Job Update

I started a new job a week last monday.

Now i've been a school food assistant since October 2007 after working for Morrisons for 3 years (which i hated). When i first tried to get out of Morrisons i applied for a Cook Supervisors Job at Westfield Infant school but didn't get it. I stuck it out at Morrisons and was all set to stay when the School Food Area Manager rang me to see if i wanted an assistants job which i jumped at. I've loved my year there but always want to better myself so when i knew the job at the infants was up for grabs again i grabbed at it AND GOT IT!!!

So i started on the 8th december just in time to cook 255 christmas dinners on the 16th lol. I'm really enjoying it so far lol. Mind you i've just broken up for Christmas now so no work for me until 5th January 2009!

Goodbye Cleo

As some of you already know we lost our dog on Friday 12th December. After lots of soul searching we decided that it would be best for her to be put to sleep. We had had Cleo for over 15 years and when she died she was 17!!

This is a photo of Cleo which was taken a few years ago (when she could still get on the sofa!) She's beautiful and i really do miss her. Life seems very strange without her now.

Meet Scales

Scales is a new addition to the family since last Saturday. She is approx 8 months old and is currently living in her new Vivarium in mine and Daves bedroom BUT she actually belongs to Georgina!

She is a Western Hognose snake and (hopefully on Thursday) eats 2 pinkies a week. We have handled her a few times for a minute or two at a time each day but won't be handling her Thurs evening through to Sunday as she'll hopefully eat Thursday night and it's best not to handle them when they've eaten for a couple of days.

she is slightly venomous but it's akin to a bee sting and if we handle her enough and nicely enough she should get used to us (touch wood) and therefore not feel scared enough to strike

ENT appointement results

ok ok i've not blogged in a while, in fact it's been bloody ages and today's blog has really been prompted by my trip to ENT.

This all started in September when i had a rather nasty viral ear infection which affected my balance and started a humming in my ears. Well it's not gone away so my Dr referred me to ENT where i went to today. There i had a hearing test and then went into see the consultant and after lots of prodding and poking in my ears and lots of wiggling of my jaw he said that my jaw hinge is in such a position that it pushes on my tubes by my ears which help them drain etc which doesn't help when i’m trying to get rid of a viral infection. Nothing they can do about that as they can’t reposition my jaw hinge!. However i do have a nasal spray to help with the swelling so that the pipework can open up a bit more than it is as these are swollen internally and therefore causing more blockages.

The major bad news is that i’m also losing my hearing in both ears and again there is nothing they can do about that. I will need hearing aids in the next 10 years but it could be in 2 or could be in 10 years. There is no way of telling how much scar tissue is going to build up over what period of time. It's a bit of a bummer when your only 38.

One good thing though. If i want to i can ignore someone and have a proven excuse pmsl

Loving this Site

My mate Anna sent me a link to this site and i love it. It's called Why would you knit that and it's very funny

Anna also sent me one caled Cake Wrecks . Scroll down to the one with the baby FAB!!!

Check out my rav profile for more up to date projects of mine and i promice i'll blog more later this week HONEST

Sockfest!!!!!!

Well August has been a month of either starting and finishing socks or finishing a pair that I've had on the go for nearly 12 months. Lets start with my Embossed Leaves Socks. Now i got the book last year in September (a birthday present from my mother and step dad which took a week or two longer to arrive than expected). The book is called Favorite Socks (just click on the link. The yarn i used was given to me by KraftyKoala and dyed especially for me as a one off treat as i was having one of my "moments". So i cast it on and knitted up the first sock, not a problem till second sock syndrome hit and i just couldn't face knitting it. Anyways to cut a long story short i finally picked it back up nearly 11 months later and finished it at the beginning of this month so the finished product looks like this.

Next i embarked on a pair of socks for Georgie. Her first pair of hand knitted socks that she chose the yarn for at the Hobbycraft thingie at the NEC. As they are small and just knit stitch then i managed to get them done at a super speed and she loves them. They are made from Regia 4py and they are now called Griffindor Socks.

Next i decided to ignore my "Lotties Desire" which is hidden away from sight and used up some of my sock yarn stash in the drawer upstairs. So using a pattern from a supplement i received with Knit Today in the spring i set about making the Check Mate socks using Opal 6ply tiger yarn. I've shortened the cuff on the socks as i hate long cuffs unless they are over the knee socks to be honest. Well again I've managed to knit these up rather quickly and they look like this.

