Willow’s second Christmas!
She received two great Duplo sets from my parents, and immediately started to build: “TOWER! TOWER!”
I am lacking in words at the moment, but will share some of my Christmas knitting soon! I hope everyone is having pleasant and relaxing holidays.
Oh, and, here is another video from a couple of weeks ago I haven’t posted yet. When we’re at my parents’ house Willow loves climbing in and out of Coco’s crate :)
Willow spent last weekend with my parents, which was a deeply appreciated break for us. Toddlers are FULL ON and I am not always skilled at handling that, so I am very grateful that everyone involved is happy with her staying there for a couple of night every few weeks. We miss her little face, but it’s all the sweeter after perspective has been restored :)
Here is Willow climbing in and out of Coco’s crate, one of her favourite activities at Mum and Dad’s house. They went to Whangamata for a couple of days too, so she got to play in the sand and sea for the first time this summer. She came home able to say BEACH! and about a dozen other new words!
JSR and I took the opportunity to do some household tasks that are tricky with little hands in the vicinity, like shortening curtains and filing months worth of paperwork. Otto “helped” us with the curtain sewing. Incidentally, I discovered that wooden floors are excellent for cutting long straight edges – square the fabric up so the line to be cut runs along the join between two boards, then the groove between then becomes a tactile guide for the scissors!
Pippin just enjoyed the quiet house and relaxed in the sunshine. She doesn’t loll about like this frequently, so it’s a special treat to see her calm and curly-pawed.
I’ve been going to Giapo every few days over these last couple of weeks, as my friend Rob and I are working on a project with him, and we’ve been tasting lots of the new experimental gelato and sorbet flavours. Most of them are mind-blowingly delicious (Strawberry Fruit Tart, Cashew Nut, Custard and Pine Nuts, Rhubarb Creme Brulee, Strawberry and Mint sorbet, Earl Grey sorbet, White Coffee sorbet), and some are fascinatingly unusual (Wasabi and Vanilla, Seaweed and Sauvignon Blanc, Orange and Star Anise). There have been a couple of clunkers too – for my palate, that is, and bearing in mind they both contained ingredients I don’t like anyway – but in general it’s all SO GOOD. And I love being around someone who is really excited about what he is doing!
I hear that a new maple custard flavour went out this evening, so I’m wondering if I can justify another trip in tomorrow :D Parking is the problem, but if I time it for 7pm when the clearways revert into parking I should be able to get a spot nearby… a nice after dinner treat… mmmm…
I find Willow hilarious when she’s groggy in the mornings, so I took this little video of her stumbling bedhead. HEE!
She’s also very keen on picking flowers (pronounced more like “frerhs”) at the moment. She’s denuded most of the plants in our garden, and when we went for a walk with Mum today we had to stop at every patch of dandelions or daisies or soldiers by the side of the road and pick one. Combined with a few extra bits from our front yard she ended up with a sweet little wild bouquet by the time we got home again, which I put in a baby food jar to decorate the table for the day.
Otto had to go to the vet this afternoon. He’s been sniffling and sneezing for several days, with runny eyes and a poor scratched nose where he’s been batting at himself. We were fairly certain it was just a cold but you know, you’d never forgive yourself if your cat was seriously ill and they said “if only you’d come in sooner”… so I packed him up and had him checked out. Sure enough, he has cat flu, and it should clear up on its own, though we have a list of symptoms that will need further attention to keep an eye out for. Vets are expensive, but worth the reassurance. We do love our soft ginger giga-pudding!
The patient, weepy eyes (actually not looking too bad in this photo, perhaps he’s on the mend already) and scuffed nose and all.
Monty has also had a hard time of it. Yesterday evening he followed Willow and I across the road and down the street to the reserve when we went to play ball, and was trotting across the grass towards us when he was swooped upon by an enormous, angry magpie. I don’t think it made contact, but it was very close, and the magpie was not much smaller than the skinny slinky Mon-man. He ran into the undergrowth where the grassed area turns into bush (i.e. thick forest, for non-NZers!) and meowed at me pitifully. I tried to get to him but he was too spooked, especially after the bird attacked him again, and he would not come out!
I didn’t want to leave him there because magpies are vicious and he is quite stupid, but after half an hour of calling and coaxing it was getting dark and Willow was antsy, so I started to walk her home to drop her off with JSR and go back for Monty. As we got about halfway back he suddenly rocketed out of the reserve after us and ran straight for our house, then proceeded to be a big scaredy-cat for the rest of the night – and with good reason. Poor little guy.
So, that election, huh? I don’t want to come over all political in the space I use to talk about yarn and kitty cats, but I’ve been more invested in this election than any other. As a Green Party supporter I was very pleased to see them gain an additional four MPs, hooray! But on the whole, I think the National Party has a lot of policies that will cause hardship and hurt New Zealand in the long term. It’s disappointing that so many people voted for that, and makes me feel disconnected from my country. I can only hope the other parties manage to reign National in, and that we get a different result in 2014.
