I am back

Yes I am back from my wanderings.

I got back to the island on Saturday after over 2 weeks away - my longest trip this millenium! It was a mixed trip. It started of as a bit of a rush, as I had to go over early because dad had caught pneumonia, and mum was beside herself with worry. So after a day of rushing around - changing bookings, ordering prescriptions and making sure Pepsi was looked after, I got away.

Fortunately, the antibiotics kicked in, and dad survived. It was touch and go, but he made it. That was a weight off mum's mind, but it also meant I could take my long planned trip to York. I stayed in a nice B&B which is coinvenient for the city, as it is only 3 minutes walk from Bootham Bar, one of the gates. York is confusing - its gates are called bars and its streets are called gates! I had a good time there, even though the last day was curtailed be snow falling and making the whole place cold and wet (I stayed in and read!)

From York, I went to spend the weekend with my sister and her family. That was the usual slice of chaos, not helped by the fact that they are in the middle of a lot of work on the house! But it was a good weekend.

Then back to mum's for a week. A lot of that time was spent helping ehr sort things out, which meant we did not get all our outings. But we got some of them. And I was able to spend some time with my friends over there on the 'other island'

One thing we did while I was there was go and see dad. He was lying in bed, not responding at all. If it had not been for the name on the door, it could have been a total stranger in there. It was horrible.

So that is my mixed trip away.

Read in a waiting room

A thousand candles can be lighted from a single candle, yet the life of the candle is not shortened. Happiness is never decreased by being shared.
Buddha

Basket case!

Yes it is official - I am a basket case!

I spent a very enjoyable Saturday recently learning how to make woven baskets. And believe me, it is not as easy as it looks!

There were 9 of us on the course, along with 2 instructors. It is a good thing there were not more, as the space required is quite considerable! As is the effort, with a lot of grunting going on as we pulled the willow into place. Indeed, if someone had been listening outside, they might have come to some very strange conclusions! And if they had come in, they would have found most of us on our knees, looking like some weird prayer meeting!

But the end result, while lacking a certain professionalism, is still in one piece. The big test is how it will survive drying out, as that will shrink and loosen the willow. I have planted some offcuts of willow to see if they will grow - the soil is wet but the temperatures have dropped, so we will see!

Oh - and here it is!