Frisian Frillies

See this? Best bag ever? Meet the Namaste Zuma Red, the softest, roomiest, cutest of knitting bags in the universe, sold here . If you don't have one yet, get your arse over there. Buy one. You won't be disappointed!!! And this: Best ginger cupcake recipe ever? How a whole tablespoon of ginger and ten cloves, with lots of other spices turn into the yummiest cupcakes EVER. EVER. Really. The lemon ones were nice too. When I was yumming during the wedding, it was not Pippa's dress, not Kate's dress, not their brother's behind. No, it was the cupcakes. Yummmmm... And this: The most fortunate case of karma ever? And the weirdest find at the Queen's Day Flea Market... We had given away a box of books, which unfortunately had my copy of Ulysses in it. With notes. Guess what hubby found at a free give-away stand! We only noticed it was MY COPY when we got home and opened it up. My goodness, some books are just destined to never leave your side... This is one...

After slipping in a street fountain in August, falling behind the sofa in November, Batman decided to start February off with a bang. A big bang. A type of bang that makes your heart skip about ten beats and turn your hair grey. Last Sunday night, just before we wanted to get the kids to bed so we could start our Pre-Superbowl Party, Sam fell down the stairs. Probably 3 or 4 steps, but for a little 3.5 ft boy, that's high, comparable to around 7 ft for us! We heard a big bang and found him lying on his back at the bottom of the stairs. Luckily, he came to his senses quickly, started moving about and started crying, but we did not want to take any risks and rushed him to the hospital straight away. Where we were put in the waiting room. For 2 hours. A bit of a misunderstanding... We ran into the door for the Out of Hours GP, but as Batman threw up all over the hallway (nice) and was not really responsive, they should have sent us on to Casualty straight away. But, alas, desp...

Happy New Year everyone!!!! Before I start boring you with pictures of the socks I have been knitting this weekend, a few pictures of my walk this morning... Walking along the frozen canal Turning a corner and being greeting by the most beautiful of sunrises. And coots walking on water And hundreds of more coots, ducks and herons swimming and standing about A few of the herons. And those dots on the other side? More herons. About 40. Amazing! I'm walking my imaginary dog every morning from now on. Time to get properly fit. Properly! No running as of yet, as my knee needs some care and attention, but walking I can do, and will. Right, back to socks: Hubby's socks finished just after the stroke of midnight in the hotel. Simple 5x1 rib, made from the SinterRAK yarn And my 'flying saucers'. I've turned the heel now and they look pretty funky. Shame about the lack of colour at the start of the yarn...

Well, a lot, if I have to believe the invoices I've been sending out. I've been working flat-out during November, and then sort of took December 'off'. Well, as 'off' as I can ever be... ;) It basically meant I still did my business translations, but there was no book for a month. And that was quite nice! It gave me some time to prepare for the SinterRAK, make decorations for the Xmas tree and to hand out to neighbours, family and friends in lieu of Xmas cards, decorate the house, clean the house for our Xmas dinner and just enjoy being home and with the kids. Which also explains the lack of blog updates ;) We've been around each other a lot, and it was great. Although we can look like a chaotic bunch, we are a lovely chaotic bunch, and we love doing things together, which, with two parents trying to work fulltime and two kids going to school, isn't always easy. There was some progress on the crafting front, apart from all those lovely decorations, tho...

Yes, I know it's been 2 weeks. Enough has happened in the meantime to blog about, like lots of baby hats, a nearly finished pair of socks for hubby, the difficulties of trying to design an Estonian scarf after drinking a glass of Chianti, the start of a mini Annis for my Mermaid... but right now, I have VAT returns to do. End of year and all that. Pictures of yarn, ice, snowless streets and a lovely Xmas are to come soon! We had a blast, still have a tummy ache from all the yummy goodies, and can't wait until Friday, when we are going to Rotterdam for New Year's weekend. We love spending that weekend away, high up in a hotel room with great views over a great city :) Laterrrrrrr

A boy who can draw. He was never interested in drawing. The best we could get out of him was scratches all over a piece of paper. And then all of a sudden, it clicked, and we were treated to this. Drawing number 1, still a bit tentative, but definitely a Batman with long wings/arms and two ears: And then the floodgates opened, here is granny, sporting here new post-chemo short cropped hair (which, according to our wee man, should be red, but is now grey): A turtle: And then a picture of one of his daycare teachers who is leaving, with himself (I asked him why he only drew one eye, and he explained he drew himself in profile - 'I am drawing myself like this [he turned sideways], that is why there is only one eye') holding her hand. And of course a bright yellow sun: Our little budding artist... Just in time for school!

