Keep Calm and Carry On

Busy busy busy, hence no posts lately.

Here's a little something in keeping with my state of mind lately...

I am getting 'old'

Remember Hayley Joel Osment?? The boy from Sixth Sense?

This kid?

He looks like this now...

I feel so very, very old right now.

Also, doesn't he look like Shaggy from Scooby Doo??

see more Celeb Look-A-Likes

The National Memorial Arboretum

Last weekend we went to my cousin's 40th in Derby. On the way back, we dropped in to the National Memorial Arboretum.

What a place. It completely blew me away. It's still a very new arboretum, but in years to come when the trees mature it will really be something else, with the hundreds of armed service memorials nestled away in little glades amongst the wood.

The highlight for me was the Armed Services Memorial Wall - a beautifully designed structure - inscribed with the name of every serviceman or servicewoman who has lost their life in service since the Second World War. It's an incredibly tactile thing - the names become more real to you because of the urge to run your fingers over them. The most touching part is a split in the wall, through which a shaft of sunlight falls every year on the eleventh hour of the eleventh month. It's a beautifully fitting memorial to those who've made the ultimate sacrifice for our protection.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this wonderful place, as rather stupidly I forgot my camera. There is a flickr group dedicated to the place though, and I would encourage you to visit and have a look at the pictures there.

Woo hoo!

I got my first essay back for my Open University degree course.

87%

I am *so* thrilled :)

This might just be the best decision I have ever made...

I Hate People Carriers...

I was nearly knocked of my bike this morning, by a man driving a people carrier.

I was overtaking a parked car, and because that was obviously a supreme waste of his precious time he overtook me, having to nip right in front of me to avoid oncoming traffic. He was so close to me, the breeze from his car made me wobble, and if I'd put my hand out just a little I would have been able to touch the side of his car.

I called him on it - by questioning his parentage and intelligence levels - and in his rear view mirror, he laughed. Apparently nearly knocking me off my bike on a fairly busy road was funny. How droll.

The best bit was that, naturally, there were children in the car.

Children. In. The. Car.

*sigh*

Finally - A Finished Knit!

For a knitting blog, there hasn't been a whole lot of knitting on here just lately... I've finally remedied that by finishing a very overdue WIP - my February Lady Cardigan.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this. If I knitted it again, I would make it longer in the body and shorter in the sleeves, but I don't have the patience or inclination to re-knit. I'm not really made that way. Bash it out, see what it looks like, that's me.

I wore it to work today and got lots of compliments, which was nice.

Pattern: February Lady Sweater

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Worsted

Needle: 5mm / US 8

Ravelry link

The hat, incidentally, is not a hand knit. I'm not sure where I got that from - I have a feeling a friend once left it behind after staying the night and it became absorbed into the rest of my winter clothes.

Autumn

We've been back a week now, and we're slowly getting back into the swing of things.

My Open University degree has started, which is both exhilarating and exhausting. I had forgotten just how much concentration it takes to learn. As a consequence, I've been very tired this week, but am already ahead in my studies.

I'm back on the bike again, which has been good for both body and mind. It surprised me how much I missed it whilst we were away.

This week it's really hit me how Autumnal everything has become.

The cygnets are growing up...

The leaves are falling...

The blackberries are ripening...

My commute is quieter now the tourists have gone...

The sea front improvements are continuing...

Looking at these pictures again (I took them all yesterday on the way home from work) it strikes me that I may just have the best commute in the world... I am thankful for that.