Oliver Boliver

On Not Getting Away With It

This morning Oliver officially broke my heart for the first (and I largely suspect not the last) time. I went into his room to get him up and dressed for nursery and found that he was already awake. This is how the conversation went:

Him (acusatorily): My smiley painting is in the bin
Me: (Aghast - not his best work and it went in the bin well before the weekend) Erm - I don't think it is.
Him (obviously been mulling over it before I came in): Yes it is. My smiley painting is in the bin.
Me (panic - how does he know? Is he bluffing me? Trying to remain calm): Why do you think it is in the bin, Ol?
Him (sadly shrugs): Because I can't see it anywhere.
Me (uplifting and trying to rescue his little self from his undeserving mummy): Aahh - Ol, y'know what happens to the best pictures?
Him (looks sadly at me): What?
Me (still trying to be convincing but realise how trite this is about to sound): Well - the best pictures are taken away by the Picture Fairies
Him (looks doubtful and won't be moved on his resolve): Hmmm

And that was that.

Not only was I totally caught out by my all knowing 3 year old, I was completely and utterly unable to convince him otherwise and tried to fob him off with a lame fairy related theif-in-the-night tale.

So what to do now? Do I have to keep every single scrap of scribble and paint splashes and forward them all to him in 7 large suitcases when he leaves home? Should I take to sticking every single picture on the kitchen cupboards/fridge/dishwasher/dog until there is no space left? What then? Get another dog? I already have drawers full of birthday cards that I can't bear to chuck out. Will a trip to IKEA help or will I just end up spending the best part of £100 and have nothing substantive to show for it other than a couple of tealight holders, a pot plant and a bag of Daim bars?

Maybe I should get busy with my Marigolds - it's bin day on Thursday...

Survival of the fittest

I once read somewhere that chickens seem to put every effort in finding many ways to die. That would certainly be the case with our flock. So it came to pass that poor Paula Hen fell off her perch in the night and went floating up to the chicken heaven in the sky. Well, that's what we told Oliver. (If chickens do have souls then I suppose there is no reason why they wouldn't float and if they can indeed float then why should they not pass go, do not collect £200 and go straight to Chicken Heaven).

Oliver looked blankly after we explained all this and in typical 3 year old fashion simply asked when we'd be getting some more. This was what Mr C was dreading. Y'see even though getting the chickens was his seed of an idea, he planted it deep into the pet owning part of my brain which just can't say no. He on the other hand is not a big fan of feathered creatures and has found the whole experience a more take take take on the part of the chickens. Even consuming the eggs became a chore for him. To add insult to injury when they stopped laying over the winter, it drove him to angrily shake a box of Paxo at them!

 

Ol and Brenda in Summer 09

So what to do? Brenda (a speckledy hybrid) has been left as being the sole survivor of the bunch and my research has shown that they are not solitary creatures and prefer the company of other chickens. Not something that could be said about Pam chicken who was a very angry piece of work, nasty through and through and positively thrived when, last year, she was sentenced to a period of confinement after relentlessly hen pecking poor Paula till she bled. Mr C would happily give Brenda to a good home and draw a line under our chicken owning days. Me, I rather enjoy owning chickens despite the destruction they leave in the veg patch and piles of poo on the lawn. I like seeing them honk around the garden, chasing the cats. Yes - chasing the cats. It's hilarious. One even chased my friend's spaniel puppy, Stella, around the garden leaving the poor pup in a quibbling mess. They make big holes in the slug population too. Something I tell Mr C on a daily basis as he is a hosta lover.

I've found a company, not far from our patch, called Happy Chicks who will deliver us a pair of point of lay hens, possibly even as soon as next week. The lovely lady at Happy Chicks, Sarah, was very helpful and pointed me in the direction of a Black Rock and a Blue Ranger, both very friendly docile birds who will join forces with Brenda and I against the anti-hen owning Mr C. Between us we will chase the cats, pledge war against the slug population and run around the garden with frogs in our beaks (I'll probably leave that bit to the hens!).

I don't feel too bad about not having a decent mourning period for Paula Hen. Sarah said that Brenda will welcome the company of the two new girls and so it's Brenda I've got to put first.

So, Ollie - the answer is yes. (Sorry Mr C...I'll make it up to you with a lovely omlette.....!!! )

New things

It was a good week this week and I've had a bout of creative rejuvenation. Team that together with my 6 week sign off at the doctors enabling me to drive again and I feel very much like my old self.  I'm reluctant to admit in case I jinx the situation but Zac is also starting to sleep for around 6 hours at night which feels positively luxurious after the 3 hour cycle we've had since he was born. Admittedly it's early days but I'm not looking the proverbial gift horse in the mouth and fully appreciate what feels akin to a lie in!

So this week I managed to finish my pink striped granny blanket which I edged with a pin striped-ish border. I sort've fell out with the colours of the blanket half way through but then after some careful "random" selections of the final third, fell back in love with it. Here it is in its full glory....

 

And here it is with Zac's bunny....! Oliver did insist on this one...

 

Unfortunately for me, but hurray for my pattern collection, the gaptastic cowl still has not made it on to my needles as the addi click points have still not arrived (boo). Instead, I dug through my stash and teamed it up with some lovely Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds DK undyed in Blue Faced Leicester Marl. I've had this ball hanging out in my stash of DK for too long waiting for a new creature to come to life and I'm pleased to say it's coming along quite nicely.

