Lookee. lookee ....

So tomorrow sees the start of Advent, which is a time of year that I sort of love, except for the bits where I get stressed out about how fast Christmas is approaching, and there is always of course the Pre-Christmas meltdown to get past. Advent is going to be a very busy time for me this year as I try to complete the revision of my thesis at the same time as organise Christmas, and go away for three days as well.  However I am going to try and be mindful and centred and efficient-but-relaxed for the next twenty five days. I've made a start by getting all but six of the cards off already. And that is early, even for me!  

Possibly I'll be hugely helped by this, a (not so ) little something the OH bought me when we were last in Glasgow.

What is it, do I hear you cry? Well it is an advent calendar from Arran Aromatics 

That's what it looks like once the ribbon is off.. I'm looking forward to opening up the first little box tomorrow to see what it conceals. And gosh! doesn't this make finding a topic for the blog very easy from the 1st -24th December? Although we might find a few more things of interest to comment on as we wend our way  hurtle onwards to Christmas. 

If you want to know where I am ....

and yes you can sing that title to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's 'If you want to know who we are'.

Anyway, if you do want to know where I am, I am down the rabbit hole that is known as writing a thesis Literature Review, a long and tedious task which involves you in writing about everything you read in preparation for writing and pointing out where everybody else who has every written about the topic got it wrong whereas you yourself have got it totally right. 

I am not good at shouting about how much better my ideas are than anyone else's at the best of times and the best of times believe me, is not when comitting the thought to paper for posterity. Not that anyone in posterity is likely to look at this, but even so, the thought that someone might freaks me out ever so slightly. 

Anyway it is done, but there are fiddly bits to do tomorrow like check  it's in compliance with the  relevant style guide and has all the right references. Referencing is my weakness as long term readers will know. However needs must and I shall do my best. I suspect this will take most of tomorrow, after which I will come up for air,  aka knocking off a few chores before I dive back down the rabbit hole on Tuesday to write an appendix comparing and contrastng schizophrenia, bi-polar one and bi-polar two. I might also have time to blog about the local tree lighting. Because yes, we went. 

Baking Subscription November - and New Thing No 5 for 2018

Chocolate cheesecake brownies. And the new thing was, honestly, making brownies, which I've never done before. The reason I haven't done it before is because really, we just don't like them very much and that's also the reason why these leave me a bit cold. The chocolate on the top is fine, the baked cheesecake layer is lovely, but the bottom layer of brownie just lacks that indefinable something that brownies lack. Would be nicer with a layer of proper chocolate cake.

I'm obviously not going to make my goal of ten new things in 2018, but I'm going to forgive myself because for a lot of the year I couldn't really see properly which rather hampered efforts to get stuff done. Better luck next year, eh? 

We Had A Visitor

Personally I think people are mad to visit Orkney in November because chances are you will be stuck indoors while outside it blows a gale and chucks it down, but in fact the weather was good so we crammed  quite a lot into the 3/4 days she was here.

First up we did a bit of a jewellery day, walking along the road to Fluke in the morning. Later on we re-visited Sheila Fleet, including the now no longer so new café. I had a blueberry and cinnamon scone, which the cashier did not, as she previously had when I was forced to have an apple and cinnamon one, describe as 'odd' when it was paid for, which is progress. The OH had of course declared he would never set foot in the place again, but given that the visitor wanted to see it, he was as putty in her hands. I took a few more photos of some of the beautiful details in the building

The next day we re-visited the alpaca place that the OH and I went to in October; they had their festive shop open and we spent a fair bit of money there. All in a good cause, mostly things for other people. Our visitor really loved it there.  And she picked up Ty the goat, although I don't have the photographic evidence of that. 

The next day we spent over on West Mainland visiting craft shops (witness the hat) and also went, for the first time but probably not the last, to the workshop of Alison Moore, where I splashed out on a pair of moonstone ear-rings which will go with the multi-stone pendant the OH ordered for me. It was very difficult to choose a favourite; a re-visit may well be on the cards. Although as we have just sent off the figures to the accountant, that may well depend on how much the taxman wants off us in January. 

On her last day we spent the morning beachcombing, as she does crafty stuff with shells. You honestly would not think, would you, that this is the northern isles in mid-November. But it was. 