Since getting Willow out of the house is critical to maintaining my sanity, and we have Absolutely No Money at the moment, we’ve been visiting either a park or playground or the library virtually every day.
To be fair we’d be doing much the same thing if we weren’t broke, since I don’t think children need to be presented with commerce as recreation, but I feel awfully lucky to live somewhere we have plenty of opportunities for free activities when we need them!
Yesterday we had a few stale bread crusts lingering on the bench, so we went to a local park that has lots of ducks.
My first feeding spot beside the pond was not particularly successful, as Willow kept making a beeline for the water, but then I noticed a pair of handsome white ducks heading into a stand of trees and followed them under the canopy only to find a DUCK PARTY!
It was lovely and shady, and I distributed the rest of our bread to much quack-quacking. Wil was far more interested in eating the crusts herself and playing with sticks, but at least she wasn’t running for the water :)
We also spent a while on the other side of the park – away from the duck poop, hee! – carefully examining bugs and looking at the clouds and rolling about on the grass.
We play in the back yard at home, too. I made a daisy chain and managed to get Wil to wear it for a good ten minutes! So cute I could dieeeeeeee.
Unfortunately she is currently in a clingy, whiny, MUM MUM MUM MUM MUM phase (i.e. being a toddler!) which I can handle cheerfully when I’m well rested, but my reserves of energy run low in the late afternoon and evening, and most days it all goes a bit pear shaped. If she takes a nap I get some temporary relief, but then she stays up very late and bedtime is even more difficult, so it doesn’t really help the big picture. Frustrating!
On a happier subject, I’m excited about the new Urban yarn from Skeinz – it’s 100% wool, DK weight, machine washable, New Zealand made, and the initial reviews on Ravelry say it’s quite soft too. Oh, and really well priced! Those are perfect characteristics for crocheting blankets. I have a Skeinz gift voucher that expires in a month, so I’m going to order some to try out. Now, which colours to choose…
This is the hat I made my mum for her birthday. I chose a streamlined beanie style to stay put without fuss during her active outdoor pursuits, in 100% wool to keep her ears warm. When I think about my mum I think of warm colours like reds and yellows, so I picked this coral shade of Cascade 220 yarn and matched it with the simple lace pattern of the Windy City Hat. I improvised a bit with the ribbing, using my favourite twisted German cast-on, a twisted 1×1 rib, and then my very first vikkel braid.
Otto got in on the photo shoot too. Cats and knitting, BFF!
Ravelry project with details here.
I’ve also finished another hat for Willow. This one is Basel by Woolly Wormhead, which was the most complicated thing I’ve knit yet in terms of needle acrobatics. I love the effect though, with the columns of twisted stitched swirling like a galaxy, and I’m very likely to knit the pattern again.
The Crucci Drift yarn I used is quite tufty and has a bit of thick-and-thin variation, so the stitches don’t look perfectly even, but it’s going to get mauled by a toddler so no matter :)
Ravelry project with details here.
Here’s a little video of Willow being adorable putting the hat on all by herself:
Today we visited the Auckland Botanic Gardens to celebrate my mum’s birthday tomorrow. (She will be 60! But my mum is so young!)
The Gardens are currently running an outdoor sculpture exhibition, with 21 artworks scattered through the grounds and a 2km walking trail to see them all, which made a lovely afternoon walk after having lunch in the cafe.
To be honest, I did not think much of many of the sculptures. I’m not an expert about contemporary art by any means, but I do often come across pieces that speak to me, so I wouldn’t consider myself unable to appreciate it! Nevertheless, there were only a couple of sculptures that I found interesting. The one Mum and Willow are looking at above – made of hub caps, leis and cable ties – was not one of them, but I guess it’s pretty enough.
I really enjoyed looking at the plants and trees in the gardens though, and will have to go back and do that more often. They have specific sections with specimens that grow well in Auckland, which is useful for planning our garden at home, as well as annuals and perennials and natives and a rock garden and lots of beautiful stuff, including this mummy duck and her eleven fluffy ducklings.
Willow was mostly interested in the different kinds of gravel and rocks. She plays with the round river stones in our backyard every day, and seemed a little peeved that these ones were anchored down.
Willow walking with my Dad.
My grandfather Poppa, Willow, Mum, and family friend Mary.
We were all tired after the gardens, thanks to wonky sleep schedules and a waking-in-the-night Willow, so after we came home there were naps for everyone. Then a quiet evening with some knitting, stories with Willow, and finally a little spell of video gaming with JSR. A very good day, which I rather needed after this last week.
Speaking of knitting, tomorrow I’ll show you what I knitted Mum for her birthday present :)
Willow and I spent last weekend in Christchurch, staying with my brother and his family, and visiting JSR’s parents and our friends Isabel and Megan. It was a fairly whirlwind trip as I couldn’t face more than two nights away from home with a potentially unsettled baby, though actually the nights were fine and Willow slept very well on her little mattress bed!
