One of my aquilegias is out. Another is well on the way. I'm so glad - they are some of my favourite flowers.

Free Knitting Pattern: My Second Red Hat Scarf

After making my first red hat scarf I started on my second. And here it is, complete with the pattern. The good thing is that the pattern I used isn't difficult at all and you can do so many different things with it. I am considering, some time in the future, using the same pattern but no Contrast yarn, instead adding perhaps beads at each of the bottom edges.

I've started thinking about my third scarf. I've bought the yarn and have found an interesting pattern. Today I shall do the tension square so I can see how what I've imagined actually looks like in real life.

Yarn
1 100g ball Sirdar Country Style 4 ply yarn - roughly US fingering weight (M)
1 50g ball Wendy Cosmic yarn (C)
pair of 4 mm knitting needles

Tension
2 repeats of pattern = 3.5 ins (9 cm)
8 rows of M + one repeat of C = 2 5 ins/4cm

The Pattern

C.O. 40 sts (multiple of 13 sts + 1)
Knit in pattern as follows:

Using M and Pattern 1:
Row 1: (RS) *K1, YO, K4, K2tog, sl 1, K1, psso, K4, YO; rep from * to last st, K1
Row 2: K1, P to last st, K1.

Repeat Pattern 1 four times (8 rows). Then put colour M to one side (don’t break the yarn, just thread it up the side of the knitting)

Using C and Pattern 2
Row 1: (RS) *K1, YO, K4, K2tog, sl 1, K1, psso, K4, YO; rep from * to last st, K1
Row 2: K to end
Row 3: as Row 1 of Pattern 2
Row 4: as Row 2 of Pattern 2

Repeat these 12 rows FOUR more times. Then using M and following only Pattern 1 continue to work until the piece is 22 ins long. Break the yarn and place the stitches on a stitch holder.
Make a second piece the same. Graft the two pieces together.

One of our rhododendrons has come out in flower. I've always loved the acid-loving plants like the rhodies, azaleas and magnolias and fortunately they like one of the beds in our garden.

I've had an interesting few days lately. It started on Sunday when our chapter of Red Hat ladies was one of many who went to London. We arrived at London by train after an "interesting" journey due to engineering works and, waiting for one of our party on the concourse of Liverpool St Station it was fascinating to see just how many people recognised us as members of the Red Hat Society. We were approached by two young Australian girls who recognised us and who said that they were well aware that the Red Hattters were active over there too, another lady approached us and took photos of us. Also we happened to meet the Queen of the Lake District Chapter, down in London with her mother and sisters to celebrate their mother's 85th birthday with a visit the previous evening to the London Palladium to see "The Sound of Music". They were going to same place as we were and so joined our party.

We were off to see "Menopause - the Musical" at the Shaw Theatre and arriving there it was fascinating to see just how many red hats were around. I would estimate that there were about 60-80 red hatters in the audience, which was predominantly female and "of a certain age". The musical itself had four female performers, was set in the Marble Arch Marks and Sparks and comprised many well-known popular songs with new words, all about the problems faced by those going through the menopause.

I have to admit that before I went I had had some doubts about the whole thing. I love good musicals and good music and knew that this one had received many very bad reviews, for example both The Times and the Daily Telegraph newspapers had said very unpleasant things about it, so I approached the performance with a few reservations. However, I enjoyed it a lot. OK, it's not likely to go down in history as a groundbreaking new musical but it spoke to its audience of the things that women of a certain age are going through, the way they become "invisible" to much of society, hot flushes, the inability to remember things, difficulty in sleeping, feeling that they have lost the boat in many things...... I reached the conclusion that the reviewers were young males who had absolutely no idea of what women actually went through. I have to admit that only those women who were either going through the change or have done so would really identify with the musical, but those who had were appreciative of the only thing around that actually covered what they were going through. However, I enjoyed myself and had a good time.

Monday was spent catching up with everything I should have done on Sunday and then came Tuesday: the Husband and myself's 14th wedding anniversary. We went up to London for the day and started off at John Lewis to buy my present. John Lewis has a wonderful selection of contemporary classic costume jewellery. In the past the Husband has bought me jewellery (usually earrings) himself, as he has an excellent eye for such things but for my birthday the earrings he bought me bore more than a close resemblance to a pair he gave me a couple of years ago. As it was he took one look at the silver earrings and said "these look nice" and I was obliged to say (tactfully) that I like them a lot, especially the identical pair he bought me about 5 years ago (and I wear frequently). Anyway, I found a really nice silver pendant that will go with many of my pairs of silver earrings, so that was nice. Then we walked though to Soho and found a good restaurant where we had a meal. Then we walked through to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. There they had a wonderful exhibition titled "Renoir Landscapes 1865-1883"

It was wonderful. Apparently it was the first exhibition specifically to concentrate on Renoir's landscapes rather then his better-known works which usually involve portraits or pictures of, say, cafe society. The paintings were wonderful and I was transfixed by many of them.

