My first presents given.

I went to visit my Dad this weekend. It was time to crack out the first of my handmade presents:






Dad - a simple black cowl
Dawn - a 15
Jaybea - a hat, a scarf, a dinosaur and a blanket
Louise - a hat, a scarf, a teddy bear and a blanket
Callum - a monkey and a blanket
They also got a tin of handmade rocky road and a tin of oat and raisin cookies and a big bag of sweets each.

I think the kids like there bits:



I saw planning on staying over night but with the weather being so bad i decided to go home on Saturday evening. I left my Dad's at half 5 and didn't get home till 8.30. It was a long journey but defiantly the right decision.

We had our work Christmas do on Friday and had dinner at the Runnymede hotel followed by bowling. I had a good time and came across a few interesting things in the hotel:



A huge hand knitted blanket and a wall full of rubber ducks! I love the blanket and the ducks so much, I think it added a great touch to the hotel.

Its my last day at work tomorrow and I don't have to go back there ever again! I start my new job on January 4th and cant believe that my working life here is over. (I'm really really pleased)

Ive been a lazy blogger!

I know I havent blogged in a while and Im very sorry so here is a brief update on whats going on with me.

Firstly Tim and I have decided that we are just friends! We hung out on Friday night and it was just like hanging out with a pal, there just seems to be nothing there romantically between us at the minute. We have decided to take a step back and just see where we go with it, but the pressure of the couply stuff is now gone.

Secondly, I went to a surprise birthday party on Saturday. It was my Nan Turleys's (my dad's ex wife's mum) 65th birthday on Wednesday and we threw her a surprise Birthday party. She had no clue and her face was a picture when we all shouted "SURPRISE"! She is Elvis mad and J&G went a little mad with the Elvis decor:

It was a great night and really lovely to catch up with everyone.

Ive been knitting like a nut case! Ive got a few more bits left to do and a fair bit of sewing up so I really need to knuckle down.

I will be having the my first Christmas this weekend. Im heading over to Barking to have a pre Christmas Christmas with Dad, Dawn and the kids so im really looking forward to that.

Now to go completely off subject but I saw this on a friends blog today and wanted to share. With all the commercialisation of Christmas I think its nice to see something that humbles us and makes us focus on what is really important in life and I also think it nice to have something bring us back down to earth when were too worried about not having enough Mince Pies to feed everyone:

Knitting, Parcels and Nibbles!!

I have had the best last few days!!! On Friday night Sue and Graham took me to the Thai restaurant at the end of the road for my first trip into the world of Thai food! It was really nice and very reasonably priced!

Then on Saturday Sue and I hit Staines and brought some really great bits from Julian Graves, I am stocking up on all the ingredients I will need for all the baking I need to do for Christmas.

I then met up with 6 other members of the Staines Knitting Group and we all went and invaded the Pincushion in Windsor! (I pre-warned Des the owner that we would be invading) and we were met there by Dani who then invited us back to her house for home made cake and tea:





We all had a great time and everyone of us came away with new yarn for our stash! And I brought some stuff for a Christmas swap with a pen pal.
When we got back Lou and I had a drink in the pub and then had dinner in Nandos which was yum!

On Sunday My Mum and her wife Jan (yes her wife) Came to see me and we went out for dinner. We had a meal at the new Harvester in Staines and it was lovely. I had a really great time with them and cant wait to spend the New Year with them.

On Monday when I got home there was a parcel waiting for me on the dinner table:



Its the Peaches and Creme I ordered from Create and Knit on Friday! I cant believe how quick its arrived. I started using it straight away and managed to get 2 sets of Scrubbies finished (they will be Xmas pressies):


Only 3 people made it to knitting group last night including me but it was nice, for some reason I just couldn't knit last knit, things kept going wrong so in the end I just read my knitting mag. When I got home there was another parcel waiting for me! It was from my 1st ever Ravelry swap and it was from Knittingbunnies in Arizona:











It really cheered me up and I feel like ive been spoilt rotten! I posted out my 2nd swap parcel yesterday to Chelsea in NY and will be getting one back in the next few weeks. I also have another one to send out to Tia in Oregon who is one of my penpals!

