This Weekend…

Hello you… and you… and you…

…

Goodness… It’s so awkward to sound like an outgoing person. Let’s just skip that bit. How’s your weekend?

I started a new WIP, a jacket for my husband. Or cardigan. I honestly can’t really see the difference. Do you know the difference between jacket and cardigan for men. My husband likes to call it jacket because it probably sounds more manly for him.

Whatever works, Bro…

I am using the green wool I bought from iceyarn long time ago. I had it when it was on sale, and I only had for skeins of green. That’s why I combine it with blue for the ribbing bits. Hopefully it would be enough. Husband chose the colour combo, and I though it works alright. Let’s see…

We also went for another cream tea day. Now we had one in Ludham.

The tea room is called Alfresco Tea Room. Tea is wonderful. Food is exceptional. Husband bought Norfolk Pasties for himself, and thoroughly enjoyed his meal with a glass of latte. We love it. Better yet, the food and drink are very affordable. That is surprising because they’re using high quality local produce.

Recommended. Obviously.

So… there. We had a great weekend, too bad that all good things come to an end… Hope you had a great one too.

x ❤ x

WIP Weekend, and A Some Extra Bit of Something

I always like knitting, and yarn shopping… I mean, really… who doesn’t like yarn shopping? Even my husband does… He could grump and moan, and act like he doesn’t enjoy the whole squealing and whimpering when finding a really nice fluffy wool on offer. He could say otherwise, but I believe that deep down… he loves yarn shopping.

Everybody loves yarn shopping… 

But, not until I have known, and read blogs of a lot of wonderful knitter on this blogging universe that I start paying attention to the beloved LYS. Local Yarn Shop. I believe that you can measure how awesome a town/city/village is from their LYS.

In Norwich, you could find more than plenty. If you happen to come to visit Norwich (Norfolk, United Kingdom that is), you would realise that even though online and big shops offer cheaper options of wool, our LYS are surviving. The easier one to find are in the city — one in the market, one in Pottergate called Norfolk Yarn, and one in St Giles called Crafty Ewe. If you are going further in Magdalen Street, there’s another one which I walked pass a lot but never notice the name.

When I went to Bury St. Edmunds, though… I did have to look really hard to find them. But I did find two of them. They’re smaller than one we have in Norwich, but I think it’ll do for a quick fix to satisfy your yarn high. So, if you are visiting Bury… and you accidentally left your WIP at home. You know you can get a little something-something to keep you going for awhile.

Talking about WIP, though… I think I am on a finishing stage now 😀 Woohoo!

I am trying hard to balance out knitting and sleeping. It is easy to lose track of time when you are sitting and knitting while watching Law and Order omnibus. Anyway… do you watch L&O? Which L&O is your favourite one? I mean, I do like SVU, but I would choose Lennie Briscoe anytime.

Gosh… I am rambling, aren’t I? I better finish it now before I start mentioning other crime drama series that I like.

Until then… have a great weekend, Everyone 🙂

x ❤ x

The WIP and The Workshop

Because of the wrist situation, WIP went very slowly. BUT, I managed to make some progress, so yeah well done me.

In between time, curbing myself from exerting my wrists to a heavy duty knitting, I sew buttons. I just found out that a lot of my FOs did not have buttons in them. I did buy some buttons months ago, but when they arrived, I forgot to attach them to the jackets. What a silly me.

So, here you go.

These are the baby lacy matinee jackets with pearly buttons.

And, don’t forget the latest projects.

Now all buttoned up.

My husband and I also spent time doing workshop in Bury St. Edmunds. Workshop? What kind of workshop can possibly done there? Well… actually, the kind of workshop we do together is “He works, I shop :D”

His job sometimes requires him to go on site, and sometimes he was sent to a nice place. And when that happens, I would tag along, and spend the whole day going around adventuring by myself. Last time it was Bedford… this time it is Bury.

Bury is a lovely little heritage town, known as the jewel of Suffolk. Well known for its abbey ruins, and its wonderful cathedral. Although of course, for me the Greene King Brewery is as important too.

