sorry for the general theme, but it i just so odd to be getting this much snow in the UK. As I type, with the cat curled up on my lap, Mum is playing on her spinning wheel, and the rest of the family is alternating watching Jason and the Argonauts with staring n disbelief at the blizzard outside. It's been trying to snow all morning but has mostly been very cold rain. I think this time the snow might stick!
General motivation for manual labour is low when the weather is like this, so to amuse ourselves this morning we went to the one and only local tourist attraction for coffee and cake. It's an old woolen mill, which unfortunately no longer has any sort of functionality as a mill, but does still have an old pack horse bridge over the river dating back to the 1700's.
I've just completed some school work, and as a reward am going to pick up my knitting. I've nearly finished the body to a jumper.
Nothing much to say, apart from all the best to all of you. We've been out for a walk and am about to settle down to Christmas dinner.
Some images of a welsh christmas.
We've spent the last few days attacking the rather over grown garden, in particular a couple of rather large and unwanted trees!
While my Dad and Nick wielded the chain saw, Mum and I burnt all the small branches, and removed the green stuff ready for chopping logs for the fire. I'd like to think that all those years of watching Ray Mears had taught me something!
Eventually we managed to fell the whole tree without hitting the cottage or anything else of value, though it did require a bit of pulling power from the camper van!
We're off out for a walk today to escape the rubbish Christmas daytime TV!
I spent yesterday driving home to my parents new house in Wales for the Christmas holidays. To avoid doing a big loop on the main roads you can cut up a single track road over the hills. In comparison with the rest of the UK the snow was really light so I decided to risk it as I actually don't mind driving in snow.
It was a bit snowy but actually not to bad, since then we've had another skittering of snow, and I've spent today chopping down a tree. I'm physically worn out but it feels much better than the exhaustion I've had from stress recently!
The lovely Sam over at The Life and Times of Me has just nominated me for an award. These things might only be a bit of silly fun, but it's made me feel better so I'm not one to turn it down!
Apparently I need to pick 7 others to nominate... this may be tricky! And tell you 7 new things about myself (after doing a few of these types of things I'm running out of material I'm happy to have out there in writing!
Anyway some nominations-
The delightful Mfamama has just got back in to blogging after a messy divorce.
The fabulous hairy farmer family because she deserves it!
The wonderful Yarn Yard who has helped me get through some tough times
The lovely Lixie Knits It Domestic Blissless Probably Jane for inspiring me in to believing that designing my own patterns was possible
ermmm anyone else want a nomination, leave me a message, and go right ahead!
Ok 7 things-
I currently have a serious Buffy The Vampire Slayer addiction going on right now...
I still keep my student card in my purse for sentimental reasons!
I have eaten Christmas presents I bought for other people in times of desperation, and then had to buy them a new present!
I have Button Moon on DVD.... I was taken to see the stage show multiple times as a child.
Marmite, I'm firmly on the love it side of the camp
I crashed my first ever car in to a wall doing 30mph, it was mostly made of plastic so was written off!
I will read just about anything but most of all I love historical fiction.
Just in time for the holidays (there's 1 week left) I am officially coming down with something.
I've been coughing for the past few days now, and my stomach muscles are definitely feeling rather tender, the sore throat is a new development as is the runny nose. I don't think I'll be going and donating my sickly blood as planned today!
Now there's the small matter of marking books ready for our faculty review on Tuesday, I try to keep things professional on here so we'll leave you to make your own minds up about that statement!
In better news I have 1 mitten left to knit and all my christmas knitting is done! Go me!
Time for some winners from the p/hop competition.
The photoless hat from Rlynn has been claimed by Rlynn herself in echange for a donation. Givn we have more prizes than entrants I hope everyone's ok with that.
I will email/get in touch with everyone who left a comment asking them to list their top 3 preference of prizes, the sooner you get back to me the more likely you are to get what you want, and if you're in the states there's also an outside chance you'll get it before Christmas!
If you left a comment and don't hear from me please send me an email- hilltopkatie at gmail dot com
Calling Rachel A, you've not left anyway of contacting you, please get in touch!
A job has come up in Shetland. I was invited for an interview at a different school in shetland just before I accepted the job at my current school. AS some of you might have gathered from my tweets my current work life balance kind of sucks and is making me unhappy.
Real life is beating me around the head with a rather large shovel right now.
I'm going to extend the deadline for the competition until next weekend. I just don't have time to deal with the admin right now.
I'm extraordinarily sorry.
If you don't know what I'm on about it's not the previous post, it's the one before, you can win some beautiful handknits.... I'm contemplating entering myself, I need some more Christmas presents!
It's p/hop's birthday, in case you need reminding p/hop is a knitting fundraiser for the charity Medecins sans Frontier or Doctors without Borders
The name p/hop comes from pennies per hour of pleasure, the idea being you donate according to how much pleasure something gives you. There are several free p/hop patterns, but you can also p/hop for yarn, or for anything really.
Along with several others I've been designing a new pattern for p/hop in celebration of p/hop's birthday.
Part of the designing process is to test knit the pattern to make sure it make sense. In the true spirit of p/hop we decided to raffle off the finished items.
Below are the photos of what is available, you can't pick and choose what you win as that will make for craziness! All you need to do to enter is go over to Just giving using the widget to the right, or the US based First giving widget below make a donation of however much you can afford, and leave me a comment below saying you've done it. I won't be checking up on this, that's not how p/hop works, it's all about trust and the feeling of doing the right thing!
The winners will be drawn at random at 7pm GMT on the 30th November.
All the patterns are going to be available to download soon, you can be sure I'll post here to let you know when that is!
Please go and spread the word, it's all for a good cause.
Here's what you can win- A pair of Intertwined Mittens knitted by me in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino
I was driving to work the other day and the sky was simply spectacular. I did try to snap a picture, and it really doesn't do it justice. Getting out of bed at 6am my be hard work at this time of year may be hard, but getting to see sunrises like this make up for it!
Something else thats made me smile is this song
It's take that at the concert that was recently held at the Royal Albert Hall to raise money for Children in Need
I just got off the phone with my Mum. they are finally at the point where they've nearly unpacked everything. I'm longing to get down to wales to see the change, and to see the 2 woodpeckers who come and feed on the bird table, but the next few weekends are busy.
A few more moving in and cleaning pictures from last weekend for you, they'll have to do until I can get there myself and capture the beautiful scenery.
There are a multitude of reasons why I've not posted for a week and a half but today is not the day to go in to them.
We had 2 minutes silence at school today, even my rowdy year 11's fell silent, the boy who sniggered was roundly shouted at by all the others at the end of it.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
My life seems to be increasingly heading westwards in to the land of dragons!
Recently I've been there for a weekend, I'm there again for another weekend next week, and now Mum and Dad have moved there.
They've always wanted a cottage in the country and now they've found it.
The outside is not the prettiest, the inside needs a bit of cleaning and re-painting, but the views are heavenly.
We moved last week, without the help of a removal van. We filled my estate car, my brother's estate car, the camper van, a box van, my parents estate car, 3 roof boxes, and 2 trailers....
It must have looked very bizarre as we headed across the country.
