Extreme Knitting Redhead: Right, back on it!

Monday, May 17, 2021

Right, back on it!

Sorry blog, it's been a tough few months and although things are supposedly getting back to 'normal', whatever that is now, everything is different. We were told to stop 'shielding', a word I've come to hate with a vengeance, a few weeks ago and we've both had our 2nd vaccine at last albeit way behind many of my friends of the same age as they live in towns/cities and have had much swifter access to the vaccine. I also got fed up of trying to get blogger to let me edit things, having tried 15 times to edit my details, and also I wasn't being shown any comments so apologies to anyone who's still popping in here!

I thought I might be able to return to running events soon but now the Indian variant may put paid to that. What will be, will be and there's no point fretting, but I'm painfully aware that my fund-raising for Alzheimer's Research UK has come to a standstill as a result. Of course I can still do on-line talks and Press stuff thank goodness.

Of course I've still been running, gardening, I completed another wave of the Six Pack Revolution in January to keep up my fitness and tone up my muscles, and have just started another and there's been lots of knitting too. Having checked back through my photos I can see that I'll have to condense them somewhat or perhaps spread them over a few posts as there are so many.

For now, I'll just share a random collection of events/memories to try and get back into more regular posting as I have missed blogging.

Knitting

I finished this jumper but haven't been out anywhere so haven't worn it yet!

Then Kate Davies released this mitten pattern and I thought it would be a nice quick project. I already had the colours needed but thought I'd change the navy to purple until I realised that the dark blue would be perfect with one of my tweed jackets.

They were a pleasant TV knit and didn't take long to make.

I've just finished the jumper below and am really pleased with it. I've had 2 hanks of this laceweight yarn saved for something special for ages and when I came across Misurina I knew this was what I wanted to use it for. Of course there were trials and tribulations along the way as I couldn't find the right contrast colour having set my heart on purple, which didn't show up well enough, but finally settled on pink which works perfectly.

I had great difficulty getting gauge and ended up knitting the 3rd size to get the amount of drape I wanted without it looking too fitted.

Of course there's been lots of running so here's a selection of photos taken whilst out and about, no detailed descriptions, just things that have given me pleasure or caught my eye in all kinds of weather:

Beautiful Bodiam Castle

Skies that made me happy and appreciate what we have, not what we have not:

They have been so uplifting that I'm thinking I might do 52 weeks of skies again.

Running

I need to get all my 'virtual' medals out and photograph them as there are sooooooo many. I may not have been to any real life events but last year I covered 3126 miles which is my highest mileage ever!

I'm feeling grateful for being able to run outside in daylight again rather than in the dark with my headtorch on, which I did for most of last year. Simple pleasures are so precious now. I miss my running friends and really hope I can get back to real life events soon although I'm not sure the latest variant of Covid will allow it.

Silly leggings lift my spirits! I need to take a photos of my latest shorts which are far removed from my usual staid navy blue or black. These fireworks leggings are from Tikiboo and I have to admit I'm enjoying them enormously!

The visitors to our garden keep us entertained for hours:

This Sparrowhawk took a break on the birds feed station thus scattering the little birds far and wide!

The female ducks are not doing very well on the duckling front so far - they keep building nests in completely inappropriate places and sadly the Magpies steal their eggs.

This duck hid her nest behind some pots but was soon discovered.

The duck below has nested in one of the pots at the front of the house for years. In the past she's managed to raise a brood there a few times but this year she's not been so lucky and each time she laid an egg the Magpies destroyed the nest.

In other news, Shelley and I will be taking part in an exciting trial later this month but I'm not allowed to share the details yet!

Stay safe everyone and treasure every moment.

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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.