She loved knitting in the rain

To say I am stressed at the moment is an understatement, buyers threatening to pull out etc.......  I had booked this week off as I thought we would be moving, silly me, but decided to take it off anyway as I am emotionally and physically drained.  In-between packing yet more boxes and chasing our elusive solicitor I have tried to give myself some TLC.

Heres a few photos from my week, taken on my phone as I have lost the leads for my camera grrrrr

In the first part of the week the weather was so humid I found it too hot to sit in the garden.  After the bearded one got home from work we headed down to the beach in the evening air to paddle in the sea, perfect for de-stressing and cooling down women 'of a certain age'.

I have packed all the books away so had to buy myself one to read.....um o.k. any excuse to buy a new book.  The police on the Isles of Scilly have a Facebook page, the posts by Colin are hilarious and have a huge following.  He is about to leave the islands and has written a book about his time there, the local characters and the resident police cat.   I chuckled out loud as I sat in the park reading, drawing some stares from the people on the next bench :)

I have also started some therapeutic knitting,  drinking Earl Grey tea and knitting in the garden is my favourite pastime at the moment, especially if it is raining,  I can be seen cooling off under the parasol knitting away.  The neighbours already think me a bit strange....

On another drizzly day I packed lunch for myself and headed to the park in the city.  In between showers I strolled around the gardens before being mobbed by the local bird gang who were after my sandwiches. I'm not sure they would have bothered if they knew they were made with gluten free bread.  The gardeners in the city parks do an amazing job, I hope they can continue with all the budget cuts forced onto the local council.   I particularly like the wildflower area, absolutely beautiful.


Perfect excuse to use the Pano on my phone.

The rare Egg Box Bees could be seen lurking among the flowers

 and finally as I walked along the path by the river I came across these lovely memorials to loved ones.  I hope I am remembered for more than stressing herself out trying to buy a 'nice house'. She loved knitting in the rain perhaps.

'she loved her bingo' wonderful :)

Have a good weekend everyone,

Chickpea xx

It's all gone tits up

Sorry for such a long absence, I have been lying in a dark room surrounded by boxes feeling sorry for myself.  Ridiculous really with all thats going on in the world.  So many lost lives, so much heartbreak.  Anyway, long story short, the new house we are buying has planning issues that until they are sorted we can't proceed.  Our buyers are putting huge pressure on us to move, helpfully suggesting we put our stuff in storage and find temporary accommodation at short notice.....really easy in Cornwall at this time of year with a cat in tow.  I've cried, I've ranted, I've had sleepless nights waking up in a panic, wondering where the hell we are going to end up. I hate depending on solicitors to sort things out.  I hate not having a plan of action as we really don't know time scales on sorting it out.   I could go on and on but I won't or I end up crying.....again.  We have done everything we can possibly do, it is out of our hands now we just have to let the solicitors sort out the legal side of it.

Talking of boxes, it is surprising how much 'stuff' you don't really need.  With the majority of our possessions in boxes we have been living a very minimal existence.  I had packed two huge suitcases of clothes that don't fit or rarely get worn to take with us and then thought why keep it all?  So off the the charity shop they went.  It is a bit like being on holiday, we spent three weeks travelling around Australia a few years ago, living out of suitcases and didn't miss any of our possessions.  I look at all of the boxes and can't believe how much 'stuff' we have collected over the years let along how much money was spent on them.  Once we get to wherever we end up I will be opening every box and asking myself, do I need it or does it bring me pleasure, if the answer is no then it will have to go.  I have to confess that I have bought some wool and needles.  I had packed everything thinking it would be only for a couple of weeks but find myself in need of something calming to do so I am making a shawl. It is a very simple garter stitch, I think my frazzled mind can cope with that.   I will share my progress when I can.

Louise Bourgeois says 'Art is a guaranty of sanity', so I took myself off to see an amazing tapestry by the wonderful Grayson Perry.    It certainly lightened my mood for a little while.  It is from The Vanity of Small Differences  I have shared some photos, but you really need to see it catch the many little details that make it so witty and wonderful.

Chickpea xx