Moving Day...

I have moved... http://ticklepea.wordpress.com/

Please come and join me.

Lindy xxxx

Granny Square Carnage....

Oh internet please help me! There are so many cute granny square projects out there for the budding crocheter. Since I am off my feet at the moment I have the time to complete some of these, I thought, I can crochet, lets learn how to do this!

Yet I cannot.

Below is what I ended up with. Lopsided. Gappy. Not good at all!





My sofa is now a graveyard for aborted, mis-shapen granny squares.

I can't find any tutorials, video or written, which make enough sense to me to be able to follow them and produce something decent!

So please, if anyone knows where I can go to be able to these, please let me know!

I am in dire crochet straits here!

Lindy xxx

Friday follies

So I had a spurt of inspiration (read insanity) today, and decided that dislocated knee be damned, what I really needed to do was clean my lounge and kitchen. Now you know when you reach your tolerance for mess and you hit the point where your fingers itch because you just can’t stand the clutter anymore? (No only me? Thats sad! Alone here with my neuroses on my sofa. But hey hum, at least my kitchen is now tidy!)

So lets back up. My kitchen is now tidy, yes. But is now 12:30. I started this big plan for tidiness at 8:30 this morning when I got up and saw the mess as I one handedly tried to do something about it whilst making my morning coffee. My crutch skillz have got to the point where I can hobble about on one crutch for limited periods. So picture it. I have one spare hand and a very messy house, so I could only pick up one thing at a time. It took a while. And all I could think was how I needed one of those trays ushers get at cinemas to put the stuff in that had very rudely scattered itself around my house.



Source

I have too add that as I type this it is now 1:30. I got distracted by trying to make myself lunch. Now considering my hobble status we haven’t done any food shopping this week. Thus I have been eating pretty much what ever I can find and today that was 2 eggs, some Italian hard cheese and some sun dried tomatoes. Omelet here I come! I was so pleased with myself, I thought myself so clever for being able to rustle up such a meal! So I heated up the pan, whisked the egg, poured it in, added the stuff and waited for omlettey goodness to happen. Then as my final flourish I folded it in half so I had a nice semi circular omelet and discovered that my frying pan had decided to stop being non-stick and deposit its non-stickiness all over my omelet. It is probably a testament to the fact that I was recently a student, that I simply scraped off the worst of it and ate it anyway. Or to the fact I was really hungry. Take your pick.

So there we go I have been home all morning and have only managed to just about tidy one room and fail at making an omelet.

Hmmmmm.

Lets try again tomorrow!

Happy Friday

Lindy xxx

The view from my Sofa...

When walking becomes painful your world becomes restrained to what you can reach...











As much as I love the imposed rest, I will be so thankful when I can get back to interacting with the rest of the world!

Lindy xxx

(And yes I did spare you the gross photo of my knee!)

Book Review- Steve Augarde 'The Various'

The one and only advantage I have found with having a useless knee thus far is the opportunity to catch up on all the sedentary hobbies which I have (although I am sure that my waistline will not be thanking me!) The most prominent of these being that I can finally catch up on my reading! I have a pile of un-read book so high that it is threatening to take over my life with associated guilt. (I know, weird, but I feel bad owning these stories and then never giving life to them in my imagination. Just letting them sit there on my shelf untouched feels wrong some how.)

First down in my quest to reduce this pile is ‘The Various’ by Steve Augarde. Now I will freely admit that I brought this book mostly for its beautiful cover. I knew nothing about it except that it had awoken some yearning in me for books with monochromatic line drawing covers, and due to this it became mine. That and I brought it in a charity shop for £2.99 so I could afford it. Always a major plus point in my life!



I could say many good things about this book, least not the readability of it. Now I know I am stuck sitting on my arse all day and I read quickly, but I finished this in about a day and a half. It was really good for that kind of fiction where you tell yourself you will just read to the end of the chapter, and four chapters later your still going!

Without giving too much of the plot away the story is centered around a young girl called Midge and her adventures with ‘The Various’ on her Uncles farm where she is sent to spend the summer by her touring musician mother. Now although I realise I have made to book sound incurably boring and Famous Five like, but it really much much better than the justice I can give it.

