quarantine no more

I guess some folk would think that I was being a bit extreme,imposing a 'reverse quarantine' upon myself while I waited for the measles blood titre result. But seriously, after the year I've just had.....

Anyway, the really good news as far as I am concerned is that the test confirmed that I have indeed been vaccinated against the little red spotty blighter, and the levels are sufficient to provide protection.

Whew, now I can go and eat cake again!

Borging

Or - two become one ! I have decided to merge this blog with
Twelfthknit since I am not really producing enough for two blogs. It could easily have gone the other way, but this blog is much easier to manage - if I want to add anything to the sidebar, for example, it's more of a drag'n'drop than having to mess around in the gubbins of the HTML stuff.

So now I can add my sewing/knitting/food links etc without thinking 'Oh, that should really be in the other blog' - as if it makes a difference!

Nothing much

I am sitting with the door to my balcony as I type this - the birdsong is beautiful. And of course there is the odd(in more ways than one) chorus of 'cow bell' thrown in for good measure.

It seems that Switzerland is having a
measles epidemic. My mum thinks I was vaccinated but is not 100% certain. No problem - I simply stopped at
The Permanence today and they did a blood titre. I should know by Monday whether or not I need a vaccine.

And - Go Me!! I had a REAL conversation today. In German! Now there were mistakes a plenty, but I conversed for about 15 minutes with a lovely woman in a local tea store*

That kind of helped to cheer me up after I missed meeting up with some local knitters. I knew they were there somewhere......

Better shut that door - it's getting a bit chilly. But then, I am living in Switzerland ;0)

* Y'know, us Brits think we know about tea...forget it. Come to Switzerland and really get to know it!

'Easy is relative'

Now, I am not completely daft. I knew that when I chose 'Butterick B4549' that it would not be the '3 hour start to finish' that my latest
Barcelona Skirt was.I knew enough to doubt what it said on the tinpacket But, come on! Easy? Yes, if you have many hours of sewing experience under your belt, but not for a relatively newbie like me.

Still, I didn't let it beat me. Some bits I really disliked doing but I got there in the end. Not too much seam ripping, but enough - I decided that when I took up the sewing challenge I would not live with the unliveable. And at least this time I only sewed the wrong bits together once :0)

I plan to make another to go with the latest Barcelona - it's the linen mix featured in my 'Biased' post. I am not going to make too many in this size, since I hope to be down to a 10 in the not too distant future, but I want to benefit from this experience. Let's see if I can make it in two nights instead of three....

Happy heart

Just had the results back from the cardiologist - no reason to take the heart meds any longer - yaaay!

As you can imagine, I am delighted. However, there is another part of me that is really angry - or would be if I wasn't feeling so laid back. These results have just added more weight to what I think has become more and more obvious - my last workplace was seriously damaging my health.

More sewing

Really bad photo, but then what do I expect when I take it at 10.00pm?

I finally decide to bite the bullet and buy a size 14 pattern. Yep - size 14. Ever since my last top was dishearteningly too small, I have avoided the issue. I have been losing some weight, but my wardrobe of things which currently fit is alarmingly small. This is a 'simple' cross-over top. I say simple, but let me tell you that fitting the sleeve linings into the capped sleeeves has been a right pain in the ass. So was sewing right up the left side seam, which was supposed to be open from part way up right into the 'armpit'. I have ripped it back but I am not sure how smoothly this sleeve lining will now fit, given that I had graded the seams etc - not much left to work with. Still, I have to fit a zip in there, so I guess I'll manage somehow...

And of course, I am now discovering the problem of having a form which is only vaguely shaped like me. When I can summon up the willpower (possibly when I have lost about a stone) I am going to try tailoring the form to my body shape.

Biased

I never thought it would happen to me. When friends spoke wistfully of a new love in their life I scorned them – this sort of love was not for me.

Yet…now it is here, striking me with the force of a hurricane, I am lost to it. I remember when my son was an infant, gazing at him for hours, revelling in the silky feel of his skin, the perfect curves…

I knew the intensity of that particular love, the love of a mother for her baby, could never find it’s way to me a second time. But it’s here, now– I gaze for hours, lost in the way my love moulds itself to each of my curves perfectly, enraptured by texture, the wild array of colour…

Don’t come between me and my new love.

