Who's birthday? *RUN'S* birthday!

Look at my card - how much am I loved?

Stupid mortality...

Well, tomorrow I get older. Well, a day older than today, anyway. No biggie.











The better news is that I've finished another pair of Rainy Day socks, this pair for my darling Nan. I can safely show this present on the blog, as Nan is 91 and isn't too au fait with ye olde worlde of the interweb. I chose "Pond" as the colourway (Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette yet again) to match a very pretty top she wears.

My Nan is beyond wonderful sometimes. I picked her up on Saturday to come along to my family birthday party and she handed me a card with $50 in it. These wondrous gains have already been spent on yarn - take a look at this! The "Moss" is all mine for my own Juno Regina! Thanks Nan!

The Taylors (my older sister Fiona's family) generously donated another $30 to the "Andrea needs more yarn fund", but I think I'll put it towards a knitting book. Haven't decided between a Rowan mag or Elizabeth Zimmerman. Hard choice... My sister Bronwyn and her mob gave me a "Midsomer Murders" I hadn't seen (wonders will never cease to amaze) - a making of documentary. Poor Felix has realised that he's lost me to the tv yet again...











Mind you, the ABC has finally relented and decided to show "Jane Eyre". About time! I've been waiting since January to watch this! As JE is my favourite book, I was apprehensive, but my fears were groundless. It is a beautiful production, and I was so happy with it. Felix was just surprised that he enjoyed watching it!

No, really, I am

After a lovely day spent cuddling Alisha, chatting with Michelle and Carly and even (!) putting my hand on Carly's belly to explain to the impending baby who I am and how drunk I'll get them when they're older, I have decided to put knitting aside for a bit today and concentrate on wrapping presents.

Here's hoping...

Hah, bumbug

It's beginning to look a bit like Christmas - I know this, because my mother mentions it in every second sentence. I've never had a liking for the holiday much. It seems to detract people's attention away from my birthday, a far more auspicious day of birth that anything to do with religion,*












The presents are coming along nicely. I've spent the last weekend knitting up the first in a pair of Rainy Day socks in Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette. Are they for me? No. A friend of mine? No. A relative? No.

My mum dragooned me into knitting her best friend a pair of socks for Christmas. If I don't win best ever daughter status from this, I never will.

I spent Sunday afternoon with Chantal and Lettisia at Chantal's house, drinking bubbly, watching Ladyhawke and knitting away ferociously. It was a wonderful afternoon (Chantal is the überhost) and I finished off sock one and the picot edge on sock two, which I have learned is a lot of fun to do. Beware family: many picot edged socks are in your future.

The best part? Chantal turned her first heel. I feel so proud.

*Don't stone me! I'm kidding!

Zooming!

Thanks to my lovely sister Bronwyn (never ever call her Bronny) I spent yesterday on the couch watching part of season 5 of "Midsomer Murders" and knitting ferociously. It seems to work really well, because I finished off two presents to be all wrappeded up, and started a new one.

See my new totals? I rock! Thank you Bergerac!

Presents to make: 38
Presents to buy: 14
Presents ready to be wrapped: 11

Public Holiday? Tell the cats that!

Yesterday was exhausting. Melbourne Cup Day is always a good excuse to drink champagne and waste money betting on horses that never win (Rogan Josh was a rarity - and so was the money), but my day off wasn't.

I got up and headed off to the cattery by 8am, spent the morning cleaning up after 49 of them, and then watched two of my favourites leave (ahhhh, Nuggie!). Felix came and met me at work (hastily getting changed from cat infested clothes on my part) and then we were off to my niece Ashleigh's 13th birthday party. Imagine my internal laughter when I realised she was wearing pretty much the same clothes I was at my 13th - but waaaayyyyyy more black, bless her. It's so scary when they're almost a grown-up, and it was pretty obvious yesterday. Loved the silver eyeliner, though.

I got to hang out with everyone until 2pm, then I had to head back to work for the 3pm opening. I wish I'd stayed at the party: 18 cats out the door in three hours. 18!!! For the uninitiated, that means getting them out of their cages, putting them in the box, taking them out the front, charging their owners credit card, fixing up the card, putting that away, emptying the cage of litter tray, water and food bowls, taking any bedding out to be washed and then disinfecting the cage.

When there are 5 groups of people waiting to pick up their cat after the first one, it's really not that easy. Also, I have a very bad bruise on my left shoulder and my skull where an evil Abyssinian pushed a cat traveling box (half metal) on to me from the top of the cage.

Stop laughing, it bloody hurt.

---

Knitting wise, life is great! I've been working on two very similar presents, and I'll have them both finished tonight - yay for me! Then for the next project which is for my brother-in-law Jase (hey Jase!), which will earn me the title of "favourite sister-in-law called Andrea", I swear it! (That's quite serious; he has two.)

Anyway, this is how Christmas looks:

Total number of presents: 64
Presents to make: 45
Presents to buy: 19
Presents to wrap: 64
Presents all done: 0

It's a tad scary, yes? So here's a slightly better breakdown:

Presents to make: 40
Presents to buy: 14
Presents ready to be wrapped: 9

See, better already!

Detox, schmetox

Felix and I - after much reflection and too much junk food on the drive home from Port Macquarie - decided to spend last weekend detoxing.











We had it planned: fruit juices, healthy salads, lots of lying around feeling wonderful and healthy, smug and clear.

By the time we arrived home from seeing "Daywatch" at the cinema (no popcorn or choc top (!), just fresh watermelon juice and a mixed salad with toasted pecans and orange segments), we were freakin' exhausted. I still needed to make all organic vegetable stock to have with and we gave in.






Delivery Deal #4 rocks. Especially if you scoff 15 mini Daim bars before it arrives.