Saturday, December 31, 2016

Catdownunder, you must already be well into 2017. I hope you're enjoying it. I have high hopes. I think I prefer the odd-numbered years (perhaps because I was born in one). Except that there's no hope of winning the Calcutta Cup, because the match is played at Twickenham in odd-numbered years, and Scotland never win down there.

Rachel got a ticket for next year's match as a Christmas present. She is related to enough England supporters that she should be able to suppress her disappointment and have a grand day out for their sake.

But even that is just as well -- a Calcutta Cup win would mean a Calcutta Cup sweater right at the top of the to-do list, and the queue is long enough as it is.

Hellie and Matt came to see us this morning, on their way south after the Loch Fyne house party. She looks very well, and thinks the baby has quickened. She's about half-way through, so that's probably true. Medically, not a significant moment any more, if it ever was, but exciting for the family. 

And we’ve heard this evening that Rachel and Ed are safely restored to south London, despite alarming predictions of freezing fog; and that Hellie and Matt have reached their b&b in Northumberland somewhere, in time to watch Liverpool beat Man City.. So all is well, for the moment. And the moment is all we’ve got.

Susan Crawford (of all people) put me on to Laine magazine, Nordic knit and lifestyle. It looks rather wonderful. It is clever of her to have got hold of a copy -- Loop and Meadow Yarn are sold out. I’ll have to wait until later in January. She is recovering from a double mastectomy only a few days ago, and sounds well enough to look forward to an evening of Thornton's chocolates and the magazine. One could scarcely begrudge her that. 

Knitting

I finished the edging of Mrs Hunter’s shawl, a splendid end to the year. Tomorrow, perhaps, I will pick up the stitches (there is a good picture of how to do it in Amedro’s “Shetland Lace”). 32 scallops per side x 4 sides x 6 stitches per scallop. I’ll leave you to do the arithmetic.

Income Tax

I have been very grateful for all your comments. And I’m afraid I didn’t get anything done today.

It really isn’t all that difficult. And I do like the clean-slate feeling of starting the year with things in order. In the olden days, I used to file by the end of September (is it?) at which point you are allowed to do it on paper. But then one year something went wrong, and once one misses September, Christmas rises up out of the swamp and overwhelms all else, so there is nothing left but January. And the first time I did that, it felt so right that I have gone on with January ever since.


I think what I need to do is gather up our ragbag of share holdings and get them into a broker’s account. I’ll think about that, once this year’s return is done.

And -- hey -- happy New Year to all!

8 comments:

  1. Happy New Year Jean! We were following each other around the Internet today. I also saw Susan Crawford's mention of the Laine magazine and immediately started searching for it. After trying a yarn store in Washington State, I then tried Loop and Meadow Yarn. It looks like it is sold out everywhere. Oh well. It will give us something to look forward to in January when they print more copies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy New Year Jean. Carry on Knitting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am reading this almost three quarters of the way through the first day of 2017. It has been a mildly chaotic day - for which I will blame my sister! Apart from that it has been pleasantly cool and that in itself is most enjoyable this time of the year. Here's to a successful 2017 knitting year for you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy New Year to you and yours Jean! Only a few more weeks until I have the procedure that should allow me to ditch much of the useless medication, and then I shall be able to assess if the Eliquis is the cause of my fatigue. I shall be in touch as soon as I can pronounce on that one.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Best wishes, Jean. Off to find out more about Laine.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy New Year one and all. Glad to hear your nearest and dearest are all well. Try Ysolda for Lainey - I think she was stocking it in her online shop...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Happiest of New Years!

    Thanks for posting and taking us into your life!

    May 2017 bring continued good health for you and your husband! and knitting adventures!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Happy New Year and congratulations on finishing the edging! Onward!

    ReplyDelete