Bias tape

Today

I'm not sure how much sense this will make, since I am in a diazepam- and codeine-induced haze :0)

I had a mini panic this morning when it became clear that for logistical reasons Number Guy was not going to be able to make it to the dentist with me. He would be able to turn up half way through, but I didn't know how the dentist would feel about me being 'under the influnce' without a responsible adult with me. Thankfully one of the Spooglers came to my assistance.

L had already said to me that if Number Guy wasn't available she would be able to come with me. I managed to go into the surgery by myself (which was good, because I wasn't sure whether or not I would end up in a crying, snotty heap, which is so bad for the ego!) while L waited outside. I am so grateful to her for coming.

We decided to leave the bottom tooth alone and concentrate on the two upper ones that were causing the bother. The injections were almost painless and thankfully this time there was no problem with the local. Turns out that one of the teeth had a secondary cavity underneath the filling. Boy, am I glad that this was dealt with now since that is hopefully one root canal less to worry about.

Talking of worry, I am now of course wondering why the top two were concentrated on. Is this because the dentist is worried about the bottom local not working....? See how I need absolutely no assistance in thinking of 'worst case scenarios'? Which reminds me. Remember that film, 'Marathon Man', I think it was? Well, when I was having the root treatment a couple of weeks ago, in the middle of all the local-not-working trauma, this sprang into my mind. You know, the bit where they drill into his teeth to torture him???*

Ok, enough already. Hope y'all have a great, dentist-free weekend.

* If I've mentioned this before, just put the repetition down to the diazepam ;0)

Tomorrow

...will not be a good day.

Firstly, my boy will be going back to the UK and I know that this time it is going to be especially hard to see him go. Maybe even back to the 'Number Guy comes home each night and finds me crying in the bath' hard....

Secondly, my on-going dental saga continues tomorrow. And I am scared....
I now know that injections can be given which are almost painless. I don't know if this is the case with your dentist, but it is with mine. He is wonderefully good at it. So this is a big plus - one of my fears has always been related to injections after various experiences with a series of butchers dentists. However, the other of my greatest fears is that while numbed-up to high heaven, I will suddenly and inexplicably experience excrutiating pain - and this is what happened with the root treatment a few weeks ago.

If it is 'only' a filling that is needed, things should be ok. But if it is another root treatment I don't know quite what I am going to do.

Cat update

One of the great things about the cats' new home is that their new slaves owners send us pics now and again.

As you can see, the girls are missing us dreadfully.....

Quick, dial the firebrigade!

And they say the camera never lies, eh?

OK, so the woman's head isn't really on fire...Maybe these pictures give a fairer representation of what was really going on.





Yesterday was Sechselauten when the poor 'Boog' (snowman to you and me) gets roasted in a celebration of winter and an attempt to predict what the summer will be like.

Prior to this event there was a big parade - looked like it was a selection of local guilds represented by men and woman in 'olde worlde'* clothing. And there were horses. Lots of horses. Wonder who had to clear up afterwards......

* Actually, I think the menwere doing the representing and the women were the eye candy!

Edit: If you want a proper explanation, go visit
Sylv's Silver Spoon

There's no stopping me now!

I just made a restaurant reservation. On the phone. ALL IN GERMAN!!!

Guess what?

I can now add photos to the blog! I had expected that the first one would be of Zürich, but beggars can't be choosers - and as this was a thoroughly enjoyable light read, I thought it could also serve as a recommendation if you are wondering what to read next.

The dental saga continues - there is another temporary dressing in *that* tooth while the whole thing can just go to Hell as far as I am concerned settles down. Just to cheer me up, I am booked in for another filling next week. I hope it is just a filling - watching a grown woman cry must be a disheartening experience for a dentist...

But on a much better note, my dear boy and his girlfriend arrive tomorrow and I can't wait. Even though I just said goodbye yesterday ;0)