We're still buzzing, people. Totally loved it! It was mint! After what had felt like way too long we finally were able to hug our friends Damien, Katrina, Mark, Orla, and Alistair, have granny Mary-Ann spoil the kids rotten, and just enjoy being 'back'. Because that is how it felt. We stayed in a beautiful apartment in Portrush, with enough bedrooms to accommodate us and granny Mary-Ann, a massive kitchen where I actually cooked as well, next to a train stop, which made travelling a breeze, and five minutes from the West Strand. Heaven! We went to the Giant's Causeway, explored Portrush, enjoyed the beach and many of the cafés and playgrounds around town, and travelled to Coleraine and Portstewart. The kids absolutely loved it, and we were all in tears when the plane took off and we flew home again... But, we're making plans to relocate! The feeling had been nagging for a while, but we're sure about it now. Coleraine it will be! It's all sooo exciting, b...

Hydrangeas, lemon balm and coriander flowers from the garden, in one of my favourite finds from the thrift shop, a lovely jug. One of those jugs you pay too much for, but which has the potential to fetch thousands according to the bloke on the Antiques Road Show, being - of course - an antique, 'if only it didn't have that chip on the edge' (not visible here). The house is filled with flowers these days, as the garden and the allotment are brimming. I so love my hydrangeas! (Don't believe me? Here's my business website ) Knitting again soon :) Promise... My Saskia is finished (has been for a while) and it will be blocked later today, I have finished another Sophie, which will be given the final touches today, and my Biedermanns are also nearly done.   Despite it still being busy here - but manageable - and the kids being at home as school's out, I am finally getting some free time to knit, work on the allotment and enjoy our summer . We love summer, we doooo...

Loved. It. Only a few days away, but a great way to start the summer holidays!

A month ago I dove into a few serious deadlines, and yesterday I emerged: luctor et emergo! In the meantime I finished GP book 3, wrote book 4 from start to finish, translated 2 travel guides (one of which I finished in 3 days - over 40K, must be a world record), completed a 40K medical translation and had loads of those little business jobs that come up and can't be refused. Add to that a test translation for a thriller, filling in the VAT returns, several interpreting stints at the police station, trying to keep the weeds in the allotment under control (unsuccessfully) and bottling up jars and jars of strawberry jam, and I really have no idea how I managed to survive and remain sane. June was hectic. But it's over now. It's July!!! (And 'we' are in the semi-finals of the World Cup - just to rub it in ;) ) All that hectic business here in the house had its effect on my knitting time. There was hardly any, as usually I would work until around 11, watch some telly a...

Both piling up... ;)

In a cloud of dandelion pollen we cycled out to one of the many playgrounds in town last Sunday and enjoyed a blissful lunch out in the sunshine. After the kids had finished running about like lions, devoured their sandwiches and gulped down their juice, we cycled past the allotment to pick up some lettuce and rhubarb. On arriving home, the sun had really decided to put in an appearance, so we decided to drive out to the beach. Of course, as soon as we got there, the sun decided to disappear and it was quite chilly with the wind, but it was fun nonetheless. While I protected the fort and did some more knitting, the kids and Steve went off like proper beachcombers and came back wit a bag full of treasure, which will be used to decorate some picture frames and mirrors in the weeks to come. Yesterday, we braved the wind again and visited one of the many farms in the area on Open Farm Day. We all love cows (especially the little calves), and when the farmer actually has a bouncy castle, ...

After only one night in hospital, I'm back home: still with two ovaries but without the annoying cyste and a clean uterus. Just a little bit of sore stomach muscles, but nothing that some R&R won't cure. I have been knitting, the first ball of yarn was knit up just before I had to go in for my operation, and I will start my top again as soon as I've finished my book, which is captivating and almost finished. ;) More news to follow soon!

This is how they've slept the last two nights. Two little angels (don't ask how they behaved during the daytime, because the sleep only comes after a lot of laughter and playing and music, ergo short nights, ergo cranky kids)! I'll have to miss this sight a few evenings next week, as I found out today that I have to go into hospital on Monday for a planned cyste removal. It's a bit eh... sudden! I've been on the waiting list for weeks, and it turned out they had the wrong phone number. The fact that it was right on the official forms and that I'm listed in the phonebook apparently didn't matter. Anyway, just enough time to ensure that the kiddies and daddy are taken care of and that other appointments are moved (which was not easy, as it's a day off today for a lot of people, and I also had a work appoint halfway across the country today - thank God for e-mail and Internet!). It also means that I'll be printing out a few knitting patterns for the ho...