Yesterday I caught up with some things and an (almost forgotten) hairdressers appointment. Today I must get back to the garden. Yes, I'm still working at that, at times I feel I always will be. Gardening just never stops.

The Lily-in-the-Valley is out. It takes a while to get the clump properly established but it's worth it at this time of year. However, now I'm finding that they are beginning to encroach into a neighbouring patch of Crocosmia "Spitfire" and now I'm not sure whether to separate them or to see if they can both thrive in peaceful co-existence.

I've also learnt today not to take pictures of white flowers in bright sunshine. The first lot I look didn't really come out properly as the white bells of the L-o-t-V just shone too much. But after lunch it became cloudy and so I took some more pictures and this time they worked.

January 2005 I bought a plant I had never heard of from eBay. It was an Olearia, a Daisy bush and I think I paid about £1.50. When it came it was a tiny cutting about 2 inches tall and I potted it up and nursed it. By the summer it was big enough to plant out, althouhg I will admit that I moved it at least twice before it found its current home.

I researched it and found out that it reaches 4-5 feet fully grown and is evergreen. I've subsequently discovered that the foliage in winter isn't the most exciting I've ever seen but I'm willing to put up with that for the flowers at this time of year.

This week the Husband and I went up to London and to Tate Britain to an exhibition of the works of William Hogarth. It's interesting, Hogarth died in 1764 but despite all those years the subjects of his real paintings remain true to life and the characters of many look like someone who you might meet today. Of his portraits the most interesting are of the sitters who came from what we would nowadays call "middle rank" or else working class - one of my favourites was of Hogarth's servants and I've managed to find a tiny picture of it.

Of course Hogarth isw best remembered for his series such as "the Rakes Progress" and "The Harlot's Progress" and these works were fascinating too. But the trouble is that none of these were huge works and the amount of detail in each required very close inspection which I was unable to do in the crowded galleries. Despite this I enjoyed them too.

I love trees with red leaves but of our trees we have only the one - a malus. This is the tiome of year when it looks at its best.

Laying in bed this morning I suddenly remembered that I took this picture a couple of weeks ago. Good job I remembered as at the moment I'm not taking any photos and neither am I on the computer much. Instead I'm taking advantage of the very warm and dry weather to get the garden sorted out, or at least parts of it. My garden is South facing and the soil is clay and the more I can do before the soil bakes hard for the summer the better.

Today it is forecast to be hot, dry and sunny. The forecasters say that the weather will be 10 degrees warmer than usual for this time of the year. So much for the nay-sayers who refuse to believe in global warming.

The Amelanchier Lamarkii is, I think, my favourite in the garden. Although usually grown as a tree I train it as a large shrub so that all the blossom in spring and the green leaves afterwards are at eye level. Also the red berries later in the year are sufficiently low that I can see them and enough off the ground that the cats can't get at the birds while they are feasting.

I took this picture four days ago. Now the patio is covered with blossom as it is going over. At least I'm not having a repeat of the spring when strong winds stripped off all the blossom immediately it appeared so we had virtually no berries later.

Cold Poached Salmon

This is what I made on Good Friday. The Stepson stayed with the Husband and I last week until Sunday and so for the Friday we had this. I originally found this recipe in a magazine years ago and it rapidly became a real favourite with the family (except for the Stepdaughter who doesn't like fish). It's easy to make and always moist and delicious.

Ingredients:

salmon steaks or fillets - 1 per person
1 bay leaf
half a lemon, sliced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or half to a whole glassof white wine if you have any left over)
salt

Method:

1. Put the salmon in a pan. Pour over just enough cold water to cover the fish. Add the bay leaf, lemon slices vinegar or wine and the salt. Bring to the boil and simmer for one minute.
2. Cover the pan with a lid and leave fish until it is cold without taking the lid off (this can take an hour or more).
3. Serve with herby mayonnaise (2 tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs like parsley, chives, dill and mint stirred into half a pint of good mayonnaise) and salad.

Yes, Spring is certainly here

I saw a clump of three trees in full blossom while I was out on a walk this afternoon and couldn't resist taking a photo of them.

Back after a nasty dose of gastric flu all weekend and part of yesterday and while I was making a quick trip to buy a birthday card for my brother which was late because I was ill in bed - I discovered that the young Magnolia in the front garden, a Magnolia "Susan" had come out into flower. Luckily I carry my camera in my handbag all the time so here it is.

