My alter ego

So here are a few pics of me as Magenta, a character from the rocky horror picture show. I had a fantastic night out dressed up as her.

Mandas birthday

A very happy 40th for Manda this year. Here's her and I on a night out.


And some fairy cakes i baked for her.

Halloween

Seeing as i have moved to near a very pretty Victorian grave yard i thought it only appropriate to have a Halloween house warming. Here are some pics

My carved Scream pumpkin

Witch doctor on the war path!

Abi biting me, being helped along by the devil!

Abi and Zareh in the graveyard after midnight

Ian in the graveyard, the weird misty stuff appeared when i took the picture, it didn't really exist, spooky eh!!

Abi vamping it up

Me as the corpse bride


Zareh

Me(Tim Burton's, corpse bride), Ian(devil) , Claire(Goth Witch) and Zareh(Witch doctor)

Halloween fairy cakes i made(perhaps these should be demon cakes instead!)

Margaret(pretty witch)

Martyn(Lucien) and Alison(Marie Antoinette, the one with the severed neck!)

It seems that a good time was had by all. And as always, i did too much food.
Ah well, no cooking for me for the next few days, left overs, yum!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Hello All

So its been quite a while since i blogged. Reasons: moving house!

I have finally got the home i have always wanted. I now have a lovely Ground Floor flat( no stairs, yippee!) very close to the city centre(10 Min's on my new electric bike called Winifred, as she makes this whinnying sound as she powers along) and I have a wet room bathroom which is just fab. And best of all, its a council flat, so i am finally on a decent level of rent, and secure in the fact that they wont kick me out , unlike private landlords who are always selling property etc.

So as i mentioned i now have an electric bike. I got rid of my beloved Volvo, Bertie, as she was just getting too expensive to repair and run. And so i am now the Eco lass on my electric bike, see me whizzing round Cambridge, alot of people have. And i love it. Its not so much now its winter, but knitting soon helps take care of that. Wish she had some gears and suspension though, as my hands are still taking a real battering.

R.A.O.K.

Every so often i like to practice Random Acts Of Kindness. Now as most of you already know, i am not a religious person. I am however, i guess, quite spiritual, if that's the right description. And i believe that what you do in this life will come back to you, what the Buddhists call Kama. Do bad things and they will come back and bite you on the arse. Be good to yourself and to other people and the universe will reward you.

So i received a lovely compliment from a woman in Finland yesterday, via Ravelry (a worldwide knitting and crochet forum of which i am an active member). And as i navigated my way around her page, i found a group i had not yet joined which sounded very me. So i went and signed up and had a nosey about, and found an interesting woman called Mysticfarah from New york in the US. And so i read some of her blog, as i tend to do, to get to know people a little better. And she very much sounded like she and i had a similar view on life. So i emailed her yesterday. And sent her this

I just found you through the curvy girls group. Being one i thought i really should join up. I have just been reading your myspace blog and I love your attitude to life. You’ve got you re head screwed on pretty good.

Anyway i just wanted to say hi, and that you look really beautiful in your photos. And i know you say Kama isn't working for you very well, and believe me, i am not getting my fair share of it at the moment. But i am here to say, i am your bit of good Kama today. Because i found you through some very random events and i am letting you know you are beautiful(humans should really tell other humans nice things sometimes, especially ones they don't know)

Someone randomly did this for me, i looked at her groups, found she was i the curvy girls group, then found you, and hey presto! random act of kindness was achieved! So i hope that you have enjoyed this experience? And no, I'm not a crazy! Just someone who has to keep believing in Kama, because my life is pretty damn shit these days, and hope is all i have.

So take care gorgeous, and spread the word, tell people nice things, just because, you can!

Clare

And this it seems was very well received, always a good outcome.

And so in my inbox today was this

Thank you, there are very few people that have the ability to compliment and encourage strangers, there are even less who are willing to receive compliments. Everything happens for a reason, I learned the hard way. Sometimes we need to distance ourselves from those closest to us that cause us grief for those are truly not friends.Once in a while you find someone who is truly genuine, honest and inspiring, I think you just might be that.

Indhira

So if you feel life is a little hard at the moment, and you have the generosity and ability in you, and i am sure you do. Find someone you don't know, and tell them something truly beautiful about themselves, this will make them feel amazing. As it will you. And in return, believe that something beautiful is heading your way. Tell someone you think they look great in what their wearing, smile at someone, take the time to chat to an elderly person sat alone, wave at a child in a car who is waving at you, Just try it. You would be amazed at how something so small can have such an impact! Have fun!

who am i?

Your result for Which of the "Big Five" personality traits best represents you?...

Openness

Your strongest "Big Five" is Openness!

Openness is a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience. This trait distinguishes imaginative people from down-to-earth, conventional people. People who are open to experience are intellectually curious, appreciative of art, and sensitive to beauty. They tend to be, compared to closed people, more creative and more aware of their feelings. They are more likely to hold unconventional beliefs.

People with low scores on openness tend to have more conventional, traditional interests. They prefer the plain, straightforward, and obvious over the complex, ambiguous, and subtle. They may regard the arts and sciences with suspicion, regarding these endeavors as abstruse or of no practical use. Closed people prefer familiarity over novelty. They are conservative and resistant to change.

