Ups and Downs........

Up.........this is potato number 75 (as yet unfinished) , officially the three-quarters mark for this gargantuan task. I suspect there may be more than 25 potatoes to be painted before the book is ready for publication, but I'm pretending that the original quote for 100 illustrations is still good because I need to hang on to my sanity any way I can!

Down.......we have had five plumbing problems in our house over the past few weeks, involving leaks, small floods and most spectacular of all, the kitchen mixer tap shooting off into orbit amidst a fountain of high pressured water. After a young man battling to replace our tap for an hour today, let's hope that's the last of the watery mishaps for a while.


Up.....I started knitting a cloche hat with my new Noro Kureyon yarn yesterday and am blown away by the beauty of the colours - I just LOVE this yarn and wish I could afford to buy more of it more often! This hat is exclusively for me, in the vague hope that I will look elegant and sophisticated as I stroll along with my saluki trotting by my side......this is the point where anyone who knows me falls onto the floor laughing, as I'm usually muddy, dishevelled and being dragged from tree to tree by my mutinous mutt!

Down.......it's been a tough month sorting out my daughter's new programme of activities. She has Down's Syndrome and since finishing college in July, now comes under the auspices of Adult Services. She has an interesting schedule involving arts & crafts, a theatre group, & a couple of college courses, but getting it put into place has not been easy and the transport has been iffy to say the least - her taxi driver waited at the wrong place on Tuesday and left without her. Nice.


Up.......I've been working for quite a while on this Victorian lace shawl in vintage Scottish yarn and I'm finally on the downhill slope, with about half of the edging to do. I can't wait to see what it looks like blocked and it will go on to my Etsy shop when completed.

Down.........I work as a Special Needs assistant in an infant school, which generally is a job I love. But for the past fortnight I have had to deal with a little boy who has screamed at me, kicked me, slapped me, called me names and today even spat at me. And he isn't even the child I am assigned to!!! It's a good job I'm a big strong woman with a lot of patience, although the patience is wearing very thin. Might be time to consider a change in direction job-wise.................

Up...I've saved the best 'up' for last - I came home from work today (feeling very fed up!) to discover I'd won a giveaway on the Little Cotton Rabbits blog! Julie makes the most fantastic knitted toys, and I have to admit to hankering after them but never thought I'd own one as the competition is always fierce. There were 998 comments left on her blog for this giveaway!!! So I can expect to receive my very own little cotton rabbit in the post soon - I can't wait!!