mumblings

Just a small selection of the multitude of Aston Martin’s we saw on Monday. It was really quite an event. The silver one is the Vanquish V7 from the Bond film ‘Die Another Day’. I really liked the older ones better - I would have taken a whole load more photos and had to choose just a handful out of all the ones I’d taken.

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We’re having a week off but we’re busy doing lots of other things. One friend is having a bunion operation and needs a bit of looking after, another has asked us if we can help at a church event. As it almost turned out that Monday was the only day this week that we weren’t due to be somewhere at a certain time, we took the opportunity to have a day out.

pao being a big fan of Bletchley Park, code breaking, etc thought it would be great to go there since we haven’t been for a few years and it would be good to go and try and support the place since they were low on funds to keep the place going. For those who haven’t clicked the link, Bletchley Park is the home of the World War 2 codebreakers who cracked the German code and created the Colossus, the first major advance in Computing. If you want to know more, watch the film Enigma - it is one of my favourites.

We got there and it was completely packed to the extent they were turning people away from their own car park because there was no room. It was ok for us, we just parked in the railway station opposite like we did when we visited before and walked up the driveway to find the queue was extremely long. We’d driven halfway across the country so there was no turning back. After about 30-40 minutes standing in a queue, we got our tickets and were free to wander around.

We both boggled a bit because the place was completely packed out. The last time we’d visited we’d pretty much had the place to ourselves but this time it was standing room only. Good stuff we thought but not so good when we saw the long queue for the restaurant and saw that the burger concession ran out of burgers. They were not equipped for the several thousand people that had converged on Bletchley yesterday as it was the launch of a special exhibition about Ian Fleming’s involvement with Bletchley but due to the Official Secrets Act nothing could be said until now.

The best thing about Bletchley is that the tickets we bought on Monday last a whole year so we can happily go back and see the bits we didn’t manage when we feel like another time. We did manage to have a look round the National Museum of Computing but couldn’t get anywhere near Colossus this time and to look longingly at the large collection of Aston Martins on the premises before hunger drove us to the nearby Ikea and on our way back home via St Albans.

Aston Martin’s are coming up tomorrow as there were too many lovely ones not to include!

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….otherwise known as the Earl Grey Socks….

I think he likes them In case you are wondering, the yarn is Regia Silk which was rather yummy to knit with. I’ve now limped into pair 5 of my Summer of Socks challenge and finished goal 18 for the Summer Knitting Goals and finished my WIP Wrestling project for the Knitting Olympics - how is that for multitasking!

Happy 7th Woolly Wedding Anniversary, pao!! Thank you for being such a great husband!

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Thursday afternoon conversation with pao:

Me: Mr T’s wife went out to buy a goldfish on Saturday and came back with a cat and four kittens.
pao: That’s nice.
Me: They are tabby kittens.
pao: Oooh, really.
Me: Yes…
(here I was thinking we’d have our usual conversation where I say ‘Can I have one’ and pao says ‘no, you’ve got quite enough cats already)
… Can we have one?
pao: I don’t see why not. As long as they are girls, we can have two.

So over the weekend, I look at their photos and look at the wise faces of Perdita and Ophelia and think a bit about how two tiny kittens would break up the cat equilibrium that we had. Merlin and Perdita were both sprayers in our old house when Jasper was around but now they don’t seem to be doing that and generally both seem to be a lot happier.

Also, we live on a busy main road where people belt along at all speeds. Our cats are pretty traffic afraid and we figured we’d never get past the home check.

So very sadly I told Mr T today that we had changed our minds and couldn’t take on two kittens right now. I am a bit sad and Mr T also looked a bit sad but I know deep down that it wouldn’t be fair to take them.

(Picture from Mr T’s FB)

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Just to prove that I am even luckier …

pao also presented me with a beautiful dove grey scarf handknitted by a local lady

and this lovely hand-knitted purple and grey shawl which is round my shoulders as I type this.

