Canada ever. Halifax, Nova Scotia to be more exact.
Here's the story.
I was part of a Vampire Halloween Swap.
It was supposed to be secret. Meaning, we victims didn't know who was "spoiling" us.
Well, right off the bat the secret got spoiled by my spoiler as she messaged me to make sure I was her partner. That took out a lot of the fun on my part right away.
Then the package finally arrived.
Lets just say I was less than enthused by the contents.
The colors were not colors I would choose at all, it was yarn I stated I was allergic to... and there was not a vampire related item in sight.
She reasoned that I didn't want to have to ship things.... *head desk* Thats fine, but she could have included something that was vampire related.
So, to be honest. I was disappointed. I was well within my right, as other people noticed how lackluster the package was.
What does this have to do with my friend in Nova Scotia?
Well, a package arrived to me from my friend Crystal that knocked my socks off. It was to make up for the lackluster package I had previously gotten.
The yarn alone had me drooling. It is Seacell and Silk. Meaning it is HEAVEN to smoosh.
Honestly, I was so blown away and touched by the kindness of the package.
Moving along, here are some things I've made over the past couple of weeks.
Hoot is a little hair clip designed by Ysolde Teague. Whos work I absolutely adore. Hoot knitted up in like 10 minutes, I've actually made 2 of them as I couldn't find the first one.
The stitch markers were little metal bobbles I found at Michaels craft store. I loved them so much that I went back to get more so I could make myself a set. These, and Hoot were going to my Halloween Vampire Swap partner, so they are no longer in the house.
I just made some new stitch markers for the Flirt and Flounce custom order that I have.
Yesterday I made myself exceedingly proud.
I made homemade bagels from scratch. Sure, a bread machine was involved, but that was just to save my hands from all the mixing and kneading. I do after all have early arthritis (or darn near close) in my hands, so I have no qualms about using my bread machine.
I made Cinnamon Raisin bagels.
And let me tell you,
No, they were not hockey pucks like I feared.
Yes, they were absolutely delicious.
No, they weren't beautiful store bought perfectly round bagels.
Yes, they had the perfect crust, and the perfect texture inside.
No, they weren't a pain in the ass to make.
Yes, it was amusing twirling the dough on my fingers.
I was absolutely shocked at how easy they were to make. The actual making of them... took far less time than I imagined.
The boiling in the pot was not as scary as I imagined it to be.
The only thing I might try differently shall be to use actual bread flour instead of regular flour. But pretty much.. thats the only change I'll do for next time.
Eventually, my goal is to also know how to make Pumpernickel, as Cinnamon Raisin and Pumpernickel are my two favorites.
Other than that, we had a very quiet Samhain/Halloween.
Mum made a pumpkin sauce with black pasta for dinner which was very good. You can read all about it over here. (Once she posts the blog that is. So if it's not up, just be patient.)
I guess really thats all I've got to say right now.
I guess I'll end it on the note that yes... I've had the weird realization that this time next year, I'll be in the UK and finishing up my wedding.
OOOHh! Just remembered one thing. Had an awesome dream last night. The kind of dream where in the middle of it, I was awake enough to go "Oooh this would make a great novel". Can't recall it at all, I mistakenly fell into the cocky writer mentality of "Oh, it's so vivid and I'm awake enough right now... I'll remember it in the morning." - Yeah. How silly was I.
I know it involved fast cars... A theme park... a roadway quite like the autobahn, a sinkhole that swallowed a pickup truck, and promptly repaved it's self (alright, someone repaved it.. but in the time it took me to glance away) with the truck and a body inside. A dying car crash victim, a lot of questionable money, the disappearance of the car crash victim and her body, and over all the entire sense of intrigue and "who can I trust" sensations. - Mind you, none of this is in the order it happened in the dream. It also no where near covers the depth of the dream and the complexity it had. By typing all this out for several times, I'm hoping to recall other details.. But no... no such luck.
I know, I know. I should have woken up and grabbed the dust covered notebook I have on the floor. But sadly I did not.
The only good thing that this is telling me, is that possibly the creative spark inside me that I feared was being killed by work possibly isn't fully dead. This gives me hope that next year when I can actually sit down and write, I won't just end up staring at my keyboard in vain.
Well, thats all I've got for now.
Ta everyone. Have a safe and happy start to the new year if you celebrate it.
