Bits and Bobs

Now where did that little saying originate I wonder?  It's something my mum used to say a lot.  In this case I'm using it to mean an assortment of unrelated things.

First there's the marathon that didn't happen.  This was the weekend before last when temperatures reached 31+ degrees on the Sunday.  The event was at the Cyclopark in Gravesend, a venue I know very well and was well prepared with my hydration, fuel and suncream.

When I arrived at the venue at 8:30am it was already 25 degrees. Hmmm, I thought knowing that I do not fare well in the heat.  The Cyclopark is very exposed and there is no shade.  Traviss and Rachel had ensured there was plenty of water etc available and also gave everyone ice lollies to help us cool down.  By the time we started at 9am the heat was beginning to make its presence known and it felt like breathing in steam as it was very humid plus the tarmac track seemed to reflect the heat up at us.

I had intended to use this event as a test of my pacing as I'm trying to get faster rather than just plodding along all the time.  It's an undulating route so I had to push extra hard but I found my pace was metronomic which was very pleasing.  After 2 hours and 12 miles the heat was starting to get to me and I decided there was no point in just grinding out the miles at a slower pace so I called it a day and headed for home which gave Mike a nice surprise and I got to watch the Wimbledon final!

Tilly was pleased to see me too!

At that point I left, around 11 am, it was already 29 degrees and it reached 32 degrees later with several more people dropping out whilst some others suffered bad heat stroke.  The event had an 8 hour time limit and some people were out in that heat right up until the end which I thought was ill-advised (get me with my sensible head on!).

I have to confess that it's rather liberating not to be chasing marathon numbers at the moment so I'm stuck on number 152 for a while longer.  I have another marathon booked for this coming weekend but if the temperature stays like this then I'll probably give it a miss.  I'm doing all my training runs really early in the morning when the air is cool and fresh but even then I'm struggling sometimes as Hayfever and Asthma are pesky at the moment.

Now for a bit of yarn-related stuff.

I've completed all the full hexagons for Frida's Flowers so I laid them out to see how they looked together:

It's nowhere near as big as a blanket which was intentional as it's been a great way to use up some of my stash of Rowan Cotton Glace and when finished it will be draped over the back of one of the chairs in the music room purely for decoration.

I've just got to do 8 half hexagons for the sides and then decide on a border.

It's the simplest of patterns but I kept misreading one of the rows ending up with the wrong stitch count and having to undo it (twice for goodness sake!)

Now for some knitting.  Yes, I know I don't usually knit much in the Summer months but hey, I'm complicated and my arthritis has been bearable this past week!

What caught my eye?  The Allie wrap by Jennifer Wood, that's what.  

Do I need another shawl/wrap-type thing?  Of course not but I love its quirky shape and it's a good way to use up some 4ply stash although I did need to buy a hank of multi-coloured speckly wool once I chosen my colourway (ahem!).

From left to right: Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply 'Spiced Plum',  Limegreenjelly 'Beauty' sock, Debonnaire 'Bliss', Fat Lace/Skinny Sock  in 'Stormy'.  The latter is slightly thinner than the others so I may knit it with some Kidsilk Haze in a deep grey blue but I'll wait to see how it works on its own first.

I've hardly done any gardening except very early in the morning as it's been too hot out there.  It's impossible to get a fork into the rock-hard clay and there are huge fissures in the soil.  I'm amazed that anything is managing to survive and some of the shallow-rooted plants have shrivelled up completely.  I've been saving rinsing water from the kitchen to give to any of the larger shrubs which are showing distress  but the garden is too large to water everything so I just water any plants in pots using water stored in our many water butts, although even they are getting very low now.

Our tomato plants, all grown outside, are relishing the heat, as are the courgettes.  The Aubergines in my shed are doing remarkably well. 

 I love the colour of their deep-purple stems

The plant below is an experiment to see how it fared outdoors.  It's sited at the front of the house where it gets baked for over half the day and it's doing remarkably well, with nearly as many fruits as those grown under cover.  What's interesting is that its stems are almost black and the leaves have deep purple veins which looks really beautiful.

I love their flowers too.  It looks rather like a Clematis flower.

Whilst I was watering my pots in the shed the other day I spotted this pretty butterfly flapping against the window:

It's a 'Speckled Wood', so named because it spends most of its time in woodland

It's wings look furry don't they and they were soft as silk

Last weekend we attended an event at a local farm where a Moth Trap had been set the night before and was then opened in the morning and the moths identified by a local expert.  It was fascinating and there were over 45 different moths identified which didn't include any of the micro-moths.  I'll let the photos do the talking:

Assembled and waiting for the opening of the trap

The moths took shelter in the egg boxes overnight which were lifted out individually for identification.  Some were left in the egg boxes and passed around whilst others were placed carefully into transparent containers, passed around and then released.

