Viking Tea Party

Would the Real Emily Please Step Forward?

Three things I would not have said in any seriousness a year ago but can say honestly now:

It's five-thirty on a Friday night and I just put a whole chicken in the oven to roast. 

I had a serious conversation with Matt a few minutes ago about a class on beekeeping that I read about in a cooking magazine and would like to maybe take when we buy a house. 

We stopped in WHSmith while in town this afternoon and I was thrilled to find a new issue of Country Living. 

(Pardon the terrible photo - I can't wait for the days to get longer)

New Country Living Issue Day makes me ridiculously happy.  A quick flip through and - look - there's even a little article on knitting!

 

Now if I could curl up with a cat, a cup of tea and this magazine.  The cat and, obviously, the magazine are doable but, unfortunately, the weather has made milk a scarce commodity.  We could only find skim the night before we got the snow and not only does skim not make a very good cup of tea but we're almost out of that, too.  M&S is still milk-less so we have our fingers crossed that we'll be able to find some tomorrow.

It's Snowing in Salisbury!

Even though we had watched the weather several times yesterday and even had a look at the BBC weather web page, neither of us really believed we were going to get any of the predicted snow.  Just before we went to bed, Matt took one last look outside and there is was...SNOW!  We almost threw on some warm clothes to head out for a walk right then but it was really late (the holiday break has really gotten our days and nights mixed up) and the doors to the cathedral close would be locked so instead we set the alarm and got up early this morning to walk over to the cathedral to take a few photos.

Snow is not as common here as it is in Ohio so there were lots of photographers out and about.  And kids rolling giant snowballs.  When we walked by the cathedral into town a few hours later there were half built snowmen everywhere.

I'm sure I'm not alone in the thought that this lamp post reminds me of Narnia and with the snow on the ground today I really wouldn't have been surprised to see the Faun wander by.

Eventually the snow started really coming down and we decided it was time to head home but I had a chance to squeeze in a few more pictures including this comparison shot.

Unfortunately, I've never seen the cathedral without this scaffolding and it's not coming down until 2015.

And if ever a dog needed a sweater...

So now I've had my first English snow.  On the walk home I, unfortunately, couldn't help but think that I was really looking forward to my first English summer.  Snow is pretty but I think I prefer picnics on the cathedral lawn rather than snowmen.

And now on to some knitterly things.  After knitting this little bear for my mom (and another one for Matt that I still need to snap a photos of), I've fallen in love with knitting toys.  Knowing this, Matt spotted me flipping through Knitted Wild Animals by Sarah Keen at Waterstones and decided it would be a good Christmas present (the man is really good at picking out knitting and crochet books without my help, too - lucky me!),  Even though it was the hippo pattern that hooked me, I cast on the alligator first and got all the way from the tip of his tail to the beginning of his body and realized the odd skein of green I was knitting with wasn't really going to be enough and would perhaps leave me with a legless gator so I set him aside, unable to frog him quite yet but also unable to start him over in another green because I was a bit tired of the moss stitch used to make him scaly.  Instead I started the tiger since the Year of the Tiger begins on February 14th and I was born under the same symbol in 1974.  I've only finished two of the thirteen pieces you need to knit to make him but he already reminds me of Hobbes and that can only be a good thing. 

Speaking of snow and Calvin and Hobbes, I used to love it when Calvin made snowmen!

Beauty at Salisbury Cathedral

This year, for the first time ever, I went to church on Christmas day.   Or perhaps I should just say I went in a church on Christmas day.  We still hadn't been in to see the decorations in the cathedral so after we exchanged presents but before we had a Skype chat with my parents (in which we drank so many mimosas that our Christmas day dinner was postponed until Boxing Day), we walked over to take a look.

I did take several photos of the amazing nativity including one rather evil looking angel but it was the new baptismal font that absolutely amazed me.  

This is not an upside down photo....

...it's a reflection.

 

 

 

 

I could have gazed at it/into it for hours but, unfortunately, a tourist decided to touch it causing a ripple that just wouldn't quit.  Argh. 

Some Ridiculous Whining or How I Got Connected

I promise to reply to emails in a timely manner, to post a bit more often and to start commenting on blogs where I often just lurk.

No, this isn't a resolution to be a better internet friend - it's an announcement that our little house is finally wireless!  Before today I had to use the desktop computer on the third floor which was okay but it's incredibly cold up there these days. Plus I had to download photos to my laptop and then transfer them to the desktop using a USB drive which was getting a bit monotonous. I also hadn't updated any iTouch apps or downloaded any beloved podcasts since September and I really missed Ira Glass.  I found myself longing to catch up on blogs and click around Ravelry from the comfort of our bed or even tucked up under a blanket on the couch. 

Cry me a river, I know.

Anyway, we checked out the new year sales today and - woo hoo! - I'm watching Nevermind the Buzzcocks (Josh Groban is really funny - who knew? and who knew that I would so quickly get to the point where an American accent would sound strange?) reruns and blogging in bed.  

My real resolutions?  Keep the fish tank cleaner (have I mentioned that Mina and Lucy have their own pets?  They do and their names are, cleverly, Lucyfish and Minafish) and not leave my clothes lying about. 

Happy New Year!

Ring out the old, ring in the new.

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

This year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

- Alfred, Lord Tennyson