Saturday 26 April 2008

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?

8 comments:

Heather L. said...

It was so lovely to see your post this morning! Wow, what a nice truck! I must say, it looks very American! (i guess I just rarely saw vehicles like that when we were over). I hope you have many wonderful trips with the truck and the camper!
Your scarf is beautiful! and I loved that last picture! I can't wait to see pictures from your adventures this summer!

Auntie Noo said...

The Van is AWESOME!!!!!!! what a perfect compromise.

Ju said...

Great to see your truck, hope to see it in real life in Alnmouth later in the year? finally got pics on to ravelry thanks to your help.

Kelly H. said...

Beautiful car, shawl, and pictures, Sue! Like you, I couldn't do without the Harrogate Nutty Knitters...is it Wednesday yet? :)

Linda said...

Beautiful shawl and fab truck. So practical and it looks good too!

Kath said...

Nifty Van - good to have the flexibility! Love the £1 scarf, great colours which look lovely on the dog! Good to hear about your knitting/Rav group. It is good to be with like minded folk like that to encourage you and I wish you luck with your lace shawl as well!

Joanne said...

Congratulations to you on the new vehicle! Use it in good health! Your dog is such a patient model...we really lack that patience around here. Thanks, as always, for your lovely comments on my blog--sorry to hear you won't be "driving by" that festival I'm teaching at in May, but I guess it's entirely understandable!

florencemary said...

Phew, the van is quite something, eh? Very, very useful.

Love the melon scarf in that colour (Moss is such a natural model!) and hope Luna Moth starts to behave! I just might have to knit another one soon...