I'm so busy with other stuff that I'm not getting chance to update this blog. I've decided to leave this one dormant and just update the one that feeds to my permanent website.
I can now be found at www.theuglyowl.com
See you on the other side ;D
VF xxx
Christmas makes me itch.
Ohhhh it so bloody does! All the structure goes from daily life and you end up not knowing what day of the week it is. Everyone's at home and it's fabulous for the first three days, but then you want to kill the next person who uses up the last of the milk and puts the empty carton back in the fridge.
Ok, so I realise that I have control issues, there's no point denying it. I can't cope with this letting go of normality, it doesn't feel right >8-(
Luckily we don't go anywhere on Christmas day itself, the four of us stay home and batten down the hatches. It's lovely really - noone to please but ourselves and the kids don't care if they get their dinner at 1pm or 5pm, so long as the chocolate selection boxes keep coming.
I'm determined not to do my usual thing of getting sucked into the 'You WILL Enjoy Yourself' mode - therein lies madness (more madness than usual, anyway). So they'll get presents, they'll get fed, and if I have to go hide in a cupboard and do a bit of Mental Knitting in the middle of proceedings, then so be it.
At least Brian the Stoat is getting into the Christmas spirit.
Ok, so I realise that I have control issues, there's no point denying it. I can't cope with this letting go of normality, it doesn't feel right >8-(Luckily we don't go anywhere on Christmas day itself, the four of us stay home and batten down the hatches. It's lovely really - noone to please but ourselves and the kids don't care if they get their dinner at 1pm or 5pm, so long as the chocolate selection boxes keep coming.
I'm determined not to do my usual thing of getting sucked into the 'You WILL Enjoy Yourself' mode - therein lies madness (more madness than usual, anyway). So they'll get presents, they'll get fed, and if I have to go hide in a cupboard and do a bit of Mental Knitting in the middle of proceedings, then so be it.
At least Brian the Stoat is getting into the Christmas spirit.
Ohhhh...I might actually achieve my ambition after all...
So, it was my 40th birthday recently. Eek. Well not so eek, actually - for one thing I'm not overly bothered about age, and for another I had a fabulous party and some A-MAZ-ING presents :DTwo gifts in particular were just spectacular - both taxidermy specimens. The first was a tawny owl in a glass case - I was just speechless when I saw it. And believe me, that doesn't happen very often!
The second turned out to be a stoat, hanging from a branch. Gorgeous in itself, but there were other things in the gift box with him - a selection of taxidermy tools, and, and...AND A VOUCHER FOR A TAXIDERMY MASTERCLASS :o :o :O
I rang my new mentor this week and he's fabulous - we had a long and properly interesting chat about it all, including how this is possibly the most bizarre birthday present ever :D I'm going to spend the day at his workshop in the New Year and he reckons that it will be long enough to teach me the basics of mounting birds.Ohhhhhhh I AM SO EXCITED :D :D :D
Why can't I just get it OUT?!
I may have possibly mentioned on occasion that I am writing a book. No, don't laugh at the back - I'm absolutely determined to do this thing. Yes I know, I've said that about things before. But this is different - it's as if I HAVE to do it. If I don't get this story out then it will itch and fester inside me for the rest of my days.
So here I am, taking a break from ploughing the lonely furrow that is the daily drudge of the aspiring novelist. I've just run a word count programme and I have apparently committed just over nine thousand words to my computer's hard drive. That's apart from the pages of waffling notes that I've written for myself, of course. And which I now have no way of translating, cos they appear to have been written in the depths of a trance during which I lost all grasp on the English language.
So yeah - nine thousand words. That's about ten percent of what I need. Only eighty-one thousand words to go. A cinch. Eek.
So yeah - nine thousand words. That's about ten percent of what I need. Only eighty-one thousand words to go. A cinch. Eek.
Knit one, purl one, knit one, aaaaarrrrggghhhh!!!
I am SO cross with myself. I started knitting a new winter hat and promised myself that I would finish this project, so help me I would.