And now to the last pair I've been knitting this month, and no I've not finished them YET! We still have another 6 days left in August so you never know lol. However, i do go back to work tomorrow. I'm using Stashed sock yarn again. This time it's Lorna's Laces in Black Pearl colourway. I bought this around 12 months ago from Get Knitted. The Pattern I'm using is called Nutkin and it's knitting up lovely. it's such an easy pattern that even Miffy could follow. But on the second sock I'm going to play with the heel as I'm not happy with a tiny bit of it lol. anyways so far it look like this


it's coming along nicely but i may cast on a pair of boot socks for Alex to try to get ready for district cub camp in September. I've also still got Vlora on the go and a dishcloth made from Peaches and cream that i get from Create and Knit. So far my stash of peaches and cream is growing quicker than i can actually knit it up so I'm going to start getting down to it and knitting up the washcloths for Christmas treats.

Wonder what September is going to bring. I'm still saving for my Lendrum which I'm hoping to afford by Christmas or, at the very latest, after Christmas. I'm doing well with Jess (my lovely borrowed ashford trad which babylonglegs youngest dh named for me lol). One thing is for certain I'll be back into even numbers for my age!

Green Metropolis and a couple of other bits

Thanks you to Sarah who showed me a link to a website where you can sell your books and buy books second hand at a reasonable price. The site is called Green Metropolis and click on the name to go straight to it!

on another note i've ordered a new memory card for the camera and just have to pray and hope that i read the compatibility chart right and it will work. Then i can take a piccie of Georgies Cardi and her first hand knitted sock too and of my sideways KAL hat. So fingers crossed folks

July is over

OMG doesn't time fly when your having fun. And yes i have been having fun! We went to Burnham on Sea for a weeks holiday and it was fantastic. We went to Cheddar Gorge and Wookey Hole and lots of other places too. I did have to stop myself from buying a Kaftan though !!!!! Thanks for the text Tilly!!!!

Unfortunately our camera is buggered so there are no piccies this year of our hols and i can't add many onto my blog at the moment until i can get the damn thing to work.

On the knitting front I've finished Georgie's cardi and it looks great. I've also got my second embossed leaves sock back out to finish before i can start knitting something with this:-
Fab isn't it! Tis a custom order from fyberspates that Cath at Create and Knit ordered for me and then called Lottie's Desire. Sarah likes it so much she's having some too but not to knit socks with lol. It's in my 3 fav colours and the purple is divine!!

Talking of Sarah, my PIL's took the girls to the space center yesterday so i had a day off lol. So off i went to Sarah's with Jessica (named by Joel) and some fibres and had a day spinning and knitting. It was so nice to sit and chat and spin or knit and just generally relax.

I've also been on a Leaders camp (last weekend) and had a fantastic time. I met leaders from other groups and even got 3/4 of the way up the climbing tower before hyperventilating and having to be slowly let down. Next year i'm determined to do it all as i never used to be scared of heights. We did lots of things like shooting and archery and then training things like paperwork etc but it was so much fun. Great to have a camp with out the kids which meant we could bring beer!!!! I was my usual quiet self after several beers pmsl. The down side to the weekend was my lovely bites on my legs. Those of you who know me know that i tend to react badly to bites and this time was no exception, so when i got home Sunday i went to the out of hours Dr's for AB's and they are still quite painful and itchy.

Georgie is looking forward to me finishing her second sock (which i've cast on already) which is sooooooooo bright

suits her personality :0)
August is going to be busy too with me and the girls leaving my hubby for a week to go for our annual holiday to my sisters. We are off to legoland one day and the science museum another. Seems very odd having all this time off over the holidays but I'm loving it (most of the time).
Have fun folks!!!!!

Where has June gone

one minute it was just starting and the next it's near the end!! Mind you the end of June can mean only one thing... WOOLFEST!!! So I'm off up north on Friday straight after work, leaving my dh with the girls all weekend! Wish i could go up Thursday night but my job doesn't allow days off outside school holidays. Can't complain really since I'm about to have 6 1/2 weeks off (and I'm soooooooooo looking forward to it)





Like i said June has been busy. I spent last weekend at Fox Coverts with 27 cubs and some adults. Generally not caring that it was raining on the Saturday and having lots of fun! I managed to get some kids to do stuff they have never done before and we all had a good time (i hope). I have another camp booked in September which I'm looking forward to as that one will be district camp and there will be loads of other groups there. It's a great time to catch up with other leaders. Mind you i can do that in July on the leaders camp lol.





