glittyknittykitty

July 16, 2008

Glittyknittykitty go coastal

In addition to knitting, baking, watching good films, listening to whip-ass music, and a glass of wine, there's nothing us Knitted Terrorists like more than a bit of south west coast path walking....

All photos copyrighted to Skitten.

From the top right, going clockwise, we have: flowers at Mawgan Porth; the south end of Perranporth, taken from Droskyn Head; Skitten staring down into the azure sea from Cligga Head; a garden tiger moth having a sunbath on Skitten's sunnies, at St Agnes beach; summer heather and ling; Glitter looking back northwards towards 'green island'.

That was a *good* weekend. We took a train ride to Penzance, went to a party down on the Tamar Estury, which had more sausages than we knew what to do with, a camoflage-tent bar and chinese paper lanterns that were filled with hot air and sent sailing in to the twilight. Their glow was made all the more lovely by the potential of a nuclear-fuelled 'military misunderstanding', what with the submarine naval base just around the corner...

Can recommend the walk from Droskyn to St Agnes. Easy walking and good food half way round. Really wanted a swim too, but too many people on the beach.

Posted by scumkitten at 03:39 PM | Comments (3)

July 07, 2008

St. Ives

One of my favourite days out in Cornwall: park for free in Liskeard Station car park, catch the train to St. Erth, and then change for St. Ives. You get sea, sand, a cold glass of pinot with some mussels and fresh bread, the Tate St. Ives for art, the Barbara Hepworth Studio for sculpture, and loads of hilly, winding streets to walk around, with lots of art gallerys and shops to poke around in.

Posted by scumkitten at 09:09 PM | Comments (1)

July 03, 2008

Greetings from Spain

Hola!

Greetings from Chez Purlpower, in Orgiva, Spain. Once more I have left the camera at home, so have no pictures to share, and Purlpower's camera seems to be on its last legs, but if we can get some life into it, I will post some with her permission.

Anyway, as you might expect, the weather here is marvelous, and a drastic change from the damp British summer I have experienced so far. It is a real pleasure to be so hot I can't do anything in the afternoon.... and the locally grown fruit and veg have so much flavour I feel as though my taste buds are having a sensory overload! Tomatoes, avocados, peaches, nectarines and cherries are absolutely delicious!

More soon ......

Posted by glittrgirl at 08:23 AM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2008

Espana!

I'm off to Spain to stay with Purlpower for a week or so.....

More on my return!

Posted by glittrgirl at 01:32 PM | Comments (1)

May 30, 2008

Failblog

Failblog. Some of it tickles me.

Posted by scumkitten at 03:47 PM | Comments (1)

Lambys!

Lookee the lambys! Awwww, kawaii!!!!

The first picture is Dochas MacKenzie, the second a new lamb, name currently unknown. I believe both sheeps live at Achnacloich on the Sleat Peninsula, Skye. Yarn from their native sheep and goats can be bought from their Ebay shop Elvincraft

Thanks to Cary MacMahon for photos and information.

Posted by scumkitten at 01:03 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

Ravelry Books & More Swap

I took part in a Books and More Swap on Ravelry. The idea was that you received a book, the yarn to make a project out of it, and a few other nice things....

I think I did pretty well.... A copy of Interweave Knits Lace Style, two balls of dark blue Regia silk to knit the lovely Floral Lace Anklets by Evelyn A Clarke, the needles for the project in bamboo, and a lovely chinese silk Lantern Moon needle case in turquoise and red. The card was lovely too with a seahorse on it. Thank you so much to my SP.

I also benefitted from someone who was asked to stand in, as I was slightly late in getting my parcel - so I ended up with another book - Glamour at home by Erika Knight.

Both books are fabuous and I feel very lucky.

Posted by glittrgirl at 07:41 PM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2008

I've got new glasses!

Because of my continuing viral conjunctivitus and inability to wear contact lenses, I have decided to fully embrace my speccy-ness and buy two new pairs of glasses (2 for 1, can't go wrong!)

Posted by scumkitten at 03:52 PM | Comments (1)

March 16, 2008

Moth holes? Pah!

Make do and mend

This poor cashmere cardi... not hand knit, bought in second hand shop in Aspen, CO, worn so much it got holes in its elbows... and now moth holes. But I refuse to give up on it, hence an attempt at steeking the arms to elbow length, crocheting an edge on to each using Debbie Bliss Silk, with a picot trim, and nailing those moth holes with embroidery flowers. I have amazed myself.

Posted by scumkitten at 05:31 PM | Comments (3)

March 09, 2008

Thanks to etcgirl

Thanks etcgirl!

I was a stand in Secret Pal to etcgirl in a recent round, and she seemed to appreciate what I sent her. She seemed to appreciate it a lot! This generous parcel arrived this week, and I only just got the chance to take pics. I was quite speechless! What a generous Thank You! I have never knitted with any of these yarns before, so am looking forward to knitting them immensely! There is a cute cowboy chicken card at the back, and the rest were......



Top row: Two balls of Australian Merinos Lame, with the comment that she couldn't send me a package without anything glittery in it.... Two skeins of Koigu KPM in shade 2339, a lovely limey chartreusey green. A bag of little soap samples in a choc mint smell that scented the whole parcel beautifully.
Bottom row: A red Panic button. I rarely panic, preferring to bluff my way out of situations rather than panic, so I shall donate this to someone who does. A packet of Love Hearts - I will be intrigued to see if the sentiments are different on Canadian ones than they are on British ones. And last but not least, another skein of Koigu KPPPM - I can't make out the handwritten dye code, but its a candy coloured extravaganza of pink, purple, orange, yellow and green.

I am quite stunned!

Posted by glittrgirl at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)

February 24, 2008

New specs

Posted by glittrgirl at 02:57 PM | Comments (1)

A belated thank you to Knittiotherapy

Knittiotherapy makes marvelous project transportation devices, and she gave me this one for my birthday. It is a lovely, lovely thing, and has been much admired at local knitting groups. You can buy one of your own over at her Etsy shop. Highly recommended. Really well made and finished, and very thoughtfully designed. Get one now!

Posted by glittrgirl at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2008

Wasting food, how not to...

As part of the 'we're going to either pay of our mortgage in two and a half years, or, if we don't get a renewal in contract, bugger off to New Zealand' megasave, I've been tasked with sorting out our food expenditure.

Interestingly, we seem to be bang on with the zeitguist, as suddenly the Times is doing stuff on 'how to run a pantry', write shopping lists and not throw away so much food, as is the Waitrose magazine. I've also discovered the lovefoodhatewaste website which is great for looking at if you have a small number of ingredients and have no idea what to do with them without giving up and going out and buying a Chinese Takeaway.