The lady in pink was recording all the specimens identified - 45 not including any of the many micro-moths

This Poplar Hawkmoth was the largest specimen

After a while he got fed up of sitting in the sun and went and hid under a chair

Then he sat on my hand for a while, whirring his wings to warm them up before flight

He was so soft and a magnificent specimen

Buff Tip - he looks like a twig from the side (see below)!

Buff Ermine

Large Emerald

Ruby Tiger

I can't remember all the names of these but they're pretty so I've included them anyway:

It was a truly magical experience and it really made me want to go out with a torch again one evening to see what we could spot.  I used to do that because I always grow lots of flowers pollinated by moths and it's amazing all the different ones you can see.

Now we wait to see how hot the weekend is before I make a decision about my marathon.............

Hip Hip Hoorah!

Hoorah number 1

The last crochet square is finished and they just need to be joined!

I just gave them a light blocking using steam and pinned them out roughly to shape

I faffed around for ages trying to choose the arrangement I liked best then dragged Mike in to see if he agreed. This is what we settled on:

Here they are next to my freeform cushion which they will sit alongside:

I'd orginally thought of using the brown as my joining colour but then I wondered about using the dark red or even a combination of one of them with cream to keep it nice and light. I might just play around with a couple of ideas to see which I like best.

This is the curtain fabric on which I based my colour choices. I'm still undecided whether to use this as the backing or to stick with the neutral cream fabric I used for the other cushion. I used to be undecided, now I'm not so sure!!!

Hoorah number 2

I've lost track of the number of hours I've spent knitting or crocheting in hospital corridors this year, suffice to say I'm glad I have had something to take away the boredom of waiting.

Mike always comes with me, sitting patiently and trying not to get anxious. It's hard being the support crew. Sometimes he wanders off to read posters which always leave him worried, bless him. Appointment times seem to be completely irrelevant. Nursing staff rarely seem to manage a smile and I've heard several people make comments about how surly some of them are. That's really sad as a simple smile and a cheery demeanour can reassure worried people and help soften the stress of waiting, the endless waiting.

On our last visit to this particular clinic we arrived far too early. We are always early for everything but this was exceptional even for us so we had time to nip into the coffee shop for a drink and something to go with it (oh my goodness that Danish pastry we shared was divine!).

We found a table by the window which looked out onto an overgrown courtyard. Did you know that hospital patients who are lucky enough to have a view of garden/trees etc recover quicker than those without a view of nature?

The pigeons were sunbathing on the roof

My eye was drawn to the shape of the vents….

…and the very 60's pattern of the tiles on the ceiling (an interesting play between light and shade)

What struck me most about the cafe was the huge array of exceedingly unhealthy fare such as pasties, sausage rolls, cakes & giant biscuits. The walls were covered in huge photos of tempting cakes and biscuits which didn't seem appropriate for the setting. But then I thought what the heck, if you're stuck in there you're probably either waiting to see a Specialist or to visit a loved one so all you really want is comfort food; I know that's exactly what we wanted!

Anyway, the upshot of that last visit means that there will be no more hospital visits for a while (well, until next year, fingers crossed). Amen to that!

Hoorah number 3

There have been so many beautiful butterflies and moths in the garden this year but I've also managed to capture some amazing caterpillars too. Here's a selection:

The striking stripey caterpillar of the Cinnabar moth on Ragwort. I am careful to remove the flowers of this plant so it doesn't spread - it's highly toxic to horses and although they wouldn't eat the plant when grazing, if it gets into their mix of hay then the smallest amount can cause liver damage.

Here's an adult Cinnabar moth I spotted earlier in the year. Stunning isn't it.

Although most moths only fly at night there are lots of day-flying moths about.

This little punk-rocker with his tufty Mohican was found on the crabapple tree when I was collecting fruit to make crabapple jelly. He's the caterpillar of the Vapourer moth.

I spotted this colourful caterpillar of the Knotgrass Moth on a Teasel leaf.

The next day he was busy spinning his protective layer

Then he was joined by a predatory wasp - they lay their eggs in the poor caterpillar which gets eaten alive, yuk! However, the next day the whole lot had dsiappeared and I assume it must have been eaten by a bird. 

Caterpillar of the Large White butterfly on my Cleome leaf (and smaller ones in the next photo).

I checked which plants the caterpillars like and took these babies to feast on some in the wilder areas rather than in my planter by the front door!

A Red Underwing Moth on my cactus in the porch. You only see his red part when he opens his wings, hence his name.

He was quite a large moth.

Now this next moth caught me quite by surprise. I was busy making bread in the kitchen early one morning when he suddenly popped out from behind the pelmet, flew onto the window and started to suck the condensation on the glass. I picked him up to put him outside but he flew straight back to the window so I guessed that he must have just emerged from his chrysalis and was hungry.

He's a Yellow Underwing moth (although it's more of an orange colour actually!)

I mixed together some honey and water which he slurped up until he was full and I took him outside to explore his new world.

See how he's using his proboscis to drink the nectar mix.

This weekend there's a Bank Holiday on the Monday after and I've got a marathon to run. It's another Cakeathon so I'll be busy baking on Sunday in preparation.