Tonight I plan on finishing up a few more Christmas presents and baking up a few treats. Im going to make tiffin and cookies. Im seeing Nicola and her boys on Saturday in Staines and Marius, Loredana and Joshua on Saturday afternoon so will need to go armed with treats and nibbles!

Have you noticed? (a pictureless post)

Well, I've been busy busy busy knitting my fingers off, Ive neglected my reading and my penpal letters as Im trying to get my Christmas knitting finished, needless to say i got side tracked and ended up starting a hat for myself! Its been a bit of a nightmare and ive had numerous problems and a large amount of frogging but it is finally finished.

I have a swap parcel going out on Saturday and one the week after, Im madly trying to finish a shawl for the later one and am still waiting for my first parcel to arrive from the swap I have already posted too.

On Tuesday this week it was knitting group and we had our largest meeting yet! There were 12 and a half of us! We are practically taking over the pub! There was DBY, Meita, emmabflea, SallyBarrett, Daisydaisydaisy, Piettamama, her little 3 month old little boy Ianto (hence the half), ruthst, me, LouJ, Knit24seven, Little Katie and SlimKnit! It was great.

We have a group outing to the pincushion on Saturday and will be heading back to needlemum's for some home made cake and tea! There are 8 of us going and im really looking forward to it.

Also a few weeks ago I was contacted by a company that I had an interview with over a year ago. They practically offered me the job at the time but the company withdrew the offer as they couldn't justify the wages. Anyways, they emailed me saying that someone had handed in their notice and they remembered me from last year and would was I still looking for work, I emailed back and had a meeting the week before last. I was unsure as to the outcome because they said that they would send me a letter the following week but I didn't get one. I got to work on Tuesday and found out a few things that are making me worry about the security of my position etc and was very upset and checked my email to find that I had been emailed by the company! They told me that an offer letter had been sent out and when I got home it was sitting on the table! Needless to say I was very relieved.

So today I handed in my notice! I finish work on the 23rd December and start my new one on the 4th January!

Neglected Post Stuff.

I am going to blog about things that I have been neglecting lately. I have been very naughty in the knitting department. There are a few bits that I need to get done for christmas but ive been weylaid and starting small quick projects instead:




This set has been given to a guy I work with that has a baby due in January.

I also have about 5 WIP's at the moment, I really need to crack on and get things finished!

I have just re-read Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz which is fab. Its really fast paced and the characters are so amazingly cool, you really wish that you knew people like that. I have now started re-reading the Odd Thomas Series by Dean Koontz, and any one who knows me will know that this is one of my most loved series of books and I could read them over and over and over. I intend to re-read the Frankenstein series once Odd is finished.

I am at a bit of a standstill with Postcrossing! I requested 7 addresses at once (which is the max im allowed to send) and they issues me with 7 addresses in Taiwan! As you can imagine its taking a long time for them all to get there. Until they are recieved and my random cards have been sent to me I wont be requesting any more addressed. I currently have 6 cards travelling and 5 waiting to be recieved.

My penpals are all good, there are a few I havent heard from in a while so I think I may pop a nice card in the post to make sure they are all ok. I have 2 letters to responde to which are on my to do list for this week.

I am currently involved in 3 swaps, 2 through Ravelry and 1 through a penpal. I have posted out my first parcel and it has been recieved. I think my swap buddie liked what I sent and I know that mine will be sent out later this week. (im really excited about it and am being very patient). My next 2 need to be posted out by Dec ! which is good because I get paid again just before then so will get them out when the funds clear. I have a WIP that will be indluded in one of the swaps so definalty need to pull my finger out on that one! Once my parcels are recieved I will share the pics with you all.

Well, I cant think of anything more I have neglected and think I am completely up to date with blogland!

I promise jnot to leave it so long next time!

My Weekend!

This could be quiet a long one so be warned!

