Extreme Knitting Redhead: What a glorious weekend

Sunday, February 10, 2008

What a glorious weekend

The weather this weekend has been unseasonally warm. It seems wrong to complain but I do worry that global warming is taking it's toll. Putting that to one side we took full advantage of it and I enjoyed a lovely 20 mile run this morning along the lanes. I had intended to go across country but the fields are just too sodden and it would have taken even longer than usual.

When I left home at 7am the sun was just thinking about getting up and I headed off towards Bodiam bathed in a pinkish/Amber glow. This photo was taken looking from the front of our house.

By the time I reached Bodiam the sun was just peeping out over the hills.

There had been a heavy frost and the ground was covered in a shimmering white carpet which appeared golden as the sun's rays spread across it.

Bodiam castle looked almost pink in this eerie light.

From Bodiam, I headed off towards Northiam and did some circuits in that area before heading for home. Although it had been very cold first thing, I was sweltering by the time I got home at 11am. The day was just too gorgeous to be indoors so Mike and I headed out for a 5 mile walk along the river Rother. It may sound strange, having just run 20 miles, but it really helped to stretch my legs out.

On the knitting front, most of the ends have been woven in on my wrap and I must get Mike to take a photo of me wearing it. I am very pleased with how it has turned out as the colours are so beautiful.

I have decided not to embark upon my FairIsle project straight away and instead I am going to attempt my first ever pair of socks - the 'Sea Wool Bordello socks' using Fleece Artist yarn, colour 'Origin'. I got in such a tangle winding the skein into balls but I got there in the end! I'm not sure that the colour shows up very well in the photo - it has shades of plum, mauve and gold and looked pretty in the skein. I'm just off to cast-on now.

1 comment:

Heldasland said...: Good luck ,I've just finished mine,; February 13, 2008 at 6:01:00 AM PST

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.