And we finished off with a trip to the Orkney Gin Distillery, home of Kirkjuvagr gin. Unlike the visitor, we're not keen on gin and on the rare occasion I want to drink a spirit it's a decent malt, or a vodka, so we hadn't previously bothered to go to the Kirkjuvagr visitor centre or do the tour. However it was hugely enjoyable and we're really pleased we went. It's a very small operation but seems to be doing well which is always good news about start ups in small economies. You were encouraged to take pictures so

the company logo, based on an old Icelandic 'compass'

their four current gins

a rather lovely individual copper still - the ones they use to make the gin are actually slightly larger than this! 

and our tasting glasses when we were finished with them. 

If you like gin, Kirkjuvagr I thought was quite nice. Archangel is the same flavour but much much stronger. They had one called Harpa which was their 'Summer' version, which the OH and I both thought tasted like bathroom cleaner (not, I hasten to add, that we have ever eaten any form of bathroom cleaner but it tasted like  what you would expect bathroom cleaning chemicals to taste like judging from the smell.) And finally there was the  soon to be released Winter/Christmas one, which is called Aurora. This was the OH's favourite but for me had too much clove in it. 

Visitor left on the midnight ferry on Friday night and I spent most of yesterday in my pyjamas and dressing gown recovering!  Today is a day for chores and catching up, because this coming week I have a lecture to deliver (already written) and a Ph D Literature Review to submit (which unhappily is not). Although to be fair I have an old version of the Lit Review which just needs expanding and I know what I'm going to add. But I  know form bitter experience that having something half done and knowing what else you're going to say doesn't necessarily make for a quick writing experience! 

I Bought a Hat

I'm not going to say 'isn't it gorgeous?' because I suspect that one woman's hat meat is another woman's hat poison but I love it, which presumably is why I bought it despite the fact that I very rarely wear hats and when I do it is mostly to keep off the weather. This is more likely to take wing in the wind that protect me from it so it will be reserved for calm days, as well as general looking-at-and-marvelling-that-I-am-a-proper-hat owner. 

But like my hair cur it is very Phryne Fisher , of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries fame. It's  shame I don't suit the shape of 1920s dresses, but the hair and the hats I can do! 

Embra Days

The OH set off back to Orkney the day after Edgar, but I stayed on in the Central Belt, hauling myself over to Edinburgh for three days in a row. This was largely so that I could once again expose myself to the horror that is researching in the National Library. I think, and devoutly hope, this was my last foray there before completing my Ph D. Fingers crossed, eh? 

True to form there was a problem. I got up to the Special Collections Reading Room, presented my ticket for admittance, and promptly got knocked back by the machine which controls entry. 'I'm sorry' said the Guardian of the Gate, 'I can't let you in. Your ticket has expired'. 'Expired' I said, 'how can it have expired,  it doesn't have a date on it.' No' he said 'but it has expired, you can renew it downstairs at the Registration Desk.' 

Down at the Registration Desk a young man told me that 'I should have had an e-mail about the ticket expiring.' Which is possibly true but, you know, not helpful. He then asked if I had any form of ID on me, to which the answer was no because I hadn't expected to have to produce any. So he asked me for my post code, which luckily I know, and for my e-mail address, which was slightly more problematic because when he asked for it I sad 'Oh gosh I have four, I wonder which one I registered here' and he said helpfully 'well it's the BT one'. So I wonder quite how secure the security questions are, but anyway, the ticket got renewed and I went back upstairs.

The research went relatively well; I knew what I was looking for and found it, so that was good. What wasn't so good was the pop up exhibition of early Gaelic texts which I had been delighted to see before I left Orkney was scheduled for my first day in the National Library. When I arrived I saw that it was only open from 11.00 until 3.00 which seemed odd, but doable. Sadly when I came down at just after two for some refreshment and a visit to the exhibition it was to find two technician types looking balefully at the door to the exhibition hall and a notice on said door, denying access due to 'technical difficulties'. 

So there you go, I am obviously destined never to see The Book of the Dean of Lismore in real life. But it could have been worse. 

The third day my trip to Edinburgh was for a whole nicer reason as I was meeting up with two friends and we were of to the National Museum to look at an exhibition of Scottish Samplers. This was really just a hook to hang lunch, coffee and a good long chin wag on, but we had a good time. The samplers were interesting and so was the food (I will say that the National Museums/Galleries in Edinburgh have their catering well sorted) and a good time was had by all. I was supposed to go back to the National Library the next day but I had developed a nasty limp and a sore spot on my right foot so I stayed indoors in  Glasgow instead and rested it. Didn't want it to give up when I moved on to Leeds the next day ...

Once again - the blog paradox ....