Forgive me people I am doped up on painkillers. You have no idea the overtime spell check is working at the moment!

I also have a soft spot for unusual names in fantasy novels and one of what I guess you could call recurring motifs was called Celandine in this book. Which just strikes me as inordinately pretty and helps me develop a rather large soft spot for the book as a whole!

I think my favourite thing about this book is the distinct voices which the characters have. Augarde has distinguished between the different voices of his characters really well, something which I always appreciate in a novel. The one detraction would be the haste with which the book seems to draw to its conclusion. I felt that the last 20 or 30 pages of the book were a little rushed and that the ending was a bit forced, but still. It was good. And due to the power of Google I now know that this is the first in a trilogy and I have two more books to look forward to the next time I manage to get paid! (You know that never ending pile of unread books- this is why!)

A good read for some one whose brain seems to be comprised of dandelion fluff at the moment.

**** Not a classic but I would defiantly recommend it and read the others in the series.

7 Good Things Vol 12

Gross knee update warning. According to the fracture specialist at the hospital my knee is still too swollen to tell if I’ve torn or just ‘stretched’ I guess you would say the ligaments which hold my knee cap in place. But they have given me a snazzy new splint which allows me to move my knee in a controlled way to help strengthen these ligaments again. Basically I still can’t walk and I’ve been signed off work for three weeks, although I am hoping to be back before this.

My 7 good things, however, have been surprisingly easy to come by this week all things considered!
1. James, James, James, James, James. He has been so understanding and caring over the last few days, doing practically everything for me!
2. My very kind family and friends who have kept me company over the last few days.
3. The physiotherapist who was very gentle when it came to manipulating my knee today.
4. For a man who doesn’t drink tea, James makes a really good cuppa!
5. My laptop which has been dying, has had a change of heart and had worked for the last couple of days, which considering that I can’t sit at the desktop computer, is certainly an excellent development!
6. Ahhh Youtube.... you have kept me endlessly entertained. And on the subject of entertainment which you can access sitting down on a laptop, this documentary on the 1920s social scene from the BBC was really really good. Although I did just end up coveting the clothes!
7. The NHS. I know there is a lot on the news at the moment about the NHS crumbling, but the service I have received has been truly exemplary. For example today I went to see the fracture clinic, I got seen in five minutes, examined and almost immediately referred to physiotherapy where I got seen very promptly. I just can’t complain!

Oh and just to end the post because I do love these so much, a gratuitous and completely un connected Hubble telescope picture...


(Two galaxies colliding.)

I hope everyone is having a great beginning to their week.

I shall see you probably tomorrow with a book review!

Lindy xxx

Doctor, doctor, I think I've dislocated my knee!

Yesterday I dislocated my knee cap. And yes that is about as painful as it sounds! Thus far I have learned two things from this experience, I am in equal parts impressed and infuriated with the NHS.

When I dislocated my knee, all I did was stand up. Not a particularly dramatic reason for displacing ones knee cap I know, but there you go. I stood up, there was an almighty crack and suddenly I was on the floor. And screaming. I do remember screaming a lot. Unfortunately I was on my own in the flat at this point and quickly realised that screaming was not going to get me anywhere. Luckily considering that I couldn't move I had my mobile on me and managed to call an ambulance, so enter irritation number one. I had to repeat my details about 3 times because I live in a new build flat and the address didn’t seem to be easily found on their system. Secondly, despite telling them that I was on my own and unable to move it took nearly an hour for the ambulance to get to me. As I understand it this was because the first crew on their way to me got diverted to a ‘life threatening’ emergency, reasonable I know, but still an hour seems a little excessive to me. Now in the intervening time I did what any girl does when they are panicking and alone, I called James and my Mum. Mum managed to get to be in about 20mins and James about 40mins later because he was working out of town. Life is a lot less scary when you have people around you that love you.