The flights however… let’s just say we won’t be going again until she’s 2 and can have her own seat. One plump mama and one leggy baby do not fit comfortably into a single domestic economy space, and Willow screamed through take-off on both trips just from being belted down onto my lap. She was okay for the middle part of the flights, when she could stand in the aisle and be cuddled by the cabin crew and eat the little bag of snackychips, but the landings meant being on my lap again. Descending into Christchurch in particular was not to her liking – pain in her ears I assume, as mine were quite sore too – and she shrieked like a plucked mandrake once more. I did my best to keep her calm, but my powers only go so far, and every snarky tweet about babies on planes I’ve ever read was running through my head the whole time. Honestly, do people think the parents are having fun making everyone else miserable?! Gah.
Anyway, we had a great time once we were there! My four nieces plus Willow made one loud gaggle of girls, and she loved spending time with them. We visited the farm where Jessie and Stella help with pony parties and ride horses, Maisie cuddled Willow to bits all weekend, and smallest-cousin-Brydie and Willow became super friends, sharing a splashy bubble bath, Dora DVDs, and heart-meltingly cute hugs and kisses. We didn’t experience any earthquakes (phew!) but seeing the damaged city was unsettling, even though I didn’t know it well enough to recognise what was missing from each empty space.
I haven’t blogged since then as I’ve been suffering a bit of toddler burnout :/ Willow is hard work at the moment, and my reserve of patience runs out about two hours before bedtime, ending each day in a teeth-gritting slump. I can’t even pass her over to JSR for the evening because she’s so clingy and only I will do! So lots of deep breaths, and reminding myself that this stage won’t last forever…
First garden failure, of course it was the rhubarb! It got eaten to shreds by slugs. Are the leaves poisonous to them like they are for humans? Poor sluggies, if so. I am a bit disappointed, but still think I’m doing fairly well given my “put it in and see if it survives” approach. Everything else has new spring growth, tiny shoots and fronds and delicate leaves bursting out all over:
Chilean Guava, Daphne, Kowhai, Meyer Lemon, Penstemon & Japanese Anemone
I started the next phase of my garden re-vamp yesterday, lifting the line of paving stones that currently extend from our deck into the middle of the lawn. A pathway to nowhere is not particularly useful, so I’m moving them to define the edge of a new garden bed. They are quite overgrown so it takes a lot of effort to dig each one out, then I have to lift the layer of turf under its new spot and pop it down into the old hole, plus roll the stone end-over-end to move it because they’re too heavy to carry. I am phenomenally unfit, so I was only able to do three of eleven last night before sweat was dripping off my nose onto the lawn. Charming stuff. I went out again today, but only moved one more before JSR borrowed the spade for another job and snapped the handle! So that’s on hold temporarily…
I really don’t like this hard landscaping business, but I’m determined to make the part of our back garden visible from the house and deck as attractive as I can, without spending much money. Once I get the rest of the stones moved and prepare the soil in the new area I’ll be able to do some planting, which I do enjoy! I think I’ll put in a loquat, just in case we’re still in this house in a few years when it starts to fruit.
A finished project I can show you! This was originally going to be one of my gift knits, but it turned out too small for the intended recipient – I was winging it without a pattern, just making a basic hat shape with some slip-stitch colourwork inspired by a blanket design – so it’s now Willow’s winter hat for next year :)
I like the way the top swirls in, it reminds me of a little bundt cake.
And the pattern is a little like tiles, perhaps in a swimming pool, so I’m calling it my Aqua Mosaic Hat.
Ravelry page with details of yarn and so on here.
Willow’s speech has sprinted ahead in the last week. She’s learned to say eyes, nose, face, neck, banana, cake, car, socks, flower, slide, peekaboo and comb as well as becoming very consistent with greetings and a few other expressions like oops and cool. We only count words when she uses them unprompted and in context, so there’s a lot more she will repeat after us but hasn’t broken out with spontaneously yet. It’s so exciting after only saying cat for months and months! She now asks “wha-za?” (what’s that?) all day long which is a good reminder for me to keep naming objects for her. I tend to spend my day in monastic silence otherwise, which I’m sure isn’t very helpful. I’m told I will eventually want her to stop talking so much, but for now every little word makes me happy!
Willow has recovered from her cough (thank goodness!) but not before she gave it to me. I am a lot better now but there were a few miserable days in there, wheezing and rattling and coughing uncontrollably, so no wonder she was unhappy! Poor sausage. I feel so bad for her when she’s sick as we can’t really explain what’s going on, and her sleep really suffers.
Quiet times at home have given me the opportunity to craft a little more often. I’ve completed a couple more of my secret-squirrel gift knits, and also a few more squares on my Hobbergobber Blanket. It’s moving slowly as I only pick it up in between other projects, while I’m deciding what to make next or waiting for supplies to arrive, but I have enough now to have an idea how it will turn out.
It’s a very restrained palette, with only six colours plus the cream edging, but I think I’m getting enough variety in the combinations for a pleasing finished effect. No real idea how big it will be yet, I’ll keep making squares until I get near the end of my coloured yarns and then see how many there are. Perhaps 8×10, 8×11, 9×12, who can say :)