Yarnanimals posted a link to this video in The Garden shed on Ravelry. I couldn't resist sharing it with you. Unfortunately it's not on Youtube so you need to go look on the BBC site to see it as I can't embed it here.

Fireworks

The reason for the posting silence was yet another weekend away with the uni club. Yes I know I've graduated, but all my friends are still students, and besides it's a good laugh.

There were games



and fireworks



and even some walking (sorry no photos, as usual I took my camera and it never left my rucsac, I'm waiting for someone to upload some on to Facebook!)

There was also some drinking, minibus driving, and a broken leg. However we don't want to go in to details about that, it all worked out ok, and it's a risk we accept when we go climbing.

November sunrise

Everyday I wake up at 7.10am, as the day's are getting shorter it's getting darker and darker in the mornings. this morning I awoke to this.


There are some advantages to being up early, if I wasn't up I'd never have seen such a beautiful sunrise, the picture really doesn't do it justice.

We will remember them...

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month the guns stopped firing.


Sounds such an innocent statement doesn't it? But at that point in time the carnage of the First World War finally stopped. In total between 20 and 40 million people died (according to Wikipedia), this is soldiers, and civilians from both sides. A whole generation was wiped out. This was the first of the "modern wars" and was all the more brutal for it, it led to the invention of all sorts of wonderful things, but cost millions of lives. at the time it was thought that it was the wars to end all wars, and never again would families live in fear of letter and telegrams.
In hindsight we know this isn't true, many more people have died in wars, that's why at 11.00 today we need to remember, not just the soldiers who fought in a war 90 years ago, but those who have fought in every conflict ever since.

(In case you're wondering why the poppy? After the carnage of the First World War over the fields of Flanders ended the first thing to start re-growing were poppies. )

p/hop

The sharp eyed among will notice that over in the side bar is a new widget (ps, does anyone know how to put a space back in between my posts and my sidebar, sometimes I know just enough html to be dangerous to myself!)
The fabulous Natalie over at The Yarn Yard has started this. she's persuaded a load of designers to offer up free patterns, in exchange you donate pennies/hour of pleasure, however much you want/can afford in recognition of the hours of pleasure knitting the pattern gave you. All the money raised goes to Médecins Sans Frontières UK, some of you will know that The Yarn Harlot has done so much fundraising for Médecins Sans Frontières under the name of Knitters Without Borders, it would be lovely if we could even do a tenth of much as she has for what is one of the few worthwhile charities I seem to come across.

Speaking of knitting, I shall love you and leave you, I need to get knitting if my Christmas presents are to be done in time.

Grey

The weather is very grey at the moment, if you look over at the side bar you will see I'm knitting something in colours to counteract this, definitely yarn to look at when you have a hangover! Also to counteract this are some photos from a couple of weeks ago when I was climbing in Wales, I've almost forgotten that the sky could be blue(ish!)



On another note, I was awoken at 11.30 last night by a slightly frantic housemate who had noticed water pouring through our living room ceiling. Turns out one of our taps had sprung a leak! After some attempts at a DIY fix we started playing hunt the stopcock to turn off the water. By this point water was starting short the light so we had to switch the fuse for the lights off. All the while we're trying to ring the landlord to find out what to do, with no response. She eventually rang us at 7.30 the next morning, and true to her word did indeed come round with someone and sort out the leak. Unfortunately the ceiling looks a little worse for wear... though it could have been worse, some night's the first we'd have known about it would have been the crash as the ceiling fell through!

It's nearly all over

Thank heavens, hopefully by this time tomorrow the American people will have exercised their democratic right and voted. I won't be sad to see the end of this, this election feels like it has gone on for ever. What I do find interesting though is how this election has captured the imagination of the kids at school. I put BBC news (it's stremed over the internet) on at school in registration today and they knew who all the candidates are even had opinion on who they wanted to win. I bet the same could not be said of politicians in our own country!

Anyway I must dash, I'm taking my rainbows for a night walk in the drizzle... we have sparklers though so all will be well!