God Save the Queen

I know we are celebrating this weekend the Queen's succession to the throne and that the coronation took place a year later, but I just couldn't wait to show you this photograph.  Here I am 59 years ago, which explains the state of the photo,  just about to enter the village hall,  known then as the reading room, actually the old school and now a private house.  There was a tea to celebrate the Queen's coronation in my North Yorkshire village and I assume all the children were in fancy dress.  I was the Queen of Hearts I believe, it says Happy and Glorious on the brim of my bonnet,  my brother standing beside me was a Royal Trumpeter and my dear Gran is on the left.  I don't recall much about the day, I was 4.5 years old my brother 2.5, but I do remember my lovely dress, made by my Gran as was my brother's outfit.  I also remember that my brother absolutely refused to blow his royal bugle, my Gran was probably trying to persuade him to have a go while the photograph was taken.  I can remember having a good blast on the trumpet myself and my brother probably played a right royal fanfare after the event.  
There is no village tea here in Scotland for the diamond jubilee but a beacon will be lit on the highest hill, Black Mount, at 10 pm on Monday.  
If I'm still blogging next year I can show you my 1953 Coronation mug, every child in the village got one and in 1977 I returned to stay on the farm with my parents for the silver jubilee weekend.  Mr FF and I decorated the road through the village with home made bunting, cutting up old fertiliser bags into triangles and stapling them to agricultural twine, we must have made miles which we fastened to telegraph poles.  At the village tea all the children received a mug and as a surprise and thanks for the decoration I got one too, I still have both my mugs on display. 

To mark the occasion I've fished out my Emma Bridgewater patriotic shopper. enjoy your royal weekend.

Two tappas and another tumble

Last Saturday we travelled into the Abruzzo to watch a Giro stage finish. We had a spectacular 3 hour drive over the mountains, reaching at the top of the pass a sign that said the road was closed. Obviously Mr FF knew better, drove round the barrier and past piles of snow at the roadside. I was a bit reassured to see a family picnicking as we travelled down, then to see a car coming in the opposite direction. I know it might have been travelling the same way as us and had to turn round but somehow it was a comfort. We eventually reached our destination, a little hilltop village where we had to park On the approach road and walk but we had our own picnic and plenty of time. The usual Giro circus filled the tiny streets and the place was full of people and noise. We found a great viewing position, uncomfortably between the barriers for the cyclists and the road crash barriers before a steep drop but we were able to see the riders approach below and then again as they came out of a sharp bend and accelerated past us to the finish not far away. Wonderful, exciting cycling, a great if long day. Monday the Giro came to Lazio and we had less than an hours drive to the finish. Just as well we arrived early and I refused Mr FFs offer of a tour of the (closed naturally) fashion shops as I was keen to get into position. Despite checking the road name on the net and on the tv, the one given was completely wrong. We walked the full length of Viale Roma and not a sign of the event. Fortunately the men we asked knew where we needed to be, miles away, but we got there, parked and found a spot 400 metres from the finish on a bend not right at the front of the barriers but not too far back. The usual excitement as the various support cars and motor bikes arrived horns sounding and lights flashing. A few of the motorbikes nearly didnt take the bend which was a bit worrying. Then the helicopters were overhead, always a sign the riders are coming. The boys in Lycra streamed towards us and suddenly one went down right in front of us, he,d touched his brakes, gone down and taken out the sprint race leader, Matt Goss, who lay on the road before us and Mark Cavendish had to take evasive action ruining his run up to the finish. A big crowd built up round us but I was too upset to look at the poor guy in the road and distraught that the officials had made the finish so dangerous. Eventually Matt Goss was able to stand up and get back on his bike looking pale and shocked, we gave him a huge round of applause. The boy who caused the incident, he had been the stage winner the previous day, broke his wrist and withdrew from the race. So I really didn't see much of the event and had no idea who won the stage till we got home. That was our last chance to see live racing as the Giro moved into Umbria. Today I watched the stage on tv and saw the rider who took Mark Cavendish down in an earlier stage take the sprint to win. As Cav said afterwards the guy did a great sprint but shouldnt even be in the race after his dangerous behaviour Again there was a bend just before the final few hundred metres, again riders went down. So much as I love the Giro it hasnt been quite so wonderful this year, thrills and spills but I really could do without the latter. Otherwise the weather is lovely, the garden is looking great, Mr FF is painting radiators and my brother and his wife arrive in Sunday for a week which means trips out and gelato, with tv Giro highlights in the evening.