We're doing well on the 'not throwing stuff away' at the moment, although me being up country for the last five days did throw DJ Mikey into a bit of a spin, despite having soup, lamb casserole, home made bread, eggs, cheese and left over chilli available to him. He didn't eat the cabbage. The cabbage had to go in the bin when I got home. He was sad about that, so hopefully has learned something from it... the lesson is, if I've left you a casserole, eat the cabbage with it ;)

Posted by scumkitten at 03:52 PM | Comments (2)

January 08, 2008

Knitted Russell Brand

Knitted Russell Brand

KnitNurse from RecyclingSheep made me this knitted Russell Brand for my birthday. The basic pattern was adapted from her book of Knitted Icons, this is otherwise completely her own work, and made especially for me! How utterly fantastic to get a present custom made just for me, and with such thought! It must have taken a good old while. And it makes me chuckle. And chuckling is never a bad thing.

Edited to add: PJ pointed out that there is a syringe just behind Russell's arm. I feel I should point out that this one of a set of mad knitting needles gifted to me by my sister who found them at Whitby Gothic Weekend some time ago.

Posted by glittrgirl at 10:07 PM | Comments (4)

The best chocolates ever

Agen, hmm, prune

A huge hug to Glittr for her birthday present to me: a box of my favourite chocolates, from Plaisir du Chocolat. There is just something so special about receiving these chocolates- they are not the sort you shove down in sugar desperation, or because you are feeling sad about life in general. They look so beautiful, and each flavour has a back story. As I'm going away for work on Thursday, DJ Mikey and I have been sharing a few every evening (and they are made with such pure ingrediants, you have to eat them within 5 days anyway. Quel horreur!)- we cut each one in half so that we can both have a taste of each flavour. Even the packaging is beautiful and can be reused for all sorts of things (we keep photos in ours). I'm due up in Edinburgh at the end of January, so am aiming to try out their new Salon when I am there.

Posted by scumkitten at 08:51 AM | Comments (2)

January 02, 2008

Sheep lights

My auntie bought me this string of sheep fairy lights. How cool?

Posted by glittrgirl at 07:42 PM | Comments (2)

December 29, 2007

Happy Birthday Glittr!

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday!

p.s., that was sung a la Stevie Wonder

Posted by scumkitten at 09:51 AM | Comments (3)

December 12, 2007

Wheeeeeeeeee........

Barcelona was fantastic. It was so relaxing. I love that city. It is so cultured and stylish, there is everything you could possibly want all in one city:

• Art galleries - in abundance. Check.
• Beach. Check.
• Good food. At reasonable prices. Check.
• Parks and green spaces to walk. Check.
• Marina and lots of boats. Check.
• Well priced places to stay. Check.
• Music. Lots of it and really interesting. Check.
• Fantastic unusual shopping. Check.
• Amazing architecture. Check.
• Easy to use public transport system. CHECK
• Interesting street life and cafe culture. Check
• Agreeable climate. Check
• Weird traditions that make you go - eh? CHECK! (More in a forthcoming post)

I want to go back. Again.

Many thanks must go to the Zoros for putting up with us on board Avalon, and for feeding us so healthily. They were great company and made for a delightful stay in Port Vell.

The Fundacio Joan Miro was a place I had not visited in previous sojourns, but it was an amazing place to go to, and well worth the entrance fee - easy to get to and hours of intrigue there. Mind you I was a Miro fan before, but I am even more of one now.

The Sagrada Familia is always worth the money to see - it is staggeringly beautiful. This time we paid for a guided tour - and it was worth every cent. I have been there four times now, and it never ceases to amaze me. There is something new every time. The progress is quite quick these days and I defy anyone not to enjoy their visit there.

And, for the yarnoholics amongst you, you will, I am sure, be dying to hear if we purchased any yarn. Well, yes we did. From a lovely lady at La Barcelana in the Born area, Brosoli 1 to be precise, nearest Metro Jaume 1. The yarns were gorgeous. Sold by weight and in the most delicious colours. I ended up with two skeins of chunky, lofty, uneven gorgeousness which will be a soft warm very green scarf, and two skeins of unbelievable soy silk in the oiliest, darkest, shiniest, slatiest blue grey you can possibly imagine. Pictures soon - as soon I can do them justice. In the meantime, I ended up with over half a kilo of yarn, for about 26 Euros. Great value. And the lady spoke enough English to make the visit easy. And they weave the most lovely things in this tiny little shop. A friend found this shop for me last time I was there, and unfortunately I was not able to purchase then. But I made up for it this time. And I will go back next time. Marvelous! There are more yarn shops in Barcelona, and you can find out where they are, as well as catch up with a knitting group there over at Barcelona Knits! Unfortunately their regular meeting did not coincide with our visit, but next time I will try to catch up with them. And the other yarn purveyors!

Posted by glittrgirl at 07:47 AM | Comments (1)

November 23, 2007

revyu.com

Go and have a look at revyu.com. You can review anything there. It's cool. I write stuff there from time to time.

Posted by glittrgirl at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2007

After a long tiring day.....

I have had a surfeit of travel this week. I dread to think what my carbon footprint would be if I calculated it. Anyway the last day of train travel was today for a couple of weeks, and boy, was I glad to get home.

When I have had a week like this, I like nothing better than to come home, make myself a nice bowl of carbonara, and then slip into a warm, rose scented bath where I like to soak for a while with some soothing music and a nice glass of rioja.

Then I like to wrap myself in warm, white fluffy towels, with another glass of wine, and read a chapter of a good book. Sometimes I have so little energy I like to read a chapter of a book I have read several times before....

Then comforted, satiated and in a gentle haze of fuzziness, I like to cuddle the cat, lying on the sofa, and watch really crap telly. Tonight the epitome of crap TV is on - the BBCs annual Children in Need fundraising extravaganza. It really does have painful moments, but for sheer amazing amusement, I do secretly enjoy watching newsreaders making fools of themselves.....

Posted by glittrgirl at 10:03 PM | Comments (1)

November 15, 2007

Knit your own iPhone

The real thing ;).Thanks to Daddytype for allowing me use of picture

Desperate for an iPhone, but don't want to spend 48 hours queuing whilst people cheer those coming out from the shop as if they have just won Wimbledon? I am old grumpy lady, and I don't know what the world is coming to, but I am very keen on this knitted iPhone, complete with instructions, thought up by Daddytype's clever mummy.

Hurrah for mummy power, that's what I say! And say NO! to Apple and YES! to knitting your own- it may not work, but is it really going to be that much of an issue if it doesn't?