On the knitting front I've been mostly spinning. I got some coloured roving in the post and have since made this.

thing is my wheel is borrowed so I'd like one of my own. Since I'm off to woolfest on Friday i can try lots of different sorts of wheels whilst I'm there and then choose which one i want. That way I'll know how much i need to save to buy my own. I'm going to be asking for cash for my birthday and Christmas presents lol.

that's all for now. Will post piccies of woolfest when i get back!

Friends.....

i just uploaded the piccies from my phone to the computor and felt like blogging this piccie. I had a fab time the other friday at Sarah's dh's band's gig and we took this piccie. My phone piccies arn't brill but hey i like this one

Found My Spinning Mojo (thanks for my fwend

I went to Sarah's today and I've done this

this is me spinning, after many hideous breakages at home Sarah has shown me how to spin without breaking and therefore making a continuous strand. What you can't see is my lace weight yarn which i started spinning. I had problems to start with doing anything with bulk in it but got there in the end.

Two bobbins later and I'm now on Sarah's Louet and I'm plying for the first time ever. I still have a tendency to over spin now and again but it's going well at this point!
And the result is this:-
My very own very first plyed homespun yarn and god do i feel so fucking proud of myself!

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Sarah

Rules

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. Ten years ago
May 1998 AJ was 6 months old and the size of a newborn baby. I was still on maternity leave but considering getting another job but not in the same place i was before.

2. Five things on today's "to do" list (in no particular order).
Washing, ironing (if i can stand up long enough) knitting, eating and reading

3. Snacks I enjoy.
Olives, cheese, infact i'm not really a snacky person.

4. Things I would do if I was a millionaire
pay off my mort and any debt my family or friends may have. build a conservatory. Hire someone to make my nappies properly but still in this country. Have another child if possible. have lypo on my belly and hips lol


5. Places I have lived,
Heston, Bracknel, Sharnford(leics), Loughborough, Stevenage (herts), Hinckley (leics)

I'm gonna tag:
Anna
Nic
Gem
Sarah M
Cath

OH YES YES YES

Well so far it's been a cracking weekend. Friday night i went to Rafters in Barwell to watch Babylonglegs dh's band play. It was a fantastic night and i had one to many pints of the black stuff me thinks. but the ultimate has to be..................

Saturday, It was a very very nerve racking day. For those of you who don't know i follow Hull City AFC as it's where my gramps came from etc. Yesterday was the play off finals for the Championship division and i was cacking myself for most of the day. Hull City AFC have never been in the top division in their entire history. I felt sick for most of the morning. Ended up digging the garden (oops but more about that later) till 2.15pm before going off down to the pub to watch Hull City V Bristol City.

Well i have no nails left on my let hand but did get a few texts from the landlord of the Weavers Arms (who was on holiday in Spain till last night) including one instructing the barman to buy me a pint. With the final score of Bristol City 0 Hull City 1 I was a tad bit excited and kind of screaming and crying at the same time.

We came home and i calmed down by watching a DVD (i am legend which was OK but the ending was a bit hurried i thought) but still felt sick after being so nervous all day.

Went to bed but for some odd reason couldn't sleep till 4am and then woke with hideous back ache which is my own fault (see digging garden bit) as I'm currently waiting to see a physio as I've got a trapped sciatic nerve. Sometimes i can be a great big twat!!!

Needless to say I've not made it to church today but i am hobbling round with a huge grin on my face and I'm a very very very happy bunny.

Sorry i've not Blogged

to be honest i've just been really busy. Even my sister says she's not seen me on MSN as much as normal. Got lots on at the moment and with the weather being so nice i've just wanted to slob out pmsl.

Had a Gangshow meeting yesterday and i'm now Treasurer of the Gangshow committee but don't have to touch any of the money thank goodness. Lots of positive things came out of the meeting including the new comittee and other things. Seems odd prepping for something that won't be done till 2010 but the whole thing takes one hell of preparing.