No one puts Cav on the strada

Today as I watched on Italian tv the third stage of the Giro d'Italia my beloved Mark Cavendish was brought down as he sprinted for the line by an Italian rider pulling across his path. Cav was travelling at 47 mph, a following rider rode over him, another managed to expertly bunny hop his bike over Mark as he lay on the tarmac. At present I don't know if Cav will continue the race, he certainly lost a lot of skin though nothing seems to be broken. The race leader was also brought down in the ensuing melee but he like Cav got up and carried his bike across the line ensuring elibigility to continue. The guilty and dangerous rider has been relegated to last place and incurred penalty points, in my mind he should be sent home not least because today the riders were remembering the third stage last year when a rider lost his life on a fast descent. We hope to see some stages of the Giro when it reaches our area but once again I am very conscious of the danger of this sport.

Packing dot com

Yes, we are off to Italy again.  Packing a small carry on case to last me three weeks, trying to include more going out clothes and less work wear as we have no big project planned for this visit.  Sock yarn is selected, paperbacks picked.

 Meantime, I've been working really hard in my Scottish garden, I have to say it's looking the best I've ever seen it so I'm a little reluctant to miss the spring activity but then I'm wondering about the sunflower and herb seeds I planted in Lazio.   I did think I would l grow less this year in Scotland but it seemed wrong to leave the veggie patch empty so I have planted potatoes, beans and peas, and what would a garden be without sweet peas, then there are the herbs and hanging baskets.  

The automatic watering system is set in the greenhouse, I got drenched this morning checking that all the pots were getting a drink.   

I always say I'll try to keep in touch, I will, I really will.

Giving it a go

I'm not one for stepping too far out of my comfort zone, I've said before that I've been me for a lot of years so I know what I like.  I'd probably be happy to knit socks and baby items for the rest of my life but I've always had the inkling that I should try more lace knitting.  So this last week I've been tackling Afternoon Tea from Knitty.com

I used some 100% cotton I had in stock, brilliant more stash busting,  found a suitable sized circular needle, though I really don't enjoy knitting with them, and began.  The pattern is pretty simple if a bit confusing because it actually starts with 5 stitches which as if by magic become the centre of the top straight edge .  The lace border wasn't too challenging, a simple 8 row pattern that was easy to follow and correct as required and I did require to a few times.  I also discovered that it's not possible to knit lace, follow the subtitles and complex plot of the new BBC4 crime drama The Bridge and remain calm so don't try that at home.  

Afternoon Tea is a shawlette so it sits prettily on my shoulders, much as the pattern, but is also rather nice wrapped round my neck and will be a pleasing infill for a coat or jacket.  This lacework for beginners hasn't quite satisfied my desire to knit a stunning spidery family heirloom shawl for which I already have some gorgeous 100% cashmere in stock,  but it has scratched the itch for now.

The roof is falling in

Mr FF bought this bird table for my birthday 25 maybe more years ago.  It was one of those gifts you don't know you want until you actually receive it, they're always the best and I love it very much.    It's been in constant use in the gardens of all 5 houses we've had and survived dreadful weather on the North York Moors and in Scotland but despite the wood being well cared for with regular treatment it's now starting to show its age.  It hasn't helped that the squirrel likes to sit on the roof while he forces his way into my so called squirrel proof feeders.  The crows also like to perch on the roof or sit on the tray and haul up the fat balls I suspend from the side so they can get a good peck, we even had the odd sparrow hawk land and sometimes the frantic bird activity has caused the table to fall from it's cantilevered hook onto the lawn.

 

My table came from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds but they don't seem to have a hanging model now.  Still I'm sure a simple re-roofing exercise will be no trouble at all for a retired engineer who already has a huge list of home maintenance work to complete.

Very bad snap taken through our bedroom window

Knitting now

It's been a while since I did a knitting post, lots of little projects completed so let me up date you.

A tiny 4 ply cardigan for Pam's expected grandchild, some wool she had in stock to use up.  I hope to be knitting more once the baby arrives.

A little cotton jumper for Amelia, some lilac dk ribbon yarn from my stock.

In Italy I made a pair of plain socks using some of this now discontinued for some mad reason because it is gorgeous Opal.  I can't show you  the socks as I left them in Italy, useful for those fortunately rare non flip flop wearing days

A pair of socks using the Regia World College Colour from the selection I bought at Kemps a while back.  

And a pair of Gentleman's fancy socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.  I made these slightly shorter than the pattern suggests, by about one third but did include the shaping, they fit nicely and I like the look of them.  The yarn is Sunbeam St Ives 80% wool, I was given about 5 balls of this so the second pair of socks Mr FF has received in this colour, again I think the yarn is now discontinued.
So good stash busting work there.  I am still toying with the idea of a major project or some lacework but the lure of socks, how can I resist.