After buying 3 double-album records, both seasons of The Lakes on video, the 3 Indiana Jones movies on video, 13 Diddl magazines, 6 children's books, one R2D2, one Spiderman, one soft Dory and 4 mini Spongebobs, we called it a day and went home. And to be honest, we only scratched the surface of stalls with kids and adults trying to sell all the stuff that had been filling up their attics for years. Unfortunately nobody was stash busting in Leeuwarden, so no yarn for me... Shame! (Or all the yarn sellers were in those streets and squares we never got to, haha...) So instead of fondling new yarn, I had to find something else to do when we got home. We decided to make the kids' rooms spring ready (finally), do some serious dusting and hoovering, and while we were upstairs and the beds were being changed, I decided to put Gail out for blocking, which I bound off last night. Yes, that is my daughter in the background, and next to her is 'Schaduw van de wind' by Carlos Rui...

do I realize that a lapwing is actually a bird, and a very special one at that. One that we hold very dear here in Friesland: the 'kievit'! Every spring, when the birds are laying their eggs, there are thousands of people who go egg hunting, or 'aai sykjen' as we call it in Frisian. Only a few thousand eggs can be taking out of their nests, and only by people who have a permit to do so, to keep the population numbers up, and every egg collected has to be registered. When we were on the allotment this weekend, we heard them singing up in the sky, dancing about against the clouds, and giving away a great show for us mere earthbound mortals... It's nearly time for a next generation of lapwings to be born! Pas nu realiseer ik me dat 'lapwing' eigenlijk gewoon kievit betekent! En de kievit, tja, die kennen we hier natuurlijk enorm goed. Dit weekend hebben we op de volkstuin weer kunnen genieten van een prachtige luchtshow van de kieviten die hun nestje in de w...

That doesn't mean that it's not there... Our potatoes have been planted. Now we wait... In the meantime, there's plenty  more to do, both here in the allotment (yes, that 'stuff' in the foreground, which techically doesn't belong to us...), in the garden back home and business-wise. Another deadline is looming; I'm procrastiblogging at the moment... ;) Lapwing is getting on nicely, I'm knitting the sleeves, so hopefully by the weekend a picture of daughter wearing her new sweater. But in the meantime, she's wearing this: She won third prize in a gymnastics tournament this weekend, and I'm a super proud mommy! She got a new outfit, as it had become slightly too small... We also treated her to lunch, and she was allowed to get cake. So while we were munching on a (low WW points) sandwich, she was digging into strawberry cake. :D

Via the Ravelry forum I found the link to this article in the Star Tribune , about knitting soldiers in Iraq. Really, when are we going to have a referendum to make knitting an obligatory part of military training? I can so understand how relaxing it is, after a day of tenseness, keeping guard, seeing the most horrible things, all that tragedy - to sit down and knit and chat with a few good mates. Beats the crap out of stitch 'n bitch nights, though. And I guess they don't have the odd wine with their knitting... Hats off to them! (I do admit, I'm a pacifist and totally against armies and war and things, and don't even get me started on Iraq or Afghanistan, but this I found very cool...) Breien op commando Via het Ravelry-forum vond ik de link naar dit artikel in de Star Tribune , over breiende soldaten in Irak. Echt, wanneer houden we hier een referendum om breien verplicht te stellen tijdens de militaire opleiding? Ik snap zo goed hoe ontspannend het is om na ...

I started running this week. Last week, I signed up for the 5K/10K of Leeuwarden on June 6 and I will be starting the proper running clinics next week. To make sure I don't look like a complete dufus when I turn up there next Saturday at 9.30AM, I decided to start practicing a bit. After getting my running shoes (the store were great, they have a mini track, so you can try out different shoes, and a camera to see how straight you're running) I went out for the first time they day before yesterday, with 'Couch to 5K' on my Blackberry and Map my tracks turned on... You can sort of see where I am running, but as I'm already quite a brisk walker, there is not that much of a difference. It was hard, especially the 7th of the 8 one-minute runs, but I did it. And I did it again this morning. Proud is not the word. Smug, that's how I feel. Ik ben een hardloper! Ik ben deze week begonnen met hardlopen. Vorige week heb ik me (in een vlaag van verstandsver-bijstering,...

I got this ravatar for completing my Skews! Thank you!!! Sooo proud! I have been wearing them since I finished them and I love the design. I think it will be knit a few more times. And then without mistakes... I hope ;) Deze ravatar kreeg ik voor mijn affe Skews! Dankjewel, ik ben er zo trots op! Ik draag ze al sinds ze klaar zijn en ik vind het ontwerp echt geweldig. Die ga ik zeker nog een paar keer breien, en dan zonder foutjes... hoop ik ;) It was Hannah's 7th birthday on Sunday, and she (finally, finally, finally) got her ears pierced... Hannah werd zondag 7 en ze kreeg (eindelijk, eindelijk, eindelijk) oorbellen... And then this morning the baker delivered this cake: 'Thank you for the hard work'. From my publisher. Thank you! YUM! En vanochtend stond de bakker op de stoep met een appeltaart: 'Bedankt voor het harde werk'. Van mijn uitgever. Dankjewel! JAMMIE!