Posted by scumkitten at 09:43 AM | Comments (3)

November 11, 2007

I won!

I never win anything.
Imagine my delight win something.
Something handknitted.
Something handknitted by the wonderful Suemoon.
Something handknitted by the wonderful Suemoon in candygirl KidSilk Haze, from Victorian Lace Today.
It's beautiful!

Posted by glittrgirl at 11:00 AM | Comments (1)

October 14, 2007

Sunday birdies

Goldfinches, throwing away what they don't like.

I feed the birds on my balcony. It amuses my house kitty, Greebo, who enjoys my provision of cat TV during the day whilst I am at work. Sometimes I get to watch the birdies too. I chirrup less than Greebo.

We find watching the territorial ways of the goldfinches particularly amusing, bossy, fussy little things that they are, flashing around their colourful plumage, as they chuck away all the things they don't like, making food available to the less agile birdies who can then pick up their cast-offs from the floor.

Note the difference between the American goldfinch and the European.....

Posted by glittrgirl at 12:12 PM | Comments (1)

Trick of the light

The sunshine was being split into rainbows by the prisms in my crystals in the kitchen this morning, making gorgeous bright little rainbows all over my kitchen - lookie!

Posted by glittrgirl at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2007

gkk in Let's Knit!

Let's Knit, launched November 2007

A new knitting magazine has been launched in the UK entitles Let's Knit! and glittyknittykitty has been profiled on page 9. Many thanks to the editorial team for highlighting our silly little blog! Having had a good read through I am quite impressed with this first issue - let's see how it continues over the next few issues.

Posted by glittrgirl at 10:18 AM | Comments (2)

September 15, 2007

The Golden Compass coming in December

I'm not usually in to advertising up and coming films etc., but I am very, very, very excited about this. The 'His Dark Materials' trilogy by Philip Pullman is the sort of series that I would have read again and again as a child, and into adulthood (as I have done with Susan Cooper's 'The dark is rising' series, CS Lewis's Narnia books and anything by Alan Garner). Luckily for me, adult that I am, Pullman has been vocal in his thoughts that His Dark Materials was not specifically written for children. You can see that is the case in the themes and the way he has written it: so much richer and more complex (and better edited ;) ) than other childrens' books.

But I have to admit to feeling a welling of childish (and I don't use that word in a negative context) excitement at the coming film, especially as Pullman has been heavily involved in its production. I have no issues with the colour of actors' hair or eyes, or necessary changes to the story line that have to be done to fit the book into the length of a film. If Pullman thinks it is ok, then so do I...

Armoured Polar Bears, for god's sake! Witches! The snowy North and the Aurora Borealis! It doesn't get better than that. Enjoy the trailer, and go and see who your Daemon would be at http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

Posted by scumkitten at 02:47 PM | Comments (5)

September 11, 2007

Pounds and pints forever!

From the BBC website:

The European Union is set to confirm it has abandoned what became one of its most unpopular policies among many people in Britain. It is proposing to allow the UK to continue using pounds, miles and pints as units of measurement indefinitely.

Ah, great to know I can still get a pint of beer and a pound of cheese.

Posted by glittrgirl at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2007

I am a geek

I am such a science geek....

Posted by scumkitten at 02:07 PM | Comments (2)

August 12, 2007

Calaveras

Tip chair with Calaveras cotton covering

We were given a random chair a few weeks ago, by a friend who had acquired it from the local tip for 0 pence. It's simple enough, but it had horrible material stapled to the seat. I found some tremendous fabric on Ebay that just suited DJ Mikey's brief for coverage: 'bright' he said, 'but weird'. I think this Alexander Henry Calaveras fabric (which also comes with the backgrounds of pale or bright pink, or black) is suitable on both counts. The quote from DJ Mikey is 'it looks like flowers from a distance, then you get close up and it's skulls'. What you can't tell from the photograph is that the cheery skulls have glittery accented teeth, noses and eyebrows. So bright, about death AND glittery. What more could a girl/boy ask for? Apart from a skirt or maybe a sundress in this material, maybe. I'd like that, yessiree bob.

Posted by scumkitten at 03:12 PM | Comments (2)

August 06, 2007

Thanks iKnit!

Thanks to Gerard and Craig at iKnit for making GKK their blog of the week in the newsletter this week. You guys rock!

Posted by glittrgirl at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2007

Giving good shoe

Toast give good shoes

My latest shoeage purchase. Red, patent, purrrrr.

Posted by scumkitten at 12:21 PM | Comments (1)

August 01, 2007

Kitten-tastic!

My pals Heather and Lawrie got themselves three new kitties a few weeks ago. As you can see, they are pretty much plotting to take over the world (clicking on the thumbnails will give you nice big pictures). What is it about torties that just have that 'I am in charge and have many tortures to inflict on you in the future'? I'm thinking of Crazy Aunt Purl's Sobakowa in particular- I certainly follow that cat's plans of world domination with a nervous eye.

Thanks to Lawrie Phipps for photos.

Posted by scumkitten at 03:19 PM | Comments (1)

July 27, 2007

Many thanks to Lime & Violet

Thanks to Lime & Violet for mentionning us on their podcast (number 40)!

Posted by glittrgirl at 04:14 PM | Comments (1)

July 26, 2007

Alnwick garden

I went to Alnwick Garden on Tuesday, and the sun stayed out just long enough to get some photos. The garden is an ongoing project, and you can read all about it on the website - so far there is a lot to see, with the promise of more to come.

It is very easy to spend a whole day there playing with the water, smelling the flowers, tasting the fruit, watching the fountains and promenading around the lovely beds. I love going to places in Northumberland, it is a chance to blab on and on about this most beautiful of English counties.

Actually I think Scumkitten in Cornwall and me near Northumberland (my spiritual home) gives you, lucky reader, a chance to see the two loveliest counties in England. And I am careful to say 'England' because Scotland and the rest of the countries which make up The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have their own gobsmackingly gorgeous places too. And they are all very, very different. Don't ever think you can 'do' the UK in a couple of weeks, because, well, you can't. We may be small, but we have more differing types of landscape and varieties of vistas than you would believe possible in such a small set of islands. You need a long time to get round 'em all. Back to pics of the Duchess of Northumberland's garden at Alnwick (yes, the Castle is where some of the scenes of Harry Potter were filmed).

Posted by glittrgirl at 02:39 PM | Comments (1)

Bury me in....

.... a woollen shroud, please, and put me in the ground in a sustainable forest burial ground.

You can find out about it all here....

