Cat photos for Helen.

Just for Helen....more pictures of what Oliver has been doing.

Well, he's been sleeping....




...and playing....




....but mostly he's been getting to know this chap, who arrived from the cat rescue last Friday. His name is Paws (after Lad's World of Warcraft hunting cat) and he's ten months old, only got neutered a few days back and is still feeling a bit hacked off about life in general.



However the wee lad is totally over the moon with his new big (VERY BIG!!) brother, so we'll maybe get some double pix soon.

Good enough, Helen? More cats than you were expecting, lol!

Award? Who, me??

Hey, look what KathyR awarded me....



Blogging is a funny old thing, really. My Hubby teaches media studies with particular reference to IT and one of the many things he discusses is blogs. He says that women use personal blogs in a completely different way to men...men use them to disseminate information while women are more likely to use them as social networks. It seemed so blindingly self-evident to me that blogging is a way to have an extended gossip with like minded souls that I was amazed to hear that more male dominated blog networks aren't like this, but apparently Hubby's wargaming blog gets very few comments, and even less social chat, lol.

Still, it tickles me when someone on the far side of the world nominates me for an award because she likes my blog. (Presumably!) It's fun to see the hits on the stats map, mostly from the english speaking nations but I've had hits from places like Indonesia, Malta, Greece and South America. Repeat hits, even. The knitting and blogging world is a small place, really, despite the geographical differences!

Anyhow, the Award Rules state:-

1)Post the award on your blog.
2)Add a link to the person who gave you the award.
3)Nominate at least 4 others.
4)Leave a comment on their blog so they can pass it on.

Come to think of it though, even though I've just finished weebling on about blogging reaching the furthest reaches of the planet, three of the blogs I'm going to nominate are local ones...

1) Natalie, at The Yarn Yard. Nothing to do with her yarn (though it is gorgeous and I own several skeins) but because her blog makes me laugh and it gives me ideas about things that are nothing to do with knitting. I'm still working on the larder challenge, for example!

2) Jean, because without her I'd know wheech all about American politics, lol.

3) Helen, because she introduced me first to online jigsaws. I am rubbish at them but I think they're the sort of thing that might be good for my increasingly foggy perimenopausal brain. A sort of daily neuron workout!

4) What Housework, who has the sort of manic outdoor lifestyle I would dearly love to have, and the most bloggable cat too. (Put "Milo" into the search on her blog for the stories.)

SkipNorth 2009.

I booked up for SkipNorth 2009 on Sunday. I've been on every one (2006, 2007, 2008)that's been run since Lixie and Nic started doing this, and I wouldn't miss it for anything. Great venue, fabulous shopping and a chance to talk about knitting/spinning/crochet/all things fibre with both old and new friends for not nearly long enough.

Anyway, 16 of the 25 places have alreadly been taken, I think, so if you've been thinking about going I suggest you make up your mind asap.

Haldane Finale and the Wheel Bank.

Well, the Haldane made a final price of £190. It was bought by a gentleman in Cambridge for his daughter. What a nice dad, eh? I must find out if she's a new spinner ...there's a spinning group in Cambridge somewhere, isn't there?

Anyhow, £190 is a most satisfactory amount of money and will finance the purchase of at least two or even three more second hand wheels for the Haddington Spinners. Our group leader and I both like buying dusty neglected wheels and bringing them up to full running order but there's only so many wheels we can own between us, lol. Now if we see a bargain wheel that looks promising we can buy it for the Wheel Bank, furbish it up and have it ready to loan out or sell on at cost (or a very modest profit). We also occasionally buy equipment for the group...we could use a tensioned Lazy Kate, for example, we want an Ashford lace flyer, and possibly some more shelving. With a little cash to prime the pump we can do quite a lot.

Nice Haldane. I hope it has a very happy life from now on. It's no life for a wheel to sit unused from new for over a decade. Poor wheel!

Haldane Orkney on Ebay.

Just a reminder that the Haldane Orkney wheel is up on Ebay at present and the auction will finish tomorrow evening. The link is here. Pictures and description are to be found in my two previous posts.