Groke Park

Trevor

2008-01-20T17:08:00.000Z

This is Trevor. He's a dog. He's usually quite tired so sits down a lot. This makes him semi autobiographical, but he can also juggle spoons, thus being skilled in his own right.

Up the hill backwards

2008-01-20T16:44:00.000Z

Well, this was a fun thing to do after a month of self indulgence. A vigorous climb up Beacon Hill, just outside Newbury. It's a hillfort, it's got nice views, and you can climb up it. Bingo!

Here are the boys on the way up

The smaller of the two isn't being dragged up, even though it looks that way. It's more the reassuring hand of guidance, there to prevent slippage (it was a bit muddy).

And here is the summit. Note that soft toys are also permitted to walk up Beacon Hill - indeed they are mandatory items. If you don't place soft toys on the summit marker, you are actually thrown off the hill by the (invisible, obviously) hilltop monitor. Consider them a kind of votive offering. It's a good job we had some handy.

And on an unrelated note, I would give my right arm for eyelashes like these..

Winchester Bollards

2008-01-08T21:23:00.000Z

The weekend before Christmas is a good time to get toothache. Or not, as the case may be. It also happened to coincide with what felt like the coldest weekend of the year so far. The coldest weekend since the 1660's probably, so it increased the level of dental discomfiture. A pity, since the ice rink had returned to the Cathedral square, surrounded by a festive (albeit expensive and overly esoteric) fair. The small one enjoyed his French Raclette. Mr Groke shivered a lot. But the teeth weren't up to the fun although the dentist did an efficient job of annihilating the troublesome abscess 2 days later. Still, the Cathedral looked fabulous as always, and someone has painted the bollards in the market place. Which was nice.

A view I could never tire of - pound for pound, one of the best cathedrals in the business

After the Norman Conquest, most French bollards were destroyed by disgruntled Saxons. This one, in the Market Square in Winchester, is the last surviving example of it's kind.

I simply remember my favourite things.

2008-01-02T23:35:00.000Z

And then I don't feel so bad

An Owly Christmas

2008-01-02T21:46:00.000Z

Not much time for blogging over christmas due to work, work and some more work, but we did do lots of yuletide stuff when time allowed. The tree looked reasonably surreal owing to the fact that it was used as a random display unit for various toys and bits of crochet. I left the decorating to the smallest member of the household, and this is what happened...

Owls nesting in a plastic Christmas tree. As they do at this time of year

The Owl pattern was courtesy of Brie at Roman Sock, whose patterns have now begun to take over the entire house, but in a good way. The softly fluffed feathers of the original were replaced by eyelash wool to make the owl look a bit more punky. This is because I am old, and can remember The Damned first hand with great fondness. The owls are the closest I've ever got to Dave Vanian, so their presence in the tree was fine by me. Here are three of them before they started roosting...

Not The Damned

And here is Dave, who was not in the tree, which is perhaps for the best as it would all have gone a bit top heavy and fallen on the turkey.

Not an owl

The tree also included a snowman and the previously seen Frenchman who returned for the holiday period.

At last - something seasonal...

Every tree needs one of these.

The moral of this story is to always let small children decorate the christmas tree. For entertainment value alone, it's worth it.

A man in the palm of my hand.

2007-11-25T23:09:00.000Z

Just how I like 'em.

Another one for the PTA. His hat is "hinged", and if you tip it up he looks not unlike a pink and red egg.

There were three of these little chaps, plus a Frenchman in a beret and several random animals. Here are some of them in all their single crochet glory (ok, "glory" is pushing it a bit).

The Spice Boys.

"Inspector Troy"

This isn't supposed to happen. Maggie appears to have arrested Inspector Troy. Midsomer will never be the same.

Snorty and Snortlet.

Snorty and Snortlet are from a pattern on Roman Sock. 'tis a very excellent piece of work. The patterns are very clear and I recommend them very highly.

Outrage

2007-11-25T22:55:00.000Z

The picture tells the story far better than I ever could.

Fortunately, normal service has now been resumed. But the closure nearly resulted in pitchforks and flaming brands.

Thank goodness there are two pubs in the village.

My PTA Hell

2007-11-04T23:57:00.000Z

Well, not really as it's quite enjoyable. But it doesn't half make the hands ache. Here is the latest progress, mainly in pictures.

From this....

To a shy bear called "Herb".

And for all out debauchery, here's Kenneth the drunken cat and his partner in crime, Hortense the Hippo. She's flat out and refusing to be photographed. She was also an absolute bugger to make.
Here she is before she fell in with a bad crowd.

And here, a limbless frog ponders the fate of his leg. Garlic, anyone?

The pattern for the frog came from Roman Sock, which is linked to this site if you wish to peruse more enviable patterns.

Pumpkin Envy

2007-11-04T23:50:00.001Z

This was our attempt to menace the neighbourhood with pumpkins on Halloween. It's not bad, but on our perambulations this afternoon, on a rather pleasant autumn day of textbook quality, we found this outside the manor house.

It is superior in every way and I am absolutely devastated.

Ravelry almost achieved

2007-11-02T00:00:00.000Z

You signed up on October 18, 2007
You are #45684 on the list.
6791 people are ahead of you in line.
6101 people are behind you in line.
68% of the list has been invited so far

Meanwhile, the PTA effort has flagged this week, but the products have been larger than average, so this is a reasonable excuse. A large cat, stitch intense hippo and random moss green and silver grey thing now have a full set of limbs. The sewing and stuffing and stitching will take place this weekend. This is always the hardest bit. One eye too far to the right and that endearing bunny looks evil. Or demented.

Lots of gardening to do this weekend as well. Mulching and levelling the front garden, and despairing of the back. There is debris everywhere. One longs for the wealth to employ permanent staff at times like these.

Huge amounts of wool

2007-10-23T22:01:00.000+01:00

There are headless bodies all over the kitchen table. Several dismembered legs and some tails. Three packets of eyes in a basket and several zillion balls of wool.

Much work has to be done by 21st November in time for the PTA to get their craft stall together in time for the christmas sale. They have asked for several dozen treefrogs, some mice, cats and ladybirds. Even worse, they are expecting the cats and mice to be co-ordinated. What!

Crochet - in this case the specific Japanese brand known as amigurumi - is quite a relaxing pastime when watching tv or when there's nothing better to do, but all of a sudden the pressure is on. It's like a living computer game, as the woolly creatures have to be completed in secret otherwise they're seized on by the resident Groke Park child, who then refuses to relinquish them despite bribery and threats. If I get them off him, I earn 234,000 points and advance one level. If he keeps hold of them, he wins the Amulet of Yendor, learns the password and becomes a fourth level Paladin. But this is not the only hazard - hiding the fabric fiends succcessfully is also a dark art, as the cats will hunt down any half finished animals they catch sight of and drag them mercilessly across the floor, mewling in triumph. Four cans of meaty chunks for every bunny chewed and extra stealth points.

Thus, the question on no lips whatsoever is - of the amigurumi creatures about to be made, how many will reach the safe haven of the PTA pigeonhole?

Lay your bets, and tune in over the next month as the production line swings into action and watch indifferently as the story unfolds.

There will be pictures, so be sure to wear diving goggles to protect your eyes.

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