I have to say, I quite enjoy a day trip there. It is definitely a very welcomed change of routine 🙂

x ❤ x

A Day Out…

So my DH took me to Stoke Holy Cross. I had to wiki it because I had no idea what kind of place it is. He told me that the place we are going to visit is called Caistor St Edmund — which at that time meant nothing to me. So… reluctantly, put the knitting down for a little while and probably enjoy a bit of sunlight.

Now… what is Caistor St. Edmunds? I heard you ask. I wouldn’t blame you if you haven’t heard about it. It is the first time for me myself. Apparently, it is a huge grassy field.

BUT, not just an ordinary grassy field. In this field, there used to be a Roman market town of a tribe called Iceni. Now I got a bit excited, as there were some ruins of their walls. We do love our ruins…

The day was beautiful, although a bit breezy. Caistor was quiet, only a few interested visitor was in view. But, one thing that excite DH the most is that whoever managed this place has now improved the place and has implemented an Augmented Reality experience in this place.

So, in some spots where you could see and read the information panel in the area, DH could just point his beloved mobile phone and start to enjoy the techie bits. Actually, it was quite cool. All he needed to do is to download the apps — everything can be done with an apps nowadays.

On Sundays, the church — St Edmund Church — not to be confused with St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St. Edmund, served cream tea. I never had cream tea before. It was basically a scone, served with cream and jam, and a generous pot of tea. They only do sultana scones, unfortunately, so I have to pick them out 😦 I can handle a couple, but not too much.

However, it was a wonderful afternoon. I wished I have had my knitting with me, that would have made me feel very British…

x ❤ x

Anniversary?!

It’s a what?

I didn’t realise that I have missed this blog’s second year anniversary! I just found out that my first post was on the 7 July five minutes ago, and thought… Oh bugger…. I should have done something to congratulate myself. It’s something worth celebrating! Maybe one or two skeins of nice fluffy wool…

One of the very first amigurumi I made

But I have to restrain myself now, really. Although it was totally and utterly worth every single poundsterling, the last holiday almost cleared me out completely. I need to go back to Indonesia to sort this out, and luckily I have already got the ticket and a departure date.

What do you do to celebrate your blog anniversary, though? Some people don’t take their blog as personally as I do, but I know that for some people their blog is very important. It is kind of a lifeline, the only thing that connects them to the world outside their own. Like me…

How about a walk in the fine city of Norwich?

I’ve been living in Norwich for years now, but staying at home and being a little bit more than slightly introvert makes me no friends. I do have friends I made when I was studying in UEA, but they’re not in Norwich anymore, and it is not the same… really. I have my wonderful sister in law, but of course not only that she works, she also has her own life and social circle to go to, so an occasional visit is probably a stretch for her too.

Oh, anyway… anniversary is not the time for whinging. I might find something nice to do at the end of the day to spoil myself cheaply. Maybe a new pattern from ravelry… considering my current WIP is in the finishing step. Who knows?

x ❤ x

Crochet, Coffee, and Choo Choo Train…

Time off… 

I am off for a trip to Edinburgh, so had to leave my knitting WIP at home. The project is to big to be carried around. 

So… 

Tadaa! Crochet project is easier to handle while travelling. I have to carry scissors everywhere though. I’ll think about that particular problem a bit later.

As my husband says… we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Did i misquote? 

Summer Intermezzo

It is still summer, but I think the heatwave is almost gone. The weather is getting milder, and the temperature dropped a little. It is getting more and more comfortable to work outside in the garden, and have a little walkabout in the city. So, my sister in law (my husband’s sister) asked me if I wanted to go to Wroxham to have a walk.

I went to Wroxham before with my husband, and it was actually a nice place to spend a day — especially during summertime. So, I agreed and she picked me up. Our plan was: we’re going to go to have a cuppa and have a nice natter.

We did pick a little cafe there, I don’t need to tell you the name of the cafe because I didn’t have a nice service there. I ordered a cake — it said vanilla cake with white chocolate something. I misread it and told the lady on the till that I want the white chocolate cake.

After I paid, the lady on the till asked the other girl to get me the “white chocolate cake” while laughing. The other girl on the counter asked, “what white chocolate cake?” and laughed with the lady on the till.