So when the first ambulance crew arrives it is one ‘first responder’. Now these are paramedics who travel in cars instead of actual ambulances and, who as their job title might imply, try and get to an accident scene first to keep the patient stable until a full crew can arrive. This lady was lovely, she gave me some blessed Entonox (gas and air) for the pain quickly ascertained that she was going to have to radio for an actual ambulance to take me to hospital. To cut a long story short, the other crew got to me and after finding that between the two ambulance crews neither of them had a leg split, jimmied one up, relocated my knee cap (which was more painful than dislocating it in the first place funnily enough) and got me to hospital. With copious more quantities of Entonox. By this point the world was decidedly fuzzy.

Once at the hospital I can’t fault them for finding me a bed in a private room, assessing my knee and sending me for an x-ray which I got with almost no wait time. (Has anyone else ever had an x-ray, I hadn’t before and my my that was one impressive funky machine. It was attached to the ceiling on runner and they could move it and swing it around to take x-rays of different parts of the body without moving the patient. I was very impressed.)


(The funniest part about this photo is the flatline!)

Thankfully I haven’t chipped any of my bones, just torn the ligaments. The hospital gave me this snazzy looking blue split, some crutches and booked me an appointment to see the specialist joint clinic on Monday morning to work out how long my rehabilitation will take. Current estimates are anywhere up to six weeks off my feet.


(Me in hospital looking decidedly un impressed with my knees lack of ability to be a knee)

So here is what I am thankful for, I cannot fault the paramedics and hospital staff for being friendly, caring, professional and knowledgeable. I cannot fault the hospital facilities, they were clean and modern. I got seen quickly and my treatment was effective. I am thankful that I live in a country where universal health care is a right not a privilege. I am thankful that I got all of this treatment, and on going out patients care for free. I am grateful that both of my employers will give me paid sick leave until I am able to return, which could be a considerable period.

I looked up on the internet what this may have cost me if I lived in America and I would have been looking at a bill along the lines of:

$1000 Non-surgical treatment- ie. putting my knee cap back in to place
$200 X-ray of my knee
$200 Doctors fee
$500 Emergency Room fee
$750 Ambulance ride
$100 Forearm crutches
$50 Knee brace

Grand Total: $2800


(My fancy blue splint)

And thats just so far, not counting all the outpatients clinics and physical therapy that I am likely to need and receive. So I guess that most of all I am thankful to live in the UK today. I know some of my readers come from across the pond. What are your experiences of health care? Have you ever been to hospital and been charged for it? The concept of charging the sick for care is unthinkable here so I would be really interested to hear what it is like to live in a country with such a system.


(Me walking out of hospital, no I haven't gotten any better at walking on crutches!)

So this means one of two things for this blog. Either because I am forced off of my feet and will be sitting on my sofa for a considerable period of time I will be posting a lot more, or because i’ll be so doped up on pain meds it won’t be worth me posting much of anything! We will see how it goes.

Stay safe

Lindy xxxx

(And yes I have spared you the pictures James took whilst my knee cap was still out of place!)

Makeup and such like...

So I was thinking whilst I got dressed this morning- yeah I know, a pretty miraculous activity for 6:30 in the morning. I'm right there with you on the insanity of that one. So as I was getting dressed, sorting my hair, finding my make up I was struck by the thought that it is so much more difficult for me to get dressed than it is for James.

Women's clothes are infinitely more uncomfortable and impractical than men’s. You name it, skirts, tights, heels, funny blouses that mean you have to suck your tummy in- all far more hassle and time consuming than their male counterparts. And then one item in that list struck me more than the others- make up. Why do we religiously apply this to our selves? I know that there are some women who cannot go out without it. That see it as so integral to what makes them an attractive woman that they can't even let their significant others see them without it on. In reality I think that a society where women have to wear makeup and traditionally men do not is telling us something quite scary about ourselves. It’s telling us that we do not think women are enough. We look at our faces, and society tells us that they are not good enough. Not beautiful enough, that they need more. In order to be attractive we have to add to ourselves. That a woman, in all her glory, intricacies and yes flaws, is not enough without a mask. That their face is not what we want to see and deal with. Just a side point, I'm not saying that men don't wear makeup I'm just saying that it's not acceptable in out society for a man to turn up at his office suit and mascara.