Posted by glittrgirl at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2007

Cupcakes, but not as you know 'em

I've got a bit of a cupcake thing going on at the moment. I've made vanilla cupcakes with chocolate ganache, chocolate cupcakes with plain icing and a minstrel onatop, and lavender cupcakes made with lavender sugar. I must start taking photos of them, because they are a thing of beauty. There are some great cupcake blogs around too, best of being The Urban Housewife and Bake & Destroy. This last link put me on to these beauties:

Not edible, not knitted, but ipod/computer speakers!!!! Made by Semk, literally just out. I want them! I don't have an ipod, but if I had these I'd buy some. Man, I'd use them at work, I've got my own office now... (why do you think I'm hardly ever here? I'm doing two fricking jobs at the moment. Cupcake speakers would help and make me less teasey).

Posted by scumkitten at 01:30 PM | Comments (1)

Knitting needle bangles

Knitting meltdown over at ric-rac

A while ago, my erstwhile blogging companion, the estimable Scumkitten, posted a quest - Does anyone know how to bend plastic?

Well, a couple of days ago, a tutorial on how to make these very bangles was posted. So I expect that my Scummy friend will be wanting to play with plastic and boiling water this weekend.

Thanks to whipup.net for the heads up, and to Jodie at ric-rac for posting the tutorial.

Posted by glittrgirl at 10:09 AM | Comments (1)

May 25, 2007

Wellies

How great are these wellies?

Posted by glittrgirl at 09:10 PM | Comments (2)

May 10, 2007

OK I give in. *Pant*

Phwoar!

Posted by glittrgirl at 03:07 PM | Comments (2)

May 09, 2007

We LOVE this milk ad

Posted by glittrgirl at 02:00 PM | Comments (3)

April 12, 2007

Thanks to my SP again!

A box of goodies arrived just in time for Easter....

The yarns are all gorgeous, but I must apologise for the blue tint to the piccies - I took 'em pretty early in the morning as I was opening the parcel breathlessly, the moment the postman delivered it.

Lovely lovely yarn, delicious choccie (munched) and cute easter ducky cards! Thank you so much!

Posted by glittrgirl at 04:57 PM | Comments (2)

Liberty Rowan fabric

After seeing that Brenda bought some gorgeous Liberty fabric, I couldn't help but head over to the seller she linked to and score three metres for myself...... Great service - delivered the day after I ordered it....

I can't wait to make it into something.....

Posted by glittrgirl at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)

Tenerife

Some pics from my recent trip to Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. The giant corn pic is especially for purlpower......

The knitting was a test pattern so I can't show you the whole thing....

Posted by glittrgirl at 07:12 AM | Comments (2)

March 04, 2007

A Lunar Eclipse

We had a lunar eclipse last night, with clear skies. It wasn't even that cold, so we were able to stand outside with our camera and take some photos. Thanks to DJ Mikey for these. Fabulous.

The question is, do you see a man in the moon, a hare, or Snoopy? I usually see a hare, but I remember as a kid seeing an episode of Charlie Brown where they equated Snoopy to the pattern on the moon: and it stuck with me. Think of Snoopy dancing, with his head and ears thrown back. Thanks a lot, Charlie Brown.

On a different note, I love how the last reddish photo makes you fully appreciate the spherical nature of the moon. Removing the reflective glare, and having the light source at one point, really does render the moon into 3-D. Usually I do have a tendancy to just view it as a flat disc in the sky. Obviously it isn't, but...

Posted by scumkitten at 10:37 AM | Comments (2)

February 20, 2007

Support your local knitting circle t-shirt from properganda.co.uk

Knit t-shirt from properganda.co.uk

Get one now! Great quality and eyecatching design. Super service and they wash really well too. To order yours go to properganda.co.uk/support_your_local_knitting_circle.php
Their other designs are great too. Truly independent clothing for the subversive generation....

Posted by glittrgirl at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2007

The Pornoliser

Here is what glittyknittykitty looks put put through The Pornoliser (not for the easily offended).... HILARIOUS! Thanks to The Kewl Doodz & Chyx for reminding me of it.

Posted by glittrgirl at 09:19 AM | Comments (4)

February 12, 2007

Brighton rocks

Back last night from a spendid weekend with the lovely Lainch and her gorgeous boys. Please can you clone them, and Conkers and send copies up here? I understand Suemoon wants clones too. Mr Lainch OFFERED to IRON. And he ferried us all over the place with a smile and good grace.

Newsflash
I bought yarn.

In my defence it was pointed out to me that a yarn diet is cutting down how much you buy, and that this was not the same as a yarn fast.

Feverishly, I looked back at my previous posts.

I never said I was doing either. I took a public pledge. Which I have broken.

I managed from July 06 to February 07 without buying any yarn at all (other than the exceptions stated in my pledge), which isn't bad. I plan not to buy any more until Woolfest 2007. So perhaps you could say I had a Pledge Holiday???? Please?

I know you will want to know what I got, dear reader, so as a teaser, I indulged in some sock yarn (some of which is intended for Knitty SP8age) and two skeins of Hand Maiden Seasilk.... in this gorgeous colourway which looks liked aged pewter, and I think is Ebony from the subtle series. Scrummy. Irresistible. And it will likely become a camisole for me.

Posted by glittrgirl at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2007

Jodie does it again...

Jodie, in earlier days

Haven't got a photo, but some good news: Jodie is now WORLD CHAMPION Women's Kneeboarder!!! She's been out in San Fran in the competition, and won. I am so chuffed for her. Natalie came second, so we got a women's landslide. More photos on Kneeboard Surfing UK.

Posted by scumkitten at 11:10 AM | Comments (1)

January 14, 2007

Tulips and sunshine

Tulips, by DJ Mikey

I'm not feeling too happy at the moment- pretty much since mid-December. Work, illness, bad weather, general malaise, whatever the cause, I obviously don't really have anything to moan about at all. Just a case of 'Black Dog on my shoulder' I guess. DJ Mikey bought me some flowers on Thursday to welcome me back home after being away for work. He took a photo of them today, to make me smile. This is also a thanks to Glittr for allowing me to ring her up and be negative, without giving me a verbal slap across the chops. 'Cos that's what I need. I think I'm off for a walk by the seaside now. That'll clear the head out.

Posted by scumkitten at 01:37 PM | Comments (2)

January 01, 2007

A very Happy New Year to you, dear reader

Wishing you all health, wealth and happiness
Love, peace and bananas for 2007......

The Glittyknittykitties

Posted by glittrgirl at 12:36 AM | Comments (1)

December 30, 2006

Birthday haul

You can't have them. They are all mine. MINE I tell you!.... Oh well, perhaps if I distract her she will forget about the presents.....

