Back in action...

I trust all of you have survived xmas and New Year in one piece?!

We went to Germany so my relatives could worship the bean and we really had a good time. I was particularly excited about the fact that my dad had volunteered to cook the goose. This freed me up enormously and I have to say that he really did a good job, the meal was delicious!

Other than that, life continues to be both slow and hectic - it may not make much sense, but this is what it feels like for me. On the one hand, everything has slowed down since the arrival of the bean, and on the other hand things have got, if that is at all possible, even more chaotic... I have so many plans and yet so little time to spend on any of my numerous projects. At the same time the fact that I am not working means that I have far too much time on my hands to hatch crazy plans.

My newest pet-plan is a little cafe in the tiny cottage next door... I already know that it most likely will not happen, mainly because I also want to go back to work at a university at some point in the next few months, but still, how much fun this could be! I could even sell some wool and fibre and maybe some fabric on the side... I even have fairly clear ideas what I would want the place to look like - I would buy mismatching antique chairs from car boot sales and auctions around here and put some rugs on the floor. The walls could be painted cream and there would be some cute curtains, possibly made from some Amy Butler fabric... Candles on every table, possibly mismatching tablecloths. I could offer a selection of homemade cakes (my fantasies about a working kitchen are coming through here!) and simple meals. In the summer we could set up some tables and chairs in the garden. But alas, I will not have the time to do any of it!

Sometimes too much education can really hold you up... but I feel I have to - and want to - use this title I can put in front of my name now, and to do that I will have to return to academia. This in turn means that my job will eat up each and every minute that I don't wrestle away from it to spend it with the ever-delightful bean and our little family, so plans for cafes and the like will have to remain on ice for the foreseeable future.

But enough of this - I thought I'd show you something that arrived in the post the other day:


Incredibly cute, no? This arrived directly from Japan, where friends of ours are living right now. It's a traditional Japanese dress. The bean hasn't worn it yet, but I can't wait to find an occasion to dress him in it!

Also, Jane tagged me for a meme:

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1) As a child I used to hate cheese but thought it would be the coolest thing ever to eat a slice of bread with slices of hard cheese on it. To pretend I would cut chilled butter into thick slices and eat it on crisp bread.

2) When I was seven or eight I did (and passed) a bicycle road-worthiness test but now I can’t even take one hand off the handlebar to indicate.

3) I can’t click my fingers.

4) When I think of something that I have done that I find embarrassing and don’t like to think about, I immediately start singing. I have no idea why I do this, and it’s completely involuntary, but it happens every time.

5) I own over 30 90-minute tapes of music from the 1980s, compiled by a friend of mine with whom I lost contact years ago. I love them all.

6) I used to sleepwalk for years, and I still frequently talk in my sleep or sit up in bed suddenly. D tells me about this in the morning but I very rarely have any recollection of it.

I rather liked this one as it made me think about all the little oddities we have, so I am going to tag a few people as well: Craftylilly, Kids & Knits, Opportunity Knits, Mog's Blog, Clothesknit, Fair Isle Fibres. Obviously no worries if you don't have time to do this (I'm not usually a very meme-y person either), so don't feel hassled! ;-)