... lots of time, noting to write about, no time, lots to write about. I'm very busy. But if I don't blog soon about the opera we saw down in Glasgow at the end of October I'll have forgotten all about it.

First up was Rigoletto. It's years since we saw Rigoletto and I had forgotten how beautiful the music is. But it really is, and it was well sung and well played in this production, which is a revival of one SO did a few years ago but which we obviously didn't see. What I liked about it was that it pulled no punches about what a man's world this court at Mantua was; women were literally sexual playthings and Gilda's treatment at the hands of the Duke was very obviously a rape and not a gentle seduction. When I say liked, I probably mean admired; it's easy to dress this opera up as a doomed love story, but unless you're talking about the love of a father and daughter for each other, then it's definitely not. I was sorry to hear the OH and Son No 2 laughing in places where, although what was happening on stage was designed to elicit a laugh from the male members of the audience, no husband or son of a feminist should have been laughing.

Here's a production photo of the Duke and Rigoletto

 

The following afternoon we went to see a concert version of Puccini's second opera, Edgar. This is 'rarely performed' and despite previous strictures here about 'rarely performed' being 'rarely performed for a reason', in this case I think it grows from Puccini's own comments (reportedly he  didn't think it was very good), ignorance (Self fulfilling prophecy, rarely performed, not known, no-one thinks to perform it because they don't know it) and staging problems (yes, the hero does burn down his father's house at the end of part one.) That said, if you ever get a chance to see it performed, stand not upon the order of your going,  just go. The music is fabulous and although the plot is a bit garbled, lots of operas have fairly garbled plots and this is no worse then many. Singing and playing were once again fabulous. It's invidious to single people out so I won't, except to say that I hope a certain Mr David Stout turns up on a Scottish Opera stage again in the not too distant future. He wasn't the best singer of the afternoon, although it was a case of wafer thin gradations between all the principals, but he started ahead of the pack for me by being a baritone. 

It was a wonderful start to my week away. 

Yes, I've been away. But never mind that - here's some knitting.

The being away was for ten days, give or take, and most of it was really enjoyable, or useful or both. No doubt I will stretch out the relevant tales over several blog entries over the next few days.  Meanwhile, in keeping with my determination to keep the knitting aspect of the blog up to date, here are some recently finished projects. Many of them are Christmas presents but I reckon I'm safe since neither of my boys, or my daughter-in-law,  actually read my blog. 

I started this jumper and hat set for younger grandson way back in the spring, then put it to one side when my eyes couldn't cope with reading the pattern. Recently finished and I am very happy with how it turned out. 

As always I have an 'if I were doing it again...' because I was brought up never to be happy with anything I did, and if I were doing it again I would put some red on the hat, but you know, I'm not doing it again, and a three year old isn't going to write me a  thank you letter saying 'I wish you'd done the ribbing on the hat in red' So I'm not going to stress. 

Then there are the Christmas present socks

These are for son number two who, like his father, likes bright socks.

These actually are mine, and not for Christmas, which is as well considering how much I have worn them since I finished them.

These are Christmas socks and are for Son No 1, who like me, prefers his socks to be on the conservative side, colour wise. 

I haven't yet posted about our experience of the annual archaeological extravaganza that is Brochtoberfest here in Orkney. I will, but meanwhile it is worth noting that if there was one thing that it taught me, it was the value of a warm, close fitting hat. I didn't have one, but never let it be said that I don't take lessons on board. Not long after I got home and started to warm up, I cast on this. It's basic, it was a quick knit, the yarn was in my stash and how I wish I had cast it on in the days before Brochtoberfest and not afterwards. And yes, I am going to do a matching set of fingerless mittens. Just not yet. 

That's it for knitting for now except for a shocking story. I was on the train from Leeds to Edinburgh yesterday afternoon. Happily I was not sitting on the sunny side of the carriage, although the lady  opposite was, naturally. As a result she was having problems seeing her Kindle and so she pulled down the anti-glare blind. Immediately the woman behind her squeaked 'I need the light'. Then she stood up, lowered over the reader (she was a big woman) and said 'I'm knitting. I need the light. You've pulled the blind down. I need you to put it back up'. Which the startled reader did; after which she had to curl her left hand round her Kindle in order to see the screen. Since the blind really does just reduce glare without cutting down the amount of light, I was annoyed and embarrassed that a fellow knitter should make such an unnecessary and really rather selfish fuss. I always think that knitters are all nice people, although I don't know why I think this, because experience has taught me that although probably about 98% are, there is always the stray 2%, and sooner or later you're going to meet one. 

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