Things appear blue

Thankfully, I mostly mean that literally, rather than metaphorically. What with the January NaBloPoMo icon on each post, and some of the recent book cover pictures, as well as most likely some of the upcoming ones, the blog just gave me that impression, and then it occurred to me that we just bought a blue ERGObaby Sport baby carrier, which is a fabulous addition to the blue/turquoise stretchy wrap I’d already been using. (Why yes, people do constantly assume our baby is a boy when we’re out. However, a) I’d have no problem at all dressing her in blue if we had any such outer items at the moment, and b) I think of a baby carrier as something the parent is wearing, not the baby, and certainly I’m not going to be prevented from wearing colours I like.) I still intend to use the stretchy wrap as well so long as baby is light/small enough to be safe and comfortable (for both of us) in it, but DH and I are both enjoying using the Ergo (we got it on Monday, thanks to some very kind monetary gifts from relatives).

To bring this back on track, some of the blue-covered books I have to discuss here or am still reading (in the order I notice them, and the last two are more turquoise):

• Last of the Breed by Louis L’Amour
• Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler
• B’Sha’ah Tovah by M. & B. Finkelstein
• Straight from the Heart by Tehila Abramov
• The Sea Kingdoms by Alistair Moffat

I’m still annoyed about what’s going on in The Archers.

Related Articles

• Noah’s Compass, By Anne Tyler (independent.co.uk)
• Preparedness for Families with Infants, by Carla S. (survivalblog.com)
• Inhabitat Green Holiday Gift Guide: Eco Gifts for New Parents (inhabitat.com)

Good stuff on the way

We finally sent off several packages of gifts and just stuff to friends and family. (Seven, to be precise.) Some are big, and some are little, but we hope everyone will like the contents of theirs. We’ve sent most of them (ie the large ones) by surface mail, so in about three months people can expect to hear from us!

We had to go to the post office twice, as we got the lunchtime closing hours wrong the first time! We got some books in between, so eventually they should show up in reviews here. (That’s my tangential tying in to the regular themes of this blog.) I did take a picture of the piles of parcels, which I’ll aim to add to this post later, but I think it’d take longer than I have now.

Walked lots, didn’t crochet

I went out for the day with my friend who’s here on holiday, and we walked a long long way, first around the archaeological park, and then around the city. I even walked home, because the buses were horribly full.

I thought I’d get some crocheting done on the buses, but I was davening on the first bus, chatting on the second, and didn’t take the third!

Overly popular

The popularity of the spool-knitting drop-in has not abated, and I’ve run out of tubes to rework into spools! I’ve put out a request at work for more (preferably in a variety of sizes), and put the girls’ names on the ones I’ve made already. I’m also taking more yarn along. I got to see some great completed projects today already, and thoughts of how to develop skills and new projects to use the technique for. Lessons in straight crochet are becoming more popular again too, which is great.

I got to do a bit more on the granny square blanket, but once involved in shopping for the new flat I simply didn’t have the hands available. In work I got to practice with the Brailler (I’m amused that the manual specifies that they are available in blue and green, when I got a grey one!), and I think I’m getting the hang of it. I’m going back to redo all the exercises with it, but I think I’ll continue progressing on the graph paper, as I can (messily) do that on the bus.

I’m really happy at the moment, what with the new flat, its peace and the fun of doing it up, learning (Braille) and teaching (yarncraft) things I enjoy, reclaiming my social life, reading again, and getting compliments. I even got to 23,000 steps on my pedometer today. It’s fabulous!

Sore muscles

I began another National Trail today, the Thames Path, with a colleague from work (who also started me off on the North Downs Way last year). We began at the Thames Barrier, visiting the Information Centre there, and ended about 13 miles later at the Tower Bridge. I haven’t walked any long distances in months, so I can really feel my feet and legs, but actual physical fatigue is just so much better of a feeling than mental fatigue that I’m really happy. (I’m pleased about the exercise too!)

The Barrier is a very impressive feat of engineering, and our guide at the Information Centre a good publicist for it. I still have an unhappy camera so I bought a postcard of that, and another of Tower Bridge, but I expect both are copyright, so I can’t scan them for you. (There are pictures at the links, however.) Docklands London (which is most of the route we covered today) is a fast changing and varied place, where building sites and fancy apartment blocks and offices share names and space with old manufacturing sites and housing. The river is a living working place, with constant traffic, plant and animal life in water that’s clear in the spots shallow and still enough not to be silted up.

I still have one section of the Capital Ring to do (I did all but about two sections of that in 2005, and did the penultimate one last summer), and then I had been going to begin the London Loop, but seeing as I have these other two started I think I’ll be better off continuing with those instead.

It is easier to follow the direction of the book, but I think that it’ll be cheaper and more convenient to get to the London bits of the Thames Path, so will probably continue going upstream for the time being. That’s also why I started with the Capital Ring and was aiming at the London Loop next. In any case, I like both the country/park walking and watching the historical shifts of London.