So I sat and knitted, knitted and sat and got about three quarters of the way through. Past all of the awkward cabling bits and onto the crown decreases. At which point it occurred to me that the only head this hat would fit snugly on would be that of John Merrick. I couldn't understand what I'd done wrong - I'd followed the pattern correctly, used the right yarn, the right needles, everything. Then the friend that I'd pinched the pattern from in the first place pointed out that I was using the right needle-size for the yarn, but they were the wrong size for the pattern. I'd been using 6mm instead of 4mm - no wonder the flaming thin came up big! Durrr.
So this weekend has been mostly taken up with spitting grumpily at the huge hat, then sitting down and ripping the whole damn thing apart. I'm now back to knitting the rib bottom for the replacement, which will hopefully fit my stupid bonce...
So I sat and knitted, knitted and sat and got about three quarters of the way through. Past all of the awkward cabling bits and onto the crown decreases. At which point it occurred to me that the only head this hat would fit snugly on would be that of John Merrick. I couldn't understand what I'd done wrong - I'd followed the pattern correctly, used the right yarn, the right needles, everything. Then the friend that I'd pinched the pattern from in the first place pointed out that I was using the right needle-size for the yarn, but they were the wrong size for the pattern. I'd been using 6mm instead of 4mm - no wonder the flaming thin came up big! Durrr.
So this weekend has been mostly taken up with spitting grumpily at the huge hat, then sitting down and ripping the whole damn thing apart. I'm now back to knitting the rib bottom for the replacement, which will hopefully fit my stupid bonce...
Crafting with Edward Cullen.
I've been pondering over Barbie dolls and their knock-off replicas, and wondering who on EARTH buys these repulsive things??? Lots of people, it turns out. Anyway, I was in the supermarket and spotted a reeeeeeeeeally vile 'Sparkle Mermaid' doll in the toy aisle. Honestly, I've never seen anything so ugly and plastic and downright manmade in all my goddamn life.
I had this impulse to save her from herself, so I actually bought the thing. Two whole English pounds, she cost me. That bought me the doll, her detacheable 'mermaid' tail, some weird papery frock thing and a party skirt. So much nylon!
I've decided to see how far I can transform her from what she was. Whether the ugly duckling can ever be a swan. It will be a long job... So far I have dismantled her, reattached her limbs in a slightly more human-looking pose and adjusted her waist size so that she bears a passing resemblance to something living.
I've removed all her hair and am currently re-rooting a new scalp piece, which will give her long, thick, crinkly hair in shades of sea green. The doll itself has been covered in an initial layer of Modroc which has so far taken two days to dry. Fun fun fun! I'll sand that down, then put another layer on, this one soaked in a water/PVA mix to give a more durable finish (and one that paint will hopefully adhere to).
The wig's taking ages - I've spent the last two days stranding yarn on my lap, whilst watching films on my macbook. I can't bear to work in silence, the contents of my own head start to drive me mad. My usual companion when I work at my desk is Edward Cullen - I watch Twilight over and over, it's a comfort thing. I know, sad. But he's such a purdy vampire...
See, there <<< he is, watching over me as I work - kind of comforting, really...
I had this impulse to save her from herself, so I actually bought the thing. Two whole English pounds, she cost me. That bought me the doll, her detacheable 'mermaid' tail, some weird papery frock thing and a party skirt. So much nylon!
I've decided to see how far I can transform her from what she was. Whether the ugly duckling can ever be a swan. It will be a long job... So far I have dismantled her, reattached her limbs in a slightly more human-looking pose and adjusted her waist size so that she bears a passing resemblance to something living.
I've removed all her hair and am currently re-rooting a new scalp piece, which will give her long, thick, crinkly hair in shades of sea green. The doll itself has been covered in an initial layer of Modroc which has so far taken two days to dry. Fun fun fun! I'll sand that down, then put another layer on, this one soaked in a water/PVA mix to give a more durable finish (and one that paint will hopefully adhere to).
The wig's taking ages - I've spent the last two days stranding yarn on my lap, whilst watching films on my macbook. I can't bear to work in silence, the contents of my own head start to drive me mad. My usual companion when I work at my desk is Edward Cullen - I watch Twilight over and over, it's a comfort thing. I know, sad. But he's such a purdy vampire...
See, there <<< he is, watching over me as I work - kind of comforting, really...
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