I spoke too soon

Seraphina's neckline isn't right. sigh

I'd better rip it out and start again!

(thank you Edwin Collins and Orange Juice)

So you win again, you win again

So you win again, you win again

Here I stand again, the loser

And just for fun you took my love and run,

But love had just begun

I can't refuse her

But now I know that I'm the fool

Who won your love to lose it all

When you come back, you win again

And I'm not proud to say

I let love slip away

Now I'm the one who's crying

I'm a fool there's no denying

When will my heartache end?

Will my whole life depend on fading memories

You took the game this time with ease

Hot Chocolate

so the football season is over and the last fixtures were a drama-fest, and very enjoyable it was too if your team was safe. West Ham were already relegated, and there were 5 teams which could fill the last two places (Blackburn, Birmingham, Blackpool,Wigan and Wolves). It could be decided on goal difference alone, it could be decided on goals scored, it was so close. As the matches progressed the names in the drop zone changed 14 times and fans around the UK were deliriously excited then depressed then relieved in the space of a minute. Many tears were shed.

In the end it was Birmingham and Blackpool who were relegated, both on 39 pts, and Wigan (42) and Wolves(40) who survived to play another day.

Sunderland managed to win a match (3-0), but let's face it, it was against West Ham, got 47 pts and finished a respectable 10th an improvement on last year (13th with 44pts) Newcastle threw a way a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 against West Brom and finished 12th on 46pts. The EPL has been so close this year that while Newcastle were winning they were lying 9th in the table. Dropping to 12th may have cost them £3m in prize money.
The league had already been won by Manchester Utd (a record 19th title) who now face Barcelona in the Champions league final.

So, exciting stuff to follow while I was trying for the third time (sigh) to do the neckline on Seraphina. I'd finished it on Thursday, then realised it was too small and would not fit over my Mum's head. A bit problematic that! I tried it again on slightly larger needles. No good, so it was it ripped out and I had to reshape the neckline on the front. It seems to be alright now and looks big enough to be wearable. Now I can get on with the seaming! I want to get this finished and work on something else. I crave socks!

(I saw Hot Chocolate live in 1982, they were fantastic, always winners)

gains and losses

the warm spring weather has meant that the garden has been looking very colourful for quite a while now. The poppies were in bloom on the 1st of May which is more than three weeks earlier than last year (25th May) and the aquilegia are in full flower pretty early too.

I've planted most of my seed potatoes in the tatty sacks and put some bedding in as I was clearing weeds (french marigolds, lobelia and petunia so far).

I'm delighted with the allium flowers too. This is the first time I've grown them and I love the crazy ball of tiny flowers. I didn't buy giant alliums as I was worried that they wouldn't stand up to the stiff breezes that we get round here, but now I think that they might and I'll try some bigger ones next year.

Sadly the harsh winter has killed off some of the shrubs: I've lost a hebe, a buddleia, a lavender and all three New Zealand flax plants. The flax plants were some of the first plants that I bought for this garden 5 years ago and I liked their spiky strangeness so it's a shame that I'm going to have to clear them out.

I've been a bit distracted by volunteering for the Day Centre in our village so I've not had as much time to knit/crochet as I would like. The Day Centre hosts a weekly lunch club for older people, it's great fun and I enjoy having a good blether with the (mostly) pensioners. I started off just helping in the kitchen, serving lunch and clearing up, graduated onto occasionally prepping and cooking the soup and taking a turn on the laundry rota and now I'm on the committee as Secretary. Last week the conversations centred around the election and the latest fashions. It's heartening that people don't really change as they get older: if they were interested in politics in their younger days they tend to keep that interest, and if they were avid followers of fashion then they still like to keep up with the latest styles and colours. Amazingly enough, despite their many and varied health problems they're a pretty cheerful bunch. I think they're brilliant.

I made some progress on putting together Seraphina at the weekend while listening to the football. The penultimate matches of the season saw Man Utd win the league and West Ham get relegated. It was pretty exciting stuff and I did have to rip back a bit on the collar on Seraphina as the drama increased. West Ham needed to win, and were winning 2-0, but then threw that lead away and were beaten 3-2 by Wigan. It was riveting radio commentary, but not very good for keeping my mind on the knitting. The last round of games is next Sunday- I'll have to try to have Seraphina finished by then!

vote2011

The Scottish Parliament

Well that was a dramatic election!
The SNP have won a clear majority of seats at Holyrood (and no longer have to work in coalition with others), Labour just about maintained its share of the vote but lost seats, and more tellingly, lost seats in safe areas. The LibDems vote evaporated and the Conservatives went from being the party with influence to the party that can only look on in wonder at the SNP's massive victory in Scotland. 
The results are: SNP 69 (+23), Labour 37 (-7), Cons 15 (-5), Lib Dems 5 (-12), Other 3 (+1).
The SNP were hoping to win and maybe just get the majority needed of 65. But this result is beyond their wildest dreams. The Labour leader Iain Gray is shouldering the blame for their poor result and is stepping down as leader in a few months time. He only just got re-elected himself beating his SNP rival by only 151 votes.