 

I'm knitting this little creature in 2 weights of yarn, DK and worsted (UK readers - aran weight popular in the US), in 2 different needle sizes which will give one larger and one smaller critter. Subject to Zac (pictured blurry in the background) behaving for his Mummy I should be able to get some knitting and pattern planning done over the next week and fingers crossed there should be a little critter to show you next week....

In the meantime, and I'm sorry for the gratutitous baby photo, but here is Zac after his first proper bath, all snuggly and warm...

 

Mmmm - nice clean baby! You can almost (not) smell him!!!

Hope you have a lovely weekend and get some knitting in!

Pen x

Round Up

This week I've been mostly:

1. Starting a new blanket - this time in pinks..... I love crocheting blankets so much; I even wake up thinking about it. (Did I say that out loud?)

 

2. Wishing I could start my gaptastic cowl with this lovely soft thick yarn.

 

 

3. Received some Addi Click cables in the post following another bout of internet yarn and notion shopping but no Addi Click needles. Apparently they are to follow in another 2 or even 3 weeks which means I can't start knitting my cowl until they arrive. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh!

4. Cursing about receiving part orders (see 2&3)!!

5. Finished my 2 Arthur the Aliens in Cascade 220. I got there in the end and I rather like the blue one.

 

6. Practicing for my piano lesson which resumes next week after a few weeks grace to get over the shock of having a baby. I must admit I've not even touched one key for weeks so I'm expecting a bit of an ear bashing from my lovely teacher! Or rather it will be her ears that get a bashing as I strangle her concert pitch Yamaha.

 

6. Trimming my step son's Chinese Elm bonsai since he thinks, like his dirty washing magically appearing in the wash basket, that he doesn't need to do anything to it.

7. In disbelief it's nearly the middle of February already and March is only 2 weeks away. I'll be knitting flipping Christmas ornaments in less than no time. At least my cowl should be finished by then......

Pen x

We've come a long way, baby

When I first started this blog about 18 months ago I didn't tell a soul. Not even Mr C knew.  I wanted somewhere where I could anonymously share my ramblings about being a new mum whilst being stuck at home unable to return to work because of a medical mishap, some would say negligence. I was fed up. Angry and a little bit lonely. I'd been chasing a successful career since the late 90's and in one fell swoop I was off work, at home, looking after a crying baby and had 2 failed operations to repair the damage caused by the medical mishap. There was no prospect of fixing anything and although I didn't realise the full extent, my career was pretty much over. So, quite understandably I didn't want anyone I knew reading it; like finding your mum reading your diary, it was all a bit too close to home. (Having said that, there must be some secret exhibitionist inside me because I was quite content that strangers would be able to see inside my little head via my musings.)

Slowly I discovered the blogging crafting knitting community and found that I wasn't the only one finding solace in writing, knitting and having a SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy). I like the mix of blogs I read, some happy smiley can their life be really like that blogs, some a little bit more open and honest about the hand they are holding or have been dealt, some beautifully photographed and/or written but all individual and inspiring at the same time.

As if I wasn't busy enough looking after a baby and soon to be toddler I started designing and publishing patterns. I've always knitted and Mr C had been encouraging me to do my own thing. I think that was his way of me stopping me from buying more pattern books! I suppose having been off work for so long I had lost my confidence and so, like keeping my blog a secret from my friends and family, opened a shop on Etsy and didn't tell anyone!

 
You can't believe how over the moon I was when I sold my first pattern and now, nearly one year on from selling that first pattern (the anniversary will be in April and I'll be doing a giveaway to celebrate so watch this space) I appeared on Etsy's front page yesterday in a purrrrfect cat treasury called - "Cats are like potato chips you can't just have one" and Jasper did me proud!  It's really rare that patterns appear on the home page so I was absolutely delighted to be in a Treasury that appeared there.

An incredible coincidence is that this is my 100th post, so another reason to celebrate. I had no idea when I first started blogging that I'd still be rambling away, 99 posts later or that I would've made the friends (the majority I'll never meet or probably speak to in person) through the patterns I've designed and the blogs that I read.

So, really it's a big thankyou, for all your support, kind words and comments, for reading my blog and not being too critical, for making my patterns and coming back to my shop and buying more! I had no idea when I left uni with a law degree that I'd end up being happier and healthier getting busy with my knitting needles and using the knowledge my grandmother taught me nearly 30 years ago.

Pen x

Introducing..... Lucy the Labrador and the February Newsletter!

Shh - Daniel has just got all loved up and gotten himself a girlfriend! She's called Lucy and is a beautiful pedigree Labrador (her father's a field champion - don't-cha-know!). Here she is with Daniel...

 
She's a great stash buster as you'll only need one ball of DK yarn plus some small scraps to knit her a collar and name tag. You can even knit this pattern in worsted weight using 3.75mm needles which will give a slightly bigger Lucy. You can find the pattern in Etsy, Ravelry and will be on www.oliverboliver,com shortly.

I've just sent out this month's newsletter. If you'd like to be added to the mailing list please add a comment below and include your email address in the details section (not the comments box) and I'll add you to the list and send you the letter.

Pen x