He tried so hard to stop me playing with my presents, or showing the haul to you, but I managed to get them away from under the guardkitty eventually. Well. Almost....

I haven't uploaded closeups of everything. This does not mean I have favourite presents. It just means I can't be arsed to take closeups of everything in difficult lighting conditions.

Click on the main haul to see everything - here is what I got.....

You can't see the shell pink silk satin baby dolls trimmed with oyster lace, because I am wearing them.

REN rose damask body moisturiser.... a colouring book (of the 90s, scary....) a CD by some rock hare krishna monks... a skull and roses bag enabling knitting whilst dancing (handmade by Suemoonstone)... some black kitty stitch markers .... some handmade knitting cards by purlpower, a habu textiles bag kit with a cone of silk and a cone of paper linen ... a skein of Tilli Thomas Disco Lights in forest green ... an incense box containing incense and a burner ... a teeny china teacup in the shape of a narcisuss ... a set of Blue Sky Alpacas dpns in a little decorated tin ... and a hatbox of Stella perfume and body lotion. And there was champagne and chocolates, now demolished. And a large bunch of lillies. And there is some Blue Sky Alpacas yarn on its way to me.

I feel very spoiled indeed. Thank you so much to everyone who sent me cards and presents and stuff - you all helped me have my best birthday ever. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Posted by glittrgirl at 10:11 AM | Comments (3)

December 29, 2006

29 December

So it is my birthday today. Some so called friends have been taking the piss and telling me that I must be proud to share my birthday with Aled Jones. Well, I may just have the last laugh.

I also share my birthday with:

Madame de Pompadour
Jon Voight
Marianne Faithfull
Cozy Powell
Dexter Holland (born the same year as me) of The Offspring
Jude Law
Alexis Amore (a Peruvian porn star, apparently...)

.... amongst others. Obviously I have been selective from this list.

Famous deaths on this day:

Thomas Becket
Jacques-Louis David
Christina Rossetti
Grigori Rasputin
Rainer Maria Rilke
Jean-Claude Forest
Harold Macmillan

Thunderball was premiered on the day I was born. And in 1975 the UK Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts came into force. So there.

Posted by glittrgirl at 08:39 AM | Comments (6)

December 18, 2006

Happy Birthday to Me!

Funky Skitten

OK, it may not be very 'proper' to big up one's own birthday, but I'm going to do it. 38 today and now the proud possessor of a pair of Namaste glass needles courtesy of my glittery friend. I've had a glass of champagne and a morello cherry cup cake whilst sitting at my office desk, and I'm a happy Skitten. So a big Salut to you all!

Posted by scumkitten at 11:31 AM | Comments (12)

November 14, 2006

New boots and new shoes

So that Scumkitten can see......

Posted by glittrgirl at 03:26 PM | Comments (5)

November 08, 2006

Some useful advice...

from Northampton General Hospital...

Posted by scumkitten at 01:43 PM | Comments (1)

October 16, 2006

Say what you mean...

Mean what you say...

A sign in PLA Hospital Dongsishitiao

Posted by scumkitten at 09:30 PM | Comments (5)

October 11, 2006

Yes, I do like duckies

So much so, I'm revisiting part of an old post from 2005....

Here's my duckie from my 2005 SP:

and with Fernando welcoming him to his new home.

And lastly, a haiku to ducky:

The duck glows brightly,
Floating on a lonely sea.
Below, reflection.

Posted by scumkitten at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2006

Hadrian's Wall

Walking on Hadrian's Wall, having a picnic overlooking Crag Lough, wandering through trees and forest, seeing swans from the top of the wall, getting rained on so hard the drops were painful, falling over a wet rock and laughing so hard my stomach hurt, realising my front was sopping but my bum was dry, photographing clouds lying on my back, laughing more and marvelling at how lucky I am to live so close to this stunning part of the country. I had a great Sunday.

Posted by glittrgirl at 07:23 AM | Comments (1)

August 28, 2006

Talking of sheep

The lady who owns Sunnyside Croft sells her hebridean fleece to weavers on the Ilse of Mull. For £2-3 a fleece. She had some waiting to be sent over. She sold me a first shear...

Blimey. Am sitting contemplating it now. It is a gorgeous shaggy thing. Soft. Full of lanolin. Deep dark chocolate brown. Not sure if I really want to get in to spinning... I have an idea who might like it though ;)

Posted by scumkitten at 03:20 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2006

Craftzine - blog launched

Make has planned offspring in the form of Craft, which launches soon. In the meantime the Craft blog has launched, so follow the progress of the new mag. Knitting features quite heavily along with other fibre arts and crafts. The Make blog blog is one of my favourite internet reads.

Posted by glittrgirl at 09:05 AM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2006

Baby alpaca, koigu and wasabi balls

Ahm so lucky

Yet again my not-so-secret-anymore ;) secret pal has hit the motherlode. A fabulous parcel. Two very exciting short story and poetry books, a CD with Bruce Cockburn complilation (Scum has been bad and had indeed forgotten to tell her SP which tracks she particularly liked on her other CD gifts- well, you must have ESP, because Bruce Cockburn was one of 'em! And I'm not kidding :o. Some gorgeous yarn was also included: two skeins of koigu merino in deep blues. hmmmm. I've never had koigu before. And some baby alpaca (Misti alpaca)! So soft. In olive green, sigh. Three skeins. And here comes the slightly surreal bit: I only show one skein because the other two are being washed. Washed of the exploding herb salt that had unfortunately smeared itself over the inside of the box at altitude, I guess :( However, you'll be pleased to know that the Wasabi covered peanuts got here in one piece....

Here we have, from left to right: trepidation; action; actuality; aftermath.

Posted by scumkitten at 09:35 PM | Comments (4)

Kimono

Click here for a blast of colour.

I finally found the dressing gown I've been hunting for, for two years, bought online from Clothaholics. I bought a one off, vintage inner kimono (juban) in crimson silk , lined with a different crimson silk, with a white cotton lapel, for £40. Staggering. It is beautiful. A few hints of foxing on the lapel and a few amazingly neat hand stitched mends here and there (the whole thing is hand stitched), but that's vintage for you. I love it.

I also bought a kimono belt (obi) as a wall hanging, red silk with metallic stitched flowers...

Posted by scumkitten at 09:05 PM | Comments (4)

Wedding

Hurrah for Cliff and Jodie

DJ Mikey and I and all our Cornish pals got to celebrate the wedding of the UK Women's No. 1 kneeboarder and... Cliff a few weekends ago. Much fun was had by all. Don't it bring a tear to the eye?

