Number 32- crochet a ripple blanket

I mentioned this earlier in the year when I was having terrible problems learning to ripple. I didn't think I would be able to do it as I found it so hard. All the counting- it stretched me (I am no Carol Vorderman) and made my head hurt. So I resigned myself to the fact that I might have to let this one go.

However, the other night I sat down with this and concentrated. And look what happened over 3 nights...

I hasten to add this is me my darning my ends in at a train station waiting for my connection. I do not live outside.....

 

On plus side, if I did live ouside, this would be my view...

So I have a little ripple sampler.... I can ripple. So before this list reaches its deadline, I will have started a ripple blanket. I am thinking it could be my Christmas project as I would like to do it in nice wool (as I have an owner in mind) so I can ask Santa for the wool.

Number 26- (part 7) an unexpected opportunity

We went on a river cruise !! We hopped on the last cruise of the day from Westminster- went across to the other side to pick up some people from the Eye and then went down to Tower Bridge. It was dark, everything was lit up and it was lovely. The Shard looked less pretty than The Gherkin at night. All the lights along Embankment looked so pretty. It was just lovely.

The Eye- what a delicious green....there is no camera (well there probably is and it is well out of my price range) that could capture the greenness of that green.

The Shard by night

 

 

And the far prettier Gherkin

 

And Tower Bridge

These photos are not the best as I took them very quickly on my phone as my actual camera threw a strop and took exceedingly rubbish photos (if I am honest, my camera and I are not really speaking to each other now). I am quite clumsy so I was petrified that I would drop my phone in the river. So they were very quick snaps. But memories of a brilliant multi-transport day-adventure.

Number 19- Visit the house in Spaced

Spaced is one of my favourite tv programmes ever.

 

And here I am outside 23 Meteor Street !!! Apparently Tim/Daisy/Marsha and Brian do not actually live here but other people do so  JGS took a very quick sneaky photo. I am unsure as to why I have adopted some sort of 'emergency exits are here' type pose.


I forgot to mention- there are no photos of me in 'airline'cable car because I forgot to ask JGS to take one as I was otherwise occupied !


And then after The Ritz and before the second 'unexpected opportunity' of the day, JGS and I took a wander around London. And I saw this.........

 

 

A very bad photo as a bus was coming but this is the cocktail bar from here   such a shame...

Number 26 (part 6) an unexpected opportunity

JGS and I binned off work for the day when we went for 'Afternoon tea at The Ritz' and ticked another thing off the list (more later) and also took in two unexpected opportunities. This post involves the first of those opportunities.
One of my favourite things about London is the transport system. I love the Docklands Light Railway and when JGS and I were at university we did spend a lot of time pootling to Greenwich and back. Anyway I digress... We went to Stratford to check out our Olympic Park......

 

In the distance, behind the security gates is Olympic Park. Apparently there is a viewing platform in John Lewis but we couldn't go and look because I needed to buy anything from Liberty. I bought a pencil.

 

So, after Olympic disappointment we made our way to the first 'unexpected opportunity'......

 

 

I was so excited !!!!!!!! The cable car!!!!!!!! Although once we were in and it started to move off it appeared that my excitement stayed on the platform....
Oooohhh it is so high...........(note to self keep breathing..)

 

There were other people in the cable car, including a 11(ish) old boy. JGS must have thanked his lucky stars for these people because at this point.....

Which is quite high...... the cable car stopped. Stopped moving. The cable car just stopped. Well it stopped moving forward- it was still swaying (gently) from side to side. My mind went into overdrive and I was wondering how we were going to be rescued. In all honestly, I kept it together because  the 11 year old boy probably didn't have a list off  '11 things' he wanted to do this year and if he did ' being trapped really high in the sky in a swaying cable car that has stopped moving forward with a 40 year old woman yelling 'OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD' interspersed with 'WEAREGOINGTOFALLTOOURDEATHWEAREGOINGTOFALLTOOURDEATH' was in all likelihood was not on that list. And if it was mate- I am really sorry I couldn't get that one crossed off for you.

Anyway- after seconds of holding onto my hysteria really well, an announcement was made about how the 'airline' has to stop occasionally to let people on/off and a woman in the carriage laughed and said how this always happens. I did make a mental not to get in a cable car with her again in case it was her that made it happen. Even though it felt like hours after a few seconds we started to move forward again.

 

 

And I could concentrate on the view. Which was spectacular. This was looking back towards the Thames Barrier (can you see it in the distance? You might have to squint).

