how short can I go?

I'm thinking of getting my hair cut short. At the moment it's like this:

From the front I look like this. How short can I go? This is my most recent cut, but the longer ends at the front really don't work with how I live.

two steps forward........

Anyone who reads this who knows me, also knows that I have spent many years struggling with crippling anxiety. This anxiety does many weird and wonderful things for me and as a result I haven't had a proper holiday, ever, as an adult. In a way this is normal for me, but I should think anyone reading this might find that really odd.

With the help of a good therapist and a lot of hard work, I am much, much better. So, this week we booked a week away in a holiday cottage in the south west. After 4 hours of driving, many country lanes and finding the cottage rather smaller than we expected, we came home. This has happened before, but because I've been too anxious to stay. This was different - neither of us wanted to be there. It was small and pokey and near nothing, despite what it looked like on the map.

One step back?

Well. I've realised that my healing has led me to a love of 4 star hotels. Quite frankly I am done with holiday cottages. When I go away I don't want to make myself breakfast, or do the washing up. I want to be spoiled and pampered and have some one make my bed. So, we have booked ourselves into a four star hotel in the slightly closer south west and are heading off again tomorrow. This place has a pool and a gym and a decent restaurant.

Definitely two steps forward.

On the subject of knitting - mum is helping me finish sis's birthday present and I have a pair of socks to take away with me. 

The garden is looking like a garden - yay!!!

The cats are getting used to us letting them in the front door at night. If we're not here, will they hide in the porch or remember they have a cat flap they are perfectly capable of using??? we shall see.....

stubbornness

I'm going away next week so I have been trying to wean the cats off me and MrHB. This involves actions such as not showing them the food every time they meeow at me, not letting them in every time they sit at the front window and look sad. 

I don't think it's working. I'm a stubborn woman, but the cats are beating me. Eddie is asleep on the window sill and Kiki is just, well, looking.

Is it possible that they will stay out all night and not find the food bowls unless we're around to show them????

I just did one of those Facebook '5' lists. What would you do if you won millions on the lottery. I realised my life might have what others consider to be a narrow focus. 

1 - mortgage

2 - yarn

3 - yarn shop

4 - alpacas. Would have been llamas too, but the only photos were of llamas shagging

5 - a full domestic service so I would never have to do cleaning ever again and that would bring me tea in the morning.

Maybe I should branch out into needlework 

Anomoly

The birthdays were good. As always I get to the end of the round of celebrations and need a bit of a quiet time to recover. The Easter weekend has been well times this year to coincide with sleep time, so i spent it sleeping and resting up.

I also spent it re-knitting the front of sis's birthday cardigan because the stupid flipping pattern has an error in it that I was going too fast to pick up! I'm cross at myself for not noticing and am left wondering once again whether the test knitter actually read the pattern or just made it up, because the photo on the front looks not much like what I'm doing. Grrrrrr........

So fast forward to this week and I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday to take out a lipoma in my back. A lipoma is apparently a small collection of fat cells that gather under the skin. Very straightforward to remove, allegedly. I know at least 3 people who have had this done. So I was expecting the cauterisation (enter imagined smell of burned flesh here), I was expecting it to sound unpleasant, I was expecting the tugging sensation. What I was not expecting was that I would bleed and bleed and bleed. That the doctor would have to keep cauterising and keep putting all of his body weight onto the wound to stop it bleeding. Eventually after about 40 minutes and a huge pile of swabs had formed, he stopped the bleeding and put the dressing on. 

Apparently I had an anomolous lipoma. One that had fibres in it. I've googled and it's OK, they do exist but are rare. So today I'm taking the day off work to get over the blood loss and general tiredness.

If I get one of these again, I swear, I'll live with it.

Where has the time gone?

It seems like ages since I wrote a proper post. I've been mired in work and going out to do birthday celebrations so haven't necessarily had the time to sit down and think about what I want to say.

But, I'm in the office and a little bored, so I thought instead of working I would write this.

Something that's been annoying me is that i don't seem to be able to save the font I use for this so every time I start I have to go and check which font I used the last time. I think that it's Georgia, but I could be wrong! Also, you may have noticed but I haven't got the hang of putting photos up yet.

Hmm, no it's not Georgia, I'm going to change it to Verdana.

What's going on in my life? Well, today I wanted to post because I am immensely excited that Obama is in London. I am a very political person. I care deeply what's happening in this country and always vote and vote seriously. But I never really understood the adoration that Americans in particular seem to feel for their presidents. After all, they're people who don't seem to understand what happens on the ground when they make decisions. I've always felt that about our Prime Ministers too. But Obama, he's different. He's bright and he seems to get it. Like he wakes up every morning and says "Right, don't fuck up today, what I do really matters". So he's here in London and I actually want to try and see him. Hero worshipping a president - whatever next?? He'd better not let me down.

Things are a bit slow in the knitting world. Sis is absolutely not going to get her birthday cardigan on time. I was sort of probably going to at least finish knitting it before the weekend, but baby C came and so I'm distracted by doing a new born cardi for her instead. I am knitting this one: http://www.sirdar.co.uk/designs/babiesDesigns/sweatersBabies/1830
Hmm, don't know how to edit the link there either. More homework!

The garden is taking up my thinking and my energy. I have planted out some sweet pea seedlings I raised from scratch and also some onion sets. I can't believe the pleasure I get from being there in the slight warmth. It's like I've come home. There is an essential peace that I get from gardening that I don't get from anything else I do, including knitting.

Aside from that, there is a birthday tomorrow - my very significant one! Mr HB has arranged something and I don't know what it is. I'm trying not to get too anxious about it and just trust him instead. I get ridiculously excited about birthdays. I love the fuss and the feeling special. It kind of makes up for really not enjoying Christmas at any level!

I'll try and post next week and let you all know what special treats I got.

Have a good week.

Hels

A new addiction

I just made my first origami. This could get seriously addictive.

Spring has Sprung

Today I received my first gift of the year from the cats. No, not a huge fur ball but a dead starling, thoughtfully left under the bathroom sink. No wonder Eddie was looking so very pleased with himself when I got home.

I actually squealed - like a girl! Not because I'm squeamish about picking up dead birds, because I'm not. But it was a surprise. Normally they leave them in the living room......