Hens

Scumkitten did her knitted terrorist duty and remained hidden... can you spot the top of her head?

From left to right: the wedding cake; Matt and the wedding supper; a dancing foo'.

Is that the face of... the Scumma?

And with a blurry Skitten, we also see the gorgeous Dee and a grinning loon (otherwise known as her husband).

Posted by scumkitten at 08:50 PM | Comments (2)

July 24, 2006

Summer weekend fun and frolics

I had a ball of a weekend. The weather here in the UK is the best we have had for about a hundred years, and there are opportunities aplenty for making the most of the clear skies, the balmy evenings and the elevated mood of the majority of the populace. Smiles abound, parties spring up out of the blue, impromptu barbecues and chilled fizzy wine are the order of the day and it simply feels good to be alive.

Flowers & fizzy

Friday night saw chezGlittr host it's first ever barbecue-on-the-balcony, which prompted spontaneous balcony clearing, tidying, sweeping and overdue planting up of redder than red geraniums. Once that was done, Angorared and I prepared salads, lit the BBQ-in-a-foil-tray and sat back in the evening sunshine with a class of delicious Cremant de Bourgogne to watch the clouds.

WOW! Look those clouds look just like jellyfish! (A bit)

I took photos, thinking, yeah, well, once The Cremant Effect has worn off, they will look like cotton wool ball clumps of nothingness. But no! They DO look like jellyfish (a bit)! Lord only knows that weird atmospheric things were going on in the sky. I am no meteorologist, but hey, those weird effects made for some entertaining cloudwatching. If you, too, like staring at shapes in the sky, you might like to consider joining the Cloud Appreciation Society.

Waking up on Saturday morning I felt a little thick in the head. The Cremant Effect had obviously slipped into Phase Two. I sat around staring at the clear blue infinity above my bed trying to get it together to Do Something. Anything. Just something to stimulate me enough to want to get up and leave the seductive cool white cotton cocoon in which i was happily enveloped, busily cogitating emptiness. Bacon sarnie and tea. That'll do.

Then I realised I was on a deadline to knit something from the Fiesta Tea Set for Jen, who was hosting a Stitch 'n' BBQ at her place.

Yarn.
Chosen.
Needles.
Found.
Cast on with a fresh cup of tea, and knit like crazy, you disorganised hedonistic idiot.... (did you like my Gordon Ramsayesque description there?)

Photo by Jen

I did finish a spring green cotton pitcher/tea/coffee pot in time, but had to work on the lid on the way over, and then quickly finish it in Jen's garden. So she got it unblocked, and unstiffened. But she got it. And it looked good (if a little floppy) next to the more superior finishing of Pebbles and her blue cup and saucer.

The evening was delightful, with Pimms, and lots of great food and company. And a rugby game involving a pound ball of white acrylic. Don't ask. Needless to say none of the males playing said game will make it to the England Rugby Team.

We all took a nice ball of yarn and a nasty ball of yarn, wrapped up and ready to swap in a Yankee Auction. I am not sure we played correctly, but hell, we all ended up with a different nice ball of yarn and a different nasty ball of yarn. The pale pink, slightly fluorescent, ball of acrylic that became mine will be donated to my nother and her charity knitting circle. The blue bamboo is mine. And will remain mine. Always. Full descriptiuon with pics (including my saggy green pitcher) over at Jen's blog.

Semi-upended Millenium Bridge

Sunday was another busy day socially, having arranged to meet up with Purlpower to go to the last day of the Americana festival at The Sage Gateshead. A free outdoor stage provided perfect backdrop entertainment for us to indulge in more perpendicular cloud appreciation, watch the award winning Millenium Bridge go up and down, and marvel at the range of straw stetsons on display. I was quite disappointed more men were not wearing cuban heels. I am a big fan of watching blokes try to walk in a manly fashion, in heels, epscially of the cuban variety. Sigh. One day my fantasties will all happen together and I will die a happy woman. Until Then .... there were cool drinks and delicious sandwiches to consume, and Jeb Loy Nichol and then the 13 ukelele players of The Ukelele Allstars to watch.

The afternoon had a ticketed option, and we saw Joan As Policewoman and Adem in Hall Two. A fine afternoon's music ensued, and they both played blinding sets. Though neither could be classed as Americana per se - well other that Joan As Policewoman was dressed country and is American, and the guitarist in Adem did play a miniscule amount of very competent slide guitar. No matter. 12 quid well spent.

From there i went to my third barbecue of the weekend at my parents' place, and managed to chill out and relax whilst watching clouds again. Perfect.

Posted by glittrgirl at 10:39 AM | Comments (3)

July 22, 2006

For (knit)monkey(boy)/es everywhere

For monkeyboy, knitmonkey, monkee and other monkeys everywhere......

Posted by glittrgirl at 09:39 AM | Comments (4)

July 18, 2006

Cranes at Wallsend

Cranes at dusk, Wallsend

Just testing the blog functionality following our server move. Seems to be getting better....

Posted by glittrgirl at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

And at the other end of the country...

Rame Head, Whitsand Bay

The other Knitted Terrorist was enjoying an equally blissful weekend dipping her toe into the Channel. Both Glittr and I, we are so lucky to live so near to such beautiful coastlines. Admittedly Cornish waters are a little warmer than the North Sea.... but I think Northumbria makes up for it by having fewer people fighting for its views. So this weekend I mainly: swam a lot, especially at a little cove. Have mentioned it before- sand, glistening satin rocks, jade green water, vivid undergrowth over the cliffs. And look at [edited to protect the innocent] twinkling in the distance. And this photo? Yes, the sea is that colour in the sunshine.

I managed to go snorkelling with some surfy pals, which was fab: wrasse, spider crabs and buckets of sand eels were the main fellows I saw, though I also came face to face with a cormorant. A chocolate ice-cream was enjoyed before we headed home- nothing as fancy as Glittr, but welcome, none the less. Sunday and Monday night saw me go fishing with DJ Mikey (as well as a bit more swimming) and I caught a Sea Bass last night, which we will be eating tonight (teriyaki sauce and barbequed, I think). We also saw the local star-gazing seal, which is always amusing. You can tell it's hot here- our postman asked to come in for a glass of water this morning at 8.00 because it was already 25 celsius.

Life is good, eh Glittr?

