Well it’s been a hunkering-down-for-winter sort of weekend. Saturday was Bonfire Night, of course*:-
(*For the benefit of non-UK readers, this is when we commemorate the attempt in 1605 by an enterprising but treasonous chap called Guy Fawkes and several of his bezzies to blow up the Houses Of Parliament using barrel-loads of gunpowder. The plot was foiled, and poor Guy Fawkes got a proper telling-off (and executed). We mark this occasion annually by lighting fireworks and by setting fire to stuff, including effigies of Fawkes himself, although given that he lived in those dark ages that pre-dated Facebook, most of us aren’t quite certain what he looked like. He is generally assumed to have sported some impressive millinery: don’t pretend that you wouldn’t want a hat like this:-)
We took the twinnage to the village fireworks display, wearing all of our knitwear at once. (Let me tell you that the ‘Thermal‘ jumper is very warm, what with all that air-trapping waffle stitch that took eleventy million hours to knit.)
Wow! Fireworks! Some of them look almost floral in these shots, a bit like Dan Bennett’s fabulously stylized flora paintings that I’ve mentioned before.
The weekend continued with the twinnage helping the Stoic Spouse make the Christmas cake, whilst I scurried off to Oxford for a haircut. (It’s been nearly two years since the last one: I am deeply un-fond of haircuts, so I was slightly sulking at this colossal waste of time.) What on earth could I do to pass the time on the bus to Oxford? Oh hang on, I know:-
I arrived stupidly early, so went for a wander around Christ Church Meadow, cos there’s nothing like a spot of hypothermia to kick-start your weekend. All was pretty, as is its wont:-
I made a friend:-
These days I don’t go into the centre of Oxford much, but the place feels like a kind of lodestone because so much of my adult life has happened there: studying, working, more studying, parties, relationships, first flat, meeting the Stoic Spouse. There isn’t a street or a pub or a view that doesn’t have some kind of memory attached. In autumn especially, it’s easy to feel nostalgic for student days, which is a bit stupid because I don’t especially want to go back to being a cash-strapped socially-awkward 18-year-old with terrible dress-sense, who wouldn’t say boo to a goose. (I still wouldn’t say boo to a goose: geese are mean. But these days, I would say boo to a person.) So on this occasion, after being relieved of most of my hair, I wasn’t too regretful to leave Oxford and head back to my 43-year-old life in the village.
By the time I got home to the brewery, it was mightily chilly, so we were glad to see the log-man arrive to deliver this lot. The twinnage helped me to stack it:-
…Which naturally led on to this:-
…and more knitting, of course, but you’d probably already guessed that.
Not a bad weekend, in all. How was yours?
Sounds like a wonderful weekend, but don’t we get to see your new “do”? Love the knitting, it is so pretty.
Hmm, maybe at some point… 🙂
Sounds like a wonderful weekend !
I am trying to grow my hair too. I go to the hairdressers about every three months, but I don’t hate to go 😉 I love the knitting. Have a great day !
Hair only seems to grow fast when you want to keep it shorter. So you need to convince your hair that you DON’T want it to grow. Good luck…
Let’s see the new haircut. I too dislike going to the hairdresser – now that I’m working and feel I need to look more presentable, I do have a trim every few months, but I never feel 100% comfortable in the chair.
I love the idea of visiting Oxford, and York, and some of the other old English cities. One day…
Now that the long dark evenings are here, I’m enjoying pjs and crocheted blankets. I think autumn is my favourite season.
Oh OK, I’ll try and post a snap at some point. Interesting to see how many people are saying they don’t like going under the scissors either!
Yes you must come to Oxford/York/Cambridge and all these lovely old cities.
And I so agree about staying warm indoors and hooking/knitting on chilly autumn days.
A visit to the hairdressers sends me into a panic. Three years was the longest I managed without going and I only caved because it was my wedding. Take comfort in your well stocked log store. X
And I thought I was the only person who felt like that! Think of all the money we save, though!
Love your new friend and I’m sure we all love your hair too as it really suits you 😉
Thank you. (My hair is an unruly bush that won’t be tamed.)
We hauled fridges, logs, sticks, soil, plants, wine etc. and combined them all to make a most satisfactory weekend indeed. Saturday and Sunday were almost deliciously springy but then Monday (public holiday of COURSE) was rainy all day and spent tucked up indoors madly attempting to work out the many and varied ways that you can test a website to see if it actually works and does what it says it will do. 2 more weeks till websites are over and done with and I suddenly start to think of all things “Film Noire” and scripty. Let me know if you have any ideas for a short drama or short documentary film. I have to produce both next year. I had a great idea of making a stop motion short film with some interesting creations that fell off the end of my hook but my next year lecturer said “that’s diploma stuff narf7. Get thyself back into thy drama and thy documentary and don’t get ahead of thyself…” (he is older than me so thus he was most probably born the century prior to mine and needs the appropriate vernacular…) which scuttled me and put me back in my place but has me no wiser for what I am going to come up with next year. Might be a sort of a “Hammy Hamster on the River” type thing except sub “Earl-the-wonder-dog” for Hammy the Hamster and turn it into a horror film and that’s kind of the lien I am looking at.
OK, you put me to shame (as always). I get smug planting a little bean plant outside whilst you single-handedly redevelop a few acres and harvest six tonnes of fruit.
Glad the end is in sight, re the course. Ideas for film short or documentary, you say? Hmmm…. Is it allowed to include yarn?
It can include as much yarn as I can weave through the plot line (did you see what I did there? 😉 ) so long as it’s in documentary or drama format. I wanted to make a stop animation short film using critters that I had made myself. I guess so long as it was a drama or a documentary I might get away with it ;). The course is OVER. I passed first go (whew) and I am now fully focussed on the garden. As I typed that it just started to rain heavily on the roof. It would seem that nature has other ideas for me/us today. Might make a start on those hooky critters for my film 😉
Sounds like a perfect weekend minus the hair cut…i hate getting my hair done, but then I struggle to put it in a pony tail, not good when you consider my sister in law is an awesome hairdresser. That is one cute friend you made though so maybe the hair torture was worth it after all x
Interesting that so many people are saying they hate haircuts too! And yes, that was one cute duck. :-)?
We loved Oxford when we visited on our “Grand European Tour” some 11 years ago (still get excited watching “Morse” or “Lewis” when I see places we visited). Oh to have lived there! Remember the adage; there’s only two weeks between a good haircut and a bad one…….or so they say.
Ha ha, love it! I’d never heard that adage before. 🙂
My lovely daughter studied in Oxford and now lives and works there, so I always enjoy visiting. Sounds a nice weekend (excluding the hair cut).
Your daughter lives in a very special city. Hope she loves it there.
Nice photos! Looking all wonderful ♥
Thank you – you’re very kind. 🙂
Ha! I thought I was the only woman to hate going to the hairdresser’s, nice to know there are others out there. I’m actually getting quite good at trimming my own which means I don’t have to go so often now.
But isn’t it difficult, cutting your own? How do you do the back? This is a skill that I NEED in my life…