Ramblings of a rolling stone

Had the day from hell a couple of days ago! Took a friend to see the ancient submerged forest nearby on Borth beach, went head over heels on one of the slippery wet roots, ending up in a peaty puddle, shaken but otherwise ok.

Went to pub to dry out and suddenly had that awful feeling that I'd lost something. Car keys were in the pocket of my dress and were missing, they must have got flung out when I fell over. So... back along the beach to find them but to our horror the tide had crept in and the forest was completely underwater!

I called the AA who said they'd try to unlock the door, as I thought there may be a spare set of keys in the car. Two hours later at six o'clock, no-one had arrived so I rang again and was told it would be another hour and if they couldn't get into the car, it would have to be recovered. By this time it was getting cold, we had no coats, the sun was starting to go down and so were our spirits.

At six-thirty the AA man rang, soundin…

The day of reckoning is finally here and I feel uneasy and strangely emotional. I can only hope the people of Scotland make the right decision for the whole of the UK today. Some of you may be saying what's it got to do with the rest of the UK... a lot I would say.

It's got nothing to do with the old chestnuts of the pound, pensions, defence, and the NHS, important as these are, but they've been discussed till they're run ragged and people are sick of hearing about it. And, at the end of the day, Alex Salmond seems to have no direct answers other than to trust him, all will be fine if you vote him in.

I have no quarrel with the nationalists' slogan Scotland's future in Scottish hands, but this could apply to the whole of the UK and be solved by greater devolution to all regions, not by the largest one splintering off whatever the consequences.

We have had 300 years of the union. Although there is a clear cultural identity to Scotland, England, Wales and Norther…

All go in Wales, especially at this time of year. The cats were like greyhounds out of the traps when they were let out of their boxes, for them it's the glorious 12th, open season on rabbits, mice, birds and any other small creatures they can find...
To a certain extent it's the same with us too.  A quick walk round the garden before dusk was all it took to steel my resolve to get out there first thing and try to tame the jungle. I'm not one for lawns - they gobble up too many of the world's dwindling resources in fertilisers, weeding and mowing for my liking - I prefer low maintenance hard landscaped terraces, saving the grass for the wilder areas where it doesn't matter if it acquires a sprinkling of clover, nettles or cow parsley, the more diverse the better. First things first though, there were a few trees that needed prompt attention - Victoria plum and two damsons, which were shedding their heavy load in the afore-mentioned long grass!
So ladders were broug…

For a variety of reasons I haven't been doing much knitting over the summer, so consequently no knit blogs recently. However, today I've got a treat for you. A few months ago when Lucy Neatby asked me if I'd like a copy of her new book, A Little Book of Big Holes for Handknitters, I jumped at the chance, as you can always rely on something new and original from Lucy's needles.  I was meaning to review it as soon as I'd had a chance to read and digest it, but the best laid plans... First of all there was a couple of weeks in Greece on a reccy for next year's tour, then our two back-to-back Knit France tours. After all the travelling I started to find it really hard to catch up, especially as sciatica was making me pretty miserable too. So to cut a long story short, the book got put aside until I could focus better on its contents, which are quite extensive and detailed for a 'little' book.  As I'd been experimenting with holey knits myself for a cou…