And by the way: chicken, champagne and raspberries sounds like my favourite meal ever, although I have been heavily indulging in white wine spritzers on coming in from work ;)

Posted by scumkitten at 10:30 AM | Comments (5)

July 17, 2006

A spendid day out

Stones on Alnmouth Bay beach

I had a fantastic day out yesterday with one of our trainee Special Agents - Angorared. We jumped in her MX5 and drove with the top down in the unbelievable sunshine. We headed into Northumberland, and stopped first at the Morwick Ice Cream Parlour for a double helping of cold creamy yumminess - mango yoghurt flavour and turkish delight flavour for me, and raspberry and hazlenut flavours for my erstwhile woolly companion. Then we headed to Warkworth, but as it was a bit full, carried on up the Northumberland Coastal Route to Alnmouth, picturesque little fishing village with splendid soft sandy beaches. After soaking up rather too much sun, and deciding we were too chicken to brave paddling in the North Sea - Hey, it wasn't THAT hot with a North Sea breeze to keep us cool - we headed back home for champagne, chicken and raspberries in the garden. Superb!

Posted by glittrgirl at 03:56 PM | Comments (4)

July 05, 2006

Seminal Television Moments in your Childhood.

So here's a question for you: can you name a seminal moment in your childhood where television suddenly transcended its usual meat and two veg content. Saturday Superstore, a kiddies programme hosted by bearded funster Noel Edmunds in jumper after hideous jumper (sweater, to you Americans, although the thought of Noel in a pinafore is a good one) was usually noteable viewing, most particularly for one instance where, during a phone-in to 80's band Matt Bianco (Get Up Out of Your Lazy Bed, I believe, being their only hit?), a caller told them they were 'wankers'.

Well, it turns out that that caller was a compatriot of our Navy friend Martin, and that Martin was sitting in with the caller as he abused the lead singer of Matt Bianco, as usual (for Navy boys), drunk as farts.

As I said, seminal moment in my childhood when it happened, even more fabulous once I realised it was a naval boy high as Mary on beer in some dodgy mess hall somewhere....

Posted by scumkitten at 12:17 PM | Comments (1)

June 20, 2006

The girls' Secret Pal came good

As I mentioned in my previous post, my lovely SP sent a package for the girls: here are the promised photographs (click on thumbnails for full Blythe action), with Reenie MacAbre and Franke 'Maddog' Honeybaume modelling a Blythe-sized Airy Scarf in baby pink, a corset and shrug in a gorgeous emerald green cotton and a beany in a shiny chocolate brown with amber and blue beading.

Cheers Joey, the girls are made up ;)

Posted by scumkitten at 08:12 PM | Comments (3)

June 19, 2006

A perfect end to a screwy day

Parcels, wrapped.

Got back from a harsh day at work to find a parcel filled with... little parcels in brown paper, all wrapped up in string, ok, no, wool, but I wanted kittens and mittens too...

What a lovely thing to come home to. I put it to one side until we had eaten...

Parcels, unwrapped.

then went at it hell for leather. A CD made by my SP with some cool CA tunes and a doggie in a basket on the cover; hmmm, bittersweet fairtrade chocolate; a sweet moonstone and silver pendant (looking for a leather thong now!); homemade cards, covered in tulips (not bees); hanks and hanks of soft as cloud Bernat in a greyblue (oh, so my colour); a sheepy tape measure, coming out of its bum; Kiss Machine: The Revolution Issue, brilliant poetry and short stories (and there is knitting in there too!); and some knitted wonders for the girlies, pictures to come- including a Blythe-sized Airy Scarf!!!!!!

Jerky

And finally, DJ Mikey got a parcel containing CA beef jerky. His message to my SP: "tell her it's lovely, but wrong"

Posted by scumkitten at 09:59 PM | Comments (5)

Tropical

Henry Winkler. Covered in bees.

Hmmm, no Henry Winkler maybe, but certainly our Palm tree has come up trumps again, bee-wise. After last year's humongous flower, which we thought couldn't be bettered (and which, we were informed by a gardener-friend who works at Eden meant it was about to be an ex-palm), it has now produced two, yes two, massive flowers, covered in bees.

Can you smell the perfume?

And the smell- man! Every morning and evening the tropical smell wafts up through the bedroom windows. It is so intense. These palms are very popular (and very happy) here in Cornwall. You'll pretty much see them everywhere. Thanks be to the gulf stream, that's all I can say. Otherwise, we'd be in Newfoundland. Shivering. Covered in bees. Are there bees in Newfoundland? The question of the day.

Posted by scumkitten at 09:48 PM | Comments (3)

June 13, 2006

You know the best thing about DeathGob t-shirts?

DeathGob makes clothing for the confused.

That's me.

Constantly confused.

fine T-Shirts and other excellent items of clothing to the depraved, the confused, the sick, twisted, nerdy, needy, naughty filth-mongerers such as your good-upstanding-selves

Perfect. And that was before I even ordered anything!

But you know the best thing about DeathGob t-shirts?

It's MINE!

They are PERSONALISED! Man, that makes ordering from then a complete pleasure. I got 2 t-shirts. An ex-goth one, and a pink skull with crown. Have a look at their great range of girly tees. The quality is great, they wash really well, and, you get your name on them! So no-one can nick them. Because they have your name in them. Great idea. Highly recommended.

Posted by glittrgirl at 10:35 PM | Comments (3)

June 11, 2006

Bamburgh

Bamburgh Castle

My sister rang this morning and asked if I would like to go to Bamburgh with her, her SO and her dog. Now, Bamburgh is one of my most favourite places in the world. So of course I said yes.

I have a lot of nostalgic memories of family holidays here.

There is a special rock there that we always spent our long summer days on the beach at Bamburgh near to. I forget the legend of Stag Rock, but I always visit it when we go to this part of the NOrthumberland coast. By the end of the day Sonny was exhausted. And so were we. But we had a lovely day in the sunshine.

Posted by glittrgirl at 09:03 PM | Comments (2)

Flowers in summer

I have lovely flowers blooming on the balcony right now. The hanging baskets are starting to burst and boil over with colour from trailing petunias, the lobelia is just starting to flower, and the pansies are spewing more blooms than I keep up with dead heading. Summer colour on the balcony is gorgeous this morning.

Posted by glittrgirl at 11:00 AM | Comments (1)

June 08, 2006

Lazy summer days...

Tinside Lido, when all was spiffing.

Tinside Lido, bang on the Hoe in Plymouth (for those of you from afar, the Hoe is the sea front of Plymouth, home to the patch of grass where Sir Francis Drake played his bowls before nipping out to wap a bit of Spanish Armada arse), is one of a number of English Institutions: namely, the Lido. Where else in the world would you get a rash of outdoor, unheated swimming pools but England, where most summers you're as likely to find us huddled under umbrellas in at least 3 layers of woollens as basking in temperate sunshine? Tinside Lido was originally opened in 1935, all Art Deco glory 'n all, for the folk of Plymouth. It fell into disarray, but luckily a few years ago was renovated by the forward thinking Plymouth Council.

