Every picture tells a story!

Is this the picture of our 'mid-life crisis'? We are now the proud owners of a Toyota Hilux Double Cab Truck! The Land Rover has gone, so has the caravan. Both with a touch of sadness because they represent many very happy memories of family trips. We have had the caravan since C. was 2 but it had languished unused in the workshop for a few years now as we have preferred the flexibility & freedom of a tent + cottage for our trips to the Western Isles & weekends away got lost in a sea of rugby & cricket matches. Why a double cab truck? 'Cos next month its getting a partner to allow Mr J & I (& dog) (& S&H if he ever wants to) the freedom of 'the open road'! One of these is on its way from the States as I type:

Its a Northstar demountable camper. It will give us the comfort of a caravan, with the off road & on road capability of a tough 4X4 truck. The camper can be 'demounted' & left on its legs for longer stays or left as a camper van for 'overnights'. Its on order from Niche Marketing in Lincolnshire where we paid a visit to last month. We were impressed by the American build quality & level of finish (our upholstery will not be pink as in the web site advert!). Needless to say, we are rather excited by the form that our 'crisis' is taking. We are seriously considering Orkney as our destination for this summers trip & hope to find some wild & exciting places to camp.

Enough of that. I haven't posted in a while. School is really busy & I didn't think I would have any FO's to post, however as you can see carefully draped on the truck back is my finished & blocked Melon scarf. It has been knitted with a £1 ball of sock wool, bought at the Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show! Here is Moss modelling the scarf before blocking & a closer picture of the finished scarf. The yarn is nothing special but the colours are great & it will make a good addition to my winter work wardrobe.

I have cast on a Luna Moth shawl in Malabrigo lace weight. This will probably be a gift for my Mum. It is beginning to grow. The yarn is lovely but without lifelines it wouldn't exist. For some reason (not concentrating maybe) I haven't found this pattern too easy(!) & have had to frog it several times but its beginning to click and it is enjoyable to knit! I haven't cursed the temptation that Clarabelle put in my way too much!

Hope that the spring 'view' of 'On the Hill' meets with approval. It still continues to snow in the alps ('snow alerts' land in my email & yet most of the resorts are no longer running the lifts or preparing the pistes!).

Something to look forward to this week is another meeting of the Ravelry 'At Home in Harrogate' group. This group in particular (& Ravelry in general) have really made a difference to my life I guess. I now have friends NOT connected with work/child/husband that share a deep passion. They are all supportive, funny, intelligent, caring women & I really thank my lucky stars I plucked up courage to respond to the first invite to join a Harrogate Knitting Group (Thanks Anne & Sue! -& thanks to Kelly for creating 'At Home in Harrogate').

Grinton Mill, Swaledale

Earlier this week we had a great afternoon out in Swaledale creating scenes & taking photos for son & heirs A level Graphics Control test. The word he has selected to work with is 'Echos'. This has developed (possibly) into 'Echos of the Past' & his work will be based around promoting a film of that (or something similar) title. One of the possible locations (there will be more needed) was Swaledale (northern Yorkshire Dales) with its history of Lead Mining. We all (dog included) had fun up at Grinton Mill & the Old Gang Mines, equipped with lamps, ropes, helmets, candles & cameras!Waiting for C. to emerge from the tunnel!

These are just a couple of my snaps taken as a record of the day. Maybe S&H will let me print the finished product after the exams!

This is the tunnel that led to the chimney on the moor top.

What's the story?