D was part of the team at Gray's count and didn't get home till 5.30 am (about 2 hours later than expected). As it was so close all the invalid votes were carefully scrutinised by all the candidates, and then the stacks of votes were double checked for accuracy. Of course, they are a well organised team so the count was 100% accurate.

It wasn't the only close vote though- Glasgow Anniesland was taken from Labour by the SNP by 7 (SEVEN!) votes. If ever people needed to realise that their votes do matter then Glasgow Anniesland is a case in point.

It was riveting watching the election results come in and seeing the shocked looks on the faces of hardened politicians and journalists. That was worth staying up for! I was following it on Twitter too, and knew some of the results before they were reported on the TV.

In England the elections were for the local councils and again the LibDems did very badly only polling 15% of the vote and losing a lot of seats to Labour(Labour gained 800, LibDems lost 695).

The referendum on the AV vote produced this result:68% NO, 32% YES. This referendum on changing the voting system was one of the compromises which came out of the coalition govt. The large No vote is a major blow to the LibDems.
The coalition govt is not popular and the LibDems are bearing the brunt of people's anger and frustration. But then, the Conservatives and the LibDems are not natural allies, so it's not surprising that the voters are suspicious of them.

We only had about 5 hours sleep though, so we're almost out for the count!

are you 'AV ing a larf??

polling day.

today Scotland votes for MSPs and all of the UK votes in a referendum about the voting system.
Do we adopt the Alternative Vote system (AV) or do we stick with the first past the post system (FPTP)?
Neither system is perfect, both have their flaws and both campaigns are exaggerating the other's flaws to a ridiculous degree. But such is politics.

I find that as I get older I find it harder to decide who to vote for, although I'm sure who I will not vote for. When I was younger my ideals were higher and I had more faith in politicians. But now, like many British people I have a strong distrust of all politicians and little faith that they will carry out any of their electoral promises. In the last couple of elections I have not known how I will vote until the ballot papers are in front of me.
I feel the same about the referendum too. I have read widely, I am trying to be rational, but still I cannot decide how to vote. I don't like either system. The current system can elect governments which have secured less than 40% of the vote. The proposed system could mean that the person with the most 1st choice votes did not win the seat, and that people who voted for minor or extreme parties (such as the vile BNP) could push the 3rd choice candidate (at the first count) into first place. Are either systems truly representative? I don't know, I really don't.

The result itself will be interesting though: how many will have bothered to vote? Is the result itself representative of the British people if less than 50 % vote? Will younger people favour this X-Factor style of voting more than older folk? What affect will it have on the coalition govt (the coalition is widely loathed)?

Still, at least all adults can vote, and that's not up for debate.

Tiny Ten has arrived!

I got a lovely surprise today when the Doctor dropped in. He's been touring the globe for a couple of years now (it may be longer, it's a timey-wimey thing) and he has called in after visiting Alabama, USA.

He has brought me some lovely Madeleine Tosh yarn (a very dark green called Norway Spruce), a pretty coffee mug, some violet and clover soap and some mint choc truffle tea. That sounds amazing!
He's also got his box of souvenirs from around the world, his diary, and a collection of postcards with him. I'll help him get some more souvenirs from this part of Scotland before he disappears again.

So, it looks like he'll be taking over the blog for the next couple of weeks, what fun!

This is a passalong organised by the whoknits? group on Ravelry

I went to knit-and-natter last night (at the Buccleuch in Dalkeith), there was about a dozen of us and I got chatting with some new people, in particular Gilleoin McClintock  who is a spinning teacher. She had some of her fibre arts display at the Dalkeith Arts Centre this week, so today I went through to see some of her gorgeous stuff and get some info about spinning lessons.

I was particularily impressed with the white sweater which I think is a mix of shetland wool and dog hair! I can't remember the dog breed, but it felt very very soft.

when Life imitates Art

we watched The Hurt Locker last night, a tremendous film showing what it is like to be a soldier in Iraq. The three-man bomb disposal unit face death every day, every time that they leave the compound to disable bombs. The stress and pressure on the team is enormous. It's a tremendous film, understated, well acted, and very engrossing.

Earlier that day it was reported that Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, the youngest son of Muammar Gaddafi had been killed by a NATO strike in Libya. The media had photos of an unexploded bomb in Gaddafi's compound which of course looked the same as the bombs which the three-man unit in Iraq was facing.

Then today, it was announced that US ground troops had launched an attack on Osama bin Laden's base in Abbotabad, Pakistan, killing bin Laden. The man behind the 9/11 attacks on the USA has finally been hunted down.
This doesn't mean that al-Qaeda is finished, but for the people who lost family & friends in 9/11, and in the London bombings on July 7th, there must be a strong sense of relief.

The Hurt Locker 4 stars ****
US special forces -every one of them a star.