On Friday I decided to do some baking! I made white choc chunky cookie sandwiches. I made some yummy white choc cookies, then once they cooled I filled them with some Betty Crocker chocolate Fudge cream frosting. (i looked at the price of making my own and this worked out cheaper) here are some pics of the stages:







They were very yummy and seemed to go down well:

(this is the lovely Sue who is letting me live in her spare room)

I also knocked up a batch of peppermint cremes:

(these are going to knitting group tomorrow night)

I headed over to Essex so see the family. I got to meet my new little nephew, He is tiny! but oh so cute:





And I cant believe how big my brothers and sisters have gotten:




My dad dropped me of at Monkey mans house last night and I spent the night which was very strange! Its crazy how quickly you get used to sleeping alone!

Im an Aunty!!!

Well my Brother and His girlfriend welcomed my 1st nephew into the world. He was born this morning at about half 6 weighing in at 7lb 5oz. His Name is Ryden Smith and here he is:

Decision Time

Im unsure as to what to do moving forward, I know i need to make a decision, I kinda have made one, I need to speak to Monkey and let him know where I am. He had a meeting at work yesterday and was told he cant go back for another month, he needs to prove he is medically fit to return to driving due to the meds and insurance etc. He is now talking about signing up for voluntary work with the RSBP, they send you to some place in the world for 6 months to monitor bird activity, tagging etc. Im not sure how serious he is about it he does change his mind alot but he has talked about it for a while. I just need to know where that leaves me.

I haven't heard from him since yesterday morning and am supposed to be going round tomorrow to sort out some stuff and have dinner with him. Ill see what happens there.

Also his Mum emailed me out of the blue yesterday asking how I was. I know that she has an ulterior motive for contacting me, im just waiting to see what it is. I have a feeling it involves the washing machine!

How do I feel?

I really dont know at the minute. Its hard to say. Im a bit all over the place, I love him, I want to be with him, I want to go back to sleeping in the same bed as him, then I want to pack my bags and dissapear, I want it to be over, I dont even want to try and work through things.

So as you can see im all over the place. One moment im ok the next im not, I dont know what to do with myself, I want to eat, I dont want to eat, i want to get up and go out then I dont. I want to see him I dont want to see him.

I feel really lost and very very lonely and am not sure what to do with myself. I want things to work between us and I love him dearly but everytime he does something I dont like I feel the opposite. I am waiting on him to decide what he wants but what do I want?

I really dont know.

A bit of time apart

I have decided that I need a little time away from Monkey Man. Things havent been right for a while and its just gotten to hard. Those who I speak to regularly will know about everything that we have been through over the last few weeks and it came to a head on Wednedsay due to his actions and I went home and packed my bags. I am currently staying at a friends house (she has a spare room she normally rents to students and said i can stay as long as i like) and having space of my own has been a blessing. Im not sure where we go moving forward but I still love him, he still loves me and we do want to be together but he needs to stop taking me for granted. Ive given him everything and lost who I am but had nothing back. He can tell me he is going to change and that he loves me but its time for him to show me.

Now its his turn to do all the hard work.

Monkey Mans Birthday!

Well it was Monkey Man's 28th Birthday on Friday! A friend of his brother does these really cool pictures of people as celebs and movie characters. I had one done of Monkey as John Matrix from Commando and one as Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China:



I turned the Jack Burton one into a birthday card and the Matrix one I got printed onto a birthday cake:


And heres Monkey with his cake:


Happy Birthday Monkey Man!!! xx

An autumn walk at Ankerwyck

On Sumday Monkey Man and I decided to go for a walk. I didnt have my walking shoes at home (I left them in the office) so we decided a nice easy stroll to visit the Ankerwyck Yew tree. We hadnt been for a while so it was nice to get over there and see it in its autumn glory:



I really love the tree and the location of it, there is so much going on over there at the moment:











I collected loads of beautiful conkers and decided that I needed to show them off! When i got home i made a little crocheted conker bowl:



What do you think? It can also double as a sweetie bowl on Halloween!