Dangerous tomato

It's been a quiet old week here in Mog Towers. I have been slumped over a pair of circular needles trying to finish off Archie's jumper before the summer arrives and renders it obsolete. Heavy work, and I don't just mean the short rows. A whole man sized pile of yarn is hard on the wrists. It fits and is liked which makes up for the pain and swearing that accompanied the knitting of it.

My other main achievement this week was making enough lasagne of the veggie variety to feed about twenty people. I started off making a big pot of puy lentil and tomato sauce only to be attacked by a tube of tomato puree. Dangerous things tomatoes.

Just a little green.....

It is feeling wonderfully springy around Mog Towers. I've been joining in with Lolly's Project Spectrum again this year and currently the colour theme is green. We have a lot of green going on. Green shoots and green fingers. The ladybirds are waking up, the gardening gloves have been dusted off, their fingers checked for errant spiders and it is nearly warm enough to sit and knit outside. As long as you wear three pairs of socks and a balaklava that is.

I've been spinning green for Project Spectrum, trying to gather up the colours of spring into a few hundred grams of yarn. Some purple and lilac have sneaked in too in honour of the crocus flowers who are one of the first blooms to make me smile each year.

Sorry Burglars.

There has been little blog activity in the last wee while on account of my not being here. The lad and I left Magnus in the tender care of Sylvia and went off to look after other people's pets instead. I didn't like to mention it in adavance in case I have a following of blog reading burlgars.

Jazz the dog and Leo the snake belong to friends of ours lucky enough to be going on holiday and thus in need of animal sitters. We had a lovely time in a house filled with books, sunlight and learning. Our holiday home is conveniently situated between a railway line and the sea which allows the guest to hear both the sounds of waves and the 3.30 to Aberdeen. It was remarkably peaceful for a house normally occupied by two grown ups and three rambunctious boys.

The dog played football and went for walks along the beach. The snake writhed around a bit. One sticky moment came when I went to the freezer to get some emergency bread and found a plastic bag next to the ice cream tubs. It was filled with mice ( rats? I didn't stick around to tell the difference ) and chicks. Cold, hard and dead just waiting to be defrosted for Leo's tea. As a wise friend later said, that could almost put you off ice cream. Almost.

Good Things This Week.

Number 1.

Julia, aka Miss Frugality came to visit, bringing me gifts and an excuse to make pancakes.

Number 2.

We have flowers.

Number 3.

It was warm enough to hang the washing outside for the first time this year.

Number 4.

Magnus

Happy Valentines Day

Or as it is known in Mog Towers;

I Love You But I Haven't Got You A Card Day!

A little humility.

I've had such lovely things said about my photographs recently that I am in serious danger of getting a swollen head. In order to reduce the swelling, I thought I'd share what happens when pictures go wrong......

In other news, it snew! Finally my legwarmers are going to get some use, at least they will if we can ever make it down the steps. Today is a good day to settle in with some tea and a pair of needles. My knitting for Botswana has made it as far as America, to Knittah's house and I'm very glad to see it arrive.

A sow's ear and huge legs.

The rest of the UK has been smothered in snow with chaotic results. Flights cancelled, schools closed, roads covered. I thought I'd be prepared as only a knitter can be. So I am now the posessor of the largest legwarmers known to humanity. As a child of the eighties, I know my legwarmers and this pair are so big that all of the Kids from Fame could fit into them and still have enough space to dance on the tables. Large these legwarmers are. They are also very warm indeed which would have come in handy if the snow had amounted to anything more than the light dusting that appeared yesterday and then melted into nothing by this morning. Maybe I could send them in an emergency package to London, or Belfast. That's if the post can get through the snow.

I have also been engaged in the more delicate task of spinning silk after Lesley, one of the Angus spinning enablers very kindly sent me a little package containing a silk hankie. Lesley does this beautifully and I was keen to try for myself. It takes a bit of practice and as the silk sticks to any dry skin and I have the hands of an Arbroath Fishwife, I spent most of the time trying to prize the silk from my fingers. In the end I gave in and put on a pair of cotton gloves, looking less like a top spinner and more like the person on the TV who replaces the snooker balls. Here is the finshed result. Small, strong and beautiful if a little uneven. The cup is there to give a sense of proportion. It is one of the few remaining pieces of my doll's house china and is the size of two of Magnus' paws placed together.