Ridgeway Cottage anyhow

I'm trying to slow down, simplify and enjoy life as it is. I'm purposely removing stuff from my to do list in order to make room for things that I actually want to do. I'm even being more mindful of the way I spend my time and the overall value of what I'm doing. I enjoy asking myself the question "What have I really done today?" Most of my days are filled with "must dos": going to work, picking up children, walking the dog and providing food for the family. Sometimes these do feel like chores, drains on my knitting / gardening time and don't get me started on the rage that is enlightened within me by the ingratitude that my home grown home cooked dinners are rewarded. But recently I've been trying to look at these as a privilege. I can almost hear the Dalai Lama whispering in my ear " Much depends on your own attitude" and this is so true. Yesterday was a very important day for one of my students. After possibly a lifetime o...

Once upon a time there were lots of kings who chased around the world robbing whatever land they fancied, locking people are in towers and hitting everyone with their swords/ sticks / spiky metaL balls on chains. It seems that at one point many kingdoms had a passion for claiming islands that were close enough to them in nature where sheep, climate and jumpers matched their homelands. Just because something is closest to me does it make it mine. Just because I run around shouting at everyone "Mine..mine..mine" does it actually mean that I have ownership? Unfortunately positioned in the middle of the Irish sea pretty close to Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and not too far from Scandinavian, it seems that Isle of Man was fair game for anyone with a boat. With boats there's not only the threat of invasion but smuggling is made a whole lot easier especially when you are surrounded by coast. However this is an Isle of character, resilience against the takers of the earth ...

As a teacher it isn't okay to have favourites but rules were made to be broken. It's quite easy to get on my list of favourites, it is in fact any student that I see regularly. However obviously the more I see a student, the more I get to know them and familiarity leads to fondness. I have one in particular who is on the autistic spectrum. He has such a wonderful turn of phrase. He believes that there is no good or bad weather it's just weather and I wholeheartedly agree. For what seems like forever I believed  I had good days and bad days but not any more. For 2016 I am just going to have days and I am sure this new perspective will make a big difference.  So on 1 February I can announce that I have already made some exciting new discoveries. I've learnt how to use the zipper foot on my sewing machine and in the process made a skirt. Bags and bags of whatever have left the house as part of my decluttering which was long overdue. I can't believe how much of the stuf...

  Things are going well with my Frankenadventsocks and the latest section is quite monsterous. I did attempt a bobble style stitch but was too tired to concentrate as well as being constantly interrupted. It's one of the stitches where you have to count and do everything right otherwise it ends up looking like a holey mess (see below). I've renamed it freestyle lace . It's very in the momen t and totally organic. It neither has direction nor is concerned with remaining within the confines of a regular pattern. It's impossible to make a mistake because there is no right or wrong way.   Not only have I freed myself from perfection and conformity in this section, I have also challenged my fear of scratchy yarns. I discovered that the softest of softs is not the only way and that everything is welcome in these socks even if I have absolutely no idea what the yarn is. I have changed my focus of what something is, to what it can be. This ball of charity shop treasure has n...

I really haven't been feeling well at all of late. I did try to get an appointment with the GP but they are not easy people to pin down, so I turned to the pharmacy for help.   The Old Pharmacy in Faversham is no ordinary place though; it is a luxury yarn dispensary. If you find yourself weighed down with the heavy burden of the more rubbish aspects of life with symptoms such as weepiness and loss of all believe in yourself, then this is the place to go. Filled with colour, texture and fluffiness in each of its old fashioned nooks and crannies, just the pure existence of all those rows of tiny drawers is enough to lift the grayest of souls. I couldn't help myself, I had to get my mitts on one of those exquisite glass knobs and have a little peep inside.   Although those apothecary jars are now filled with coloured water, it was exciting to imagine what delightful lotions and potions they once held. Gillian is the most wonderful person/ designer / yarn guru who accurately p...

It's official, both of my Frankenadventsocks have been started with a ribbed cuff in 100% Wensleydale wool.   So why is that important I hear you ask? Because Wensleydales are in the "at risk" category on the Rare breeds list and if we don't do more knitting with this fab British yarn, then the demand for Wensleydales will decrease and they will disappear. Above are the facts taken from a 1949 book by N. L. Tinley (Department of Agriculture) entitled Good Sheep Farming. I got the book out from the LRC at work. It seriously does have a book on everything I'd want to know ever. Just look at their mega fringe, curly whirly dreadlocked fleece and these guys are big. They even have blue faces. For long lustrous wool, I'm a fan so they're going in my Frankenadventsocks and my imaginary sheep farm.   Posted with Blogsy

It wouldn't be December without some kind of advent celebration. I'm done with the overpriced hugely commercial sponsored by Cadburys / Thortons chocolate before breakfast calendars but have yet to persuade the children that there is another way. I don't really know the full history of advent but it's interesting to note that if you do start to google it, "the history of advertising" comes out as the top hit which I think says a lot about the whole count down to Christmas. What with the time of year and the stresses and strains of my working life, I have found myself not really feeling that well. So following all I discovered in Wovember and the therapeutic effect of knitting and getting back to nature, I'm stepping back from the hustle and bustle of 24 shopping days left to Christmas and taking things one stitch at a time. I came home from work early yesterday, thoroughly crushed and Shinybees Podcast came to the rescue with Frankenadvent soc...