On the knitting front i'm still doing G's cardi which is in an earlier post and lots of dishcloths and i'll post piccies later

Race For Life

I've entered myself for the Race For Life which will be at Coombe Abbey on 9th July 2008.
As i've put on my fundraiser page i've been touched by cancer in my life several times. The first was the loss of my beloved Grandpa when i was 13 to Hodgkins Lymphoma. I lost my Taid (welsh granddad) to prostrate cancer when Alex was 1 and my friend Jane has had bowel cancer. I want to do this to help make it possible for people like my friend Jane to still be here and not be like my grandparents!

I did set a low fundraising target but i seem to of gone past that in my first day so let hope i can get many many more sponsors!!

If you can and would like to please sponsor me via the widget on the side of my blog or you can just let me know what you would like to sponsor me and i'll write it on my paper sponsor sheet. It doesn't matter if you can only afford 50p it all adds up in the end

thank you for sponsoring me
love and hugs
Lottie

Not blogged for a while i know

but there has been a reason. I've had gangshow rehearsals and then the actual show. That actually went ok which really surprised me to be honest. Mind you i opened this weeks Hinckley Times ,whilst sitting in piggies hollow eating a salad, and was ok will i got to the entertainment pages and nearly spat my ham across my table. There is something rather hideous about seeing myself in print wearing a huge white tent type garment and being hit by a spotlight!!

During the same week as Gangshow i also had 2 nappy open days which were organised by LCC. And what a waste of space they were. The one on the Thursday at Loughborough Town hall was abysmal. No one knew we were in there and the advertisement had been poor to say the least. Brock's Hill was slightly better on the Sunday but not much. At least i managed to finish off a load of quick dry hybrids for Angeltots, which Sarah added to her site yesterday at 2pm and sold out in around 5 or 6 hours. Makes me realise just how much people want my nappies!!!

This past week has been fab. We went over to Sarahs on Monday for a get together which i really enjoyed. Miffy made some delicious cakes which i really shouldn't of eaten but i did lol.

On the knitting front i picked up this last wed

i tried to have a play with some fibre yesterday but need to practice my treadling a bit more first before i have another go. Once i've got it then i'll see if i can get Sarah to dye me some fibres specially for me.

Talking of Sarah . How much of a star is she. She has been dying yarn this week and has made a new colour way.

and this is the blurb she has put with it which i have to admit bought a tear to my eye.

" This colourway was inspired by one of my best friends :) The depth of colour represents her generous nature and her love of purple. Its called "LottieRu"

on that note i'm going to sign off and knit more of G's cardi which looks like this but in variegated pink (of course it has to be pink!)

Busy Busy Busy..............

ok so i've been a bit lax in my blogging of late. I do have an excuse and that is i've been really really really busy. What with panto at the end of feb and gangshow rehearsals, lent groups and normal bible study groups i've not been home much at all.



Panto went really well and i think most people enjoyed it as they keep stopping me in the playground at school and in church saying "i didn't know you could sing, we really enjoyed it" Very hard work but i remember most of my lines in the end!



Gangshow rehearsals are still going but it's been cut to just 3 nights now. One of the reasons for poor ticket sales could be due to the price. They are £9 each with no concessions for kids or oaps and people just can't afford it. I'm not enjoying it really which is a shame but couldn't drop out as i have made a commitment so therefore can't.



Knitting wise all i've had time for is dishcloths which i've not taken piccies off yet but will soon. I've just started Clapotis using yarn dyed for me by babylonglegs.




As for the girls they are both doing fine. Georgie has the cute thing going on at the moment due to the loss of 2 teeth (well i think she looks cute!)

well that's it for now but i will add more laters as i keep knitting and doing other bits and bobs

I've Been Tagged

By no less than 3 different people!!! Thanks Sarah, Olivia and Nic.

Such nice comments too (at least i think they are pmsl).

Now i have to pick 10 people to tag. Well Sarah, Olivia and Nic all need tagging back which i'll do at the end (my last 3)

now in no particular order

Anna, inspires me to be creative and takes me as i come even in her house lol

Sarah M, a fantastic friend who's company i look forward to on saturdays and who's company i am missing whilst i have so many rehearsals.