Then do you know what worried me further? We sell make up to children. On the market at the moment there are a whole variety of different make up products aimed solely at little girls. Designed to show girls that this is what they can aspire to when they grow up. We, as a society are teaching our little girls that they are not enough, and that their brothers are. This is sad.

Margaret Cho (an American comedian) once said that, ‘Ugly. Is irrelevant. It is an immeasurable insult to a woman, and then supposedly the worst crime you can commit as a woman. But ugly, as beautiful, is an illusion.’

Yet convexly I guess makeup can be construed as a tool of feminine empowerment. Allowing us to present ourselves as we see fit, for ourselves. Whilst beauty is undoubtedly ephemeral we are all guilty of wanting to be seen as attractive and desirable.

So I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this subject. Do you think that makeup is a mask or a tool of empowerment? This is something that came to me one morning whilst getting dressed, so feel free to weigh in.

I look forward to hearing your views.

Happy Wednesday,

Lindy xxx

7 Good Things Vol 11

I'm back in the saddle- hopefully! So without further ado...

1. James made an amazing chicken for lunch yesterday- it was so good!
2. I reorganised by book shelves yesterday- it made me inordinately happy!
3. I also tidied my study yesterday- I felt so productive!
4. I found my moisturiser (its the little things)
5. My sister is very kindly going to sit in my house for me so i can both get my washing machine fixed and not take time off work! Score!
6. The Kings Speech, whilst an awesome film, is also as I have discovered, an amazing book. I highly recommend it!
7. Last week I managed to cook dinner successfully twice. Not noteworthy for the majority of the population, but for me, a pretty cool achievement!

I hope everyone has had a fantastic week in my absence, I shall see you all on Wednesday!

Lindy xxx

Ahhhh here you are!

Sorry about the lack of presence in the last few days. For the first time in ages I missed 7 Good Things on a Monday, and thats because levels of world suck have increased round here recently. Nothing that is life threatening but definably enough to make me go in to survival mode. Unfortunately this blog is the one thing which I can give up doing and still function in the world; and people like my boss and my mortgage company do rather enjoy me functioning in the world.

(BTW: 'mort': stems from the word death, and gage sounds a lot like cage...) No I joke, I love my house but every time we had a meeting with the mortgage company to get it, that was all I could think!

Anyhoo, I have needed the reminder that this picture give me each morning everyday this week...



Hopefully things are calming down and I will be back later in the week!

Lindy xxx

Grey...

Today has been a grey kind of day, not in a wholly kind of bad terrible this life is no good way, but certainly in an arrrg damn it pah kind of way.

My tumble dryer has broken. It has decided that it will no longer dry clothes. That spreading heat is now a function below it and it is now on strike. Its official, my tumble dryer is an employee of British Airways. Gosh darn it. But now, my tumble dyer is in combination with my washing machine. So if my tumble dryer is on strike, does this mean my washing machine has also gone on strike? I hope not. However, I am currently running it on a washing cycle to see if it will still clean my clothes for me. I am holding out hope on this one because it would be expensive to replace, and y’know lack of funds would be prohibitive.

But on a happier grey theme I made this earlier in the week.



My Mums parter is sick at the moment and I thought hey a gift is called for and bought him a book and made him said book mark up above.... and actually down below as well.



It was incredibly simple to make yet looks quite impressive, the pattern is also below (indeed is you can call its that its so simple!)

CO 15
1st row: k5, p5, k5
2nd row:p5, k5, p5
3rd row: k5, p5, k5
4th row:p5, k5, p5
5th row: k5, p5, k5

Rows 6-10, repeat rows 1-5 in reverse (5 through 1). And then, continue repeating for the length of a book.

There you go. One book mark. Easy peasy.

Oh and because we all know how much I like taking photos of the sunrise, here is yesterdays, it was a good’un!


Have a good Wednesday, and please send washing vibes to my washing machine. I like not smelling!

Lindy xxx