May Round Up (2010)

May has been and has now almost gone. Is it a total lie that May used to be a month of lovely spring weather? My head wants to recall Mays of the past as gently warm, with the odd shower of light rain, but perhaps I am mistooken? This month the weather in the first half of the month was particularly cold, grey and wet. Which is not what we needed after the winter just past. It has redeemed itself a little in the last 10 days with some lovely warm days (and the humidity wasn't high either which meant my asthma didn't flare up as it often does in hot weather).

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On the crafting front, I decided I *must* make some sort of blankety thing of knit. I decided it some time ago, right after determining that it must be bright, colourful, and perhaps even clashingly gaudy. I tried knitting a few squares (well, three actually) before coming to the conclusion that crochet might be the way to go.

Anyway, I have collected my 'colours':

Watch this space for the colours turning into something remotely approaching a blankety thing.

I did do something a teeny bit creative this month when I made a cushion for Scarlett's first birthday. Her family are not sure what she can see or hear, but she does like to feel soft textures. Thus, I made her a cushion in the shape of the initial 'S'. I thought the curve of the letter might be nice to feel. I made it in a brown fake-fur fabric ... No.1 and I went through the whole fabric shop, feeling each and every bolt to determine which was the softest, most tactile fabric there. After it was sewn and stuffed, I trimmed the finished cushion in an equally soft pink marabou. It's not the most visually pleasing thing I've ever made, but it did feel wonderful:

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I neglected to mention in my April round-up that the kids and I met up with one of my forum/bloggy/facebook friends last month. Sas and I first became friends when we 'met' on a Big Brother thread over at Digital Spy forums in 2005. We quickly found out that we shared an interest in astrological doings, and when she set up her own forum, I was pleased to become one of her ('Foxy Five') moderators. We hadn't met in person until last month, when she and her lovely husband, stayed in a local B&B on their way to North Devon for a holiday.

She is into photography, so of course we had to go out and get some shots - we went up to a Youth Hostel on the Ridgeway, and had a nice wander through the woods. It was a beautiful day and the kids and I really enjoyed their company. Thank you Sas and Mr A - it was a real pleasure to meet you - xx.

My favourite shot from that day was this one taken in the woods ...

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Ladies and Jellyspoons (as my friend Tracy used to say) please meet Humphrey:

Humphrey came to live with us for three and a bit weeks whilst Miss Maisie was at The Body Shop having herself done up after I wounded her (details in this post). They said it would take 'a good week' to mend Miss Maisie, and I was very thankful that my insurance policy included a courtesy car. I was a tad nervous about driving Humphrey as he is brand spanking new, straight off the showroom floor. He has air conditioning, a CD player and is extremely responsive. Very aware that we had to hand him back in pristine condition, I drove like an elderly spinster (shut up whoever said that's really what I am - I know I am :p) and banned anyone from eating whilst sitting on his blue and black seats.

I had never driven a Hyundai before, but after a couple of days it was mostly fine. He drank more petrol than Maisie, and his gears were a lot more stiff (must not make smutty pun, must not make smutty pun ... :-#) but the thing that really bugged me about him was that if I pulled the sun visor down, it interfered with my view of the rearview mirror. I don't know if it is just my particular height, or the position in which I drive (how many positions can there be whilst driving? (That was a rhetorical question but feel free to make suggestions), but after around 10 days it was really getting on my nerves.

I am very happy to report that Miss Maisie is now 'home', looking absolutely gorgeous, and that it is a joy to have her back.

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Does anyone remember the frustration I expressed at the missing puzzle piece in our England World Cup 1966 puzzle (posted in my April round up)? Some people might have been put off puzzlng at that instance, but not the Wrinkles. Oh no, we are made of stiffer puzzling stuff than that. I found a cool jigsaw at the Red Cross Shop in town, I brought it home and I sorted all the 'edge' pieces. Funny how the kids like helping with the puzzle (especially No.1) but aren't the least bit interested in the boring job of sorting the edges.

Anyway, I digress. We did the new puzzle. We enjoyed doing the new puzzle ... right up until we realised about this:-

Aaarrrrggggghhhhhhhhh! Do you know what I think? I think there is a puzzle goblin who goes around taking bits (no, make that RED bits) out of the puzzle(s) that we choose to do.

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No.2 has been a bit of a Clever-Trevor this month and acquired a new trophy:

Along with a certificate. A trophy was presented to each of the boys in his squad at the annual end-of-season 'do' at his Club. He has also played in a tournament this month, and for the first time ever, came away with no trophy or medal. I don't think I've ever heard him so down as when he was telling me all about it. He said they played really badly. Disappointing for them all I'm sure, but character-building (as my friend Lisa would say)!

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I'll leave you with one of my favourite shots of this month. It's a comical pigeon, who seemed to be saying to me ' 'ere ... are you taking my picture?':

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