Tinside Lido, now. Right now. Really ;)

Having just spent my last two lunchbreaks ploughing a lonely furrow through the slightly brackish, slightly chlorined water (not as unpleasant as you might think), can I say "TA ever so" to those who decided to do it up again? It is fab. I am intending to move my office down here and not to any work again, ever. You can even hire floaty tire things. And there is a fountain. What more could a girl ask for?

Posted by scumkitten at 02:42 PM | Comments (3)

June 07, 2006

Lookie! A lickable Depp!

Lookie! Choccie! Lickie!

Marks & Spencer is a wonderful institution. They started in the last few years diversifying into stocking own brand franchised goodies. The best so far has got to be a M&S chocolate lolly, with Captain Jack Sparrow on it. Kids stuff? Pfah! Depp fans will be piling on the pounds as they lick away at the star of Pirates Of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Quite right too. Slurp.

Apologioes fro the picture quality - camera on mobile phone emergency. You think this lolly would have waited til I got home???

Posted by glittrgirl at 11:38 AM | Comments (2)

June 06, 2006

Our site represented visually

Theresa pointed us to this cool tool for giving your website a cool nodal visual representation. This is what our blog looks like:

Pretty spiffy glittyknittykitty!

Posted by glittrgirl at 10:18 PM | Comments (5)

The adventurer returns

Graeme, action man.

Graeme, my baby brother, is back from his climbing trip to Alaska, where he has been camping on Mount Denali, on the Kahiltna glacier... sounds like a good time was had, the toilet having good views, the plane ride in and out 'interesting', the avalanches terrifying and the accomodation...

Home, sweet home.

left a little to be desired. He and his pal Jason survived powder plumes, ice fields, bad food and now know how to navigate over glaciers in the arse end of nowhere.

White out

Now I like a good walk, don't get me wrong... and I'm not above getting my kecks dirty or mud under my fingernails... and you all know I love rolling around in snow given half a chance (as long as I've got a board strapped to my feet), but this would be a little too much for me, I think.

Posted by scumkitten at 03:51 PM | Comments (1)

June 02, 2006

Little Sparras

Little Fellas!

DJ Mikey took this photo whilst having lunch today- two little fledgling sparras obviously fascinated by Kewpee (who is looking remarkably hot in that UKnitty jumper), apparently both bundled into the window, then started pecking the glass trying to get at the doll....

Posted by scumkitten at 02:31 PM | Comments (3)

June 01, 2006

We love you Robynn

The see why - go here. We at glittyknittykitty are blushing under our shades and berets.

Posted by glittrgirl at 06:51 AM | Comments (2)

May 25, 2006

O, Those Finns...

Sent by a Finnish friend-of-a-friend.

Finns...

15°C - It will never get warmer than this in Finland, so let's start
here; the Spanish put on their hats, winter jackets and gloves. The
Finns are sunbathing.

10°C - The French desperately try to start the central heating in their
houses. The Finns plant flowers in the garden.

5°C - Italian cars won't start. The Finns are cruising in cabriolets.

0°C - Distilled water freezes. The water in Aura å (the stream in Åbo)
gets a little thicker.

-5°C - People in California get frostbites. The Finns have their last
barbecue before winter.

-10°C - The English turn on the heating in their houses. The Finns start
wearing long sleeved sweaters.

-20°C - Australians escape from Mallorca. Finns stop celebrating
midsummer. The autumn has come.

-30°C - People in Greece freeze to death and the Finns start drying
laundry inside.

-40°C - Paris cracks to pieces in the cold. The Finns are queuing at the
hot dog-stand.

-50°C - The polar bears evacuate the North Pole. The Finnish army
postpones their winter survival camp, in hope of real winter weather.

-60°C - Korvatunturi freezes over. The Finns rent a video and stay inside.

-70°C - The fake Santa Claus moves south. The Finns get frustrated
because they can't store Koskenkorva outside anymore. The Finnish army
starts their survival course.

-183°C - The microbes in food can't survive. The Finnish cows complain
about the cold fingers of the farmers.

-273 - ALL atom-based movement stop. The Finns start saying 'Perkele, it
feels cold outdoors today!'

-300°C - Hell freezes over. The Finns win the Eurovision Song Contest.

Posted by scumkitten at 11:33 AM | Comments (3)

History in film

Port Quinn, photo courtesy of the BBC

Last night I watched a programme about the Creative Archive, a project that has helped the BBC's Southwest film archives from the 1950's to the present day become digitised and freely available under creative license to anyone. As long as you are not intending to use it for commercial purposes, you can register on a local Creative License site (either Devon or Cornwall). This will allow you access and download to over 50 films, including footage of the Torrey Cannon disaster, the flooding at Lynmouth, building the Tamar Bridge, wrestling at the Women's Institute, the Beatles coming to Plymouth, Pilchard Fishing and many more. The majority are narrated in the most fantastic Queen's English, interspersed with storming South West accents.

Really worth a look, wherever you come from, as a fantastic historical resource. I love this sort of stuff- the minutie of people's lives....

Posted by scumkitten at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2006

Beautiful Ribbons

Allium, copyright lfntextiles

Just have a look at this site! The most beautiful ribbons ever from lfntextiles

Posted by scumkitten at 04:10 PM | Comments (2)

May 09, 2006

Fantastic Day!

So I'm at my desk writing a report on Internationalisation in Geography, and Pandora has just picked out 'Fantastic Day' by Haircut One Hundred. I haven't heard that song for decades... a summer song, no doubt. Go rummage in your record collection and put it on now. And whilst you're at it, find some Prefab Sprout too and listen to 'Moon Dog'.

There. That's told you.

It's pulled up 'Sexuality' by Billy Bragg now. I'm on an '80s trip! In fact, I saw Billy in the flesh when I was a young teenager (12, I think) and my mum and aunt took me to Greenham to go on a peace march. I still have vivid memories of that day, including my aunt giving a lift home to an insane (in a fun way) woman wearing a full length mink coat (it was, after all, an outside event, and it was spring). See, Greenham attracted all types.

Posted by scumkitten at 03:22 PM | Comments (3)

May 08, 2006

Big surf, small brain

Gnarly surf, flying dude, photo and copyright DJ Mikey

Sunday saw a bluebird day and beeeg surf, as in 5-6 foot on the sets. I had the misfortune of managing to get out back then wishing I hadn't. It took