I mean.. come on. There’s only one cake with white chocolate in there. Okay, I misread, but they didn’t have to act like that in front of a paying customer. And by the way, the cake didn’t taste that nice. It was too sweet for me and I didn’t even finish it.

Anyway, the walk near the river was much much better. It was a beautiful place and I wouldn’t let the stupid cake and shopkeepers ruin my day.

x ❤ x

Lunch in Bed…

Ah now you wish, don’t you. Lunch in bed after breakfast in bed, and snuggling up in warm duvet while the cloudy grey day promises showers. But nope, the day was great, and sunny. And warm with soft breeze cooling it down when the sun gets too fierce.

And it wasn’t really lunch in bed. It was lunch in Bed…ford.

Bedford!

Yes we are in Bedford. When I said “we” what i meant was my husband and I. My husband’s company had a project fixing windows in a church in Bedford. He asked me if I would like to go with him there – not to fix windows of course.

And I would like to. So I went.

Bedford was beautiful. I don’t think it is bigger than Norwich by size, but it is bustling. The shopping area is not as pleasant as our Gentleman’s walk, and their Arcade is not a Royal Arcade like ours.

But damn that river.

I’d love to live in a city which has a river and a garden like that. I mean yes we do have both parks and rivers in the city, but not both at the same time– not in the middle of the city.

But that’s not what I like about Bedford the most. It is this photo:

Seems like they know their priority.

x ❤ x

Let’s Have A Walk In The City

I’ve been going out a lot lately. Blame it on the sunny spells, and warm temperature outside. It was great to get a lot of fresh air while walking around the city. But, you know what I love the most about walking around Norwich is?

The city itself.

Norwich is not a metropolitan city, but it is a city indeed — and a well balanced one. It is busy and bustling in the centre — the open market, the forum, the malls. It is green and relaxing too — the riverside walk, county forest, the park. It is academic — two big universities — UEA and NUA. And it is historical too — the castle, stranger’s hall, the two cathedrals.

One corner you are a part of the busy shopping centre, and next time you know it, you are in Elm Hill’s cobblestone’s little alley enjoying a quiet walk. Or, one minute you and your friends were having a nice cuppa in a hip café in St. Benedicts, and on your way home you found this little hidden gem of the city.

People say that Norwich is small. But as my husband put it, it is a wonderland. You don’t realise it, but once you’re there, you don’t think you want to leave. You don’t know if you can find anywhere as fine, as Norwich — the fine city 😀

Sounds like a review of some sort isn’t it? It is not. I was out and suddenly reminded of why and how I ended up here after studying in UEA 4 years ago. 4 years! Time does fly, doesn’t it?

x ❤ x

Just When You See The Spring is Back…

I mean, I have always been warned that in England especially you cannot always expect that Spring would be like… Spring. It wouldn’t always be sun and light breeze with occasional shower that water your garden gently. No. It is not like that here. It is summery hot in one day and then the temperature would bungee jump to one digit.

My mama says that the weather in England is like a box of chocolate. You never know what you’re gonna get. Unless you read the back of the box which tells you what it is — or in this case you listen to the weatherman or weatherwoman on telly.

Look how patchy it is?

Anyway the Spring is back for a moment after a few days of gloomy days — when it rains a lot so I didn’t check my garden to water it. So when the sun was out, I checked my lettuce, tomatoes, pak choy and… What the hell?!!? SOME of my young plants are gone.

THE CULPRIT!!!

It is not so difficult to know who the culprit was as that little bastard left a fresh trail of evidence. SNAILS! Apparently when it was dark and rainy, they made a salad party in my backyard! If they’re not too small or too few, I might just catch them, clean them up and cook them — maybe they would taste like my tomato — that that ate. Grr…

Norwich in Pink

 

But oh well. You cannot be grumpy for too long when it was sunny, could you? I mean really…. I took a walk and everything was pretty and colourful. You cannot really radiate any negativity from yourself, can you? It seems like everything looks extremely beautiful you just want to be a part of it.

Don’t you?

x ❤ x