I did enjoy it but I was glad we only went one way. And when we got off at Greenwich I wasn't sure if I would do it again. Which I have been informed could get in the way if JGS and I ever went skiing.......

I think it was the fact there was noting underneath the cable car that freaked me out. Not the height itself but the fact that when you looked down there was nothing underneath you. But river (and it looked very blue).

But now, after writing this up I think I would love to go on it again.

 

 

 



Number 1- Afternoon tea at The Ritz

Ohhhh more sandwiches? With the crusts cut off?And delicious fillings? And endless amounts of tea?? And cake???? Why, kind sir, don't mind if I do !!!!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Thinking back, afternoon tea at The Ritz was the reason I started the list. I thought it was something I would have to make an effort to do so why not find 39 other things as well.....

Afternoon tea at The Ritz was a birthday present from JGS's parents. And it was lovely.

 

Look- here is it ! JGS and I were booked in for 3.15 and as a result were ravenous. Hence the realisation halfway through the sandwiches that I hadn't taken a photo! How un-chic.

 

 

 

And then a waiter appeared to my left apologising profusely for the delay in the vegetarian sandwiches.......Oh my. We ended up having more sandwiches between two of us that the table of four did next to us! We weren't complaining.

 

 

 

The cakes on the top plate were a vanilla slice, two raspberry and cream tarts, a macaroon and this little chocolate ganache beauty.

We shared the vanilla slice and the ganache- mostly because the option of playing 'scissors, paper, stone' for the cakes would have lowered the tone.

It was so lovely- the pianist was playing and everything was so elegant. The place was full and we had really good seats for people watching.

Thank you JGS parentals. Such a thoughtful birthday gift and I loved it ! xx

 

 

 

Number 11- make a roman blind

The windows are funny in this house. The bedroom windows are dormer windows so there is not much room for curtains and the curtains we used to have let a lot of light in as they didn't sit flush with the sides of the window. So we took them down as I said I would make a blind for the window. And for the next three years we had a flexipole inside the actual window space ( I am unsure of the actual technical name so please use imagination) and I hemmed a piece of blackout blind and hung that from the pole. I made two little straps to hold the 'blind' up during daytime. I can confirm the whole caboodle was more makeshift  camp than shabby chic.

In 2010 I bought some lovely material from Ikea for this hallowed roman blind. And the material stayed in the bag for about 6 months. I think my problem is that I do not really like practising anything. I just like to 'do' (I admit it- I am impatient.) and I also lack faith in myself. Which is a terrible vicious circle and tends to go something like this.....

'oh I could start that roman blind... but it is for the bedroom and I don't want to mess it up... I don't think I can do it.. I could have a dummy run... but then I am left with a roman blind that I don't need... why don't I think about it and have a cup of tea.' 
Repeat to fade.

Anyway- one day late last year ( I think possibly the timescales for this might be slightly out of the remit of this list- but hey-ho) I decided to do it. Just do it. I had at least 3 patterns telling me how to make a roman blind so I utilised all three and got in a right mess. In the end I made an SOS call to the sewing (and knitting) support that is JGS's mum and she guided me through and helped me a lot (Muchas gracias)..... And the finished product does look lovely.  In hindsight (and I am going to have to make another one as the makeshift camp blind has been recycled and is now downstairs in the dining room as I took the curtains down to decorate and declared I would make another blind and bought the material) I think I would just cut the material to the desired fit and sew the tape/insert rods/hang. All the fuss about 'cutting the lining to form a tube' tipped me over the edge.

So.... I finished the blind........ did I go home and put it straight up? No, because in the (very long) meantime between thinking/doing/finishing blind JGS had knocked out a portion of the bedroom (on purpose- not in a fit of fury) which subsequently needed plastering and I got all precious about the blind and I quote 'do not want it covered in plaster dust after it took me so long to make' So it stayed rolled up in the corner and we continued as we were with our makeshift camp window dressing system. Until a couple of weeks ago when I decided 'enough was enough' ( and the plastering had been done) and I demanded JGS fetch his drill and help me put this masterpiece up........

I think it looks lovely and I am really proud of it- although the photos are not that great (difficult angle) and I can report that since the blind has been up it has got comfortable- in that the drop has 'dropped' and the whole thing sits much better.

Anyway- I intend to make another one in the (very near) future so watch this space.... In the meantime here are some gratuitous 'up and down' roman blind shots...