To round off the cuteness, here is our beautiful dog, Angel!
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Got you there! Just kidding - Angel who lives at the Ivy House pub in Tyler Hill with her pal Harvey who is also a Weimaraner. They serve really good food at the Ivy House if you’re looking - I can recommend their chicken salad).

Thank you so much, pao!

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What with all the busy-ness, I never actually got a chance to show you all the yarny goodness that lovely pao presented me with on my birthday over a month ago! This yarn is from All the Pretty Fibres - the colours are pretty amazing and it is all beautifully soft.

A drop spindle kit from Shunklies

Another sock pattern book and some alpaca roving tops.

I was so excited about these skeins - Lorna’s Laces in the Grumperina colourway so I can make these Helical Stripe socks

Last but certainly not least - this amusing MerLin

I am very very lucky indeed! Thank you so much, pao!

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One of the things that has kept me occupied over the last month or so is all done now so I have ever such a slight breather this week. I’ve even had a chance to sit still and have a luxury pedicure yesterday. My feet feel so dreamy. I have a bit of time for myself this week - a day off on Friday possibly…

Knitting and blogging activity has seriously suffered because of the busy-ness but the excitement of the Ravelympics has reached me and I’m in Team chipbutty with purps and typo.

I had intended to be in the WIPs Wrestling and possibly the Sock Put but I did start a short-sleeve cardigan during highlights of the opening ceremony on Friday. I got some Cashcotton DK and the pattern book half price in a sale so cast on for Tea Time in a sage green and I simply could not resist casting on.

I am still soldiering on with pao’s Earl Grey socks - can I sense a tea theme coming on?

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.. when we were all unmarried, three friends would often have a lot of fun..

Husbands, children, beloved house dwellers, post-university humdrum of work, houses, mortgages, and all that stuff came along and seemingly chased those fun days away..

Until two weeks last Wednesday..

We met, we boat tripped, we ate cream teas, we saw Mamma Mia, we laughed hard, we mused, we reminisced and we ate Chinese completely forgetting everyday life for a few precious hours. Here is a link to Lyndall’s post (has it really been a fortnight already…?) Sadly, I did not get a photo of the David Tennant lookalike or his fine bottom

Same time, next year?

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Luckily these beach huts were safely inside Bluewater shopping centre when we went there last weekend. We had two thunderstorms last night and it was pretty scary so I’m definitely going to need coffee this morning.

I’m still super busy and I still can’t find my memory card reader I have always been told that August is a quiet period but I can’t see any evidence of it yet!!

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The Lambeth Conference which has been going on at work is sadly over. No more bishops in regal purple from so many nations over the globe gathered in one place for another ten years. I feel a little sad, a little empty because even though I wasn’t directly involved in it; I felt the gracious of it. The bishops were gracious guests who seemed so different from the kinds of people we see ordinarily. The campus was incredibly clean and tidy considering we had over 600 bishops and spouses in attendance. There were grumblings about the parking situation but that was not the bishops’ fault rather a lack of communication with the institution.

I’m pretty sad. The place seems emptier without them but I really did learn some profound lessons whilst they were with us. I’ve been thinking a lot about Gene Robinson and I put my hands up and say that I have a huge amount of respect for him and his obvious devotion to the truths of the gospel message. I have come to terms with some mixed feelings and realise that Jesus would have loved him as a person and no matter what would have welcomed him.

The whole homosexuality debate has really opened my eyes up to something that has struck me for a while - there are no categories of sin - there is just sin. If I tell a lie, I have hurt God as much as anyone who murders someone. It is often hard for people to hear this but I confess I have been beaten up with guilt about things I’ve done for years and years and thought I was a terrible person. Really, me and Gene, we’re covered by Jesus’ blood. It was interesting chatting to someone today about how thinking through some of the issues that came up at Lambeth have really strengthened my conviction. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, we all are.

So as I silently wish a fond farewell to the bishops who have touched my life just through their presence, I feel I’m deeply blessed. I confess that I’ve found church very difficult lately because we’re out of our building and I miss the joy of congregational worship and we haven’t fitted into a small group that well. I’ve also found a few new blogs that I’m going to keep on reading.

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