Sasha she may be shorter than me but what she lacks in height she by far makes up in her lovely personality!

and i will update the rest at a later date. Including what i think to Sarah, Olivia and Nic lol

Is it February Already??????

EEEEEEEEEEEEK that means it's less than a month till Panto!!!! i've not actually got all my words in my head yet but i'm getting there. This month is going to be very, very busy what with the show and then gangshow rehearsals on top of that too. Things will quieten down after Easter thank goodness and then i get to go away for a couple of days, knitting with my mates!!

On a knitting note i've finished knitting my booga bag and have now got to felt it. Jo has sent me some more black 4ply so i can crack on with my balaclava and i kind of broke my stash diet but only because i got a £10 ebay voucher. I bought 20 balls of this:-

It's to make Cherie Amour for me. I've had to get more balls as it's yardage is less than the stuff she used for the pattern but i think 1000g is enough!!!!!!

On the weight loss front i'm on week 5 i think and i've lost 9lb so far. I'm cycling to and from work when i can and when i'm not going to get blown off and i try to walk everywhere else if i can.

Sewing front:- i've actually made some nappies and i have 2 open days coming up so i've got to get cracking and make up more nappies for those. I'm going to go into the fabric room tomorrow night after a meeting and do an inventory of what fabics i have. Oh and i've an order for some newborn nappies which are to be delived at the end of half term (11th to 15th feb here).

Last but not least i have new footwear...................and by heck are they comfy. I've only taken them off to go to bed!

ps if there are any spelling mistakes today then forgive me as the spell checker doesn't seem to want to work

Oh Fudge!!!!!

ARGH shouldn't of mentioned fudge, but i'm using that word instead of a more rude word beginning with F. And the reason for the fudge word, i want something sweet!!!!!!!
I'm back on weight watchers and have lost 5lb so far in 2 weeks but i'm craving something sweet at the moment but have nothing till my Tesco delivery arrives. Must stop myself from going to the shop and buying something completely unsuitable!!!!

To top it all off i'm going to be in an even worse mood when i get up tomorrow morning as i'm not allowed anything to eat or drink after 12 midnight tonight, which means NO COFFEE!!!!! (I'm feeling sorry for my girls already). The reason for this is i'm off for a cholestorel blood test, which is a fasting blood test. Straight to work after that so will have to figure out what i can take with me to eat for when i get out of the health centre.

On a better note i'm enjoying my food more and i'm still not drinking anything stronger than pepsi max. 5lb in 2 weeks has made me happy and i'm trying to use more energy by cycling to and from work when ever i can.

will update the knitting front when i can get my camera batteries to charge lol

Latest Projects

Well after finishing my hex hat i'm now onto some more stashbusting stuff. I'd already cast on this booga bag
i'm using my noro k stash for this!!!

I've also cast on this pinwheel cardi for Bethan (cute little baby girl) and i'm using rowan dk for this but will need to adjust it a bit as the pattern says aran
so far so good!

i'm enjoying this stashbusting lark!!!!

The Finished Hex Hat

And it looks like this (please excuse the dodgy model)

Hex Hat

Well i started a new hat last night which is made up from hexagons (funny that considering the name pmsl) and so far i've made 5 of these......

Took a bit of help from Clair as i got a bit stuck on the second round but i got there after some photo help.
I'll post a finished piccie of it when i'm done but you could always check out the Hex Hat by Woolly Wormhead yourself

Long time no blog!

Well it's that time of year. The excitement of Christmas has gone and it's back to school and work for us all. Unfortunately it's also now the time of year where i feel crap which i think is due to how bloody dark it is all day every day.

On the knitting front I've completed a hat for Georgie which looks like this (excuse the fact that her eyes are shut as the flash is rather bright!)





The next stash busting project I'm doing is a booga bag in my noro




so far so good but i had to order 6 1/2 mm shafts for my knitpicks so i could do it!

I also want to do this pattern using this yarn

This may all change though as it really needs to be thicker yarn and Babylonglegs has offered to dye up some of my undyed BFL for me in what ever colour i want.

However as I'm typing this she's also found this pattern on ravelry which would be ideal for me on my bike but she can still dye up my BFL pmsl!!!

Oh and before i forget I've lost 3lb in weight this week and am still dry (10 whole days so far pmsl)