Take Which of the "Big Five" personality traits best represents you? at HelloQuizzy

Chickens

Hello all

Me again. I have been hoping that when i finally find myself a, decent, social housing home to move to, that i will have a garden. The reality of food and fuel prices going up, somethings gotta give. And if i can't keep costs down by riding a bicycle(see previous posts) i want to try and grow more food. I already have rhubarb and strawberries, tomatoes, chilli, bell pepper and salad leaves in my current city garden. All of which pretty much take care of themselves, apart from the harvesting, low maintenance is the key! The hope would be to create raised beds out of scavenged or freecycled materials, to make this as pain free as possible, and to add to this, i would dearly love some chickens.
Now being me i do my research. I never like to go into projects uninformed, and besides research is fun(yes you heard me correctly, i like it). So i have been surfing for some of today to look up the costs and care involved. Along with how to house them, what to feed them and set up costs etc.

It seems the chooks(as it seem most people call them) are very inexpensive, Between £10 and £20 per chook. Although i love the idea or rescuing a couple of battery hens, which they cull after 3 years when laying production drops, even though they will continue to lay for another couple of years. These tend to be free. literally! What a nice way to give some good Kama out.

This does however contrast with the set up cost. About £350 for the coop, run, food etc. So i think i either need to pop this pipe dream bubble now, or hope that a charity(that may be able to help me with resettlement costs, cooker, flooring etc.) will see it as a good thing to allow me to 'grow' my own food. The eglu is particularly good, as it is fox proof, easy to clean(a very good thing when pain is involved) and looks pretty funky too. And it seems is not much difference in price from an old style wood and metal mesh coop.

This site is great Omlet

The only hard decision for me would be, what colour!

Oh and don't even get me started on my dream of a goat!
Just think of the lovely goats cheese i could be making!

more on cycling

Ok, so now its a week later, or near enough, i have been on the bike a couple of times. And loved it every time. Despite the fact that my hands go numb within minutes of riding, and the wobbly legs and pain at the end of it. HOWEVER! i am now crippled with pain and not even able to move around my home properly. So its clear, that for the foreseeable future, cycling is not going to be my way out of my transport issues. Any ideas about the way out of this little conundrum are welcomed.

cycling

Hello all

Due to the fuel prices going up, i am forced to start using my bike again. And enfact this could be the reality of my future, without a car, due to increasing cost. Which is not a prospect i relish much. For reasons like,

• How to get a cat to regular vet visits on a bike, lots of scratching involved i fear
• How to get shopping home, seeing as i am eating alot of canned goods at the mo, they weigh alot.
• How to get to destinations where buses don't go, and i cant carry goods far.
• How do i mange when i am in so much pain i simply cannot ride a bike. ( note- i really shouldn't have today as i was in alot of pain yesterday, but i have to keep trying to improve my health)

I am sure there are many things that i can add to the list in the future, this what springs to mind immediately.

And the fact that due to recent changes in my meds i have gained some unwanted weight, and the need to build up my muscles is ever present in my mind. Even though it makes my hands numb whilst riding, and very painful when i stop. And the site of me trying to walk after getting off is quite funny i must imagine, i wobble about as if drunk, as my legs go all wobbly. All not the best of side effects from exercise, but still they beat the side effects from the meds. So i will try to keep at it as much as my pain ridden bod will allow.

However, i went to get my new homelink magazine today( still new home hunting, but without many prospects) and thought 'its really not that far, i should cycle'. Anyway i have just looked it up on mulitmap and it seems i have managed 3 miles today! EEK! no wonder i am knackered now! I know to alot of people this is not that far, But for those of you that know me, this i quite an achievement.

Jane Austen

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

Take the Quiz here!

WWKIPD

WWKIPD-World Wide Knitting In Public Day
14th June

So I am a member of the Cambridge Knitting Group, Ktog( in knitting language this means' knit together') I joined this lovely group of people just at the end of November last year, and now attend every meeting that i am able to do so. They are a very generous and diverse bunch of people from all walks of life, and i felt very at home from the start. Many of them are now firm friends and we get together outside of the knitting meetings.

Anyway... Last Saturday was WWKIPD and so we set about to show to the world, well Cambridge actually, what we do. We started off at Sew Creative in Kings Street for a couple of hours, as you can see, quite a good turn out, and free tea and cake kept us even more happy, than just our knitting. Many thanks to Janine and the team at Sew Creative for all their efforts (and fantatsic bunting!) for making this such an enjoyable event.


After a couple of hours we headed off to Parkers Piece for the Cambridge Town and Country show.

We set up camp and the picnics came out, and after lunch more knitting. The weather was just about kind to us, and a great day was had by all. Lots of new faces as well as old. And we did out bit to spread the word that knitting is not just for grannies!

Come join us if you like, this is how to find us Ktog

Bunting

I was rather fed up the other day. So i rooted through all my fabric stash for little scraps in lovely bright colours. And a short while later i came up with this!
My first thought with my colour choices was ' I don't have any green'. But silly me, the garden is full of green! And it looked so lovely flapping about in the breeze.

Now all i need is some good weather, its now 2 days after the photo was taken and its not stopped raining, so i can fire up the BBQ and have some people over to enjoy my newly refurbished garden.

The overhaul is all thanks to Martin, who was very kindly volunteered by his wife Frances(he did agree to do this himself thought i hasten to add) to help get my garden back into a manageable state. A homemade lamb tagine lunch by way of a thank you was provided by moi, along with direction as to what i wanted to keep and loose. I have to say i have never seen someone garden with such vigor and determination. It now looks wonderful and is now easy to look after. Now only the front garden to be done.

Return of the eye candy

Hello All

Its been an odd week one way or another, lots of small positive things happening, and some very odd occurrences, things i couldn't explain even if i tried.

In the mean time its return of the eye candy, This time, late on a Wednesday night, hump day, rather than on a Friday. I hope you enjoy it.

I was out in the garden earlier and noticed that some of my grasses were flowering, And so here you have it, pretty and feathery.


I may have got a better shot, had the camera not run out of charge, damn it! That is being remedied as i type.