DPP 2021 Day One ~ Poppy and Pip

 

You might have heard of baby wearing well what about cat wearing?!! 😻

" When you've finished snapping a zillion photos, I'd really like my tea!"

I think we can definitely say that Poppy is long suffering for sure 😂

Cannot believe it, it's the first of December, goodness me where has the year gone?  We celebrated the start of the month with a Covid booster for Dave and a hair cut for me, I think I got the better deal!  I'm still taking part in the morning light challenge so here is my blue sky photo from this morning:

This afternoon we also had a visit from a fellow Sue Ryder 'inmate' and it was lovely to meet up.  Dave and Ian reminisced and caught up on all the news from other fellow SR friends - they have a designated WA group for that cohort and it is a fairly lively chatting place.

Knitting ::Nattering :: Photography

 Serendipity played a part this week and it all began with a quick instagram text chat with my friend Jacqui that then led to a planned WA video chat on Wednesday afternoon. 

 Jacqui lives in the Outer Hebrides on the Isle of Lewis (many moons ago Sara spent a week with Jacqui and her family)  and we sat in our respective homes with our knitting and coffee and had a lovely time sharing family news and attempting to put the world to rights!  Interestingly enough we had also both planned to make a Mediterranean lamb dish for tea.  Jacqui was working on a shawl for a friend and since I have finished my 'Travelling Woman' shawl I spent the afternoon finishing Sara's belated birthday present 😊

Some snippets from Sara's epic journey in March 2012 - a train to Inverness, a bus to Ullapool and then the ferry to Stornaway followed by a drive to Lewis:

Travelling Woman Shawl

I made this using one of my yarn purchases from this year's Yarndale festival:

The first shot is a truer version of the actual colour which was affectionately named 'soot on Santa's nose' Christmas colour-way 😊. We also enjoyed the yummy Mediterranean lamb tea complete with minimal carb and yeast free flat breads:

This morning I finally finished Sara's birthday present (9th November) - the Estelle cardigan by Melissa LaBarre, even the colour of her cardigan is the same as the design on the front cover of the pattern:

Not only did it fit beautifully Sara declared it was just her style and loved it; needless to say I was very happy 😃 

Close up of the Feather and Fan border design.

For lunch we had delicious burgers courtesy of Tom and a mixed salad:

Thanks to a lovely chronic illness community over on Instagram, I've decided to take part in the 30 days of morning light challenge.  The benefits of natural day light are well documented - improved mental well being, helping boost the immune system and help regulate the circadian rhythm. 

 In addition to sitting outside with my breakfast and coffee, I've also set myself an additional challenge and that is to use my proper camera - you know the one Dave bought for me for my 50th birthday which I hardly use!!  Not only do I get to try different settings, I also have peace and quiet as the family leave me alone, too cold for them!  It's a really lovely way to start my day - coffee, nature and chatting to God.  It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings as it's currently blowing a hoolie out there 😂

First frost on the strawberries.

Blue skies looking to the left.

Lovely raindrops.

My favourite mug - I do love puffins ❤️

Menacing skies to the right.

There was however an object lesson in the two scenic images - I thought about the times in my life when I have focused on the difficulties and even allowed the darkness to hold sway.  In those moments I forget about the bits of blue sky that can even be found amongst the brokenness.  I kid you not, the dark sky lifted gradually and before long that same image was infused with the brightest blue, studded with the cutest, fluffiest clouds!  

"When the storm seems to overpower you, hold tight, for it is only passing."

Hiral Nagda