The past few days

I have a confession to make, neither of us had any idea that on Sunday the clocks were going forward by an hour. I only realised the fact when I turned on the television in the evening and realised it was an hour later than my watch said. It's frustrating though, I'd vaguely thought to myself during the week that the clocks must be changing soon and immediatley forgot all about it and never checked. Very embarrassing but no damage was done to man or beast (grin).

I had an osteoporosis test at the hospital the other week and on Friday I received a letter for my doctor asking me to come in to discuss the results. My imagination immediately went into overload as if everything is fine they would have said so. However when I saw my GP yesterday it turned out that the results weren't too bad. My spine and hip are fine although my femoral neck is osteopenic. The doctor wasn't going to give me any medication although he advised thast I continued to take the calcium and vitamin D tablets I take anyway. I also mentioned that both my thumbs get a bit painful at times but my GP wasn't exacly interested. he said that the real lifespan for a human is 35 years, so anything extra is a bonus. Oh well, nice to know I'm over the hill.

Good news. Originally we were told that only two parents could come to the Stepson's graduation ceremony this summer, something that rather disappointed me because obviously he would want his father and mother there. However, the Stepson has managed to get me a place too so I will be able to go as well. .

The Pulmanarias

Last summer, in the heat of the drought, I was looking at a table outside one of the houses near to where I live. The table was full of plants, all at a few pennies each with the money going to the local hospice. In two very small yoghurt pots were a few leaves labelled as pulmanarias, each for sale at about 30p. I bought them, carried them home and planted them in a spot under a couple of large shrubs. The soils was so thin there it was almost dusty so I put a handful for multi-purpose compost in the base of each planting hole and the plant on top. The only other thing I did was to water the plants until I was convinced that they were established. Then I ignored them, I still am. Despite this by winter they had grown into nice compact little plants which have survived the winter and now in flower. They clearly love where I have put them.

I am aware that pulminarias are described as ground cover plants, which mean that they spread and spread but for where I have put them this is just what I need. They certainly like it there and as far as I am concerned if they can keep the weeds under control which try to take over in that spot then I shall be happy. And if they begin to spread too far I can always dig out a couple of yoghurt pots and put a table by our front gate.

Have You Read These?

Via Eden…

Take the list below, paste it into your own blog, put READ next to those you’ve read, WANT TO next to those you are interested in, AGAIN & AGAIN next to those you’ve read and can’t stop, and leave blank those you don’t care to read.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) READ
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) READ
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) AGAIN AND AGAIN
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien) AGAIN AND AGAIN
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien) AGAIN AND AGAIN
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) READ
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon) WANT TO
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) READ
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) READ
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling) READ
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) READ
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling) READ
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling) READ
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) AGAIN AND AGAIN
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) AGAIN AND AGAIN
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) READ
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) READ
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) READ
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) READ
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom) READ
31. Dune (Frank Herbert) READ
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell) READ
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley) WANT TO
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) READ
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card) READ
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling) READ
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) READ
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice) READ
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) READ
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell) READ
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) WANT TO
76. Tigana (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier) AGAIN AND AGAIN
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind) READ
85. Emma (Jane Austen) AGAIN AND AGAIN
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams) READ
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) READ
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd) WANT TO
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum) READ
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield) READ
100. Ulysses (James Joyce

Free Knitting Pattern: My Red Hat Scarf

At the last Red Hat event that I attended I noticed that several other members were wearing scarves of purple and red. So I decided I'd have a go at knitting one for myself. I looked on the web but didn't find a pattern that inspired, so I thought I'd have a go at designing one myself. I chose the Old Shale pattern from this book, adapting it slightly. Then I looked out for appropriate yarn. I chose 4 ply in purple, as I didn't want anything too thick, and some eyelash yarn in red.
As the picture of the whole scarf doesn't give a true idea of what it is like, I've also provided a close-up and one showing the actual stitch pattern.












Yarn:
1 100g ball Sirdar Country Style 4 ply yarn - roughly US fingering weight (M)
1 50g ball Sirdar Vegas (C)
4 mm circular needle

Tension:
7 sts & 8 rows to 1 inch

To make:
Cast on 360 stitches, work in pattern.

1st Row Purl
2nd Row: K1, P to last stitch, K1
3rd Row: * [K2 tog] three times, [YO, K1] six times, [K2 tog] three times; repeat from * to end
4th Row K

Knit 49 rows in M, except for rows 4, 5, 24, 25, 44 and 45 which are in C.

Cast off loosely. Sew in ends.

The Stepdaughter came round yesterday. I couldn't resist taking a photo of her and the Husband.

The Red Camellia in my garden. I'm slightly confused though as they look almost dark pink here while they look red in real life.I wonder whether it's something to do with the camera?

We are expecting very cold weather, frosts and possibly snow by Monday. I hope it won't affect the blossoms too much. I fear so, though.