February has been quite an eventful month, so far; I've been rope swinging, pitching tents, lazing in hammocks, fire starting (sounds quite dubious, doesn't it?) pancake and popcorn making on an open fire at the local university, as part of my in-service training with the company Grounds for Learning. Oh! To be five again. I could have sploshed, squelched and trudged through mud all day. I reeked of smoke, and I looked like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards, but I was grinning from ear to ear and talking so much about my experience that Paul had to ask me to stop, take a breath and talk slower. I know from experience that little ones don't go out as much as I did as a child. Heck, I just have to look at my own neighbourhood and listen to my nephews to see how much things have changed. And I know there are different theories for this (I studied this topic for my research piece) and I know I'm not going to alter children's play overnight, but I am hoping to take my training back to work and put it to good use; get the little one's out and about in the local area, even, if it is just for an hour at a time. That's my plan, anyway.
This year (this is not a new years resolution....honest) I also intend to make more time for me; so that I can enjoy the little things that make me happy. A few things I have in mind, one is to block my knitting Pebble Beach Shawl as soon as possible (not leave it for six months on the back of a chair). And, the second is to make a conscious effort to read more blogs; new and old, and also pluck up the courage to leave comments, if I so wish. I know in the past I have lurked; I've enjoyed looking at peoples beautiful crafts, and I feel I've had an incite into to their little corner of the world, all of this just by simply reading their blog. Some blogs have made me laugh out loud, others have inspired me to try something new, and one or two have reduced me to tears, in a good way, though, I may add.
So far, I have left comments on three blogs, one I've been following for a while Ozzy Blackbeard, and two new blogs that I have never left comments on before (I know, how brave am I?) Susan B. Anderson. On Susan's blog, she has a beautiful new hat pattern fairytale winter. Now I'm not pretending I'm a follower of fashion or that I'm trendy, but I'm loving the whole faux-fur pompom thing that is going on with hats just now, and if I crane my neck one more time trying to stare at someone's pompom hat I'm going to go insane. So, when I happened upon this pattern, I knew I had to make a purchase. I have finally found my pompom hat, and I think it's safe to say, that my days of staring and searching are now over. Yipee!
The other blog I have commented on this week is Knit and Tonic. I've been following this blog for some time now, and I usually read and then go, but today I thought I would leave a comment. Why? Well, the subject matter brought back a memory of something I had forgotten about. As some of you may know, from reading my blog I have suffered from PTSD and was successfully treated with EMDR about four years ago now. I'm going to explain crudely the treatment as; putting traumatic memories into the filing cabinets in your brain so you can't relive them over and over again. Anyway, this has also affected other aspects of my memory, and sometimes I find myself remembering things from my past that were not traumatic at all. This either sends me into fits of laughter or a smile as I remember something really good, but this morning this memory hit me like a light bulb moment. You see, I was a part of an online knitting group called Phoenix Knitting Forums and during my time as a member I participated in a blanket swap; I sent and received two squares a month for a year and at the end I was supposed to make a blanket, but I never did. The squares have been sitting upstairs in a bedroom cupboard just waiting on me rediscovering them again. So Wendy, from Knit and Tonic, I thank you for helping me remember. I'm now off to look for the other bag of squares I have stashed somewhere, and hopefully I can finish this blanket once and for all.